Morning Brief 2024-03-08

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Deuteronomy 11:19

Deuteronomy 11:19

State of the Union...

Biden asks Congress to fly with him to Moscow for prescription drugs
"I'm gonna get in trouble for saying this, but anybody wanna get in Air Force One with me and fly to Toronto, Berlin, Moscow... I mean, excuse me..."

Father of Marine Killed at Abbey Gate Arrested for Disrupting Biden’s State of the Union
Capitol Police arrested Gold Star father Steve Nikoui — whose son, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, lost his life in the Abbey Gate bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan — during Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night.

Anti-Israel Protesters Block Biden’s Motorcade Route For State Of The Union Address
The protesters held signs and wore shirts with various phrases, including “Biden’s Legacy = Genocide”, “Homes Not Drones”, “Not In Our Name”, “End The Blockcade On Gaza”, and “Ceasefire”.

WaPo: In his State of the Union, Biden plays the age-old hits
...I watched with a memory front and center of a speech I heard Biden give in Washington last July. He was sharp and forceful; he moved nimbly between prepared text and ad-libs ... I think it’s fair to describe the audience reaction that night as surprised. The audience for this State of the Union might say the same thing.

NY Times: A Vigorous Biden Made the Case for a Second Look
The solid performance, with its emphasis on popular ideas like lowering prescription drug costs and championing in vitro fertilization to help families, will no doubt cheer Democrats worried about Biden’s stubbornly moribund approval ratings and what looks like an energized MAGA base behind Trump.

NY Times: Biden’s Border Taunts Clearly Hit a Republican Nerve
Biden was clearly eager to demonstrate some toughness on immigration, even referring to an undocumented immigrant who is suspected of killing a young Georgia woman in a case that has become a hobbyhorse for extreme Republicans like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

NY Post: Biden botches name of migrant-murdered ‘Lincoln’ Riley in Trump-bashing State of the Union speech
“Lincoln — Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” Biden said, both botching her name and using a term considered politically incorrect by most Democratic officeholders.

Just the News: 'Divisive' Biden substitutes fiery campaign speech attacking Trump, justices for State of the Union
CNN's John King said Biden's address was the 36th State of the Union he's watched. "Never heard one so political. Never heard one that is such a campaign speech," he said.

Tucker Carlson: Biden Address Was ‘Darkest And Most Un-American’ State Of The Union Ever
“In fact it wasn’t a speech,” Carlson said, “it was a rant.”

Washington Examiner: Angry and slurring Biden shows he is unfit for a second term
With a furrowed brow, a harsh tone, and an overall angry demeanor, Biden‘s final State of the Union speech before Election Day was an exhibition of his unfitness for office.

The Federalist: Biden Threatens Supreme Court Justices For Upholding The Constitution
Biden’s public threat to the “last functioning institution in America” is not the first time Democrats have tried to browbeat the highest court in the land and it most likely won’t be the last.

Daily Wire: ‘People Are Going To Remember That Screaming’
“It was honestly the worst State of the Union address that’s maybe ever been given, especially for the first 30 minutes,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said. “Angry, slurring, started with the most hyper-partisan issues he possibly could.”

Daily Caller: Biden Focuses On Issues Americans Care Least About In Biggest Speech Of Presidency
Biden set aside immigration, inflation and crime to lead his 2024 State of the Union speech with a trio of issues that hardly register in polls of the American people.

Biden gaslights America by claiming to stand for freedom and democracy
The central theme of Biden’s State of the Union is about how he stands for freedom and democracy. It is perhaps the biggest fib that he or any member of the Democratic Party could spout.

Members Bust Out Laughing As Biden Says He’s ‘Delivered Results In Fiscally Responsible Ways’
“Now let me speak to the question of fundamental fairness for all Americans. I‘ve been delivering real results in fiscally responsible ways. We’ve already cut the federal deficit over $1 trillion."

Video: Biden wanders around, asks where he's supposed to go
"Biden, whose speech ended 25 minutes ago, is currently wandering around the House chamber asking where he's supposed to go."

Education Secretary Cardona was the State of the Union’s designated survivor
Cardona, as Education secretary, is the 16th in the presidential line of succession.

News...

Revolver: Leaked Audio Exposes FBI Dirty Dealings With Key Informant, Architect of Whitmer “Kidnapping Plot”
Like J6, the Michigan plot involved plans to storm the State Capitol. The Michigan plot involved the Three Percenters, one of the three main militia groups also imputed to January 6th. And much like J6, the Michigan plot was absolutely saturated with informants and undercover agents.

The Intercept: Informant at the Heart of the Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Was a Liability. So Federal Agents Shut Him Up.
For the FBI, the stakes in the Whitmer case were high. If defense lawyers learned of Robeson’s role in the kidnapping plot, the FBI agents feared they’d be accused of entrapment. The collapse of the case would have been a public relations coup for right-wing politicians and news media.

Defense attorney in Trump's Georgia case tees up Fani Willis for renewed scrutiny with damning testimony
While the Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations panel is powerless to oust Willis from office, damning insights gleaned from testimony heard Wednesday could nevertheless help to blow up the Democrat's career.

Utility provider says its facilities appeared to play role in igniting Texas wildfire
The energy company disputed that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.

Maine Mass Shooter Had ‘Significant’ Brain Damage ‘Likely’ Caused From Exposure To Over 10,000 Grenade Blasts
The man began losing his hearing in 2022 and, with it, reportedly developed a hot temper. He started to lose weight rapidly and believed that people at places he liked to go to were talking about him behind his back and calling him a pedophile.

Ex-con turned NYC criminal justice activist busted after head of prison rival found in freezer of apartment he left in blond wig
Sheldon Johnson, an ex-con who turned his life around and became a well-known victims’ advocate, was featured in Joe Rogan’s podcast and rubbed elbows with VIPs like Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

Politics...

Gold Star Family: Biden ‘Has Not Reached Out’ After Daughter-In-Law Killed In Afghanistan
Gold Star family member Christy Shamblin, whose daughter-in-law, Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee was killed during President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, said during an interview this week that Biden has never contacted their family.

DeSantis Blasts Haley For Not Endorsing Trump: ‘You Signed The Pledge’
"I honored the pledge, and she’s gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not, but the idea that somehow circumstances have changed, I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that."

‘The View’ Shriek At Peter Doocy For Asking KJP If Biden Will Debate Trump, Which She Refused To Answer
“She’s getting better and better, man,” co-host Sunny Hostin said of Jean-Pierre. “You know, thank God she’s polite,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg said. “She was maintaining decorum,” Hostin added.

Katie Porter doubles down on her claim that she lost election by 20 points because it was 'rigged'
"'Rigged' means manipulated by dishonest means. A few billionaires spent $10 million+ on attack ads against me ... I said 'rigged by billionaires' and our politics are — in fact — manipulated by big dark money. Defending democracy means calling that out."

Siri Tells Wisconsinites The Republican Primary Is April 3. That’s A Day After It’s Set To Take Place
When users ask Siri when the Wisconsin Republican primary is, Siri incorrectly says April 3. Users are correctly told that the Democrat presidential primary is on April 2.

Economy / ESG / DEI...

The Feds Gave Banks Woke Censorship Tools To Control All Your Money
The same government pressure erecting an Iron Curtain around the Internet is also constructing a financial social credit system like Communist China’s inside the United States.

Democrats support politically motivated financial surveillance even at expense of abortion rights
Congressional Democrats are so concerned about losing statutory workarounds for the Fourth Amendment that they appear willing to tolerate red states using financial transactions to track women who have abortions.

Immigration...

House approves Laken Riley Act hours before State of the Union address
The bill cleared the lower chamber in a 251-170 vote, with the help of 37 Democrats who joined all Republicans in passing the measure. All 170 “no” votes also came from Democrats.

California Moves to Expand Zero-Down, Interest-Free Home Loan Program to Illegal Immigrants
A proposed law would expand California’s homebuyer assistance program of zero-interest loans for the down payment on a home to illegal immigrants.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes bill that would allow police to arrest illegal aliens
The bill's sponsor indicated the 'legislature did its job to protect our citizens but Governor Hobbs failed to do hers.'

Denver asks property owners to rent to ‘newcomers’ following closure of multiple shelters for illegals
“We’re going to have some newcomers who are going to need housing.”

COVID-19...

Rand Paul's Bill Would Require NIH Scientists To Disclose Royalties They Receive From Drug Companies
The Royalty Transparency Act passed unanimously out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday.

Israel... 

Biden to order US military to construct port in Gaza to increase aid flow
“We’re not planning for this to be an operation that would require U.S. boots on the ground,” said a senior administration official.

‘No Zionists allowed’ at new Salt Lake City bar, says owner Michael Valentine, former mayoral candidate
"We are pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments."

Ukraine-Russia...

Russia says it neutralized ISIS cell plotting attack on Moscow synagogue
The attackers opened fire during the attempted arrest and were "neutralized by return fire", the FSB said.

Americans told to 'avoid' gatherings in Moscow, Russia amid reports of extremists' 'imminent plans' to attack
The US Embassy in Moscow warned Americans to 'avoid large public gatherings'.

NATO Is Rehearsing for Conflict With Moscow: Russian Official
A close ally Putin, who has been touted as a potential successor, said NATO's "Steadfast Defender 2024" military drills showed that the alliance had become "increasingly aggressive" and was preparing for an "armed confrontation" with Moscow.

Current Mood in Kyiv: Hopes, Concerns and Questions
By now, too much blood has been spilled by Russia, too much material damage inflicted, and too much hatred generated, for any compromise to be worked out. It is an us-or-them situation.

China...

Communication devices found on Chinese-built cranes located at US ports spark espionage concerns
Lawmakers’ discovery has fueled worries in Washington that the China-built equipment could be a national-security threat at America’s ports

Leaked Hacking Files Spur Concerns of China Weakening US for War
‘This is what World War 3 looks like. It’s the speed of technology, the stealth of unrestricted warfare, and no rules,’ says a U.S. security expert.

Europe...

Trump ordered to pay $382K in legal fees to company behind the Steele dossier
Trump was ordered by a London judge to pay $382,000 in legal fees to the company founded by Christopher Steele, after unsuccessfully suing over the salacious allegations in the British ex-spy’s infamous dossier.

Entertainment...

Street Art Exposing Fentanyl Crisis Hits L.A. Landmarks Ahead of Oscars
With bold colors, striking images and a wicked sense of irony, the artwork appears to be the work of conservative street artist Sabo.

Carol Burnett says she regrets one joke she took too far
Shortly after 9/11, someone in the audience asked if Burnett could be a member of the opposite sex for 24 hours, who would she be and what would she do. “I said, ‘I’d be Osama bin Laden, and I’d kill myself,’” Burnett recalled.

Media...

The New York Times Faces Claims of Hypocrisy Over Coverage of the Deployment of Troops
What is clear from the Times coverage is that there is still no sense of compulsion at the newsroom to be consistent or even self-aware. Outrage remains entirely selective and political.

Environment...

John Kerry says people would 'feel better' about the Ukraine war if Russia would reduce emissions
"If Russia wanted to show good faith, they could go out and announce what their reductions are going to be and make a greater effort to reduce emissions now. Maybe that would open up the door for people to feel better about what Russia is choosing to do at this point in time."

LGBTQIA2S+...

Align: Inside California's bipartisan fight to save kids from Big Trans
A liberal mom finds strange bedfellows — and newfound respect for Christianity — on the front lines.

Fetterman say's he'll fight for LGBT center after it loses funding due to Libs of TikTok exposing fetish parties
"I am going to fight for William Way to secure their funding in the FY25 appropriations process," added Fetterman. "I'm new here, but I wasn't aware that Democratic values and priorities are dictated by Libs of TikTok."

Male broadcaster calls police on JK Rowling for calling him a man
A broadcaster in the UK has reported celebrated author J.K. Rowling to the police for misgendering him on social media, saying Rowling violated multiple portions of the region's hate speech laws.

Health...

BowFlex files for bankruptcy
Makers of home-based fitness equipment have struggled with the increasing popularity of weight-loss drugs.

Technology...

TikTok crackdown bill unanimously approved by US House panel
The House Energy and Commerce committee unanimously approved legislation giving China's ByteDance six months to divest from TikTok or face a U.S. ban. The 50-0 vote represents the most significant momentum for a U.S. crackdown on TikTok, which had stalled over the last year amid heavy lobbying by the company.

Republican billionaire with $33B TikTok stake ‘bullies’ lawmakers to stop bill forcing Chinese ByteDance sale
A spokesman for Jeff Yass denied that he was making calls to Republicans and said.

Composer for Halo video game to make congressional run for GOP
"I never wanted to be a politician and I still don’t ... The sad reality is that many children in our country are suffering. Years of ridiculing and demeaning old fashioned 'family values' have taken a toll."

Travel...

Tire falls off United Airlines Boeing 777 plane departing San Francisco, crushing cars
But there's nothing to worry about as "the aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires."

March 8, 2004 - Martha Stewart going to prison... Following the Heinz money trail... What was the Martha Stewart case about?... Does our culture breed class warfare?... The Passion of the Christ continues to move up in the top grossing film list...

PHOTOS: What Glenn saw in North Carolina was INSANE

Sean Rayford / Stringer | Getty Images

Last Thursday, October 3rd, Glenn traveled to North Carolina to join Mercury One as they provided critical aid to those devastated by Hurricane Helene.

What Glenn saw during his brief visit looked like scenes straight out of an apocalypse movie: houses torn from their foundations and tossed to the side, sometimes entire towns away from where they were built, semi-trucks rolled, railroad tracks swept away, bridges washed out. It was a level of destruction Glenn had never before seen.

But perhaps the most shocking encounter of his whole trip was when Glenn discovered a lone FEMA crew. It was a miracle that Glenn even spotted the FEMA truck, as it was parked away from the main road without any signs or markers to indicate to any passerby in need of its existence. Glenn and Congressman Cory Mills decided to talk to this FEMA crew, the only one they had encountered on their trek, and see what they were up to. As it turns out, not much. The FEMA workers admitted that they had only arrived the day before (nearly a week after the hurricane) and still did not have any sort of supplies. They claimed that people would know where they were located via the local news, despite the fact that most people did not have access to power, cell service, their home, or even their cars. Moreover, there seemed to be confusion about whether they were to go door-to-door in order to render aid to those in need.

FEMA dropped the ball on this entire affair, and it is only going to get worse. FEMA is claiming they blew their yearly allowance on aiding illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, another hurricane is approaching Florida and is expected to make landfall on Wednesday. It seems unlikely that FEMA will be of any use to Floridians in need, and they will have to rely on the aid of their fellow Americans.

Want to help out your fellow countrymen where our government has failed? You can donate at Mercury One and rest assured that your money will be used to step in to help hurricane victims where the government is failing.

The case for mass deportation

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Unchecked illegal immigration into America may be the most dangerous issue our country faces today, and with every day it goes unsolved, the risk of a terrorist attack of 9/11 proportions only increases.

Despite the risk, we can't even touch the subject without the Left and the mainstream media having a meltdown. Even suggesting that the tide of undocumented immigrants may pose some sort of national problem will quickly get you labeled as a racist, stumping intelligent conversation before it can even begin. But as any right-minded Conservative will tell you, calls to close the border and deport the people who stole into our country have nothing to do with race.

In his most recent TV special, Glenn described in detail what sorts of dangers we have let into our countries, with facts and figures that prove that if we don't act soon we will be in deep trouble. Glenn made it clear: we need to conduct a mass deportation or risk being torn apart from within. Here are three reasons that make the case for mass deportations:

Islamic terror cells are forming in South America.

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Congressional testimony from the Committee on Homeland Security in 2011 revealed that Hugo Chavez held a "Secret Summit" involving the Supreme Leader of Hamas, the Chief of Operations for Hezbollah, and the Secretary General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Caracas, Venezuela. It is clear that ever since (and possibly before) there has been a Radical Islamic Terrorist presence in Venezuela. Right now there is an Iranian beachhead off the Venezuelan coast on Margarita Island, where the Iranian government is running criminal activities and recruiting and training Venezuelan gangs. These gangs have used our border crisis to infiltrate the U.S. The most infamous of these gangs, Tren de Aragua, has been declared a terrorist organization by the State of Texas.

Terrorist-backed gangs are smuggling in weapons and tearing through the country.

John Moore / Staff | Getty Images

What are these Iranian-trained and backed gangs doing in America? As you can imagine, nothing good. Just this year alone an estimated million rounds of ammunition, 1.2 million gun parts, 3,000 body armor vests, and thousands of pieces of other military paraphernalia have been smuggled across the border. On top of that, they have already taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, and are now terrorizing the remaining residents.

It's noteworthy that the gang managed to move into the apartment in the first place because they received subsidies through an NGO that was assisting the Colorado asylum seekers program, using money given to the state by the Biden administration in 2021.

Gangs have attacked military bases.

Lee Corkran / Contributor | Getty Images

It hasn't stopped at apartment complexes either. A leak from the U.S. Army revealed that the gangs have launched probing attacks on military facilities within the U.S. Members have been sighted taking surveillance photos of Lackland Air Force Base, as well as firing multiple shots into the facility. Another military base in Texas, Fort Sam Houston, caught a gang member attempting to gain access to the facility. This coincides with suspicious activity documented within the Permian Basin, the largest oil field in the U.S.

They are smuggling in vast quantities of military equipment, probing and surveying military facilities and key energy locations, and taking over residential areas. What exactly is going on and why isn't the federal government taking it more seriously?

VP debate recap: A Vance victory

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

This might have been the most consequential VP debate in recent memory.

For those of you who missed the debate, it was a decisive victory for J.D. Vance and the Trump-Vance team as a whole. Vance presented a calm, collected, and considerate side of the Republican party that compliments Trump and helps to make their platform more palatable. Meanwhile, Tim Walz had a lackluster, though certainly not catastrophic, night. He had a few embarrassing gaffes and came across as overly nervous, but like Vance, kept it civil.

Both VP candidates entered the stage as relative unknowns to most Americans, and by the end, both men had given an accurate representation of their characters. Here is a brief recap just in case you missed the debate:

J.D. Vance looked great

ANGELA WEISS / Contributor | Getty Images

Vance came out of the gate swinging, with a stellar opening statement that helped set the stage for the rest of the debate. He delivered a concise yet compelling recap of his life, which framed him as everything Walz claims to be: a relatable veteran from humble beginnings who earned his position through hard work and service. He then went on to deliver a clear and palatable defense of Trump's platform and mission while cooly drawing attention to the failures of the Biden-Harris administration.

Overall, J.D. Vance looked incredibly presidential. He presented himself not just as a capable vice president, but as a strong successor to Trump and as a valid replacement if anything should happen to the former president between now and the end of his hypothetical second term. Vance also successfully dispelled the notion that he is "weird" as Walz called him, and if anyone looked strange during the debate, it certainly wasnot Vance.

Tim Walz's gaffes

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

While Tim Walz certainly didn't have an awful night, he did not stack up well against Vance. Walz had a major gaffe around halfway through the debate when asked to explain the change in his position on assault weapon bans. Walz then claimed that he had befriended school shooters during his time in office. While that was clearly not the intention of what he was saying, it was embarrassing nonetheless.

Another weak moment was when the moderators asked Walz to explain a claim he had made regarding being in Hong Kong during the infamous Tiananmen Square protest in 1989, which has since been proven false. Walz gave a long-winded, rambling answer about taking students to visit China and how Trump should have joined in on those trips, before being called out by the moderator for dodging the question.

Vance fact-checked the fact-checkers

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

One of the conditions of the CBS debate was that the moderators would not fact-check the debaters live, but instead rely on after-the-matter fact-checking. But, CBS couldn't keep to its own rules. While Vance was describing the migrant crisis that has swelled during the Biden-Harris administration, one of the CBS moderators, Margaret Brennan, chimed in with a "fact check." She claimed that the Haitian migrants in Ohio have legal status, to which Vance clapped back by calling Brennan out for breaking the rules of the debate, then proceeded to correct her, explaining that they only had legal status due to overreach by the Biden-Harris administration.

Dockworker strike: Everything you need to know

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

At midnight on September 30th, dockworkers across the East Coast went on strike, effectively cutting the country's import and export capabilities in half.

Don't go out and panic buy a pallet of toilet paper and instant ramen just yet. It's going to take some time for the full effects of the strike to be felt and hopefully, the strike will be good and over by then. But there are no guarantees, and this election cycle could get significantly more insane as we draw near to the election. And even if the strike is settled quickly, it shows growing cracks in our infrastructure and industrial capacity that needs to be addressed if America wants to maintain its global dominance.

Here is everything you need to know about the dockworker strike:

What do the dockworkers want?

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

As with most strikes, pay is the driving factor behind this situation the country now finds itself in. The longshoremen want more pay, and with rising inflation who can blame them? After all, working the docks is hard and dangerous business, and fair compensation only seems... fair. But when you compare the wage of a dockworker, which is around $100,000 to $200,00 a year to the average income in America of $56,000, suddenly they seem significantly less sympathetic.

How much money are they asking for? For most Americans, a three percent raise is considered high, but the unions are asking up to 15 percent, depending on location. On top of that, they are asking for a 77 percent raise over the next six years. The West Coast dock workers recently made off with a 36 percent raise and were considered lucky. These increases in costs are just going to be transferred to the end consumer, and we'll likely see a jump in prices if these terms are accepted.

The other major ticket item is protection against automation. Autonomous ports are quickly becoming a reality, with major ports in China that are capable of handling vast amounts of cargo being run by a single office, not an army of dock workers. Naturally, the longshoremen are concerned that their jobs are at risk of being replaced by machines that can work harder, longer, for cheaper, and without risk of injury.

How will it affect Americans?

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

Don't panic yet!

It is going to take some time for consumers to feel the effects of the strike and it is possible that a resolution could happen at any time.

Week one should be pretty much business as usual. It might be a good idea to stock up on fruit and other perishables, but there is no need to go COVID-lockdown-crazy yet.

Week two is when you'll first start feeling the pinch. Fresh fruits and veggies will become scarce, along with other imported goods like shoes, toys, and TVs. Prices will start to creep up as the shelves will start to look a little sparse. The supply of tools, lumber, and other hardware materials will also begin to dry up.

By week three, the cracks in the system will really start to show. Entire industries will begin to slow down, or even stop. Factory workers will get furloughed and sent home without pay. Stores will have to ration items, prices will be sky-high, and online orders will come to a standstill. At this point, the strike will have escalated into a full-blown crisis, and even if it was resolved immediately, it would still take weeks to restore everything to working order.

At the four-week mark, the situation will have developed into a national security crisis, and as Glenn describes, a poly-crisis. Small business will be closing their doors, entire brands will be out of stock, and everything that remains will be so expensive it is unaffordable. By this point, the holiday season will be drawing near and there will be a rush on any sort of gift or decor items left. At this point, irreparable damage to our economy will have occurred and it will be months if not years before it can be mended.

While that sounds bleak, with the election just around the corner, it seems unlikely that the Biden-Harris administration will let it get that bad. That being said, their administration has not been characterized by good decision-making and reasonable policy, so there are no guarantees.

What can be done?

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

The big question is "Why hasn't Biden already done something?"

President Biden, who ran on the image of a blue-collar, union-worker, has been uncharacteristically absent from the issue. Despite his earlier involvement in a train strike, Biden has declared that involvement in union fights is not a presidential issue unless it getsreally bad.

So where's the line? At what point will he step in? He has to understand that an economic crisis right before the election will reflect poorly on Kamala.