As reported‚ the Uniparty voted for the $95 billion forever war bill. The bill funds both sides of the war with aid to Gaza/Hamas. It’s now up to the House to vote it down. Speaker Johnson already said it’s dead on arrival. “National security begins at our own border. America deserves better than the Senate’s […] The post Senate War Bill Is Dead on Arrival in the House appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Maybe John Cornyn (R-TX) is stupid; it’s hard to say.  Texas Scoreboard’s Michael Quinn Sullivan wrote on X‚ “While Texans slept‚ @JohnCornyn sent $95 billion to help other countries with their border problems. Question: when was the last time Cornyn stayed up all night fighting for our border?” Attorney General Ken Paxton responded to Sullivan: […] The post WOW‚ Just WOW John Cornyn‚ from Texas No Less appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Prominent Democrats in Congress are defending President Joe Biden as concerns about his age and mental fitness reach a fever pitch during his re-election run. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told CNN on Monday that she has worked with Biden — who is the oldest person to be president at 81 and would be 86 at the end of a second term — for a “long time” and warned anyone who “would think that they’re at some advantage because of his age‚ thinks that at their peril because he’s very sharp.” “Age is an objective fact. As I say‚ it’s all relative. He’s younger than I am‚” Pelosi‚ who is 83‚ said. “So what do I have to say about his age?” Pelosi touted Biden’s experience and “vision” while dismissing his gaffes as a “slip of the tongue here or there.” Biden “has what he needs mentally and what he has in his heart empathetically for the American people‚” Pelosi added. NEW: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended President Biden's mental acuity‚ saying‚ "He's very sharp." pic.twitter.com/WMibUizkaZ — Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 13‚ 2024 Fresh questions about Biden’s ability to lead effectively were spurred by the release last week of a report by special counsel Robert Hur that criticized Biden’s handling of classified documents. Although Hur did not recommend charges‚ the report said Biden exhibited memory problems that likely would preclude a jury from convicting him. Biden responded to Hur’s findings in an impromptu press conference during which he insisted that his memory is “fine” and then mixed up world leaders. In the days leading up to the report’s unveiling‚ Biden made headlines for talking about discussions with European heads of state who had died by the time he said the conversations took place. "I talk to President Biden‚ you know‚ regularly. … His mental acuity is great‚ it's fine‚ it's as good as it's been over the years." — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) rejects concerns about Biden's memory after the special counsel's classified documents report pic.twitter.com/AQiztW0EN6 — The Recount (@therecount) February 13‚ 2024 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)‚ who is 73‚ told reporters that he speaks to Biden “regularly‚” usually several times a week‚ and insisted the president’s “mental acuity is great‚ it’s fine‚ it’s as good as it’s been over the years‚” dating back three decades. He also claimed “right-wing propaganda” about Biden’s mental acuity being in decline “is wrong.” While polls do not reflect as much concern about the age of former President Donald Trump‚ the 77-year-old GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race‚ Schumer said Biden is “going to win the election because he has a great record‚ because more and more Americans are seeing that record‚ because the economy is improving‚ and because a large number of Americans — including Republicans — fear a Donald Trump presidency for the future of our democracy.”

Sportscaster Bob Costas chimed in regarding the trans controversy in sports‚ saying‚ “We can’t throw common sense out the window.” Costas appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” alongside Atlantic staff writer Caitlin Flanagan. Maher spoke of the lawsuit filed by transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas against World Aquatics so Thomas could compete in women’s swimming at the Summer Olympics. He asked whether permitting trans-identifying athletes to compete against women was fair. “Without getting too deep into this‚ people may not realize this‚ the individual federations that govern these sports make up their own rules‚” Costas answered. “So World Aquatics may have different rules than FIFA or the Track and Field Association. So I understand that when it comes to Olympic boxing‚ that federation will allow trans women to compete against biological women‚ at birth biological women. That seems crazy.” “You don’t want to be called — it’s not transphobic to say ‘Let’s inject some common sense here‚’” he continued. “A lot of this is murky. We know that some people who use this as an issue actually are hostile towards trans people‚ or people who after carefully considered decision at a certain point in life‚ decide that they’ll be happier and closer to their true selves. I think any sensitive person is aligned with that. But — Sugar Ray Leonard didn’t fight Mike Tyson. They were contemporaries. Sugar Ray was a welterweight‚ Mike was a heavyweight‚ alright? If someday the best player in the WNBA can play in the NBA‚ everybody would applaud. But if the worst guy at the end of the bench on the worst team in the NBA went to the WNBA and averaged 40 points a game‚ everybody knows that’s bulls***.” “What’s the answer for the trans athlete? What’s the answer? A separate division?” Maher pressed. “Well‚ I don’t think you want just trans athletes competing against other trans athletes; they’re going to have to codify the rules that I’m not prepared to say exactly what those rules would entail but they’ll have to codify them so you don’t have a hodge-podge‚” Costas replied. “You know these kind of extreme cases‚ and I hate that we have to talk about them so much because it makes it [like] we have to say things that are cruel or hurtful to some people but you know‚ women’s and girls’ sports‚ they weren’t created as separate from men’s and boys’ because of some weird gendered thing like they have to wear pink‚ and they have to wear blue‚ they’re that way because of the profound sex differences between the sexes‚” Flanagan chimed in. “That’s the reason. You don’t hear about any trans male athletes on a D1 basketball team… it’s the trans women who seem to be using a natural advantage that comes from sex-linked traits‚ you know‚ we women- we can’t compete.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “But it might not be‚ at some point down the road‚ if it’s codified‚ and if you take the transition hormones and balance that out‚ and maybe that happens before puberty or shortly after‚ because even if you begin that hormone therapy‚ you retain some of the advantages that generally go with being a man‚ greater lung capacity‚ greater strength‚ etc.‚ etc.‚” Costas stated. “So they’re going to have to codify it. … We don’t want to be cruel or punitive toward someone who is trying to deal with a circumstance‚ but at the same time‚ we can’t throw common sense out the window.” Bill Maher asks Bob Costas what is the best answer regarding trans competing in sports. Maher asks Costas a simple question: Should trans compete in a separate division? Bob Costas: "I don't think you want trans athletes competing against other trans athletes"Caitlin Flanagan:… pic.twitter.com/tBJkgcL3fH — Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) February 10‚ 2024

“Facts‚” the rap collaboration between Canadian recording artist Tom MacDonald and Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro‚ topped the charts this week as the best-selling rap song‚ per Billboard. The single peaked at number two last week but now sits atop the charts with other current best-sellers‚ including “Hiss” by Megan Thee Stallion‚ “Lovin On Me” by Jack Harlow‚ “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell‚ and “Paint the Town Red” by Doja Cat‚ which are all in the top five. Rap artist Nicki Minaj is holding onto the next three spots with her songs “FTCU‚” “Big Foot‚” and “Everybody.” Billboard was one of the few mainstream outlets to comment on the massive success of the single‚ which features lyrics that take aim at the establishment and legacy media. “I don’t care if I offend you/I was put here to upset you‚” the chorus says in part. “You can cry and you can scream‚ you can riot in the streets/You defunded the police‚ now there’s no one to protect you. I hope I offend you.” Even with some of the more lighthearted moments‚ such as Shapiro celebrating his rap star status and mentioning his “classical violin lessons‚” both he and MacDonald agree that the song has cultural significance. “In our song‚ in the pre-chorus‚ we talked about not promoting guns‚ not promoting drugs‚ we talked about not turning people’s sons into thugs and their daughters into h**s‚” MacDonald told Shapiro during an appearance on “The Ben Shapiro Show.”  “We sort of spoke out against what the status quo in hip-hop is‚ and for some reason we’re treated — we’re living in some sort of upside-down‚ backwards freak show — and it just seems like the most destructive material [is promoted].” “Hip-hop is full of a lot of destructive material; the promotion of violence‚ the romanticizing of mental health and prescription drugs recreationally — it seems like those things tend to get the most mainstream attention and then anything that speaks out against that‚ especially in our case‚ has been suppressed‚” he went on. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Shapiro followed up by comparing the words of Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Hiss” to “Facts.”  “The most offensive lines [from ‘Facts’] are things like‚ ‘there are only two genders‚ boys and girls‚’ and ‘where did all the American flags go?’‚” Shapiro said. “That’s the ‘offensive’ stuff.” “If we’re gonna make sure the kids don’t see damaging material‚ we got to stop Tom MacDonald‚” he joked. “They really do not want us to hit number one on the Billboard charts‚ obviously.” But now they are doing exactly that. Amanda Prestigiacomo contributed to this report.

Actor Andrew Keegan recently addressed rumors that he started a cult in California‚ insisting that he was just “getting people together” in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood. The 45-year-old celebrity is best known for appearing on television shows including “Trinkets‚” “Moesha‚” “Party of Five” and “7th Heaven” as well as starring in films such as “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999)‚ “The Broken Hearts Club” (2000) and “O” (2001). Keegan appeared on the “Pod Meets World” podcast this week and discussed rumors that he had previously started a cult.  “You mean when I woke up one day and I was anointed a cult leader?” he said while laughing‚ going on to talk about how he moved to Venice Beach and “got immersed in the culture and the community.” “There was this interesting group of hippie types‚ if you will‚ in Venice. I’m sure if you went on the west side‚ there’s definitely a lot of spirituality‚” he said. “I was connected with some folks and we had this opportunity. This old Hare Krishna Temple‚ it was sitting there empty and we were like‚ ‘Why don’t we get some people together and let’s open this place up?’” The group was previously part of the Occupy Wall Street movement and wanted to “do some positive things for the community.” They named their movement Full Circle‚ per Variety. “Looking back‚ it was insane. I was putting down tens of thousands of dollars‚ but we opened it up and spent three years and really did build an amazing friend group‚” Keegan continued. “We went through something really significant from 2014 to 2017.” The actor went on to explain how the cult rumors began after a Vice reporter put out an article entitled‚ “One of the Stars of ’10 Things I Hate About You’ Started a Religion.” The interviewer described meeting a group member named Third Eye‚ who was allegedly part of the “inner circle” of “enlightened” members. Third Eye said Keegan was the group’s leader and had the “ultimate say on all things.” “I probably should have had a little bit more media training at the time‚” the actor said during the podcast interview. “They just really created a very interesting‚ colorful story and put it together… we really just got together and did a Sunday thing. We did almost 1‚000 events in three years and it was actually really hard. It was really beneficial to a lot of people‚ I still hear about it now‚ where people are like‚ ‘That was such a great time.’” Keegan insisted that his group was “the opposite of what you would imagine.” “There was no doctrine. We were just getting people together. ‘The Co-Creator’s Handbook’ was the handbook we used… For all intents and purposes‚ it was a really cool community center for a bunch of people in Venice for a few years.” Podcast host Danielle Fishel suggested that what Keegan described “sounds like a group of people at Burning Man more than a group of people at [the notorious cult] Heaven’s Gate.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “But ‘cult leader’ kind of leans unto the Heaven’s Gate‚” Keegan replied. “Maybe we should have come up with a different name. I thought Full Circle was pretty good‚ you know‚ what goes around comes around. I don’t know.” He added‚ “It wasn’t something with such a specific agenda at the time. It just evolved from a group of people. We had thousands of people come through over the years and just a ton of events and dinner parties. There was actually a podcast I heard recently where they were talking about it and trying to figure it out. At the end‚ they kind of landed on‚ it seems like a cool place to hang out — and that’s what it was.”

MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough worked overtime on Tuesday to defend President Joe Biden‚ suggesting that the president’s noticeable lapses in memory were no different than similar lapses he noticed in himself. Scarborough made the comments during a segment of “Morning Joe‚” as he and several others discussed the report published by Biden special counsel Robert Hur — who argued that Biden had mishandled classified documents on numerous occasions but should not be charged‚ adding that a jury would likely view him as simply “forgetful.” WATCH: MSNBC’s ⁦@JoeNBC⁩ defends Biden’s memory: “Nobody has been closer to me in my life than my mom. If somebody asked me in the middle of a deposition‚ ‘What year did your mom die?’ I’d go‚ ‘I don’t know‚ 2017‚ 2018‚ 2019?’ I don’t know.” pic.twitter.com/rpDuYw9nqB — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 13‚ 2024 Despite the fact that Hur concluded Biden had “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen‚” he worried that the president’s memory issues could complicate any potential prosecution. “Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited‚ both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017 [with whom he shared classified materials]‚ and in his interview with our office in 2023‚” the report stated‚ adding that among the things Biden struggled to remember was the date of his son Beau’s death. “In his interview with our office‚ Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president‚ forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’)‚ and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009‚ am I still Vice President?’)‚” Hur noted. “He did not remember‚ even within several years‚ when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Scarborough dismissed concerns about Biden’s memory on Tuesday by suggesting that his own wasn’t any better. “Nobody has been closer to me in my life than my mom. If somebody asked me in the middle of a deposition‚ ‘What year did your mom die?’ I’d go‚ ‘I don’t know‚ 2017‚ 2018‚ 2019?’ I don’t know‚” Scarborough said.

The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers became the most watched Super Bowl ever after bringing in more than 123 million viewers on Sunday. The Chiefs’ 25-22 victory in overtime gave CBS its most-watched telecast ever with 123.4 million average viewers across the CBS TV broadcast and platforms like Paramount+‚ Univision‚ NFL digital properties‚ and more‚ a press release from CBS Sports read. The viewership for Sunday’s battle at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas saw a 7% increase over last year’s Super Bowl coverage which drew 115.1 million viewers‚ The Hollywood Reporter reported. At one point‚ more than 200 million viewers watched all or part of the 2024 Super Bowl‚ across networks‚ the release noted. That’s up by 10% over last year’s Super Bowl‚ which scored 184 million viewers at one point during Super Bowl LVII‚ in which the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. CBS says the Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the 49ers and Chiefs was the most-watched telecast in history‚ averaging 123.4 million viewers across all platforms. pic.twitter.com/DliwzKygqT — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 13‚ 2024 CBS also scored the largest audience in history for a single network with 120 million viewers‚ the CBS Sports release read.  To put the Super Bowl audience into perspective‚ Sunday’s viewership comes close to the between 125 million and 150 million viewers who tuned on CBS‚ ABC‚ and NBC in to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969‚ but those figures are not official‚ THR noted. The Super Bowl ratings follow the best ratings the NFL has seen in both the regular season and the playoffs since 2015‚ Deadline noted. In January‚ the NFL‚ Fox‚ and CBS celebrated after the two conference championship games scored massive ratings with more than 50 million viewers each‚ a first in the last ten years‚ as previously reported. The AFC Championship Game on CBS featuring the Chiefs’ 17-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens brought in 55.4 million viewers‚ The Hollywood Reporter noted. CBS’s numbers were the largest ever for an AFC title game.  The NFC Championship on Fox generated even better numbers‚ with the 49ers’ come-from-behind 34-31 victory against the Detroit Lions recording 56 million viewers. Fox had its biggest audience for an NFC title game since the New York Giants’ 20-17 win in overtime against San Francisco in 2012. Related: Kansas City Chiefs Become Back-To-Back Champs With Overtime Win In Super Bowl LVIII