Operation Harris for President Is One of the Shadiest in Media History

David Harsanyi reporting for Townhall 

The past month has likely been the most eventful in American political history. Yet the two top officials of the most powerful nation in the world won't answer any genuine questions.

Three weeks have passed since Joe Biden was pushed out of the 2024 presidential race over deteriorating physical and mental abilities, and he has yet to publicly clarify with any specificity why he took this unprecedented step -- or why, if he's incapable of campaigning for the presidency, he's fit to serve out his term in the White House.

Then again, not one journalist in the corporate or legacy media has explained how Biden's obvious senility could turn from a democracy-corroding MAGA misinformation operation into an accepted reality in a single day.

If they were fooled for three years, how can we trust them? If they weren't fooled, and they didn't tell us, how can we trust them?

Well, we can't. Because they're back at it.

The Democrats' new presidential candidate, who has never won a single primary vote, might have been crowned but hasn't given a real interview or even an extemporaneous political statement since Democrat bigwigs pushed Biden aside. In a functioning liberal "democracy," this would be pretty big news.

The last time the vice president of the United States had a press conference was December 2023. The last time she sat down with any media was June 24, when she was interviewed by the sycophants on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Before that was the "Momala" Harris interview with Drew Barrymore, which might be the most cringeworthy display of fawning in recorded history.

"What is the incentive for her [to take more questions]?" a person close to Kamala Harris' campaign told Politico recently. "She's getting out exactly the message she wants to get out."

Indeed, it's quite the paradox. The media continue to baby Harris and get her message out to the public, so Harris doesn't feel the least bit of urgency in clarifying her record.

If they were so inclined, the navel-gazing media could probably get Harris out of her shell by doing some honest deep dives into her history and positions. If her lack of transparency were a daily top-of-the-fold story, she would be compelled to speak.

Say what you will about Donald Trump, but he's done scores of interviews and pressers over the past few months, many of them with antagonistic venues -- including taking questions at the National Association of Black Journalists convention just weeks after surviving an assassination attempt.

Harris hasn't spoken to a hostile outlet in years. She won't even take questions from her fans.

Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, is compelled to answer questions about a throwaway comment he made on a podcast before he was even in the Senate. Harris just sends her minions to walk back major policy positions that would fundamentally affect every American. She staked out these radical positions only a few years earlier while running for the same office. Harris isn't triangulating her views for a general election; she is effectively negating an entire political history through press releases.

Harris, for instance, says she no longer supports banning all air travel, meat and combustible engines. That's nice. Harris says she no longer believes in decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Good. The media treat her new claims as indisputable. No questions asked. No explanations given.

Is Harris still going to try to ban semiautomatic rifles through an executive order? Does she believe all Americans should "end up in the same place" no matter how hard they work? Does she support defunding the police? We have no clue.

Most of the media hackery is driven by partisanship. Some of it is also driven by access. There are practical concerns for journalists. Any reporters who truly challenge Harris are sure to find themselves on the outs. This is why we need a press, not just an outlet, to take their professional responsibility seriously. Because right now, they don't.

Instead, the same people who gaslit the nation, concealing the brittle state of the president for years -- not just an abdication of their profession but of their responsibility as citizens -- are now ensuring that voters won't be subjected to Harris' swirling, mind-bending tautologies and nonsensical stories.

And I'd thank them for it ... if she weren't running for president.

X22, On the Fringe, and more- August 16

 

Trump and Jack Smith Gird for Confrontation Over Immunity, Upping the Pressure on ‘Presidents Are Not Kings’ Judge Chutkan

 The justices, clearly displeased with how the case has been handled so far, could yet weigh in again.

When Judge Tanya Chutkan next month presides over a conference of lawyers representing President Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith, it will be her first hearing in the case since the Supreme Court served her with a stinging rebuke.

Judge Chutkan, who was appointed to the district court bench by President Obama, ruled that former presidents are not entitled to immunity for acts undertaken while in office. She memorably refused Trump, and any other president past or future, the “divine right of kings” once enjoyed by the likes of George III. While  overseeing the trial of a January 6 protester, she declared, “Presidents are not kings,” a reference to Trump.

Indeed, the judge, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, has handled more than 30 cases relating to the events of January 6, 2021. A study by the Washington Post found that she imposed the harshest sentences for the riot of any judge assigned to mete out punishment. She also, in 2021, denied Trump’s motion to keep records from being released to the January 6th Committee. That was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Those jurists also agreed with Judge Chutkan that Trump was entitled to no immunity with respect to Mr. Smith’s indictment. The high court, though, overruled both the district and the appellate court. Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion did not endorse her invocation of the Mad King, taking issue with her “expedition of this case, the lack of factual analysis … and the absence of pertinent briefing.” Judge Chutkan had indicated earlier this year that she planned to vacation in August.

That kind of language is rare, even when a higher court reverses a lower one, and suggests that the justices disapproved of how she handled the immunity issue in her courtroom. The D.C. Circuit, too, allowed the case to pursue an expedited course. The high court, though, rejected Mr. Smith’s petition for the “extraordinary” remedy of rendering a judgment before the circuit court ruled. Mr. Smith argued that such an accelerated schedule was “of imperative public importance.” 

Now, the Supreme Court has sent the case back to Judge Chutkan “to determine in the first instance — with the benefit of briefing we lack — whether Trump’s conduct in this area qualifies as official or unofficial.” Judge Chutkan and the D.C. Circuit will embark on the case’s next phase with the knowledge that the high court expects a different process than the one that has unfolded so far.

That process will begin on September 5, and it will involve a “mini trial.” This could include the questioning of witnesses and presentation of evidence. The rulings that Judge Chutkan makes relating to the official scope of Trump’s acts will be appealable to the D.C. Circuit, and possibly to the Supreme Court. That’s because the high court ruled that issues of immunity are all to be decided before the jury  trial begins. 

While the justices remind Judge Chutkan that they amount to a “a court of final review and not first view,” they do deign to give her “guidance” over how to clarify the question of immunity that has upended the January 6 prosecution. Chief Justice Roberts writes that the “necessary analysis is instead fact specific, requiring assessment of numerous alleged interactions with a wide variety of state officials and private persons.” 

Judge Chutkan, though, appears to have lost none of her predilection for dispatch. As soon as the case was returned to her courtroom, she denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the prosecution as “selective and vindictive.” She also set a brisk briefing schedule, with the September 5 conference initially assigned to this month. It was Mr. Smith, in what he calls “consultation with other components of the Justice Department” — possibly Attorney General Garland — who requested a delay. Trump obliged. 

One clue that Judge Chutkan could be heeding the Supreme Court’s mandate could be a gnomic order handed down on Thursday, “granting in part and denying in part the Government’s Motion to Strike Defendant’s CIPA Section 5 Notice. This Opinion and Order is classified and under seal.” The reference is to the Classified Information Procedures Act, which governs how secret documents are used at trial. 

Judge Chutkan’s order means that she is allowing Trump’s request to use some classified documents in his defense, but not others. CIPA was at the center of Mr. Smith’s other prosecution of the 45th president, for storing documents at Mar-a-Lago. The charges in that case were dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon after finding that Mr. Smith was unconstitutionally appointed by Mr. Garland. The special counsel has appealed, and that issue, too, could soon reach the Supreme Court.      

 https://www.nysun.com/article/trump-and-jack-smith-gird-for-confrontation-over-immunity-upping-the-pressure-on-presidents-are-not-kings-judge-chutkan

A.R. HOFFMAN

Mr. Hoffman is an associate editor of the Sun, where he covers politics and culture. He holds a PhD from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.

Ten Things to Know About Tim Walz and His Ties to Communist China

Walz would not be the first politician bought by the CCP, but he should be the last. His close ties to the CCP should disqualify him from office.

by Sasha Gong & Bradley A. Thayer for American Greatness

Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential candidate seems to be a case of ideological birds of a feather flocking together. In the wake of the selection, Walz has received considerable criticism for his deception and dissembling regarding his military service. He merits equally great criticism for his ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Here are ten things that you did not know about Tim Walz and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

First, Walz claimed that he was in the PRC during the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre. One of the authors interviewed him in 2014 when he made this statement, and he later repeated the same falsehood to the media. In reality, Walz did not enter China until September 1989, several months after the massacre. He entered China from Hong Kong as part of the WorldTeach program, which was sponsored by the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID). HIID was known for being very pro-PRC and had trained many high-ranking Chinese officials. Later, HIID received many millions of dollars from the PRC.

Second, Walz claimed that he went to the PRC in 1989 because it was a rising country. However, China was not rising at that time. In fact, it was still extremely impoverished. The PRC’s rise occurred in the mid-1990s and especially after 2001 when it joined the World Trade Organization. After the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Chinese government was desperate to recruit foreigners to come to the country. A few did to show support for the communist regime.

Third, the Chinese gave Walz the name “Tian Hua.” Walz misrepresented its meaning by saying it reflected his kindness. In reality, there is no such implication in Chinese. “Tian” means “field,” and “Hua” means “China.” The accurate translation of “Tian Hua” is “the fields of China.”

Fourth, in 2014, Walz explained why he went to the PRC during that critical time: “I felt it was more important than ever to go, to make sure that story was told, and to let the Chinese people know we were standing there, we were with them.” This was clearly a lie. After the massacre, the CCP launched a political crackdown that permeated the PRC and it remains a taboo issue. Hundreds of thousands of people were imprisoned, and no one could even mention the bloody event without risking arrest. Walz would not have been able to say a word to his students unless he wanted to get himself and them into serious trouble. In fact, according to Tim Walz himself, he fell in love with that China, that is, with the CCP’s form of tyrannical and illegitimate rule over the Chinese people.

Fifth, it is well known that after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Chinese authorities—including the Ministry for State Security, the United Front, and other spy agencies—made concerted efforts to woo every foreigner in the PRC—especially Americans—by showering them with gifts and praise with the promise of more to come. Walz mentioned that he received so many gifts that he could not bring them all back to the U.S. At that time, China was a very poor country, with the average income of a Chinese worker being less than $20 per month. Moreover, it was somewhat dangerous for ordinary Chinese citizens to get too close to foreigners, particularly Americans. The Chinese government did not fully resume its open-door policy until 1992, long after Walz had left.

Sixth, Walz chose June 4 as his wedding day in 1994, which is extremely unusual. Even ordinary Chinese people would avoid selecting that bloody day for celebrations, as it is considered bad luck. The only reason someone might choose that day would be to show submission to the Chinese government by celebrating the crackdown. In Chinese symbolic tradition, this could be seen as a pledge of loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Seventh, before his honeymoon, Walz launched a company called Educational Travel Adventures, which specialized in bringing American students to China. An article in the local Chinese media reported that he and his bride brought 50 students from America. The company continued to send students to China until 2003. It is important to note that operating a business in China requires all kinds of permits—both official and unofficial—from Chinese authorities at the local, provincial, and central levels. These permits were typically obtained either by paying bribes or by securing endorsements, whether tacit or open, from government officials. For foreigners, the MSS would certainly have been involved. That is as certain as the sun rising in the east.

Eighth, education is one of the most closely monitored activities in the PRC. To operate a business like his, Walz would have needed at least one local partner, if not several, and those partners would have been sanctioned by State Security. There is no way around it. However, Walz has never mentioned any such partnership. After carefully searching Chinese websites, we were not able to find any records, which is very unusual. Typically, local Chinese media would boast about large groups of foreign students visiting and about Americans who loved China. An educated guess would be that such records were completely wiped after Walz entered politics.

Ninth, it is likely that possible partners of Walz’s company in the United States would be local Confucius Institutes and CTG Travel, which is PRC-owned. In the PRC, they would be local or central offices of the United Front Department, the Department of Education, the Communist Youth League, and universities and colleges. These partners underscore strong ties to the CCP.

Tenth, there likely are many more shoes to drop when it comes to Walz’s relationship with the PRC and CCP. It was a longstanding relationship. It is a certainty that the CCP expects something in return for their investment in Walz. The American people deserve to know the who, what, where, why, and when of Walz’s relationship with the PRC. Walz would not be the first politician bought by the CCP, President Biden, his family, and associates have received many scores of millions of dollars from PRC entities. But Walz should be the last. His close ties to the CCP alone should disqualify him from office.

🎭 𝐖𝟑𝐏 𝓓𝓐𝓘𝓛𝓨 𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓻, 𝓜𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬, 𝓐𝓻𝓽, 𝓞𝓟𝓔𝓝 𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓓

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Jordanian National Who Threatened to 'Explode Everything in America' Arrested in Florida

Ward Clark reporting for RedState 

Sometimes one gets tired of repeating one's self, but it just has to be done, and I've been saying for years about our republic's lax immigration enforcement that there are too many people coming in unscreened, unvetted, that we have very little idea what many of them are here for, where they intend to go, and what they intend to do when they get there. Now, in an illustration of this (although in this case the perp's immigration status is not mentioned), a Jordanian national has been arrested for threatening to carry out explosives attacks on unnamed targets as well as carrying out a destructive attack on an energy facility.

Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, a Jordanian citizen residing in Orlando, Florida, is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility. At his detention hearing yesterday, Hnaihen was ordered detained pending trial.

“We allege that the defendant threatened to carry out hate-fueled mass violence in our country, motivated in part by a desire to target businesses for their perceived support of Israel,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Such acts and threats of violence, whether they are targeting the places that Americans frequent every day or our country’s critical infrastructure, are extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated by the Justice Department.”

So, we know this goblin's motivation and what he was threatening to do. What's more, later in the Justice Department's press release, we find that he's been committing crimes and issuing threats for the same reason before the attack on the power plant.

According to court documents, beginning around June 2024, Hnaihen targeted and attacked businesses in the Orlando area for their perceived support for Israel. Wearing a mask, under the cover of night, Hnaihen smashed the glass front doors of businesses and left behind “Warning Letters.”

In his letters, which were addressed to the United States government, Hnaihen laid out a series of political demands, culminating in a threat to “destroy or explode everything here in whole America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel.”

And as far as his attack on the energy facility, it was plainly planned; this was not an impulse crime.

At the end of June, as law enforcement worked to identify the masked attacker, Hnaihen broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, and spent hours systematically destroying solar panel arrays. He smashed panels, cut wires, and targeted critical electronic equipment. Hnaihen left behind two more copies of his threatening demand letter. Hnaihen is believed to have caused more than $700,000 in damage.

To "target critical electronic equipment," he must have some idea what he was looking for to destroy, and that implies forethought and research.

So, this guy has a history of this kind of hate. In Florida. He's a citizen of Jordan, not the United States, but somehow, he's still in the Sunshine State. Somehow, he was allowed into the United States, which raises questions as to how much screening was done on this miscreant.

---

Defense Official With Frequent White House Visits and Known Iranian Ties Has a Link to Kamala Harris

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As should surprise no one, I have some questions.

First: Why in the Sam Hill has this guy not been deported? He has been charged and will now be tried here for the acts of destruction and the attack on the solar energy facility, and if found guilty, he will serve time for it. But why was he here in the first place? Is he on a student visa? A tourist visa? Is he here legally? How did he get here? Why was he allowed in?

Second: Will he be tried under any federal hate crimes rules? I'm not a fan of hate crimes laws, as adding the additional crime of BadThink to an actual, physical crime doesn't make a lot of sense, but if those laws are on the books, it sure seems like they would apply here - or will they not, since the perp is a Muslim and the intended victims were either Jews or people who have sympathy for Jews?

Hnaihen faces 10 years for each threat offense and 20 years for the attempt on the energy facility. If he's convicted. Still, the American people deserve some more answers than this - specifically, we deserve to know how he got here and why he came here in the first place.

It's not just the borders that are a mess - our entire immigration system is broken, in that it allows in people like Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen. In this case, we found out too late what he intended to do. Fortunately, no people were hurt or killed. Next time, we may not be quite so lucky.

Everything The Biden-Harris Administration Doesn’t Want You To Know About Its Drug Price Controls

 The Biden-Harris administration’s scheme to establish socialist-style price controls is far worse than advertised.

On Thursday, the Biden administration marked the second anniversary of the passage of the so-called Inflation (Reduction) Act (IRA) by announcing the results of the first round of “negotiations” between Medicare and pharmaceutical manufacturers. According to the announcement, Medicare will save an estimated $6 billion on the selected prescription drugs in 2026, when the price controls take effect, with seniors saving another $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs.

But as with many things in Washington, things aren’t what they appear. For starters, these “negotiations” were conducted on anything but a level playing field. As noted previously, these “negotiations” included a maximum price the government must pay — meaning price controls — with companies that do not want to participate in this rigged process facing the option of taxes of up to 1,900 percent of the revenue of the products in question or dropping out of the Medicare and Medicaid programs entirely.

To put it bluntly, “the program represents a ‘negotiation’ in the same way a robber ‘negotiates’ with employees at the bank.” Other elements of this process to establish socialist-style price controls make it far less ideal than advertised.

Democrats Used the Cash Grab to Fund Climate Pork

As noted, the administration claimed Medicare will save money from the “negotiations.” But where will that money go? Not to seniors, that’s for sure.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the IRA cut Medicare spending by a net $254.8 billion. That money didn’t go back into Medicare but instead funded other programs created in the law, such as myriad climate pork projects and money for 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service employees to audit taxpayers (including seniors).

The left will try to claim the law doesn’t reduce Medicare benefits, which misses the point entirely. The law takes dollars dedicated to helping seniors and instead spends that money on other totally unrelated projects. At a time the Medicare program remains functionally insolvent, Democrats’ raid actively harmed seniors by diverting dollars that could have been used to bolster the program’s solvency.

As harmful as they were, Congress’s actions in 2022 echoed what Democrat lawmakers did with Obamacare a dozen years before that and have proposed in other contexts as well: raiding Medicare to pay for other government spending. For the left, Medicare is much less a solemn obligation to seniors than it is a slush fund designed to be pillaged to expand government elsewhere.

Biden Bails Out Insurers with Taxpayer Billions

In the past few weeks, the Biden administration had to announce a “demonstration project” — i.e., government bailout — designed to “stabilize” premiums due to changes resulting from the IRA. A combination of richer benefits and structural changes in the law meant that many standalone prescription drug plans apparently submitted much higher premium proposals for next year. As a result, the administration hatched an insurer bailout to prevent massive premium hikes from landing in seniors’ mailboxes weeks before the November election.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated the bailout will cost $5 billion this year alone, just about wiping out all of this year’s supposed “savings” from the drug “negotiations.” Moreover, the “demonstration” project is scheduled to last another two years, meaning the final cost could come to $15 billion or more. 

Of course, the cost of this bailout won’t stop Democrats from spending all the supposed Medicare “savings” from the IRA on green pork, IRS agents, and other projects. Likewise, Democrats seem uninterested in the inconvenient-to-them fact that this multibillion-dollar bailout is of questionable legality.

Price Controls Will Mean Fewer Drugs

It might surprise those on the left, but companies and investors generally respond to incentives. When the federal government decides to pay less for drugs, it will get fewer drugs in the future.

Estimates vary on the degree to which the IRA’s drug pricing provisions will affect pharmaceutical research, but they don’t vary on the direction — all signs point to fewer new drugs being created. 

The Congressional Budget Office concluded that more than a dozen fewer drugs will get developed. Another independent estimate of legislation similar to the IRA put the number at well over 100. Companies have already announced ways they are scaling back investments in response to the law’s price controls because, as one CEO put it, “there will be no economic return from doing” more research.

Whether the IRA will lead to one fewer drug, 100 fewer drugs, or 1,000 fewer drugs, the drug not created is the one that could save your life. Of course, often people won’t know if the IRA prevented a treatment that could have helped them. While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want voters to believe they will get “free” savings, the American people will pay for the IRA for years to come, both in years of their lives through higher costs and lives not saved through drugs never developed.

https://thefederalist.com/2024/08/16/everything-the-biden-harris-administration-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-its-drug-price-controls/

‘Knock, Knock’: Guess Who Could Show Up at America’s Door After Venezuela’s Stolen Election

 Global demonstrations are set for tomorrow in an effort to repudiate the Cuban-trained dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelans at home and around the world tomorrow plan demonstrations to repudiate the Cuban-trained dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. Three weeks ago, by most accounts, he stole the presidential election.

With 2,400 detained protesters already filling two reopened maximum security prisons, Venezuela’s military counterintelligence service is sending an Instagram warning to anyone planning to protest tomorrow. Publicizing the agency’s “Tun Tun” or “Knock Knock” raids, a video shows last week’s arrest of protest organizer María Oropeza.

The soundtrack is from the 1984 slasher movie in which Freddy Krueger attacks children while lyrics warn: “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door.” In Caracas’ working class neighborhoods, once bastions of support for Mr. Maduro, secret police spray paint black Xes on facades of houses where dissidents live. 

On national television, Mr. Maduro calls Edmundo González, the opposition candidate who apparently won almost two thirds of the vote, “a war criminal.” He routinely calls María Corina Machado, the organizer of tomorrow’s protests, “a terrorist.”

“I demand from all the powers of state greater speed, greater efficiency, and an iron fist against crime, against violence, against hate crimes,” Mr. Maduro railed Monday. A local human rights group, Provea, says that 23 persons have died in the protests.

Yesterday, Venezuela’s government-controlled National Assembly unanimously passed a bill allowing the government to regulate more tightly non-governmental organizations. Brazil’s mediation envoy, Celso Amorim, returned from Caracas last week warning that a “very serious conflict” is possible. He told Brazil’s GloboNews: “I don’t want to use the expression civil war — but I feel very afraid.”

To hinder communications, Mr. Maduro ordered Venezuelans to delete WhatsApp, a major tool of opposition communication. He then banned X for 10 days because the owner, Elon Musk called him a “dictator” and a “clown.”

With the dictator showing a hard line, few Venezuelans put much stock in a Brazilian proposal for a coalition government, a Colombian proposal for the government and opposition to alternate terms in power, American feelers about amnesty in return for exile, or a Brazilian-American proposal for a new election.

The Biden administration quickly backed away from that last one, but not before Ms. Machado told Argentinian and Chilean reporters: “The election already happened.” She added: “Maduro must be made to know that the cost of his staying grows with each day that passes.”

Mr. Maduro’s political advisors are Cuban communists, a group that has held power for 65 years. Venezuela’s leader shows no intention of surrendering power during the five month hiatus before his January 10 inauguration for a third 6-year term. When Panama’s newly elected president, José Raúl Mulino, offered him asylum, the Venezuelan leader accused him of getting “carried away by the gringos.” Turning to reporters, he added: “I will try to learn your name, President of Panama, but whoever messes with Venezuela runs aground.”

Instead, leaders of other countries of the Americas, to Canada from Chile, are bracing for another wave of Venezuelan emigrants. During the Maduro decade, economic mismanagement was so acute that one quarter of the population — 7.7 million people — walked out. Once a rising middle class nation, Venezuela is now ranked toward the bottom in Latin America when measured socio-economic indicators.

This economic catastrophe comes to a country with the largest oil reserves in the world. In a stunning fall from grace, Venezuelans accounted for 60 percent of migrants trudging last year through the Darién Gap, a 60-mile stretch of jungle on the Colombia-Panama border. About 800,000 Venezuelans made it to the United States, making them the fastest growing Latino nationality.

With the US election November 5, Venezuelan migrants may find it increasingly difficult to open doors this fall in the United States — and across the Americas. Countries that had expected many Venezuelans to return home for a González presidency now brace for a new Venezuelan exodus.

In Colombia, first port of call for almost all Venezuelans leaving by land, visa restrictions are tightening. A generous visitor visa program expired last November, and the government is struggling to muster votes to renew it in congress.

Half a century ago, Chile abandoned its experiment with Marxism. Today, free-market Chile has a per capita income four times that of socialist Venezuela. Flooded with Venezuelan migrants, Chile last year sent its military to patrol its northern borders with Peru and Bolivia. This year, Chile’s interior ministry is buying thermal cameras to track illegal crossings across its northern desert. In 2021, an angry mob burned down a Venezuelan tent encampment in 2021.

With the half a million Venezuelans migrating to Chile came Venezuela’s largest criminal gang, Tren de Aragua. Homicides doubled in 2022 and local attitudes soured. According to pollster Cadem, the share of Chileans opposed to immigration more than doubled in five years, hitting 77 percent in 2023  from 31 percent in 2018. In a poll taken after Venezuela’s botched July 28 presidential election, 61 percent of Chilean respondents opposed more immigrants from Venezuela.

Chile has debated different approaches. A proposal to jail illegal immigrants for up to 18 months did not gain traction in congress. Officials have proposed a regional solution similar to Europe’s where countries would be allotted quotas to take in Venezuelans.

In six weeks, Mr. Maduro could get a visit from a world leader who bolsters his hold on power by exporting unhappy citizens. Russia was one of the first countries to congratulate Mr. Maduro on his “reelection.” Mexico’s president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, has invited Vladimir Putin to Mexico City for her October 1 inauguration. Mexico’s President, a Sheinbaum ally, says Mexico cannot enforce an international arrest warrant against the Russian President.

“We can’t do that,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters last week. “It’s not up to us.”

https://www.nysun.com/article/knock-knock-guess-who-will-show-up-at-americas-door-after-venezuelas-stolen-election

JAMES BROOKE

Mr. Brooke has traveled to about 100 countries reporting for the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Voice of America. He reported from Russia for eight years and from Ukraine for six years, coming home in 2021.

Not All Polls Show Kamala Harris Leading in Key Battleground States

Rebecca Downs reporting for Townhall 

The mainstream media has certainly been caught up in the excitement of polls showing Vice President Kamala Harris leading former and potentially future President Donald Trump at the national level and in battleground states. That could very well be part of a honeymoon period that is fading away, though, especially as not all polls show Harris leading.

One of the states to watch has been Michigan. This was the case even when Trump was set to face President Joe Biden before he dropped out, and looked to have better chances. This is also the case with the state's U.S. Senate race, with Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow retiring. 

Currently, RealClearPolling has Harris leading in Michigan by +2.1 over Trump. There are four polls in a row showing Harris leading there, though a Morning Consult/Bloomberg poll from last month showing her leading by +11 is rather far-fetched. Included in those polls is the AARP poll from Fabrizio/Anzalone, which shows Harris and Trump tied at 48 percent each. 

With third-party candidates included, Trump leads Harris by 45-43 percent. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr enjoys 6 percent support. 

New MICHIGAN poll by Fabrizio Ward (R) & Impact Research (D) for AARP

🟥 Trump: 48%
🟦 Harris: 48%
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🟥 Trump: 45%
🟦 Harris: 43%
🟨 RFK Jr: 6%
🟩 Stein: 1%
🟨 West: 1%
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Senate
🟦 Slotkin: 47%
🟥 Rogers: 44%
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#138 + | 8/7-11 | 600 LV | R33/D32/I35https://t.co/uBnB1KGB74 pic.twitter.com/0jSmRSbWu3

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) August 15, 2024

Broken down by demographic, Trump leads +5 with older voters ages 65 and over against just Harris, and then by +6 with other candidates. He also leads by +2 with voters over 50 in both matchups. 

Curiously, young voters, ages 18-34, make it a different race when RFK, Jr is included. In the head-to-head matchup, Trump is at -1 with such a demographic but +5 in the full matchup. 

An AARP press release highlights how this is very much a "Toss-Up" race, and that Michigan is indeed a battleground state. "Michigan is very much a toss-up state," Bob Ward, a partner with Fabrizio Ward, part of a bipartisan polling team that conducted the AARP-commissioned survey is quoted as saying. "We are seeing that older voters are going to be playing a big role here. They’re more motivated to vote than younger voters."

Another trend that looks good for Trump is that his and Harris' favorable ratings are about the same. While the vice president has a 45 percent favorable rating and a 49 percent unfavorable rating, Trump has a 46 percent favorable rating and a 50 percent unfavorable rating. While they're both at -4 among all likely voters, Harris has a -5 net favorable among those 18-49 while Trump is at a -2 net favorable. She does slightly better with voters who are 50 and over, with a -4 net favorable while he's at -5. 

Trump performs even better regarding his recalled job approval, as a majority, 52 percent, say they approve, while 47 percent disapprove. Harris is at a 50 percent disapproval level, while just 43 percent say they approve. Biden, whom the Trump-Vance campaign has rightfully tied Harris to, has an even worse approval rating, with just 41 percent saying they approve while 57 percent disapprove. 

Tellingly, Trump enjoys a higher approval rating among Republicans (+93) than either Harris (+83) or Biden (+74) do with Democrats. Trump is also even with Independents, while Harris is at -6 with the key demographic and Biden is at -22. 

The press release also has plenty to say about Independents:

Michigan was a red state that flipped to blue four years ago when Biden won it, says Paula D. Cunningham, state director of AARP Michigan. Although this poll shows “people still are exploring and researching” the candidates and their stances on issues, Cunningham says independent voters can make a difference.

“We have a large number of independent voters, almost 30 percent, and they can swing an election either way,” Cunningham says.

Michigan is considered a battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, Biden won the state by 2.8 percent — 154,000 votes. He received 50.6 percent of the vote that year, and Trump received 47.8 percent. The candidate who prevails in Michigan this November will receive 15 electoral votes toward the 270 needed to win the presidency.

Returning to Ward's comments and the matter of motivated voters, 83 percent of overall likely voters said their level of motivation is at a 10. Going back to young voters, those ages 18-34 are at the lowest of any age demographic or any demographic overall, with only 71 percent saying their level of motivation is at a 10. Eighty-eight percent of voters 50 and over say their level is at a 10, and it's 90 percent of voters 65 and over.

There's more to say about those older voters in the press release:

Interest in voting in November is high, especially among older adults. Eighty-three percent of all likely Michigan voters are “extremely motivated to vote,” a number that increases to 88 percent among voters 50-plus.

“It tells us that you can expect this year to look like past elections in which older voters have been a majority of the electorate in Michigan, and that’s why candidates need to be focused on the issues that matter to them,” says Jeff Liszt, a partner with Impact Research.

Voters 50-plus who plan to split their ticket by supporting candidates from both parties in different races also will play a key role, Liszt says. The poll shows that 43 percent of older voters plan to vote a straight Republican ticket, 41 percent of them plan to vote a straight Democratic ticket and 16 percent of them plan to split their ticket, Liszt says.

“So there are enough voters up for grabs who are over age 50 to swing the presidential race, to swing the Senate race, to swing competitive House races,” Liszt says. “A lot of races in Michigan are going to be decided by voters over 50. We also know that voters over 50 are going to be the majority of the electorate.”

When it comes to the issues that voters 50 and over care about, as their first and second choice, "Immigration and border security" comes in first at 32 percent. "Inflation and rising prices" is next at 27 percent, while "The economy and jobs" is a close third at 24 percent. Although "Threats to democracy" comes in as a close fourth with 21 percent combined for first and second choice, the 15 percent who say it's their first choice as a top first issue, at 15 percent, is second only to the 18 percent who say immigration.

There's also a separate section on "Key issues for voters 50+," such as Social Security and Medicare. As the press release summed up:

Likely voters 50-plus ranked Social Security (81 percent), Medicare (72 percent) and policies to help older adults live independently at home as they age (69 percent) as extremely important when deciding on a candidate. Also among their top concerns are the cost of utilities and prescription drugs (both 66 percent) and housing (59 percent).

Finances are top of mind for older voters in Michigan, 59 percent of whom are worried about their personal financial situation. Sixty-one percent of voters 50 and older say Social Security is or will become a major source of income for their household. The majority of older adults surveyed, 92 percent, say they would be more likely to support a candidate who ensures older workers receive their Social Security benefits.

The concern about economic issues among voters isn’t surprising, Cunningham says.

“People are either threatened by them (economic issues), or they feel like their Social Security’s not going to be there,” she says.

...

“Across the spectrum, the economy is the looming sort of issue set that voters want to hear candidates talk about,” Ward says.

It's not merely voters 50 and over who are "worried" about their financial situation, 65 percent of overall likely voters are. In fact, a majority of every demographic, and not just to do with age, is worried. The 76 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of voters 18-49 are the most likely to say so.

Speaking of the closely watched Senate race between Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, Slotkin only has a slight edge of +3 among all likely voters, 47-44 percent support. This sounds about right, considering that the forecasts range from "Toss-Up" to "Lean" or "Tilt Democrat."

The poll was conducted August 7-11 with 1,382 likely voters. The poll noted that this "includes a statewide representative sample of 600 likely voters, an oversample of 470 likely voters age 50 and older, and an additional oversample of 312 Black likely voters age 50 and older... The margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level for the 600 statewide sample is ±4.0%; for the 800 total sample of voters 50+ is ±3.5%; for the 400 total sample of Black voters 50+ is ±4.9%."