Open Borders are Biden’s Pandora’s Box

posted by William Manning at American Thinker 

A nation’s border lies at the intersection of domestic and foreign policy. How a country manages its border, immigration, trade, and related policies informs foreign and domestic stakeholders about governance of the country. It’s a reflection of those that govern and those that elect them.

President Biden opened the border the minute he took office. This decision is a detriment to the American people. Biden’s immigration policy is a chaotic, costly, and confusing mess. He chose to allow human trafficking, criminal import of drugs and prostitution, and the entry of terrorists and Chinese citizens who are positioned to wreak havoc within the country. Joe Biden is blithely undermining the security and interests of the people he swore to protect.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas proclaimed in a congressional hearing that the border is secure. In testimony to the Homeland Security Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wrayconfirmed the security of the country is in jeopardy saying, “the threats that come from the other side of the border are affecting every state.” To fix the problem, President Biden requires empowerment, saying, “I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power.” The position of the federal government is as clear as Rio Grande mud.

Biden realizes his re-election is jeopardized by his immigration policy. He desperately wants Congress to pass a new law hoping it will provide political cover for his bizarre open border policy. If the law is passed Biden will tell the American people that Congress finally listened to his wise council and passed a wonderful new law empowering him to do his job. If Congress doesn’t pass an immigration law, Biden will blame Republicans for the invasion of immigrants and accuse them of playing politics forcing him to leave the border open.

The Mexican border is difficult to police, but President Trump did a good job of securing it. The same laws that render Biden powerless were in place for Trump. Biden and Democrat politicians are frantically looking for a message they can deliver that will absolve them of their inane border policy. Republicans should take a step back and watch Democrats attempt to put the lid back on the can of worms they opened.

 Biden proposed a new immigration law when he took office. It includes:

• A roadmap to citizenship for undocumented individuals
• Immigrant and refugee integration and citizenship 
• Protect workers from exploitation and improve the employment verification process. 
• Embracing diversity 

Biden proposes an open border with a shortcut to citizenship.

Senator James Lankford has the unenviable position of negotiating an immigration law with Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Democrats want to put the country on a yellow brick road to a new demographic they’ve schemed to achieve for a generation. Lankford said in an interview, “We all have an oath to the Constitution, and we have a commitment to say we're going to do whatever we can to be able to secure the border." Senator Lankford and Congress have no obligation to pass a new law. Biden, Mayorkas, and Lankford all took an oath to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” The United States has an immigration law that Biden refuses to enforce. Biden has failed to uphold his oath of office.

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas is doing his best to protect his state’s border with Mexico. In January of 2023, he had a letter hand delivered to President Biden saying, “you have violated your constitutional obligation to defend the states against invasion through faithful execution of federal laws.” Last month Governor Abbott sent another letter to the President saying, “James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that States should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border.” Governor Abbott has established that an invasion is underway and Biden has done nothing to stop it. Biden has had three years to do his job. He has failed.

Abbott is now taking steps for the State of Texas to do the President’s job. “I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.” The Supreme Court has not ruled in favor of the Biden Administration or ordered Texas to remove material used to fortify its border. The Supreme Court merely vacated an appeal, sending the decision back to a lower court. Abbott’s actions will gather momentum, likely forcing the Supreme Court to decide the matter. Texas may lose in court, but its case is clear.

Twenty-five states stand with Texas. New Mexico, Arizona, and California, which also have a border with Mexico, do not. Biden’s open border is an affront to all states no matter their proximity to the border. All Americans are damaged by the invasion identified by Governor Abbott. Democrat politicians whine while requesting money, but their states and cities remain open sanctuaries to illegal entrants.

It wouldn’t be prudent for Republicans to support a Biden-Schumer immigration law. If Biden must have a new law, the House of Representatives has passed a bill which will secure the border. The Senate can approve this bill so that Biden can sign it into law. The law could be renamed The More Power to Joe Biden Act. A better solution is to let the American people decide the issue. The elections this year should be a referendum on border security. The cost of open borders to Americans is a half-trillion dollars and will only grow if Biden and Democrats remain in office. If Americans want their tax dollars spent on wasted resources and open border chaos, they should vote for Democrats. You get what you pay for.

X22, And we Know, and more- February 5

 

Firefighter Who Stood Next to George W. Bush After 9/11 Dies

 The retired New York City firefighter who stood next to President George W. Bush  atop the rubble at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks has died.    

The cause of Bob Beckwith's death was not immediately released, CNN reported. He was 91.

Beckwith, a Baldwin, N.Y., resident, told Focus on the Family last year that he had malignant skin cancer, along with other health problems.

Three days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush, while using a bullhorn to speak to firefighters at the site of the World Trade Center, stood with his arm around Beckwith. Both men were atop a charred fire truck in the rubble.  

"Bob Beckwith has passed away," former U.S. Rep. Peter King posted Sunday night on X. "A man of class and dignity. An American icon who personified the best of the FDNY, New York and America at our most perilous moment. Bob Beckwith R.I.P."

Beckwith was retired at the time the World Trade Center was targeted on Sept. 11, 2001, but raced to the scene to help search for survivors, CBS News reported. That, despite his grandson having been hit by a car earlier that morning.  

"I drove to the hospital, walked in and everybody was watching television," he told Focus on the Family. "I looked up and saw the second tower come down. It felt like I was stuck in a bad dream.

"I told my wife: 'I'm going down there.' I was 69. I'd been retired seven years. My kids said, 'Leave it to the young guys', but I heard on the radio that Michael Boyle, son of my friend Jimmy, was missing. I said: 'I gotta go find this kid.' "

The Uniformed Firefighters Association paid its respects to Beckwith on Monday morning. 

"It is with deep sorrow the UFA announces the passing of FF Bob Beckwith of L164," the Uniformed Firefighters Association posted on X.

"Bob is one of the heroes of 9/11 who stood tall for America, New York City and all New Yorkers, he spent many hours searching for the members we lost on that fateful day in 2001.

"A man of true dignity and is beloved by the UFA and the department for all of his sacrifice."  

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/nyfd-frefighter-bob-beckwith/2024/02/05/id/1152357/  

Democracy in Decline: The Subversion of Rule of Law

There are many signs and portents that signal the guttering of the rule of law and its replacement: rule by law. It is an autumnal sign—a sign of civilization at the end of its tether.

by Roger Kimball for American Greatness

A friend recently wrote me to offer a sharp formulation of a distinction I have often written about myself. Regular readers know that I am fond of distinguishing between “democracy”—a political arrangement in which the demos, the people, rule—and “Our Democracy™,” a counterfeit or masquerade of democracy in which not the people but an elite nomenklatura rule. To an increasing extent, I believe, the United States is gradually subsisting into the latter, with all the political, social, and moral deformations that such anxious oligarchical arrangements entail.

True enough, the United States was never really a democracy—a form of government, as James Madison observed in Federalist 10, that tended to be “as short in its life as it is violent in its death.” Rather, the United States was, from the beginning, a democratic republic. Ultimately, the people were sovereign—that was the point of the phrase “We the People.” But their sovereignty was mediated through the agency of representation. The point of my distinction, however, still holds. The Founders bequeathed us a democratic republic and a Constitution whose chief purpose was to define and limit the power of government. Their modern successors have inhabited that political dispensation, slyly perverting and emptying it out of its original signification while maintaining the names and rituals of the original.

If you believe that the words “perverting” and “emptying it out of its original signification” are extreme, I invite you to contemplate the tenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” To what extent is the letter or spirit of that instruction followed today?

The answer is: not at all. What was originally a document designed to limit government and protect people from its coercive intervention has mutated into a reliquary containing the desiccated remains of a once-potent, now mostly quaint and antique admonition.

Which brings me back to my friend’s crisply formulated distinction. There are, he noted, two forms of law: rule of law and rule by law. The first, he wrote, the rule of law, “is based upon neutral rules that are in place and applicable to all without regard to political belief or status, economic class, religion, etc. That is or was the aim of classical liberal politics—to erect a limited system of laws applied to all as a foundation for liberty.” That’s precisely what the Framers intended to bequeath us.

The alternative, rule by law, describes the antithesis. Indeed, it is

a system of rules applied at the discretion of ruling elites, who exempt themselves and allies from those rules, and apply them to others on an arbitrary basis. The rule by law comes into play when the state has evolved into a large-scale enterprise and has formulated laws in scale and number that are capture citizens in a web of rules. In that circumstance, it is not difficulty to enforce rule by law, where the laws or rules can be applied politically or arbitrarily.

In one sense, what my friend describes here is the situation Tocqueville warned about in his famous paragraphs about “democratic despotism” in Democracy in America. How, Tocqueville asked, would despotism come to a modern democracy? It would not, as in despotisms of yore, tyrannize over the populace. Rather, it would enforce submission by promulgating conformity in a gentle, if smothering, way. And it would do this by casting over society an increasingly intricate network of rules and regulations that sap initiative. In Tocqueville’s famous image, the government becomes a vigilant shepherd and the people a flock of sheep.

Tocqueville understood the enervating dynamic of democratic despotism. But the actual behavior of the Committee that rules us—the government itself and the sprawling, onion-like knot of agencies that carry out the government’s will—show that Tocqueville underestimated the persistence and harshness of the tyrannical in his anatomy of this modern perversion of democracy.

If you doubt this, contemplate the treatment of modern enemies of the state, the January 6 protestors, for example, or the pro-life advocates who demonstrate against abortion, or the ex-Marine who is indicted for murder because he intervened to save his fellow subway riders from the attacks of a violent homeless man. When I tell you that the ex-Marine is white while the homeless man, who died after the Marine tackled him, is black, you have all the information you need to appreciate our modern two-tier justice system at work. You saw the same thing on display last week when a horde of illegal immigrants jumped and savagely beat two New York City policemen. The incident was filmed, as was the aftermath. The perpetrators were arrested but quickly released. They made angry, obscene gestures at the recording cameras and fled to California in order to enjoy the largess provided to criminals by Governor Gavin Newsom. And of course there is the example of Donald Trump: possibly the man most harassed by our laughably named “Department of Justice” in the history of the Republic.

These are some of the many signs and portents that signal the guttering of the rule of law and its replacement: rule by law. It is an autumnal sign—a sign of civilization at the end of its tether. Is there any remediation, and going back? Yes, it’s possible. But if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t advise counting on it.

The Democrats Create an Alice in the Looking Glass World

posted by Clarice Feldman at American Thinker 

Like Alice dropped into an illogical world, I’m looking at the past week and seeing a chaotic, topsy-turvy, irrational series of policies, events, and outcomes. There are many possible examples to choose from. I’ve chosen four: The open border, the inexplicable disparities in the handling of crimes by Democrat district attorneys, the Administration’s song and dance with Iran and UNRWA, and China, and there’s a degree of overlap in some of these.

North of the Border

Millions of people -- mostly military-age men -- from almost every country on the globe are being processed by the Borden Patrol and released with orders to show up for hearings, many not set for several years distant, during which time the Democrats will certainly seek an electoral advantage. Since districting for voting and disbursement of federal funds is based on the number of residents, regardless of their legal status, districts with lots of illegals will get a weighted advantage. Most of the asylum applications are groundless, but most likely, the Democrats will seek amnesty for these millions. President Trump had begun wall construction and set in place policies to stop this. Within 100 days of taking office, Biden took 94 executive actions which smoothed the way for the massive influx of illegal immigrants. Legalizing them will effectively create a one-party state. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is now facing impeachment proceedings, worked to make deportation of these people nearly impossible. Elon Musk on X:

“Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas issued written guidance making it clear that: 1. Illegal presence alone is not grounds for deportation. 2. Criminal charges, convictions or gang membership alone are not enough for deportation. You basically have to be a convicted axe murderer to be deported!“

The Supreme Court has made it nearly impossible for states to act when the federal government will not stem the invasion. Jonathan Turley:

[T] his crisis is the result of decades of court rulings expanding executive powers while limiting the ability to challenge those policies. The court’s decisions narrowing standing have been deleterious, limiting those who can challenge unlawful or unconstitutional acts by the federal government.

States such as Texas are absolutely correct that this is a breach of the original understanding with the federal government. The combination of the sweeping preemption by the courts and diminishing enforcement by the agencies has left states as mere observers to their own destruction. It is like watching your house burn down as the fire department works primarily to prevent anyone else from putting it out.

The Biden fire department is claiming that, just as it has the authority to put out fires, it has the authority to let them burn . 

Irrational Democrat Law Enforcement

A pack of illegal migrants attacked New York City policemen. Videos captured the assault, and several of the men were arrested. District Attorney Alvin Bragg arranged for them to be released on bail, and they were photographed laughing and flipping off photographers.  Then, using  false names, they persuaded a sympathetic-to-illegals charity to give them bus transportation to California, where they will receive “free health  care, housing, food subsidies, scholarships for illegal aliens in Gavin Newsom’s $ 68-billion-in-the-red state.”  Confronted by a reporter concerning the no-bail policy for illegal criminals, New York's Governor Kathy Hochul suggested they be deported, contrary to sanctuary cities in both states. 

Questioned why he chose to arrest and demand $100,000 bail for Daniel Perry, who saved a subway car full of passengers from a violent man threatening them, while at the same time seeking no bail for illegals who beat up cops, Bragg said he lacked evidence to hold them, this despite all the passengers who supported Penny and thanked him, and the assault of law enforcement officers being on videotape. The message is this -- in Bragg’s NYC jurisdiction, we’re going to allow people to brutally attack you with little consequence, and you dare not defend against that.

A congressional aide engaged in anal intercourse in a Capitol hearing room, videotaped it, and made it public. The U.S. Capitol Police declined to charge him, though imprisoned Jacob Chansley and most of the other January 6 defendants engaged in no misuse of government property when they walked through rope lines in the Capitol and engaged in friendly exchanges with the Capitol Police while there. Instead of prosecuting felonies in the District of Columbia, the U.S. attorney for D.C. is still directing massive amounts of manpower to track down January 6 trespassers who reside around the country to prosecute them.

The District of Columbia is the site now of a really horrendous crime wave, including many brutal carjackings. The D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb claims we can’t stop this by arresting the young men engaged in these crimes.

Fani Willis, who seeks to convict Donald Trump under some notion of RICO, now admits that she has a “personal relationship” with the man she hired to prosecute the case, a man with no experience in such prosecutions. Her paramour’s friends bankrolled her campaign and, in return, received lucrative contracts, and she is charged with having misused federal funds.

Iran and UNRWA

Either Biden is stupid or he thinks we are. After repeated aggression by Iranian proxies, including the killing of three U.S. servicemen and women, the Administration said it was going to take countermeasures. It announced six days before acting where it was targeting and unsurprisingly, by the time it did so, the targets certainly had moved to safety. This is in line with its policies of giving Iran a free pass.

While Robert Malley was placed under FBI investigation and was removed from office as Biden’s Iran envoy, the administration has not deviated from the never-disclosed policy he set in 2016 while he was with the non-governmental agency, the International Crisis Group -- a Memorandum of Understanding with the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Biden will not enforce sanctions against Iran, has instituted no arms embargo against Iranian drone purchases, and has not interfered while Iran builds up its nuclear arsenal. Those drones Iran purchased are apparently the very ones the Iranian proxy Houthis are firing at vessels in the Red Sea. We keep announcing that we are shooting down those drones, but it’s a costly “victory.” The drones are worth about $50 thousand each, and the cost of destroying them before they damage our ships is in the millions. Certainly, reason suggests it’s time to destroy the drone launch pads and launchers and abandon Malley’s plan.

As to UNRWA, in the face of its proven collaboration with Hamas and participation in the attacks on Israel, a significant number of countries and the European Union have announced suspension of further contributions to the organization. Biden did as well. But -- hold on a minute -- we only suspended $300,000 of our contributions. So far this year, we have contributed $121 million dollars to UNRWA, doubtless a good deal of it after October 7. Remember, Trump suspended contributions to UNRWA, and Biden reinstated them.

The Great Afghan Folly

Regarding our disastrous fast-footing out of Afghanistan, leaving a fortune in military equipment behind, a new Department of Defense IG report indicates that, in 2022 and 2023, we spent a total of $5.1 billion in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to house, feed, transport, and resettle Afghan evacuees, and here’s the kicker: the beneficiary of all our labors, lost troops, and fortune expended in Afghanistan will be – guess who -- China.

“The Taliban has asked to join China’s Belt & Road initiative and has already signed contracts with China allowing the Communist regime to drill for oil and gas in Afghanistan and to mine lithium and copper in the mineral-rich country” per a Pentagon IG report.“ 

I wish, like Alice, we could all realize this was some kind of weird dream, but I know it isn’t.

13 GOP Governors Join Abbott at the Border, Vowing to End Joe Biden's Destructive Policies

Sarah Arnold reporting for Townhall 

Red states are staying committed to putting an end to President Joe Biden's disastrous border crisis, vowing to defy the administration's orders "as long as it takes" to secure the U.S. 

On Sunday, 13 Republican governors joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) for a press conference at Shelby Park as the conflict between the Biden Administration over border security continues. 

"America's Governors have banded together to make one thing clear: Texas has the right to protect & defend our border," Abbott wrote on X. "We will NOT tolerate this invasion the Biden Admin's open border policies enabled. President Biden — it is your turn now to enforce the law & secure the border."

The Republican Governors who joined Abbott include Brian Kemp (Georgia), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Arkansas), Jeff Landry (Louisiana), Mike Parson (Missouri), Greg Gianforte (Montana), Jim Pillen (Nebraska), Chris Sununu (New Hampshire), Tate Reeves (Mississippi), Brad Little (Idaho), Eric Holcomb (Indiana), Kim Reynolds (Iowa), Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Bill Lee (Tennessee), and Spencer Cox (Utah).

Abbott and the Democratic Party have been at heads for several months after the governor has repeatedly shipped illegal migrants from Texas to Left-wing sanctuary cities across the country. 

The group stood in front of Texas state military vehicles, steps away from shipping containers and razor wire that blocked access to the park near the Southern border. 

"We can relinquish control of it tomorrow if Joe Biden were to step up and do exactly what we're doing here and stop people from crossing the border illegally," Abbott said. 

The governor stressed that rank-and-file agents have committed relationships with the Texas National Guard and will do everything in their power to stem the flow of aliens from entering the U.S. illegally "in the midst of this catastrophe that the Biden Admin has unleashed on America." 

Sanders told reporters that Arkansas will continue to execute her state's National Guard and do everything it can to stop Biden's failed border policies until the federal government does its job. 

Putin Interview? Intense Speculation As Tucker Carlson Is Spotted in Moscow

Ben Kew reporting for RedState 

Is Tucker Carlson getting ready to interview Vladimir Putin?

Carlson, who is now free to interview whoever he so chooses following his departure from Fox News last year, reportedly arrived in Moscow earlier this week and was spotted at the capital's Bolshoi Theater. 

The image led to intense speculation across the X social media platform as to what Carlson might be doing in Russia, particularly given that it has become more difficult for Americans to obtain visas to enter the country. 

"Tucker Carlson is in Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin," Kim Dotcom wrote on the X platform, despite providing no evidence for his claim.

"Uncensored on X. The US deep state and the Biden administration must be in panic mode because Putin (the most censored man in the West) will expose their propaganda and lies."

Also weighing in was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who declared that Democrats were fearing the prospect of Tucker conducting such an interview: 

Democrats and their propagandists in the media are spasming at the prospect of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin.

They feel entitled to the position of gatekeeper and believe they are the ones who tell you what to think and believe. They HATE when someone like Tucker goes “off script”. We have a free press in this country and its people like Tucker Carlson who we depend on to speak the truth!

"If Tucker really does interview Putin - it's going to break the internet," added the popular X MAGA personality Catturd. 

Other accounts pointed out that many mainstream media personalities, including Barbara Walters and Charlie Rose, have interviewed Putin over the years. 

Carlson, meanwhile, has never held back in expressing his skepticism about the West's approach to Putin and Russia. In 2019, he even admitted that he was rooting for Russia in the conflict between the two countries.

"Why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia?" he said at the time. "I'm serious. Why shouldn't I root for Russia? Which by the way I am."

Is This Why Biden Is Ditching a Super Bowl Interview?

Matt Vespa reporting for Townhall 

President Joe Biden is turning down a prime opportunity to sell his record and agenda. Biden won’t be sitting down for an interview during the Super Bowl. It’s not the first time, and there are no complaints here, but didn’t we hear Vice President Kamala Harris incredulously declare that the administration’s approval numbers are in the toilet because—and please forgive me—it’s due to them not taking enough credit? Those wondrous achievements include high inflation, a world on the brink of all-out war, and an economy stuck in the mud. And we have this fiasco at the southern border, which Biden doesn’t want to bother with for a litany of reasons, not least being that he’s salty over Congress hitting the brakes on the Ukraine aid gravy train.

Last year is one thing, but it’s an election year. Passing up these chances, where millions are tuning into the biggest NFL game of the season, is usually considered political campaign malpractice. Guy had a simple explanation for why Biden isn’t doing an interview: his handlers don’t trust him to be cogent enough to make it through it. There’s also fear that he could short-circuit like Mitch McConnell, exposing the president yet again to questions about his health and fitness for office (via Variety):

An interview with the U.S. President in the hours before the Super Bowl has become a tradition in recent decades. Now that custom seems to be in danger of dying out. 

President Joe Biden will not take part in an exchange during the pre-game festivities leading up to CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, CBS News confirmed. The Paramount Global news operation had been in discussions with the White House in recent weeks. Details about which correspondent might have been eyed for the assignment could not be learned, but the CBS News offer was believed to have been for a 15-minute interview, three or four minutes of which would have aired during the network’s pre-game coverage. 

This will mark the second year in a row that President Biden has turned down the opportunity, which typically draws an audience of tens of millions, even in the hours before kickoff. President Biden also declined to speak to a news correspondent from Fox News Channel last year. Announcements about a Super Bowl interview with the president are usually finalized five or more days ahead of the event. 

“We hope viewers enjoy watching what they tuned in for — the game,” said Ben LaBolt, a White House spokesman. 

But the decision may be seen as an intriguing one, particularly as candidates ramp up for the 2024 presidential election. Viewers might have been interested in hearing President Biden talk about recent U.S. strikes on Iranian forces in Syria and Iraq in response to the killing of three American soldiers in Jordan; his views on the Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump; or even whether he hoped for a win by the Kansas City Chiefs or the San Francisco 49ers. 

The publication added that turning down Fox News is one thing, but Biden seemingly had a good relationship with CBS News. Even if it sounds good on paper, the ‘COVID protocol’ of keeping Biden away doesn’t work anymore. The pandemic is over. Voters can and should expect the president of the United States to run his re-election effort with fervor and be present at multiple public events. Joe has no excuse, and this game of hiding from the media only highlights concerns about his age and mental health, which we all know isn’t good. 

Will Biden be healthy enough to make it through a debate? Will Democrats try to replace him on the convention floor later this year if things look grim? How long can this White House defend Joe hiding in the basement when everything no longer abides by COVID protocols? 

Joe is too old, and this Weekend and Bernie’s game will blow up in the Democrats’ faces, as with any major initiative over the past four years.

(FLASHBACK) 1 of CBS's best articles on Hetty 💪

 

Yeah, there were actually days when CBS posted whole articles on their website on NCIS LA's best qualities, and just to promote an episode. And as such, they even did a couple of articles on Hetty!

This 1 is 1 of my favorites. Unfortunately, the link to it is right now, not working for me. But thankfully, I had copied and pasted the whole thing elsewhere for such a case! And as such, here it is in full length:

-----------------------

12 Reasons Hetty is an Action Hero:

There’s no question that Hetty is a woman of many talents — she’s feisty, intelligent, and hilarious. So, it’s not surprising that she’s a total action star as well.

1. She’s got excellent Segway driving skills.

2. And she’s got a reputation for being quite the hot tamale

(We’d love to see that.)’

3. She may be much smaller than the rest of the team, but that doesn’t stop her from cycling circles around them at the gym.

4. She’s an Olympic medalist for small bore rifle shooting.

(And she sure has a stellar shot.)

5. Her steady hand isn’t just saved for shooting, though. Hetty used to be a pilot, and she knows how to steer a boat.

6. Did we mention she’s feisty? Yeah, grown men tremble at her threats because they know she follows through.

7. She has familial ties with the notorious mobster Comescu clan, who have made attempts to take her life.

(Sorry, Alexa. You should have known better than to mess with Hetty.)

8. Even her dating life is action-packed!

(Frank Sinatra? George Hamilton? Ooh-la-la, Hetty!)

9. Somewhere in between dates and stunts, Hetty managed to rule an entire country for three days.

10. Hetty’s even got a secret passageway in her house, just in case she needs to make a speedy escape.

11. She’s fearless and practices what she preaches. Who jumps out of a window? Hetty does.

12. She lives dangerously, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh, Hetty. You truly are an action hero.

Houthi Militants Promise Further 'Escalation' After the U.S. Launched Retaliatory Strikes

Sarah Arnold reporting for Townhall 

Houthi militants are warning of further "escalation" in response to the United States and the United Kingdom launching additional strikes in Yemen on Sunday.

According to the Pentagon, the strikes buried weapons, storage facilities, missile systems, launchers, and other capabilities the Houthis have used to attack Red Sea shipping. 

A spokesperson for the Iran-backed militant group has vowed to continue its attack on regional trade "no matter the sacrifices it costs us." 

"The US-British coalition's bombing of a number of Yemeni provinces will not change our position, and we affirm that our military operations against Israel will continue until the crimes of genocide in Gaza are stopped and the siege on its residents is lifted, no matter the sacrifices it costs us," Houthi spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti wrote on X. "Our war is moral, and if we had not intervened to support the oppressed in Gaza, humanity would not have existed among humans. The American-British aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered, and we will meet escalation with escalation." 

The strikes are the latest efforts to ramp up conflict that has spread into the Middle East since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. 

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the U.S. intends to launch more strikes and take additional action in an effort "to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked when our people are killed."

Sullivan also refused to rule out the possibility of carrying out strikes within Iran anytime soon. 

"The president has approached this with a straightforward principle, which is that the United States will step up and respond when our forces are attacked. And the United States also is not looking for a wider war in the Middle East. We are not looking to take the United States to war. So we are going to continue to pursue a policy that goes down both of those lines simultaneously, that responds with force and clarity, as we did on Friday night, but also that continues to hew to an approach that does not get the United States pulled into a war, that we have seen too frequently in the Middle East," he added. 

The Yemen strikes come as the U.S. retaliated against the region over the killing of three American soldiers in a drone strike by Iran-backed operatives on an outpost in Jordan a week ago.