Friday, September 25, 2020

COP REIGN OF TERROR IN AMERICA - Louisville police major on antifa and BLM: 'They will be the ones washing our cars'

 

Louisville police major on antifa and BLM: 'They will be the ones washing our cars'

Janelle Griffith and Adam Reiss

The Louisville, Kentucky, Metro Police Department is looking into a derogatory email a police major sent to her colleagues in August that said people who are part of antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement are "punks" who are not important, a spokesman said.

The email was written by Maj. Bridget Hallahan, who commands the police department's Fifth Division.

Hallahan, 47, confirmed to NBC News on Thursday that she sent the email and said fellow officers have been supportive. She also said she retires in six days.

Phillip Bailey, a journalist in Louisville, tweeted screenshots of the email Tuesday evening. He said it had been provided to him by an unnamed law enforcement source.

A police spokesman, Sgt. Lamont Washington, said the department was made aware of the email and is looking into it. He said police "have no other comment to offer."

The email begins by saying: "I know it is hard to keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves sometimes, especially when we, as a whole or as an individual, become the target of people in the public who criticize what we do without even knowing the facts.

 
 
 
Breonna Taylor grand jury ruling spurs new protests in Louisville
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"These ANTIFA and BLM people, especially the ones who just jumped on the bandwagon 'yesterday' because they became 'woke' (insert eye roll here), do not deserve a second glance or thought from us," it continues. "Our little pinky toenails have more character, morals, and ethics, than these punks have in their entire body."

"Do not stoop to their level. Do not respond to them. If we do, we only validate what they did. Don't make them important, because they are not. They will be the ones washing our cars, cashing us out at the Walmart, or living in their parents' basement playing COD for their entire life."

"COD" refers to the video game "Call of Duty."

Hallahan goes on to say, "If you need to bitch about it and get it off your chest, come to my office and we can vent together." She also claimed that officers "are being doxed merely because people just don't like being told what to do or what not to do by police."

Hallahan's email was met with backlash, some of it from Louisville residents.

Nicole Griffin of Louisville wrote on Twitter: "I live in Louisville & I'm hurt & disgusted by this email from Major Bridget Hallahan @LMPD Why does she view the community like this. How is this helpful? I don't know one soul who is in Antifa??? And if they wash cars or cash someone out at Walmart there's no shame in that!"

Anti-fascist activists are often known as "antifa." Another Twitter user, who identified himself as a retail worker, wrote: "She can say whatever she wants. If we in retail don't do our jobs correctly we get fired. They get a slap on the wrist and a free job in another county. Mind you if we in retail all don't do our jobs they don't eat. no one eats."

Lonita Baker, one of three lawyers representing Breonna Taylor's family, addressed the email without naming Hallahan at a news conference Friday.

"I want LMPD majors who say that we're the ones out here washing cars or checking you out at Walmart, no we're not. We're lawyers. We're business people. We're city employees just like you," Baker said. "And guess what? Even if I was washing your car, it doesn't matter. I have a right to use my voice."

Baker said the police department must change its "mentality of who you're fighting."

"We know that we need healing. We know that this city needs healing and we're willing to do our part," she said. "But you have to do your part. And until you start doing your part, we won't heal."

"We're here," Baker added. "We're here when you're ready to listen to us. "

Screenshots of Hallahan's email were posted to Twitter the same day an email from one of the wounded officers at the center of the Taylor case, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, surfaced. In the email, Mattingly apologized to his fellow officers and their families, defended his actions during the raid of Taylor's home and said Mayor Greg Fischer and others "failed all of us in epic proportions for their own gain and to cover their asses."

Mattingly was shot in the thigh by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, a licensed gun owner, during the fatal drug raid March 13, which recovered no drugs or money.

Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove returned fire, and a third officer, Brett Hankison, began blindly shooting through Taylor's window and patio door, according to Hankison's termination letter. Taylor, who was struck six times, died. None of the rounds fired by Hankison struck Taylor, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said at a news conference Wednesday. Hankison was fired in June.

On Wednesday, Hankison was charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. None of the officers were charged in Taylor's killing. Mattingly and Cosgrove face no charges. Cameron said his investigation showed that Cosgrove and Mattingly "were justified in their return of deadly fire after having been fired upon." Cameron said a grand jury agreed.

Walker has said that police did not identify themselves before they burst into the apartment and that he mistook them for intruders. He has said he would never knowingly fire at police. Cameron said Wednesday that officers had properly "knocked and identified themselves."

Mattingly told his colleagues in the email, which was sent a day before the grand jury's decision was announced: "I don't know a lot of you guys/gals but I've felt the love."

"I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night," he wrote.

Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily sus

HUNTER BIDEN GETS RICH OFF DADDY LAP DANCIN' RUSSIA'S PUTIN

 

Russian Billionaire Who Wired $3.5M to Hunter Biden Got Contract From New Orleans Museum

 
September 24, 2020 Updated: September 24, 2020

A German company owned by the Russian billionaire who wired Hunter Biden $3.5 million received a contract to build part of the World War II Museum in New Orleans, according to a fact sheet on the museum’s website.

Elena Baturina, the widow of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, bought German structural membrane manufacturer Hightex in early 2015, according to Russian-language news reports. In April 2017, she announced that Hightex will build part of the Canopy of Peace for the World War II Museum, according to several Russian-language media outlets.

Three years earlier, on Feb. 14, 2014, Baturina sent $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC, a company co-founded by Hunter Biden, son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, according to a report released by Senate Republicans on Sept. 23. The wire was accompanied by a note stating “Consultancy Agreement DD12.02.2014.”

The Canopy of Peace project at the WWII museum has been plagued by delays largely due to issues stemming from a different contractor, according to The New Orleans Advocate. As of August, half of the material from Hightex had yet to be shipped to the project, which was at that point eight months behind schedule. The museum told The Epoch Times in an email that it expects the rest of the material to be onsite by the end of October.

“The museum had no knowledge of any relationship between the Bidens, Devon Archer, and Hightex, and in no way, shape, or form were they a factor in the hiring decision,” the museum said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

“Hightex was one of the companies that bid for the project, and the museum hired them because they had the best-qualified proposal for the job. Our vetting of Hightex was relegated to the company’s services and ability to complete the job.”

Joe Biden hosted a fundraiser at the museum during the early stages of his presidential campaign in August 2019.

While there’s no evidence of a link between Baturina’s wire and the contract awarded to the museum, questions about both transactions may emerge because the Senate Republicans discovered Baturina’s payments after they were flagged due to her “reported criminal activity.” Baturina didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent to the email of a think tank she founded.

A year after sending $3.5 million to Biden’s company between May 6 and Dec. 8, 2015, Baturina wired more than $241,000 to the company. The money was then forwarded to BAK USA LLC, a Buffalo-based tablet manufacturer that would eventually go bankrupt claiming it was $39 million in debt.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had praised BAK USA when it received a contract from Microsoft in early 2016. Before BAK USA went bankrupt, New York state handed the firm a tax abatement allowing it to operate tax-free for 10 years. The firm has since re-incorporated and appears to be in the same line of business.

Three months after the last wire to BAK USA via Hunter Biden’s firm, Baturina announced that she had purchased $10 million in real estate near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to a press release. She intended to convert the zoning of the assets to accommodate for residential units, a process which requires a lengthy approval process.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) led the effort behind the report released on Sept. 23. The Baturina transactions are a small part of a larger report that also documented links between Hunter Biden and foreign nationals from Ukraine and China.

Hunter Biden accepted a well-paid position on the board of a Ukrainian gas giant while his father served as the Obama administration’s point man on Ukraine. The report found that senior officials raised red flags about Hunter Biden’s role, which the administration repeatedly ignored.

Follow Ivan on Twitter: @ivanpentchoukov

  

Hunter Biden’s Firm Received $3.5 Million from One of Russia’s Most ‘Powerful’ Oligarchs

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 28: Hunter Biden attends the T&C Philanthropy Summit with screening of "Generosity Of Eye" at Lincoln Center with Town & Country on May 28, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Town & Country)
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
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A new report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee indicates that Hunter Biden’s private equity firm received $3.5 million from one of Russia’s most “powerful” female oligarchs in 2014.

The report, which was made public on Wednesday, shows that Rosemont Seneca Thornton, LLC, a firm that Biden incorporated with his longtime business associate Devon Archer in May 2013, had a previously unknown financial relationship with Yelena Baturina, a Russian businesswoman now living in the United Kingdom. According to bank documents reviewed by the Homeland Security Committee, Baturina wired $3.5 million to a bank account controlled by Rosemont Seneca Thornton as part of a “consultancy agreement.”

At the time of the transfer, Baturina, a well-known construction magnate, was living in the United Kingdom with her late husband Yuri Luzhkov, a onetime mayor of Moscow. Baturina and her husband immigrated to Great Britain in 2011 after Luzhkov was dismissed from public office by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as part of a public corruption probe. The former mayor, in particular, was accused of using his office to approve more than 20 real estate projects linked to Baturina’s business interests, according to the Homeland Security Committee.

“In addition, a Russian investigation led to a criminal case against the former head of the Bank of Moscow, Andrey Borodin, who ‘allegedly used money from the Moscow City Budget to lend money to shell companies, which ultimately transferred $443 million to Baturina,’” the committee’s report notes.

Luzhkov’s alleged grift was supposedly substantial enough to help propel Baturina into the ranks of Russia’s wealthy elite, with Forbes reporting in 2019 that her estimated net worth was $1.3 billion. Baturina’s fortune was large enough to qualify her as Russia’s richest woman and, as the Daily Mail has noted, the country’s most “powerful female oligarch.”

The nature of Baturina’s “agreement” with Rosemont Seneca Thornton remains unclear. The Homeland Security Committee’s report stems from an investigation into Biden’s ties to Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas conglomerate whose founder has been accused of public corruption, embezzlement, and bribery. Biden served on the company’s board of directors between 2014 and 2019, earning somewhere in the range of $83,000 per month.

Biden received appointment to the company’s board despite no background in either Eastern Europe or the energy sector, shortly after his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, was tapped to lead the Obama administration’s policy toward Ukraine in April 2014.

Senate Committee: Hunter Biden Paid Women Linked to ‘Prostitution or Human Trafficking’

Hunter Biden / clip from DNC August 18, 2020
DNC/YouTube
1:38

A new Senate Committee report alleges that Hunter Biden paid women linked to “Eastern European prostitution or [a] human trafficking ring.”

The report, released Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Senate Committee on Finance, alleges that Biden made a series of questionable financial transactions, opening him and his family to extortion and counterintelligence concerns.

The committees’ report confirms in a footnote that Biden “sent thousands of dollars” to individuals involved with “possible human trafficking,” associated with the adult entertainment industry, or associated with prostitution.

From the report:

The records note that it is a documented fact that Hunter Biden has sent funds to nonresident alien women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine and who have subsequently wired funds they have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine. The records also note that some of these transactions are linked to what “appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”

The report notes existing extensive public reporting concerning Biden’s alleged involvement with prostitution services, which it does not confirm or refute.

While the committees raise concerns about Biden’s payments, they do not specifically detail the individuals involved with former Vice President Joe Biden’s son.

“The Committees will continue to analyze the records in their possession,” the report notes.


Senate Report Says Joe Biden Allowed Family to Enrich Themselves Abroad While He Was VP

biden
AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu
5:22

A new Senate report released Wednesday concludes that former Vice President Joe Biden allowed Hunter Biden and other members of his family to enrich themselves through links with foreign companies and governments while he was in office.

The report notes that the Obama administration was aware of, but did nothing about the conflict of interest that was created when Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was appointed to the board of Burisma, a corrupt Ukrainian fossil fuel company.

But the report goes further than what was revealed during the impeachment inquiry last year. It presents email evidence that former Secretary of State John Kerry, whose stepson Chris Heinz was one of Hunter Biden’s business partners, was also aware of the conflicts of interest. It adds that “Hunter Biden, his family, and [business partner Devon] Archer received millions of dollars from foreign nationals with questionable backgrounds.” It notes that Hunter Biden went on a “$100,000 global spending spree with James Biden and Sara Biden” after receiving money from a Chinese investor. And it adds that Hunter Biden appeared to have paid women linked to an “Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”

It also notes: “The records acquired by the Committees show consistent, significant and extensive financial connections among and between Hunter Biden, James Biden, Sara Biden, Devon Archer, and Chinese nationals connected to the Communist regime and [People’s Liberation Army] as well as other foreign nationals with questionable backgrounds.”

The report, presented by by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) of the Senate Committee on Finance, was launched in August 2019 — prior to the impeachment controversy, and as the result of the “Henniges transaction,” in which a company tied to the Chinese state had bought an American company that makes “anti-vibration technologies with military applications.” One of the companies in the transaction was Bohai Harvest RST (BHR), a Chinese-funded investment company in which Hunter Biden owns a stake.

The report “details examples of extensive and complex financial transactions involving the Bidens” and notes that Hunter Biden “was not the only Biden who cashed in on Joe Biden’s vice presidency.” It also notes that Hunter Biden enjoyed Secret Service protection during extensive trips abroad, and that the protection continued for a few months after he joined Burisma.

It concludes:

The records acquired by the Committees show that Hunter Biden and his family were involved in a vast financial network that connected them to foreign nationals and foreign governments across the globe. Hunter Biden and Archer, in particular, formed significant and consistent financial relationships with the corrupt oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky during their time working for Burisma and their firms made millions of dollars from that association while Joe Biden was vice president and the public face of the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy. Rosemont Seneca Thornton, an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden, received $3.5 million in a wire transfer from Elena Baturina, who allegedly received illegal construction contracts from her husband, the former mayor of Moscow. Moreover, Archer’s apparent receipt of money for a car from Kenges Rakishev of Kazakhstan while Vice President Biden was in Kyiv is especially concerning in light of the timing. And finally, Biden and Archer’s work with Chinese nationals connected to the Communist regime illustrate the deep financial connections that accelerated while his father was vice president and continued after he left office.

The report also notes that the vice president was made aware of the conflicts of interest that Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian role entailed, as was Secretary of State Kerry:

Former Secretary Kerry’s December 2019 denial of having any knowledge about Hunter Biden or Burisma is inconsistent with the evidence uncovered by the Committees. Kerry was briefed about Hunter Biden, Burisma and Heinz the day after Burisma announced Hunter Biden joined its board. Additionally, Secretary Kerry’s senior advisor sent him press clips and articles relating to Hunter Biden’s board membership. This appears to be yet another example of high- ranking Obama administration officials blatantly ignoring Hunter Biden’s association with Burisma.

The reports, written by the Republican majority on both committees, accuse Democrats of falsely linking the investigations to foreign influence campaigns — ironically, the report notes, relying on foreign nationals with an interest in influencing U.S. politics.

Hunter Biden spoke during the Democratic National Convention, declaring that his father would be an “honest” president.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

45 Questions the Media Should Ask Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

23 Aug 20201,287

12:38

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) will appear in their first joint media interview on Sunday after accepting their party’s nominations this week.

However, unlike President Trump, Biden and Harris have thus far declined to take questions from the media in an open joint press conference where no questions or topics are off-limits.

In the event that such a press availability arises, here are 45 questions the media should ask them. This list is by no means exhaustive.

QUESTIONS FOR JOE BIDEN:

1. Why did members of your family keep getting lucrative business opportunities overseas while you were vice president?

2. How did your brother, Frank, secure $45,000,000 in taxpayer loans from the Obama administration for his Caribbean projects?

3. How did a newly-minted firm employing your other brother, James, receive a $1.5 billion contract to build homes in Iraq despite having no experience in construction or international development?

4. Why did your son Hunter accompany you on your official trip to Beijing in December 2013? What did he do on that trip? Who did he meet with? What should the American public make of the fact that just 10 days after this trip, your son’s boutique private equity firm secured a $1 billion investment deal from the state-owned bank of China (later expanded to $1.5 billion) despite having no prior experience in China, and with this deal, the Chinese government granted your son’s firm a first-of-its-kind arrangement to operate in the the recently formed Shanghai Free-Trade Zone—a perk not granted to any of the large established financial institutions?

5. Should the American public be concerned that your son’s private equity firm partnered with a Chinese government-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate to facilitate the purchase of an American company that produced strategically sensitive dual-use military technology that the Chinese government wanted?

6. Does your “Build Back Better” proposal contain any provisions to ensure that American taxpayer-funded technology is not bought off by Chinese state-backed enterprises working with private equity firms like your son’s?

7. Back in 2000, you voted in favor of giving permanent Normal Trade Relations (NTR) to China. At the time, you said that this would not lead to “the collapse of the American manufacturing economy” because China is “about the size of the Netherlands” and could not possibly become “our major economic competitor.” Furthermore, you predicted that free trade with China would establish “a path toward ever greater political and economic freedom” for the people of China. Do you still stand by these statements today after 3.4 million American jobs have been lost to China and millions of China’s citizens have been imprisonedsurveilleddisappeared, and used as slave labor by an increasingly authoritarian regime enriched by 20 years of record trade imbalances from flagrant trade violations?

8. The People’s Republic of China has a bold plan called “Made in China 2025” to dominate the key technologies of the future in order to overtake the United States militarily and economically. Do you still contend that China is “not competition for us”?

9. Why did you promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to financial special interest groups when research was clear that the deal would make it easier for corporations to move U.S. jobs overseas?

10. Do you believe Xi Jinping kept his promise to Barack Obama to end cyber-espionage against the United States? If not, what are you prepared to do about it?

11. Do you accept that the coronavirus originated in China? Do you think China was honest with the world in its handling of the coronavirus? Are you satisfied with China’s explanations for how it spread? Do you believe their claims about the number of cases and fatalities in China?

12. Do you think China should be held responsible in any way for its handling of the coronavirus? If not, why not? What, if any, repercussions should there be for China in its handling of the coronavirus?

13. Did you suggest investigating Michael Flynn under the Logan Act, as Peter Strzok’s notes suggest?

14. You said in your DNC acceptance speech that America is ready to “do the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism.” What did you do in your 36 years as a U.S. senator and 8 years as vice president to root out systemic racism? Why didn’t it work?

15. You have called for “revolutionary institutional changes.” What does that mean in practice?

16. You have vowed to rescind the Trump tax cuts. Can you think of a single example of a country that recovered from a recession by raising taxes?

QUESTIONS FOR KAMALA HARRIS:

17. Why did you refuse to prosecute even one sexual abuse case involving the Catholic Church in San Francisco when you were attorney general, despite the pleas of victims’ groups?

18. Also, why did your attorney general’s office refuse to release the documents obtained from the San Francisco archdiocese with all the information about priests accused of sexual abuse? Victims’ rights groups have criticized your office for deliberately burying these documents and thereby covering up the crimes and leaving the public unprotected. Why did you do this? The San Francisco district attorney’s office claimed in 2019 that they no longer have these documents in their possession. What happened to them? How can you claim to be a defender of children when you declined to prosecute the abusers of children?

19. Why did your office decline to investigate the health supplement fraud cases involving companies your husband’s law firm represented? Did you, as California’s attorney general, ever purposefully decline investigating or prosecuting clients of your husband’s law firm?

20. You said you believed the women accusing Joe Biden of inappropriate touching. Do you believe Tara Reade? If not, why not? If so, how do you justify supporting him now?

21. You once attacked a judicial nominee on the basis of his membership in the Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus, which is the largest fraternal organization in the world and includes among its past and present members many prominent Americans like President John F. Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA), and Vince Lombardi. Do you believe that being a member of the Knights of Columbus disqualifies a person from holding public office? Would you refuse to hire someone on the basis of their membership in the Knights of Columbus or any other Catholic organization? In your questioning of this Catholic judicial nominee, you singled out the issue of the Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life. Would you disqualify a job applicant on the basis of their Catholic beliefs, including their beliefs about abortion? Do you believe that being pro-life disqualifies someone from employment?

22. Why did you single out journalist David Daleiden for prosecution for undercover journalism that others do without penalty?

23. Your chief-of-staff, Karine Jean-Pierre, wrote an op-ed last year attacking the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Americans who associate with it, stating “You cannot call yourself a progressive while continuing to associate yourself with an organization like AIPAC that has often been the antithesis of what it means to be progressive.” Do you believe that pro-Israel activism is incompatible with progressive values?

24. The Biden campaign has adopted a version of the Green New Deal that calls for 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2035. California has adopted similar “green” goals, but now it can’t keep the lights on due to the state’s reliance on wind and solar energy. California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newson admitted this week that the Golden State needs a “backup” plan for energy because the current blackouts caused by lack of wind and overcast skies have shown the danger of relying solely on “green” energy. Why would the nation fare any better than sunny breezy California in keeping the lights on if we adopt 100 percent renewable energy?

25. You said in the past that we “need to hold China accountable” for trade violations, but you are against the use of tariffs. How do you intend to hold China accountable? You also said that “we need to export American products, not American jobs.” How do you intend to make sure we don’t export more American jobs to China? How would your policy differ significantly from the same policies that led to the loss of 3.4 million jobs to China?

QUESTIONS FOR BIDEN OR HARRIS:

26. You both supported the George Floyd protests, which you claimed were peaceful. Have you spoken to any victims of the riots — people who lost loved ones or businesses?

27. Do you believe that the looting of the Magnificent Mile in Chicago was a “form of reparations,” as one Chicago Black Lives Matter organizer claimed? Is looting an appropriate form of protest as a means of reparations?

28. Seattle Black Lives Matter protesters stormed a neighborhood last week, demanding that residents “get the f*** out” and “give black people back their homes” as reparations. Do you support that style of protest?

29. If elected, would you object if protesters decided to tear down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square across from the White House? What about statues to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington? Would you be willing to sign a written pledge to protect our national monuments and statues?

30. What is the maximum number of illegal immigrants you would allow into the country before securing the border to stop more from entering?

31. The Obama administration deported an estimated 3 million illegal aliens. Was that a bad thing?

32. With 30 million Americans unemployed due to the coronavirus, would you support a halt on work visas for foreign workers competing with Americans for jobs?

33. Do you still support a ban on fracking? If so, what do you say to the estimated 7.5 million American jobs that will be lost due to such a ban, which includes an estimated 550,000 jobs lost in Pennsylvania, 500,000 jobs lost in Ohio, 363,000 jobs lost in North Carolina, 353,000 jobs lost in Colorado, and 233,000 jobs lost in Michigan?

34. Wall Street has praised the choice of Kamala Harris as VP. Why do you think financial special interests support her so much?

35. Will you be following the advice of your Wall Street and Silicon Valley donors in negotiating with China? If not, whose advice would you seek out in negotiating with China?

36. Do you support China’s actions in Hong Kong?

37. Do you support China’s actions in Xinjiang province where an estimated 3 million predominantly Uyghur Muslims are imprisoned in what the Pentagon has described as “concentration camps”? Are you concerned about the fact that Hunter Biden’s China-backed private equity firm invested heavily in the surveillance technology used to spy on the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province?

38. Do you disagree with how the Trump administration is handling Huawei? Do you think Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou should be extradited to the United States for trial?

39. Do you believe China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a form of colonialism or is it a good program that Third World nations should sign up for?

40. What are you prepared to do if China invades Taiwan or uses military force to assert its claims in the South China Sea?

41. Do you believe the U.S. should return to the Iran nuclear deal? Would you make further concessions to Iran to secure that? Do you believe the Iranian regime should be allowed to buy weapons again?

42. Are you pleased with the results of the Obama administration’s intervention in Libya?

43. Why did the Islamic State fold up so much more quickly under Trump than the Obama administration predicted?

44. Would you advise Arab nations to follow the UAE’s lead and make peace with Israel, or should they hold out for big concessions to the Palestinians?

45. Should the United States apologize for demanding NATO partners meet their financial commitments? If not, why didn’t the Obama administration ever do that?

Rebecca Mansour is a Senior Editor-at-Large for Breitbart News. Follow her on Twitter at @RAMansour.

 

 

Who's the Real Joe Biden?

By Jeffrey Folks

Is there any such thing as "the real Joe Biden" in the sense of an actual, breathing human being with enduring loyalties and principles?  His long political record and recent behavior provide some idea.

The choice of Kamala Harris as running mate is one indication.  Harris has often been described as a "politician on the make," someone who will do whatever is expedient.  Writing for RealClearPolitics, Debra Saunders calls Harris a "progressive opportunist."  Yves Smith, looking through her less than progressive record as California prosecutor, would alter that to "opportunist to the core."

Three months ago, Harris almost knocked Biden out of the primaries with her cunning debate performance — now who cares if he opposed bussing?  She gave every indication of thinking Biden was unfit for the presidency — now she thinks he's perfectly fit.  What she seems to care about is being one heartbeat away from the presidency — with a president who might be in very poor health.

So she's the perfect pick for Biden, who has shown himself to be just as much an opportunist as she is.

In addition to being an opportunist, what stands out about Biden is that he's been consistently wrong on the issues throughout his career.  As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden oversaw the nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, both of whom he opposed.  The Thomas hearing was the worst debacle of its kind, up to the Brett Kavanaugh ordeal, during which Biden "released multiple statements in support" of Kavanaugh's accuser.

So Biden was wrong about Bork, wrong about Thomas, and wrong about Kavanaugh.  If elected, he may get to appoint as many as four Supreme Court justices.  That's a chilling thought.

While serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden opposed the first Gulf War in 1991, after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia and its vast oil fields.  Had he occupied Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Saddam would have controlled half of the world's oil reserves at the time.  Surely, that ought to have caused Biden to reflect on the consequences, but apparently it did not.

Biden then supported the second Gulf War in 2002 but opposed the highly successful surge in 2007.  When he and Obama prematurely withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011, it led to the immediate rise of ISIS and the murder of tens of thousands of Christians.  Then, in 2015, Obama and Biden signed the Iran deal that sent $100 billion to Iran and legitimized Iran's building of nuclear weapons.  Meanwhile, President Trump has destroyed ISIS, withdrawn U.S. troops from Iraq, brokered peace between Israel and the UAE, and begun to bring Iran to heel.  There is no clearer contrast than in the foreign policy of these two candidates.  

Much is made of Biden's 1988 act of plagiarism of Labor leader Neil Kinnock — an act that would have gotten him expelled from any decent university — and of his many gaffes.  But as an op-ed in Newsweek points out, it's not just that one instance of plagiarism; it's a pattern of "stealing" that continues to today, with Biden's "Made in America" stance stolen from President Trump.

As the Newsweek op-ed goes on to say, Biden's "unity platform" is cribbed from Bernie Sanders, and his climate and education stances are taken from other left-wing sources.  Even in law school, Biden was accused of cheating.  The Newsweek op-ed is correct in stating that Biden's history of plagiarism shows that "neither he nor his political team have a clear, independent vision for the country" and that his inherent lack of principles is a "danger" to America.

It was his lack of qualities or principles that made Biden an appealing running mate for Barack Obama.  Obama did not want a strong personality competing with his own vision for the country.  In Biden he apparently saw a politician who would go along with anything.

Does the real Joe Biden really support Medicare for All?  The question is moot because there is no "real" Joe Biden.  Does he support defense cuts or increases?  It depends on the polls.  Does he support slavery reparations or federal spending on abortion?  It depends on whether these stances add votes.

Even questions of public support for one position or another are rendered irrelevant by the fact that Biden would likely be, and see himself as, a one-term president. As such, he would have free rein to support whatever positions he liked, however unpopular.  But that raises the problematic issue of what Biden "likes."

Other than a desire to become president, it's difficult to say.  Voting for Biden is like voting for the wheel on Wheel of Fortune: no one knows just where the pointer will land — except that it will land to the left of President Trump.

As a Trojan horse progressive, Biden would impose large new taxes; end deregulation; cut defense spending; oppose gun rights and the right to life; expand affirmative action; bow to unions, trial lawyers, and environmentalists; and kowtow to minorities and gays.  In other words, he would continue the longtime assault on mainstream America.  Biden's policies would result in a stagnant economy, worse than the Obama years, and in an endless chipping away at our liberties.

A Biden presidency, because of its very indefinability, would create chaos.  It would also further divide the country as the political vacuum created by this Nowhere Man was filled with the adherents of all sorts of progressive causes and identity politics.  Unlike Biden, those far-left activists know exactly what they want.  They want a socialist totalitarian state.

That really should terrify conservatives.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).