Daily News Roundup
NOTABLE QUOTE
Monica Showalter contributor to American Thinker: . . .power is an aphrodisiac among the medical elites, and they rely on a fear-mongering formula to wield power. Once a pandemic burns itself out, they will get started on another one because the name of their game is power.
Christopher Rufo investigative journalist: As diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware explained, Disney made the decision last year to eliminate all mentions of “ladies,” “gentlemen,” “boys,” and “girls” in order to create “that magical moment” for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles. “We don’t want to just assume because someone might be in, our interpretation, presenting as female, that they may not want to be called ‘princess,’” Ware said. By eliminating “gendered greetings,” Disney believes, the company can help make it “magical and memorable for everyone.”
Daniel Greenfield contributor to Frontpage Magazine: Disney isn’t in the business of bringing wonder to children, but of enabling creepy adults more likely to sexually abuse children than to raise them.
Thomas Lifson contributor to American Thinker: I think executives of Disney have made a colossal blunder embracing the sexualization of young children. As a Facebook friend put it recently, referring to the company’s stock: “Short the mouse.”
Christopher Rufo investigative journalist exposed a Kentucky summer camp for children: The agenda for last year’s events, which I have obtained from the organization’s publicly available calendar, reads like the syllabus from a radical queer theory seminar. The sessions included “Sex With Me Self-Pleasure Workshop,” “Gender Diversity,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Sexy Trans Sex Ed,” “The 3 P’s: Pee, Poop, and Pleasure,” “Sex on Drugs,” and “Eugenics in Appalachia.”
Tristan Justice contributor to The Federalist: The scandal, however, is nothing more than a distraction from Democrats presiding over an increasingly depressed nation coping with severe economic uncertainty with excess sugar, alcohol, and opioids. Meanwhile, as Republicans prepare to discipline Cawthorn, Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell continues to serve on the House Intelligence Committee with access to the nation’s top secrets despite a relationship likely turned romantic with a suspected Chinese spy.
JUDICIARY
WSJ Editorial Board: Justice Thomas Shouldn’t Recuse From Elections Cases
If his wife Ginni’s political views are enough to warrant recusal, the Supreme Court might never have a full complement of nine. We argued on Saturday that the leak of Ginni Thomas’s text messages gathered by the House Jan. 6 special committee was intended to damage her husband, Justice Clarence Thomas, and the Supreme Court. Vindication certainly didn’t take long. Democrats and their media allies quickly sped past Ginni to demand that Justice Thomas resign (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ), or be impeached (Rep. Ilhan Omar ), or at least recuse himself from hearing cases related to elections (Sen. Amy Klobuchar, et al.). The point of the pile-on is to hurt the reputation of the Justice as part of the larger effort to delegitimize the current Supreme Court. The Justices are considering cases on abortion, gun rights, racial preferences, and the administrative state that Democrats fear will go against their policy preferences. If you doubt the Court itself is a target, note this headline in the Washington Post: “ John Roberts must be at his limit.” Or this from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Justice Thomas’ bias on Trump destroys Supreme Court integrity. He must recuse.” The right answer is that Ginni Thomas is no threat to the Court, no matter how bizarre her views about the 2020 election. She doesn’t sit on the Court, and there is no reason to believe her personal political views influence the judicial impartiality of Justice Thomas.
Read more: https://archive.ph/gfVXY#selection-4589.0-4589.269
Greenfield: The Lynching of Justice Clarence Thomas
Even as Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized, a leftist lynch mob rallied on social media calling for his impeachment or death. They weren’t especially picky about which one it would be. The same radical faction championing Biden’s selection of a black woman for the Supreme Court as a groundbreaking step forward and berating Republicans for refusing to support her were simultaneously demanding that the only sitting black justice on the court step down. The calls for Thomas’ death are based on pure unadulterated hatred. And so are the calls for his impeachment. None of them have even the faintest basis in anything resembling the law. The Women’s March called for the impeachment of Justice Thomas because his wife, Ginni, had advocated against election fraud. Or as the racist leftist hate group put it, “The revelations that Ginni Thomas advocated for the overthrow of our democracy are disqualifying — not just for her as a human being of any decency, but for her husband.” A “human being of any decency” wouldn’t be going after a judge by targeting his wife. The only possible reason for disqualifying Thomas would be the presumption that men are obligated to control their wives. And prevent them from expressing political views in public. Is this the exciting new feminist position that the Women’s March would like to debut? […] Justice Breyer’s wife is a member of the English nobility, it doesn’t mean he answers to the Queen.
Read more: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/03/lynching-justice-clarence-thomas-daniel-greenfield/
Hutchinson: Federal Judge’s Opinion on Trump Reveals Judiciary’s Reliance on Media Propaganda
It’s difficult to have much faith in the judicial system when individual judges appear to be gullible consumers of fake news, swallowing media accounts of events that have been widely questioned and, at least in some cases, debunked completely. Just how gullible and uninformed even top jurists can be was seen in January at the U.S. Supreme Court, during oral arguments over the government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate affecting nearly 100 million workers. During the arguments, the justices revealed an ignorance of the basic facts surrounding COVID that shocked onlookers – and showed that many relied upon unreliable media sources for their information. […] The issue of judicial ignorance and outright bias arose again this week with another boomer federal judge, U.S District Judge David Carter, who issued a finding that former President Donald Trump “more likely than not” committed felony obstruction in the effort to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. What is troubling about Judge Carter’s 44-page opinion is not his analysis of the law. He claims that Trump may have violated provisions of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which could well be true. Rather, it is his tendentious summary of the facts surrounding the 2020 election and January 6 protest at the Capitol that is shocking. Not only does this “tough-minded” judge present a picture of the 2020 election that reads like a press release from Nancy Pelosi’s office, but he presents as facts things we now know are simply not true. For example, . . .
Read more at American Thinker.
GOP
Hubbard: Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake vows to declare ‘invasion,’ send armed troops to border
Kari Lake, a Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump, laid out her plans Wednesday in an interview with the Just the News TV show on Real America’s Voice. She was one of several Republicans to voice concerns the border crisis begun by the Biden administration is about to substantially worsen if the Title 42 health regulation the Trump administration instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic is lifted. “We already have a tsunami at our border with this invasion,” Lake said, but it will be “nothing compared to what’s about to hit us when Title 42 is pulled away.” […] Under the declaration, the Arizona Republican said she plans on sending the state’s National Guard to the border and allowing the service members to arrest and “send back” illegal immigrants.
Read more/Watch the 1:11 minute video: https://justthenews.com/government/security/republicans-brace-historic-wave-illegal-immigration-may-declare-invasion
Morris: Arizona Gov. Ducey signs legislation barring transgender females from playing girls sports
Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law Wednesday a pair of bills, one that prevents transgender girls from participating in female school sports and another that prohibits gender reassignment surgery for minors in the state. The two “common-sense” measures — Senate Bill 1138 and Senate Bill 1165 — were signed in an attempt to ensure “that the girls and young women who have dedicated themselves to their sport do not miss out on hard-earned opportunities,” according to the governor.
Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/arizona-gov-ducey-signs-bills-protect-female-sports
Silverio: Oklahoma Governor Signs ‘Save Women’s Sports Act’ Banning Transgender Athletes
Female athletes and his fellow lawmakers gathered around Stitt’s desk in the Oklahoma Capitol’s Blue Room to sign S.B. 2 into law, which states that “‘athletic teams designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex.’ The governor said passing the legislation “is just common sense.” “What we’re trying to accomplish here is very, very simple. We are protecting women’s sports,” the governor said.
Read more: https://dailycaller.com/2022/03/30/oklahoma-governor-signs-save-womens-sports-act-banning-transgender-athletes/
Algar: Florida GOP threatens to take Disney’s privileges away over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ opposition
Florida GOP leaders are vowing to yank Disney’s quasi-governmental privileges at its Orlando theme park over its opposition to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. Florida Rep. Spencer Roach tweeted Wednesday that meetings have been convened to “discuss a repeal” of the Reedy Creek Improvement District agreement that “allows Disney to act as its own government.” The arrangement was created to attract Disney to Florida in 1967 and gives the company control over some operations like law enforcement and fire units. The new “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, which bans instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, has drawn criticism as being hostile to the LGBTQ community. Backers assert that it seeks to shield young children from inappropriate subject matter.
Read more: https://nypost.com/2022/03/30/florida-gop-threatens-to-take-disneys-privileges-away-over-dont-say-gay-opposition/
BIDEN/HARRIS/OBAMA REGIME: TRANSFORMING AMERICA
Winters: EXC: Joe Biden’s CIA Director Told Congress He Terminated a Relationship With a Chinese Communist Influence Group – New Evidence Suggests This Was a Lie.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – formerly led by Joe Biden’s Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns – has continued its relationship with Chinese Communist Party influence groups despite Burns claiming otherwise during sworn testimony to the U.S. Senate, The National Pulse can reveal. Burns became president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March 2015 and claimed, during Senate confirmation hearings, that he merely “inherited” the think tank’s longstanding relationship with the China-United States-Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
Read more: https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/03/30/cia-directors-think-tank-continues-cusef-relationship/
Grassley, Johnson release bank records showing Hunter Biden’s ties to China
One record shows a $5 million wire transfer to Hudson West, a company Hunter Biden invested in and managed, from a partner of a CCP-connected business. […] Grassley focused on CEFC China Energy, a now-bankrupt company that the senator called “effectively an arm of the Chinese Government.” Hunter Biden’s firms were directly connected to CEFC, shown through a multi-million-dollar Louisiana natural gas project contract the companies were involved in.
Read more: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/sens-grassley-johnson-release-bank-records-showing-biden-family-ties-china
Lonergan: The Left Reimagines the Supremacy Clause
henever a Supreme Court vacancy opens up, we are reminded of the Left’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution as a living and breathing document. Put another way, America’s 233-year-old charter is subject to the editing and revision of nine judges in the most undemocratic of the federal government’s three branches. While the Court is often asked to interpret the Constitution, we are seeing increased pressure from activists and bureaucrats to reshape the Constitution to serve their agendas absent public accountability. A favorite strategy in this endeavor is to step over the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause as if it were a puddle on a sidewalk. In Article VI, paragraph two, the Constitution establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, will take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions in cases where there is a conflict. It sounds very clear-cut and unambiguous, right? Not so for the forces of progressivism, who never seem to cool their lust to impose their agenda across all aspects of American society. The latest example can be seen in Washington state, . . .
Read more: https://amgreatness.com/2022/03/30/the-left-reimagines-the-supremacy-clause/
Greenfield: Biden Might Release Enough Oil From Strategic Reserve to Last 1.5 Hours
Good news everybody. Oil price worries are a thing of the past. No, Joe isn’t about to authorize domestic drilling. But he’s going to release 1 million barrels of oil. That’s right I said, 1 million barrels. […] This comes after Biden’s 50 million barrels of oil release last year. Anyone remember how that worked out?
[…] In 2020, the United States consumed an average of about 18.19 million barrels of petroleum per day, or a total of about 6.66 billion barrels of petroleum.
Read more: https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2022/03/biden-might-release-enough-oil-strategic-reserve-daniel-greenfield/
Prager U: Why Are Gas Prices So High?
We all know gas prices are painfully out of control across the country. Will Witt is out in LA asking Angelenos why they think gas prices have gotten so high.
Watch the 3:32 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbgyB7ZFvaI
Lonas: 4 in 10 Americans blame Biden administration policies for gas prices: poll
Americans say that Biden administration policies are the No. 1 cause for the increase in fuel costs in the United State, according to a recent poll by Quinnipiac University. The poll found 41 percent of Americans say the Biden administration’s economic policies are to blame for the rise in gas prices. According to the survey, 24 percent say sanctions against Russia caused the increase in fuel prices, 24 percent believe oil companies are to blame and 5 percent say the increase is due to the rise in demand after coronavirus restrictions were eased. […] Forty-one percent of Democrats surveyed say oil companies are to blame, and another 41 percent of Democrats blame sanctions against Russia for the price hike. However, Republicans and independents appear to disagree — both groups blame the Biden administration first for the high gas prices.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/600412-4-in-10-americans-blame-biden-administration-for-gas-pricespoll/
Blankley: DeSantis says ‘reckless open border policies’ led to murders of two more Florida residents
“The Biden Administration’s dangerous immigration policies, as well as the soft on crime policies of the 9th Circuit State Attorney’s Office (Orange and Osceola counties), have once again resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Floridians,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “Floridians should not be subject to the reckless open border policies that the Biden Administration is imposing on this country,” the governor added. After attending Daytona Beach Bike Week, the Aultmans allegedly were followed home by Macean. On March 6, their bodies were found on the side of the road covered in blood with multiple stab wounds and their throats slit. […] Macean was previously arrested in Orange County in 2019 on multiple drug related charges involving cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. Former State Attorney Aramis Ayala dropped the charges on Feb. 10, 2020, for unknown reasons. “We also need answers as to why the State Attorney’s Office dropped charges against the defendant,” DeSantis said. Rather than be deported for being in the U.S. illegally, Haitians were granted Temporary Protected Status by the Biden administration in 2021,
Read more: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/desantis-reckless-open-border-policies-led-murders-two-more-florida
Niedzwiadek: Manchin, Sinema, Kelly sink Biden labor nominee
The details: Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly and Sen. Joe Manchin, three of the caucus’ moderates, voted against the procedural vote. The final vote count was 47-53 against invoking cloture. Weil’s defeat on the Senate floor is a major defeat for the Biden administration, which has prided itself on its labor agenda, and for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as leaders typically do not move items if they do not have the votes to pass. Shortly after the vote concluded, Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray issued a statement lamenting the failure of “an exceptionally qualified nominee with a long track record fighting to ensure workers get the wages they have earned.” Backstory: Weil’s critics have faulted him for Obama-era policy moves on issues like . . .
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/30/david-weil-wage-hour-nom-senate-00021860
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Klavan: The Secret Knowledge
This essay is a companion piece to Andrew Klavan’s newest book, The Truth and Beauty. It is available for purchase here. An alternative to dystopia. The recent internet Bell Curve Meme stuck with me long after its fleeting shelf life had passed. One end of the meme’s Bell Curve represents the small percentage of primitive idiots making some simplistic observation about the world. The peak of the curve represents the majority of intelligent thinkers describing the same phenomenon with analytic subtlety, scientific precision and moral nuance. The far end of the curve represents the small percentage of Jedi-like sages who, of course, describe the world in the same simple terms as the idiots. Therein lies the heart of what I have come to call the Secret Knowledge. Indeed, it is secret not because no one knows it, but precisely because intellectuals are loath to speak its wisdom aloud for fear of sounding like the idiots and thus losing their claim to modern legitimacy. The Secret Knowledge is merely this: there’s a God, creation speaks his nature in the language of matter, and only in guileless surrender to that Word made flesh can we enter eternity and become fully human. The Bell Curve Meme tells the tale: we have to grow very wise before we can embrace such simplicity. Or to put it in something like its original form, unless we become like little children again, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
Read more: https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-secret-knowledge/
MOVIE REVIEW
Podhoretz: REVIEW: ‘CODA’
Yes, it deserved to win. Confession: Though I write about the movies professionally, I avoided seeing the film CODA until a few hours before the Oscar ceremony where it won the top prize—when I finally booted up Apple TV Plus and sat down with my wife and kids. From the moment I heard about this tale of a working-class family with two deaf parents, a deaf son, and a hearing daughter, it seemed like the kind of movie that demanded you like it or be accused of being mean to a disabled person. And I can’t stand that kind of emotional cultural blackmail. I’ll bet there are a lot of people like me who saw or read about CODA and thought, “Well, that’s like a virtue-signaling homework assignment, and I have something better to do with my time.” As it turns out, you don’t. CODA is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful movie. I’d go so far as to say it’s among the most sheerly moving movies I’ve ever seen. I spent the last half hour in tears, and those weren’t tears of grief or sorrow or discomfort. Rather, I was deeply, profoundly touched.What writer-director Sian Heder has pulled off here (working off a 2014 French movie called La Famille Bélier) is a meticulously constructed portrait of utter decency. That is quite a feat.
Read more: https://freebeacon.com/culture/review-coda/
