October 7 Attack, Two Years On: Americans Should Be Grateful to Israel

Reuel Marc Gerecht: Two years after Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities, the U.S. should be grateful to Israel. The Jewish state has defanged a range of militant actors who despise the U.S. and have killed Americans…. Historical ignorance is part of the internet age. So is antisemitism. Israel likely has many more wars before it. Will Washington have the understanding and intestinal fortitude to stand by an ally that has repeatedly enhanced America’s influence throughout the Middle East and beyond? Not all of Israel’s enemies are America’s. But enough of them are to do more than wish it well (Wall Street Journal). Israel’s fight, after all, is tied to our own fight. Brad Parscale: It’s as concrete as the principles of the American founding and, even before America, the foundation of civil society. It’s the values that built our nation: pre-political, God-given rights, democracy, liberty, the rule of law, freedom of religion and speech, and yes, traditional families. Those principles connect the Greeks, the Romans, the Magna Carta, and the Declaration of Independence to the Ten Commandments. This defines who we are as a people (Townhall).

Speaker Johnson on Schumer Shutdown: Democrats “ inflicting real pain on real Americans”

On Monday, Senate Democrats again rejected the spending bill—by a 52-42 margin. House Speaker Mike Johnson joined Hugh Hewitt, explaining what he sees from Democrats: No movement. I’m so sad to tell you they’re inflicting real pain on real Americans and they seem not to care. They’re playing political games, as you have explained so clearly as I tried to set out in my press conference this morning, the facts are very clear and as John Adams reminded us, facts are stubborn things…. all these Democrats in the Senate know that they have given their own impassioned speeches about this issue so many times we can’t count it. The highlight reel will take hours to play and yet, and yet they’re holding out. Why? Because they need to show a fight against Trump. It is shameful…. (Hugh Hewitt). The Hill: The trio of Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) crossed over to vote with Republicans, just as they did three times last week. But no other Democrats joined them, leaving the majority party frustrated that it has been unable to win over more votes…. “I’m wondering just what exactly Democrats think they’re gaining from all of this. I guess they’re getting points from the far-left interest groups they’ve been coordinating their shutdown strategy with,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on the floor earlier Monday (The Hill).

Trump Fires Back on Democrats Over Shutdown

The president on Monday afternoon: Democrats have SHUT DOWN the United States Government right in the midst of one of the most successful Economies, including a Record Stock Market, that our Country has ever had. This has sadly affected so many programs, services, and other elements of Society that Americans rely on — And it should not have happened. I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open. In fact, they should open our Government tonight! (Truth).

Chicago Police Superintendent Responds to Delayed Response to ICE Agents’ Plea for Help

The context here is the delayed response from Chicago PD’s on calls for help from ICE agents last week. ABC 7 in Chicago reports: Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference Monday that it’s difficult to toe the line between state and local laws that bar police from assisting in federal immigration enforcement and their responsibility to protect the public…. Snelling says at no time did Chief of Patrol Jon Hein tell officers not to respond. “The chief of patrol would never tell someone to stand down when any law enforcement agency is in trouble or in need of help,” Snelling said (ABC). The problem with that is the audio and the department’s internal system make it clear: Chicago Police Officers were, indeed, directed not to respond: “We’re not sending anyone to that location.” Larry O’Connor responds: The cops were told to stand down. Their fellow men and women in blue—wearing the badge—were being attacked. They asked for help. And Chicago Police said, “No, can’t do it, hands off.” By the way: The reason we know about this, the reason we got that screen shot, is because there were cops in Chicago who were fed up. They leaked this (Hot Air).

Chicago Mayor Johnson Calls Trump Administration Action a “War on Chicago”

In yet another dangerous escalation of rhetoric. The socialist mayor of Chicago was decrying efforts from ICE law enforcement officials: “For now, let me just say that we are unequivocally going to continue to reject the military occupation of our city. The Trump administration must end the war on Chicago. The Trump administration must end this war against Americans. The Trump administration must end its attempt to dismantle our democracy. Right as we are making historic progress in reducing violence, the Trump administration is seeking to destabilize our city and provoke chaos. We said that they would use ICE as a pretext to send in the National Guard, and now they are doing just that. I’ve also said for the last couple of years that the extreme right in this country refused to accept the results of the Civil War. They have repeatedly called for a rematch. In the coming weeks, we will use this opportunity to build greater resistance” (Real Clear Politics).

Trump Threatens Invocation of Insurrection Act

With the governors of both Oregon and Illinois fighting use of national guard troops. Financial Times: Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy troops to American cities, intensifying a stand-off with Democratic-led states resisting his use of the military on US soil. The president sounded the warning as his efforts to send federal troops to quash protests in several cities have had mixed results in the courts, with one blocking the deployment of the military to Oregon and another allowing it in Illinois. “We have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, citing a law enacted in the early 19th century to crush rebellions. “If I had to enact it, I’d do that — if people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up” (Financial Times). Axios on the lawsuits spurring the president’s warning: Illinois sued the Trump administration Monday in an attempt to block its “unlawful” deployment of federalized National Guard troops to Chicago. The new lawsuit comes less than 24 hours after California and Oregon secured a court order temporarily halting Trump’s plan to send troops to Portland, a blow to the president’s ongoing effort to target Democrat-led cities (Axios).

Leading Democrats in Virginia Can’t Find Sufficient Conviction to Condemn Ominous Death Texts

And: Given our dangerous political moment, the concern is far more than theoretical. At the center of the issue is Jay Jones, currently the Democrat nominee for Attorney General in the state. In 2022, he sent a vile text, referring to Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R): “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.” Guy Benson on Fox News Monday: “It’s so grotesquely, cartoonishly awful, that I can’t believe we’ve seen almost no Democrats see this as a disqualifying event for this to become the lead law enforcement official in the state of Virginia.” Jones has also been reported as saying, “maybe if a few cops died, they’d stop shooting people.” Winsome Earle-Sears, GOP nominee for Governor in Virgina, responds to Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat nominee in the state: DAMNING: Abigail Spanberger is standing by Jay Jones after he was exposed for saying “maybe if a few cops died, they’d stop shooting people.” All this AFTER he fantasized about murdering a dad and his two kids (Earle-Sears).

Supreme Court to Hear Key First Amendment Case

The high court’s new term began on Monday. A case to watch is Chiles v. Salazar, described by SCOTUSblog: Whether a law that censors certain conversations between counselors and their clients based on the viewpoints expressed regulates conduct or violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment (SCOTUSblog). At the practical level: Can a licensed counselor help a client find comfort is his or her own biological sex?—or only hope the client “transition.” The implications are enormous for speech and religious liberty. Kristen Waggoner of Alliance Defending Freedom: It’s deeply disturbing what’s happening there and especially in Colorado. Again, what’s important about this case is that it is involving counseling conversations, just listening and talking to kids. That’s it. Just hearing them out and helping them grow at peace with their body and realigning their identity with their God-given sex and Colorado has a one-way ratchet that says you can’t have those conversations. You can’t help a child achieve their goal. Instead you have to read from the state’s talking points and in fact, the law actually says that the counselors can have these conversations with kids if they transition those kids, if they affirm that they are born in the wrong body and that’s not even supported by the science…. It’s a pure speech case that involves just government censoring a point of view, which is classic viewpoint discrimination (Hugh Hewitt).

Jack Smith Spied on Eight GOP Senators During “Election Conspiracy” Inquiry

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley responds: This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation into “election conspiracy” Arctic Frost later became Jack Smith’s elector case against Trump. BIDEN FBI WEAPONIZATION = WORSE THAN WATERGATE (Grassley). Fox News: A document, reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating Jan. 6 were allegedly tracking the phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania (Fox News). Beege Welborn: Senator Bill Hagerty is hot under the collar. He points out that some of the folks named with him as subjects were on the 2016 Trump transition team and investigated by the Obama DoJ, so this is the second time the FBI has come after them. And, once again, every last victim of this underhanded, weaponized surveillance was a Republican and a sitting United States senator. All of them (Hot Air).

Trump Pushing Qatar on Al Jazeera’s “Incitement” to Terror

As well he should. Matthew Xiao of Free Beacon: Qatar, facing pressure from President Donald Trump, has pushed its Hamas-linked news outlet Al Jazeera to reduce “incitement” to terror throughout the Middle East, according to a Monday report. “What’s going on at Al Jazeera? If you go onto its website, you’ll see relatively mild news items, as opposed to the incitement that is usually prominent on the Qatari propaganda network,” Israel’s Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal reported in an X post. Segal went on to cite his colleague Ehud Yaari, who said Qatar is “carrying out a purge” at Al Jazeera and that the network has started to focus more on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, “instead of praising and boasting about the actions of Hamas’ military wing.”  Al Jazeera’s shift, Yaari noted, is “apparently part of understandings between [Qatar] and the United States, under which Al Jazeera will reduce the amount of incitement it spreads throughout the Middle East”…. “If this is a real shift, it’s a huge game changer,” the [intelligence] official told Segal (Free Beacon).