House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed the embattled head of the Secret Service on Wednesday for a hearing about security failures that occurred before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday.  U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has said that the buck stops with her but said she is not resigning.  The Oversight Committee subpoena calls for Cheatle to come to a hearing at 10 a.m. on July 22.  “The assassination attempt of the former president and current Republican nominee for president represents a total failure of the agency’s core mission and demands congressional oversight,” says a letter from Comer to Cheatle.   “Despite allowing you to speak with the media, both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Secret Service have failed to provide assurances regarding your appearance at the Oversight Committee’s scheduled hearing, thereby necessitating the attached subpoena,” the letter continues.  During the Saturday Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a gunman fired an AR-style rifle at the former president, hitting his ear, killing a spectator, and injuring two others in the crowd.  The subpoena comes one day after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the House would conduct a “thorough investigation” of the security failures. On Thursday, Johnson told The Daily Signal that he is calling on Cheatle to resign and said he would set up a special task force to investigate the assassination attempt.  The Comer letter notes the Department of Homeland Security has stonewalled the committee: “Initially, the Secret Service committed to your attendance. Subsequently, however, DHS officials appear to have intervened, and your attendance is now in question.”  “In addition, since DHS’s intervention, there have been no meaningful updates or information shared with the committee,” Comer added. “The lack of transparency and failure to cooperate with the committee on this pressing matter by both DHS and the Secret Service further calls into question your ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the attached subpoena compelling your appearance before the Oversight Committee.”  The post House Subpoenas Secret Service Chief Over Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on The Daily Signal.

WaPo: Secret Service Knew the Building Was Not Secured

One Vet Should Have a Crow to Pluck With POTATUS's Beaumentia

Night Two of coverage of the Republican National Convention was “Make America Safe Once Again,” with politicians and ordinary Americans making speeches relaying stories about crime and the illegal immigration that causes some of that crime. PBS reporters and anchors sounded the alarm from the start, warning that Republicans are trying to instill unwarranted fear and anxiety in voters. At 7:08 p.m. (ET), Lisa Desjardins, PBS’s sole reporter on the convention floor, warned viewers of the PBS News Hour, with a tone of dismissal and disapproval, to watch out for the Republicans setting a dark tone and spreading fear, and that smart journalists know better. Co-host Geoff Bennett: The theme tonight, Lisa, is “Make America Safe Again” [sic], help us understand what the party is trying to convey with that messaging tonight. Lisa Desjardins: This will be a darker tone tonight. This will be a night where Republicans will try to convince the public that President Biden has led to a country full of crime, where undocumented immigrants have been causing problems for communities across this country. We know of course that violent crime in this country has gone down in the last couple of years. There are some communities where that’s different. But tonight, we have to pay very careful attention to how this tone goes, because this is trying to present kind of an atmosphere of fear, many of these delegates believe there is a reason to fear. We know the statistics say otherwise. So we have to watch it carefully. And they did. Soon after PBS’s convention coverage proper began, PBS News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz asked analyst David Brooks around the 8:04 p.m. mark. Amna Nawaz: We have seen though, we should note, Republican rhetoric veer into outright racism, echoing some white supremacist notions as well. Do you think that will be avoided here tonight?” David Brooks, a New York Times columnist that supposedly holds up the right on the PBS News Hour’s Friday evening political roundtable, didn’t exactly make a conservative defense, instead bashing conservative controversialist Tucker Carlson. David Brooks: Well I hope so, but you know, Tucker Carlson was sitting next to Donald Trump the other night, and he did some replacement, serious replacement theory, in the course of his – that’s the idea that non-white people are replacing white people -- and so he’s still sitting there with Donald Trump, so who knows. Nawaz: Who knows. Brooks would stick to that pattern of dismissing conservatives all night, letting the unbridled voice of Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post, his liberal counterpart dominate. At 9:25 pm anchor Nawaz, while talking to North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, returned to the issue of racist Republican rhetoric. Nawaz: We know we’re living in a different era, we’ve all been talking about this in the last few days about, after the assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life, this seems to be a moment, people say, maybe we’ll hear something different from him, but they all agree this is the time to lower the political temperature. I’m curious what your message would be to some of your fellow Republicans we’ve seen on stage who haven’t seem to got--get that menu, there are still incredibly incendiary remarks being made, some vilification of certain communities. If you believe that that kind of rhetoric can fuel actual real-world violence as we’ve seen in the past what’s your message to your fellow Republicans about their language? Part of that “vilification” was presumably the word “illegals” to describe people the media now demand be called “undocumented immigrants.” At 8:05 p.m. Capehart was aghast that speaker Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, used the term “illegals” when talking about undocumented migrants. Jonathan Capehart: It’s one thing to present a kinder, gentler version of the Republican Party and they might veer into outright racist or dog-whistling or bull-horning. But you also have to pay attention to who’s sitting in the room, Tucker Carlson, who’s taking the stage and the language that they’re using. Bernie Moreno, who’s running for Senate in Ohio, used the term “illegals” when talking about undocumented migrants coming over the border.” At 10:02 p.m. Desjardins asked a California delegate what she thought of the use of word “illegals.” Desjardins: We’ve seen this influx, we know, we just heard Chad Wolf talking on our program at the numbers changing. The rhetoric, does it matter to you? We’ve heard the term “illegals” used here, are panelists been talking about that, what do you think of that word? Her response: “I think it’s just a word….”

Trump allies are looking to “Make America First in AI” as the 2024 election season heats up. Allies of former President and current candidate Donald Trump are already drafting a “sweeping” executive order on artificial intelligence (AI), according to The Washington Post. The Post reported that it reviewed documents showing planned projects that use “industry-led” agencies to evaluate AI models and also provide security from foreign adversaries for systems. “Make America First in AI” is already set to be radically different from the Biden administration’s meddlesome and regulation-heavy attitude toward AI and Silicon Valley. Dan Schneider, Vice President of MRC Free Speech America, contrasted the proposed Trump order with a Biden administration AI executive order. “Biden's AI order was designed to help a lagging Google to catch up with its more innovative competitors. Biden essentially issued a gag order to his cabinet not to discuss whether and how transparent AI algorithms should be,” Schneider said. He added, “On one side of this transparency fight are Elon Musk, OpenAI and Facebook, all of which lean towards openness. On the other side are the Chinese companies and Google. They are doing everything in their power to keep us in the dark and easily manipulatable.” The Post reported that the Trump allies plan “Manhattan Projects” both to develop military tech and also to review “unnecessary and burdensome regulations.” Silicon Valley investors and companies could find a second Trump presidency a boon, which is possibly why an increasing number of them are backing Trump.  Whereas the Biden administration, for instance, issued an executive order in 2023 using “emergency powers” for safety testing of AI systems, the Trump administration is looking for solutions that rely less on executive power and regulation. The 2024 Republican platform promises AI action, The Post noted. “We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology,” the GOP platform reads. “In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.” The drafted AI order would seem to be part of this GOP promise. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

A bloodied Donald Trump, seconds after the attempt on his life, fist raised in defiance against the blue sky and an American flag, as a scrum of Secret Service agents surround him. Evan Vucci's photograph quickly transcended reportage to become one of those iconic images that capture something deeper about the human experience. Naturally, the meme-makers acted first, responding to the moment in ways ironic, earnest, or (as is usually the case with the best of their efforts) a delicate balance of both. More considered essays soon followed, using the image as a springboard for meditations on this particular moment in our history. For Align editor Helen Roy, Vucci's image holds a deeper, more elusive truth beyond the reach of memes or think pieces. "It seemed to me that the best hope of understanding this photograph's power was through figurative language," says Roy. It was the desire to understand this picture and its already indelible mark on our culture that led Roy to write the poem "Manifest Destiny," which we reproduce below. —Matt Himes, managing editorManifest Destiny A mere tilt of the chin against the hot wind Skirted disaster: whirring slug to the head. Warring worlds brought to heel in the midsummer heat, Death, pawing, and snarling, and crouched at his feet. Guards scrambled wildly to cover the king, Yet he towered above them, ears still ringing, And raised a fist, and his old, bloodied face, Unkillable in both body and grace, Mouthed “fight” as the terrified onlookers screamed, And red stripes and blue stars surrounded him, framed.

Near the submerged city of Baiae, archaeologists found a stunning opus sectile floor that had been built in the last days of the Roman Empire. The post Stunning Marble Floor Of Sunken Roman Villa Restored Off The Coast Of Southern Italy appeared first on All That's Interesting.

The altar was believed to be lost for centuries — then archaeologists found it leaning against a wall in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with graffiti covering the back of it. The post This Crusades-Era Altar Was Hidden In Plain Sight For Centuries — Now It’s Revealing Unknown Links Between Jerusalem And Rome appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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