So much of the current narrative driven by the Left insists that America is some “racist, fascist state” bent on oppressing many of its citizens in perpetuity. As a result, extremist notions championed by Antifa and BLM activists has gained tremendous traction in recent months. But when compared with actual state-sponsored brutality and oppression in places like China and elsewhere, this prevailing narrative is exposed as hyperbole. In reality, so much of the social unrest and virulent activism in our nation is a product of a staggering amount of moral and cognitive dissonance. Here are eight ongoing crises occurring around the world that are truly worthy of public outcry and condemnation.
1. Despotism in Belarus
The Left assails President Trump as some “fascist” with no real evidence outside of hysterics. Alexander Lukashenko, however, is very much a dictator since taking over Belarus in 1994 and is wholly deserving of international censure.
“After he won election,” The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/belarus-protests-alexander-lukashenko-faces-democratic-uprising/">National Review</a> details, “he quickly turned Belarus — which had enjoyed democracy for a scant three years — into a personal fief. He took control of the courts, the banks, the universities, and so on. The Belarusian intelligence agency works for him, strictly. Charmingly, it is the only such agency in the post–Soviet Union to retain the old name: ‘KGB.’”
Often referred to as “the last dictator in Europe,” Lukashenko considers democracy “hare-brained” and continues to quell it at every opportunity.
Writing for <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/518121-russian-forces-are-now-in-belarus">The Hill</a>, Frederick Kagan adds: “There is no doubt that Lukashenko is a dictator. He stole the most recent election, he suppressed peaceful protesters, and expelled or imprisoned opposition leaders.”
Lukashenko’s barbarism is most evident against his own people who have risen in opposition by the thousands in legitimate protest against the dictator.
The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53773534">BBC reports</a> that detained protestors were “lying on the floor of a detention centre, piled on top of each other, in a pool of blood and excrement. They were not allowed to use the toilet for hours on end or even change position.”
2. The ongoing genocide in China
In a bold and courageous move, the Trump administration is considering a formal declaration of genocide as China’s Marxist regime continues to commit untold atrocities against the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-forces-imprisoned-uighurs-to-work-in-factories-for-apple-nike-amid-coronavirus-crisis">Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang</a>.
In a statement given to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-administration-chinas-oppression-uighur-muslims-genocide-report">Fox News</a>, the White House National Security Council presented its case in no uncertain terms:
“Beijing’s atrocities against the Uighurs include horrific acts against women including forced abortion, forced sterilization and other coercive birth control methods, state-sponsored forced labor, sexual violence including through rape in detention, compulsory home-stays by Han officials, and forced marriages…The Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities also include the largest incarceration of an ethnic minority since World War II.”
The situation remains dire and is fast beginning to echo atrocities of the past as “More than a million Uighurs are believed to be held” in concentration camps, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/trump-administration-china-genocide-uighurs-401581">Politico</a>:
“White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien has <a href="https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-security-adviser-decries-world-silence-china-camps">accused</a> China’s communist leaders of running  ‘concentration camps’ for Uighurs in Xinjiang, a northwestern province home to millions of Uighurs. A member of a United Nations human rights panel said in 2018 that China had ‘turned the Uighur autonomous region into something that resembles a massive internment camp,’ where people are held without charge and little recourse to get legal representation to be released.”
The Chinese regime continues to deny any wrongdoing as an avalanche of evidence mounts against them and as the genocide continues virtually unabated. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/china-has-built-380-internment-camps-in-xinjiang-study-finds?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1">The Guardian</a> recently reported, “China has built nearly 400 internment camps in Xinjiang region.”
Meanwhile, many on the Left including the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-hypocrisy-on-china-haunts-nbas-woke-restart">NBA</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/toto-ask-no-questions-shows-horrors-of-communist-china-lebron-james-should-take-notice">Hollywood</a> remain silent on the atrocities and continue to do the biddings of the Chinese government while accusing America of imagined crimes such as systemic racism and “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-a-closer-look-at-the-lefts-flawed-white-privilege-narrative">white privilege</a>.”
3. Slavery in parts of Africa
Far from being some pockmark of the past, slavery continues to exist in many parts of the world. It remains most prevalent in parts of Africa, with some Arab states close behind.
“Slavery was especially prevalent in Eritrea and Mauritania,” <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1333946/global-slavery-index-africa-has-the-highest-rate-of-modern-day-slavery-in-the-world/">Quartz</a> reported, “where slavery has even been, at times, an institutionalized practice. In Eritrea, for instance, the one-party state of president Isaias Afwerki has overseen a notorious national conscription service accused of drafting citizens for an indefinite period, contributing to the wave of refugees <a href="https://qz.com/1215813/photos-eritrea-and-sudan-migrants-paint-faces-white-to-protest-rwanda-deportation/">fleeing the country</a>. Workers that have claimed that they were <a href="https://qz.com/794955/eritrean-workers-are-suing-nevsun-resources-a-canadian-mining-company-for-using-them-as-forced-labor/">forced to work</a> in the nation’s first modern mine are also <a href="https://qz.com/803732/eritrean-forced-labor-workers-will-be-able-to-sue-canadas-nevsun-mining-company-in-british-columbia-court/">currently suing</a> the Vancouver-based mining company Nevsun that owns a majority stake in the mine.”
Slavery is most commonplace in Mauritania where it has yet to be abolished and where “slave status” is often “inherited.”
Globally, slavery remains a profound crisis, according to <a href="https://time.com/longform/african-slave-trade/">Time</a>, and not some “relic of history.” In fact, “there are more than three times as many people in forced servitude today as were captured and sold during the 350-year span of the transatlantic slave trade.” Slavery also continues to be a highly profitable endeavor in the underworld, “earning criminal networks $150 billion a year.”
4. The humanitarian crisis in Yemen
As a Saudi-led coalition continues to besiege Yemen due, in part, to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present)">country’s ongoing civil war</a>, a staggering humanitarian crisis has emerged:
“[S]ince the start of the year,” <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1065292">UN News</a> reports, “some 80,000 more people were forced from their homes, bringing the total displaced to almost four million; cholera continues to threaten lives with 110,000 people contracting it so far this year; and recent floods have raised the risk of malaria and dengue fever.”
Even more tragic, 85,000 children and counting have now died from starvation as the Saudi-led coalition has “strangled civilian access to food, fuel, aid and commercial goods,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/21/yemen-young-children-dead-starvation-disease-save-the-children">The Guardian</a> reported in late 2018.
5. The end of freedom in Hong Kong
Protesters in Hong Kong continue to struggle for the very freedom the Left takes for granted here in our nation under the oppressive onslaught of the Chinese regime. According to <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/hong-kong-freedom">City Journal</a>, hope remains at a premium:
“Beijing has now acted to impose a new security law on Hong Kong, turning its back on the ‘one country, two systems’ agreement to which it had committed when the former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997. Hong Kong will be subject to the same sort of draconian infringements on liberty as mainland China, following a year of street protests demanding just the opposite.”
China’s despotic will against the people of Hong Kong now means an end to “free markets and individual liberties.” The erosion of freedoms set to ensue also includes severe restrictions on “churches, synagogues, museums, charities, and independent private schools.”
The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/hong-kong-protesters-fight-for-ideals-that-built-civilization/">National Review</a> doesn’t mince words when discussing the current dire state of affairs in Hong Kong:
“China’s goal is to emphatically crush all dissent and any hint of free speech in Hong Kong. It even seeks to muzzle companies in the West that do business with China and Hong Kong. In other words, Hong Kong’s Western-style freedoms and institutions are coming to an end.”
6. The collapse of Syria
Almost a decade of civil war has decimated Syria. <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/syria?version=145">The Heritage Foundation</a> offers a brief overview of Bashar al-Assad’s inglorious rise to power as well as the consequences of the war:
“The Assad family has ruled Syria since Hafez al-Assad’s military coup in 1970. Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000 but failed to keep his promises to open the socialist economy and ease political repression. A brutal crackdown after 2011’s Arab Spring protests sparked an armed uprising against Assad that by 2012 had become a sectarian civil war between the predominantly Sunni rebels and the Alawite-dominated regime. Assad’s regime, supported by Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah, has largely defeated the fractured armed opposition. The conflict has killed more than 500,000 Syrians and driven nearly 5.5 million refugees out of the country. Syria’s economy declined by more than 70 percent from 2010 to 2017.”
While the brutal civil war is all but over, a hard and treacherous road lies ahead for the Syrian people under Bashar al-Assad including a collapsed economy and a country in ruins.
“President Bashar al-Assad, who has mostly won Syria’s civil war,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/world/middleeast/syria-economy-assad-makhlouf.html">The New York Times</a>, “now faces an acute economic crisis that has impoverished his people, brought about the collapse of the currency and fueled a rare public rift in the ruling elite.”
The authoritarian grip al-Assad relied upon to crush his opposition is proving ineffectual in the face of Syria’s economic woes now that “he cannot bomb his way out” of the crisis. Worse, “[a]n estimated 80 percent of Syrians live in poverty” only adding to the very real potential of Syria becoming a failed state.
7. The emergence of alleged concentration camps in Tibet
Tibet’s long and arduous struggle for independence from China is <a href="https://time.com/longform/dalai-lama-60-year-exile/">well-documented</a>. <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/xi-orders-increased-tibet-repression-to-fight-splittism/">The National Review</a> provides a concise summary:
“Tibet has been under this hegemonic boot since China invaded the country in 1950. But despite decades of repression, Tibetan Buddhism has not yet yielded to its own destruction, and indeed, the country continues to resist the occupiers. Now, the tyrant Xi Jinping has ordered his brutalizing forces to redouble their efforts to crush the supposed Buddhist threat…”
Now allegations have emerged that China’s Marxist regime is forcing Tibetans into concentration camps in a manner identical to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, as detailed by <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-forces-500-000-tibetans-into-labour-camps-20200922-p55xyk.html">The Sydney Morning Herald</a>:
“New evidence suggests the Chinese government now has a large-scale mandatory ‘vocational training’ program in Tibet, pushing more than 500,000 rural labourers into recently built military-style training centres in the first seven months of this year alone.”
The evidence also includes “enforced indoctrination, intrusive surveillance, and harsh punishments” against the Tibetan people.
8. Venezuela continues to implode under Socialist rule
Venezuela embodies the failures of socialism to a fatiguing degree. Corruption is legion and the economy continues to plummet with seemingly no end in sight. <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/venezuela?version=1022">The Heritage Foundation</a> reports:
“Venezuela’s modern democratic era lasted from the end of military rule in 1959 until the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, completed the destruction of democratic institutions and established a repressive authoritarian dictatorship in 2017. The deeply corrupt socialist government’s policies have caused hyperinflation and severe shortages of basic goods that have led to one of the worst economic contractions in history and Latin America’s worst migration crisis.”
Most recently, Maduro has now defined anyone with possible exposure to COVID-19 a “bioterrorist,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/world/americas/coronavirus-venezuela.html">The New York Times</a>, and is wielding his oppressive might “by deploying his repressive security apparatus” against his own people in some vain, draconian attempt to combat the novel virus.
“In commandeered hotels, disused schools and cordoned-off bus stations,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/world/americas/coronavirus-venezuela.html">The New York Times</a> reports, “Venezuelans returning home from other countries in Latin America are being forced into crowded rooms with limited food, water or masks. And they are being held under military guard for weeks or months for coronavirus tests or treatment with unproven medications, according to interviews with the detainees, videos they have taken on their cellphones and government documents.”
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KHAN: Leftists Trash America While The World Faces True Crises: 8 Examples

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In the age of Trump, headlines have become even more polarizing and, worse, the media has increasingly employed them with a deliberate intent to deceive. Many in the media are willing to present misleading or, at times, even objectively false information — while leaving out crucial counter-narrative details — to gaslight the public. Sometimes, the headlines even contradict the very content of the article. Due to our busy lives, many fail to get the full story and take the headlines for fact. Here are seven recent headlines from multiple mainstream outlets — including CNN, the Associated Press and The Washington Post — that attempted to mislead or misdirect on important issues, and always in ways that benefited leftist promoted narratives, including downplaying rioting, painting Trump&#8217;s actions as racist while lauding Democrats, and promoting leftwing talking points on &#8220;systemic racism&#8221; and the pandemic.
1. CNN: “Fiery But Mostly Peaceful Protests After Police Shootings” 
While not quite a traditional headline, CNN’s risible title for an on-air graphic amid the Kenosha protests and riots seemed better suited for The Onion or The Babylon Bee. It’s as though CNN “out-spun” itself in its obvious and vain attempt to present the mayhem which continues to this day as “mostly peaceful.”
“CNN has been mocked on Twitter,” <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/cnn-mocked-calling-kenosha-riots-fiery-mostly-peaceful-protests-1527997">Newsweek</a> reported, “for displaying a chyron that said protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin were ‘fiery but mostly peaceful’ as its correspondent on the ground reported while standing in front of burning cars.”
2. Associated Press: “Trump downplays legacy of slavery in appeal to white voters”
<a href="https://apnews.com/afdfa0b3454d5a7fdf544158ee1f5e1f">The Associated Press</a> sought to repudiate President Trump’s assertion that “America’s founding ‘set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism and built the most fair, equal and prosperous nation in human history.’”
Such a statement is apparently rife with controversy, according to The Associated Press, because “he did not mention the 246 years of slavery in America, including the 89 years it was allowed to continue after the colonies declared independence from England. Nor did the president acknowledge the ongoing fight against racial injustice and police brutality, which has prompted months of protests this year.”
According to many in the media and elsewhere, any praise or homage to our nation, even with its complex history, ought to be immediately condemned as “racist” no matter what, especially if it’s coming from Trump. This is not reporting. This is manufacturing a false narrative out of thin air.
3. Washington Post: “Coronavirus kills far more Hispanic and Black children than white youths, CDC study finds”
The headline boldly states that a disproportionate number of minority children are dying from coronavirus. <a href="blank">The article</a> even opens with an equally alarming statement to reinforce the headline: 
“The coronavirus is killing Hispanic, Black and American Indian children at a much higher number than their White peers, according to federal statistics released Thursday.” 
When such sensationalism is removed from the actual data, the supposed evidence is not only suspect, it’s statistically meaningless. Here are the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6937e4.htm?s_cid=mm6937e4_w">CDC’s findings,</a> cited in the Post’s piece: 
“Among 121 SARS-CoV-2–associated deaths among persons aged &lt;21 years reported to CDC by July 31, 2020, 12 (10%) were infants and 85 (70%) were aged 10–20 years. Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native persons accounted for 94 (78%) of these deaths; 33% of deaths occurred outside of a hospital.”
This piece attempts to present roughly .06% of reported fatalities attributed to the coronavirus as evidence of “systemic racism.” Basing such a provocative conclusion on such scarce data is nothing other than disingenuous journalism at play.
4. CNN: “Thank God for Andrew Cuomo”
In a now darkly ironic <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/opinions/thank-god-for-andrew-cuomo-filipovic/index.html">March editorial piece</a>, Jill Filipovic lionized Governor Cuomo in no uncertain terms, stating:
“In the midst of a pandemic, Americans need real leadership — and the New York governor has risen to the occasion. In the face of a feckless, reckless president spreading disinformation by the day, Cuomo has stepped up, using his platform to share accurate public health information and demand action. It makes him, disturbingly, an outlier. And it reveals how the growing right-wing cult of Trumpism is endangering all Americans.”
The fact is, Cuomo’s mishandling of the pandemic has directly lead to, at this moment, the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/">second-highest death toll among states</a>. As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/20/andrew-cuomo-new-york-coronavirus-catastrophe">The Guardian</a> reported, Cuomo was “no hero” and “should be one of the most loathed officials in America right now.” 
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/cuomo-distorts-covid-record-at-dnc">City Journal</a> states Cuomo’s abysmal pandemic record quite succinctly: 
“New York State has seen about 34,000 Covid-related deaths, out of a national total of 170,000, which means that New Yorkers have died at a rate close to four times what would be expected based on their proportion of the U.S. population. Moreover, Cuomo bears considerable responsibility for at least 6,700 deaths in care facilities, and possibly many thousands more, because of his health commissioner’s mandate in March that nursing homes admit Covid patients after being discharged from hospital. It’s widely acknowledged that this was the catalyst of the spread of Covid-19 through facilities left under-equipped to deal with the disease. When the nursing homes begged Albany for masks, Cuomo dismissively remarked that &#8216;it’s not our job&#8217; to supply private facilities with protective equipment.”
<div id="attachment_115633" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115633" class="wp-image-115633" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Andrew-Cuomo-3-300x169.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 26: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo holds his daily press briefing at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the first day that traders are allowed back onto the historic floor of the exchange on on May 26, 2020 in New York City. While only a small amount of traders will be returning at this time, those that do will have to take temperature checks and wear face masks at all times while on the floor. The Dow rose over 600 points in morning trading as investors see economic activity in America picking up" width="800" height="450" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/05/Andrew-Cuomo-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/05/Andrew-Cuomo-3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/05/Andrew-Cuomo-3-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/05/Andrew-Cuomo-3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/05/Andrew-Cuomo-3-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />Spencer Platt/Getty Images</div>
5. CNN: “Kansas City Chiefs fans booed players during a moment of unity against racism”
The intention of this title seems to indicate an attempt to malign an entire fan base solely along political lines. However, the content of the piece itself states that the intention of the booing was “unclear” and goes on to contradict the actual headline: 
“Boos, lasting about 5 to 10 seconds, could be heard from the crowd as the Chiefs linked arms and the Texans made their way to the middle of the field to join them. It&#8217;s unclear if the fans were booing the Texans for not being on the field for the National Anthem or if the boos were directed at the moment of unity. The crowd eventually applauded once the chain was formed, and the teams then broke apart to get ready for kickoff.”
In reality, fans began cheering during the climactic moment of unity. Beyond being a simple example of a sensationalized story, this is an inherently nonsensical report that appears to be fueled by political motives.
6. Bloomberg CityLab: “How Structural Racism is Linked to Higher Rates of Police Violence”
As <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-15/how-structural-racism-is-linked-to-police-violence">this particular title</a> suggests, the theory that implicit bias and racism are at the root of recent police shootings is now being presented as an assumed premise: 
“The question that typically pops up when black people are killed by police is whether racism had anything to do with it. Many studies do show that racism plays a part in causing police to <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/02/is-reverse-racism-among-police-real/513503/">pull the trigger more quickly on black suspects</a>. That’s usually because of the implicit racial biases of the individual police officer involved. Law enforcement officials often try to rule out racism by arguing that you can’t tell what’s in a officer’s heart when these killings happen.”
Such assertions remain rooted in the emotional, dogmatically assuming the novel psychological theory of implicit bias – a theory that still doesn’t hold up under critical scrutiny.  The implicit association test (IAT) used to gauge implicit bias is very much a pseudoscience, according to <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/psychologys-racism-measuring-tool-isnt-up-to-the-job.html">The Cut</a>, but one that has become so pervasive and popular, it’s readily accepted as fact:  
“A pile of scholarly work, some of it published in top psychology journals and most of it ignored by the media, suggests that the IAT falls far short of the quality-control standards normally expected of psychological instruments. The IAT, this research suggests, is a noisy, unreliable measure that correlates far too weakly with any real-world outcomes to be used to predict individuals’ behavior — even the test’s creators have now admitted as such. The history of the test suggests it was released to the public and excitedly publicized long before it had been fully validated in the rigorous, careful way normally demanded by the field of psychology. In fact, there’s a case to be made that Harvard shouldn’t be administering the test in its current form, in light of its shortcomings and its potential to mislead people about their own biases. There’s also a case to be made that the IAT went viral not for solid scientific reasons, but simply because it tells us such a simple, pat story about how racism works and can be fixed: that deep down, we’re all a little — or a lot — racist, and that if we measure and study this individual-level racism enough, progress toward equality will ensue.”
If we consider the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-in-so-many-instances-of-police-brutality-far-greater-complexities-are-at-play-than-racism">many recent white victims</a> of police brutality, it becomes nearly impossible to find a causal link between police brutality and racism. For example, Arizona officers responding to a call killed <a href="https://www.azfamily.com/news/phoenix-police-video-shows-officer-shooting-and-killing-ahwatukee-man/article_c22550a6-c6d7-11ea-a012-c7f514e61a50.html">Ryan Whitaker</a> in his home in May of 2020. His death was similar to the death of Breonna Taylor. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/08/us/salt-lake-city-police-shoot-boy-autism-trnd/index.html">Linden Cameron</a>, a 13-year-old autistic boy, was recently shot by police in Utah. Both shootings, however, have yet to receive any public outcry or protests. 
<div id="attachment_126857" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126857" class="wp-image-126857" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1253573277-1-300x200.jpg" alt="MANHATTAN, NY - JUNE 30: Protesters signs hang on the gate in City Hall Park during the Occupy City Hall protests that say, &quot;Defund NYPD&quot; and &quot;BLM&quot; with NYPD police officers in the background. Earlier in the day, one of the members of Warriors in the Garden was beaten and arrested by police. This was part of the Occupy City Hall effort which has seen protesters camping out for days until today where New York City Council is to vote on the NYPD Budget. Protesters continue taking to the streets across America and around the world after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer Derek Chauvin that was kneeling on his neck during for eight minutes, was caught on video and went viral. During his arrest as Floyd pleaded, &quot;I Can't Breathe&quot;. The protest are attempting to give a voice to the need for human rights for African American's and to stop police brutality against people of color. They are also protesting deep-seated racism in America. Many people were wearing masks and observing social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photographed in the Manhattan Borough of New York on June 30, 2020, USA. (Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)" width="800" height="533" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/GettyImages-1253573277-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/GettyImages-1253573277-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/GettyImages-1253573277-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/GettyImages-1253573277-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/GettyImages-1253573277-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images</div>
7. Nature: “Stillbirth rate rises dramatically during pandemic”
The implication of this particular headline, published by one of our most esteemed scientific journals, is that COVID-19 may now be responsible for stillborn deaths. It brings to mind <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/12/14/zika-babies-two-years/">the Zika virus</a> that lead to all sorts of grave complications for newborns. In effect, it’s the kind of fear-mongering which continues to drive the pandemic narrative. 
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02618-5">The piece</a> opens with an alarming statement: 
“A slew of studies from around the world has reported a disturbing trend: since the coronavirus pandemic started, there has been a significant rise in the proportion of pregnancies ending in stillbirths, in which babies die in the womb.”
In fact, lockdowns and inadequate healthcare resulting from COVID-19 restrictions are leading to a rise in stillborn deaths, according to the piece itself: 
 “Researchers say that in some countries, pregnant women have received less care than they need because of lockdown restrictions and disruptions to health care. As a result, complications that can lead to stillbirths were probably missed, they say.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

KHAN: 7 Misleading Headlines That Pushed Leftist Narratives

Associated Press

Bloomberg

Media Bias

Systemic racism

Washington Post

In the age of Trump, headlines have become even more polarizing and, worse, the media has increasingly employed them with a deliberate intent to deceive.

KHAN: 7 Misleading Headlines That Pushed Leftist Narratives | The Daily Wire

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“White privilege” is no longer a term isolated to the academic fringe or radical-left organizations like Black Lives Matter. Pushed by progressive politicians and the left-leaning media in an overt attempt to leverage public outrage and curry favor with the “woke” crowd, the divisive notion has become pervasive in the last few years and reached a cultural primacy in recent months. A closer look at the concept of &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; however, reveals that it&#8217;s based on fatally flawed premises, while the impact of its promotion suggests it is outright destructive, only adding to the vitriol and animosity pulling at the already strained seams of the nation.
The roots of the term
White privilege and its theoretical matrix, <a href="https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-critical-race-theory/">Critical Race Theory</a>, are not at all rooted in some careful analysis of history or complex socioeconomic factors. Instead, they originate from the nebulous postmodern constructs of the late French philosopher <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Foucault">Michel Foucault</a>. His work serves as the foundation for most of the current trends in so-called “social justice” theory among the Left, as <a href="https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-power-systemic/">New Discourses</a> explains:
&#8220;The postmodern understanding of power [and privilege] is…currently more influential than the Neo-Marxist…In fact, Social Justice is, perhaps, best thought of as a fusion of these two approaches with the postmodern understanding of power holding dominance. This understanding owes most of its formulation to a single Theorist named Michel Foucault…Foucault was instrumental in developing the idea that power (indeed, hegemony) works through society as it works through everybody, like a grid, in terms of how it defines people and groups as legitimate knowers, thus people with access to influence and power.&#8221;
It’s worth noting that Foucault was also an ardent supporter of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. His <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/007863.html">infamous essay</a> on the social unrest that lead to the revolution is suffused with naive praise for Ayatollah Khomeini as some quasi-messianic figure as well as his own confounding postmodern theorizing.
The flaws of &#8220;white privilege&#8221;
The fundamental flaw of &#8220;white privilege&#8221; is that the assertion completely fails to recognize the individual in any meaningful way, dehumanizing persons by way of superficialities and abstraction. It presents an entire group of people as monolithic and employs sweeping generalizations that have far more to do with prejudice than the very thing it seeks to redress: namely, racism.
Zaid Jilani argues against this uncritical bias in his 2019 piece for <a href="https://quillette.com/2019/05/23/what-does-teaching-white-privilege-actually-accomplish-not-what-you-might-think-or-hope/">Quillette</a>:
“When activists and academics invoke the phrase ‘white privilege,’ they typically are speaking of advantages that whites, on average, have over members of other ethnic minority groups in our society. But there is a danger that, by talking about this inequality as an all-consuming phenomenon, we will end up creating a flattened and unfair image that portrays all whites in all situations and all contexts as benefiting from unearned advantages. Indeed, it’s possible that we will cause people to confuse a structural inequality that exists on the level of group average with the circumstances of every individual within a particular racial group.”
Jilani goes on to cite a study from the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0000605">Journal of Experimental Psychology</a> that found that hammering &#8220;privileged&#8217; white people with critical race theory doesn&#8217;t help minorities; instead, it only ends up hurting poor white people.
“What the researchers found is that among social liberals — i.e., participants who had indicated that they hold liberal beliefs about social issues — reading a text about white privilege did nothing to significantly increase their sympathy toward the plight of poor blacks. But, as Cooley told me, ‘it did significantly bump down their sympathy for a…poor white person.’ (Among conservative participants, there was observed no significant change in attitudes at all.)”
Its destructive effects are becoming more evident
As we bear witness to seemingly endless civil unrest, rioting and a dogmatic shift toward intolerance, many now understand just how pernicious such flawed ideas of systemic racism and white privilege have become in our own country.
Writing for <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/threat-of-critical-race-theory">City Journal</a>, Christopher F. Rufo contends that the promotion of critical race theory has resulted in the elimination of the concept of due process and has encouraged the weaponization of &#8220;victimhood,&#8221; erupting in violence across the country:
“Under the dogma of critical race theory, the neo-Marxist Left now treats members of ‘oppressor’ groups (whites, males, Christians, Jews, conservatives) as inherently guilty by virtue of their group membership; conversely, members of victim groups are considered morally innocent. By this logic, claims of victimization by members of victim groups necessarily must be believed, while members of oppressor groups are already guilty by virtue of their group membership. This formula eliminates any need for due process, since the mere perception of victimization constitutes proof of same.
Critical race theory is fast becoming a broad cultural mainstay and is no longer confined to the ivory towers of academia. Often it’s now employed as a training protocol on a state and federal level. Worse, as Rufo points out, so much of the violence and mayhem witnessed at recent protests all across our nation draws from this decidedly “Marxist narrative” as Democrats have &#8220;embraced the ideology of the woke Left.” Rufo predicts that with &#8220;such widespread penetration of that ideology, the crisis is unlikely to fade away.”
An alternative to &#8220;antiracism&#8221;
Rather than bringing us together as a people and a nation, spurious notions like white privilege are dividing us even further apart. The likes of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-the-truth-about-the-anti-racist-movement-and-its-founder-ibram-x-kendi">Ibram X. Kendi</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/uconn-reportedly-paying-white-fragility-author-robin-diangelo-20000-to-train-administrators-in-anti-racism">Robin DiAngelo</a> remain corrosive voices contributing to this growing antipathy with their insistence on “antiracism” as some illiberal antidote to white privilege in all its various guises.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/contributor/coleman-hughes_1335">Coleman Hughes</a>, an intrepid and vital black voice, rightly opposes the onerous prescriptions found in the works of Kendi and DiAngelo that are disguised as wise or enlightened. Instead, Hughes offers a far more thoughtful approach to antiracism in his piece for <a href="https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-better-anti-racism">Persuasion</a> that dispels postmodern notions of privilege and, instead, accords with the fundamental values our nation was founded upon. Hughes insists that the only way forward for all of us is to, ultimately, move past the very idea of race itself:
&#8220;America has a long tradition of liberal anti-racism that reaches back to Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Frederick Douglass, and beyond. It is an anti-racism grounded in the idea that there is a single human race to which we all belong — and that all the ways of dividing us up, though they may be important to understand our present reality, should not be given moral weight. That is the principle that ultimately conquered slavery and Jim Crow — and it is the principle that ought to be revived today.”
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White Privilege

KHAN: A Closer Look At The Left’s Flawed ‘White Privilege’ Narrative

critical race theory

“White privilege” is no longer a term isolated to the academic fringe or radical-left organizations like Black Lives Matter. Pushed by progressive

KHAN: A Closer Look At The Left’s Flawed ‘White Privilege’ Narrative | The Daily Wire

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As the economic toll from the pandemic grows, so do the uncertainties regarding just how we plan to move forward as a nation. COVID-19 has severely slowed down many sectors of our economy while grinding others to a near halt. Worse, what should be an entirely data-driven response to a global health crisis has devolved into an opportunity for seemingly endless political maneuvering and virtue-signaling. Behind all the smoke and mirrors, the impact on the economy remains very real and may prove even more costly down the road. Below are five ways the pandemic has severely impacted our economy.
1. Small businesses continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic 
According to an initial study for the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/30/17656">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> done before the CARES Act was implemented, Covid-19 was expected to create a “major economic shock” affecting small businesses in an unprecedented manner. Almost half of all small businesses across the nation were forced to temporarily close during the pandemic. Even with subsequent federal aid, the study proved quite prescient. The CARES Act seems to have only prolonged the inevitable as various pandemic restrictions remain in place all across the nation:
“Across the full sample, 43% of businesses had temporarily closed, and nearly all of these closures were due to COVID-19. Respondents that had temporarily closed largely pointed to reductions in demand and employee health concerns as the reasons for closure, with disruptions in the supply chain being less of a factor. On average, the businesses reported having reduced their active employment by 39% since January. The decline was particularly sharp in the Mid-Atlantic region (which includes New York City), where 54% of firms were closed and employment was down by 47%. Impacts also varied across industries, with retail, arts and entertainment, personal services, food services, and hospitality businesses all reporting employment declines exceeding 50%&#8230;”
The findings of the study also indicate just how significant the duration of the lockdown could impact small businesses. If pandemic restrictions continue to stay in place, many businesses may still to go under by the end of 2020 with or without federal assistance:
“The crisis duration plays a central role in the total potential impact. For a crisis lasting 4 mo instead of 1 mo, only 47% of businesses expected to be open in December compared to 72% under the shorter duration. There is also considerable heterogeneity in how sensitive businesses are to the crisis. In-person industries like personal services or retail reported worse prospects for riding out the pandemic than professional services or other sectors with minimal need for face-to-face contact.”
And now with no further federal relief in sight, the initial CARES Act may have only temporarily halted the seismic impact the pandemic has had on small businesses. A survey done by the <a href="https://www.nfib.com/content/press-release/economy/one-in-five-small-businesses-say-they-will-have-to-close-their-doors-if-economic-conditions-dont-improve-in-next-six-months/">National Federation of Independent Business</a>reports “Most PPP borrowers (84%) have now used their entire loan, up from 71% in July,” meaning much of the initial federal aid has run out for many small businesses, leaving them in dire straits.
2. Minority-owned businesses hardest hit
Other studies suggest race also plays a major factor in how the pandemic restrictions have affected small businesses. A recent study for <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27462">The National Bureau of Economic Research</a> reports that black-owned businesses continue to be hit the hardest:
“African-American business owners were hit the hardest by COVID-19. The first estimates from April 2020 for black business owners in the United States indicate a massive drop of 41 percent in business activity. Black business owners were also disproportionately negatively affected in May and June relative to national levels with declines in business activity of 26 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Simulations indicate that the industry distribution of blacks was partly responsible, placing black business owners at greater risk of losses in business activity due to the pandemic.”
3. The consequences of massive unemployment
High unemployment numbers continue to stagger the economy and any hope for recovery as the response to the pandemic remains mired in vexing uncertainties.
Responding to the latest unemployment numbers, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-higher-than-expected-at-884000/">National Review</a> recently reported, “The week’s filings still sit well above the pre-pandemic record of 695,000 claims in a single week and the Great Recession’s high of 665,000, showing the ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, even as the virus has waned in many areas nationwide.”
Unemployment may also impact public health to a far greater degree than the current pandemic if these current jobless rates remain in place for the foreseeable future.
Writing for <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/covid-economy-jobs">City Journal</a>, Allison Schrager offered the following worrisome insights:
“Numerous studies have shown that having a job is essential, beyond the obvious need to earn money to sustain life. Unemployment harms mental health. The lack of social contact and status, of a sense of control and routine, lead to anxiety and depression. The damage can be long-lasting if unemployment goes on for many months. In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control warned that high unemployment was a public-health problem, though the CDC has been silent on the health impact of mass unemployment in recent months. A study of teenagers estimated that summer jobs lead to lower rates of crime, violent crime, incarceration, and even premature death. Historically, prolonged large-scale unemployment has led to political crisis, and even revolution.”
A 2003 study published in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1732539/">Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health</a> bolsters Schrager’s argument concluding, “Being unemployed was associated with a twofold to threefold increased relative risk of death by suicide, compared with being employed.”
4. Protests and riots
It seems reasonable to assert that the seemingly endless series of protests and riots across the nation may not have been as prolonged or destructive had the pandemic restrictions not dragged on, forcing the economy into a near standstill and causing unemployment to skyrocket. The riots have, in turn, deepened the economic woes of many communities, particularly minority communities.
Not only did the tremendous unemployment galvanize many to protest given the restlessness and free time the lockdowns afforded, in some instances, the CARES Act may have, essentially, paid individuals to take to the streets. That, at least, is what Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) surmised in a recent interview, according to the <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/08/ron-johnson-suggests-cares-act-may-funding-kenosha-instigators/5751074002/">Milwaukee Sentinal Journal</a>:
“’You can’t continue to riot for 100 days without having some sort of financial support,’ he said. ‘Possibly, some of our unemployment insurance in the CARES Act might be funding some of these people.’”
Certainly, unemployment, particularly among black Americans, seems to be a contributing factor to the ongoing protests fueling so many to take to the streets repeatedly, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/01/coronavirus-impact-black-communities-protests/">The Washington Post</a> suggests:
“In Washington, D.C., where protesters <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-braces-for-third-day-of-protests-and-clashes-over-death-of-george-floyd/2020/05/31/589471a4-a33b-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_4">set fire to American flags and a historic church</a> near the White House, the percentage of out-of-work black residents outpaces white residents <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-districts-economy-is-booming-but-many-black-washingtonians-have-been-left-out-study-finds/2020/02/10/180cfe0a-49c5-11ea-bdbf-1dfb23249293_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_4">at a rate of about 6 to 1.</a> African American households have struggled more economically than the median household nationwide, even when unemployment was at single-digit historic lows. Now, months into the novel <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/02/28/what-you-need-know-about-coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5">coronavirus</a> pandemic that has rendered 40 million people jobless, African Americans have lost jobs at higher rates in many communities.”
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/perfect-storm-coronavirus-lockdown-joblessness-fuel-longstanding-grievances-n1222546">NBC News</a> also described the huge uptick in unemployment due to nationwide lockdowns and the current protests as a “perfect storm”:
“<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/around-1-8-million-americans-lost-their-job-last-week-n1224611">With roughly 40 million </a>people <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/new-weekly-figures-show-almost-40-million-people-lost-their-n1211886">out of work</a> in the U.S, and schools and activities shut down with a preceding three months that for many meant near total lockdown of their lives in New York City and elsewhere, the protests have been able to gain incredible momentum, especially among young people.”
5. Uncertainty slowing recovery
As much as the markets have rallied quite a bit in recent weeks with <a href="https://www.merrilledge.com/article/latest-updates-stock-market-volatility">far less volatility</a> than in prior months, other sectors of the economy continue to lag under the current pandemic. A study from the <a href="https://carsey.unh.edu/COVID-19-Economic-Impact-By-State">Carson School of Public Policy</a> insists “there is no path to economic recovery that isn’t presaged by a health recovery,” arguing that we will suffer a continued protracted response:
“Even in the best of circumstances, problems will certainly linger as some industries continue to face substantial headwinds and begin the recovery process significantly weakened. Until the risks of COVID-19 decline significantly, limitations on human contact such as social distancing, and understandable reluctance by consumers to resume all normal activities, will impinge on the operations of many industries. These will be a drag on the economy more broadly. Lower employment and reduced activity in any industry have spillover into other industries as economic demand is weakened. In addition, many employers will be depleted or have ceased operations, and it will take some time to fully recover…How pronounced it will be is the critical economic question for coming months and years.”
Still, the notion of remaining at the capricious mercy of COVID-19 and political leaders doesn’t sit well for many Americans, especially after so much has been sacrificed already by way of jobs, businesses, and social unrest.
In his piece for the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-lockdowns-economy-pandemic-recession-business-shutdown-sweden-coronavirus-11598281419">Wall Street Journal</a>, Greg Ip offers a more measured approach that may safeguard the economy from further calamity after months of heavy-handed restrictions:
“Five months later, the evidence suggests lockdowns were an overly blunt and economically costly tool. They are politically difficult to keep in place for long enough to stamp out the virus. The evidence also points to alternative strategies that could slow the spread of the epidemic at much less cost. As cases flare up throughout the U.S., some experts are urging policy makers to pursue these more targeted restrictions and interventions rather than another crippling round of lockdowns.
“The experience of the past five months suggests the need for an alternative: Rather than lockdowns, using only those measures proven to maximize lives saved while minimizing economic and social disruption. Social distancing policies, for instance, can take into account widely varying risks by age. The virus is especially deadly for the elderly. Nursing homes account for 0.6% of the population but 45% of Covid fatalities, says the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a free market think tank. Better isolating those residents would have saved many lives at little economic cost, it says.”
Ip also argues that masks may be an integral part of both reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus and allowing the economy to recover in full, stating, “Masks may be the most cost-effective intervention of all.”
While it may be more of a correlative value rather than a causal one, Ip does provide evidence for the merits of masks, citing a German study:
“The German city of Jena in early April ordered residents to wear masks in public places, public transit and at work. Soon afterward, infections came to a halt. Comparing it to similar cities,<a href="https://archive.is/o/OJbDL/ftp.iza.org/dp13319.pdf"> a study for the IZA Institute of Labor Economics</a>estimated masks reduced the growth of infections by 40% to 60%. Klaus Wälde, one of the authors, said nationwide mask-wearing is helping the German economy return to normal while keeping infections low.”
Much of the current economic forecast seems clouded by endless political handwringing and politically motivated messaging. Still, while there have been severe consequences to the economy as a result of the pandemic, there remains some measured hope for recovery as we attempt to move forward — though it may be predicated on all of us, finally, coming together as a nation.
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The Consequences of Covid-19: 5 Ways It’s Impacted Our Economy

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COVID-19

Economy

As the economic toll from the pandemic grows, so do the uncertainties regarding just how we plan to move forward as a nation. COVID-19 has severely slowed

The Consequences of Covid-19: 5 Ways It’s Impacted Our Economy | The Daily Wire

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Multiple crises have converged on our country, significantly impacting all of us. The current pandemic drags on. The economy is trying to come back but is precarious and sluggish. Jobs are increasingly scarce. Many small businesses are going under. Protests and riots are literally leaving cities in flames as the divisions in our nation grow into seemingly unbridgeable chasms. The quiet despairs that hound so many on an individual level have not gone away either. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-is-america-suffering-a-mental-health-crisis-or-a-moral-crisis">Addiction and suicide</a> remain epidemics in their own right. While many are struggling to maintain optimism in this difficult moment, here are some fundamental aspects of perseverance that can deepen our resolve to move forward toward better times.
An abiding sense of faith
Some dismiss religious faith as antiquated or, worse, destructive, but the reality is the wisdom and solace faith offers, particularly in our times of need, remain immeasurable. Research done at the <a href="https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)62799-7/pdf">Mayo Clinic</a> offered the following evidence regarding the profound benefits of religious faith:
“Most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes, including greater longevity, coping skills, and health-related quality of life (even during terminal illness) and less anxiety, depression, and suicide. Several studies have shown that addressing the spiritual needs of the patient may enhance recovery from illness.”
Up until the last century, mental health was largely the domain of religion. Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression were once largely considered spiritual maladies. A study co-sponsored by <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/278730/#B2">Duke University</a> on the clinical aspects of religion in relation to health and wellbeing elaborates on this fact. Interestingly enough, the study also argues that the trend toward secular treatments may have contributed to a rise in patient abuse:
“Care for those with mental health problems in the West also had its roots within monasteries and religious communities. In 1247, the Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem was built in London on the Thames River. Originally designed to house ‘distracted people,’ this was Europe’s (and perhaps the world’s) first mental hospital. In 1547, however, St. Mary’s was torn down and replaced by Bethlehem or Bethlem Hospital. Over the years, as secular authorities took control over the institution, the hospital became famous for its inhumane treatment of the mentally ill, who were often chained, dunked in water, or beaten as necessary to control them. In later years, an admission fee (2 pence) was charged to the general public to observe the patients abusing themselves or other patients. The hospital eventually became known as ‘bedlam’ (from which comes the word used today to indicate a state of confusion and disarray).”
With the onset of psychoanalysis in the twentieth century and its tremendous bias against religion, faith took on an increasingly diminished role as a remedy toward relieving mental illnesses and mood disorders.
The schism between faith and psychiatry “was encouraged by…Sigmund Freud. After being ‘introduced’ to the neurotic and hysterical aspects of religion by the famous French neurologist Jean Charcot in the mid-1880s, Freud began to emphasize this in a widely read series of publications from 1907 through his death in 1939.”
Regardless, the beneficial aspects of faith have seen a resurgence across a broad spectrum of disciplines including healthcare, according to the <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/278730/#B2">Duke study</a>:
“Despite the negative views and opinions held by many mental health professionals, research examining religion, spirituality, and health has been rapidly expanding — and most of it is occurring outside the field of psychiatry. This research is being published in journals from a wide range of disciplines, including those in medicine, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, social work, public health, sociology, psychology, religion, spirituality, pastoral care, chaplain, population studies, and even in economics and law journals.”
Aside from empirical proof that so many demand these days to rationalize any modicum of faith, philosophy and literature have often expounded upon the imperative role faith ought to have in our fleeting, often arduous time on earth.
C.S. Lewis famously described faith as &#8220;the art of holding onto things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances.&#8221;  Maintaining faith, he said, requires continual renewal of the mind. &#8220;We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It must be fed.&#8221;
In what some consider <a href="https://thechristianreview.com/why-the-brothers-karamazov-is-the-greatest-novel-of-all-time/">the greatest novel ever written</a> as well as the grand summation of his own religious journey, the Russian novelist and philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky insists on the imperative role of faith in “The Brothers Karamazov”:
“Much on earth is concealed from us, but in place of it we have been granted a secret, mysterious sense of our living bond with the other world, with the higher heavenly world, and the roots of our thoughts and feelings are not here but in other worlds. That is why philosophers say it is impossible on earth to conceive the essence of things. God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on this earth, and raised up his garden; and everything that could sprout sprouted, but it lives and grows only through its sense of being in touch with other mysterious worlds; if this sense is weakened or destroyed in you, that which has grown up in you dies. Then you become indifferent to life, and even come to hate it.”
Fortitude shields us against many hardships
“Patience and fortitude conquer all things,” Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said. In many respects, fortitude is, at root, the art of suffering well. One imagines Sisyphus laboring up the mountain for all eternity not as punishment from the gods but as a fundamental source of meaning and purpose.
Even the French philosopher Albert Camus, with all his bleak and myopic exhortations on life as inherently “absurd,” could not help but find meaning in suffering. In “<a href="https://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil360/16.%20Myth%20of%20Sisyphus.pdf">The Myth of Sisyphus</a>,” Camus wrote:
“But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well…Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
A <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331603591_Development_and_Validation_of_a_Measure_of_Spiritual_Fortitude">recent study</a> published in association with the American Psychological Association defines fortitude as “a character trait enabling people to endure and make redemptive meaning from adversity through their sacred connections with God, others, and themselves.”
Jamie Aten, one of the authors of the study, elaborates on fortitude as a decidedly religious trait in a piece for <a href="https://religionnews.com/2019/12/09/the-new-science-of-spiritual-fortitude-the-key-to-enduring-faith/">Religion News Service</a>:
“Though new to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hope-resilience/201901/resilience-and-spiritual-fortitude">empirical psychological science</a>, fortitude is not a new concept. The church has long taught fortitude as the virtue of adversity and named it as one of the biblical fruits of the spirit, in the phrase Paul uses in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A22-25&amp;version=NRSV">Galatians</a>. Thomas Aquinas <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14663b.htm">defined</a> fortitude as an act of ‘brave endurance.’ Within the Christian tradition, fortitude is commonly associated with pursuing good in the face of fear and hardship, which we also found evidence of. Spiritual fortitude also…allowed the sufferer to think of others. ‘Spiritual fortitude may foster right actions on the behalf of others for the greater good and not personal gain despite adversity,’ he wrote. Fortitude has also been characterized as ‘<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BeUsAAAAYAAJ&amp;pg=PA113&amp;lpg=PA113&amp;dq=locke+fortitude+guard+and+support+of+the+other+virtues+source&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=R9FrIj9leZ&amp;sig=ACfU3U1XAkBC_-n7njzuO8e7hSi5ZR-txw&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwif18iWm7_lAhUBWa0KHZmUAEoQ6AEwBXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=locke%20fortitude%20guard%20and%20support%20of%20the%20other%20virtues%20source&amp;f=false">the guard and support of the other virtues.</a>’ Our findings support this characterization of spiritual fortitude as a ‘guard.’ Results indicated spiritual fortitude may not only help protect character strengths but may actually provide practices for making use of one’s suffering.”
Perhaps the most eloquent and profound insights on fortitude, particularly in relation to suffering, reside in Viktor Frankl’s masterful work, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Frankl recounts the unimaginable horrors he endured in the Holocaust:
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts, comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Though often difficult or even impossible to recognize at times, Frankl insists throughout his work that meaning is inherent to suffering and, together, fortify our spiritual existence, allowing us to transcend any hardship:
“If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an eradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete. I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost…It is this spiritual freedom — which cannot be taken away — that makes life meaningful and purposeful.”
Morality and sacrifice
Morality offers us a compass to help us navigate through all the darkness and fog inside and outside ourselves. It gently tasks us with the responsibility to rise to any occasion rather than succumb to it. It shapes our character into who we are and, more importantly, who we ought to be, particularly, in relation to the many hardships we endure as individuals and as a society.  “Character is destiny,” as Heraclitus said.
In a recent essay on what makes people resilient in the face of hardships, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/health/resilience-relationships-trauma.html">The New York Times</a> offered the following insights on morality and selflessness:
“Interviews with large numbers of highly resilient individuals — those who have experienced a great deal of adversity and have come through it successfully — show they share the following characteristics:
<ul>
<li>They have a moral compass. Highly resilient people have a solid sense of what they consider right and wrong, and it tends to guide their decisions.</li>
<li>They have a belief in something greater than themselves. This is often found through religious or spiritual practices. The community support that comes from being part of a religion also enhances resilience.</li>
<li>They are altruistic; they have a concern for others and a degree of selflessness. They are often dedicated to causes they find meaningful and that give them a sense of purpose.”</li>
</ul>
In his seminal work, “The Varieties of Religious Experience,” William James argued that when morality is shaped by religious faith, selflessness and sacrifice reach their highest potential:
“When all is said and done, we are in the end absolutely dependent on the universe; and into sacrifices and surrenders of some sort, deliberately looked at and accepted, we are drawn and pressed as into our only permanent positions of repose. Now in those states of mind which fall short of religion, the surrender is submitted to as an imposition of necessity, and the sacrifice is undergone at the very best without complaint. In the religious life, on the contrary, surrender and sacrifice are positively espoused: even unnecessary givings-up are added in order that the happiness may increase. Religion thus makes easy and felicitous what in any case is necessary.”
Though theories on morality and social contracts abound in much of philosophy and the social sciences — from Thomas Hobbes’ “Leviathan” to John Rawl’s “Theory of Justice — morality need not be some obtuse and vexing endeavor.
In fact, one could argue that the highest forms of morality and character are often the simplest. <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/goldrule/">The Golden Rule</a>, a maxim evident in all the major religious traditions, immediately comes to mind. Character, then, becomes the lifelong pursuit of moral refinement in the truest sense of the word.
The current crises remind us that we are a nation that is built upon our ability to persevere, to endure, with faith and purpose. Once again, we are simply tasked to fulfill our obligations to ourselves and, more importantly, to each other.
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KHAN: Perseverance In Crisis: Insights From Famous Thinkers On How To Handle Trying Times

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If her record is any indication, the pursuit of power and the need for victory compel Kamala Harris far more than principle and the good of the American people. Though Machiavellianism is rampant throughout much of politics, Harris seems to embody the trait. Here are five examples that demonstrate Harris’ divisive political record and the moral ambiguity that seems to define her.
1. She “turned a blind eye” to alleged victims of child abuse by clergy
Harris has often tried to position herself as some tireless advocate for victims of sexual abuse. In a statement to <a href="https://apnews.com/ecc0da5f6ac94b13be11e2a388967a85">The Associated Press</a>, she claimed to be “a staunch advocate on behalf of sexual assault victims, especially child sexual assault victims” who has “used her position as District Attorney to create the first unit focused on child sexual assault cases in the office’s history.”
Her reputation right out of law school and onward was defined by her role in combating sexual abuse:
“Fighting on behalf of victims of sexual abuse, particularly children, has been central to Harris’s political identity for the better part of three decades,” according to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/09/kamala-harris-san-francisco-catholic-church-child-abuse/">The Intercept</a>. “Harris specialized in prosecuting sex crimes and child exploitation as a young prosecutor just out of law school. She later touted her record on child sexual abuse cases and prosecuting pedophiles in<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH18NlAKLMA"> television advertisements</a>, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-tm-kamala-20190121-story.html">splashy profiles</a>, and on the trail as she campaigned for public office.”
Unfortunately, her record on clergy abuse as the district attorney of San Francisco offers an entirely different story. Her political aspirations compelled her into silence even in the face of so much evidence of sexual abuse, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/09/kamala-harris-san-francisco-catholic-church-child-abuse/">The Intercept</a>reported:
“But when it came to taking on the Catholic Church, survivors of clergy sexual abuse say that Harris turned a blind eye, refusing to take action against clergy members accused of sexually abusing children when it meant confronting one of the city’s most powerful political institutions. In her seven years as district attorney, Harris’s office did not proactively assist in civil cases against clergy sex abuse and ignored requests by activists and survivors to access the cache of investigative files that could have helped them secure justice, according to several victims of clergy sex abuse living in California who spoke to The Intercept.”
According to those accounts, Harris turned her back on the very people she built her political identity upon and swore to protect as district attorney. Her response to alleged clergy sexual abuse remain a sizable pockmark on her record.
2. Her role in the wrongful conviction of Jamal Trulove
Harris also refused to risk her record as district attorney of San Francisco in the wrongful conviction of Jamal Trulove. Trulove was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Seu Kuka in 2010, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/705019611/san-francisco-to-pay-13-1-million-to-man-framed-by-police-for-murder">NPR</a>:
“Police arrested Trulove for the 2007 murder of his friend Seu Kuka, who was shot in a public housing project in San Francisco. Trulove was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.”
<a href="https://theappeal.org/san-francisco-is-paying-for-jamal-truloves-wrongful-conviction-will-kamala-harris/">The Appeal</a> didn’t mince words when it implicated Harris for “prosecutorial misconduct” and “odious tactics” in Trulove’s conviction:
<blockquote>But Trulove’s unlawful prosecution stands out for its immediate political implications at both the local and national level…And now Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign ‘<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/08/kamala-harris-prosecutor-south-carolina-1358153">leans into</a>’ her record as a prosecutor despite the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html">criticism</a> that she <a href="https://t.co/Ct9pwODwV1">allowed police and prosecutorial misconduct to flourish</a> when she later served as California attorney general.
But witness testimony, trial exhibits, judicial opinions, and the allegations in Trulove’s complaint show that witness manipulation did not stop with the police. These documents show that both police and prosecutors, including those at the highest levels of the DA’s office, deployed odious tactics&#8230;
…Harris cannot escape her past as San Francisco DA and California attorney general, which includes wrongful convictions like Trulove’s and <a href="https://ocweekly.com/kamala-harris-president-campaign/">inaction</a> in other cases of law enforcement misconduct, including an informant scandal that consumed the Orange County DA’s office and its sheriff’s department.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8xwkab/jamal-trulove-wants-kamala-harris-to-talk-about-his-wrongful-conviction">Vice</a> described a brief, chilling encounter between Trulove and Harris during his initial sentencing. Trulove recalls Harris giving him a celebratory “smirk” that calls to mind the character, Javert, from “Les Míserables” after he was wrongfully convicted and given 50 years to life:
“According to Trulove, Harris was present at the hearings announcing both the verdict and the sentencing in his case. She even briefly locked eyes with him at one of the proceedings, offering what seemed like a ‘smirk,’ he said. ‘She wanted to be present for a celebration of a conviction,’ Trulove said. ‘That&#8217;s what it felt like—a celebration.’”
Trulove was finally acquitted in 2015 after an arduous legal battle that pitted him against the inaction and malfeasance of Harris.
3. Her massive flip-flop on marijuana
Though once diametrically opposed to state and federal legalization of marijuana, Harris is now advocating for it, according to <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/12/marijuana/where-does-kamala-harris-stand-marijuana/">The Boston Globe</a>:
“Though she coauthored an official voter guide argument opposing a California cannabis legalization measure as a prosecutor in 2010 and laughed in the face of a reporter who asked her about the issue in 2014, she went on to sponsor legislation to federally deschedule marijuana in 2019.”
As attorney general of California, Harris was adamantly against any kind of drug reform including for marijuana.
“As the state attorney general,” <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/kamala-harris-marijuana-policy-tulsi-gabbard-debates-866102/">Rolling Stone</a> reported, “Harris adopted what could probably be summarized as a pretty standard law enforcement stance on drugs: That they’re illegal, and the government is entitled to prosecute anyone charged with drug-related crimes, including low-level offenders. In 2010, she opposed <a href="https://capitolweekly.net/leading-democrats-opposed-to-prop-19/">Proposition 19</a>, a state initiative to legalize and tax marijuana for adults over 21, calling it a ‘flawed public policy.’”
In fact, in an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170915162935/http:/www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2011/10/21/kamala-harris-reacts-to-feds-marijuana-blitz/">archived statement from 2011</a> she fully supported federal crackdowns on marijuana:
“We should all be troubled, however, by the proliferation of gangs and criminal enterprises that seek to exploit this law by illegally cultivating and trafficking marijuana…I urge the federal authorities in the state to adhere to the United States Department of Justice’s stated policy and focus their enforcement efforts on ‘significant traffickers of illegal drugs.’”
By 2017, her position on marijuana had done a complete reversal now that it was no longer politically expedient to hold to her previous views. <a href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article150834332.html">The Charlotte Observer</a> reported:
“Sen. Kamala Harris of California used the year’s first big 2020 presidential spotlight Tuesday to rail against Trump administration drug policies and call for easing laws governing marijuana. Her duplicity is all the more audacious when she attempted to <a href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article150834332.html">scold Jeff Sessions</a> over marijuana laws in 2017: ‘Let me tell you what California needs, Jeff Sessions. We need support in dealing with transnational criminal organizations and dealing with human trafficking – not in going after grandma’s medicinal marijuana,’ she said, referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/kamala-harris-marijuana-policy-tulsi-gabbard-debates-866102/">Rolling Stone</a> added:
“In 2018, Harris came out in earnest as a proponent for federal legalization, <a href="https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-cosponsors-landmark-bill-to-end-federal-prohibition-of-marijuana">adding her name to Sen. Cory Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act; that</a> same year, she also partnered with Sen. Orrin Hatch to lobby Sessions to<a href="https://www.marijuanamoment.net/senators-press-sessions-to-stop-blocking-marijuana-research/"> fix roadblocks that are currently in the way</a> of marijuana research. In her book The Truths We Tell, which was released earlier this year, she advocated for federal legalization and expungement…”
What’s most astonishing about her sudden championing of marijuana legalization is that “at least 1,560 people were sent to state prisons for marijuana-related offenses between 2011 and 2016” in California while Harris was the state attorney general, as detailed by <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/kamala-harris-packed-california-prisons-for-peddling-pot/">The Washington Free Beacon</a>.
4. Her false promotion of Prop 47 — and its fallout
Much of the current bedlam and degeneracy, including the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-addiction-fuels-homelessness-crisis-not-lack-sharif-khan">addiction epidemic</a> and rampant homelessness affecting cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, is connected to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_California_Proposition_47">Proposition 47</a>.
As California’s attorney general, Kamala Harris wrote the misleading ballot summary and title for Prop 47, referring to it as, “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2018/08/15/san-franciscos-decline-could-hurt-kamala-harris-presidential-ambitions/">The Orange County Register</a> provides come context:
“While many of us in California are well aware that the soft-on-crime policies that Harris helped pass while serving as the district attorney of San Francisco and California attorney general directly contributed to the complete breakdown of one of America’s most beautiful cities, people outside of California are just finding out. As California’s attorney general, Harris was responsible for coming up with the official title and summary, or the 100-word summary that helps inform voters about the impact of ballot measures that they will be voting on. Time and time again Harris was accused of misleading or tricking voters into approving soft-on-crime policies that they have historically been leery of backing. In 2014, California voters approved Prop. 47, which reduced drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. But the ballot summary crafted by Harris said not a word to voters that the initiative would also mean a drastic reduction in the number of DNA samples being collected for analysis.”
The measure continues to have a deleterious effect on California, contributing to an ever-increasing amount of moral and structural decay.
“California’s Proposition 47 downgraded a variety of ‘non-serious, nonviolent crimes’ that had previously been considered felonies to misdemeanors,” The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/01/californias-proposition-47-crime-and-no-consequences/">National Review</a> reported. “These include shoplifting, grand theft, receiving stolen property, forgery, fraud, and writing bad checks. As long as the total value of the stolen property is under $950, only a ghost of an offense has occurred. A thief may now steal something under that limit on a daily basis and it will never rise to felony status.
In the event that a perpetrator is pursued and apprehended, the consequence can be a small fine or a brief stay in jail. In reality, these repercussions are rare. In addition, DNA samples aren’t collected from misdemeanor offenders. Thus the DNA database has shrunk, making it more difficult for law-enforcement agencies to solve cold cases, including those involving rape and murder.”
5. Her monumental pivot on Biden
While Harris did not explicitly call Joe Biden a “racist” in the 2020 Democratic presidential debates, she strongly inferred that he supported racist policies based on his record and comments.
“The most dramatic moment of the evening,” <a href="https://time.com/5616518/2020-democratic-debate-night-2-transcript/">Time</a> reported, “was arguably when Harris confronted Biden about his opposition to a busing plan to integrate segregated schools, noting that the issue impacted her personally as a child.”
Harris spoke directly to Biden when she said, “But, I also believe — and it’s personal. And I was actually very — it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on segregation of race in this country. And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bussed to school every day and that little girl was me. So, I will tell you that on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among democrats.”
Harris also fully supported the many women who have accused Biden of inappropriate physical contact.
“Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that she believes women who say they felt uncomfortable after receiving unwanted touching from former Vice President Joe Biden,” <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/437107-harris-i-believe-biden-accusers">The Hill</a> reported.
“I believe them and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it,” Harris declared during a rally in Nevada.
Now that Harris is Biden’s vice-presidential running mate, those pointed criticisms toward him have all but fallen by the wayside.
<a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/kamala-harris-criticisms-joe-biden-democrats-media-downplay-conflict/">The National Review</a> puts it quite succinctly when summarizing Harris’ aspirations amid so much pivoting and political maneuvering:
“[H]er willingness to join Biden’s ticket after insinuating that he was a segregationist guilty of inappropriately touching women reveals that she cares far less about principle than about gaining power.”
Far from being some emboldened maverick many on the Left believe her to be, Kamala Harris seems to be yet another entrenched politician driven by personal gain, moral ambiguities, and an overarching desire to one day be president.
More members-only content: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shapiro-democrats-push-charges-of-racism-for-purposes-of-convenience">SHAPIRO: Democrats Push Charges of Racism for Purposes of Convenience</a>
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KHAN: 5 Ways Kamala Harris Showed She Cares More About Political Power Than Principle

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Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

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If her record is any indication, the pursuit of power and the need for victory compel Kamala Harris far more than principle and the good of the American

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Far from being some ennobling act of atonement, the violence and chaos evident in the wave of riots across our nation seem compelled more by vitriol and radicalism than anything else. The brazen destruction of many of our nation’s monuments, attacks on local businesses and individuals who don’t kowtow to the movement, and growing enmity toward our history and values eerily echo some of the extremism found in the near and distant past around the world. Though we’re still nowhere near the levels of such extremism, these four examples serve as a stark reminder for us as Americans bear witness to the misguided and, at times, violent antipathy toward our country.
1. The Cultural Revolution
In some respects, the current protests bear the closest relationship to Mao and his Cultural Revolution. Mao’s infamous Red Guard was primarily made up of young adults as well. According to the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/05/cultural-revolution-china-campus/">National Review</a>:
“These kids were told to stop trusting their parents and teachers, and to seek out secret capitalists everywhere. “ 
The Marxist ideology that informed Mao and his cohorts is an inherent aspect of Black Lives Matters as an organization and is a <a href="https://nypost.com/article/what-is-antifa-and-why-does-trump-want-to-label-it-a-terror-group/">prominent ideology</a> among <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(United_States)">Antifa</a> as well.
Marxism has also been a mainstay in academia for decades in the form of <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-theory/">Critical Theory</a> where so many young men and women have been <a href="https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/religion-slavery-black-lives-matter/black-lives-matter-blm-melina-abdullah-hebab-ferrag-interview">radicalized by their professors</a>.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/11/the-cultural-revolution-50-years-on-all-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-political-convulsion">The Guardian</a> recounts the marauding wave of the Cultural Revolution as it sought to lay waste to religious institutions, traditions, and values opposed to its Marxist ends:
“Schools and universities were closed and churches, shrines, libraries, shops and private homes ransacked or destroyed as the assault on…traditions began.”
The founding members of BLM openly claim to be <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/25/blm-co-founder-describes-herself-as-trained-marxist/">Marxist in thought</a> and also insist on rendering traditional values obsolete.
On the official <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=c5a814ac07132361d5db4fc3cac8f472c243d42f-1597465098-0-ATGVx9Vg6pkPHbEJM2pMbh_VRt-3VquqfRexvjd1tjRC2QZYguzGLCOTDxVvnMeWQ5qMouUrMHrIpOAi2kWrASviPrHGUC5NTILzJ2e0lNkeM_nWgoZs4R20s7kJ2dYpQT8HhJqA21M3JxnVDomNwjF-tQgW_aSa9eZTFgZhm6irp10xrzUscDg1FPv9RInGZdoVZzop9XbN8XgXsUV589mjvB9WkBWrgU4Nm3hngm5WJKA-Dm7rBAHXCTy0VG0omPVN1jpvADM1FNRrcYNWUSPMAvvU_Fcmw-R3WWLfEAiDC0iHkGbioViEb0HNT31jEVjcpKkzsEjTzw_Wg__m1gVwm1qBymlLmjwysRcjAkNn">website</a>, BLM activists openly refer to one another as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrade#Russian_and_Soviet_usage">“comrade”</a> as they list their radical demands, including the dissolution of the traditional family structure as much of the world has come to know it:
“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”
One can’t help but hear the echoes of the Cultural Revolution when so many of these current protests rail against capitalism, faith, and tradition. <a href="http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/cup/sixteen_points.pdf">The initial demands</a> of the Cultural Revolution resonate with eerie relevance:
“Our objective is to struggle against and crush those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road&#8230; so as to facilitate the consolidation and development of the socialist system.”
Angela Davis, a famous activist, a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/women-on-fbis-most-wanted-list/3/">former fugitive</a> and now a professor at University of California, Santa Cruz, made a similar proclamation just weeks ago. According to <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/06/19/angela-davis-protests-anti-racism">WBUR</a>, Boston’s NPR station, Davis said, “There is no capitalism without racism.” She also insisted that law enforcement and correctional facilities are “the most dramatic expression of structural racism.”
Davis was also a <a href="https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2018/12/angela-davis">Vice Presidential candidate</a> for the Communist Party USA. In 2019, she wrote a letter for <a href="https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/angela-davis-praises-cpusa-for-its-history-of-militant-struggle/">People’s World</a>, a socialist website, in which she subtly advocates for violence in the name of socialism:
“Dear Comrades, I join you in celebrating the Communist Party USA and its one-hundred-year history of militant struggles for working-class democracy, for racial, gender and environmental justice, and for socialism, which is the only viable future for our country and the planet…”
While we are not close to the extremity of Mao’s violent revolution, the current protests do signal an increasing cause for concern amid the growing exhortations against America from the likes of Antifa, BLM and popular activists such as Angela Davis and Shaun King.
2. The French Revolution
The zealotry that fueled the infamous <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Reign-of-Terror">Reign of Terror</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution">French Revolution</a> has some definite resonance with the ongoing protests here in America. The virulent attack on religion, in particular, in the form of dechristianization was particularly alarming and should give all of us pause. <a href="https://www.iwp.edu/articles/2018/01/12/the-dechristianization-of-france-during-the-french-revolution/">The Institute of World Politics</a> provides some context:
“The program of dechristianization waged against the Christian people of France increased in intensity with the enactment of the Law of 17 September 1793, also known as the Law of Suspects. It was used to carry out more actively the following measures: 1) all priests and all persons protecting them are liable to death on the spot, 2 )the destruction of all crosses, bells and other external signs of worship, 3) the destruction of statues, plaques, and iconography from places of worship.”
One can’t help but find similarities in some of the rhetoric being thrown around today. The popular radical activist Shaun King recently demanded that all Christian iconography he deems “racist” be immediately taken down and destroyed. King<a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1275113067555303424">tweeted out</a>:
“All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down. They are a gross form white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down.”=
In a compelling piece for the <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/12/08/is-america-on-the-brink-of-civil-war-more-like-a-coming-reign-of-terror/">Dallas Morning News</a> in 2019, Joshua Whitfield also drew parallels from The Reign of Terror amid the ongoing hostile political climate in our nation. His comparative analysis is quite prescient considering it was written months before the current wave of nationwide protests and riots:
“Whereas in America…relatively strong political structures created public spaces ‘where freedom could appear,’ in France the ruling elite instead pandered to the impoverished masses. Instead of freedom, vague ‘happiness’ was made the goal of the revolution in France; instead of the good of the Republic, now the revolution served the shifting good of the ‘people.’ It was a sort of populism built upon promises of the political class, which in time, unsurprisingly, gave rise to little more than mob chaos, a reign of terror, the unfortunate masses having become enraged that happiness never came. Because they were merely the pandered empty words of the elite.”
While Whitfield offered criticism toward the president as well, he saved his most exacting words for the Left:
“I ask myself if these aren’t our modern-day sansculottes who in their angst would rather eliminate elements of our citizenry than understand them…when I hear progressive politicians push their plainly false tolerance, their thinly veiled hatred of traditional moralities and politics unlike their own, unlike whatever is the current creed of the zeitgeist. The left has their mobs too, and they would unleash terror as well.”
3. Year Zero
The violent takeover of Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields">the genocide</a> that followed was compelled by an overarching desire to “start over” and erase all vestiges of the past, cultural and otherwise. According to the <a href="https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/rise-and-fall-khmer-rouge-regime">Asia Pacific Curriculum</a>:
“Their idea was to wipe the slate of society clean so they could start over in building a new society at ‘year zero.’”
The particular brand of extremism embodied by the Khmer Rouge aimed to destroy all vestiges of religion, tradition, and commerce in the region as detailed by the <a href="https://www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian-history/khmer-rouge-history/">Cambodia Tribunal Monitor</a>:
“The Khmer Rouge also began to implement their radical Maoist and Marxist-Leninist transformation program at this time. They wanted to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society in which there were no rich people, no poor people, and no exploitation. To accomplish this, they abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture. Public schools, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps and granaries. There was no public or private transportation, no private property…”
It’s worth noting that a corrosive sense of distrust became widespread during the Khmer Rouge’s reign as well. Allegiance was demanded and dissent was summarily punished. The <a href="https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/rise-and-fall-khmer-rouge-regime">Asia Pacific Curriculum</a> elaborates further:
“The degree of distrust within Democratic Kampuchea became all-pervasive as more traitors were ‘discovered’ and increasing numbers of real or alleged associates were identified in forced confessions.”
These sorts of “discoveries” on the part of the Khmer Rouge seem to have small but compelling parallels with the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-the-ghost-of-emmett-till-and-the-inherent-dangers-of-believewomen">exhausting witch-hunts online</a> that occur at the hands of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-cancel-culture-is-now-invading-the-american-workplace">cancel culture</a>. So many are now forced to recant or profusely apologize for past indiscretions or risk outright ruin at the hands of online mobs.
Even worse, BLM and the NAACP are beginning to socially enforce the idea that many need to apologize for their very existence. Such a demand is fraught with extremist overtones as evidenced by the site, <a href="https://itakeresponsibility.org/about">I Take Responsibility</a>:
“This begins with white men and women taking responsibility for their personal role in eradicating racism in America — taking a stand and committing to change. It is not enough to not be racist. We must be anti-racism. That’s humanity.”
Essentially, many must actively prove their allegiance and worth or risk being ostracized by the “woke” mobs for their perceived privilege. This “soft” totalitarianism is becoming increasingly prevalent.
4. Razing the Past
While the current protests in our nation are not at all comparable to the brutality and terrorism that ISIS meted out across much of the Muslim world, there is still one unsettling connection to be drawn. ISIS attempted to raze all evidence of a rich, complex past when they occupied places like the Syrian city of Palmyra. They wanted no evidence of history or civilization beyond their barbaric scope. According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/20/isis-destroys-tetrapylon-monument-palmyra-syria">The Guardian</a>:
“Militants rampaged through the city’s museums and ruins, blowing up the 2,000-year-old towering Temple of Bel and the Arch of Victory along with other priceless artefacts.”
Now countless monuments, buildings, and businesses have been destroyed by the fanatical mobs rampaging our city streets. If and when the dust finally settles, the devastation may prove to be the <a href="https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2020/06/02/297361.htm">costliest ever on record</a>.
Many on the Left are so selective in their assessment of all the continued destruction that it almost leans toward parody. Writing for that bastion of progressive thought <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/06/all-the-monuments-to-racism-that-have-been-torched-occupied-or-removed/">Mother Jones</a>, Camille Squires recently wrote:
“For all the handwringing over the ‘senseless’ property destruction that has accompanied the past week of protest, a number of the damaged sites have a perfectly sensible connection to the protesters’ chief grievance: anti-Black racism. Throughout the United States, protesters have burned buildings and toppled statues that have stood for years as overt reminders of the country’s history of chattel slavery, racial apartheid, and the war fought to uphold it.” 
Implying that somehow the wanton destruction is “sensible” provided their overarching aims are met seems to be exactly the kind of rationalizing extremists offer when condoning such violence.
ISIS also granted no quarter to beliefs or views it deemed contrary to its own. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/29/world/middleeast/isis-historic-sites-control.html">The New York Times</a> reported that the need to purge all evidence of such beliefs compelled ISIS toward its own reign of terror:
“The Islamic State has said that the historical objects and sites it destroyed were heresy to its ideology, which is rooted in Wahhabism. In Palmyra, for example, the group blew up two historic tombs, one of a Shiite saint and another of a Sufi scholar, because it considers them to be forms of idolatry.”
The comparison between the likes of ISIS and the aims of the current protests is all the more compelling when progressive extremists like Shaun King call for the destruction of religious iconography. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/church-fire-florida-california-statue-burned-police-investigation">A number of churches</a> have already been vandalized and burned across the country in possible relation to the current outrage. And, lest we forget, some on the Left even celebrated the <a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/04/16/39928495/counterpoint-its-okay-to-cry-over-the-burning-of-that-old-ass-building">burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral</a>.
Again, radical activists in America are not “ISIS-lite.” The point is that their war on our country’s history is based on similar, deeply flawed views about culture that is a slippery slope toward the erasure of the past.
***
Similar to the examples provided above, the abolishment of the very idea of America seems to be the aim of much of the radical-left outrage and chaos. It no longer seems like just some misguided attempt at absolution for past injustices. A violent desire to completely supplant our nation from the philosophical, religious, and historical roots that hold us together informs many of these protests.
Writing for the National Review, Victor Davis Hanson, a Senior Fellow at the <a href="https://www.hoover.org/">Hoover Institution</a>, perhaps best summarizes our current ordeal <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/cultural-revolutions-start-year-zero/">in a recent piece</a> on the protests and riots:
“Every cultural revolution starts at year zero, whether explicitly or implicitly. The French Revolution recalibrated the calendar to begin anew, and the genocidal Pol Pot declared his own Cambodian revolutionary ascension as the beginning of time. Somewhere after May 25, 2020, the death of George Floyd, while in police custody, sparked demonstrations, protests, and riots. And they in turn ushered in a new revolutionary moment. Or at least we were told that — in part by Black Lives Matter, in part by Antifa, in part by terrified enablers in the corporate world, the new Democratic Party, the military, the universities, and the media.”
More from Sharif Khan: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-the-truth-about-the-anti-racist-movement-and-its-founder-ibram-x-kendi">The Truth About The ‘Anti-Racist’ Movement And Its Founder, Ibram X. Kendi</a>
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Minnesota community members mourned, protested and looted in reaction to George Floyd dying in police custody

KHAN: Violent Riots Have Echoes of Past Extremism: 4 Examples

Marxism

Riots

Far from being some ennobling act of atonement, the violence and chaos evident in the wave of riots across our nation seem compelled more by vitriol and

KHAN: Violent Riots Have Echoes of Past Extremism: 4 Examples | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-violent-riots-have-echoes-of-past-extremism-4-examples/

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On the heels of his 2019 best-selling book, “How To Be An Antiracist,” the meteoric rise in popularity of Ibram X. Kendi has still not reached its apex, particularly in the current, racially charged political climate. Kendi seems everywhere at the moment, appearing with Oprah, on The Late Show, as well as in a slew of interviews and profile pieces in various publications. Kendi is also a CBS correspondent and, most recently, the director and founder of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research.
Beneath his telegenic appeal and articulate evangelizing of “antiracism,” however, a form of zealotry emerges that is not only untenable, it is also dividing our nation into even further extremes.
Kendi’s overarching point in “How To Be An Antiracist” is an insistence that one must be proactive against racism. Passivity, according to Kendi, is to be fundamentally complicit in racism, as an elaborate piece on the thought leader for <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/ibram-x-kendi-antiracism-scholar-profile">GQ</a> details:
“How to Be an Antiracist is a concise pair of antonyms that lay the foundation for the book&#8217;s argument.
<ul>
<li>Racist: one who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea.</li>
<li>Antiracist: one who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.</li>
</ul>
His point is clear: There can be no in-between. You can&#8217;t be passive in this conversation.”
Implicit in Kendi’s proposition is that if white men and women are not actively denouncing any and all forms of perceived racism — including alleged “systemic racism” — they are, by default, racist.
This is exceedingly evident in the recent nationwide “<a href="https://itakeresponsibility.org/about">I Take Responsibility</a>” campaign endorsed by Black Lives Matters and the NAACP. It not only reifies Kendi’s “antiracist” mantra, it explicitly demands a kind of obeisance from white men and women:
“Enough is enough.
This begins with white men and women taking responsibility for their personal role in eradicating racism in America — taking a stand and committing to change.
It is not enough to not be racist. 
We must be anti-racist. 
That’s humanity.”
In effect, Kendi’s “antiracism” is, fundamentally, racist. His teachings are premised on the terrible assumption inherent in all prejudice that people can be lumped into monolithic categories based exclusively on superficialities and cursory suppositions. He predicts that charge in his <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/june/ibram-x-kendi-definition-of-antiracist/">aforementioned book</a> and attempts to counter it with the following bit of sophistry:
“The defining question is whether the discrimination is creating equity or inequity. If discrimination is creating equity, then it is antiracist. If discrimination is creating inequity, then it is racist. Someone reproducing inequity through permanently assisting an overrepresented racial group into wealth and power is entirely different than someone challenging that inequity by temporarily assisting an underrepresented racial group into relative wealth and power until equity is reached.”
In other words, one can uphold and even pursue racial discrimination, according to Kendi, as long as it works toward his definition of a more “egalitarian” society. The group that can be targeted most freely in this flawed philosophy, of course, is white men and women.
Such specious arguments are inherently rooted in Critical Race Theory that is, in turn, built upon postmodern notions of systemic racism and power.
“[C]ritical race Theory,” according to <a href="https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-critical-race-theory/">New Discourses</a>, “begins with a cynical view that race is the predominant structural element of American (and other) societies, and that all analyses of race must incorporate systemic power, which is to say systemic racism. This, it insists, is everywhere, ordinary, permanent, and mostly (and badly) hidden, a kind of racism that is just beneath the surface. … One duty of the critical race Theorist is to expose this hidden racism wherever it can be found.”
More to the point, what Kendi is advocating for ultimately is a form of racial totalitarianism. In his review of “How To Be An Antiracist” for <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/how-to-be-an-antiracist">City Journal</a>, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/contributor/coleman-hughes_1335">Coleman Hughes</a> spells this out in no uncertain terms:
“Kendi’s goals are openly totalitarian. The DOA would be tasked with ‘investigating’ private businesses and ‘monitoring’ the speech of public officials; it would have the power to reject any local, state, or federal policy before it’s implemented; it would be made up of  ‘experts’ who could not be fired, even by the president; and it would wield ‘disciplinary tools’ over public officials who did not ‘voluntarily’ change their ‘racist ideas’—as defined, presumably, by people like Kendi. What could possibly go wrong?”
Hughes’ exacting critique of Kendi’s highly influential work was written in 2019, well before the current and seemingly endless waves of BLM protests and riots that have gripped the nation. No one could predict the seismic paradigm shift that’s occurring right now when Hughes wrote:
“The odds of Kendi’s proposal entering the political mainstream may seem miniscule and therefore not worth worrying about.”
Unfortunately, Kendi’s work is fast becoming mainstream and it does not bode well for any of us — black, white, brown, or otherwise. More violence and subsequent backlashes seem inevitable. “Antiracism” will not draw us together as a nation; it will only foster further enmity and divisions rooted in exhausting superficialities and postmodern tropes.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shapiro-anti-racists-say-science-and-reason-are-whiteness-thats-insane-and-dangerous">SHAPIRO: ‘Anti-Racists’ Say Science And Reason Are ‘Whiteness.’ That’s Insane And Dangerous.</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Antiracist Umbrella

KHAN: The Truth About The ‘Anti-Racist’ Movement And Its Founder, Ibram X. Kendi

anti-racism

Ibram X. Kendi

Racism

On the heels of his 2019 best-selling book, “How To Be An Antiracist,” the meteoric rise in popularity of Ibram X. Kendi has still not reached its apex,

KHAN: The Truth About The ‘Anti-Racist’ Movement And Its Founder, Ibram X. Kendi | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-the-truth-about-the-anti-racist-movement-and-its-founder-ibram-x-kendi/

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Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell: 8 Intriguing Details About Jeffrey Epstein’s Right-Hand Woman

Bill Clinton

Jeffrey Epstein

The questions and conjecture surrounding Ghislaine Maxwell seem to compound on a daily basis. The once-popular British socialite and alleged madam of

Ghislaine Maxwell: 8 Intriguing Details About Jeffrey Epstein’s Right-Hand Woman | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-8-intriguing-details-jeffrey-epsteins-right-hand-woman/

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The NBA’s extremely lucrative relationship with China has grown problematic to the point of full-blown crisis for the league. The ongoing atrocities against the Uyghur Muslims in China are occurring with what amounts to the tacit approval of the NBA and many of its most vocal players, including LeBron James. The league’s unwillingness to confront the issue of reported <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/uighur-concentration-camps-in-china-new-sanctions-are-not-enough/">concentration camps</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c">mass sterilizations</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c">forced abortions</a>, and the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/11/cotton-china-uighur-labor-xinjiang-new-slavery/">enslavement</a> of well over a million people at the hands of China’s communist regime have prompted accusations of greed and hypocrisy against the NBA. Below are some key facts about the NBA turning a blind eye to the actions of one of the most inhumane regimes in recent history.
Follow the money.
The NBA’s relationship with China began decades ago. The NBA opened its first office in Hong Kong in 1992. Since that initial move, China has now invested billions of dollars into the NBA. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent">Tencent</a>, a major Chinese holding company, invested $1.5 billion into the league in 2019.
“The NBA and Tencent…announced a five-year extension of a partnership through the 2024-25 season,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-basketball-market-factbox/factbox-nba-taking-flak-in-china-a-valuable-market-with-500-million-fans-idUSKBN1WM1WI">Reuters</a> reports. &#8220;The deal is worth a reported $1.5 billion while Tencent has estimated that there are about 500 million fans in China consuming NBA content…”
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2019/10/09/nba-china-hong-kong-whats-at-stake/3912447002/">USA Today</a> reports that the $500 million the NBA takes in annually from the Chinese market also directly affects players’ salaries:
<blockquote>NBA revenue from China — and a conservative estimate puts that at $500 million annually based on deals that are publicly known — is part of basketball-related income which impacts the salary cap and how much money is available to players on an annual basis.</blockquote>
NBA players individually make a lot of money in China through various endorsement deals, as detailed by <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2019/10/09/nba-china-hong-kong-whats-at-stake/3912447002/">USA Today</a>:
<blockquote>Separate from the NBA’s partnerships in China, players are invested in the country, too. Several of them, including stars LeBron James and Steph Curry, make annual visits to sell apparel products from Nike and Under Armour.</blockquote>
Chinese apparel companies have also signed NBA players to endorsement deals: Klay Thompson and Gordon Hayward with Anta, CJ McCollum with Li-Ning and Lou Williams with Peak. Thompson&#8217;s deal with Anta could reach $80 million over 10 years, according to ESPN. Williams has said he earns more from his endorsement deal than he does playing.
The NBA’s stance on social justice clashes with its partnership with China.
The NBA has made a grand display of trying to be the most “woke” major sports league for some years now. In the wake of massive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-5-radical-goals-of-the-black-lives-matter-organization-the-media-ignores">Black Lives Matters</a> protests and riots all across the nation, the league has now chosen to be a vocal advocate for the nebulous movement as well.
“Black Lives Matter” was <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29384944/nba-plans-paint-black-lives-matter-courts-orlando">painted</a> with prominence on the hardwood for the NBA’s reopening games. Players are also encouraged to speak out on matters of social justice. <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29405787/source-nba-union-agree-list-social-messages-put-jerseys">ESPN reported</a> a lengthy list of messages players can now wear on their jerseys for the restart of the 2020 season:
<blockquote>The list of the suggested social messages that were agreed upon by the NBPA and the NBA and then made available to players via email, per the source, are: Black Lives Matter; Say Their Names; Vote; I Can&#8217;t Breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the People; Justice Now; Say Her Name; Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can); Liberation; See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us; Love Us; Listen; Listen to Us; Stand Up; Ally; Anti-Racist; I Am A Man; Speak Up; How Many More; Group Economics; Education Reform; and Mentor.</blockquote>
The cognitive dissonance is staggering. These statements are rendered hopelessly trite and cynical when juxtaposed to the actual atrocities being committed by the very regime with which the NBA has formed its very lucrative business relationships.
The NBA had a training facility near the concentration camps in Xinjiang.
Only recently has the NBA finally decided to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nba-cuts-ties-with-chinas-xinjiang-region/">pull out of the city of Xinjiang</a>, the epicenter of the atrocities against the Uyghur Muslims.
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, helped highlight the problem. In a <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/Blackburn%20NBA%20letter.pdf">letter</a> to the NBA pointing out the league’s confounding relationship with China’s authoritarian government, Senator Blackburn wrote:
<blockquote>America’s relationship with the Communist People’s Republic of China is at a pivotal moment. The squashing of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, continued human rights abuses against Muslims in Xinjiang and Tibetans, and a lack of transparency regarding the COVID-19 outbreak have become flashpoints. China’s foreign minister accused the U.S. of pushing China to the edge of a ‘new Cold War’ in May. Last month, “Attorney General Bill Barr stated that China is ‘stealing the future of the American people’ through espionage and theft. 
Your league’s business interests are closely intertwined with Communist China’s estimated $4 billion NBA market. While the NBA has worked hard to raise awareness of social issues at home, there is concern that the league has turned a blind eye to human rights abuses committed abroad—even bowing down to pressure last year. The actions of the NBA and some players have created an appearance that your league prioritizes profit over principle. This accusation may be inaccurate; however, I urge you to give it careful thought.
The NBA reportedly continues to operate a training center Xinjiang, one of the world’s worst humanitarian zones. What steps is the NBA taking to shutter this location?</blockquote>
The NBA’s deputy commissioner responded to Senator Blackburn by stating that the facility in Xinjiang was closed last year. <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29517957/nba-ends-relationship-academy-china">ESPN</a> reported:
<blockquote>In response to Blackburn&#8217;s question about the academy in Xinjiang — where reportedly roughly a million Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, are being held in what have been described as concentration camps — Mark Tatum, the NBA&#8217;s deputy commissioner, wrote: &#8220;The NBA has had no involvement with the Xinjiang basketball academy for more than a year, and the relationship has been terminated.&#8221;</blockquote>
The league&#8217;s backlash against Daryl Morey in October.
Last October, Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey <a href="https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-10/98473a10-e924-11e9-87ff-521c2fd42964">tweeted out</a> a simple statement of solidarity with the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49317695">Hong Kong protests</a> against China’s increasingly authoritarian grip over the region. Unlike the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-the-confused-and-pointless-rage-of-an-entitled-generation">ongoing protests-turned-riots in Portland</a> and elsewhere, the people of Hong Kong are fighting against overt oppression at the hands of the Chinese government.
Rather than receiving praise for his courage from the NBA and its “social justice”-promoting players and coaches, Morey was roundly rebuked by the league. LeBron James, the league’s most recognizable star, took it upon himself to malign Morey with a rant. James accused Morey of causing actual harm with his since-deleted tweet.
“I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke,” said James. “And so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually.”
Steve Kerr, Golden State Warrior’s usually outspoken head coach, could only offer a tepid response. &#8220;It&#8217;s a really bizarre international story, and a lot of us don&#8217;t know what to make of it,” <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-steve-kerr-doesnt-give-opinion-daryl-morey-china-controversy">said</a> Kerr.
In perhaps, the most egregious display of  “bending the knee” to China, Houston Rockets&#8217; star James Harden <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27787634/james-harden-apologizes-controversy-grows-love-china">offered</a> an obsequious mea culpa to the authoritarian regime: “We apologize…we love China.”
<a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/10/6/20901828/daryl-morey-hong-kong-china-houston-rockets-tweet-controversy">The Ringer</a> revealed that Morey’s job was very much in jeopardy at the time because of his tweet:
<blockquote>After general manager Daryl Morey expressed support in a since-deleted tweet for pro-democracy efforts in Hong Kong, the Chinese government, the Chinese Basketball Association, and various Chinese businesses quickly denounced Morey and moved to sever ties with the Rockets. As a consequence, league sources told The Ringer that Rockets ownership has debated Morey’s employment status and whether to replace him.</blockquote>
Senator Hawley’s letter was met with open hostility.
Senator <a href="https://thehill.com/people/joshua-josh-hawley">Josh Hawley</a>, a Republican from Missouri, penned a <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/Hawley-Letter-NBA-China-Jersey-Messages.pdf">powerful letter</a> to the NBA critical of the league’s hypocrisy and total disregard for the atrocities occurring in China and Hong Kong. Much of the letter is worth quoting in full for its exacting and damning precision on the matter:
<blockquote>On July 3, the National Basketball Association (NBA) came to an agreement with the NBA players union allowing players to wear certain social and political messages on their jerseys, almost all aligned with the message of recent anti-police protests. Conspicuously missing from the list of approved phrases are any in support of the victims of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the people of Hong Kong, whose remaining freedoms are being extinguished by the CCP’s newly-enacted national security law.
Given the NBA’s troubled history of excusing and apologizing for the brutal repression of the Chinese Communist regime, these omissions are striking. Last October, you no doubt recall, you chose to apologize to the CCP after Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets, spoke up on behalf of the Hong Kong protestors.
Following that shameful display, I encouraged you to reverse course. Instead, you have spent the intervening months deepening the NBA’s ties to the CCP. Just last week, you described the October incident as ‘a bump in the road’ in the NBA’s relationship with the Chinese government. You went on to say that you understand that the CCP has &#8220;a different view of&#8230;how things should be done,&#8221; and that you hope the NBA and the CCP will be able to &#8220;find mutual respect for each other.&#8221;
What offensive nonsense. No amount of profit can justify collaborating with a regime for which violent suppression and enslavement are routine tools of governance.</blockquote>
What kind of response did the NBA and its partner, ESPN, offer Senator Hawley? <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-espn-suspends-nba-reporter-after-f-you-email-to-josh-hawley-hawley-has-another-idea">A derisive email</a> that consisted of only two words from the league’s most prominent reporter, Adrian Wojnarowski: “f*** you.”
LeBron James may be the biggest hypocrite of them all.
The media continues to give sycophantic praise to Lebron James as some tireless activist and &#8220;more than an athlete.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29295297/lakers-lebron-james-partners-more-vote-energize-inform-voters">ESPN’s Dave McMenamin</a> wrote: “James, 35, first used his voice to bring awareness to social issues affecting black Americans in March 2012, when he and then-teammate Dwyane Wade organized a photo of the entire Miami Heat team wearing hooded sweatshirts, the same style of hoodie that Trayvon Martin was wearing when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman.”
Apparently, however, James’ activism doesn’t extend beyond black Americans. Worse, the atrocities occurring in China that James actively refuses to acknowledge never mind condemn are infinitely beyond the scope and scale of the perceived injustices he attempts to give voice to here in America.
James Durso puts it quite succinctly for <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/467295-uighurs-china-and-the-lucrative-hypocrisy-of-lebron-james-nba">The Hill</a>:
<blockquote>If LeBron James were some Vice President of GM, no one would care what he said or did, but he’s a woke celebrity and an activist for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-lebron-james-advocates-for-labor-rights-player-empowerment-2019-9">labor rights</a> and <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-social-political-activism">social justice</a> who forgot when you attack others for their failings, real or imagined, you <a href="https://twitter.com/just_whatever/status/1183937003286450176">raise the bar</a> for yourself.</blockquote>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Wong">Joshua Wong</a>, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, recently called out James on his hypocrisy as well in a bristling <a href="https://twitter.com/joshuawongcf/status/1270944415159287809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270944415159287809%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F2020-06-11%2Fjoshua-wong-calls-lebron-james-a-hypocrite-for-china-silence">tweet</a>: “Defending democracy is vital, but <a href="https://twitter.com/KingJames">@KingJames</a> only talks loud in the US. On China, not only is he silent, he actively shuts others up. He called <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey">@dmorey</a> ‘misinformed’ and &#8220;not really educated&#8221; for supporting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HongKong?src=hashtag_click">#HongKong</a>. All he cares about is money, not human rights. Hypocritical.”
A grim pall hangs over the restart of the 2020 NBA season. In their abject silence and refusal to condemn China’s inhumane regime out of greed and hypocrisy, the NBA and many of its players remain complicit in the ongoing atrocities committed against the Uyghur Muslims.
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Lebron James

KHAN: Hypocrisy On China Haunts NBA’s Woke Restart

LeBron James

The NBA’s extremely lucrative relationship with China has grown problematic to the point of full-blown crisis for the league. The ongoing atrocities

KHAN: Hypocrisy On China Haunts NBA’s Woke Restart | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-hypocrisy-on-china-haunts-nbas-woke-restart/

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As the pandemic drags on in our nation, proponents and opponents of the mask alike have become increasingly uncivil if not altogether unhinged. Viral videos document all sorts of lunacy surrounding this seemingly innocuous piece of cloth.
Social media brims with exhausting memes and diatribes insisting that either wearing a mask entails a virtuous sacrifice of the highest order or that refusing to wear one is some grand act of defiance reminiscent of Rosa Parks or the Boston Tea Party.
What the mask seems to really symbolize, however, is a rising tide of incivility toward one another with no end in sight.
<a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/08/01/california-couple-throws-coffee-at-man-for-not-wearing-a-mask/https:/www.tmz.com/2020/08/01/california-couple-throws-coffee-at-man-for-not-wearing-a-mask/">TMZ recently shared a video</a> of a woman in Manhattan Beach, California dousing a man with hot coffee for not wearing a mask. What began as a somewhat minor exchange in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhUblwxU7M4&amp;feature=emb_title">full video</a> quickly devolved into violence. The man was simply eating with a friend outside when the woman berated and accosted him.
A man in Indiana assaulted a clerk with hot coffee for the exact opposite reason according to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/indiana/articles/2020-05-13/man-refused-service-for-no-mask-assaults-store-clerk">U.S. News</a>:
“The man entered the store without wearing a mask and attempted to buy a cup of coffee. When he was told he could not be served because he was not wearing a mask, the man threw the cup of coffee on the female clerk and left, police said.”
Calvin Munerlyn, a security guard in Flint, Michigan, was shot and killed for asking a patron to wear a mask inside a local store as reported by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/04/us/michigan-security-guard-mask-killing-trnd/index.html">CNN</a>.
<a href="https://abc7.com/gardena-fight-mask-facial-covering/6309131/">ABC7</a> reported that a security guard in Gardena, California shot a man in an altercation that also began over masks.
Meanwhile, there seems to be an endless stream of videos of people having <a href="https://abc7.com/trader-joes-north-hollywood-face-mask-outburst/6275950/">full-on public meltdowns</a> for being asked to wear a mask in a place of business.
Not to be outdone, there are, of course, countless examples of people being attacked for not wearing masks in equal and opposite measure. Even trained psychiatrists are jumping into the fracas.
<a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2020/06/18/an-alaska-psychiatrist-is-charged-with-assault-for-punching-a-man-in-the-face-because-he-wasnt-wearing-a-mask-in-a-juneau-grocery/">Anchorage Daily News</a> reported, “A prominent Alaska psychiatrist faces a criminal charge for allegedly punching a man in the face for not wearing a face mask in a Juneau Fred Meyer earlier this month.”
Here in California, the mask is no longer just a potential preventative measure against COVID-19 but also a progressive symbol of the highest order. It seems masks are now a kind of political accessory alongside a raised fist and a Che Guevara t-shirt. Many are bedecked in gloves, goggles, and masks 24/7, even when hurling down the freeways with virtue signaling and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-when-will-our-dystopian-dance-with-the-lockdowns-end">endless anxiety at the wheel</a>.
One is required to wear a mask outside even when maintaining social distance lest one be shunned, jeered, or <a href="https://abc7news.com/face-mask-fines-california-n95-newsom-mandate-shield-vs/6331672/">fined</a>. Some cities in California may now fine you up to <a href="https://abc7news.com/face-mask-fines-california-n95-newsom-mandate-shield-vs/6331672/">$2000</a> for not wearing a mask outside.
Worse, Californians risk being randomly assaulted by some misguided lunatic if they forget to don the mask. <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2020-07-27/video-shows-woman-reportedly-macing-or-pepper-spraying-man-for-not-wearing-mask-eating-at-dog-park">The San Diego Tribune</a> reported on a man being pepper-sprayed for not wearing a mask in a dog park of all places:
“San Diego police are investigating after a woman reportedly maced or pepper sprayed a man for not wearing a mask while he was eating at Dusty Rhodes Dog Park in Ocean Beach last week…”
Understandably, most of us find wearing a mask a nuisance and instinctively want to avoid it. Many are also unsurprisingly skeptical of the media coverage of the pandemic, which has been incessantly politicized by mainstream outlets, which have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-anxiety-and-misdirection-not-composure-remain-at-the-helm-of-the-pandemic">shifted the pandemic narrative</a> to a fatiguing degree. However, that such frustration should compel anyone to berate or accost those with whom we vehemently disagree is diametrically opposed to the traditional values of civility and decency that have served as the bedrock of our nation for generations.
Such values may well be lost on the progressive fringe amid <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-when-compared-to-hong-kong-these-so-called-protests-are-nothing-more-than-cynical-tantrums">their endless tantrums</a>, but not on those of us who still believe it’s our fundamental duty as Americans to uphold such values.
Drawing from antiquity, <a href="https://dailystoic.com/stoic-response-anger/">Marcus Aurelius</a> offers advice for all those struggling to maintain civility: “Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on — it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance — unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
Vice President Mike Pence <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2016/07/mike_pence_donald_trumps_vp_pi.html">put it more succinctly</a>: “I&#8217;ve always believed that civility in heavy doses is essential in self-government.” Is it too much to ask for some civility over a piece of cloth?
More from Sharif Khan: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-when-compared-to-hong-kong-these-so-called-protests-are-nothing-more-than-cynical-tantrums">When Compared To Hong Kong, These So-Called Protests Are Nothing More Than Cynical Tantrums</a>
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Woman wearing a surgical mask, protective face mask against infectious diseases like coronavirus, COVID-19 and influenza

KHAN: Unmasked Incivility: Assaults, Virtue Signaling, Meltdowns Over A Piece Of Cloth

 As the pandemic drags on in our nation, proponents and opponents of the mask alike have become increasingly uncivil if not altogether unhinged. Viral

KHAN: Unmasked Incivility: Assaults, Virtue Signaling, Meltdowns Over A Piece Of Cloth | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-unmasked-incivility-assaults-virtue-signaling-meltdowns-over-a-piece-of-cloth/

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It remains nearly impossible to find any meaningful reasons for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-8-insane-things-that-happened-in-seattles-radical-autonomous-zone">rioting and destruction</a> all across the nation outside of entitlement, puerility, and boredom.
Since the initial outcry over the murder of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/williams-now-what">George Floyd</a> months ago, the motivations for most of these supposed protests have mutated into cynical tantrums masquerading as some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-5-radical-goals-of-the-black-lives-matter-organization-the-media-ignores">grand nebulous cause</a>. This has become all too apparent when the rioting here in America is thrown in stark relief with the protests in Hong Kong.
Writing for the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/hong-kong-protestors-still-fighting-good-fight/">National Review</a>, Dmitri Solzhenitsyn recently detailed the grim, ongoing struggles in Hong Kong: 
<blockquote>Standing up for their beliefs against a superpower with no respect for individual rights and little regard for the essential preciousness of human lives, Hong Kong’s protesters are an example of bravery, creativity, and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. For Americans — long accustomed to having our freedoms safeguarded by our centuries-old Constitution — this is a bracing reminder of what’s at stake in the fight for liberty. Whatever actions the allies of freedom are willing or able to muster against Communist China, advocates for Hong Kong’s autonomy should hope that the activists continue to resist…</blockquote>
Unlike here in America, the protests in Hong Kong are an actual demand for civil rights against the marauding influence of China’s woefully oppressive Marxist regime – the very same rights taken for granted to nauseating extremes amid all the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-cnn-reporter-makes-excuses-for-rioting-looting">rioting and looting</a> in Portland and elsewhere.
The hopeless cynicism that informs the current protests in our nation is now legion. Anything to do with America and the monumental principles our nation was founded upon is met with open and adolescent hostility. A nascent desire to simply destroy all vestiges of America informs many of these protesters.
“America was never great” is a common refrain among these protests. Even <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/dc-protesters-chant-america-was-never-great-they-burn-us-flag-following-trumps-july-4th-1515488">Newsweek</a> seemed to express some dismay as protesters burned American flags in front of the White House on July 4th:
<blockquote>Far-left protesters burned U.S. flags while chanting “America was never great” outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, just after President Donald Trump gave a July 4th speech.</blockquote>
The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/portland-protests-on-the-scene/">National Review</a> reported on a recent speaker in Portland’s Pioneer Square “energizing” a crowd of protesters by saying “America was never great, but we can make it great.”
Just as federal law enforcement experienced a <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/07/31/portland-riots-read-out-july-31">brief reprieve</a> from all the chaos, protesters in Portland began burning Bibles as well as flags in a garish, nihilistic attempt at dissent according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/08/01/protestors-burn-bible-american-flag-as-tensions-rise-in-portland/">The New York Post</a>: “Protesters burned an American flag and a Bible in Portland, Oregon, sparking outrage just as weeks of violent demonstrations seemed to be coming to a close.”
Such open acts of defiance and hostility would immediately be quelled by force in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-rights-violations">countless countries</a> around the world. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-07-10/this-is-a-cultural-purge-with-new-security-law-even-blank-paper-is-subversive-in-hong-kong">The Los Angeles Times</a> reports that protesters in Hong Kong are being arrested for simply holding up blank pieces of paper:
<blockquote>There were no slogans and no words, only blank white sheets of paper, quivering in the hands of a few dozen Hong Kong residents standing in a shopping mall, saying nothing at all.
The police arrived in full riot gear, waving a flag that read: “You are in breach of the law.” They arrested eight people, searched others and dispersed the rest.</blockquote>
Stranger still, many of the protesters here in America are getting paid unemployment for their grandstanding in the middle of the pandemic by the very same government they accuse of being so “oppressive” and “unjust.” The irony verges toward some kind of dire comedy.
Protests in America exist and are even encouraged because of the very principles of freedom and democracy our country was founded upon. Yet these protesters thumb their noses at the very ideals that permit all of us a dissenting voice in the first place by engaging in senseless acts of destruction.
It’s worth noting again that much of the media refuses to chronicle the mindless violence and mayhem occurring in our cities, often reporting with subterfuge and smokescreens. Reality offers a far different story.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/portland-black-lives-matter-protests-riots">City Journal</a> published a concise summation of the media’s downplaying of the violence in Portland:
<blockquote>The media have downplayed the primary reason for federal agents being in Portland: a neutered police department has ceded a portion of the city to violent anarchists, who have staged an ongoing riot—<a href="https://youtu.be/bDeohHg7okA">firebombing</a> the police station, physically assaulting officers, and causing tens of thousands of dollars of property damage. “Any form of resistance is a good way to push our goals forward,” a spokeswoman for the Portland Black Youth Movement told me.</blockquote>
These nationwide protests do not, at all, harken back to “the summer of love” that the likes of Seattle’s woefully inept mayor, Jenny Durkan, hoped for when her own city was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-8-insane-things-that-happened-in-seattles-radical-autonomous-zone">hijacked by extremists</a>. Instead, they point to a fatiguing brand of cynicism devoid of meaning and purpose outside the stamping of petulant feet.
When compared to the protests in Hong Kong against actual oppression at the hands of China, one can’t help but harbor a profound embarrassment for our nation by all the supposed outrage and meaningless chaos surrounding it.
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KHAN: When Compared To Hong Kong, These So-Called Protests Are Nothing More Than Cynical Tantrums

protests

It remains nearly impossible to find any meaningful reasons for the rioting and destruction all across the nation outside of entitlement, puerility, and

KHAN: When Compared To Hong Kong, These So-Called Protests Are Nothing More Than Cynical Tantrums | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-when-compared-to-hong-kong-these-so-called-protests-are-nothing-more-than-cynical-tantrums/

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10 Bizarre Facts Surrounding Jeffrey Epstein

The life and death of wealthy financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has inspired seemingly inexhaustible intrigue. Horrifying allegations

10 Bizarre Facts Surrounding Jeffrey Epstein | The Daily Wire

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With the resurgence of anti-Semitism and unabashed racism toward whites being promoted by some famous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/understand-what-evil-truly-is-holocaust-survivor-urges-eagles-star-desean-jackson-to-visit-nazi-death-camps-after-anti-semitic-quote">athletes</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-are-for-our-people-first-diddy-defends-nick-cannon-invites-him-to-join-truly-black-owned-revolt-tv">celebrities</a>, it’s impossible to ignore Louis Farrakhan&#8217;s corrosive influence. His particular brand of racism and black separatism has been around for more than half a century and continues to have tremendous influence in some leftist circles, as demonstrated by the likes of Nick Cannon and the NBA’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/08/stephen-jackson-says-desean-jackson-is-speaking-truth-adds-anti-semitic-claims-his-own/">Stephen Jackson</a>.
Farrakhan’s racism is no different than the likes of David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who desperately tried to sanitize his past while still holding to his pathetic, racist views. Duke, however, has been marginalized for decades. His relevancy today is non-existent. Farrakhan, on the other hand, seems to be gaining even greater prominence and notoriety amid the recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-5-radical-goals-of-the-black-lives-matter-organization-the-media-ignores">Black Lives Matter</a> protests that erupted all over the nation.
As the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/farrakhans-influence-remains-a-problem/">National Review</a>&#8216;s Jonathan S. Tobin rightly points out:
<blockquote>Farrakhan’s views are as hateful as those of, say, Klan leader David Duke, and he has many more followers and a much wider sphere of influence than Duke. Yet Duke is rightly ostracized across the political spectrum, while Farrakhan remains welcome on the left.</blockquote>
Farrakhan’s views are as strange and vile as they come. Here are just a few quotes from the man highlighted by the <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/resources/reports/nation-of-islam-farrakhan-in-his-own-words">Anti-Defamation League</a>: 
<blockquote>“Those who call themselves ‘Jews,’ who are not really Jews, but are in fact Satan: You should learn to call them by their real name, ‘Satan;’ you are coming face-to-face with Satan, the Arch Deceiver, the enemy of God and the enemy of the Righteous.” — Saviours’ Day speech (part 2), 2/26/17
“I don’t care what they put on me. The government is my enemy, the powerful Jews are my enemy.” — Saviours’ Day speech, 2/25/18</blockquote>
It’s worth noting that the teachings of the Nation of Islam that Farrakhan espouses include the belief that white people were created by accident some 6,000 years ago by a mad scientist named Yakub, according to <a href="http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_9878.shtml">The Final Call</a>, NOI’s official newspaper founded by Louis Farrakhan:
<blockquote>…White man first appeared 6,000 years ago on the Island of Patmos (or Pelan), in the Aegean Sea, where they had been “made” by a 600-year process of selective breeding called “grafting.” Under the command of a Black scientist named Yakub, the 59,999 Blacks who came with Yakub to the island were placed under a system of mating that was based on skin color, in which only lighter-complexioned babies were allowed to survive.</blockquote>
Also, it seems that some continue to conflate Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam with Malcolm X. They view Farrakhan as following in the same spirit as his predecessor. Nothing could be further from the truth.
While Malcolm X was the Nation of Islam’s most prominent, charismatic member at one point, he, ultimately, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/it-time-reassessment-malcolm-x-180968247/">abandoned the hate-filled rhetoric</a> and arcane theological positions held by the Nation of Islam in favor of solidarity and self-empowerment. Lauded black scholar Professor Walter E. Williams even argues that Malcolm X very much echoed conservative values in an essay for <a href="http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams010219.php3">Jewish World Review</a>.
The ominous threats Farrakhan made toward Malcolm X just a few months before his assassination in 1964 are quite disturbing given that <a href="https://time.com/5778688/malcolm-x-assassination/">all three of the gunmen</a> charged in the black leader’s death were from the Nation of Islam. According to the left-wing <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/louis-farrakhan">Southern Poverty Law Center</a>:
<blockquote>In December 1964, Farrakhan wrote in the NOI publication Muhammad Speaks: “The die is set, and Malcolm shall not escape, especially after such evil foolish talk about his benefactor Elijah Muhammad. … Such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death&#8230;” Two months later, NOI members assassinated Malcolm X…</blockquote>
In 1993, Farrakhan clearly insinuated, in his own words, that the Nation of Islam was involved in Malcolm X’s assassination, according to the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/muhammad-ali-nation-of-islam-michael-parkinson-interview-who-were-elijah-muhammad-a7066301.html">Independent</a>: “Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the hell business is it of yours?”
It’s quite clear that much of the current racism and profound ignorance being championed by the likes of Nick Cannon and others originate with the hate-filled rhetoric of Louis Farrakhan. While he may have the right to say what he will, that it goes largely unchecked by the Left and is now being actively promoted by the likes of Cannon and Jackson in the media spotlight remains deeply troubling.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nick-cannon-says-black-community-called-him-a-sell-out-for-apologizing-for-anti-semitic-remarks">Nick Cannon Says Black Community Called Him A ‘Sell Out’ For Apologizing For Anti-Semitic Remarks</a>
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Louis Farrakhan

KHAN: While They’re At It, Can The Left Finally ‘Cancel’ Louis Farrakhan Too Already?

Malcolm X

Nation of Islam

Nick Cannon

Sports

With the resurgence of anti-Semitism and unabashed racism toward whites being promoted by some famous athletes and celebrities, it’s impossible to ignore

KHAN: While They’re At It, Can The Left Finally ‘Cancel’ Louis Farrakhan Too Already? | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-while-theyre-at-it-can-the-left-finally-cancel-louis-farrakhan-too-already/

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Far from becoming six blocks of some anarchical utopia that might gleam in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12618.On_Anarchism">Noam Chomsky’s eyes</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Autonomous_Zone">Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone</a> (CHAZ) in downtown Seattle quickly and predictably devolved into all kinds of chaos including, at times, violence and despotism. CHAZ (or CHOP for some) offered all of us a crash course on what much of current progressivism looks like when finally actualized and implemented into reality. It wasn’t pretty. Here are some of the more insane developments in this short-lived dystopia.
1. CHAZ makes radical demands
The occupiers of Seattle’s Capitol Hill sought to make <a href="https://caphillauto.zone/demands.html">many demands</a>. Most range from naïve to outlandish.
For example, the occupants of CHAZ protesting against “systemic racism” insisted on the abolition of the Seattle Police Department, the very same department led by <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/who-is-carmen-best-seattles-new-police-chief/281-574736890">Carmen Best</a>, a black woman:
“The Seattle Police Department and attached court system are beyond reform. We do not request reform, we demand abolition. We demand that the Seattle Council and the Mayor defund and abolish the Seattle Police Department and the attached Criminal Justice Apparatus. This means 100% of funding, including existing pensions for Seattle Police.”
The occupants of CHAZ also demanded “replacement of the current criminal justice system, the creation of restorative/transformative accountability programs as a replacement for imprisonment.”
Given the amount of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/7/2/21310109/chop-chaz-cleared-violence-explained">violence and vigilantism</a> that emerged in CHAZ (more on that below), it’s clear that no “transformative accountability programs” were offered to offending occupants in CHAZ.
2. CHAZ proves it’s not “The Summer of Love”
Amid the violence, shootings, <a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/06/19/43938596/chop-medic-intervened-in-a-sexual-assault-in-cal-anderson">sexual assaults</a>, and <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/seattle-shooting-capitol-hill-chop-chaz/281-48392a9e-d760-42f3-9469-c99466ed7a9f">murders</a>, Mayor Jenny Durkin had the audacity to refer to CHAZ as nothing more than a “block party” that could turn into a “summer of love” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXjvrkmXd4s">in an interview with CNN</a>.
In a transcript of the interview from <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/06/12/seattle_mayor_durkan_chaz_has_a_block_party_atmosphere_could_turn_into_summer_of_love.html">Real Clear Politics</a>, Mayor Durkin continually dismissed the armed occupation of six blocks of the city under her stead. Asked surprisingly pointed questions by CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Durkin dismissed the gravity of the situation out of hand:
“It&#8217;s not an armed takeover. It&#8217;s not a military junta… we have block parties and the like in this part of Seattle all the time&#8230; We could have the Summer of Love.”
Durkin’s ineptitude and casual dismissal of the occupation lead to serious, violent consequences for the city of Seattle.
<div id="attachment_116985" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116985" class="wp-image-116985" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Jenny-Durkan-974x576.jpg" alt="Seattle Mayor jenny Durkan speaks at a press conference on March 28, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The mayor and other leaders from Washington state discussed the deployment of a new field hospital at CenturyLink Field Event Center which is expected to create at least 150 hospital beds for non-COVID-19 cases and will include 300 soldiers from the 627th Army Hospital at Fort Carson, Colorado. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)" width="700" height="414" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jenny-Durkan-974x576.jpg 974w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jenny-Durkan-300x177.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jenny-Durkan-768x454.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jenny-Durkan.jpg 1004w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />Karen Ducey/Getty Images</div>
3. The Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club
Though the occupants of CHAZ insisted on abolishing the Seattle Police Department and, ostensibly, law enforcement all over the nation, they very soon realized that some measure of law and order was necessary amid the chaos. Enter the <a href="https://psjbgc.org/">Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club (PSJBGC)</a>.
According to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/seattles-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone-chaz-has-armed-guards">The Daily Beast</a>, PSJBGC functioned as a makeshift militia alongside providing some haphazard form of security and enforcement for the occupants of CHAZ:
“Members of the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club (PSJBGC)—a leftist community defense and firearms education organization that gained a spate of notoriety last year when a former member, <a href="https://pugetsoundanarchists.org/on-willem-van-spronsen-passing-from-occupy-northwest-detention-center-participants/">Willem van Spronsen</a>, set fire to an ICE parking lot—have been a constant presence. The club <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/22/if-others-have-rifles-well-have-rifles-why-leftist-groups-are-taking-up-arms">is often asked to provide security</a> for protests and rallies around the Seattle area, and while their involvement in CHAZ is structured more loosely, the presence of armed civilians has raised a few eyebrows.”
The PSJBGC mission statement is as follows:
<blockquote>We believe in active resistance to the corrosive and destructive social effects of white supremacy, sexism, bigotry, and economic exploitation.
We stand in defense of the well-being of the community over the enrichment of the individual, and we stand in solidarity with those who share our mission for a just future.</blockquote>
The very same protestors demanding an end to law enforcement who rail against the NRA and the Second Amendment actively sought protection from a leftist gun-toting militia.
Sadly, the PSJBGC is not alone. According to the same piece by <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/seattles-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone-chaz-has-armed-guards">The Daily Beast</a>:
“Leftist gun clubs have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/22/if-others-have-rifles-well-have-rifles-why-leftist-groups-are-taking-up-arms">on the rise</a>, and organizations like the Socialist Rifle Association…Huey P. Newton Gun Club, Trigger Warning Queer &amp; Trans Gun Club, and other chapters of the John Brown Gun Club have successfully introduced the issue of gun rights and firearms education into the broader <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/7/1/18744204/guns-gun-control-anarchism">leftist discourse</a>.”
4. White protesters ordered to pay black protesters $10
Addressing a large crowd, <a href="https://twitter.com/FromKalen/status/1271709379688087555">a protester insisted</a> that every white person in the so-called autonomous zone give a black person $10. If such an act of reparation proved financially difficult, the protester questioned their actual support of the movement.
According to The <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/13/protester-in-seattles-chaz-demands-white-people-give-out-cash/">New York Post</a>, the unnamed protester stated: “If you have a hard time giving $10, you got to think are you really down with this struggle, are you really down with the movement. If that is a challenge for you, I’m not sure you are in the right place.”
His message, of course, was met with enthusiastic applause from the mostly white crowd of protesters.
5. The homeless flock to CHAZ
It seems much of Seattle’s homeless population flocked to CHAZ given the lawlessness and inherently chaotic state of affairs.
<a href="https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/14/dubbed-a-lawless-state-by-some-the-chaz-or-chop-se/">The Spokesman-Review</a> reported: “At any given moment, the six-block zone is home not only to activists of various political leanings and objectives, but people experiencing homelessness or other personal challenges, who have flocked to the park because it feels relatively safe.”
Unfortunately, the influx of homeless men and women led to a shortage of food. According to <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/a-look-inside-seattles-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone/">The New York Post</a>, the homeless took food supplies in a rather unceremonious manner as <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1270989451586441218">one desperate occupant tweeted out</a> for help while sure to include the very specifics of her dietary demands:
“The homeles [sic] people we invited took away all the food at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. We need more food to keep the area operational. please if possible bring vegan meat substitutes, fruits, oats, soy products, etc. – anything to help us eat.”
If that wasn’t enough, the homeless also besieged some attempts at community gardening <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1271638573658206213">according to another tweet</a> from inside the borders.
<div id="attachment_120230" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120230" class="wp-image-120230" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1219619076-864x576.jpg" alt="SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JUNE 12: A sign inside the âCapitol Hill Autonomous Zoneâ in Seattle, Washington on June 12, 2020. The area named âAutonomous Zoneâ was formed after Seattle Police abandoned its East Precinct during protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after being pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States on May 25, 2020. (Photo by Noah Riffe/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)" width="700" height="467" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1219619076-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1219619076-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1219619076-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1219619076-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1219619076-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />Noah Riffe/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</div>
6. Local businesses pay the price
Most local businesses didn’t fare well at all under CHAZ and Mayor Durkin’s “summer of love.” Already stricken with disaster under the COVID-19 lockdowns, many businesses were handicapped even further by the thoughtless occupants and the ensuing mayhem.
The Left tried in vain to paint the protests and occupations as <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/local-businesses-love-the-domestic-terror-autonomous-zone-in-seattle-actually">good for local businesses</a>. In fact, all the barriers and barricades put a halt to most deliveries and supplies alongside <a href="https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/nobody-showed-up-911-calls-bring-no-response-after-break-auto-shop-near-capitol-hill-protest-zone/O42CQ6VUXVDBHIB3334DI7LPV4/">the toll the unrest and violence took on these businesses</a>.
According to <a href="https://reason.com/2020/06/25/seattle-autonomous-zone-sparks-class-action-lawsuit-from-local-businesses/">Reason</a>, many local businesses are now suing the local government over CHAZ:
“More than a dozen businesses and property owners are suing the city of Seattle over its tolerance of, and alleged support for, an ‘autonomous’ protest zone in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The city&#8217;s approach, they argue, has led to lawlessness, property damage, and a decline in commerce and property values.”
Again, Mayor Durkin’s response the occupation was an absolute travesty to the local businesses that relied on her leadership never mind the city itself.
7. Violence becomes the main order of business
At night, violence characterized much of CHAZ. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53224445">As the BBC</a> pointed out, CHAZ was “largely peaceful during the day… But at night, the area is said to become tense…”
The Seattle Police Department even documented some of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0tXOBPMHA">the violent footage</a> from the area.
Far from being a so-called “safe space,” CHAZ devolved further into chaos with each passing day with no evident rule of law in place. <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/end-of-chaz">The City Journal</a> rightly points out:
“As it turns out, however, maintaining public order is a complex undertaking and can’t be replaced by academic symbolism. BLM activists might despise George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, but a regime based on the principles of Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ibram X. Kendi, and Robin DiAngelo doesn’t work too well. As CHAZ’s experience demonstrates, when left-wing radicals shift from protest to governance, things fall apart.”
Sadder still, according to <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/end-of-chaz">The City Journal</a>, “the homicide rate in the CHAZ turned out to be 1,216 per 100,000—nearly 50 times greater than Chicago’s.”
Even more tragically ironic, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/end-of-chaz">The City Journal</a> also reported that all six shooting victims in CHAZ were black men:
“Over its 24-day history, the autonomous zone saw two gun homicides and four additional shooting victims. All the identified victims were black men — precisely the demographic for whom the CHAZ had claimed to offer protection. In the absence of a legitimate police force, armed criminal gangs and untrained anarchist paramilitaries filled the void.”
<div id="attachment_120286" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120286" class="wp-image-120286" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CHAZ-1.jpg" alt="A sign that reads &quot;no pride without Black Queer lives&quot; is pictured as people walk in an area being called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) located on streets reopened to pedestrians after the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct was vacated in Seattle, Washington on June 12, 2020. - Seattle's mayor told Donald Trump to &quot;Go back to your bunker&quot; June 11, escalating a spat after the president threatened to intervene over a police-free autonomous zone protesters have set up in the western US city." width="700" height="467" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/CHAZ-1.jpg 594w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/CHAZ-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images</div>
8. The “Warlord”
Solomon “Raz” Simone, a Seattle-based rapper of some repute, took it upon himself to maintain some semblance of order in the early days of CHAZ. Armed with an assault rifle and a growing posse, Raz and his crew attempted to police the streets.
According to <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/12/raz-simone-accused-of-acting-like-warlord-in-seattles-chaz/">The New York Post</a>: “A charismatic rapper has emerged as the assault-rifle-toting leader of a protester rabble that took over the streets around a now-vacant Seattle police precinct — a ‘cop-free’ encampment that has been allowed to remain for four days and counting.”
Raz’s attempt at law enforcement quickly mutated into apparent despotism. Occupants accused him of trying to become the de facto “warlord” of CHAZ.
Many also discovered old tweets from Raz that showed some evidence of homophobia, further delegitimizing his attempt at wearing CHAZ’S organic, recycled crown. <a href="https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/06/13/chaz-has-first-political-scandal-warlord-rapper-raz-plagued-by-old-homophobic-tweets-933833">BizPac Review</a> reported: “…Simone is now under fire for old homophobic tweets found on his Twitter account which have left him on the defensive.”
The very people Raz sought to protect seemingly undermined his efforts toward becoming some progressive despot. Still, as some consolation, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/24/us/seattle-autonomous-zone-protesters-leaving/index.html">decided to declare him the leader of the occupation</a> during the final days of CHAZ.
Much of CHAZ played out like some bizarre skit fit for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WboggjN_G-4">&#8220;Monty Python&#8221;</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DI6rOj8IPs">&#8220;The Kids in The Hall&#8221;</a> on steroids. Sadly, the violence leaves little room for satire at the moment. What CHAZ demonstrates, however, is that much of the supposed idealism fueling so many of these protests all over our nation is nothing but delusion and nihilism masquerading as a cause.
 The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Seattle Announces It Will Phase Down CHOP Autonomous Zone

KHAN: The 8 Most Insane Things That Happened In Seattle’s Radical ‘Autonomous Zone’

Antifa

Black Lives Matter

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone

Jenny Durkan

Seattle

Far from becoming six blocks of some anarchical utopia that might gleam in Noam Chomsky’s eyes, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in downtown

KHAN: The 8 Most Insane Things That Happened In Seattle’s Radical ‘Autonomous Zone’ | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-8-insane-things-that-happened-in-seattles-radical-autonomous-zone/

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As an organization, Black Lives Matter is diametrically opposed to the majority of Americans of every race, creed, and color, not just the American way of life. With the help of mainstream media coverage, which sanitizes its radical views and goals, the organization has hoodwinked many well-intentioned Americans and will continue to do so with its particular brand of neo-Marxism, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-faith-in-a-dark-time">deconstruction of traditional values</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-cancel-culture-is-now-invading-the-american-workplace">calculated outrage</a>. Amid the rapid spread and scope of the movement in recent months, here are five ways in which the organization’s values and goals clash with the majority of Americans.
1. BLM seeks to abolish traditional family values 
With its repeated attacks on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronormativity">heteronormativity</a> and the nuclear family, BLM seeks to abolish not only traditional values as they exist in America, but, also, as they exist in nearly every culture around the world. The truth is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation#General_findings">vast majority of men and women are heterosexual</a> and most still believe in traditional notions of marriage and fidelity, especially among immigrant communities here in America.
Here is how <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/">BLM’s official site</a> describes its goal of &#8220;disrupting&#8221; the nuclear family:
<blockquote>“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement… When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual…”</blockquote>
The massive blind spot in BLM’s antagonism toward traditional family values is that those very same values continue to serve as the bedrock for immigrant communities throughout America and have done so for centuries, whether it’s generations of Italian and Irish immigrants or, more recently, Asian, Latino, and Eastern European immigrants. Citing the Census Bureau, the <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/most-immigrant-families-are-traditional-families">Institute For Family Studies</a> reported:
<blockquote>“[C]hildren of immigrants are more likely, not less likely, than children of native-born Americans to be growing up in traditional families, i.e., with two married parents.” </blockquote>
Additionally — and crucially to the aims of the larger &#8220;black lives matter&#8221; movement (as opposed to the organization) — the traditional nuclear family is imperative for black prosperity in America now more than ever, as Glenn T. Stanton of <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/16/how-black-lives-matters-antagonism-to-marriage-and-family-hurts-black-americans/">The Federalist</a> points out:
<blockquote>“Beyond the mistaken assumption that the “nuclear family” is unique to the Western world, their position is profoundly concerning. BLM, as an organization, seeks to dismantle the very institution that mountains of published <a href="http://familyinamerica.org/files/3214/5806/3564/Stanton.pdf">academic research</a> has consistently demonstrated as most likely to strengthen and empower Black Americans and their children: the traditional, nuclear family.”</blockquote>
2. BLM seeks to cancel capitalism 
Capitalism has allowed the U.S. to become the greatest economy the world has ever seen. For centuries, generations of Americans and immigrants from all over the world have been afforded a far greater standard of living because of America’s capitalism-based economic system. It’s the driving impetus behind the American dream. Yet Black Lives Matter organizers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-led-drive-to-defund-the-police-also-targets-capitalism">openly seek to dismantle it</a>.
In 2017, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-leaders-campaign-to-cancel-capitalism-shaped-by-marxist-upbringing">Melina Abdullah</a>, one of the most influential of BLM’s leaders and a professor at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/black-lives-matter-black-christmas-capitalism-724309">declared</a> on her radio show, <a href="https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/beautiful-struggle/">Beautiful Struggle</a>:
<blockquote>“[W]e have to disrupt the white supremacist, capitalistic, patriarchal, heteronormative system that is really the root cause of these police killings.”</blockquote>
Anthony Ratcliff, another BLM leader and tenured professor at CSULA, echoed her assertion, declaring that capitalism is “just as nefarious” as white supremacy and thus must be eliminated as well:
<blockquote>“Black Lives Matter and other organizations have as much hatred or vitriol against capitalism… Until we start to see capitalism [is] just as nefarious as white supremacy, we will always be struggling.&#8221;</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_125103" style="width: 904px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-125103" class="size-full wp-image-125103" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Melina-Abdullah.jpg" alt="Melina Abdullah participates in the Hollywood talent agencies march to support Black Lives Matter protests on June 06, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)" width="894" height="530" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/Melina-Abdullah.jpg 894w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/Melina-Abdullah-300x178.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/Melina-Abdullah-768x455.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 894px) 100vw, 894px" />Rich Fury/Getty Images</div>
3. BLM disallows anyone from transcending the superficial categories of race and color
According to BLM, one is hopelessly confined to the superficialities of race and color by supposedly overarching patriarchal strictures and structures. This is a classic Marxist trope promoted in the works of <a href="https://www.iep.utm.edu/fouc-pol/">Michel Foucault</a> and other radical theorists that refuses to acknowledge the volition and agency of each and every individual, regardless of color, creed, or circumstance.
It’s also a Marxist trope that the great and complex American writer, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin">James Baldwin</a>, summarily dismissed even as a gay, black man in the 1950s.
In the final lines of “<a href="http://faculty.gordonstate.edu/lsanders-senu/Everybody's%20Protest%20Novel%20by%20James%20Baldwin.pdf">Everybody’s Protest Novel</a>,” a scathing critique of Richard Wright’s Marxist novel, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Son">Native Son</a>,” Baldwin dismantles the spurious notions of being confined to one’s race and class by some nebulous patriarchal structure with eloquent precision:
<blockquote>“The failure…lies in its rejection of life, the human being, the denial of his beauty, dread, power, in its insistence that it is his categorization which is real and cannot be transcended.”</blockquote>
The great failure of BLM is that it yields to an inherently flawed Marxist paradigm that disallows the individual to prosper, grow, and transcend regardless of race, color, or circumstance. Instead, it seeks to confine all people, particularly minorities, to narrow, external categories of race and color to further its agenda.
4. BLM marginalizes many shared values of minorities and immigrant communities
Whether by misandry or the constant derision directed at heterosexuality and values such as marriage, fidelity, traditional gender roles, and religious beliefs, most minorities in America are also targeted, directly or indirectly, by the agenda of the Black Lives Matter organization.
Most minorities come from immigrant communities that hold to values that are directly opposed to what BLM espouses. This includes most <a href="https://sojo.net/articles/importance-thriving-black-church">black communities</a> as well. These individuals and communities do not want their beliefs and ways of life challenged or ruined by the postmodern constructs, loose sexual mores, and gender-fluid values that BLM propagates.
In particular, the supposed “spirituality” that BLM promotes is really just a mishmash of New Age tropes that are anathema to the religious beliefs of many immigrant communities that have or are assimilating into the American way of life. For example, according to <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/the-fight-for-black-lives-is-a-spiritual-movement">The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs</a>:
<blockquote>“The movement [BLM] infuses a syncretic blend of African and indigenous cultures’ spiritual practices and beliefs, embracing ancestor worship; Ifa-based ritual such as chanting, dancing, and summoning deities; and healing practices such as acupuncture, reiki, therapeutic massage, and plant medicine in much of its work, including protest.”</blockquote>
It’s worth noting that, according to the <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/immigrant-status/immigrants/">Pew Research Center</a>, almost 70% of immigrants to America are Christian. The New Age <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syncretism">syncretism</a> that BLM espouses is often considered sacrilege to the religious practices of these immigrants. Yet, the organization continues to indoctrinate the children of these immigrants through the media and on <a href="https://reason.com/2017/10/04/black-lives-matter-students-shut-down-th/">campuses nationwide</a> to oppose the beliefs of the religious teachings of their upbringing until it falls in line with their larger cultural and political agenda.
5. BLM is explicitly Marxist in orientation
BLM’s founders, <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/our-co-founders/">Alicia Garza, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, and Opal Tometi</a>, openly admit to being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdpIIiBe7Wc">Marxists</a>. They draw almost exclusively from critical theory and its offshoot, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_race_theory">critical race theory</a> (CRT). Both theories are rooted in Marxist thought and have been a mainstay in left-wing academia for decades. <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-theory/">The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a> offers a detailed analysis of critical theory while <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-theory">Encyclopedia Britannica</a> offers a more succinct definition: 
<blockquote>“Drawing particularly on the thought of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Marx">Karl Marx</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sigmund-Freud">Sigmund Freud</a>, critical theorists maintain that a primary goal of philosophy is to understand and to help overcome the social structures through which people are dominated and oppressed…Since the 1970s, critical theory has been immensely influential in the study of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history">history</a>, law, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/literature">literature</a>, and the social sciences.”</blockquote>
Writing for <a href="https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2020/06/65132/">Public Discourse</a>, R. Albert Mohler, Jr. offers a necessary critique of why critical theory and BLM are in opposition to the American way of life:
<blockquote>“[G]uided by Marxist ideology that seeks to revolutionize our culture and society… Black Lives Matter operates from a worldview that undercuts human dignity. It sees each person’s identity as determined by externally imposed social structures, which are in turn determined by the human desire to seize power and oppress others. Such identity politics entangles human identity in subjective, materialist terms…”</blockquote>
It’s important to note that Mohler does not, at all, dismiss the notion of “black lives matter” as a sentiment. In fact, as the president of <a href="http://www.sbts.edu/">The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary</a>, he offers a broad and compassionate take rooted in the very American values BLM seeks to erase:
<blockquote>“Today, there are very real and urgent moral concerns about the lives and well-being of black Americans. It is not wrong in our context, therefore, to say ‘black lives matter’ as a sentence…But it’s not that simple…Black Lives Matter did not emerge merely as a sentence. Those three words function as a message and a platform making a significant political statement…”</blockquote>
Currently, BLM has far more to do with Mao and his violent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution">Cultural Revolution</a> that lead to the death of untold millions than Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. King demanded an end to injustices rooted in the inequality and racism that were contrary to American values. Mao, however, sought and succeeded in uprooting an entire nation through violence and propaganda.
Like Mao, BLM seeks to uproot the very foundations of a nation with its Marxist goals. In this sense, they view our nation, in its entirety, with all its deep struggles and great achievements, as a lost cause.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/8-ways-black-lives-matter-activists-changed-the-nations-largest-criminal-justice-system">8 Ways Black Lives Matter Activists Changed The Nation’s Largest Criminal Justice System</a>
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BLM Fist

KHAN: 5 Ways The Black Lives Matters Org Undermines Immigrant And Minority Communities In America

Gender

Race

As an organization, Black Lives Matter is diametrically opposed to the majority of Americans of every race, creed, and color, not just the American way of

KHAN: 5 Ways The Black Lives Matters Org Undermines Immigrant And Minority Communities In America | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-5-radical-goals-of-the-black-lives-matter-organization-the-media-ignores/

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The pandemic remains a serious issue in America. It would be disingenuous to state otherwise. How serious, though, remains a bone of contention for many given the levels of obfuscation.
It seems much of the overarching narrative surrounding COVID-19 insists on either <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/10/832171895/coronavirus-panic-how-to-get-your-thinking-brain-back-online">sanctifying anxiety</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/8-times-dr-fauci-revised-the-coronavirus-narrative">misleading us to some extent</a>, rather than providing clarity and responding with composure.
Recall Neil Ferguson’s <a href="https://idp.nature.com/transit?redirect_uri=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01003-6&amp;code=9c280baa-9238-40a3-b28d-5d59b626571d">Imperial College Model</a> that predicted the death of millions. Ferguson’s model compelled lockdowns all across the world. While they were certainly necessary for a spell, Ferguson’s model not only appears to have been inherently flawed, Ferguson himself <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/05/uk-coronavirus-adviser-prof-neil-ferguson-resigns-after-breaking-lockdown-rules">defied the very lockdown</a> he insisted upon.
As Kevin Dayaratna pointed out quite succinctly for <a href="https://www.heritage.org/public-health/commentary/failures-influential-covid-19-model-used-justify-lockdowns">The Heritage Foundation</a>:
<blockquote>It is fundamentally important for models used in policy to be made publicly available, have assumptions clearly stated, and have their robustness to changes to these assumptions tested. Models also need to be updated as time goes on in line with the best available evidence.
Bottom line: The Imperial College model didn’t meet any of these criteria. And sadly, its model was one of the inputs relied on as the basis for locking down two countries.</blockquote>
While there still remains a paucity of data, the pandemic is also being politicized to exhaustion. When the BLM protests erupted for weeks upon weeks, the pandemic all but disappeared from the headlines. A little more than a month later, tremendous COVID-19 surges began occurring all across the country. The media adamantly refused to make any kind of connection between the surge and the protests.
<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/24/883017035/what-contact-tracing-may-tell-about-cluster-spread-of-the-coronavirus">NPR</a> ran a piece insisting that parties and disdain for masks were the main culprits in the surge, not the protests. <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/06/30/black-lives-matter-protests-did-not-cause-an-uptick-in-covid-19-cases">The Economist</a> stated the same, even arguing that any concern over the possible spread of COVID-19 during the protests was tantamount to “scaremongering.”
The answer, unfortunately, is that we may never fully know how much massive nationwide protests contributed to the recent surges. According to <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/coronavirus/2020/6/14/21290963/nyc-covid-19-trackers-skipping-floyd-protest-questions-even-amid-fears-of-new-wave">The City</a>, New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio explicitly instructed those conducting contact tracing to actively avoid asking anyone if they had attended a protest:
<blockquote>The hundreds of contact tracing workers hired by the city under de Blasio’s new “test and trace” campaign have been instructed not to ask anyone who’s tested positive for COVID-19 whether they recently attended a demonstration, City Hall confirmed…</blockquote>
It’s certainly not beyond the scope of reason to wonder if governors and mayors like Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, and Eric Garcetti instructed their own contact tracers to follow suit.
Even more perplexing, many of the very epidemiologists involved in battling the pandemic allowed their own political misgivings to color their analyses. They had no problem scolding conservative anti-lockdown protestors for large gatherings. However, when it came to the BLM protests that were infinitely larger in scale, they did not voice any concerns.
Catherine Troisi, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center, at the very least, admitted to her own inherently contradictory views. 
She told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/us/Epidemiologists-coronavirus-protests-quarantine.html">The New York Times</a>: “I certainly condemned the anti-lockdown protests at the time, and I’m not condemning the protests now, and I struggle with that…I have a hard time articulating why that is OK.”
The argument that protestors were maintaining social distancing, actively wearing masks, and using copious of amounts of hand sanitizer is woefully inaccurate. Even on the <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/blmgn-slider-now-we-transform-062220-2000x1125-01-1024x576.jpg">very front page of the BLM</a> site there’s a young man clearly not wearing a mask.
Finally, how COVID deaths are being counted seems as contentious as ever. In April, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, stated in a press conference that, regardless of any comorbidities, if someone tested positive for the virus and died, it would be counted as a COVID death, as reported by <a href="https://week.com/2020/04/20/idph-director-explains-how-covid-deaths-are-classified/">25 News</a>:
<blockquote>If you were in hospice and had already been given a few weeks to live, and then you also were found to have COVID, that would be counted as a COVID death. It means technically even if you died of a clear alternate cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it&#8217;s still listed as a COVID death. So, everyone who&#8217;s listed as a COVID death doesn&#8217;t mean that that was the cause of the death, but they had COVID at the time of the death.</blockquote>
While such a statement doesn’t necessarily prove that the numbers surrounding COVID-19 are inflated, as many claim, it rightfully gives many pause regarding the data and information we receive on a daily basis.
Regardless, it’s hopelessly unfortunate that there remains little to no open discussions about the pandemic and our continued response to it. Any counterpoint or question, no matter how <a href="https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2020/07/09/a-conversation-with-john-ioannidis/">reasoned or insightful</a>, is bludgeoned into silence online and elsewhere. One is simply forced to cede to the many dogmatic overtures presented to us or be vilified into silence.
This piece has been revised for clarity.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

KHAN: How Politicization, Anxiety And Misdirection Are Still Driving The Pandemic Narrative

The pandemic remains a serious issue in America. It would be disingenuous to state otherwise. How serious, though, remains a bone of contention for many

KHAN: How Politicization, Anxiety And Misdirection Are Still Driving The Pandemic Narrative | The Daily Wire

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A litany of falsehoods and misleading headlines from the media has hounded President Trump from even before his inauguration. Many of these false claims range from the trivial to the dire. Here are some of the more egregious assertions put forth by the media.
1. Trump called white nationalists in Charlottesville “very fine people”
In 2017, the media insisted that Trump supported white nationalism after the violence in Charlottesville. A piece by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/trump-defends-white-nationalist-protesters-some-very-fine-people-on-both-sides/537012/">The Atlantic</a> opened with the following line:
“President Trump defended the white nationalists who protested in Charlottesville on Tuesday, saying they included ‘some very fine people,’ while expressing sympathy for their demonstration against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.”
Of course, missing from The Atlantic’s piece was full context of the four-word phrase as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/896420822780444672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E896420822780444672%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-never-called-neo-nazis-fine-people-michael-j-knowles">Trump’s tweet</a> that morning condemning hatred and violence and calling for unity:
“We ALL must be united &amp; condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!”
As the transcript of the exchange reveals, Trump was arguing that the demonstration involved far greater complexities than what was being reported. The rally was not inherently “white nationalist,” containing many people there to protest the removal of tributes to America’s complex history. Fringe elements on the Right were indeed present, as were violent radicals on the Left, but Trump made a point of distinguishing between those there to promote patriotist and those there to spread hatred.
Below are excerpts from the contentious August 2017 <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/15/full-text-trump-comments-white-supremacists-alt-left-transcript-241662">exchange</a> in which Trump made his “some very fine people” comment:
<blockquote>Trump:I will tell you something. I watched those very closely, much more closely than you people watched it. And you had, you had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now. You had a group – you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent.
Reporter: Do you think what you call the “alt-left” is the same as neo-Nazis?
Trump: Those people – all of those people, excuse me – I’ve condemned neo-Nazis. I’ve condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch.
Reporter:Well, white nationalists –
Trump: Those people were also there, because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue Robert E. Lee. So – excuse me – and you take a look at some of the groups and you see, and you’d know it if you were honest reporters, which in many cases you’re not. Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. So this week, it’s Robert E. Lee, I noticed that Stonewall Jackson’s coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after. You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop? […]
Reporter: Mr. President, are you putting what you’re calling the alt-left and white supremacists on the same moral plane?
Trump: I’m not putting anybody on a moral plane. What I’m saying is this: You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other, and they came at each other with clubs — and it was vicious and it was horrible. And it was a horrible thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on this side. You can call them the left — you just called them the left — that came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that’s the way it is. &#8230;
Reporter: The neo-Nazis started this. They showed up in Charlottesville to protest —
Trump: Excuse me, excuse me. They didn’t put themselves — and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group. Excuse me, excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.</blockquote>
2. Trump touted improved employment numbers as a “great day” for George Floyd
A favorite ploy by many in the media is to take Trump’s statements out of context then mock and deride him for it. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/politics/trump-george-floyd-maine/index.html">The way CNN misconstrued his statements</a> on George Floyd is just another example:
<blockquote>President Donald Trump showed his breathtaking disconnect from the pain and tumult that has unfolded in this country after George Floyd&#8217;s death, declaring Friday that new economic numbers and nationwide protests against racism and police brutality had made it &#8220;a great day&#8221; for Floyd.</blockquote>
In fact, what Trump said was far more dignified, as a fact-check by <a href="https://factcheck.thedispatch.com/p/did-trump-say-he-hoped-george-floyd">The Dispatch</a> revealed. Here&#8217;s what Trump actually said:
<blockquote>Trump: Equal justice under the law must mean that every American receives equal treatment in every encounter with law enforcement, regardless of race, color, gender, or creed. They have to receive fair treatment from law enforcement. They have to receive it. We all saw what happened last week. We can’t let that happen. Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, &#8220;This is a great thing that’s happening for our country.&#8221; This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody. This is a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality. It’s really what our Constitution requires and it’s what our country is all about.</blockquote>
Context counts. What Trump said about Floyd was both generous and honorable and not at all some dismissive, self-serving remark.
3. Trump claimed all Mexicans are drug dealers, rapists, and criminals
In 2016, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916/drug-dealers-criminals-rapists-what-trump-thinks-of-mexicans">The BBC</a> ran a headline claiming that Trump considered all Mexicans criminals in some form or another. The content of the piece featured a heavily edited video featuring curated sound bytes from Trump during his campaign seemingly supporting the headline’s claim. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/06/16/theyre-rapists-presidents-trump-campaign-launch-speech-two-years-later-annotated/">Other media outlets</a> ran with it as well.
As documented by <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/aug/08/tim-kaine/tim-kaine-falsely-says-trump-said-all-mexicans-are/">Politifact</a>, Trump actually stated the following:
<blockquote>Trump: When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you… They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.</blockquote>
Too broad a generalization on his part? Inaccurate even? Perhaps, but in no way was Trump declaring that all Mexicans were rapists and criminals. That was just yet another specious attempt at spin by the media. He made a point of saying that he assumes some are &#8220;good people.&#8221;
Trump’s condemnation of “rapists” followed multiple reports, like this <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/facing-risk-rape-migrant-women-prepare-birth-control">tragic PBS report</a> from 2014, on the horrific treatment of women and girls at the hands of “coyote” guides as they immigrate to America.
4. Trump declared COVID-19 a hoax
Earlier this year, many news sites ran headlines stating that Trump had declared COVID-19 a hoax. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/28/trump-says-the-coronavirus-is-the-democrats-new-hoax.html">CNBC ran with it</a> and even stated the following:
<blockquote>President Trump says that Democrats are using the virulent coronavirus as a &#8220;hoax&#8221; to damage him and his administration.</blockquote>
A media avalanche ensued, insisting that Trump considered the pandemic a hoax.
Amid the onslaught, <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-coronavirus-rally-remark/">Snopes</a> offered surprising clarity on the matter given the site’s general bias toward the left. Trump had only insisted that the Democrats&#8217; criticism of his response was, in fact, a hoax.
&#8220;In context, Trump did not say … that the virus itself was a hoax,&#8221; Snopes concluded. &#8220;He instead said that Democrats’ criticism of his administration’s response to it was a hoax.&#8221;
5. Trump referred to undocumented immigrants as “animals”
Trump supposedly referring to undocumented immigrants as “animals” is easily one of the more egregious examples of the media misleading the American public. It’s a lie that continues to hound the president as well. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/05/16/trump-calls-undocumented-immigrants-animals-echoing/617762002/">USA Today</a> even went so far as to not only mislead its readers about the alleged claim, but used it to compare Trump to Adolf Hitler, slave owners, and the Hutus during the Rwandan genocide:
<blockquote>“These aren&#8217;t people. These are animals.&#8221; That&#8217;s how President Trump described undocumented immigrants during a White House meeting…Trump&#8217;s not the first to use such rhetoric: Adolf Hitler justified the Holocaust by saying Jews weren&#8217;t people but rats, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134956180/criminals-see-their-victims-as-less-than-human">as NPR notes</a>. In the Rwandan genocide, Tutsis were called not people, but cockroaches [by the Hutus], and slaveowners justified slavery by calling their slaves not people, but animals.</blockquote>
In fact, Trump was specifically referring to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-13">MS-13</a>, one of the most brutal, murderous criminal gangs in the entire world, in an exchange with Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims as detailed by <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-animals-hitler/">Snopes</a>:
<blockquote>According to a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-california-sanctuary-state-roundtable/">transcript</a>, Mims referred to &#8220;bad guys&#8221; and specifically named the violent criminal gang MS-13 immediately before President Trump’s &#8220;animals&#8221; remarks…</blockquote>
Trump even clarified his statement a day later, though it seemingly fell on deaf ears. “I’m referring to the MS-13 gangs that are coming in,” said Trump.
6. The infamous photo of kids in cages
One of the more glaring problems with headlines or stories that end up being false is that the redactions later offered rarely achieve the same level of attention as the initial claim. In effect, the misleading claims hold true for many, especially when confirmation bias is so pernicious in today’s climate and fact-checking is at a premium.
<a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/07/071019-obama-era-photo.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=618&amp;h=410&amp;crop=1">An infamous photo of kids</a> amassed in a border detention center circulated by House Democrats in 2018 is a glaring case in point. In fact, the photo was <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/02/the-lying-about-donald-trump-is-now-completely-out-of-control/">taken in 2014 during Obama’s administration</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Continuing to prove that Dems are only playing politics with the border crisis, House Democrats promoted a hearing on “kids in cages” with a photo taken in 2014. 
As in, during the Obama Administration. 
Don’t bother looking for their tweet &#8211; it’s been deleted. <a href="https://t.co/tXWvMNpYYH">pic.twitter.com/tXWvMNpYYH</a>
&mdash; Tim Murtaugh &#8211; Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimMurtaugh/status/1148718350014570502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
7. Trump is to blame for the looting and violence during the BLM protests 
In another case, of fantastically spurious reasoning, CNN’s David Gergen insisted that Trump’s supposedly constant “race-baiting” inspired the looting and violence during the recent BLM protests. Writing for the Washington Post, Dana Milbank offered a similar wild assessment, as reported by the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/02/the-lying-about-donald-trump-is-now-completely-out-of-control/">New York Post</a>:
<blockquote>CNN political analyst David Gergen said Tuesday that Trump’s referrals to himself as ‘the president of law and order’ functioned as &#8220;race-baiting&#8221; and, in turn, &#8220;would deliberately incite violence.&#8221;…Liberal Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank wrote Monday that the riots and destruction we’re seeing &#8220;are the wages of Trump’s hate-filled incumbency.&#8221;</blockquote>
These were nothing more than caustic, inflammatory remarks devoid of any real substance or logic on the part of Gergen and Milbank. At best, the comments were built upon previous lies made against Trump. Much of the reason why Trump is painted as some race-baiting hate monger is due, in no small part, to the incessant falsehoods the media promulgates about him as the examples above demonstrate.
Trump has made his fair share of comments that deserve criticism from the media. But the reality is the establishment media has largely thrown off all pretense of objectivity in its coverage of him, and at times even knowingly promoted false narratives. And it&#8217;s not just Trump. Many mainstream outlets have allowed themselves to devolve into petty, dogmatic activism with little regard for the truth or the division and destructive consequences that result from their actions.
Given all the bogus claims and misleading reports targeting one side of the aisle, it should come as no surprise that trust in the media has eroded. A <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx">Gallup&#8217;s survey</a> found that by 2019, confidence in newspapers had plummeted from 51% in 1979 to just 23%, while confidence in televised news was even worse: down from 46% in 1993 to just 18% in 2019.

President Trump

KHAN: 7 Debunked Claims The Media Has Pushed About Trump

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

A litany of falsehoods and misleading headlines from the media has hounded President Trump from even before his inauguration. Many of these false claims

KHAN: 7 Debunked Claims The Media Has Pushed About Trump | The Daily Wire

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As the Left attempts to demolish all vestiges of the complex history of America, Southern rock may very soon find itself in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-cancel-culture-is-now-invading-the-american-workplace">the crosshairs of cancel culture</a> if the madness continues unabated. This includes the likes of The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Band. It&#8217;s not hard to imagine that such artists, songs, and albums will be de-platformed from the likes of Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, etc., to appease these history-erasing mobs.
Currently, there is virtually no room to discuss or contextualize any monument, statue, or song that commemorates the South and its complicated history in any meaningful way. Instead, amid all the current protests, acts of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-if-you-value-our-national-history-and-the-rule-of-law-you-should-oppose-the-destruction-of-monuments">vandalism, and destruction</a>, it must all be eradicated, sight unseen.
While there are many songs that epitomize the somewhat nebulous definition of Southern rock in various ways, perhaps the most emblematic example remains The Band’s sonorous lament, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM">The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down</a>.” The Band and that particular song alongside the likes of The Allman Brothers serve as the progenitors for the genres that would later come to be defined as Southern Rock and Americana.
Ironically enough, ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” was written in 1969 by a Canadian, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Robertson">Robbie Robertson</a>, and sung by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levon_Helm">Levon Helm</a>, a native Arkansan. Although a <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/joan-baez/chart-history/adult-contemporary/song/574446">bigger hit for Joan Baez</a>, only when one hears it sung by Helm, with his hauntingly tortured vocals, are the depths of the song fully realized.
The song is a fictional account of Virgil Caine, a Rebel soldier and a poor white Southerner. It details some of the last days of the Civil War alongside portraying the profound exhaustion and growing despair that emerged for many in the South after its loss to the North.
<a href="http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/night-they-drove-old-dixie-down/">The opening verse of the song</a> begins with the aftermath of one of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stoneman#Stoneman's_raids">George Stoneman’s raids</a> behind Confederate lines that had torn up supply routes to Robert E. Lee:
<blockquote>Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train 
Till Stoneman&#8217;s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again 
In the winter of &#8217;65, we were hungry, just barely alive 
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it&#8217;s a time I remember, oh so well…</blockquote>
The chorus, in particular, serves as a kind of grand eulogy for the Confederate South. It captures so many of the complex emotions by way of lyric, melody, and harmony that arose among so many Southerners in the wake of such defeat for generations to come:
<blockquote>The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, 
and the bells were ringing, 
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, 
and the people were singin&#8217;.</blockquote>
In the context of the song, Robert E. Lee is presented as a fallen hero, not a turncoat or a villain. From the perspective of the forlorn protagonist, Virgil Caine, this makes perfect sense. <a href="http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/night-they-drove-old-dixie-down/">The song continues</a>:
<blockquote>Back with my wife in Tennessee, 
When one day she called to me, 
“Virgil, quick, come see, 
there goes Robert E. Lee!” 
Now I don&#8217;t mind choppin&#8217; wood, 
and I don&#8217;t care if the money&#8217;s no good. 
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest, 
But they should never have taken the very best.</blockquote>
The song’s final verse emphasizes the contempt and resentment that would emerge for generations in the South toward the proverbial North with its many hypocrisies and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger">carpetbaggery</a>:
<blockquote>Like my father before me, 
I will work the land, 
Like my brother above me, 
who took a rebel stand. 
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, 
But a Yankee laid him in his grave, 
I swear by the mud below my feet, 
You can&#8217;t raise a Caine back up 
when he&#8217;s in defeat.</blockquote>
Legendary music critic, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_J._Gleason">Ralph J. Gleason</a>, considered the song a literary masterpiece that rivaled all other historical accounts of the Civil War. In his review for Rolling Stone, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/the-band-179326/">Gleason wrote</a>:
<blockquote>[L]ean and sparse like a Hemingway short story…Nothing that I have read, from Bruce Catton to Douglas Southall Freeman, from Fletcher Pratt to Lloyd Lewis, has brought home to me the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does. The only thing I can relate it to at all is the ‘Red Badge of Courage’. It is a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Rick and Richard Manuel in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn’t some oral tradition material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of ’65 to today. It has the ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity.</blockquote>
Levon Helm’s own elaboration on the writing of the song is quite telling also according to <a href="https://musicaficionado.blog/2016/04/25/the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-by-the-band/">The Music Aficionado</a>:
<blockquote>Robbie and I worked on the song up in Woodstock. I remember taking him to the library so he could research the history and geography of the era for the lyrics and make General Robert E. Lee come out with all due respect. It was another of those workshop songs we worked on a long time before we got it down. Robertson’s take on the events that ripped the nation apart are not siding with any of the parties but rather describe the sentiment and human suffering of a confederate soldier at the end of and shortly after the war.</blockquote>
And, yet, amid so much praise and nuanced analyses, it’s simply a matter of time before the Left will actively seek to castigate and discard a song like ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” It will be maligned and misconstrued as some racist song that supports slavery and white supremacy instead of being one of the great chronicles of the South and the Civil War ever written.
Similarly, it’s impossible not to also mention Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Southern rock classic “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GxWmSVv-cY">Sweet Home Alabama</a>” as progressives continue to decimate our cultural landscape. It’s brash, defiant tone and praise toward all things Southern makes it an easy target for the Left.
Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the grand homage to Alabama and the South in response to Neil Young’s derisive song, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5FCcDEA6mY">‘Southern Man</a>.” Young had painted the South with tired stereotypes and broad strokes in that particular song though, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/676863591/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd-southern-discomfort-american-anthem">according to NPR</a>, he would later come to regret it:
<blockquote>In his 2012 autobiography, he stated that he deserved that musical jab, writing, “I didn&#8217;t like my words when I wrote them. They are accusatory and condescending.”</blockquote>
In fact, Young would end up eulogizing the band by playing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ in concert weeks after the tragic plane crash that killed many of the founding members of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-neil-young-covers-sweet-home-alabama-in-1977-186638/"> Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977</a>.
Even Dr. Henry Panion III, a black professor of music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, considers Skynyrd’s Southern anthem universal for all Alabamians. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/676863591/sweet-home-alabama-lynyrd-skynyrd-southern-discomfort-american-anthem">In an interview with NPR</a> from 2018, he stated the following:
<blockquote>What they were trying to do when they wrote it was say, “Everybody&#8217;s talking about the South, but there are some wonderful things about the South…And everyone don&#8217;t necessarily subscribe to the policies and practices of bigots and racists.”</blockquote>
Will Southern Rock be afforded such nuanced assessment in the future?
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/toto-fallon-kimmel-and-stern-heres-the-naked-truth-behind-cancel-culture">Fallon, Kimmel and Stern: Here’s the Naked Truth Behind Cancel Culture</a>

Lynyrd Skynyrd Concert

KHAN: Can Southern Rock Survive Cancel Culture?

American History

Cancel culture

Slavery

As the Left attempts to demolish all vestiges of the complex history of America, Southern rock may very soon find itself in the crosshairs of cancel

KHAN: Can Southern Rock Survive Cancel Culture? | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-can-southern-rock-survive-cancel-culture/

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Amid the at-times violent uproar over the tragic death of George Floyd, so many have forgotten the heroism that members of law enforcement commit every day all across our nation. At any given moment, these brave Americans risk life and limb protecting all of us. Many have made the ultimate sacrifice. Here are just a few recent examples of such heroic individuals.
1. David Dorn
In the current climate, it’s appropriate to take a moment to honor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-david-dorns-murder-exposes-a-massive-blind-spot-among-the-blm-protests">David Dorn</a>, whose life was taken as a direct result of anti-police sentiment inflamed by the death of Floyd. A former St. Louis police captain, Dorn’s character and service were held in the highest regard in his community.
“David Dorn was a man of great character who dedicated his life to helping others and protecting his neighborhood,&#8221; said U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, As reported by the <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hundreds-gather-at-st-louis-church-to-honor-ex-police-captain-killed-in-looting/article_358d9a6d-f9c7-511f-9821-8eb3a48787b1.html">St. Louis Post-Dispatch</a>. &#8220;…His life of honor and dedication reminds us of the vital service the good men and women of law enforcement render to our communities every day. We depend on them, people like David Dorn.”
The retired Dorn was senselessly murdered trying to protect a neighborhood pawnshop from looters during the recent Black Lives Matter protests. Sadly, the media offered little by way of tribute or reflection for the life-long public servant.
<div id="attachment_122543" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-122543" class="size-full wp-image-122543" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Captain-David-Dorn.jpg" alt="Captain David Dorn" width="600" height="337" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Captain-David-Dorn.jpg 600w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Captain-David-Dorn-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />St. Louis Police Department</div>
2. Cameron Kinsey
Cameron Kinsey, a sheriff’s deputy in Palmdale, CA, recently saved an 11-month-old boy from choking. While ensuring the peace during local protests, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&amp;v=550770299144162">the deputy saw two distressed women</a> run toward him with a child in their arms. According to the <a href="https://www.avpress.com/news/deputy-saves-choking-child/article_22c122ec-b110-11ea-891c-db501b88f833.html">Antelope Valley Press</a>, Kinsey&#8217;s swift action saved the child&#8217;s life.
&#8220;Kinsey conducted a medical assessment. He checked the baby’s airways, breathing and pulse, and gave him a couple more pats on the back to try to dislodge whatever was stuck in the baby’s throat. The baby had turned blueish,&#8221; the outlet reported. &#8220;Kinsey opened the baby’s airway with a mouth sweep procedure with his finger. The baby started crying and breathing again.&#8221;
Kinsey&#8217;s actions are significant in part because they are common among law enforcement. That such acts of heroism go unnoticed is a travesty, especially as law enforcement continues to be endlessly vilified by the media and elsewhere.
<div id="attachment_122541" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-122541" class="wp-image-122541" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Cameron-Kinsey.jpg" alt="Cameron Kinsey" width="600" height="339" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Cameron-Kinsey.jpg 587w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Cameron-Kinsey-300x170.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />Los Angeles County Police Department</div>
3. David Patrick Underwood
Federal Protective Officer David Patrick Underwood was killed in a drive-by shooting during recent BLM protests in Oakland, CA. According to a <a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/06/19/boogaloo-boys-steven-carrillo-david-underwood-homeland-security-race-war-george-floyd/">local CBS affiliate</a> in San Francisco, the 53-year-old Underwood was gunned down while working security at Oakland’s Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building complex.
Praised by his friends and family, Underwood went into law enforcement to better serve his community. Like David Dorn, Underwood is not a hero because of some singular grand act of bravery and courage but instead because of a steadfast willingness to uphold and raise the standards of the community.
Underwood’s eloquent <a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/06/19/boogaloo-boys-steven-carrillo-david-underwood-homeland-security-race-war-george-floyd/">eulogy</a> given by Pastor Alvin Bernstine summarizes what so many people feel amid the widespread vilification of law enforcement.
“We’re not crying Black tears, we’re not crying White tears,&#8221; said Bernstine. &#8220;We’re crying human tears. We’re not crying Republican tears or Democratic tears, we’re crying heartbreak tears.  We’re not crying law enforcement tears or law-deprived tears. We’re crying justice tears.”
<div id="attachment_122539" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-122539" class="wp-image-122539" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/David-Patrick-Underwood.jpg" alt="David Patrick Underwood" width="600" height="334" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/David-Patrick-Underwood.jpg 750w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/David-Patrick-Underwood-300x167.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />Pinole Police Department</div>
4. William Kimbro
William Kimbro, a South Carolina deputy, saved a 12-month-old baby last June. <a href="applewebdata://15F6C440-2288-48A6-AF12-462438D7884D/Kimbro's%20body%20camera%20captured%20the%20tense%20moments%20as%20he%20performed%20live-saving%20CPR.%20%20%22Come%20on,%20baby.%20Cry%20for%20me.%20Cry%20for%20me.%20Come%20on,%20open%20those%20eyes,%20sweetheart.%20There%20you%20go,%22%20Kimbro%20could%20be%20heard%20saying.%20%22I'm%20worried%20about%20her,%20because%20she%20starts%20breathing%20and%20then%20she%20stops.%20And%20then%20starts%20and%20then%20stops.%22%20%20Baby%20Ryleigh%20went%20on%20to%20make%20a%20full%20recovery">According to ABC7</a>, Kimbro’s body camera captured the anxious moments as he diligently administered CPR to the infant:
“Kimbro&#8217;s body camera captured the tense moments as he performed life-saving CPR. ‘Come on, baby. Cry for me. Cry for me. Come on, open those eyes, sweetheart. There you go,’ Kimbro could be heard saying. ‘I&#8217;m worried about her, because she starts breathing and then she stops. And then starts and then stops.’”
Not only did baby Ryleigh make a full recovery, Deputy Kimbro is now officially her godfather. Kimbro&#8217;s actions transformed three lives and transcended the superficialities of race and color that continue to beleaguer our nation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
One year ago today, Berkeley County Deputy William Kimbro saved 12 day old Ryleigh&#39;s life during a traffic stop. Last night. Ryleigh surprised Kimbro and his wife..asking them to be her godparents. An awesome update, from an elated officer. <a href="https://twitter.com/BerkCoSheriff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BerkCoSheriff</a> <a href="https://t.co/a20Oid7Wzm">pic.twitter.com/a20Oid7Wzm</a>
&mdash; Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEisbergWCIV/status/1271215850830417921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
5. Jonathan Wiese
In mid-June, Jonathan Wiese, a San Diego K9 officer, rescued a pair of two-year-old twins in spectacular fashion after the girls’ desperate, suicidal father plunged their vehicle off a cliff and into the ocean.
With the aid of fellow officers, Wiese scaled the cliff, swam toward the upturned vehicle, and rescued the girls. Weise’s training as a Marine came in handy <a href="https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/officer-rescues-toddlers-after-father-drives-off-sunset-cliffs">according to ABC10</a>.
“He said the truck acted as a break from the surf while he gathered his thoughts, and a memory hit from his time in the Marine Corps,&#8221; ABC10 reported. &#8220;&#8216;They taught you how to do water safety rescues and I had a little flashback of okay grab him under the armpit and push him so I swam and held them above water,&#8217; bringing them to shore.&#8221;
SDPD Police Chief David Nisleit commented on Weise’s actions and stated, “That&#8217;s probably the most heroic thing I&#8217;ve seen in my 32 years.&#8221;
Weise responded to the praise in characteristic humility.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t do the job to be liked every day, I didn&#8217;t do it to become rich, I did it because I want to be out there making a difference and helping people, as cliche as that might sound, but I was just glad I could be there,&#8221; he said.
<div id="attachment_122526" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-122526" class="wp-image-122526" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Jonathan-Weisse.jpg" alt="Jonathan Weisse" width="600" height="337" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jonathan-Weisse.jpg 932w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jonathan-Weisse-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Jonathan-Weisse-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />San Diego Police Department</div>
6. Stephen Williams
In a poignant, emotional service for Sgt. Stephen Williams of Moody, Alabama, some 1,000 mourners came to pay their respects for his ultimate sacrifice. <a href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2020/06/funeral-to-be-held-today-for-slain-moody-police-sgt-stephen-williams-who-was-fatally-shot-at-the-super-8-motel.html">According to AL</a>, Williams was recently shot and killed in a gunfight after responding to a 911 call made at a local Super 8 Motel.
Sgt. Williams’ own memorable words on service that seemed to foreshadow his own death were read at his funeral. As reported by AL, those words exemplify the brave men and women of all colors and from all walks of life that serve in law enforcement all across our great nation:
“Please don’t cry for me. I’ve lived and loved on principles such as truth, honor and courage. Don’t cry for me because I made the sacrifice I might have to make, and I accepted that risk anyway. Don’t cry for me. I was proud to be a part of something special and something amazing and I am confident I made a difference in the lives of those who needed me.
&#8220;Don’t cry for me because I have the most incredible wife and the most incredible family. My brothers and sisters in blue, I love you all. Smile for me for I am in a new place and it is beautiful, where there is no hurting, and no crying and no suffering. I am welcome here and I finally get to rest. You see I am no longer on watch but know that I am watching over you. And I’ll be smiling because I love you still.”
<div id="attachment_122527" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-122527" class="wp-image-122527" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sgt.-Stephen-Williams-930x576.jpg" alt="Sgt. Stephen Williams" width="600" height="372" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Sgt.-Stephen-Williams-930x576.jpg 930w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Sgt.-Stephen-Williams-300x186.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Sgt.-Stephen-Williams-768x476.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/Sgt.-Stephen-Williams.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />Moody Police Department</div>
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David Dorn

Six Heroic Members Of Law Enforcement That Deserve Recognition And Praise

Law Enforcement

Amid the at-times violent uproar over the tragic death of George Floyd, so many have forgotten the heroism that members of law enforcement commit every

Six Heroic Members Of Law Enforcement That Deserve Recognition And Praise | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/six-heroic-members-of-law-enforcement-that-deserve-recognition-and-praise/

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