The pardon power has seen some... questionable uses throughout the history of the Republic.

There's a seismic shift in New York politics. It may be because of the Democratic Party's continual dragging of their Overton Window to the left of Fidel Castro. It may be because of the anointment of Kamala Harris as the Democrat's catastrophic 2024 presidential candidate. It may be due to any number of things, but the fact is this: Democrat voter registration in the Empire State is dropping, and that doesn't bode well for Democrats there or nationwide.

But there may be one thing Joe Biden (or whoever is pulling his strings) overlooked — the Fifth Amendment. Namely, for the time frame covered in the pardon, Hunter Biden can no longer assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Hunter Biden would have to answer questions about his business interests if called before Congress, a criminal defense lawyer has said. //

From the wording here, it appears that even if evidence surfaced that Hunter was a serial killer in the specified time period, he could not be prosecuted because of the blanket pardon — which is within the power of the president. But the twist? He cannot assert his Fifth Amendment rights because he cannot self-incriminate. //

Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan strongly suggested on X, formerly Twitter, that Hunter may be called to give evidence as Republicans consider whether to impeach President Biden for his business interests with his son. "Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry. If that's the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?" Jordan wrote on Sunday. //

With that said, I'll offer another prediction: This won't be the last family member Joe Biden pardons. //

Twist Gamma you cant make this stuff up
14 hours ago
Chasing Biden instead of the deep state would be a waste of time and political capital. Find out who instigated and coordinated the Trump lawfare. Get them out of government, and charge them if there's any charge to be found.

And let the DOGE run wild.

That will be hard enough. Prosecuting the case against Biden would just be a distraction from the far more important goals.

This time around the mood is more morose. Perhaps it has to do with the fact they failed to stop him from regaining the White House. Maybe after so many busted narratives - Russian collusion, Nazi Fascism, death to democracy as we know it, et al. - they have run out of material. Or, most likely, it is dawning on them that these vacant narratives delivered in bulk and applied with the nuanced precision of a Caterpillar front-loader not only are unsuccessful but have driven off a large core of the intended audience.

These failed techniques are not only played out, but publishers are no longer tolerant just to let their staffers work untethered. From Jeff Bezos at WaPo to Mark Thompson at CNN and the publisher of the LA Times, the names above the mastheads are no longer tolerant of these tactics. Peter Baker and others are facing a harsh reality – they may have to actually work for a change.

Citizen_bitcoin

Jameson Lopp (@lopp) on X

Hospital bill for delivering a baby + 1 week recuperation in 1956.

Total: $107.55

The US is an outlier in healthcare costs, by almost a factor of two, while delivering comparable or inferior results.
…
US performance is generally comparable to, or poorer than, countries that spend much less. I could not find any significant health metric in which the US excelled over other first-world countries.

https://ricochet.com/427416/healthcare-costs/

Last month, in a basement office in Monrovia, I watched a teacher with 15 years of experience fail a sixth-grade math test. She wasn’t an outlier—she represented the norm in a nation that ranks 155th out of 156 countries according to the 2023 World Bank Human Capital Index. After a decade of traversing Africa’s education landscape, from Ethiopia’s ambitious reforms to Rwanda’s digital revolution, I can confidently state that Liberia isn’t just failing at education. We’re actively manufacturing ignorance. //

The most dangerous thing in Liberia isn’t poverty—it’s the slow death of our potential. //

The truth is more damning: we’re not failing because we’re poor. We’re poor because we’ve institutionalized failure.

Blast from the past.

150-year-old love notes written by high school students were found in the floorboards of a school in Maine, according to Bangor Daily News.

Preservation contractor Lee Hoagland started working on the University of Southern Maine’s Academy Building in 2022, and over the course of a year he found hidden papers in a space between the first and second floors of the building built in 1806.

The papers included love letters between former students of what used to be a private college preparatory school for children aged 10 to 17 for upper-class families. //

While students wrote things about their fellow classmates and teachers on paper back then, nowadays “it’s all text and Snapchat,” Bischof pointed out.

“We’re not going to have this for future generations,” he added.

According to Bangor Daily News, the old papers are currently being kept in USM’s Department of Art. There are plans to archive the notes in the school’s Special Collections.

“There have been no squirrel to human rabies transmission ever documented in this country,” said Rensimer, a Texas infectious disease specialist who has been studying rabies for decades.

“I can’t imagine, frankly, what their thinking was, if they knew anything about this area,” he added.

The social-media famous pet squirrel and Fred — a young raccoon kit being nursed back to strength — were euthanized by the Department of Environmental Conservation in October just hours after they were seized from the upstate home of caretaker Mark Longo, who runs an animal sanctuary on his property. //

“Some animals almost never get rabies,” the New York Department of Health states on its rabies fact sheet — specifically naming “small rodents such as squirrels” as only ever catching it under “rare circumstances.”

And while raccoons are generally agreed to be more prevalent carriers, the actual number of confirmed cases appears to be extremely low, according to data collected by New York state. There were just 35 lab-confirmed cases of rabies in raccoons in the 17 years since records were first kept in 2007, the data show. //

While the exact timeline for rabies infections in raccoons and squirrels is not entirely known, Rensimer said similarly sized animals like cats, dogs, and ferrets will almost always show symptoms within 10 days.

As Fred had been in Longo’s care for well more than 10 days, and P’Nut had been living with him for seven years — facts readily available due to Longo’s widely viewed social media — there was ample evidence to suggest the animals were rabies-free. //

And even if the DEC agent was especially worried about rabies — which is typically fatal in humans once it reaches the brain — Rensimer said a bite to the hand from an infected animal would take about 45 days or longer to transmit to the brain. //

Test results later showed that neither P’Nut nor Fred had rabies.

The DEC did not respond to request for comment on the agency’s employee immunization practices, and have still not provided any documentation that P’Nut bit anyone during the raid.

But all of the DEC’s explanations about squirrel bites and rabies fears were cast into doubt after The Post reported officials were plotting to euthanize P’Nut and Fred at least seven days before the supposed bite — and P’Nut’s caretaker has now filed claim to sue the state to find some answers.

No one on the left liked the idea of Javier Milei winning in Argentina, especially The Economist.

The publication has changed its tune since Milei, who has been president for a year, has elevated Argentina with his libertarian ways.

Gee, maybe, just maybe, people should listen to us libertarians. //

Yes. Milei is a true libertarian who has embraced small government, free markets, and Austrian economics. That is why Milei is the only politician I genuinely adore and support. I cannot believe I am agreeing with The Economist:

The left detests him and the Trumpian right embraces him, but he truly belongs to neither group. He has shown that the continual expansion of the state is not inevitable. And he is a principled rebuke to opportunistic populism, of the sort practised by Donald Trump. Mr Milei believes in free trade and free markets, not protectionism; fiscal discipline, not reckless borrowing; and, instead of spinning popular fantasies, brutal public truth-telling.

—

What is fascinating is the philosophy behind the figures. Mr Milei is often wrongly lumped in with populist leaders such as Mr Trump, the hard right in France and Germany or Viktor Orban in Hungary. In fact he comes from a different tradition. A true believer in open markets and individual liberty, he has a quasi-religious zeal for economic freedom, a hatred of socialism and, as he told us in an interview this week, “infinite” contempt for the state. Instead of industrial policy and tariffs, he promotes trade with private firms that do not interfere in Argentina’s domestic affairs, including Chinese ones. He is a small-state Republican who admires Margaret Thatcher—a messianic example of an endangered species. His poll ratings are rising and, at this point in his term, he is more popular in Argentina than his recent predecessors were.

Milei practices what he preaches. //

Tiki | November 30, 2024 at 6:48 pm
Funny how the economist doesn’t mention how Kirchnerism (crony socialism) ruined Argentina.

There’s gonna be a major US-Argentine trade pact. Musk will be siting his southern hemisphere IT hub there. Watch to see who gets picked to be ambassador.

The Europeans/Internationalists want to lock us out of Brazil and SA, but Milei/Musk will to lock them out of SA tech.

Milei is powering an industrial renaissance via a deregulated oil industry.

Milei didn’t fall into the IMF trap.

Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸
@Bubblebathgirl
·
Follow
Newsweek reports woman are getting sterilized and men are getting vasectomies in response to Trump winning.

The people who oppose putting America first are having less babies and less abortions.

The winning just keeps on winning.

11:46 PM · Nov 30, 2024. //

These five women are a testament to the power of propaganda. They firmly believe that Trump will take away their access to abortion. How will they feel in four years when they realize they’ve been lied to all along?

JD Vance
@JDVance
·
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John Bolton has been wrong about everything so I guess Kash must be pretty awesome.
Margaret Brennan
@margbrennan
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton compares Kash Patel, President-elect Trump's pick to head the FBI, to one of Stalin's feared secret police chiefs:

"Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be his Lavrenty Beria. Fortunately, the FBI is not the NKVD. The Senate should…
2:01 PM · Dec 1, 2024

It is incredibly shameless for Biden to claim he "kept his word" when he lied to the American people for over a year, insisting he would not issue a pardon or commutation for Hunter Biden. Further, the pardon is incredibly broad, essentially offering blanket protection for any crimes his son has committed. //

For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. //

Kyle Cheney
@kyledcheney
·
Follow
Replying to @kyledcheney
WOW: This pardon is sweeping. Anything crimes he committed or “may have committed for an 11 year period.
7:41 PM · Dec 1, 2024 //

With that in the books, there will be no justice for the Biden family's corrupt business dealings. The cover-up is complete, and Hunter Biden is once again shown to be the privileged son, unaccountable for any of his actions. That means he'll likely end up in trouble again. It's just a matter of time. //

wildmlm
2 hours ago
So...I would say the bright side is this gives Trump additional political cover for pardoning the J6 folks...after all, Joe just admitted that his DOJ is corrupt.

Bernie Sanders
@SenSanders
·
Follow
Elon Musk is right.

The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions.

Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud.

That must change.
12:07 PM · Dec 1, 2024. //

Elon Musk

@elonmusk
·
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Gonna happen 😂
ALEX

@ajtourville
The IRS getting audited by the @DOGE
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10:51 AM · Nov 27, 2024

He said the Biden DOJ had gone after Democrats from New Jersey (Sen. Bob Menendez) and Texas (Rep. Henry Cuellar), as though that was an excuse. "I mean, the deep state. Nobody's ever defined it, apparently. Just means anybody who doesn't do the will of Donald Trump," Raskin said.

So, any weaponization you thought you were seeing is just all in your mind, kids. The last several years didn't happen. The Russia collusion and the lawfare against Trump never happened, nor did the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop.

But if what he's saying is right, then he has no real reason to object to Patel.

If Patel wants to exorcise the "Deep State" and it isn't there, no harm, no foul. What is he worried about?

The fact that Raskin supports Wray tells you why Wray should be gone. But further, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) explained the problem with Wray wasn't his "independence" but that he was a failure, including in complying with oversight. He called for charting a new course for transparency and accountability.

Chuck Grassley
@ChuckGrassley
·
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Chris Wray has failed at fundamental duties of FBI Dir He’s showed disdain for cong oversight & hasn’t lived up to his promises It’s time 2 chart a new course 4 TRANSPARENCY +ACCOUNTABILITY at FBI

Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform &restore public trust in FBI
8:24 AM · Dec 1, 2024 //

NavyVet Retired Professor
6 hours ago
If you keep track, I believe you'll find a high correlation between those objecting to Kash and those on Epstein's flight list.

So, by inference, Raskin was an Epstein regular. //

GBenton
6 hours ago
Grassley's tweet is too mild. Wray presided over the persecution of Christians, parents, and political opponents. He should have to answer for that abuse of power. Kash Patel is the right guy for the job.

Tiffany, Trump's younger daughter, wed Boulos' son, Michael, in 2022, and is expecting their first child.

Here's a bit more on Massad Boulos:

Boulos, who was born in Lebanon, runs Nigeria-based Boulos Enterprises, //

ProudConservativeGrandmum
7 hours ago
Isn’t it interesting how a supposedly bigoted family is so overwhelmingly diverse?

Listen, I think you should have the Biden administration look at itself. What is the qualification of Tony Blinken to become secretary of state? Well, he organized 51 so-called intelligence experts to put together a fake letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. That must have qualified him to be secretary of state. President Trump is entitled to name his appointees. That is exactly what he's doing, and I'm going to support this appointment. Kash has worked at national security. He's worked at the Department of Justice, and he's somebody that has been willing to uncover the wrongs at the FBI. He's the one that uncovered for the American public what happened with Russia-gate. He's the one that can see through the fix here. //

Chelan Jim Random US Citizen
5 hours ago
I think the Republicans have always been acutely aware of the leftist bias of the media but they did not feel they dare tackle it if they wanted to avoid crossfire and stay in office. Now that a majority of the population recognize this bias exist, the politicians are more immune to the the influence media has.

I have always said, the reason Republicans lose races are often because they are honest. The left has always been dishonest and the media gives them cover. So I don't fault the Republicans that know they could have been ruined by the media if the media decides they are a target.

Some may say the Republicans are cowards. Well, I live in a state that we can't seem to elect a Republican to save our soul in a statewide election. I almost wish a few of them would just not be so obvious about all of their views until they get elected. It is all in the perspectives you have. //

anon-skk0
4 hours ago
Biden appointed his team to play defense. Trumps picks are going to play offense. //

Largo Patriot
4 hours ago
One of the criticisms of Patel is he is not an FBI agent who came up through the ranks, but neither did James Comey and Christopher Wray. The problem with the FBI is an internal one, which is why an outsider is needed to clean it up. The FBI Director's first duty is to the American people, not his fellow FBI agents, and the "we investigated ourselves and determined we did nothing wrong" is not working for the American people, especially those who find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun pointed at them by FBI swat team members in the middle of the night.

Furthermore, Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency.

If I could only write one more sentence for this article, it would be this: I can't think of a better endorsement for Patel to serve as FBI director than that. //

, the idea that the FBI should perpetually staff itself is exactly how it became a corrupt agency more intent on protecting "the shield" and damaging its political enemies than serving the American people. The bureau is not a fourth branch of government, free from the confines of the accountability of voters.

Trump was not elected to keep the status quo rolling, and those using Barr's 2022 quote to try to attack Patel's nomination should realize they are irrelevant. //

To put it frankly, the FBI has forfeited any right to claim sovereignty and "independence." Too much has transpired, and if any of the rank-and-file have a problem with the coming reforms, they are welcome to quit.

Further, the fact that so many left-wingers are freaking out only serves as more evidence that Patel is the right man for the job. //

No, we aren't heading for a "constitutional crisis" because the FBI is not a constitutional agency. It is a bloated, corrupt bureaucracy under the direct leadership of the president and one in desperate need of a house cleaning. It is not in question whether the bureau has abused its power to go after the political enemies of the left. That demands a reckoning, and a reckoning is coming whether the Beltway elites like it or not. //

msctex
2 hours ago
The overall Leftist Constitutional Crisis is very real, but entirely rooted in their growing realization they simply can no longer find a way to exist with it still in play.

So it is that much a Leftist Constitutional Existential Crisis. //

American Deplorable ™ Smiling Alley Cat
2 hours ago
The confirmation process will expose the RINO droppings who will become primary targets at their next election.

Recess appointments will become the rage as PDJT predicted.

Now that Donald Trump is headed to the White House, he has to make a decision vital to the Republic's health. Over the last eight years, President Trump and his allies have been the subject of a non-stop stream of lawfare attacks designed to cripple him while he was president and later, after he peacefully turned over the reigns of power to the addled Joe Biden, to imprison him for what could have been the rest of his life. The campaign to jail him was clearly a conspiracy involving Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis.

The extent to which the civil cases against him were coordinated with the criminal cases has never, as far as I know, been explored, but it is hard to imagine that it did not exist. This use of the judicial system to attempt to impoverish and imprison political opponents is foreign to the United States and to its founding principles. The decision that Trump has to make is to either ignore the attacks calculated to ruin his life or should he be faithful to the promise he made at CPAC in March 2023, seek retribution.

In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today I add I am your Warrior, I am your Justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your Retribution. //

Here is where we'd part company. These people tried to imprison Trump for what would have statistically been the rest of his life. They went after the January 6 protesters using a patent over-expansion of the law that the Supreme Court had to smack it down: Supreme Court Hands Down Blockbuster Ruling in Case That Will Impact Multiple J6 Defendants. Even now, Garland's prosecutors are fighting to extend misdemeanor sentences into terms lasting years behind bars because the Supreme Court repudiated them.

As recounted in our posts on Garland's thugs bringing a false and malicious prosecution against a pro-life demonstrator, these people were willing to lie to put their political enemies behind bars and to try and intimidate them. //

Just remember, the convictions are icing on the cake. The process is the punishment. A battalion of bankrupted and unemployable DOJ lawyers and FBI agents living in refrigerator cartons under bridges across the country would provide a daily lesson to what happens when you abuse your power and try to deprive other people of their freedom and livelihoods. //

Only when we've plowed the soil of the Deep State with salt can we talk about a truce. But the personal damage we inflict over the next four years, in terms of jail time, bankruptcies, and legal judgments, must so terrify that second tier of Deep Staters that no matter what another batch of Democrat operatives cook up, they will refuse to get involved. //

eattheelite Mongoose
4 hours ago edited
With humans being human, and all, a caution against abuses from our side is warranted. Trump will not humiliate a fellow president to advance a political ball or satiate his righteously outraged supporters and he's been clear about that much. The best, and, in general, the only, truly sustainable preventive measure is the vigilence of an informed electorate, and it worked precisely as forseen by the Founders even in the face of globalist headwinds. This time. There's a bigger picture here than an eye for an eye. If we get lost in it, which I could so easily find myself doing after eight years of political jujitsu, we'll lose the better of what MAGA can do for Americans and the world. My two cents. Now I'll go back to streaming the View and watching Ellen's English mansion flood because I do get a kick out of witnessing the cosmic justice of their all-consuming and well-earned misery. A guilty pleasure, I know. (I just don't care. Well, I just don't care yet, anyway.) I believe the left calls it self-care! //

anon-o62w
7 hours ago
It's not revenge. It's not payback. It's a crime against the American People. There must be some severe ramifications to deter this tactic by either party in the future. Trumps cases were manufactured. People in power colluded. If proven..jail. Like anyone else. It's not just Trump..it's Jan 6ers, Rudy G....the list is endless. The mistake is Trump is targeted because he's Trump. Believe me, DeSantis, Vance..they will be victims next cycle if the full weight of the law is not brought down on officials who have engaged in this tactic. //

GBenton
6 hours ago
Andy McCarthy is a muppet. He got the Russia Russia thing wrong and a lot more. They all need to pay with reciprocal lawfare for one key reason he failed to address: Trump was innocent but they are actually guilty.

So it's not even lawfare, though I would be fine with reciprocal lawfare either way for reasons this post states already. But the fact is we have to restore the rule of law and prove no one is above it, least of all those who abused power. They must be made to care, as the saying goes, or we will never see the end of this.

On top of everyone mentioned in this post, the folks who engage in voter and election fraud need prison time. If we do not secure our elections we will someday no longer have a country. I do not believe the left can win national elections without illegal aliens and dead people and bogus ballots. We need voter ID, but we also need to absolutely crucify those who stole any elections within the statute of limitations, mostly figuratively speaking but I'm open to literally, too, if they are convicted because stealing elections should be regarded as akin to treason.

Abolute power corrupts absolutely - and the ability to steal elections is simply too dangerous to let be a feature of our process. Paper ballots, voter ID, and life sentences for cheaters and those who organize and fund cheating.

Then we can deal with the media who do nothing but gaslight us with Democrat propaganda. //

Marek76
8 hours ago
Forget the higher ground, justified prosecution for actual crimes is essential if we are to be a nation of laws. The DOJ needs to fear accountability if they abuse their power.

Rogan chastised the media types who were losing "authority," yelling, "No, you're not!" at X being the news.

"You guys f**ked us too many times," he scolded.

And we don't believe you anymore! And so, the only way to find out what's real and what's not real is someone posts it online and then everyone looks at it. And then you get the Community Note. And that's way better than The NY Times telling me that the Fruit Loops in Canada are exactly the same as the Fruit Loops in America, except for a bunch of sh** that's banned, and that's the point...Meanwhile they're factchecking RFK Jr, so now I don't trust you any more either. //

Rowe explained how the media had "abdicated on skepticism" and "become something else."

So, you can't really blame people for considering what we used to dismiss as conspiracy theories when those theories start to be borne out, and when there's such a level of eroded trust in once-credible institutions.

Indeed, she proves it herself with her own trajectory. That's why she's there on X, rather than signing up for another network news job after her parting ways from CBS. And she's still calling out CBS for not releasing the transcript of the interview that "60 Minutes" did with Kamala.

Musk helped make it all possible by freeing X more and encouraging independent media. With X, he's then able to immediately weigh in on what Herridge said.

Elon Musk @elonmusk
·
𝕏 has far more reach than any other news source

Catherine Herridge @C__Herridge
“The data doesn’t lie.”

30 million engagements on @X versus 4.5 million “viewers” on Network Evening News.

@X is where the growth is.
That's where the diverse audience is.

“I feel like this is the next chapter for media.”

Our 22+ minute subscribers only interview also…
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7:33 AM · Nov 30, 2024