Embracing Extremism

I have warned for years that threats to our liberty come from the left, not the right.  Those threats were obvious from the beginning of the pandemic.  In the name of public health, liberal politicians embraced the most extreme measures, while conservative mayors and governors did their best to balance freedom and public health.

A recent Rasmussen poll shows just how far many on the left are prepared to go to punish their fellow Americans, and the results are scary.  For example:

• 78% of self-identified Democrats support Biden's vaccine mandate for large businesses.  The Supreme Court just blocked that mandate as an illegal abuse of power.
• 59% would confine the unvaccinated to their homes.
• 55% would fine those who refuse to take COVID vaccines.
• 48% would fine or jail those who question COVID vaccines on social media.
• 47% would require the unvaccinated to wear digital devices to monitor their movement.
• 45% would require the unvaccinated to live in detention camps.
• 29% would suspend the custody rights of parents who do not get their children vaccinated for COVID.

All of these issues involve serious constitutional violations, but many leftists apparently don't care. 

And don't think this is poll is just a bizarre outlier.  The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board published an editorial this weekend calling for the governor to "deploy the National Guard to ensure that people without proof of vaccination would not be allowed, well, anywhere." 

Meanwhile, the Gallup Organization has recorded a massive political shift in the country.  The number of people identifying as Republican is way up, and the number of people identifying as Democrat is way down.  The left's willingness to take away constitutional rights probably something to do with that shift.

Breaking The Senate

The left's push to nationalize all elections is continuing this week.  Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer has called an emergency meeting of the Senate Democrat Caucus to discuss their strategy to advance their so-called "voting rights bill." 

We expect this effort will fail because there aren't 60 votes in the Senate for this radical legislation.  But in the process, progressives are going to try to break the Senate by eliminating the legislative filibuster, a move that is also expected to fail. 

But I want to remind you that this is not a "voting rights bill."  Let me repeat that:  This is not a "voting rights bill."  Even Fox News falls into the trap of repeating left-wing talking points when discussing this legislation. 

This legislation is meant to lock in voting procedures that overwhelmingly benefit the left.  It is guaranteed to create more voter fraud and declining faith in the integrity of our elections.  If passed, the left would have a permanent lock on power, and that's the whole point. 

That's why many of these policies were included in HR 1 – the very first bill House liberals filed in 2019.  That's right – 2019.  Don't fall for the left's spin that this effort to "secure voting rights" is in reaction to anything that happened on January 6, 2021.    

This is the left's most important priority because it guarantees their power.  And they're willing to blow up the Senate over this because if they succeed, they will never have to worry about losing another election.

Another FBI Disgrace

We were all horrified by the reports this weekend that an Islamic supremacist took a rabbi and members of his congregation hostage at a Texas synagogue.  Jew hatred and anti-Semitism continues to grow and metastasize in the United States and around the world.  Sometimes anti-Semitism camouflages itself, but it must always be exposed and rejected.

As evil as attacks like this are, just as disturbing was the FBI's initial reaction.  It was further evidence just how politicized our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have become. 

The perpetrator, Malik Faisal Akram, was a British citizen of Pakistani descent.  He stormed the synagogue demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, otherwise known as "Lady Al Qaeda."  She is such a Jew-hater that when she was on trial for attempting to murder U.S. troops and FBI agents, she refused to accept a Jewish defense attorney.  She also demanded that the jury be "Jew-free." 

Akram never should have been allowed into the United States.  He has a criminal record in Great Britain.  But, once again, the Biden Administration is not vetting anyone who comes into the country.   Our lax immigration policies are literally importing more hate into the country.

The FBI knew Akram was a radical Islamist and it knew of his demand to free "Lady Al Qaeda."  Yet, the FBI said the attack on the synagogue was not evidence of the American Jewish community being targeted.  After an avalanche of criticism, the Bureau was forced to backtrack.  But its impulse to downplay Islamic supremacism is revealing and disturbing.

MLK Would Weep

Unfortunately, as we were remembering the legacy of Martin Luther King, vicious hate seemed to rule the streets of America's cities. 

There were, of course, the usual gang slaughters in places like Chicago.  In New York City, an Asian woman was thrown in front of a subway and killed.  In Los Angeles, a nurse who was attacked at a bus stop died from her wounds.  And a bright, promising young woman was brutally stabbed to death as she worked in a furniture store. The list goes on and on. 

This is a good time to remember that throughout 2020, the left and its media allies insisted that the biggest problem facing America was bad cops.  Many leftists embraced the insane idea of "defunding the police." 

But the biggest problem in America is really immorality, which leads to greater crime and violence, and it is increasingly tolerated by the culture and excused by "woke" district attorneys who refuse to do their jobs. 

Meanwhile, the White House announced that Joe Biden will soon begin issuing executive orders to "reform policing."  Translation:  Biden is putting more restrictions on the ability of police to keep you safe.

A New Era In The Old Dominion

It's been a long time since conservatives in Virginia had anything to cheer about.  But they were cheering loudly this weekend as Glenn Youngkin, Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares were sworn into office, and immediately took a Trumpian approach to governing. 

They fired the entire state parole board, and launched an investigation into who ordered the release of murderers and rapists with no public notifications.  Attorney General Miyares also cleared out dozens of leftist bureaucrats from his office, and launched an investigation into the coverup of sexual abuse in the Loudoun County public schools.

Youngkin issued a series of executive orders, including one allowing parents to decide if their children wear masks in schools.  Left-wing school districts in the liberal Washington suburbs declared that they would fight to keep their mask mandates. 

The first executive order Youngkin issued banned the use of "inherently divisive concepts," including critical race theory, in education.  Youngkin also appointed strong conservatives to key education positions in his administration.

Leftists in Virginia were furious, claiming the order was "more evidence of Republican racism."  But these same leftists spent the past year lying to the people of Virginia by falsely claiming that critical race theory wasn't in the public schools when it obviously was being pushed on students.

During an interview with Fox News yesterday, Youngkin declared:

"In Virginia, it is clear under law that parents have a fundamental right to make decisions for their children's upbringing, their education and their care. . . We're going to use all the authority that I have to consider all options to protect that right."

Big battles remain ahead.  But I was tremendously reassured by the seriousness and swiftness with which Youngkin and his team began to tackle these issues.