Category Archives: Federalist

Republicans on the House Oversight and Administration Committees held a joint hearing on Wednesday highlighting foreign interference in Washington, D.C.s elections.

Our nations capital should be a beacon of democracy and a national model for excellence in election administration. This isnt about who wins or loses elections, but rather ensuring voters have confidence in our elections, said House Admin Chair and Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis.

In his opening remarks, Steil emphasized numerous problems threatening the integrity of D.C. elections, including the districts allowance of voters to cast a ballot without an ID and ballot harvesting. Among the most notable issues raised, however, is the citys recent decision permitting non-citizens to vote in local elections.

Passed by the D.C. Council late last year, D.C. Bill 24.300 expands the definition of qualified elector for municipal elections to include otherwise eligible non-citizen residents. This means that non-citizens residing in the nations capital for 30 days, including foreign diplomats from countries such as China and Russia, could vote in mayoral, city council, and other local elections. According to The Washington Post, there are an estimated 50,000 non-citizens residing in D.C.

In February, House Republicans utilized their constitutional authority to pass a measure blocking the laws implementation. Despite 42 House Democrats joining their Republican colleagues in supporting the bills passage (260-173), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote.

While Democrats would like to believe otherwise, D.C. has experienced a myriad of election-based administrative failures in recent years. An audit of the citys 2020 election found that 11 percent of all ballots mailed to voters ahead of the November contest were returned as undeliverable (48,018 out of 421,791), a rate more than eight times higher than the national average, according to NPR. This came over a year after the D.C. elections board opted to mail a ballot to every single voter on the citys voter rolls.

Similar numbers were also reported following the federal districts 2022 primaries and general elections. According to the D.C. elections board, 65,398 of the 402,323 ballots mailed to voters ahead of the June primary and nearly 90,000 of the 508,543 ballots mailed ahead of the general election were returned as undeliverable.

In an effort to rectify such issues and bring integrity to D.C. elections, Steil and House Republicans are proposing the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act. Introduced last year, the measure, according to a bill summary, prohibit[s] non-citizen voting, allows states to use REAL ID as proof of citizenship, and directs [the] bipartisan [Election Assistance Commission] standards board to establish a federal forum that will help states develop best [election] practices.

The legislation also includes specific provisions regarding D.C. elections, such as voter ID requirements for in-person and absentee voting, an expansion of poll observer access, and requirements for annual voter roll maintenance. Prohibitions on non-citizen voting, ballot harvesting, and mailing ballots except upon a voters request would also be enacted under the law.

If Democrats want to work together to encourage more people to vote, they can start by supporting the ACE Act to strengthen voter confidence right here in our nations capital, Steil said.

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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House Republicans Highlight Foreign Interference In DC Elections - The Federalist

On Friday, inspirational and controversial film Flamin Hot debuts worldwide on Hulu and Disney Plus, purportedly telling how Flamin Hot Cheetos came to be as it recounts the rise of Hispanic family man Richard Montaez from janitor to marketing executive at Frito-Lay.

The fast-paced and charming story, from a script by longtime screenwriter Lewis Colick (October Sky) and Linda Yvette Chvez (Gentefied), comes via faith-film producer DeVon Franklin (The Star) and Latina first-time director Eva Longoria.

The movies biggest issue is that similar to past feel-good family flicks such as Cool Runnings and The Greatest Showman key aspects of Flamin Hot conflict with the factual record. Thats according to a lengthy Los Angeles Times investigative expos published in 2021.

In other ways, Flamin Hot reflects realities of faith often absent from major studio biopics. According to a recent Pew Research study, 64 percent of Latinos nationwide report affiliation with Christianity. The film creators close ties to the Latino community, including input from real-life Richard and Judy Montaez, resulted in the familys Christian beliefs showing up on-screen.

Faith being a throughline was very important to us, Franklin told me in an interview. From Richard to Judy to Eva and so many others, the people behind this wanted to portray the Latino community and Latino families with the dimension that you rarely see in film.

The faith focus is particularly notable in a film released by Searchlight Pictures, a unit of Disney. In recent years, the entertainment giant has faced financial challenges as many faith-driven families have felt betrayed by the companys descent into activism on social issues.

Franklin has spent years challenging Hollywoods trend of bypassing the faithful.

Hollywood needs to know there are millions of families out there that want content that can uplift and inspire them, and respects their beliefs, he said.

Filmed in New Mexico, this inspirational dramedy has a larger scope than a typical direct-to-streaming feature with 44 principal cast members, 875 extras in several scenes, and a narrative depicted over several decades.

Viewers are introduced to Richard as a boy in the 1960s, one of 10 siblings who grew up in a migrant labor camp in the small town of Guasti, near Ontario, California.

During his teen years, in an economically distressed community, Richard got involved in a street gang that sold drugs. Later, following his marriage to girlfriend Judy, the birth of their first child is depicted as a turning point, giving Montaez new drive to make a better life for his family.

Hiring managers are skeptical of the former gang member, until a Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga gives him a chance as a janitor. The snack wars of the 1970s and 80s are in full swing during this era, with many of his coworkers affected by rounds of layoffs. Montaez puts in long hours and also seeks to enhance his skills.

A mentor played by Dennis Haysbert (24) trains the janitor to operate the plants high-tech manufacturing machines; the Times investigative report notes Montaez was promoted to machinist in 1977.

The L.A. Times report confirms that Montaez developed some snack foods during his tenure at Frito-Lay and introduced strategies to reach Hispanic consumers. But it debunks that Montaez formulated the Flamin Hot blend of spices or ever presented it to PepsiCo Chief Executive Officer Roger Enrico, events depicted in the movie.

It even quotes a Frito-Lay statement calling Montaezs version of events an urban legend. (After pushback on the Times report, Frito-Lays parent company PepsiCo walked back that phrase in a follow-up statement but did not fact-check any details in the investigative story.)

Franklin concedes the film goes beyond Montaezs account. He likes to have fun with how he tells the story, Franklin said of the films subject. At times, he gets carried away. The producer visited Frito-Lay headquarters in Plano, Texas, and met with key staff to get the full story. Revisions to the script integrated multiple points of view in key moments.

Richard had this idea of helping save the factory by marketing this spicy product to his community, said Franklin.He started as a janitor and ended his career 40 years later as one of the most celebrated executives within the company. That is historic and its also indisputable.

Amid these events, the faith journey of Montaez is portrayed as complex and dynamic. His father has a harsh view of God that initially pushes the boy away.

At the beginning of the film, Richard doesnt see the value in prayer or belief in God, said Franklin. Ultimately, when he finally surrenders to God and he prays for the first time, things start to happen.

The producer is no stranger to thoughtful faith movies. At Sony, he developed hit films Heaven is for Real and Miracles from Heaven. More recently, Franklin produced Breakthrough, about a boys inexplicable recovery from drowning. And he played the role of a skeptical reporter in this springs Jesus Revolution, which earned over $52 million at the box office.

Franklin acknowledges that many faith films are not at the quality that they should be, but points to productions of Kingdom Story Company and Franklin Entertainment as helping turn the tide.

For him, Flamin Hot serves as an analogy to that struggle. We hear Richard tell Frito-Lay execs, Listen, if you bring my people in, I guarantee you its going to work. Its similar to how I meet with studio heads and preach the gospel of this underserved faith audience.

This lighthearted drama brings to the screen an authentic portrayal of a Latino family that nonetheless plays it loose with the origin of Flamin Hot Cheetos (and Montaezs role). Most viewers will take away themes about vision, love for others, and a persevering work ethic.

We would not know the Flamin Hot brand today if it was not for Richard Montaez, said Franklin. His vision was to save the jobs of his co-workers at that factory motivated by a heart of service to be his brothers keeper.

Rated PG-13 for some strong language and brief drug references, Flamin Hot is streaming worldwide on Hulu and Disney Plus on Friday.

This article has been updated since publication.

Josh Shepherd covers culture, faith, and public policy for several media outlets including The Stream. His articles have appeared in Christianity Today, Religion & Politics, Faithfully Magazine, Religion News Service, and Providence Magazine. A graduate of the University of Colorado, he previously worked on staff at The Heritage Foundation and Focus on the Family. Josh and his wife live in the Washington, D.C. area with their two children.

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Feel-Good Flick 'Flamin' Hot' Elevates Family And Faith - The Federalist

President Joe Bidens declining mental acuity has become a national security issue and has seemingly emboldened Red Chinas willingness to engage in increasingly aggressive behavior.

On Saturday, a U.S. destroyer was abruptly cut off by a Chinese naval vessel during a transit through the Taiwan Strait. According to Fox News, the USS Chung-Hoon which was conducting a freedom of navigation exercise with the Royal Canadian Navy was forced to slow down to 10 knots to avoid a collision with the Chinese vessel. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the Chinese ship came within 150 yards of the U.S. destroyer and that Chinas actions violated the maritime Rules of the Road of safe passage in international waters.

The U.S. military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly anywhere international law allows, U.S. military officials said. Paul Mountford, the commander of the Canadian frigate, claimed the Chinese vessels maneuver was announced over the radio before it was attempted, clearly indicat[ing] this was intentional. Predictably, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) defended the aggressive move by calling it lawful, safe and professional.

This weekends incident marks the latest in a growing list of Chinese maneuvers that appear designed to interfere with U.S. military operations. Two weeks ago, a Chinese fighter jet came within 400 feet of a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft while the latter was conducting a patrol of the South China Sea. The unexpected fly-by signifies an alarming increase in the number of risky aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea by [Peoples Liberation Army] aircraft and vessels, according to the Pentagon.

The list of aggressive actions taken by the CCP in recent months isnt the only one thats getting longer. Within the past few days, Biden has advertised several moments of ailing mental and physical health.

On Thursday, the president tripped over a sandbag while handing out diplomas at the Air Force Academys 2023 graduation ceremony. When exiting Marine One later that same day, Biden hit his head on the helicopters door frame, later telling reporters he got sandbagged, in reference to his graduation fall.

In addition to falling numerous times, Biden has failed to recall basic facts while speaking at public events. For example, when asked by a child during a White House event in late April about the last country he visited, Biden completely blanked on the question until another kid had to remind him it was Ireland where he had been only two weeks prior. Bidens also had moments where hes gotten lost on stage, forgotten the name of his defense secretary, confused President Donald Trump with President George W. Bush, and forgot what office he was running for, just to name a few.

While legacy media have worked overtime to run interference for Biden by accusing Republicans of seizing on these moments to question his fitness to serve, the presidents penchant for exhibiting physical and cognitive weakness poses a major problem. Every public display of Bidens fragility is another indication to Xi Jinping and the CCP that America lacks the effective leadership necessary to confront Chinas growing ambitions.

And why wouldnt it? Bidens domestic policies have crippled Americas national security and economic stability, while opening the door for antagonistic powers such as China and Russia to move towards a multipolar world order devoid of U.S. hegemony. Moreover, the CCP already tested Bidens resolve when it sent a spy balloon into U.S. airspace earlier this year. Instead of shooting it down immediately, Biden waited for it to drift across the entire continental United States after it had gathered intelligence from several sensitive American military sites before taking action.

Absent a strong American leader to challenge the CCP, its not out of the question to think China will take advantage of the Biden presidency as an opportunity to take additional aggressive actions throughout the Indo-Pacific in order to further its regional (and ultimately global) objectives.

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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Biden's Declining Mental Acuity Invites Red China's Aggression - The Federalist

If it wasnt already clear, the anti-Trump rights resistance to economic and cultural populism embraced by the MAGA movement is predicated almost entirely upon an aesthetic revulsion toward a people whom they consider inferior and inconvenient.

A few days ago, a short video of a pair of late-middle-aged white Americans dancing alongside a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump with moonshine went viral on Twitter after being shared by an account named Republicans against Trump.

Live shot from Magadonia, the caption reads.

In a large, unkempt outdoor space, trucks, American flags, and piles of yard waste are in clear sight. The couple bobs and jives to a recording of I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow from the Coen Brothers O Brother, Where Art Thou? What looks to be a medical mobility device appears partially on screen as the woman in her daytime pajamas works her way across the videos threshold, and the pairs dog is preoccupied with something it seems to have found on the ground.

The couple is energetic; theyre undeniably excited. We dont know why, but theyre clearly having a good time. The generally clean cutout of Donald Trump stands in stark contrast to the couples rugged appearance and the thick puddles of mud on the ground.

Its apparent that Republicans against Trump which call themselves pro-democracy conservative[] Republicans fighting Trump & Trumpism and use their platform to repeat the same braindead, reheated talking points about democracy and decency in an attempt to restore Bush-era establishment norms shared this video solely for the sake of belittling their countrymen for enthusiastically supporting the 45th president.

But why? Under Donald Trump, Americans were happier, richer, and safer abroad. Under Trump, the U.S. attained full employment, conservative judges flooded the judicial branch, and the country attained energy independence. These are just a few of the Trump administrations successes; no conservative, let alone any Republican, can deny them in good faith.

So why do the ostensible establishment Republicans appear to genuinely despise those who continue to celebrate Trump?

In a 2010 essay for The American Spectator titled The Ruling Class, the late Angelo Codevilla argued that entrenched political interests are so insulated and detached from the rest of the country, the people they purport to serve, that they develop a sense of holier-than-thou resentment.

Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country, Codevilla said. They think, look, and act as a class. This paradigm obviously extends beyond the political and applies to business, finance, and culture as well.

And this is where Trump thrives because, beyond the policy, he is a cultural figure who, despite being part of Americas elite circles, sided with the people and agreed with them that they were being screwed by tyrants in benefactors clothing.

Sure, they hate Trump, but they really hate you. They hate you so much theyll ridicule the clothes on your back, the teeth in your mouth, and the way you pronounce your words; but dont you dare disrespect the Democrats or disregard the norms that led us to a state of cultural freefall and decay.

Campaigning on a message of hope and change in the wake of the Great Recession and the Iraq War, among other things, Barack Obama was able to turn an extraordinarily pessimistic cultural and political environment into one of hopeful optimism. He failed to capitalize upon this and subsequently became an incredibly divisive and toxic individual who turned Americans against one another for his own political gain while the nation continued to circle the drain. But he was initially able to amass immense loyalty because he inspired hope.

Trump entered the political arena with nothing to gain and everything to lose and was verifiably able to change the country for the better. In doing so, in temporarily reversing the decay, he gave millions of Americans hope. He still does.

The Republican and Democrat parties, Big Business, entertainment conglomerates, et al. convinced the American people the countrys best days were behind them. Trump convinced them to step into the arena and keep fighting.

But when cynical elitists see common people expressing a love of country grounded in something other than a love of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, they recoil in disgust because they know their grip on power is not absolute.

Samuel Mangold-Lenett is a staff editor at The Federalist. His writing has been featured in the Daily Wire, Townhall, The American Spectator, and other outlets. He is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. Follow him on Twitter @smlenett.

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Elitists Hate Trump Because He Gives The Wrong People Hope - The Federalist

Former FBI Director James Comey, who played a key role in the Russia collusion hoax, hasnt given up on his dream of keeping President Donald Trump from the Oval Office.

For nearly 10 minutes on Sunday, Comey and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki fantasized on MSNBC about the bureaucracy-led campaign to fell their common archenemy, Trump.

Can you envision a scenario where Trump managed to win back the White House, and justice is delayed? Psaki asked.

I could. I dont want to, but I could. I mean, its this crazy world that Donald Trump has dragged this country into, but he could be wearing an ankle bracelet while accepting the nomination at the Republican Convention, Comey said. It would be rejected if you put it in a script for a show, but you could have a president who is potentially incarcerated when hes elected president.

Comey, who proudly and loudly supported Biden for president in 2020, spent the rest of his time on air fearmongering about the damage a second Trump term could wreak on the nation.

Think about what four years of a retribution presidency might look like, Comey said. He could order the investigation and prosecution of individuals who he sees as enemies, are on the enemies list, because the president constitutionally does oversee the executive branch entirely. Which includes the Department of Justice, prosecutors, and investigators.

President Trump could say I dont care what the Supreme Court says or these district judges say, Im telling the Marshal Service dont enforce the court order, he added.

Grandstanding about the potential abuse of power by Trump is rich when considering how the FBI under Comey abused its authority to launch a seriously flawedinvestigation into alleged collusion, of which there was no actual evidence, between Trump and Russia.

Despite its long history of corruption, Comey claims the FBI is competent, honest, and independent. That claim isnt just false. Its completely tone-deaf to a majority of Americans who say that the FBI is corrupt and must be punished or dismantled.

Comeys predictions that a second Trump term will be riddled with malfeasance are also ironic given the fact that his preferred political candidatedid the exact thing he claims to fear weaponizing the federal government against Americans for partisan purposes for the last two and a half years.

Biden not only threatenedto use his executive authority to disrespect the Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson decision last summer, but his Department of Justice explicitly warned U.S. Marshals against arresting the pro-abortion mobs violating federal law by protesting outside the homes of Republican-nominated justices.

Trump, Comey claims, comes for the rule of law, the system of justice, and the agencies with a flame thrower.

He will come and try to criticize and attack your family, your witnesses. There are no limits to what he will try to do to obstruct an effort to hold him accountable, Comey complained.

Yet, once again, the dystopic regime Comey claims will come with Trump is already in full effect under our current president, who has weaponized his administration to pervert the rule of law, threaten democracy, and obstruct justice to protect his son and his corrupt business dealings. Comey, similarly, obstructed justice when he refused to give his testimony about the Crossfire Hurricane investigation to Special Counsel John Durham.

Our constitution really does give a rogue president, which is what this would be, tremendous power to destroy. And so thats why Im trying to warn people. Given the way he said he intends to operate if hes reelected, this will be something we could never have imagined. Again, it seems like science fiction in a way, but its what another four years of Donald Trump really promises, Comey asserted.

It should come as no surprise that, even after all of the Biden administrations unconstitutional actions, Comey reaffirmed his allegiance to a regime committed to following through with the political persecution it started in 2016.

It has to be Joe Biden, Comey said of the 2024 election. And Im glad hes willing to serve. It has to be somebody committed to the rule of law, committed to the values of this country.

The current president, Comey asserted, abides by the law and our Constitution, which is why theres no one else but Joe Biden.

I want the American people to stare at the threat that were facing and understand that they cannot take the next election off, he said.

If history tells us anything, the FBI, which has meddled in several presidential elections, certainly wont take off in 2024 unless it is forced to by Congress.

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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Comey Complains Trump Could Weaponize Govt. Just Like He Did - The Federalist

Two of Californias largest insurance providers have ceased offering new coverage to property owners in the nations most populous state. Politicians, the press, and corporate spokesmen eager to protect their Wall Street environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores are blaming climate change, but the true culprit is incompetent governance.

Allstate joined State Farm last week to discontinue applications for new property coverage in California, which has been ravaged by wildfires that have consumed entire communities. Last month, State Farm, which insures more property in California than any other company, declared a halt to new policies, citing historic increases in construction costs combined with rapidly growing catastrophe exposure. Allstate, Californias fourth-largest property and casualty insurance provider, quietly did the same, according to the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday.

The pause began last year but appeared to receive only a passing mention in industry publications, the Chronicle reported. That Allstate and State Farm are ceasing coverage on the West Coast signals that insurance woes in the state may be more severe than the public is aware of.

The two insurance giants cover more than 13 percent of Californias property and casualty market share. Allstate told the Chronicle the firm paused new policies so we can continue to protect current customers.

Residents in fire-prone areas have already struggled to guarantee home insurance from companies wary of the potential wildfires that set the state ablaze every year. High-end insurers AIG and Chubb pulled back coverage in California last year, citing fire risk.

The depressed market has forced more homeowners to take advantage of the state-backed FAIR Plan, an insurer of last resort that usually costs more and covers only fire damage. FAIR Plan policies began to cover 3 percent of the market in 2021, up from just 1.6 percent in 2018.

Meanwhile, headlines covering the California insurance industry blame the property owners predicament on the existential climate crisis.

Climate change is already making parts of America uninsurable, Vox titled its coverage.

Climate change is making California more expensive. Home insurance is the latest bellwether, the Los Angeles Times headlined an editorial.

Climate-fueled insurance crisis hits California, read another headline in Politico.

But its not climate change powering the destruction of the insurance market. Its poor public policy.

Californias annual devastation is preventable with proper land management. More than 100 years of fire suppression, however, has left forests in the American West overgrown, presenting nearby residents with massive tinderboxes ready to flare up into massive conflagrations that send smoke as far as Europe.

Accordingto ProPublica, Academics believe that between 4.4 million and 11.8 million acres burned each year in prehistoric California. Between 1982 and 1998, however, state bureaucrats only burned an average of 30,000 acres a year. That number fell to 13,000 acres from 1999 to 2017.

Meanwhile, environmental prohibitions on roads and salvage logging in forested areas inhibit efforts to combat wildfires by hampering firefighters access to burning areas.

[READ: California Wildfire Devastation Was Entirely Preventable Through Proper Land Management]

Both state and federal officials are now years behind in California forest management, sending insurers fleeing. Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom even cut the states budget for wildfire prevention and resource management by more than 40 percent.

Myriad public policies are making it harder for insurance companies to operate economically in the fire-prone state. Not only are California blazes becoming harder to control from the buildup of fuels, but state law handicaps how insurers establish premiums.

A ballot measure passed in 1988 has led insurance companies to calculate rates based on the prior 20 years instead of forward-looking projections.

Unable to account fully for wildfire risk, insurers instead have canceled or declined to renew policies in wildfire-prone areas, E&E News reported. In 2019, after two consecutive years of massive wildfires in California, the number of insurer cancellations or nonrenewals shot up to 235,000 from 165,000 in 2018, state figures show.

State law also de facto caps how high companies can lift insurance premiums. When insurers try to lift rates beyond 7 percent, companies risk triggering a costly process wherein the increases are challenged. In the end, the companies lose out due to inflation cutting the real rate increase to 1 or 2 percent.

Four years ago, the California insurance commissioner amplified risk by temporarily barring insurers from dropping customers in areas hit by wildfires four years ago. The insurance commissioner also issued a directive for companies to increase discounts last year.

Even California labor law will make it more difficult to sustain a healthy insurance industry, let alone healthy land. The Associated Press reported last week that regulations passed by the state legislature in 2016 will spike overtime pay for goat herders and threatens to put them out of business.

Targeted grazing, wherein livestock devours vegetation and thus clears out wildfire fuel, is a primary instrument of land management. Goats are able to reach steep terrain that is otherwise difficult to access, allowing goat herders to deploy an eco-friendly alternative to chemical herbicides for clearing.

But the new state labor regulations will treat goat herders under the same category as other farm workers.

That would mean goatherders would be entitled to ever higher pay up to $14,000 a month, the AP reported. Goat-herding companies say they cant afford to pay herders that much. They would have to drastically raise their rates, which would make it unaffordable to provide goat grazing services.

Fewer goats mean fewer animals to clear out overgrown vegetation, leading to even larger fires, more destruction, and higher insurance costs.

Media, lawmakers, and corporate America can blame the so-called climate crisis all they want, but its clear the real offenders in Californias insurance disaster are those mismanaging the state.

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Bad Governance Jeopardizes California Home Insurance - The Federalist

As with every major revelation proving them to be the treacherous, anti-democratic demons they are, the corporate media have instantly gone to work sweeping away the shocking conclusions of Special Counsel John Durhams report on the FBIs conduct as it related to its 2016 investigation of Donald Trump and Russia.

Years of work went into this thing, and the media believe all of its heinous discoveries can be set aside with a few news briefs belittling them as minor, unimpressive matters of mistake and shortcomings.

Thats not what Durham found. What he found was explicit bias within the worlds most powerful law enforcement agency against a democratically chosen presidential nominee.

The report, released Monday, is more than 300 pages, many of which recount information pieced together by Republicans in Congress and right-leaning journalists. But everything you need to know is in Durhams summary, which, as tactfully as possible, describes the FBIs 2016 investigation into Trump as not only without a foundation, but driven by political bias, dishonesty, and an appalling degree of personal animus.

The media wont relay those facts from the report honestly because, of course, the media were complicit in the absolute con from the start. They hated Trump more than top officials at the FBI did and were more than happy to fan the flames that terrified the nation for years and irreparably crippled Trumps entire term.

With that in mind, this is how big media described Durhams findings versus what Durham actually said.

New York Times: Mr. Durhams 306-page report revealed little substantial new information about the inquiry, known as Crossfire Hurricane, and it failed to produce the kinds of blockbuster revelations accusing the bureau of politically motivated misconduct that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies suggested Mr. Durham would uncover.

That suggests there was no proof or even significant evidence in Durhams report that the FBI was hounding Trump for any reason outside of standard, dry agency business. Thats false.

What the report actually said: Our investigation revealed that senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially from politically affiliated persons and entities. In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trumps political opponents. The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them

In other words, the FBI willingly accepted allegations from Trumps political rivals, treating them as objective data, rather than what they were: traditional campaign waste material.

Associated Press: The report, the culmination of a four-year investigation into possible misconduct by U.S. government officials, contained withering criticism of the FBI but few significant revelations.

That gives the impression that Durhams report was a symbolic reprimand of no consequence. Thats false.

Heres from the actual report: FBI personnel acknowledge[d] both then and in hindsight that they did not genuinely believe there was probable cause to believe that the [Trump campaign] was knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of a foreign power, or knowingly helping another person in such activities.

In essence, FBI agents participating in the investigation were insincere in their efforts to find a sinister link between Trumps campaign and Russia, because they knew it wasnt likely to exist and didnt believe there was a reason to try finding it anyway.

USA Today: Special counsel John Durham criticizes FBI Trump-Russia probe, but recommends no wholesale changes.

Mistakes were made but who among us?!

Thats not what Durham said. What he said is that the FBI abandoned its mission in pursuit of a political agenda and that if it had simply followed its own rules, one of the greatest political scandals in history would have never happened.

From Durhams report: [T]here is a continuing need for the FBI and the [Justice] Department to recognize that lack of analytical rigor, apparent confirmation bias, and an over-willingness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents caused investigators to fail to adequately consider alternative hypotheses and to act without appropriate objectivity or restraint in pursuing allegations of collusion or conspiracy between a U.S. political campaign and a foreign power. Although recognizing that in hindsight much is clearer, much of this also seems to have been clear at the time.

Its not as if Durham is hiding the ball. He notes in his report that there were equal opportunities to investigate Hillary Clintons campaign in 2016, but those were handled more discreetly, either by alerting the candidates team that it might have been targeted by potential foreign influence, or by simply dropping the matter altogether. (Hey, how about that?!)

Again, from the Durham report: The speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign.

In short, there was a double standard a political one. A democracy cant sustain this kind of scandal perpetuated by its chief law enforcers. But the media gave up on that a long time ago.

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Media's Lies About The Durham Report Vs. What The Report Said - The Federalist

Canadaexpelleda Chinese diplomat early this week, and Chinaretaliatedby expelling a Canadian diplomat. The allegation of Chinas aggressive political interference in Canada is at the center of this tension.

On May 1, The Globe and Mail, a Canadian media outlet, disclosed a 2021top-secret assessment by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the nations top spy agency. The CSIS warned that Beijing is the foremost perpetrator of foreign interference in Canada and that Chinese Communist Party (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.

The CSIS assessment identified Michael Chong, a member of parliament (MP) from the Conservative Party, as one of the CCPs targets. Chong, the son of a Chinese immigrant, is an outspoken critic of the CCP. In 2021, a non-binding motion sponsored by Chong to declare that the CCPs treatment of the Uyghur Muslims constituted genocide was passed by the House of Commons 266-0. The Chinese ambassador to Ottawa, Cong Peiwu, condemnedthe motion and claimed, There is no so-called genocide in Xinjiang at all.

Soon after, China put Chong and several other MPs on its sanction list. The CSIS alleged that Zhao Wei, a diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Toronto, instructed Hong Kong authorities to locate Chongs relatives in the city. Zhao sought to make an example of Chong and silence other China critics in Canada by going after Chongs relatives.

Other than offering Chong a vague warning, CSIS never shared the specifics of its assessment with him in 2021. Chong only learned about it afterThe Globe and Mail contacted him recently. Since Chong cut off ties with relatives in Hong Kong years ago to protect them, he didnt know if the Chinese authorities had hurt any of them due to his political activities in Canada. In astatement, Chong called Beijings political interference in Canada a serious, national threat. He accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of withholding the CSIS report from him for more than two years and failing to address the foreign interference activities of China.

Since March, the Trudeau government has struggled to deal with allegations of Chinas meddling in Canadas 2019 and 2021 elections. CCP operativesreportedlyhelped keep China-friendly Trudeau and his Liberal Party in power while defeating several Conservative Party MPs who were critical of Beijing. When he first came to office, Trudeau vowed to improve Canadas relationship with China and explored signing a free-trade agreement with Beijing.

According to CSIS, Chinas sophisticated interference operations in Canada are managed by the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a CCP agency tasked with helping the party aggressively and yet covertly dictate its messages and narratives about China domestically and overseas. The CSIS report alleged the interference tactics UFWD deployed in Canada included utilizing Chinese diplomats and pro-Beijing Chinese-Canadian organizations to spread misinformation about Conservative Party MPs who are critical of the CCP; donating money to liberal organizations such as the foundation for Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, named after the father of Justin Trudeau; co-opting some Chinese language media to publish pro-Beijing articles; and spying on and silencing critics of the CCP, especially if they are ethnic Chinese who have families in China.

One of the most severe allegationswas that Chinas Toronto consulate directed a large clandestine transfer of funds to a network of at least eleven federal election candidates and numerous Beijing operatives who worked as their campaign staffers in 2019. Chinas former consul-general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling,reportedly bragged about how she helped defeat two Conservative MPs in 2021. Tong has since returned to China.

Under tremendous public pressure, Trudeauorderedan independent investigation in March to help identify and combat foreign interference in Canadas elections and its democracy. This months revelation about Chinas attempted intimidation operation against Chong only fueled more public furor that Trudeau has failed to prevent authoritarian regimes like China from undermining the nations democracy. Trudeau did an about-face byannouncing the expulsion of Zhao Wei, the Chinese diplomat identified by the intelligence report.

China retaliated byordering Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul at the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, to leave China. In addition, the Chinese government vowed to take other retaliatory measures to punish Canada. Given the precedent that Beijing wrongfully detained Canadian citizensMichael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for nearly three years as political retaliation for Canadas detainment of a high-level Chinese business executive, Canadian citizens and businesses in China are understandably concerned about whether they will become the next victims of Beijings hostage diplomacy.

Canada wasnt the only target of Chinas foreign interference. In 2016, Australias Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ordered an investigation into Chinas interference in his country after Chinese-Australian businessmen with close ties to the CCPreportedly made campaign contributions and covered the expenses of a prominent politician in the Labor Party. The investigation led to an explosive intelligence reportalleging Beijing has attempted to influence Australias political parties for years and there had been infiltration at every layer of the Australian government, right down to local councils.

The revelation prompted the Australian legislature to enact the Foreign Interference Law in 2018. But early this year, former PM Turnbull complained that the law wasnt rigorously enforced, despite the fact that the most active state and political party seeking to influence public affairs in Australia is that of China and the Communist Party of China we know that.

What happened in Australia and Canada illustrates how the CCP, under its leader Xi Jinping, has taken brazen actions that far exceeded legitimate diplomacy in exploiting other countries loopholes in their espionage and counterintelligence laws, infiltrating their political systems and seeking to influence and shape public opinions and policies by all means necessary.

Undoubtedly, the CCP has conducted similar interference campaigns in the United States as in Australia and Canada. In 2020, a suspected Chinese spy, Fang Fang,reportedlydeveloped extensive ties with local and national politicians in the U.S., including Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. The U.S. Department of Justice recentlychargedtwo individuals with the operation of an illegal Chinese police station in New York City, targeting ethnic Chinese who are critical of Beijing.

Early this week, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountabilitypresentedevidence that foreign nationals, including those from China, sought access to then-Vice President Joe Biden through questionable business dealings with Bidens family members and business associates. All these cases are the tip of the iceberg of the CCPs meddling in the United States.

The CCP is unconcerned about repercussions whenever it gets caught because it has plenty of tools in its toolbox. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the CCP relies on a range of economic and non-economic tools to punish, influence and deter foreign governments in its foreign relations.

The U.S. government has been complacent and has been slow to counter Chinas political interference. Canada and Chinas diplomatic tit-for-tat should serve as a warning. Since another presidential election is coming, if President Biden is serious about defending democracy in the U.S., he should reach out to his counterparts in Canada and Australia and learn from their experiences in dealing with the CCPs political interference, especially the mistakes they made.

The Biden administration must understand the CCPs strategy and tactics and work with Congress to develop comprehensive measures to curtail the CCPs interference operations in the U.S. and protect the integrity of our elections and Americans right to free speech.

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Canada And China's Tit-For-Tat Is A Warning For America - The Federalist

Elon Musk shared a Federalist article on Twitter this week that detailed how Zuckbucks were used to influence the outcome of the 2020 election, and leftists are livid.

On Tuesday, the Twitter CEO linked to an October 2021 article, written by Federalist contributor William Doyle, that examines how Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gavehundreds of millions of dollarsto nonprofits such as the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) leading up to the 2020 presidential contest. CTCL and CEIR then poured these Zuckbucks into local election offices in battleground states around the country to change how elections were administered, such as by expanding unsupervised election protocols like mail-in voting and the use of ballot drop boxes.

Notably, Doyles article examines how these grants were heavily skewed toward Democrat-majority counties, essentially making it a massive, privately funded Democrat get-out-the-vote operation. Organizations such as the Capital Research Center have also released detailed analyses on the partisan distribution of these funds.

While Musk simply referred to the article as interesting, that was apparently too much for Washington Post columnist Philip Bump to handle. In response, Bump penned an article titled, Musk shares baseless election claim with millions of Twitter users, in which he attempted to smear the Twitter CEO and discredit The Federalists article.

This is a common way in which Musk elevates right-wing rhetoric. Hell often engage with fringe voices by declaring their commentary to be concerning suggesting its just something worth mulling over, complained Bump in melodramatic fashion.

But then Bump openly admits the purpose of Zuckbucks wasnt to help election offices promote safe and reliable voting during the Covid outbreak, as CTCL and CEIR originally claimed, but to increase voter turnout in Democrat-majority areas.

Much of the analysis in the Federalist article centers on the idea that these investments were larger in more-Democratic counties, using that as a peg for the argument that the investments were partisan and critical to Bidens success.

But that argument is easily countered. CTCLs investments were often in heavily Democratic areas because those areas often have lower turnout rates. If you want to increase turnout, the smartest place to try to do so is places where turnout is lowest. In the United States, thats often lower-income communities and communities that have high populations of Black and Hispanic residents, two groups that often vote heavily Democratic.

In trying to explain away the disparities in Zuckbucks distribution, Bump instead admits a Democrat get-out-the-vote effort is exactly what happened. While Zuckerbergs donations to CTCL and CEIR were marketed as just a good-faith initiative to ensure Covid didnt disrupt local election administration, House Republicans later discovered that less than 1 percentof CTCLs 2020 funds were spent on personal protective equipment.

The argument has gone from: Private funding from CTCL for election administration offices was only meant to help the elections run smoothly, to CTCL poured money into Democratic strongholds to boost turnout and thats a good thing, tweeted Jason Snead, the executive director of the Honest Elections Project.

Whether they realize it or not, Bump and the Post are admitting the main purpose of Zuckbucks was to boost turnout among voters in Democrat strongholds. Its a remarkable fact that, for once, the Post got right.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves 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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WaPo Admits 'Zuckbucks' Were Used To Turn Out Dems In 2020 - The Federalist

From Rosa Parks to George Floyd, the left has reduced complex events to singular images that help its cause. Parks, for example, was a lifelong activist before the bus incident. George Floyd was a massive violent criminal high on meth and fentanyl. The screaming woman in the Little Rock Nine photo became close friends with the girl she yelled at, and Jane Roe became an anti-abortion activist, at least for a while. But these details dont matter. Americas ceaseless leftward march runs on reductive imagery. Poke the right until it bites, snap a picture of it, and use it to win.

The left is now trying to do this with its manufactured image of Daniel Pennys arrest. It wants us to see a brusk, racist, out-of-control white man finally, thankfully, corrected by the rainbow alliance.

Given that Penny surrendered himself, his photographed perp walk was entirely unnecessary, conducted only for the sake of theater. But not every manufactured image works out the way they want it to.

When Bernie Goetz shot four black subway attackers in the 1980s, the left painted him as a crazed racist, but he became, much to their surprise, a local hero among New Yorkers regardless of race or politics. Liberal DA Robert Morgenthau a DNC fixture if there ever was one had to charge him twice to even get an indictment. At trial, the jury acquitted Goetz of everything besides a gun charge, for which he served eight months.

Malcolm Gladwell later identified Goetz as the tipping point between hellish 1980s New York and the pinnacle years of the 1990s. Having worked at the Manhattan DAs office under Morgenthau himself the same office where Pennys fate now lies in the hands of Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg I can say for certain that the Goetz case serves as a foundational New York myth for cops, prosecutors, and citizens alike. Even as recently as 2017, a Brooklyn DA refused to charge William J. Groomes, who shot and killed a guy on the subway, even though Groomes himself seems to have initiated the conflict. Despite being a working-class victory, the Goetz case is not seen as a Dem win.

And now this one too is blowing up in their faces. In the image, Penny looks like a superhero oppressed by a dark and grumpy empire. It has already sparked $2.4 million and counting in GiveSendGo donations, a link to which both Google and Fox News attempt to hide. Venomous headlines sought to control the damage: The Right Has Raised $2 Million For the Guy Who Choked a Homeless Man to Death. They tried different angles, upping the contrast and making it fuzzy, and making it a collage with other, darker images. They even sent in a body language expert for reinforcements.

He believes hes highly attractive. Its obvious his appearance is important to him, a body language expert told The Sun. Hes not showing fear, hes not showing shame.

None of it worked. Penny still looks like a total Chad, and everyone knows it. When I posted the image on Instagram without comment, my gayest, most progressive friend DMed me: he can choke me to death any time. Nobody is buying that this guy is an evil racist. He and his family have been incredibly smart and disciplined about staying silent so as not to fall into any rhetorical traps.

The reason the image backfired is because of a principle best articulated by Osama bin Laden: When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse. You see this same pattern replicated elsewhere in culture right now, such as in the Bud Light fiasco, as self-hating propagandists scramble to create images that arent as ugly as their souls.

Every now and then, an actual superhero appears. Theyre not super because of their physical powers, but because of their heightened image in our collective consciousness. Some criticize this mythologization, but why? Humans create demi-Gods; its just what we do. In being instantly elevated to myth status, Daniel Penny isnt like a superhero, he actually is one.

Behold the most popular movies of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. All kinds of movies, all kinds of stories, all kinds of protagonists. Then in 2000, abruptly, only one kind of movie, only one kind of story, only one kind of protagonist: the superhero.

Most people pass this off as global monoculture. Sheep love big explosions and recognizable IP, so thats what they get.

But I take a contrary view: Our love of superheroes betrays an innate populist intelligence. It reflects an overwhelming frustration at our loss of control, especially in the cities. Sheep dont turn to superheroes only for escape, but for hope too.

Western society grounds itself in the rights of the individual, yet gig-ified techno-urbanity entirely subsumes the individual into its panopticon. Work. Live. Play. All in your neat little box. We own nothing, and were not happy pillars of salt crumbling at the hands of an invincible surveillance state that packs us in like sardines.

Only an individual with great powers powers that match that of industrialized urbanity itself can save us. So Batman fights corrupt Gotham. Superman protects innocent Metropolis. Spiderman spins his web on erratic New York. Lately, we mix and match our superheroes and their cities, sampling them like our flights of local IPA.

Neelys recorded death transformed Penny into something far greater than himself: a literal urban legend. Not just because Penny chose to risk his life protecting innocents on a subway car, but because hes up against monumental forces of evil and their best weapons: the violence of the state-sanctioned drug zombie, the corruption of the Soros-funded DA, and the venom of the corporate media.

What sets superheroes apart from normal heroes? Heroes vanquish threats to innocent people. Superheroes take it a step further. They dont just vanquish the threat, they go to the source of the problem. The source is always conveniently embodied by a supervillain.

Supervillains, usually out of resentment from past wrongs, decide to take out their fury on the world by trying to conquer it. They are the final boss in a third-act showdown, the brain criminal behind the body criminals that the superhero faces in the first act. At the core of supervillain efforts always lies some half-brained moral plan about how things will be better for everyone once theyre in control, even if we cant understand it yet.

George Soros, a global citizen, never sets foot on the streets of cities he corrupts by electing ultra-liberal DAs that refuse to enforce the laws. Working-class, ordinary people have to send their children through dangerous filthy parks and subways because a random man from Hungary has decided it must be so.

Soros shares a similar backstory to the X-men supervillain Magneto, which is why Elon Musk just tweeted that Soros reminds [him] of Magneto, and that Soros wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. He hates humanity, which is something youd only say about a supervillain. Magneto turned against humanity after being thrown into a concentration camp during World War II. A Hungarian Jew, Soros is also a Holocaust survivor who helped the Nazis confiscate fellow Jews property, something he is on record saying he doesnt regret.

Even as crime rates spike and innocent people pay the price for Soros strange ideology, his true motivations remain shrouded. But they arent really mysterious at all. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one. Soros isnt like a supervillain, he literally is one. Hes driven by a genuine hatred of humanity. Thats it.

Like all fundamentally Marxist regimes, ours struggles with naturally occurring heroism. Moral flatness abhors tall trees. Historically, totalitarians solve this via blind adoration for a handful of leaders: cults of personality.

This also works in the other direction. Totalitarians form anti-personality cults toward their enemies Orwells two Minutes Hate. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a communist takeover that saw students literally imprisoning their teachers on campus, Red Guards used Big Character Posters to identify the crimes of their enemies. They were sort of text-only wanted posters put up in public places with long lists of accusations toward specific individuals. They often preceded struggle sessions.

The Daniel Penny arrest photo is an American Big Character poster. His stated crime is racist violence, but this is obvious fiction. In reality, his crime is being white, strong, and bold enough to stand up to the regimes drug-addled shock troops, on whose behalf they willingly destroy entire cities. Penny violated their ideology that protects the most vulnerable, but their real ideology is resentment, and the real protectors of the vulnerable are who they resent.

But unlike a Big Character Poster, an image speaks words of its own. In warping truth, the regime has flipped a hero into a villain. It does this a lot, and usually it works. But theres something different about Penny, just as there was something different about Goetz. They were meant to be images of fear and division, but they were transmuted into images of strength and honor.

Were naturally drawn to them, these strong horses next to weak ones. They both did something we all yearn to do a fulfillment of the hopes we pin on dreams and superheroes: First, to protect innocent people against bodily harm. Second, to stand up to an oppressive regime. And third? To look great doing it.

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Daniel Penny Is A Real-Life Superhero - The Federalist