It won’t stop you bitter-clingers from believing, despite all the contrary evidence, that it’s Democrats versus Republicans. That Democrats want open borders and Republicans want secure borders. Blah, blah, blah.

But Speaker Johnson just gave Biden, Schumer, and McConnell every penny of spending they demanded and got NOTHING substantive in return on the border.

 

Republicans agreeing to spending levels $69 billion higher than last summer's debt ceiling "deal", with no significant policy wins is nothing but another loss for America. At some point, having the House majority has to matter. Stop funding this spending with an open border!

— Congressman Bob Good (@RepBobGood) January 7, 2024

The post Meet The New Boss … Speaker Johnson Caves On Spending And Border appeared first on Granite Grok.

The latest meter-pinging corporate outrage has landed. Vermont’s King Arthur Baking Company has announced an initiative to help small business owners of color. “Baking Pitchfest 2024” includes a baking contest and incentives for contest winners.

 

“Half mentorship, half competition, Baking Pitchfest is an accelerator program designed to foster greater inclusivity and creativity in the baking world by providing equitable opportunities for People of Color entrepreneurs,” the website states, adding that winners will receive financial support, mentorship, and exposure.

 

The social media multi-verse has erupted with the usual amount of outrage at the deliberate exclusion of white people.

 

King Arthur Flour in Vermont is having a baking competition. Only non-whites can enter the competition.
I’ve bought King Arthur Flour for years. No longer. You just lost a faithful customer.https://t.co/yFa4TuSUeF

— Ann Marie (@Political_QRM) January 8, 2024

 

I get what would happen if any business excused people of color, and they’d be right to get bent about that, but I am having a hard time getting wound up about what King Arthur has done.

I am not being dismissive of the protest or arguments against it. We cannot ignore the blatant racist overtone, but I’m more offended by the pandering and virtue-signaling to which this speaks. For decades, state and federal governments have offered special loans and incentives to black or minority-owned businesses, even in places where white folk are in the minority. It’s a guilt thing. Not for slavery – none of those folks have ever owned a slave, and none of the people they claim to want to help have been slaves. This is about something else. And that something else seems more important to me.

Modern progressives and those obsessed with reparations (or minority-only baking contests?) have a legitimate reason to feel guilt. Their policies continue to destroy families and lives in those communities. The money they have redirected ends up lining the pockets of connected insiders and despots, much like food aid to Africa. The modern progressive urban plantations are death traps littered with broken families and lives as the left focuses on pandering instead to the illegal alien invaders.

It’s as if the Criminaliens represents better value in the Elite’s pursuit of absolute power, and don’t say we didn’t want you.

A friendly baking contest designed to elevate opportunities for minorities in New England and across America isn’t going to fix that, even if you invited whitey.

King Arthur, by the way, has been around since 1790, so maybe there is some guilt buried deep down, and this is Vermont, which is full of #woke libs, so, for all we know, the King Arther Baking Company owners (it is employee-owned if you’re interested) are #woke posers looking for some corporate street cred, and hey! – this may be their Bud Light moment. If it is, they deserve any commercial collapse that comes their way because you could never have a no-people-of-color baking contest.

I’m just not all that offended by it.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s my so-called white privilege talking.

 

The post King Arthur Flour Promotes Bakers of Color (No Whites) and I’m Having a Hard Time Getting Bent About That appeared first on Granite Grok.

You can pretend all you want. Women don’t have a prostate, and men don’t lactate, so let’s call the whole thing off. Sorry, not so fast. Marxist dogma demands the destruction of everything, including gender roles, and tens of thousands of years of women breastfeeding babies is not so monolithic a thing it can’t be toppled.

The Left’s war on women and all that, don’t you know, because at least one man wants to believe he can chest feed a baby, so we’ve got to toss it all in a bin and inculcate the commoners until they’ve adopted the correct terminology. Breastfeeding shall not be gender specific, which makes no damn sense. Men have a ‘Breast’ they don’t have breasts.

Infidel, how dare you – also amusing because the folks calling us infidels, for all their faults, can tell you what a woman is. She is property, and if you die for Allah, you get 72 of them, their breasts untouched by any other man (and they know what those are, too).

Here in the mind-tripping west, well – read this.

 

“We are concerned about breastfeeding promotion that praises breastfeeding as the ‘natural’ way to feed infants,” wrote Jessica Martucci of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and Anne Barnhill of Johns Hopkins University in the journal Pediatrics. “Promoting breastfeeding as ‘natural’ may be ethically problematic, and, even more troublingly, it may bolster this belief that ‘natural’ approaches are presumptively healthier.” …

“Referencing the ‘natural’ in breastfeeding promotion, then, may inadvertently endorse a controversial set of values about family life and gender roles, which would be ethically inappropriate,” they state.

Funny thing about that. Indigenous populations around the world, many of them consisting of brown people, disagree, and in the end, they would win. The birthing people would immediately default  – in the absence of a manufacturing base or supply chain capable of stocking abandoned store shelves – to the solution nature provided them at birth. You have a baby, and you breastfeed. Ask any mammal, and they’ll show you it doesn’t get more natural. I’d go so far as to claim it is a natural right. One of those things that, absent any other affectation of human existence, would self-manifest. How about obvious?

Baby can’t chew roots or venison. Wait a minute. What are these swollen things on my chest leaking this white stuff?

And just so you understand. These intellectuals A**h*les are free to collect themselves in a community with men who can be women, and breastfeeding is unnatural. If that’s what you’re into, you go -guy-girl ze xe inclusive master of your mentally unstable universe. Mate with like-minded they/thems, abort your babies, and we will watch your cult self-extinguisher (which, as I understand, is good for the planet) in a generation, maybe less.

Just keep your dementia to yourselves.

By the way, there (cough-cough) “researchers were also concerned that such rhetoric “may ultimately challenge public health’s aims in other contexts, particularly childhood vaccination,” so this may be more globalist-pharma – one-world money laundering propaganda. Jessica and Anne may have some pharma-funding skeletons in their chest-feeding closet.

I’m not going to chase that down. Let’s assume it’s valid until they prove otherwise.

 

 

The post Breastfeeding Under Fire From the Left – Well, Of Course It F#!@?%& Is! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Are today’s interests really that important and beneficial, or is it just a ruse when being so attracted to incidentals that are inappropriate and exaggerated nonsense? Whatever the urgency, we are all guilty to a degree of magnifying what is simply a nuisance or just trivia.

In the midst of it all, we lack even the slightest chance for a “downtime” to reconnoiter our thoughts. This is largely due to that hand-held gadget being a demanding call to all the world’s problems and answers. Given this lure, when was the last time we sat idly by and reminisced about a family event, a certain friend, or just talked to each other? Or doesn’t that still matter?

This is a crucial loss since relief is a natural need. Even at work, there are coffee breaks, or at least there were years ago. The difference today is that such leisure time is filled with the quiet catch-up of texting! During today’s Java breaks, it’s even probable that conversational chatter just isn’t anymore.

So, within such lifestyles, how does one, if so inclined, find time to read our past history, which is so beneficial to our citizenship duties and country alike? This preoccupation of one’s time and interests greatly enhances the deeds of the opportunist and the unscrupulous. Such a scenario is not as far-fetched as one would think.

To further confound are the progressive curriculums and lesson plans at all levels of education, which ignore, deny, and revise America’s factual history. Basically, we, “the free,” have been mentally corralled into a proud and defiant state of “know-it-all” ignorance.

This might seem exaggerated but look around; how many books are in sight, let alone are being read versus how many fingers are kept busy! Also unnatural is this lack of conversation. At some point, the words “robotic” and “programmed,” as in “being programmed,” become relevant!

This atmosphere is a retardant against ever reclaiming our American pride, being familiar with our country’s history, or for any attempt at independent thought. Americans had better shed this state of passivity and recognize their misguidance so that the reality of their misconceptions can be addressed and reversed. Of course, this requires a time out from their hand-held connection to the world, which currently would be unthinkable.

This anti-Americanism has been the agenda for more than half a century; when it first tested the college and university level, but now, with daycare firmly in place, it’s sort of “Katie bar the door” time as indoctrinating could be the next step after learning how to walk! This tweaks the ancient adage, “As the twig is bent, so grows the mighty oak!”

That long ago truism is typical of such advice and “why” it is so feared and ignored. Common sense points to the obvious worth of those Founding thoughts and principles when America was at its best. So from that long ago time, think and savor the following; from the aspect of answering “why;” why it’s such a fearful message for America’s young to learn.

“Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scripture twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of the proficiency therein.” Harvard 1636 Student Guidelines

“All the scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to the rules of God’s Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, that fountain of Divine light and truth, and constantly attending all the duties of religion. Yale 1787 Student Guidelines

Finally, from Congress, “We are a Christian people, not because the law demands it, not to gain exclusive benefits or to avoid legal disabilities but from choice and education; and in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we shall pay due regard to Christianity?” – Senate Judiciary Committee Record, January 19, 1853.

Need we ask, “What the hell happened?” Very simply, in the twentieth century, a devaluing of Christianity coupled with an instituted unknowing that weaves through and strengthens this blanket of abusive governing, globalism, corruption, and Marxism.

A final judgment: these three quotes from yesteryear were part of an entire page in the July 4th, 2017 issue of the Daytona News Journal. What’s the odds of it ever being reprinted?

The post Distracted and Misled appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised in Monday Memes, I have an overflow. My meme cup runneth over.  And yes there will be a Friday edition too.

Let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

 

 

The war on food, and the war on high-quality animal protein in particular, is very real.

 

 

 

I remember a few years ago when he first said this, I thought it had to be just a few “bad apples”; looking like the whole barrel is rotted out at this point.

 

 

And I still like the idea of dipping your finger in indelible ink so you can’t go vote somewhere else.

 

 

 

 

 

I still see people in masks.  Sigh.

 

 

I know people who have been Jabbed up like crazy… but still get Covid and say “Well, it’d have been worse if I hadn’t been vaccinated”.  I want to cry.

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, no crime is… if a Democrat does it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve come to like something simple, like getting at least 3 out of 5 of the US Citizenship exam correct.

 

 

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

 

 

Would Nikki Haley Pardon Hunter Biden? You Won’t Like Her Answer. – PJ Media

I sure don’t like her answer.  More from PJ Media:

Nikki Haley Forcibly Renamed Her Husband – PJ Media

Closing with Tucker’s analysis:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tucker-on-nikki-with-vivek.mp4

 

Now, I’ll admit Vivek – in the latter part of the video – seems to sound good and has said some things I like, but I still don’t trust his rapid appearance out of, literally, nowhere.

I’ve made clear my intent to vote for Trump.  But irrespective of her actual eligibility issues, e.g., here, I see a deep cause for concern in the amount of support and funding she’s getting from the Left and GOP Elites.

My suspicion is simple: they – the Left, the Globalists, the GOP Elites, the enemedia – will do everything possible to drag her across the GOP nomination line.  And once she’s secured it, the suits over her natural-born citizen status will be unleashed.  It will be 24-7 news.  And thus the Right will be thrown into utter chaos.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

OK… I know it makes her ineligible to be elected to the Presidency; what about in a succession event?

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, I don’t like the idea of The Purge.  But… a day of open season on politicians specifically?  That I might get behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From a Telegram contact in Israel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think the Democrats have forgiven the GOP for setting the two-term limit after FDR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Pick of the Post:

 

 

Except, very often IMHO, you don’t know this until you are already in the thick of things… and you see your facts, logic, evidence, etc., bouncing off their cognitive shields.  There’s a reason I coined the term Teflon Intellects.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

I’ve promoted My Tree in Israel‘s olive oil multiple times.  I just got one bottle – as a gift for my long-time support – of their whisky offering from Israel.  Damn good stuff.  Not cheap, but excellent as a private label item and a nice gift to give too.

Case of 6 bottles of Golani Black | My Tree in Israel

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Palate cleansers:

 

 

Way back when, at the first company I worked for, the error message sound on the community Mac was set to this.

—

—

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Come back on Friday for more memes.  Same meme time.  Same meme channel.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

Okay, these Greenies have to get themselves a hobby. I have no idea what their endgame is, but all of us moving back into caves might be a good guess. But don’t even think about starting a campfire to cook or keep warm. No fire is allowed in the Green Utopia. These people are simply insane, and if they believe all they tout, then stop pushing your ideas on the masses and go live in a yurt.

There were three stories this month telling us what we need to drink, eat, or fill our homes with. Bill Gates is involved with the first two. I realize a lot of people hate Microsoft. I am not one of them, and I think Bill Gates was a genius. And what he created in his garage was the impetus for the most dynamic period of growth in our lifetimes. But notice I wrote he was a genius. That was deliberate, as I think Bill has crossed that fine line between genius and insanity. When Gates left the world of computers to save the world, I think he lacked focus on what world he was saving. It appears he wants to transform rather than save it, and I believe his transformative ideas should have been moved to the Trash or Spam folder.

His first target was eliminating methane gas by doing away with cattle, pigs, chickens, face it, anything we humans love to eat. It is still up in the air if he wants to ban fish, too. Gates believes we can replace all of our delicious proteins with plant-based alternatives. To Bill Gates, I say, take your paws off my medium-rare fillet. I will not eat a burger made out of any green plant. But wait, it gets worse as Gates has moved on from Vegan Meat to Manufactured Meat. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

UPSIDE Foods, a California-based lab-grown meat company, recently announced that it received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In November 2022, the company received the green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). UPSIDE Foods has the financial backing of Bill Gates.

Upside is starting with cultivated chicken. The manufactured “meat” will be created in a factory, starting with chicken stem cells. This process will not do away with animals as long as there is a need for their cells. The only idea that is more ludicrous would be 3D printer-meats. Trust me, they are not far away. And we didn’t even get into purified drinking water from septic tanks.

The Washington Post reported this week the new claim by the Greenies that houseplants are harmful to the planet. I do not know of any house void of plants, and now you are dipping into the control of women’s lives as most household horticulturists are women, and you do not want to continue messing with women’s rights. There is no actual data as to what houseplants are doing to the environment, but when are we going to realize that America alone cannot control weather trends? This is the fact that destroys most plans. America is only about 10% of the earth’s landmass. If we are the only country to adopt a health remedy, it may show virtue but will not make an appreciable dent in climate change. Also, everyone admits the air quality above the U.S. has improved dramatically over the last few decades without vast government mandates. But if banning whoppers and the family geranium is the goal, you may have issues.

This is not the last effort to change and restrict our lives. If these misguided souls even give a quick glance at one of our dogs, you will meet resistance like you only dreamed of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Houseplants? Is The Family Dog Next appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is another example of that fifty-state laboratory business. The notion is that each state can try a thing, and when they work or fail, other states can learn from that. With the Blue States, failure is the goal, and it is what they emulate. Red states, on the other hand.

Emphasis in the original.

 

When Texas college students return to their campuses after the winter break, they’ll discover the lights are still off in their campuses’ diversity offices.

That’s because a new law that outlaws such work at the state’s higher education institutions goes into effect, Jan. 1. …

Dissolving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities: Senate Bill 17 requires public universities to end so-called diversity, equity and inclusion work. Universities will also be unable to offer training on diversity and inclusion for its faculty and staff, or require diversity statements in hiring processes. Universities must also confirm to the Legislature between legislative sessions that they are in full compliance.

 

This could be a win for liberty and actual diversity. Diversity of thought, for example, creates the breeding ground for a depth of understanding that DEI makes impossible. The latter focuses on differences and division, while the former allows individuals to discover what they share in common as people on the planet and develop relationships that bridge demographic gaps.

You can’t bring people together by fixating on what makes them different while looking for more ways to insist they all talk, act, and perceive the world the same way—the way you want. To a Democrat, as I like to say, Diversity is a room full of people who look different but think the same, speak the same, and act the same. Anyone who speaks out is excluded, ostracized, and perhaps even canceled.

DEI offices on college campuses insert this worldview into everything and police it with the help of an increasing drift of snowflakes. Their dissolution or departure is a great win for intellectual Diversity, including all opinions, and the education equity that follows from allowing civilized and open debate.

More states need to untangle education and children from the tentacles of cultural Marxism in k-12, not just college campuses before there are not enough open-minded thinkers left to protect the American Experiment. CRT and DEI should be fringe disciplines—oddities along the manifold of human interaction. Like flat-earthers. Giving them offices and authority and power? That’s a bad idea, but not one with an easy remedy. The cancer of DEI was left unchecked for too long. It seeped into everything. Ohio banned DEI, and Kent State recreated it as a Division of People, Culture, and Belonging. The DEI people moved into existing offices with another department, so DEI is still alive, but the new name is accurate. “Division is in the name, and that’s what we’ll get. So, more of the same.”

Banning DEI just forced a rebrand. That’s no reason not to try. Cut their funding if you want to stick the landing. Do to them what DeSantis did to Disney – change their tax status – Florida also prohibits public funding for campus DEI offices and initiatives. Engage in lawfare if they charge conservative speakers more for permits or security than liberal speakers. Sue for violations of free speech or incidents of compelled speech. Punish fake hate crimes the way you’d punish real ones. You’ll need a governor and AG or a good District Attorney willing to fight that fight, but you’d need that to enforce the DEI ban.

Assuming you are serious, but that’s a problem too. How much of this right roughshod over First Amendment rights?

 

 

The post Outlawing Diversity Offices on State College Campuses Won’t End DEI appeared first on Granite Grok.

For my friends in New Hampshire, you all recognize the New Hampshire Union Leader as a demagogue in the Left-leaning (fake news) media, supposedly representing all NH readers and voters. To my friends around the country and the world, the NH Union Leader used to be a respectable, somewhat conservative-leaning newspaper that wasn’t afraid to publish opposing Liberal views.

Not now.

In the past several months, the UL has printed at least a dozen op-eds (editorials), political columns by known Trump-hating operatives, and dozens of LTE’s (letters to the editor), all bashing President Trump with their continued lies about him. It’s the usual bull crap…opinions without evidence. The media controls the message, the same message to which they “expertly” give their own interpretation, and then ultimately mislead the uninformed reader or viewer because they know if people hear a story so many times, they begin to believe the story. Thus, they control the people.

We want to thank Di Lothrop for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

I wrote a rebuttal Op-ed (see below) and asked the UL to be fair and balanced and not afraid to publish differing viewpoints. They asked me to prove my statements and even suggested adding “I believe” to each of my points. What? I told them it was inappropriate because each of my rebuttal statements are ALL public record, and I don’t recall seeing “I believe” after the false and misleading Trump-hating rhetoric by the others listed below. I took my crusade to the President and Publisher, and he refused to print my brilliant op-ed. What is he afraid of?

Well, there’s more than one way to skin a rat. I’m taking it TO THE PEOPLE! You don’t have to be a Trump supporter to acknowledge what is happening in the media now. It can also happen to YOUR candidate!

I’m asking everyone to please post this to their social media and email it to everyone on their lists and send a message that we won’t be controlled any more. We won’t be told who to vote for and who not to vote for. Ask yourself, does principle matter? It’s the very foundation of the system of our beliefs. If you care about protecting our individual democracy, not just the democratic version of democracy, I ask you to please take the time to forward this.

My humble thanks to you all. May this year be THE ONE!

 

<begin op-ed>

The Declining Public Trust in the Judiciary and Making a Mockery of the Rule of Law

Did we ever think a former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court would be partisan?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes.  We can thank former President Obama for that.

We, the people, are increasingly concerned that judges and justices are more broadly seen as unelected political figures who make decisions to achieve outcomes rather than as neutral arbiters of the law.

Obama punctured the myth of total impartiality when he began his crusade to pack the federal court system with liberal partisan judicial appointees. Even the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t escape Obama’s regime-building.  Randall Kennedy, a Harvard professor, once said, “It seems to me it’s quite clear that the Supreme Court of the United States is political. How could one explain the fights over confirmation if this is not political?” he asked.

Judicial impartiality now seems to be a thing of the past.  A judge or justice who favors one party or gives greater weight to that party’s claims is not behaving neutrally.  Former NHSC Justice John Broderick’s sentiments in his column (UL Dec 17, 2023) are totally off the rails in his baseless claims and crazy conspiracy theories against former President Trump.

Hold onto your MAGA hats…Broderick claims:

·      Trump called American soldiers “suckers and losers”.  FALSE. It was alleged by a liberal reporter at The Atlantic in his 2020 article whose supposed “sources” never materialized.

·      Trump’s “indictments and 91 felony counts” are all based solely on accusations by a few state federal prosecutors and district attorneys all of whom are Democrats and all on public record announcing their hatred of President Trump.  Their judicial appointments were all based on “getting Trump”.

·      Trump did not sit silently on J6 as Broderick states; he authorized 10,000 National Guard troops but former Speaker Pelosi refused them.

·      Trump did not interfere with presidential confirmation.  He CHALLENGED electoral votes.  Just as Democrat lawmakers challenged the votes 3 times in the last 20 years.  In 2001, 2005, and 2017.  Their objections did not pass because they could not find a Democrat senator to certify their challenge.

·      There are indeed mounds of evidence of massive election fraud throughout the country in 2020, but liberal judges refused to introduce the evidence into their courts; that way, they can claim not to have seen the evidence.  Former Justice Broderick knows this is how it works in our subversive judicial system,  but he conveniently turns a blind eye.

In his rantings, Broderick claims if Trump wins back the White House, he will exact revenge on his enemies and he’ll be a dictator.

But that is exactly what we have now against Trump.

Biden’s DOJ is relentless in their pursuit to prevent Trump’s re-election.  They are resorting to fear-mongering and rhetoric inflammatory in their desperation.

Liberals, like the recent Colorado Justices who unlawfully seek to remove Trump from the Colorado state ballot on a crime that he has not been charged or convicted of, who have invaded our current court system, are making a mockery of the Rule of Law, and that is the real threat to our Democracy.

<end op-ed>

The post The Union Leader Wouldn’t Publish My Op-Ed, So Here It Is! appeared first on Granite Grok.

The White House announced earlier this month multi-billion dollar spending on a high-speed rail system for the nation. But President Joe Biden has already participated in a project with this exact promise – without delivering results. Indeed, some of the Barack Obama-Biden rail projects have been abandoned; most have run over projected costs.

Biden calls his Investing in America agenda a “key pillar of Bidenomics.” A White House press release proclaimed his plan “is delivering world class-infrastructure across the country.” These promises have been made for a long time, yet the vaunted infrastructure has not been delivered. Ironically, the POTUS who attacks fossil fuel pipelines is replacing them with one full of taxpayer pork to California and other states that have a proven track record of not installing a single stretch of functioning high-speed tracks: “The Biden-Harris Administration is building out a pipeline of passenger rail projects in every region of the country in order to achieve the President’s vision of world-class passenger rail.”

The Obama-Biden Legacy Blending pledges of environmental rescue, reduced traffic congestion, and “good-paying union jobs,” Biden is simply echoing the empty playbook of his former boss. After “investing” billions of taxpayer dollars in high-speed rail 14 years ago, Obama committed to the very same thing. Expressing his spending plans, the 44th president announced:

“And so far, we’re ahead of schedule, we’re under budget, and adhering to the highest standards of transparency and accountability …

“What we’re talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in America … And with this strategy for America’s transportation future, and our efforts across all fronts to lay a new foundation for our lasting prosperity, that is the challenge we will meet.”

Standing beside Obama was then-VP Biden, touting his passion for this rail-vision thing:

“I have, like many in this room, devoted most of my career to doing what I can to support America’s rail systems. So I’m really proud to be part of an administration led by a man who has real vision; real vision about how to not only transform this country generally, but transform our transportation system in a fundamental way.”

A High-Speed Train Wreck

The vision is dystopian: sap the taxpayers and drive up debt to fund fantasies that generate short-term wealth for technocrats and no demonstrable results. Obama claimed his administration’s progress was ahead of schedule, under budget, and held to high standards. All three claims have now been debunked.

Back in 2014, Time magazine noted that “the bullet-train rhetoric from Obama and the White House’s main train buff, Vice President Joe Biden, has not lived up to the bullet-train reality.” With the benefit of hindsight, Fox News described the results of this decades-long debacle:

“The project was originally planned as a $33 billion project consisting of 1,955 miles of railway connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. Since then, the cost has swelled to $113 billion and the project’s scope has been dramatically scaled down to a 171-mile railway … Overall, if the project is completed in 2030, it will have taken a decade longer than expected, while costing $80 billion more and being 91% smaller than originally planned. Because of its repeated shortfalls, the project has been dubbed by critics as the ‘train to nowhere.’”

In 2009, Obama claimed that 220-mile-per-hour trains would decrease gasoline use, create high-paying jobs, and improve the economy by modernizing the nation’s infrastructure. Billions of dollars and nearly 15 years later, Biden is repeating the same script, line by line.

Can Biden Grease the Tracks? Watch-the-birdie visions of sugar-plum super-trains that benefit commuters from Los Angeles to San Francisco do not eclipse the endless debt incurred for do-nothing pork projects. When Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) was governor of Florida, he famously returned $2.4 billion of slotted high-speed train funds back to Washington. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) eagerly drooled over the new federal handout as “a vote of confidence in today’s vision,” claiming, “California is delivering on the first 220-mph, electric high-speed rail project in the nation.”

“Today’s vision” is simply Obama 2009 redux; the high-speed train has never left the station. Biden’s 2023 pitch is déjà vu, except voters see in their rearview mirror zero progress despite soaring promises (and deficits).

The Biden administration’s policies have been an economic train wreck, seeding inflation, volatile energy markets, and government waste. Shifting billions of dollars to Newsom’s visionary train coffers while that state tackles its $68 billion budget deficit may surface as an issue for the nation’s voters in 2024.

 

John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.

The post Night Cap: Biden Spending Off the Rails? appeared first on Granite Grok.

There’s nothing wrong with the idea that men could champion women’s rights. There are plenty of men who have done more for women than women. You’d be crazier than a bag of cats to think otherwise. So where’s the crime in ‘UN Women UK’ naming a transwoman as its champion of Women’s rights in the not-so-United Kingdom.

 

According to UN Women UK, it supports the “empowerment of women equality globally within civil society, government, and the corporate sector.”

However, the group of charities [Fair Play for Women, Sex Matters, Transgender Trend and the Women’s Rights Network] wrote: “We wish to register our dismay and disappointment at the appointment of … Munroe Bergdorf as a UN Women UK champion. Munroe Bergdorf is unsuitable in every regard.

“Munroe Bergdorf’s well-publicised activism is not pro-women. This person has objected to women making references to our female bodies.”

 

Munroe Bergdorf, born a man, believes he is a woman and goes to great lengths to achieve the physical appearance, mannerisms, and social behaviors of a stereotypical woman. Becomes a model as a woman but objects to “references to female bodies.” Let’s assume that’s true, and these charities have the receipts. What, then, is the issue? What is it about women to which Bergdorf objects?

Maybe he’s just a bitch? It wouldn’t be the first time someone went to great lengths to emulate female beauty and became catty. If the stereotype is to be believed, it’s quite common.

I’m going with womb envy, but that’s no excuse. There are plenty of actual men and women who are envious of their own sex for any number of reasons. Human nature makes us want things we have no interest in doing the work to achieve. It is easier to covet the finished product and the focus needed to achieve it than to do the work ourselves.

Look at Munroe. No small amount of work went into turning that guy into the person we see today. They are obsessed with a traditional standard of female beauty. Having achieved it is as subjective as attraction itself, but there is no denying the goal. Munroe’s vision for women is classic. But this is the sort of thing feminists have been working to escape since Elizabeth Smith Miller started wearing pants. Maybe escape is the wrong word, but you take my meaning, I hope.

Munroe is, therefore, retrograde. Nothing progressive about that.

Munroe is also a man. Removing and adding bits does not change that. Beneath the facade of flesh is the skeleton of a man who, if unearthed thousands of years from now, would be identified as such, and there’s no cure for that. So, the only thing UN Women UK has done is deny an actual woman something to which they are entitled by birthright – a well-known concept the English have preserved into the 21st century by tolerating their monarchy.

There’s nothing wrong with that or awarding a man with a title like “champion of women’s rights” if they deserve it. Still, by all accounts, Bergdorf is a Potemkin woman – pretending for points and attention, even deception, and little else, and by choosing him, that’s what UN Women UK has become.

 

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Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the Department of Defense surprised me once again—this time involved General Austin in his role as Secretary of Defense. He checked himself into Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he was placed in the Intensive Care Unit for a week and never told anyone, while his staff lied about it.

What is troubling no one seemed to care.

It’s not like there is nothing going on in the world that would require his attention. Even his deputy was on vacation. He and his deputy took themselves out of the decision-making process. A great opportunity for our enemies to take advantage. This is truly bizarre behavior. For those of us who have served at senior levels within the military, we realize that something else is going on, that the normal operation of the chain of command appears not to be functioning, at least not as it should and certainly not in this case.

The foundation of the Armed Forces rests on a firm platform of Values and Morals. This is something instilled into every 2nd Lieutenant from the day they are commissioned—values like character, integrity, and honesty. You are also taught to find senior officers to serve as role models. Officers who, at the end of the day, will always do the right thing and will set an example regardless of the situation. Former Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall was my role model. Those who compromise these values normally are weeded out of the system.

We want to thank Dragon6 for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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So why mislead and lie about being hospitalized? The answer, I believe, is that General Austin did not view his Commander-in-Chief as being an active participant in the Chain of Command nor in the decision-making process at the highest level of our government. He may even feel insecure in his position as SecDef. Both thoughts are troubling for the nation. I can’t recall any similar example of this dysfunction at such a senior level. Did General Austin tell his staff that, if asked, inform people he was working from home, or did he or his staff decide that outright lying was the best option?

We are now faced with a failure in individual character as well as in personal integrity and honesty. How can we trust anything that the SecDef and his staff tell us in the future or the guidance they provide in any future conflict? This also points to a deeper dysfunction in the Department of Defense that needs to be corrected. Subordinate officers would have suffered severe consequences had they done the same (Lying). To deflect from his shortcomings, General Austin’s only comment was, “I should have been more transparent.” I can think of a lot of words “transparency” is not one of them. Time to take responsibility for placing the nation at risk and failing to set an example for those under you.

The post Unravelling of the Armed Forces – Part Two appeared first on Granite Grok.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “took a week off” without anyone noticing, so the White House is running damage control. How could the Secretary of Defense disappear for a week? Because, like the White House, he’s not running it?

It is sad and mildly amusing in a tragic way, but this response to that is just comical.

AP Headline: ‘White House orders Cabinet secretaries to notify when they can’t perform duties after Austin illness.’

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House chief of staff on Tuesday ordered Cabinet members or secretaries to notify his office if they ever can’t perform their duties, as the Biden administration, reeling from learning of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s surprise illness last week, mounts a policy review.

 

You don’t have to be paying attention to know that no one on Biden’s cabinet can perform their duties. At all. Ever. Unless by duties you mean the dereliction of – they’ve got that nailed. Pete Buttigieg is their leader and the poster child for expective level seat-warmers. Antony Blinkin at least has experience, not that he’s used it to defend the American People or fulfill his oath of office.

In other words, the White House should expect a lot of correspondence. Wait. No, they won’t. This cabal of misfits isn’t capable of knowing how bad they are, which means you, the people, will need to help them out. Pen a little note or send an email. Dear White House, in response to your request, I would like to inform you that [insert Secretary’s name] can’t perform their duties.

Sign it, Epstein’s mother. No, not that Epstein.

 

The post White House Says It Now Expects Cabinet to Notify Them If They “Can’t Do Their Job” – Are They Trying to Be Funny? appeared first on Granite Grok.

In today’s Townhall.com Tip Sheet, there is an article by Sarah Arnold entitled, “DNC Turns Its Back on the New Hampshire Democrat Party.” The crux of the article is a recent letter sent by the DNC to Ray Buckley, informing him that the Democrat NH Primary will not be recognized as a delegate selection event.

Quoting the article, quoting the letter, “The NHDP must take steps to educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preference event and is meaningless and the NHDP and presidential candidates should take all steps possible not to participate.”

Steve has been writing and sharing on this topic in recent months, and the articles about the attempt to get the GOP to change the rules are worth re-reading for their takes.

• Why NH Democrats Should Be Proud to Lose Their Primary
• Democrats Switched to Independent to Screw with the Republican Primary
• Response and Clarification to Chairman Ager About Our Closed Primary Resolution

What this means in practical terms is that you will get more Democrat Leftists changing their registration so they can vote (a.k.a interfere) in the Republican primary. Most of those changes will be to “Undeclared” so they can easily vote in the State Democrat Primary in September. I have been warning about this for years, as have many others.

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It’s time for NH Republicans to grow some vertebrae and ditch the open primary system that allows this interference – get rid of same-day party selection for Primaries and require voters to register with a party.

I believe NH law allows this to happen up to 14 days before an election – the resolution in front of the NH GOP was 30 days, but in my opinion, it really should be 90 days.

You will also be cheered by a large cadre of Checklist Supervisors who currently have to process all those party changes and change them back after every primary election. It was always a painful task when I served in that role, especially when there were hotly contested primaries driving large turnout.

 

 

The post Republicans in NH: Be Warned! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Trans rights activists assert that all of the major medical associations support what’s euphemistically labeled “Gender Affirming Care.” True, but these associations are ideologically corrupt, and none more so than the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) gender care policy was written by one man, Dr. Jason Rafferty. It reflects his ideological beliefs about gender identities, not medical science. This radical policy does away with the scientifically supported approach of watching waiting where children get counseling instead of chemicals, according to a lawsuit by a detransitioner against the AAP and Rafferty. Instead, the policy brushes aside research to establish an affirmative care model that calls for the immediate embrace of a child’s gender identity and advocates for social transitioning, puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries.

Related: Detransitioner Sues American Academy of Pediatrics for Fraud and Conspiracy

The policy labels “watchful waiting” therapies that help children become comfortable with their own bodies “unsuccessful and deleterious” and “outdated;” however, the sources the policies cited don’t support that claim, as noted in a fact check by Dr. James Cantor, then the director of The Toronto Sexual Center. “These documents simply did not say what AAP claimed they did. In fact, the references that AAP cited as the basis of their policy instead outright contradicted that policy, repeatedly endorsing watchful waiting.”

The AAP’s claims about the alleged harms of “watchful waiting” have been repeated by Dartmouth Health Endocrinologist Francis Lim-Liberty, who accused clinicians who don’t immediately affirm children’s gender identity of “transphobia.”

The AAP’s unsubstantiated claims are the basis for activists and the medical industry’s insistence that children won’t outgrow their dysphoria and learn to be comfortable with their own bodies. “A person’s gender identity is not something that can be changed,” GLAD lobbyist Chris Erchull testified at the State House. “It is fixed at a very young age. That’s what the experts tell us.”

The AAP’s policy doesn’t recognize that depression, trauma, and autism might be at the root of a child’s gender confusion. It says that “if a mental health issue exists, it most often stems from stigma and negative experiences rather than being intrinsic to the child.”

The AAP has shut down debate about its controversial policy. They failed to respond to Dr. Cantor’s fact check by either reviewing their policy or writing a rebuttal. They also turned down two panels to discuss the dangers of the affirmative care model at their annual conference proposed by Finland’s leading gender expert, Riitakerttu Kaltiala. She said that the AAP is “actively hostile to the message my colleagues and I are urging.”

In 2021, the AAP’s directors refused a popular proposal to discuss the risks and benefits of the gender-affirmative care model at their annual conference. They also refused to allow the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine’s (SEGM) request to have an exhibition.

In August, the AAP announced that it would conduct a systematic review of the research, but AAP CEO Mark Del Monte announced its foregone conclusion: “He emphasizes that policy authors and AAP leadership are confident the principles presented in the original policy . . .  remain in the best interest of children.”

The extent of the AAP’s ideological corruption was on full display at their 2023 annual conference. Child-transing activist Ilana Sherer held a workshop on gender-affirming care where she encouraged her fellow pediatricians to discuss gender identity with prepubescent children. She also said that pediatricians should teach children to call vaginas an “innie” or “front hole” and call a penis “junk” or “strapless.” At a 2018 conference, Sherer recommended that pediatricians “rubber-stamp” minors’ requests for hormones.

We need to stop putting so much faith in physicians, according to detransitioner Katie Anderson:

We got here by treating doctors like high priests and the medical industry like a church. We gave doctors the right to try to carve people up to try to make them look like the opposite sex, but we’re not even honest enough to say that.

The post Rotting from the Head Down: The American Academy of Pediatrics Gender Policy appeared first on Granite Grok.

So I’ve been told that nut job gun hater Rep. Meuse was the one who assaulted Rep. Jonah Wheeler for his departure from the “enemy camp plantation” by voting for a ban on gender reassignment for minors. I’m hoping security camera footage is easily available to see for myself.

Keep in mind that Meuse is one of those “we must do something about GUN violence” loudmouths and has no problem with resorting to empty-handed physical violence when the situation suits him. He is not alone. Just do a search on Altschiller and the late Katherine Rogers, both former reps known to use the same modus operandi when they see fit.

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But there’s very little that a non-sea-coaster can do about Meuse beyond condemning him in the public square. Let’s talk about someone else. Someone who achieved statewide notoriety in seeking Scanlan’s job last time around. Someone who has yet to weigh in on Thursday’s incident at the state house. That someone is Ms. Melanie Levesque, a certified hothead, according to Grokster Beth Scaer.

Related: Bi-Partisan NH House Vote Bans Transition Surgery for Minors 

She happened to be in office during two other events in history. One of them was then-Executive Councilor, extreme leftist, and governor wannabe Andru Volinsky, calling Ryan Terrell a token when he voted to reject the Damn Emperor’s nomination of him to the Board of Education in 2020. Also in the same year and in Boston, infamous local agitator Monica Cannon Grant made some very unkind epithets against Rayla Campbell for having a white husband. That did not receive as much Granite State media attention as Volinsky, but doesn’t it stand to reason that you-know-who would have a personal interest in condemning MCG’s slur?

And what about the mistreatment of Eddie Edwards, who has a right to due process just like the rest of us? I have yet to see any comment on record from you-know-who.

Accusations of racism dominate council meeting over nominations of Edwards, Terrell

Does anyone else recognize a pattern of “selective silence?”

 

The post The Pattern of Selective Silence appeared first on Granite Grok.

With all this talk about common sense manifesting as legislation and law, you’d think Vermont would have gotten a handle on its rising homicide rate. Last year, they had 25, unprecedented for that tiny state in our big modern era, but a few more progressive laws later, and it’s up to 27 in 2023.

 

Vermont’s homicide rate last year continued an upward trajectory, topping numbers not seen in nearly three decades. While authorities are still trying to solve several open cases, they’re also trying to understand what’s behind the recent surge.

Vermont State Police say for the second straight year, homicide numbers topped 20.

“We’re prone to have some violence like all states do, but in a small state with a low population, it certainly has a greater effect on people when they hear about it,” said VSP Maj. Dan Trudeau.

2023 saw 24 homicide investigations involving a total of 27 deaths. The violence took place across across the state, from Brattleboro to the Northeast Kingdom.

Over the last seven years, the state’s homicide numbers ranged from 17 in 2017 to as low as 11 the following year. Since then, they have been on the rise. “We’ve typically been in the low teens to mid-teens, maybe for an annual sometimes lower than that. It’s certainly concerning,” Trudeau said.

Of the 27 homicides, more than half involved the use of a gun. And of the cases investigated by state police, seven are known to be drug-related, involving both suspects and victims from out of state.

 

I’m not sure what weapons were involved in the “other half” of the homicides, but rest assured, the brilliant minds doing business as the Vermont legislature will focus on disarming law-abiding gun owners to address this continued surge in criminal violence.

The Media could also use some retraining in the art of Democrat run decline. What might the readers think if you were to write that nearly half the homicides involved a weapon other than a firearm?

Related: Night Cap: Amid Rising Homicides, Vermont Says Its Red Flag Law is Model for the Nation

You still get the dig on guns, but it almost sounds like there was a rise in murders resulting from attackers who might have been stopped or deterred by the presence of a firearm. I admit I am stretching the potential and giving too much credit to the sort of people who pay attention to these outlets, but evidence and history suggest both the problem and the remedy.

Rising homicides will not stop no matter how many common-sense gun laws you pass. It’s not firearms. It is the culture. One-party Democrat rule results in higher taxes, declining quality of life and services, rising crime, misery, and more murder. Look anywhere they have had decades of uninterrupted rule. San Francisco, LA, Portland, Chicago, Atlanta, NYC, the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Detroit, or Memphis.

Vermont’s future is some version of that with a twist. The cities will lead the decline, which will spill into rural areas, and in a state as small as Vermont, there aren’t too many places to hide from it, especially after they take your guns away.

Vermonters must internalize the reality of prolonged Democrat decline and grasp its purpose. You can’t live with it or them. They will not leave you alone, nor will the effects of their policies. You have to try to take your state and local government back. Yes, that will make you a target, but better a target of left-wing hate than the rising violence that perpetuates in their wake.

 

The post Vermont Surpasses 2022, With 27 Homicides in 2023 appeared first on Granite Grok.

We all remember the most famous, albeit infamous, speech of Biden’s Presidency in front of an eerie red backdrop, flanked by two marines in dress blues. He told America we were on the brink of disaster. Not a natural disaster, attack from a foreign power, or millions of illegals crossing our Border.

No, what Biden was warning Americans about were MAGA Republicans led by the evil Democracy destroying Donald Trump. This speech was delivered just before the 2022 Midterms and must have worked. A dreadful Blood Red Speech avoided the predicted Red Wave. Will it work in 2024 to put Joe Biden in the White House for four more years?

I genuinely hope not.

As much as Biden talks about the potential damage from another Trump Presidency, we have the reality of the damage done by a Biden Presidency. When a President usually kicks off his re-election campaign, it is with a recap of his accomplishments and a positive vision of the future. We heard neither from Joe Biden on Friday. Friday has always been the black hole for news, and that is when politicians announce things they want to slide under the radar. So why did Biden choose a Friday for his kick-off? Probably hoping it would evade radar because it was a dark, dreary, and divisive speech intended to instill fear rather than hope in voters’ minds.

Biden could not tout his accomplishments on the national or international fronts. The Administration has finally abandoned Bidenomics as the term did not work, nor have his economic policies. We still have high inflation rates destroying household budgets, along with high interest rates that are destroying the American Dream of home ownership. He cannot talk about the Southern Border, where four million illegals are invading our country yearly. We no longer have a sovereign America. He cannot speak about Fentanyl, which is still killing 100,000 young Americans every year.

He cannot talk about a safer world when we still have images of a failed evacuation of Afghanistan, the Middle East at war, and a crisis in Ukraine that sees no end. We are losing ground to China as Iran and North Korea get closer to Nuclear arms. We have ended our energy independence, which makes us weaker internationally.

Biden has stressed diversity over competence in his Administration, and this WOKE philosophy has permeated business and education to the demise of both. There is nothing Joe Biden can point to in his first term, nor tell us how his second will be any better. His message is not hope but fear, and through a weak delivery, alternating from whisper to raised voice, he misses the mark. He can threaten the loss of Democracy from a Trump term, but he has shown us how our liberties have suffered under Joe Biden.

Biden finished his speech and turned to his right, looking dazed and confused. Doctor Jill hurried to his rescue, taking Joe by the hand and guiding him from the stage. This vision is not what America thinks about when we look at our President. Joe Biden’s best days, if there were any, are in the rearview mirror, and the most humane thing Americans can do is send Joe Biden off to retirement. If Jill doesn’t face the obvious with her husband, then we, the voters, will do it for her.

The post Biden “Campaign” Launch Sets Tone – Fear! appeared first on Granite Grok.

There are a lot of reasons why Claudine Gay should never have been running Harvard, but her testimony before Congress isn’t one of them. I went back and watched as much of the hearing as I could stomach, and what I heard all three university presidents saying was: Anti-semitism is bad, but speech is different from action.

I guess I shouldn’t be a university president either because I agree: Anti-semitism is bad, and speech is different from action.

I’m on board with Justice Hugo Black’s definition of freedom of speech, which I think is the best ever offered:

Without deviation, without exception, without any ifs, buts, or whereases, freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they express, or the words they speak or write.

And I’m on board with John Stuart Mill’s defense of free speech, which I also think is the best ever offered:

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

I was hoping that one of the university presidents would ask Elise Stefanik to point to the particular passage in the Harvard, Penn, or MIT code of conduct that she thinks forbids someone from saying something because someone else finds it hurtful, hateful, horrible, or heinous.

In defense of the idea of making people simply shut up about certain subjects, I frequently hear the old and inaccurate claim that ‘you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater.’

In fact, you can do that, and we know that you can because Penn Jillette does it during every Penn & Teller show. It’s not a problem because no one does anything about it. The audience doesn’t get up and stampede out of the theater.

You can yell it, even if there’s no fire, so long as nothing bad happens as a result. There’s no criminal punishment for the speech itself. If significant damage occurs as a result, there may be civil liability. But that’s not a free speech issue. That’s a tort issue.

But if you think there are some ideas that are just too awful to allow people to express them, here’s a question you might ask yourself:

How many times would you have to hear someone call for the eradication of a nation… or for any other action that you currently find reprehensible… before you would actually engage in it?

There’s no number high enough, is there? People could speak to you all day about the most heinous ideas, but in the end, it’s just air being pushed around (or marks being made on paper).

So speech isn’t really the problem, is it?

Calling for something is speech, and being able to call for it without being punished is free speech. In contrast, actually doing the thing is not speech, free or otherwise. We lose sight of that at our peril.

And the way we lose sight of it is for individuals to think:  Sure, I can resist bad ideas, but other people are too stupid to.

Calling for the eradication of Israel is speech. Parachuting into a music festival in Israel and killing hundreds of people is not speech. Launching rockets into downtown Tel Aviv is not speech. Detonating a suicide bomb on a bus in Jerusalem is not speech.

Is this not clear?

If you think someone is wrong, the proper response is to explain why he’s wrong, not to silence him.

Once we decide that ‘calling for the eradication of a nation’ is out of bounds, it’s a short step to saying that ‘calling for the elimination of our democracy’ should be out of bounds, and for many people, that’s the same as supporting Donald Trump.

Is this really a road we want to go down? I agree with Black and Mill that it is not.

Speech is speech and not action. Action is action and not speech. Blurring the line between the two is a ‘cure’ that is orders of magnitude worse, in the long run, than any ‘disease’ that it might be thought to cure in the short run.

Not too long ago someone was convicted and imprisoned for telling someone else to kill himself.  It’s worth asking yourself who you would say was responsible there? The person who just said some words? Who expressed an opinion? Or the person who decided to end his own life and then actually ended it?

If a person is so impressionable that simply being told to do something will override his critical faculties about whether to actually do that thing, perhaps that person should be a ward of the state, and kept 24/7 in an environment where what he sees and hears is carefully and completely controlled. (And he certainly shouldn’t be allowed to vote.)

Logically, the idea that some thoughts are too dangerous to be expressed by anyone because they may have the wrong effect on someone is identical to the idea that guns are too dangerous to be owned by anyone because someone might misuse them.

They’re both examples of Mark Twain’s characterization of censorship as telling a man he can’t have a steak because a baby can’t chew it.

Recall that the heart of the Bruen decision was that we should afford the Second Amendment the same levels of respect and deference that we accord the First Amendment.

You like gun control? Pushing for speech control is exactly how you get more of it.

 

The post Night Cap: You Like Gun Control? Push for Speech Control. appeared first on Granite Grok.

Senator Jeannie … or, perhaps, her “staff” … went on an X (Twitter) harangue about the January 6th “insurrection.” As part of the harangue, she misquoted Ben Franklin, substituting “democracy” for “republic” in the famous admonition, “a republic if you can keep it.” Of course, neither Jeannie nor her staff could even tell you what the difference between a democracy and a republic is, so they have no idea of their gaffe.

Same for the “reporters” and “journalists” who bring us the “news” in New Hampshire … none of them could tell you what the difference between a democracy and a republic is either. And moreover, their role as they see it is to maintain Jeannie and her ilk in power, so even if they understood the gaffe, they would never mention it.

 

 

And, by the way, this “insurrection” appears to have been led by at least 200 FBI “assets”:

 

Ep. 61 This the smartest, best informed account of what actually happened on January 6th. pic.twitter.com/U9yCWRVJSd

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 6, 2024

 

The post Is Senator Jeannie That Ignorant … Or Is It The Democrat-Youth Running Her X (Twitter)? appeared first on Granite Grok.

The United States team won gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Sweden. The lads were very excited, smiling and singing as the national anthem played in honor of their victory. If you watched it on ESPN you’d have never known they were proud to be American.

 

 

These photos from @usahockey’s #WorldJuniors gold medal win are unbelievable pic.twitter.com/0Ohgmw5Sua

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 7, 2024

 

Proud enough to smile and sing.

 

No kneeling, no purple hair, no selfish political displays, just world champs honoring their flag https://t.co/HwmVodPQRL

— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) January 7, 2024

No kneeling, no purple hair, and no selfish political displays, which must be why ESPN chose not to air it. It might also be the reason why so many Americans won’t watch ESPN.

 

 

 

The post ESPN Cuts Away to Protect You From Young Patriotic American Athletes Proudly Singing the National Anthem appeared first on Granite Grok.