New Polling: Amid all National Civic and Political Institutions U.S. News Media are Least Trusted

It should not come as a surprise given the volume of examples that have been presented in the last several years; however, according to Gallup polling, amid all the top national civic and political institutions the United States “news media” is now the least trusted institution of all.

[Citation]

The alarming statistic is really that -post COVID- 31% of Americans still trusts news media.  I would surmise that if a similar poll was done on professions, teachers, nurses and healthcare workers would also be at the lower end of the scale.

That said, this really is not a surprise if you have ever interacted at a high level outside the USA.  Internationally, thanks in part to the traveling USA press corps who have showcased their ideological attributes to a host of foreign audiences, the entire world now view the USA media apparatus as various shades of something akin to Baghdad Bob.

If you think that a cognitively compromised USA President parading around the world as a blithering fool, while the USA media openly pretended he was functional, does not have some significant impact on global views, you are mistaken.  The entire world sees Joe Biden as he is, not as the media pretended him to be.

Think Christopher Columbus Was A Good Guy? Think Again!

 

Another Columbus Day has come and gone, along with the annual tradition of different groups of people debating Christopher Columbus's place in history and whether he was a hero to be celebrated or the perpetrator of horrible acts. You may have heard allegations that Columbus did bad things, but you haven't heard the half of it.

Through extensive historical research, The Babylon Bee has compiled the following list of atrocities committed by the so-called "good guy" Christopher Columbus:

1. Smiled at the first Indian he saw: A clear microaggression.

2. He was a Christian: Need we say more?

3. Founded the city of Columbus, Ohio: A less-forgivable sin will be challenging to find.

4. Directed Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief: Not only that, but some accuse him of also directing Home Alone 2: Lost in New York… which shot evil fascist Donald Trump to superstardom.

5. Shares the same first name as Christopher Walken: The one who betrayed House Atreides by illegally deploying Sardaukar forces to support House Harkonnen's coup of Arrakis.

6. Sent 50,000 Indians to their deaths in the pumpkin spice mines: Some say they're all still stuck there working every fall.

7. Created the Electoral College: This seemingly insignificant act would one day destroy democracy.

8. He tricked the Indians by trading them a jar of shiny beads he got at HomeGoods in exchange for bars of gold: He knew that the Indian woman, like all other females, could not resist the lure of HomeGoods.

9. Opened up the first Starbucks the week after he arrived: This put all the mom & pop Indian coffee joints out of business.

10. He threw a huge wrench in the Indians' whole human sacrifice operation: How dare you, Columbus?

As you can see, Columbus was not the guy you heard about in school. His horrible acts of unleashing civilization, cultural advancement, and the spread of Christianity to the Western Hemisphere should never be forgiven.

https://babylonbee.com/news/think-christopher-columbus-was-a-good-guy-think-again-here-are-the-10-worst-atrocities-he-committed

Fani Willis Begs Appeals Court to Reinstate Charges Against Trump

AP Photo/John Bazemore

Fulton County DA Fani Willis is reportedly requesting that the Georgia Court of Appeals reinstate six criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his allies in the sprawling 2020 election interference case after a judge had dismissed the slew of felony counts.

In a brief filed Tuesday, the Democrat district attorney's office asked the appellate court to overturn Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee's dismissal decision issued in March, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. McAfee, who's presiding over the criminal proceedings, previously ruled that the state was not specific enough in the charging documents for the Trump co-defendants to be able to adequately defend themselves.

Willis is arguing that the indictment "more than sufficiently placed [Trump and his co-defendants] on notice of the conduct at issue and allowed them to prepare an intelligent defense to the charges," adding that it "included an abundance of context and factual allegations about the solicitations at issue, including when the requests were made, to whom the requests were made and the manner in which the requests were made."

"The brief filed by DA Fani Willis is simply incorrect on the law," Trump's lead defense attorney, Steve Sadow, said in a statement shared with Townhall. "The trial court's dismissal order properly decided that the State failed to sufficiently plead the allegations in the dismissed counts under Georgia law."

The six counts in question accuse the Trump party of felony solicitation:

The grand jury indictment originally contained 41 felony counts. There are now 32 counts remaining, including eight against Trump, which is down from the 13 initially filed. This includes the two counts tossed out last month; it was determined that Willis did not have the authority to bring those charges, which related to the alleged filing of false documents in federal court.

The Trump case has been in a state of limbo since the summer when the appeals court agreed to consider whether Willis should be kicked off the case. Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard on that matter in December, a month after the presidential election, by a panel of GOP-appointed judges. Willis initially tried to take Trump to trial before Election Day.

Federal Employees Are Making Life Plans After Being Fired if Trump Wins – And Man, Is It Glorious

Rusty Weiss reporting for Redstate 

A recent report chronicles the struggles of a handful of federal employees as they learn to cope with the reality that Donald Trump just might win the election.

It is unintentionally one of the funniest things you're going to read this election cycle.

POLITICO covered the group heralding from various government agencies as they came to terms with the fact that their jobs might be on the line if Trump defeats Kamala Harris. They suggest a new administration would be "vindictive" and eliminate their jobs. As such, they prep for the inevitability.

A large portion of these federal workers are fleeing the EPA, transferring to departments that won't be as target-rich for a Trump administration eager to eliminate waste and over-spending.

But the outlet also gets down into the weeds, noting one couple who is being forced to put off buying a new car and making home renovations because they're worried about their jobs.

Now look, I'm not one to relish in anybody's misery. But the POLITICO piece has all the vibes of this group ...

I have friends who are federal workers. They would acknowledge the bloat in various government agencies. It's nothing personal. But man, this article is glorious. It needs to be injected directly into my veins.

It's practically an ad in the making for the Trump campaign.

“We have stopped doing any money-spending things because what if we’re without jobs in the next year?” one Interior employee tells POLITICO. “We need all the savings we can get.”

Gosh, that really resonates with the average American who has had to 'stop doing money-spending things' for four years, just so they could afford gas to drive to their two jobs and then pick up a scaled-down list of groceries that their family has to ration on the way home.

That couple, by the way, no longer feels confident in buying a new car or making home repairs. Sad. How many of you have put that off during this administration's evisceration of the American worker's paycheck?

“We’re both feeling the heaviness of this right now," they state.

Words are peppered throughout the column that capture the mood of those who suddenly feel like their livelihoods might be on the chopping block. 

Panic. Distraught. Fear. Doom and gloom ... literally.

“They’re so vindictive, I can see them going back through E&E News articles and saying, ‘You’re fired,’” one employee worries.

Seems a handful of federal employees can now relate to those who lost their jobs during the pandemic. Who were threatened with being - or actually were - fired if they didn't submit to the needle.

To quote Officer John McClane from "Die Hard" - Welcome to the party, pal.

Through it all, though, one can rest assured that the sacrifice these federal employees might have to make pales in comparison to the overall picture. You guessed it - the threat to democracy.

“People are worried, but anybody who has half a brain is existentially afraid for the safety of democracy,” an employee at the National Science Foundation says.

Oh, the self-imagined heroism. Funny you should mention half a brain. 

Perhaps the fear isn't so much that Trump will be vindictive but rather, that he will hold federal employees accountable. Does anybody at the EPA or the Interior or State Departments remember what that word means?

Early on in the campaign, the former president announced a new part of his plan to drain the swamp and take on the entrenched federal bureaucracy: requiring all federal employees to pass a Civil Service test to prove their understanding of the United States Constitution.

“I will require every federal employee to pass a new Civil Service test demonstrating an understanding of our Constitutional limited government,” Trump said.

He added: 

This will include command of due process rights, equal protection, Free Speech, religious liberty, federalism, the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure — I know all about that at Mar-a-Lago, don’t I — and all the other constitutional limits on federal power.

Imagine feds needing to operate off an understanding of the nation's fundamental principles or established precedents. What a concept!

Cleaning up the corrupt federal government has to be a top consideration for a new administration, as well as a top regret for Trump during his first term as president.

Draining the swamp this time must be more than a slogan. It must be reality. Sorry if your new car plans take a hit or if you can't finish your basement, but the federal government has to be reined in from top to bottom.

it's for the good of this nation.

Kamala's Pennsylvania Operation Is a Total Disaster

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is unraveling. 

No, I am not popping champagne yet, but the latest developments emanating from her camp aren’t the stories you want dropping as we approach the two-week mark of the election. Kamala doesn’t have an economic message that’s resonating; she has an appalling deficit among core Democratic voter groups and has a male voter problem, especially with black men. It’s too late to try and make up ground here—almost everything should be devoted to last-minute media blitzes and organizing all operatives on the ground to initiate their get-out-the-vote plans. In Pennsylvania, there could be trouble ahead. 

Politico wrote a lengthy piece about how Kamala’s operation in the crucial state of Pennsylvania was a total shamble. Top operatives are unfamiliar with the areas where they’re supposed to maximize party outreach, and there are allegations that surrogates have been left out in the cold. Other activists are unable to access the tools required to reach target voters. The Kamala campaign addressed some of these allegations, but all is now well with Democrats in the Keystone State: 

Top Democrats in Pennsylvania are worried Vice President Kamala Harris’ operation is being poorly run in the nation’s biggest battleground state. 

[…] 

Some are even pointing fingers at Harris’ Pennsylvania campaign manager, Nikki Lu, who they say lacks deep knowledge of Philadelphia, where the vice president must drive up voter turnout in order to win.  

“I have concerns about Nikki Lu,” said Ryan Boyer, who, as the first Black head of the city’s influential building trades council, is one of the most powerful labor leaders in the state. “I don’t think she understands Philadelphia.” 

[…] 

Latino and Black Democratic leaders met with Harris officials behind closed doors in separate meetings in Philadelphia late last month and pressed the campaign on their concerns, said five people who attended or were briefed on them. In the conversations, which included Lu and Harris deputy chief of staff Sergio Gonzales, the leaders asked for a greater presence at local events, an improved surrogate operation and a more sophisticated understanding of how to engage with diverse voting blocs. 

[…] 

“I feel like we’re going to win here, but we’re going to win it in spite of the Harris state campaign,” said a Democratic elected official in the state, who, like others for this story, was granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive matter. “Pennsylvania is such a mess, and it’s incredibly frustrating.” 

[…] 

Some of Democrats’ frustrations could be exacerbated by Pennsylvania’s size and long-standing regional differences: Lu hails from Pittsburgh, which is located on the other side of the state from Philadelphia and the major Black and Latino communities in southeastern Pennsylvania. 

And complaints about outreach to voters of color are common in Democratic politics in Pennsylvania. 

But this level of frustration and finger-pointing is not. 

A second Democratic elected official in the state described Lu as “AWOL.” A Pennsylvania Democratic strategist said that Lu “empowers a culture” in the campaign that has left elected officials feeling unengaged and disrespected. 

[…] 

Harris’ coordinated campaign’s former Latino coalition manager in Pennsylvania, Mariel Joy Kornblith Martin, left after two weeks on the job and wrote a blistering memo to state party leaders in August saying that she was provided with “no access to necessary data on Latino demographics” and “no infrastructure to plan events or engage the Latino community.” 

“Please give us the tools to win,” wrote Martin in the memo, which was obtained by POLITICO, “for as we all know, you do not win PA without Latinos, and you do not win the presidency without PA.” 

Martin later said she wrote the memo because she wanted to suggest changes to help the campaign rather than “passively observe the status quo.”

The Harris campaign said that Martin’s allegation of not having access to the campaign’s tools was inaccurate while also saying that they feel their ground game was better than the Trump operation in the state. Granted, these were words from national campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez—what else will she say? For days, this campaign has denied that they have a male voter problem despite every poll showing that chasm, along with Barack Obama being dragooned to shame black men into voting for Democrats. You can’t have a robust campaign operation when the alleged deficiencies run this deep.   

Again, let's not get comfortable, but a main criticism of Harris in 2020 was that her campaign was rudderless, disorganized, and had no plan. That seems to have reared its ugly head. These aren't stories you want to see this late in the cycle. 

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/10/17/kamalas-pennsylvania-operation-is-a-total-disaster-n2646320

Tucker Carlson and Mark Halprin Pretend 2024 is really 1998

posted by Sundance at Conservative Treehouse 

In this interview Tucker Carlson talks with Mark Halprin, a well-connected journalist that Tucker Carlson cites as the epicenter of all political power and journalistic knowledge since the mid-1980’s. Accordingly, the magnanimous and enlightened Mark Halprin knows more about the institutions of electoral influence, political power structures, people and organizations of political influence than most journalists, so sayeth Carlson.  And so, their discussion follows along.

If you are nostalgic for the time before you saw the strings on the political marionettes, and/or you like to remind yourself how you viewed politics in the era long before elections were decided by ballots instead of voters, you will enjoy this satiating conversation of how things used to be.

Both Halprin and Carlson pretend things are just like they were, while they apply 1998 political insight to the 2024 election year, and -for some reason- people discuss it.

However, if you have stopped pretending and you understand that modern political outcomes are determined by ballot systems, local ballot printing, fraudulent voter rolls to give the illusion of attribution to the locally printed ballots, and tabulation centers that conduct the necessary scanning of unattributed ballots to a number needed to generate the outcome, then this food-filled discussion about political sides between Halprin and Carlson ends up leaving you somewhat hungry.

Here’s an example.  Within the interview Mark Halprin notes that Kamala Harris campaign has raised over a billion dollars, and that’s just the money from inside the campaign; there’s much more from “outside groups and interests.”  With jaw-agape Carlson curiously asks where that money came from?  Halprin replies, “I have no idea,” and they simply move along.

Yes, the conversation is about various subsets of voters, black men who don’t support Harris as much, and a multitude of other various popular narratives that surround the 2024 election as written in various media.  Let me cut to the proverbial chase, none of that stuff matters.

Yes, along the same approach expressed by the Halprin’s and Carlson’s of the world, Barack Obama might be calling out the “brothers” who do not intend to vote for Kamala Harris.  However, in the real world of 2024 a very non-pretending James Clyburn might just as well say, “yes they are, they just don’t know it.”  Why, because Clyburn controls the ballots of “the brothers”; their voting intent is irrelevant.

Thus, we highlight once again the distinction between voters and ballots that seems intentionally lost amid a constructed interview between the very enlightened Halprin and the curiously incurious Carlson.

What exactly is the value of the conversation when the subject matter surrounding it is as useful to the 2024 election as vinyl records to modern rap music.  You decide.

To answer the question about Kamala Harris’ extraordinary fundraising, let’s just revisit demonstrable history.

First, James Clyburn’s operation was constructed during the Obama era through the financing of something called the Pigford Settlement.  Yes, Pigford-I was the payment mechanism behind taxpayer funds being shifted from govt to the very specifically black community.  The Clyburn team, along with legal powerhouses like Morgan & Morgan, were part of the payment distribution architecture.

With the capital to start the mechanics of the AME ballot scanning operation now financed, along comes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, set up by Elizabeth Warren, to funnel fines and pressure payments from the USA banking and finance sector to a host of progressive networks, ie community organizing groups.

There you go.  That’s the ‘elevator speech’ answer behind the odd “I don’t know” retort of Mark Halprin.

What was the intent of this interview?  I have no idea.  However, what they discuss seems like a conversation that might have been pertinent to elections many cycles ago, but not now.

In the modern era facilitated by the rise of Teh One Lightbringer of all political truth, what many might remember as our promised “fundamental change,” voters are irrelevant to the outcome.

That said, there are very serious efforts underway to apply tactical civics in this new battleground.  In that contest based on reality we destroy local ballot printing operations, block the use of fraudulent voter rolls and find industrious ways to stop the secret scanning operations within the AME network of 17 county tabulation centers.

If tactical civics are successful, and we are about to discover that “if” answer, then the conversation that Halprin and Carlson are currently having might reapply in the next election.  However, until then, talking about what voters intend to happen while ignoring the irrelevance therein, seems to miss the proverbial point of where we are in the modern era of ‘ballot collection’ elections.

Chapters:
0:00 Become a Member at TuckerCarlson.com
1:23 The State of the Presidential Race
6:37 Does Kamala Harris Stand For Anything?
12:23 What Is Harris’s Relationship Like With Joe Biden?
14:34 Harris Can’t Answer This Simple Question
16:01 What Do Harris’s Donors Think?
17:26 Mark Halperin’s Reporting That Biden Would Give up the Nomination
28:45 The Worst Scandal in American Journalism
31:09 Was the Biden/Trump Debate a Setup?
40:17 Covering the Trump Campaign
51:54 How Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama Took Out Biden
1:02:19 Corporate Media’s Self-Destruction and the Future of News
1:10:43 Black Men Are Voting for Trump
1:16:32 Why Is Our Voting System So Complicated?
1:18:58 Who’s Winning the Swing States?
1:19:54 Who’s Winning Nevada?
1:21:40 Who’s Winning Arizona?
1:25:55 Who’s Winning Georgia?
1:27:36 Who’s Winning North Carolina?
1:28:54 Who’s Winning Wisconsin?
1:29:39 Who’s Winning Michigan?
1:30:32 Who’s Winning Pennsylvania?
1:34:00 Here Is What the Private Polls Are Saying
1:39:21 War and NATO
1:50:15 RFK Jr. Being Anti-Establishment
1:53:48 Who Is Running the Country Right Now?
1:55:11 Trump Derangement Syndrome Will Be the Biggest Mental Health Crisis in American History
1:58:49 What Happens If Trump Loses?

NARCISSISM: […] If Trump wins, Obama might be seen as the aberration in the history of American politics, rather than Trump and his nativist authoritarianism. Obama acolytes have spent the last eight years rationalizing Trump as the last gasp backlash to the Democrat and his presidency. (link)

Mark Halprin gives his prediction about what will happen when President Trump wins the election.  Tucker Carlson plays along, with both pretending not to remember what happened in 2016.

What Mark Halprin predicts, is exactly what happened in 2016.  WATCH:

Every single thing in this response is exactly what happened in 2016.  The silly part is both Tucker Carlson and Mark Halprin pretending not to remember what happened.  Some reminder pictures from 2016 below.

In 2016 the Democrats: ~ organized a refusal to certify the election ~ boycotted the inauguration ~ claimed Russia hacked the election ~ broke out in violent protests, including arson, on inauguration day ~ put their genitals on their heads ~ conducted violent protests ~ began the Trump-Russia campaign for the next two years; then tried impeachments.