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Monday, March 18, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Says Sen. Schumer Opposes the Will of the Israeli People by Calling for New Elections

Jerusalem Post: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of opposing the Israeli public by calling for his government to be replaced through elections. “It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” Netanyahu told CNN during an interview with Dana Bash on its weekly State of the Union Sunday morning program. Israel “is not a banana republic” and its people chose its leaders, Netanyahu said (Jerusalem Post). Hill: Former President Trump criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday saying the remarks are emblematic of poor policy toward the country by the Democratic Party. Schumer, the most senior Jewish politician in the country and an ardent supporter of Israel, called for new elections in Israel in an address on Thursday. Schumer said Netanyahu has “lost his way,” adding that the prime minister has been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.” Democrats, who are generally supportive of Israel, have stepped up criticism of the country in recent weeks as the Israel-Hamas war continues and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza becomes more dire (Hill).

Democrats Think Trump Calls for Violence in Speech About the Auto Industry

Hill: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Sunday underscored the stakes of the November election after former President Trump warned of a “bloodbath” for the auto industry and the country if he doesn’t win a second term in the White House. At a campaign rally in Ohio on Saturday, Trump called for a 100 percent tariff on cars made outside the country, saying the industry would only be protected with him in office. “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump said. His critics instantly seized on the remarks, characterizing them as a call for political violence (Hill). Fox News: Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., weighed in on former President Trump’s recent statements at a rally in Ohio, suggesting that Trump could be looking to “exact a bloodbath” in America if he doesn’t win re-election. Pelosi stressed that Trump cannot win the upcoming election and spun his “bloodbath” remark as possibly being a threat to Americans (Fox News). Colling Rugg: Nancy Pelosi races to CNN to lie about Donald Trump and promote the “bloodbath” hoax (X). Tom Elliot: Trump critics would never use a term like “bloodbath” (X).

California Adjusts Job Growth Numbers Suggesting Massive Deficit Could Increase

Just the News: California revised job growth for 2023 from 325,000 jobs to just 50,000 jobs, suggesting the state’s $73 billion deficit for the coming year may be even larger than earlier estimated. With a rising unemployment rate, this means there are fewer workers paying taxes, and more individuals receiving unemployment benefits, which will both reduce tax revenue and increase spending (Just the News). Mercury News: California’s economy juggled numerous challenges in 2023, including a weakening technology sector, labor unrest making it the nation’s strike hub, and population outflow – which created a shortage of workers to hire. There’s no doubt the state’s reputation as a tough place to do business doesn’t help (Mercury News).

Supreme Court Provides Guidelines for When Public Officials Can Block Users on Social Media

Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court, addressing free speech rights in the digital age, decided on Friday that government officials can sometimes be sued under the Constitution’s First Amendment for blocking critics on social media. In unanimous decisions in two cases from California and Michigan, the justices set a new standard for determining if public officials acted in a governmental capacity when blocking critics on social media – a test to be applied in lawsuits accusing them of violating the First Amendment (Reuters). CBS: Under the new standard, an official is deemed a state actor online only if that official had “actual authority to speak” on the government’s behalf, and “purported to exercise” that authority when speaking on social media. Social media users may then sue public officials for blocking them if those conditions are met, subjecting the government employees to First Amendment scrutiny. The court said the standard that it laid out in its opinion differs from those applied by lower courts in the two cases involving public officials who blocked constituents on social media, and it sent the disputes back for additional proceedings consistent with its decision (CBS).

DA Fani Willis to Stay on Trump Case While Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade Resigns

National Review: Fulton County district attorney Fani Wills will continue prosecuting the Georgia election-interference case against former president Donald Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants after special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her former lover, stepped down on Friday. Wade subsequently withdrew “in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible,” he wrote in a one-page resignation letter to Willis. In the 23-page ruling, Fulton County Superior Court judge Scott McAfee found that defense lawyers failed to meet their burden of proving that Willis acquired an actual conflict of interest in the case through her relationship and travels with Wade (National Review). Victor Davis Hanson: So the question arises, what would a Georgia prosecutor have to do to be disqualified from a case by Judge McAfee? Lie even more under oath (X)?

Washington Post Urges Kamala Harris to Resign

Daily Wire: The Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker called on Vice President Kamala Harris to step aside “for the country’s sake” in an editorial published on Friday. Parker agued that although she had hoped to see Harris thrive and shine in her position as second-in-command, she — and may Americans along with her — had been disappointed by the vice president’s actual job performance. “The Kamala conundrum comes down to this,” Parker wrote. “She was picked because she was Black and female, a combo tantamount to job security. Now that she has become a burden to the Democratic ticket, Biden can’t fire her. He can’t risk alienating his base. Full stop.” Parker went on to note that the “Kamala conundrum” was particularly worrisome given the number of Americans who were also worried about the age and cognitive state of President Joe Biden (Daily Wire). Washington Post: Every honest person knows he’s not in top form. A recent New York Times poll found that 73 percent of registered voters believe Biden is too old to be the nation’s top executive. This includes 61 percent of those who voted for him in 2020 (Washington Post). Townhall: According to a recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll, only 36 percent of voters approve of “court jester” Harris’ job as vice president. 52 percent of voters disapprove of her performance, making her approval numbers worse than Biden’s. The poll found that 41 percent of voters approve of Biden as president, 55 percent disapprove (Townhall).

Colorado May Be Required To Create Jail Units for Trans Inmates

Fox News: Colorado is poised to become the first state in the country with segregated holding cells for transgender women in prison, if a judge signs off on it. After a class action lawsuit was filed by several transgender inmates in 2019 against the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) alleging discrimination, harassment and assault, a judge is scheduled to rule on a consent decree that would bring further changes – including surgical sex changes and hormone treatment – to the state’s penitentiary. The consent decree, a court-ordered settlement in a legal dispute, would also require all trans women currently or previously in CDOC to receive a $2.1 million payout, depending on the severity of the alleged assault, discrimination and harassment while in prison. Rewards could range from $1,000 to $10,000 per plaintiff (Fox News). National Review: A number of the plaintiffs involved in the case are serving life without parole for homicide and assault, according to the report. The question of where to house transgender-identifying inmates has loomed large over the country’s prison systems. Advocates for female inmates have said housing male inmates alongside women poses a danger to female inmates. Multiple male inmates who identify as women have sexually exploited female inmates at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, which was previously the only exclusively female jail in the state (National Review).

There is a Heavy Toll on Children Who Do Not Attend School Regularly

National Review: The rise in chronic absenteeism is linked to a host of problems, including mental-health issues and juvenile crime. Since the pandemic, K–12 schools across the country have seen a dramatic increase in chronic absenteeism. While millions of American students missed out on in-person learning during Covid-19, the number of students back in class after the pandemic did not rebound as expected. Instead, according to the latest data, over two-thirds of students in the U.S. attended a school with 20 percent or more of its students chronically absent in 2021–2022. Both the clear identification of this issue and the enactment of a swift response should be top priorities for school districts across the nation. The startling increase in chronic absenteeism that began during Covid-19 can be attributed in part to the vast school closures and move to remote learning across the country during the pandemic. Children fell out of the habit of attending school every day — and their parents fell out of the habit of ensuring that they were in school. While going to school was once an unquestioned norm, the pandemic colored it with optionality. In short, the social breakdown of communities during the pandemic — a breakdown that amplified the isolation and atomization of Americans today — has contributed to lower incentives for kids to go to school. If students do not feel connected to their peers, known by their teachers, or understand that they belong at school, they are much less likely to show up in the first place (National Review).

College Forces Student Athletes To Watch Video on Racism

College Fix: Davidson College alumni are calling for change after student athletes recently were required to watch the video “I’m Not Racist … Am I?” which labels all white people as racists. The Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse, an alumni-run free speech organization, exposed and denounced the video after learning the North Carolina institution forced student athletes to watch it this semester. Notably, “in one clip of the film that we uncovered, is the unequivocal repetition that all white people are racist, and people of color cannot be racist,” the organization told The College Fix (College Fix). Steve McGuire: “So, are you saying that all white people are racist?” “Yes.” “We would also say that it’s only white people that could be racist, that are racist.” You have to watch this clip from a film Davidson College required all its student-athletes to watch (X). Outkick: The video goes on to redefine racism in the most absurd terms possible. “Let me tell you what he’s not saying on the second part,” another participant says. “He’s not saying that people of color can’t be bigots, can’t express racial prejudice, can’t try to engage in acts of discrimination against white people, can’t do real, real stupid things filled with hate. We’re saying that collectively, blacks, Latinos, and other groups do not have the power to collectively oppress white people through the use of our systems.” So minority groups can commit racism, but it’s not racism, because the racist creators of the video don’t want it to be (Outkick).

10.

Air Force General Says Over 1,000 Drones Coming Over U.S. Border Each Month

New York Post: More than 1,000 drones per month are crossing into US airspace near the border with Mexico, a top general told lawmakers Thursday. The number of unmanned drone incursions is “alarming” and presents a “growing” potential threat to national security, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of North American Defense Command and US Northern Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “The number of incursions was something that was alarming to me as I took command last month,” Guillot said. Mexican cartels have been using drones to track the location of authorities along the US-Mexico border in order to more easily smuggle humans and drugs, according to US Customs and Border Protection officials (New York Post). DoD: When asked if such incursions present a defense threat to the homeland, Guillot said he hasn’t seen any of the incursions “manifest in a threat to the level of national defense,” but he said he does “see the potential only growing” (DoD).