Tag: politics

Leftist Reporter Says She Has No Problem Supporting ‘Secret Nazis’ As Long as They Support Her Extremist Agenda

Emma Vigeland, a far-left reporter and co-host of The Majority Report With Sam Seder podcast, shared that she has ‘no problem’ supporting a ‘secret Nazi’ as long as they vote according to her Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) views.

Just before Senate candidate Graham Platner’s exit from the Maine Senate race after he was faced with new salacious allegations of rape, Platner’s not-so-secret ‘Nazi’ tattoo hat tip did not appear to bother Vigeland.

Vigeland said on a Vox podcast that she doesn’t care if a progressive or socialist candidate has “Nazi” skeletons in their closet.

“I am wary of over-focusing on an individual’s personal character over their platform.”

“You know, I’ve said this before. I don’t really care if say like Bernie Sanders or AOC go home and they’re a secret Nazi, but they go out, and they vote for the right things. We’re talking about politicians……”

Vox host Astead Herndon cut in, sounding surprised, and asked: “You don’t care?”

Vigeland laughed and began, “I mean…”

Herndon continued the awkward exchange, adding, “I’m like….I think these are the lines that people are talking about. Some people care about that exact thing.”

Vigeland stammered, “But, but, but, but why would it matter if they’re public officials and they are doing the right thing in public.”

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The Maine Senate Debate Was Pure Dumpster Fire — Even The New York Times Admits It

When Graham Platner dropped out of Maine’s Senate race, Democrats figured they’d dodged a bullet. All they had to do was find a competent replacement to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), and the seat was theirs for the taking. That was the narrative, anyway.

Then their candidates took the stage Thursday night for the first primary debate, and the bullet found them anyway.

The debate, hosted by News Center Maine on July 16, featured four candidates in the first hour: former State Senate President Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former congressional aide Jordan Wood, and Dr. Nirav Shah, all of whom lost separate Democrat primaries for higher office in Maine earlier this year. This is the B team.

Don’t take my word for it.

The New York Times, which would love nothing more than to watch Collins lose, reviewed the performance. “Halting answers. Convoluted responses and stilted deliveries,” was its verdict. “Former State Senator Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Jordan Wood, a former congressional aide, all struggled to match the forceful message and rhetorical prowess of Mr. Platner, whose rallies electrified voters over the last year.”

When even the New York Times can’t spin a Democrat debate into a triumph, you know it was ugly.

The low point belonged to Bellows. The candidates spent the night attacking Collins for supposedly rubber-stamping President Donald Trump’s agenda, and her actual voting record kept getting in the way. Discussing the military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Bellows claimed, “What Susan Collins has failed to stop is a completely unstable foreign policy.”

“Collins did vote for a war powers resolution to limit what Trump could do in Venezuela in January, right?” moderator Phil Hirschkorn asked.

“Forgive me,” Bellows said. She explained that she had been on vacation a week earlier and hadn’t expected to run for Senate at all after losing her bid for governor. “When I need to know the facts, I will,” she added. “I’ll do my homework.”

Think about that for a second. A sitting secretary of state, running for the United States Senate, promised voters she would get around to learning the facts at some point down the road.

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DSA Official Shows He Doesn’t Even Understand the Difference Between the Senate and the House of Representatives

Gustavo Gordillo is the co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in New York City. Today, he appeared on FOX News and showed that he does not even understand the difference between the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

Host Martha MacCallum was trying to clarify his position and the DSA’s position on the Senate because their official platform says that they want to abolish the body.

Gordillo says: “The United States Senate is an undemocratic institution. It gives more representation to people in smaller states than to the 30 million people in California.”

First of all, we are not a democracy and that was a choice the founders made on purpose. They did not want America to be a democracy.

More importantly, the Senate doesn’t represent the people, that’s what the House of Representatives is for. That’s why a large state like California has 52 House members and Wyoming has only one.

The Senate represents the states. Each state gets two senators to represent them in the Senate so that all the states have equal representation.

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Calif.: Bass faces mockery after arguing L.A.’s homeless population uses illicit drugs ‘to stay awake for protection’

Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass is facing public backlash following controversial remarks regarding methamphetamine (meth) and drug use among the city’s homeless population.

Critics have quickly labeled the comments as an avoidance of the severe substance abuse epidemic fueling the local homelessness crisis. In a recent public discussion regarding the ongoing street crisis, Bass (D-Calif.) bizarrely argued that individuals sleeping on the L.A. streets do not initially use substances out of pure addiction, but rather, turn to illegal stimulants out of “fear” for their personal safety.

During the remarks, Mayor Bass claimed further that a large portion of street-level drug use stems from a survival mechanism rather than standard recreational abuse. Speaking on the city’s encampments, Bass declared that homeless individuals often “use drugs to stay awake for protection” on the city’s streets.

According to Bass’s representatives, who have since come out in support of her message, the mayor’s statement was meant to “highlight the high rates of violence and victimization” experienced by people living in outdoor encampments.

Nonetheless, the framing immediately prompted sharp rebukes from political opponents, community groups and local business owners who argue that the Democrat administration is heavily downplaying the destructive grip of heavy narcotics like fentanyl and methamphetamine.

The political fallout also comes amid a highly contentious mayoral race, where candidates are clashing over the visible reality of open-air drug markets and encampments across “the City of Angels.” Opponents have seized on the mayor’s rhetoric, pointing out that such explanations clearly ignore the criminal infrastructure behind the city’s meth epidemic.

During a recent primary debate, then-mayoral challenger Spencer Pratt directly challenged the city’s current approach to street outreach and voluntary services. Expressing deep skepticism over the concept that those living on streets are simply seeking safety, Pratt asserted, “These people do not want a bed. They want fentanyl or supermeth.”

While the mayor’s administration frequently champions initiatives like Inside Safe — which focuses on moving individuals from street encampments into temporary hotel rooms — many residents argue that the underlying crises of mental illness and severe drug addiction remain largely unaddressed on the ground.

As the city continues to navigate record expenditures, Bass’s comments have amplified demands for a major policy shift that prioritizes strict law enforcement alongside medical detoxification rather than a permissive view of illicit drug consumption.

Meanwhile, many volunteers and outreach workers on the ground argue that a substantial segment of the street population has abandoned traditional societal expectations entirely.

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Bill giving $10,000 bonuses to NYC paraprofessionals heads to mayor’s desk

A bill to provide $10,000 bonuses to New York City’s full-time paraprofessionals is headed to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s desk after it was approved by City Council members Thursday. 

Similar legislation introduced last year was backed by the United Federation of Teachers in an effort to address the city’s paraprofessional shortage. After the bill failed to move out of committee, it was reintroduced in February by multiple council members. 

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If Mamdani signs the bill, full-time paraprofessionals will receive four payments of $2,500 throughout the 2026-27 school year. The bill allows the council to reauthorize stipends each year as long as New York City Public Schools has a paraprofessional shortage or until the city changes the practice of pattern bargaining — a local policy that lets the salary increases negotiated for one municipal union’s contract set the pattern for all the others.

The United Federation of Teachers and council members said pattern bargaining has contributed to low paraprofessional pay.

“Once the initial bargaining pattern is established, it becomes an enormous challenge to get the city to grant significantly better terms to another union,” the United Federation of Teachers said on its website.

New paraprofessionals earn roughly $32,000 in the city. Over the past 20 years, starting salaries have increased nearly $12,000 for paraprofessionals but top $86,000 for the highest-paid principals.

“We are going to pass this bill and we are going to put it on the desk of the mayor of New York City saying that the paraprofessionals have been unjustly treated and we are in a crisis,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew at a union gathering at New York City Hall on Thursday. “And the paraprofessionals are dealing with that crisis each and every day with their work, going above and beyond, and now it’s time for our city to act and do the right thing.”

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REPORT: House Republicans Launching Investigation of the Mamdani Administration Over Attempt to Hold Meeting With Officials From Iran

House Republican have put in a request to the Trump Justice Department for a formal investigation of the Zohran Mamdani administration over their attempt to hold a meeting with the Iranian regime’s ambassador to the United Nations.

The Gateway Pundit reported last week:

Commissioner Ana María Archila, head of the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, had scheduled the meeting for July 7 at 11 a.m. at 2 United Nations Plaza with Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the UN.

Two other senior officials from the office were also set to attend, according to calendar invitation screenshots reviewed by City Journal and confirmed by multiple sources, including a State Department official.

The meeting was called off only after the U.S. State Department, which had not been informed in advance, stepped in and met with the Mamdani administration to “clarify acceptable conduct,” according to City Journal.

House Republicans claim this is a potential violation of the Logan Act.

Breitbart News reports:

A request for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration for potential violations of the Logan Act has been filed by House Republicans, led by Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC).

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche received the letter on Thursday morning after it was revealed that a senior Mamdani official attempted to organize an unauthorized meeting with a high-ranking member of the Iranian regime while the country remains at war with the United States.

The other lawmakers who signed on to the letter are Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Earl Carter (R-GA), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Randy Fine (R-FL), Clay Fuller (R-GA), Pat Harrigan (R-NC), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Richard McCormick (R-GA), Max Miller (R-OH), Riley Moore (R-WV), Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Claudia Tenney (R-NY).

“We write with concern about the recent actions of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Administration,” McDowell wrote. “Last week, media outlets began to report Commissioner Ana María Archila, the head of the New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, had scheduled a July 7 meeting with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani.”

Mamdani has only been in office for six months but his behavior already suggests that he sees New York City as somehow separate from the United States, as if it were its own sovereign nation. It is not and he should be reminded of that fact. Harshly.

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Missouri AG Moves to Oust Ray County Prosecutor Over Explosive Allegations of Affairs with Defense Attorney, Defendants — Including Illegal Alien Investigated for Felony Sex Crimes

Just when you think the lawlessness and corruption in our justice system can’t get any worse.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway has filed a petition for a writ of quo warranto to remove Ray County Prosecutor Camille Johnston from office after explosive revelations of repeated intimate and romantic relationships with criminal defense counsel and defendants including an illegal alien being prosecuted for sexual assault in her own jurisdiction.

According to the petition, Johnston allegedly engaged in undisclosed romantic relationships with individuals whose criminal cases intersected with the Ray County Prosecutor’s Office, including a defense attorney who represented criminal defendants in cases prosecuted by her office.

The Attorney General alleges Johnston failed to recuse herself or seek the appointment of a special prosecutor despite what the filing describes as obvious conflicts of interest.

The petition further alleges Johnston maintained another romantic relationship with an individual charged with domestic violence and retaliated against a staff member who became aware of the relationship. The filing claims Johnston failed to disclose the alleged conflict to victims, court personnel, or her office until a judge ultimately disqualified her from the case.

Among the most serious allegations is the Attorney General’s claim that Johnston had a prior intimate relationship with a man identified in the petition as J.G., who was allegedly under investigation for felony sexual offenses.

The filing alleges Johnston knew of the investigation, failed to recuse herself, withheld information regarding his whereabouts, assisted him after he left Ray County, and later vacationed with him.

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Stop the Presses! Congress Denies Netanyahu Something He Asked For!

“I want to stop American aid,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June 30. “It’s like welfare; I don’t want it.”

Usually, Netanyahu gets anything he demands from Uncle Sugar. But on July 15, the US House of Representatives voted, 314-104 against even partially granting his wish.

Every Republican except Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and more than half of Democrats, voted down an amendment that would have removed $3.3 billion in “Foreign Military Financing” aid from the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

What’s up with that?

Was Netanyahu perhaps a wee bit disingenuous in his public request, passing word through back channels that he didn’t really mean it?

Is US Congress more “pro-Israeli” than Netanyahu himself, or perhaps just so addicted to spending that they can’t bear to cut anything at all, even if the recipient doesn’t want it?

Some combination of the above?

This may be the first time I’ve ever found myself in agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu on anything.

Well, partial agreement, anyway.

US aid to Israel isn’t “like welfare.”

It IS welfare.

What does the US regime in return for its billions of dollars per year? Two things:

  1. A way of re-routing tax money to crony “defense contractors” with Israel as the cut-out to obscure the  domestic end of the corporate welfare pipeline; and
  2. Dragged into a Middle Eastern garrison ethno-state’s every conflict with other regional powers — powers which substantially differ from Israel mainly in ethnicity, prevailing religion, and actually having some oil to make the entanglement worthwhile.

Don’t give me the “liberal democracy” stuff. The Israeli regime censors the press, bans political parties it doesn’t like, confines millions of Arabs to apartheid-style “homelands” as rightsless, non-voting serfs under Israeli rule, and just passed a law declaring that theological studies in one, and only one, religion are “fundamental” to its existence and thus deserving of exemption from the compulsory military hitch mere “secular” Jews serve. Politically, the main difference between Israel and Iran is that in Iran, Jews are guaranteed at least one seat in parliament.

Some “pro-Israel” — and “pro-US-aid-to-Israel” — people I talk with love to inform me that Israel has a longer average lifespan, a lower infant mortality rate, and a lower homicide rate (excluding the  Palestinians ruled by, and murdered by, Israeli troops) than the US.

That doesn’t strike me as the “gotcha” they seem to think. Could those billions in aid possibly have anything to do with the statistical differences? Every dollar in US aid is a dollar more the Israeli regime gets to spend on healthcare and police salaries instead of on weapons to power its expansionist foreign policy.

This time, Congress should have given Netanyahu what he said he wanted.

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Fresh fears for NYC as hyperwoke actress Cynthia Nixon is appointed to panel that screens JUDGES after Sex and the City star suggested shoplifting should be legalized

Woke actress Cynthia Nixon was appointed to serve on a panel that screens judges for the state of New York after she previously suggested that shoplifting should be legalized.

Nixon, 60, best known for her role as Miranda on the show Sex and the City, was appointed to sit on the Commission on Judicial Nomination by New York Chief Judge Rowan Wilson.

The former actress will serve on the board which screens candidates for vacancies on the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court.

Nixon’s term for the unpaid position runs through April 30, 2030, and is the latest move after a turbulent political career.

The former actress and failed New York gubernatorial candidate tweeted in 2021 that ‘desperate people shouldn’t be prosecuted’ for stealing items at CVS.

She had noticed her local CVS in SoHo had ‘started’ locking up ‘basic items like clothing detergent.’

‘As so many families can’t make ends meet right now, I can’t imagine thinking that the way to solve the problem of people stealing basic necessities out of desperation is to prosecute them,’ Nixon tweeted.

She will now work hand in hand with the commission to suggest candidates to forward to the Governor.

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As Reading Skills and IQ Decline, the Leaders of the Future Will Be Readers

Americans are reading less than at any point in decades, and reading proficiency continues to decline. As the gap between readers and nonreaders widens, those who continue to read may gain an increasingly significant educational, economic, and leadership advantage.

The long-term decline in reading habits among Americans is well documented. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) data tracked through the American Time Use Survey show the share of adults who read a book for pleasure in the past 12 months falling from 61% in 1992 to 49% in 2022. The same peer-reviewed analysis found that the share of Americans reading for pleasure on an average day fell from 28% in the early 2000s to 16% in 2023.

Among children, the decline is even sharper. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend data show that the share of 13-year-olds who read for fun almost every day fell from 35% in 1984 to just 14% in both 2023 and 2025, the lowest level since the question was first asked. Nine-year-olds show a similar pattern, with the share falling from 53% in 1984 to 37% in 2025.

Reading proficiency is also declining across all grade levels. Roughly 40% of fourth graders and one-third of eighth graders now score below the NAEP Basic level, the largest shares since 2002 and the highest in NAEP history, respectively. Twelfth graders posted their lowest average reading score in more than three decades in 2024: 283 on NAEP’s 500-point scale.

That was three points below the 2019 average and 10 points below the first assessment in 1992. Only 35% were considered prepared for entry-level college reading coursework, down from 37% in 2019. The decline extends into adulthood. Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data show that U.S. adults’ literacy scores fell by 12 points from 2017 to 2023. Today, 28% of adults, or 58.9 million people, score at Level 1 proficiency or below, up from 19% in 2017.

The decline is not uniform. NAEP’s own percentile breakdowns show scores for top-performing students holding roughly steady while scores for the lowest performers fall sharply, widening the gap to its largest margin on record at both the 12th grade and 13-year-old level. NCES’s commissioner has described this as “a dwindling middle” in U.S. skills.

A small subset of heavy readers accounts for a disproportionate share of all reading. A December 2025 YouGov survey found that 19% of Americans account for the majority of books read nationally. Separate data show that only about 14% of adults read 20 or more books per year.

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