Tag: politics

Fact check: Advocating for independence is not treason

On May 5, Forever Canada leader Thomas Lukasuk said the movement to secede from Canada is “a form of treason” and something “most of us Albertans and Canadians don’t stand for.”

This follows British Columbia Premier David Eby saying it was treason when members of the Alberta Prosperity Project went to the United States to discuss Alberta’s independence movement with American officials.

Canada has a legal framework in place for any province to pursue independence from Confederation through a democratic referendum as per the Clarity Act. It is irresponsible and incorrect to accuse anybody of treason for acting within those parameters.

To commit treason in Canada would involve using force or violence to overthrow the government, or (without lawful authority) sharing military/scientific secrets with a foreign state that could harm Canada’s defence.

Peaceful petitioning, public rallies, citizen initiatives under Alberta law, referendum advocacy, and even political meetings/lobbying with foreign officials (like U.S. representatives) involve none of these.

Premier Eby and Thomas Lukaszuk are chilling free speech and legal political advocacy by falsely accusing law-abiding advocates of committing a serious crime.

Their inflammatory use of terms like treason misleads the public and escalates tensions between Alberta citizens.

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Senate Abandons Trump’s ICE, Border Funding Bill for Early Vacation; Thune Admits Paxton Endorsement Played Role

The Senate is heading home until June without finishing a reconciliation bill, after Republican tensions over the package coincided with President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman posted on X: “BREAKING NEWS: THE SENATE will go home until June, leaving the reconciliation bill unfinished. THUNE just told senators in the room. All because of the DOJ weaponization fund. House is expected to follow suit soon.”

Brendan Pedersen, a senior reporter with Punchbowl News, posted on X: “Thune asked if Senate Rs are responding to politics — ie, Trump endorsements and snubs this week

‘It’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in political atmosphere around us,’ Thune said. ‘You can’t disconnect those things.’”

While Republican Senators publicly claim substantive issues with the bill were the driving factor behind the early vacation, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged President Donald Trump’s Tuesday endorsement of Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) weighed heavily on Republican Senators’ minds as they skipped town instead of advancing a top Trump priority as planned.

The comments came after Trump endorsed Paxton in the Texas Senate Republican primary runoff against Cornyn, a move that has sharply intensified pressure inside the Senate GOP ahead of the May 26 runoff.

Vice President JD Vance told Breitbart News White House Correspondent Nick Gilbertson on Tuesday, May 19, that President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Paxton “sends a message” that lawmakers “have got to serve the people” who elected them.

“Today we saw the president endorse Ken Paxton over John Cornyn in the Texas Senate race. Do you think that sends a message going forward for the next cycle to senators considering running for election, or any MAGA-aligned potential candidates that are considering challenging them?” Gilbertson asked.

“I’ve known John Cornyn for a long time, but unfortunately, you know, when it really counted, Ken Paxton was there for the country, was there for the president, and that’s why he ultimately earned the president’s endorsement,” Vance said.

Vance said Trump viewed Paxton as someone who would be a “better senator” and framed the endorsement as part of Trump’s broader push for Republicans who will fight for the voters who elected them.

“I think the message that people should take from this is, fundamentally, you have got to serve the people who sent you. If you don’t do that, you’re going to find yourself out of step with voters, or out of step with the President of the United States, and that’s not a good place to be politically,” Vance said.

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Hakeem Jeffries: We Are Calling for ‘Black Athletes to Abandon SEC Schools’

Thursday on MS NOW’s “All In,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) reiterated the Congressional Black Caucus’ call for “black athletes to abandon SEC schools” over redistricting efforts.

Host Chris Hayes said, “You know, there’s been calls for, the CBC, Congressional Black Caucus has called for athletes, to boycott the SEC conference where, you know, schools like Ole Miss and Tennessee and the states that are that are contemplating this, Gamecocks in South Carolina, the SEC, in sort of opposition to this is a kind of interesting point of leverage. And you echoed that today. Tell me about why you think that makes sense.”

Jeffries said, “Well, we are proud to stand with the NAACP that has appropriately called for black athletes to abandon SEC schools when these schools are in states that are targeting in an unprecedented fashion, black political representation. And our view is that if there’s no representation, there should be no athletic or sports participation. And this comes from a long line of, you know, African-American athletes rising to the occasion. You know, this is a Muhammad Ali moment. This is a Bill Russell moment. It’s a Jackie Robinson moment. We understand that it’s going to require a level of courage and character and conviction and these are personal decisions that will have to be made. But it certainly is our view that there will be athletes who are going to make the decision based on this racially, you know, egregious gerrymandering that’s taking place, a return to Jim Crow like tactics in the South, that there will be black athletes who will make a decision to take their talents elsewhere.”

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Why Libertarians Fall for the AI Trap

The artificial intelligence boom has become one of the biggest engines of the American economy. It has also triggered a growing backlash against the data centers that make the boom possible. Tech moguls have rushed to build giant warehouses packed with the computing power needed to run AI systems, but they have done almost nothing to explain to ordinary Americans why those facilities deserve so much land, water, electricity, and political favoritism.

That failure should have created an obvious opening for libertarians. Governments shower data-center projects with subsidies, wield eminent domain to seize land, and help politically connected corporations reshape local communities in the name of technological progress. A coherent libertarian response would attack the merger of state power and corporate power.

Instead, many libertarians have chosen to cheer the expansion without asking what the technology will be used for or whom it will serve. Their quasi-religious loyalty to capital has pushed them into another foolish position and exposed the danger of turning an economic theory into a full worldview.

The tech elite insist that AI will revolutionize the world, but they have done almost nothing to tell average people how their own lives will improve. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs spin wild stories about superhuman intelligence and the automation of tens of millions of jobs. That does not sound like a sales pitch. It sounds like the setup for a science-fiction dystopia. The one concrete justification they offer is strategic: AI will supposedly define the future of warfare, and America must stay ahead of China.

That argument would carry more weight if the same people pushing AI were not also so committed to building the kind of technology most likely to be used against Americans. They are not preparing some noble shield for the republic. They are building tools that can make the United States look a lot more like the techno-authoritarian China they claim to fear.

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Judge Grants Biden’s Request to Intervene in FOIA Fight, Blocks Public Release of 70 Hours of Audiotapes of His Conversations with Ghostwriter

A federal judge on Thursday granted Joe Biden’s request to block the public release of the audiotapes of his conversations with his ghostwriter.

The Oversight Project filed a FOIA lawsuit requesting records from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden. The judge denied the Oversight Project’s request.

However, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, denied Biden’s request to use this case to block the release of the audiotapes to the House Judiciary Committee.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the DOJ was preparing to release damning audio of Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur. The Department is also going to release 2017 audio recordings of conversations with his ghostwriter in which he disclosed classified information.

Biden previously asserted executive privilege over the audio recordings related to then-Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into his stolen classified documents scandal.

Republicans have argued that Joe Biden cannot assert executive privilege over the audio since the transcript has already been released.

Then-US Attorney General Merrick Garland classified the audio tapes of Biden’s interview with Hur as “Top Secret” and locked it way in a SCIF.

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The DNC’s 2024 Autopsy Is Here, and Oh Boy, It’s a Dumpster Fire

The DNC has finally released its 2024 election autopsy, and if you were hoping for a moment of genuine Democratic self-reflection, prepare to be disappointed.

The report took forever to see the light of day, and DNC Chairman Ken Martin’s explanation for the delay was something else. “When I received the report late last year, it wasn’t ready for primetime — not even close — and because no source material was provided, it would have meant starting over. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on the report that was produced,” Martin said. So the party that wants to run your healthcare couldn’t manage to produce a competent internal review? That’s comforting.

Of course, most of what the autopsy actually concludes isn’t exactly earth-shattering. Democrats didn’t just lose because of Donald Trump. They lost because they’ve spent years drifting away from working-class voters, men, rural America, and irregular voters, while banking everything on anti-Trump messaging and demographic assumptions that turned out to be dead wrong.

Gee, we’ve been saying that for years.

The report traces these organizational, messaging, and cultural failures back more than a decade. That’s the Democrats’ attempt to spread the blame thin enough that no one person has to own it.

I’m sorry, but that’s still such a cop out. Remember, Democrats have had Hollywood, the public school system, and virtually the entire media apparatus doing their bidding for years. With all that infrastructure, losing this badly isn’t a messaging problem. It’s a “you” problem, and from what I can tell, the document doesn’t acknowledge this at all.

Still, some of the admissions in the report are interesting.

“A persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters has provided the other major party with opportunities for advancement,” the report states. It’s not wrong. The party that claims to speak for ordinary Americans stopped listening to them somewhere along the way. The report even concedes it directly. “The party’s connections with working Americans and their families were forged through decades of organizing and engagement,” but “we have lost these relationships.”

That’s a nice way of saying that Democrats have become the party of the coastal elites, not the average American.

There’s also an acknowledgment that Democrats became addicted to identity politics and abstract rhetoric at the expense of kitchen-table issues. The report calls on Democrats to “focus less on abstract issues and identity politics, and connect with voters on the issues they say matter most, including the economy, disaster relief, and addressing housing affordability.”

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Rep. Tim Burchett Warns GOP He’ll “Embarrass” Colleagues if Trump Agenda Stalls — Vows to Do “Whatever It Takes” to Push SAVE America Act Before Midterms

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is done playing nice.

In a fiery interview, the Tennessee congressman made it crystal clear that patience inside the Republican conference is wearing thin as key elements of President Donald Trump’s America First agenda remain bogged down in Washington gridlock.

Burchett blasted the slow pace of Congress and warned fellow Republicans that if they keep dragging their feet on critical legislation, including election integrity measures such as the SAVE America Act, they’re going to have a very uncomfortable time.

Burchett: If we listen to what President Trump proposes, and in his cuts and things, I think we would be ahead everywhere. But we’re not. We’re running our own little game, and that’s going to cost us. I believe the redistricting has helped us, mainly a Trump initiative.

The price of gasoline, honestly, I think is what people are going to be going to the polls about, either yay or nay, wherever it is. They have a very short memory that it was higher under Biden than it is even now. But with the media constantly bombarding them with all that, you’re not going to get that message.

So people are upset, and they have a right to be. I just wish we would follow President Trump’s initiative from day one and stop with all this nonsense.

You know, it’s like DOGE. I’m chairman of the DOGE Committee, and it’s just like pulling teeth to get any cost-saving measures through these committees.

But I’m just a little different. I don’t work for anybody up here. I work for the good people of Tennessee. And so I don’t care if I tick off every chairman up here. I don’t care. I’m going to embarrass them if they don’t start moving our legislation.

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Raffensperger fails to secure runoff spot in Republican primary for Georgia governor

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger failed Tuesday night to clinch enough votes for one of the two spots in the runoff for the Republican primary for Georgia governor, losing to Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and health care executive Rick Jackson.

Raffensperger secured just 14% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, compared to Jones’ 37% and Jackson’s 34%. Jones is considered the favorite to win the nomination after President Donald Trump endorsed his campaign.

Another closely watched race in Georgia is its Senate race, where Republicans are hoping to defeat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November. The race has not yet been called, but GOP Rep. Mike Collins is in the lead for the GOP nomination. 

The results come on one of the busiest primary nights of the 2026 season, with six states holding their respective primaries. The other states are Alabama, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

Polls have already closed in Kentucky, where GOP Rep. Andy Barr won the Republican nomination for governor and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie lost his reelection bid for the House to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein.

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The Last Leg of Stephen Colbert’s Far-Left Farewell Tour Reminds Us Exactly Why CBS Canceled Him

As comedian Stephen Colbert prepares to exit the late-night stage following a disastrous run at CBS, he refused to bow out with grace and instead used his last gasp to take a parting shot at President Donald Trump.

Colbert interviewed his Comedy Central mentor Jon Stewart during Tuesday’s episode of “The Late Show,” and the arrogance displayed by both men served as yet another reminder of why Colbert was dismissed.

Stewart gushed over his protege, calling him “just a tremendous human and one of my favorite people,” adding that “he can do whatever he wants to do,” which drew the usual mindless applause.

And rather than acknowledge that it was time for Colbert to move on, Stewart did what came naturally: He blamed Trump.

“The ubiquitous bloviating of the commander-in-chief has put us all, as defined as who we are in opposition to him, and it’s just a ridiculous framing,” Stewart claimed. “It’s a minute portion of the joy machine that you call your show. And it’s annoying.”

“Close your eyes and dream,” he added. “The day that the electorate in this great nation we call home repudiates this putrid administration, the day that that happens, my brother, my brother, there will be — and I mean this — the day that that happens, there will be a joyful noise from the bowels of this great country that will make Hungary’s repudiation of Orban look like an Amish Sabbath.”

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National Sovereignty Is At Stake In Imminent Supreme Court Ruling

With the Supreme Court nearing the end of this term, it will soon release its ruling in Trump v. Barbara, the landmark case on the constitutionality of President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order clarifying and protecting the meaning of American birthright citizenship. Expectation that the court will rule against the president has prompted a recent social media blast from Trump against the unreliable “conservative” justices on the court. Trump predicted that the court will be “ruling against us on Birthright Citizenship, making us the only Country in the World that practices this unsustainable, unsafe, and incredibly costly DISASTER. I don’t want loyalty, but I do want and expect it for our country … Sometimes decisions have to be allowed to use Good, Strong, Common Sense as a guide.”

President Trump is predictably insightful in his analysis of the politics of the court. Despite Chief Justice John Roberts’ desire to preserve the alleged impartiality and supra-political character of the court, it is impossible to deny that the courts have always been political actors in American government. As the president exhorted, the Supreme Court should make its decisions by “Good, Strong Common Sense” and with an underlying loyalty to the United States, which means loyal prioritization of our people, our founding principles, and our national preservation. Fortunately, the original meaning of the 14th Amendment supports President Trump’s position.

Specifically, while U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), which allegedly established the liberal interpretation of birthright citizenship, should ultimately be overturned, there remains a viable path where the court could uphold that ruling’s precedent and simultaneously recognize that the 14th Amendment does not grant citizenship to children of illegal aliens born within the territory of the U.S. This would be a major win and step toward securing and restoring our national sovereignty.

Ed Erler, one of the foremost scholars on the issue of birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment, has treated this topic in great detail in his compelling book The United States in Crisis: Citizenship, Immigration, and the Nation-State. As Erler demonstrates, the original intention of the 14th Amendment, as expressed by its framers, was to grant American citizenship to former slaves and their children. The clause “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” excludes illegal aliens and foreign citizens, given that they are not fully subject to the jurisdiction of the American regime. They are subject to our laws while they sojourn here, but not subject as loyal citizens, since they owe allegiance to their foreign nations of origin.

Erler relies upon the political principles of the American founders to reject the British common law doctrine whereby anyone born within the territory of the British Empire was a perpetual subject of Britain. Erler further provides evidence from the ratification debates, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Expatriation Act of 1868, and Elk v. Wilkins (1884) to clarify the original meaning of birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment.

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