413 private links
While Mr. Crooks’s motive remains opaque, his online searches reveal someone who was looking for an opportunity to pull off a spectacular attack that would garner widespread attention, by either inflicting mass casualties or killing someone famous. Thus far, that profile more closely resembles that of a mass shooter than a politically motivated assassin.
Starting as a teenager in 2019 through this year, Mr. Crooks progressed from searching “detonating cord,” “blasting cap” and “how to make a bomb from fertilizer” to seeking detailed information about the activities and whereabouts of politicians in both parties. By late 2023, his search history included queries related to Mr. Trump, President Biden and both parties’ conventions, the officials said. //
Gasoline Forever
38 minutes ago
It doesn’t really matter what his motive was. What matters is how bad the secret service performed. Either they should all be fired for incompetence or arrested for conspiracy
Steve_J
15 hours ago
How much income will the national pro-life spokesmen lose now that the abortion issue has been returned to the States, where it should have been all along? //
RetiredNavyPM
9 hours ago
No, Trump is engaged in an optimization battle on abortion, aiming to minimize harm as much as possible. He doesn’t want to fight an absolute battle, where force is used to impose beliefs, even at the point of a gun. Absolutism may feel morally righteous, but because voters won’t resort to extreme measures, Trump loses, and this ultimately leads to more abortions. Under the current administration, pro-life protesters are being jailed for standing outside abortion clinics.
Choosing the path of optimization may tarnish one’s moral purity, but it saves more lives. If Trump wins, he could pardon these protesters, allowing them to continue advocating for life at the very place where it is most threatened. It’s a difficult and imperfect choice.
God gave us free will, allowing us to choose between good and evil. He could have created a world where abortions never happen, but He didn’t. Without God’s omnipotence and in the presence of free will, I believe the only way to stop abortion would be through force. However, since God chose not to use force and instead wants us to navigate these moral challenges ourselves (with the understanding that He will judge us in the afterlife), I cannot justify imposing my will on others by force. I can guide them toward the truth, but I cannot save their souls for them.
Trump’s approach—optimizing to reduce harm—keeps the difficult conversations alive, increasing the chances that more people will choose life. //
GBenton trapper
15 hours ago
It's also lazy. They want a quick Federal solution so they can bypass the ugly work of fighting the good fight.
There is a real Constitutional question here and they don't care, they want a quick authoritarian fix and are too dense to realize the next Democrat White House could just do the opposite if they set the precedent. //
Gregorian Chanter
16 hours ago
The all or nothing approach is more likely to achieve nothing than to gain all. Incrementalism on the part of courts and Democrats is what evolved Roe vs. Wade from Safe, Rare, and Legal to Anytime, Anywhere, for any Reason, at Taxpayer Expense. Incrementalism on the part of conservatives, as well as increasing the availability of prenatal and early postnatal care to struggling mothers, is a more powerful approach. Since the battle is now at statehouse, our warriors need to fight there. //
Berry
16 hours ago
yes pro-life people are upset. and yes this is a huge political mistake for Trump/Vance. It’s a big problem and it was an unnecessary error.
Most of the people who are pushing this narrative were never going to vote for Trump. The Holy Spirit will lead the rest.
Dear @LilaGraceRose and @conservmillen
The messaging hasn’t been great- but remember God didn’t clear out the Promised Land for the Israelites instantly- it was little by little- (Ex 23:20) Trump is the best on abortion-please help him win this election and we will keep fighting
"Zero for one, Jamal? Jamal, my brother and colleague, zero for – He literally ran a man who'd been in politics for 52 years out of his chosen profession over a debate. I mean, look, I understand what you're arguing that you all traded in for a better candidate, but Trump won the debate. [Laughter] He is not zero for one. Are you saying he actually did so well, that he did badly?"
Five House Republicans — Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz and Cory Mills of Florida, and Chip Roy of Texas — hosted a panel discussion about the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at the Heritage Foundation on Monday. //
But there were also some fiery moments with podcaster Dan Bongino, who used to be a Secret Service agent, as he lambasted the problems of the agency. He didn't hold back on how grave he thought this was, and he made three points. //
Then he answered some questions from the members of Congress, and he explained that things were now worse under Director Ronald Rowe than they were under former Director Kim Cheatle, who resigned in disgrace after the assassination attempt. //
Bongino warned that more would be coming, "[If] You think this is the last incident, you're out of your mind. We have seen these incidents over and over."
But for those not compelled by conscience, please consider the ramifications: If Kamala Harris wins, Democrats will pass a federal law which, at a minimum, makes Roe v. Wade (and not the more limited holding of Casey), the law of the land, preempting the pro-life laws currently in place in some states. Harris will hold the power to appoint federal judges and possibly replace one to three Supreme Court justices — and that’s if Democrats don’t expand and stack the high court. Harris will hold the bully pulpit and will only further dehumanize the unborn, making it more difficult to change the hearts and minds of Americans.
Trump may not govern as a pro-life president, but Harris will most assuredly be the most pro-abortion president ever elected. With Trump in office, the status quo can be maintained until four years from now, a primary battle can demand a candidate willing to fight for the sanctity of life. While society will still not be open to laws that protect all human life, a pro-life candidate can support a federal ban on late-term abortions while working to support pregnancy resource centers and promoting life.
It took us 50 years to get to where we are and it will take decades more to move society toward a place where the populace will agree to ban most abortions. But if Harris is elected, we may never have the chance to start changing hearts, minds, and laws.
It may be months before we know the whole story behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. It may be years. We may never know. (Sadly, my money's on the latter.) There are times when the "public's right to know" just seems to slip through our fingers, and this may well be one of those times. We can hope not — but there are murmurings now of evidence tampering. That last is a big, serious assertion — but on Monday, a SWAT counter-sniper who was on the scene testified at a panel discussion held by five Republican members of Congress about an "odd pattern" of evidence handling. //
Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer said it was “absolutely” concerning that the roof of the AGR International building had been quickly scrubbed and gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ body disposed of before an official autopsy report could be released. //
And another thing: Is it normally the role of the FBI to clean up crime scenes? Several companies in Pennsylvania specialize in hazardous materials removal and crime scene cleanup — are those kinds of contractors, not the usual people to clean up the aftermath of a scene like this?
There's more; the examination of Crooks' personal effects also raises some interesting questions. //
The encrypted communications seem like the biggest question. You can probably find directions on improvised explosives on the internet, if you know where to look, although I admit detonators would be a bit trickier. But encrypted communications platforms? Based in Belgium, Germany, and New Zealand? What platforms? What kind of platforms? What was sent and received by Crooks? Was he seeking information? Was he awaiting direction? If so, from whom? //
Mr. Fox
3 hours ago
I never considered myself a conspiracy theorist pre 2016...but after the fbi (and intel agencies en masse) lied to courts to spy on trump, leaked false stories to spin their spying as wrongdoing by trump, "investigated" russian collusion as a way to hide their wrongdoing and besmirch trump, trained and staged kidnapping plots on two democrat governors weeks before an election, planted fake bombs on jan 6, had plants in the crowd encouraging violence and lawlessness, raided trumps home leading to comical criminal indictments that the current president was actual guilty of....would any one be suprised if the fbi, cia, or ss trained this guy and let him get a shot off? Its a sad time in America.
Welker asked Vance: "How do you respond to that charge that Trump's tariffs would hurt the middle class?"
JD was ready with an answer — and more than eager to respond:
If you sit back a little bit, Kristen, there's this whole thing that Kamala Harris did at the convention where she made a bunch of claims about what would happen, and not enough ... reflection on what already happened, because Donald Trump already was president; he used tariffs to bring manufacturing jobs back to our country and I' think he'll do it again. He did it while keeping prices extremely low.
[I]f you go back to the Trump presidency, we had 12,000 factories that were built during Donald Trump's presidency, inflation never really ticked above two percent during his entire administration ... and was about one-have percent, most of the time. So when Kamala Harris says, 'If we do the thing that Trump already did, it's gonna be way worse than it was last time.' I just don't think that makes a lot of sense.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on "Fox News Sunday" to talk about his plans to partner with Donald Trump to "Make America Healthy Again," and dropped some big truth bombs about the corruption and perverse incentives within the United States' public health agencies. //
"I wouldn't dismantle them. I would change the focus, and I would end the corruption. Right now, 75 percent of FDA’s budget is coming from pharmaceutical companies. That is a perverse incentive.
"In NIH, the - scientists and officials at NIH who work on drug development, incubate drugs for the pharmaceutical company, get to collect lifetime royalties from those products. These are regulators. They’re supposed to be looking for problems in those products.
"We have these agencies that have become sock puppets for the industries they’re supposed to regulate, so they're not really interested in public health.
"The most profitable thing today in America is a sick child. Everybody’s making money - the hospitals are making money, the pharmaceutical companies are making money; even the insurance companies make money.
"We need to end those perverse incentives, we need to get the corruption out of the FDA, out of NIH, out of the CDC, and make them function as they're supposed to function, which is to protect public health and to protect childrens' health.”
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, the former president said he could now get the briefings if he wanted them but sensed a trap.
'I don't want them, because, number one, I know what's happening. It's very easy to see what's happening,' he said... //
'So the best way to handle that situation is, I don't need that briefing. They come in, they give you a briefing, and then two days later, they leak it, and then they say You leaked it.
'So the only way to solve that problem is not to take it, I don't want it, understood. I'll have plenty of them when I get in.' //
But it's a hell of a pass we've come to as a nation, when a presidential candidate, one of the nominees of a major political party, feels he needs to forgo national security briefings because he's worried - justifiably - about Democrats trying to trip him up somehow. //
This kind of irrational hatred began, at least, during the Reagan years, and has grown steadily worse. //
The internet, frankly, has made this a lot more visible, with people being able to hide behind a degree of anonymity. But something about Trump has tossed the left off the deep end. It's not just the internet; it's crap like Nancy Pelosi tearing up Trump's State of the Union speech, like a petulant child having a tantrum. //
DABA13
4 hours ago
Not to quibble too much, but the left has ALWAYS been off the deep end. It's just that Trump has caused them to drop the mask.
I. M. Conservative flatlander
4 hours ago
I think democrats, as a party, has always been this far gone, but they used to hide it. Now I believe they think they have put the work in to change 50.1% of the culture to support Marxism, so they are not hiding it anymore. They have been and always will be Marxists. They want Communism, with themselves, friends and families at the top, of course. They will get the houses, cars, trips, jewelry, fine clothes, etc., while the peasants will (finally) be equal.
JP1 I. M. Conservative
4 hours ago
I think JFK was an exception. He actually stood up to communism. And we all know how that ended.
With liberals, it often seems that it's opposite day. When they say they want to prevent the spread of misinformation, what they really mean is they want to spread propaganda and suppress truth. When they say they simply want people to be tolerant of other cultures and beliefs, they work to implement the most intolerant institutions imaginable. When they say they want to fortify an election, it means they want to ensure a pre-determined outcome.
Since January 6 they've been shouting that they need to protect democracy and taking action on multiple fronts to do the opposite, as Tucker Carlson and Victor Davis Hansen expertly outline in the newest episode of Tucker on X. In his monologue, Tucker said:
Liberals are now telling us they plan to protect American democracy, and that's the clearest possible sign that they intend to end it. //
This is not a legal proceeding. This is a grotesque parody of the system our forefathers created, the fairest in the world, that in the years since has been seized by power worshippers like Arthur Engoron. This is a dangerous moment. Without a legitimate legal system, people no longer follow the law, and the country will collapse.
This is not about Trump. This is about preserving the United States of America. But Trump is at the center of the story.
On Thursday night, following an evening that was cringier than a Zoom call with Jeffrey Toobin, Vice President Kamala Harris came on stage and actually spoke to a crowd of people. OK, they were friendly people who would never dream of fact-checking anything she says, no matter how ludicrous.
But former President Donald Trump harbors no such reservations. While Harris was speaking, so was Trump, calling out her claims, point by point, on his Truth Social media platform.
Here are some of the highlights.
The former president asked one great question right away:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
.
2h
WHERE’S HUNTER?
In this question, I would caution Pres. Trump against asking questions to which you really don't want to know the answer.
This set the tone, with the former president answering the current vice president, not live on video, but via social media posts. The replies came, if you will, fast and furious. //
The upshot? As always: Kamala Harris can't tell the difference between the truth and a lie. That's what it all boils down to. Donald Trump can think on his feet. He can react and answer unscripted questions, and react to unscripted talking points, quickly, smoothly, and accurately. Kamala Harris can do none of those things.
Trump wrote:
"The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President, yet she hates Israel and will do nothing but make its journey through the complexities of survival as difficult as possible, hoping in the end that it will fail. Judge only by her actions!" //
etba_ss
3 hours ago edited
This is a great example of Trump's lack of discipline and focus.
Trump is not antisemtic. That's absurd. The left is. They know it. We know it. They are lying.
If Trump had left off "Jewish", attacked Shapiro, and then said that the Democrats wouldn't pick him for VP because he was Jewish and they hate Jews, he would have made the point he needs to make. I think that's what he meant and that Shapiro was happy supporting a party that wants to see Israel destroyed. He could have mentioned that as well.
Instead, his sloppy rhetoric gives them an opening to lie. Then the right has to come to his defense and explain what Trump meant and how they lie instead of highlighting how antisemitic the left is.
It's just beyond frustrating that he can't stop doing this after 8 years of stepping on rakes. I want to win. This stuff doesn't help. We know we've got to fight against the media, pop culture and the Demonic party. We don't need to score goals on ourselves, especially on an issue we should be beating them with. They've got terrorists outside and inside their convention demanding genocide agaisnt Jews, not us.
given the attack at the DNC on billionaires and the rich, while dragging out their own incredibly wealthy people, including the Obamas, Oprah, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. But they're hypocrites.
She also spoke about "income inequality," although she was able to become a billionaire in this country.
But Trump had the best response to Winfrey's appearance at the DNC.
The Trump War Room account dropped a letter from Oprah where she says it was one thing "to live a life of integrity — still another to have people like yourself in office...Too bad we're not running for office, what a team!" //
She also had him on her show in a very welcoming way to share his views.
He's been consistent in his thought; it's they who have changed. Even then, he was talking about his concern for the country. They loved him and his money until he was put on the "bad list" by the narrative. //
Winfrey also promoted JD Vance's book at one point as well. That was prior to the narrative being constructed against him.
Instead of promoting a positive view and positive policies for America, the DNC has spent most of their time attacking Trump, having him live rent-free in their minds. They also spent a lot of time lying and ignoring reality, including about things a jobs report that scaled back the jobs created by more than 800,000.
According to the Media Research Center, the media is skewing favorable coverage to Harris by a huge amount. This isn't necessarily a new thing. The corporate media sector has always slanted so far to the left that it's fallen over. However, the lengths they're going to do it is pretty incredible:
Not only has Harris received 66% more airtime than former President Donald Trump, but the spin of Harris’s coverage has been more positive (84%) than any other major party nominee, even as Trump’s coverage has been nearly entirely hostile (89% negative). //
As always, our calculation of spin omits so-called “horse race” assessments (see methodology statement below), but a separate count shows those statements have also favored Harris by a whopping margin (94% positive, vs. just 43% positive for Trump). At the same time, the network coverage has virtually eliminated any discussion of the strident left-wing positions Harris took as Senator or during her 2020 presidential campaign. And while Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance and his Democratic counterpart, Tim Walz, have received nearly equal amounts of airtime, the networks have celebrated Walz (62% positive press) and punished Vance (92% negative). //
To give you an idea of how in the pocket they are for Harris, the fact that she hasn't even talked to them has only received 57 seconds of air time over the past four weeks.
Frank Luntz
@FrankLuntz
·
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Since http://KamalaHarris.com still has no policies posted on it, the Trump campaign has created http://Kamala2024Policies.com to lay out her platform for voters.
Fox News @FoxNews
Trump campaign trolls Harris, releases policy website for her after weeks of silence https://trib.al/MeSjFWz
12:01 PM · Aug 21, 2024 //
"Kamala Harris has yet to tell voters what her policies are, so we thought we’d help them out. Kamala Harris wants to open the borders, raise taxes, and free criminals," a Trump campaign national press secretary told Fox News Digital about the website.
The site, kamala2024policies.com, launched Wednesday morning on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and takes viewers to a website declaring, "Kamala Harris' dangerous policies are nothing to laugh about."
there was a moment during the rally that caught everyone by surprise. A woman in the audience appeared to be having a medical emergency — possibly heat-related.
Trump paused his speech and summoned a doctor over to assist her. Then, after waiting a few moments, he strode down off the stage and out from behind the plexiglass over to the stands where she was to check on her directly.
"The gap that I see in all these speeches -- as good as they were -- [Kamala Harris] is in the White House right now. Democrats have controlled the White House for 12 of the last 16 years, and for all of the talk about division and the problems in the country, and people are hurting, Democrats have mostly controlled this country.
Trump had it for four, the Obama's and Biden had it for the rest of the time, and somehow, it’s still all Trump’s fault, and somehow, she hasn’t been at the center of it. To me, that is the glaring hole in this campaign that hasn’t yet been solved at the convention. How do you explain all of the problems that will be solved by the person who is currently in there for the last three and a half years, and who is supposed to be already working on solving it?"
The press wasn't interested in that part of the trip, though. Instead, they've spent the last few days obsessing over the fact that some KKK members once marched in Howell. Naturally, that means Trump must be showing some form of tacit support for white supremacy.
Yes, it's as stupid of a contention as has ever existed, and when Trump was asked about it by a reporter, he was ready. It was a mic drop moment, rhetorically speaking at least.
What the reporter says is largely inaudible, but you can make out that she's asking Trump about visiting a city "linked to white supremacy." The crowd groaned in disapproval for a moment before the former president stepped up to the podium. You could tell that he knew he had her.
TRUMP: Who was here in 2021?
REPORTER: Joe Biden
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you, everybody
(Cheers)
What Trump is referring to is a visit Joe Biden made to Howell back in 2021. In fact, RedState reported on that visit right after it occurred because protesters showed up to show their displeasure at the president's visit. Was Biden supporting white supremacy when he showed up? That wasn't even a thought in the press' mind because they save such insane stretches of logic for Republicans. //
RedDog_FLA bintexas
3 hours ago edited
It was Aishah Hasnie from FOX. She was NOT asking a gotcha question. She told Trump that the Harris campaign was saying this "white supremacy" crap and was curious of Trumps response. She actually helped Trump with the set up. She also had the "Joe Biden" answer to Trump's question.
The Vigilant Fox 🦊
@VigilantFox
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WATCH: Joe Rogan Plays Shocking Old Footage of Donald Trump on The View
You won't believe how well they treated him.
JOE ROGAN: “Watch this...This is literally bonkers.”
BARBARA WALTERS: “Please welcome my friend, Donald Trump.”
ADAM RAY: “My friend?”
JOE ROGAN: “Watch this.… Show more
3:47 PM · Aug 14, 2024
Joe Rogan playing a flashback to Trump's appearance on "The View" when he was considering running for president back in 2011. //
Rogan talks about the "180" this was from "the machine's" effort to go after him now. They loved him until he got in the way of their power and control.
It's an astonishing change and, quite frankly, frightening evidence of the power of the machine and how it can flip the thoughts of people who fall for the propaganda. Just as they turned Trump into Hitler for people who never thought that before, they are now trying to turn Kamala Harris, who is part of a failed administration with no achievements, into some kind of inspirational candidate and ignore all the negatives. //
Atticus62
7 hours ago
Twenty years ago, Donald Trump ran through New Your City with the Olympic Torch and was praised by all. In 1986 Donald Trump, along with Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali was given the "Ellis Island Award" in NYC for patriotism, tolerance and brotherhood. The leftist elite and legacy media all turned on Donald Trump when he came out as a Conservative and ran for President of the United States.
anon-vujo
7 hours ago
He was beloved by many people. Rappers would name-drop him in songs, politicians on both sides lined up to beg him for money. Then he decides to run for president as a Republican and they all turned him into Hitler overnight. He didn’t change, they all did.
anon-cdoc
6 hours ago
I am well old enough to remember Donald Trump saying this same stuff back in the early 80's. He warned the government! He's never changed. The democrat party changed - they're no longer the party of my mother or even of my youth.
The Harris-Walz campaign team likes to term JD Vance "weird." But that says everything about how out of touch they are with the American people.
Vance was born into meager circumstances with a mother who was an addict, and he was raised by his grandmother. He worked his way up from that to join the Marines, finish college in two years, go to Yale Law School, become an editor of the Yale Law Journal, write a famous book Hillbilly Elegy, clerk for a federal judge, get into the tech industry and investing, then become a senator. He is walking, talking evidence of the American Dream. I want someone who understands how to get to the American Dream, not someone who has been fighting to drive the country to the far left and would destroy that dream.