Turns out defending women’s sports is a no-go if you want a long career at ESPN. Samantha Ponder, host of “Sunday NFL Countdown,” has been fired, according to The Athletic. Supposedly Ponder, who was reportedly in a three year, $3 million-plus contract, was axed “for financial reasons, as ESPN nears the conclusion of its fiscal year at the end of September,” the sports publication, owned by The New York Times reported. Yeah, right. Just this January, ESPN put out a glowing press release about how “Sunday NFL Countdown” was thriving. The show “earned its most-watched regular season since 2019 and its second-best since 2016 … . The viewership marks a significant 8% jump from the 2022 season and was up 15% from the 2021 season,” the sports network boasted, noting additionally that “Sunday NFL Countdown” had increased its audience among women and young adults. Maybe the spike in viewers for the 2023 season was because Ponder was expressing popular views. Ponder made waves in May of 2023 when she retweeted former collegiate swimming champion Riley Gaines, who competed against Lia Thomas, a biological male, and has since become an outspoken advocate of banning men from women’s sports. I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls https://t.co/teNoMDWNW4— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 25, 2023 “It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls,” Ponder wrote on X. When a user accused of her being a “transphobe,” Ponder responded, “call me whatever names you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is inherently unfair for biological males to compete in female sports. It’s literally the reason they were separate in the first place + the reason we needed Title IX[.]” But that wasn’t the end of the controversy. USA Today sports columnist Nancy Armour warned, “Don’t be fooled by the people who screech about ‘fairness’ to cloak their bigotry toward transgender girls and women … . This is, and always was, about hate, fear, and ignorance.” It’s likely Ponder also received backlash from ESPN honchos for her posts. Her former colleague, Sage Steele, told Gaines her own social media posts about Thomas earned her a scolding. “I was asked to stop tweeting about it. I was asked to stop doing anything, saying anything about it on social media because I was offending others at the company,” Steele said in December, according to The New York Post. Meanwhile, it’s not like ESPN was banning all talk about transgender participation in women’s sports. In March of 2023, the network honored Lia Thomas during a special on … Women’s History Month. But it’s Ponder, Steele, and Gaines—not ESPN or Nancy Armour—who are expressing the view held by most Americans. A 2023 Gallup poll found that 69% of Americans believe that athletes should only be able to play “on teams that match birth gender.” In January, a poll by NORC at the University of Chicago found that 66% of Americans thought transgender girls should never or rarely be allowed to play on girls’ teams. More recently, Ponder praised Italian boxer Angela Carini, who forfeited her Paris Olympics boxing match on Aug. 1 against Algerian Imane Khelif, who seems likely to have XY chromosomes, not XX chromosomes. “Proud of this woman,” wrote Ponder of Carini. (Khelif, meanwhile, went on to win the gold medal for women’s boxing in Paris.) Earlier this year, Ponder also defended Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who came under fire from the Left for advocating, in a commencement speech at a Catholic college, traditional values and suggesting women would find fulfillment as wives and mothers. pic.twitter.com/ETbhk8OBsZ— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 17, 2024 In an Instagram story, Ponder decried a petition to fire Butker as “unamerican.” “Personally, I agreed with a few things he said … especially that most women are more excited/proud of their families than their day jobs,” she wrote, although Ponder also noted some areas she disagreed with Butker on. If the bosses at ESPN were wise, they’d realize that Ponder’s views are the same as those of many of their audience members. Firing Ponder, who has been with the network since 2011, sends a clear message that genuinely feminist sports fans aren’t welcome. Sure, the network might point to football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who recently shared his own views about transgender athletes. Responding to the question “Do men belong in women’s sports?” Herbstreit wrote, “Of course not.” Of course not. Ridiculous question https://t.co/SpwZ07zewv— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 6, 2024 But while Herbstreit hasn’t been fired (yet), he’s also a man. Ponder, as ESPN executives probably realize all too well, is more compelling on this issue. “Ponder had emerged as the only female voice inside Disney since Sage Steele’s departure to speak out against ‘trans women’ (as in men) competing in women’s sports,” writes OutKick’s Bobby Burack. So, Ponder had to go. If ESPN was about making money, it’s unlikely the popular Ponder would be fired. But like too many companies these days, ESPN seems to be about forcing its values on all Americans, not making money. No doubt, Ponder will land at another outlet. But Americans shouldn’t forget that ESPN has effectively sided with the men who want to be in women’s locker rooms and stealing records and wins from hardworking female athletes, not the women who just want a fair shot to compete. The post Coincidence? ESPN Fires Anchor Known for Defending Women’s Sports appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Her parents had prepared a happy “welcome home” scene for their daughter to return to. Balloons. A nice dinner. Family. Her little brother eagerly awaited her arrival. But when they finally returned home that night from a public hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, their daughter was not with them. “She’s not coming home,” they had to tell him. The father, who The Daily Signal will identify only as John, reflected on the pain he felt in that moment as he looked at his son. He could read the unspoken question in the young boy’s eyes: “How could you not bring my sister home?” “Because the little brother who loves and looks up to his sister, looks at his parents and thinks, ‘The problem must be you two,'” John said quietly. “‘How could you not bring my sister home?’ The feeling is, well, you really are the problem. And you start to ask yourself that as well.” The parents were coming home from a meeting at the Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneve (HUG), where their daughter had been receiving treatment, John explained in an interview with The Daily Signal in Washington, D.C. (the hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment). She believes that she isn’t a girl, but a boy, and wants to be treated medically to attempt a gender transition. In Switzerland, gender transitions for minors are regulated by the Swiss Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Society (SPED), the European Conservative reports, and under SPED’s regulations, the state can supersede a parent’s refusal to allow their 16- and 17-year-old children to transition if the parents are stripped of their legal authority. The Swiss child protection agency, or the Service de Protection des Mineurs (SPMi), has full authority over where their daughter is treated, John said. And it has mandated that she receive the “gender-affirming” treatment that her parents believe will harm her. In late July, the highest court in Geneva (the Court of Justice) ruled against the parents and ordered that they hand over documents necessary for their daughter’s legal “sex change.” If they do not turn over those documents, they face the threat of criminal charges, according to the Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International. ADF International is representing the parents in their fight to stop the state from pushing irreversible transgender surgeries or hormonal interventions on their daughter, who is now 16. She has been placed in a government-funded youth shelter since April 2023. The emotionally fraught case has already drawn the attention of high-profile figures such as Elon Musk, who commented on the story in a July 12 “X” post saying, “This suicidal mind virus is spreading throughout Western Civilization.” In the United States, the story bears particular concern given the escalating, radical policies of politicians such as Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed a bill in July banning parental notification policies that would require schools to tell parents if they are socially transitioning children. This suicidal mind virus is spreading throughout Western Civilization— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024 Growing up, John said, his daughter never gave any indications that she thought she was a boy. She was raised in very international settings, the father explained—”highly multicultural, highly educated, highly progressive.” He described his daughter as incredibly smart, with an “extraordinarily high intellectual capacity.” She speaks several languages, is a “gifted” musician and has always been an achiever, both academically and musically. It wasn’t until she was 13 that she told her parents she believed she was a boy, giving them a letter that they later discovered was “essentially cut and pasted from a trans advocacy website.” Now, three years later, she is living in a government-funded residence and is in the custody of Swiss authorities. “We want our daughter to come home with her family so that we can protect her, so that we can get her the medical attention that she needs,” John explained. “I do want to see change in the treatment regimen for children who may be experiencing gender dysphoria or incongruence,” he added. “And so I am very driven to change the current policies and practices, legal, social, institutional, economic, all of the factors that are driving this perverse ideology, which is destructive for families and so harmful for children.” Given the intense backlash over the topic, and the ramifications both professionally and personally, John and his daughter’s mother have chosen to remain anonymous as they battle for their daughter’s safety. “In this case, the father has chosen to remain anonymous because of the incredibly sensitive nature of this for his family, and in particular, out of concern for his daughter. In today’s climate, this is an issue that is never handled lightly,” explained Elyssa Koren, ADF International’s legal communications director. “The fact that this has happened to his family is not something he believes he can expose, out of concern for her and what will happen if her identity is revealed,” she added. Asked if he misses his daughter, John responded simply: “More than anything.” “I was always very close with my daughter,” he said. “When she’s herself, there’s nobody in the world I’d rather be with. She’s brilliant and funny and extraordinarily well-read. She read ‘War and Peace’ when she was 8-years-old. Sitting with her, being with her, talking with her, listening to her make music. Nothing could bring me more pleasure.” What would he tell his daughter if she were seated right in front of him? He spoke slowly as he responded, aware that his daughter might watch the interview herself. “My daughter knows that I love her very deeply,” he said quietly. “She knows that her mom loves her very deeply. She knows that her brother loves her very deeply. She knows that we miss her, and we want her home. “And I believe that the only path to fulfilling her dreams, making the most of her future, is with her family.” The post EXCLUSIVE: The Government Took His Daughter to Transition Her. This Father Is Fighting Back.  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The already-long 2024 presidential campaign has become the strangest in modern history. Here are 10 unanswered questions that illustrate how and why we’ve entered this bizarro world: 1. How can Kamala Harris merely promise us fixes to come in 2025 for inflation and an open border when she is still vice president for another six months? Why can’t she enact her proposed solutions to these problems (which she helped create) right now? 2. Would the media prefer to help her win but lose further credibility themselves by failing to ask why she has disowned her last three decades of leftist agendas, or to reclaim some of their reputations and thereby risk her losing? 3. Does the Left appreciate the new campaign and election protocols it has now established? That is to say: Cancel by fiat their virtual nominee four months before the election when he sinks in the polls? Nullify the outcome of a year of primaries and the will of 14 million voters? Threaten a sitting president with removal by the 25th Amendment process unless he steps aside as his party nominee? Anoint a replacement nominee before the convention and without a single primary—and then prevent any rival candidates from challenging her? 4. After the precedents of 2020 and 2024, is the future orthodox protocol for any Democratic nominee now to avoid all interviews and extempore speaking, and stick to teleprompted speeches and scripted responses only? Is the fear that a transparent progressive messenger with an overt and honest left-wing message will double down on it and thus guarantee defeat? 5. For the next 80 days, has the chameleon-like Harris now become a temporary MAGA candidate, as she expropriates former President Donald Trump’s positions from border security to no taxes on tips? Does the media care to ask the new 80-day MAGA Harris why she has renounced many of her once emphatic beliefs? 6. If Democratic presidential reelection candidate Joe Biden was pronounced fit as a fiddle before June 27, but after July 21 was abruptly forced off the ticket as too debilitated to continue as his party’s nominee, what exactly is his status now? (Half-cognizant and thus able enough to continue his not-so-important task as America’s president, but also half-enfeebled and thus utterly unable to continue as the far more important Democratic nominee, it appears.) 7. Does the new antisemitic Democratic Party prefer to risk losing with the radical nonentity WASP Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate rather than likely win with a popular, successful, and moderate Jewish Josh Shapiro? 8. If one vice presidential candidate went to a war zone to serve with his deployed unit, while his counterpart preferred to retire from the military to avoid doing the same and lies about his abdication, how can the media credibly assert that the former’s tour was militarily suspect and yet pronounce the latter’s absence as heroic? 9. If the current president canceled his reelection bid because he was too debilitated and unpopular, and is now rarely seen or heard, and if the vice president is out of Washington running a campaign in his place, but avoiding all press conferences, interviews, and unscripted addresses, who exactly, if anyone, is running the United States for the next six months of the lame-duck Biden-Harris administration? 10. If Trump all summer has been compared by his enemies to Hitler and his murderous Third Reich, and if a 20-year-old would-be assassin and murderer with ease took up a sniper’s position to kill Trump—without a notified Secret Service or other law enforcement attempting to abort the shooter’s attempted assassination—what signal does that send to other would-be assassins for the next 80 days of the 2024 campaign? Is the message that if a 20-year-old amateur sniper can brazenly and visibly for nearly an hour breach all Secret Service security perimeters to shoot eight times at the president, hit him in the ear, kill one innocent bystander, and wound two others, then almost any future, more-experienced serious shooter could match or exceed the ability of that disturbed amateur to get close enough to Trump to fire more than eight shots at his head? And that shooting Trump in many leftist quarters would subsequently earn the unhinged killer eternal fame, applause, and immortality? And that if there are such anticipated rewards and perceived opportunities, then we may well see more attempts on candidate Trump’s life? In sum, presidential campaigns traditionally kick off after Labor Day and mostly follow accepted protocols. But this warped 2024 version violates every prior precedent and is not just creepy but dangerous—even before the campaign was supposed to formally begin. (C)2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post The Weird, Creepy, Surreal—and Dangerous—2024 Campaign appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Won't Anyone Take This Man's Endorsement?

Not to stray from the election strategies of 2016 and 2020, the media is painting Trump as a loser and a liar while Kamala destroys him in the polls. Unlike the mainstream media, Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” is here to tell the truth — and it’s not pretty for Kamala. “What is her campaign even doing other than stealing Donald Trump’s talking points and offering to pay influencers absurd amounts of money for these little inorganic posts about her campaign?” Gonzales asks before answering herself. “Here’s one thing they’re doing: manipulating digital headlines in Google ads to make it appear that she’s getting all this glowing, beautiful coverage from all of these mainstream media outlets.” The ads are sponsored and paid for by the Harris for President presidential campaign — and the headlines are not being written by the media publication they’re linking to. “Deceptive, I would say. It looks like real search results. It looks like it was written by the outlets themselves. I would say that’s deception; that’s manipulation. Is that not election inference?” Gonzales says. Despite the clear manipulation, a recent poll released by the Heritage Foundation illustrates that Americans still agree with Donald Trump’s policies and platforms. When participants were asked what the biggest issue facing the country was, 42% voted cost of living, 27% voted immigration, 25% voted jobs and the economy, 15% voted political corruption, 16% voted the state of democracy, and 13% voted abortion. “They don’t have energy; they can’t afford to care about abortion when they can’t even pay their bills,” Gonzales says, noting that this is why Kamala is working overtime to manipulate voters with propaganda and lies. “I guess I’d try paying influencers up to $20,000 to keep my name in their mouths too,” she adds. And it’s not just the Heritage Foundation poll that spells trouble for the Harris campaign, but a recent CNN segment breaking down polls warns that “we’ve been here before.”By before, they mean 2016. “If you’re a Kamala Harris fan and you want to rip open the champagne bottle, pop that cork, do not do it. Donald Trump is very much in this race. If we have a polling shift like we’ve seen prior years, from now until the final result — Donald Trump would actually win,” the CNN host said. “See how much it pained that man to say that Donald Trump is still in it,” Gonzales says, smirking.Want more from Sara Gonzales? To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Maryland police decried the "deep depravity" they found at a man's home who was charged with 178 counts of animal cruelty. A property owner reported the tenant to police in May after he failed to pay his rent. When police performed a search warrant at the Baltimore home, they found dozens of abused animals, according to documents reviewed by WBAL-TV. 'Animal cruelty is a serious and intolerable offense that reflects a deep depravity.' The Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office said animal control officers found 83 dogs at the home on the 5100 block of Pembridge Avenue. Many were in poor health with heart murmurs and dehydration. They also found one cat. Many of the dogs were kept in crates filled with excrement emitting a strong ammonia smell, according to police. Officials said the dogs were seized and transported to the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter. Police identified the man as 46-year-old Robert Conley and they believe he was selling the animals on Instagram for about $1,500 each. "Animal cruelty is a serious and intolerable offense that reflects a deep depravity and disregard for the well-being of innocent creatures," read a statement from Baltimore City state's attorney Ivan Bates. "The 178 counts of animal cruelty in this case underscores our commitment to holding those who harm animals accountable."The dogs will be provided medical care and put up for adoption or foster. WBAL's news video on YouTube showed scenes from outside the home. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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