Libertarian Leanings

FBI Thwarts FBI Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor

Just before the 2020 election, the FBI announced it had thwarted an alleged plot to kidnap the Michigan governor.

A jury found that the FBI had actually entrapped at least 2 of the defendants.

Is this how the DOJ carries out its operations? The American people deserve to know. pic.twitter.com/ZcjGtwKWtC

— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) July 28, 2022

Democrat Death Wish: House Votes to Ban Production and Sale of "Assault Weapons"

Jacob Sullum, Reason:  The Dubious and Doomed 'Assault Weapon' Ban That the House Approved Today May Cost Democrats This Fall

The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 217 to 213, has no chance in the evenly divided Senate, where support from at least 10 Republicans would be required to overcome a filibuster. House approval of H.R. 1808 is therefore a symbolic act aimed at energizing Democrats and encouraging them to vote in this fall's elections. But several House Democrats, whose objections nearly derailed today's vote, worried that it would hurt their party's candidates more than it would help them. In the end, five Democrats joined all but two Republicans in voting against the bill.

The fear that today's gesture could alienate more voters than it attracts seems rational given what happened after Congress approved similar legislation in 1994: Democrats lost control of the House and Senate. Polling data provide further reason to think that the House vote to revive the ban, which expired in 2004, could be politically perilous.

"There was uncertainty that an assault weapons ban has the votes in a chamber where Democrats have only a razor-thin four-member majority," The Washington Post noted on Wednesday. "Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), who recently lost his primary bid to a liberal Democrat, has publicly said he would vote against the ban. Other front-line members representing rural districts also expressed hesitancy in backing it."

Schrader argued that approving H.R. 1808 would cost Democrats in November. "This is a bill that destroyed the Democrats in '94," he told Politico earlier this month. "Do we really have a death wish list as Democrats?"

Vic Fazio, a former chair of the House Democratic Caucus who represented two California districts from 1979 to 1999, agrees with Schrader's take on what happened in 1994. By folding the "assault weapon" ban into the 1994 crime bill, Fazio told The Daily Beast in 2019, "we put a lot of folks on the line…In really strong gun states, it was seen as poison."

Read the rest here.

R.I.P. Bill Russell, February 12, 1934 - July 31, 2022

Ethan Sears, New York Post:  Bill Russell, Celtics legend and NBA trailblazer, dead at 88

The basketball community lost an all-time legend on Sunday as Bill Russell died at age 88, his family announced on Twitter.

Russell, who won a record 11 NBA titles with the Celtics, was a trailblazer as a black superstar in the 1950s and ’60s, and became the first black head coach of any North American professional team when the Celtics hired him in 1966 as a player-coach.

In a statement announcing his death, his family called Russell “the most prolific winner in American sports history.” By any measure, that is correct.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975 as a player and in 2021 as a coach, Russell won two NCAA titles at San Francisco, an Olympic gold medalist and two NBA titles as a coach, in addition to his 11 as a player. 

Comprised of a core that included Russell at center along with fellow Hall of Famers Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Bill Sharman and Sam Jones, the Celtics won a stunning 11 of 13 championships from 1956-1969. In 10 Game 7’s, Russell was undefeated in his career. Extended to any winner-take-all game — in NCAAs, Olympics and best-of-five playoff rounds — he was 21-0. The Finals MVP Award is named after him, and Russell was often on hand to give it out.

Read the rest here.

"I have this confirmed from border patrol agents..."

M. Dowling, The Independent Sentinel:  Lara Logan: They’re Giving SS#s at the Border to Illegal Aliens

Investigative journalist Lara Logan spoke Saturday in Arizona on a voter integrity panel. During the speech, she told the audience that Border Patrol agents confirmed illegal aliens are given SS#s (social security numbers) at the border.

“You look around you and you know they don’t actually believe in citizenship. And now when people come across the border illegally, I have this confirmed from border patrol agents who are actually, physically doing this, they get a Social Security number. They get assigned a Social Security number when they cross. I’m not sure how many of you are aware of that. And if you really want to know where the cheating starts, it’s long before you get to the polls. Think about it, it starts with the census. It starts with counting illegals in the census.”

Read the rest here.

FBI Election Interference

"It's really a problem when the agency that is responsible for investigating those things is engaged in those things."      — John Ratcliffe

.@JohnRatcliffe tells @MariaBartiromo republicans should be finding out if Adam Schiff was working with the FBI to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop calling it Russian disinformation. He thinks that may be one of the reasons the investigations have stopped. pic.twitter.com/3eWl7epzFw

— The Dirty Truth (Josh) (@AKA_RealDirty) July 31, 2022

Today is the 110th Birthday of Dr. Milton Friedman

Biden Hits Another All-Time Low

Yesterday, Instapundit noted that Biden has achieved the lowest public approval for any president at this point in his presidency.  "Well, to be fair, that's only because he's terrible, and so is his entire administration," says Glenn Reynolds who linked this article in his post:

Matthew Boose, American Greatness:  Biden’s Collapse Exposes Rot in the Establishment

The globalist institutions in which the liberal “elite” live create empty suits who lack conviction and loyalty to the nation. The system rewards those who kowtow to it and readily obey its soul-warping demands of uniformity. The carbon copy “elites” it produces are obsessed with power and the means of preserving it. When they make mistakes, which is often, their first instinct is to moralize and blame the people. In the name of social justice, they destroy those with competence, originality, and daring and replace them with unqualified people who will take marching orders. Those who rise to the top are followers, slaves to fashion and the day’s absurd dogma. Biden, a former “moderate” whose campaign relied on a misleading perception of familiarity, is no exception. 

The only way for a white man like Joe Biden to succeed in the Democratic Party is to apologize for existing. Who finds such a man inspiring? Who would march into battle with him? Good rulers know how to give a speech that uplifts their people, but today’s occupational “elites” are barely literate in English. 

Harris is a particularly rich font of the “wisdom” of her class.

Read the rest here.

The Ultimate Aim is to Change the Definition of the United States of America

This is why socialism, communism and fascism are not compatible with science.

Since their policies don't work in reality, they always have to doctor data and statistics to trick people into accepting their madness as scientific.

Changing the very definitions is going full 1984.

— Leo Fernevak🚜 ∞/21M (@fernevak) July 31, 2022

Invasion

Bethany Blankley, Just the News:  Texas AG Paxton won’t issue legal opinion on invasion

Jonathan Hullihan, an officer in the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and a leading authority in international and national security law, told The Center Square that he “respectfully disagrees” with Webster’s “conclusory and shortsighted opinion.”

Texas has a constitutionally granted legal right to declare and repel an invasion from non-state actors, he said. For Webster to suggest that declaring an invasion requires “a foreign uniformed entity” indicates that he has a misunderstanding of the law, Hullihan added.

It’s also well-documented that the Mexican cartels are engaging in nontraditional warfare and aren’t operating independently from the Mexican government, according to numerous reports by U.S. intelligence agencies.

“As a uniformed lawyer in the Navy JAGC that spent most of my career in Operational Law, International Law, and National Security law, often the most complex facts and legal analysis relate to distinguishing, targeting, and use of force against non-state actors. To this point, the southern border is not simply an immigration and naturalization issue, but rather an issue of national and state security,” Hullihan said.

“The state of Texas has a right and an obligation to act within the framework of the Constitution to protect its citizens from the destabilizing effects of the non-state actors, transnational criminal organizations, and the dramatic escalation of narco-terrorism that is exported and operating freely into the United States.”

Read the rest here.

Liz Cheney, Three Terms Too Many

CNN goes to Wyoming to ask voters if they're gonna vote for #LizCheney...

Hilarity ensues. 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 pic.twitter.com/vycOAhA1dd

— Joe Dan Gorman🇺🇸 #UltraMAGA 1776 (@ThatJoeDanGuy) July 30, 2022