Condemning Mob Violence By Jonah Gottschalk

https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/10/flashback-just-months-ago-democrats-blocked-a-resolution-condemning-mob-violence/

When a mob of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Thursday, leaders from both political parties universally condemned the historic act of political violence.

“To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today- you did not win,” Vice-President Mike Pence stated to the chamber shortly after the rioters were expelled from the building by police using tear gas and percussion grenades. “Violence never wins.” He was joined by the Republican senators across the board, including those who had backed plans to object to the election’s certification.

After months ignoring and justifying Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots, Democrats also condemned the Capitol violence. “This assault is just that. It shows the weakness of those who’ve had to show through violence what their message was,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed the sentiment, arguing those who using political violence should face the harshest penalties available. “Those who performed these reprehensible acts cannot be called protesters – no, these were rioters and insurrectionists, goons and thugs, domestic terrorists… they must and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The cross-party condemnations came as a welcomed move. But that very the same Congress was anything but united on the issue of mob violence remarkably recently.

This July, those same congressional Democrats killed a resolution aimed at curbing mob violence. The bill, which was spearheaded by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, came about after an unarmed Utah man was murdered by a mob of left-wing activists. At least 30 people, ranging in age from 14-77, were killed in largely left-wing riots in summer 2020.

DARK DAYS FOR AMERICA? BIG TECH WIELDS CUDGEL ON CONSERVATIVE VOICES Meira Svirsky

https://mailchi.mp/939496f7efc0/krd-news-dark-days-for-america?e=9365a7c638

https://clarionproject.org/de-platformed-conservative-voices-big-tech/

Along with the president, conservatives de-platformed in a coordinated operation

It will probably go down as the Friday Night massacre. Only it didn’t end Friday night and it won’t end for quite a while.

On Friday night, Twitter permanently banned President Trump’s account. The move was soon followed by Facebook and Instagram.

Over the weekend, scores of conservative voices – those who have never advocated for any violence – had also been de-platformed. The ones who still had a voice watched as their followers disappeared by the tens of thousands.

Entire communities were wiped off of Facebook – like the Walkaway movement, a peaceful group of “red-pilled” former Leftists, which had a half a million followers on the platform.

By Sunday morning, Big Tech had shut down Parler, a free-speech app that deigned not to censor any voices, conservatives included. In a coordinated effort, Google and Apple deleted Parler app from their stores and Amazon, whose server hosted the app, took it off-line.

Trump speech before Capitol riot not enough for impeachment charges: Jonathan Turley

https://foxbangor.com/national-news/trump-speech-before-capitol-riot-not-enough-for-impeachment-charges-turley/

Democrats are moving to remove President Trump from office after Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riot, but George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said he doesn’t believe Trump committed an impeachable offense.

‘He does not call for riots. He does not call for violence,’ law professor points out

Democrats are moving to remove President Trump from office after Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riot, but George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said he doesn’t believe Trump committed an impeachable offense.

Turley explained to “Fox & Friends Weekend” that the president’s call to protest does not constitute insurrection and that Congress must deliberate carefully on the charges to carry out the process constitutionally. Trump invited supporters to rally in Washington Jan. 6, saying it would be “wild,” and gave a speech where he said ralliers would march “peacefully” to the Capitol. During the speech, he repeated the unproven claim that the election was stolen from him.

Turley: Swift new impeachment would damage the Constitution By Jonathan Turley

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/533469-swift-second-impeachment-would-damage-the-constitution

The author Franz Kafka once wrote, “My guiding principle is this. Guilt is never to be doubted.” Democrats suddenly appear close to adopting that standard into the Constitution as they prepare for a second impeachment of President Trump. With seeking his removal for incitement, Democrats would gut not only the impeachment standard but also free speech, all in a mad rush to remove Trump just days before his term ends.

Democrats are seeking to remove Trump on the basis of his remarks to supporters before the rioting at the Capitol. Like others, I condemned those remarks as he gave them, calling them reckless and wrong. I also opposed the challenges to electoral votes in Congress. But his address does not meet the definition for incitement under the criminal code. It would be viewed as protected speech by the Supreme Court.

When I testified in the impeachment hearings of Trump and Bill Clinton, I noted that an article of impeachment does not have to be based on any clear crime but that Congress has looked to the criminal code to weigh impeachment offenses. For this controversy now, any such comparison would dispel claims of criminal incitement. Despite broad and justified condemnation of his words, Trump never actually called for violence or riots. But he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to raise their opposition to the certification of electoral votes and to back the recent challenges made by a few members of Congress. Trump told the crowd “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices be heard.”

These kinds of legal challenges have been made by Democrats in the past under the Electoral Count Act, and so Trump was pressing Republicans in Congress to join the effort on his behalf. He ended his remarks by saying a protest at the Capitol was meant to provide Republicans “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” He told the crowd, “Let us walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.” Moreover, marches are common across the country to protest actions by the government.

HEADLINES NATIONAL NEWS

FNC’s Kurtz: Many in Media Aren’t Considering ‘Free Speech Implications’ of Trump Twitter Ban https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/01/09/fncs-kurtz-many-in-media-arent-considering-free-speech-implications-of-trump-twitter-ban/
Nancy Pelosi, in ‘60 Minutes’ interview, slams Trump as ‘deranged,’ calls for ‘prosecution’ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nancy-pelosi-in-60-minutes-interview-slams-trump-as-deranged-calls-for-prosecution
Patrice Onwuka: Twitter, Facebook banning of Trump continues crackdown on conservatives — censorship dangerous https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-twitter-facebook-patrice-onwuka
Tucker Carlson: From Twitter to CNN, the left is coming for your speech https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-on-twitter-and-cnn
9 Big Tech Platforms that Have Blacklisted President Donald Trump https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/01/09/9-big-tech-platforms-that-have-blacklisted-president-donald-trump/
Why ban of @realDonaldTrump proves Twitter not ‘just a platform’ https://nypost.com/2021/01/08/why-ban-of-realdonaldtrump-proves-twitter-not-just-a-platform/
Ignoring the concerns of Trump supporters will destroy America
https://www.theblaze.com/op-ed/whitlock-ignoring-the-concerns-of-trump-supporters-will-destroy-america
WATCH: Armed Antifa Attack Trump Supporters, Cops in San Diego https://www.breitbart.com/law-and-order/2021/01/09/watch-armed-antifa-attack-trump-supporters-cops-in-san-diego/
 Liberal Reporter: ‘The New…Authoritarian Liberal-left…Is Going to be Absolutely Ruthless’ https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2021/01/09/liberal-reporter-sees-right-through-big-techs-reason-to-ban-trump-n2582855?
Thought Control by Controlling the News https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffdavidson/2021/01/09/thought-control-by-controlling-the-news-n2582854?

Rush Limbaugh Deactivates His Twitter Account After President Trump Banned https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2021/01/08/rush-limbaugh-deactivates-his-twitter-account-after-president-trump-banned/
Apple Joins Google in Blacklisting Parler https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/01/09/apple-joins-google-in-blacklisting-parler/

President Biden Should Quash Abbas’ Newest Offensive by Moshe Phillips

https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/01/08/president-biden-should-quash-abbas-newest-offensive/

In December, both Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Russian leader Vladimir Putin called for the “Quartet” to be the sponsor of future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. But why?

The Quartet was established in Madrid in 2002 and is comprised of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia. It has been irrelevant for many years — at least since May 2015, when Tony Blair officially resigned from his role as Special Envoy, and arguably long before that.

The Biden administration should abandon the Quartet as soon as possible before Abbas’ offensive sees success.

A review of the Quartet’s website is instructive on why Abbas has been so vocal lately about his support for the Quartet’s increased involvement.

The tagline included at the top of every page of the Quartet’s website is “supporting the Palestinian people to build the institutions and economy of a viable, peaceful state in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

It’s important to break down that sentence.

First, the tagline does not mention Israel at all. That, in and of itself, is decision that cannot be defended in any way. How can one claim to support peace between two sides and ignore the very existence of one side in your mission statement?

Second, Israel’s major cities and Ben Gurion International Airport would be within easy rocket range of terrorists sitting on the Palestinian side of the border of a “West Bank” state. Does anyone honestly believes that a new Palestinian government would stamp out the terrorists? Does anybody remember the Oslo Accords, which obligated the Palestinian Authority to outlaw and disarm all terrorists? Who enforced that, and who will enforce future Palestinian compliance?

The woke purge Twitter’s suspension of Donald Trump is a chilling sign of tyranny to come. Brendan O’Neill

https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/09/the-woke-purge/

Cancel culture doesn’t exist, they say. And yet with the flick of a switch, billionaire capitalists voted for by precisely nobody have just silenced a man who is still the democratically elected president of the United States. With the push of a button in their vast temples to technology, the new capitalist oligarchs of Silicon Valley have prevented a man who won the second largest vote in the history of the American republic just two months ago — 74million votes — from engaging with his supporters (and critics) in the new public square of the internet age.

Not only does cancel culture exist — it is the means through which the powerful, unaccountable oligarchies of the internet era and their clueless cheerleaders in the liberal elites interfere in the democratic process and purge voices they disapprove of. That’s what Twitter’s permanent suspension of Donald Trump confirms.

The new capitalists’ cancellation of the democratically elected president of the United States is a very significant turning point in the politics and culture of the Western world. We underestimate the significance of this act of unilateral purging at our peril. It demonstrates that the greatest threat to freedom and democracy comes not from the oafs and hard-right clowns who stormed the Capitol this week, but from the technocratic elites who spy in the breaching of the Capitol an opportunity to consolidate their cultural power and their political dominance.

Twitter’s ban on Trump is extraordinary for many reasons. First, there’s the arrogance of it. Make no mistake: this is the bosses vs democracy; corporates vs the people; exceptionally wealthy and aloof elites determining which elected politicians may engage in online discussion, which is where most political and public debate takes place in the 21st century. Those who cannot see how concerning and sinister it is that a handful of Big Tech companies have secured a virtual monopoly over the social side of the internet, and are now exploiting their monopolistic power to dictate what political opinions it is acceptable to hold and express in these forums, urgently needs a wake-up call.

MY SAY: THE ABHORIORS

I got e-mails suggesting that I was too flippant regarding the riot and break-in on January 6, 2021. Maybe they are right.

For the record I despise, detest, loathe, execrate, and revile mob violence. Even more…Je Suis the Capitol. Okay? Enough.

President Trump was denied a fair hearing of evidence- affidavits and video proof of election chicanery. The Supremes and state judges dismissed his lawsuits and allegations without even a cursory look at evidence. The faux conservative media  would not even consider what was a legitimate request for hearings and transparency but now sanctions the venal calls for impeachment. The Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and Homeland Security denied the President his well-earned day in court.

In the Senate, the Mitt Romney clones jumped off the listing Trump ship of state like rats and displayed selective outrage after turning a blind eye to the riots that destroyed and torched cities and private property in the name of racial justice.

Also abhorrent is the tolerance of the Democrat party for blatant anti-American, anti-Semitism and racism in the corridors of power. rsk

Iran, China, Promise to be the Biggest Tests of Biden’s Presidency in 2021 by Con Coughlin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16905/iran-china-policy-tests

There is eager anticipation among many of Washington’s foes that Mr Biden’s inauguration will result in the new president adopting a less confrontational tone with the outside world than his predecessor.

China’s communist rulers, for example, are hopeful that Mr Biden will engage in the kind of meaningless trade deals so beloved of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. These are the trade deals where Washington agrees to improve trade ties with Beijing on the understanding that China addresses the unfair trading relationship between the two countries, knowing full well that China’s communist rulers have absolutely no intention of fulfilling their end of the bargain.

Before making any move that he may later regret, Mr Biden needs to think long and hard about the likely implications of trying to improve relations with Tehran.

As Iran has demonstrated consistently since signing the 2015 nuclear deal with the Obama administration, Tehran’s primary objective is to become the dominant power in the Middle East — not to live in peaceful coexistence with other nations in the region.

The revelation that Hezbollah has doubled the arsenal of advanced guided missiles it keeps trained on Israel during the course of the past year is a timely reminder that Iran, together with the numerous terrorist proxies it supports throughout the Middle East, promises to present the incoming Biden administration with its most critical foreign policy challenge in 2021.

Marx, Heidegger and the Crocodile by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16933/marx-heidegger-mesbah-yazdi

Because Fardid knew no German, his knowledge of Heidegger was based on scanty reading and misreading of French or Persian translations.

Fardid’s understanding of Heidegger could be summed up in two erroneous beliefs: society’s need for order and the need for an unimpeachable leader to impose that order. He also claimed a visceral hatred of Marxism in all its many different forms

No one was allowed to join the debate and suggest, ever so modestly, that maybe it was time for Iranians to use their own heads and begin thinking themselves.

At a time that the ruling elite in Tehran were busy marking the anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Khomeinist movement lost another of its iconic figures: Ayatollah Muhammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi.

The 86-year-old cleric who changed his surname from Givehchi (sandal-maker) to Mesbah (Arabic for lamp) was alone among Khomeinist mullahs to have secured the title of “Super Scientist” (Allameh in Arabic) from the establishment. He was marketed as “the greatest living Islamic philosopher” and, as head of the Imam Khomeini Center of Studies, the custodian of Khomeini’s theologico-political heritage.