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Thursday, October 26, 2023

Republicans Elect a New Speaker of the House

Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Spencer Brown: At last, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives successfully elected the 56th Speaker of the House on Wednesday afternoon following multiple rounds of unsuccessful ballots and withdrawn nominations, selecting Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana to lead the lower chamber (Townhall). Capitol Hill Reporter Marc Rod: Final count 412 yes, 10 no, 6 present (X). Benny Johnson: SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: “I believe that scripture and the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time” (X).

Omri Ceren: “The smoldering crater that is the Biden administration's Middle East policy”

Reporter Jeremy Stern: Jake Sullivan wrote an essay for Foreign Affairs that went to print before Oct 7. For the online version that came out yesterday, they let him not just add new material but scrub the sections embarrassed by events. Some deleted gems from the original, not available online (1/6). “The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, particularly in the West Bank, but in the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence.” “the region is quieter than it has been for decades. The progress is fragile, to be sure. But it is also not an accident… [Biden’s] approach returns discipline to US policy. It emphasizes deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts, and integrating the region…” (X). Omri Ceren: The smoldering crater that is the Biden administration’s Middle East policy. Absolutely wild (X).

Confirmed: Hamas Terrorists Spent Time Training in Iran Prior to Attack on Israel

And the Biden administration has claimed, repeatedly: “we haven’t seen any specific evidence that tells us they were wittingly involved” (Fox News). Wall Street Journal: In the weeks leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, hundreds of the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s fighters received specialized combat training in Iran, according to people familiar with intelligence related to the assault. Roughly 500 militants from Hamas and an allied group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, participated in the exercises in September, which were led by officers of the Quds Force, the foreign-operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the people said. Senior Palestinian officials and Iranian Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Quds Force, also attended, they said (Wall Street Journal). Iran is deflecting. Times of Israel: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday accused the United States of “directing” strikes that Israel has been carrying out on Hamas, calling the US “a definite accomplice of criminals” during a speech in Tehran (Times of Israel).

Israel Agrees to Pause Invasion Until the U.S. Can Deploy Air Defense to the Region

Wall Street Journal: Israel has agreed, for now, to a request from the U.S. to delay its expected ground invasion of Gaza so the Pentagon can place air defenses in the region to protect U.S. troops, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the Israeli planning. The Pentagon is scrambling to deploy nearly a dozen air-defense systems to the region, including for U.S. troops serving in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to protect them from missiles and rockets. U.S. officials have so far persuaded the Israelis to hold off until those pieces can be placed, as early as later this week (Wall Street Journal). Daily Mail: The US military and other officials believe their forces will be targeted by militant groups once Israel launches its ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory. So far, there have been at least 13 missile and drone attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria, which caused the death of one American contractor. The strikes also destroyed an American drone. At least two dozen US soldiers were injured in attacks in Iraq and a further ten in Iraq, officials said, but added that most of the injuries were minor (Daily Mail).

Florida Democrat Calls for Rep. Rashida Tlaib Censure After Her Pro-Hamas Comments

Post Millennial: On Wednesday, Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz said Congress should strongly consider voting to censure fellow Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her failure to accept findings from both United States and Israeli intelligence agencies which showed that the Jewish state wasn’t responsible for bombing a hospital in Gaza. Tlaib and other members of the “Squad” have repeatedly parroted propaganda pushed by Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas claiming that Israel was solely to blame for the blast, which was originally thought to have killed over 500 people. The actual death toll, and level of destruction, was quickly revealed to have been much lower, and the source of the rocket was Islamic Jihad, a smaller terrorist group operating on the Palestinian side of the border (Post Millennial).

Albert Mohler: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea Make the New Axis of Evil

Albert Mohler: The 20th century knew more than its share of evil powers, but something new, ominous, and world-shaping came into view in 1936 when Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany declared a “Rome-Berlin Axis,” united in opposition to the rest of Europe. The combination of Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy into a fascist alliance represented a clear and present danger to civilized Europe and, by extension, to the United States as well. Their “Pact of Steel” in 1939 formalized the threat even as global war loomed. Very soon, Imperial Japan would join the Axis powers as an ally, and as a direct threat to the United States and its allies. It would be a battle unto death. The new axis of evil includes Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. All four nations pose a direct threat to the West. Each is working to subvert the world order. All four are autocracies or dictatorships who see the United States and our allies as decadent, weak, rich, and temporary… These four powers are increasingly aligned against American interests and, in the case of both Iran and North Korea, the ruling powers want to see the United States destroyed. Iran is determined to see Israel erased from the map (WNG).

Cornell Professor Taking a Leave of Absence After Calling Attacks on Israel “exhilarating”

New York Post: The Cornell professor who called the Hamas terror attack on Israel “exhilarating” and “energizing” is now on a leave of absence until at least the end of the semester. Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history, went viral for the incendiary remarks to students during a pro-Palestinian protest soon after the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. “It was exhilarating. It was exhilarating, it was energizing,” he was seen telling the crowd, claiming “you would not be human” not to feel the same. “I was exhilarated!” he said to a smattering of applause. After initially standing by his statements, the embattled professor later apologized “for the horrible choice of words,” admitting they were “reprehensible” — before his students were told he would no longer teach this semester (New York Post). National Review: Rickford has been vocal about “Palestinian solidarity” before. According to The Cornell Daily Sun, in 2017, during a “kneel-in” event in support of students and professional athletes fighting against racism in America, he led a “Free Palestine” chant, which some students regarded as inappropriate as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not the topic of the demonstration (National Review).

It is Time for Jews to Move on from Democrats

David Mamet: When I first saw New York, in the Sixties, I was awed as by no subsequent marvel of nature: stretching north from Columbus Circle, up the West Side, was a Jewish metropolis. New York, in my lifetime, had always been a Jewish city: the rhythms, the accent, the humor always felt to me like home. Because they were home. We New York Jews have always voted for the Democrats, as their policies appealed to the immigrants and the first generation. Still, today, Jews vote Democratic: electing Presidents who refused to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister (Obama and Biden) in times of “peace”, who gave and give aid to the terrorist state of Iran in exchange for some semi-specified “deal”. American “Aid” to Iran pays for the equipment and ordnance, which is, at this moment, eradicating Jews. Why do Jews vote Democratic? Partly from tradition. But there is no more cosy mystery in the antisemitism of the Democratic Party; Representatives are affiliated with the Democratic Socialists and pro-Palestinians, calling for the end of the state of Israel — that is, for the death of the Jews. And Democrat Representatives repeat and refuse to retract the libel that Israel bombed a hospital, in spite of absolute proof to the contrary, and will not call out the unutterable atrocities of Hamas. The writing is on the wall. In blood (Unherd).

Rep. Jamaal Bowman Criminally Charged for Pulling Fire Alarm in Capitol Building

Daily Mail: Rep. Jamaal Bowman has been criminally charged with one misdemeanor count for pulling the fire alarm during a House vote. The September 30th incident took place in the Cannon House Office building. The New York Democrat is ordered to appear in court for arraignment on Thursday (Daily Mail). CJ Pearson: NY Congressman Jamaal Bowman has been criminally charged with a misdemeanor for falsely pulling a fire alarm on the grounds of the Capitol. The House should immediately vote to EXPEL him (X).

10.

Texas Sues Biden Administration for Cutting Razor Wire Border Fence

Daily Wire: Texas sued the Biden administration on Tuesday over federal agents cutting razor wire deployed along the border by Texas authorities to deter illegal immigration. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Del Rio, Texas, against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and others. Paxton accused federal agents of illegally destroying state property and obstructing the state’s border security efforts. “Texas has the sovereign right to construct border barriers to prevent the entry of illegal aliens,” Paxton said in a statement (Daily Wire). National Review: The suit comes less than a month after Mayorkas waived over two dozen federal laws in early October, paving the way for the White House to resume construction of a border-wall in south Texas. “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” the secretary wrote in the notice signaling a notable reversal of the administration’s earlier refusal to erect new barriers (National Review).