They are never, ever, ever, getting back together.

Rahm Emanuel wants to take leadership of the Democratic Party and capture its nomination for president in 2028. He shares his thoughts in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. It’s the first time a Democrat has made me smile since President Bill Clinton announced in his 1996 State of the Union address that “The era of big government is over.” Emanuel has a stellar political resume that includes senior adviser in the White House to Clinton, chief of staff to President Barack Obama, member of Congress, mayor of Chicago, and ambassador to Japan. He has a reputation for political astuteness, being a tough fighter, and being the father of the oft-quoted, “You never want a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” These instincts are raising his finely honed political antennae, which his party has badly and destructively lost direction. And here he could not be more right. Emanuel seeks a “politics based on values.” Not a politics of “identity, grievance, or victimhood,” of “oppressors” and “oppressed.” He says he is talking about values that say, “government’s proper role is to clear a path so those who put in the elbow grease can earn success.” Hey, he is sounding like a Republican. Emanuel should take cues from his former boss Clinton, who, in 1992, announced his intention to “change welfare as we know it.” “For too long our welfare system has undermined the values of family and work, instead of supporting them,” Clinton said in his 1996 State of the Union. And then, working with a Republican Congress, he signed historic welfare reform into law, replacing the disastrous Aid to Families with Dependent Children with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Work requirements were introduced, and welfare rolls were dramatically reduced.      Clinton also urged, in that 1996 State of the Union, that “permanent deficit spending must come to an end,” and he was the last president to leave office with a budget surplus. However, one reform to which Clinton aspired that sank in the political swamp of his impeachment in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal was the reform of Social Security. In December 1998, Clinton convened the first-ever White House Conference on Social Security. Clinton wanted genuine reform that would fix a broken and flawed system. Among the options that captured his attention was the reform done in Chile, in which a system much like ours was transformed to one of ownership and personal retirement accounts. The White House invited Jose Pinera, the architect of the Chilean reform, to come speak at the conference and share the success they had in Chile with this reform. In his 1999 State of the Union, Clinton proposed the creation of personal retirement accounts that individuals could seed with funds with a tax credit and then qualify for additional matching funds. Emanuel says his party “needs an economic agenda rooted in American values.” “Everyone should feel they have skin in this game and all citizens should feel they can contribute to the nation’s renewal,” he says. Our existing Social Security is not viable in its current form. Cash flow from the system will be insufficient to meet obligations by 2034, just nine years from now, per the latest Trustees report. Nothing can give every American more “skin in the game” than participating in ownership and growth of our nation’s economy. Let every American invest rather than pay taxes. Let every American become an owner and share in the experience of capitalism and growth. Let’s not let the crisis of our broken Social Security system go to waste. Emanuel should pick up the ball from his former boss, Clinton. Nothing could be greater for the American people than Democrats and Republicans competing to make every American an owner and a capitalist. Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, “What Is the CURE for America?” is available now. To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

President Donald Trump leaned into his criticism of Somalia and its apparent top spokeswoman in Congress, telling reporters on Air Force One why America is better off both without asylum-seekers from the failed African nation and without Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D).America First versus Somalia FirstTrump announced on Nov. 21 that he was terminating the Temporary Protected Status designation for Somalia following a report detailing instances of alleged and confirmed fraud perpetrated by numerous members of the Somali community in Minnesota as well as the alleged direction of stolen taxpayer funds by members of the Somali community to terrorists abroad.'If that's true, she shouldn't be a congressman.'"Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing," Trump noted on Truth Social. "Send them back to where they came from. It's OVER!"Omar, a native of Somalia who claimed last year that the "U.S government will do what [Somali-Americans] tell the U.S. government to do," did not take the news well.The Democrat ethno-nationalist wrote on Bluesky, "I am a citizen and so are majority of Somalis in America. Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate. We are here to stay."Omar then held a press conference with Minnesota state Democrats in which she claimed Trump lacked the authority to terminate Somalia's TPS designation, suggested that the corruption referred to by the president was not systemic among Minnesota's Somali community, and accused Trump of endangering Somalis across the United States.RELATED: 'Send them back': Somalia First pitted against America First in Minnesota as Ilhan Omar attacks Trump over special status Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Image Following the fatal attack on National Guard members in the national capital last week, allegedly by an Afghan shooter, the president not only revealed that he was cutting off the flow of migrants to the U.S. from third-world backwaters such as Afghanistan but laid into Omar and rogue actors among the Somali community once again.Trump noted in his lengthy announcement on Truth Social:Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for “prey” as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone.After suggesting that "the seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz," had failed to tackle the problem, Trump turned his sights on Omar, who he claimed "does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how 'badly' she is treated," adding that Omar "probably came into the U.S.A. illegally."Family mattersWhen asked on Sunday about how long he intends to block asylum claims from various nations into the U.S., Trump told reporters, "I think a long time.""We don't want 'em. We don't want those people. We have enough problems. We don't want those people," said the president. "You know why we don't want 'em? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn't be in our country."Trump clarified that by "those people," he meant "people from different countries that are not friendly to us and countries that are out of control themselves — countries like Somalia that have virtually no government, no military, no police. All they do is go around killing each other. Then they come into our country and tell us how to run our country. We don't want them." After using Somalia as an example of a nation whose asylees the U.S. could do without, Trump suggested that Omar "supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother.""Well, if that's true, she shouldn't be a congressman. And we should throw her the hell out of our country," said Trump. Omar has long been accused of immigration-related marriage fraud and bigamy.Years after coming to the U.S. as a refugee, Omar reportedly took out a marriage license to marry Ahmed Hirsi. While she married Hirsi in a Muslim ceremony and had children with him, she did not initially marry him legally. After supposedly separating from Hirsi, Omar formally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi — a British-Somali national reportedly identified by numerous Somalis as Omar's brother — in 2009. Over the next few years, she would separate and secure a legal divorce from Elmi, then reunite and have another child with Hirsi. Omar called the allegations "absolutely false and ridiculous" in a 2016 statement, adding that "insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive." Despite Omar's denial of the allegations, an individual identifying as one of her friends, Abdihakim Osman, told the Daily Mail in 2020 that Omar had confirmed that Elmi was her brother and that she married him so he could remain in the United States.Osman indicated that in the early 2000s, "People began noticing that Ilhan and Southside [Hirsi] were often with a very effeminate young guy.""He was very feminine in the way he dressed — he would wear light lipstick and pink clothes and very, very short shorts in the summer. People started whispering about him," said Osman. "[Hirsi] and Ilhan both told me it was Ilhan's brother and he had been living in London, but he was mixing with what were seen as bad influences that the family did not like.""So they sent him to Minneapolis as 'rehab,'" claimed Osman.After Omar married Elmi, he started school at North Dakota State University, where he graduated in 2012.Osman told the Mail that following their wedding, Omar and Elmi moved to Fargo and began attending university together."She said she needed to get papers for her brother to go to school," said Osman. "We all thought she was just getting papers together to allow him to stay in this country.""Once she had the papers, they could apply for student loans," continued Osman. "They both moved to North Dakota to go to school, but she was still married to [Hirsi]. In the Somali way, the only marriage that mattered was the one in the mosque."Omar's office did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In the latest update to the unprecedented trial of a sitting prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has made an unusual request to the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog. On Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu officially requested a pardon amid his ongoing corruption trial, which consists of three separate but related cases. 'I will consider solely the best interests of the State of Israel and Israeli society.'The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu submitted the request to the president's office, which called it "an extraordinary request" carrying "significant implications."RELATED: Israeli attorney general says he's about to indict PM Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption, bribery charges Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesIn a video statement, Netanyahu argued that a pardon would bolster national unity, but his critics disagreed. Yair Lapid, former prime minister of Israel and current leader of the opposition in the Knesset, demanded that Herzog withhold the pardon. “You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life,” he said, according to the New York Times. Herzog responded to the official request, noting its serious nature.“The issue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon is clearly provoking debate and is deeply unsettling for many people in the country, across different communities. I have already clarified that it will be handled in the most correct and precise manner," Herzog said in a statement on December 1. "I will consider solely the best interests of the State of Israel and Israeli society,” Herzog added. In June, President Trump released a long post on Truth Social about the trial, calling it a "politically motivated case" and a "witch hunt." Trump called for the trial to be "CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State. Perhaps there is no one that I know who could have worked in better harmony with the President of the United States, ME, than Bibi Netanyahu. It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu. THIS TRAVESTY OF 'JUSTICE' CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!" Netanyahu was charged in three separate corruption cases in November 2019 by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.Netanyahu faces separate charges of breach of trust and of taking a bribe. He has not been convicted of any charges and has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Wikimedia CommonsPhoolan Devi started as a bandit, but later became a politician. Phoolan Devi, also known as the “Bandit Queen,” was a bandit who later became a politician. She served as a member of India’s parliament and became a popular figure, but was shockingly assassinated in 2001. In the years since, Devi has become a legend. To some, she was a Robin Hood figure who robbed higher-caste villages and represented the poor and downtrodden. To others, she was a criminal responsible for the Behmai massacre, in which twenty men were allegedly killed on her command. This is the full story of Phoolan Devi, from her rise as a “bandit” who robbed the rich to her shocking assassination at the age of 37. Phoolan Devi’s Violent And Abusive Childhood Phoolan Devi was born on August 10, 1963 in Uttar Pradesh, India, to a family of the Mallah subcaste, one of the lowest in India’s caste system. The daughter of a fisherman, Devi grew up poor. But she had a fierce spirit. When she heard that her uncle had cheated her family out of their land, Devi confronted her cousin, who responded by beating her. When she was just 11 years old, Devi was married to a man three times her age in exchange for a cow. According to Devi’s obituary in The New York Times, she embarrassed her family by leaving her husband after a year, and subsequently became something of a pariah in her home village. “Since you are unwanted in your husband’s house and your parents’ house,” her mother purportedly told her upon her return home, “why don’t you commit suicide by jumping into the well?” Her life changed dramatically when Devi was 21. According to reporting by the Atlantic, her cousin had her arrested on fraudulent charges, after which Devi was beaten and raped by local policemen. Shortly thereafter, Devi was kidnapped by a gang of dacoits, or bandits, lead by a man named Babu Gujar. She was possibly taken by the dacoits on the orders of her cousin, but Devi has offered conflicting accounts about this event. CPA Media Pte LtdPhoolan Devi had a violent, abusive childhood before joining a gang of bandits. In any case, she was raped and beaten by Gujar for first three days. But then his second-in-command, Vikram Mallah, killed Gujar. Not only did Mallah then become the leader of the gang, but he and Devi became partners. And soon, Phoolan Devi earned a reputation as a “Bandit Queen.” The Bandit Queen — And The Behmai Massacre Of 1981 Vikram Mallah taught Phoolan Devi how to handle a gun, and together they lead their gang on a year-long raid of the Uttar and Madhya Pradesh countryside. They held up trains and robbed them, and attacked and stole from high-caste villages. And as stories of the dacoits spread, Devi became known as a Robin Hood-like figure called the “Beautiful Bandit.” But the crime spree would come to a terrible end in August 1980. Then, two brothers who’d recently re-joined the gang after serving in prison, Sri Ram and Lala Ram, murdered Mallah to avenge Gujar’s murder. Then they kidnapped Devi and took her to the village of Behmai, where the brothers and dozens of upper caste Thakur men raped her for weeks. Twenty-three days later, after Devi had been beaten and forced to walk through the village naked, she was quietly rescued by her allies. She then formed her own gang. But the “Bandit Queen” had not forgotten what happened in Behmai. CPA Media Pte LtdPhoolan Devi purportedly orchestrated the Behmai Massacre, which killed 22, though she has denied it. On Feb. 14, 1981, Devi returned to Behmai. As her men looted the village, she demanded that the villagers turn over Sri Ram and Lala Ram. When the brothers couldn’t be located, she allegedly ordered her gang to round up all the village’s Thakur men. They were marched to the nearby river and ordered to kneel by the water’s edge with their heads against the ground. And then, Phoolan Devi reportedly gave the order for her men to open fire. Of the 30 men they’d gathered, 22 were killed in the so-called Behmai massacre. It was shocking for several reasons — not only was it the largest dacoit massacre in India’s modern history, but it had been ordered by a lower-caste woman, against a group of higher-caste men. Phoolan Devi then went on the run for two years before she agreed to peacefully surrender. How Phoolan Devi Went From Serving Time In Prison To India’s Parliament Wikimedia CommonsPhoolan Devi surrendering to the government on February 13, 1983. In 1983, Phoolan Devi surrendered to authorities in Madhya Pradesh as thousands of people looked on. Charged with 49 crimes, Devi was put in jail for 11 years. Then, in 1994, Devi walked out a free woman. That same year, the film Bandit Queen about her life premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, amplifying Devi’s reputation across the world. “I will work for the upliftment of women and the downtrodden,” Devi proclaimed, according to The New York Times. “Women all over India are repressed. It must be brought to an end.” She rode her new popularity, as well as the new importance of the lower castes in Indian politics, to a seat in India’s parliament. In 1996, Devi won a seat with the Samajwadi (Socialist Party), and was elected a second time in 1999. She became a popular politician and a cult figure, a champion for the downtrodden and the lower castes. IMDBThe 1994 movie Bandit Queen is based on Phoolan Devi’s life. But then, on July 25, 2001, Devi was shot dead by three masked gunmen outside her home. She was 37 years old. “No one likes it when someone, especially a woman, from the lower classes rises and makes a name for herself,” Devi’s husband Umed Singh, bitterly stated. Just days later, a man named Sher Singh Rana surrendered to the police, claiming he had assassinated Devi in retaliation for the Behmai massacre. He was the only gunman caught, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014. However, Rana later appealed his sentence and was set free, with the condition that he check in with the police every six months. He may have succeeded in killing Phoolan Devi, but Rana did little to erase her legacy. On the contrary, in the years since her death, Devi has become an important cultural figure, an inspiration to many as a woman who defied her circumstances in the boldest ways possible. After learning about Phoolan Devi, the Bandit Queen of India, check out Queen Nzinga, the African leader who fought off slave traders. Then, read about Irish pirate Grace O’Malley, who ruled the Seven Seas. The post The Incredible Story Of Phoolan Devi, The ‘Bandit Queen’ Who Went From Serving Time In Prison To Sitting In India’s Parliament appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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Portland's annual tree-lighting ceremony sparked outrage over the weekend after city officials referred to the festive display only as "the tree," avoiding any mention of Christmas during the 41st annual event in Pioneer Courthouse Square, the New York Post reported Monday.