Category Archives: National

Hanson: The Matter is Not Over, Not Now, Not Ever

Editorial: It is a delight on X to read @VDHanson today. The format urges brevity and Victor David Hanson is one of the most coherent historians active in current debates. On U.S. President Joe Biden’s train wreck of a press conference last Thursday, Hanson goes quickly to the point:

“President Biden Thursday night hit rock-bottom as he gave a mean-spirited distortion of the special counsel’s report. And in the process, Biden further embarrassed himself, his toady press, and the country at large. In sum, the press conference disintegrated into an embarrassing free for all.”

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To Stop the Fentanyl Crisis, Secure the Border

The current fentanyl crisis in America is directly tied to the Biden administration’s unwillingness to secure our southern border.

Over the past three years, over 8.8 million illegal migrants have crossed the southern border. That is more than twice the population of Oklahoma. This number includes over two million known “gotaways” who evaded border patrol, smuggling drugs and trafficked persons into our country. The Biden administration’s open border has created a national security, public health, and humanitarian crisis.

Joe Biden’s incompetence has proven deadly. On Joe Biden’s watch, over 56,380 pounds of fentanyl have been trafficked into our country. Now, illicit fentanyl poisoning has become the leading cause of death among American adults ages 18-45.

Fentanyl is a controlled substance. However, illicit fentanyl production is the primary driver of record-breaking overdose numbers. Fentanyl abuse has become more common and dangerous in recent years due to “fentanyl analogs” and “fentanyl-related substances,” which are similar in chemical makeup but far more powerful. In fact, of the pills tested for fentanyl, an alarming 42 percent contain at least two milligrams of fentanyl – a lethal dose that could fit on the tip of a pencil.

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Sen. Mullin Bill to Require SCOTUS Review

Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), alongside Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), introduced January 11th the Constitutional Election Integrity Act, legislation that would prevent state politicians like the Maine Secretary of State and state entities like the Colorado Supreme Court from disqualifying presidential candidates from the ballot on constitutional matters that should be decided by only the Supreme Court.

The Constitutional Election Integrity Act clarifies that the Supreme Court of the United States has the sole ability to decide legal claims arising out of section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The legislation also withholds federal funding for election administration from states that misuse the 14th Amendment for political purposes.

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Purity Spirals Incoming!

Yet another form of group think/counter mass formation.

Since the fall of 2022 I have been struggling to describe a behavioral group dynamic that I keep observing which is operating within the “medical freedom movement”, and have used the historic term “Jacobin” (referring to one particularly brutal phase of the French revolution) to define a process which commonly tears apart almost all resistance movements. This natural process is actively exploited by opponents using methods such as “Bad Jacketing”; accusations of controlled opposition and the like, to sow mistrust and accelerate fragmentation.

But recently I have discovered more modern terms for the process. Moral outbidding and its consequence – Purity spirals, and “Othering”. These terms and the social behaviors which they describe are related to group think as well as to counter mass formation, but carry their own nuances.

Last night I allowed myself to remain on a podcast with a defrocked UK surgeon for 2.5 hours of the most aggressive, accusatory interview I have ever had. Bad on me. It started off with the surgeon telling me that a lot of people hated me (I should have just left then), and then proceeded to a series of accusations and purity tests which I was told to answer with yes or no, and then berated if I gave an answer which failed the host’s purity standards.

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US Debt Crushing Economy

The debt of the United States of America now exceeds $34 trillion, and– for the first time in American history– the government has to borrow 100% of the money needed to fund regular operational expenses of $1.5 trillion.

What a sad and disturbing mess! New Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is setting up a bi-partisan debt commission to work on ideas to get our fiscal house in order. “The greatest threat to our national security is our nation’s debt,” Johnson said during his first speech from the speaker’s dais in the House chamber. “We know this is not going to be an easy task and tough decisions will have to be made, but the consequences—if we don’t act now—are unbearable.”

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