Illinois Supreme Court Tosses Smollett Hate-Crime-Hoax Conviction on Technicality

I pull the following directly from the summary of the 2024 annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees: “The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund (that is, Social Security) will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033, unchanged from last year’s report. At that time, the fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 79 percent of scheduled benefits.” Our Social Security system is broke. Now if you own stock in a company, and you read a report that the prospects for that company are not good, that the cash dividend that the company is expected to pay to stockholders is in jeopardy, you can get out. You can sell the stock and invest somewhere else. Per the Social Security Administration, there are 184 million Americans now working and paying Social Security taxes. Per the above notice from the Social Security Trustees, all those 184 million ages 57 and below will get only 79% of their entitled benefits at retirement (assuming they choose to start collecting benefits at age 67). Does any one of the 184 million have an option to say, “No, thanks, I don’t want to be part of this,” and get out? Certainly not. The government forces you to participate, allegedly for your own good. They decide; you obey. It’s a reminder of what President Ronald Reagan called “the most terrifying words in the English language: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Payroll taxes will continue to be deducted from 184 million paychecks -- taxes based on assumption of delivery of full promised benefits, not 79% -- and no one can opt out. We just had an election in which a message was sent, particularly from young Americans and non-white Americans, that many are tired of this. Pollster Patrick Ruffini, writing in The Wall Street Journal, calls the dramatic shift in demographics voting Republican “The GOP’s New Rising Electorate.” Young Americans, Latino Americans and Black Americans surged to the right. Kamala Harris’ advantage among voters 18-29, a group Democrats have always captured by double digit margins, was only 4 points. Ruffini describes the new dynamic as the “politics of aspiration” as opposed to the politics of government dependency. Even if the Social Security system was not broken, if there was no question that the system could pay full benefits, these young Americans, if given the option, would still opt to get out. Several years ago, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity did an analysis comparing what Americans of different income and marital status would earn over a 45-year working life if given the option to invest the funds they are forced to pay as payroll tax to Social Security. Private investment in stocks and bonds over a full working life would accumulate savings that could purchase an annuity at retirement around double what can be expected from Social Security. Data show that over the long run, stocks are by far the highest performing asset. Yet lower-income Americans, because they are forced into the Social Security government tax program, are deprived of the opportunity to put their retirement into high-performing assets. Per the most recent study of consumer finances by the Federal Reserve Board, in 2022 median wealth of white households was $285,000, Black households $44,900, Hispanic households $61,600. Per the same study, 65.6 % of white households owned stocks, compared to 39.2% of Black households and 28.3% of Hispanic households. Many in our political class will use this opportunity to step up and tell us they will “save the system.” But we don’t need the system saved. We need our personal lives and personal liberty saved. Let’s start making America great again by opening the door to our oldest and largest entitlement system -- Social Security -- and liberating our working Americans.

Earlier this week, “The View’s” Sunny Hostin, who Dave Rubin believes is “the most racist person on mainstream TV,” went on “a somewhat unhinged rant about Matt Gaetz” — Trump’s pick for attorney general before he withdrew from his nomination. “How could you nominate someone with allegations of child trafficking across state lines and having sex with a 17-year-old? My understanding further on in the interview, they discussed the fact that once he finds out that she’s 17, he stops having sex with her,” Hostin told the panel. Two days later, Hostin was forced by the show’s legal team to correct this libelous smear against Matt Gaetz live on the air. Dave plays the clip of Hostin “eating crow,” and the look on her face is priceless. “Sunny, you have a legal note,” Whoopi Goldberg said to Hostin. “I do have a legal note. Thank you, Whoopi,” Hostin retorted with venom before she began reading off the teleprompter. “Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations, calling the claims ‘invented’ and saying in a statement to ABC News that this false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism. That DOJ investigation was closed with no charges being brought,” she recited robotically with deadness in her eyes. Although Dave doesn’t usually “revel in people’s misery,” in this case, he is absolutely “reveling in [Hostin’s] misery.” “The stone-cold look and the crow that she had to eat on live television” makes him smile. “Of course, what we know is this is purely political because if she liked him, she would never be saying these things,” says Dave. “It’s just a perfect moment.” To watch Hostin’s pretty face twist in the bitterest sneer you’ve ever seen as she’s forced to backtrack her statements about Matt Gaetz, watch the episode above. Want more from Dave Rubin?To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The fallout is still being sorted from former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrawing his bid for U.S. attorney general Thursday, but one CNN analyst says both he and the president-elect won the round. Many recoiled when President-elect Donald Trump announced the nomination of Gaetz to the highest law enforcement office last week, especially after allegations involving underage sex trafficking. On Wednesday, members of the House Ethics Committee said they could not reach an agreement to publicly release a report about the claims. 'Either way, he gets the support now of the MAGA community who thinks that Democrats and haters of Donald Trump are just trying to take down Matt Gaetz.' After Gaetz issued his withdrawal announcement, CNN political analyst Mark Preston reiterated his claim that Trump and the Florida congressman would win no matter what the outcome of his nomination. "I'm of the conspiratorial class on this one," said Preston while his fellow CNN panelists laughed. "No, I really am! So this is how I think it plays out," he continued. "I think Matt Gaetz is on the airplane, this idea's hatched for him to become nominee for attorney general. He knows within a few days that this House report is going to get released, OK? Either way, he gets the support now of the MAGA community who thinks that Democrats and haters of Donald Trump are just trying to take down Matt Gaetz. "Now if they're successful in doing so, Matt Gaetz becomes a pariah within a community when that report's gonna get released anyway, but yet he has already established support [of the MAGA community]. Or if he gets through, then Donald Trump gets what he wants, right?" Preston says. He went on to say that it really didn't matter who Trump installs into the Department of Justice as long as that person does what Trump wants them to do. "It doesn't have to be Matt Gaetz. It could be Matt Thompson, or Matt Barnes. It could be any Matt!" he joked. Preston posted the video of his comments about the Gaetz stratagem on his social media account. He also had a warning about Republican senators who rejected the nomination. "Trump -- let alone his supporters -- keep scorecards ... there is only so many times the @GOP Senators will be able to defy Trump before he turns the firehose on them," Preston wrote. Gaetz has vehemently denied all of the allegations leveled against him. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Two high school athletes are suing a California school district over being told their shirts about women's sports are akin to wearing Nazi garb.Cross-country runners Kaitlyn and Taylor from the Martin Luther King High School said they wore T-shirts that read "Save Girls' Sports" on the front and "It's Common Sense. XX ≠ XY" on the back.The shirts were in protest of a male athlete participating in female athletics who bumped one of the girls from their cross-country team. Although the male didn't consistently attend practices or meet eligibility practices for the varsity team, he allegedly still displaced Taylor (11th grade) from her spot on the squad, the legal complaint claimed."There's a transgender student on the team. Why am I getting displaced when I worked so hard and gone to all of the practices, and this student has only attended a few of the practices," Taylor asked.The girls also allege that school athletic officials told them to remove or conceal the shirts and said they are creating a "hostile" environment. The athletic director even reportedly said wearing their shirts around a transgender student was like wearing a swastika around a Jewish student."It was definitely hard to hear because we're by no means trying to be hateful," Kaitlyn (9th grade) told Fox News. "We're just wearing a shirt that expresses what we believe in trying to raise awareness to a situation."'There are other messages that are allowed that haven't been censored.'To make matters worse, the girls said the female-identifying boy has been allowed to wear "trans pride" bracelets without reprimand, and other students have been allowed to display similar messaging using an LGBTQ pride flag.Julianne Fleischer, attorney from Advocates for Faith and Freedom, said other political and social messaging is all over the school and worn by other students, with gay pride flags even hanging in the classrooms."There are other messages that are allowed that haven't been censored," Fleischer explained.The legal complaint went on to describe the male athlete displacing the young girl from her team after transferring from another high school where he broke the school's all-time cross-country record for females.Taylor was allegedly bumped to junior varsity to make way for the boy, which her family has complained will make her less visible to college scouts due to not being present at high-profile track meets.Neither the Riverside Unified School District nor Martin Luther King High School responded to Fox News' requests for comment.The girls are the second set of California high schoolers to take a stand against boys in their competitions in recent weeks.Girls at the Stone Ridge Christian School refused to play in the state tournament when they learned a boy was playing on an opposing team."We will always stand for Biblical truth and what is right," the school said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A Florida man and his wife were arrested Tuesday after they attacked a female school resource deputy, authorities said, citing police bodycam footage. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that two parents — 46-year-old Jorge Rivera and 45-year-old Dagmarie Aponte Iturrino — assaulted the deputy at Deltona Middle School on Tuesday morning. 'To be clear, the only piece of s**t in that video is the mother and father. They're the pieces of s**t.'The confrontation purportedly stemmed from the couple's 11-year-old son getting into a physical altercation with a girl. The parents went to the school to protest a battery charge against their son that resulted in a civil citation, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood told WESH-TV.According to the bodycam video, the parents confronted the school resource deputy for accusing their son of being the "primary aggressor" in the incident with the girl. Video shows Rivera responding, "You failed a kid. You’re failing kids right here. We’re not talking about us because believe me, if it were about the adults we could solve this a whole different level. We are talking about kids." A visibly agitated Rivera told the school resource deputy, "Why are you so worthless? Do you feel proud that you are this worthless, lady? Shut the f*** up because I pay your salary, you dumb b***h!""You are a worthless piece of s**t," Rivera told the female law enforcement officer. The wife unsuccessfully attempted to get her husband to calm down. Deputy Julia Curtin asked the parents to leave her office at the school. Rivera is seen on bodycam video in a school hallway putting his hand in the deputy's face. Suddenly, Iturrino is seen physically confronting the officer, and video shows Rivera jumping into the fracas.The officer draws her taser, but Rivera apparently punches the deputy in the head, knocking her to the ground. He then rips the deputy's taser from her hand.A school employee tries to stop Rivera from using the taser. Deputy Curtin draws her gun and yells: "Put it down right f***ing now! Put your hands behind your f***ing back now!" Rivera is seen dropping the taser, and the deputy arrests Rivera and Iturrino.According to jail records, both parents were charged with resisting arrest with violence, trespass on school property after warning, and disputing a school function. Rivera was hit with charges of grand theft, battery on a law enforcement officer, and assault or battery on specified officials or employees. Iturrino bonded out of jail Tuesday night, WESH-TV reported. In an ironic twist, Iturrino is a pre-K teacher at Spirit Elementary School in Deltona, according to the school's website. WESH said she's been suspended.Rivera appeared before a judge Wednesday, WESH said, adding that his bail was set at $42,000.Chitwood blasted the parents in a profanity-laced press conference Wednesday. 'In training, if you lose your taser, you automatically transition to your firearm. If you take a deputy’s taser, you can almost expect to get shot.'Chitwood claimed the parents' son "bullied and shoved a little girl." He said that the parents were questioning the deputy as to why the girl had not been disciplined in the altercation.The sheriff played the video clip of Rivera calling the deputy a "worthless piece of s**t." Chitwood lambasted the parents, "To be clear, the only piece of s**t in that video is the mother and father. They're the pieces of s**t." He continued, "They attacked my deputy; she suffered a concussion."Chitwood declared that Iturrino "deserves to be fired" from her teaching job for her role in the alleged assault of the deputy. "I'm not gonna have pieces of s**t like that come in and attack a deputy doing their job and not expect that they're not going to be held accountable for that," Chitwood proclaimed. The sheriff noted, "To say I’m furious is beyond. There's no reason I got a deputy home with a concussion for something so goddamn trivial." He said the deputy will be on bed rest for four days, WESH reported.Chitwood pointed out, "In training, if you lose your taser, you automatically transition to your firearm. If you take a deputy’s taser, you can almost expect to get shot. ... Thank God that’s not what happened in these close grounds."What's more, Chitwood said the battery charge for the couple's son was not a criminal charge but a civil citation, according to WESH."You go before the judge," Chitwood said, according to WESH. "The judge looks at the evidence, and then a judge would impose sanctions, whether it's counseling, community service, whatever it is, and then the whole thing goes away."Content warning: Language:Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here.

Burning Down the House? Biden Loosens Immigration Requirements Prior to Leaving Office

Twitter Reminds Mopey 'Pod Bro' Jon Favreau What Obama ACTUALLY Brought About

Good Luck With That! British MPs Plan to Summon Elon Musk to the U.K. to 'Testify' About Misinformation

Nancy Mace Goes 'There' Ending Adam Kinzinger for Trying to Pick a Fight Over Men in Women's Bathrooms