Monthly Archives: February 2022

In their final phone conversation before rivalries emerged, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney called political ally-turned-primary challenger Harriet Hageman to weigh the consequences of demanding that President Donald Trump concede the election.

In Cheneys recounting of the call in The New York Times on Wednesday, the incumbent congresswoman, who had just captured her third term at the time of the call, told Hageman it was unconstitutional to cast objections over the electoral votes of other states.

And she said that she warned of setting a precedent that would allow Democrats in Congress to decide the legality of Wyomings electoral votes, the Times reported.

Except the precedent had already been set by Cheneys own allies on the Jan. 6 Committee.

In 2017, Democrats objected to more states attempting to certify their electoral votes than Republicans did last year. Democrat Reps. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters of California, and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who was animpeachment manager and now serves alongside Cheney on the House probe to criminalize such conduct, each objected to Trumps 2016 victory, citingRussian interference and alleged voter suppression.

Democrats then embarked on a four-year campaign to achieve the top item on their policy agenda of impeachment with made-up narratives of Trump-Russian collusion,allegedly illegalUkrainian interference, and incitement of insurrection as the finale with Cheneys support.

I will fight every day until he is impeached, Waterscried outin Washington three months after Trumps inauguration, which she boycotted in protest.

Democrats also objected to electoral certification in 2005 and 2001 following George W. Bushs two victories.

Cheney told the Times she was bewildered to find that Hageman didnt share the view that Republicans were unable to raise the same concerns over election integrity that Democrats did in the last three out of five contests.

I was surprised that she seemed not to be exactly where I was on the issue, Cheney told the paper as she mingled with reporters instead of crazy constituents. I thought she would have been.

Hageman told the paper she made clear to Cheney that Republicans were able to invoke the same procedural rules as Democrats over the prior two decades.

I just said, I think that there were some legitimate questions, and we have every right to ask them, Hageman told the Times. This is America. We get to ask questions.

The two are now competing for the states sole seat in the lower chamber, while Cheney, the incumbent at-large lawmaker, escalates her attacks on Trump and his supporters in her state, which Trump won by a wider margin than anywhere else in the country a year and a half ago.

Hageman, a land-use attorney and former longtime political confidante of Cheneys, launched her own campaign for the House with Trumps endorsement late last summer.

When she ran for Congress the first time, she asked me to introduce her at the Republican state convention, Hageman told supporters at acampaign kickoffin Cheyenne. Had I known what she would do five years later and side with Nancy Pelosi and the radical left, I would have never answered her first phone call.

Hageman told The Federalist immediately after the speech that it was Cheneys crusade to punish Republican voters for raising questions over the elections outcome, which featured historic turnout in the form of mail-in ballots, that ultimately severed their relationship.

She called me and said that there were no election irregularities, that President Biden was the legitimate president, that Donald Trump needed to concede. And I said that I believed that there were issues that needed to be looked at, Hageman told The Federalist in September. That was probably the end of our relationship. I havent spoken with her since then.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.

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Cheney Called Electoral Objections Unconstitutional, Then Sided With Dems Who'd Done It For Years - The Federalist

Corporate media outlets like The Atlantic and The New York Times have been telling us for years now how Hungary and Poland are incubators of authoritarianism that representan existential threat to democracy. But it turns out we should have been worried about Canada and Australia, of all places.

If you had told me 18 months ago that Australia, a democratic country that once seemed to exude rugged individualism, would devolve into a Covid police state thatimprisons its citizens in quarantine campsand deploys riot police to crush lockdown protests with brute force, I wouldnt have believed you. But here we are.

Now comes Canada, where the Freedom Convoy of truckers that arrived in Ottawa more than a week ago to protest Covid vaccine mandates has effectively shut down Canadas capital. The mayor declared a state of emergency on Monday after the citys law enforcement authorities talked openly about calling in the military over the weekend.

Foremost among these has been Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, who has ominously called the protests highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstrations safely, and rather recklessly said there may not be a policing solution to the crisis. Meanwhile, the police appear to be making the situation worse. Faced with hundreds of heavy-duty trucks and tractors downtown, authorities in Ottawa are nowseizing gasoline, food, and other supplies from protesters, although its unclear they have any legal authority to do so.

News media in both Canada and the United States have worked hard to portray the protesters as far-right conspiracy theorists and white supremacists, despite little evidence that the protests are motivated by anything other than sincere opposition to Covid vaccine mandates. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, taking his cues from the press, last week condemned the protests as an insult to memory and truth, and implied they were motivated not by objections to vaccine mandates but by racial animus. Canadas conservative politicians seem divided and rudderless, unable to provide the protesters a voice or meaningful support, let alone a legitimate democratic outlet for their grievances.

The situation, in short, is a powder keg. There are no clear off-ramps for the protesters, and no one in a position of authority seems to know how to deescalate the situation. Having accepted the Canadian medias near-uniform portrayal of the protesters as racists and bigots, its unlikely Trudeaus government will be willing to compromise. What happens next is anybodys guess, but it will likely involve violent clashes between police and protesters.

How did this happen? The idea that the Canadian capital would become the site of such a standoff in 2022 seems frankly unbelievable. But the chaos now unfolding in Ottawa can be traced directly to the harsh treatment of unvaccinated Canadians by their government over the past six months or so.

Its true that Canadians have largely embraced the Covid vaccines, with a vaccination rate of about 85 percent nationwide, and large majorities alsosupport vaccine passportsand say theydont trust the unvaccinated. But this has given Canadian political and media elites cover to threaten the unvaccinated in what often seems a gleeful tone.

As my friend David Agrenhas reported, Canadas federal jobs minister in October stated bluntly and without a hint of sympathy that Canadians fired for not getting the vaccine would also lose their unemployment insurance. Indeed, threatening the livelihoods of the unvaccinated, or threatening to tax them, has become commonplace for Canadian government officials at the federal and provincial levels.

However, a significant minority of Canadians are staunchly opposed to getting the vaccine, and likely wont get it no matter what the government threatens to do to them. The unwillingness or inability on the part of Trudeau to compromise with these holdouts has arguably precipitated the current stand-off in Ottawa. Some, like Canadian pollster John Wright, have been warning of this outcome for some time now. Over the weekend, Wright noted that even if only one out of 10 Canadians refuse to get the vaccine, thats still a major problem.

Trudeau and his fellow left-wing elites, who have long defined themselves by their anti-Americanism, might revel in a confrontation with what they perceive to be a Trumpian populist movement in Canada. But they should be careful, because what comes next might well have reverberations outside Canada.

The Ottawa stand-off has already spilled over into a broader conflict between Big Tech and populism in the United States, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis forcing GoFundMe to back away from its threat to confiscate and redistribute some $10 million in donations for the convoy protesters.

From here, the crisis could easily widen further. Sloly, the Ottawa police chief, has claimed that a significant element from the United States has been involved in the funding and organization of the protest convoy. Its not hard to imagine the U.S. intelligence community and the F.B.I., at the behest of Trudeaus government, going after convoy protest organizers inside the United States.

In that case, the Biden administrations support for a Trudeau crackdown should rightly be understood as a terrifying and malign collusion of left-wing elites in Ottawa and Washington, D.C. Such collusion would of course have implications far beyond the frozen streets of the Canadian capital.

It might seem unbelievable, after two years of this pandemic, that were now discussing the possible deployment of Canadas military to crush a domestic populist revolt, or grappling with the prospect of a weaponized U.S. law enforcement colluding with the Canadian left to crush dissenting voices in America. But this is really happening, and its happening because our elites will not tolerate dissent at least not from the wrong sort of people.

John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at The Federalist. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Texas Monthly, The Guardian, First Things, the Claremont Review of Books, The New York Post, and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter, @johnddavidson.

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Canadian Elites Created The Ottawa Crisis, Have No Idea How To End It - The Federalist

Inflation jumped 7.5 percent last month compared to last January in a new almost 40-year high. This increase in the consumer price index marks the fastest year-over-year rise since 1982.

Despite promises from President Joe Biden and economic experts that inflation would be short-lived, it is steadily increasing (much like border apprehension numbers). In November, inflation reached the highest it had been for that month in 40 years. Similar to January, December 2021 inflation surged 7 percent to the highest year-over-year level since 1982.

These new inflation highs are problematic not only for Americans who have suffered economic instability and rising prices due to government-forced interruptions for nearly two years now but also for an already unpopular Biden and vulnerable Democrats.

As the 2022 midterms approach, Americans are seeking change. Arecent CBS pollfound that at least 40 percent of Americans said they were nervous about the future of the country. Approximatelytwo-thirdsof American voters believe the country is on the wrong track.

Even 48 percent of independent voters, whom Biden and Democrats desperately need to maintain a majority in the House and Senate, indicated they would prefer a Republican-controlled Congress over a Democrat one, with only 39 percent saying they would prefer Democrats in control.

Americans think and vote in part with their pocketbooks. Still struggling with rising gas prices, bare shelves, and an ongoing supply-chain crisis, voters agree that economic conditions rank high on their list of concerns.

Instead of offering sympathy and action for these voters worries, the Biden administration has repeatedly dismissed inflation as a key problem. This hasnt sat well with a majority of Americans, who are unhappy with how Biden is using his time in the White House.

Democrats have a razor-thin majority in both the House and the Senate. Because of this, their margin for error is small. If Biden and his allies continue to dismiss voters concerns about inflation despite the consumer price index continuing to skyrocket, they can and should expect voters outraged about their increasing bills to vote against them in November.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire and Fox News. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordangdavidson.

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New Inflation Highs Could Deal Democrats A Fatal Blow In The Midterms - The Federalist

Europes aggressive leap towards green energy is proving to be a grave mistake.

As Europe braces for war on its eastern borders, the continents shift from cheap, reliable energy in the form of coal and nuclear to wind and solar has left millions, already struggling with a low-wind winter, dependent on Russian natural gas to meet baseload power needs.

After decades of transition, Europe now gets more than 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, making the continent far more susceptible to interruptions ordered by President Vladimir Putin as he prepares a takeover of Ukraine. And its not just gas. Russia is the dominant supplier of Europes oil and solid fuels, providing 27 and 47 percent respectively, according to the EU.

European dependence on Russian energy supplies was entirely self-inflicted. More than half a dozen European countries banned fracking over the last decade, and the Kremlin has kept reserves low after the continent knee-capped its own domestic production.

Germany is most dependent on Russian gas to compensate for when the sun doesnt shine and the wind doesnt blow. The nation continues to phase out coal and nuclear despite importing more than 70 percent of its energy supplies. The last German nuclear plants are scheduled to shut down by the end of the year, and its remaining coal plants abandoned by 2038.

Theyve reduced the options or the bandwidth that European countries have available to them, said Katie Tubb, a senior policy analyst for energy and environmental issues at the conservative Heritage Foundation, on Europe facing potential cutoffs. I dont think there is a rapid solution here in part because the EU has been going down this road currently for decades now.

Decommissioned power plants do not come back online with the simple flip of a switch. Without coal or nuclear, natural gas is needed to fill the void left by unreliable wind and solar when they dont produce. The continents fracking bans, however, have diminished its capacity to generate its own supply, leaving Europe vulnerable to Russian pressure and aggression.

Putin has weaponized Russian energy supplies before, even recently, raising European anxiety hell do it again even more aggressively. Last year, Putins refusal to ramp up European gas supplies as an energy crisis induced by a low-wind season gripped the continent was seen as an effort to strongarm officials into approving the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline into Germany. The finished pipeline would allow Russia to circumvent extensive Ukrainian networks in the event of invasion, which now appears close on the horizon.

Tubb told The Federalist a moderating factor in Putins decision to trim shipments is the extent to which the Kremlin relies on energy sales for income, which heightens the importance of Russia having an alternative route from what could become war-torn territory. But, Tubb cautioned, its consistent to expect Russia sees its energy sector as an extension of its government and is therefore a political tool as much as it is a market participant.

Russian dominance over European energy has already driven a fissure into western alliances, transforming Germany into an unreliable partner. Germanys dependence was enhanced by President Joe Bidens approval of the Nord Stream 2 last summer while the White House shut down power projects on American soil.

If not outright weaponized, Putins supplies have certainly bought influence, with German diplomats seeking exemptions from western sanctions so Berlin may keep its gas flow from Russia intact, according to the Wall Street Journal. Germany has also refused defensive weapons shipments to Kyiv as thousands of Russian troops descend on Ukraines border.

The United States, on the other hand, cant meet German energy needs since American export terminals for liquified natural gas (LNG) are already operating above capacity. While new terminals are expected to come online this spring, Germany has no LNG terminal of its own.

The idea of a clean-energy future is not a fantasy. What is a fantasy is that such a future is achievable in the absence of nuclear power and fossil fuels, which drive innovation and adaptability to reach the aspirations for a cleaner planet. Cheap, reliable energy provides the foundation for development and new technology to emerge that enables adaptation.

Gas, coal, and nuclear are needed to offer instantaneous energy when unreliable renewables, which also pollute, fail to meet the job. Europes energy needs have complicated negotiations with Russia as Putin appears ready to deploy troops into Ukraine in the face of a divided opposition.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.

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How Green Energy Fantasies Have Put The World At The Brink Of War - The Federalist

Now that were in an election year where Democrats see their political fortunes slipping away in real time, they and their co-conspirators in the media have decided we should all take a quick break from The Science.

Democrats in New Jersey, New York, California, Oregon, Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, and Rhode Island in recent days have said to heck with the CDC and are beginning to loosen up their beloved restrictions and mask mandates.

Less than a month ago, the U.S. was averaging more than 800,000 new Covid infections each day, the highest number seen during the entire pandemic, and quadruple the rate of infections that occurred during its peak under President Trump. But because case numbers are finally falling, New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney on Wednesday credited Democrats plan to fight COVID, which he said is working. Therefore, he said, Its time to give people their lives back.

Democrats taketh away and Democrats giveth back.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, also of New York, said that the falling case counts arent happening by accident but because under President Bidens leadership, a public health infrastructure was put into place to ensure that we can do everything possible to crush the virus, and that is what has been happening.

Dr. Leana Wen, CNNs omnipresent Covid nag, declared with glee this week that the science has changed! and that the rules for mask-wearing should shift from government mandate to individual responsibility.

A favorite of mine is the case of Michelle Goldberg, the New York Times columnist who takes every moment as an opportunity to remind her readers how privileged her life is. In the span of four days late last month Goldberg went from scolding people who are done with the pandemic not everyone has the luxury of being insouciant about infection, she said to begging elected leaders to relax school mask mandates as soon as possible, to give students some reprieve.

The timing is very convenient, particularly when you consider that were not in remarkably better shape in terms of infections, deaths, or hospitalizations today than we were less than three months ago, when Saint Anthony Fauci said the U.S. would need to average well below 10,000 new infections per day in order for us to even think about a degree of normality. Not normalcy, but a degree of it.

If we in fact needed to be significantly lower than 10,000 (a number based on nothing), Democrats have effectively told The Science to STFU. The latest data show that were averaging just under 230,000 new cases each day. And The New York Times reports, Since late January, the country has been averaging more than 2,500 newly reported deaths each day, the most since last winter.

A year ago, Biden said at the White House that the worst thing we could do now is let our guard down with regard to the virus that has spread more and caused more death under him than his predecessor. This is not a time to relax, he said. We must keep washing our hands, stay socially distanced, and for Gods sake for Gods sake, wear a mask.

That was Feb. 25, 2021, when we were averaging under 70,000 new infections per day. If that was not a time to relax, what time is it now that were more than tripling that number?

Democrats didnt lead us to some scientific breakthrough. The experts havent discovered a new way of doing math. The only numbers that have changed are the year and Bidens approval rating, which sits with independent voters at a shocking 32 percent. (Among all voters, its 39 percent, according to a recent Monmouth University poll.)

Democrats running into a disastrous midterm election is apparently what it means to be done with the pandemic. Dont buy it. Theyre relaxing the noose in hopes that after November, they can tighten it all over again.

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Dems Are Conveniently 'Done' With Covid Just In Time For 2022 Midterms - The Federalist

On February 4, a car plowed through a group of demonstrators against Covid restrictions in Winnipeg, Canada. The driver fled the scene, leaving four adult males injured.

Videos taken by surveillance cameras and bystanders show the moment of impact. The white Jeep Patriot speeds up past the trail of cars and aims directly at a group of protesters. One of the victims can clearly be seen being driven over, as the Jeeps operator indiscriminately steers into others.

Thankfully, no one was killed in the incident. Winnipeg police apprehended the suspect, a 42-year-old man from Headingley, this past Sunday. He faces 11 counts of assault with a vehicle with failure to stop at the scene of the crime.

Although the police were able to quickly detain the suspect, why isnt there major media coverage of this? Wheres the legacy media calling out violence aimed towards peaceful protesters? Corporate media would be talking of nothing else if this happened at a Black Lives Matter protest.

Yet apart from Fox News, local Canadian news outlets, and some British publications, there isnt much talk of this violence at all. CNN published an article about the growing Freedom Convoy, offering only a brief summary about the Friday evening hit-and-run.

It seems as if once again large news corporations want to sweep the incident under the rug, much like they did with the Waukesha Christmas parade hit-and-run hate crime that killed seven and injured more. Notice that legacy media isnt talking about that anymore?

Commentators on the left never waste an opportunity to bring up the Charlottesville, Virginia car attack, a horrible assault that killed one and injured 35 others. It seems as if whenever freedom-loving patriots congregate, leftist media eagerly reminds the world of the dangers of supposed emerging fascism and alt-right conspiracy theorists, while dodging the true issues at hand. Here, those issues are the right to bodily autonomy and the Covid-19 responses gross abuses of governmental authority.

It is not convenient for the media to address the Winnipeg violence with the respect and depth it deserves. It doesnt serve their agenda. Why shed light on a serious crime against peaceful Freedom Convoy supporters when you can just cry wolf and falsely equate them with Nazis and white supremacists?

Government elites fall directly into the latter camp: decrying the movement whenever and however they can. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the movement a small fringe minority that spreads hateful rhetoric and doesnt speak for Canadians, yet the movement is growing every day with supporters from all parts of Canada, with Americans now joining in.

In fact, the Convoy inspired sister movements around the world, such as in Helsinki, where truckers are protesting rising gas prices and vaccine mandates. So much for being a fringe minority.

If Trudeau is such a champion of peace and civility, why didnt he condemn the actions of the 42-year-old driver who appears to have aimed to seriously harm and even kill peaceful protesters that Friday? Perhaps he was too busy fleeing to an undisclosed location to make any remarks. Trudeau still has yet to address the demands of the Freedom Convoy and has remained in hiding since the demonstrators moved on Ottawa from Vancouver at the end of January.

Even if the public peacefully protests and makes its concerns known through justified means like boycotts and public demonstrations, corporate elites and government officials turn a blind eye. Why? Because the growing popularity of the Freedom Convoy throws a wrench in the leftist narrative that it is a movement of white supremacists looking to harm innocent Canadians by refusing to take a vaccine that has been shown to not curb the spread or transmission of Covid-19. So what is this game theyre playing at?

It seems the consensus on social media is that those in the convoy are self-interested rebels with no consideration of the greater good. Although they had many chances to address the Friday evening attack, media outlets chose instead to cherry pick information, focusing on anecdotes, such as isolated instances of vandalism or racial slurs, in order to paint the truckers and their supporters in a deplorable light.

Interestingly enough, the truckers have repeatedly voiced their dedication to protesting peacefully, and have consistently distanced themselves from fringe individuals who carry swastika signs and try to deface property. The media is clearly conflating the actions of select individuals with that of the group, something a 4th grader could point out for its gross oversimplification.

If those who oppose these truckers and their deeply held belief in self-autonomy insist that all the demonstrators are violent due to unsubstantiated reports of a few instances, should the same case not be made of them? Four people almost lost their lives to a crazed driver who appears to have deliberately chosen to ram his car into peaceful demonstrators. Arent all pro-mandate supporters the same, then?

Of course not, and it would be insane to entertain that notion. Yet the legacy media and opponents of self-responsibility and autonomy have no shame in using that smear tactic whenever it suits them.

This is why the truth needs to be let out. If leftist media stays silent, it is our responsibility to ensure that what is happening here is amplified for the world to see and hear. Do not let the elites memory hole this attack; do not let them sweep it under the rug like they have done for so many others. If the tables were turned, they would never let you forget it. So why should you?

Connor Vasile holds a BA in political science from New York University. He is also applying to law school.

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Why Aren't Media Covering The Car That Smashed The Freedom Convoy? - The Federalist