In late 2022‚ when asked by reporters about the probability that former President Trump would run for a second term‚ President Biden pledged to make sure “he does not become president again.” This was largely ignored at the time because Trump had not yet been bombarded with the brazenly partisan prosecutions that he is now fending off. In hindsight‚ it is clear that Biden was referring to a carefully planned lawfare campaign coordinated by the White House. His administration’s fingerprints are all over every prosecution from the first indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to the recent attempt to remove Trump from the Colorado primary ballot. Trump is no Cicero‚ but everyone should listen when he tells us‚ “They’re after you‚ I’m just in the way.” The Colorado ballot case provides the clearest White House connection. As The American Spectator noted last year‚ the initial lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in September of last year. Noah Bookbinder‚ CREW’s President‚ was appointed to an advisory council in March of 2022 by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas‚ and his name appears on White House visitor logs multiple times in 2023‚ according to a recent Daily Caller report. CREW convinced the Colorado Supreme Court to disqualify Trump from appearing on the Centennial State’s primary ballot‚ but the U.S. Supreme Court has now agreed to hear Trump’s appeal. Bookbinder responded as follows: Donald Trump is disqualified from holding office under the 14th Amendment after he incited the January 6th insurrection following his loss in the 2020 election. The Supreme Court of Colorado came to the right conclusion in favor of our clients‚ and the U.S. Supreme Court must now uphold it. In defending this decision‚ we are working to defend American democracy. We believe in the rule of law and have faith in the judicial system. The Supreme Court should take up this case quickly to ensure that Colorado Republican primary voters like our client—and all Americans—have confidence in the eligibility of the people on their ballots. Noah Bookbinder is by no means the only Trump antagonist who appears multiple times on the White House visitor logs. New York Attorney General Letitia James appears on the logs at least three times. This fact was mentioned by former President Trump‚ who suggested that there had been coordination between the Biden administration and the New York AG concerning the bizarre “fraud” charges for which she prosecuted Trump. The Associated Press dismissed any possibility of collaboration as “unsubstantiated‚” yet confirmed that James is indeed on the visitor logs for the following dates: 4/8/2022‚ 7/18/2023 and 8/31/2023. The AP uncritically accepted the White House assertion that the visits were ceremonial. (READ MORE from David Catron: The Democrats Can’t Disgorge Biden) They were likely as innocuous as meetings Nathan Wade‚ a prosecutor working for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis‚ had with White House Counsel before Willis filed RICO charges against Trump. One of the latter’s co-defendants‚ Michael Roman‚ has filed a Motion to Dismiss containing evidence that Wade invoiced Fulton County for a May 23‚ 2022 meeting described thus: “Travel to Athens; Conf with White House Counsel.” He also invoiced the county for a November 18‚ 2022 meeting with this description: “Interview with DC/White House.” This has drawn the attention of House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)‚ who has demanded documents from Wade‚ including the following: All documents and communications in your possession between or among the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office‚ including yourself‚ and the U.S. Department of Justice and its components‚ including but not limited to Special Counsel Jack Smith‚ referring or relating to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s investigation of President Trump. All documents and communications in your possession between or among the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office‚ including yourself‚ and the Executive Office of the President‚ including but not limited to the White House Counsel’s Office‚ referring or relating to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s investigation of President Trump. All notes‚ memoranda‚ documents‚ or other material in your possession referring or relating to your meetings‚ conferences‚ phone calls‚ or other interactions with the U.S. Department of Justice‚ the Executive Office of the President‚ or the partisan January 6 Select Committee. This brings us back to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg‚ the first DA to indict a former president in U.S. History. Bragg‚ you will recall‚ initially decided not to pursue an indictment because the case was so weak he could very well lose. Then‚ after Matthew Colangelo from the Biden Justice Department took a position in the Manhattan DA’s office‚ Bragg had a sudden epiphany and decided to indict Trump. The primary charge involves a $130‚000 hush-money payment that then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to an adult film star with his own money. As Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz put it‚ “In 60 years of practicing criminal law‚ I have never seen a worse abuse of prosecutorial discretion.” (READ MORE: Trump Ballot Bans and the Specter of Bush v. Gore) Sadly‚ abuse of such discretion is the hallmark of the Biden administration‚ and it isn’t limited to Alvin Bragg‚ Fani Willis‚ Letitia James or Noah Bookbinder. Nor are its targets limited to Trump. Biden’s Attorney General‚ Merrick Garland‚ has used the Jan. 6‚ 2021 Capitol riot as a pretext for a three-year reign of terror that has ruined the lives of who knows how many ordinary Americans — some of whom never entered the “People’s House.” Meanwhile‚ the President’s son publicly flouts a subpoena issued by that same body. Who believes Hunter Biden will be prosecuted by Garland’s DOJ for contempt of Congress? Trump is no Cicero‚ but everyone should listen when he tells us‚ “They’re after you‚ I’m just in the way.” The post White House Coordinating Trump Prosecutions appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The oldest mystery about the Left is how it continues to be a formidable force when everything it has ever tried has been a catastrophe‚ often a homicidal one. For 250 years‚ its Godless contra-nature philosophy has led to historic misery. The Soviet Union’s First Five Year Plan collectivizing agriculture starved eight-million men‚ women‚ and children to death. Undaunted‚ Mao quintupled that number less than three decades later in his Great Leap Forward. My native country‚ Cuba‚ went from thriving to desolate in five years under Fidel Castro. Yet he was the model Hugo Chavez emulated when destroying oil-rich Venezuela. Before Obama became president‚ a man pretending to be a woman and holding a high rank in the armed forces would have been a late-night comedy joke. You would think the people of the richest‚ strongest country in the world would count their blessings and embrace the system that thus far spared them such a fate. That they would revere the founding fathers who conceived it‚ themselves worshippers of a higher order. “We hold these truths to be self-evident‚” they immortally decreed. “That all men are created equal‚ that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights‚ that among these are Life‚ Liberty‚ and the pursuit of Happiness.” When a century later men defied these principles and defended the enslavement of others‚ they had to stop being Americans to do so. They had to be crushed at great cost to the Union‚ with more than 600‚000 dead. “As He died to make men holy‚ let us die to make men free‚” soldiers sang in The Battle Hymn of the Republic. (READ MORE from Lou Aguilar: The Boys in the Shaky Boat) For a long time afterward‚ Americans were grateful for their blessings. True‚ some put their prejudices above their better angels and slowed the path to greatness. Nonetheless‚ the vast majority of all races took pride in the nation and helped to unite it. They championed the same causes — family‚ faith‚ and freedom. No external enemy could weaken these building blocks. But the enemy was inside the gate. It took a hundred years to bring America to the edge of disaster where it is today. This history has been chronicled by greater scholars than I. How the Left took over academia‚ then the media‚ then one of the two major political parties. How it pit people against one another by group — blacks against whites‚ women against men‚ parents against their unborn babies. How it perverted reality itself‚ declaring that men can become women merely by mind over matter. At earlier points‚ conservatives could have stopped this‚ by appealing to normal people. But they let the madness spread believing common sense would prevail. In the real world‚ they knew‚ demanding that a city defund its police will result in an explosion of violent crime. Removing all border obstacles will permit the invasion of millions and cause an epidemic of drug deaths. Disdaining white Christian men in the military — the most likely group to volunteer — while promoting women‚ homosexuals‚ and “trans”-women will create a recruitment shortage. And a mammoth family entertainment company imposing anti-family content will be abandoned by the entire world audience. Before Obama became president‚ a man pretending to be a woman and holding a high rank in the armed forces would have been a late-night comedy joke. But today U.S. Space Force Lieutenant Colonel Bree Fram is the actual spokesman for the service branch‚ naturally speaking total gibberish in awful English at the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit. “We fight today and we fight in the future using brain power‚” Fram said. “And if that brain‚ who’s going to revolutionize the way we fight in cyber‚ just happens to be in a trans body‚ you should want them all serving alongside me.” Good thing for the Chinese astronauts that in space‚ no one can hear you laugh. There is a clear solution to the mystery of leftist destruction. It’s their purpose not the unforeseen result. They hate the Right and men — especially white men — and the Western civilization they built more than any phantom white supremacy. They’ll lose wars before welcoming such men‚ and label each defeat a victory as they did in Afghanistan. (READ MORE: Heroes and Zeroes of 2023) As for art‚ they know they can create nothing anywhere near as fine as the men who made the movies and kept them vibrant for a century. They can only soil and pervert their legacy with inclusive parasitic imitations‚ where girls can outfight boys and have no interest in romancing them or nurturing them. This hatred is all they have left‚ and they will burn the industry that foolishly hired them before catering to primitive deplorables. Which brings us to the old reliable bomb factory‚ Woke Disney. Its once magical branch‚ Pixar‚ joined the studio’s progressive party shoving feminist and gay propaganda down children’s throats. Until kids stopped showing up. Last weekend’s Pixar release Soul opened at 1‚350 theaters and grossed just half a million dollars. Now comes word the company will cut 20 percent of its work force‚ about 300 jobs. In the real world‚ Disney executives would reverse course from their feminist agenda‚ beginning with their once boy-centric franchise Star Wars. They would think of Luke Skywalker‚ Han Solo‚ and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the same way George Lucas first thought of Buck Rogers when conceiving those icons. But that would mean letting white men be heroes again and inspire boys of all races. (READ MORE: Beauty’s Last Stand – TV Christmas Movies) Disney had a better idea — hire male-bashing feminist director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy — to helm the new Star Wars film. No doubt Obaid-Chinoi’s 2015 quote‚ “I like to make men uncomfortable. I enjoy making men uncomfortable‚” cemented Disney’s choice of her as director. Unfortunately for her and Disney‚ men and boys will be very comfortable in a galaxy far‚ far away from the theater. The post Reality Bites the Left appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Republicans’ harrumphing at the temporary disappearance of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are missing the point amidst the Biden administration’s clown show this week. That‚ coupled with the U.S. and U.K. strikes on the Houthis‚ Biden’s green-lighting a Chinese attack on Taiwan‚ and the Feds’ declaration of war against Texas’s defending its border with Mexico adds up to more than the usual Biden disasters. What we and the U.K. should have done is also to have sunk the Iranian intelligence ship. We’ve become accustomed to brilliant‚ strong men leading the Defense Department. Yes‚ there have been some fools in the job (former Sen. Chuck Hagel comes immediately to mind) but for the most part the Pentagon chiefs have been of the caliber of Dick Cheney‚ Bill Perry‚ Frank Carlucci‚ and Donald Rumsfeld. (READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Israel’s Implacable Court) If any of those guys went missing for more than a half hour‚ everyone from the president on down would have been asking where he was. Not so Lloyd Austin. As Central Command boss‚ Lloyd was barely adequate. As SECDEF‚ he’s a non-entity‚ a bystander to the decisions made by others. Which is proven by the fact that he was in the hospital for several days before anyone noticed he was missing. None of our so-called leaders — Biden‚ Sullivan‚ Blinken — want his advice on anything including military matters. Austin is less valuable to Biden than a house cat or a door stop. Biden said Austin showed a lack of judgment in not telling the White House he was hospitalized. If Austin were even a small part of the Biden team they would have noticed his absence‚ not needing to be told. Austin claims to have directed the U.S. and U.K. air strikes on the Houthis of Yemen from his hospital bed. That may be true but it’s nothing for him or Biden to brag about. The Houthis are a tribe that make up less than ten percent of Yemen’s 30 million population. They are Shiite Muslims‚ which makes them Iran’s co-religionists. Iran is financing and supplying them with the weapons they are using. The Houthis have been launching drones and missiles to attack Israel as well as U.S. navy ships and commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Red Sea‚ of course‚ is the best route from Asia to the Mediterranean Sea‚ Europe‚ and the U.S. through the Suez Canal. The other route — for Middle Eastern oil and commercial container shipments — goes all the way around the southern tip of Africa. The Houthis have made over one hundred attacks against U.S. Navy ships and commercial shipping since October 17‚ blaming Israel for their attacks. Biden threatened the Houthis with reprisals‚ to no effect. On Thursday and Friday‚ U.S. and U.K. ships in the area launched cruise missiles and airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen‚ reportedly killing about five people. (READ MORE: Foreseeable Consequences) For weeks‚ an Iranian intelligence ship has operated in the Red Sea‚ feeding targeting information and‚ probably‚ actually guiding Houthi drones and missiles to their targets. Last week‚ an Iranian frigate came into the Red Sea possibly to protect their intelligence ship. Biden‚ as always‚ got it wrong. Why only punish the monkey for the organ grinder’s actions?  By attacking the Houthis‚ Biden has raised their credibility and given them a sort of legitimacy they don’t deserve. We have made them the enemy and allowed Iran to hide behind its proxy force. What we and the U.K. should have done is also to have sunk the Iranian intelligence ship. That could have been accomplished easily using fewer of our forces than what we used to blow up a few Houthi radars and trucks. That would have punished Iran as well as the Houthis. We can’t expect Biden to stand up against Iran because that would require courage and competence. Basic competence would suffice in dealing with the border crisis‚ but that’s also too much to ask. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbot has been‚ unsuccessfully‚ trying to stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming into his state. He has bused and flown illegals to other states and cities by the thousands. In his latest move‚ the Texas National Guard has seized control of a state park on the border and refused the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol access to the park. The Biden administration’s reaction is to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Texas’s seizure of the park illegal as an attempt to regulate immigration. The Supreme Court has‚ several times‚ ruled that federal law preempts state law and that any state attempt to control immigration is unconstitutional. In its 2012 decision in Arizona v. United States‚ the court ruled against states’ “inherent power” to do so. But that was 2012. Since Biden became president‚ about eight million illegal immigrants have come into the U.S. over our open southern border. That number doesn’t include the “gotaways” — who probably number an additional 1.5 million — who evaded the Border Patrol when entering the U.S. (READ MORE: Biden Wants Hamas To Win) At present‚ about ten thousand illegals a day come across the border. Abbot and Texas are dealing with a tidal wave of illegals. They may be trying to regulate immigration as an ancillary matter but what they are doing is defending Texas against an invasion that burdens its schools‚ hospitals‚ and welfare rolls so greatly that it’s a matter of the state’s survival. As this column has often stated‚ the open border is an enormous national security problem. That may not be enough to get the Supremes to rule in Texas’s favor‚ but it should. Meanwhile‚ Senate Republicans — if they can still claim that status — appear ready to sign off on a “border security” deal with Biden that will allow five thousand illegals in each day and give them work permits. It would be a total cave-in to Biden who‚ of course‚ said on Saturday that he’s prepared to make “significant alterations” to his border policy. Republicans shouldn’t believe that for one nanosecond. It’s another Biden ploy to keep the border open. I keep wondering what else Biden will screw up and how Republicans can keep going along with him. And there’s always China to consider. The Taiwanese have just elected Lai Ching-te their new president. China considers him a troublemaker because he’s spoken in favor of keeping Taiwan an independent democracy. Biden‚ of course‚ said he doesn’t favor Taiwanese independence. That statement green-lights the coming Chinese attack on Taiwan‚ which I have forecast‚ will take place before Biden leaves office in 2025 or — if things go as they appear to be going — in 2029. READ MORE from Jed Babbin: The Colorado Supreme Court vs. Trump Zelensky’s Dismal Week             The post Hitting the Houthis and Other Biden Mistakes appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

In 1963‚ Martin Luther King delivered his “I Had a Dream” speech.  At the time‚ racist barriers substantially impacted the life chances of blacks‚ the parents and grandparents of today’s black youths. Structural racism in American society was clearly evidenced in arrest statistics‚ housing availability‚ educational funding‚ and hiring decisions. Most importantly‚ we must find ways to strengthen black families. But in the last few decades‚ many if not most of these structural barriers have been decisively reduced‚ not irradicated mind you‚ but significantly statistically reduced. Increased educational opportunity‚ improved educational training of supervisory personnel‚ the expansion of human resource departments‚ and evolving white attitudes have all had positive impacts on urban policing‚ the criminal justice system‚ public schools‚ universities‚ and private corporations. Despite these obvious‚ evident‚ and calculable changes over the last few decades‚ social justice advocates nevertheless often interweaved widespread discriminatory policies from the past with anecdotal examples of racist actions in the present in order to claim there is an unbending and unending reign of systemic racism. (READ MORE from Robert Cherry: Demands for Reparations Hide Liberal Failures) In the spirit of Martin Luther King‚ Barak Obama did briefly embrace color-blind‚ meritocratic reforms during the first years of his presidency.  He signaled his approach in his 2004 Democratic Convention speech: Tonight‚ we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation … Now even as we speak‚ there are those who are preparing to divide us‚ the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well‚ I say to them tonight‚ there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. Like King‚ Obama sought to use government initiatives to strengthen black individual efforts to become successful.  However‚ his policies to improve fatherhood‚ increase occupational successes‚ and to distinguish between violent and nonviolent crimes were never supported by the left wing of the Democratic Party and were ultimately abandoned.  There was a return to the race-centric policies that stressed black victimization due to continued structural racism.  As a result‚ the focus on “bias‚” with its narrative of racial victimization‚ continues today to reign supreme among social justice advocates rather than efforts to strengthen individual agency. Two generations ago‚ this emphasis made sense. Today‚ however‚ investments in human development of black Americans must be given at least equal weight. Indeed‚ it becomes increasingly clear that the real lives of millions of black people hang in the balance. To tell black people that all their woes stem from a failure of whites to treat them equally while avoiding helping black people become more effective‚ productive‚ and virtuous members of society‚ is to take the easy path. While comforting‚ it is nonetheless tragically misleading. For young black men‚ it is hard not to be demoralized by what seem to be incessant stories of black victimization‚ most notably the specter of unarmed black men being killed by police. While these examples are increasingly atypical‚ they serve to deflect attention away from the personal deficits that have a much more profound impact on black wellbeing. (READ MORE: Declining Black Voter Turnout: Apathy‚ Not Voter Suppression) Here we are‚ more than a half century past the heyday of the civil rights movement‚ and the self-appointed guardians of the interests of black America have no realistic programs to move more poor blacks to the stable middle class. Instead‚ they decry “white supremacy” and offer a snarl‚ a scold‚ or a bill of indictments.  No meaningful policies to improve the educational skills or behaviors of ten-year-old black children.  No meaningful policies to stem the gun culture among disconnected urban black youth. In contrast‚ black immigrant communities have been more successful with incomes substantially higher than the black community that descended from slavery.  Many of the groups‚ particularly Nigerian immigrants‚ have family incomes comparable if not superior to white Americans.  Though only 10 percent of the black population‚ immigrant youth comprise 40 percent of Ivy League blacks.  These outcomes strongly suggest that factors other than contemporary racism explain the weak performance on a host of measures of black descendants of American slavery. Most importantly‚ we must find ways to strengthen black families.  This includes stressing the success sequence among young blacks: first finishing school‚ then gaining fulltime employment‚ then marrying‚ and only then having children. (READ MORE: Contrary to Kanye West’s Claims‚ Jewish Organizations Actively Helped Black Artists) We must also bring resources into the black family.  Visiting nursing programs offer support and guidance to new mothers; and subsequent in-house programs help develop school readiness among their toddlers.  Once in school‚ house visits can help reduce the excessive absenteeism that has become a major problem in urban schools.  In addition‚ President Obama’s training initiatives should be a centerpiece of educational offerings rather than the disastrous four-year college-for-all strategy promoted by liberals.  Stackable certificate programs may be the best alternative for many high school students by providing them educational successes that they can build upon.  These are the necessary approaches if we are to fulfill King’s aspirations for black communities. Robert Cherry is an American Enterprise Institute affiliate and author of The State of the Black Family: Sixty Years of Tragedy and Failures – And New Initiatives Offering Hope. The post How Best To Fulfill King’s Aspirations appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Connecticut is just the latest state to provide a more accessible criminal record expungement system designed to “eliminate employment‚ education‚ and housing barriers for those convicted of low-level crimes‚ who have finished their sentences and remained crime free for a specific timeframe.” Maintaining that it is in “society’s best interest” the Clean Slate Law‚ which was signed by the Governor in 2021‚ has removed the criminal records of 80‚000 individuals as of January 1‚ 2024.Expungement should not be viewed as a liberal “soft on crime” approach. Additional states are considering similar laws now — and Churches and NGOs are helping. In California‚ more than 900 people attended the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s annual Restorative Justice event last fall for the victims of crime‚ as well as for formerly incarcerated individuals and their families.  For more than a decade now‚ the San Francisco Archdiocese has aimed to help crime victims as well as those released from prison or jail. Sponsored by the Archdiocesan Restorative Justice Ministry‚ this year’s conference was the largest ever and included a jobs fair with 50 employers hoping to find workers‚ and as many as 100 attendees were expected to find jobs as a result of their participation in the conference. (READ MORE from Anne Hendershott: Pope Francis Falls Silent on the Persecution of Jimmy Lai) This year’s conference included a criminal record expungement clinic staffed by the San Francisco Public Defender’s offices.  And although some might believe that helping to expunge the criminal records of those who have served their sentences is a “soft-on-crime” approach‚ the truth is that research indicates that expungement can in fact make society safer. Indeed‚ through a data-sharing agreement with the state of Michigan and the Cato Institute‚ a libertarian think tank that is dedicated to free‚ open and civil societies‚ research on expungement in Michigan has indicated that people who receive expungements have very low rates of recidivism — even lower by some measures than the average crime rates for all Michigan adults.  Just 4 percent of all expungement recipients in Michigan are reconvicted within five years‚ and most of these reconvictions are for nonviolent misdemeanors.  Expungement recipients have very low rates of recidivism and exhibit much better employment outcomes. Importantly — and perhaps the most important reason for the low rates of recidivism for Michigan’s expungement recipients — expungement recipients quickly exhibit better employment outcomes.  The data indicate that “average quarterly wages rise by about 23 percent within a year of expungement‚ an increase driven mainly by unemployed or marginally employed people finding work. “  And although we must acknowledge that those who have expunged records are likely to be qualitatively different from those who have not pursued the expungement route even with the same criminal history‚ we have to also acknowledge that at least some of the gain in wages is caused by expungement itself. The Michigan data are valuable because the state’s expungement law has been on the books for more than 50 years yielding valuable data.  And there is a growing awareness — even among conservatives — that expungement‚ in fact‚ can reduce crime.  We know — and the Michigan data validate — that the correlates of crime such as “unemployment‚ low wages‚ poverty‚ homelessness‚ poor education‚ stigma‚ and social exclusion are all associated with higher recidivism risk.”  If expungement alleviates even some of these conditions‚ it seems likely to reduce recidivism among those who petition for expungement of their criminal records. (READ MORE: All Politics Are Local — And So Is the Cheating)  Expungement has the potential to be an issue that can unite both Democrats and Republicans in their efforts to reduce crime.  Wisconsin is providing a good model for a bipartisan effort to help offenders clear their criminal records through their co-sponsorship of LRB 0955/1. In a statement published in the Wisconsin media‚ the co-sponsors complained that the state’s  earlier expungement procedures were published in the 1970s and were unnecessarily cumbersome. Their new bill — which is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the Koch family’s Americans for Prosperity — creates a new more effective and efficient process. It would seem that anything we can do to enable people to access employment‚ apply for a professional license‚ and find a safe place to live should be encouraged.  Yet there continue to be many states which refuse to even consider expunging the records of those who have paid their debt to society and have remained crime-free for several years. It is also very difficult to go through the process of petitioning for expungement.  The Cato/Michigan study found that only 6.5 percent of individuals eligible for expungement actually receive expungement during their first five years of eligibility.  Part of the reason for that is due to the fact that expungement is an arduous process — one that most individuals cannot handle without legal assistance. In 2019‚ a new reform campaign supported by the Center for American Progress‚ the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative‚ and Koch Foundation groups‚ the Clean Slate campaign argues that “automated data-driven processes are the key to effective record sealing.”  Toward that goal‚ a few states provide for the “automatic expungement” of some criminal convictions.  According to Cato‚ Pennsylvania and Utah passed these policies — with the near-unanimous support of Republican dominated legislatures.  Cato points out that‚ “Chambers of Commerce have joined with civil rights and civil liberties groups to endorse many recent reform proposals … many employers and landlords want to give opportunities to qualified applicants with records but cannot do so because of legal restrictions and fear of tort liabilities‚ which expungement laws curtail.” Still‚ even with an increased availability of access to expungement assistance‚ there are still a long list of Internet websites that offer “cheap and easy criminal background checks” open to the public for a fee‚  and there are also a number of state and local news blotters that post booking photos. These sites would not necessarily be updated with the expungement information. Forcing a website to take down public records would violate the First Amendment. But these websites could be encouraged — through legislation — to update their data if expungement has occurred. (READ MORE: Assisted Suicide Surges in California) Expungement should not be viewed as a liberal “soft on crime” approach.  Rather‚ we all should recognize that the dignity of human persons applies to both victim and the offender who has actually paid the price for his or her offenses.  This approach can offer society another way to understand and respond to crime‚ its victims‚ and its perpetrators.  It does not give up on those who violate the laws.  An effective and accessible expungement system that rewards those who have paid their debt to society would be a start. The post Should Conservatives Support Criminal Record Expungement? appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Something good happened this past week in south Florida. After being briefed and educated by activists affiliated with the Middle East Forum (MEF)‚ a group of responsible public officials and business leaders prevailed upon a local hotel to refrain from hosting an Islamist-organized gathering of extremists slated to take place near Fort Lauderdale. The cancellation of the event‚ scheduled for the second weekend of January at the Marriot Hotel in Coral Springs‚ has prompted the all-too-predictable cries of bigotry and “Islamophobia” on the part of its organizer‚ the South Florida Muslim Federation (SFMF)‚ which is now scrambling for another venue to hold its gala. In light of this‚ it should come as no surprise that numerous Islamist Israel-haters were scheduled to speak at the convention. Floridians have every reason to be concerned about a local hotel chain hosting SFMF’s event‚ which would‚ by design‚ allow pro-Hamas activists who applauded the October 7 massacre in Israel to rub shoulders with service-minded Muslims and the organizations they lead. If it were allowed to proceed‚ the event would have given Hamas-aligned Islamist organizations a chance to portray themselves as something they are not — friends of the American republic and its way of life. (READ MORE from Dexter Van Zile: Not Another Dime to Pro-Hamas Charities in US) Founded in 2017‚ SFMF represents several of the state’s Islamist organizations which themselves promote the ideologies of movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood‚ its South Asian counterpart Jamaat-e-Islami‚ and Shiite extremists of Iran. One thing that unites these organizations is hostility toward Israel‚ which has manifested itself in one of SFMF’s high-profile members‚ the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)‚ notorious for its involvement in a 2007 terror finance trial involving Hamas. Late last year‚ the Biden Administration disavowed CAIR after a video emerged showing CAIR national director Nihad Awad celebrating the October 7 massacre and providing liberationist cover for the rape and murder of Israeli civilians‚ which he depicted as akin to Nazis by declaring‚ “The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on October 7.” SFMF itself has organized demonstrations alongside Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)‚ a student organization that has been prohibited in Florida universities due to support for Hamas. SFMF disseminated pictures from a “March for Palestine” held in Fort Lauderdale on October 29. The images revealed attendees carrying placards endorsing Palestinian “Resistance‚” a term synonymous with Hamas‚ advocating for the obliteration of Israel‚ and placards featuring Adolf Hitler. In light of this‚ it should come as no surprise that numerous Islamist Israel-haters were scheduled to speak at the convention‚ which was promoted as a “family” event where attendees would find hope during their current time of crisis by invoking the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem in the 630s. The irony is palpable. Islamist organizations and their allies on the left routinely invoke European conquests in the Western hemisphere to demonstrate the evils of Western civilization‚ but these same Islamist organizations invoke Islamic expansionism as a sign of hope for Muslims. And despite this‚ the conference organizers declared it was not a “pro-Hamas” event. Hamas is all about Islamic conquest that the event was going to celebrate. The decision by the Coral Springs Marriot to cancel the SFMF event comes on the heels of other Marriott-owned hotels in Virginia and Arizona canceling Islamist-organized events in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre. While these cancellations are good news‚ it would even better news if rank-and-file Muslims in Florida (and elsewhere) acknowledge that SFMF provides cover to Islamist hate groups and in so doing‚ brings legitimate Muslim organizations into disrepute. In its press release‚ the SFMF complained that the MEF’s efforts to educate local leaders about the event “smeared” 32 charities and thousands of Muslims in south Florida as “terrorists.” SFMF did that all by itself. To be sure‚ not every organization scheduled to take part in SFMF’s event is an Islamist organization intent on using the rights enjoyed by U.S. citizens to promote its hateful agenda‚ but enough of them were to make Marriot’s decision to cancel the conference an absolute necessity. (READ MORE: A Farrakhan Disciple Works for the Boston DA) It may not seem like it now‚ but the Marriot hotel in Coral Springs did Florida’s Muslim community a favor. It put Muslims who want to live in peace with their fellow citizens in the region on notice that their leaders are bringing them — and the faith they practice — into disrepute in the minds of their neighbors. If they want this process to end‚ American Muslims must wrest control of their institutions from the Islamist radicals who currently control them. Dexter Van Zile‚ Violin Family Research Fellow for the Middle East Forum‚ serves as managing editor of MEF’s publication Focus on Western Islamism. The post American Muslims Must Repudiate Pro-Hamas Charities appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The Yemeni-based Houthi rebel attacks on global commerce and trade finally produced a response from the Biden administration (and the United Kingdom) in the form of targeted air strikes on Houthi military facilities‚ such as “command and control nodes‚ munitions‚ depots‚ launching systems‚ production facilities‚ and air defense radar systems‚” according to a CNN report. A Houthi spokesman said that the strikes killed five people and wounded six others. The same spokesman stated that the strikes “would not deter further … attacks on shipping.” On Sunday‚ U.S. warplanes targeted a radar site with strikes‚ which a Houthi spokesman described as causing no “material damages” and no injuries. And the “pinprick” strikes are surely not going to impress China’s leaders. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a press release that the strikes are “intended to disrupt and degrade the Houthi’s capabilities to endanger mariners and threaten global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways.” Austin also claimed that the strikes will “send a clear message to the Houthis that they will bear further costs if they do not end their illegal attacks.” The Naval War College’s James Holmes‚ channeling the great strategic theorist Admiral J.C. Wylie‚ is skeptical of that approach. (READ MORE from Francis P. Sempa: The Arctic Thaw‚ Sino-Russian Partnership‚ and Control of the World-Island) Holmes distinguishes between “cumulative” operations and “sequential” operations. Cumulative operations — like those described by Secretary Austin — involve “wearing down an opponent through pinpricks” by “inflicting small-scale damage at many places on the map.” This kind of response‚ as Austin admitted‚ is designed to send “messages” instead of inflicting decisive punishment. It is what President Bill Clinton did in Serbia and Bosnia in the mid-1990s to little strategic effect. On a larger scale‚ it was what Robert McNamara and his “whiz kids” in the Pentagon did during much of the Vietnam War — bombing to “send signals” instead of “strategic bombing” once advocated by Giulio Douhet in The Command of the Air (1921) and practiced by General Curtis LeMay against Japan at the end of World War II. Douhet‚ a pioneer air power strategist‚ foresaw in 1921 that with the advent of long-range bombers “the battlefield will be limited only by the boundaries of the nations at war‚ and all of their citizens will become combatants‚ since all of them will be exposed to the aerial offensives of the enemy.” “No longer can areas exist in which life can be lived in safety and tranquility‚” Douhet wrote‚ “nor can the battlefield any longer be limited to actual combatants.” For this reason‚ Douhet suggested that “command of the air” was essential for winning future wars. Army Air Corps (and later Air Force) General Curtis LeMay was an intellectual disciple of Douhet‚ and near the end of World War II he put into practice Douhet’s theories with devastating results against the Japanese mainland. The firebombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities combined with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki pummeled Japan into submission. LeMay later remarked that war was very simple — you kill enough of the enemy and they stop fighting. Thus far the strikes carried out by the Biden administration are cumulative operations — like McNamara’s bombing campaign in Vietnam or Clinton’s in the Balkans — intended to persuade the Houthis to stop attacking shipping near and around the Red Sea. They are “pinpricks” that are unlikely to deter the Houthis from future attacks. By contrast‚ Douhet advocated and LeMay practiced “sequential” operations where the enemy is pummeled into submission by repeated sequential strikes. Holmes suggests that we would improve our prospects of success against the Houthis by “go[ing] big‚ applying maximum violence at many key places on the map at the same time‚ and … keep the pressure over a sustained period of time.” Sending messages to the Houthis‚ Holmes writes‚ won’t work because they are “ideologues‚ not dispassionate accountants of costs‚ benefits‚ and risks.” (READ MORE: Terrorists Firing Missiles at Cargo Ships Are a Geopolitical Threat) The cumulative operation of the Biden administration that killed five Houthi rebels and wounded six others‚ and most recently targeted a radar site is not going to deter anyone‚ let alone the ideologues described by Holmes. And the “pinprick” strikes are surely not going to impress China’s leaders as they prepare to react to the “independence” candidate’s victory in Taiwan’s presidential election. The post Time to ‘Curtis LeMay’ the Houthis appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

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