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Is The American Pendulum Swinging Back To Reason? Maybe, But It Will Be A Long Fight

Is The American Pendulum Swinging Back To Reason? Maybe, But It Will Be A Long Fight

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

It should…

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Is The American Pendulum Swinging Back To Reason? Maybe, But It Will Be A Long Fight

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

It should be considered an embarrassment for the states and districts involved, but the 2022 midterm elections are still being counted as I write this. In some cases, ballot drop boxes, mail-in ballots and “malfunctioning” voting machines have created a suspicious fog of uncertainty, and the uncertainty always seems to work in the favor of the political left.

Needless to say, some kind of change needs to happen – The majority of Americans are aware that ongoing trends of national deconstruction cannot be allowed to continue. Even the people that refrain from voting are watching the elections, just to see if the momentum of the country has shifted even a little. And, many people who tend to refrain are on the independent/libertarian side of things.

Times change and circumstances evolve, even if some people are too bitter or jaded to see it. The old guard Neocons trained in the Chicago school by Leo Strauss along with the acolytes of Irving Kristol are losing favor among conservative voters and many are dying out. The era of Bush family politics is going extinct; they were never conservative anyway.

What is left behind is a kind of philosophical stew – A mixture of libertarians, independents, Republicans and patriots that don’t necessarily affiliate with every aspect of the GOP but they will vote for a candidate with a strong stance against the woke propaganda and globalism of the political left. That’s what they are looking for.

For example, Ron DeSantis and his epic win in Florida shows us that the GOP is now being forced to address real conservative issues and concerns, whether they like it or not. Because if they want to win big like DeSantis they will have to start promoting the same policies and arguments as DeSantis. Republican candidates that don’t will not succeed, at least nowhere near the same level.

Many people assume that Trump was the impetus for this new wave of conservatives which has abandoned the Neocon coup. But in reality, the wave started at least a decade ago and we are only now beginning to see the results. Trump rode the wave, he didn’t create it.

Despite the claims of the mainstream media, there was indeed a red wave this year, but at the state level and in terms more subtle.

I consider keeping my own state red a matter of urgency. Montana conservatives recently witnessed what happens when we get lazy about voting leftists out of power. Our governor at the beginning of the covid event was Steve Bullock, a Democrat posing as a “middle of the road” pro-gun, pro-freedom guy. But when the federal government’s calls for mandates hit, Bullock followed right along with all other blue state politicians in trying to enforce unconstitutional restrictions and was incredibly malicious towards groups questioning such policies.

In 2020, we booted him out of office and most Democrats along with him. We learned our lesson – Keep the state red because in the event of crisis these people will exploit the situation to steal power and assert dominance.

I’ve had a lot of folks tell me over the years that voting is irrelevant and that conservative leaders at the state and county level would fold and submit to the whims of the feds when the time came for our liberties to be stripped away. These people were wrong.

The time did come; the pandemic was the perfect opportunity for establishment authoritarians to take all that was left of our freedoms forever. They certainly tried with all the tools available to them, including the controlled corporate media, big tech social media platforms, federal bureaucracy, etc. We passed within a short breath of full-spectrum tyranny.

The covid cult failed and they failed because red states across the country refused to comply, from the voters to the politicians. Conservative state leaders did not “fold” as many predicted, which means there is a chance to fight back on a level beyond defending our front porches with guns in hand.

At the very least, the actions of red states have bought us more time, and that is a precious commodity in an era of quickly escalating crisis. The situation is not quite as dire as I believed many years ago, and not as definitive as many liberty activists believe now. The end is not nigh. Our efforts are having an effect.

Am I putting blind faith in the elections? No. But there is valuable information to be derived from the elections and some of it tells a story of a country battling back from the brink of progressive insanity. Here are just a few factors to consider after the midterms:

Conservatives Were Out In Force

While the media constantly mentions a higher turnout for young voters this season, the real news is that conservatives had at least 3.5 million more voters overall than Democrats. Since the leftists are so fond of majority rule, it is interesting to point out the separation in active voters.

It is also odd that Democrats continue to declare “victory” in 2022 given they lost control of the House of Representatives. How can they declare a win when they came out the other side of the election with less than they had before?

Florida Sweep

Ron DeSantis crushed leftists in Florida based on a very vocal anti-woke, anti-establishment platform. He proved that this is what Americans want. Not middle of the road, not riding the fence or trying to be diplomatic, but remaining steadfast and uncompromising in the face of irrational zealotry and underhanded agendas.

Some people in the liberty movement have their complaints about DeSantis, but what I’m looking at is results and he has done more to stop the woke agenda in his state than any other state in the country. He also stood firm against covid authoritarianism. Results are what matter most.

The “Blue Invasion” Threat Was A Lie

All the wailing and screaming I heard over the past two years about leftists relocating into red states during covid and changing the demographics was complete nonsense. I’ve been saying since the pandemic began – Leftists don’t move away from their hive and they aren’t taking over red states, at least not in the past few years. The latest midterms prove that the fear of “blue invasion” was pure paranoia. If anything, in Montana we saw far more conservatives escaping blue states to live somewhere they felt was safe.

After this election I don’t want to hear another half-baked theory about the Dems turning Texas or Florida or other strong red states to the dark side.

The Abortion “Blue Wave” Never Happened

Remember after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade the number of media outlets proclaiming that conservatives would be destroyed during the elections? Apparently, average Americans are not as concerned with the “right” to kill babies as they had assumed. States that have moved to ban abortion are not facing a blue wave and these laws will most likely remain in place.

This fact upends a long running narrative in the mainstream than any attempt to stop abortion is doomed to failure and that any political candidate that supports banning abortion would be soundly defeated. The narrative was merely a scare tactic to create a false consensus.

Ballot Harvesting And Mail-In Options Always Favor Democrats

One could debate the reasons why, but the Democrat tactic of relying on non-traditional voting methods always works in their favor. There is also the issue of potential voter fraud when it comes to mail-in ballots and ballot harvesting, as we are currently seeing investigated by the Attorney General of Arizona. The only way to be sure that such sabotage does not occur is to do what Florida did and require most voters to appear at polls in person.

In battleground states where this is not an option, it would seem that conservatives are going to have to learn the ballot harvesting game that Democrats play and use the tactic against them.

Americans Place The Economy Above All Other Concerns

Regardless of how the elections pan out, public polling before the midterms consistently revealed that the majority of Americans are worried about inflation and economic decline above all else, and the social issues that leftists typically run on are at the bottom of the list.

This means that the longer the economic crisis goes on the more Dems in power will be questioned about their solutions. It is perhaps ironic that leftists are so keen to hold onto government control when they are only going to continue to take the bulk of the blame for the continuing economic fallout.

They have no plan, and they don’t intend to do anything about it except spend more money they don’t have, which is what caused the crisis in the first place. At least conservative candidates are acknowledging the threat; leftists still refuse to admit the threat exists.

I believe the economic danger will continue to grow, and there is little that can be done about it with Democrats still clinging to the Senate and with Biden in the White House. Which means the work will fall to individual states to protect themselves from the shock. I suspect that in the end red states will survive while blue states implode.

Is our cultural pendulum swinging back to reason? Yes, I see signs of it everywhere, but the fight ahead is going to be long and arduous. It’s not just the globalists that we have to contend with, it’s the woke activists and useful idiots within our population that need to be diminished. It took decades for us to get to the terrible spot we are in as a society and it will most likely take decades to get us out of it. That said, there is hope. Over time this fight can be won and there a many millions of us at the ready.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden Mon, 11/21/2022 - 16:20

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Government

Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union…

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Angry Shouting Aside, Here's What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union address - in which he insisted that the American economy is doing better than ever, blamed inflation on 'corporate greed,' and warned that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to the republic.

But in between the angry rhetoric, he also laid out his 2024 election platform - for which additional details will be released on March 11, when the White House sends its proposed budget to Congress.

To that end, Goldman Sachs' Alec Phillips and Tim Krupa have summarized the key points:

Taxes

While railing against billionaires (nothing new there), Biden repeated the claim that anyone making under $400,000 per year won't see an increase in their taxes.  He also proposed a 21% corporate minimum tax, up from 15% on book income outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% (which would promptly be passed along to consumers in the form of more inflation). Goldman notes that "Congress is unlikely to consider any of these proposals this year, they would only come into play in a second Biden term, if Democrats also won House and Senate majorities."

Biden also called on Congress to restore the pandemic-era child tax credit.

Immigration

Instead of simply passing a slew of border security Executive Orders like the Trump ones he shredded on day one, Biden repeated the lie that Congress 'needs to act' before he can (translation: send money to Ukraine or the US border will continue to be a sieve).

As immigration comes into even greater focus heading into the election, we continue to expect the Administration to tighten policy (e.g., immigration has surged 20pp the last 7 months to first place with 28% in Gallup’s “most important problem” survey). As such, we estimate the foreign-born contribution to monthly labor force growth will moderate from 110k/month in 2023 to around 70-90k/month in 2024. -GS

Ukraine

Biden, with House Speaker Mike Johnson doing his best impression of a bobble-head, urged Congress to pass additional assistance for Ukraine based entirely on the premise that Russia 'won't stop' there (and would what, trigger article 5 and WW3 no matter what?), despite the fact that Putin explicitly told Tucker Carlson he has no further ambitions, and in fact seeks a settlement.

As Goldman estimates, "While there is still a clear chance that such a deal could come together, for now there is no clear path forward for Ukraine aid in Congress."

China

Biden, forgetting about all the aggressive tariffs, suggested that Trump had been soft on China, and that he will stand up "against China's unfair economic practices" and "for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Healthcare

Lastly, Biden proposed to expand drug price negotiations to 50 additional drugs each year (an increase from 20 outlined in the IRA), which Goldman said would likely require bipartisan support "even if Democrats controlled Congress and the White House," as such policies would likely be ineligible for the budget "reconciliation" process which has been used in previous years to pass the IRA and other major fiscal party when Congressional margins are just too thin.

So there you have it. With no actual accomplishments to speak of, Biden can only attack Trump, lie, and make empty promises.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 18:00

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Government

Jack Smith Says Trump Retention Of Documents “Starkly Different” From Biden

Jack Smith Says Trump Retention Of Documents "Starkly Different" From Biden

Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Special…

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Jack Smith Says Trump Retention Of Documents "Starkly Different" From Biden

Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Special counsel Jack Smith has argued the case he is prosecuting against former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified information is “starkly different” from the case the Department of Justice declined to bring against President Joe Biden over retention of classified documents.

(Left) Special counsel Jack Smith in Washington on Aug. 1, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images); (Right) Former President Donald Trump. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Prosecutors, in responding to a motion President Trump filed to dismiss the case based on selective and vindictive prosecution, said on Thursday this is not the case of “two men ‘commit[ting] the same basic crime in substantially the same manner.”

They argue the similarities are only “superficial,” and that there are two main differences: that President Trump allegedly “engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of documents” and the “evidence concerning the two men’s intent.”

Special counsel Robert Hur’s report found that there was evidence that President Biden “willfully” retained classified Afghanistan documents, but that evidence “fell short” of concluding guilt of willful retention beyond reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors argue the “strength of the evidence” is a crucial element showing these cases are not “similarly situated.”

Trump may dispute the Hur Report’s conclusions but he should not be allowed to misrepresent them,” prosecutors wrote, arguing that the defense’s argument to dismiss the case fell short of legal standards.

They point to volume as another distinction: President Biden had 88 classified documents and President Trump had 337. Prosecutors also argued that while President Biden’s Delaware garage “was plainly an unsecured location ... whatever risks are posed by storing documents in a private garage” were “dwarfed” by President Trump storing documents at an “active social club” with 150 staff members and hundreds of visitors.

Defense attorneys had also cited a New York Times report where President Biden was reported to have held the view that President Trump should be prosecuted, expressing concern about his retention of documents at Mar-a-lago.

Prosecutors argued that this case was not “foisted” upon the special counsel, who had not been appointed at the time of these comments.

“Trump appears to contend that it was President Biden who actually made the decision to seek the charges in this case; that Biden did so solely for unconstitutional reasons,” the filing reads. “He presents no evidence whatsoever to show that Biden’s comments about him had any bearing on the Special Counsel’s decision to seek charges, much less that the Special Counsel is a ’stalking horse.'”

8 Other Cases

President Trump has argued he is being subjected to selective and vindictive prosecution, warranting dismissal of the case, but prosecutors argue that the defense has not “identified anyone who has engaged in a remotely similar battery of criminal conduct and not been prosecuted as a result.”

In addition to President Biden, defense attorneys offered eight other examples.

Former Vice President Mike Pence had, after 2023 reports about President Biden retaining classified documents surfaced, retained legal counsel to search his home for classified documents. Some documents were found, and he sent them to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Prosecutors say this was different from President Trump’s situation, as Vice President Pence returned the documents out of his own initiative and had fewer than 15 classified documents.

Former President Bill Clinton had retained a historian to put together “The Clinton Tapes” project, and it was later reported that NARA did not have those tapes years after his presidency. A court had ruled it could not compel NARA to try to recover the records, and NARA had defined the tapes as personal records.

Prosecutors argue those were tape diaries and the situation was “far different” from President Trump’s.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had “used private email servers ... to conduct official State Department business,” the DOJ found, and the FBI opened a criminal investigation.

Prosecutors argued this was a different situation where the secretary’s emails showed no “classified” markings and the deletion of more than 31,000 emails was done by an employee and not the secretary.

Former FBI Director James Comey had retained four memos “believing that they contained no classified information.” These memos were part of seven he authored addressing interactions he had with President Trump.

Prosecutors argued there was no obstructive behavior here.

Former CIA Director David Petraeus kept bound notebooks that contained classified and unclassified notes, which he allowed a biographer to review. The FBI later seized the notebooks and Mr. Petraeus took a guilty plea.

Prosecutors argued there was prosecution in Mr. Petraeus’s case, and so President Trump’s case is not selective.

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger removed five copies of a classified document and kept them at his personal office, later shredding three of the copies. When confronted by NARA, he returned the remaining two copies and took a guilty plea.

Former CIA director John Deutch kept a journal with classified information on an unclassified computer, and also took a guilty plea.

Prosecutors argued both Mr. Berger and Mr. Deutch’s behavior was “vastly less egregious than Trump’s” and they had been prosecuted.

Former White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx had possession of classified materials according to documents retrieved by NARA.

Prosecutors argued that there was no indication she knew she had classified information or “attempted to obstruct justice.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 17:40

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International

United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

Shutterstock

United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

More Travel:

"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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