The folks ranting about Book Banning settled on that becasue it stimulates a deeply held American belief that they abhor. Free Speech. They want nothing to do with it. Just ask Facebook, pre-Musk, Twitter, and other Big Tech effluent. Banning is their “business as usual.”

They even got the FBI, CIA (IRS, FDA, CDC), and others to help ban words in digital print. “Limiting” is part of the foundation of Democrat Socialism, as is lying. Banning and censoring are their lab meat and wormy non-GMO potatoes. So is censoring people like this guy waving the truth in their faces.

 

A Cumberland, Maine, Town Council meeting became heated Tuesday evening when a parent [Scott Jordan] confronted the Councilors with sexually explicit images from the book “Gender Queer” which is in the town’s school libraries.

 

You can see a clip of the confrontation below, which is … disturbing and amusing (content warning). I wish it were the school board, but Scott Jordan has been trying, like many parents and taxpayers in New Hampshire, to get the attention of the people in charge, including law enforcement. There’s a reason why we don’t expose children to porn, which is enshrined in local, state, and federal statutes that no one seems inclined to enforce.

 

As Jordan lifted up the images from “Gender Queer” for the Town Council to see, one Councilor, Robert Vail, yelled at Jordan to put them down because they were too “inappropriate” for the public Town Council meeting.

“Mr. Jordan — do not — put that right down! Put that right down! That is inappropriate material for a forum,” Vail demanded as Jordan repeated that “this is in our schools,” while holding up the images.

“Mr. Jordan — and you are now sharing it publicly with everyone that has an internet connection,” Chair Mark Segrist told Jordan.

“This is a forum that is open to all people of all age groups — that is inappropriate material to bring to this forum,” Vail said. “And if you have a problem with that, I’ll ask you to leave.”

 

If Gender Queer is too inappropriate for a town council meeting, how is it appropriate for school libraries?

Story:https://t.co/dcIcEVwnkm pic.twitter.com/ZkNCv7Rmmf

— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) September 27, 2023

 

 

“You’re ok with this? And you’re telling me not to show it to our community — but our school says it’s okay to have for our kids?” Jordan asked the Town Council.

 

It is a necessary evil, but not one you can publish as an ad in the paper or on local television. Obscenity laws prohibit that. But leave it on a shelf in a library where any kid of any age can access it, and efforts to remove it are labeled book banning.

Where is the newscaster reporting live on how they can’t show you the page from the book (some parent wants removed) in the school library because it violates public obscenity laws? They can’t read the text for the same reason. And does that mean town councils, school boards, newspapers, and reporters covering these events have banned it, too? From public notice, yes!

If you handed that out to kids on the corner, they’d be arrested and forced onto the sexual predator watchlist. Maybe that’s the litmus test. Supporters of keeping books like Gender Queer (or any of the other books they are defending) in school libraries should stand on a busy random street corner and hand copies of the drawings and pictures in these books to children in support of keeping those books in the schools.

Hand out pages of descriptive text promoting adult-child sex, illegal drug use, self-harm, and rape.

If you are proud of what you feel compelled to expose children to, get out there and do it. Expose them to it on the street corners of America. You know better than their parents, so get to work.

One note of caution. You’ll probably be arrested and labeled a child sex predator, which begs the question: why aren’t you also that when you do the same thing in schools and libraries?

 

 

HT | The Maine Wire

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Back in 2010, Diane Ravitch, an Education Historian, wrote an article exposing the 21st-Century-Skills movement in public education. In her article, A Century of Skills Movement, she explains where this need to redesign public education from a liberal arts model to a workforce training model originated.

Public education is currently being redesigned into a model that was once promoted in 1911 by Ellwood P. Cubberley while working as dean of the education school at Stanford. Cubberley warned that it was dangerous for society to educate boys—and even girls—without reference to vocational ends.   He went on to say, “Whatever they learned, he insisted, should be relevant to their future lives and work. He thought it foolish to saturate them with “a mass of knowledge that can have little application for the lives which most of them must inevitably lead.”

In other words, literacy was not the goal; a trained individual was.

Remember when we used to say knowledge was power? What happened to that? What happened to a focus on literacy in the core academic subjects?

Ravitch explained how, in 1916, the federal government issued a report on black students. The report authored by Thomas Jesse Jones scoffed at an education that did not have relevance to the lives of black students. Jones wanted students to learn by doing. 

 

It was not knowledge of the printed page that black students needed, wrote Jones, but “knowledge of gardening, small farming, and the simple industries required in farming communities.” Jones admired schools that were teaching black students how to sew, cook, garden, milk cows, lay bricks, harvest crops, and raise poultry. This was a prescription for locking the South’s African American population into menial roles for the foreseeable future. As Jones acknowledged in his report, the parents of black children wanted them to have an academic education, but he thought he knew better.

 

One might say that this attitude is clearly racist since this kind of dumbing down of education was aimed at black students. Remember, this was 1916, not long after the landmark case Plessy vs. Ferguson was decided in 1896. (Separate but Equal)

After that came other fads like the Project Method of education in the 20s and 30s, where students were encouraged to build on projects that interested them. This would engage students in… decision-making, critical thinking, and cooperative group learning, all were integral parts of the activity movement.  Much of the learning became more personalized, and core classes were merged together. Science, Social Studies, and English became interdisciplinary.

Parents began to see that their children weren’t learning the basics, “But there were occasional parent protests. In Roslyn, New York, parents were incensed because their children couldn’t read but spent an entire day baking nut bread. The Roslyn superintendent assured them that baking nut bread was an excellent way to learn mathematics.” 

This approach to educating, or rather dumbing down education for black children, began to extend to public schools that educated white children, too.

In 1990, the same dumbed-down approach to education was given a new name, 21st Century Skills. This was the standards-based education model that wouldn’t go away. Ravitch goes on to say that when she was working at the U.S. Department of Education, “ I recall hearing the director of SCANS say that students didn’t need to know anything about the Civil War or how to write a book report; these were obsolete kinds of knowledge and skills.”

You can see the pattern of elitist education reformers. Their goal was not to provide an excellent quality public education for students but instead dumb it down for those who did not have the means to attend elite private schools. The same racist attitude was now being employed, and targeted towards all children in public schools.

This is the model that Bill Gates has desperately tried to saddle our public schools with while his children attend private elite schools.

In New Hampshire, we call this Competency-Based Education. CBE requires all teachers at every grade level to replace academic instruction with skills-based learning. It’s sold as a way for children not just to learn academic content but to be able to “do something.”

Some of this sounds good; after all, who doesn’t want their children to be able to find a job after completing high school? But is public education just about finding a job? Or is it about what C.S. Lewis describes as a way to preserve civilization? While we are dumbing down public education to this standards-based model, we know that children are losing time learning the academic content.

Just this past session, there was a Bill aimed towards Civics education. Several teachers in our public schools testified that they are shocked by what students do not know when it comes to Civics.

Knowledge is constantly downplayed by many people involved in public education in New Hampshire. I’ve heard State Representatives like Mel Myler say that kids do not need knowledge because they can now look up information on the internet. You will hear that same attitude from the people who are bringing your kid’s Social and Emotional Learning into the classroom:

 

This is a recipe for illiteracy. 

The Heritage Foundation reported on the Standards Based movement back in 2001. This is different from a two-year vocational education. Competency Based Education starts in kindergarten and goes all the way through 12th grade.

 

Research shows that education oriented to specific workplace skills and job training produces graduates who are less versatile and unable to change occupations without substantial retraining. By contrast, graduates of a rigorous liberal arts education can readily learn new skills and adjust to new jobs. There is lifelong value in gaining knowledge of history, literature, science, mathematics, and the arts far beyond the world of work. The most important purpose of schools is to educate Americans to be vigilant guardians of their freedom and to be able to take advantage of the social and economic opportunities that a free society affords.

 

You can see that the standards-based education model doesn’t elevate learning in our public schools. Parents who want a better education have been finding other ways to make sure their children do not fall victim to this fad. Those who are stuck in this model may be denied a future that could have been very different for them had they been given the knowledge to access top colleges. As the culture continues to crumble around us, illiteracy does not help society.

C.S. Lewis made the case for a quality academic education through the Liberal Arts model by saying,

 

The ability to rule ourselves frees us from the tyranny of our appetites, and the liberal arts disciplines this self-rule. In other words, this sort of education teaches us to be most fully human and, thereby, to fulfill our human duties, both public and private.

Lewis contrasts liberal arts education with what he calls “vocational training,” the sort that prepares one for employment. Such training, he writes, “aims at making not a good man but a good banker, a good electrician, . . . or a good surgeon.” Lewis does admit the importance of such training–for we cannot do without bankers and electricians and surgeons–but the danger, as he sees it, is the pursuit of training at the expense of education. “If education is beaten by training, civilization dies,” he writes, for “the lesson of history” is that “civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost.” It is the liberal arts, not vocational training, that preserves civilization by producing reasonable men and responsible citizens.

 

This isn’t progress. This is the deliberate dumbing down of public education in America. It used to be aimed at black children. Now, it is aimed at all children in public schools.

 

 

The post Are New Hampshire Public Schools Racist? The Answer Might Surprise You appeared first on Granite Grok.

On September 19, I testified before a House subcommittee on the impacts of Bidenomics – yet it was clear that half the committee members weren’t even listening. That’s disturbing because our lawmakers have played a huge role in making the typical American family about $7,000 poorer in just two and a half years.

Instead of acknowledging the data I presented, the Democrats on the subcommittee only regurgitated their talking points and resorted to espousing falsehoods about the state of the economy. Even if half our leaders won’t listen to the facts, hopefully, the American people will, so here’s the truth about Bidenomics.

Under President Joe Biden, the government has spent, borrowed, and created trillions of dollars, and that caused the highest inflation in four decades. This inflation is a real tax on the American people because it transfers wealth from the people to the government. And the size of that transfer has been staggering. (RELATED: EJ ANTONI: Biden Loves Vacations. His Economic Policies Mean Most Americans Can’t Afford One)

The average American worker today loses more of his hourly earnings through the hidden tax of inflation than in federal income taxes. That means inflation under Mr. Biden has effectively doubled the average American’s federal income tax liability. Nominal pay keeps going up, but real (inflation-adjusted) pay has gone down.

The typical American family with two parents working and with average weekly earnings has seen their weekly pay increase $230 under Biden, but those larger paychecks buy about $100 less. The result is an annual decrease in purchasing power of about $5,100

Similarly, net household wealth is at a record high today, but only before adjusting for inflation. In real terms, net household wealth is roughly flat since the end of 2020. That means nearly all the trillions of dollars in additional net household wealth have been confiscated by the government under this president through the hidden tax of inflation.

That’s how the government has been financing its massive deficits for the last three years.

To combat the inflation that it helped cause, the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates, which have compounded the pain for Americans. Borrowing costs have risen dramatically and are now about $1,800 higher annually for the typical American family. Coupled with their loss in purchasing power, this leaves a family about $7,000 poorer than when Mr. Biden took office.

Yet many people are even worse off than that. If you’re trying to buy a home today, the monthly mortgage payment on a median-price home has more than doubled under Mr. Biden. Homeownership affordability is at one of its lowest levels on record, and less than half of American households can qualify for a mortgage. And many who qualify still can’t afford the payments.

 

 

The impact of Bidenomics on federal finances has been just as bad, with interest on the federal debt rising at the fastest pace on record. In less than a decade, interest payments will crowd out more than half of existing government spending.

While the Democrats on the subcommittee refused to listen to any facts I presented, nothing I said was about politics but policy. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, signed welfare reform and multiple balanced budgets. And the 12 years of low inflation that preceded Mr. Biden were overseen by both a Republican and a Democrat. (RELATED: KATIE WALSH SHIELDS: America Can’t Afford Bidenomics)

The laws of supply and demand are purely apolitical, with both Democrats and Republicans being subjected to them. The sooner today’s Democrats—and some Republicans—realize this, the sooner they can acknowledge the factual outcomes of Bidenomics and hopefully change course.

But if the conduct of the Democrats on the subcommittee before which I testified is any indication, we shouldn’t hold our breath.

E.J. Antoni is a public finance economist at The Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow at Committee to Unleash Prosperity.

 

EJ Antoni | Daily Caller News Service

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

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In a country that is supposed to be color-blind and all-inclusive, why is it necessary to specify the race and gender of the person needed for a particular position? If a private organization used such a practice, they would be sued for civil rights violations. So why is it okay for our Government to do the same?

The trend was started by Joe Biden when he was to appoint a replacement for Justice Breyer in 2022. Biden had expressed his parameters during the 2020 campaign. He promised if he had to replace a sitting Justice, he would choose a Black Woman to take the spot. Biden was not concerned with nominating the best available person. He needed to appease two voting blocks by his choice. The President made this terrible decision and should have been challenged in court. It was not, and a new precedent has been set.

The precedent is being played out in California. When Senator Barbara Feinstein, who was one of the oldest Senators, went ill last year, Gavin Newsom was faced with the possibility of naming a successor to Feinstein’s seat she had held since 1992. Newsom put some caveats on his choice. Like Biden’s choice, the replacement would be a Black Woman, but she could not be an announced candidate for the seat, nor could she run for the position. These stipulations made the choice a filler and a lame duck from day one. A new Senator will be elected in 2024. He spoke about his decision on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where moderator Chuck Todd said, “it would be essentially a caretaker—an African American woman?” Newsom will satisfy two boxes, race and gender, but only for fifteen months.

So, the Democrats have redefined, illegally, I might add, the parameters for the qualifications for a job. When we have worked hard to make equal opportunity the rule, Democrats have reintroduced gender and race. To take the Democrat thinking a step further, a new ballot would no longer specify R, D, or I for a candidate’s party affiliation. We would now have W, Bl, or Br for white, black, or brown. We would also need M, F, or T for male, female, or trans. And we should probably add S, G, or O for straight, gay, or other. It is amazing, no, it is hypocritical that the Party that claims to be all-inclusive needs to apply labels to everyone and define the specific attributes needed for a candidate.

Ketanji Brown Jackson was not impressive in her nomination hearings, and her tenure has been nondescript, but for the Left, she is Black and a Woman, so everything else would be gravy. We must remember that she could not define a woman during her nomination hearings.

In the case of Feinstein’s successor, there is still a chance to have a Black Woman. Two Democratic U.S. representatives, Katie Porter of Irvine and Adam Schiff of Los Angeles, entered the race prior to Feinstein announcing her retirement. A third, Barbara Lee of Oakland, declared her campaign on February 21. Lee is a Black Woman but is considered a long shot. A good situation for the Right is for Schiff to lose the seat he has yearned for and simultaneously give up his House seat. MSNBC probably has his contract ready

The post Should We Replace Party Affiliation With Race And Sexual Preference appeared first on Granite Grok.

A group calling itself “Armed Queers Salt Lake City” was supposed to speak Wednesday night at the University of Utah (U of U?). They sell themselves as a socialist LGBTQ organization dedicated to self-defense, filling “a void in “anti-fascist organizing.”

Related: Democrat Socialists Admit Violence is Intrinsic to their Political Philosophy

Leftist Hispanic student group Mecha is hosting the event. The group started to fill a void in “anti-fascist organizing” and to combat the campus Young Americans for Freedom chapter.

“I got involved in Mecha because I was tired of not seeing any leftist organizing or anti-fascist organizing on campus,” education chair Gabriel Merida told the student newspaper.

“The club puts a large focus on action in order to bring about genuine change, especially following the presence of the Young America’s Foundation on campus,” The Daily Utah Chronicle reported.

Boiled down, the Armed Queers are claiming that there needs to be an armed radical socialist, communist faction to defeat fascism. No more property rights, no personal rights, complete control of the media, the public, the internet, everything, and (by the way) no private ownership of firearms.

 

 

 

Communist regimes are likewise not known for their tolerance of free association, protest, religion, or the “LGBTQ community.” There can be no god or master but a government with all the guns, which – knowingly or not – is the Armed Queers’ solution to fascism.

Dopes.

On the spectrum of liberty, where The Constitutional Republic offers the most ordered liberty and Communism just order and no liberty, Fascism is communism’s right hand and several football field lengths of government interference to the political left of where we are in America today.

Perhaps I’ve just been looking for an excuse to once again make this point, but it seems to me that the Armed Queers have let the Marxist cat out of the state-owned bag. They’ve broken the illusion of the fourth wall. For all the talk about anti-fascism, what’s better about their alternative? Nothing. It is worse. A fact that is no less true for groups like Antifa, which was founded to attract German Fascists into the Communist fold.

Neither Antifa nor Armed Queers is fighting for more freedom. They are fighting for less. Their agenda demands you sacrifice all of your property and rights to the State. While I may be stretching when I say they’ve broken the fourth wall of anti-fascism, the Hammer and Sickle “Q” in their poster tells a different story when leveraged against their stated commitment to fill a void in “anti-fascist organizing.

You should have less. Be Less. Do Less. Support our cause!

At least they are training in the use of firearms. If the real commies take over, they are going to need them to protect themselves from the monster they helped create, looking to feast upon their rebellious spirits. The Marxist paradise brooks no dissent, and the dissenters who got them there are often the first up against the wall. That’s a lesson from the history you were convinced needed to be reimagined becasue it was racist.

If you survive that purge, be sure to let us know how you feel about being colonialized by Communism. Wait, sorry. That’ll get you arrested, jailed, or just disappeared.

 

 

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Fox News is TRASH. It is NOT center-right. It is NOT center. It is NOT even center-left. It’s the UniParty’s mouthpiece. It’s role is to help foster the ILLUSION that the GOP is the opposition. It’s where Republicans go to talk tough before returning to the House or Senate to vote to continue fully funding the very government they just told Hannity is the problem.

Here is one of the moderators of the second Fox debate praising Hillary as AMAZING. She has no business moderating a GOP debate … which the second Fox debate, like the first Fox debate was NOT. In both “debates” the issues of importance to actual GOP voters were excluded … obviously intentionally. Fox truly is Faux.

Just a week before the GOP debate, Fox's Dana Perino hosted a panel at the Clinton Foundation gala and introduced "the amazing Secretary Hillary Clinton"

Full details here: https://t.co/MeWVxMv85h pic.twitter.com/MMCCBTSEmw

— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) September 28, 2023

 

The post The AMAZING Hillary Clinton appeared first on Granite Grok.

Facebook’s partisan electoral Death Star, to paraphrase Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, is fully funded and operational. But over at ‘X’ (still pronounced “Twitter”), they are showing more signs that they are serious about defending free speech.

Yes, I’ve heard stories about how X is not living up to their promise, but things have gotten X-ponentially better, and this can’t hurt their pro-free-speech image makeover.

 

Oh you mean the “Election Integrity” Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they’re gone.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2023

 

Half gone. What are the other half up to, and how many are there? And, more importantly, are they there to add context to both sides, especially the plethora of left-Wing Election lies?

I’ve no issue with some stooge adding context or their interpretation of it to anything. That’s what a blog’s user comments section does. The other thing it does is create movement. Once you publish something, it typically has a shelf life, especially in the internet age. One day is an eternity. Yes, you can always revisit whatever it is for context, but when someone adds on, you’ve resuscitated it. Given not just readers but the author the option of kicking that can again and again.

It’s Alive!

Perhaps it gets picked up nationally and goes wide, and now all sorts of people with every manner of opinion can pig pile on, providing more context. Partisans, self-proclaimed non-partisans, experts, ignoramuses, rapscallions, scallywags, miscreants, and scoundrels. Everything an open internet has to offer, good or bad.

That’s free speech.

If you can remain civil and refrain from too many “colorful metaphors,” a wealth of information can unravel alongside the garbage, all of which we, as free-thinking individuals, are meant to sift for value—the free market of ideas.

Twitter of Eld was inclined to add context, but they’d often shadowban you or, without preamble, shutter your account. Dissenters griping about X’s slow progress need to remember that. Twitter was (much like America today) a toxic progressive “superfund site” in need of profound cultural and political environmental cleanup. That’s not something you do in a day, a week, or even a year. And it’ll never be what you’d like, no matter what you think that might be, but it will still be Twitter, no matter what we’re supposed to call it.

And this latest move strikes me as another step in the right direction.

 

The post Elon Musk’s ‘X’ Axes Half of Its Election Integrity Team … for Undermining Election Integrity appeared first on Granite Grok.

Coming to you from the late, great state of Calexico the Republican Party held its second installment of seven people all competing for the least popular job in America.  The scenic environs of the Ronald Reagan Library, where a replica of Air Force One hung as if in a perpetual state of about-to-crash, symbolic of both the party and nation’s economy, set the stage for that evening’s backyard valley brawl.

Fox News hosts included Dana Perino, who is rumored to be the love child of Barbie and Mike Pence, alongside Stuart Varney there to represent the Anglo-American Establishment who will ultimately decide who wins.  Varney emceed the event and got off to a shaky start as he introduced Ilia Calderon of Univision, a Spanish-speaking anchor there to translate the evening’s dialogue for most of California.

The frenemy combatants were introduced by polling popularity with Ron Desantis occupying center stage as the first runner-up to eventual winner Donald Trump, followed by linguistic magician Vivek Ramaswamy and alpha-female Nikki Haley.  The remaining also-ran-their-mouths included New Jersey Governor Christ Christie, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, and that guy Doug from North Dakota.

The questions came fast and furious, just like the candidate’s ability to not answer them directly or in a meaningful way.  Tim Scott set a land speed record for changing the subject to the border crisis faster than a Venezuelan crossing the Rio Grande.  The unanimity among the candidates for the need to stop the influx of illegal immigrants was met with a smattering of applause by the mostly legal audience members with the camera awkwardly panning to Senorita Calderon for an uncomfortably long time as she avoided translating the answers.

Turning to the topic of parental rights as it relates to the recent trend of castrating one’s child to make them more popular at school, the candidates were asked whether or not they would push for a federal ban on the ghastly trend.  The seemingly obvious answer of “What a stupid question Dana, of course, I would” was difficult to verbalize as the field of hopefuls seemed more concerned with delivering their rehearsed epic talking points building to a crescendo with Tim Scott holding court for a solid seven-minute rendition of “God Bless America,” after which there was hardly a dry eye in the place.  We later learned this was due to smoke coming from forest fires just outside the building.

This segued nicely into a brief discussion over climate change which none of the candidates seemed comfortable addressing in front of the crowd of climate believers, save for Doug who reminded the audience of his war on EVs in the state of North Dakota where the roads are littered with abandoned Priuses that couldn’t make it from the state’s lone charging station back to their destination.

The war in America’s recently adopted fifty-first state of Ukraine was discussed at some length, with most of the candidates lamenting the high cost of laundering money for the Biden family and Ukranian oligarchs.  However, Scott, ever the optimist, reminded everyone that the money was a loan to the NATO countries with an interest rate just north of nine percent, which would be paid back once we had a president with the cojones to collect it, namely Donald Trump.

Friendly fire was a running theme throughout the evening as super-duper-uber Christian Mike Pence avoided invoking his tight relationship with the Almighty, instead honing his righteous indignation on Ramaswamy, whom he has grown fond of reminding the audience would need “on-the-job training.”  In a hilarious exchange, Ramaswamy off-handedly referred to Pence as “Vice President Flanders” and then launched into an impassioned reminder of why we need to restore American values.

Still stinging from his slights one debate earlier, Nikki Haley couldn’t help stating, “After listening to you, Vivek, we all get dumber,” which led to Ramaswamy’s plea to the other “bought and paid for” candidates to “avoid personal attacks.”   Pence seized the opportune moment by reminding Ramaswamy, “You made your bed, and now you get to lie in it, Apu.”  The reference was lost on all but the few undercover Democrats in the audience who immediately requested he be canceled from all social media for violating community standards, only to find out he’s not on any.

Not to be outdone, Governor Christie put the Donald Trump flavored cherry on top by reminding the audience his nemesis was not there, not because of his insurmountable lead nor for being under indictment, but that the deep state bandit was “afraid” of answering for his multi-trillion dollar deficit spending.  Employing the dramatic pause he and his public relations team had been perfecting, Christie then launched the scud missile of all puns, pointing out Mr. Trump’s ducking the confrontation so he’s going to be called “Donald Duck.”  The pregnant-looking Christie sustained an even more pregnant pause, waiting for the multi-lingual crowd to break out in the universal language of laughter only to be disappointed as his attempt at a takedown saw a seventeen-point jump in Trump’s approval rating, putting him at one hundred and eleven percent.

Following the evening melee, embattled Governor Gavin Newsom was seen backstage, where he was fresh off his first starring role in a major motion picture.  The new release American Psycho 2: San Fran-psycho is expected to hit theaters next month, where the governor will be playing himself.

An exit poll was taken from the studio audience asking, “After this evening’s debate, which candidate do you favor to win the presidency?” Not surprisingly, the results came back:

• 3% for Chat GPT
• 27% for Donald Trump
• 70% for El Donaldo Trumpo

 

The post GOP Throwdown Numero Dos: A Bananalysis appeared first on Granite Grok.

The roof of a business is often an overlooked and underappreciated aspect of the overall infrastructure. However, it plays a critical role in protecting your investment, employees, and customers. Neglecting the maintenance and inspection of your business’s roof can lead to costly consequences. If you aren’t convinced that you need to prioritize regular inspections and maintenance of your commercial roof, let this article show you otherwise.

Protection of Assets

Your business location, whether it’s an office, warehouse, or retail space, likely houses valuable assets. A well-maintained roof ensures that these assets are protected from the elements. Water leaks caused by a damaged roof can lead to extensive damage to equipment, inventory, and structural components, resulting in costly repairs or replacements.

Employee Comfort and Productivity

A leaky roof can lead to uncomfortable working conditions because it can cause mold growth, which affects the structural integrity of the building and poses health risks to your employees. Uncomfortable workspaces can decrease productivity and employee morale, which can, in turn, impact your bottom line.

Customer Perception

Your business’s physical appearance plays a significant role in attracting and retaining customers. A well-maintained roof signals professionalism and attention to detail, instilling confidence in potential clients. Conversely, a deteriorating or damaged roof can give the impression of neglect and discourage customers from doing business with you.

Compliance and Safety

Depending on your location and industry, there may be specific regulations and safety standards that govern the condition of commercial roofs. Neglecting these requirements can lead to fines and legal issues. Regular roof inspections and maintenance can help ensure your business complies with local and industry-specific regulations. If you get a roofing company to analyze your roof and then repair it or install a new one to meet these safety standards, you can retain peace of mind that fines and legal issues won’t hit your business.

Energy Efficiency

An efficient roof system can contribute to energy savings. Proper insulation and ventilation in your commercial roof can help regulate indoor temperatures, reducing the need for excessive heating or cooling. This, in turn, lowers your energy bills, improving your business’s financial sustainability.

Long-Term Cost Savings

Regular roof inspections and maintenance may seem like an additional expense that you could avoid, but they can save you significant money in the long run. Addressing minor issues early prevents them from developing into major, costly problems that require extensive repairs or even roof replacement.

Extended Roof Lifespan

A well-maintained roof can have a significantly longer lifespan. This means fewer disruptions, fewer expenses, and a better return on your initial roofing investment. In contrast, a neglected roof is more likely to fail prematurely, requiring a costly and unplanned replacement.

Insurance Benefits

Many insurance policies require that you maintain your commercial roof to a certain standard. Failing to do so might lead to claim denials in case of damage or accidents. By keeping your roof in good condition, you ensure that your coverage remains valid and reliable.

Prevent Emergency Situations

Roof problems have a tendency to become emergencies at the most inconvenient times. Regular inspections can identify any issues before they become urgent repairs, allowing you to schedule experts to come in at your convenience rather than in response to a crisis.

In conclusion, looking after your business’s roof is not just a matter of aesthetics; it’s a fundamental aspect of protecting your investment, providing a safe building, and maintaining a great reputation. By taking proactive measures to care for your roof, you’re safeguarding your business’s future and financial well-being.

The post Why You Should Look At Your Business’s Roof appeared first on Granite Grok.

To all those who are sending in memes, thank you!  Keep them coming please, as it helps me gather weaponry to fight the Left.  Please do share this post, and if you share an individual meme, consider mentioning you saw it on the Grok!

Speaking of, from this week, the Wednesday Edition.

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do have to wonder if Pfizer starts it’s meetings with “Pfizer, Pfizer, uber alles” or just a few quick “Heil Bourla” salutes before getting to the agendas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know I’ve used this before, but… there’s a scene in the original movie Planet of the Apes where Taylor (Charlton Heston) is about to set off into the Forbidden Zone to explore and learn.  Dr. Zaius warns him ominously, “You may not like what you find”.  All these useful idiots wanting full communism thinking it will lead to a life of leisure and self-fulfillment.  They won’t like what they get either.  To wit:

 

 

 

 

Like George Zimmerman, the “white hispanic”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not begrudge people getting wealthier.  At all.  I’d like to be one of them.  But this kind of chart arouses enormous envy, especially envy at those that are perceived to have gained that wealth at the expense of others.  Envy that gets people dragged from their oak-paneled offices and homes and strung up.

 

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

 

Pick of the Post:

 

A tie between two categories.

 

 

and

 

 

How does anyone with three brain cells that talk with each other look at the above and not say “Wait, what happened here”?

And:

 

 

I listen to talk radio as I can, and many tout the idea of buying “physical gold” – as opposed to pieces of paper saying they represent gold held somewhere – and the above always comes to mind.  Congrats.  You’ve plonked down serious coin for actual gold, and then the above happens again.  And those companies have your name and address to which they sent the gold.  Or, potentially, silver, platinum, etc., as well.  Do not doubt that under federal threat, those bits of information, along with your entire purchase history, will be in federal hands faster than two shakes of a lamb’s tail.

 

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

 

Palate Cleansers:

 

—

—

 

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

 

 

The post Friday Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

While not so much a contender for the nomination, Tim Scott is anchored somewhere between three and five percent in most presidential primary polls; Scott’s favorability has been above those with significantly more polling support, at least until Wednesday night.

I did not watch the debate; I don’t watch debates, but I listen and read after the fact. Tim Scott went all-in on supporting Ukraine in the latest Debate circus, which, I have to think, could put a dent in his favorability and his polling.

 

“90% of the resources that we send over to Ukraine is guaranteed, it’s a loan,” Scott said. “90% of the money that we send over there is loaned. Well, we could talk about this. But at the end of the day, 90% of the money that we send over there is actually in the form of a loan.”

“It’s not actually being paid by Ukraine, It’s paid by the NATO, our NATO allies,” he said. “I will say, let’s debate, the fact that our national vital interest is in degrading the Russian military. By degrading the Russian military, we actually keep our homeland safer, we keep our troops at home. And we all understand Article 5 of NATO.”

“So at the end of the day, when you think about the fact, if you want to keep American troops at home, an attack on NATO territory, would bring us and our troops in,” he continued. “By degrading the Russian military, we reduce if not eliminate, an attack on NATO territory.”

 

Is Tim Scott just prepping the narrative battlefield? We all know that in the unlikely event of a Republican victory in 2024, Ukraine will be like The Vaccine. When Trump was president, Democrats swore they’d never get that ‘cuz Trump. The moment Biden won office, they were ready to deny other people their natural rights if they refused it. Ukraine, under a Republican president, will transition to a quagmire, A waste of valuable resources putting our children and their children’s children into generational debt.

At present, the money pit known as Ukraine is the righteous war against tyranny, as if selling our progeny’s labors before they are born is not a form of slavery. From neocons to progressive swamp rats, they can’t say enough good things about it. And here is Tim Scott telling us we are investing in a proxy war with Russia, and the return will be great.

My opinion of the man has waned a bit.

Is he leveraging his favorability to try and peel a few voters his way from Neocon RINOs like Christie, Haley, and Pence?

He’s not talking to Trump supporters, and Ramaswamy isn’t exactly a fan of the Ukraine entanglement. Vivek’s plan is to “let Russia keep what it seized in Ukraine and restore economic relations with the West in exchange for some other “major concessions.” Those include an end to Moscow’s partnership with Beijing, the removal of nuclear weapons from Kaliningrad, and the return to compliance with the New START treaty on nuclear weapons.”

I’m too tired to believe the billions passed through Congress and Biden’s Oval Office are on loan. The only way we see any “Ukraine money” returned is if it is extracted from the bank accounts of the Biden Crime Family.

It is also unconvincing that what is going on there should be sustained to deplete the Russian Military. If it comes to that, what’s to stop Putin from lobbing a few nukes around to deplete the rest of us of everything on or off the battlefield? The threat of retaliation? If his military is finished, what’s he got to lose – just Russia? His head is too big to let that happen. He’ll never be the guy who lost the mother country without taking the rest of us with it.

And yeah, it was his invasion. There should be a price, but not one paid by our grandchildren in continued debt service to a defaulted and unimpressive America.

Perhaps Tim Scott made other points that could help him shine, but defending the bottomless money pit in Ukraine won’t get him out of the top of the bottom.

But it might push him down to the bottom of the bottom.

As I write this, there’s no new polling out, so we’ll have to wait and see.

 

The post Tim Scott is All-In on Ukraine But Who is He Trying to Impress? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Another aging and in ill-health US Senator for Life, Dianne Feinstein, has died at the age of 90. DiFi, who will be remembered for working diligently to rob people of their right to self-defense and for having a Chinese spy as a driver, passed away from an undeclared cause of death.

Old age, probably.

 

The California Senator stepped down from her perch atop the powerful Judiciary Committee due to poor health and political pressure after bouts with illness had prevented her from reporting to work, most notably for three months in 2022, and reports of her diminished capacity, including her inability to remember her colleague’s names.

 

DiFi’s health deteriorated quickly, but they continued to wheel her about to protect the Democrat’s slim majority in the US Senate—Something we like to call elder abuse. Her replacement is expected to vote just like she did, so it’ll be like she’s still there.

Gov Gavin Nuisance is expected to appoint an interim replacement quickly.

 

(Sept 11, 2023) California Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed on Sunday that he is prepared to appoint an “interim” replacement for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., if she leaves office early. Newsom made the statement during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. The ailing Feinstein has confirmed that she will not run for re-election in 2024, but speculation about her health has raised questions about whether she will remain in office until her current term ends.

Newsom says he will not pick any of the current candidates running to replace her as the interim appointee, however, much to the chagrin of Rep. Barbara Lee, who had been widely considered Newsom’s top pick for the role.

 

Barbra Lee is pissed, by the way, which seems par for the course.

 

Newsom pledged earlier in his tenure that his next interim appointment to the Senate would be a black woman. Lee fits the bill, but she has now been disqualified thanks to the governor’s pledge not to pick a current candidate for Feinstein’s seat. …

“I am troubled by the Governor’s remarks,” she wrote. “The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.”

 

Boo Hoo.

Newsom is (actually) right about something for once. If he appoints a candidate, they’ll get an immediate advantage, which wouldn’t be fair.

Win your primary, and the job is yours, not that it’ll make any difference. Can you imagine Shifty Schiff or Barbra Lee in the US Senate for the rest of their life?

California deserves better, but they lack the votes or will to do so.

I wonder if all that earthquake “slipping into the sea” business was metaphorical. The urbanized coast has certainly slipped off a ledge into the progressive bilge in recent years, perhaps never to return. Not if they keep electing Democrats.

 

 

The post Breaking News: Dianne Feinstein Has Died – Gov Nuisance to Appoint Her Replacement appeared first on Granite Grok.

“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

Then-candidate Ronald Reagan posed that iconic rhetorical question during his 1980 debate with then-President Jimmy Carter. The voters answered with a resounding “NO!” when they elected Reagan by a huge margin of 489 electoral votes to 49. That Reagan question has since become a staple of presidential polls.

Fast forward 43 years: a record number of Americans — 44 percent — said in response to an ABC News/Washington Post Poll released in September that they are worse off financially today than before Biden was elected president. Historically, that is the worst figure for any president since the poll began in 1986. In November of 2018, just 13 percent of Americans said they were worse off since Trump took office.

Biden’s approval rating is equally dismal, standing at a weak 37 percent in the same poll. In a hypothetical match-up against Trump, Trump leads by nine percentage points, 51 percent to 42.

These dreadful Biden poll numbers are due in large part to the abject failure of Biden’s radical progressive economic program (which he calls “Bidenomics”). Biden’s misguided policies have led to inflation, the decimation of America’s energy production, reckless spending, a spurious investment in questionable green energy initiatives and the highest mortgage rates in over 20 years.

Bidenomics has created severe economic turmoil for Americans. Families are struggling mightily. Sixty-one percent of hard-working Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Seventy-five percent of those earning less than $50,000, and 65 percent of those making $50,000 to $100,000 per year struggle to pay for gas and groceries and to make ends meet due to the heavy burden of inflation.

In difficult straits, many families have resorted to credit cards to pay their bills. As a result, Americans’ overall credit debt has reached a record high of $1 trillion. This represents a $300 billion increase since Biden was elected president.

This mounting debt is creating a financial crisis for families and the country. Delinquencies in payments and default rates on credit cards, auto loans and consumer loans are at their highest levels in a decade and are increasing at a rapid rate. Not only are families in an intractable bind, but consumer-focused businesses such as car dealerships and department stores are dealing with significant losses and shortfalls in revenue due to these delinquencies and defaults.

Meanwhile, home ownership has become a fading dream for many Americans as interest rates rise above seven percent and families’ debt burdens make a mortgage unaffordable and unattainable.

Americans’ struggles are reflected in the ABC News/Washington Post Poll, in which 74 percent of Americans described the economy as not good or poor, and nine out of 10 Americans had the same negative assessment of gas and food prices.

Families are not fooled by Biden’s false economic rhetoric. They see the truth every time they pull into a gas station or buy groceries.

Just like they said “No” to Carters failed agenda more than 40 years ago, American voters today need to say “No” to Biden’s economic crisis, and “Yes” to free enterprise, innovation, entrepreneurship and American energy.

Michael Clancy is a lawyer, member of the Federalist Society, and a frequent contributor to The Daily Caller on Constitutional law and political issues. Follow him on Twitter @MikeClancyVA.

 

Michael Clancy | Daily Caller News Service

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The post Americans Are Worse Off Under Joe Biden appeared first on Granite Grok.

The illegal alien invasion has been filling up local hotels, driving out local business owners, and now it has reached a new level of perfidy. A New York Nursing Home told its residents to get lost to make room for New York’s newest migrant shelter.

Care of Benny Johnson on Twitter.

 

Meet Frank Tammaro of New York. Frank is a decorated Korean War veteran.

Frank signed up to serve his country in 1950. He fought honorably. How have Biden Democrats repaid Frank for his service?

Frank was left HOMELESS to make way for millions of criminal illegal aliens that Biden Democrats welcomed into the country. Frank’s nursing home was converted to a “Migrant Shelter” because of New York’s “Sanctuary City” status.

In Frank’s own words, he was “given two weeks” to leave his long-term nursing home and was made “homeless” by Democrat open border policies.

Frank has been kicked to the street by Biden Democrats for a new population imported into America to give the Democrat Party more power.

A vote for Biden Democrats is a vote to make 95-Year-Old American Heroes Homeless.

Remember this evil.

 

 

The post US War Vet Kicked Out of Nursing Home to Make Room for Illegal Aliens appeared first on Granite Grok.

Many of us question the validity and accuracy of polls. Whether regarding a policy or the policy maker, the stats often seem tainted and biased. You usually have to analyze the poll takers and the source of info that accompanies the poll before you can trust the data. Years ago, polls were taken by calling random home phones. With very few landlines, polling techniques had to change, and the results over the last decade show those changes might not have been correct or effective. Don’t bet the house on poll results; you have to draw trends and the people’s temperature from the polls. To ignore polls is to do so at your own peril. Karine Jeanne Pierre said on Monday that the White House does not pay attention to polls from any source, and with the data on the current polls, they probably wish they could sign an executive order banning them.

There will be seven Republican candidates on the debate stage Wednesday night. Asa Hutchinson did not make the cut, falling short on ratings and contributions. Of the seven that did make the RNC’s cut, they really need to take stock of why they are still in the race. If you have been working the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and are stuck in single digits in the polls, your message is not getting through or wanted.

The case is the same for the President and his Administration. You may not like or agree with the polls, but if you are so upside down on the President’s approval, the economy, or our defense readiness, face it: any segment of the President’s performance you look at, you have to look in the mirror. You must look at yourself, drop the ego, and admit your vision of the country and the future does not align with the populace. KJP and Biden can take to the microphone daily and tell you how good things are because of Joe Biden’s policies, but politicians are vision and ego; people are reality. The reality today in America is not good. Drop the mic.

The Democrats are not following Biden’s plan of hunkering down, and we will simply win the White House again. They are more realistic than the feeble Biden and know the Oval Office is slipping from their grip. Biden likes to strut and remind everyone that he beat Donald Trump once and, based on the successes of his first term, he will beat Trump again. They see how upside down Biden and Harris are in every poll, and his chances of winning are bleak. The problem is pushing aside a sitting President who does not want to be pushed.

They have a doubly hard task ahead, for if they successfully move Biden, what do they do with Harris. As the sitting VP, she will expect to move into the first spot, but she is even weaker than Biden. No Vice President has ever had lower approval ratings. So what are the options? They are few. They have to prod Biden to make the move himself and give Kamala something to assuage her ego. The clock is ticking, and a decision must be forthcoming in the next few weeks. The final puzzle piece is what to do with Kennedy and Williamson. They have a right to be considered, and having been dissed by the DNC to this point, they will be tough to bargain with. The Dems have a mess of their creation. It will be fun to see them fight their way out of this paper bag.

The post White House Downplays Polls. Should They? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Being on the same wavelength as others is the main criterion for businesses to meet the needs of consumers. It is important to keep up with the latest trends to remain competitive in the market. By doing this, you will have a huge edge over your competitors since new trends are forming extremely fast with the rapid progress of technologies.

This article will serve as a guide to help you learn about new trends for developing the best mobile application in 2024. But first, we will touch on some of the statistics.

What Are the Prospects for Mobile Development?

Demand in the mobile app development market continues to grow. Statistically, more than 6.3 million users have signed up for mobile networks globally, and this number is expected to exceed 7.7 billion by 2028.

Entering the mobile development market is becoming extremely difficult. New players in the mobile market need to adopt the latest technologies and unique solutions to engage consumers.

Now let’s move on to the main part of the article and see what trends are emerging now.

Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning

AI and ML now can be used in a variety of ways to develop mobile applications such as:

• Personalization: AI and ML algorithms may examine user information and preferences to develop customized user interfaces. This improves user pleasure and engagement, which boosts client loyalty and retention.
• Advanced Search: By making search results more intuitive and relevant, AI and ML may enhance the search capability of mobile applications. Users may now quickly and effectively find what they’re searching for.
• User Behavior Prediction: AI and machine learning can evaluate user data to forecast user preferences and behavior patterns. The efficacy of apps and marketing initiatives may be improved with the use of this information.
• Fraud Detection: By examining data trends in credit card transactions, loan applications, and other areas, machine learning may assist in identifying and preventing fraudulent behavior in sectors like banking and finance.
• Facial Recognition may be used in AI-powered applications to boost security and speed up user registration.

Chatbots

Chatbots are software applications designed to imitate human-like dialogue with users via computer-mediated communication. These days, you can find chatbots in a wide variety of applications, from customer service to healthcare and education. Users may get chatbot help whenever they need it since they are available around the clock. They may also collect information and suggestions that are useful in making decisions.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

AR and VR are two emerging technologies that are seeing increasing popularity within the realm of mobile application development. Augmented reality enables users to superimpose digital material onto the physical world, enhancing the real-world experience. In contrast, virtual reality offers a fully immersive experience by creating a simulated environment. The use of these technologies by developers is facilitating the creation of applications that serve educational, gaming, and entertainment purposes.

5G Technology

The next generation of cellular network technology, known as 5G, provides data speeds that are much higher than those of 4G and reduced latency. Businesses will use 5G technology as an addition to other current networks. This will enable developers to produce more immersive and engaging mobile experiences. Because almost all computations can now be completed on the server side, this will save energy expenditures and increase battery life.

Internet of Things (IoT) App Integration

IoT refers to the interconnected network of tangible things that are capable of connecting to and communicating over the internet. There is a growing trend among developers to include IoT devices in their mobile applications, enabling consumers to manage and supervise these devices using their smartphones.

Beacon Technology

Many mobile app developers have begun to use modern beacon technology solutions. In a nutshell, beacons are small, Bluetooth-enabled, low-energy transmitters that broadcast signals to smart devices. These gadgets have been available for about a decade, but they are now seeing a surge in popularity due to their usefulness in mobile app development.

This is particularly relevant to internet stores. Users have access to relevant information based on their current location, timely notifications, and the ability to pay using their mobile devices. In fact, beacon technology is one of the newest trends, innovations, and insights from the mobile app market.

Wearable App Integration

The popularity of wearable gadgets, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, is on the rise. Developers are incorporating these gadgets into their mobile applications in order to enable consumers to manage and supervise their wearable devices using their smartphones. Mobile apps that handle smart gadgets might have the following features:

• examine data, instrument readings, movies, and so forth;
• analyze data and generate reports;
• open/close, switch on/off, send notifications/alerts, send messages, exchange data, and so forth.

Apps for Foldable Devices

Due to the increasing use of foldable smartphones, developers must make applications that are tailored for consumers. This entails providing compatibility with various screen sizes and layouts, as well as ensuring optimal functionality of the application in both the folded and unfolded states of the device.

These are a few of the most exciting directions in mobile app development for 2023. There will be fresh developments in the mobile industry as time goes on. Successful mobile app development requires that developers remain abreast of industry developments.

Summary

The future holds only more intelligence and sophistication for mobile devices. The market for mobile app development reacts quickly to innovations. People want technology that is cutting-edge, practical, and easy to use. Cutting-edge technologies can be simply incorporated into mobile app development like AI, beacons, IoT, 5G, augmented reality, and virtual reality. This is why innovative trends are so important for business executives to monitor.

Every trend doesn’t have to be considered in every app you build. But to be able to adjust as necessary, you must have a basic awareness of how the market is changing.

The 8 trends for app development that we discussed above will rule in 2024, according to a thorough study.

The post Top 8 Mobile App Development Trends in 2024 appeared first on Granite Grok.

[This is] a timeline of events focusing on federal authorities’ pursuit of alleged Biden family corruption. This resource will be updated as warranted.

Summary

(Click the links just below to jump to the desired section.)

• Nov. 2018-June 2020: Hunter Biden Probe Begins; President Trump Impeached While Pursuing Biden-Ukraine Information; Alleged Justice Department Undermining of Probe Begins
• June 2020-Dec. 2021: Evidence of Influence-Peddling With Nexus to Joe Biden Grows; Alleged Sabotage of Hunter Biden Probe Intensifies
• Jan. 2022-Jan. 2023: Prosecution Sought and Denied; IRS Whistleblowers Blindsided by What They Characterize as U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ Apparent Lack of Authority
• Feb. 2023-May 2023: Hunter’s Counsel Pleads Case Over Weiss’ Head; IRS Whistleblowers Emerge – and Face a Chill; Plea Deal Develops
• June 2023: FBI Stonewalls Congress Over Alleged Burisma-Biden Bribes; Trump Indictments Grow; Plea Deal Emerges; Weiss Strains To Harmonize His Story With Attorney General Merrick Garland About His Claimed Ultimate Authority
• July 2023: Burisma-Biden Bribes Document Released; Whistleblowers Testify About Obstructed Case Publicly; Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal Collapses in Court
• Aug. 2023-Present: Another Trump Indictment; Weiss Gets Special Counsel Authority He Wasn’t Supposed To Need; Biden Impeachment Inquiry Opens; Hunter Hit With Gun Indictment

Timeline in Detail

Nov. 2018-June 2020: Hunter Biden Probe Begins;

President Trump Impeached While Pursuing Biden-Ukraine Information; Alleged Justice Department Undermining of Probe Begins.

Nov. 2018: The Internal Revenue Service’s Washington D.C. office opens investigation into Hunter Biden, code name “Sportsman,” as an offshoot of a probe into a foreign-based amateur online pornography platform.

According to IRS Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, the case agent who will later turn whistleblower, evidence will emerge Biden paid prostitutes to cross state lines – potential Mann Act violations. It is not clear whether the Justice Department pursues.

Jan. 2019: According to Special Agent Ziegler, the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI open a separate Hunter Biden investigation.

March/April 2019: Ziegler develops criminal charging material approved by IRS superiors and sent to Justice Department’s tax division for review. The two entities will work jointly on the case, as is customary. The Washington, D.C. and Delaware investigations will be merged.

April 25, 2019: Joe Biden announces his candidacy for president.

Aug. 15, 2019: Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) commences what will become a multi-year investigation into Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s brother James and their “financial connections to foreign governments and questionable foreign nationals.”

Sept. 24, 2019: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) opens impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump alleging Trump withheld Ukrainian aid to pressure officials to investigate the activities of Hunter and Joe Biden vis-à-vis the firing of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. In 2016, Biden leveraged $1 billion in U.S. aid to force Shokin’s firing. Shokin had been investigating Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company on whose board Hunter Biden had sat. Prosecutors will scrutinize Hunter over alleged tax crimes stemming from the hundreds of thousands of dollars Burisma paid him annually.

Oct. 2019: FBI learns that a Delaware computer repair shop obtained Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop, and the following month verifies its authenticity.

Dec. 2019: FBI takes possession of the laptop and notifies IRS it “likely contained evidence of tax crimes,” according to IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley. Shapley, Ziegler’s colleague, will lead his investigatory team and also turn whistleblower.

Dec. 8, 2019: In an interview, Joe Biden says “I don’t know what he was doing” regarding Hunter Biden’s Burisma work.

Dec. 18, 2019: House votes to impeach Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Jan. 27, 2020: Email evidence indicates that Hunter Biden has meeting with impeachment lawyers in Trump-Ukraine proceedings.

Feb. 5, 2020: Senate acquits Trump on a party-line vote, concluding first impeachment.

March 6-April 1, 2020: Shapley’s team prepares physical search warrants in Hunter Biden case. Having established probable cause for the warrants, IRS plans to conduct about 15 contemporaneous interviews. Shapley claims career DOJ officials halt IRS’ actions.

April 8, 2020: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drops out of Democrat presidential primary, making Joe Biden the presumptive nominee.

June 16, 2020: Shapley tells IRS superiors “DOJ Tax has made a concerted effort to drag their feet concerning conducting search warrants and interviewing key witnesses in an effort to push those actions to a timeframe where they can invoke the Department of Justice rule of thumb concerning [ceasing activities] affecting elections.” Shapley alleges superiors took no action.

June 2020-Dec. 2021:

Evidence of Influence-Peddling with Nexus to Joe Biden Grows; Alleged Sabotage of Hunter Biden Probe Intensifies

June 30, 2020: FBI informant tells handler that Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky told him he had been coerced into paying Joe and Hunter Biden $5 million apiece in exchange for help getting Shokin fired. This is memorialized in an FBI FD-1023 form. Shapley’s team will not see the document until years later, after being thrown off the case.

Aug.-Sept. 2020: IRS agents obtain WhatsApp messages between an executive from Chinese energy company CEFC and Hunter Biden from summer 2017, in which Biden says, “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” regarding a deal with the company. Biden threatens that should the deal not be resolved with the Chinese government-connected company’s executives – “I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows … you will regret not following my direction.”

Investigators believe Biden was staying at the family’s Delaware beach guest house at this time. They seek location data for messages to corroborate in part whether Joe was with Hunter.

Sept. 3, 2020: Delaware Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf shoots down plan to nail down the Bidens’ location during the China call. According to Shapley, Wolf says while “a lot of evidence in our investigation would be found in the guest house … there is no way we will get that approved.” Wolf cites “optics” as a “driving factor in the decision.”

Shapley also recalls prosecutors did not want investigators reviewing CEFC communications, irrespective of any potential national security implications.

Wolf also indicates that a search warrant for emails from Blue Star Strategies, a Democrat-tied firm that lobbied for Burisma, in Shapley’s words, “would likely not get approved.” The agent adds, “This was a significant blow to the Foreign Agents Registration Act piece of the investigation” – that is, whether Hunter Biden lobbied for foreign individuals and entities as an unregistered foreign agent, a felony.

Sept. 4, 2020: Justice Department issues “cease and desist” of investigative activities in Hunter Biden case in run-up to the presidential election.

Sept. 7, 2021: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), then ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, begins probe into sales of Hunter Biden’s paintings after he turns to art as a career. The sales raise ethical and national security concerns, in the view of House Republicans, given the lack of clarity about who the buyers are. The parties pursued will largely ignore requests while Republicans are in minority. The White House waves off ethics concerns. 

Sept. 23, 2020: Sen. Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) release report revealing “millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions between Hunter Biden and his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former mayor of Moscow and individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

Oct. 14, 2020: New York Post breaks the story of the abandoned Hunter Biden laptop. Among the paper’s revelations: Hunter introduced then-Vice President Biden to a top Burisma executive in April 2015, months before the vice president would help get Shokin fired. This is at odds with the Democrat presidential nominee’s claim he had “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.” Twitter and Facebook suppress the story.

Oct. 19, 2020: Politico publishes letter signed by 51 prominent intelligence community officials indicating the New York Post’s story “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

Oct. 20, 2020: Investigators seek to do a “walk by” to confirm the location of and security around Hunter Biden’s California residence in preparation for an interview. DOJ Tax objects.

Oct. 22, 2020: Shapley raises concern to prosecutors that his team has not been granted access to Hunter Biden’s laptop. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wolf confirms prosecutors kept it from investigators, which Shapley calls “unprecedented.”

Wolf also indicates prosecutors would not permit a physical search warrant on Hunter Biden.

During the final presidential debate that evening, Biden rebuts claims about his family’s business dealings, citing the intelligence community letter. Biden also says, “My son has not made money, in terms of this thing about … China … The only guy that made money from China is this guy [Trump] … nobody else has made money from China.” Biden also states unequivocally, “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life.”

Oct. 23, 2020: Justice Department and FBI Special Agents from the Pittsburgh field office brief Wolf, among others, on contents of FD-1023 alleged Burisma-Biden bribes. It’s later learned that the Pittsburgh office believed that the allegations seemed credible, was partially corroborated, and merited investigation.

Nov. 3-Nov. 7, 2020: The 2020 presidential election. Joe Biden wins and elected as the 46th U.S. president.

Nov. 9, 2020: Sen. Grassley sends letter to then-Attorney General William Barr calling on Justice Department to review evidence that Hunter Biden and James Biden may have violated the Foreign Agent Registrations Act based on their dealings with CEFC.

Nov. 18, 2020: Sens. Grassley and Johnson release a supplement to their report on potential conflicts of interest stemming from the Biden family’s foreign business, including additional CEFC findings.

Dec. 3, 2020: Investigators prepare for a Dec. 8 “day of action,” to consist of document requests and some 12 interviews, including of Hunter Biden. As investigators meet with prosecution team at Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lesley Wolf allegedly indicates she does not want them asking questions of subjects pertaining to Joe Biden.

Dec. 7, 2020: Investigators plan to notify Hunter Biden and his Secret Service protection on the morning of Dec. 8 that he will be approached that day for an interview as part of an official investigation.

Deviating from the plan, FBI headquarters notifies Secret Service headquarters and President-elect Biden’s transition team of coming interview, in Shapley’s words “essentially tipp[ing] off a group of people very close to President Biden and Hunter Biden,” and giving “this group an opportunity to obstruct the approach on the witnesses.”

Dec. 8, 2020: Hunter Biden’s attorneys call Shapley and his FBI counterpart, indicating Hunter will not participate in an interview. Investigators secure only “one substantive interview” on day of action, from Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker. During that interview, skirting Wolf’s instructions, investigators briefly pursue a line of questioning wherein Walker discusses Joe’s involvement in Hunter’s business.

Dec. 9, 2020: News of Hunter probe becomes public, with reporting suggesting investigation extends beyond Hunter’s taxes to potential money laundering and financial ties to foreign figures and businesses. Hunter releases a statement: “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately.”

Dec. 10-14, 2020: From the “day of action,” investigators find that documents concerning one of Hunter’s business entities, Owasco, were archived in a northern Virginia storage unit. Investigators prepare to search it. Wolf, according to Shapley, tips off Hunter’s defense counsel to the planned search, possibly thwarting a potential investigative coup.

March 2, 2021: In a Shapley-convened briefing, investigators mention possibility of blowing whistle on the Justice Department’s handling of the case.

May 3, 2021: In memo to superiors, Shapley indicates probe “has been hampered and slowed by claims of potential election meddling. Through interviews and review of evidence obtained, it appears there may be campaign finance criminal violations … Wolf stated on the last prosecution team meeting that she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation.”

Aug. 18, 2021-Oct. 21, 2021: Wolf suggests DOJ Tax will not approve another set of desired interviews. According to Shapley, Wolf indicates that the investigative team would get “into hot water” specifically if it pursued planned interviews of the president’s grandchildren over charges made with Hunter Biden’s credit card possibly by his kids.

Oct. 13, 2021: Hunter Biden’s friend Kevin Morris loans him $1.4 million to settle outstanding taxes. Subsequent reporting suggests that all told, Morris will pay off well over $2 million in delinquent taxes on behalf of the president’s son.

Jan. 2022-Jan. 2023:

Prosecution Sought and Denied; IRS Whistleblowers Blindsided by Weiss’ Apparent Lack of Authority

Jan. 27, 2022: IRS recommends charging Hunter Biden for felony tax evasion and filing of false tax returns in 2014, 2018, and 2019, and misdemeanor failure to file or pay taxes for 2015-2019. Such charges each have a six-year statute of limitations.

Feb. 25, 2022: IRS sends report outlining charges to Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office. Wolf and, according to Shapley, her DOJ Tax counterpart support the IRS’ recommendations. DOJ Tax prepares memo recommending prosecution, the IRS whistleblowers learn. They will not see the memo.

March 2022: DOJ Tax presents prosecution memo to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia laying out alleged offenses chargeable in that venue. Prosecutors aim to charge Hunter Biden criminally over foreign income from Burisma “and a scheme to evade his income taxes through a partnership with a convicted felon,” Devon Archer, as well as “potential FARA issues.” Shapley learns the Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, reviews the memo but refuses to partner with his Delaware counterpart. “We in the IRS didn’t realize at the time that meant there was no ability to charge there” – that is, that without Graves’ buy-in, Weiss as Delaware U.S. Attorney could not bring his case in Washington, D.C. – Shapley testifies.

During this period, DOJ requests of IRS and FBI all “management-level emails and documents on this case.” Whistleblowers indicate that typically such materials are collected at sub-management level in advance of discovery in connection with an impending case. Shapley provides “sensitive case reports and memorandums” documenting “DOJ’s continued unethical conduct,” which he had been providing superiors for several years.

Facing impending charges, and with statutes of limitation set to lapse on 2014 and 2015 tax offenses, Hunter’s defense counsel reportedly calls for prosecutors not to charge, indicating willingness to sign statute of limitation extensions. Prosecutors and Biden’s counsel will agree to multiple extensions.

March 14, 2022: Prosecutors have first taxpayer conference with defense counsel, allowing target to dispute charges.

March 28-29, 2022: Sens. Grassley and Johnson release financial records corroborating prior reports on Hunter and James Biden’s business with Chinese nationals connected to the Chinese Communist Party.

April 26, 2022: Attorney General Merrick Garland defends Hunter Biden investigation before Senate Appropriations Committee, indicating “There will not be interference of any political or improper kind” in the probe, that it will be free of “any influence from the White House,” and that Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the “Trump appointee” overseeing the case “is in charge.”

The same day, according to Special Agent Ziegler’s deposition, prosecutors have second taxpayer conference with Hunter Biden’s defense counsel. During that conference, Politico later reports, Biden’s lawyers present a 100-page presentation to dissuade DOJ from charging him. Lawyers focus on casting the prosecution as political – driven from start by Trump – and suggest that to carry it out would damage DOJ’s reputation.

May 9, 2022: Sens. Grassley and Johnson send letter to Weiss asking whether he possesses financial records to the Bidens’ China dealings, including those the senators had publicized. Weiss does not answer, with the Justice Department interceding.

July 25, 2022: Sen. Grassley writes to AG Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray alleging whistleblowers disclosed to his office that in fall 2020, the FBI obtained information about Hunter Biden’s alleged criminal financial and related activity, only to bury and halt investigation of it by claiming it was disinformation.

Aug. 12, 2022: IRS whistleblowers learn that Chris Clark, Hunter Biden’s counsel, warns prosecutors that if they charge Hunter, they will be committing “career suicide.”

Late Aug.-Early Sept. 2022: In meeting with investigators, Weiss indicates he agrees with IRS team regarding charging 2014-15 tax years, but says DOJ Tax has doubts about case. When asked when Weiss will charge, he says, according to Special Agent Ziegler, “hopefully end of September. It was kind of up in the air.”

Mid-Sept. 2022: E. Martin Estrada is appointed U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, the proper venue for charging tax offenses from 2016-19 based on Hunter’s residence there. Prosecutors present charges to Estrada’s office the week he is confirmed.

Sept. 22, 2022: Wolf tells investigators that prosecutors will not take action until after midterm elections, despite DOJ’s Public Integrity Section never issuing such an order.

Oct. 6, 2022: The Washington Post publishes article indicating there is sufficient evidence to charge Hunter with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase. Chris Clark accuses investigators of leaking information and calls on Justice Department to pursue leakers.

Oct. 7, 2022: In a meeting, Weiss tells colleagues at IRS and FBI that, according to a direct quote recounted by Shapley, “I’m not the deciding official on whether charges are filed.” Weiss also states that D.C. U.S. Attorney Graves will not allow him to bring charges there. The FBI special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore office, overseeing the investigation and present at the meeting, will later reportedly challenge these claims. Weiss also indicates he had asked for special counsel authority from DOJ after Graves declined the charges and was denied. Weiss says he will not be bringing charges against Hunter for the 2014-15 tax years, the statute of limitations for which are to expire in Nov. 2022. “Everyone in that meeting seemed shellshocked … I felt misled” regarding Weiss’ apparent lack of authority, Shapley testified.

Oct. 12, 2022: IRS criminal investigation team conducts final interview.

Oct. 13, 2022: Sen. Grassley delivers letter to AG Garland, FBI Director Wray, and Weiss indicating that based on protected whistleblower disclosures to his office, “the FBI has within its possession significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden and James Biden.” Letter calls into question whether authorities have pursued the leads whistleblowers detailed to Grassley concerning an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving CEFC and potential criminal conduct involving Hunter’s business with   and its owner Zlochevsky.

Oct. 17, 2022: Last meeting in which prosecutors include Shapley’s IRS criminal investigations team.

Oct. 24, 2022: Prosecutors ask IRS for Shapley’s records, in which he had documented alleged prosecutorial misconduct during pendency of case. Shapley and Ziegler will both testify that requesting management communications is highly unusual. The agents indicate that subsequently, the IRS team will be phased out of case.

Oct. 26, 2022: Sens. Grassley and Johnson send letter to Weiss stating that in light of DOJ’s failure to respond to oversight requests concerning their congressional investigation, they are delivering more than 200 pages of records “relating to the Biden family’s connections to the Chinese regime and persons connected to its military and intelligence elements.”

Oct. 31, 2022: In a letter to Weiss, Clark threatens to put President Biden on the stand should the DOJ charge Hunter criminally.

Nov. 2022: After previously agreeing to multiple statute of limitation extensions regarding the 2014 and 2015 tax offenses with Hunter’s counsel concerning Burisma, prosecutors let the statutes of limitation expire – despite willingness of Biden team to continue extending, according to Shapley.

Nov. 15, 2022: Donald Trump announces his candidacy for president.

Late 2022: The New York Times reports that by this time, Weiss “had found some evidence but determined that he did not have sufficient grounds to indict [Hunter] Biden for major felonies.” It adds that one source indicated Weiss preferred not to bring any charges, even misdemeanors, though another denied it.

Jan. 2023: Shapley learns U.S. Attorney Estrada declines to bring charges in the Central District of California.

During this month, Clark will reportedly travel to Delaware and plead his case to Weiss to end the investigation into Hunter, indicating that how he handles the decision could have reputational consequences.

Feb. 2023-May 2023:

Hunter’s Counsel Pleads Case Over Weiss’ Head; IRS Whistleblowers Emerge – and Face a Chill; Plea Deal Develops.

Feb. 1, 2023: Clark contacts multiple officials at Main Justice seeking contacts to whom he can appeal should Weiss charge Hunter.

March 1, 2023: Under questioning from Sen. Grassley during a Judiciary Committee hearing, the attorney general testifies that Weiss “has full authority to make … referrals … or to bring cases in other districts if he needs to do that. He has been advised that he should get anything he needs. I have not heard anything from that office that suggests they are not able to do anything that the U.S. Attorney wants them to do.” Garland adds, “I promised to leave the matter of Hunter Biden in the hands of [Weiss and] … I have pledged not to interfere with that investigation … I have carried through on my pledge.”

March 16, 2023: House Oversight Committee releases records showing $1.3 million in payments from 2015-2017 flowing from Biden family associate Rob Walker to Hunter and James Biden, Joe’s late son Beau’s widow Hallie, and a fourth Biden. The bulk of the funds appear to come from Chinese energy company State Energy HK Limited.

March 18, 2023: Donald Trump says he will be indicted in New York.

April 4, 2023: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicts Trump on falsified business record charges pertaining to a $130,000 nondisclosure payment to adult film performer Stormy Daniels.

April 19, 2023: Attorney on behalf of Shapley sends letter to relevant congressional committees indicating Shapley’s desire to make protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress. Letter leaks to Wall Street Journal.

April 24-25, 2023: Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer contacts Shapley’s counsel asking him for a call in light of Wall Street Journal reporting, and the two parties speak. The Daily Mail will later report that Shapley’s counsel felt Weinsheimer “seemed concerned and keen to investigate, and promised he would get Shapley’s team legal permission to share all the details of his allegations.”

April 26, 2023: Chris Clark finally lands sought-after meeting with Main DOJ, sitting down with Weinsheimer, alongside Weiss.

April 27, 2023: Under questioning in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel testifies that “there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or called into a whistleblower hotline.”

May 3, 2023: Ranking Senate Budget Committee Member Grassley and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), submit letter to Garland and Wray indicating whistleblowers have disclosed the FBI possesses an FD-1023 alleging a criminal bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national. The congressmen indicate that it is “unclear what steps, if any, were taken to investigate the matter,” and that therefore they will be reviewing the matter. Comer issues subpoena calling on FBI to produce FD-1023 forms aimed at capturing the alleged Burisma-Biden bribe document.

May 10, 2023: House Oversight Committee releases bank records memo revealing Biden family business deals in Romania and China.

May 11, 2023: Weinsheimer thanks Clark for meeting, indicates Hunter Biden investigation is reaching end, and prosecutors are prepared to make a deal.

May 15, 2023: Shapley learns his team has been removed from the Hunter Biden case at DOJ’s request, which his counsel reports to relevant House committees.

That same day, Delaware Assistant U.S. Attorney Wolf calls Clark, proposing a deal whereby Hunter will not have to plead guilty through use of a deferred prosecution agreement – satisfying Clark’s reported “core demand” of prosecutors. Clark indicates defense will draft a proposed agreement accordingly.

May 16, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) requests briefing from IRS Commissioner regarding perceived retaliation against IRS whistleblower.

That same day, Weinsheimer speaks with Shapley’s counsel. In an apparent change in tone, Weinsheimer indicates that DOJ headquarters will not be involved in the whistleblowers’ case. All issues are to run through Weiss. Shapley lawyer Mark Lytle will later say that Weinsheimer, after making “earlier promises and assurances … seemed no longer interested.” His co-counsel, Tristan Leavitt, says he believes that Weinsheimer “wanted intel from Gary [Shapley] before his Hill testimony,” which would come weeks later.

May 18, 2023: IRS’ Ziegler sends letter to IRS leadership recounting criticism over its lack of action in connection with concerns he and colleagues raised during Hunter Biden case, and expressing disappointment over Ziegler and his team having been removed from it.

That day, Hunter Biden’s lawyers send two Delaware prosecutors, including Wolf, the first draft of a proposed deal under which Hunter will not have to plead guilty. The deal would give Biden immunity from other potential offenses authorities had investigated – which would include Foreign Agent Registration Act charges – should he pay taxes owed, among other conditions. Delaware U.S. Attorney’s office, sympathetic to proposal, shares its own suggested terms that do not require Biden to plead guilty.

May 19, 2023: Two superiors respond to Special Agent Ziegler’s email with a reminder that “you need to follow your chain of command.” They insinuate he may have made “unauthorized disclosures” by including “potential grand jury” material, and including recipients unable to receive such material.

That same day, Hunter Biden’s lawyers prepare a draft pretrial diversion agreement covering tax and gun issues, guaranteeing immunity from prosecution of offenses previously investigated, and stating that DOJ will dismiss charges if Biden upholds his end of deal – no guilty plea necessary.

May 22, 2023: Shapley’s counsel sends another letter to relevant House committees indicating the IRS is taking additional retaliatory measures aimed at intimidating whistleblowers into silence.

May 23, 2023: In a major reversal, Wolf tells Hunter Biden’s counsel that Weiss now wants Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay taxes.

May 24, 2023: In a CBS News interview, Shapley goes public with allegations DOJ “slow-walked” Hunter Biden probe.

May 25, 2023: IRS sends mass email to personnel instructing them as to proper protocol for reporting wrongdoing like that alleged in the Biden case. The email omits that such employees may bring their concerns to Congress.

Also that day, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sends oversight letter to AG Garland requesting documents in connection with IRS whistleblowers’ removal from the Hunter Biden case.

May 26, 2023: Shapley testifies behind closed doors before House Ways and Means Committee to make protected whistleblower disclosures.

June 2023:

FBI Stonewalls Over Alleged Burisma-Biden Bribes; Trump Indictments Grow; Plea Deal Emerges; Weiss Strains To Harmonize His Story With AG Garland About His Claimed Ultimate Authority

June 1, 2023: Ziegler testifies behind closed doors before the House Ways and Means Committee to make protected whistleblower disclosures.

June 2, 2023: After DOJ reportedly communicates to Hunter Biden’s counsel that he would need to plead guilty to tax charges, and counsel agrees he will do so for two misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to pay taxes – but not gun charge – Biden’s counsel expresses in email to Wolf that immunity is critical. Parties move forward on two-part deal consisting of plea agreement for tax charges and pretrial diversion agreement covering gun charge.

June 6, 2023: Sen. Grassley delivers speech linking July 25, 2022, allegation FBI had sat on and buried evidence of Hunter Biden’s alleged criminal financial activity in 2020 on grounds it was “disinformation,” to FD-1023 alleging Burisma-Biden bribes. He asks whether allegation was dismissed by being falsely labeled “disinformation.”

June 7, 2023: Following a series of correspondences and meetings in which the FBI refuses to turn over the FD-1023, or even acknowledge its existence, FBI relents in permitting Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) in camera reviews of redacted version of document. Reviewers can neither retain nor take notes on document. With FBI resisting calls to produce document to full committee, Chairman Comer releases resolution and report recommending FBI Director Wray be held in contempt of Congress.

The same day, Wolf proposes plea deal to Hunter Biden’s counsel including global immunity provision. The deal also includes a protective measure whereby Justice Department can only prosecute Hunter Biden for gun charge if he breaks deal – as determined by presiding judge, not DOJ, providing protection from a future Republican administration.

Also that day, Weiss responds on behalf of DOJ to Chairman Jordan’s May 25 letter to AG Garland. In response, Weiss says “I want to make clear that, as the Attorney General has stated, I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter [the Hunter Biden case], including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution.”

June 8, 2023: Special Counsel Jack Smith indicts Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

The same day, prosecutors send Hunter Biden plea agreement to presiding Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika.

June 9, 2023: Former Attorney General Bill Barr says FD-1023 alleging Burisma-Biden bribes “was provided to the ongoing investigation in Delaware to follow up on and to check out” via the Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney’s Office, which served as a “clearinghouse” for evidence to be received and vetted in connection with the case.

June 12, 2023: Shapley submits affidavit to Congress indicating neither he, his team, nor the FBI agents working with it were ever provided the information contained in the FD-1023. In a June 19 letter, Ziegler will indicate the same.

June 13, 2023: Donald Trump is arraigned in the classified documents case, pleading not guilty.

Unbeknownst to the public, prosecutors had planned to file the Hunter Biden plea deal documents in Delaware federal court that day. They postpone.

June 20, 2023: Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office announces it has reached plea deal with Hunter Biden charging him with two misdemeanor tax offenses covering tax years 2017 and 2018, and entered into a pre-trial diversion agreement regarding a firearm charge. Absent from the charges are those stemming from Hunter’s Burisma work, or any charges relating to FARA.

Republicans pan the pact as a sweetheart plea deal illustrative of a two-tier justice system, with some indicating it violates DOJ standards. Hunter Biden’s attorney declares, “It is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.” Weiss’ office claims the investigation remains “ongoing,” according to the New York Times, at the time “taking Mr. Biden and officials at Justice Department headquarters by surprise.”

Around this time, the Times reports, Wolf’s role shrinks. Leo Wise, a senior prosecutor from the Baltimore U.S. attorney’s office, is detailed to Delaware. He will ultimately sign off on and defend the plea agreement in court.

June 22, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee releases transcripts of Shapley and Ziegler interviews.

Chairman Jordan sends oversight letter to Weiss reiterating prior request for material regarding DOJ’s alleged retaliation against Shapley, and inquiring about the “unusual nature” of Weiss’ June 7 response on behalf of AG Garland to Jordan’s May 25 oversight request.

June 28, 2023: Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) sends letter to Weiss asking for information regarding, among other allegations, that he had requested and was denied special counsel authority.

June 29, 2023: Three House Committee chairmen send letter to Garland requesting that he make 11 Justice Department officials pivotal to the Hunter Biden case, including Weiss, Wolf, U.S. Attorney Graves, and U.S. Attorney Estrada, available for transcribed interviews.

June 30, 2023: Weiss responds to Jordan’s June 22 letter indicating DOJ did not retaliate against the IRS team, and that he stands by his June 7 letter indicating he has been granted total authority of the Hunter Biden case, including “where, when and whether to file charges.” Weiss adds, however, that “my charging authority is geographically limited to my home district [Delaware],” and that if another U.S. Attorney’s Office with venue for a case declines to partner on a case, he “may request Special Attorney Status from the Attorney General.” Weiss claims he has been “assured that, if necessary …” he “would be granted” such authority.

July 2023

Burisma-Biden Bribes Document Released; Whistleblowers Testify About Obstructed Case Publicly; Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal Collapses in Court

July 9, 2023: Sen. Grassley sends letter to Weiss inquiring as to whether Wolf and others had investigated FD-1023 alleging Biden bribes.

July 10, 2023: Weiss responds to letter from Sen. Lindsey Graham indicating he had not requested special counsel authority with DOJ officials, but rather “had discussions with Departmental officials regarding … potential” special attorney authorities, which would have permitted him to charge in venues other than Delaware. “I was assured that I would be granted this authority if it proved necessary” prior to the Oct. 7, 2022, meeting, Weiss writes.

July 19, 2023: Shapley and Ziegler testify publicly before House Oversight Committee, recounting key claims expressed during their closed-door depositions regarding allegations of slow-walking, obfuscation, and obstruction in the Hunter Biden case.

The same day, Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office emails final deal to Judge Noreika.

July 20, 2023: Sen. Grassley releases FD-1023 alleging $5 million bribes from Zlochevsky to Joe and Hunter Biden in exchange for firing of Shokin, indicating Zlochevsky has text messages and recordings suggesting he was coerced into making such payments.

July 24, 2023: The Federalist reports that the Pittsburgh FBI office that had originally received the FD-1023 had corroborated multiple facts included in the document, and briefed the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office accordingly, per a source.

The same day, DOJ offers to make Weiss available for a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee as soon as Sept. 27.

July 24, 2023: Buyers of Hunter Biden’s art, totaling $1.4 million in sales, are revealed to include Hunter financial backer Kevin Morris and California Democrat donor Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali. In July 2022, eight months after Hunter’s first art opening, President Biden announced Naftali was appointed to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. It is not clear whether the sale occurred before or after the appointment. Reports also indicate Naftali visited the White House at least 13 times after December 2021.

July 26, 2023: Hunter Biden’s plea deal collapses under questioning from federal Judge Noreika, with prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s lawyers sparring over scope of immunity provision in pretrial diversion agreement. When asked if government could bring charges under FARA with plea agreement in place, prosecutors say “Yes.” Biden’s counsel disagrees. This ultimately leads Biden to withdraw his guilty plea. DOJ acknowledges aspects of the deal are unprecedented in terms of structure and substance.

Shortly after hearing, prosecutors and defense counsel will confer, with Biden’s lawyers suggesting changes to the deal.

July 27, 2023: Special Counsel Smith issues superseding indictment in Trump Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

July 29, 2023: Chairman Comer issues oversight request letters to Naftali and the White House counsel in furtherance of probe of Hunter’s art sales. There is no indication federal investigators pursued the sales. 

July 31, 2023: Former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer testifies before House Oversight Committee for transcribed interview. He alleges Hunter Biden’s business was selling the Biden “brand,” headlined by his father, and that he had witnessed Joe joining Hunter Biden and his business associates in person or by phone upwards of 20 times.

The same day, prosecutors reject Hunter Biden counsel’s proposed deal revisions and suggest their own.

Also that day, relevant House committee chairmen send letter to Garland inquiring about the “unusual plea and pretrial diversion agreements” offered Hunter Biden, in light of whistleblower allegations “the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden.”

Aug. 2023-Present:

Another Trump Indictment; Weiss Gets Special Counsel Authority He Wasn’t Supposed to Need; Biden Impeachment Inquiry Opens; Hunter Hit With Gun Indictment

Aug. 1, 2023: Special Counsel Smith indicts Donald Trump on charges pertaining to his contesting of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Aug. 7, 2023: Hunter Biden’s defense counsel rejects prosecutors’ proposed changes to the plea bargain, which according to an email Chris Clark sent to prosecutors, “without explanation, completely delet[ed] the immunity provision.”

Aug. 8, 2023: Weiss requests special counsel authority.

Aug. 9, 2023: House Oversight Committee releases bank records memo detailing millions in payments from foreign sources to Bidens and their associates from Russian, Ukrainian, and Kazakhstani individuals during Joe Biden’s vice presidency – individuals who Vice President Biden met.

Aug. 11, 2023: Garland names Weiss special counsel, asserting “he will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has exercised previously to oversee the investigation and decide where, when, and whether to file charges.” Weiss retains his position as U.S. Attorney for Delaware despite rules calling for special counselors to come from “outside the United States government,” and for any special counsel to be “independent.” The New York Times later reports that Weiss was “motivated by a [special counsel] requirement to produce a report that would allow him to answer critics, according to people with knowledge of the situation – an accounting that could become public before the 2024 election.”

The same day, the Justice Department files motions to dismiss the Hunter Biden tax case so charges can be brought in proper venue – either the Central District of California, or Washington, D.C. – an authority Weiss will have as special counsel. Biden had waived any venue challenge enabling the original deal to be cut in Delaware, despite venue for the offenses lying elsewhere.

Aug. 14, 2023: Chairman Comer releases transcript of interview with FBI official corroborating Shapley’s testimony that FBI headquarters had tipped off Secret Service headquarters and President Biden’s transition team about investigators’ planned Dec. 8, 2020, Hunter Biden interview.

The same day, Fulton County (Georgia) District Attorney Fani Willis indicts Donald Trump and 18 others in RICO case regarding Trump’s contesting of the 2020 election.

Aug. 17, 2023: Hunter Biden tax case dismissed in Delaware.

Aug. 19, 2023: Politico and the New York Times publish detailed accounts on collapse of Biden plea agreement based in part on leaked correspondence between Weiss’ office and Hunter Biden’s lawyers.

Aug. 21, 2023: House committees subpoena IRS and FBI officials present at Oct. 7, 2022, meeting in which Weiss allegedly claimed he did not have final charging authority in Hunter Biden case.

Aug. 28, 2023: House Committee chairmen send oversight request letter to AG Garland regarding his decision to appoint Weiss special counsel.

The same day, The Federalist reports on emails obtained via FOIA indicating DOJ intervened on behalf of Weiss’ office on multiple occasions to respond to congressional inquiries – seen as further evidence of Weiss and DOJ officials in Washington seeking to align their stories on who had what authority in Hunter Biden case.

Sept. 6, 2023: Weiss’ office indicates intent to indict Hunter Biden on gun charges in Delaware before Sept. 29 in court filing.

That same day, House Committee chairmen send letter to Hunter Biden’s counsel calling for it to produce documents and communications previously leaked to Politico and the New York Times regarding negotiations surrounding the failed Hunter Biden plea agreement.

Sept. 12, 2023: Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announces House will open impeachment inquiry into President Biden concerning allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption. “The American people deserve to know that public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically-connected family,” he writes.

House committees open joint inquiry into alleged attempts by Hunter Biden legal team to encourage DOJ to retaliate against IRS whistleblowers Shapley and Ziegler.

Also that day, Washington Post publishes report based on leaked transcript from House Judiciary Committee interview with Baltimore FBI special agent in charge Thomas Sobocinski challenging IRS whistleblowers’ claims about what Weiss said about his authority during Oct. 7, 2022, meeting.

Sept. 13, 2023: Shapley’s lawyers respond with the IRS agents’ contemporaneous handwritten notes to rebut Sobocinski’s claims.

Sept. 14, 2023: Weiss indicts Hunter Biden on felony gun charges in Delaware federal court.

Sept. 18, 2023: Hunter Biden sues the IRS over Shapley and Ziegler’s whistleblower disclosures.

Sept. 20, 2023: AG Garland testifies before the House Judiciary Committee. Under questioning from Chairman Jordan, he defends prior comments about Weiss’ authority, stating “no one had the authority to turn him [Weiss] down” in terms of bringing charges, but that “they could refuse to partner with him.” Garland says the two are “not the same under well-known Justice Department practices.” He will also testifies that a U.S. Attorney in one district “does not have the authority to deny another U.S. attorney the ability to go forward” with a case.

Sept. 26, 2023: Hunter Biden makes initial appearance in Delaware federal court in gun charge case, and is arraigned.

On the same day. Hunter sues Rudy Giuliani and attorney Robert Costello over sharing of Hunter’s laptop data in alleged violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 

Also that day, House Oversight Committee reveals that Hunter Biden received two wire payments totaling over $250,000 during 2019 from Chinese sources, at least one of which was linked to the Chinese investment concern BHR Partners, including its CEO. Hunter’s attorney George Mesires would state that same year that the president’s son had served as a board member at the company in an “unpaid position.” While Hunter Biden was listed as the beneficiary for the funds, the Delaware home of Joe Biden was listed as the beneficiary address. 

Sept. 28, 2023: House Oversight Committee to hold first impeachment inquiry hearing.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire. Ben Weingarten | RealClear Wire

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Democrat politicians endlessly warn us about the “threat to our democracy” posed by Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans. Of course, that claim is patently absurd on two fronts. First of all, as most Americans know, we live under a constitutional republic, not a democracy.

But, putting that technicality aside, presumably, they’re talking about “democracy” in general terms, as opposed to a monarchy, oligarchy, or dictatorship. They’re claiming that MAGA Republicans somehow threaten our democratic way of life and all the benefits associated with it, including the precious right to freely elect our leaders.

From that perspective, do Trump and his supporters really pose a threat to our democracy?

Democrats inevitably point to the incident at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2001. They’ve managed to hype it as an armed insurrection, an attempt to overthrow our government led by Donald Trump himself. But during that so-called insurrection, only one shot rang out. It came from a panicked Capitol Police officer who shot and killed an unarmed female protester, an Air Force vet.

Rational minds have always known that the incident was no insurrection. It was a protest by passionate Americans, outraged by the unresolved voting irregularities witnessed in the 2020 election – irregularities which were caused by last-minute, unconstitutional changes to voting laws by Democrats.

And in the months after the protest, other underhanded Democrat maneuvers aimed at affecting the election results were exposed. There was that letter signed by 51 former intelligence officers, all committed to Trump’s defeat. It was intended to help Joe Biden’s campaign by discrediting evidence of his corruption. After the election, we learned that the letter was conceived and orchestrated by Anthony Blinken, Joe Biden’s campaign advisor at the time.

And there was evidence of government censorship. The contempt for President Trump at the upper echelon of the FBI was made crystal clear by Peter Strzok and others. So it was no surprise to learn that the bureau abused its power by enlisting social media to help suppress the evidence against Biden’s corruption.

It all suggests that, except for a few agitators with various motives, the participants in the January 6th incident were not insurrectionists threatening our democracy but protestors defending the democratic concept of free and fair elections.

What about the four years of Trump’s presidency? Did any of his policies suggest a threat to our democracy? On the contrary, his “America First” agenda made our country stronger. It was manifested through secure borders, energy independence, and a robust economy.

Now consider Joe Biden and the Democrats.

When Biden took office, one of his first acts was the elimination of our border security. Like a power-hungry dictator, Biden simply decided to ignore our immigration laws. His catastrophic border policy resulted in untold millions of unidentified foreign citizens from around the world pouring into our country. Its impact is now being felt in cities across the country. The worst is yet to come.

Likewise, he alone decided to systematically shut down our fossil fuel industries. It immediately increased gasoline and home heating prices and contributed to across-the-board inflation.

And what about the student loan forgiveness program, another decree by Biden? It forces working-class families to pay off student loans accrued by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It’s a brazen effort to buy votes using taxpayer dollars and can hardly be called democracy in action.

Then there were the shutdowns, the arbitrary suspension of our constitutional rights, the right to peacefully assemble and to worship freely, all in the name of an exaggerated health emergency.

Those actions, all taken in defiance of public opinion and without congressional approval, can hardly be called democratic. But arguably, the most egregious affront to democracy is Biden’s perversion of our justice system.

As President Trump faces four criminal indictments, Democrats are utterly bewildered by his continued support. There’s a simple explanation. His supporters see Trump not as a criminal but as a victim of corrupt politics. It was apparent when, after surviving two reckless and failed impeachments, a man with no prior criminal record was charged with four successive serious criminal indictments. It was obvious because all the prosecutors are Democrats who hate Trump and because other Democrat politicians who engaged in the same crimes for which Trump is charged were never prosecuted. It was made clear by the Democrats’ frenzied effort to exclude Trump from the 2024 ballot.

Their aggressive, relentless, and unwarranted pursuit of President Trump has only succeeded in shredding the credibility of our justice system and uniting Trump supporters.

Biden and the Democrats have seemingly abandoned even the pretense of equal justice and adopted the very same tactics used by authoritarian, tyrannical regimes and third-world countries.

But it’s not just Biden’s tyranny that threatens our democracy.

The Democrat Party now seemingly views socialism and communism not as adversarial systems of government but as paradigms, something worth trying here. Some within their party openly embrace China’s brand of communism. One of Biden’s current senior advisors, Anita Dunn, once praised Chairman Mao’s political philosophy. It cost her her job during the Obama administration. But times have sure changed. In 2021, Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal delivered a speech at an awards ceremony hosted by a Communist Party affiliate. But while most Democrats still try to distance themselves from hard-core communism, a poll conducted just a few years ago showed that 57 percent of Democrats actually had a more positive view of socialism than of capitalism.

But whether it’s socialism, Marxism, or Maoism that captivates Democrats, their endless attacks on our Constitution, our Supreme Court, and our traditional values reveal a deep disdain for our democratic way of life.

They may call themselves Democrats, but they have long ago abandoned the democratic principles that made America great. It’s control and power over the people that they crave, and given the opportunity, they rule by fiat, censorship, and intimidation.

Yes, there is a clear, well-established threat to our democratic way of life. But it doesn’t come from Donald Trump or the Republicans.

 

This article was originally published on American Thinker.

The post The Real Threat to Our Democracy appeared first on Granite Grok.

While not everyone reading this lives in Nashua, and not every local votes in Ward 2 (which is at Charlotte Ave School, to those who don’t know where they vote), it’s well past time for Alderman Dowd to retire.

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He is just one vote out of a body of 15, but a serial “problem one” nonetheless.

I’d like the readers to look at the ward map of Nashua here. See the area shaded in baby blue. That is the constituency of Alderman Dowd.

 

 

At 77, the same age as Mr. Newman, Dowd is the oldest and the longest in office (since 2013).

City elections are in odd-numbered years, this one being of particular importance because our mayor is also up for election. He did not have an opponent in 2019, and I want to thank local native veteran and distinguished civil servant Mike Soucy for stepping up to challenge him. His record speaks for itself, and I encourage anyone with ties to Nashua voters to learn more about him and promote his candidacy, but back to Alderman Dowd.

Alderman Dowd is politically in bed with Mayor Donchess. One can ask a variety of knowledgeable locals for examples, so I won’t lengthen this statement by listing them, but I’d like to point out a few things worth noting. If you prefer to do your own fact-checking, a noble behavioral trait, I would point you to some well-known Groksters’ contributions in the archives.

I’ll start with Laura Colquhoun, an ardent watchdog and fact-finding digger. She found meeting minutes from 2017 when Dowd expressed his unconditional support for the performing arts center at any cost. He had absolutely no regard for my piggy bank, that of my neighbors, or any non-constituent Nashua taxpayers. You can read more about the arts center in Laura’s other articles.

Next, there’s returning school candidate Doris Hohensee, who I did not seek permission to quote so I will keep this generic. However, I encourage ALL of Nashua to reach out to Doris about school board shenanigans, including school spending. Alderman Dowd happens to be the “school liaison” and played a big part in facilitating the construction of a new middle school at an ever-growing price tag of over a hundred million dollars despite declining enrollment that’s not expected to change anytime soon. Also, please see my 2021 article about the new red light at the corner of Manchester and Ferry Streets.

And please see Doris’s Grok pieces that are school-related. I fancy myself a team player, and this message is an opportunity to support 2 teammates, Mike Soucy and Doris, and two more city-wide ones as Aldermen.

As the daughter of a retired accountant, I am appalled by Nashua’s outrageous spending, which is responsible for our current property taxes, though our incumbent mayor is always trying to convince the voters otherwise. Just look at his mayoral town halls from last winter, all beginning with him playing defense in his multi-minute monologues. I encourage all Nashua voters to look at the collection of videos for lots of the mayor’s antics, plus that of Alderman Dowd, whose support of spending speaks for itself.

And then there’s how city hall has handled covid, which has been in a manner that’s repugnant to Granite State values. Attorney Dan Hynes, now a Bedford representative, pointed out in his 2020 Grok piece that NH was not a home rule state when he was running for county attorney. Here is an example of Dowd’s “covidiocy” in addition to him having voted for Mask Madness 1.0 and 2.0. He was also seen on Channel 9 suggesting that business owners act in a law enforcement capacity, whether or not they supported such tyranny.

 

 

I would like to follow the model of great authors who offer a conclusion to a character assassination or any complaint with a proposed solution at the end of the venting. I am Alderman Dowd’s opponent, and I am humbly asking for votes. I use the word HUMBLY because asking for help is an act of humility, and saving our city is an all-hands-on-deck battle. Therefore, like the Temptations saying, “ain’t too proud to beg,” I am not too proud to enlist any and all outside help that is legal.

“Why me?” is the question. In an effort to keep this a reasonable length, I won’t go all the way back to 2013, but let’s look at the last 2 city elections. I mentioned earlier in multiple articles, including this one, being an accountant’s daughter. Alderman Dowd’s previous opponent, Donald Scott, is an accountant.

Ward 2 failed to elect a credentialed retired controller, a good man from the private sector with skills that would have helped Nashua in the chamber. And Dowd’s previous opponent and current senator, Kevin Avard, was the sponsor of SB 52, which shored up the “cap” that has been under attack “by any means necessary,” as Hillary would say, no matter how unlawful. Just talk to former Alderman Teeboom with any cap-related questions you might have.

With the two most recent opponents of Alderman Dowd not running again and time running out in the city clerk’s office, I gathered petition signatures for ballot access at the last minute because I’ll be darned if he gets reelected simply because all of Ward 2 was waiting too long for someone else to step up and do it. Look up Kitty Genovese and the bystander syndrome.

“And one more thing,” as Columbo would say, I’m disappointed to report that we don’t have a full slate of worthy candidates on this ballot. Therefore, victory is absolutely necessary for Nashua to “come about,” nautically speaking. Aldermen Klee, Lopez, and Jette don’t have opponents. Three city-wide seats are up for election, but we only have two worthy candidates. Please remind ALL the Nashua voters you know to vote for ONLY Alderman Comeau and private citizen Sean Rogers.

Voting for a 3rd candidate will only harm the chances of them getting elected. This situation also applies to the five school seats. Incumbent Paula Johnson and former member Doris Hohensee are the ONLY candidates worthy of a vote. Public Works has two seats in this election, and Dan Richardson is the ONLY candidate to vote for. So please, everyone in Nashua, vote correctly this time! And educate your fellow voters on the merits of the “undervote.” And everyone outside Nashua, please do what you can to help save Nashua from itself!

 

The post Alderman Dowd Is Out of Touch With His Constituents and the City of Nashua appeared first on Granite Grok.

In the last century, states have had great control over channels of media. In most of the West, lobbying groups and cartels working with “liberal” and “democratic” governments regulated who could broadcast while governments, with their endless pools of money and political force, competed alongside private or foreign establishments.

South Africa banned television entirely, and then, after legalizing it in the ’70s, the industry was still controlled by the state.

All media in the Soviet Union was centralized and controlled by the state immediately after the October Revolution—the Bolshevik leaders understood the importance of media control. Every state in the last century has had some grip over the country’s media, propagating favorable narratives and restricting the unfavorable to maintain control over the population.

Traditional media centralization by the state was then rendered obsolete with the popularization of the Internet. As the internet and its related technology developed, decentralization became more pronounced and widespread. When anyone can start a podcast on a plethora of websites with anyone else in the world who has the technology, or when miniature documentaries and video essays can be produced and uploaded by anyone to anywhere that accepts the format, the state-operated or state-supported media that dominated the last century becomes effectively out of date. The new competition was too dynamic, adaptive, decentralized, and evasive for the old system to outcompete, outproduce, or outright ban.

Traditional media wasn’t the only thing affected by the internet. Chat boards, forums, and other means of direct communication undermined multiple key legitimizers of the state, specifically academics and journalists. Barring local rules and guidelines, anyone was free to question and discuss any aspect of academia, usually under the freedom afforded by anonymity.

This innovation was disastrous from the state’s perspective. Total dominance of every channel of media was rendered impossible in the span of a few years. Some nations attempted to restrict the internet through whatever means were available, like China’s Great Firewall, although there are multiple ways to circumvent the restrictions through VPNs or proxies. Western nations opted for subtler restrictions like working through private companies behind closed doors. A stronger and more insidious attack against the benefits to liberty provided by the internet, however, lies in the campaigns against anonymity. Eliminating anonymity and privacy by extension, solves most of the state’s problems that were caused by the advent of the internet, which is exactly why states and their apologists have embarked on their crusade against it.

Solving the State’s Problems

Anonymity is very dangerous from the state’s perspective as it can no longer rely on its narratives, academics, journalists, and other sources of legitimacy to be publicly unquestioned. With anonymity, superior arguments (as determined by the onlookers) win out. While this does not necessarily mean that truth will prevail in every instance, it does mean that credentialism, a major crutch of the state’s defenders, is bypassed. Onlookers can instead view arguments where one or both sides have entirely removed their person from the discussion through anonymity, leaving only facts and their application as well as rhetoric for consideration. If an academic or a journalist performs poorly against these anonymous posters enough times or is proven to have lied, their credibility will be weakened, preventing them from legitimizing the state in their full capacity.

The state’s apologists have a counter. If anonymity is somehow removed and the once-anonymous person is revealed to have controversial or “far-right” opinions, mobs and miscreants can threaten that person’s safety, forcing them into the decision of either continuing in the face of potential retaliatory violence or leaving the conversation entirely. This tactic is employed if a specific person or group of people has been particularly successful in contradicting the state’s academics and journalists, but it is difficult, time-consuming, costly in terms of reputation and trust, and ultimately not usable on a large scale. Outsourcing the tactic to unsavory and “unconnected” groups helps to alleviate the reputational hit, but this, too, can only be done for so long until everyone can see the pattern, creating a greater potential for backlash.

Instead of threatening a person, the state’s academics and journalists may opt for other, much weaker methods of discrediting anonymous posters. The most popular method centers around trying to make the fact that someone is anonymous a discrediting quality in and of itself. This is an analogous tactic used by interest groups who lobby for licensing. Those without the approval of the status quo are unsafe, unserious, or malicious, so the rhetoric goes, and therefore, a standard in the form of a license, or non-anonymity, must be implemented to guarantee status quo–approved quality. Unlike a license, this social standard does not necessarily need to be forced by the state; social pressure could suffice.

Unfortunately for the anti anonymity crowd, the intensity of social pressure required to make anonymity a taboo is out of their reach. Another strategy is to appeal to honor. If the argument is so important or good, then the arguer should have the confidence to attach their name and face to it. While this is formally a non sequitur and inconsistent (I doubt this standard is ever applied unless one has been exposed by an argument from an anonymous poster), it is popular nonetheless. Despite its popularity, I have not yet come across anyone willing to defend their nonanonymous honor that has been attached to an argument or statement, even when challenged.

The state and its collaborators have another solution, though. If anonymity on any major website can just be done away with entirely, eliminating online privacy altogether, not only will the issue of anonymous critics be solved, but the state could easily reassert itself as the controller of media. The state’s control over media is severely hampered because of its decentralization, yes, but if the decentralization is maintained while privacy is eliminated by way of an anonymity ban (be it state edict or public-private agreement), then the state can control whoever it wants to, just not to the extent that it did last century. Anonymity, therefore, must be defended if the state is to be weakened and ultimately dismantled.

Ryan Turnipseed is an undergraduate in economics and entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University.

Ryan Turnipseed | Mises Wire

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