Academics have a bone to pick with the authors of &#8220;White Rural Rage: The Threat To American Democracy,&#8221; a best-selling book that argues rural voters — many of whom have <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/01/28/rural-voters-favor-trump/72337833007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rallied behind</a> former President Donald Trump — pose a danger to the United States.
Journalist Paul Waldman and professor Tom Schaller are being accused of negligence by some of the very same researchers they cited in their book, which publisher Penguin Random House <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/734507/white-rural-rage-by-tom-schaller-and-paul-waldman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> is about how &#8220;rural Whites&#8221; have become the &#8220;most likely group to abandon democratic norms and traditions&#8221; with the encouragement of GOP politicians and conservative media.
<div id="attachment_720427" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-720427" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-720427" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/9780593729144.jpeg" alt="Penguin Random House. February 2024." width="300" height="450" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/9780593729144.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/9780593729144-200x300.jpeg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Penguin Random House. February, 2024.</div>
Nicholas Jacobs, a political scientist from Colby College, said in an <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/05/white-rural-rage-myth-00150395" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed published by POLITICO</a> Magazine on Friday that his research and the work of others are &#8220;being misinterpreted and misunderstood.&#8221; The authors made &#8220;two persistent types of errors&#8221; when examining the data on rural Americans, he explained.
The first, Jacobs said, is they &#8220;routinely fall victim to the logical fallacy of composition when they attribute group characteristics to individuals.&#8221; He cited as examples attempts to suggest rural voters who support Trump are more likely to be authoritarian, claim their communities are beset by Christian nationalism, and ignore the smaller numbers who back Democrats.
The second &#8220;persistent error,&#8221; Jacobs said, is the authors &#8220;cite polling data with little attention to issues of quality, which less sloppy scholars would question to make sure their conclusions were valid,&#8221; including on race and immigration as well as the &#8220;birther&#8221; claim regarding former President Barack Obama and whether he was born in the United States.
&#8220;This shoddy analysis and faux expertise does real damage,&#8221; Jacobs wrote, dismissing the central focus of the book. &#8220;It is clear that the overwhelming portrayal of rural America as angry and irrational feeds into and amplifies the divisions between rural and urban Americans, overshadowing the shared challenges and aspirations that cut across these geographic lines.&#8221;
Jacobs also joined with B. Kal Munis to write in a post published on <a href="https://reason.com/2024/03/07/the-truth-about-rural-rage/#:~:text=The%20overarching%20argument%20of%20White,rural%20communities%20than%20within%20them." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reason.com</a>, saying they were two of the scholars whose work the authors of &#8220;White Rural Rage&#8221; got wrong, going as far as to accuse Waldman and Schaller of &#8220;academic malpractice&#8221; in their book.
&#8220;Schaller and Waldman favorably cite our research showing that there is a modest correlation between rural resentment and racial resentment, a commonly used attitudinal measure of negative racial stereotyping,&#8221; the pair <a href="https://reason.com/2024/03/07/the-truth-about-rural-rage/#:~:text=The%20overarching%20argument%20of%20White,rural%20communities%20than%20within%20them." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in their op-ed from March. &#8220;What they fail to note is the only statistically and intellectually sound conclusion that could be drawn from our data: While this slight correlation exists, rural resentment is an attitude distinct from racial prejudice.&#8221;
In response to the criticism, Schaller and Waldman spoke with The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTdo5eAW1Ws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent interview</a> and touched on the veracity of their work. The book &#8220;is right, right now,&#8221; said Schaller, who then quipped about hoping that in 10 to 15 years they will have to &#8220;retract a lot of it because white, rural Americans&#8221; will have returned to their roots and support a &#8220;secular, pluralist constitutional democracy.&#8221;
Waldman said they have &#8220;taken a lot of criticism even from people who say, &#8216;This book is why rural people are resentful.&#8217; That it&#8217;s the &#8230; condescension of the snooty Eastern elitists and that&#8217;s the end of the story and you don&#8217;t have to interrogate really where that belief comes form, but we&#8217;ve also heard from a lot of people in rural American of all kinds just ordinary people — journalists, activists — &#8230; who have said, &#8216;This is an accurate reflection of what&#8217;s going on in my community. This is a real problem and we have to address it.'&#8221;
The criticism, however, keeps coming.
Kristen Luna Trujillo, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/white-rural-rage-cites-my-research-it-gets-everything-about-rural-america-wrong-opinion-1877917" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> for Newsweek that the authors cited but did not misrepresent her work, yet she chastises them for how they &#8220;do criticize rural Americans for their anti-intellectualism, building on tired tropes of rural people being backward, dumb, violent, and ignorant, while pushing a narrative that worsens such distrust in the first place.&#8221;
Another assistant professor, Tyler Austin Harper of Bates College, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240406214424/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/white-rural-rage-criticism/677967/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> for The Atlantic that he spoke with 20 scholars in the &#8220;tight-knit rural-studies community&#8221; and most of whom are cited in &#8220;White Rural Rage&#8221; or thanked in the acknowledgments. He said these academics &#8220;left me convinced that the book is poorly researched and intellectually dishonest.&#8221;
Harper said he found a pattern after fact-checking many of the book&#8217;s claims and citations that showed most of &#8220;the problems occur in sections of the book that try to prove that white rural Americans are especially likely to commit or express support for political violence.&#8221;
Claiming the authors are &#8220;bending the facts to fit their chosen scapegoat,&#8221; Harper wrote they &#8220;mislead the public about the all-too-real threats to our democracy today. As serious scholarship has shown—including some of the very scholarship Schaller and Waldman cite, only to contort it — the right-wing rage we need to worry about is not coming from deep-red rural areas. It is coming from cities and suburbs.&#8221;

A Trump 2020 re-election sign and an American flag are

‘White Rural Rage’ Book Enrages Same Academics It Cites

'White Rural Rage' Book Enrages Same Academics It Cites

2024 Election

Books

Democracy

Donald Trump

Racism

Readers Pass

U.S.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, claimed during an interview that aired on Sunday that he has ended corruption in Mexico and that the hundreds of political assassinations that are carried out every year in his country are not a threat to democracy.
AMLO made the claims during a &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview about the crisis on the U.S. southern border and about the Mexican drug cartels.
The left-wing news program noted that AMLO takes a &#8220;bare knuckle brawls with the press&#8221; which it said was in &#8220;sharp contrast to the softer approach he&#8217;s taken with the drug cartels.&#8221;
AMLO claimed that his &#8220;hugs not bullets&#8221; method for dealing with the cartels has worked out &#8220;very well,&#8221; even though violence remains high and the cartels have grown in size.
When asked about the more than 30,000 murders that happen in Mexico every year, AMLO claimed that the Mexican government prosecuted &#8220;all&#8221; of the cases, even though only around 5% are actually prosecuted.
AMLO deflected blame for the role his country has played in the fentanyl crisis in the United States since nearly all of the illicit fentanyl that ends up killing Americans is manufactured by cartels in Mexico.
&#8220;Fentanyl is produced in the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico,&#8221; he claimed, ignoring the fact that the illicit fentanyl used in street drugs comes from his country. &#8220;And the chemical precursors come from Asia. You know why we don&#8217;t have the drug consumption that you have in the United States? Because we have customs, traditions, and we don&#8217;t have the problem of the disintegration of the family.&#8221;
He also falsely claimed that drug consumption in Mexico was not a problem.
When asked if he has &#8220;completely&#8221; eliminated &#8220;corruption&#8221; in Mexico, AMLO claimed: &#8220;Yes, basically, because corruption in Mexico started from the top down.&#8221;
&#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; noted that independent organizations have found there has been &#8220;no improvement in the corruption problems that have plagued Mexico for decades&#8221; under AMLO.
When asked about the 355 government officials and political candidates who were murdered last year in his country, he downplayed the matter, saying there were only &#8220;some specific instances.&#8221;
He said that the assassinations posed no threat to democracy.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador: The 60 Minutes Interview" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/04WBPile_lA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

President Lopez Obrador Meets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

AMLO Claims He Ended Corruption In Mexico, Not Worried About Hundreds Of Political Assassinations

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Cartels

Corruption

Drug Cartels

Fentanyl

Mexico

Former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> argued on Saturday that President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&#8216;s claims that Trump and his &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; movement <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/19/biden-says-trump-maga-republicans-are-threat-to-democracy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pose a danger</a> to democracy is a new &#8220;hoax&#8221; and that Biden is the &#8220;real threat.&#8221;
At a gala held by the New York Young Republican Club, Trump said Biden&#8217;s line of attack is based on &#8220;misinformation,&#8221; another in a growing list of controversies that date back to his successful 2016 campaign.
&#8220;The radical left Democrats, their fake news allies have unveiled their newest hoax that Donald J. And the Republican Party are a threat to democracy … This is their new line. Here we go again — &#8216;Russia, Russia, Russia,&#8217; &#8216;Mueller, Mueller, Mueller,&#8217; &#8216;Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.&#8217; One hoax after another,&#8221; Trump said, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-calls-claims-hes-threat-democracy-hoax-says-biden-real-threat-will-save-democracy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>.
Trump called the strategy a &#8220;desperate and shameless attempt to distract from the monstrous abuses of power the Left is committing before your very eyes.&#8221; He also said, &#8220;We call it now the threat-to-democracy hoax, because that&#8217;s what it is.&#8221;
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A little more than a month before the 2024 primary season gets underway, Trump and Biden are locked in a war of words ahead of what could be a 2020 rematch in the general election.
Biden has employed warnings about democracy being at risk as he makes his re-election pitch to voters and donors, hearkening back to the U.S. Capitol breach on January 6, 2021, and efforts by Trump and his allies to challenge the results of the 2020 election. He has also seized on Trump pledging to be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-predicts-biden-wont-be-dems-2024-nominee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a &#8220;dictator&#8221;</a> only on the first day of his second term in order to tackle issues such as border security and drilling for energy.
&#8220;Let me be clear,&#8221; Biden said at a fundraiser in California over the weekend. &#8220;Donald Trump poses many threats to the country, from the right to choose to civil rights to voting rights to America’s standing in the world. But the greatest threat Trump poses is to our democracy, because if we lose that, we lose everything.&#8221;
Trump made the case on Saturday that Biden has it backward.
Biden is the &#8220;real threat to democracy for two simple reasons: he&#8217;s corrupt and incompetent — grossly incompetent,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/RealAmVoice/status/1733702086762660079" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

Former President Donald Trump

Trump Rejects ‘Threat-To-Democracy Hoax,’ Says Biden Poses The ‘Real’ Danger

Trump Rejects 'Threat-To-Democracy Hoax,' Says Biden Poses The 'Real' Danger

Elections

Executive

Hoax

Joe Biden

Politics

If this author knows anything about anything, it&#8217;s that Democrats and the Left think that even the most minor disruption of an official proceeding of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a> is just about the worst thing you can do in American politics these days (or so they claim). Such an action desecrates the hallowed ground walked upon by our nation&#8217;s public servants and spits on the Constitution itself, Legacy Media has beaten into us for the last two-and-a-half years.
No matter how small or non-violent the action might be, even if accidental, anybody who would disrespect Congress must be thrown into the slammer, made an example out of, and have his or her life ruined. They should be given a nickname, too. Like The Lectern Guy, or The QAnon Shaman fella with the horns.
And so, it gives me no pleasure to say, but the evidence suggests that Congressman Jamaal &#8220;The Fire Alarm Guy&#8221; Bowman (D-NY) is now a threat to democracy who must have the book thrown at him.
On Saturday, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-rep-reportedly-caught-on-camera-pulling-house-office-fire-alarm-ahead-of-continuing-resolution-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Bowman was seemingly caught on camera pulling the fire alarm at the Cannon House Office Building ahead of a motion to adjourn on Saturday as Democrats seek to delay a continuing resolution vote. Bowman and his ilk are threatening to shut down the government if Ukraine doesn&#8217;t get their money in the stopgap spending bill.
We didn&#8217;t think Bowman would literally threaten to shut down the government by sending everybody into a panic, but a still image of a man who looks a lot like Bowman pretty much confirmed it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨🚨NEW &#8212; Capitol Police are circulating this photo of a man pulling the fire alarm in Cannon. Looks a lot like Jamaal Bowman <a href="https://t.co/khzpigSvWI">pic.twitter.com/khzpigSvWI</a>
&mdash; Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1708191545751380161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Bowman allegedly broke multiple laws with such a heinous action. First, it&#8217;s a crime in Washington, D.C., to pull a fire alarm when there actually isn&#8217;t a fire.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jamaal Bowman reportedly pulled the fire alarm to further delay the CR vote
That’s legitimately a crime <a href="https://t.co/foxURHXZ91">pic.twitter.com/foxURHXZ91</a>
&mdash; John Hasson (@SonofHas) <a href="https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1708182529369378862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Secondly, obstructing a Congressional proceeding is a felony.
Congressman Troy Nehls (R-TX) offered to apprehend him.
&#8220;I’m hearing Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was CAUGHT ON CAMERA pulling the fire alarm in a House Office Building to delay the CR vote. IF TRUE: he should be charged with obstructing an official proceeding which is a FELONY. As a former Sheriff, I’d happily slap the cuffs on him.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’m hearing Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was CAUGHT ON CAMERA pulling the fire alarm in a House Office Building to delay the CR vote.
IF TRUE: he should be charged with obstructing an official proceeding which is a FELONY. 
As a former Sheriff, I’d happily slap the cuffs on him.
&mdash; Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepTroyNehls/status/1708184117265711602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Now, Bowman&#8217;s spokesperson is saying that he did not mean to cause a panic. It was all a big misunderstanding.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: Bowman spox Emma Simon on him pulling the fire alarm.
“Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.”
&mdash; Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1708194455835013498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But oh no, just like those who entered the Capitol on January 6 and have argued they didn&#8217;t mean to break any laws, Bowman can&#8217;t be let off the hook. He wouldn&#8217;t want that either if he had any legal and moral consistency.
As Bowman once said, &#8220;No one in this country is above the law.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is a post from Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). 
This is the same guy who was just caught on camera pulling the Cannon fire alarm in an alleged attempt to delay the CR vote.
Oh, the irony! <a href="https://t.co/BVeOLVhgfr">pic.twitter.com/BVeOLVhgfr</a>
&mdash; Camryn Kinsey (@camrynbaylee) <a href="https://twitter.com/camrynbaylee/status/1708191679205785750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rules are rules. Bowman needs to be held to the same standard set by the Democrats. He can tell his sob story to the judge.
PS: Bowman is a former middle school principal. He didn&#8217;t know pulling the fire alarm would cause chaos? Give me a break.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D) was a high school principal before getting elected to Congress. He literally had hours of fire drill safety training &amp; probably knows better than anyone the life &amp; death consequences of pulling a false fire alarm. <a href="https://t.co/h9ZAN7v1ik">https://t.co/h9ZAN7v1ik</a>
&mdash; RRH Elections (@RRHElections) <a href="https://twitter.com/RRHElections/status/1708186609001148498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Bowman, America weeping, Fire alarm

Rules Are Rules: Jamaal ‘The Fire Alarm Guy’ Bowman Is A Threat To Democracy

Rules Are Rules: Jamaal 'The Fire Alarm Guy' Bowman Is A Threat To Democracy

America

Congress

Jamaal Bowman

January 6

Top military leaders from Gabon, a central <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">African</a> nation, declared a coup on Wednesday shortly after the country re-elected its president in what&#8217;s been called a fraudulent election.
Military officers <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/africa/gabon-military-officers-say-power-seized-election-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> the coup on state television Wednesday just hours after the country declared President Ali Bongo Ondimba – whose family has ruled Gabon for over 50 years – the winner of the disputed election. Bongo was detained on Wednesday and placed under house arrest. The unrest follows a string of similar actions taken in other African countries and would mark the eighth coup in the region since 2020 if successful, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-us-is-deeply-concerned-by-situation-gabon-2023-08-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Reuters.
“Today the country is undergoing a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis,” the military officers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/30/gabon-coup-military-takeover-gabonese-election-disputed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a video message announcing the attempted coup. “On behalf of the Gabonese people and guarantor of the protection of institutions, CTRI [the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions] has decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place,” an officer <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/africa/gabon-military-officers-say-power-seized-election-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
During the address, the mutinous officers said that Bongo had been placed under house arrest and that the results of the election had been “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gabon-coup-attempt-military-officers-say-election-cancelled-west-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">canceled</a>.” In an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/africa/gabon-military-officers-say-power-seized-election-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">address</a> of his own, Bongo said that he was being detained in his residence while his wife and son were taken to separate locations.
The coup leaders also arrested Bongo&#8217;s inner circle, alleging “high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds (and) international financial embezzlement,&#8221; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gabon-mutiny-elections-power-a61d03963f75ae93ba85a4ba7eec3c71" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press.
“Nothing is happening, I don’t know what’s going on,” Bongo said, calling on his supporters to “make noise.” Despite the call to action from Bongo, the demonstrations appeared to be in support of the military coup, with crowds celebrating in the streets and thanking the army, the AP reports.
Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema, head of the Republican Guard unit which is tasked with protecting the president, was named the leader of the military junta and transitional government; Oligui is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gabon-mutiny-elections-power-a61d03963f75ae93ba85a4ba7eec3c71?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> the cousin of Bongo. Following the address, footage shows the military leader being paraded through the streets while fellow soldiers cheered and civilians shouted “freedom,” according to The New York Times.
On Wednesday, Bongo was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/world/africa/gabon-coup-election.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">named</a> the winner of the country’s presidential election, which took place on Saturday, garnering 65% of the vote, according to The New York Times. The election was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/gabon-president-ali-bongo-wins-third-term-after-disputed-election-2023-08-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely viewed</a> as fraudulent within Gabon due to voting delays, a lack of international election observers, foreign broadcasts being suspended, and the government cutting internet service for days following the vote.
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Shortly after Bongo was declared the winner, gunfire could be heard in the capital of Libreville, followed by the television address announcing the coup by 12 officers, according to the Times. The group behind the coup refers to themselves as the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, and they <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gabon-military-officers-announce-seized-power-rcna102493" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> to “dissolve all institutions of the republic” during their address.
“There was discontent in Gabon,” Oligui <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/world/africa/gabon-coup-election.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Le Monde, a French newspaper. “So the army decided to turn the page and do something.”
In 1960, the country <a href="https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa-region/gabon-1960-present/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gained independence</a> from France. Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, became president in 1967, and Ali Bongo was elected after the elder Bongo’s death in 2009. During his two terms, he has been accused of corruption, and survived a previous coup attempt in 2019.
Even though Gabon is an oil-rich country, roughly one-third of the country’s population lives in poverty, according to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13376333" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the BBC</a>.
This past December, Bongo visited Washington where he met with President Joe Biden at the White House, Today News Africa <a href="https://todaynewsafrica.com/white-house-says-u-s-monitoring-developments-in-gabon-amid-coup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Following the news of the coup, White House national security spokesman John Kirby called the events “deeply concerning,” and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-us-is-deeply-concerned-by-situation-gabon-2023-08-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the U.S. will “remain a supporter of the people in the region, a supporter of the people of Gabon and of their demand for democratic governance.&#8221;
Last month, military leaders in Niger <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-officials-missionaries-evacuated-from-niger-as-military-seizes-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized power</a> and installed General Abdourahmane Tchiani as president.

Gabonese soldiers announce they have seized power

Military Leaders Declare Coup In Central African Nation, Vow To ‘Dissolve All Institutions Of The Republic’

Africa

Global Politics

Political Violence

World

The Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, approved an amendment to the country’s Basic Law on Monday, standing staunchly against the Israeli Left, which has exploded in anger at seeing its control over the political arena erode.
The 64-0 vote, with all members of the right-wing bloc voting for the amendment and all members of the opposition boycotting the vote, was to curb the nation’s “reasonableness standard.” That standard enabled judges in Israel to apply a “reasonableness standard” to block decisions by elected officials that they believe are beyond the scope of what a responsible and reasonable authority would do.
The standard thereby gave the justices a de facto veto on most if not all government policies. The Israeli Supreme Court has always been dominated by leftists, and unlike the United States and other Western countries, enables justices on the court to pick their successors, thus giving the Left permanent control of the judiciary and thus control over government decisions.
The Left has somehow twisted its loss of control as a threat to democracy and launched protests around the country.
“We started by correcting the cause of reasonableness, as part of the important reform to correct the entire judicial system,” Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir stated, according to <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/373960">Israel National News</a>. “The time has come to return the power to the public and stop the rule of the junta. Correcting the cause of reasonableness is an extremely important step, but we must pass the entire reform. Changing the Judicial Selection Committee, the cancellation of the Override Clause, changing the powers of the Attorney General. Bringing democracy back to Israel.&#8221;
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich added, “64 supporters against 56 opponents to the reduction of the cause of reasonableness. Tonight, democracy won.”
Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer agreed, saying, “Tonight, we passed an important amendment to the cause of reasonableness in the first reading. An amendment that will allow the government ministers to implement the policy for which we were elected. I congratulate Minister Yariv Levin and the chairman of the Constitution Committee, Simcha Rothman, and call on the members of the opposition to behave responsibly and heed the call of the Minister of Justice to negotiate for the benefit of the State of Israel.”
The opposition hurled criticism at the amendment; Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid called the right-wing government, “thieves in the night,” threatening, “Millions of Israelis will take to the streets tomorrow.”
Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Liberman echoed that the amended law poses “serious damage to democracy.&#8221;
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I am not the biggest Bibi fan. 
But can we just stop and honor a man who is so freaking driven in his service to Israel that he had heart surgery and then put on a suit, got in a car, and is now running negotiations like a super-boss from his Knesset seat like he just woke up… <a href="https://t.co/CrZS4leWoQ">pic.twitter.com/CrZS4leWoQ</a>
&mdash; Malkah Fleisher 🕎 (@MalkahFleisher) <a href="https://twitter.com/MalkahFleisher/status/1683452988159930368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Israeli parliament approves controversial bill limiting âreasonableness standardâ

Israel Passes Judicial Reform In Face Of Mass Left-Wing Protests

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel

Judiciary

Protests

Israel’s democratically elected legislature, the Knesset, is in the midst of voting on a series of laws that would scale back the power of the unelected judiciary and place more power in the elected body. Tens of thousands of Israelis along with Israel’s usual detractors are up in arms, calling this &#8220;tyranny&#8221; and the “end of democracy.”
To start, those who continue to push the “end of democracy” narrative are objectively counterfactual, counterproductive, and over-reactionary. When a democratically elected body makes efforts to wrangle back power from those appointed by a committee controlled by the Bar Association and the judiciary itself, it is, in fact, putting more “power” into the hands of the “people.” In simple terms, making the political system more “democratic.”
Democratic governments around the world take many different forms, from constitutional republics, like the United States, to parliamentary systems, like the United Kingdom, and many variations there between. Israel is just shy of 75 years young, and is still in the nascent stages of forming what its democracy will look like. For instance, while its founders set out to form a constitution, none has yet been put in place. The entire process the democratically-elected government is going through is at the very core of democracy.
While it’s hard to see it through the hysterics, Israel’s proposed judicial reforms are, in fact, imperfect in their current state. However, this is the case when most laws are initially proposed. This is why there is a process, in most (or all) democracies in the world, Israel included, that allows for debate, input, discussion, and ultimately amendments. Those opposing the judicial reforms would be better served by pushing for constructive dialogue rather than destructive protests. Calls for the Knesset to change direction simply because of the nightly protests should fall on deaf ears, as a well-functioning government should never cave to what would essentially be mob rule.
Taking a quick step back, the proposed judicial reforms aim to accomplish five things: (1) Changing the process of selecting judges, so as to give the governing coalition of the Knesset a majority in the judicial selection committee; (2) Prohibiting the Supreme Court from making decisions based “on reasonability” rather than on laws passed by the Knesset; (3) Changing legal opinions of general counsels of government departments, appointed by the attorney general, from binding to advisory; (4) Raising the standard for the Supreme Court to strike down a law passed by the Knesset to 11 out of the 15 judges; and (5) Providing the Knesset the capacity to override a decision by the Supreme Court that strikes down a law passed by the Knesset with a majority of the Knesset members. Of course, the proposals are more nuanced than the above-outlined, but these are the general strokes of the proposals.
That judicial reforms are needed is the broad consensus view. The self-elected judiciary has become hyper-political, if not hostile, to the government, to the ultra-Orthodox, and to the conservative majority. The Supreme Court has also unilaterally expanded its own power by granting itself powers of judicial review and making key decisions based on its subjective interpretation of “reasonability,” and general, undefined concepts of dignity and liberty. The impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings is even more far reaching, given that the Israeli Supreme Court is a Court of first instance, in that almost anyone can file claims directly with the Court on a host of issues. At bottom, an unelected branch of government has run amok and the Knesset is looking to rein it in through these reforms.
The only truly controversial or delicate provision in the proposed reforms, in my opinion, is the “override clause.” The fact that the Knesset is seeking to include an override clause is not a problem per se. Given the past relationship between the branches, and the importance given by the elected body to ensuring that those elected by the people have final say on critical issues, the ability to override the Court’s decision makes sense. Israel would not be alone in implementing an express “override clause.” Canada, a country which no one would seriously charge as “non-democratic,” has a similar law, which permits the Parliament to pass a law “notwithstanding” their Court’s having found that law to be unconstitutional.
Still, for purposes of political stability, which is critical for the social and economic well-being of any nation, the issues which should qualify for override should be very limited and an override should only pass with a supermajority of the Knesset. These limitations would all but guarantee that the override would only be used sparingly and could not be abused by any party to satisfy the political whims of the day.
Finally, the governing coalition should learn from the mistakes of the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate in 2013, when they removed the 60-vote filibuster for the president&#8217;s nominees, requiring only a simple majority instead. This was a shrewd move in the short term to get President Obama’s nominees seated, but when control of the Senate shifted back to the Republicans, Democrats quickly regretted that the Republicans could pass through the president&#8217;s nominees without the support of a single Democrat.
In Israel today, it is hard to see when and how the political Left could return to power. But, politics lives on a pendulum, and when (not if) political control inevitably shifts in Israel, those in control of the Knesset today will regret having a law in place which requires only a simple majority to override the Supreme Court.
At the end, the Likud party and its coalition partners should not make any decisions based on the hysterical protests and threats of its detractors. Still, the government shouldn’t rush through the reforms without robust and honest debate about its impact. Particular care should be taken to limit the override clause so as to protect the integrity of the Supreme Court while providing the supermajority of the Knesset the ability to have final say on critical issues that go to the heart of the Jewish and Democratic State of Israel.
Gabriel Groisman is a partner at LSN Partners in Miami, Florida, a Jewish rights leader and the former mayor of Bal Harbour, Florida
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Protests Continue Over Proposed Judicial Overhaul In Israel

Israel Is Reforming Its Judiciary. It’s Not Perfect, It’s Democracy. 

Middle East

Despite the White House&#8217;s repeated insistence that &#8220;democracy&#8221; itself was on the 2022 midterms ballot, CNN anchor <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/is-that-intentional-cnns-dana-bash-grills-adam-schiff-over-avoiding-witnesses-whod-challenge-the-january-6th-narrative/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dana Bash</a> noted at the beginning of her network&#8217;s Election Night coverage that it wasn&#8217;t even a top-five issue for voters.
Bash was part of a Tuesday evening panel — which included fellow anchors <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/not-all-of-it-jake-tapper-interrupts-biden-official-who-keeps-insisting-gas-prices-are-putins-fault/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Tapper</a>, Abby Phillip, <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/thats-not-perception-thats-reality-chris-wallace-wont-let-nyc-mayor-deflect-on-crime-stats/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Wallace</a> and Kasie Hunt — and they began their coverage of the election with a conversation about last minute poll data and exit polls just as polling locations began to close across the country.
WATCH:
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&quot;You know what&#39;s missing from this one, two, three, four, five, top five issues? Democracy.&quot;
&quot;Oh, yeah.&quot;
&quot;It&#39;s not even in here.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/iFCdOWyhgB">pic.twitter.com/iFCdOWyhgB</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1590106667407925248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The numbers in these exits do not line up with what we were seeing in the polling data going into this election about what people cared about and the order in which they ranked it,&#8221; Hunt began. &#8220;So we have had a lot of questions throughout this time about new voters, people that hadn&#8217;t been in there before that were perhaps not getting captured by the polling. So maybe this is a sign that we&#8217;re going to see a little bit more of that than we expected. We obviously don&#8217;t know yet.&#8221;
&#8220;And you know what&#8217;s missing from these one, two, three, four, five, top five issues?&#8221; Bash asked before answering her own question: &#8220;Democracy.&#8221;
&#8220;Oh, yeah,&#8221; Tapper agreed.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not even in here,&#8221; Bash continued, adding, &#8220;That&#8217;s not to say that it&#8217;s not an issue for people, but it doesn&#8217;t even come close.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s not the issue,&#8221; Tapper added.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly insisted that &#8220;Democracy is on the ballot,&#8221; saying, &#8220;The remarkable thing about American democracy is this: Just enough of us on just enough occasions have chosen not to dismantle democracy, but to preserve democracy. We must choose that path again.&#8221;
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Democracy is on the ballot. <a href="https://t.co/f327esxgnZ">pic.twitter.com/f327esxgnZ</a>
&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1588221972776878081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Biden was not the only one, either. &#8220;The View&#8221; host <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/joy-behar-suggests-americans-who-are-worried-about-inflation-are-stupid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joy Behar</a> even went so far as to suggest that Americans whose primary concerns were inflation and the economy were just not smart enough to understand that if they voted to save the economy they could lose democracy.
&#8220;As I always say, inflation fluctuates. Democracy does not. And so, we need to know that. I don’t want to make a speech, I’m just saying, I feel like people are not comprehending the seriousness of what is going on,&#8221; she said.

Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate In Detroit Over Two Nights

‘It’s Not Even In Here’: CNN Anchor Admits ‘Democracy’ Isn’t Even A Top-Five Issue For Voters

CNN Anchor Dana Bash Admits 'Democracy' Isn't Even A Top-Five Issue For Voters

Dana Bash

Media

On Saturday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a> displayed his so-called decency and desire for unity by calling a group of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/socialism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-socialist</a> protesters outside his rally &#8220;idiots.&#8221;
The president, rallying in Joliet, Illinois, was greeted by dozens of protesters holding signs, including ones that said: &#8220;Socialism sucks.&#8221;
&#8220;I love those signs when I came in — socialism. Give me a break, what idiots,” the president barked at attendees before defending Social Security.
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Biden: &quot;I love those signs when I came in. &#39;Socialism.&#39; Give me a break. What idiots.&quot;<a href="https://t.co/SfUvmmdnqx">pic.twitter.com/SfUvmmdnqx</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1588995104865677313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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According to The Hill, other demonstrators also held pro-life signs, as well as more extreme ones that <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3721308-biden-on-people-calling-him-a-socialist-give-me-a-break-what-idiots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, &#8220;Where&#8217;s Nancy?&#8221; but Biden did not address those messages in his remarks.
During his speech, Biden also stated, &#8220;No one ever doubts I mean what I say, sometimes, of course, I say all that I mean.&#8221;
It is always hard to judge ourselves accurately, but that is a pretty out-of-touch statement for even an &#8220;allegedly&#8221; senile old man to make.
People always doubt what Biden has to say.
For example, everybody knew the president was full of it on Wednesday night when he claimed, &#8220;We need to start looking out for each other again, seeing ourselves as &#8216;We the People,&#8217; not as entrenched enemies.&#8221;
Just three days later, Biden proved those doubters correct by calling fellow Americans he claims to represent &#8220;idiots.&#8221;
Biden&#8217;s November speech echoed remarks given by the president in September.
During that speech, Biden encouraged Americans to make a very difficult choice.
&#8220;And now America must choose: to move forward or to move backward?&#8221; he <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/01/remarks-by-president-bidenon-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;To build the future or obsess about the past?  To be a nation of hope and unity and optimism, or a nation of fear, division, and of darkness?&#8221;
He claimed that &#8220;MAGA Republicans have made their choice,&#8221; and opted for &#8220;anger&#8221; and &#8220;chaos&#8221; while living &#8220;not in the light of truth, but in the shadow of lies.&#8221;
&#8220;But together — together, we can choose a different path,&#8221; the president offered. &#8220;We can choose a better path.  Forward, to the future. A future of possibility. A future to build and dream and hope.&#8221;
Shortly after that plea, the administration effectively <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/political-prosecution-pro-life-activist-mark-houck-fights-back-pleads-not-guilty-to-federal-charges-after-controversial-arrest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sicced</a> the full weight of the Department of Justice against a father of seven, pro-life Catholic, and arrested the man at his house for an incident that had been thrown out of court.
Now, Biden is bringing political opponents together by calling them &#8220;idiots.&#8221;
He has also updated his warning from &#8220;MAGA Republicans&#8221; to &#8220;Mega MAGA Republicans&#8221; while claiming that if Republicans win on Tueday, democracy is as good as dead in the water.
Readers are forgiven, if contrary to his remarks on Saturday, they doubt Biden always means what he says.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

So Much For Unity: Biden Calls Anti-Socialism Protesters ‘Idiots’

2022 Midterms

Socialism

United States

Democratic House Majority Whip <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-clyburn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Clyburn</a> (D-SC) compared the state of American democracy to Weimar Germany.
In an interview with Fox News Friday, Clyburn reacted to the violent attack on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/paul-pelosi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paul Pelosi</a> last week. Clyburn said that the country was following the path of the Weimar Republic in 1930s Germany, the fall of which led to the rise of an authoritarian leader, Adolf Hitler. Clyburn&#8217;s comments are the latest example of Democrats and media figures&#8217; escalating, alarmist rhetoric about &#8220;threats to democracy&#8221; posed by Republicans.
&#8220;This is what happens in a country that follows what happened in Germany in the early 30s,” Clyburn told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-majority-whip-track-repeat-nazi-germany-downplays-inflation-ahead-midterms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>. &#8220;I said this in 2018, and caught a lot of hell from a lot of people for having said it. But it was true then, and it&#8217;s true now: this country is on track to repeat what happened in Germany when it was the greatest democracy going, when it elected a chancellor who then co-opted the media. This past president called the press the enemy of the people. That is a bunch of crap. &#8230; And that is what&#8217;s going on in this country.&#8221;
Clyburn defended rhetoric from President Joe Biden about the &#8220;threats to democracy&#8221; posed by so-called &#8220;MAGA Republicans,&#8221; claiming that while Republicans targeted a person, Biden targeted a philosophy. &#8220;He talked about a philosophy that is taking place in this country,&#8221; said Clyburn. &#8220;He didn&#8217;t attribute it to one person that anyone could go and target, bust in their window, and beat &#8217;em in the head with a hammer. He never demonized any individual. He talked about a philosophy, and I would say the same thing.&#8221;
Clyburn then talked about the 2022 midterms, saying that voters have a right to vote in their own self-interest, but that must not be limited to inflation, but threats to democracy as well. &#8220;The question is, are we going to have a society that everyone can participate in? Or are we going to have an autocracy that&#8217;s run by one person?&#8221;
Clyburn is not the only prominent Democrat to compare Republicans, especially Trump-aligned or so-called &#8220;MAGA Republicans,&#8221; to Nazi Germany in recent weeks. Former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton compared a Trump rally in Ohio to a Nazi rally because his supporters <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hillary-clinton-likens-trump-supporters-to-nazis-because-they-pointed-in-the-air" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed in the air</a> while Trump spoke.
“I remember as a young student, you know, trying to figure out how people get basically drawn in by Hitler,” Clinton <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI98TIm-r_I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the Texas Tribune festival in September. “How did that happen? I’d watch newsreels and I’d see this guy standing up there ranting and raving, and people shouting and raising their arms. I thought, ‘What’s happened to these people?’”
“You saw the rally in Ohio the other night,” Clinton continued. “Trump is there ranting and raving for more than an hour, and you have these rows of young men with their arms raised. I thought, ‘What is going on?’ So, there is a real pressure, and I think it is fair to say we’re in a struggle between democracy and autocracy.”
Democrats, led by Biden, have amped up their rhetoric about the alleged threat to American democracy posed by Republicans. Biden claimed Republicans were motivated by &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/horribly-insulting-gop-gov-demands-biden-apologize-for-saying-some-republicans-motivated-by-semi-fascism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">semi-fascism</a>&#8221; at a donor event in August, then doubled down on his rhetoric in his &#8220;Battle for the Soul of the Nation&#8221; speech on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-demonizes-millions-of-americans-while-calling-for-unity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">September 1</a>. His rhetoric has been amplified by Democrats on the campaign trail in the final days before the 2022 midterms by campaign surrogates like former President <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/03/obama-warns-democracy-survive-arizona-00064813" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/11/a-closing-argument-for-democracy/671987/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legacy media outlets</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1588648470465986560?s=20&amp;t=8tzCKJc4XW6CyPRpPVwIrA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democratic activists</a>, and even Democratic <a href="https://twitter.com/Tony4WI/status/1588653565060317185?s=20&amp;t=9oH_SjzltIHMg6ELaEqV9Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">candidates</a> themselves.

Senate Democrats Hold News Conference On Medicaid And Reconciliation Package

Clyburn Compares America To 1930’s Germany In Latest Example Of Democrats’ Alarmist Rhetoric

Clyburn Compares America To 1930's Germany In Latest Example Of Democrats' Alarmist Rhetoric

Democrats

James Clyburn

The following is the opening satirical monologue from &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1102-media-panic-as-red-wave-rises-2">The Andrew Klavan Show.</a>&#8221;
Democrats, and other vampires sucking the life-blood from the throat of human decency, are beginning to worry that Democracy is in danger from Democracy.
With the latest polls showing that voters may throw Democrats out of office, then bounce them down the street like basketballs, then kick them from one side of the curb to the other, then jump up and down on their stomachs shouting, &#8220;Take that, you stupid Democrats,&#8221; then kick them from side to side some more before covering them with tar and feathers, hurling them into the Potomac and pelting them with rotten fruit as they float out to sea, then rounding them up in fishing nets and bringing them back on land to kick them from side to side again…
I forgot where I was going with this.
But the point is, Democrats may lose majorities in Congress and they feel this presents an existential threat to their majorities in Congress — or Democracy — you know, whichever. In the New York Times, a former newspaper, Editor-in-Chief Blithering Prevarication the Third wrote an essay for the opinion page, or as it’s often called, Knucklehead Row. The essay said, [quote] “Our democratic system is terribly broken if people can just go to the polls and vote for whatever candidate they happen to prefer. Here at the Times, the image of a mob swarming into voting booths one at a time conjures up traumatic memories of January 6th, when a mob swarmed into the Capitol and would have murdered public officials if they had murdered public officials. Now once again, we tremble at the sight of large numbers of people violently casting their violent votes to violently chase those same public officials from office violently. This is the kind of behavior that gave us Donald Trump and a booming economy and no new wars and we certainly don’t want that again because Donald Trump is a gigantic booger and a poo-poo head not to mention a stink-faced cooties magnet… niener niener niener.” [unquote]
Although Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has not shared her fears publicly, she did speak in the privacy of Jake Tapper’s new show on CNN, saying, [quote] “Today as I was in the bathroom mainlining Botox into my face to keep my head from collapsing in on itself like something in the last reel of a Dracula movie, I spoke to the people of the United States or my own reflection, and I tried to warn them or possibly myself about the damage their voting could do to Democracy. I said, People of the United States, or me: To vote against Democrats is completely out of keeping with the American founders’ vision of how I want you to vote. If Democrats lose their majorities, there will be no going back until Democrats change their absurd philosophy and stop making a crap-heap out of everything they touch, and that may not happen in my lifetime because it’s my lifetime and I’m the cause of a lot of it. We must preserve Democracy to enforce the will of the people as long as the will of the people is whatever I say it is.” [unquote]
At a campaign stop at a Girl Scout rally he’d snuck off to while his Secret Service was busy playing Grand Theft Auto, President and Venal Houseplant Joe Biden told a thirteen-year-old girl, [quote] “It has never been more important that you stop running away from me and let me bury my nose in your beautiful golden hair so I can describe all the things you shouldn’t let boys do to your plump, luscious pubescent body. Also Democracy is important — and so we mustn’t allow some semi-fascist with half a black shirt and one jackboot to acquire the other half of that shirt and another boot and become a full fascist because then he might go out and fascistly vote, which he wouldn’t do if he only had half a shirt and one boot because then people would see he was only a semi-fascist and that would be embarrassing for him. Democracy is on the ballot and if people vote against democracy then democracy will lose so it’s a good thing democracy isn’t on the ballot because that wouldn’t make any sense — it would be like walking around with half a shirt and one boot. Now come back here, you flirty little vixen.” [unquote]
Democrats have pledged they will do everything they can to protect Democracy during this election but they’re not sure they’ll be able to get away with it this time.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1663776358757000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2lHm_ZdswXr4ZRFDBRYWtn">Andrew Klavan</a> Is the host of The Andrew Klavan Show at The Daily Wire. A popular political satirist and Hollywood screenwriter, Klavan is also an award-winning novelist. Be sure to PRE-ORDER his new novel today: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Habit-Mind-Cameron-Mysteries/dp/1613163517/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Habit-Mind-Cameron-Mysteries/dp/1613163517/ref%3Dtmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding%3DUTF8%26qid%3D%26sr%3D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1663776358757000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2A-PHu0ZqsrknbrIeJJFOp">A Strange Habit of Mind</a>, book two in the Cameron Winter Mystery series.
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Klavan political o2

Democrats Worry Democracy Is In Danger From Democracy

Andrew Klavan

Nancy Pelosi

Satire

American democracy, we have been told, is in grave peril.
It’s a perspective we hear echoed dozens of time per day in the mainstream media — if this next election doesn’t go precisely how our hallowed elitists desire, surely tyranny will follow. As one of those sagacious experts, MSNBC’s Joy Reid, recently put it on Twitter, “It’s terrifying how many Americans will choose literal fascism, female serfdom, climate collapse and the reversal of everything from Social Security &amp; Medicare to student loan relief bc they think giving Republicans the power to investigate Hunter Biden will bring down gas prices.”
Polls show that this message has filtered down to many Americans, mostly Democrats. According to the latest New York Times/Sienna poll, fully 11 percent of Democrats say “the state of our democracy” is the most important problem facing the country, compared with 17 percent who cite the economy and another 17 percent who cite inflation; nine percent of independents feel the same way. More shocking, just 46 percent of Americans say that “America’s political system can still address the nation’s problems,” compared with 48 percent who say that the nation is “too divided politically to solve its problems.” And fully 74 percent of likely voters say American democracy is currently under threat.
All of which we should be pretty damned worried about the state of the republic.
And yet when we drill down, we see broad agreement among Americans that their neighbors aren’t their enemies; that our institutions are worth upholding; that the only remedy for our current political ills is to continue to work within the Constitutional system. According to that same poll, just 20 percent of voters say they’ve had a disagreement with family or friends over politics that hurt their relationship; just 14 percent say that someone’s political views “tell you a lot about whether someone is a good person”; just 30 percent say that presidents should violate the laws to pursue “what they think is best.”
Just 14 percent of likely voters say we will need to “go outside the law” to fix our democracy — 16 percent of Democrats, 15 percent of independents, and 9 percent of Republicans. Even among those who say we must “go outside the law,” just 12 percent say Americans should take up arms or participate in violence — meaning just 1.7 percent of likely voters advocate civil war. Meanwhile, 84 percent of likely voters say we can fix our democracy without destroying the system. 
As for the media’s favorite Trumpian conspiracy theory, Q-Anon, just 5 percent of likely voters call the theory believable.
So, why precisely are so many Americans worried about the state of democracy? They’re worried that their political opponents will threaten the institutions they cherish – 47 percent of voters declare Donald Trump a “major threat to democracy,” and 39 percent declare Joe Biden the same. But shockingly, the institution they blame most for threatening democracy is the mainstream media, with 59 percent of likely voters, including 54 percent of independents, calling the mainstream media a “major threat to democracy.”
Perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway from all of this data: that Americans don’t hate each other, but they’re being polarized by a media determined to divide them from one another, whipping up madness where mere concern would suffice. And what’s more, Americans can feel it. 
All of which means that sanity may reign once again, so long as Americans reconnect with each other rather than believing everything they see on the news.

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