Posts on Monday, February 6, 2023
On Monday during an interview with Fox Business Network, Republican Rep. Mike Waltz suggested that the Pentagon and General James Mattis refused to tell then-President Donald Trump about Chinese spy balloons because they were worried his reaction would be too strong.
“My office has been briefed by the office of the Secretary of Defense of the current Pentagon that it happened over Florida, it happened over Texas, and that it’s happened before,” he said during the interview.
“We have more detailed questions but what is unclear, Stuart, at this point is, did the Pentagon under the Trump Administration brief the Trump White House and give them the option to take action or
The narrative on the Chinese spy balloon has gotten even more bizarre, given that the Biden administration's response includes claiming that the same thing happened under the Trump administration, three times. Not only does former and potentially future President Donald Trump deny it, but so do members of his administration, including Mike Pompeo, who served as CIA director and then secretary of state, and may be a potential 2024 primary rival, as well as former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
At this point, everything the Biden team says about the Chinese spy balloon just seems to make the problem worse.
One of the big questions that people have had is why the balloon wasn’t shot down earlier, for example, over the Aleutian Islands, near Alaska. Or over any of the less populated areas of Alaska, Canada, or Montana that it went over?
Now, they’re out with more comments and they’re not helping themselves. They had earlier claimed they didn’t have a “water shot.” That answer has now “evolved” further.
According to the Department of Defense, the U.S. did not have time to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon right after
A US military intelligence report from last year that focused on China’s use of high-altitude balloons mentioned sightings in Hawaii and Florida during the Trump presidency, according to an excerpt of the report reviewed by CNN.
The April 2022 report, titled “People’s Republic of China High-Altitude Balloon,” found a Chinese spy balloon “circumnavigated the globe” in 2019 – while Donald Trump was president – at an altitude of roughly 65,000 feet, and “drifted past Hawaii and across Florida before continuing its journey,” the US Air Force document states.
The Air Force intelligence report is the first indication that the US military was aware of Chinese spy balloons well before the latest incident.
General Says NORAD Missed Previous Chinese
Spy Balloon Incursions During the Trump Administration replies
Spy Balloon Incursions During the Trump Administration replies
Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command (NORTHCOM), admitted Monday that the joint U.S.-Canada organization missed previous incursions of Chinese spy balloons, including during the Trump administration.
When asked during a press briefing whether NORTHCOM was involved in tracking previous Chinese spy balloon that flew into the U.S. airspace during the Biden and Trump administrations, VanHerck responded:
So those balloons, so every day as a NORAD commander it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats.
For all of New York Mayor Eric Adams's whining about migrants rolling into his sanctuary city, inflicting unbearable costs onto taxpayers, he's quietly decided to play the same game the Texas border cities are playing. He's sending the migrants to someplace else.
According to the New York Post:
Disgruntled migrants fed up with the Big Apple’s crime and grime are taking off to the Great White North — on bus rides paid for by New York taxpayers, The Post has learned.
National Guard soldiers have been helping distribute tickets at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan
Surfer Bethany Hamilton found some support online from fellow athletes after she spoke out against the World Surf League’s (WSL) rules governing transgender women competing in events.
Hamilton said in a video posted to her Instagram on Saturday that she would not be participating in WSL events if the rule remains. The WSL said transgender female athletes need to maintain a testosterone level of 5 nmol/L for at least a year to participate in the women’s division.
Hamilton said in her video she would rather see WSL create a new division.
Macomb County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call for a safety check on a driver pulled off to the side of the road, only to find a man in need of some emotional support. Deputies found the man, referred to by authorities by the pseudonym "Joe," on the side of a quiet road overcome by tears. Joe was on his way to work when he decided to pull off the road because he was feeling overwhelmed by stress, according to the Macomb County Sheriff's Office. In bodycam footage of the interaction, one deputy is heard asking him what they can do to help, Joe responds, "I could use a hug."
Ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Republican lawmakers told DailyMail.com that they want to see the commander-in-chief pledge to rein in federal spending and be 'truthful' with Americans about the current threats to U.S. homeland security.
The president will be delivering his first speech to a divided Congress, tasked with bringing a unifying message to a Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a Democrat-held Senate.
But before he even begins, Biden's address is already likely to be overshadowed by the recent diplomatic incident caused by a suspected Chinese 'spy balloon' floating over multiple U.S. states
The late-night comedy shows ended 2022 with a unanimously liberal guest count and that trend continued until the very last day of January, a NewsBusters study has revealed.
MRC analysts found that from Labor Day through January 31, liberal guests outnumbered conservative guests 93 to 1. It was 99 percent liberal and/or Democrat. The one exception was My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell who Jimmy Kimmel put on to mock.
This is follow up to MRC’s late night guest election campaign study.
The study looked at the daily six late night comedy shows:
Disney has been slammed for going woke yet again after a new cartoon series features black children rapping about reparations – saying 'slaves built this country'. The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder has sparked outrage by showing the characters discovering that their town was built by slaves and then giving a presentation to their school.(Snip)During the episode the characters, who are predominantly black, rule that Abraham Lincoln had no desire to end slavery – and so stage a petition to get his statue removed.
I didn’t watch the Grammys. In fact, I haven’t watched award shows for some time. Not only do I know that the relevant bits would be highlighted in short clips on the internet later, but today’s award shows are also just boring. Where there used to be good-natured fun and actual comedic moments meant to make people laugh, we now have try-hard performances and shock value.
None of it seems real anymore, and by “real” I mean it all seems like a disingenuous attempt at pushing the envelope in order to break new ground and take the arts into a direction that’s never been seen before.
News surrounding the strange (and getting ever-stranger) Chinese spy balloon incident has been omnipresent over the past few days — to the point of nearly boxing out other news, like that of the fiery train derailment that happened near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border Friday evening. Approximately 10 cars carrying hazardous material derailed. The derailment was caused by mechanical issues, according to an NTSB member.
While the wreck continues to smolder, officials, on Sunday evening, ordered anyone within a one-mile radius of the crash to evacuate.
Officials have begged residents to leave the area for days as fears about air and water quality have mounted.
Ownership of U.S. farmland by Chinese nationals has risen significantly in the last decade and amounted to 338,000 acres as of 2020, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data.
Since 2010, Chinese nationals have reportedly purchased an additional 75,000 acres of U.S. farmland, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data obtained by the WSJ. Although amounting to less than 1% of all U.S. agricultural land held by foreign citizens, ownership of U.S. farmland by Chinese nationals has received increased scrutiny in recent years following warnings from U.S. government officials claiming that the Chinese government may seek to use land for military and espionage purposes, according to the WSJ.
Never one to take the blame for any wrongdoing in his life, President Joe Biden is continuing that trend as he told reporters that he deserves “no” criticism for mishandling classified documents.
As Americans know well, the FBI has found numerous classified documents strewn throughout the Acela corridor at places including the Penn-Biden Think Tank and even the president’s own garage in Delaware. The president’s latchkey son, Hunter, of course, had access to both of those locations — adding concern that Biden the elder hadn’t taken too much care with America’s secrets after he vacated the vice presidency in 2017.
The military did not detect previous flights of Chinese spy balloons over the U.S. that took place during the Trump administration, a top general said Monday, due to a "gap" in the Defense Department's ability to track certain airborne objects. Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of North American Aerospace Defense Command, cited the issue as the reason that at least three spy balloon flights were not briefed to senior Trump officials at the time.
"So those balloons, so every day as a NORAD commander it's my responsibility to detect threats to North America," he told reporters at the Pentagon. "I will tell you that we did not detect those threats.
Joe Biden on Monday afternoon returned to the White House after a long vacation weekend at Camp David.
Biden stopped to chat with some reporters before shuffling away and turning in for the evening.
Biden was asked if the spy balloon will change his State of the Union speech.
“No,” Biden said.“Why would the Chinese make such a brazen act?” a reporter asked Biden.
His response was shocking.
“They’re the Chinese government,” Biden said laughing.
Biden is admitting the Chinese government is more powerful and more feared than the US.
Forty-one percent of American families say their financial position has worsened since President Joe Biden assumed office — the worst result in 37 years, according to a Sunday ABC News/Washington Post survey.
With nearly 40-year-high inflation crushing American families in 2022, 41 percent of Americans say their personal financial health has deteriorated since Biden assumed office in January 2021. Just 16 percent said their financial health was “better off” under Biden.
By comparison, 13 percent of Americans said they were worse off financially during the first two years under former President Donald Trump, while 25 percent said they were “better off.”
Sunday’s polling data revealed the worst result for the survey since 1986
On Friday, Pierre Rutledge, chair of the Black Affairs Advisory Board, issued an apology to Governor DeSantis. Days before, a member of the volunteer board called DeSantis “racist” because the governor rejected an African-American history Advanced Placement course. The College Board removed parts of the course last Wednesday that was opposed by DeSantis. The course will be reevaluated by the Florida Department of Education.DeSantis supported the Department of Education’s decision to remove the history course, because he said it pushed a political agenda.
“This course on Black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory,” DeSantis said.
Happy Monday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. (Snip) If the Chinese balloon thing was a mini dress rehearsal for World War III, we may want to form some Mandarin study groups.
Those of us who live here in reality have long dreaded finding out how the cabal that runs Joe Biden’s brain would react to any kind of international tension. The way Team Pudding Brain went about things these last several days wasn’t a comfort. My colleagues were all over it, so let’s peruse some of what they covered. (Snip) “Nothing to see here, move along” is the general Democrat approach to most things,
Transportation Secretary and Chasten’s wife — er, husband, Pete Buttigieg, went on NBC’s Meet the Press on Feb. 5 to preview Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. During that appearance, Buttigieg claimed that Joe Biden is just so wildly successful as president that his accomplishments cannot be easily distilled — hence Biden’s low approval ratings. Yes, Mayor Pete actually said Biden is extremely unpopular because he’s too good at his job.
Buttigieg rambled out a justification of the Biden administration allowing an apparent Chinese spy balloon to cross the U.S. before shooting it down over the ocean (where, quite conveniently, no one can pick up tell-tale debris as enlightening evidence).
The state of our union is a complete, unmitigated disaster.
The economy is in shambles, the border is two years into the worst migrant influx in U.S. history, taxpayer dollars are flying into the hands of a corrupt Eastern European regime without oversight, and our No. 1 enemy — Red China — has compromised our president, our politicians, our phones, and our skies.
Much as he did in his lie-riddled speech last year, President Joe Biden will likely try to use his State of the Union address to Congress this week to credit himself
Real Time' host Bill Maher likened today's "woke revolution" to the Chinese Cultural Revolution and spoke about how we have embraced the "re-education" policies under Chairman Mao in a monologue on Friday's broadcast of his HBO show.
"If you're part of today's woke revolution, you need to study the part of revolutions where they spin out of control because the revolutionaries get so drunk on their own purifying elixir, they imagine they can reinvent the very nature of human beings," Maher said.
"Yesterday, I asked ChatGPT, 'Are there any similarities between today's woke revolution and Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s' and it wrote back, 'How long do you have?'"
Post-mortems of the midterms concluded that the GOP underperformed in 2022. It’s difficult to argue that we didn’t. But at the end of the day, after the ritual finger-pointing and recriminations from the D.C. consultant class, the real question is: Did we learn enough to avoid a sequel in 2024?
2022 taught us some clear lessons: We need to build a ballot harvesting machine; we have to fix the massive cash gap; and we must execute a more effective message strategy.
Ukrainian Paradoxes
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One of the strangest things about the American response to Ukraine has been the willingness of the Left and the establishment Right to discount completely that the war is heading toward a rendezvous with ever-deadlier weapons and staggering fatalities—even as we witness increasing nuclear threats from a weakened and adrift Vladimir Putin. They insist that Putin is merely saber-rattling. And he might be. Supposedly, in his diminished and discredited state, Putin would not dare to set off a tactical nuclear weapon (as if diminished and discredited leaders are not more likely to do so).
When President Biden takes to the rostrum of the House of Representatives to deliver his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night, he'll be speaking to a country that remains overwhelmingly underwhelmed by his efforts to supposedly "build back better."
This was again confirmed by a Washington Post-ABC News poll that found more than 60 percent of Americans say Biden has not accomplished much through the first half of his term:
The poll finds that 62 percent of Americans think Biden has accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing” during his presidency,
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., joined a chorus of Republicans and conservatives voicing outrage over a controversial performance during Sunday night's Grammys which featured a singer dressed as the Devil.
"Nonbinary" singer Sam Smith's duet with transgender artist Kim Petras for their song, "Unholy," featured Smith wearing Devil horns, while Petras gyrated in a cage against the backdrop of flames. Dancers dressed as demons bowed and crawled around Smith.
"This…is…evil," Cruz wrote in response to a tweet of the performance shared by conservative commentator Liz Wheeler. "Don't fight the culture wars, they say. Meanwhile demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan. I could throw up," she remarked.
Democrat-led state that’s ‘killing
businesses’ could shrink amid push to
secede in several counties replies
businesses’ could shrink amid push to
secede in several counties replies
After 11 Oregon counties approved a preliminary vote to secede from the Democrat-led state, local leaders around the movement are explaining how the urban-rural divide has left them with no other choice. People in eastern Oregon have felt like their state-level governance has not heard them, has not paid attention to our concerns, and has not been working for eastern Oregon," Greater Idaho Movement spokesperson Matt McCaw said on "Fox & Friends First" Monday.
McCaw, along with Oregon business owner Sandie Gilson, supports the idea of having select counties elect to move their state borderlines so state-level governance would come from Idaho.
Over 400 products, including sandwiches, salads, snacks, yogurt, and wraps that were sold under various brand names have been recalled over potential contamination with listeria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Feb. 3.
The products were sold by Baltimore-based Fresh Ideation Food Group between Jan. 24, 2023, through Jan. 30, 2023, according to the FDA, and also include breakfast muffins, croissants, wraps, and an array of fruits as well as noodle bowls and a string of other items.
Brands names included in the recall are Bistro to Go, InReach, Naval Academy 1845 Coffee, Orchard Bistro, Westin Label, and more.
A full list of the recalled products can be found here.
I returned to my former neighborhood Wednesday evening to check out ground-zero of the latest attraction in the Biden traveling circus of migrant misery, an area once mostly populated by corporate professionals and tourists — but when I pulled up and stepped out onto a block strewn with vagrants sitting in squalor, I saw a place I could no longer recognize.
The Watson Hotel is right by my old apartment, located a few blocks away from Central Park, on the border of Hell’s Kitchen and the Upper West Side.
I have memories there, like when my wife took me to the annual New York City Gem Show
The House GOP is starting to take on the Deep State.
The House Judiciary Committee has sent its first subpoenas to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
It requests all communications between the DOJ, FBI, Department of Education, and the National School Boards Association.
The subpoenas are over the school board memo targeting parents.
The Hill reported: The Hill reported:
The House Judiciary Committee fired off its first subpoenas under the leadership of Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), targeting a trio of Biden administration officials including Attorney General Merrick Garland over a short-lived memo dealing with threats against school board members.
Kamala Harris has been the undisputed champion of syllable salads since her inauguration as vice president in January 2021.
But in recent times, her admirers have begun to lose patience.
It had been four long months since she has delivered her characteristic verbal devastation. She had almost faded away into oblivion, making few public appearances.
It led many to wonder if she had it in her to deliver her infamous alphabet soups again.
On January 31, Harris shut down all those wagging tongues as she made an ignominious comeback.
The narrative about "free, safe, secure elections" changed 180 degrees since November 2022. Almost nobody is crazy enough to say America has free, fair elections.
After Kari Lake and Adam Laxalt, the most wimpish George Bush RINO hesitates to say "elections are fair."
Since our team processed billions of election roll "snapshots" taken since 2020, we run the largest election database in the world. We concluded that U.S. elections are rigged by both parties, and they are rigged with the active help of election officials or their acquiescence.
Leftists Want a New Civil War
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America's Civil War, which raged from 1861 to 1865, was by far the bloodiest conflict in our history. Original estimates put the death toll at about 620,000, including some 360,000 Union and 260,000 Confederate dead. More recent estimates of the carnage are even higher: 750,000 to 850,000. The Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862, at Sharpsburg, Maryland, still ranks as the bloodiest day in U.S. history, with nearly 23,000 casualties on both sides, including 3,675 killed in action. How does a country possibly recover from a calamity so huge?
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address, making the case that the economy has done well under his leadership. That will be a hard sell to most Americans because, as the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows, a solid majority say they are worse off financially than they were two years ago.
The online I&I/TIPP Poll asked 1,358 Americans a simple question: “Are you better off today than you were two years ago, or not?” Possible responses were “Yes, better off,” “No, not better off,” and “Not sure.” The poll, which was taken from Feb.
The art dealer representing Hunter Biden said the president's son had the potential to be one of the most influential painters of the modern era, but declined to say whether he'd cooperate with a congressional investigation into sales of the art.
Georges Bergès, who has been overseeing the sale of Biden's paintings, said the 53-year-old would 'become one of the most consequential artists in this century.'
His comments came as the New York Post pressed him on whether he would comply with requests from the House Oversight Committee, which asked to see the names of individuals who purchased Biden's artwork and the price they paid for it.
Donald Trump Jr poked fun at his father by sharing a meme that depicts him as a giant balloon baby – saying it is 'funny'.
The 45-year-old retweeted the picture of the Trump Baby Blimp after someone joked that it should be flown over Beijing after US authorities shot down China's spy balloon.
On Saturday, an alleged 'spy balloon' was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by American fighter jets after crossing over multiple U.S. states.
Trump Jr previously tweeted that Americans should just be allowed to 'do their thing' and shoot the balloon down themselves.
After the Chinese balloon was felled, he retweeted the picture
HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher blasted President Biden for using Tyre Nichols’ family as political props during his upcoming State of the Union address on Feb. 7, accusing him of engaging in “tragedy porn” while bluntly calling it “gross.” (Video) “I feel like this is tragedy porn,” Maher remarked concerning the news. “I really feel like this is gross. You know, it’s too soon to impose on that family now in their hour of grief to help you politically. I mean, it’s stunt casting, which they always do at the State of the Union address. And I just, I just feel it’s… we should be better than that.”
Newly-released audio details how a FedEx pilot, trying to land his cargo plane, urgently told a Southwest pilot to abort their imminent take off at Texas' Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Air Traffic Control audio revealed that the crew onboard a Southwest flight headed to Cancun, Mexico, were aware that the cargo plane was approaching the runway - but went ahead and took off anyway.
The plane had been given the OK to take off, but allegedly took too long. By the time it tried to begin its ascent, the Boeing 767 cargo plane was approaching its landing.
Quick-thinking pilots on the cargo plane were forced to swiftly make a go-around,
This is a great use of taxpayer money.
Jill Biden traveled to Los Angeles to attend the 65th annual Grammy Awards while her invalid husband hid from the public.
Dr. Jill not only attended the Grammy Awards Sunday evening, she also presented an award.
Here are some of the godless Hollywood degenerates Jill Biden is spending the evening with on a Sunday night: (Tweets/Videos) Jill Biden got a standing ovation from the far-left Hollywood crowd after she walked through a hole onto the stage.
When they hear James Comer speak with his lilting south-central Kentucky accent and courteous style, it would be an easy mistake for Democrats and targets of his newly fanged House Oversight committee to underestimate the former Monroe County cattle farmer.
But Comer is a killer — and corruption is his prey.
Everything has changed in Washington since the Republicans won back the House, and Comer, as chairman of the Oversight Committee, is champing at the bit to hold the Biden administration accountable. That includes getting to the bottom of the Biden family corruption as revealed in Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop,
A Biden administration official confirmed that the United States was unaware of the Chinese spy balloons that flew over the United States during the Trump administration until after he left office.
The unnamed defense official confirmed to Fox News that Chinese spy balloons traveled over the United States at least three times during the previous administration, specifically in Florida and Texas. The former president and his top security and defense officials have refuted this claim, but the Biden official noted that the balloons remained undetected until after he had left office. Per the report:
More than 640 people have been killed and thousands more injured overnight in a catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria, flattening entire neighbourhoods while many families were still asleep.
Tremors from the deadly quake - which lasted about a minute - were felt as far away as Egypt, Lebanon and the island of Cyprus, while a tsunami warning was briefly issued by authorities in Italy along the country's coast.
Residents fled from their homes in terror in cities across southeast Turkey and northern Syria, taking shelter in cars fearing aftershocks and collapsing buildings.
Last Friday, just before President Joe Biden left for another of his many long weekends away from the White House, reporters vainly asked him about the Chinese surveillance balloon that had been meandering around in U.S. airspace since Jan. 28. Our commander-in-chief offered no response beyond a smirk and a vacant stare. The “spy balloon,” as it has been dubbed by the media, is a good metaphor for the Biden administration’s foreign policy — lighter than air and potentially dangerous.