Month: June 2026

McCarthy was right!

Roger Stone wrote a piece this weekend noting that McCarthy was right.

Here is a segment from his post.

Joseph Raymond McCarthy was a United States Senator from Wisconsin who rose to national prominence in the early 1950s because he dared to confront a reality that much of the American establishment preferred to ignore. He believed communism was not merely a foreign threat but an internal one. McCarthy understood that America’s adversaries did not always arrive in military uniforms or foreign armies. Sometimes they arrived through institutions, ideas, influence networks, and political movements that slowly reshaped public opinion and government policy from within.

His fight took place during one of the most dangerous periods in modern history. Joseph Stalin controlled Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain. Mao Zedong had consolidated communist rule over China. The Soviet Union had successfully penetrated American institutions through espionage networks that reached into the highest levels of government. Communist parties, front organizations, propagandists, and fellow travelers operated throughout the Western world.

The release of the Venona decrypts confirmed extensive Soviet espionage inside the United States government. Former communist courier Whittaker Chambers provided firsthand testimony and documentary evidence on his book “Witness”. Bella Dodd, once a prominent Communist Party organizer, later described deliberate efforts to infiltrate labor unions, educational institutions, and even religious organizations. What many dismissed as conspiracy theories often proved to have substantial factual foundations. In fact, she was quoted with stating, “When I was organizing for the Communist Party back in the 1930s, I helped place over a thousand communist men in Catholic seminaries”.

I speak with some personal knowledge of this history because I was fortunate enough to know Roy Cohn, Senator McCarthy’s chief counsel and closest lieutenant. Roy was my mentor and my friend. He was brilliant, fearless, relentless, and utterly unwilling to be intimidated by conventional wisdom. Roy believed subversive movements thrived on ambiguity. He demanded specificity. Who are you? What did you do? Where did you do it? When did you do it? Why should the American people trust you with influence and power? These simple questions often proved devastating because they forced witnesses to confront facts rather than hide behind slogans and abstractions. Roy understood that polite surrender is simply a slower form of defeat. He believed dangerous ideas should be exposed before they become entrenched. Whether one agreed with every tactic he employed is beside the point. He recognized that institutions rarely police themselves and that uncomfortable truths often require uncomfortable questions.

One of the most controversial figures McCarthy targeted was Owen Lattimore. Lattimore was a prominent writer and adviser for the State Department on Far Eastern affairs who exerted significant influence on policy discussions concerning China. McCarthy argued that Lattimore’s influence consistently benefited communist interests while undermining anti-communist allies. The establishment dismissed such concerns as reckless accusations. Yet the broader question remains relevant today. How much influence should unelected intellectuals, academics, and policy experts exercise over decisions that affect the fate of nations? Author M. Stanton Evans’ book “Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America’s Enemies” delves into Lattimore and the State Department quite extensively. It’s a book I recommend every American read and then read it again. If you’re one of those whose opinion of Senator McCarthy is negative, I promise you’ll be persuaded to change your thinking about McCarthy and HUAC upon reading M. Stanton Evans’ book.

The lessons of that era remain relevant because communist strategy has always depended more on influence than force. The objective was never simply military conquest. The objective was cultural and institutional transformation. Capture education. Capture entertainment. Capture journalism. Capture bureaucracy. Capture language itself. Convince citizens that traditional beliefs are outdated and that centralized authority is necessary for progress. This strategy has proven remarkably successful. Universities that once celebrated intellectual diversity increasingly enforce ideological conformity. Corporate America often embraces political agendas that would have been considered radical only a generation ago. Major media organizations frequently function as political actors rather than neutral observers. Hollywood continues to shape cultural narratives that often portray faith, patriotism, and traditional institutions as objects of suspicion rather than sources of strength.

Even religion has not been immune. Liberation Theology emerged in Latin America by blending Christian language with Marxist political theory. Its critics argued that it shifted Christianity’s focus away from salvation and toward political revolution. They contended that it transformed the Gospel into a vehicle for class struggle. Whether one accepts that critique or not, the tension between Christianity and Marxism remains obvious. One places God at the center of human life. The other places political power at the center.

Perhaps nowhere is the cultural battle more visible than in entertainment itself. Consider the two cinematic portrayals of the apparitions at Fatima. The 1952 Warner Brothers film “The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima” explicitly and accurately referenced the Blessed Virgin Mary’s warning that Russia would spread its errors throughout the world. The film reflected the historical reality that the Fatima message emerged against the backdrop of the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of international communism. By contrast, the 2020 film “Fatima” removed references to Russia and communism entirely. The historical warning remained, but the specific ideological context largely disappeared. Whether one views that omission as artistic choice or cultural revisionism, the contrast is striking. Remove the villain and the warning loses much of its force. Remove the historical context and future generations lose their understanding of why the warning mattered. This is how cultural memory is often transformed. Not through censorship alone but through omission, revision, and selective emphasis. .

See more here at the Stone Zone

Here’s a related tweet:

He knew

He knew everything

McCarthy was rightpic.twitter.com/RwyQIuH6g0

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) June 29, 2026

 

The post ROGER STONE: McCarthy Was Right appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

While radical leftists wave rainbow flags and corporate America virtue-signals its way through another forced Pride Month, real America is saying ‘ENOUGH.’

A bombshell new Gallup Poll reveals the transgender movement – the most aggressive, reality-denying faction of the LGBTQ+ push – has hit a wall.

Moral acceptance of “changing one’s gender” has plunged to just 38%, down from 46% in 2021. Broader support for the agenda is sliding fast. The American people are waking up.

And nowhere is this backlash more visible than on the baseball diamond, where grown men are finally refusing to be bullied into celebrating biological males invading women’s sport, locker rooms, and – most outrageously – the bodies of confused children.

MLB Players Strike Back; First Amendment vs. Woke Compelled Speech.

This Pride Month, the mask came off. Players across MLB and the minors said “no” to rainbow jerseys and patches. The York Revolution flat-out forfeited a game because not enough players would wear the Pride-themed uniforms. San Francisco Giants pitchers wrote Bible verses on their caps – and MLB responded with warnings, sparking DOJ and EEOC investigations into religious discrimination. Sen Josh Hawley, R-MO, and others called it what it is: an assault on faith and free speech.

What does MLB think it’s doing penalizing players for their Christian faith?

They owe us some answers. Right now. pic.twitter.com/yDPmjC6SMZ

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 16, 2026

These athletes aren’t “bigots.” They’re standing on biological truth and constitutional rights. The Texas Rangers, to their credit, skipped the nonsense entirely with a Faith and Freedom Night instead. The silent majority of fans cheering.

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-GA, specifically pointed to the trans community as the group that’s losing support. He wasted no time putting the trans community on the spot:

“I think that’s the part that is, that’s lost support because I think people realize it’s perverse to the point where you’re infringing on women when they can’t compete in good faith with other women, when they can’t go to the locker room and be around just women the way it was intended,” McCormick told TGP in an exclusive interview.

WATCH: @RepMcCormick tells the @gatewaypundit he believes the transgender community is losing support because they “infringe” on women’s rights pic.twitter.com/vgw84hqQYC

— Myles Morell (@MorellMedia) June 26, 2026

McCormick went even further by suggesting that the trans community is infringing on women’s rights to “enforce their own desires.”

“You have two groups of special interests. One of them is women who’ve been around forever and who have demanded their rights. We’ve fought for their rights. And the other is this fringe group that really has gone outside the boundaries of nature to infringe on another group.”

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-TN, went even harder: “They’re protected under the Constitution, and they just rub it in everyone’s face with these trans shows and these mentally ill men that are going, dressing up like women that are going into little girls restrooms and stuff, and competing in sports,” Burchett told TGP in an exclusive interview.

Rep. @timburchett calls transgender women “mentally ill men.”

He goes further to say that the trans community keeps “pushing the envelope” and that even “middle of the road people can’t stand it anymore.”

Exclusive interview for the @gatewaypundit. pic.twitter.com/4b3i6CcEGK

— Myles Morell (@MorellMedia) June 27, 2026

Burchett also believes that support for the trans community will only continue to decrease over time. “Because they’re gonna keep pushing and pushing to the point of being so obnoxious to even just middle-of-the-road people that they just can’t stand it anymore.”

That’s not hate. That’s common sense. The Real Scandal: Muttilating Kids and Erasing Women. The Transgender ideology’s greatest crime is targeting America’s children. Puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries – what President Trump rightfully called “chemical and surgical mutilation.” His executive orders in early 2025 cut off federal funding for these horrors against minors. Dozens of hospitals have since paused or stopped youth transitions under pressure. The Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban. Over two dozens states have drawn the line.

Biological males – with XY chromosomes, male muscle mass, and male skeletal structure – continue to dominate women’s sports, stealing scholarships, records, and safety from actual females. Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order and the NCAA’s policy shift were long-overdue corrections to this madness.

Democrats and activists still defend this insanity. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, told TGP in an exclusive interview that he blamed “Donald Trump” and “far-right tadicalization.” Rep. Marc Veasey, D-TX, cried about money from “two white males that are gay” in an exclusive interview with TGP and even confirmed he stopped rooting for the Texas Rangers over a historical statue.

Sen. @JohnFetterman expresses his supoort for the LGBTQ community, but believes that MLB players should not be forced to wear any LGBTQ themed patches.

Fetterman then invites the @gatewaypundit to stop by his office to showcase his LGBTQ flag. pic.twitter.com/Sxlgrek2WJ

— Myles Morell (@MorellMedia) June 27, 2026

Sen. John Fetterman, to his credit, at least admitted players should have the choice – while proudly flying the rainbow flag outside his office. Fetterman then invited the TGP to check out the LGBTQ flag outside his office.

The Tide is turning, but democrats refuse to admit it.

The post EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Lawmakers Blast Trans Agenda as Gallup Poll Shows Support COLLAPSING During Pride Month – MLB Players Refuse to Comply appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

 

The “Free Palestine” movement has remained silent on the arrest, torture, and murder of anti-Hamas protesters in Palestine. The violence and repression committed by the Hamas terrorist organization against Palestinian civilians throw a wrinkle into its narrative blaming Israel and President Trump for all of the suffering in Gaza. The protests also dispel claims by the American left that Gazans want to be ruled by Hamas or that Hamas is the legitimate governing authority.

For the second time in little more than a year, Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets demanding an end to Hamas rule. According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Hamas’s approval rating fell from 52 percent in December 2023 to 43 percent by May 2025. The demonstrations, organized as the “June 26 Peaceful Revolution,” reflected growing anger over nearly two decades of Hamas control, the devastation of the war, and allegations of corruption and repression.

The protests were organized across 18 locations throughout the Gaza Strip. Demonstrators called on Hamas to disarm and transfer civil administration to a transitional governing authority.

Hamas responded with a sweeping crackdown. Security forces arrested organizers, kidnapped suspected participants, threatened demonstrators, and used mosques to denounce the protests before many rallies could begin. Armed operatives arrested Gazans in the streets, seized mobile phones, restricted movement around displaced persons camps, and rounded up others at hospitals.

Although the crackdown prevented large-scale demonstrations in many areas, hundreds of Palestinians defied the threats and publicly called for Hamas’s removal.

In the days preceding the protests, Hamas launched what activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza-born Palestinian now living in exile in the United States, described as an “industrial-scale campaign of terror, intimidation, interrogation, and blackmail” against thousands of Gazans who had planned to participate.

Hamas also provided itself religious cover for the crackdown. The Fatwa Committee of the Association of Palestinian Scholars issued a ruling declaring the demonstrations “a criminal movement,” accusing participants of assisting Israel and advancing objectives Israel had failed to achieve through military force. Participation could therefore be treated as collaboration with Israel, a crime punishable by death under Hamas rule.

On the day of the protests, Hamas police, intelligence units, and al-Qassam Brigade militias deployed throughout the Strip. Armed operatives were positioned near planned gathering points, civilian movement around displaced-person camps was restricted, and cellphones were confiscated from people identified with the protest calls. Observers reported that “The atmosphere on the ground was one of clear pressure.”

“Every attempt at public organization was met immediately by the presence of security forces.” Hamas supporters framed the measures differently, claiming they were intended “to protect public order and prevent chaos during wartime.”

Hamas used Gaza’s hospitals as detention and interrogation centers. Detentions were reported at four facilities: Al-Shifa, Nasser, Al-Ahli Arab, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals.

Alkhatib identified Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, as a Hamas intelligence hub. According to him, Hamas security officials summoned people to the hospital, interrogated them, threatened them, and placed them under house arrest inside the facility.

Al-Qassam Brigades operatives, Hamas police, and internal security officers warned detainees that if they posted anything supporting the protests or assisted demonstrators, they would be “executed under revolutionary conditions” and treated as collaborators with Israel. They were told there would be no trial, no due process, and immediate execution.

Hamas warned journalists not to cover the protests. Its affiliated media outlets published footage of empty intersections and declared the “Failure of the June 26 Revolution.” Streets in Khan Younis, Al Qarara, and Al Nasr were described as eerily quiet.

On social media, Hamas-aligned accounts claimed the protest movement was orchestrated by IDF Arabic-language spokesman Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee. They portrayed the demonstrators as Israeli agents, the same collaboration accusation Hamas used to justify extrajudicial executions. Critics inside Gaza rejected the claim.

“There is a harsh reality on the ground,” one social media user wrote. “The attempt to silence every critical voice only deepens the crisis.”

Despite the crackdown, hundreds took to the streets carrying signs reading, “God willing, Hamas out,” “We are not pawns,” and “We want to live.”

The June 26 action was the second major wave of anti-Hamas unrest in little over a year. Between March and August 2025, protests erupted across Gaza demanding Hamas relinquish power and end the war with Israel. Hamas executed six Gazans and publicly flogged or kidnapped others who participated, with some remaining missing.

The fate of 22-year-old Uday Al Rabbay illustrated the cost of dissent. Kidnapped shortly after taking part in a protest, his body, covered in blood, was returned to his family’s doorstep days later as a warning against further demonstrations. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Hamas beat reporters and photographers and threatened their lives and families to suppress coverage.

The suppression is carried out by dedicated internal security units operating outside any legal process. A UN report found that Hamas’s Sahm Unit and Radaa Force killed at least 60 civilians in Gaza during 2024 and 2025.

During the 2017 and 2019 protest waves, Hamas security forces used violence, arrests, and intimidation to suppress demonstrations driven by Gaza’s economic conditions. During the current war, Hamas shifted to less visible methods. It carried out arrests and executions behind the scenes while avoiding open street confrontations, in part to reduce its exposure to Israeli strikes and limit international scrutiny.

Protest organizers appealed to governments, journalists, and human rights organizations to monitor events closely, warning that participants had already become targets of intimidation before the protests began.

“The right to peaceful assembly and political expression is a foundational civil liberty,” they wrote. “The population of Gaza is entitled to exercise this right without fear of violent reprisal.”

American liberals are unlikely to protest in favor of Hamas stepping down because the movement’s narrative is built around Israeli culpability and American support for Israel. Hamas’s removal disrupts that frame. The United States and Israel have both demanded that Hamas disarm and relinquish governance. Any liberal who echoes that demand is, in effect, agreeing with Israel and the Trump administration, a politically untenable position.

This is compounded by the left’s romanticization of Hamas as an anti-colonial resistance movement. Gazans demanding Hamas’s removal force an acknowledgment that Hamas is also an oppressor, undermining years of messaging.

Mainstream and left-leaning media have given minimal coverage to the anti-Hamas protests. As a result, most American liberals are unaware they are taking place. Where the protests have received attention, Hamas’s portrayal of the demonstrators as Israeli agents has been repeated in pro-Palestinian circles in the West, delegitimizing the movement before it could gain traction abroad.

Organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine are ideologically aligned with Hamas’s political program. They cannot support calls for Hamas’s removal without fracturing their own coalitions. The result is that the people of Gaza demanding freedom from Hamas rule receive almost no solidarity from the Western left that claims to speak on their behalf.

The post American Liberals Silent as Hamas Crushes Anti-Hamas Protests appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Utah’s biggest wildfire is still moving fast through bone-dry forest, and officials say the danger is far from over.

Quick Take

• The Cottonwood Fire has grown into the largest active wildfire in the United States.
• Utah officials say the fire is human-caused, but the exact ignition source is still under investigation.
• Governor Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency and expanded fire restrictions across the state.
• Homes, cabins, roads, and forest land have all been affected, while containment remains at zero percent.

Fire Grows Across Two Counties

The Cottonwood Fire has burned tens of thousands of acres across Beaver and Piute counties and has reached major structures near Eagle Point Resort. KUTV reported that the fire was last mapped at 71,848 acres with zero percent containment, while the Associated Press said it blackened a parched landscape as winds pushed the blaze across canyons and slopes^[9][5]. Fire crews are still fighting extreme conditions.

That spread has made the fire a live test of Utah’s emergency system. Reports say authorities have ordered evacuations or readiness notices for nearby communities, while also closing Fishlake National Forest and State Highway 153 in affected areas^[3][5]. Fire managers have also faced power shutoffs meant to reduce the chance of electrical ignition, a move that protects some people but also disrupts daily life for many others^[3][7].

Cause, Response, and Public Frustration

State officials now say the Cottonwood Fire is human-caused, even though some early reports said the cause had not yet been determined^[1][3][5]. That gap matters because it shapes public trust. When people hear one thing at first and another later, they often wonder who knew what, and when. Utah fire officials have also stressed that most fires in the state are caused by people, not lightning^[3][5].

Governor Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency and said the blaze could become the most destructive and costly fire in state history^[5][10]. The state also restricted fireworks through July 5 after an executive order expanded the State Forester’s power to act during the danger period^[1][4]. Supporters call that a needed safety step. Critics may see it as another sign that regular governance only moves when crisis hits.

What Crews Still Do Not Know

Even with a large response, key facts remain missing. KUTV reported that the total number of properties destroyed was not yet available, and damage checks at Eagle Point Resort were still incomplete because of the fire’s intensity^[3][9]. That leaves residents in a hard position. They know the fire is serious, but they do not yet know the full bill in homes, cabins, and lost local business.

Cottonwood Fire, Utah — the fire front has reached a high-voltage transmission corridor.
Sentinel-2, June 20 → 23: the perimeter advances onto the line west of Beaver.
It has since grown past 92,000 acres — the nation’s largest active wildfire. Rocky Mountain Power… pic.twitter.com/ts333VX8Zp

— The Orbit Desk (@TheOrbitDesk) June 28, 2026

The broader picture is familiar across the West. Dry fuel, strong winds, and human ignition can turn a single spark into a regional emergency. In Utah, where state officials have said human-caused fires make up most incidents, the Cottonwood Fire fits a pattern that frustrates both sides of the political divide^[3][5]. Many Americans want fewer rules until a fire starts, then more action after the damage is done.

Sources:

[1] YouTube – Largest wildfire in the US spreads through tinder-dry forest in Utah

[3] Web – Cottonwood Fire, the largest in the US, spreads overnight, forcing …

[4] Web – Uncontained Cottonwood Fire burns 92,000 acres in Southern Utah

[5] YouTube – Utah’s Cottonwood Fire could be the worst in state’s history

[7] YouTube – Cottonwood Fire, nation’s largest wildfire, burns 92,000 acres in …

[9] Web – Photos capture nation’s largest Cottonwood Fire, its extensive damage …

[10] YouTube – The “Cottonwood Fire” is Becoming One of the Most Destructive Fires …

As first reported at Campus Reform, “The University at Albany (UAlbany), part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, has continued to fund inclusion-focused projects through its ‘Division of Inclusive Excellence’ office, offering individual grants up to $4,000 for initiatives centered on equity, belonging, and social justice through 2026.”

In other words, they refuse to comply with the executive order from President Trump against DEI.

WOKE remains a major problem on many campuses, with SUNY Albany being one of many.

“The public university’s ‘Inclusive Excellence Transformation Awards’ provide funding for projects designed to promote what the university describes as ‘a campus climate of equity.’”

University materials say the awards support “new or ongoing programs” focused on “historically underrepresented groups,” and advancing “the university’s mission of fostering diverse and inclusive excellence.”

This Woke DEI ideology was rejected by America at the polls, yet despite that, the schools continue in many cases to promote this.

“In 2026, the university selected six projects to receive Inclusive Excellence funding.”

“With grants worth up to $4,000 each, the university could distribute as much as $24,000 through the initiative.”

The university is shown to have directed grant funding to DEI programs such as “addressing inequities in hair care, education, access, and health for people with curly hair types.”

“Other projects include programming related to immigrant experiences, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, Black literature, and poverty.”

The grants come through their DEI Division of Inclusive Excellence.

“The division also says it provides “professional development for faculty and staff related to cultural competency, civility, equity and inclusion” while supporting the recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty, staff, and students.”

While they may be smart enough to avoid the DEI label, it is DEI in all but name.

President Trump remains committed to reigning in Wokeness and ending DEI, but sadly, academia in many cases remains committed to Woke and un-American ideology.

The post Insanity: SUNY Albany Continues To Offer up to $24K for ‘equity,’ ‘belonging,’ and social justice projects appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Evangelist Mario Murillo, who has been preaching since the Jesus People movement in the 1960s, said his ministry just experienced the “greatest nights” of his long career.

It happened in Stockton, California, where what was to be a four-night crusade extended into four weeks.

“From our vantage point, these were the greatest nights of our tent crusade history,” Murillo said in a statement to The Western Journal.

In a Facebook post last week, the ministry wrote, “Night after night, hundreds responded to the Gospel and gave their lives to Christ — and the healing power of God moved through the crowd in remarkable ways, touching people with all manner of sickness and disease. All glory belongs to Him.”

In a blog post, Larry Rutledge with Murillo’s team wrote following the last day of the crusade on June 18, “For 52 days a tent sat on a property in Stockton, a city a lot of people had written off, and on the final night the crowd was the largest of the extended run.”

The audience was filled with young people from Generation Z and others of all ages.

As I write about in the new edition of my book “We Hold These Truths: The Two Beliefs That Still Hold the Power to Transform the Nation and the World,” America appears to be in the midst of a revival, which many are praying will lead to a reformation in culture and government.

My new book, “We Hold These Truths: The Two Beliefs That Still Hold the Power to Transform the Nation and the World,” is out, and it could not be more timely with #America250 and the rise of socialism. The book hits key moments in US history from the founding to today!… pic.twitter.com/Ot0pWyKcag

— Randy DeSoto (@RandyDeSoto) June 25, 2026

In April 2025, Barna polling revealed that 66 percent of Americans said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus, which marked a 12 percent increase since 2021. The population of America in 2025 was 342 million, meaning there were apparently about 40 million new believers.

“This shift is not only statistically significant — it may be the clearest indication of meaningful spiritual renewal in the United States,” Barna said.

And Gen Z is leading the resurgence in church attendance, averaging twice per month, the highest of any of the generations in the U.S., according to Barna.

Murillo told the thousands gathered at his final tent meeting in Stockton last week, “You are the miracle that America needs right now.” People clapped and cheered in response, and some called out “Preach!” as a pianist played, revival-style, in the background.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what I’m going to tell you next is so important, I’ve waited I don’t know how many years to get to this,” Murillo added. “Do you know what it’s like when God takes matters into His own hands? He did it during the Revolutionary War. We had a great awakening that none of the churches wanted.”

“In an awakening, God pours His Spirit out on the secular community without the church’s permission,” he said. “It’s happened several times.”

Murillo offered the example of the church’s founding in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. It came despite the religious leaders of the time’s desires for the status quo.

“God is pouring out His Spirit,” he argued, saying that’s the reason thousands are coming to his tent revival meetings.

Murillo prayed at the end of the meeting, “God save America by millions of young people coming out of the hellholes, coming out of darkness, who don’t even know who they are or why they feel the way they do. Let them rise up and silence CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the cultural political establishment.”

 

The evangelist concluded that “20 years from now, if Jesus tarries, they’re going to remember the 52 days that this tent sat on this property.”

I’ve attended multiple Murillo crusades, including in Hanford, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

As I write about in my book at the tent meeting in Hanford in 2022, there was a live filming of the Christian commentary show, “Flashpoint,” during which the panelists spoke on the importance of America experiencing both a revival and a reformation.

Murillo said, “There are two things that God is doing. One is in the body of Christ [the church], and another is in the community of the mountains of influence… the political, the business community, education, entertainment — the Christians that are in that world.”

He argued that the two streams must come together to impact culture, those inside and those outside the church.

Murillo and fellow panelist Lance Wallnau put their money and time where their mouth was in 2024, hitting the seven key swing states, including Arizona, with tent meetings aimed at not just revival, but also reformation.

The purpose of the meetings was to unify and to activate Christians to get involved in the 2024 election cycle. And their work, along with Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA and many others, helped carry Donald Trump to a seven-state sweep.

And that victory brought reformation in policies regarding the recognition that there are just two genders — which the Bible affirms — not to mention border security, pro-growth capitalist economic policies, and greater freedom of speech and religion.

Those past tent meetings that I attended were powerful, so it is more than encouraging to see that Murillo’s crusades are only growing in power and influence.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post It’s Happening: CA Revival Extends for Weeks, ‘Greatest Nights’ in Over 50 Years of Evangelist’s Crusades appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

America

The United States Was a Miracle

The system of the Founders has been sold for the crass comforts of empire.

The Declaration of Independence and Constitution were miracles born of unique political and cultural circumstances unlikely ever to recur.  

They celebrated and honored separation of powers pitting ambition against ambition—a structural  bill of rights to prevent executive branch tyranny.  The crown jewel was the exclusive monopoly of the war power by Congress. It has no incentive to declare war except in self-defense against an aggressor that had already broken the peace—unlike the executive. During wartime, the law falls silent. During wartime, secrecy, speed, and energy are paramount.  As Napoleon put it, “One bad general is better than two good ones.” During wartime, infinite power migrates to the president under the banner of national security, including the power to play prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner over any person said to be an imminent or future threat. Congress becomes a spectator like an extra in a Cecil B. DeMille cinematic extravaganza.   

Thousands of years of history substantiated James Madison’s timeless teaching:

War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement. In war a physical force is to be created, and it is the executive will which is to direct it. In war the public treasures are to be unlocked, and it is the executive hand which is to dispense them. In war the honors and emoluments of office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage under which they are to be enjoyed. It is in war, finally, that laurels are to be gathered, and it is the executive brow they are to encircle. The strongest passions, and most dangerous weaknesses of the human breast; ambition, avarice, vanity, the honorable or venial love of fame, are all in conspiracy against the desire and duty of peace.

Hence it has grown into an axiom that the executive is the department of power most distinguished by its propensity to war: hence it is the practice of all states, in proportion as they are free, to disarm this propensity of its influence.

Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 8 observed that war ultimately crucifies liberty:

Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.

Madison was even more emphatic on that score:

Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

  All previous dispensations prior to the Constitution had endowed the executive with the power to commence war.  The predictable result was constant war for the sake of war.  About the Roman Empire, for example, Joseph Schumpeter wrote,

There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not Roman, they were those of Rome’s allies; and if Rome had no allies, then allies would be invented. When it was utterly impossible to contrive such an interest—why, then it was the national honor that had been insulted. The fight was always invested with an aura of legality. Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbors, always fighting for a breathing space. The whole world was pervaded by a host of enemies, and it was manifestly Rome’s duty to guard against their indubitably aggressive designs. They were enemies who only waited to fall on the Roman people.

The Ottoman Empire was at war every day during its five century existence.  The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors openly fought for the sake of fighting and conquering.  War is the greatest scourge of mankind. Even geniuses like Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud were clueless as to a remedy or deterrent.

Mankind, nevertheless, naturally inclines towards executive despotisms earmarked by constant wars to escape the burdens of self-government and moral responsibility. Mankind prefers bread and circuses and easy promises of heaven by self-proclaimed leaders—religious, political, or otherwise.  The Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov put it this way in response to a putative second coming of Jesus:

“You came empty-handed with nothing but some vague promise of freedom, which, in their simple-mindedness and innate responsibility, men cannot even conceive and which they fear and dread, for there has never been anything more difficult for man and for human society to bear than freedom…. I tell You once more that man has no more pressing, agonizing need to find someone to whom he can hand over as quickly as possible the gift of freedom.”

The American Declaration of Independence was thus a miracle.  The 56 signatories celebrated freedom. They signed their death warrants to secure unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness secured by government by the consent of the governed. They denounced taxation without representation. They proclaimed a duty to overthrow tyrannical governments to “institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”  

The signatories were an historical aberration. They were elite, learned intellectual leaders who had been victims of limitless executive power.  They could run circles around the British ruling class, for example, the periodically deranged King George III or the witless Prime Minister Frederick, Lord North. In contrast to typical sociopathic, narcissistic politicians, the 56 wished to bequeath to posterity liberty, freedom, and dignity for all by risking and giving that last full measure of devotion.  John Adams exclaimed, “Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.” 

The Constitution—largely the brainchild of Madison, the Isaac Newton of political science—safeguarded the unalienable individual rights sacralized in the Declaration through separation of powers, a structural bill of rights, pitting ambition against ambition to prevent any political faction from oppressing another.  Most important on that score was assigning the war power to Congress, not the president, to prevent chronic wars from obliterating liberty and the march of the mind in favor of raw military power and the armored knight.  In 1878, British Prime Minister Lord Gladstone, a towering intellect, effusively praised the Constitution as “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” 

The Declaration and Constitution were born when the United States was untempted by an empire marked by chronic, pointless wars, which requires a Caesar in lieu of separation of powers as elaborated above. America then lacked the necessary economic and military sinews and manpower for global domination.   

But by 1898, the United States had become an economic, industrial superpower.  Its army and navy had grown by leaps and bounds, fueled by Alfred Mahan’s superficial Influence of Sea Power upon History.  There was no philosophical or intellectual elite to replace the authors of the Declaration and Constitution and keep their wisdom alive.  President William McKinley and Assistant Secretary of Navy Theodore Roosevelt were political novices compared to George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. 

In that fateful year, the United States struck a Faustian bargain:  abandon liberty and the opportunity to march to your own drummer as the nation’s glory for an American Empire dominating the world by military force. Thus, Hawaii was annexed, and the Spanish American war occasioned the conquest of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico; Cuba became a de facto satellite; and additional military unconstitutional presidential interventions ensued in Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.  

The rest is history. Ever since, limitless constitutional powers, including the war power, steadily migrated from Congress to the President with little or no popular or congressional resistance. The President is now crowned with more unchecked power over American citizens than George III asserted over American colonists that provoked the American Revolution.  The president assassinates opponents like a character from The Godfather. The president initiates pointless wars. The president spends or refuses to spend funds appropriated by Congress. The president picks and chooses which laws to enforce, and initiates frivolous prosecutions or retribution against his political detractors. The president operates in secrecy. The President conducts dragnet spying against the “not-yet-guilty” in violation of the Fourth Amendment.  The United States Supreme Court placed the president above the law in Trump v. United States (2024).  Constitutional illiteracy among the rulers and the ruled is epidemic. 

We have passed the point of no return.  The Declaration and Constitution were the high-water mark of civilization—peace, liberty, and prosperity, notwithstanding their dark side, i.e., slavery, the exclusion of women, the oppression of religious minorities, and the horrific maltreatment of Native American Indians.  America’s system was a miracle overcoming human nature’s insatiable hormonal cravings for power, wealth, sex, celebrity, creature comforts, and certainty in the face of indeterminacy.  

Only Dr. Pangloss could discover anything optimistic about the future of the United States or mankind on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The post The United States Was a Miracle appeared first on The American Conservative.

Foreign Affairs

What Will the Iran War Mean?

There is cause for cautious optimism in the memorandum of understanding.

The Iran War may be entering its final phase, though the durability of any ceasefire remains uncertain. So who won? It’s complicated.

Much of the discussion of the war’s meaning, even as it drags on, focuses on how it has already damaged Donald Trump politically. But the talk now is almost exclusively about how the war’s failure will help Democrats crush the Republicans in November. That misses at first that any missteps, any failures, and any successes are America’s to reckon with from now on, not simply some trite shot at a hated president. Wars belong to the nation, not to a particular administration. It may have once been called Johnson’s and Nixon’s war, but the Vietnam vets who still suffer today are America’s. The outcome of the Iran War should not be hooted and cheered as if it were another simple downturn in the polls. Lost in the pile-on is a more important question: What did the war achieve? The answer may lie in the 14-point memorandum of understanding that could mark the end of the fighting. 

History, as always, will be the final judge (as it will judge whether Barack Obama’s or Trump’s agreement was better) but the text of the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran points in a possible positive direction. If the MOU can be translated into actual day-to-day relations, it opens the door for a new pattern for two countries that have been at war with each other for decades in a multigenerational regional power struggle.

Chief among the hopeful parts of the MOU is Paragraph Eight, which states in part, “The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpiled, enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in Paragraph 7, with the minimum methodology to be down-blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA.” If this works, it means no nukes for Iran. It would sharply limit Iran’s ability to coerce its neighbors and alter the regional balance of power. It means ending the apocalyptic threat to Israel, always a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. It means no future strikes by the U.S. or Israel to brush back Iranian nuclear plans. It means no Iran with fissionable material to sell or barter globally. Yes, the MOU wording is vague in places (but quite specific in others), and yes, the Iranians have cheated on past agreements. But if Paragraph Eight can be effectively implemented, it will justify the recent war by preventing future ones.

Another critical part of the MOU is Paragraph 7, which explains, “The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal.” This paragraph joins several others regarding the release of Iranian assets held in U.S. banks and the removal of restrictions on Iran selling oil on the global market as the carrot for the no nukes pledge (the stick, of course, being the reimposition of sanctions backed up by B-2s). The heavy sanctions Iran has faced since the 1979 Islamic Revolution have raised the price of everything inside the country and basically control the consumer economy. For example, after the reimposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018, Iranian oil exports fell sharply from roughly 2.5 million barrels per day to well under 1 million barrels per day for a period. Sanctions restricted Iran’s access to foreign currency and the international banking system, weakening the rial. This has made imports more expensive and fueled inflation. Sanctions have all but shut off large-scale foreign investment, restricted access to needed medical and civilian aviation technology, and reduced trade.

What decades of sanctions have not done is stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions. Removing sanctions, in measured stages as Iran complies piece by piece with the no-nukes pledge, will reintroduce Iran into the world economy. Peaceful trade with other nations has been at the center of the world order the United States created following the Second World War. Success here could possibly replace Obama’s Libyan no-nukes disaster (surrendering strategic weapons leaves a regime vulnerable to later coercion) with a lesson that Cuba and North Korea might take note of.

There is one loaded gun in the MOU, something which could cause the rest of the agreement to fail. One hopes the final agreement between the U.S. and Iran dramatically revises Paragraph 5, which states, “Upon the signing of this M.O.U., the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf.” It is possible to understand the U.S. conceding to this faint language at this stage to secure the rest of the agreement, but it is critical that after the final deal Iran not control the strait by any means, including some sort of fee, insurance, or toll system.

Granting any measure of control of the strait to Iran would set a catastrophic precedent. After the Second World War Washington created a world economic system that depended in large part on the United States Navy safeguarding global freedom of navigation, a principle that underpins international trade and economic stability today. With a forward-deployed presence in key maritime chokepoints and with carrier groups in all oceans, the world’s most powerful navy ensures that sea lanes remain open in accordance with international law. No other nation comes close to being able to play such a role. Europe’s sea power has not been able to do so since the collapse of the British Empire, and China lacks the blue-water navy and extensive worldwide base network to try. It would be strategically devastating for America to follow the regional empowerment of Iran through its failures in Iraq and Afghanistan by handing over a global lever of control. The opening of the Strait of Hormuz cannot become a bargaining chip. The consequences will extend far beyond the Middle East, reshaping the global order in ways the United States may not be able to reverse.

This war with Iran is not over, but it has reached a stage where its ultimate significance can be decided. The MOU and what happens next show that the war need not be a waste, and that the outcome is still in play even as the guns fall silent. The verdict lies not on the battlefield but in whether the MOU survives implementation—a verdict that, as yet, remains unwritten.

The post What Will the Iran War Mean? appeared first on The American Conservative.

Foreign policy

Will the GOP Let Trump Get Back on Track?

Some Republicans appear to value the Iran War more than their jobs.

President Donald Trump was “mad as a murder hornet” at the handful of Senate Republicans who voted to defy him on Iran war powers.

So said Sen. John Kennedy, the quotable Louisiana Republican, of the Senate GOP luncheon that by all accounts devolved into a foodfight. 

Trump had kinder words for his Iranian negotiating partners after the meeting than he did for Republican senators who refuse to pass the SAVE Act. Some Republicans, including anti-interventionist stalwart Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, agreed to change their votes to bolster Trump’s bargaining position now that the White House is seemingly committed to ending the war.

Less understandable is the far greater number of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are angry at Trump and especially Vice President J.D. Vance for attempting to extricate our country from this mess. For it is these members of Congress who are most likely to lose their seats, committee chairmanships, majorities, and perhaps even their careers if the Republican message headed into the midterm elections is war si, affordability no. 

Inflation zipped back up to 4.1 percent in the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge, more than double the rate the central bank deems necessary for basic price stability. After cooling over the past several years, including at the beginning of Trump’s second term, a war-induced spike in energy prices has brought inflation roaring back to its highest level since Joe Biden had it running at or near a 41-year high. 

As off-message as Trump’s complaints about the bipartisan housing bill were, the war is driving the current affordability crisis. Voters are getting so fed up that they are even turning to socialists to make things more affordable. It is worth remembering that without the Iraq War, Democrats would never have had the majorities necessary to pass the Affordable Care Act. 

The voters who put Trump over the top and gave Republicans control of the Senate in 2024 were not casting their ballots for higher inflation and more foreign wars. Nor was that what Trump delivered in his first term, despite taking a hard line against the ayatollahs, shredding Barack Obama’s version of an Iran nuclear deal, applying maximum pressure, and striking Qasem Soleimani. 

Trump left office with inflation at 1.4 percent, below the Fed’s long-term target, and leaving no new wars to his successor in Iran or elsewhere. 

No such luck this time around. But Trump and Vance are trying to get out of this ditch or at least stop digging, if only the legislators whose jobs might be saved in the process would quit handing them shovels and demanding they dig deeper.

If Vance’s diplomacy is so preemptively awful, why didn’t the war Lindsey Graham wanted strengthen his bargaining positions? Suddenly, the hawks no longer sound as confident that past strikes have degraded the Iranian military or delayed its nuclear program.

But either these American-Israeli military actions have had some success in this area, in which case it would be useful context for even a deeply flawed agreement, or not, which would raise questions about the effectiveness of continuing the war indefinitely.

Just as some Democrats insist that failed government programs would succeed if taxpayers were a little more patient and willing to spend additional dollars, some Republicans maintain every stalled foreign intervention would turn into a resounding victory if the federal government could “stay the course” and “finish the job.”

The jobs most likely to be finished if this advice is heeded belong to Republicans representing battleground states and swing congressional districts. 

Make no mistake: It is always nice to see politicians believe in something deeply enough to risk electoral defeat over it, even if they are prioritizing threat inflation over the type of inflation that remains on voters’ minds.

But there is nothing wrong with the voters having other priorities, after several years of rampant inflation and more than two decades of wars of choice that came to unsatisfactory conclusions. Americans dislike and distrust the mullahs. But they are most worried about their moolah. 

Vance’s intraparty detractors should realize that if voters are still talking about the war in Iran rather than domestic issues in November, much less 2028, Democrats are going to have to nominate the world’s most crazed Marxists for Republicans to have a chance.

That is the regime change Republicans should be fighting to avoid at the moment, from now until November.

The post Will the GOP Let Trump Get Back on Track? appeared first on The American Conservative.

According to Campus Reform, “The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is offering students a $7,000 stipend through its “Dream Summer” fellowship, a summer program that trains participants in immigrant rights advocacy and social justice activism.”

In other words, UCLA is rewarding illegals for law-breaking.

“The university describes the fellowship as a program that “positions immigrant youth as agents of change within the immigrant rights movement” and “empowers immigrant youth to become the next generation of social justice leaders.”

This program practices discrimination, as has sadly become the norm at many universities.

Woke credentials come before academics at this school.

”We strongly encourage and prioritize applications from undocumented applicants who identify as LGBTQIA+, Black, API, and/or Indigenous, as well as other individuals directly impacted by the immigration system,” the fellowship website states.

In other words, at UCLA, ‘Straight White men need not apply.’

“Fellows receive a $7,000 award, leadership training, professional development opportunities, and access to a nationwide network of social justice activists.”

“UCLA states that the program partners with more than 265 social justice organizations nationwide and receives between 500 and 800 applications annually.”

Sadly, woke ideology and DEI are still very much entrenched in many universities.

Immutable traits are now very important, according to some in academic institutions like UCLA.

”Over the summer, fellows engage in and lead social justice efforts by aligning the call for immigrant rights alongside the unique challenges of queer and transgender communities, Asian and Pacific Islander communities, and Black immigrant communities,” the fellowship website states.

Although the majority of Americans have rejected it,  DEI and wokeness remain a major problem at academic institutions.

Discrimination against any group in academia, including against White people, is un-American and prejudiced.

One can hope the Justice Department will look into this and that such programs, which favor certain ethnic or other groups, will come to an end.

The post Illegal! University Of California Los Angeles Prioritizes Illegal Aliens for $7,000 Immigration Activism Summer Fellowship appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.