Tag: politics

Billionaire Donates $500,000 to Campaign of Virginia Republican Winsome Sears After Liberal Holds Up Racist Sign at Her Event

Last week, a liberal woman held up a racist sign to protest Winsome Sears, the current Lieutenant Governor of Virginia who is running for governor there this fall.

Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat running for governor, offered a tepid response to the sign through her campaign.

The incident brought some great news for Sears, however. Robert Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), just donated $500,000 to the Sears campaign. Not bad. Not bad, at all.

The Washington Times reports:

Racist sign prompts BET co-founder Robert Johnson to give Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign $500K

Robert L. Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, has donated $500,000 to Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign after she was targeted by a racist sign at a school board meeting.

Ms. Winsome-Sears’ campaign said Mr. Johnson made the donation and condemned the “useful idiot” who displayed the sign at an Arlington County school board meeting.

“Madam Lt. Governor, I was so appalled by the racist diatribe displayed by a useful idiot at a recent press event that I choose to show all the voters of Virginia how Black Brothers stand up to defend and support Black Sisters when confronted with unadulterated racism. I have always been a good investor and that’s why I’m investing in you,” Mr. Johnson told Ms. Earle-Sears, according to her campaign.

A spokesperson for Mr. Johnson and his business, RLJ Companies, did not respond to a request for comment.

The sizeable donation comes one week after Ms. Earle-Sears was confronted by a protester hoisting a sign that said: “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.”

Abigail Spanberger has been leading in the polls on this race for weeks, but Winsome Sears has closed the gap just in the last ten days. The race is now almost a tie.

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The Decline of American Diplomacy

A few years ago at a panel discussion at Washington DC’s venerable Tabard Inn, I spotted a face I hadn’t expected to see. But Thomas R. Pickering, even at 90 years of age, stood out. A legend in the annals of American diplomacy, Pickering had served as US Ambassador to the UN, Russia, Israel, and India, among a number of other countries. He retired as the third-ranking member of the State Department at the end of the Clinton administration. So formidable a diplomat was Pickering that, according to longtime New York Times diplomatic correspondent Leslie Gelb, Pickering was seen as “arguably the best-ever senior U.S. representative” to the UN. And that list included the likes of Adlai Stevenson, George Ball, and George H.W. Bush. Gelb’s report was occasioned by Pickering’s sudden transfer from Turtle Bay to New Delhi. Why was he being moved? Well, as Gelb told it, “It is widely believed by Washington cognoscenti that Ambassador Pickering is being posted to India for the worst of reasons: Secretary of State James Baker feels that the career diplomat is casting too big a shadow on the Baker parade.”

Nevertheless, Pickering’s appointment to India was in keeping with a tradition that US presidents had of sending among the most capable men available to New Delhi. During the Cold War, it was a particularly sensitive post given India’s role as a leader of the non-aligned bloc-in other words, those countries that refused either Washington or Moscow’s tutelage. In 1961, John F. Kennedy sent his friend, the famed Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith to New Delhi. In addition to running point on the war that broke out between India and China in 1962, Galbraith offered sagacious advice to Kennedy before, during, and after the Bay of Pigs and October Crisis. He was also among the few to see the problems ahead in Vietnam.

Following Galbraith some years later in New Delhi was another habitué of Harvard Yard, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Moynihan would also serve as UN Ambassador and then later, for a quarter century, as the senior Democratic Senator from New York. Moynihan, a Democrat who had in the 1950s worked for New York Governor Averell Harriman, was sent by President Richard Nixon to help reset relations with India in the aftermath of Nixon’s “tilt” toward Pakistan. While in India, Moynihan proposed, and then carried out, a creative debt write-off program that helped to improve relations with the world’s most populous democracy.

Recent US administrations (Bush, Obama, Trump) have often decided to send career foreign service officers to New Delhi—which is all to the good, after all, Pickering was a career foreign service officer. Such men and women often bring a deft touch in confronting nettlesome problems.

President Joe Biden’s (or the person who was actually making the decisions for Biden) choice for Ambassador to India was, for reasons that remain obscure, the nepo-mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. The downward trend in quality seems set to continue. Last week, President Trump announced that a former errand boy for Sen. Rand Paul’s office (an office that seems to attract self-important types who think that plagiarizing Wikipedia is a substitute for speechwriting) who somehow parlayed that role into a publishing partnership with the Trump sons (the partnership produced the imaginatively titled Letters to Trump—available for a cool $100 at trumpstore.com) will be his nominee to head the diplomatic mission in New Delhi. Sergio Gor, a 38 year old native of Malta with zero diplomatic or foreign affairs experience (but, as it happens, ample experience as an amateur wedding DJ) will take the reins in New Delhi pending Senate confirmation (or, more likely, a recess appointment). It is said that for the last 7 months Gor has been the Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, but there is little evidence of his time there, as scores of political appointments remain unfilled.

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South Korea’s Church Raids: A Political Assault by the New Administration Disguised as Law Enforcement

In the span of just a few months in 2025, the South Korean government under President Lee Jae-myung has launched a series of unprecedented raids against major churches and senior Christian leaders. What makes this wave of crackdowns so alarming is not only its scale, but also its unmistakable political targeting.

The churches under attack—Yeouido Full Gospel Church, SaRang Jeil Church, Segyero Church, and Unjeong Chamjon Church—have something in common: they are at the forefront of defending freedom, practicing biblical convictions, and voicing opposition to the impeachment and imprisonment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and former First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

Since the National Assembly forced through the impeachment bill in December 2024, these churches have been the backbone of nationwide protests demanding Yoon’s reinstatement and release.

Public opposition to impeachment surged above 50%, largely driven by church-led movements. Today, the overwhelming majority of citizens who still reject Lee Jae-myung’s presidency and call for Yoon’s release are Christians.

The government knows this. And by striking at churches, it is attempting to dismantle the very infrastructure of resistance.

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Fulton County Board of Commissioners Defy Court Order – Refuse to Appoint Republican Election Board Nominees – Contempt Hearing Today

Last week, a judge ordered the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to seat two Republican Party nominees: Jason Frazier and Julie Adams.  The two were nominated in May but have yet to be seated.

Two of the Democrat members, Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory, were able to thwart Commissioner Bridget Thorne’s motion to confirm the two Republican appointees.  Because of the absence of three other members on the seven-member board, the motion was blocked in a 2-2 vote.

On August 4th, Judge David Emerson ordered the two nominees be confirmed as per Georgia law, which states that the the board’s members “shall be appointed” by the “chairperson of the county executive committee of the political party” of whichever party has the “largest number of votes in this state for members of the General Assembly”.

In that order, Judge Emerson stated, “The respondent Board of Commissioners (BOC) contends the “shall” is not mandatory, but rather “directory”, and that the county commissioners can exercise discretion to reject any nominee for any reason.”

The commissioners filed a request to reconsider, which was denied.  So they filed an emergency motion with the Georgia Supreme Court, who moved the docket to the Georgia Court of Appeals.  The appeals court denied the motion as well.

Today, at 9am, a hearing will take place regarding the two members who voted against the appointments, and a third who was not present but is also refusing to appoint the two despite the Court’s orders.

Commissioners Dana Barrett, Mo Ivory, and Marvin Harrington still refuse to vote for the appointments.

Barrett, who has served on the board since November 2022, took to Instagram to post a video calling Frazier and Adams, the Republican nominees, “election deniers” and acknowledging that the Court has ruled against her and her colleagues.  “Our elections are under attack,” she said, before invoking Texas and President Trump’s movement to eliminate universal mail-in balloting and untrustworthy black-box voting machines.

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Democrats’ Latest ‘Mediscare’ Gambit Is An Empty Threat

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Democrats are claiming Republicans have put the Medicare program in jeopardy. As usual, the allegation amounts to a combination of speculation and an empty threat.

The latest version claims that, because the “big, beautiful” reconciliation bill will increase the deficit, automatic spending reductions will hit Medicare. But in recent years, lawmakers of both parties have moved to cancel the automatic reductions with regularity — and you can bet dollars to donuts they will do so again.

Implications of Reconciliation

The most recent claim came via a letter from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), requested by several senior congressional Democrats. CBO noted that, because the new law will increase the deficit by roughly $3.4 trillion in the coming decade, the measure could trigger an automatic sequester under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) law enacted in 2010.

PAYGO requires Congress to offset tax cuts or spending increases with commensurate spending reductions or revenue increases, to avoid further increases in federal deficits and debt. If, by the end of the year, lawmakers do not enact offsetting tax increases or spending reductions to “pay for” the estimated $3.4 trillion deficit increase caused by the reconciliation measure, then automatic spending reductions (i.e., the sequester) will kick in under Statutory PAYGO. (The sequester exempts Social Security and certain other programs; Medicare spending is subject to a maximum 4 percent reduction under this sequester.) 

Arcane Congressional Rules

Lawmakers can always waive or otherwise change the sequester requirement under Statutory PAYGO. However, they cannot do so under budget reconciliation, for reasons related to congressional procedure. The reconciliation process occurs when the House and Senate Budget Committees instruct other congressional committees (e.g., House Ways and Means, Senate Finance, etc.) to make changes to programs within their jurisdiction to accomplish budgetary goals (e.g., raise or lower revenue, raise the debt limit, etc.). 

But Statutory PAYGO lies under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Budget Committees. And the House and Senate Budget Committees cannot give reconciliation instructions to themselves, meaning that any waiver of, or change to, Statutory PAYGO cannot occur via the reconciliation process.

In other words, while Republicans passed their agenda bill on a party-line via reconciliation, which is not subject to a filibuster, they will need 60 votes, and therefore Democrat support, to modify or waive PAYGO. That gives Democrats leverage in theory, but it hasn’t worked out that way in practice.

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Report from South Korea: Special Prosecutor Files Arrest Warrant on Opposition Candidate – Something Koreans Learned from the Democrat Party

For four years following his first term as US President, Democrats coordinated attacks on President Trump hoping to bankrupt the former president and imprison him until his death.

Every single charge was complete garbage and they knew it. They didn’t care. They wanted to destroy President Trump and persecute his supporters. The fact that they were destroying the country was not a concern for these wicked people who worked together to tyrannize former President Trump.

We know this first hand at The Gateway Pundit after several years of brutal attacks by the left in their quest to destroy us.

President Trump and the country survived this very dark period by the grace of God.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world was watching as Democrats crucified President Trump. Today we see similar efforts in Brazil and South Korea to destroy and imprison the innocent opposition candidates.

On Monday South Korea’s pro-China President Lee Jae-myung will meet with President Trump at the White House.

Last week Lee Jae-myung’s regime carrying out police raids on political opponents who dare raise questions about election fraud under the current pro-Chinese regime.

On August 20, armed police stormed the office of the Free and Innovation Party, led by former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, under the guise of investigating so-called “election law violations,” according to our contact in South Korea, Kim Yu-jin.

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South Korean President Courts Chicoms with Official Letter While Visiting US President Trump – This is After Police Raided the Opposition Party’s Headquarters Last Week

On Monday South Korea’s pro-China President Lee Jae-myung will meet with President Trump at the White House.

Last week Lee Jae-myung’s regime carrying out police raids on political opponents who dare raise questions about election fraud under the current pro-Chinese regime.

On August 20, armed police stormed the office of the Free and Innovation Party, led by former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, under the guise of investigating so-called “election law violations,” according to our contact in South Korea, Kim Yu-jin.

Hwang, along with hundreds of citizens organized under the Committee for Preventing Election Fraud, had officially registered as election monitors.

They followed legal procedures, participated transparently, and documented what they believed were serious irregularities. Instead of being commended for strengthening democracy, they are now being treated as criminals.

While President Lee Jae-myung is engaging in summit diplomacy with the United States and Japan, he has simultaneously dispatched a special envoy to Beijing with a personal letter for Xi Jinping.

This reveals a troubling double-track policy — speaking of alliance with America while at the same time courting the Chinese Communist Party.

Such actions raise serious questions about Seoul’s reliability as a U.S. ally. The message delivered to Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, emphasized “expanding common interests” with Beijing. At the very moment when Washington is working to strengthen trilateral cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea’s leader is signaling deference to Beijing.

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Muslim Socialist Senate Candidate Goes There When Talking About Trump and His Fans: “When They Go Low…We Take Them to the Mud and Choke Them Out!” 

One of the most radical Democratic candidates for office in America seemingly issued a call for violence against President Trump and his supporters yesterday.

As WMUK reported, Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) visited Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” speaking tour.

While there, Comrade Bernie was joined by Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim and fellow socialist.

While speaking at Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium before thousands of Bernie fans, El-Sayed bragged about his ability to supposedly challenge the establishments of both parties before his speech took a dark turn.

“We need Democrats who have the courage to stand up to the power brokers in our own party, let alone Trump and his goons,” El-Sayed said to wild applause. “We don’t back down.”

“When they go low, we don’t go high,” he added as the crowd continued to roar. “We take them to the mud and choke them out!”

Notice how the crowd never stops cheering throughout.

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Outlawing Misdemeanors? Ask California How That Worked Out

A Grab-and-Go Future

This incident could happen at any Walgreens in San Francisco: A man strolls into the store walks over to the hair display, grabs an armful of shampoo bottles, and simply walks out the door. He felt no need to rush, had no fear, and didn’t bother looking back.

Instead of actually doing something, people stood by and recorded the scene on their phones, shaking their heads; they knew nothing would happen, as he’d simply disappear into the crowd. There’s no point in calling the police; they wouldn’t come, store clerks wouldn’t bother, and the DA wouldn’t prosecute.

In California, petty thefts valued at less than $950 are typically not worth the paperwork involved.

It’s this future that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is dangling in front of New York City.

California’s Lesson

New Yorkers need to look west before being seduced by Mamdani’s pitch to abolish misdemeanors, because California illustrates a picture-perfect example of what could go wrong.

Proposition 47 reclassified a wide range of felonies after passing in 2014 and increased the threshold for felony theft to $950. It was sold as reform on paper, yet in reality, it became an invitation to corruption. As long as their haul fell under the magic dollar amount, shoplifters learned there was little to fear. Over time, police grew unwilling to waste their time with cases the courts wouldn’t touch.

Fallout was swift: Retail theft spiked, while stores closed. The chains Walgreens and Target took action: Walgreensabandoned entire neighborhoods, and Target locked items behind plastic.

Residents paid the price every day. Earning the nickname “the shoplifter’s charter,” Prop 47 overlooked the fact that people weren’t simply clever slogans; they were commuters, small business owners, and single parents working hard to keep their communities together.

San Francisco’s Warning

San Francisco, always a bastion of progressive experiments, doubled down by voting Chesa Boudin into the position of district attorney in 2019. Like a good progressive soldier, Boudin followed the script by not prosecuting most low-level crimes, and became an advocate for restorative justice over accountability. 

Before long, residents woke up to find shattered car windows, thriving open-air drug markets, and hollowed-out neighborhoods. The once-booming downtown slowly transformed into a brick-and-mortar desert, not only because of COVID-19’s mandates and remote working, but also because nobody wanted to shop or work where crime ran rampant.

The embrace voters gave the reform ultimately faded. Boudin was recalled in 2022, a stunning rejection in one of America’s bluest cities. The people of San Francisco had grown tired of being test subjects in social experiments that worked wonderfully in academia but failed utterly in the real world.

Now It’s New York’s Turn

Mamdani is a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens. He isn’t talking about softening penalties; he’s talking about eliminating misdemeanor enforcement. 

Period.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. This action means shoplifting, petty theft, drug possession, prostitution, low-level assault, and even some incidents of drunk driving no longer draw consequences, unless there is “major” injury or violence.

Mamdani isn’t proposing leniency; he’s surrendering a city.

“E-ZPass for criminals” is the moniker critics have slapped on it, and they’re right. New York already is at war, battling crime in the subway, illegal vending, homelessness, and drug abuse. When misdemeanor guardrails are stripped away, the floodgates are turned wide open.

If California is the cautionary tale, then San Francisco is the warning flare, showing that ignoring “small” crimes leads to a forest fire.

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Texas Senate Passes Redistricting Map Favoring Republicans

The Texas Senate on Aug. 23 passed a bill that will redraw Texas’s congressional maps and increase Republicans’ hold on the state’s U.S. House delegation by as many as five seats.

Its passage in the early hours of Saturday morning came after a daylong session.

After passing the Republican-dominated upper chamber in an 18 to 11 party-line vote, the bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law.

In line with a request from President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice, the bill would redraw the state’s congressional boundaries to favor Republicans.

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Aug. 21 signed a legislative package to authorize a Nov. 4 referendum to redraw California’s congressional maps in favor of Democrats. The changes are expected to be approved in the Democratic stronghold.

The map could increase Democrats’ hold on California’s U.S. House delegation by as many as five seats, endangering several previously safe Republicans.

On Thursday evening, the state Senate’s Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting met to discuss the bill, voting 5–3 in favor of reporting the bill to the Senate with a favorable recommendation.

The Texas House of Representatives passed the legislation on Aug. 20, after the more than 50 Democrats who had left the state earlier returned after it became clear that California would approve a legislative response to Texas’s passage of the bill.

Those Democrats returned to the state after a two-week standoff, during which the state Legislature was unable to achieve a quorum and was therefore gridlocked.

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