The Attacks on our Border Patrol

Gary Fouse

Fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review.

 As if the scenes this past couple of weeks in Del Rio of 15,000 Haitians storming our border with Mexico were not bad enough, the unconscionable attacks upon our Border Patrol officers by the left and the media are enough to turn your stomach. From Joy Reid at MSNBC to Ilhan Omar, DHS head Alejandro Mayorkas, Kamala Harris, and others took one look at the BP officers on horseback, reins flapping, to quickly conclude that they were whipping the poor Haitian migrants and "bringing back memories of the days of slavery". Talk about a rush to judgment!

And on Friday, President Biden, speaking at a press conference and "answering" a question about the situation at Del Rio, went on to crucify his own Border Patrol, saying that "those people will pay," and "There will be consequences". It was shocking, especially given the fact that the slow-thinking president had a couple of days to digest the situation and realize that nobody was being whipped. Yet, he went right along with his leftist handlers and joined the chorus. Meanwhile, Mayorkas has ordered that the officers be placed on administrative leave and removed horses from any efforts to control the flow of migrants across the river and onto our shores.

As a former federal agent (DEA),  I cannot imagine how our Customs and Border Control agents continue to work under these conditions, where they are given no support from their superiors and the administration in Washington, and now see their very jobs-and freedom- under threat just because they were doing their jobs. All because the media and the ruling Left cannot or do not want to see the difference between whips and horse reins.

So what comes next for the officers on horseback? Will they be disciplined, fired, even be prosecuted and sent to prison? In the same breath that Biden announces an investigation is underway, he states that "those people will pay" and "there will be consequences". Is he the judge, jury, and executioner? At the same time, that hapless hack, Mayorkas, assures reporters that "they know how to conduct an investigation". With the president already promising punishment. That's how the Biden DHS will conduct the investigation.

Just as the Obama administration and the Eric Holder DOJ threw ATF under the bus for the  Operation Fast and Furious fiasco, which was no doubt concocted in Washington, the Biden administration is throwing the Border Patrol under the bus when the videos are clearly exculpatory. It is a disgrace. Neither Biden nor Harris have bothered to spend any time on the border, yet they sit in Washington and condemn the actions of the BP officers who have been put in an impossible situation by the ineptitude and negligence of the Biden administration, which have led to the mess in Del Rio.

Meanwhile, out of 15,000 arrivals, only about 2,000 have been sent back to Haiti, according to DHS, (Mayorkas initially was unable or unwilling to give the numbers when questioned before Congress.) while the remainder are being "processed for removal", a euphemism meaning that they are being transported to points unknown around the US, released, and told to appear later before an immigration judge. The fact is that very few will show up. And all this while several BP officers now have to worry about their careers and their very freedom as Biden promises, "they will pay".

It is all beyond disgusting.

Joe BIden's "Extraordinary Success"

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

Every time Joe Biden steps in front of a camera, it just gets more pathetic. This week's episode, where he announced the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, was classic Joe Biden. In the face of this unmitigated disaster, Biden actually bragged about the withdrawal, calling it an "extraordinary success"! He rattled off the numbers of people evacuated. He defended his actions and pointed the finger of blame at Trump. This was classic Biden. It's what he has done for 50 years in Washington. This man has never admitted he was wrong about anything. No, Joe Biden is always the smartest guy in the room. In reality, he has spent five decades being wrong about everything. In truth, he is an empty-suit blowhard.

If you want to characterize the performance of our troops at Kabul airport along with the State Department people on the ground in getting 120,000 people onto planes and out of Afghanistan as extraordinary, that part I will agree with. They did a phenomenal job, especially given the circumstances they were given to work with by their leaders in Washington- at the White House and the Pentagon.

What was not an extraordinary success was how our leaders brought this evacuation about. The scenes of tens of thousands of desperate people outside the gates of the airport trying to pass through Taliban roadblocks was not an extraordinary success. Having 13 US troops and almost 200 Afghan civilians killed by a suicide bomber is not an extraordinary success. People falling to their deaths from the wheel wells of departing planes was not an extraordinary success. Leaving our allies in the lurch and unprepared to evacuate their own personnel and Afghan allies was not an extraordinary success. Leaving American citizens behind in order to adhere to the August 31 deadline was not an extraordinary success. Leaving behind some 80 billion dollars in military vehicles, weapons and other equipment is not an extraordinary success.

I do not blame the troops on the ground and the diplomats who stayed to the last for the above. All this would have been avoided had our leaders properly planned and organized this withdrawal. They put those on the ground at Kabul in an impossible situation, and the latter performed heroically under the circumstances.

But there was Biden defending his actions while avoiding the main point. Very few Americans are outraged because he decided (as did Trump) that it was time to end our fighting in Afghanistan and let the Afghans defend their own country. Yes, once we took care of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and once Usama bin Laden was dead, we should have gotten out. Establishing a Jeffersonian democracy in Afghanistan should never have been a consideration. Yes, it would be great if Afghan women and girls had equal rights and go to school, etc (let alone not be executed in soccer stadiums), but it is not for American soldiers to die to bring that about. Sorry, it just isn't.

No, Mr Biden; it's not that you ended our military involvement in Afghanistan. It is the bungling, incompetent manner that you and your top advisors and military leaders (Secretary of Defense Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley)  organized the withdrawal.

In the coming days and weeks, we will hear about one Taliban atrocity after another, likely some committed against American citizens left behind. That will not help Biden's standing. In addition-and I want to say this carefully- we don't know as yet just who these 100,000+ Afghans who were evacuated are. We are told they are interpreters, embassy workers, those who worked with our forces, and Afghans with dual citizenship. If so, I have no issue with that. We have a moral duty to save all of those people.

But how many will turn out to be people who don't fall into those categories? There are already reports coming out that the US and European countries are discovering people who got out who are Taliban members (France) or those on terror watch lists. Countries like Sweden, Germany, and Austria are dealing with a massive crime problem with young Afghan men who have arrived unaccompanied in the past few years. Aside from the Afghans in the categories I mentioned, we need to be very cautious before we open the floodgates to massive Afghan immigration. There is no valid reason why neighboring countries or other Muslim countries should not accept these people. Let them all live happily under Sharia law.

As for Biden, in just 8 months, he has surpassed any and all previous presidents who history has regarded as failed presidents. That is an extraordinary achievement. But it is not an extraordinary success.

One Fine Day in London

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Jihad Watch 

Yes, it was just another day in London. A Jewish man in Jewish garb walking down the street minding his own business on August 20 when he is suddenly punched by the man in the photo below. The victim had to be taken to the hospital with head and foot injuries. You can watch the video of the incident at the below Twitter link (courtesy of Jihad Watch).

 https://twitter.com/i/status/1428763052632068097

The perp.

Of course, in Europe the media and authorities have all kinds of code words to describe the perpetrator(s). In Germany, they refer to "southerners", you know, pot-bellied Bavarians in funny green hats and lederhosen. In Sweden, they would call them "youths" or "people from non-skiing countries"! In Italy, "people from outside the EU". And so it goes.

In this case, as in virtually every case in Europe, the perp(s) are people like the man pictured above who slugged the Jew on a  London street. It is Muslims who are attacking Jews. Why? Because they hate Jews. Why do they hate Jews? Because they are taught to hate Jews from the time they are children, by reading the Koran and by listening to their imams in the mosques.

This is why anti-Semitism has exploded in Europe. This is largely why anti-Semitism is on the march in the US with all the Palestinian-inspired anti-Israel agitation on our university campuses-which has metastasized into society at large.

And guess what. With the prospect of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Afghans about to arrive as refugees, the problem is about to get worse. The US and Europe, of course, have a moral obligation to rescue those Afghans who assisted us, but we need to be extra careful in screening them. If we just allow every Tom, Dick, and Harry to come in (There won't be many Marys), we will see more scenes like the above-and worse.

Cuomo Exits

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

So Andrew  Cuomo has finally resigned as governor in New York. Typically, he went out with a classless statement saying he was doing it for New York. Nonsense. He was doing it for himself and to avoid an impeachment process, which he would certainly have lost and in which all the sordid details would have been played out in the New York State Legislature.

Even more classless was the below: 

"I have slipped and called people ‘honey, ’sweetheart' and ‘darling.’ I mean it to be endearing but women found it dated and offensive," he continued. "I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been too familiar with people. My sense of humor can be insensitive and off-putting."

"In my mind, I've never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn," he added. "There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn't fully appreciate. And I should have, no excuses."

This day didn't come about because Cuomo is accused of calling some female "honey" or "sweetheart" or because he gave some lady a hug she deemed inappropriate. He is accused of groping the private areas of several women. I don't know if he is actually guilty of this or not. He denies those allegations. But it is those allegations that have brought Cuomo to this resignation. Those were standards when he was growing up. Men may have loosely used the terms "sweetheart" or "honey" with women they were not in a relationship with, but the kind of groping of private parts that are alleged would have earned a man a good slap in the face and/or an ass-kicking by the woman's boyfriend, brother, or husband back in the old days. That kind of behavior has always been inappropriate-if not illegal- and he knows it.

Andrew Cuomo is a man who obviously let his power get the best of him. The media and Hollywood made him into a hero for his "handling" of the Covid crisis. Then it was revealed that under his direction, thousands of infected people were moved into nursing homes, with predictable catastrophic results.

And all the while, there was Andrew Cuomo hamming it up with his brother, Chris on CNN (giant swab and all)  like we were going through the roaring 20s or something rather than a tragic pandemic. And for months, Chris has been ignoring his brother's scandal on-air while condemning Trump every day or trashing Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida-who as far as I know has not been harassing any females.

And speaking of Fredo, that loudmouth jerk brother of his, one can only hope that the woke bosses at CNN will wake up (no pun intended) and question the propriety of a news anchor promoting his embattled politician brother on-air and even composing talking points for him to be given out to the public in his defense.

I have never seen the standards for politicians so low as they are today. The same goes for our news media. The Cuomo brothers exemplify both in a nutshell. Mario Cuomo (their late father) must be turning in his grave.

Two Incidents in Boston-Was There a Connection?

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

On June 24, at a rally (off-campus) organized by the University of Massachusetts at Boston chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Dexter Van Zile, who was known to SJP as a pro-Israeli writer, was verbally and physically abused by pro-Palestinian supporters. Much of the abuse was captured on video.

In addition to posting the above video on YouTube, Van Zile has written an op-ed for the Times of Israel Blogs, in which he describes his ordeal in detail.

Yesterday, Shlomo Noginsky, a Boston area rabbi was attacked and stabbed numerous times by a 24-year-old man who was subsequently arrested. His name is Khaled Awad.

My question is whether any connection exists between the Van Zile incident and the stabbing of the Rabbi, both of which occurred in the Boston area. I have no information that Awad was part of the Van Zile incident or if he was anywhere in the vicinity when it occurred. I have no information linking Awad to SJP. Of course, I must also point out that Awad was not arrested during the commission of the knife attack or in the near vicinity. He is presumed innocent until convicted.

Regardless of who the stabber was, was this potentially deadly attack inspired in any way by the June 24 attack against Van Zile? Maybe it wasn't, but until all the facts come out, it is reasonable to ask the question.

Ever since I began being active in the issue of anti-Semitism around 2007, I have been stating (based on my experience as a part-time teacher at UC Irvine, 1998-2016) that the focal point for the resurgence in anti-Semitism in the US was on our college campuses. Just in the last few years, we have seen that hate really metastasize into the community at large. The Israel-Palestinian conflict has much to do with it, but contrary to the protestations of the sophisticated and well-organized pro-Palestinian movement that they are not anti-Jewish per se, just anti-Zionist, they still often drag out the old tropes about Jews controlling the world, dual loyalty, and the age-old Jewish blood canard when stating their case.

Mr Van Zile happens to be Christian, as am I, but he was identified by his attackers as pro-Israel. Is it any stretch to conclude that Rabbi Noginsky was attacked because he was readily identifiable as a Jew in front of a local Chabad House?

As stated, it may be that there is no connection between the two incidents, but what the SJP chapter of UMass-Boston did is hardly an isolated incident. Many other SJP chapters have committed similar acts. On campuses, their favorite tactic is disruption and intimidation. That is why I repeatedly refer to them as "Brown Shirts". They may object to the comparison to Nazis, but the tactics are similar and in my opinion, Jew-hatred is part of the equation as well, never mind that SJP does admit some misguided Jews who have hitched their wagon to the pro-Palestinian cause. Sooner or later, they must face the fact that their tactics and actions are contributing to hate and other violent acts against Jews.

I have checked the campus paper of UMass-Boston (UMassmedia) for any mention of the Van Zile incident. Thus far, I see none though, in fairness, there are no articles since May, (they take the summer off). I hope when they next appear, whenever it is, that they will address this incident.

The UMass administration, however, doesn't have to wait for the fall. Even though it happened off-campus, it did involve the campus SJP chapter. Whether or not any of their actual members actually took part in the assaults against Van Zile, they did organize the event. UMass should ask themselves whether or not they feel it is in the best interests of the university to have an SJP chapter on their campus. It is a question every university should ask.

Oklahoma Says No to Critical Race Theory

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Legal Insurrection

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R) has signed a bill that will ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the state's public schools and universities. Oklahoma thus becomes the second state (after Idaho) to prohibit this new kind of racist teaching.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/05/oklahoma-gov-stitt-signs-bill-banning-critical-race-theory-from-public-schools/

This does not mean that students will not learn about the history of slavery and Jim Crow. It does not mean they won't learn that all people are created equal. What it means is that they won't have to suffer through lessons in how one race is inferior to another. Because if you are teaching that all white people are inherently racist, that is what is being peddled-that there is something deficient about white people.

Make no mistake: CRT has been concocted by people who want to divide the American people and create a never-ending cycle of resentment on the part of minorities and whites vis-a-vis each other. It is one thing to teach true history, and that includes slavery and segregation. It is quite another to condemn an entire group of people and America in general. America today is not the America of 1955.

Let us hope that 48 other states will follow the lead of Idaho and Oklahoma. Who says that New York and California have to lead the nation?

Swedish Politicians Cry Crocodile Tears for Female Victims

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

In Sweden, 5 women have been murdered in the past three weeks.  That has led Prime Minister  Stefan Löfven to issue a statement on Facebook lamenting the fact that there is a real problem of violence against women by men in his country. Meanwhile, Member of Parliament, Annie Lööf asks, where is the outrage? The below article from SVT is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/lofven-det-har-fyller-mig-med-vrede

Löfven: "This fills me with anger"

Updated today 12:23. Posted today 12;14

Caption beneath photo: "For man's violence toward women to end, it is men who must change, " writes Stefan Löfven on Facebook.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is also reacting to the murders by close relations in recent weeks. He now promises that the government will invite organizations and authorities to see what measures are needed to prevent this in the future. 

"This fills me with anger, and one cannot feel anything but the deepest contempt for men who humiliate, beat and murder women," he writes.

Five women have been killed by men in the past 3 weeks. This has awakened debate over how society is actually handling this.

"Where is the outcry from society? From my political colleagues? Where are the commissions, the tough ones?" wrote Annie Lööf (C) on Facebook Sunday.

"A Societal Problem"

On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven reacted in a post on Facebook. The Minister for  Equality, Märta Stenevi (MP), earlier in the day, called for a party conference on the violence. Now Stefan  Löfven is also promising that the government will invite several organizations and authorities to see what measures can be taken to counteract it.

"Men who expose women to these heinous crimes should be punished, but men's violence on women should not be reduced to individual cases. It is a societal problem which must be fought with all of society's collective power," writes Löfven 

"Men must change"

According to Stefan Löfven, male violence against women and gang crime are the government's two main priorities in criminal policy.  He highlights the new sex crime legislation and increased possibilities of ankle monitors and (restraining orders) as examples of what the government has already done. But he says at the same time that more must be done.

"For men's violence against women to end, it is men who must change," he writes.

He continues: We need to talk with men about what real manhood is, that it is not beating or harassing."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But there is much more to this story. First of all, we must ask just who is responsible for a disproportionate share -if not most- of this violence against women. Here is an article from Sweden that we reported on just a few weeks ago.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2021/02/sweden-majority-of-convicted-rapists.html

It should be noted that nowhere in Löfven's Facebook post did he say one word about the involvement of immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants, in this problem. According to the prime minister, it is just men. The fact is that as prime minister, he has presided over an insane immigration-refugee policy that has turned Swedish towns into gang warfare zones and made the country the rape capital of Europe.

And as for Annie Lööf, she is a fine one to be complaining. She is a liberal who advocates for even more immigration and acceptance of refugees into Sweden.

So Sweden will now appoint a blue-ribbon commission to "study the problem" and see how they can convince men to act like civilized human beings. If they really want to solve the problem and make their country safe for women again, they need to change their immigration policies. That is not to say stop all immigration, but they need to look elsewhere in the world to find immigrants who will assimilate and contribute to their society. They also need to toughen up their sentencing. Convicted rapists in Sweden are getting off with ridiculously light sentences, and in most cases, even avoiding deportation.

The sad fact is that these Swedish government leaders have blood on their hands.

How Quickly Will the Boulder Attack Disappear From the News?

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

 

The dust is not yet settled on yesterday's terrorist attack in Boulder, but it seems the news media and the Biden administration have settled on the narrative. For them, this is a gun control issue and a mental health issue, and that's that. There is ample information out there that indicates an Islamist motive behind the attack, but we don't hear about it from the mainstream media. Right now I would say that the go-to sources for information related to that angle are Jihad Watch and Understanding the Threat. Disturbing, Islamic-related information was discovered on the shooter's Facebook page before it was shut down. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa's name reportedly came to the attention of the FBI in association with another person of interest who was on the FBI radar. (That was reported by the NY Times.) It is also reported that President Biden was briefed on the shooter's reported ISIS sympathies.

Does mental illness play a role in this incident? Possibly, but that excuse had been used repeatedly by media and authorities in Europe. Charles Manson had a mental issue. We could go on and on. It is true that we have a mental illness crisis in our country. As for the gun control issue, there are valid arguments as to why a guy like this-with a violent history, albeit in high school- could be able to purchase an assault weapon.

It should be reiterated that not all of the above reports may turn out to be factual. But it certainly appears that our media wants to bury any Islamic terror motivation on the part of the shooter. No decent person wants to incite retaliation against innocent Muslims, but if this was an Islamic terror attack-lone wolf or otherwise- the public needs to know the risks out there. Is it going to up to the blogosphere to uncover the truth?

Niger: 58 Dead in Apparent Jihadist Attack

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Actu Niger and Jihad Watch

On Monday, terrorists in Niger attacked villages killing 58 people. The attackers are believed to be jihadists allied with Islamic State of the Greater Sahara, who have been active in the area where the attack took place.

Niger is a former French possession and the official language is French. The below article is from the Niger news outlet, Actu Niger. The translation is by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.actuniger.com/societe/17051-insecurite-un-deuil-national-de-3-jours-apres-le-massacre-de-58-civils-vers-banibangou-officiel.html

Insecurity: Three days of national mourning after the massacre of 58 civilians in Banibangou (Official)

In s statement read on public television on Tuesday evening, the government announced that fifty-eight (58) people were killed and several others wounded in an attack Monday, March 15, that targeted villagers returning from the weekly market of Banibangou (Tillaberi Region). The armed assailants also burned two (2) vehicles, took two (2) others, and set fire to several grain sheds.

After this new tragedy, the government decreed three (3) days of national mourning beginning Wednesday, March 17 according to the statement read on public television by the ministry spokesperson. Flags will also be lowered to half-staff during this period throughout the country.

Government Statement

On Monday, March 15, 2021, in the afternoon, groups of unidentified, armed individuals attacked four (4) vehicles transporting passengers returning from the weekly market of Banibangou (Tillaberi Region) and leaving respectively to the villages of Chinagoder and Darey Dey. These individuals proceeded cowardly and cruelly to carry out targeted executions of the passengers.

At the village of Darey Dey, they killed people and burned grain sheds.

The balance sheet (toll) for these barbaric acts is as follows:

- Fifty-eight (58) people killed

- One person injured

-Several grain sheds and two (2) vehicles burned

- Two vehicles taken

Security provisions have been strengthened in the zone, and an investigation has been opened to find the perpetrators of these criminal acts and bring them before the courts.

In this painful circumstance, His Excellency, President of the Republic, Chief of Staff, Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces, and the government send their saddest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.

A national period of mourning of three days has been decreed beginning Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The flags will be at half-staff throughout the national territory.

The government calls on the population for increased vigilance and reaffirms its determination to relentlessly continue the fight against criminality in all its forms.

May God bless Niger and its people!

Thank you.

Niamey (Capital) 16 March 2021

Minister Spokesperson of the Government Zakaria Abdouraham

Sweden: Common Sense From an ex-Muslim in the Wake of Terror Attack in Vetlanda

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Det Goda Samhället. Translation by Fousesquawk.

Mohamed Omar is a Swedish poet and part of the staff of the conservative Swedish outlet, Det Goda Samhället. He was born in Sweden and is an apostate from Islam. He also goes by the name of Eddie. 

In this op-ed, Omar sharply criticizes Prime Minister Stefan  Löfven for his lax immigration policies and his recent statement that the terror attack in Vetlanda this week by an Afghan refugee had nothing to do with immigration. His op-ed is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://detgodasamhallet.com/2021/03/07/mohamed-omar-sjalvklart-har-terrorn-i-vetlanda-med-invandring-att-gora/#more-40848

March 7, 2021

Mohamed Omar: Of course, the terror in Vetlanda has something to do with immigration

When a fanatical Muslim screams, "Allahu Akhbar" and blows himself up in Stockholm, that has nothing to do with Islam. And when an immigrant stabs people with a knife in Vetlanda, that has nothing to do with immigration.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has previously explained that he has the greatest respect for Islam, that he has never criticized the religion, and he will never do so.

Not because there is nothing to criticize in Islam, rather Löfven doesn't criticize Islam.

The "unaccompanied child refugee" from Afghanistan who stabbed people on the street in Vetlanda was perhaps no fanatical Muslim. Perhaps, he was not motivated by his Islamic belief.

The prime minister says that the terror in Vetlanda has nothing to do with immigration.

But the terror in Vetlanda obviously has something to do with immigration. Islamic terror has something to do with Islam, and immigrant-terror has something to do with immigration. In Sweden, one needs to point out these self-evident (facts).

For there are people with power and influence who seem to think that 1) Criticism of Islam is a bigger problem than Islamic terror, and 2) criticism of immigration is a bigger problem than immigrant terror.

For us common people, who are not schooled in the sophisticated thinking of politically-correct-isms, this is difficult to understand.

When we let in masses of criminal immigrants, criminality increases in Sweden. If we had not let (them) in, criminality would have been less.

Those who have run the immigration policy seem to think that it is more important to let in foreigners to our country than that we who live here should be safe.

For us common people, that is a strange priority.

We common people do not understand why foreigners who commit crimes are allowed to stay. The "unaccompanied child refugee" who went on attack in Vetlanda had, for example, committed crimes previously. Why was he not sent home?

Stefan Löfven, and those who think like him, think it is more worrisome that Swedes become more critical of immigration than immigrant crime.

We common people cannot understand how a critical view of immigration can be a problem, and it is also more difficult to understand that this should be a bigger problem than immigrant crime.

Criticism of immigration means that one weighs the advantages against the disadvantages. One looks at how immigration has gone so far and asks himself: Has it gone well?

That is what sensible people do. You cannot continue to do what does not go well.

"I condemn this terrible act," says Löfven about the terror in Vetlanda. Those are empty words as long as he cannot criticize his immigration policy.

It is because of Löfven's, and his like-minded (colleagues') irresponsible immigration policy that 7 people were stabbed in Vetlanda.

The Cancer at UC Irvine

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.

Recently, we reported on the latest BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) resolution that was passed by the student senate at UC Irvine, where I taught part-time 1998-2016. The resolution against Israel passed, and the university quickly issued a statement that they would not abide by it. The damage is that these resolutions, which go on all over the nation in our universities, only direct more negative attention to Jewish students and increase anti-Semitism. Jews are perceived as universally supporting the Jewish state of Israel, which in reality, is not true. Most American Jews support Israel, but some do not. Some even join forces with those who want to destroy the Jewish state. That is the true aim of BDS.

Richard Cravatts, former president of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, has also taken note of the latest out of UCI and has written about it in Frontpage Magazine. I am cross-posting it below.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/02/malignant-tradition-uc-irvines-hate-israel-richard-l-cravatts/

Sadly, UCI has acquired a reputation as a hotbed of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic agitation, largely due to the annual anti-Israel week of events every May. Over the last two decades, I have attended many of those events in order to document them, videotape them, and directly question the speakers. I can tell you, I have seen and heard a lot of vicious people speak at these events. 

As I have always said, 99% of the students at UCI are not involved in this ugliness, but those who are have all but destroyed the reputation of what should otherwise be considered a great university. I blame the administrators at UCI (and the entire UC system) for their weakness in allowing this problem to fester and grow.

In 2015-16, I was active with the Amcha Initiative and others in lobbying the UC Regents to draw up a suitable statement of principles against intolerance that specifically addressed anti-Semitism, as opposed to simply condemning all forms of hate. After all, it was anti-Semitism on campus that was the reason a revised statement of principles was under consideration. In 2016, the UC Regents finalized a statement that included such language. 

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2017/06/jewish-organizations-to-uci-chancellor.html

Unfortunately, it has proved to be nothing more than a scrap of paper that UCI can stick in the files of their Office of Inclusive Excellence and show the public that everything is just fine. But since that paper was finalized, UCI has continued to see anti-Zionist weeks every May (at least until the Covid crisis hit), and speakers like Hussam Ayloush (CEO of CAIR in S. California), Rabab Abdulhadi, (professor at San Francisco State University) and Zahra Billoo (CEO of CAIR in No. California) come to campus to spread their poison. Some progress.

Now we have another dangerous ingredient being added to the poisonous cocktail. Thanks to the latest academic creation-intersectionality- all ills of the world can be linked to Israel including the grievances of BLM. If George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis cops, it was partially Israel's fault because they trained that department and taught them the tactic of kneeling on a black suspect's neck-or something like that. And don't think the connection hasn't been made by those who ingest this propaganda. Last May, BLM rioters rampaged through the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, attacking synagogues and yelling curses at Jews from their car windows. It was a pogrom though nobody would admit it. One would think that after such an event, activists might realize that stoking hatred against Jews was a dangerous idea. Not the pro-Palestinian crowd, however. It's full steam ahead, and if they can convince American blacks that the Jewish state of Israel is their enemy too, so what if a few American Jews get beat up?

Shame on the pro-Palestinian movement for stirring up this kind of hate toward American Jews with their lies. And shame on our universities for allowing this treatment of its Jewish students. When I first got involved in this issue at UCI back around 2007, I learned that our university campuses were the focal point for the resurgence in anti-Semitism in the US. Rather than seeing it nipped in the bud, it has metastasized to society as a whole. The only positive aspect is that the issue of anti-Semitism can no longer be denied or swept under the rug. It is there for all to see. And UCI has played a role.

Sweden: Afghan Man Gets 10 Months and No Deportation for Sexually Abusing His Daughter

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk 

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Fria Tider. Translation by Fousesquawk. 

Mora (Dalarna), Sweden

The insanity continues in Sweden. While the government continues to ignore the carnage and the rapes going on in the country, thanks to their insane immigration policies, the courts continue to treat offenders with light prison sentences and no deportations in spite of the severity of the crimes. 

In this latest report by Fria Tider, translated by Fousesquawk, we read of a 45-year-old Afghan man convicted of sexually abusing his teenage daughter on multiple occasions, beating her, and getting a sentence of 10 months with no deportation.

https://www.friatider.se/forgrep-sig-sexuellt-pa-sin-dotter-att-kontrollera-om-hon-var-muslim

Sexually abused his daughter to "check if she was Muslim"

-Posted January 25, 2021, 15:27

Caption below photo: Mora (Dalarna) Courthouse

Domestic- An Afghan man, aged 45, in Dalarna, has been sentenced to prison but avoids deportation for having sexually abused his daughter on a number of occasions. He blamed the abuse on his daughter and said that she should pray to Allah for forgiveness, according to the judgment.

The man came to Sweden in 2015 from Afghanistan with his daughter. The abuse against his daughter was committed while the daughter, according to the Swedish population register, was about 14 or younger, until May 2020.

On a number of occasions, he lay down beside his daughter in her bed, kissed her and caressed her breast as he masturbated or pressed his sex (organ) against her and made intercourse-like movements.

The girl testified in court that the father, after the first occasion, explained to her that what happened was her fault and they should pray together for Allah's forgiveness.

When they lived with a  Swedish couple, he would lay next to her in the mornings, (scratch himself) against her and "said that he was checking if she was a Muslim", according to the judgment.

According to the daughter's passport, issued in Afghanistan, she was born in 2005. There has since emerged information, which the girl received from her mother, that she was really born in 2007, and that she is, thus, 13 years old now.

The abuse was discovered in the spring of 2020 when the Afghan beat his daughter in front of their neighbors after she had lost a cell phone. The girl told the Swedish couple what she had been exposed to.

The father, who has several other children in Afghanistan, denied the crime and claimed that he "had only shown (his) love for his daughter when he lay next to her in bed. He also claimed that he "had problems with his penis" with an itchy rash and that it was "hard to control the itching."

The court of Mora has now sentenced the man to 10 months in prison for four counts of sexual abuse against a child and one count of  (physical) abuse. He is allowed to stay in Sweden though since the prosecutor had not urged that he be deported.

The Academic Lynching of Law Professor John Eastman

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

On Wednesday, prior to President Trump's speech to protesters in Washington, Rudy Giuliani spoke to the crowd. He then introduced Professor John Eastman a conservative Constitutional law professor at Chapman University in Orange, California. Eastman described how voting machines were allegedly rigged using algorithms to help Joe Biden get the needed number of votes to defeat President Trump. It should be noted that while both speakers passionately stated their belief that the election was stolen, neither encouraged violence, and neither made any mention of the marching to the Capitol. Yet, in addition to President Trump, both men are being accused of engaging in incitement. In addition, efforts are ongoing by some at Chapman University to have Eastman fired. A similar move is underway at Colorado University at Boulder, where Eastman is a visiting professor. The presidents of both universities have severely criticized Eastman's remarks but are refusing to fire him citing First Amendment protections.

The words of both Giuliani and Eastman can be seen here (hat tip Ugetube.com).

Last month, Eastman first came under fire for joining Trump's legal team in a court filing. He was accused of improperly using his work contact information at Chapman in the filing (hat tip Legal Insurrection). 

Now, in the wake of Wednesday's events, Chapman president Daniele Struppa is facing demands to fire Eastman. In two statements to the campus community, Struppa has condemned Eastman but refuses to fire him.

"This week, John Eastman, a member of the Chapman faculty, played a role in the tragic events in Washington, D.C., that jeopardized our democracy."

That is an inaccurate and very unfair characterization. Eastman had nothing whatsoever to do with the events that took place at a separate location, in this case, the Capitol. As previously stated, he neither encouraged violence nor a march to the Capitol, let alone the storming of the Capitol. He expressed his belief that the election was stolen and outlined his reasons. 

Here is Struppa's follow-up statement to the campus.

In addition, Phil DiStefano, President of the University of Colorado, Boulder, strongly condemned Eastman's speech even while conceding his first amendment rights and refusing to fire him.

While the presidents of Chapman and Colorado University are correct in defending Eastman's First Amendment rights and refusing to bend to the demands to fire him, their characterizations of Eastman's words and actions are unfair. As to the December issue when Eastman joined the Trump legal team, our recent history is rife with incidents when university professors have appeared on Capitol Hill to testify, and their university affiliations were prominently noted. Did we not know that Anita Hill was a professor at the University of Oklahoma when she leveled charges against Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings? Even Joe Biden should remember that. He presided over the hearings. What about when the Brett Kavanaugh hearings were taken over by the accusations of Christine Blasey Ford? And who was Christine Blasey Ford? A professor at Palo Alto University. That was hardly kept from the public as she testified. And how about that Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan, who came to Washington to testify at Trump's impeachment hearings that the President had, indeed, committed impeachable offenses (in her opinion). We all knew she was a Stanford law professor. It was right there on the TV screen. How many times has that prominent Harvard Law Professor, Lawrence Tribe, weighed in on controversial issues, often on Capitol Hill, with his Harvard affiliation prominently displayed? Perhaps we should leave Hill and Ford off the list because, after all, they were the alleged victims, but don't tell me that university professors who enter the political arena are supposed to hide their credentials and pose as shoe salesmen. If it's OK for Pamela Karlan, it's OK for John Eastman.

To sum up, what we have here is an attack on Eastman for taking the side of President Trump in the election controversy. In academia, that is considered an unpardonable sin. To link him to the violence at the Capitol is wrong. That, however, will not stop the campus Jacobins from continuing their attacks. It is a sad commentary on the state of our universities today.

The Cornell Campaign Against Professor William Jacobson

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Cornell University Law School Professor William Jacobson, who runs a conservative blog called Legal Insurrection, has been going through Hell the past year or so due to his conservative views and recent criticism of Black Lives Matter. Students, faculty and administration have been loudly protesting Jacobson's views and trying to end his academic career at Cornell. He has recently been interviewed regarding his experiences. I have previously written in Jacobson's defense as well as that of other professors in other universities who are having similar difficulties for exercising their free speech rights.

This has caused me to reflect on my own experiences while teaching English as a second language (ESL) part-time at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) Extension from 1998-2016 while running my own conservative blog, Fousesquawk.

I should begin by emphasizing that it was my practice never to opine about political or other controversial issues in the classroom. I considered that it was my job to teach students to improve their English skills, not what to think about the world. However, beginning around 2006-2007, I did become active on other parts of the campus when I became aware of anti-Semitic and/or anti-American events taking place on campus. I am speaking primarily of the annual week of bashing Israel that comes every May to UCI courtesy of the Muslim Student Union and Students for Justice in Palestine. It was around that time that I started my blog in order to publicize these issues on campus. Thus, I began attending these events, listening, videotaping (over the objections of the speakers and those hosting the event-it was my legal right to do so), never disrupting, but asking pointed questions during the q and a.

It became my position-and still is- that the University of California system, as well as universities across the nation, are tolerating (anti-Semitic) intolerance in the very name of tolerance. They are simply afraid to confront the main purveyors of anti-Semitism on campus (pro-Palestinian forces) because they are predominantly Muslim. I thus became an open critic of the UCI administration as well as the chancellors of other campuses and the various presidents of the UC system.

Interestingly, and quite in contrast to the experiences of Professor Jacobson and many others, I never suffered any blowback from the University itself nor the UCI Extension, for whom I worked. In contrast to most humanities departments, the teacher corps in ESL was largely made up of people with foreign living experience, people who were bi-lingual, and often married to foreign spouses-as well as having a variety of political views. The common practice in our office was not to discuss politics (I did violate that occasionally), but the point is that my co-workers and supervisors knew my views, but we all got along very well. The University administration knew very well who I was because I wrote them several letters when I thought they were allowing anti-Semitism to rear its ugly head on campus. Yet, they never tried to silence me or threaten my job. Keep in mind that as a part-timer, I worked on a  quarterly contract. I had no tenure, no employment rights. They didn't need to fire me. All they had to do was not give me a class to teach the next quarter, and I would have been gone. Of course, being a  retired government employee with a pension and health benefits, it would not have caused me any great stress.

The point I am making here is that the University of California and UC Irvine respected my right of free speech. When I needed to communicate with university administrators, I did so in a professional and polite manner. There was no personal acrimony. I did have a couple of unpleasant exchanges with two UCI professors, with whom I was on opposite sides of the fence, as well as professors from other campuses and speakers who came to speak at UCI. But that's what you sign up for when you choose to become an activist and speak out at so many of these ugly events that take place on campuses.

In the end, my age and declining energy told me it was time to pack it in with my teaching career. I also wanted to leave on my own terms and not as a result of some unfortunate occurrence on campus related to my activism. In the end, I chose to stop teaching, but I remained on great terms with those with whom and for whom I worked in the UCI Extension. UCI is in many respects, a great university, but it has similar problems as other great universities. At the risk of digressing, one of the saving graces of UCI is that it has a relatively small Humanities department. It's law school, on the other hand, is little more than a training ground for liberal activists.

It is unfortunate that other teachers like Professor Jacobson have not been as lucky as I was. It is a disgrace that his own colleagues have turned against him simply because they don't share his views. This is not what a university is supposed to be. Cornell is a prestigious university, part of the Ivy League. Yet, that school suffers from several problems, not just the Jacobson issue. Anti-Semitism is one of those issues at Cornell. When you look at other Ivy League institutions like Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, etc., you see the same problems.

It is a great experience working on a university campus, but there are many problems in the academic culture. It is a culture dominated by extreme leftist thinkers, people who all too often, do not respect the free speech rights of others. It is a culture that needs to change, but it is going to take a long time to change the culture that has been building up since the 1960s when I was in college. It will take a long time to change the leftist domination in academia, but at least universities could follow the example of UC Irvine and not try to hound teachers who don't follow the herd.

Don't You Dare Disrespect Dr. Biden

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Call me uninformed, but for years when I heard Jill Biden referred to as "Dr Jill Biden", I thought she was a practicing physician. It wasn't until the Democratic convention that I learned that she was actually a former teacher with a PhD. Truth be told, there has been lots of misleading information surrounding the Biden family, but I will stay with this specific topic.

It seems that the Jacobins at Northwestern University are all upset that a former NW English teacher has written an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal advising Jill to drop the Dr title because it is misleading. 

https://www.foxnews.com/media/wsj-op-ed-on-dr-jill-biden-gets-writer-canceled-by-northwestern-university

Here is what the Daily Northwestern has to say about all this:

https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/12/12/lateststories/nu-condemns-former-english-lecturer-joseph-epsteins-op-ed-calling-jill-biden-to-drop-doctor-title/

“Northwestern is firmly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and strongly disagrees with Mr. Epstein’s misogynistic views,” the University wrote.

Is there a university in the Land that doesn't use this by-line? But I digress.

Personally, calling someone with a PhD "Dr" is appropriate in a university setting or when that person is being addressed in their capacity as an academic. To use it as an everyday title the way Jill Biden has been using it does strike me as a bit presumptuous.  

And unlike Whoopi Goldberg, I never presumed that Jill Biden was an "amazing" doctor who should be surgeon general.

Rashida Tlaib, Anti-Semitism and "From the River to the Sea"

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip JNS and Times of Israel

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"

As is always the case with controversial people, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has been in the news a lot lately. No, she didn't call President Trump a "motherf-----" (at least, not that I know of). Tlaib raised eyebrows just days ago when it was revealed that she was slated to appear December 15 on a virtual panel with three other controversial individuals-Israel haters all- to discuss the topic of anti-Semitism.

Julius Streicher and Hitler were unavailable. 

"From the Oder to the Rhine, Germany will be Judenrein"

https://www.jns.org/tlaib-and-others-peddling-anti-jewish-rhetoric-to-speak-on-panel-about-anti-semitism/

Of course, people like Tlaib and her ilk have their own slant on what anti-Semitism is all about. Tlaib, of course, denies that she is anti-Jewish; after all, being of Palestinian stock, how could she possibly be?

If Tlaib's inclusion on such a panel on anti-Semitism wasn't ironic enough, she managed to underline the hypocrisy when she re-tweeted a cute little jingle on the occasion of Palestinian-Something Day (November 29). The jingle goes like this:

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".

https://www.timesofisrael.com/democrat-tlaib-shares-tweet-alluding-to-israels-elimination/

If you haven't been on a college campus lately, the meaning is simple: From the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Palestine will be free. Those are the borders of Israel. It means that there will be no more Israel and no more Jews. Only a state called Palestine made up of and run by Palestinians. Oh, people like Tlaib might tell you that such a state could also include Jews in a multi-ethnic society, but we all know that if they were not driven out or slaughtered, they would be forced to live as minority dhimmis under the thumb of the Palestinians. Tlaib knows exactly what it means.

In November, the voters of her district in Michigan, which includes parts of Detroit and Dearborn, had the chance to correct their mistake of 2018 and vote Tlaib out on her can. That they chose to re-elect her says tons about this district.

2019 FBI Hate Crime Report

 Gary fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.

The FBI has released its annual report for hate crimes in 2019. What is significant is that Jews seemed to be the biggest target of religious hate crimes. There was not only a 14% increase in attacks against Jews but, as victims, they accounted for 60% of the total religious hate crimes. The numbers may shock some, but they didn’t shock me. I have been watching this problem fester for almost 15 years now.

 I first began paying attention around 2006 when I was teaching part-time at the University of California at Irvine and saw how the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activism on our campus was often spilling over into unabashed Jew-hatred. The purveyors of this modern-day anti-Semitism tried to disguise it in the form of “anti-Zionism”. They denied they were anti-Semitic. Many of the anti-Israel professors and speakers invited to campus by Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Union were themselves Jewish. That could not change the fact that vicious anti-Semites like Oakland-based imam, Amir Abdel Malik Ali, and Washington DC-based imams, Mohamed al-Asi and Abdul Alim Musa also came to our campus and engaged in heated anti-Jewish rhetoric. I know. I was present on several such occasions. 

 It was just this specific situation at UC Irvine that made me an activist though I myself am not Jewish. As a student of the history of the Third Reich, I was already sensitive to the issue of anti-Semitism. As I watched the deteriorating situation for Jews in Europe, I realized that anti-Semitism was enjoying a resurgence in the US as well. The focal point for that resurgence was on our university campuses, and the entire University of California system was a particular hotspot, though it must be pointed out that the problem exists in universities all over the US and Canada. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the latest example of campus under the microscope as a result of numerous complaints from Jewish students. And the spark that lights the fire on campuses across the country is the Israel-Palestinian conflict. It is one of the biggest hot-button issues on countless university campuses.

 From the campuses, the problem has now metastasized across society. This is purely anecdotal and personal, and I don’t have the empirical evidence for this, but when I first got involved back in 2006-7, my impression was that it was a campus problem. The local Jewish community did not seem to be overly aware of what was happening on campus in the peaceful bedroom community of Irvine. Indeed, we struggled to bring the problem to the attention of the local community. In that effort, we and Jewish students who wanted to speak out and fight back were thwarted in our efforts by national Jewish organizations like the Jewish Federation (Orange County) and Hillel, both of whom were too embedded and invested in the university to want to make waves. Meanwhile, the ADL was simply missing in action. They prefer to this day to concentrate on anti-Semitism coming from white nationalists.

 Not to defend white anti-Semites; they are to be condemned as well. I just don’t believe they account for the major part of the problem. Then again, I don’t have the empirical evidence at my fingertips. I hope that the FBI report gets wide dissemination. The public must demand action from the government. Not to get political, but under the Trump administration, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has taken an active role in addressing this issue. If Joe Biden becomes our next president, as it appears he will, I hope that policy will continue. I fear, however, that the Biden administration is going to be more Palestinian-friendly. That will have repercussions not only with our Israel policy but on our campuses as well. Jew-hatred has always been an issue that cuts across ethnic lines. 

Next year’s FBI report will surely include the May 2020 pogrom that occurred in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, largely carried out by Black Lives Matter thugs in the wake of the George Floyd death. The truth is that we all need to examine anti-Semitism within our own communities and within our own ethnic groups, white, black, Muslim, etc. Here in the US, our universities also need to address this issue. After all, at least in my opinion, this is where it began to explode.

University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) Commits to Confronting Anti-Semitism

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http:garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Jewish Insider

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has taken a major step forward in confronting what has been an on-going problem of anti-Semitism on its campus. Here is a joint statement issued by the University, Jewish United Fund Chicago, Illini Hillel, Hillel International, Illini Chabad, Arnold & Porter, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

Having followed the events at UIUC over the past couple of years (see previous articles here and here), I applaud Chancellor Robert Jones for this action and his statements in support of Jewish students. I think it is also notable that the university statement, rather than simply condemn anti-Semitism in general terms, has specifically included language that makes it clear that at least a portion of the problem is due to anti-Zionist feelings toward Israel. My own personal opinion, generally speaking, is that opposition to Israel is the major aspect of campus anti-Semitism in our universities. While it is not necessarily anti-Semitic to be critical of Israel's policies vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue, I have personally seen how it has all-too-often spilled over into pure Jew-hatred. All too often, we have seen and heard anti-Jewish canards that have been around for centuries and pre-date the establishment of the modern state of Israel used against Jews in general.

It is not just the University of Illinois. This problem has spread to campuses all over the country and must be stopped in its tracks. Student governments are being paralyzed every year by forced debate and votes on whether to boycott companies doing business with Israel-as if this has anything to do with student life on campus. Campus police have their hands full anytime a speaker who might be pro-Israel is invited to come at speak because disruptions by Students for Justice in Palestine and/or the local Muslim Student Association are sure to result. Meanwhile, vicious anti-Israel/anti-Jewish speakers appear regularly on campuses. And the result of all this is bullying and intimidation directed at Jewish students.

I have met many Jewish alumni from various universities who have recounted to me how they don't look back on their alma maters with fond memories because of the harassment they suffered and the lack of support they received from the university in question-and, in many cases, the lack of support they received from major Jewish organizations who are supposed to look out for Jewish students in these situations.

But to the specific case at hand, UIUC has had problems which they have acknowledged and pledged to make things right. This is a positive step, but it must be followed up on. The above statement should not just be something to stick in the files as "documentation" that the problem is being addressed. The coming months and years will tell us whether UIUC has become a safe campus for Jews.

The Barrett Confirmation: It's Been a Good Week for Trump

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

President Trump may or may not be re-elected next week. Today, however, he achieved a great victory-not only for himself, but for the country. Amy Coney-Barrett, in spite of the childish efforts of the Democrats in the Senate to stop her, has been confirmed as a justice to the Supreme Court replacing the deceased Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The conservatives now have a 6-3 majority. (Maybe 5-1/2 if you consider John Roberts.) What President Trump has done in his first term is to place three conservatives on the Court. It will have a significant-and positive- effect for years to come. With the prospect of a looming Biden-Harris administration, the importance is magnified. Whatever the final verdict on Trump and his presidency-be it four years or eight years- his impact on the Supreme Court is historic. 

The Democrats knew that they had no realistic way of stopping the nomination, but they played their childish games nonetheless and made asses of themselves. At one point, they stayed outside the chamber with only Chuck Schumer present, who argued that the proceedings could not go forward since there was no significant quorum (2 members of the minority being present). Lindsey Graham brushed that away, and the process continued. Then Schumer objected to Vice President Pence being present for the final Senate vote since somebody might catch the Covid virus from Pence, who was coming from the virus-infected White House, blah blah blah. In the end, Barrett passed 52-48.

Immediately, "The Squad", a coalition of four radical female dopes in the House of Representatives, (Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley) began clamoring to expand the court. Joe Biden, for his part, is now mumbling something about rotating courts, rotating justices, or anything that sounds halfway coherent.

Aside from that, as I have already noted, I think the debate went well for Trump. More people are now aware of who Hunter Biden is and what he is all about. More importantly, people are waking up to Joe Biden's involvement in his son's shady business deals with China and Ukraine thanks to the infamous laptop. Now the internet is filled not only with those compromising emails, but XXX-rated videos of Hunter playing hide the baloney with various bimbos while smoking what certainly appears to be crack. We shouldn't hold that against Old Joe, but the business stuff with China and Ukraine? And to think that Trump was impeached over a phone call in which he asked the president of Ukraine to investigate it all.

And don't think that 60 Minutes interview by Leslie Stahl hurt Trump. I viewed the version that Trump released. You don't see Stahl's face, and her voice is not very audible, but she acted outrageously. All she did was argue with the President. When Trump brought up what was done to him during and after the election and the Hunter Biden mess, she claimed that both were unverified. 60 Minutes can yell all they want about Trump ending the interview early, but Stahl's comportment was embarrassing.

On the foreign policy side, Trump also scored a victory this week with Sudan agreeing to normalize relations with Israel. 

One other thing gives me encouragement. The crowds turning out not only to see the President speak, but just to demonstrate their support in other cities, are amazing. The polls, just as they did in 2016, are telling us that Trump trails, but something is happening that we don't see in the polls and certainly not in our disgraced media. Old Joe, meanwhile, if he even holds an event, can't draw much more than his Secret Service protection detail. Are we really going to elect this tired old man, who is drifting into senility, who is now mired in a serious scandal, and has as his running mate, a radical leftist with the charm of Hillary Clinton? I don't know, and I won't know until next week, but this past week has given me encouragement.

Joe and Hunter Biden: Where Is the News Media?

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

This week, in a truly shocking development, a CBS reporter named Bo Erickson actually asked Joe Biden to comment on the revelations surrounding a laptop purported to belong to his son, Hunter. Former Vice President Biden, who was boarding an airplane, was clearly agitated and refused to comment, calling it a "smear" and basically insulting the reporter.

"I have no response. I know you’d ask it. I have no response, it’s another smear campaign, right up your alley, those are the questions you always ask.”

That is about as close as the mainstream media has come to trying to find out the truth about the laptop and the alleged emails to and from Hunter Biden indicating that he was trading on his father's name in order to do business with China and Ukraine. Other than Fox News, the New York Post, which broke the story, and Mr Erickson, our media is trying its best to bury this story.

CNN continues to ignore the story while trying to deal with the latest in their own embarrassing stories with one of their talking heads, this time, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who is "taking some time off". Over at MSNBC, Joy Reid used it to bring up a hit piece on President Trump's children while calling the Hunter Biden story, "fake".

Meanwhile, over on Capitol Hill, Adam Schiff (D-CA) is calling the story another Russian government disinformation piece designed to interfere in our election. Never mind that he has no basis for making such a charge and zero evidence to support it. In rebuttal, the FBI and Justice Department have gone on record this week stating that there is no "Russian connection" to this scandal.

Here is something else that is worth noting. Neither Biden nor his campaign has made any specific denial that the laptop in question (which was turned over to the FBI) belongs to Hunter Biden. Nor are they denying the emails that have been reported. The most that Joe Biden has said to this point that I am aware of is that it is a "smear" and that neither he nor his family has traded on the Biden name as has been alleged. Wouldn't you expect those type of specific denials from Joe Biden? And where is Hunter Biden these days? Where are the reporters camped out in front of his house? Does anyone even know where to look for him?

Of course, the Bidens know that there is a living witness to the story-the computer repair shop owner, who saw the material on the laptop and who apparently stands ready to corroborate everything. It has also been revealed this week that there is a receipt with Hunter Biden's signature on it. Joe Biden also knows that the laptop in question is in FBI custody and has been referred to the US Attorney's office in Delaware.

What we have not heard from Biden or his camp is a statement along the lines of: "the laptop in question does not belong to Hunter Biden", or, "the emails that have been reported are false". He might also throw in something like, "any reports that the laptop shows Hunter using crack cocaine and engaging in sex acts are false". None of that. Instead, they are attacking Rudy Giuliani for his role in the turning over of the material.

As far as the alleged meeting in 2015 in Washington with a Burisma official named Vadiym Pozharskyi, the Biden camp has stated that a review of then-Vice President Biden's schedule reflects no such meeting as being scheduled. That is hardly conclusive. Unscheduled meetings happen all the time with Washington officials. 

Then there is Joe Biden's reference to the CBS reporter about the "smear". It's an ugly word with all sorts of negative connotations, but sometimes, a smear can be true.  For example, when people bring up Monica Lewinsky and her affair then-President Bill Clinton, that is a smear against Clinton-but it is a true smear. So Joe Biden calling the story a "smear" is not really a denial.

Of course, all this is going to be asked of Joe Biden in Thursday's debate, right? It's the elephant in the back of the room, and it should be the first question asked, right?  Don't get your hopes up. The debate is being moderated by pro-Biden Democrat Kristin Welker of NBC. In addition, the Commission on Presidential Debates intends to cut off the microphone of the candidate(s) when "appropriate". So if Welker says nothing about the Hunter Biden issue, and Trump tries to bring it up, we can now look forward to his microphone being cut off. 

And then there are social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, trying to short-circuit any discussions about this story while they "fact-check" it.

And to cap it all off, should Biden win this election, once the new administration comes into office and a new attorney general sets up the new Justice Department, we can rest assured that any further investigation of Hunter Biden will quietly disappear-just as the on-going investigations into the corrupt practices of the Obama administration in trying to take Trump down before, during, and subsequent to the 2016 election- will also quietly disappear.

An old colleague of mine once said decades ago, "the only thing the people need to know is the ball scores". That thought may now be coming true. At least we will know who won the World Series.