Harvard is sticking by their woman and the University of Wisconsin turned down a mountain of money just to maintain commitment to DEI. The actions of these two universities this week demonstrate the depth of the problem with higher education. Their commitment to ideology is stronger than their commitment to anything else. On Tuesday‚ the school’s board announced that it would retain President Claudine Gay. The decision was unanimous—despite Gay’s disastrous testimony at a now infamous House hearing on antisemitism in which she waffled on questions about denouncing calls for genocide. “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment?” Rep. Elise Stefanik‚ R-N.Y.‚ asked at the hearing. “It can be‚ depending on the context‚” Gay responded. Woof. That was hardly the only jarring or ridiculous testimony of the day. It got worse for Gay when multiple reports uncovered evidence that she plagiarized her 1997 doctoral thesis and other papers published between 1993 and 2017. Harvard said that after an investigation it found that Gay was only guilty of “research misconduct‚” but that it did discover “a few instances of inadequate citation.” Political scientist Carol Swain‚ one of the people Gay plagiarized‚ said in a Fox News interview that Harvard is trying to “redefine what is plagiarism” to protect Gay. “Claudine Gay needs to step down. Obviously‚ the Harvard Corporation did not have the courage to fire its first black president‚ someone who should never have been elevated in the first place‚” Swain said. Swain is also black. The school seems unfazed by all of this and much of the Harvard faculty has expressed unqualified support. They will stick with Gay no matter what it seems. It may seem strange to see a school proclaiming to be one of the world’s elite institutions stay committed to Gay‚ who didn’t exactly have an impressive academic record before she got hired. But it makes sense if you consider that the school is wholly committed to diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion in practice and as an ideology. Gay’s primary work has been focused on race and “racial justice.” In 2020‚ Harvard Magazine reported that she led a reboot of a “cluster hire” in ethnicity‚ indigeneity‚ and migration. Cluster hiring is when schools hire in bulk using DEI statements as the primary standard for applicants. She also created a program to “recruit leading scholars of race and ethnicity to spend a year at Harvard engaged in teaching our undergraduates.” It should be clear now‚ if it wasn’t before‚ that DEI is what higher education worships‚ even above standards of education. They are quite willing to abandon academic excellence and even money.  Consider the actions of another university that reinforce this point. On Saturday‚ the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted to reject a deal that would have given the school hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for abandoning their DEI initiatives. “For six months‚ Wisconsin Republicans have put forth funding bills that hoped to limit or cut diversity‚ equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at state universities in exchange for UW employee raises‚” Fox News reported. “Though the latest deal was seen as an ideal compromise‚ the UW board rejected it in a 9-8 vote while also agreeing not to table the vote for further discussion.” The deal would have created a three-year freeze on DEI hires‚ but didn’t actually force them to fire any employees. Instead‚ a third of the DEI employees would be transferred to roles that didn’t focus on race. If the DEI administrators can’t be used to further the revolution‚ then what’s the point‚ the school’s board seems to be saying. This move says a lot about the state of higher education and the nature of leftwing institutions. First‚ higher education in America is clearly awash in money‚ both public and private. The University of Wisconsin has a $7.53 billion annual budget for 2023-2024. Our schools get an astounding amount of state and federal tax dollars. Many of these schools are sitting on astronomical endowments too. Harvard’s over $50 billion endowment is larger than the GDP of dozens of countries. Yet the American taxpayer is expected to bail out student loans. Maybe the institutions responsible for that debt should take some responsibility in paying it? The fact that the University of Wisconsin was so willing to turn down a huge chunk of money likely means that they aren’t completely reliant on it. Perhaps they even think that the legislature will blink and hand them the money. That they did this even if it meant their employees wouldn’t get pay raises says a great deal about the nature of the modern Left. Their commitment to cultural values far exceeds their commitment to material ones. They want power and cultural revolution. They are fine abandoning pay raises for their employees when push comes to shove. It should be a warning for any on the Right who seek to work with‚ say‚ public sector unions. Sure‚ many rank-and-file members simply want higher paychecks and better benefits‚ but leadership is committed to left-wing cultural causes first. They aren’t suddenly going to change their spots. If schools would rather commit to DEI‚ and my feeling is that most do‚ then it’s time to either stop the gravy train on behalf of taxpayers or park that money elsewhere. Imagine what could be built with $800 million dollars that was offered to the University of Wisconsin. Perhaps it’s time to divert that enormous sum of money to institutions that are worthwhile and aren’t committed to Marxist and racialist ideology. Just a thought. That’s effectively what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did in his state. DeSantis toppled the administration of the New College of Florida‚ a hyper progressive liberal arts college‚ and replaced them with people who are committed to a more classical education. There’s a reason the Left is obsessed with destroying this small project. They are afraid red states will see how successful it is and repeat this tactic with other schools. What can’t be ignored with Harvard sticking by Gay and the University of Wisconsin rejecting $800 million is that our elite academic institutions are more committed to DEI ideology than anything else‚ even common decency. There’s now some internal pressure for them to change‚ but outside pressure needs to continue. The moral rot runs deep‚ and it stems from the worldview that’s come to completely dominate the ivory tower. The events following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel should clarify this for those who just couldn’t quite accept how fully compromised America’s elite universities are. The only way to divert them from their path is to drain them of their power‚ to defund‚ defang‚ and deny them the privileged status they’ve held for far too long. Higher education has become increasingly unserious in fulfilling its primary role. Instead‚ these monumentally powerful institutions are committed to reinforcing one ideology at the exclusion of other points of view. That means we need to be serious and use this moment to pull the plug on their project.  Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Academia Reveals That Commitment to DEI Trumps All appeared first on The Daily Signal.

As a 1981 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‚ I have been appalled by the behavior of the president of the university‚ Sally Kornbluth‚ in the face of the antisemitism now infesting MIT‚ something that wasn’t there when I was a student. I echo all of the serious concerns raised by over 700 other MIT alumni who‚ on December 11‚ sent a letter to Kornbluth and the MIT Corporation‚ the board that runs the university‚ over the “continued failure of the MIT administration to address” this dangerous plague.  Kornbluth has lost the moral authority to continue as the president of MIT. In fact‚ in a tone-deaf move‚ the members of that board issued a statement on Dec. 7 expressing their full support for Kornbluth‚ which as the alumni letter correctly says‚ sends the wrong message to the “MIT community‚ and especially its Jewish members.” The statement says the board members “utterly reject” all “forms of hate” yet they refuse to take any action against those who have been spewing such hate on campus. Of course‚ this tolerance for racist behavior is also no surprise to me‚ given MIT’s abandonment of basic principles of equal treatment of its students based on merit‚ regardless of their race or ethnicity‚ that started in the 1990s. That is when MIT started discriminating on the basis of skin color in its admissions policy. It even filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court‚ aiming to justify such invidious discrimination‚ in the ultimately successful lawsuits filed by Asian American students against Harvard and the University of North Carolina.. The scandal involves Kornbluth’s dismaying and highly criticized testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Dec. 5‚ where she was accompanied by her woke apologists for students supporting a designated terrorist organization‚ Hamas‚ the plagiarist president of Harvard and the now resigned-before-being-fired president of the University of Pennsylvania. At that hearing‚ Kornbluth implied‚ as the alumni letter says‚ “that calls for genocide of Jews may not constitute bullying and harassment under MIT’s code of conduct‚ depending on context.” What context could possibly justify support for terrorist attacks and a call for genocide?!  Protecting those who engage in such violent rhetoric‚ as my 700 fellow alumni have said‚ “rather than the Jewish victims of such rhetoric‚ sends a strong signal to the rest of the world that violent words of hate are acceptable‚ at least as they relate to the Jewish people.” Somehow‚ I doubt that if rhetoric calling for the extermination of blacks had been spewed at these supposedly elite universities‚ any of these college presidents would have waited a second to immediately condemn it or take disciplinary actions against the students spewing such venom. That raises the more substantive problem. The problem isn’t just Kornbluth’s regrettable and inexplicable testimony. It is also her refusal to take any action to suspend or expel the pro-Hamas‚ antisemitic students who have harassed‚ threatened‚ and intimidated Jewish students and faculty members‚ disrupted classes‚ protested in areas that the school has said explicitly are off-limits for protests‚ and blocked access to the main lobby of MIT in November.  As a letter from current Israeli and Jewish MIT students recounts‚ the administration took no steps against these students for any of these actions that not only threatened other students and faculty‚ but physically kept Jewish students out of buildings and prevented them from attending classes. The worst actions of these thugs who masquerade as college students occurred on Nov. 9‚ the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht‚ the day Jews all over Germany were attacked.  This is the reality that MIT President wants to hide. A letter from Israeli &; Jewish MIT students:To all students at MIT‚Today‚ Jewish and Israeli MIT students were physically prevented from attending class by a hostile group of pro-Hamas and anti-Israel MIT students that…— Retsef Levi (@RetsefL) November 10‚ 2023 That is not just a coincidence since these ill-behave—(and that’s putting it mildly—students who support Hamas‚ in their calls for a violent uprising or Intifada and their justification for the terror attacks by Hamas‚ are echoing the same antisemitism and violence perpetrated by the Nazis. What did Kornbluth and the MIT administration do about that? Instead of dispersing‚ arresting‚ and detaining these thugs‚ the administration warned Jewish students not “to enter MIT’s main lobby” to breach the blockade because of a “risk to their physical safety.” They were told‚ says the student complaint letter‚ “to enter campus from back entrances and not stay in Hillel [a Jewish student facility] for fear of their physical safety.”  MIT allowed these terrorism supporters to overrun the campus and refused to protect their victims. And what was Kornbluth’s excuse?  In a Nov. 9 letter to “members of the MIT community‚” Kornbluth refused to take action because she had “serious concerns about collateral consequences for the students‚ such as visa issues.” In other words‚ she wanted to make sure that Hamas supporters who were foreign students wouldn’t have their visas canceled or get deported. In fact‚ that is exactly what should be happening. Antisemites who support terrorism and genocide‚ and who themselves terrorize fellow students and MIT faculty‚ not only shouldn’t be at the institute‚ if they are not U.S. citizens‚ they shouldn’t be in the country. Kornbluth’s badly misguided priorities are just another example of why she is unfit to be the president of what was once known as‚ but appears to be no longer‚ the premier science and engineering school in the country. Kornbluth’s Nov. 9 letter says that she was “heartened by an effort from faculty to develop a Day of Dialogue.” There has already been a Day of Dialogue at MIT‚ a day (in fact‚ several days) of violent‚ racist‚ antisemitic “dialogue.” The institute doesn’t need another day of that.  What MIT needs is a new president (and‚ frankly‚ a new board of trustees) who immediately and loudly condemns all calls for genocide. It needs a president and administration that expels all students who support terrorist organizations and have been involved in harassing‚ intimidating‚ and threatening other students.  MIT needs someone who makes MIT once again a safe haven for students who want to become this nation’s best scientists‚ engineers‚ and technologists‚ and an institution that implements zero tolerance for the kind of hoodlums who are roaming the campus today being protected by an administration that has lost its way.     EMBED: pdf of letter here letter Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post A Renowned Science and Engineering Institute Loses Its Way Due to Woke Leadership‚ Imperiling Jewish Students appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Southern Poverty Law Center‚ a scandal-plagued far-left smear factory notorious for putting mainstream conservative and Christian organizations on a “hate map” with KKK chapters‚ released a new report demonizing opposition to gender ideology as “pseudoscience” and a tool of “white supremacy” and “theocracy.” “The controversy over trans health care is manufactured to reinforce both white supremacy and the political goals of the Christian Right‚” R.G. Cravens‚ senior research analyst lead at the SPLC’s Intelligence Project—the outfit that releases the “hate map”—says in a video explaining what the SPLC calls the CAPTAIN report‚ released Tuesday. (The acronym stands for Combatting Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Through Accessible Information Narratives.) One of the CAPTAIN report’s essays claims that the “anti-LGBTQ+ movement” has hatched a plan to “erect a theocracy built on a right to discriminate against people who do not hold conservative white Christian beliefs.” The essay argues that the evil white supremacist theocrats have secretly recruited lesbian‚ gay‚ and bisexual allies to speak out against transgender orthodoxy‚ and that any opposition to the transgender movement is fueled by animus and a lust for power‚ not genuine concern. This report echoes the Southern Poverty Law Center’s longstanding modus operandi—to demonize its ideological opponents by accusing them of spreading hate‚ rather than engaging with their criticisms of the far-left agenda supported by the SPLC itself. As I wrote in my book “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center‚” the SPLC has leveraged its track record of suing Ku Klux Klan groups into bankruptcy to develop the “hate map” it uses to smear enemies. In 2010‚ the SPLC placed conservative Christian groups on the map‚ branding them “anti-LGBT hate groups‚” and earlier this year‚ it placed parental rights organizations on the map‚ branding them “anti-student inclusion antigovernment extremist groups.” In 2012‚ a terrorist used the SPLC’s map to target the Family Research Council for a mass shooting in Washington‚ D.C. The SPLC condemned the attack but kept the conservative organization on its map—and it repeatedly attacked the council in the CAPTAIN report. Despite a sexual harassment and racial discrimination scandal that led the SPLC to fire its co-founder in 2019‚ and a former employee revealing the SPLC’s “hate” accusations as a “highly profitable scam‚” many on the Left continue to use the SPLC as a political and ideological weapon to silence their opponents. This CAPTAIN “pseudoscience” report sets out to answer a “major question”: “How did the anti-transgender pseudoscience movement achieve success so quickly?” The report seems oblivious to the far more surprising development—how the medical establishment rushed to adopt the idea that a person’s claimed gender identity outweighs his or her biological sex‚ such that it is considered healthy to place that person on experimental cross-sex hormones and use surgery to make their body resemble a person of the opposite sex. The SPLC report also ignores questions about why so much of society‚ from Hollywood to big corporations to universities and the rest of the the liberal elite‚ has rushed to embrace transgender orthodoxy wholesale—a rush that has confused and alienated many self-described liberals and centrists of many faiths‚ not just conservatives and Christians. The SPLC cites moderates’ and liberals’ opposition to transgender orthodoxy as an example of the “anti-LGBTQ+ movement” trying to “isolate trans people from their allies‚” rather than considering whether any concerns might be genuine. The SPLC report proceeds on the assumption that the pro-transgender trend in the American medical establishment is neither surprising nor interesting‚ but a natural development of science‚ and that any opposition to it derives from “pseudoscience” based in hatred and oppression. The report dismisses the massive increase in children and teens diagnosed with gender dysphoria and identifying as transgender or nonbinary‚ attributing this change to more “acceptance‚” without acknowledging that the social trend toward “acceptance” might have encouraged teens—notorious for following social fads—to claim a transgender identity. “Researchers seem to agree that trans people have felt more comfortable coming out in recent years‚ but far-right and anti-trans researchers have taken control of that narrative‚ like ‘rapid onset gender dysphoria’ and the idea of identity as a social contagion‚” Cravens says in the video. “The far Right translated old and new pseudoscience about LGBTQ+ identity into gender ideology as a talking point to claim that any positive representation of LGBTQ+ people was a method of creating new trans kids.” Yet the report doesn’t prove that the “anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience” is actually pseudoscience‚ nor that the horrific medical interventions that the SPLC euphemistically refers to as “gender-affirming care” are actually better for people in the long run. The SPLC dismisses the vocal detransitioners—people who formerly identified as transgender but later rejected that identity and returned to accept the truth of their biological sex—as frauds and unrepresentative of most detransitioners. “Most trans people who stop social or medical transitioning do so because of barriers to accessing care and because they experience rejection‚ not because they stop identifying as trans‚” the report claims. That would be news to Cathy Grace Duncan‚ Prisha Mosley‚ Kayla Lovdahl‚ Chloe Cole‚ Luka Hein‚ Walt Heyer‚ Ted Halley‚ Billy Burleigh‚ and scores of others. Many of these people underwent permanent chemical and surgical alterations in pursuit of a gender identity they now say was always false‚ and they warn others against undergoing these invasive treatments. Some have sued their doctors for medical malpractice. The Southern Poverty Law Center acts as though these people don’t exist‚ but it also demonizes the group Genspect for attempting to “recruit detransitioners to write for their blog.” The SPLC also demonizes the many doctors who grew to reject gender ideology and “gender-affirming care.” It condemns their work as “pseudoscience” not because it is baseless but because it is inconvenient for the SPLC’s narrative. Throughout the CAPTAIN report‚ the SPLC demonizes as “conversion therapy” any attempt to resolve unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria through mainstream talk therapy. The report claims that the Christian Right’s initial plan “was to focus on transgender people‚ reestablish conversion therapy as a legitimate therapeutic practice and undermine the affirming care model.” The report uses the term “conversion therapy” to conflate modern talk therapy with versions of shock therapy that mainstream therapists rightly abhor. By using this term‚ the SPLC renders unthinkable the suggestion that a child or teen who suffers from a persistent identifying with the gender opposite his or her biological sex can resolve underlying psychological issues through therapy rather than hormones or surgery. The CAPTAIN report brands this commonsense idea a form of “conversion therapy” and “pseudoscience” on the level of forced shock therapy to make a gay or lesbian person straight. Some feminists have opposed “gender-affirming care” as a form of “conversion therapy” on the grounds that it may convince a lesbian that she is really male and‚ therefore‚ straight. The SPLC makes no attempt to respond to such an argument. This should not be surprising‚ as the SPLC used the same legal arguments it deployed to bankrupt KKK groups against the conservative biblical crowdfunding site Funding Morality. It accused Arthur Goldberg‚ a Jewish man and founder of Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing‚ of violating consumer fraud laws by promising that men and women who suffer from unwanted same-sex attraction may overcome their struggles through therapy. Goldberg told PJ Media that JONAH never promised clients it would change their sexual orientation‚ but the SPLC brought a case that shut down the organization‚ anyway. When Goldberg founded a new organization disconnected from JONAH’s previous work‚ the Jewish Institute for Global Awareness‚ the SPLC revived claims that Goldberg promoted “conversion therapy‚” and a judge ordered his new organization to close. The new organization ran Funding Morality‚ which helped raise money for Mark Judge‚ Brett Kavanaugh’s high school friend‚ and Father Paul John Kalchik‚ a Roman Catholic priest forced into hiding after burning an LGBT cross flag. As ex-gay rights leader Christopher Doyle explains in his book “The War on Psychotherapy‚” “One of the strategies that far-left advocacy and gay activist organizations use to smear professional psychotherapists assisting clients distressed by sexual and gender identity conflicts is to intentionally conflate professional therapy with religious practice and/or unlicensed‚ unregulated counseling. They do this by labeling all efforts—therapeutic‚ religious‚ or otherwise—to help clients distressed by sexual and gender identity conflicts [as] ‘conversion therapy.’” The SPLC’s CAPTAIN report aims to launch this strategy on a larger scale and use it to demonize opposition to the transgender movement. It attacks doctors who oppose “gender-affirming care‚” activists such as the Manhattan Institute’s Chris Rufo and the Family Research Council’s Meg Kilgannon‚ organizations such as the religious liberty nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom and the American College of Pediatricians‚ and even The Heritage Foundation. (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.) As with so much of the SPLC’s work‚ the CAPTAIN report represents another attempt to smear the Left’s critics—conservative‚ moderate‚ and liberal—as motivated by hatred without addressing the serious concerns we raise about controversial issues like “gender-affirming care.” Others on the Left use the SPLC as its attack dog‚ overlooking its scandals because it is a useful political weapon. Only die-hard believers would accept the SPLC’s conclusion‚ for example‚ that opposition to the transgender movement will “make society less democratic‚ less free and less safe‚” or that the SPLC’s opponents are abetting “white‚ heterosexual‚ cisgender supremacy” because a slightly larger sliver of the Latino population identifies as transgender (1.8%) than the tiny sliver of the white population that does so (1.3%). The Southern Poverty Law Center doesn’t intend the massive report—which clocks in at over 41‚000 words—for mass consumption‚ but as a tool for its allies to smear its opponents and to marginalize anyone who dissents from their narrative. These allies will claim the SPLC report “discredits” opposition to “gender-affirming care‚” but it does no such thing. This report aims to gaslight Americans into thinking that the explosion of the transgender movement into society is not radical‚ bizarre‚ or extreme. This transparent attempt at deception should fall on deaf ears‚ but too many elites may parrot the SPLC’s claims. The Daily Signal will stay alert to call out media outlets‚ companies‚ and government agencies that use this smear factory to silence dissent from the Left’s narrative. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post SPLC Demonizes Opposition to Transgender Orthodoxy as ‘Pseudoscience‚’ Tool of ‘White Supremacy’ and ‘Theocracy’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Border? What Border?

GroceryGate: The Price of Chicken Soup Gets Debated on X

Jill Biden's Taste Slammed as 'Bizarre‚ Freaky and Absolute Garbage' Video is Released

Get your tuxedo ready! One of the fastest-growing artificial intelligence companies has officially tied the knot with notoriously leftist legacy media to prop up its content in chatbot responses. OpenAI‚ the infamous parent company of ChatGPT‚ signed a deal on Tuesday with global leftist media company Axel Springer‚ the publisher of Politico‚ Business Insider and European properties BILD and WELT‚ to prioritize the publications’ content in search prompts. Dubbed a “first-of-its-kind” by the companies‚ the deal means that OpenAI will use as part of its datasets a trove of legacy media content to shove down the throats of anyone who uses the AI chatbot. The deal announcement comes on the heels of numerous reports and studies accusing ChatGPT of blindly spewing leftist propaganda. Notably‚ OpenAI has been mired with criticism that it could be weaponized against conservatives. MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider raised concerns about OpenAI’s prioritization of Axel Springer. “It is inexplicable that OpenAI‚ a company that claims it is not biased‚ would first announce a deal with some of the most leftist media in the U.S.‚” said Schneider‚ who has raised the alarm on AI in recent months. “Studies have shown that AI already skews to the political left. Colluding with media outlets with a proven left-wing bias is sure to make things worse.” Related: MRC VP Dan Schneider Calls AI a Threat to Humanity’s ‘Entire Existence’ Indeed—MRC has published several reports exposing how ChatGPT has cozied up to the leftist ideology in the past‚ including cheerleading for leftist gender ideology; hailing President Joe Biden while criticizing former President Donald Trump; cracking a disturbing joke on Jesus while refusing the same for the Prophet Muhammad; and falsely accusing a right-leaning legal scholar Jonathan Turley of a sexual harassment scandal‚ among other things. Moreover‚ just last month‚ Politico came under fire for blindly running a since-debunked Hamas-led claim that Israeli forces bombed a Gaza-based hospital. Subsequent reporting has revealed that the hospital was bombed by the Palestine Islamic Jihad‚ one of the Gaza-based terrorist groups. Related: ChatGPT Offers SURPRISING ANSWERS to Whether a Woman Can Have a Penis In a joint statement issued Tuesday‚ OpenAI cheerfully described the deal as a plan to provide so-called “quality” information to ChatGPT users. “This marks a significant step in both companies’ commitment to leverage AI for enhancing content experiences and creating new financial opportunities that support a sustainable future for journalism‚” the companies declared. Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner touted this partnership as a new ploy to “bring quality‚ societal relevance and the business model of journalism to the next level.” Echoing Döpfner‚ OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said the deal will bring “quality‚ real-time news” to users. While OpenAI has reportedly been in “advanced discussions” with News Corp‚ the parent company of Fox News and the New York Post‚ it isn’t clear whether OpenAI will follow through on a deal with competitors to leftist legacy media outlets. Neither OpenAI nor Axel Springer immediately responded to MRC Free Speech America’s requests for comment. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency‚ clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored‚ contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form‚ and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

It had been over two months since eight Americans were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7‚ and President Biden had only gotten around to meeting with their families on Wednesday. Of course‚ this long overdue sit-down was lauded by the liberal sycophants at ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday. Meanwhile‚ at the same time‚ they were pushing for America to abandon Israel in their war against genocidal terrorists. ABC’s chief White House correspondent and Biden’s chief apple polisher Mary Bruce touted the President’s late meeting with the families: BRUCE: The U.S. and Israel are still cooperating on another front recovering the 135 hostages still held in Gaza. At the White House‚ President Biden meeting in person for the first time with the families of the Americans still missing. Jonathan Dekel-Chen whose 35-year-old son Segui was taken by Hamas praising Biden's response. JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: The U.S. administration is completely committed to getting the hostages out. We have no doubt about that. Bruce’s entire report was critical of Israel‚ so it was obvious who she was blaming when she concluded it by lamenting: “Now‚ eight Americans are still missing. Believed to be held by Hamas or another terrorist group. But with fighting escalating‚ hopes for another truce to secure the release of additional hostages is dimming.” She insinuated that even though Hamas was the party that breached the previous cease-fire agreement (multiple times).     Elsewhere in her report‚ she tried to drive a wedge between America and Israel. “…President Biden is stepping up his criticism of Israel's military campaign. The President this week accusing Israel of‚ quote‚ ‘Indiscriminate bombing in Gaza’ and saying they're losing global support because of it‚” she declared. “The White House now trying to downplay those remarks‚ refusing to say whether the President’s statement was a formal assessment or off-hand remark‚” she added. “And struggling to explain why the U.S. would rush military aid to a country it thinks is engaged in indiscriminate attacks.” Bruce also beamed about her friend and colleague MaryAlice Parks “pressing” Spokesman John Kirby on why the U.S. was still supporting Israel: PARKS: If the President believes Israel is engaged in indiscriminate bombing‚ wouldn't there be an obligation from the U.S. to put new conditions on military aid? SPOX. JOHN KIRBY: Any bit of security assistance we give to any other country comes always comes with the expectation that the law of armed conflict is going to be respected and obeyed. PARKS: But what if they aren't‚ that isn't there an obligation for the U.S. to change the way that it's delivering military aid? KIRBY: That's a hypothetical that I'm not prepared to engage in right now. PARKS: It’s not hypothetical if he said “indiscriminate.” KIRBY: That’s a hypothetical‚ I'm not going to engage in. We have expressed our concerns. The President has publicly and privately with the Israelis. ABC seemed fairly intent on abandoning another U.S. ally to Islamic terrorists. Perhaps the events in Afghanistan weren’t enough for the network. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s Good Morning America December 14‚ 2023 8:05:52 a.m. Eastern MICHAEL STRAHAN: And we’re going to turn now to the Israel-Hamas war. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is in Israel this morning meeting with officials as calls are growing for a humanitarian cease-fire. Let's go to our chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce. Good morning‚ Mary. MARY BRUCE: Good morning‚ Michael‚ and these meetings could be tense coming just days after President Biden issues his harshest rebuke yet; warning Israel to change its tactics or risk losing global support. [Cuts to video] This morning‚ President Biden's national security advisor touching down in Israel. Jake Sullivan meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet urging them to show restraint in their war against Hamas. The meetings come as President Biden is stepping up his criticism of Israel's military campaign. The President this week accusing Israel of‚ quote‚ "Indiscriminate bombing in Gaza" and saying they're losing global support because of it. The White House now trying to downplay those remarks‚ refusing to say whether the President’s statement was a formal assessment or off-hand remark. And struggling to explain why the U.S. would rush military aid to a country it thinks is engaged in indiscriminate attacks. ABC’s MaryAlice Parks pressing Spokesman John Kirby MARYALICE PARKS: If the President believes Israel is engaged in indiscriminate bombing‚ wouldn't there be an obligation from the U.S. to put new conditions on military aid? SPOX. JOHN KIRBY: Any bit of security assistance we give to any other country comes always comes with the expectation that the law of armed conflict is going to be respected and obeyed. PARKS: But what if they aren't‚ that isn't there an obligation for the U.S. to change the way that it's delivering military aid? KIRBY: That's a hypothetical that I'm not prepared to engage in right now. PARKS: It’s not hypothetical if he said “indiscriminate.” KIRBY: That’s a hypothetical‚ I'm not going to engage in. We have expressed our concerns. The President has publicly and privately with the Israelis. BRUCE: The U.S. and Israel are still cooperating on another front recovering the 135 hostages still held in Gaza. At the White House‚ President Biden meeting in person for the first time with the families of the Americans still missing. Jonathan Dekel-Chen whose 35-year-old son Segui was taken by Hamas praising Biden's response. JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: The U.S. administration is completely committed to getting the hostages out. We have no doubt about that. [Cuts back to live] BRUCE: Now‚ eight Americans are still missing. Believed to be held by Hamas or another terrorist group. But with fighting escalating‚ hopes for another truce to secure the release of additional hostages is dimming. Michael? STRAHAN: We sure hope they find a way‚ though‚ Mary. Thank you.

MRC’s Dan Schneider joined Newsmax to highlight explosive MRC research on how ratings firm NewsGuard has become more biased than ever. For the third year in a row‚ MRC Free Speech America exposed NewsGuard’s worsening bias against right-leaning media. MRC researchers used the AllSides Media Bias Chart to analyze that NewsGuard provided a stellar average “credibility” rating of 91/100 for “left” and “lean left” outlets while slapping a low average of 65/100 on “right” and “lean right” outlets. MRC Free Speech America Vice President Schneider and NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham went on Newsmax’s The Chris Salcedo Show to discuss NewsGuard’s real goals: choking off right-leaning media’s ad revenue and promoting leftist narratives.  Schneider began‚ “NewsGuard‚ for years‚ has been silencing conservatives‚ directing ad revenue to liberals instead‚ choking off the life blood of conservative media outlets.” Schneider analyzed how NewsGuard’s gambit to silence the right was based on its overarching “zeal to defeat Donald Trump and any other conservative who wants to stand for basic American principles.”  Salcedo asked Graham about the dangers of having entities like NewsGuard pushing “the narrative that the State is the gatekeeper of what is true and what is not.” Graham called it an Orwellian situation where outlets that falsely labeled the Hunter Biden laptop a “Russian hoax” or falsely blamed Israel for the al-Ahli hospital bombing in Gaza still receive perfect scores from NewsGuard. “This is not about guarding the truth. It’s all about guarding the legacy media.” Salcedo pointed out the radical difference between media coverage of former Trump White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon’s deferring congressional testimony while in legal negotiations over a subpoena‚ in contrast with Hunter Biden’s defiance this week of a congressional subpoena. Schneider explained‚ “NewsGuard has one standard‚ and that is: Defeat conservatives‚ promote liberals.” He continued‚ “President Biden — just recently — was saying if you defy a congressional subpoena‚ you should be indicted by his own DOJ.” But now that Biden’s son has done so‚ “everything will be covered‚ [be]cause he’s part of the Biden bribery scandal‚” Schneider added. Indeed‚ as Schneider emphasized‚ “This is how Joe Biden and his family have been making money for a long time‚ and NewsGuard’s covering for it.” He stated how that works. “NewsGuard’s not going to go back and re-rate all those media outlets that said that the Hunter Biden laptop was a hoax.” In fact‚ NewsGuard co-founder Steven Brill was among those who expressed his “personal [opinion]” that the Hunter laptop was a Russian “hoax” just prior to the 2020 election. Brill did this “based on his hatred of Donald Trump‚” Schneider said‚ and not based on evidence. “Their bias is so extreme that the left is willing to give our taxpayer dollars‚ millions of our taxpayer dollars‚ to NewsGuard and other outlets just like it‚” Schneider added‚ referring to previous federal grant money to NewsGuard. Graham stated in return that Republicans in Congress seem to be roused by this government-private censorship partnership‚ as they were by the now defunct Disinformation Governance Board.  NewsGuard targets free speech — it is not an objective arbiter of truth.  Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand government agencies and Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency‚ clarity on so-called hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored‚ contact us at the Media Research Center contact form‚ and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

As we saw on Wednesday morning and evening‚ ABC News was almost foaming on Thursday’s Good Morning America with a half-dozen shrieks of “no evidence” over House Republicans voting to formally launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden and allegations he was enriched by foreign business dealings involving his corrupt son Hunter (and brother Jim). At one point‚ they even implied it might not even be constitutional. Co-host and former Clinton tool George Stephanopoulos huffed in a tease that the GOP has “present[ed] no evidence of wrongdoing by the President”. In a chyron for the actual segment‚ ABC even made sure to include the line “No Evidence of Wrongdoing.”     Stephanopoulos had the setup there as well‚ seeming to imply the entire exercise could be legally dubious: “To Capitol Hill now where House Republicans voted last night to approve a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden despite presenting no evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors‚ which is the constitutional standard for impeachment.” With senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott busy advancing the cause of baby killing as “health care” and chief Biden apple polisher Mary Bruce covering for Team Biden on Israel‚ the task here fell to senior White House correspondent Selina Wang. Wang clearly understood the assignment: [T]here is still no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden‚ but House Republicans say this is about strengthening their investigations while Democrats say this is a sham intended to help his Republican rival‚ Donald Trump. This morning‚ House Republicans are pushing ahead with an impeachment inquiry into President Biden despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing in nearly a year of investigations.. She made sure to keep Hunter’s life of ruin as esoteric as possible: “The inquiry is focused on allegations that the President abused his power to enrich his family and whether he made decisions while Vice President to boost his son Hunter’s businesses...[H]e has been under scrutiny by Republicans for his work with companies in Ukraine and China.” Since it had been a few seconds‚ Wang again had to say the phrase: “So far‚ there’s no evidence of the President’s involvement.” Wang did run soundbites from both Hunter Biden and two congressional Democrats plus three from Republicans (including two from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer). Her conclusion about President Biden’s formal reaction showed how in sync ABC is with the left: President Biden issued a scathing statement‚ saying House Republicans are focused on attacking him with lies instead of making American lives better. Now‚ some Democratic lawmakers tell me that that contrast could even help the President’s re-election chances in 2024. As for CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today‚ they varied in degrees of defense‚ indifference‚ and surprising fairness. CBS co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King made sure to do her part in a tease: “House Republicans open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden‚ despite a lack of evidence in connection to his son Hunter.” The show’s “Eye Opener” usually ends with a late-night comedy show clip‚ so they naturally selected CBS’s Late Show host Stephen Colbert mocking Republicans. Congressional correspondent Nikole Killion had the only network mention that the regime (via inept Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre) admitted “President Biden was familiar with what his son was going to say before he showed up here at the Capitol.” Like she did on Wednesday morning‚ she stayed away from the hijinks and framed both sides (though only at a surface-level). In the “Eye Opener at 8‚” King again doubled down: “Hunter Biden speaks on Capitol Hill before House Republicans vote to approve an impeachment inquiry into President Biden despite zero evidence of wrongdoing.” NBC co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb were even more measured (click “expand”): GUTHRIE [in tease]: Republicans making it official‚ escalating their investigation of the President. KOTB [in tease]: Setting up a major election year showdown for the White House. (....) KOTB [in tease]: Battle lines drawn. HOUSE REPUBLICAN [at dais] The resolution is adopted. KOTB [in tease]: House Republicans formally authorize their impeachment inquiry into President Biden. COMER: I think that sent off a message loud and clear to the White House. KOTB [in tease]: The focus: Did the President benefit from his son Hunter’s business dealings? Democrats blasting the move as a baseless stunt. CONGRESSMAN DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-NY) [on NBC News NOW’s Meet the Press NOW‚ 12/13/23]: The Republicans are doing this for political retribution at Donald Trump’s direction. KOTB [in tease]: This morning‚ what happens next‚ what it all means for the President‚ and the race for the White House. (....) KOTB: But first‚ let’s move to our top story: that vote by Congress to launch an official impeachment inquiry into President Biden. It fell strictly along party lines. All 221 Republicans voting yes. All 212 Democrats voting no. GUTHRIE: The focus of it all? Accusations the President profited during his time as Vice President from the business dealings of his son Hunter‚ something the White House and Hunter Biden have strongly denied. The vote came on the same day that Hunter Biden defied a subpoena to speak with lawmakers at a closed door hearing. Senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake made sure to swing the pendulum back: “[T]his impeachment inquiry adds some new muscle to an investigation already been underway for more than a year‚ but has failed so far to connect President Biden to any wrongdoing.” Haake also went the vague route in explaining what Hunter was up to‚ saying the GOP’s “probe focuses on...Hunter’s business dealings abroad...but‚ so far‚ they’ve been unable to demonstrate any concrete evidence that directly connects President Biden to any wrongdoing.” At least Haake closed by noting Republican concerns about Hunter Biden’s line on how his father “wasn’t financially involved in his businesses‚ speculating that‚ perhaps‚ he was somehow involved in other ways”. Haake came back in the second hour with one more mention of how the GOP “has so far failed to connect President Biden to any wrongdoing.” To see the relevant transcripts from December 14‚ click here (for ABC)‚ here (for CBS)‚ and here (for NBC).