Kamala Harris has called Donald Trump incompetent while she refuses to answer questions or give interviews. She can’t because she’s incompetent. People, including J.D. Vance, have called her out for it. Kamala is trying to campaign from her basement. She can’t handle going off script but she wants to handle our enemies at war. Donald […] The post Trump Blasts Kamala Harris Who Is Basement Campaigning appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

“Parenting is hard. This isn’t a secret or breaking news, we all know. I hear about parenting failures (and some victories!) from friends and watching our own daughter’s friends fail (and succeed!) every day. I have worked directly with high school and college students for years, helping them with college applications, graduate school, and job placement options. I see and hear things that shock me every day as children grow into adults and try to navigate through obstacles during that transition. However, the baby, toddler, elementary, and now ‘tween’ years are all new to me. I muddle my way along, trying to set our daughter up to be happy, stable, and successful as she moves toward high school. Last Saturday, her soccer team had an important tournament game. Somehow, as the underdogs, they advanced to the last round and were set to play in the championship game on a rainy, gloomy, wet, and cold October morning. It was a contentious game. Both teams really wanted that championship medal and were fighting very hard to get it. As each quarter passed, there was more mud, more rain, and more missed opportunities by both teams, and they were still tied at zero. After a brief huddle, the coaches and referees moved the game into a five-minute sudden-death overtime, and somehow, these kids rallied and played one more round of soggy soccer. But afterward, they were still tied. Another round of overtime began, and once again, five minutes later, they were still deadlocked. Finally, it was decided they would go into a tiebreaker shootout, with each team getting five shots on the goal. The five players were chosen, and the shootout began. Of course, once again, we were tied on shots at 2-2 until the last shooter from the other team stepped to the line and scored. It was game over; our team lost, 3-2. Ready to live life more meaningfully? Subscribe to our free newsletter, Living Better. As often happens in kid’s sports, some parent drama followed, with arguments between the coaches and referees over how the shootout was conducted. Luckily, our kids stayed out of that conversation, and a wise mom gathered everyone for a group photo away to de-escalate the situation on the sidelines. With big smiles, celebrations, water fights, and the promise of McDonald’s on the way home, they all seemed happy enough in the photo. Wet and exhausted, but alright. Finally, the group broke apart, and our daughter approached me directly. I gave her a big hug and was surprised to feel a monstrous sob come from her tiny chest. As she heaved against me, I kept hugging her in the rain, partially hiding her from any embarrassment but mostly hoping she was okay. When she pulled away, she said, ‘Mom, that was such a hard game. We played so hard and wanted it so bad.’ Then she wiped her eyes and jogged to the sidelines to greet her dad and grandparents with a big smile back on her face. I happened to catch that moment in a photo, and as I look at it, it’s perplexing to think that same child was just sobbing against my raincoat. But then I realized I was her safe space. I’m the place where she feels secure to release that energy and know I will hold it safely in my heart for her. What a burden, but also what a joy, to be that person who provides the space where she can break down, then rally and face the world with a smile. I want to think she pulled that power from me, as maybe I somehow transferred energy into her little muddy body in the rain. But that’s not true. The truth is the trust between us has been built over time, with the security of her knowing I will always be there. On the sidelines in the mud, after school, at bedtime, during a tough orthodontist appointment, and everything in between. Slowly, over time, I have helped build the foundation that allows her to face defeat with strength and a smile. That’s a victory in my book, no matter what the scoreboard says.” Courtesy of Erin Wheeler Have a story of love, kindness, or healing to share? Visit our submissions portal to submit today. Read more about raising tweens and teens: Dear Middle School Son: I Have A Few Things I’d Like You To Know Dear Teen Daughter: I Hope You Never Hesitate To Call On Me Do you know someone who could benefit from reading this? SHARE this article on social media with family and friends.

Legendary country singer Johnny Cash’s statue is headed to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., where he will be immortalized in bronze for future generations. In a letter from Congress, the official unveiling of the “Man in Black” statue is set to take place September 24 at 11 a.m. in the National Statuary Hall, the Smithsonian magazine reported. The 8-foot-tall Arkansas native’s statue will be joined by one honoring civil rights leader Daisy Bates whose statue debuted in May. The hall displays statues of two well known residents from each state. Cash and Bates’ statues will replace two others that honored residents from Arkansas — 1800s attorney Uriah Milton Rose and Governor and Senator James P. Clark — following a vote in 2019 by the Arkansas General Assembly. Former Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchins said of the new statues that the previous ones are connected to individuals who don’t “mean anything to contemporary Americans. And of course, if you dig deep into their history, they do have a racist history that is not reflective at all of Arkansas.” Music legend Johnny Cash will be honored with a statue in the US Capitol. Artist Kevin Kreese unveiled the 8 foot tall sculpture featuring a guitar slung over Cash’s back. In his right hand, the late singer carries a Bible. pic.twitter.com/JqGaOWFIXX — The American Conservative (@amconmag) August 2, 2024 Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kreese was tasked with making the Cash bronze statue and previously said that he was thrilled with the state’s decision to represent a musician like Cash rather than a “power politician from the early 1800s.” “One of the quotes that the [Cash] family gave me was something that he told his kids,” Kresse told NPR. “It’s about the fact that we all have the ability to make a choice in this life between choosing love or choosing hate. And he says, ‘I choose love.'” WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI The legendary country singer died in 2003 at the age of 71. But years after his passing, fans got a treat when the album “Songwriter” was released in June, as previously reported. It contains 11 unreleased songs the late country star wrote and recorded back in 1993, but ended up shelving after he met with producer Rick Rubin and the two instead opted to focus on their musical partnership, the Tennessean noted. The album was produced by musician John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June Carter Cash, and co-produced by David “Fergie” Ferguson. The two “stripped” the songs “back to just Johnny’s powerful, pristine vocals, and acoustic guitar,” Southern Living noted. Some of the other artists who are also on the album with Cash include the late Waylon Jennings, country singer Vince Gill, guitarist Marty Stuart, and The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Related: Johnny Cash Album With Never-Before-Heard Tracks Coming This Summer

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey was not amused when two female U.S.A. gymnasts bowed down to their Brazilian competitor on the Olympic podium. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won gold in women’s floor on Monday, with Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles taking home the silver and bronze medals, respectively. On the medal podium, Biles and Chiles bowed to Andrade — an image that went viral. Captioning the photo, Humphrey wrote, “This is literally disgusting.” This is literally disgusting This is literally disgusting https://t.co/zKdrsOLnwd — marlonhumphrey.eth (@marlon_humphrey) August 5, 2024 Biles told TODAY that she bowed to Andrade as a sign of sportsmanship — a view Humphrey clearly does not hold. “I think it’s all about sportsmanship, and we don’t care whether we win or lose. We’re always going to keep a good face and support our competitors because they’ve worked just as hard as we have for that moment,” Biles said on Tuesday. “So you have to give them their flowers,” she continued. “And that’s exactly what me and Jordan were doing, and we were so happy for her. She deserved it. She had the best floor routine of the day and in the Olympics. So it’s like, yeah, she deserved it.” Chiles said that bowing to the Brazilian gymnast was her idea, in part because it was a “black podium.” WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “That was actually my idea,” she said. “Rebeca has done a lot within her sport, within her country. So I felt like not only was it a black podium, I felt like people should get recognized the proper way, and bowing down to her was like giving her that recognition that she really deserved that medal.” Biles notably took a swipe at former President Donald Trump after securing her first two gold medals at the Paris Olympics. “Simone Biles being the GOAT, winning Gold medals and dominating gymnastics is her black job,” one X user wrote. “I love my black job,” Biles responded, adding a black heart emoji. I love my black job ? https://t.co/c5wPc6xOY3 — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 2, 2024 While speaking about the problems created by the Biden-Harris open border, Trump explained that jobs are being taken by illegal immigrants that could otherwise go to struggling Americans, specifically citing jobs held by black Americans. Trump called them “black jobs” when talking about the issue, and the media and Democrats pounced on the wording, rather than the substance. “I will tell you that coming from the border, are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking black jobs,” Trump said.

Megyn Kelly blasted Vice President Kamala Harris for the “deceptive” editing by her campaign of former President Donald Trump’s call with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz from the 2020 riots in Minneapolis. During the Sirius XM “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast on Thursday, the host and Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan blasted Harris’ campaign for claiming that Trump praised Walz’s handling of the riots, when it was actually the other way around. (10:15)  Kelly said the Harris campaign wasn’t being truthful, and the call was actually Trump calling out Walz for screwing up while the city of Minneapolis burned — before the governor finally took Trump’s advice and called out the National Guard on the third day of riots. The podcast host played the part of the call the Harris campaign has released of Trump saying, “I fully believe with the way Walz handled it, he’s an excellent guy.”  However, Kelly said that the entire call gives a very different impression: Trump suggests that Walz’s initial handling of the riots on the first day was horrible. “You could hear him saying, ‘We’ve got all these men and women, we’ve got all the people you need, but people calling them up. You have to dominate …  You have to use the National Guard,'” according to Kelly. “That’s the context in which he praised them,” Kelly said. “You sucked in the beginning. Then I [Trump] talked to you and told you what to do and you got better.” She then played the full version, in which Trump was on the phone and said he wanted to talk to Walz and have him explain “the difference between the beginning and the end” of the riots.  WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Walz then got on the phone and thanked Trump for his “strategic guidance” and that it was “very helpful.” Trump then talked to Walz about governors being hesitant to call the National Guard for help and noted that the first night, Walz only called for 200 people — which Trump said “wasn’t successful.” Kelly said, “Can you believe how deceptively that call has been edited?” “The whole point of the call was Trump saying you were screwing it up then you talked to me and my defense secretary,” she added. “We told you to get the National Guard in there. By the way, you didn’t get all of them in enough numbers.” “And only when you did, did things get better for you,” Kelly continued. “And he’s talking with the other governors saying, that’s what you have to do. It has to be…in huge numbers in order to get the results you want. And Kamala Harris has released that with just those little snippets of praise as if Trump endorsed Tim Walz’s approach to this.” Kelly also talked about the failure of the legacy media to do the work, pointing out the fact that her team didn’t get their hands on some “secret” phone call and saying that the truth of the call between Trump and Walz has been available since 2020. Related: ‘It’s About Us’: Megyn Kelly Says After Assassination Attempt. ‘Trump Needs To Win This Election’

DETROIT—The Justice Department’s case against seven Christian pro-lifer activists who participated in a peaceful protest at a Michigan abortion facility will hinge on the testimony of a former fellow activist who took a plea deal with the government.  On Thursday, the trial for Eva Edl, Cal Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Justin Phillips, Joel Curry, and Eva Zastrow continued as lawyers for the defendants and the government argued over what evidence could be presented to the jury. The Biden administration has accused the protesters of engaging in a conspiracy to block women from being able to have abortions by sitting and standing in front of the doors of the Northland Family Planning Clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan in August 2020. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10.5 years in prison and up to $260,000 in fines. During Thursday’s deliberations, it became clear that Justice Department lawyers would be relying heavily on the testimony of Caroline Davis, a former activist who was involved in the Michigan protest and at several other protests around the country before she was charged with felony conspiracy. Davis took a plea bargain and agreed to testify for the government, and is no longer charged with a felony. The prosecution indicated that it would be relying on Davis’ testimony  to verify several videos that will be played for the jury. Lawyers also indicated they well as use her testimony about a camping trip attended by several of the defendants before the protest, which the government called a “blockade.” Davis appeared hostile when question by attorneys in a similar case earlier this year in a Tennessee court, and admitted that being indicted by the federal government “terrified her.”  Judge Matthew Leitman, who is presiding over the case, appeared to push back on some of the government’s arguments on Thursday, pointing to several inconsistencies in the evidence prosecutors hoped to present to the jury.  Leitman appeared especially critical with prosecutors’ claims that a livestream taken by someone at the Sterling Heights incident was furthering the alleged conspiracy, and ordered that the government rework a graphic showing the amount of phone calls between the defendants.  He said the graphic looked like a “wanted poster,” and was an “effective piece of advocacy” because it was designed in an “incriminating fashion.”  Steve Crampton, a lawyer with the Thomas More Society who is advising Gallagher, said the Justice Department’s claim that the livestream could be used to “inspire others” jeopardized the defendants’ First Amendment rights. Leitman said that the fundamental question of the trial was whether the group intended “to save babies” or break the law, saying that “religion is not going to be put on trial” in his courtroom.  Prosecuting attorneys moved to block the defense from using images of developing babies, but Leitman said he may allow them to be used if they are referenced to during testimony. Several former employees of the Northland Family Planning Clinic are expected to testify tomorrow. Over a dozen family members and supporters of the defendants gathered in downtown Detroit Thursday morning ahead of court proceedings to pray and sing songs like “It is Well with My Soul.” The defendants, all devout Christians, have been open about how their faith led them to take action to help save the unborn. Edl, an 89-year-old woman who survived a communist concentration camp, told The Daily Wire on Tuesday that she wasn’t concerned about the outcome of the trial because “God wins in the end.” Her three children were all in court on Thursday to support her. Republican lawmakers have called for the FACE Act to be repealed as the Biden administration pursues a novel prosecution technique to charge pro-lifer activists around the country with felony conspiracy charges. In some cases, pro-life protesters have been sentenced to years in prison.

'A participant in the water that was down'

Flack is always heaviest when you’re over the target: Vance is right.

Smoke and flames engulfed the luxury home

The American Bar Association first endorsed adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in 1972, the year that Congress proposed and sent it to the states for ratification. At its Aug. 6 annual convention, the ABA went further and now claims that the 1972 ERA is already part of the Constitution. The ABA is dead wrong. Congress proposed the ERA in March 1972 with a seven-year ratification deadline. With that deadline looming, and fewer than the necessary 38 states ratifying, Congress passed a controversial resolution in 1978 purporting to extend the deadline by 39 months. No additional states ratified the 1972 ERA and five that already had subsequently withdrew their support. As the Congressional Research Service has repeatedly observed, the 1972 ERA “formally died on June 30, 1982.” Because Congress will likely never propose another one, supporters are desperate to maintain the fiction that the 1972 ERA is, as Miracle Max would say, “only mostly dead” rather than “all dead.” It remained pending before the states, and available for ratification, because Congress did not put the deadline in the right place in its proposing resolution. Or so they contend. Congress proposes a constitutional amendment by passing, by at least two-thirds of both houses, a joint resolution that has two parts: a proposing clause with procedural rules for state consideration, and the text of the amendment. The states have ratified eight constitutional amendments under a ratification deadline, four of them with the deadline in the proposing clause and four in the amendment text. If the location really does make all the difference, it was a very well-kept secret in 1972. Joint resolutions to propose the ERA with a ratification deadline began in the 1940s; 93 percent of time the deadline was placed in the proposing clause. That’s where Rep. Martha Griffiths, D-Mich., the 1972 ERA’s prime sponsor, placed it in House Joint Resolution 208. Congress discussed the most appropriate placement of a ratification deadline in a 1932 House hearing on what would become the 20th Amendment. The reason to do so was purely practical; it would avoid “unnecessary cluttering up of the Constitution.” No one suggested that moving the deadline from one place to the other within the same joint resolution had any legal significance. The House actually made that shift in 1960 with consideration of the future 23rd Amendment. The House Judiciary Committee report did not even note that, for the first time, its ratification deadline appeared in the joint resolution’s proposing clause. No one in either the House or Senate or in any state legislature ever said anything about the fact that the ratification deadline for the 23rd, 24th, 25th, or 26th Amendments appeared in the proposing clause. Nor did anyone raise that question about the 1972 ERA. The ABA’s claim that its joint resolution’s proposing clause “was never even submitted to the states” and that they “voted only on the text of the actual amendment” is embarrassingly wrong on the facts. The National Archives explains that, when Congress passes a joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment, the Archivist transmits that entire resolution, not simply the proposed amendment text, to the states. At least 25 of the states ratifying the 1972 ERA did so by adopting a resolution that quoted Resolution 208 in its entirety, including the ratification deadline. The ABA report never mentions that the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel in 1977 opined that the 1972 ERA “must be approved within 7 years after its submission to the States.” Or that a 1977 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report, co-authored by then-Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg, concluded that ratification of the ERA by the requisite number of states “must occur within 7 years.” Or that President Jimmy Carter’s Advisory Committee for Women’ 1980 report stated that the requisite number of the states “must ratify the ERA by [the deadline] if it is to become an amendment to the Constitution.” Women’s groups backing the 1972 ERA supported Griffith’s decision to add a ratification deadline, the Women’s Equity Action League calling a “minor nonsubstantive” addition and other groups saying it would “prevent indefinite procrastination” in ratifying it. None of them raised any question about Griffith’s decision to place the deadline in the joint resolution’s proposing clause. Everyone, including feminist leaders, agreed that the 1972 ERA’s ratification was binding and that it expired when the deadline passed with insufficient state support. The National Organization for Women, the Washington Post reported in 1982, “concede[d] defeat” and “officially ended its…battle to win ratification of the [ERA]” when the deadline passed. When asked about the 1972 ERA’s status on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” in January 1986, feminist Gloria Steinem explained that, because it was not ratified in the nine years allotted to it, it now has to start the process over again, and…be passed by the House and the Senate and go through all of the states’ ratification process.” The Biden-Harris administration also disagrees with the ABA. In 2022, the Justice Department defended the Archivist against a lawsuit seeking to force certification and publication of the 1972 ERA as officially part of the Constitution. Its appellate brief argued that “the validity of a ratification deadline does not turn on its precise location within the joint resolution.” The “most telling clue” from the Supreme Court on this question, the DOJ brief asserted, is its dismissal of litigation over the validity of the 1972 ERA’s extended deadline “upon consideration of the [Acting Solicitor General’s memorandum] suggesting mootness.” The case was moot because the ratification deadline, though placed in the proposing clause, was valid and had passed without sufficient state support. The 1972 ERA had expired. In that case, Illinois v. Ferriero, in a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with two of the judges on the three-judge panel appointed by Democratic presidents, the court affirmed dismissal of the lawsuit. The states suing the Archivist, Judge Robert Wilkins wrote, had cited “no persuasive authority” that Congress may not specify the mode of state ratification, that is, by legislature or convention, in the joint resolution’s proposing clause. Congress has, in fact, done so for every constitutional amendment the states have ratified since 1789. If Congress may do that, Wilkins asked, “why not also the ratification deadline?” To have any chance at credibility, the ABA must show why thousands of federal and state legislators, dozens of women’s groups, scores of other ERA advocates, the Justice Department under presidents of both parties, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, the Congressional Research Service, the Supreme Court, and a host of others all got it wrong. Every single one of them. They all missed what the ABA now claims is the most crucial point – that Congress has authority to set a ratification deadline only when it appears in one place in the proposing resolution, but not when it appears a few inches higher on the page. Ginsburg and Steinem got this one right. The ABA is wrong on the ERA. The post The ABA is Wrong on the ERA appeared first on The Daily Signal.