Category Archives: Federalist

Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion on Friday that, if granted, would effectively bar President Donald Trump from criticizing him, President Joe Biden, and other deep state bureaucrats for their hyperpartisan prosecution of his First Amendment right to claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Through his statements, the defendant threatens to undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool, in contravention of the undeviating rule that in our justice system a jurys verdict is to be induced only by evidence and argument in open court, and not by any outside influence, Smith wrote in the motion to D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Under Smiths proposal, chatter about the high-profile case would be legal for everyone, including President Joe Biden, but not Trump himself. The jury pool, judges, and others involved would hear campaign commentary from corporate media and Biden about the case. They would not, however, be privy to any takes from Trump, whose primary campaign strategy thus far is to repeatedly call attention to the weaponization of the federal government.

Smith paints his radical demands for Trumps muzzling as modest, permissible restrictions that might be applied in any routine federal criminal case. This, however, is no routine case. Its a partisan indictment led by bureaucrats handpicked by Trumps Democrat replacement and 2024 rival that has quickly become one of the most egregious examples of sweeping state abuse this nation has ever seen.

Even corporate media like the Washington Post acknowledge Smiths latest attempt to criminalize political speech and make criticism into defamation amounts to election interference in an already legally flawed and unwise indictment.

If Chutkan grants Smiths request for a sweeping gag order, she will be endorsing the silencing of not just the former leader of the free world but also the Biden administrations top political rival a current presidential candidate.

Chutkan has yet to rule on Smiths motion but her previous pronouncement regarding Trumps case inspires no confidence that the Republicans First Amendment rights will be considered or protected.

Mr. Trump, like every American, has a First Amendment right to free speech. But that right is not absolute, Chutkan said during proceedings in August. In a criminal case such as this one, the defendants free speech is subject to the rules.

Chutkans declaration that I cannot and I will not factor into my decisions how it will factor into a political campaign also seems to suggest means she doesnt care about the political implications of handicapping the speech of a man who is in the middle of an election cycle.

What the defendant is currently doing the fact that hes running a political campaign has to yield to the orderly administration of justice. If that means he cant say exactly what he wants to say about witnesses in this case, thats how it has to be, the Obama appointeeconcluded.

Smiths motion and Chutkans comments only confirm Americans fears that the Department of Justice is corrupt, weaponizes itself against its citizens for political purposes, and wants to capitalize on the lefts 2020 censorship campaign.

A large majority of Americans believe the U.S. has a two-tiered system of justice. Another56 percentrecognize the Trump indictments as interference by the Department of Justice in the 2024 election instead of a fair application of the law.

The incumbent administration grasping at the First Amendment rights of the leading presidential candidate to shut him up is a perfect example of the abuse of power and political hit jobs Americans worry about.

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, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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Smith's Gag Order Designed To Destroy Trump's Rights - The Federalist

Twenty-eight Republicans publicly vowed on Thursday to oppose the use of billions of American tax dollars to fund a proxy war in Ukraine.

The rejection, sent in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, is a direct response to the Biden administrations recent demand that Congress send $24 billion more in American taxpayer-funded resources to Volodymyr Zelensky in an attempt to curb Vladimir Putin and his regime.

Sen. J.D. Vance, who spearheaded the letter, said Congress should not keep funding an indefinite conflict without more fact-based information about the war.

Yesterday at a classified briefing over Ukraine, it became clear that America is being asked to fund an indefinite conflict with unlimited resources, Vance wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Enough is enough. To these and future requests, my colleagues and I say: NO.

More than half of the nation says Congress should stop financing Ukraine, a country plagued by corruption. Yet, President Joe Biden, his cabinet members, and even establishment Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have repeatedly pledged to support the war for as long as it takes.

Retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley reportedly received a standing ovation on Wednesday after he also swore that the United States will continue to provide support to Ukraine for as long as it takes.

My tenure may be ending but the mission for this group continues until the end state of a free and sovereign Ukraine is attained, Milley said.

These statements imply an open-ended commitment to supporting the war in Ukraine of an indeterminate nature, based on a strategy that is unclear, to achieve a goal yet to be articulated to the public or the Congress, the signees wrote.

The statements also lack any transparency about how the nations previous aid was used.

In their letter, the Republicans note the whopping $114 billion total often used to measure U.S. funding for Ukraine does not reflect the full picture, which includes transferred and reprogrammed funds. They add that in all five of its supplemental requests for Ukraine funding to Congress, the Biden administration requested additional authority to transfer and reprogram funds.

The vast majority of Congress remains unaware of how much the United States has spent to date in total on this conflict, information which is necessary for Congress to prudently exercise its appropriations power, the Republicans warn.

The ignorance is not due to a lack of curiosity from the Republicans behind the letter, who have made multiple inquiries over the last two years demanding more information. In January, Vance and three dozen other Republicans in Congress signed a letter to Young demanding a full accounting of U.S. aid to Ukraine. Their requests went largely unaddressed.

It is difficult to envision a benign explanation for this lack of clarity, the Republicans state.

As prime examples of the executive branchs reckless Ukraine spending spree, the GOPers highlighted the Department of Defenses recent $6.2 billion Ukraine aid accounting error and the Biden administrations $5 billion request for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a number which exceeded 15 times what Congress allotted in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

The American people deserve to know what their money has gone to. How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the presidents exit plan? What does the administration define as victory in Ukraine? the GOPers ask.

To grant another round of Ukraine funding requests by the Biden administration without answers to these questions, the GOP members declared, would be an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility.

The 28 Republicans pledge to keep their purse strings closed until the Biden administration explains its funding frenzy to Congress and taxpayers.

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, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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28 Republicans Say 'No' To Funding Indefinite War In Ukraine - The Federalist

Its the season for respiratory viruses. Chances are, you and your loved ones might catch one, but just say no, at least to the nasal swab. Encourage your family and friends to do the same. The Covid-19 test wont change anything, but positive tests will fuel the media and health bureaucracys hysterical efforts to impose medical martial law.

Im not just pontificating here. Recently, I felt myself going downhill. Thinking it was strep throat, which seemed to be going around the kids school, where Id spent a number of hours watching my oldest play volleyball, I booked an appointment at my doctors office. The test for strep came back negative, though, and thats when the nurse practitioner said something that surprised me.

It may be the early stages of the flu, she said. It could be Covid. Its going around. But the tests are so inaccurate, I dont recommend getting one.

So I skipped the test. She prescribed steroids and a Z-Pak and sent me on my way, which is what she would have done if I had tested and it had come back positive. Given the brain fog I suffered and that the kids at the school tested positive for Covid and negative for strep, I likely had the best-engineered virus U.S. taxpayers could buy.

In other words, I had an unpleasant cold for about a week. No one around me got sick, I healed, and life moved on.

With the fall virus season in full swing, theres a chance youre going to get it. Theres a chance your kid is going to get it. Theres a chance a loved one is going to catch it.

Dont play the game. Dont get tested, dont self-report, and dont be a statistic for the neurotic control freaks stoked by corporate media in the past few years. Be the anti-Nike: just dont do it. Stay away from people, eat some chicken noodle soup, maybe get some steroids and a Z-Pak from your doctor, but dont give the Branch Covidians the numbers they want to see.

The neurotics are anxious for Covid panic to come back. Theyre looking for excuses to reassert control. An elementary school in Maryland has already brought back mask mandates. So, too, have Rutgers University, Morris Brown College, hospitals in California and New York, and Lionsgate Studios.Joe Bidens staff announced hes wearing masks again.

If you think Im being paranoid, then look to the Associated Press, which tells us not to worry because theres no sign that anyone in federal or state leadership is considering widespread COVID-19 restrictions, requirements or mask mandates. Someone should ask a gas stove for its opinion on the media assuring us that people have nothing to fear.

For starters, masks dont work. They are the tiger thwarting rocks of respiratory virus interventions. More important, though, the latest variant, whatever its called, is continuing Covids evolutionary journey toward becoming a fairly mild and constantly circulating cold.

Dr. Jill Biden, despite being a doctor, caught it and quickly recovered without incident, and shes 72. Her husband, President Joe Biden, did allow himself to be tested, but in a rare moment of clarity he refused to wear the mask his handlers tried to put on him. Instead, he told a group of reporters, Dont tell them I didnt have it on, when he was caught on camera without it.

For once, Biden made the right call. In this narrow instance, its even okay to emulate him, though you might also want to bite his style if youre trying to win a dog in a truth-telling contest at a church carnival. Do not emulate him when it comes to getting tested constantly, though.

Look, I get it. Spring of 2020 was a mildly terrifying time the media helped ensure that it was but its time to let it go. The Wu Flu is here to stay, regardless of any of the measures that have completely failed to stop it ever since it escaped the lab via a plucky pangolin. Dont test. Dont report. Dont worry about it.

Youre not dying. You just cant think of anything good to do, and besides, in 2023, its just Covid.

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You Just Have A Cold. Don't Give Covidians Numbers By Testing - The Federalist

Yesterday, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy gave a masterclass on how to handle the corrupt corporate media by going on the offense and thwarting a Washington Post hit job. After learning about the looming negative Post article by reporter Emily Heil on his Brooklyn, New York One Bite Pizza Festival scheduled for this Saturday, Portnoy cold-called Heil and confronted her for using dishonest media tactics.

Portnoy posted his phone call exchange with Heil on X (formally known as Twitter), and the video has since garnered nearly 30 million views. Since then, Heil and her co-writer Tim Carman have cowered away, protecting their tweets and canceling their interview scheduled for this morning with Portnoy.

Portnoy knew Heil had been contacting advertisers of his pizza Festival, and he asked Heil on the call why she was asking his sponsors how they could support a misogynistic racist. Heil immediately denied doing so.

Portnoy didnt let Heil get away with lying, reading to her out loud an email she sent to one of his advertisers, in which Heil stated that Portnoy has a history of misogynistic comments and other problematic behavior. Caught in a lie, Heil was left stuttering and later claimed that this was just one of her standard media tactics.

This is kind of standard journalistic stuff, said Heil, explaining that she was hoping for a dialogue with [the advertisers] and that indicat[ing] that there might be something negative in her report on the event was a reporting tactic used to get [the advertisers] to engage.

That is a sad state of journalism, Portnoy responded, pointing out her tactic is to lie, and her motive is to destroy his festival because she created a false characterization of him in order to scare off his sponsors.It seemed like you were going to try to shame sponsors for being associated with me and put them in a box, said Portnoy.

In a statement published after the phone call, Portnoy explained that what hes learned over the years with these types of hit pieces is that [you] cant give an inch. So rather than just sit[ting] back and let[ing] them dictate the pace of the game I decided Id speed them up and make them play by my rules.

Portnoy is exactly right. In going on the offensive, he shamed and publicly humiliated Heil for her bad-faith journalism. Before Heil and Carmans article even comes out, the public now knows exactly what to expect because Portnoy spectacularly discredited their journalistic integrity.

Anybody whos listened to this [and] think[s] you are going to give me a fair chance is crazy, Portnoy told Heil.

Amazingly, after Portnoy read Heils damning email, she still tried to claim that she was engaging in honest reporting. Im just asking people about, you know, how they came to participate and how they view it, Heil said.

No, but you could have just as easily said, Whats your involvement? Are you proud to be involved with somebody who has done so much for the pizza and service industry? Right? Portnoy asked, in reference to the millions of dollars he raised for small businesses during Covid.

Without answering his question, Heil attempted to end the conversation by inviting Portnoy to interview for the article the next day. Portnoy pointed out that if Heil really wanted to get my perspective, it wouldnt be me calling you. You would have already reached out to me in a fair manner.Portnoy also said that all interviewing would do is validate all the stuff youre about to make up against me, adding, I wasnt born yesterday.

Eventually, however, Portnoy agreed to the interview, but after his video received millions of views and the public presumably began criticizing Heil and Carman, the pair canceled on Portnoy. The @washingtonpost just [canceled] the 10am call, Portnoy wrote on Twitter. Shocker.

The Washington Post, which claims to be a non-partisan publication, has a history of deceptive and slanted journalism. The Post attacks Christians and homeschoolers while weaponizing its stupidity to defend the Biden Administration at all costs. For example, without evidence, the publication worked to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 election, and even though its authenticity is indisputable today, the publication has doubled down on its false reporting. It also buried sexual assault allegations against President Joe Biden while incessantly pushing the unsubstantiated allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Portnoys cold call to Heil was a humbling moment for her. Rarely are members of the corporate media confronted for their journalistic malpractice. They are used to spinning narratives and telling lies that hurt people without facing any consequences.

Not this time. Portnoy beat Heil to the punch and, in doing so, took away her power and credibility.

Evita Duffy-Alfonso is a staff writer to The Federalist and the co-founder of the Chicago Thinker. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, and her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1 or contact her at evita@thefederalist.com.

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WaPo Reporters Cower Away From Interviewing Dave Portnoy - The Federalist

The United Kingdoms parliament has been shaken byallegations that two of its staff were Chinese spies. The scandal illustrates that Western democracies are ill-prepared for Communist Chinas intelligence gathering and political interference operations.

TheTimes, which first broke the story last week,identified one of the alleged Chinese spies as Chris Cash, a 28-year-old British citizen. According to TheTimes, Cash was a history major who had studied and worked in China. Cash was recruited as a sleeper agent during his stay in China, tasked with infiltrating the U.K.s political networks critical of the Beijing regime.

Cash seemed to have succeeded in his mission.Alicia Kearns,chairwoman of parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, hired Cash as a researcher. Although he had no security clearance, Cash accessed almost everywhere in Westminster as an employee. He worked for the China Research Group, an internal think tank co-founded by conservative members of parliament (MP) Tom Tugendhat and Neil OBrien in 2020. Members of the think tank are mostly conservative MPs with hawkish views on China and its ruling Communist Party (CCP).

Cash wasreportedlyan outgoing individual and often a fixture at Westminsters social scenes, rubbing elbows with MPs, activists, Chinese dissidents, and journalists covering China. Cash also participated in China-related policy discussions. Early this year, Cashaccompanieda conservative MP to meet with Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart to discuss proposed amendments to the Procurement Bill.

The bill was designed to strengthen U.K. policy toward China, including the ability to exclude companies posing national security risks from bidding on government contracts. It is unclear if Cash tried to water down the bill in any way. But it seems Cash might have caused harm in other ways.

An MP sanctioned by Beijing,Luke de Pulford, tweeted about Cashs duplicity: Worth noting: this is a man who consistently briefed against @ipacglobal and its members, and who I believe subverted free parliamentary debate by downplaying the behaviour of the CCP. He worked to divide the movement a typical CCP tactic and he had success.

In March, Cash and another staff member in his 30s were arrested under the Official Secrets Act and were released on bail until October. Only senior leaders of the parliament were aware of these arrests. Other MPs and the general public didnt find out until last week, when The Times reported it.

Cash maintains that he is completely innocent. People who came in touch with Cash in the past are upset and demanding to know why parliamentary leadership kept something so egregious to themselves.

China critics are anxious about how much of the information they shared with Cash was reported back to Beijing and if their safety is now compromised. Some Hong Kong dissidents are concerned whether Cash shared their whereabouts with Beijing. Even if the spy allegation is false, Beijing has succeeded in its mission to sow distrust and division within the U.K. legislature.

The spy incident was exposed the same week British media revealed that the nations spy agency, MI5,warnedthe Conservative Party to keep two individuals off its candidate lists in 2021 and 2022 due to their alleged links to ChinasUnited Front Work Department, a CCP outfit responsible for spreading propaganda and conducting covert and overt interference operations overseas. In 2022, MI5 also issued a rare security alert against Christine Lee, a U.K. lawyer who was linked to the United Front and allegedly involved in political interference activities in Britain on behalf of China.

Despite its spy agencys warnings, the measures the U.K. government has taken to address the security threat posed by China are completely inadequate, according to a parliamentaryreport released in July. The report accused the CCP of using its size, ambition, and capability to successfully penetrate every sector of the U.K.s economy, and Chinese recruitment schemes have tried to headhunt British and allied nationals in key positions and with sensitive knowledge and experience.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunaksaid he was appalled by the espionage scandal. Yet he refuses to name China as a threat and has no plan to change his engagement with Beijing because he believes that confronting China too much will hurt his nations economy and discourage China from cooperating on tackling climate change.

The United Kingdom is far from the only democracy exposed to the CCPs subversion activities and interference operations. In Australia, an investigation uncovered a network of China-linked donors and companies that contributed more than $5.5 millionto Australian Liberal and Labor parties between 2013 and 2015, aiming to influence Australias foreign policy by favoring Beijings positions.

One of the nations promising politicians, Senator Sam Dastyari, resigned from parliament in 2017 after he wasreportedly under the political influence of a China-born businessman who is linked to the United Front. The Australian parliament passed an anti-foreign interference law in 2018 to address Chinas overseas political interference activities. But former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull complained the law wasnt rigorously enforced, even in 2023.

Last year, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)warnedits government that Beijing is the foremost perpetrator of foreign interference in Canada. CCP operatives have employed incentives and punishment as part of their overseas operations, directly targeting Canadian legislators, business executives, and Chinese immigrants in the nation.

This spring, Canadaexpelleda Chinese diplomat, accusing him of seeking to intimidate an MP who is an outspoken critic of China by going after the MPs relatives in Hong Kong and mainland China. Under public pressure, Prime Minister Justin Trudeauorderedan independent investigation to help identify and combat foreign interference in Canadas elections and its democracy.

The United States has also encountered Chinese espionage and political interference. A suspected Chinese spy reportedlydeveloped extensive ties with local and national politicians in the United States, including Homeland Security Ranking Member Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., before she escaped to China. Early this year, aChinese spy balloonflew across the continental United States for weeks, passing sensitive military sites, before the U.S. military shot it down.

Last month, two U.S. Navy sailorswere arrestedfor passing intelligence to China. Of course, the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden hasrevealed that Chinese businessmen sent him millions of dollars, seeking to buy influence over his father, President Joe Biden.

All these incidents reveal two disturbing trends. First, the CCP has stepped up its spying and political interference, and its goals have expanded from gathering intelligence and suppressing overseas dissent to directly meddling in democratic processes. The CCP wont be deterred by any arrest or publicity because it believes every revelation will spread distrust and confusion in a democratic society, to the partys advantage.

Second, Western democracies are ill-prepared for Chinas threat to their political systems, mainly because some leaders are concerned that hawkish policies would jeopardize their countries economic ties with China. Above all, they believe climate change is the biggest threat to humanity and desperately seek Chinas assistance to solve the climate crisis.

These leaders misplaced priorities, wrong-headed policies, and unwillingness to confront China have given the CCP ample opportunities to weaken the democratic systems of their countries. We can only hope voters will wake up to the CCPs threat and hold their leaders accountable.

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While Western Leaders Look Away, China's Spies Are Everywhere - The Federalist

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on a series of military nominations on Wednesday, all but admitting hes had the power to do so in spite of his attacks against Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville over the latters protest of the Pentagons abortion policy.

For months, Schumer and Democrats have attacked Tuberville for using his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee to slow-walk military personnel moves requiring Senate confirmation. Tuberville did this to protestthe Pentagons use of taxpayer money to cover service members abortion-related travel expenses.

Despitepossessing the power to bring these nominations to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, Schumer has spent months attacking Tuberville and pushingbaseless claims the Republican senators protest is putting American security in jeopardy. Schumers filing on the nominations of Air Force Gen.Charles Q. Brown, Marine Corps Gen.Eric Smith, and Army Gen.Randy George, however, is a tacit admission by the Senate majority leader that hes had the ability to bypass Tubervilles protest all along.

According to The Daily Caller, the cloture motions would, if approved by at least 60 senators, limit debate on the nominations to 18 hours and lead to a final confirmation vote.

The motion on Browns nomination was approved by the Senate by an 89-8 vote Wednesday evening.

Instead of voting, Democrats have spent months complaining about having to vote, Tuberville said during a speech on the Senate floor. Sen. Schumer could have confirmed these nominees a long, long time ago. I didnt come [to Congress] just to outsource my job to the Pentagon or the White House. Yet, thats exactly what Democrats want to do.

This is a win for the legislative branch of government, he added.

[RELATED: Dont Ask Tommy Tuberville Why The Senates Not Voting On Military Nominations. Ask Chuck Schumer]

Schumer has hardly acted alone in his attacks on Tuberville. In recent months, high-ranking military officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have repeated the baseless accusation that the Alabama senators protest was harming military readiness and jeopardized national security. Of course, none of these officials ever called on the Pentagon to abandon its policy of forcing U.S. taxpayers to subsidize the murder of unborn children. Nor did they voice concerns about military readiness when the military fired over 8,400 U.S. service members for choosing not to receive the Covid jab.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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Schumer's Cave On Military Nominations Is A Win For Tuberville - The Federalist

Last week, a middle school teacher in Texas was fired for assigning the graphic adaptation of Anne Franks diary. Judging from most headlines, this seems to be an instance of intolerant and anti-intellectual parents targeting a teacher for trying to engage her class with a text that denounces hate.

Newsweeks title was typical, Anne Frank Book Gets Teacher Fired, placing the blame on the book rather than the teacher, and purposely de-contextualizing the issue so that its about the presence of this book, not what was done with it. Understandably, Randi Weingarten, the infamous president of the American Federation of Teachers union, tweeted to her 124,000 followers about the incident to complain about a wrongful termination but had all the details wrong.

All this is to say that theres more to this story that deserves further examination.

Ill admit, as an English teacher myself, I sympathized with this woman at first, thinking she mustve been caught in the crosshairs of some vindictive parents or administrators who disagreed with her politics or lifestyle. Ive witnessed this and can attest the attacks can be from both sides, and it gets ugly.

However, once I made it past the headline, it became apparent why this teacher was removed from the classroom. First, the book wasnt included in the classs approved curriculum. Second, the book included sexually explicit content that was wildly inappropriate for a middle school English class.

At best, the teacher was incompetent and thought using this book would help her struggling readers understand Anne Franks story, not thinking about the material in it. At worst, the teacher knew what was in the book, thought it would be good for her students, and wanted to rebel against prescribed standards by going off-script.

For most people, all this might be confusing. After all, how can Anne Franks diary be inappropriate when so many millions of students read the book and missed these salacious descriptions? This is because the original version published in 1947, which most people have read, doesnt include Franks descriptions of puberty, genitalia, and lesbian desires, which were in the original diary. For whatever reason, the graphic novel version published in 2017 includes these missing portions, as the Daily Mails writeup on this story shows.

That said, this doesnt make it a bad book. Puberty and sexual desires are normal aspects of young adulthood, and many adolescent readers may take solace in the fact that Frank felt the same things some of them do.

But this kind of content does make it a bad book for whole-class reading in a middle school English class. In this context, the teacher is effectively acting as an authority on sensitive topics, taking it upon herself to introduce, explain, and evaluate what Frank is talking about.

Instead of students encountering these subjects when theyre ready, they are forced to adopt and apply their teachers interpretation. Otherwise, they may be punished or suffer a bad grade.

Naturally, this makes for an extremely uncomfortable classroom environment. In addition to assigning the graphic novel to her classes, this teacher was making her students read these parts aloud, which is extremely questionable. Why would she ask 13-year-old boys and girls to read lines about how Frank feels about menstruating or how she wants to grope her friend? Either she gets a perverted thrill from this, or she wants to somehow de-stigmatize or normalize this subject matter for her young students two things most people would consider sexual grooming.

As a teacher, I also question the instructional merits of assigning a graphic novel as whole-class reading. Most middle schoolers desperately need to practice reading texts, building their vocabulary, logic, and imagination to better comprehend complex ideas in written form. And as much as I love graphic novels as a narrative art form Scott McClouds classic book, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, is still a favorite of mine their reliance on visual representation makes them unsuitable for teaching reading.

Seeing illustrations of Frank with accompanying word bubbles and narration is altogether different from reading her words and putting them together in ones mind. The content might be similar, but the skills involved are not, and this matters if students are going to be tested on those skills at the end of the year.

Overall, far from condemning the administrators and parents as bullies and book banners, we can say that they did the right thing in dismissing a teacher who crossed more than a few lines. Not only did she neglect to teach age-appropriate content to her classes, but she corrupted her students, doing untold damage to their mental and emotional health.

For the time being, a long-term sub has replaced her while the district looks for someone to fill the vacancy. Its unlikely the students will learn much in the meantime, but at least they wont be subjected to further harm.

Hopefully, educators can learn from this story and remember what they were hired to do. Our job is to teach kids knowledge and skills (i.e., how to think), not opinions and values (i.e., what to think), and certainly not how to become activists (i.e., not to think). This might mean reading the PG version of Frank and avoiding various hot topics that come up in class discussions. Thats fine.

The kids will grow into adults and think about these things when theyre ready. We just need to make sure they actually do grow into adults and learn how to think in the first place.

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Teacher Who Assigned An Anne Frank Book Deserved To Be Fired - The Federalist

Now that one of the 2 million Democrat prosecutors chasing Donald Trump has filed a court motion to make it illegal for him to talk about the election, is it okay to laugh anytime Joe Biden frames 2024 as a referendum on democracy?

Monday night would have been a good time to exercise that rule. Speaking at a fundraising event on Broadway, the president told FOLKS! in attendance that hes running for reelection because democracy is at stake and on the ballot once again.

Its gotten so corny, and yet if there werent pollsters, consultants, and all of the media telling every Democrat in the country that its a line that works for their voters, he wouldnt be saying it.

Yet, its Democrats who come up with a new way to shut down the few remaining options and avenues the American public has to express their opinions and choices on virtually everything. They do it on the daily. Just last week, Special Counsel Jack Smith requested that a federal judge in Washington, D.C., place a gag order that would prevent Trump from disparaging Smiths Jan. 6-related case against him, even in political terms.

[T]he defendant has repeatedly and widely disseminated public statements attacking the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses, Smith wrote in the filing. Through his statements, the defendant threatens to undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool

He asserted that Trump has a history of inflammatory and misleading statements that would cause others to harass and harm perceived critics or adversaries. One of those supposedly dangerous statements was a social media post wherein Trump said, Joe Biden directed his Attorney General to prosecute his rival. This is not an independent Justice Department, this is not an independent special counsel. This is being directed by the Commander-in-Chief.

Smith said that remark was made without any basis, even as none other than the New York Times wrote in April last year for its millions of readers does Jack Smith have a subscription? that Biden has told his associates he wants indictments against his predecessor and that he wanted his attorney general to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of Jan. 6.

It wouldnt be until seven months later that Trump would launch his own reelection campaign, but everyone knew he was going to do it, and everyone knew that when he did, he would instantly become the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Thats the context dismissed by Jack Smith as without any basis.

The motion comes just a month after the judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, has already sided with Smith on a similar motion regarding inflammatory statements. She said there were limits to what Trump could say whether it will affect a political campaign on either side. In essence: Even if Trumps campaign is partly or wholly about the case against him, he cant talk about it.

When Democrats arent limiting what Trump can talk about in a national election, theyre trying to get his name removed from state ballots. When theyre not doing that, theyre suppressing what their dissenters can say on the Internet. When theyre not doing that, theyre trying to shrink the Internet by icing out would-be customers from renting space.

If you dont agree with Democrats on anything, what are you supposed to do? Where are you supposed to go?

Democracy really is at stake. Biden and his party are working to eliminate it as an option altogether.

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Biden Claims 'Democracy Is At Stake' While Preventing Democracy - The Federalist

US military asks the public for help finding its missing F-35 fighter jet after its pilot had to eject while training over South Carolina.

While the above Insider headline may sound like a comedic piece straight from the pages of The Babylon Bee, its not. The U.S. military actually publicly claimed it had lost a multi-million-dollar fighter jet.

The loss occurred Sunday following an alleged mishap that required the aircrafts pilot to eject. The F-35 purportedly kept on flying. It wasnt until Monday evening a day after Joint Base Charleston requested the publics assistance in finding the missing jet that military officials announced they had discovered a debris field about two hours northeast of the base.

The debacle has since prompted the Marine Corps acting commandant, Eric Smith, to issue a two-day stand-down order for all military aviation units both inside and outside of the United States.

This episode raises so many questions. For one, how does the U.S. military the supposed best and most advanced fighting force on the planet lose a highly-valued asset, especially over U.S. soil?

Why are military bases such as Joint Base Charleston acting as landing pads for commercial planes transporting members of the Peoples Republic of China the very government trying to topple the United States as the worlds hegemon?

While its improbable any of these questions will actually be answered to the publics satisfaction, the likely answers probably wouldnt reverse Americans waning confidence in the ability of U.S. military leadership to defend the American homeland. Nor should they.

This weeks fighter jet fiasco is just one example of many showcasing a U.S. military in severe institutional decline. Instead of focusing on how to win wars which should be the sole purpose of any military top Pentagon brass have since at least the Clinton administration treated the service as one giant, left-wing social experiment.

Through its adoption and outright promotion of neo-Marxist ideologies including DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), the military has sacrificed efficiency, ruthlessness, and strength for LGBT celebrations, racial politics, and climate alarmism. A look into the backgrounds of President Bidens many military nominees shows the primary focus of the Pentagons leading figures isnt defeating communist China or protecting Americans from other international threats, its crafting a diverse and inclusive social club where leftist lunacy is treated as gospel and conservative wrongthink as extreme.

Look no further than the Pentagons abortion policy, which violates U.S. law in using taxpayer money to pay for female military members travel expenses to kill their unborn child. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Democrats have baselessly claimed for months that Alabama Sen. Tommy Tubervilles slow-walking of Bidens military nominees in protest of the policy harms military readiness.

If thats true, then why hasnt the Pentagon dropped its policy? If readiness is such a major concern, why did the military fire thousands of service members who chose not to get an experimental shot? And why isnt Democrat Chuck Schumer using his power as Senate majority leader to approve Bidens supposedly important nominees?

The reason, as tacitly admitted by the heads of the Army, Air Force, and Navy, is that taxpayer-funded abortions are a sacrament of the leftist religion so must be preserved at all costs. Coupled with decades of failed military adventurism and nation-building like that conducted in Afghanistan, its no wonder the U.S. military is facing the worst recruiting crisis since shifting to an all-volunteer force in 1973.

The Marxist hijacking of Americas military isnt an accident; its an intentional act contributing to the lefts greater plan to re-invent society. For the left, the military is just another piece on the American chessboard to coopt. Its why the military so vigorously promotes Marxism and penalizes conservative beliefs: to dissuade the God and America-loving patriots who have largely staffed it for generations from joining or remaining in service.

As witnessed many times before, however, the leftist takeover of institutions has its costs. Only Americas rainbow military could cost our country its security and well-being.

For decades, the U.S. military has prevented widespread global conflict, deterring aggression from hostile actors and maintaining peace through strength. If the worlds leading aggressors no longer view America as the dominant military power, where does that leave us? If the U.S. gets dragged into a war with a rival power, can we be confident our rainbow fighting force can get the job done? The withdrawal from Afghanistan and growing quagmire in Ukraine atop the failed war in Iraq and our militarys distraction into identity politics dont bode well.

Much like the missing F-35, our nations military is lost with no sense of direction or purpose, and those faithfully committed to the American cause are forced to bail out. Let us hope and pray for new military leadership before its too late.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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America's 'Rainbow' Military Is On Track To Lose A Major War - The Federalist

The going rate for an American hostage these days is around $1.3 billion. Thats what the Biden administration paid out for five Americans in a prisoner swap with the Islamic Republic of Iran this week. And with little overhead, its mostly profit for the mullahs.

But dont let the term prisoner swap insinuate any moral equivalence. These are not two normal countries trading spies or combatants. No, this is just an old-fashioned extortion.

The Iranians released political hostages, snatched off the streets of Tehran after unwisely returning to visit family or attending funerals or protests. Many of them were reportedly thrown into the notorious Evin prison for the crime of having dual citizenship. Some, like Siamak Namazi, were put in solitary confinement for over two years.

Conversely, the United States released a bunch of spies, most of them caught trying to send military and nuclear equipment back to Iran all of them given the benefit of due process.

The moral imperative to retrieve American citizens from these fascist regimes is admirable. Incentivizing more kidnappings is not. So, its one thing for the Biden administration to contend, we did what he had to do and quite another for them to celebrate as if they had just signed the Peace of Westphalia.

Yesterday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tweeted out a triumphant picture of the Biden team and the released hostages, writing seven Americans on their way home from Iran alongside a world class group of American diplomats.

The fact that Iran, a far weaker state with little leverage, walks away with its spies and six billion in sanctioned cash in exchange for five innocent people does not strike me as a great diplomatic coup at least, not for the United States.

Mullahs, and others, feel quite comfortable taking American hostages, which speaks poorly of our world standing, and confoundingly of the Democrats soft touch with Iran. Hey, thats a nice military base you have there, it would be a shame if it ended up like the shredded corpse of Qasem Soleimani, is what the vile mullahs should be hearing. Instead, Democrats, gung ho to fight proxy wars against nuclear powers, will almost never utter a cross word that might offend the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Secretary of StateAntony Blinken, trying to manage the political fallout, contends that the United States is working every single day to take steps to make this practice [hostage taking] more and more difficult and more and more of a burden on those countries that engage in it. They say the same thing every time. And it is never true.

Hostage-taking has been a lucrative business for the Islamic Republic since its inception. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both signed off on a deal to transfer nearly $8 billion to the Ayatollah for American hostages. Reagan tried to do it again in 1986 with a convoluted scheme that was also intended to help Nicaraguan rebels, which became known as the Iran-Contra affair.

Barack Obamas midnight cash ransom payments not to mention other highly dubious and likely illegal giveaways to Iran was an even bigger scandal, though you would never have known from the coverage. Obama, obsessed with helping Iran become a Middle Eastern power, gave Iran virtually everything they wanted in nuclear talks. Guess what? Almost immediately, they began taking more American prisoners.

For a long time, U.S. policy was to never pay ransom for hostages taken by terror groups. The Justice Department objected to Obamas lavish cash payments to Iran because it ignored those existing guidelines. This is why Washington now uses diplomatic euphemisms like wrongfully detained rather than hostage. And the U.S. not only still considers Iran a state sponsor of terrorism but it has designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the group that reportedly seized these very people we just liberated, a terror organization.

Which is also why the White House claims that under terms that provide confidence, the funds will be spent only on a limited category of humanitarian trade: food, medicine and agricultural products. Thats it.

Is it, though? There is absolutely no real way to ensure that the Islamofascists in Qatar, the nation brokering the deal, will hold their friends in Iran accountable, or that it even matters. Before all the funds were even transferred to Iranian accounts, President Ebrahim Raisi had told NBC News that his country would spend $6 billion wherever we need it. Of course, even if the mullahs bought only food, medicine and agricultural products with it, that specific money is, as everyone knows, fungible.

Iran boosters will tell you none of this matters because the ransom money is actually Irans to begin with funds held by South Korea due to American sanctions. Its not theirs, we took it. Nor should it ever be theirs. The Iranian government, companies, and officials still owe American citizens at least $53 billion in outstanding judgments. Legislation passed in 2015 granted $4.44 million to every American held hostage by Iran in 1981 $10,000 per day. Then there are the families and relatives of 9/11 victims, who also won tens of millions in judgments against Iran, which not only gave safe harbor to Sunni terror groups but also helped transit al-Qaeda members out of Afghanistan before 9/11, including some of the hijackers.

Maybe we needed to make this deal, maybe not. But giving a nation that attacks U.S. interests around the world, murders hundreds of our soldiers, takes hostages whenever it needs cash, and is at the center of every bloody conflict in the Middle East, another $6 billion is nothing to brag about.

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Paying Iranian Terrorists Ransom Is Nothing To Brag About - The Federalist