Tag: democrats

Our Democracy™: The Democratic Weaponization Of Government And The Need For Decentralization

Reading Matt Taibbi’s summary how the Democrats weaponized the government against Donald Trump, starting before the election of 2016 and proceeding right up to the present moment, I am reminded once again that the issue is not democracy but “Our Democracy™.”

That is, the Democrats and their deep-state allies in the media and the myriad bureaucracies that actually run the country believe that democracy means “rule by Democrats.”  As Taibbi puts it, “To ‘protect democracy,’ democracy is already being canceled. We just haven’t admitted the implications of this to ourselves yet.”

This is true. Hence the plethora of handwringing articles warning that Donald Trump is a “dictator”-in-waiting, a new Hitler, a refurbished Mussolini who, should he be reelected, will mobilize the military to impose his will on a hapless American populace. Taibbi quotes from a December 2023 “strategy memo” in which Biden’s puppeteers describe Trump as “an existential threat to democracy.”

It sounds absurd.  It is absurd.  But, as I and many others have pointed out, that is the story we are being asked to swallow. This is the logic:

Trump is a “threat to democracy.”

Ergo, we must use “any means necessary” to keep him off the ballot.

Otherwise, people might vote for him, and that would be “bad for democracy.”

The arrogance of this gambit is breathtaking. It assumes, with Liz Cheneyesque smugness, that ordinary people cannot be entrusted with so important a task as electing their leaders. Only anointed saviors like Liz Cheney can do that. But alongside the arrogance of the we-have-to-destroy-democracy-in-order-to-save-it mindset is the chilling revelation of the extremes to which the people in power are willing to go in order to preserve their prerogatives. They will, for example, censor any opinion they do not like as “malinformation,” i.e., an opinion that might be true but is not consistent with The Narrative. It all adds up to what I have called “the Sovietization of America.”

What, as Lenin famously asked, is to be done?

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Democrats urge Biden administration to deschedule marijuana

Senate Democrats are putting new pressure on the Biden administration to ease federal restrictions on marijuana in a new letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday as it considers rescheduling cannabis after it was federally classified more than five decades ago.

The Department of Health and Human Services formally recommended in August that the DEA move the drug from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, or CSA, prompting a monthslong review, which continues.

The letter, from 12 senators led by Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., and signed by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., goes further.

“The case for removing marijuana from Schedule I is overwhelming. The DEA should do so by removing cannabis from the CSA altogether, rather than simply placing it in a lower schedule,” the senators wrote in the letter, first obtained by NBC News.

Rescheduling the drug or removing it entirely would have significant implications for the marijuana industry and for cannabis users, some of whom consume it for medical purposes.

Since 1971, cannabis has been under Schedule I, the highest classification of the CSA, along with drugs like heroin and LSD, which the government formally considers to have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

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Democrat Cori Bush under DOJ investigation for misuse of security funds

The Justice Department is investigating Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) for possible misuse of funds surrounding her personal security.

Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman released the news Tuesday, citing six sources familiar with the investigation. Thus far, the DOJ has subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records about the funds being spent, Sherman reported.

The allegations date back to 2021 when Bush was accused of hypocrisy after making defund the police demands while spending nearly $70,000 on private security in the wake of the Jan. 6 attacks.

“You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die? You know, because that could be the alternative,” she responded.

CNN reported a ruling from the Federal Elections Commission in March 2021, which said that campaign funds could be spent on such services. There were approximately two dozen lawmakers who spent more than $1,000 on personal security after the attacks on the Capitol.

But Bush spent more than any other lawmaker, the FEC reports cited by CBS News showed. She was also accused of hiring her then-boyfriend, now husband, to provide the security, raising ethical concerns.

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‘Dangerous’: Pelosi calls for FBI to investigate cease-fire supporters

As The New York Times reported Sunday that more than 1,000 Black American pastors have joined the widespread call for a cease-fire in Gaza, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi suggested the demand was “Putin’s message” and said the FBI should investigate groups that are speaking out about Biden’s pro-Israel policies.

On CNN, the former House speaker, a California Democrat, told Dana Bash that the “call for a cease-fire is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s message,” and said she thinks some of the protests that have erupted across the U.S. since October to demand the U.S. push for an end to Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza “are connected to Russia.”

“I think some financing should be investigated and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that,” Pelosi said.

A number of progressives pointed out that the demand for a cease-fire is hardly coming from the fringes of American society, but rather from more than two-thirds of Americans in a November poll by Reuters/Ipsos. Three-quarters of Democrats in the survey backed a cease-fire, along with half of Republicans.

The Times detailed calls from more than 1,000 Black pastors who represent hundreds of thousands of congregants across the U.S. and who have written open letters and spoken to White House officials at sit-down meetings in support of a cease-fire, warning that “it’s going to be very hard to persuade our people to go back to the polls and vote for Biden.”

The Intercept reporter Prem Thakker pointed to other groups supportive of the call, including the Democratic parties of Arizona and Texas; the United Auto Workers, which endorsed Biden last week; and Doctors Without Borders.

Writer and researcher Abdullah Shihipar denounced Pelosi’s comments as “stupid,” but was among those who cautioned against dismissing her plan to ask the FBI to “investigate” certain pro-Palestinian rights protesters and groups.

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Democrats Urge Joe Biden to Seize Control Over Texas National Guard Amid Border Dispute

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is steadfast in asserting the state’s right to defend its borders against invasion.

This stance has led to a growing dispute with the Biden regime and prompted some Democrats to call for Joe Biden to federalize Texas National Guard as the debate over border security intensifies.

On Wednesday, Abbott released a comprehensive declaration condemning the Biden administration for neglecting federal immigration laws and compromising the contractual agreement between the federal government and individual states.

“President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense,” said Abbott.

“For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary,” he added.

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Bridgeport Democrat Mayor Wins Race After His Associate Is Caught Stuffing the Local Ballot Drop Boxes with Bags of Ballots

Mayor Joe Ganim won another victory on Tuesday in the Bridgeport, Connecticut special election for the Democratic primary for mayor. Ganim quickly claimed victory after winning the in-person tally by 274 votes.

In November a local judge overturned the initial primary election after Wanda Geter-Pataky, the Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic Town Clerk and a vocal supporter of incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim,  was caught on video stuffing the ballot drop boxes with dozens if not hundreds of absentee ballots.

So Mayor Ganim won again on Tuesday against John Gomes in the Democrat primary.

Superior Court Judge William Clark ordered a new election to be held, citing bombshell video evidence of election fraud as the basis for his decision. The ruling has far-reaching implications, not just for Bridgeport but for the entire country, as it sets a precedent for ongoing and future cases involving mail-in ballot fraud.

The Gateway Pundit reported in September that mayoral candidate John Gomes’ campaign released a damning video showing evidence of election fraud in the Bridgeport Democratic primary. The video has prompted an investigation by the Bridgeport Police Department for “possible misconduct.”

The video on the Gomes campaign’s Facebook page shows a woman dropping stacks of ‘illegal’ ballots into an absentee ballot box outside the Bridgeport government center, where the city’s Registrar of Voters office is located.

The Gomes campaign was able to identify the woman in the footage as Wanda Geter-Pataky, the Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic Town Clerk and a vocal supporter of incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim, who is seeking reelection. Gomes’ campaign claims that the video shows Geter-Pataky dropping off stacks of absentee ballots ahead of the September 12th primary.

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Chuck Schumer Attacks Lifesaving Zyn Nicotine Pouches

Less than three months after launching an attack on energy drinks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) has a new target: Zyn nicotine pouches.

In a press release Sunday, Schumer labeled Zyn a “quiet and dangerous” alternative to vaping, claiming that with the decline in smoking, tobacco companies are adapting by focusing on new products like oral nicotine. Zyns are small pouches of nicotine meant to be placed between the lips and gums. Two strengths of the product are available at three and six milligrams of nicotine, and they come in several flavors.

Schumer’s ire appears to have been raised by the rapid growth in sales of nicotine pouches and so-called “Zynfluecers” on TikTok promoting the product. Schumer fears nicotine pouches could become a teen trend, as vaping did in 2019 before rapidly declining as the tobacco age was raised to 21 and schools became more aware of the problem. To head off a potential increase in youth nicotine addiction, Schumer wants the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the marketing of Zyn and potentially restrict their flavors.

But Schumer’s framing has the story backward. Zyn is not a dangerous alternative to vaping but a dramatically safer alternative to smoking. One of the reasons smoking has declined substantially over the last decade is because safer nicotine alternatives like vapes and Zyn are switching smokers away from cigarettes. The closest equivalent for which we have decades of data is an oral smokeless tobacco called snus. Snus is most prevalent in Sweden, and not coincidentally, Sweden has the lowest smoking and lung cancer rates in Europe because those interested in using nicotine do so in a much safer form.

Schumer is right that nicotine pouches are enjoying enormous sales, but he would be wrong to assume nicotine-naive youth are driving these sales. According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, only 1.5 percent of middle and high schoolers use nicotine pouches, and just 2.3 percent have ever tried a nicotine pouch. Even among the minority of young people who use products like Zyn, most are not nicotine newbies. A study of adolescents and adults aged 15-24 who used nicotine pouches found the vast majority were smokers or had smoked cigarettes in the past at 73 percent and 81 percent, respectively. Just like with e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches disproportionately appeal to people who are already using nicotine most often in its most dangerous form, which is cigarettes.

Schumer’s concern that Zyn comes in several flavors like cinnamon and citrus is also misguided. For one, Zyn has already applied to the FDA to be authorized for sale, and the agency will determine whether it presents a net benefit to public health. But suppose flavors in nicotine products are inherently youth-appealing, as Schumer suggests. In that case, he should be just as outraged that nicotine gums, which have been around for decades, are sold in flavors like “cinnamon surge,” “fruit chill,” and “spearmint burst.” Nicotine flavor bans have a poor track record in improving public health, with bans on flavored vapes associated with an increase in cigarette sales.

Schumer’s intervention drew mockery on X (formerly known as Twitter), including from Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators defending Zyn. The reaction is perhaps unsurprising, given that Tucker Carlson is the most famous Zyn consumer.

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Pelosi, AOC, Other House Dems Hit with Ethics Complaint – Accused of ‘Repeatedly’ Misusing Funds

An ethics watchdog has filed an ethics complaint against 10 Democratic lawmakers, claiming that they are using public resources for partisan political purposes.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust said the Democrats “repeatedly” used official resources for political gain, according to a news release on its website, naming Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California, Cori Bush of Missouri, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Sean Casten of Illinois, Greg Casar of Texas, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida, Ted Lieu of California, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ritchie Torres of New York.

Although Democratic Rep. Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts was not mentioned in the release, exhibits of her allegedly using official resources for political gain were included in the examples filed with the complaint.

“The law at issue is simple,” the release said, noting that government resources cannot be used for “campaign or political purposes.”

The release said that “official House photographs and video, government buildings, a Member’s official website and social media accounts, and anything created by government employees” are considered off-limits.

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Transgender Democrat Permitted to Run for Ohio Office Despite Hiding Former Name

A transgender candidate has been permitted to run for a seat in the Ohio House despite hiding his original name on documents required by state elections law.

The Mercer County Board of Elections chose not to take up a vote on disqualifying transgender Democrat candidate Arienne Childrey, a biological male identifying as female, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Childrey underwent a name change in 2020 but said he would have provided his former name if he had known about the law.

“I would have filled out whatever was necessary because at the end of the day, while it would have been a hit to my pride, there is something much more important than my pride, and that’s fighting for this community,” Childrey said.

The Ohio law requires prospective political candidates who have changed their names within the last five years to put their former names on their candidate petitions, except for those who have changed their names due to marriage.

If Childrey wins the Democrat primary, the transgender candidate will likely go on to face Ohio State Rep. Angie King (R-Celina), who has sponsored anti-grooming legislation and voted to ban transgender-related medical procedures being performed on children.

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‘What could you learn from a sex offender?’ Lawmaker skeptical about expanding state advisory board to include past offenders

Lawmakers in Washington state faced off at a recent public hearing over whether a sex offense advisory board should be expanded to include a member who actually served jail time for committing a sex offense. Though many advocated the benefits of including diverse viewpoints, others said the expansion would destroy the board’s purpose.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington introduced HB 2177, which would add four members — including one who served jail time for being a sex offender — to the state’s Sex Offender Policy Board (“SOPB”). The statute would also rename the board to the “Sex Offense Policy Board” in a move to use first-person language and would increase the size of the body from 13 to 17 members. The new board members would include one member of a sex offender advocacy group, one member of a Native American tribe, one victim of a sex offense, and one “representative with lived experience with incarceration for a sex offense.” The bill would also appropriate funds for board training and team-building.

The board at issue is an independent entity staffed by the Sentencing Guideline Commission that advises the governor and undertakes projects to assist policymakers with legislation on sex offenses.

At a public hearing held by the Washington State House Committee on Safety and Justice on Jan. 16, Rep. Tarra Simmons (D), who is a member of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission and a co-sponsor of the bill, spoke in support of HB 2177.

“We do better when we have a diverse legislature,” Simmons said, then explained that HB 2177 contains recommendations that current board members have raised.

Simmons directly addressed the opposition to including convicted sex offenders on the advisory board. While past offenders may be subject to “a stigma,” Simmons said, “they have invaluable information to share that can really guide this board.”

Simmons said the same is true for those with lived experience of being sexually assaulted or abused — who are not currently on the board, but would be included if HB 2177 were to pass. Simmons also noted that “a lot of the members are not showing up for most of the meetings,” and said that she hopes the team-building efforts in HB 2177 would encourage more active participation to guide the legislature.

Whitney Hunt, another member of the board since 2021, also spoke in support of HB 2177 and said it “incorporates feedback consistently heard by SOPB,” and “aligns with best practices.” Hunt said that there has been a “consistent desire” to add the perspectives of those with lived experiences.

Attorney Brad Meryhew, who has served as SOPB chair since its inception in 2008, testified in emphatic support of HB 2177. Meryhew said that the voices of all stakeholders — including victims and offenders — should be heard. Meryhew noted that Native American tribes have been “impacted hugely in the last several decades,” but that, “their voice at our table has been relatively quiet.”

“Likewise, we see very credible organizations working with those who are affected by these policies,” Meryhew continued, explaining that some registered sex offenders have become “thoughtful, effective advocates for their position” who bring valuable empirically based discussion to policy discussions. Meryhew also told the panel that he attended a popular and useful sex offender management conference that included the kind of diversity HB 2177 would implement.

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