He denied claims that he was a bully on the set of 'Stand By Me.'

If Katherine Maher isn’t in the market for a crisis PR professional already‚ she should be. The new NPR CEO‚ who took over at the taxpayer-funded radio station in January‚ has spent the past month lurching from one bad news cycle to another. Christopher Rufo‚ the Right’s activist-organizer par excellence‚ has her squarely in his crosshairs. Elon Musk does too. Powerful legacy media outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post have begun to take notice. Conservatives smell blood in the water; the right-wing internet has spent the past week gleefully digging through all of Maher’s old posts — and for good reason. READ MORE from Nate Hochman: There Will Be No George Floyd 2.0 Maher’s month-long journey from an obscure‚ standard-issue managerial-class apparatchik to the butt of a national joke began earlier this month‚ when a veteran NPR editor published a bombshell expos&;eacute; in the Free Press titled: “I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.” The editor‚ Uri Berliner‚ is no conservative — in the piece‚ he describes himself as “an EV-driving‚ Wordle-playing‚ tote bag–carrying coastal elite” who “drive[s] a Subaru” and “eagerly voted against Trump twice.” But Berliner’s essay describes an NPR newsroom in which employees explicitly view themselves as activists rather than journalists and use their platform — funded by U.S. tax dollars — to advance “the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.” The NPR Berliner describes has become a kind of government-funded propaganda outlet‚ an American Pravda. “An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR‚” Berliner writes. “[W]hat’s notable‚” he later adds‚ “is the extent to which people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.” Soon after publishing the essay‚ Berliner was promptly suspended without pay‚ with NPR itself reporting that his essay “angered many of his colleagues.” (Maher told the outlet that he had “tried repeatedly to make his concerns over NPR’s coverage known to news leaders and to Maher’s predecessor as chief executive before publishing his essay”). Today‚ he officially resigned. But Berliner’s essay had already set in motion a chain of events that would put Maher — and‚ eventually‚ all of NPR — in the hot seat. Maher’s social media posts reveal a woman who is not only a fierce partisan of the Democratic Party but an out-and-out radical‚ expressing an almost parodically absurd version of the elite college-campus-style ideological tendencies that have consumed America’s governing institutions over the course of the past decade: NPR's new CEO is just as insane as you'd expect her to be pic.twitter.com/BDob66lNne — Nate Hochman (@njhochman) April 14‚ 2024 What is perhaps most notable about Maher’s radicalism is how utterly conventional it is. While her posts may be exceptionally risible‚ her views are par for the course in most of America’s elite institutions — in many cases‚ they are the price of entry. Maher herself sports impeccable elite credentials: Prior to NPR‚ she served as CEO and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation‚ which runs Wikipedia. According to a 2021 biography‚ Maher was also “a fellow at the Truman National Security Project‚” has written for outlets such as Foreign Policy‚ the Atlantic‚ and the Guardian‚” and serves as “a member of the Advisory Council of the Open Technology Fund and the board of the Sunlight Foundation.” These are the people who run our country. Maher’s only distinction is that she was marginally clumsier about concealing or soft-pedaling her ideas in the public eye. This may come as a surprise to many elected Republicans‚ who have happily forked over government check after government check to institutions like NPR‚ but we are not actually obligated to fund people and organizations that hate us. The problem is that we do — to the tune of billions of dollars. This goes well beyond both Maher and NPR: An entire ecosystem of powerful left-wing activist groups‚ NGOs‚ and nonprofits is sustained by tax dollars‚ often with the (conscious or unconscious) assent of the congressional GOP. As Indiana Rep. Jim Banks noted in the American Mind last year: The Claremont Institute has tracked federal funding for leftist institutions and activities since 2016‚ which amounts to over $3 billion taxpayer dollars. This money is spent not only to spread anti-American doctrines which will tear the nation apart; it also funds a class of activists‚ paying their salaries so they can be a perpetual revolutionary class. Astonishingly‚ Congress sent more funding to woke institutions and activities in 2017 and 2018‚ when Republicans controlled both chambers‚ than it did in 2019 and 2020 with Nancy Pelosi in the Speaker’s chair. This Congress‚ we should aim to eliminate all such funding. If Republicans in Congress are interested in actually doing something for once‚ ending the tax-dollar gravy train for groups and individuals that are actively working against them might be a good place to start. The post It’s Bigger Than NPR’s Katherine Maher appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Learn about 'the second most powerful person in Washington' and others influencing policies An O’Keefe Media undercover video shows a special advisor for The United States Small Business Administration explaining how people in Sleepy Joe Biden’s circle get the puppet president to sign off on whatever they want. The individual‚ Tyler Robinson‚ told an undercover reporter former Facebook board member Jeff Zeints‚ the current White House chief of staff‚ is the “second most powerful person in Washington.” “By getting Jeff to sign off‚ you’re getting the president to sign off… whatever this guy says‚ it’s what the President says‚” he said. BREAKING: O’Keefe Media Uncovers who is really running the White House. Undercover cameras catch Special Advisor @SBAgov call former @facebook Board Member @WHCOS @ZientsJeff27574 “the second most powerful person in Washington” where “whatever this guy says‚ it’s what the… pic.twitter.com/vLeollXEFX— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) April 17‚ 2024 When the journalist asked about ex-President Barack Obama and ex-Vice President Hillary Clinton being involved in the Biden administration‚ the White House insider admitted they both remain very close with Biden advisors.Introducing Next Level Foundational Energy from Dr. Jones Naturals starting at 30% off&;#33; This cutting-edge dietary supplement is designed to elevate your energy levels and support your overall well-being. Asked if Zeints is “more powerful than Kamala [Harris]‚” Robinson answered‚ “Yeah.” In other parts of the footage‚ Robinson explained how the establishment shuns GOP politicians to leave them out of the loop when cutting deals and forming policies. Robinson also revealed his boss‚ Isabel Casillas Guzman‚ is sent by the Biden administration across the country under the guise of visiting small businesses while really helping Democrats get elected. We The People are being led by unelected bureaucrats who have sold the nation out to globalist interests.

Trump took advantage of petty judge's order to remain in NYC during trial by turning it into pure campaign gold. In a classic move of political judo‚ former President Trump took advantage of the leftist judge’s order in his witch hunt criminal case not to leave town during the trial by turning a nearby bodega visit into campaign gold.

“By voting unanimously to bypass their constitutional responsibility‚ every single Senate Democrat has issued their full endorsement of the Biden Administration’s dangerous open border policies‚&;quot; House GOP leadership responded in a statement. The Senate vote along party lines Wednesday to dismiss all impeachment charges the House brought against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Democrat-led Senate voted 51-49 to adjourn the impeachment trial. BREAKING: Along party lines‚ the US Senate has just voted to dismiss all impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The first article was dismissed‚ followed by the second.NOTE: The swift decision came after Senate Democrats unified to reject… pic.twitter.com/mtYVP1xe1W— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) April 17‚ 2024 The DHS praised the dismissal‚ claiming the Senate vote “proves definitively that there was no evidence or Constitutional grounds to justify impeachment. “It’s time for Congressional Republicans to support the Department’s vital mission instead of wasting time playing political games and standing in the way of commonsense‚ bipartisan border reforms‚” ” DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement.Survival Shield X-3 is BACK at the Infowars Store&;#33; Get 40% OFF on the next evolution in activated nascent iodine HERE The Biden administration hailed the Democrats for dismissing the charges. “Once and for all‚ the Senate has rightly voted down this baseless impeachment that even conservative legal scholars said was unconstitutional‚” spokesperson Ian Sams said. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson released a statement on behalf of his caucus claiming the vote proves Democrats essentially endorse Biden’s open border policies carried out by Mayorkas. “By voting unanimously to bypass their constitutional responsibility‚ every single Senate Democrat has issued their full endorsement of the Biden Administration’s dangerous open border policies‚” Johnson and his leadership team wrote. My joint statement with @SteveScalise‚ @GOPMajorityWhip‚ and @RepStefanik on Senate ignoring its constitutional duty to hold Mayorkas impeachment trial: By voting unanimously to bypass their constitutional responsibility‚ every single Senate Democrat has issued their full…— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) April 17‚ 2024 “The American people will hold Senate Democrats accountable for this shameful display‚” the statement continued. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell likewise condemned the vote to dismiss the House’s charges against Mayorkas‚ claiming the Senate body was ignoring the will of the House. “We’ve set a very unfortunate precedent here which means that the Senate can ignore‚ in effect‚ the House’s impeachment‚” McConnell said. “It doesn’t make any difference whether our friends on the other side thought he should have been impeached or not: He was.” Mitch McConnell: &;quot;It's not a proud day in the history of the Senate.&;quot; pic.twitter.com/Il6hegQOiK— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 17‚ 2024 “And by doing what we just did‚ we have‚ in effect‚ ignored the directions of the House‚ which were to have a trial‚” he continued. “We had no evidence‚ no procedure. This is a day — it’s not a proud day in the history of the Senate.” Follow Jamie White on X | Truth | Gab | Gettr | Minds

Was it as bad for you as it was for me&;#63; Sending Washington money we earn‚ but Washington doesn’t‚ I mean&;#63; It’s not just being part of half the nation that pays taxes while the other half doesn’t that bothers me. It’s the waste and unnecessary programs and agencies that have long outlived whatever usefulness they once had (if they were ever necessary). And still President Biden wants to raise taxes even more without proposing a single dollar be cut to reduce our unsustainable $34 trillion debt. As The Washington Times reported: “(Biden) wants to impose a 25% minimum tax on all income not currently taxed — including unrealized gains on assets — for Americans with a net worth of $100 million. Mr. Biden has also urged Congress to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% up from 21%.” No American should be forced to endure the annual torture of compiling records and filling out tax returns. Many other nations have far simpler systems. Even the instructions for filling out forms for the IRS need instructions to understand. It is why so many must hire tax attorneys‚ who fulfill the role of language translators. Just one example: Enter your gross farming and fishing income reported on Form 4835‚ line 7; Schedule K-1 (Form 1065)‚ box 14‚ code B; Schedule K-1 (Form 1120-S)‚ box 17‚ code AN; and Schedule K-1 (Form 1041)‚ box 14‚ code F. See instructions. Got it&;#63; The Congressional Budget Office predicts the U.S. will add an average of $2 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. That’s more than$5 billion of debt daily for the next 10 years. We borrow more than$200 million every hour. That’s $3 million every minute‚ $60‚000 every second. If that’s not enough to make your blood boil‚ consider a tiny fraction of the misspending that occurs in Washington. For the past nine years‚ Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has published a“Festivus Report” exposing outrageous examples of unnecessary federal spending. In his latest report he writes: “I am highlighting a whopping $900‚000‚000‚000 of waste (emphasis his)‚ including an NIH grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill‚ Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds‚ $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt‚ and $200 million to ‘struggling artists’ like Post Malone‚ Chris Brown‚ and Lil Wayne. No matter how much money the government has already wasted‚ politicians keep demanding even more.” There’s much more. Google Festivus Report and be aghast at what we are doing to ourselves. Ultimately‚ this is the fault of voters who won’t restrain politicians and don’t select people who will restore America’s financial future and balance the budget‚ as was so recently done during the administration of Bill Clinton. If too many voters keep fueling the gravy train‚ the only option will be an Article V constitutional convention‚ provided by the Founders for such a moment we are now facing. If a future Congress refuses to attack the debt an Article V constitutional convention will be the only way to balance the budget and return power to where the Founders originally intended it – to the people. Nineteen of a required 34 states have already passed resolutions calling for a Convention of States. Other states have passed it in one legislative chamber‚ and still others have it under consideration. Our current oppressive tax system can be analogized to Dracula‚ who is never satisfied with the blood he sucks out of one victim‚ but must constantly look for new sources to bite. We must drive a stake in the blood- sucking government’s heart‚ or we will end up driving one in ourselves and the country we have known and loved will be no more.

Last week‚ now-former NPR business editor Uri Berliner drew the ire of the station’s new‚ far-left CEO after he called out NPR for allowing the liberal worldview to dominate the newsroom. Berliner’s act of journalistic integrity ultimately cost him his job; he was suspended and ultimately resigned. But despite NPR’s retaliation against a whistleblower and others coming forward to corroborate Berliner’s claims‚ left-wing media rating organization NewsGuard maintained NPR’s perfect 100/100 rating. In his essay for The Free Press‚ Berliner exposed NPR as a factory churning out content that catered to the liberal worldview: “There’s an unspoken consensus about the stories we should pursue and how they should be framed. It’s frictionless—one story after another about instances of supposed racism‚ transphobia‚ signs of the climate apocalypse‚ Israel doing something bad‚ and the dire threat of Republican policies. It’s almost like an assembly line.” Earlier this week‚ Berliner was suspended without pay by the station under the guise of it being punishment for publishing something with another outlet without getting permission first (as if NPR would have allowed him to publish something critical out them to begin with). NPR did give permission for Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep to publish a Substack defending the station and attacking his long-time colleague. Berliner subsequently resigned; posting his resignation letter on X. “I am resigning from NPR‚ a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years‚” he wrote. “I don’t support calls to defund NPR. I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay.”   My resignation letter to NPR CEO @krmaher pic.twitter.com/0hafVbcZAK — Uri Berliner (@uberliner) April 17‚ 2024   Despite NPR seeking retribution against one of their journalists for publically blowing the whistle on how they were allowing their liberal bias to poison their newsroom‚ thus forcing said journalist to publically resign‚ NewsGuard has so far maintained NPR’s perfect 100/100 rating. Berliner’s criticisms of NPR weren’t business or employment-related (such as pay or working conditions) and had everything to do with the politics influencing the news product the organization was putting out. And thus‚ was an issue NewsGuard should’ve been taking seriously‚ especially considering that Berliner was getting support from other former NPR staffers. At this point‚ a lack of action by NewsGuard to downgrade NPR’s score appeared to be in defiance of the facts and in opposition to the support Berliner was receiving from many right-wingers. As MRC Associate Editor for Business &; Free Speech America Joseph Vazquez noted in the 2023 study of NewsGuard’s rankings‚ the point of the whole system was for it to be used as a “cudgel” against right-leaning news organizations: NewsGuard wields its ratings as a cudgel‚ attempting to scare away advertisers from doing business with media and organizations that have been accused of promoting so-called “misinformation” or wrongthink on a whole host of issues like abortion‚ climate change‚ COVID-19 and elections. In so doing‚ NewsGuard effectively strips media outlets with which it disagrees of their ad money‚ slowly bleeding out their coffers. NewsGuard can reluctantly downgrade legacy liberal media outlets when they have terrible reporting held up under their nose. They recently downgraded The New York Times after the Media Research Center called them out multiple times. They need to do the same now with NPR.

A major in the U.S. Army Reserves has admitted that he cashed in on the deaths of active-duty soldiers by illegally investing some of the money given to their grieving family members.On Tuesday‚ 41-year-old Caz Craffy‚ aka Carz Craffey‚ entered a U.S. District in Trenton‚ New Jersey‚ to plead guilty to six counts of wire fraud and one count each of securities fraud‚ making false statements in a loan application‚ committing acts affecting a personal financial interest‚ and making false statements to a federal agency‚ according to a press release from the DOJ.By all accounts‚ Craffy‚ a major in the U.S. Army Reserves‚ was a vulture‚ preying on the families of fallen servicemen and women‚ often referred to as Gold Star families. When a servicemember dies while on active duty‚ their immediate family receives a payment of $100‚000 plus up to $400‚000 in life insurance for a possible total of $500‚000.During his years as a civilian financial counselor for the U.S. Army‚ Craffy sought out Gold Star families and offered to help them invest some of their survivor money with two private financial firms where Craffy was also secretly employed. Because of his position as a U.S. Army Reserves major and his work with the U.S. Army‚ the families trusted Craffy‚ believing that he was operating in an official Army capacity rather than as a civilian.Craffy took full advantage of their ignorance. Between May 2018 and November 2022‚ he convinced members of at least 24 Gold Star families to give him $9.9 million for investment purposes‚ the Daily Mail reported. Craffy must have been lousy at investing since the Gold Star accounts he managed then lost nearly $3.7 million. However‚ he still earned $1.4 million in commissions‚ all &;quot;drawn from the family accounts‚&;quot; the DOJ statement said.The financial harm he inflicted on vulnerable American patriots is nothing short of devastating. He lost most of the $400‚000 one widow had given him — money that was supposed to help pay for her kids' college fund. He even lost $50‚000 that belonged to a 13-year-old girl.Gold Star mom Sharon Hartz‚ who was already reeling from the loss of her son‚ Sgt. Thomas Anastasio‚ called the added grief of the defrauded money &;quot;unimaginable.&;quot; &;quot;He disrespected me‚&;quot; she said of Craffy. &;quot;He disrespected my son. My family.&;quot;&;quot;Those who target and steal from the families of fallen American servicemembers will be held accountable for their crimes‚&;quot; said Attorney General Merrick Garland. &;quot;Nothing can undo the enormous loss that Gold Star families have suffered‚ but the Justice Department is committed to doing everything in our power to protect them from further harm.&;quot;Though the maximum sentence for wire fraud alone would have Craffy facing more than 100 years behind bars‚ he is instead expected to be sentenced to somewhere between eight and 10 years. As part of his plea agreement‚ he promised to repay the Gold Star families‚ including giving them the proceeds of the sale of his home. He may also face criminal prosecution in a military court as well.Craffy is scheduled to be sentenced August 21. Like Blaze News&;#63; Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here&;#33;