Month: July 2025

Shocking House Testimony: 65,000 “Notice of Concern” Hotline Calls to Protect Unaccompanied Children Went Ignored by Biden Administration

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Last week the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing that detailed how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are “still working to help inadmissible aliens undermine federal immigration law under the Trump Administration,” according to a Homeland House GOP release.

Mike Howell, President of the Oversight Project, Ali Hopper, founder of GUARD Against Trafficking, and Julio Rosas of Blaze Media testified during the hearing.  During testimony, they revealed that the Biden Administration had allocated $6 billion in funding and grants to NGOs through Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, among others.

They testified about unaccompanied children being handed over to the NGOs, primarily at the border itself.  The NGOs would then pass the children off to “poorly-vetted sponsors.”  This has resulted in more than 300,000 children unaccounted for at the border, according to the release.

Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) shared a specific NGO, funded “97 per cent” by the federal government, made $52 million in FY2020.  However, in 2021, they reported $600 million dollar increase in one year with $658 million reported.   And then, in 2022, that same NGO reported $1.18 billion, with “97 per cent of that” coming from the federal government.  During that time, the CEO’s salary reportedly doubled.  Rep. Guest stated:

“In 2020, Endeavors reported $52 million in revenue. In 2021, they reported $658 million in revenue––a $600 million increase in a year, with 97 percent of that money coming from the federal government. And then in 2022, they reported a record $1.18 billion from the federal government––or at least 97 percent of that. You talk about how executives for Endeavors padded their pockets, that with this increase in revenue comes an increase in salary, that the compensation for the CEO doubled… In an article from the New York Post, they talk about another one of these nonprofits. They talk about Southwest Key. The headline says, ‘Texas non-profit housing migrant kids took $3 billion in grants from Biden administration and boosted executive salaries up to 139 percent to pull the plug.’”

How was the money being used by the federal government to protect women and children?  Another shocking moment came during Rep. Eli Crane’s (R-AZ) questioning of Ms. Hopper.

Rep. Crane asked Ms. Hopper, “what safeguards were put in place to protect vulnerable, unaccompanied children?”  Hopper responded that there were “post-placement welfare checks.”  The checks consisted of two phone calls and if the sponsors didn’t answer, “the case was no longer followed up on.”

Ms. Hopper then testified about a “notice of concern hotline,” where people could report problems or concerns with the unaccompanied child’s safety.  From August 2023 to January 2025, 65,000 calls went unanswered.  Some of the complaints were for things like concerns about the food.  However, many calls were about abuse of the children, including a case where a child complained that grown men were coming into his room at night and touching him.

According to Ms. Hopper, the Trump administration has gone through those 65,000 unanswered calls and made follow-ups and welfare checks.  Reportedly, that child is now safe.

Rep. Crane then asked about the ease with which people could sponsor a child, comparing it to adopting a dog.  Ms. Hopper responded that it was actually harder to adopt a dog, requiring more paperwork for a pet shelter, than was required to sponsor a child.

Perhaps the most shocking moment came when Rep. Crane asked Ms. Hopper how many staffers were assigned by the administration to answer the calls to the hotline:

“One,” Ms. Hopper responded.

Meanwhile, the above-referenced NGO saw a $600 million dollar year-over-year revenue increase from 2020 to 2021, followed by another $450 million increase in 2022.

Here is Rep. Crane’s entire questioning:

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) called the crisis at the border with unaccompanied children, “one of the greatest failures in American history.”

“One of the greatest failures in American history…I believe, was not keeping track of children.  And it wasn’t like the folks that sit on the other side of this aisle weren’t made aware by people sitting on this side of the aisle that it was happening.  And they failed to do anything or speak out against, really, this atrocity that was happening to children coming through the border.

This hearing is about the enrichment of certain NGOs, and their part in this tragedy.  But also, one thing that we haven’t talked about is, not only that this administration enriched a lot of these NGOs…but the billions of dollars that flowed to the Mexican cartels through human-trafficking…and all of it…was done on purpose.  Because you can’t be that stupid.  You can’t be that dumb.

And so the Biden administration lost track of 300,000 people, children.  Probably lost track of millions of other people, migrants in the United States, as they’re being trafficked all around, some indentured servants.  The children [being] indentured servants and even worse, in sex trade.

That has to be one of the biggest scandals in American history.

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From Chicago to the White House: The “Russia Hoax” has Barack Obama’s DNA All Over It

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Obama with Rev. Jeremiah Wright (L); Minister Louis Farrakhan (M); Tony Rezko (R)

Could Barack Obama have orchestrated the “Russia hoax” – what Donald Trump has called “the crime of the century”?

A closer look at Obama’s political rise in Chicago and his governing style in Washington suggests it’s far from implausible, and even likely.

While the mainstream media has long celebrated Obama for his eloquence, historic symbolism, and aspirational rhetoric about “hope and change,” his career tells a completely different story.

Beneath the polished image lies a consistent pattern of ruthless tactics and deceptive narratives straight from the Chicago machine playbook.

“The Chicago Way” refers to a hardball and often corrupt style of political operation that uses brute force, patronage, and intimidation to gain or maintain power.

Retaliation against enemies was the norm in Chicago as political opponents were often targeted using legal, bureaucratic, or personal means to silence or discredit them.

Obama’s first foray into politics foreshadowed this approach. In his 1996 Illinois State Senate race, rather than win through debate and democracy, Obama used legal technicalities to challenge the petition signatures of his opponents, including incumbent Alice Palmer, knocking them all off the ballot for an easy Obama victory.

A similar pattern emerged in Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate race. In both the primary and general elections, damaging private divorce records of his opponents were made public that all but eliminated the opposition.

Though he denied involvement, his campaign strategist David Axelrod, a former journalist who had previously worked for one of the candidates, was widely suspected of orchestrating the leaks.

Obama’s rise is Chicago was also bolstered by alliances with unsavory characters. Real estate developer Tony Rezko funded all of Obama’s campaigns and was later convicted of fraud and corruption. Rezko also helped Obama purchase his Hyde Park mansion in a shady real estate deal that conveniently gave Rezko cash for his legal fees and Obama a better price and larger lot.

As president, Obama weaponized federal agencies to target opponents and protect allies. The 2013 IRS scandal revealed that conservative and Tea Party-aligned groups faced endless delays in receiving tax-exempt status and disproportionate audits. Obama famously dismissed the controversy by claiming there wasn’t “a smidgen of corruption.”

Other scandals further underscored Obama’s corrupt practices. The botched “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation and the Obama administration’s deceptive handling of the Benghazi attacks demonstrated a habitual reliance on misinformation and cover-ups. Obama’s false assurance about the Affordable Care Act – “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” – became one of the most notorious broken promises in modern politics.

In an October 25, 2010 Univision interview, Obama said bluntly, “We are going to punish our enemies and reward our friends who stand with us.”

During Obama’s presidency, his administration secretly obtained the phone records of Associated Press reporters and labeled Fox News journalist James Rosen a “criminal co-conspirator to legally obtain his personal communications.”

Civil libertarians were further disillusioned by the massive expansion of NSA surveillance programs under Obama’s watch, despite earlier promises to roll them back.

Racial politics also became a divisive tool under Obama’s leadership. Though he had marketed himself as a racial healer, Obama’s comments after incidents involving Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were designed to inflame tensions and reinforce grievance narratives to help solidify his voting base, rather than promote unity.

A revisit of Obama’s radical ideological roots also deserves attention. In his best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, Obama recounts being mentored in his childhood by Frank Marshall Davis, a known member of the Communist Party USA and a pro-Soviet columnist.

Davis was the spitting image of Barack, while Obama looked nothing like the Kenyan student whom he claimed was his biological father. In my 2012 film, Dreams from My Real Father, I presented evidence that Davis was in fact Obama’s real father.

Then there’s Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s longtime pastor, infamous for sermons proclaiming, “God damn America.”

Obama also maintained deep ties with Bill Ayers, a former domestic terrorist from the Weather Underground, who was a close friend and ideological influence over Obama, and likely the ghost writer of Obama’s memoir. Obama served on boards with Ayers and endorsed his book.

To his supporters, Barack Obama remains a dignified and transformative figure. However revisiting history reveals Barack Obama as a well-executed “Chicago Way” con man. Obama campaigned as mainstream candidate, a unifier and reformer, but then governed like a machine politician, with his many offenses shielded by a cheering compliant press.

With an open assessment of Obama’s history today, it’s entirely plausible that Obama himself, stung by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss and fearing the dismantling of his legacy, while still angry at Trump over calling out Obama’s birth certificate, instigated the “Russia hoax” collusion narrative. The hoax itself – a blend of outdated Cold War paranoia and Chicago-style vengeance – bears all the marks of Obama’s political DNA: vindictive, deceptive, and dangerously effective.

Joel Gilbert is a Los Angeles-based film producer and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is the producer of the new film Roseanne Barr Is America. He is also the producer of the films: Dreams from My Real Father and There’s No Place Like Utopia and many other films. Gilbert is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.

The post From Chicago to the White House: The “Russia Hoax” has Barack Obama’s DNA All Over It appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

THE DAY AFTER: Zelensky Arrests Anti-corruption Officials, Signs Law Stripping Agencies of Power – Protesters Flood the Streets, and Ukraine Will Never Be the Same (VIDEOS)

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AI-Generated image by Grok – Zelensky faces popular protests.

The ‘defender of democracy’ is now openly challenged by his own citizens.

Many were caught by surprise by yesterday’s protests in Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, and other parts of Ukraine – after all, these are the absolute first since the war began three and a half years ago.

But here at TGP we have been closely following the escalating tensions inside the war-torn country.

Four days ago (19), we reported that Amid Collapsing Morale, Ukrainians ‘Lost Faith’ in Zelensky, With 70% Convinced That Kiev Regime Leaders Are Using the War to Enrich Themselves: REPORT.

The following day (20), there was this thought-provoking development: Pulitzer Prize Winner Seymour Hersh Reports That US May Move to Oust Zelensky, Even by Force – General Zaluzhny Would Be Tasked for Succession.

On Monday (21), we showed Zelensky’s efforts to change the image of his regime: CHARM OFFENSIVE: Zelensky Reshuffles His Government, Aiming to Show a Different Side of Ukraine for the US and the World.

Meanwhile, on the same Monday, Ukraine’s domestic security agency detained two NABU (Anti-corruption agency) officials on ‘suspicion of links to Russia’.

Finally, yesterday, after the Parliament voted to strip the Anti-Corruption agencies of any real power, it was the final straw, and Massive Protests Erupt Against Zelensky in Ukraine.

At night, Zelensky finally broke his silence – and blamed the situation on Russia.

Euronews reported:

“Thousands of Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv and other cities on Tuesday, urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to veto legislation which critics say undermines the country’s anti-corruption infrastructure.

The protest marked the first major rally against the government in more than three years of Russia’s ongoing, full-scale invasion.

Ukraine’s parliament had passed a bill which tightened oversight of two key anti-corruption bodies – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Opponents warn the measure could weaken the independence of the agencies and increase political influence over investigations.

Despite public outcry, Zelenskyy reportedly signed the bill into law on Tuesday.”

EU Commissioner Marta Kos criticized the new law.

In the meantime, Military Intelligence Chief Kirilo Budanov, a young and popular leader that reportedly was about to be replaced by Zelensky but saved by US intervention, weighed on the issue.

Kyiv Independent reported:

“Nations torn by infighting will lose, [Budanov] said on July 23, amid a new law that threatens the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions.”

Military Intelligence Chief Kirilo Budanov.

“‘Ukrainian history has taught us — a nation loses if it is torn apart by internal contradictions’, Budanov said in a post to Telegram.

[…] ‘We have one common trouble, one enemy. Therefore, internal contradictions should be resolved through open dialogue to achieve a single common goal — to defend our country. I am confident that Ukraine will be saved by a strong military and institutions’, Budanov said.”

Read more:

‘SHAME’: Ukrainian Parliament Defangs Anti-corruption Agencies After Zelensky’s Police Accused Them of Being Russian Agents – Unprecedented Popular Protests Erupt in Kiev (VIDEOS)

The post THE DAY AFTER: Zelensky Arrests Anti-corruption Officials, Signs Law Stripping Agencies of Power – Protesters Flood the Streets, and Ukraine Will Never Be the Same (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

WashPost Complains Trump Admin Ignoring 1 in 3 Court Orders

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A July 21 report from The Washington Post states that the Trump administration has failed to comply with more than one-third of the federal court rulings it has lost in civil litigation since January 2025.

According to their review of 165 adverse rulings, the administration declined to comply in at least 57 cases. The Post claims this represents “widespread noncompliance with America’s legal system.”

The data was compiled by legal analysts and former judges, some of whom described the pattern as unprecedented. In several instances, administration officials allegedly failed to respond to subpoenas, withheld court-ordered documents, or did not carry out judicial orders related to immigration, environmental policy, and regulatory enforcement.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which enforces federal court orders and operates under the Department of Justice, did not intervene in any of the cited cases. The Marshals require authorization from the Justice Department, since they are part of the executive branch and the director is appointed by the President. Several former judges told the Post that the judiciary has limited options to compel executive compliance unless it chooses to issue contempt rulings. None have been filed in the 57 cases of alleged noncompliance.

Former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Paul Michel told the Post that the federal judiciary appears hesitant to provoke a constitutional confrontation over enforcement authority. He noted that while noncompliance with court orders is not new, the number of incidents during the current administration is unusually high. Michel compared the situation to the standoff between the Courts and Nixon during Watergate in the summer of 1972.

Examples cited include:

  • A ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a Freedom of Information Act case, where the government failed to produce records by the court-ordered deadline.
  • Immigration-related cases where agencies did not reinstate benefits or halt deportations despite court rulings.
  • A judge’s order for the Department of Education to restore suspended funding to a federal grant program, which was not carried out.

In some of the 57 cited cases, appeals remain ongoing. Justice Department officials reportedly argued in internal memos that enforcement of contested rulings could be delayed during the appellate process, particularly when underlying legal authority is in dispute.

Outlets repeating and amplifying the Washington Post report criticizing Trump also used the example of what the mainstream media referred to as “Maryland Man,” and whom Trump said is a violent MS-13 gang member, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was deported by President Trump to prison in El Salvador in March. There, a left-wing Judge openly hostile to the administration ordered his return to the United States even though his flight was already out of U.S. jurisdiction. The Post determined that this counts as a violation of a court order, even though the President’s lawyers claim it was, at worst, an ‘administrative error.’

Some left-wing outlets have erroneously reported that Trump was defying one in three judges, and not making clear that it was one in three court orders, where one judge might issue multiple orders in one case.

The Post also quoted unnamed agency officials who said there has been informal guidance to “slow-walk” adverse rulings when those rulings conflict with presidential directives or pending legal challenges.

Legal experts noted that the federal courts rely on cooperation from the executive branch to implement rulings. Federal judges do not have an independent enforcement arm, unlike some state or local jurisdictions. The usual mechanism for compelling compliance, through civil or criminal contempt, requires formal proceedings that have not been initiated in these cases.

This pattern of noncompliance has occurred primarily in policy-heavy areas, including immigration enforcement, environmental rules, diversity and inclusion mandates, and federal contracting regulations. In previous administrations, court rulings in these areas were occasionally delayed or interpreted narrowly during appeals. The current rate of noncompliance appears higher.

Left-wing outlets are also characterizing this as “intentional noncompliance” by the Trump team.

The Post article also omitted any context to past Presidents who similarly ignored the Courts or evaded the law. Notably, the Biden Administration prosecuted over 1,000 pro-Trump January 6th protesters while systemically denying the production of “Brady materials” which could lead to the exoneration of the defendants.

Turnaround times on ‘Freedom of Information Act’ or “FOIA” requests, even when ordered by the court pursuant to litigation, have also historically been slow from government agencies.

The Trump administration has been litigating to reduce the power of federal district courts from issuing ‘nationwide injunctions’ based on the facts in their one case. Left-wing groups have been accused of choosing friendly judges in friendly jurisdictions, and having a federal judge issue a court order applying to the entire nation during the often years-long litigation in their court.

In mid-2024, before Trump had been elected in November, left-wing activists like Harvard Law’s Laurence Tribe were making similar accusations and complaints, alleging that Donald Trump, as a private citizen, had ‘shredded the Constitution’ because his lawyers argued in court that he should be immune from prosecution during the several year period where left-wing prosecutors and the Biden Department of Justice tried to jail Trump and his supporters on flimsy evidence and extreme legal theories.

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Karen Bass: Federal Officers Don’t Have a Right to Have a Mask

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Karen Bass: «Los Angeles is a city of immigrants. It has 3.8 million people, and about 50% of our population is Latino.

And when the raids began, fear spread. Masked men in unmarked cars, with no plates, no real uniforms, got out of vehicles with rifles and abducted people off the streets, leading many to believe that kidnappings were taking place.

How can you have masked men who then claim to be federal agents, with no identification?

Well, let me tell you something: we have a Los Angeles Police Department that has to deal

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Mollie Hemingway Rips Media and Intel Community Over New Russiagate Revelations: ‘The Worst Scandal We’ve Ever Seen’ (VIDEO)

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Screencap from YouTube.

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist appeared on the FOX Business Network with Larry Kudlow on Tuesday to respond to the shocking new revelations about the Russiagate hoax.

Hemingway tore into the ‘complicit’ media and the intel community for enabling this situation, calling it ‘the worst scandal we’ve ever seen from our government.’

She notes that all of this has led directly to the collapse of the public’s trust in these institutions and that further investigation is required.

Partial transcript via The Federalist:

“None of this would be possible without a complicit media that willingly participate in these info ops perpetrated by bad actors in the intelligence community. Some of the same people who uncritically regurgitated the Russia collusion hoax also uncritically regurgitated the lie that Hunter Biden’s evidence of family business corruption was a Russian plant,” Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway said on Fox News’ Kudlow.

“They have destroyed Americans’ trust —whatever trust they should have had — in the intelligence community because of how they’ve politicized things and because of how the media have gone along with this. And instead of getting awards, they should be ignored or, in fact, I think maybe some of their role in the Russia collusion hoax might need to be investigated as well.”

Here’s a quick clip:

If you want to watch the full segment, it’s below:

Hemingway also commented about this on Twitter/X:

Mollie is correct. The American people deserve to know the whole story on this.

The post Mollie Hemingway Rips Media and Intel Community Over New Russiagate Revelations: ‘The Worst Scandal We’ve Ever Seen’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Versailles on the Potomac

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Politics

Versailles on the Potomac

American politics is running on a perilous trajectory.

guillotine

From the vantage point of 21st-century Washington, DC, the French Revolution of 1789 may seem a distant historical event. Yet its lessons remain profoundly relevant. Even astute contemporaries like Benjamin Franklin and Frederick the Great failed to foresee the upheaval that would reshape France and the world. This oversight reminds us that revolutions often arise from complex, sometimes subtle, social dynamics—chief among them, widespread public indignation toward a ruling class perceived as decadent, disconnected, and unaccountable.

In 1789, much of the revolutionary fervor targeted the French aristocracy, whose ostentatious wealth and moral failings were widely known and resented. Pamphlets and clandestine journals exposed not only their personal vices but also the dire state of national finances—a crushing debt burden largely incurred by extravagant spending and costly foreign wars, including support for the American Revolution.

Today, Americans confront their own anxieties about elite power and accountability. The scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein did not end with his death in a federal jail cell; it metastasized. The unsealed flight logs, the controversial 2008 plea deal, and the inexplicable leniency shown by successive administrations suggest a bipartisan protection racket shielding a network that spans Clintonworld, Silicon Valley, and Mar-a-Lago, as investigative journalist Julie K. Brown has documented.

President Donald Trump’s association with Epstein—limited to overlapping social circles in the 1990s and a 2002 New York magazine quote calling Epstein a “terrific guy”—is not evidence of criminality. But it is evidence of a class problem. When the ruling elite’s social calendar overlaps with that of a convicted sex offender, voters inevitably draw conclusions about the moral fabric of those in power.

As Matt Taibbi observed in Griftopia (2010), American media often shields the wealthy from direct criticism unless legal consequences arise. Epstein’s case, amplified by his connection to Trump, has thus struck a particularly sensitive chord, exposing the deep distrust many Americans feel toward an elite perceived as operating above the law.

Meanwhile, many Americans who supported Trump are growing increasingly concerned. For now, no indictments or high prosecutions have materialized, despite confusing statements from figures like Attorney General Pam Bondi. Yet memories of controversies such as the Hunter Biden laptop saga leave some wondering if the political landscape has merely shifted lanes rather than destinations with the 2024 election.

Trump’s voters were promised more than secure borders. Experienced Border Patrol officers anticipated a comprehensive strategy involving the U.S. Armed Forces actively to surveil and secure national borders, airspace, and waters—providing law enforcement and counterterrorism support. Yet, a clear, sustained plan remains elusive.

On foreign policy, Trump pledged to end costly military interventions lacking strategic benefit to the American people. Instead, his administration has continued and expanded policies resembling those of the Biden administration, including proxy conflicts with Russia and a muted response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel’s regional ambitions threaten to entangle the U.S. in prolonged conflict, draining fiscal and material resources. Expectations of reducing wasteful foreign spending and refocusing the military on hemispheric defense have been largely unmet.

Immigration was another cornerstone of Trump’s campaign. Voters expected decisive action to expel millions of illegal aliens who were not admitted for their skills in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Many believe the Biden administration’s open-border policies aimed to build a political base that could entrench left-wing dominance in Washington, DC—a dominance that might prove difficult to reverse through elections alone.

While no one expected an overnight solution, Trump’s supporters anticipated a serious strategy. The President has the authority to deploy Federal Marshals and the National Guard to systematically address illegal immigration, yet no such comprehensive plan has emerged. Moreover, Trump’s recent openness to amnesty for millions has alarmed many supporters, who see it as a betrayal of core promises and a threat to the American Republic’s future.

Economically, Americans feel the impact of inflation, immigration, and economic uncertainty daily. The dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency has long allowed U.S. administrations to pursue expansive fiscal policies with relative impunity. Yet many hoped Trump would curb this trend.

That hope remains unfulfilled. The failures of initiatives like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside the shortcomings of earlier efforts such as the Simpson-Bowles Plan and the Grace Commission, underscore the persistence of deficit spending. The recent passage of the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill signals a continued willingness to expand federal expenditures rather than rein them in.

Today, the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 120 percent—nearly double what it was before the 2008 financial crisis. Rising Treasury yields suggest Washington may be entering a dangerous “debt doom loop.” Financial leaders like J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon warn of a potential “crack in the bond market” that could trigger a realignment in the global economic order. Meanwhile, the emergence of BRICS as a potential post–Bretton Woods monetary alternative heralds another possible shift in global power dynamics.

In short, Washington is hurtling toward a sovereign debt crisis, escalating foreign wars, and potential domestic unrest without a clear path forward. While President Trump did not create these challenges alone, he now bears responsibility for addressing them. His campaign promises of accountability, transparency, and fiscal reform have yet to be realized. The proverbial buck stops with his administration.

The Epstein case, whether a brief distraction or a harbinger of deeper turmoil, underscores the fragility of public trust. When the French monarchy collapsed, the ensuing revolution unleashed years of violence and chaos. Few Americans wish to see anything similar unfold here.

Trump would be wise not to dismiss the erosion of confidence in his administration and the broader political class as a passing phase. Diverse, multicultural societies like ours require careful stewardship to maintain social cohesion. The incendiary violence witnessed in the summer of 2020, and the forces behind it, have not disappeared.

For much of American history, the average citizen has remained unaware of the complex battles beyond their borders or inside the Washington beltway. Yet Epstein’s proximity to Trump, beyond the allegations themselves, has struck a nerve—highlighting the deep anxieties about elite power and moral decay.

Like the Parisians of 1789, Americans respond powerfully to appeals that honor virtue and condemn vice. It would be a grave mistake for Trump to ignore the impact of the Epstein scandal, especially as it coincides with his administration’s failure to fulfill key campaign pledges.

For conservatives committed to order, liberty, and national renewal, the path forward is crystal clear. Leadership must restore public confidence by confronting elite excess, securing borders, ending futile wars, and pursuing fiscal discipline. Only then can America avoid the fate of Versailles on the Potomac.

The post Versailles on the Potomac appeared first on The American Conservative.

Is Israel Losing American Christians? 

Posted on by patriotsheart
Foreign Affairs

Is Israel Losing American Christians? 

Attacks on Christians in the Holy Land have sparked backlash in America. 

Mike Huckabee Visits Israel

As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, enables settler violence in the West Bank, and launches strikes on Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, American conservatives are taking special note of one form of Israeli belligerence: attacks on Christians in the Holy Land. 

An Israeli tank last week shelled the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three and gravely wounding several. Over in the West Bank, settlers in recent weeks have intensified their attacks on Christian communities, including in the town of Taybeh, where they set cars aflame and erected a sign that read “there is no future for you here,” among other indignities.

Many American Christians, including high-profile MAGA influencers, have had enough—jeopardizing one of Israel’s most vital bases of Western support.

The former congressman Matt Gaetz, host of a popular show on One America News, has used the platform to put Israel on blast. In one segment this week, Gaetz highlighted the harassment of Christians by Israelis, including the desecration of holy sites. The Times of Israel last week noted other criticisms of Israel that Gaetz has leveled, depicting them as “a sign of a change in right-wing public opinion in the US surrounding Israel’s actions against Palestinians.”

The Times was right to see Gaetz’s escalating rhetoric as part of a broader shift. The podcaster Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire said last week that his support for the Jewish state was waning, and he questioned Israel’s claim that the recent church attack in Gaza was an accident. “I’ve been broadly supportive of the state of Israel, not really as an ideological matter, but as a matter of prudence, and you’re losing me, you’re losing me,” said Knowles, a devout Catholic.

Even the U.S. ambassador to Israel and former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee—“as strong a supporter of the state of Israel as there is,” Knowles observed—has lambasted Israeli mistreatment of Christians. 

After the settler rampage in Taybeh, Huckabee toured the Christian Palestinian town and spoke with community leaders, who told him of an arson attack two weeks ago that imperiled a historic church in the area. The ambassador seemed to take their message to heart. “Desecrating a church, mosque or synagogue is a crime against humanity & God,” Huckabee wrote on X Saturday.

In another post days earlier, Huckabee reacted to brutal murders outside the West Bank village Sinjil, where settlers beat to death two Palestinians, including an American citizen who had been visiting family and friends in the occupied territory. “There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote.

The ambassador has directed his ire not only against Israeli settlers but also Israeli officials. In a letter to the interior minister, Huckabee warned, citing Israel’s systematic denial of visas for evangelical missions, that he could declare the Jewish state no longer welcomes Christians. He even threatened to order reciprocal measures targeting Israelis travelling to America.

Israel can’t afford to lose the ambassador. Following Huckabee’s pushback, the visa dispute was swiftly resolved, meaning American Christians can resume their Holy Land tours.

And soon, many MAGA influencers will get the chance to see the land where Jesus walked. “The Israeli Foreign Ministry will fund a tour of Israel for U.S. social media influencers affiliated with the Make America Great Again and America First brands of conservatism,” reported Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, on Sunday. 

It’s no surprise that the Israeli government sees a growing need to launch a new influence campaign. Pro-Israel voices, including Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League, have expressed alarm about the precipitous decline in support for Israel around the world, including in America. The purpose of the new initiative, Haaretz noted, will be to encourage MAGA influencers “to disseminate messaging that aligns with the Israeli government’s policy.”

The PR strategy isn’t new. Israel has long courted America’s Christian conservatives, hosting tours of cherished Biblical sites. Since at least the premiership of Menachem Begin in the 1970s, the Israeli government has viewed American evangelicals as a strategic asset and sought to keep them onside. America’s pro-Israel lobbying groups have followed suit, cultivating relationships with evangelical leaders.

Historically, Israeli outreach has paid off, helping evangelicals and American conservatives broadly become perhaps the most vocal non-Jewish supporters of Israel in the Western world. But Israel’s “Hasbara”—public diplomacy intended to polish its image abroad—may be losing force. 

Scholars at Northeastern University last year found a stark generational gap in Americans’ support for the Jewish state. A Pew Research survey published this April corroborated that research, finding that a slim majority of U.S. adults express an unfavorable opinion of Israel, with Americans under 50 markedly less supportive of the country than Baby Boomers. Both studies noted that the generational divide showed up in both parties. 

During the first Trump administration, the Washington Post was already reporting that younger Republicans, including evangelicals, were more wary of Israel than their older counterparts.

You don’t need to pore over polling crosstabs to detect the change in opinion. Earlier this month, the podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson delivered a rousing speech to an audience of young, largely Christian conservatives. When Carlson declared that Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender and disgraced financier, had been an Israeli intelligence asset, the crowd applauded.

Some Protestant Gen-Xers and Millennials have continued defending Israel, but they are meeting increasingly fierce pushback. A Twitterstorm erupted over the weekend after Joel Berry, managing editor of the Babylon Bee and a pro-Israel Protestant, seemed to rationalize the church attack in Gaza. “This won’t be easy for people to hear, but there are only about 200 professed Catholics still living in Gaza and they all support Hamas,” Berry wrote. Other Christians pounced, and the post was promptly “ratioed,” receiving more comments than likes. 

While the ensuing clash seemed to pit Catholics against Protestants, not all of Berry’s critics were members of the Roman church. “Joel’s takes on this have been horrific but they are his own ideology, please do not attribute his beliefs to evangelicals,” wrote Auron MacIntyre of the Blaze. “As an evangelical I don’t think Israel gets a blank check to destroy Catholic churches or kill their parishioners.”

Of course, social media doesn’t always reflect public opinion in meatspace, and right-wingers on X tend to be more Israel-critical than normie conservatives in the suburbs. But harsh criticisms of Israel by both Huckabee and another Mideast envoy, America’s Ambassador to Syria Thomas Barrack, show that the recent backlash hasn’t been the exclusive purview of online influencers.

White House officials who view the region from afar have also lost patience. “Bibi acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time,” one official told Axios, using Netanyahu’s nickname. According to a second White House official, President Donald Trump called Netanyahu after the shelling of Gaza’s only Catholic church to demand an explanation.

As cracks emerge on the American right over Israeli militarism and mistreatment of Christians, the Jewish state faces a harrowing situation, one that is largely of Netanyahu’s making. 

Ever since the Barack Obama years, Netanyahu has reacted to America’s intensifying polarization by siding with the red team—a tactic that many Israelis have criticized for alienating Democrats. Throughout the Gaza war, which Netanyahu has treated as a chance to hold onto power, the GOP has remained a vital partner of the Jewish state amid a rapid decline in its popularity worldwide. But even here, the trend lines don’t look good for Israel. 

Over the next few years and decades, as the old Republican guard gives way to younger MAGA leaders, America’s “greatest ally” may find itself friendless on the world stage. If that day comes, Israelis will look back on Netanyahu not as “Mr. Security,” as he now is known, but as the prime minister who led Israel into a perilous geopolitical predicament. 

The post Is Israel Losing American Christians?  appeared first on The American Conservative.

The Lingering Death of Late-Night TV

Posted on by patriotsheart
Politics

The Lingering Death of Late-Night TV

Stephen Colbert’s ouster reflected a growing mismatch between format and content.

New,York,,Ny,-,March,9,,2023,-,Stephen,Colbert

Before there was a search for the liberal Joe Rogan, there were questions about why there was no liberal Rush Limbaugh.

In between his comedy and political careers, Al Franken had a reasonably successful liberal radio talk show, augmented by books like Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, which, whatever you thought of them on the merits, were definitely a liberal answer to Limbaugh’s The Way Things Ought to Be and See, I Told You So.

But generally speaking, liberal talk radio tanked. Air America, which included Franken, folded in under six years. Al Gore’s Current TV, which was a bit more diverse in its offerings than Air America and was aimed at the youths of the day, lasted a little over eight years before being acquired by Al Jazeera.

Liberals generally liked to flatter themselves that they had higher-brow tastes than their conservative counterparts, which is why they didn’t need to spread their politics on the AM dial in between commercials for Ovaltine and powders that alleviate “male itch.” (Don’t ever confuse the two.)

Conservative talk radio grew out of the Reagan-era demolition of the Fairness Doctrine, which mandated something approximating “equal time” in political commentary. Both it and Fox News were genuine market responses to a softer liberal dominance of the rest of the news and entertainment world, aided by deregulation, capitalizing on underserved audiences.

But there it turned out there was a market for overtly liberal, lower-to-middle-brow commentary to the left of Dan Rather, and without the patina of objectivity. It just turned out that liberals preferred such commentary to be delivered through the Voice of God (if you’ll pardon the expression!) or with a sense of ironic detachment.

Liberals like to fancy themselves as either dissidents or the establishment. All Things Considered for the straitlaced, comedians for the slightly edgy, The View for barely room-temperature Democratic talking points delivered with little subtlety or nuance and essentially no (intentional) humor.

That’s where Stephen Colbert comes into play. The liberal equivalent of talk radio took over not just a pair of cable news networks, but also invaded late-night television: the one-sided ridicule of politicians based on party, the revolving door of guests from the same political persuasion, the relentless mockery of the political outgroup. 

While conservative talk radio took over the risk-averse programming on a lot of stations and filled a gaping hole in the media ecosystem at the time, its liberal equivalent took over a preexisting format that was already in decline because of changing television consumption habits and made it narrower. 

The only thing shows like Colbert’s retained from those of previous generations was the ability to attract top-tier guests from the entertainment industry. (Colbert is a capable interviewer when he wants to be.) When Limbaugh had a night TV show to complement his syndicated radio program, he wasn’t going to get Hollywood actors or sitcom stars to join him outside of a small niche. (Yet it is difficult to imagine Limbaugh responding to a personal, professional, or electoral setback with something quite like this.)

Colbert blew even that advantage by having so many Democratic elected officials come on as guests. You might want to listen to Sen. Adam Schiff on a Sunday morning panel show or a cable news hit. He is not the greatest fit for a late-night comedy show; he is not especially witty even by Washington standards.

There is a market for what Colbert is selling. Hunter Biden could probably become a star in these circles too. But, regardless of what you think about President Donald Trump’s handling of the Paramount settlement or the company’s proposed merger with Skydance, there is probably a better, less money-losing way to reach that audience than by riding the corpse of David Letterman’s longtime show.

The desire for another progressive amen corner, the decline of appointment television, the rise of “clapter,” and the desire of bored comedians to reinvent themselves as political pundits for Democratic dittoheads conspired to bring down a once-storied television tradition. 

Politics, of course, has the potential to ruin everything. If I were a comedian moonlighting as a political talk show host, I might even make a modest suggestion: stop hurting America. 

The post The Lingering Death of Late-Night TV appeared first on The American Conservative.

Greg Gutfeld Dominates Late Night Ratings as CBS Axes Money-Losing Late Show With Colbert

Posted on by patriotsheart

Screencap from YouTube.

The left is still melting down over the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. They can’t seem to grasp that he was losing millions of dollars for CBS. He had to go and it was long overdue. Now even Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel are worried about losing their jobs.

You know who’s not worried at all? Greg Gutfeld.

The Gutfeld! show is produced with a tiny fraction of the budget and staff that Colbert has, and yet Gutfeld! consistently turns in fantastic ratings, often eclipsing all of the other late night shows, despite being on cable rather than a major network.

FOX News reports:

Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld dominates late-night television ratings as CBS ends Colbert’s ‘Late Show’

Colbert discussed CBS’ reasons for canceling the show on Monday, asking, “How could it purely be a financial decision if ‘The Late Show’ is No. 1 in ratings?”

However, Fox News Channel’s “Gutfeld!” is actually the most-watched late-night program on television and has outdrawn Colbert for 21 straight months among total viewers and 13 months in a row among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54.

The shows air at different times; “Gutfeld!” airs at 10 p.m. ET, while Colbert’s begins at 11:35 p.m. ET and is No. 1 among network late-night comedy programs.

In 2025, “Gutfeld!” averaged 3.1 million viewers through July 20, compared to 1.9 million for CBS’ outgoing “Late Show.” During that same time period, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” averaged 1.5 million, NBC’s “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” averaged 1.1 million, and NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” managed 751,000.

When it comes to the key demo, “Gutfeld!” averaged 398,000 of the viewers most coveted by advertisers, compared to 288,000 for Colbert…

“Gutfeld!” has also outdrawn all late-night offerings among younger viewers, averaging 248,000 adults aged 18-49 compared to 188,000 for Colbert, 175,000 for Kimmel, 160,000 for Fallon and 113,000 for Meyers.

Greg is even taking shots at Colbert on his show. Take a look below:

Colbert is now at the point where he is just lashing out at Trump and others. Does anyone believe he is going to last until his contract is up next May? He’s probably going to quit in a rage at some point.

The post Greg Gutfeld Dominates Late Night Ratings as CBS Axes Money-Losing Late Show With Colbert appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.