During a hearing today, Dan Goldman fought for the return of the Maryland man with no facts, just verbal assaults. Democrat allies in the ACLU also got a Hamas-supporting post-doctoral student freed. Gazan, Badar Khan Suri, is a noncitizen who passes Hamas literature around to stir the pot. Dan Goldman, Mindless Agitator All of a […] The post Dying on the Hill: Dems Fight for Terrorist Non-Citizens appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

While the House Republicans gripe about codifying President Trump’s drug executive order, Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna is calling for it to be enshrined into law. Republican Sen. Rand Paul is concerned that it is price control. Perhaps a change of wording would work, but they can’t ignore this. Today, I am introducing legislation to codify […] The post Rep. Ro Khanna Sponsors a Bill to Codify Trump’s Drug EO appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod called the recently revealed details of President Biden’s cognitive decline “stunning” in a Wednesday interview, and called Biden’s decision to seek re-election “irresponsible” on the part of both the former president and his family. Speaking on NPR’s Morning Edition, Axelrod laid into Biden’s inner circle and top Democrats for adapting the former president’s schedule to accommodate his “declining condition,” while simultaneously arguing to voters that he was fit to serve another term. “What is clear is that they did everything they could to adapt his public appearances and adapt his schedule to his declining condition,” Axelrod said, adding that “it was an irresponsible decision on his part, and I have to say, on his family’s part.” The former Obama strategist’s comments were in response to revelations from excerpts of “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” a forthcoming book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. The senior CNN political commentator pointed to one of the most “troubling” incidents detailed in the excerpt, in which Biden reportedly failed to recognize actor George Clooney, a donor and friend of two decades, at a California fundraiser. “The details behind it were troubling. The thing that I was struck by was the reporting on his schedule before this event, and the rigors of what he was up to, and people dismissing his kind of being vacant, not being able to identify George Clooney, a friend of two decades, when he saw him, dismissed it as a function of jet lag and fatigue.” Axelrod later points to Biden’s inner circle dismissing incidents like these as a symptom of a “deeper issue” within Biden’s circle that enabled his continued candidacy despite clear signs of decline. “What struck me was that when you are president of the United States. Fatigue and strain is your daily existence. The presidency is relentless. And this is why I said in 2022 that it was going to be hard to make the case that he should be president for four more years.” Tapper and Thompson’s book paints a picture of a widespread effort within Biden’s inner circle to conceal his deteriorating condition from public view, with insiders pursuing “aggressive efforts to hide his cognitive diminishment.” Axelrod avoided labeling this effort from Biden’s team as “lying,” as “they were motivated by a belief in him, by a desire to see him continue,” instead putting most of the blame squarely on Biden and his family for putting staff in that position in the first place. Biden’s 2024 bid was “an irresponsible decision on his part, and I have to say, on his family’s part,” Axelrod said. When asked about Biden’s recent media appearances, including his appearance on “The View,” where viewers noticed him trailing off mid-sentence, Axelrod suggested the former president was continuing to receive poor counsel from the same advisers who encouraged his reelection bid. “All he’s doing is making the story larger,” Axelrod said. “If he’s concerned about President Trump and some of the things that President Trump is doing, then he should want the Democratic Party to be in a position to move on and do well in the midterm elections.” Biden’s office continues to defend his legacy. A spokesperson said that the former president “was a very effective president” and challenged critics to provide evidence of instances where “national security was threatened or where he was unable to do his job.” “Original Sin” is set to release in late May.

Republicans are pushing the House toward codifying President Donald Trump’s executive orders, a move that would give these actions extra protection. In a letter first reported on Wednesday by Breitbart News, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) and 16 Republican colleagues urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to prioritize cementing Trump’s priorities into law. “On January 20, 2025, President Trump returned to office and immediately went to work ushering in a new golden age for the United States. In pursuit of this mission, he has signed numerous executive orders to rein in spending, shrink bloated bureaucracies, end the culture war launched by the Left, and restore accountability to Washington,” the House Republicans wrote. “But let’s be clear: unless Congress acts, many of these victories are at risk. A future Democrat president could erase them with the stroke of a pen. We cannot let that happen. If we want this new era of American greatness to last, we must codify the President’s actions into law,” they continued. The 17 Republicans acknowledged how the GOP-led House is currently working to iron out the details of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” including an expansive tax package and funds for border security and defense, through the budget reconciliation process. “We appreciate your leadership in restoring fiscal sanity, with the 119th Congress advancing a significant reconciliation package at record pace. That same urgency must now be applied to securing the President’s legacy and the legacy of this Congress,” they wrote. “House Republicans have already introduced numerous bills to enshrine the Trump agenda — from securing the border to reigning in the excesses of the administrative state. We urge you to make this legislation a top priority. If there is anything we can do to move this forward, we stand ready.” The 17 Republicans concluded: “The American people sent us here to deliver lasting change — not temporary relief. It is Congress’s duty to work hand in hand with President Trump to ensure the agenda the American people elected this President and this Congress to enact becomes the law of the land. Now is the time to act.” During a Newsmax interview with Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday, Johnson spoke about how elements of Trump’s agenda would be cemented in the “one big, beautiful bill” that he hopes the House will finish by Memorial Day. “We’re checking all the boxes. [Trump] promised no taxes on overtime, no taxes on Social Security, no taxes on, for example, interest on car loans that are made in America. A number of those things are woven into this bill, and we’ve made all the math work, so we can do that,” Johnson said. He also said: “What we’ll do to extend the Trump-era tax cuts is going to be critical for the economy. We believe this is going to be jet fuel for the economy. It will also send a very important signal of stability, Greta, to the bond markets and the stock market, to let people know that Congress is on the job. We’re taking care of this. We’re going to revive the American economy, and we’re going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible — that we don’t dig further deep in the hole of deficits and debt. And that’s a really important principle for us to maintain, and we’re working on it hard here every day.” On the Democrat side of the aisle, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced on Wednesday that he would be introducing legislation to codify Trump’s recent executive order focused on lowering drug prices. The lawmaker who hails from Silicon Valley underscored why he believes it is essential for Congress to pass a bill during a speech on the House floor. “So you ask, ‘Why do you need the legislation?’ Because the reality is that Big Pharma will sue for the executive order, like they did in the previous Trump administration,” Khanna said. “And in the previous administration, they managed to kill the executive order. The only way we can stand up to Big Pharma is to codify in legislation what the president wants to do in an executive order.”

There are a lot of reasons why I’ve been reluctant to discuss the new book from Jake Tapper about how Joe Biden’s staff tried to hide his mental decline during the presidential campaign. For one thing, it’s old news; Joe Biden lost the election a long time ago. It’s a bit like reading about how OJ Simpson’s lawyers secretly knew that he did it. By this point, no one cares, nor is anyone surprised by it. And for another thing, everyone knows that Jake Tapper, like the rest of the news media, was directly involved in covering up the slow-motion transformation of Joe Biden’s brain into applesauce. So there’s no credibility to this book whatsoever. It is a transparent effort by Democrats to throw Joe Biden under the bus and absolve themselves of the 2024 election loss so that they can retain a shred of credibility and remain in positions of power within the party. All that said, though, I have to admit that despite my many reservations, it’s actually worth talking about this book, at least a little. That’s not because Jake Tapper’s reporting is believable or because Joe Biden is relevant. It’s because, when you read the self-serving narrative that these people are coming up with, it’s actually pretty entertaining. It’s also an extremely good omen for the conservative movement. It’s evidence that, six months after Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in every swing state, Democrats remain as delusional and narcissistic as they ever were. This is a party that’s mired in a very steep decline. And Jake Tapper, for all his efforts to obscure that fact, instead makes it even more obvious. Here, for example, is how this new book explains why actor George Clooney decided to go nuclear on the Biden campaign. You might remember that Clooney wrote a public op-ed about how Biden is incapable of serving as president. But the story does not begin with that op-ed. Instead, the story begins on a rainy Easter evening last year in the South of France, where George Clooney was lounging around in one of his mansions, as George Clooney is known to do. Suddenly, Clooney received a phone call from the Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who asked Clooney to host a fundraiser for Biden in June. It seemed like a reasonable request, since Clooney and Biden had known each other for more than 15 years. But the timing of the event put Clooney in a bind because Clooney was slated to be in Tuscany in June, shooting a new coming-of-age drama for Netflix. In order for Clooney to attend the fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles without missing any days of filming, he determined that he would have to fly into Los Angeles from Tuscany (which is something like a 12-hour flight), host the fundraiser, and then get on a plane for Rome that same night — before the fundraiser had even concluded. So this was a major inconvenience, by any metric. But Clooney agreed to do it — with a stipulation. Here’s what he told Katzenberg: “I can do one night. Let’s call Julia [Roberts] and see if she’ll do it with me.” WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show Now, unfortunately, the book doesn’t delve into the specifics of why exactly George Clooney insisted on having Julia Roberts in attendance for his one-night jaunt to Los Angeles from Tuscany. We’re left to speculate on that point. In any event, Clooney made it happen. He made it to the Peacock theater on time, with Julia Roberts in tow. And that’s when everything fell apart. At a private reception at the theater, prior to a public question-and-answer session, Joe Biden arrived, with an aide guiding his hand to help him walk. And then Biden saw George Clooney. Here’s how that conversation went: “Thank you for being here,” Biden said to Clooney. Then an aide remarks, “You know George,” attempting to prod Joe Biden’s memory. But Biden didn’t seem to get it. He just keeps saying, “Thank you for being here” and “How are ya?” And then Clooney tries to make small talk, and Biden keeps giving him short, one-word answers. Then the aide clarifies to Biden that he’s talking to George Clooney, the famous actor who’s organizing the entire fundraiser. And then Biden lights up and exclaims, “Oh yeah, hi George!” Quoting from the book: “Clooney was shaken to his core. The President hadn’t recognized him, a man he had known for years. Clooney had expressed concern about Biden’s health before—a White House aide had told him a few months before that they were working on getting the President to take longer steps when he walked—but obviously the problem went far beyond his gait. This was much graver.” Now, if we zoom out a few hundred feet, you have to admit that Biden simply does not get credit for being anywhere near as entertaining as he was. According to this book, Biden looked George Clooney in the face — at a lavish fundraiser that Clooney was hosting for him, having flown in from Tuscany with only the promise of seeing Julia Roberts to lure him there — and essentially said, “Who the hell are you”? To be clear, in Hollywood, this is the single greatest act of disrespect imaginable. If Biden had robbed Clooney and then beaten him to death with a cane, it still wouldn’t have been anywhere near as disrespectful as this. Telling a famous Hollywood actor like George Clooney that you have no idea who he is — that’s not something you do unless you want to go to war. Even if you’re the president of the United States, you simply cannot come back from that. And indeed, Clooney did go to war. He wrote an op-ed that gave other party elites the green light to torpedo Biden’s candidacy. In the book, this anecdote is supposed to come off as truly shocking to the reader. We’re supposed to be amazed that Joe Biden was so far gone. But actually, it’s just hilarious. Two years before this fundraiser, Joe Biden was so lost and confused on the White House grounds that the Easter Bunny had to tell him what to do. He had been falling asleep and freezing up during interviews, again and again. It’s not remotely surprising that he wasn’t able to recognize George Clooney because, many times over, he didn’t appear to realize who he was, or what he was doing in the White House. So nothing here is a revelation. What *is* new is that, according to this book, it took a blow to George Clooney’s ego in order for Democrats and their donors to tell the public about Joe Biden’s condition. That was the red line for these people. You won’t find a better way to summarize the modern Democrat Party. Joe Biden was free to run the country into the ground. He was free to stare into space, slack-jawed, wherever he pleased — whether he was on television, or attending the White House Easter Egg hunt. But the one thing he wasn’t free to do — the one thing that was intolerable to the elites — was failing to acknowledge their power over him. And of course, these elites lack all self-awareness, even now — to the point that they think a sob story about multi-millionaire actor George Clooney flying in from Tuscany, only to be snubbed by Joe Biden, is going to make voters sympathetic to the party machine and the corporate press. But it’s not going to work because we all remember how they attempted to spin this fundraiser at the Peacock Theater. This is the footage, which everyone saw, of Joe Biden freezing up on stage, before Obama has to grab him by the hand and lead him away: On MSNBC, they responded to this footage by attacking the people who posted it. Then they suggested that the footage was somehow misleading. They called it a “cheap fake.” They made up a whole term, in a desperate bid to minimize the impact of this footage. And as the media made this claim and invented this new word, zero prominent Democrats complained. Watch: Even after Joe Biden participated in that disastrous debate with Donald Trump, the cover-up continued. Barack Obama put out this tweet, saying Biden had just had a “bad night”: You can see it there. In fact, Obama implies that, in the past, he’s performed just as badly as Joe Biden did. And Obama said this with a straight face, even though no one who actually watched the debate — even the most committed Obama hater on the planet — would agree with that statement. The term “gaslighting” is overused, but this obviously qualifies. Meanwhile, Axios ran this report: They wanted you to know that Biden was suffering from a “cold” during the debate, and that he “strengthened” as the night went on. What’s amazing about this is that Alex Thompson, Jake Tapper’s co-writer on the book, writes for Axios. So they’ve gone from participating in the cover-up, to claiming to be outraged by it. Meanwhile, this is the headline the AP went with: Again, they ran this *after* the presidential debate: “Biden at 81: Often sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful.” This was the coverage from every mainstream outlet throughout all of last year. For his part, earlier in 2024, Joe Scarborough lashed out at his viewers, saying Joe Biden was more “cogent” than he’d ever been. He said “f– you” if you disagreed. We’ve played that clip before. It’s not worth revisiting, just because it’s actually painful to watch. But it’s all over the internet, if you haven’t seen it already. For his part, prior to writing this new book, Jake Tapper wasn’t any better. Tom Elliott collected a lot of video footage of Tapper running interference for the Biden campaign. Here’s just some of it: SUPERCUT! Before profiting off the media conspiracy to hide Biden's decline, @jaketapper helped run it pic.twitter.com/j5m7h4JVA3 — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 27, 2025 Fast forward a few months, and now Jake Tapper would like you to buy his book, so that he can expose everyone other than Jake Tapper. But as far as I can tell, this book doesn’t answer any of the actually interesting questions from the campaign. Here’s the big one: Who told Joe Biden to debate Donald Trump in June? That was the earliest presidential debate in modern political history. They usually take place in September, not June. And obviously, everyone now agrees that Biden’s inner circle understood that he was incapable of recognizing George Clooney, much less participating in a nationally televised debate. So why did they send him out there? In these excerpts from the book, there’s a hint of an explanation. It’s a paragraph that describes a conversation at a wedding that was being attended by Chuck Schumer, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate. “Another wedding guest, who sat at Schumer’s table, recalled him saying, ‘If things go south at the debate, me, Barack, Nancy, and Hakeem have a Plan B.” In other words, Democrat Party leaders knew that the debate would be a disaster. And they saw it as a last-ditch way to replace a losing candidate who refused to step aside voluntarily. To all appearances, the debate was a setup — and a very effective one. They wanted to remove Joe Biden and install a new candidate while they still had the time. And now that Kamala Harris crashed and burned, these people have another ready-made excuse. They’re saying that Harris only lost because she had to run such a short campaign. Of course, everyone knows that Kamala Harris lost popularity with every day she campaigned. The more people realized how vapid she was, the less support she had. But for the purposes of this book, we’re supposed to pretend that voters didn’t like Kamala Harris because they didn’t see enough of her. Therefore, the narrative is clear: All of the Democrats’ problems are Joe Biden’s fault. His handlers deceived the public. Blame them, and only them. Again, none of it’s particularly compelling. There are other tidbits in here about how Joe Biden’s advisers were supposedly planning to put him in a wheelchair after the election, and how he couldn’t remember the name of his own national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. Apparently he kept calling the guy “Steve,” over and over again, in order to get him to come to the Oval Office. And then he also forgot the name of his spokeswoman, Kate Bedingfield. So he just called her “Press,” instead of using her actual name. So we effectively had a cave-man in the White House for several years — which again, is not actually something that makes Joe Biden exclusively look bad. Instead, it makes every single one of his enablers, including his wife, look like the criminals they are. The important thing to understand is that this is how the Democrat Party operates. And it will continue to operate this way, even though Biden is now long gone. In fact, they’re currently running the same operation on John Fetterman. Remember how, during his Senate campaign, Fetterman opened by saying, “Hi, goodnight everyone?” At the time, we were told that we were bigots if we suggested he wasn’t fit for office. But now the tone has changed. CNN is currently grilling Fetterman in his office about whether he’s secretly bipolar. Watch: CNN's Manu Raju to Sen. John Fetterman: "So you've only been treated for depression, not for being bipolar." YIKES. pic.twitter.com/tMyO4yJDls — Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 8, 2025 This is a very different CNN from just a couple of years ago, when they trotted out their chief brain surgery correspondent to inform us that John Fetterman was more than capable of serving in the U.S. Senate. Yes, he needed a computer to conduct an interview. And yes, he didn’t make any sense when he talked. But all of his issues, we were told, had to do with “processing” his responses. He understood everything just fine; he was only having issues getting the words out. Watch: They’ve gone from saying he’s totally fine (without actually speaking to him), to having a reporter hound him in his office and accuse him of being bipolar. All that changed, of course, is that John Fetterman became very annoying to Democrats in the Senate. He didn’t toe the party line to the extent they wanted. So now they want to get rid of him. And they know that, if they continue to portray him as mentally disturbed, then eventually he’ll have no choice but to quit. Put it all together, and it’s clear that the Democrat Party has not matured or improved in any way since their crushing defeat in the last election. They are still just as shameless as ever. They don’t care about transparency or informing the public. They’re only capable of running extremely transparent propaganda campaigns, in which they’ll say one thing in 2024 and then completely contradict themselves in 2025. Whatever Jake Tapper was hoping to accomplish with this book, credit where it’s due: He succeeded in doing one thing, and one thing only. He made George Clooney, of all people, the face of the very self-absorbed and impotent Democrat elite. It’s true that Joe Biden can’t recognize that face, even if it’s standing right in front of him at his own fundraiser. But voters are a little more perceptive. And as a result, they understand that Democrats are far more concerned about their own self-image than anything else. Whatever damage was done to George Clooney’s ego a year ago, the damage to Democrats — as a direct result of this ongoing cover-up — is much more substantial. Put another way, this is a party that very badly does not want to accept any amount of accountability. They’re not interested in it. All they want is to find someone else to blame for their failures. It’s their obsession. Yes, the man they’re now blaming — the former president of the United States — has no idea who they are, or who he is. But everyone else remembers what they were saying about him before this latest book tour. And the more they lie about it, and the more they run the same scheme against John Fetterman, the more we’re reminded of who these people are, and why they can never be trusted with power ever again.