Billionaire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kanye-west" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kanye West</a> and The Daily Wire&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/candace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Candace Owens</a> shocked the internet this week when they donned “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-17-white-lives-matter-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White Lives Matter</a>” apparel at Paris Fashion Week — and further enraged the media, brainwashed celebs, and cultural gatekeepers when they refused to back down.
At a time when Big Tech, American institutions, and the State are tightening its grip on policing thoughts and actions, West and Owens&#8217; &#8220;White Lives Matter&#8221; moment is actually not about provocation, but a strong signal that the Left&#8217;s policing doesn&#8217;t have to be tolerated.
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&mdash; Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1577000138131656704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Because the Left has unfortunately created strict parameters for our famous and racial and ethnic groups, West and Owens bucking norms is uniquely attention-grabbing, and uniquely challenging.
With West, his impressive success is supposed to be conditioned by his public political statements. We&#8217;ve seen actors and performers ostracized from their careers for daring to voice any out-of-narrative view at all; it&#8217;s just not allowed. The &#8220;Donda&#8221; rapper is supposed to be hamstrung by his race, too. A black man is not supposed to look at a Republican, let alone wear a MAGA hat in the Oval office with Donald Trump, or wear a t-shirt that says white lives matter. And, most importantly, our rich and famous can say they believe in God, sure, but they can&#8217;t believe in or live out Biblical truths.
Notably, the fashion designer was never called crazy or attacked by our elites when he was ridiculing conservatives, or when he was engaging in truly ungodly behavior. But when he went off script, the attacks were constant.
Lucky for West, and for common folks, it seems he&#8217;s just too big to fail.
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Owens&#8217; parameters are similar to West&#8217;s but not exactly the same. As a black person, especially one in politics, Owens is not supposed to challenge the Democrat Party narrative. Black folks who are out-of-step with the narrative will be smeared with nasty racial insults, like being called an &#8220;Uncle Tom&#8221; or told they aren&#8217;t black enough. And as a young woman, Owens, 33, is also not supposed to stand up for the unborn; she&#8217;s supposed to be a feminist helping Planned Parenthood bring in cash, which will in turn <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/planned-parenthood/C00314617/candidate-recipients/2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fund more Democrats</a>. Her defiance — not only blunt but backed by meticulous research — is an extra hard slap in the face to these established norms.
So when West and Owens emblazoned something so simple and true, yet so out-of-narrative on their shirts like &#8220;White Lives Matter,&#8221; the Left panicked, and then quickly attacked. The pair were accused of anti-black <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kanye-west-white-lives-matter-shirt-candace-owens-fashion-show-backlash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">racism</a> and even <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/kanye-west-blasted-ahmaud-arbery-mother-white-lives-matter-shirt-1235151367/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violence</a>, among other absurd transgressions.
But they did not recoil, which was the ultimate signal that the Left&#8217;s grip on policing can be slipped.
West, for example, on Instagram <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kanye-west-calls-black-lives-matter-a-scam-declares-it-over-after-wearing-white-lives-matter-shirt-with-candace-owens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement a &#8220;scam&#8221; and officially “over.” “Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam,” he posted to his nearly 18 million followers. “Now it’s over, you’re welcome.”
<div id="attachment_445644" style="width: 326px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-445644" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-445644 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-9.16.20-AM-316x576.png" alt="Kanye West" width="316" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-9.16.20-AM-316x576.png 316w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-9.16.20-AM-165x300.png 165w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-9.16.20-AM-768x1398.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-9.16.20-AM.png 778w" sizes="(max-width: 316px) 100vw, 316px" />Instagram: Kanye West</div>
He also told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that abortion, largely at the hands of racist Planned Parenthood, is a genocide on black people.
Owens, too, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-17-white-lives-matter-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has refused to back down</a>, challenging critics to stop focusing on the shirt and instead on real threats to the black community, like abortion, obesity, the breakdown of the family, and black-on-black crime.
“If ‘black lives matter,’ then some of these things that we have been talking about on this show, things I’ve been talking about throughout my entire political career, would be getting attention, not the t-shirt,” Owens <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-17-white-lives-matter-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on her podcast Tuesday.
Some might be quick to criticize West and Owens for only going provocation, but they couldn&#8217;t be more wrong; the message and the pair&#8217;s subsequent statements are far deeper, and far more important.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kanye-defends-white-lives-matter-shirt-says-candace-owens-was-the-only-public-figure-to-back-him-with-major-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kanye Defends ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt, Says ‘Candace Owens Was The Only Public Figure’ To Back Him With Major Issue</a>

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Kanye And Candace’s ‘White Lives Matter’ Moment, And Why It’s So Important Right Now

Kanye West And Candace Owen’s ‘White Lives Matter’ Statement

Black Lives Matter

Candace Owens

Kanye West

Readers Pass

Well, now it’s my turn. I expected something like this might happen. It had to. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-matt-walsh-show">I have been successful in fighting against the left’s agenda</a>, especially the trans agenda. Those who support the sexual mutilation of children know full well that I am a threat to them. We’re winning and they’re losing. And they know it. They cannot engage with our arguments, they cannot oppose us on the battlefield of ideas, so instead they look for another way. Now they’re convinced they’ve found their kill shot against me by using the same method they always use: digging up ancient history — doing the internet equivalent of rummaging through garbage cans — to find things done and said years ago which can be used to defame and, they hope, silence me today.
Yes, my PR team over at Media Matters apparently wasn’t satisfied to promote just my current show, so they decided to go back 15 years to my time as a rock radio host on an obscure station in Delaware. They spent, it would seem, many tedious hours listening to segments and bits from my time as a shock jock in my early 20s. It could not have been easy to sit through. I commend their persistence. Now they’ve compiled their findings into an “expose” that promises to reveal my “sordid past.” Honestly, I never thought of myself as having a sordid past. I figured my life was far too boring for that. But it turns out that I am a more interesting person than I had previously thought.
As for the vultures at Media Matters, and the Leftists who’ve picked up this hit piece and run with it, they are not very interesting. They are as pathetic and desperate as I’ve always known them to be. The Left isn’t interested in investigating children’s hospitals that literally castrate and butcher children. In fact, such investigations are an act of terrorism, they insist. But they will take the time to scour the internet for evidence that I made offensive remarks when I was 23 years-old. That, in their minds, is far more relevant to the public. A matter of much greater national urgency.
With that in mind, let’s talk now, for a few moments, about the deep dark secrets of my past. The skeletons that have been hiding in my closet, waiting to be discovered by an intrepid reporter at Media Matters. I will tell you the whole ghastly story, even the parts that Media Matters didn’t include.
When I was 20 years old, I moved into a one bedroom apartment in a small town in Delaware and started working at a rock station with a staggering audience that easily reached into the hundreds. Those are my humble beginnings — or the dark and sinister origins of the world’s most notorious terrorist, depending on who you listen to. I worked at the station until I was 25. For a couple of years during that period, I hosted a morning show where we often flouted the rules of political correctness (as was the custom on morning radio at the time).
In their hit piece, Media Matters presents evidence that I used racially insensitive humor, that I told inappropriate jokes, that I engaged in other offensive activities. All of that is, of course, true. They also accuse me of physically abusing our radio interns by tasing one of them as a joke. This is also true, and I submit, still funny. In fairness, I got tased too. In fact, I invented a game called taser trivia where, as the name suggests, you are asked trivia questions and if you get it wrong, you get tased. Media Matters didn’t post that video but they should. It’s quite shocking.
That’s the sort of content you missed out on if you didn’t live in southern Delaware in the early 2000s. But there’s more. Media Matters reveals that I once challenged the intern to lick the inside of a dumpster. Which again is true, but the part they leave out is that afterwards we called a doctor on the air to find out what sort of diseases he might have picked up from the stunt. From what I recall, the answer was “many.”
Also, again as Media Matters exposes, like any other hacky morning show at the time, we did prank calls. Some of the prank calls were offensive by current standards. Sometimes on a call I would imitate a black man. On one occasion I attempted to portray a man with split personalities, one of whom was black and the other white. It worked better on paper than it did in execution. But not all of our prank calls were racially charged. Only most of them were. We did one where I called a hotel pretending to be a wizard who had left his magical sword in his room. It was, I think without question, the nerdiest prank call anyone has ever made, and deserves to be recognized as such in the Guinness Book of World Records. But Media Matters didn’t include that video in their expose. Maybe they can find room for it in the follow up that I’m sure is coming soon.
Yet it wasn’t all fun and games. Media Matters reports that I made politically inflammatory statements, including at a Tea Party rally where I got into an argument with a guy in the audience while I was on stage, and it ended with me calling him an, quote, “old fart.” That’s the kind of devastating insult I could throw around before I became one myself.
But my political extremism wasn’t confined to yelling at people at Tea Party rallies. One thing Media Matters doesn’t mention — perhaps doesn’t know, but now they will — is that I ran for mayor of my town and lost by a vote of, if I remember correctly, 450 to 26. The campaign ultimately floundered because I never campaigned. Also, I had no platform of any kind. I mainly just entered the race because I thought it would be funny. And it was. It doesn’t end there. Other leftists have now joined the hunt, digging up their own evidence. One now-viral video shows me and my co-host burning a book over a charcoal grill. We then dance around the flames and make whooping noises like Indians. That’s all real, but the back story is that we had the author, whose name I forget, on the show. He annoyed us, for reasons I also forget, so we said we were going to burn his book in reprisal. And we did. And again, it was funny.
But the Left is not satisfied to merely accuse me of racism, terrorism, political extremism, and workplace violence. They are also absurdly claiming that I advocated child brides. For that bit of defamation, they are using another segment, from over a decade ago, where we discussed the issue of teen pregnancy. I pointed out that in the past, teen pregnancy wasn’t considered a problem because people got married younger. I was attempting to highlight the fact that unwed pregnancy is a core problem that plagues our society, and is still a problem even when the unwed pregnant person is an adult. No matter the age, I argued at the time, pregnancies become a crisis when they happen outside of marriage, without a stable family structure in place to care for the child. This was, again, not an issue in earlier times because people got married young and stayed married. It’s a rather uncontroversial historical observation, but the Left has latched onto this point, from years ago, and tried to use it to flip the “groomer” label against me, accusing me of “promoting” teen pregnancy and even child rape. This is a defamatory lie, they know it’s a lie, and it shows how desperate they are. They have chosen the most toxic smears available, because smears are all they have.
In summary, my enemies have thrown every last thing they can at me. The whole kitchen sink, and a few appliances to go with it. I am not the first to get this treatment and I certainly will not be the last. Their objective is nothing less than the wholesale destruction of my life and my career. That is the price they expect me to pay for opposing them effectively. They hope to force me to submit and apologize, at which point they will shoo me away with my tail between my legs, out of public view, out of the arena, off into obscurity. This is my punishment, the life sentence they expect me to serve, for trying to stop them from abusing and butchering children. And it’s not just me they are after. They want to send a message to you that if you stand up against them, this is what happens. They want to make me into another head on a spike, a warning to anyone else who might think about defying them.
Well here is my official answer, for the record: kiss my ass. I do not apologize. In fact by all rights you sick freaks should be the ones apologizing for lying and defaming me, and doing it all because I’m trying to prevent you from sexually mutilating children. You child abusing psychopaths. I wouldn’t apologize to you soulless parasites if I had a gun to my head. Instead I will just tell you all to piss off. I apologize for nothing. I concede nothing. I will never surrender even a single inch of ground to a pitchfork mob full of degenerate idiots. The secret that they never say out loud is that nobody is truly canceled unless they consent to it and willingly play their assigned role. I do not consent and I will not play the game.
I’m not going anywhere. I am more motivated than ever to oppose you and fight against everything you stand for because I hate everything you stand for and hate it more with each passing day. You can try to humiliate me, ruin my reputation, accuse me of all of the most heinous crimes you can invent in your tiny, feverish little brains, but I am not going anywhere. I’m staying in the fight and never leaving. I promise you that.
Also, for the record, I will always maintain that tasers are a wonderful source of comedy.

Matt Walsh.(image option)

To The Leftist Vultures At Media Matters: Kiss My Ass

Gender Identity

Matt Walsh

Media Matters For America

transgender surgery

Today’s topic is a little different, but I want to talk about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/situation-between-tom-brady-and-wife-gisele-bundchen-more-serious-than-previously-disclosed-report">Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen’s rumored divorce</a>. Specifically, I want to talk about why Tom needs to be the leader of his family and go get the girl.
The media is saying that both Gisele and Tom have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-brady-responds-to-subtle-statement-from-his-wife-with-his-own-subtle-statement-amid-marital-woes">hired divorce lawyers</a>. We can’t confirm that but we do know that she has not been present at any of his games, which is strange. It is out of habit for her. I&#8217;m not trying to draw conclusions, but it was also recently reported by Page Six that they have been living completely separately.
For those who don’t know, Brady notoriously announced that he was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-brady-retirement-announcement-doesnt-mention-new-england-patriots">retiring last February</a>, according to sources. His comments at the time basically made it seem like it was his time for him to let his wife shine.
Gisele had stepped back from her career to raise their kids and he was excited to be spending more time with his family — it seemed. 
So, as it relates to the importance of family, this was a celebrated announcement.
Everybody knows Brady is arguably the best quarterback of all time. He has proven time and time again that he is an incredible athlete. When he retired, people applauded him and there were tears and celebration of the amazingness of all that he accomplished on the field well into his 40s.
Then he decided to unretire and ruin all of that.
Now a source says that, “There&#8217;s been trouble in the marriage over his decision to unretire. Gisele has always been the one with the kids.”
“They had agreed that he would retire to focus on the family. Then he changed his mind,” the source <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/gisele-b-ndchen-spotted-without-125332213.html">claimed</a>. Gisele also personally gave a statement to British Vogue, <a href="https://www.boston.com/culture/celebs/2022/09/20/tom-brady-gisele-bundchen-marriage-fight/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20don't%20think%20relationships,is%20mostly%20on%20the%20kids.">saying</a> “I don&#8217;t think relationships just happen. It&#8217;s never the fairytale people want to believe it is. It takes work to be really in sync with someone, especially after you have kids.” 
“His focus is on his career, mine is mostly on the kids,” she <a href="https://www.boston.com/culture/celebs/2022/09/20/tom-brady-gisele-bundchen-marriage-fight/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20don't%20think%20relationships,is%20mostly%20on%20the%20kids.">added</a>. 
And I think what Gisele said is true. And Brady has admitted that personally.
So it&#8217;s very sad to me that Tom Brady had an amazing career. He accomplished everything wanted to accomplish. He won seven Super Bowls which could stand the test of time.
Yet despite having the perfect life — quite literally a model for a wife — he appears unable to do something that is selfless in this case.
What marriage takes is selflessness. You have to renew that commitment to a person every day and say, “I am not the bigger person in this relationship.”
Sometimes marriage requires you to remove a little bit of yourself. Sometimes your spouse has to sacrifice certain aspects of their life so that you can have this union, so that you can stay in sync.
Yet it seems that Tom Brady had an opportunity to say, “Thank you so much for being a wonderful wife, thank you so much for being a wonderful mother, and thank you for allowing me to have this career, I am now going to step back.”
But he didn’t. So, if it’s all true, it&#8217;s understandable why she feels this way.
I understand how heart broken she must feel. She must be questioning whether or not he ever really loved and supported her or if he really just loved how much she supported his career — if there was always this underlying selfishness that always existed.
My hope is that despite allegedly hiring these divorce lawyers, that both of them understand the commitment they made to one another. I hope they know that the vows they said on their wedding day matter.
I feel many people today say those vows but don’t really understand what it means to have a union that exists.
So I hope that Brady announces, randomly, in the middle of the season that he&#8217;s retiring — again — and going back home. I hope he goes and loves his wife in the capacity that she deserves to be loved for all of her tremendous sacrifices.
So, Tom Brady, if for some reason you&#8217;re reading this, we all love you. We love you as an athlete, but I promise you, we will love you more as a true leader of your household.
Go get the girl.

Candace_416x9 copy 23 (1)

Tom Brady Needs To Be The Leader Of His Family

Gisele Bundchen

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tom Brady

Cat Cattinson began questioning her “<a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-approves-new-changes-testosterone-labeling-regarding-risks-associated-abuse-and-dependence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender identity</a>” from the time she was five years old. But when she asked her parents if she could be a boy instead of a girl, they told her it wasn’t possible. So Cat let go of the idea until she turned 13, and came across female-to-male “transitioners” while searching online.
“I saw that and I thought, ‘that&#8217;s who I am. I&#8217;m a male trapped in a woman&#8217;s body,’” Cat told Independent Women’s Forum.
Cat was tempted to start the process of a medical “transition” to look more masculine. But she had some hesitations. For starters, even if she “transitioned,” Cat knew she could never fully change her sex.
“I knew that if I attempted to transition, I would be a five-foot-two man with a vagina,” Cat bluntly put it. “That did definitely deter me for a long time.”
All throughout her teenage years and early 20s, Cat continued to feel uncomfortable in her body. She brushed these feelings aside until she turned 28, when the narrative from transgender activists and medical providers became too overwhelming to ignore. Already, she was struggling with a slew of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder. If she did not conform with her “gender identity,” politicians, activists, and medical “experts” warned that she would face significant mental health problems and be at high risk for <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-approves-new-changes-testosterone-labeling-regarding-risks-associated-abuse-and-dependence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suicide</a>. (The science used to justify this claim is “<a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-approves-new-changes-testosterone-labeling-regarding-risks-associated-abuse-and-dependence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extremely weak</a>.”)
“I just felt like I didn&#8217;t have another choice,” Cat said. “I tried being a woman for so long and I wasn&#8217;t happy. I decided to go full steam ahead with my medical transition.”
Cat began by calling Planned Parenthood, which she’d heard provided “gender-affirming services.” She thought she’d have to go through a process to get prescribed testosterone, whether it was a psychological evaluation or a certain number of visits with mental health professionals. But instead, Cat said she talked on the phone with a doctor whom she never met in person and, after 30 minutes, was prescribed testosterone, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-approves-new-changes-testosterone-labeling-regarding-risks-associated-abuse-and-dependence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Schedule III controlled substance</a>.
Cat told the doctor that she wanted to start with a low dose because she was a semi-professional singer and didn’t want to risk compromising her singing voice. But she said she later found out that Planned Parenthood prescribed her double that of other female-to-male “transitioners.”
For the first three months, Cat’s voice gradually deepened. Though it sounded raspy, she was still able to sing. But two weeks later, Cat experienced a sudden, dramatic drop in her vocal cords. She no longer recognized her own voice and it became uncomfortable, even painful to sing.
“I was prepared for my voice to get deeper, but nobody told me it would be painful to speak,” Cat said. “Nobody told me it would feel like there was a barrier in my throat when I would go to vocalize, whether it was for singing or even just being around my friends at a social gathering. It was hard to project my voice over music. No one warned me that was a possibility.”
Cat was born into a musical family, and the ability to sing is central to her roots. From a young age, she had dreams of becoming a professional singer. “I can hardly get through a day without singing or at least humming or thinking about a song that I want to write,” Cat said. “I feel like I didn&#8217;t choose music, but the music really chose me.”
At first, Cat didn’t want to raise concerns about the effects testosterone was having on her body out of fear of saying anything that would upset or “damage” the transgender community. But eventually, the pain and the gravity of what she’d done to her voice — that she would never have her natural singing voice back ever again — became impossible to deny.
“This was supposed to fix my gender dysphoria. I was supposed to have this whole new life,” Cat said. Instead, her world was being turned upside down.
Before questioning her decision to medically “transition,” Cat scheduled an elective double mastectomy. To do this, she talked to a different doctor at Planned Parenthood who, also without meeting her in person, wrote a recommendation letter for “top surgery,” Cat said.
But in addition to the effects on her voice, Cat was experiencing a slew of other concerning conditions from taking testosterone: heart palpitations, nausea, and a pain in her right side.
She wasn’t ready to go back to living as a woman, but she knew that medically “transitioning” was making her feel worse. Cat canceled her elective double mastectomy, withdrew her legal name change that she had already filed, and stopped taking testosterone.
In an ideal situation, she would have tapered off from the cross-sex hormones, but to prevent causing more permanent damage to her singing voice, she stopped cold turkey.
“For the first month, I&#8217;ve never felt worse in my life,” Cat said, adding, “I sank into a deep depression because, as an adult, if you have no sex hormones in your body, it makes you feel awful. It just drains all your energy. I was basically bedridden. I couldn&#8217;t even get up or do anything for myself. That was a really, really dark period, having lost my voice and then just having hours and hours in my bed not doing anything. It was probably the worst depression I&#8217;ve ever been in.”
Gradually, Cat’s body normalized itself again. Today, a year and a half later, her voice is the only obvious sign of her decision to “transition,” as changes to the vocal cords from taking testosterone, even for a brief period of time, are irreversible.
As she withdrew from the hormones, Cat began looking into studies about “gender transitions” and questioning whether “affirmative care” is really appropriate for most people.
“I realized I&#8217;d been in an echo chamber and I&#8217;d been told some really harmful things by trans activists that totally distorted my view of the world and my gender or my biological sex,” Cat admitted.
While finishing her undergraduate degree in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, Cat began to accept herself as a female “without attaching any kind of toxic negative gender stereotype to that.”
She stopped believing in “gender identity” entirely, now asserting “that a woman is an adult human female. Not a gender role, not a feeling in someone&#8217;s head, not a stereotype.”
She also stopped believing in the notion that “gender-affirming care” is the best or even correct treatment for individuals suffering from gender dysphoria.
“I don&#8217;t believe that people should just be uncritically thinking that loving yourself is getting surgery and altering your body,” Cat said, adding, “Whoever you are, in the body that you have, you can be whoever you are and do whatever you want to do in the world. I don&#8217;t think that people should have to be a man or a woman or non-binary to be able to express themself or do what they want to do. Part of my mission is breaking down these stereotypes and forging our own paths in the world, rather than just conforming to stereotypes.”
Cat is sharing her story to warn parents, children, educators, politicians, medical professionals, and fellow musicians that the diagnosis of gender dysphoria is often being used as a “catchall and a cover” for deeper issues. 
Of her own experience, she said, “When I was talking to the doctor at Planned Parenthood, it was so easy for me to be like&#8230; ‘Yeah, I&#8217;ve struggled with an eating disorder, but that&#8217;s really gender dysphoria. I struggled with depression and anxiety, but of course it&#8217;s just because I was really trans this whole time. It was really my gender dysphoria that is the root issue and same thing with alcoholism and everything else.’ So essentially, what that does is it causes this superficial treatment process that is really just addressing the physical body and its body modification basically. You&#8217;re trying to use body modification to treat a mental illness.”
With a permanently deeper voice, Cat is still pursuing a career as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGSTZbpgk_Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">professional singer</a> as she also prepares to launch a career as a molecular biologist. On the side, she speaks publicly about the lasting effects testosterone had on her body, hoping to save others from making the same mistake. She regrets what happened but acknowledges that her situation could’ve been much worse.
“My parents didn&#8217;t ‘affirm’ me and now, looking back, at the time it did make me very angry,” Cat said. “But looking back, I&#8217;m very thankful for that. I think that if I would have been able to transition as a child and gone onto puberty blockers, gone onto cross-sex hormones at a young age and cut off body parts, I think I would be looking back and I would be thinking, how could you enable this? How could you have gone along with this when I was too young to consent?&#8221;
“In the future,” she added, “we&#8217;re going to see a lot of children who have detransitioned being angry with their parents and feeling betrayed by them.”
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.
Kelsey Bolar is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum. She is also an editor of BRIGHT, a morning newsletter for women, by women, a senior fellow at The Steamboat Institute, and a contributor to The Daily Signal and The Federalist. Her work has been featured in USA Today, National Review, The Washington Examiner and more.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Silhouette of woman with microphone singing on concert stage in front of crowd

‘I Sank Into A Deep Depression’: Detransitioner Loses Natural Singing Voice After ‘Gender Affirming’ Care

Music

Transgender

Black Lives Matter is a very effective slogan that elicits sympathy and empathy. It suggests many people outside the black community don’t believe black lives matter. While I agree with that assumption, I have a very different opinion about who the uncaring culprits might be.
<a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/transparency/#bod">BLM’s vision statement</a> says: 
<blockquote>&#8220;Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation imagines a world where Black people across the diaspora thrive, experience joy, and are not defined by their struggles. By achieving liberation, we envision a future that is fully divested from police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms to be replaced with investment into justice, joy, and culture.&#8221;</blockquote>
Sounds like a noble mission. But that mission becomes confusing when you recall the violent protests we all watched leading up to the 2020 election. In some cases they were looting and rioting while calling for the murder of police officers.
It becomes even more confusing when you read the organization’s <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/blm-demands/">list of demands</a> on the same website:
<ol>
<li>Convict and ban Trump from future political office</li>
<li>Expel Republican members of Congress who attempted to overturn the election and incited a white supremacist attack</li>
<li>Launch a full investigation into the ties between white supremacy and the Capitol Police, law enforcement, and the military</li>
<li>Permanently ban Trump from all digital media platforms</li>
<li>Defund the police</li>
<li>Don’t let the coup be used as an excuse to crack down on our movement</li>
<li>Pass the BREATHE Act</li>
</ol>
So, BLM has identified Donald Trump, the racist police, and other &#8216;white supremacists&#8217; as the imminent threat to black lives in our country. Those villains line up nicely and not by accident with President Biden’s April, 2021, proclamation that white supremacy “is the most lethal threat to the homeland today.&#8221; 
It’s not climate change, the threat of nuclear war, not the thousands of unvetted, unvaccinated people illegally pouring into our country, or the Mexican drug cartels funneling deadly amounts of fentanyl and other drugs over our open border — killing over 100,000 Americans a year.
It’s also not the mentally ill and violent criminals living in tents on your streets, or the rising tide of violent crime and failing education.
It’s not even out-of-control inflation, the 31 trillion in national debt, or reckless government spending.
No, it’s none of that. It’s &#8216;white supremacy&#8217; that threatens our lives, but most especially black lives.
During my police career with the NYPD, I was involved in the investigation of hundreds of homicide cases. The majority of those cases involved the tragic death of a young black or Hispanic man murdered by another young black or Hispanic man. That is a fact. Not one of them involved a white supremacist.
I worked with and for hundreds of police officers of all different ethnicities. I’ve never met a white supremacist. I don’t know anyone who is a white supremacist. I don’t even know someone who knows someone who’s a white supremacist.
In 2018, the leading cause of death among black males from age 1-44 was homicide. In line with my own experience, the suspects in the majority of those cases were other young black men. That is a sad and tragic statistic and a national disgrace.
The data is readily available for those who choose to see it, though it might not comport with the white supremacist narrative our woeful president and dishonest BLM leaders are trying to feed you.
Every week the headlines scream at us:
“38 shot, 6 killed during weekend in Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago.”
“New York City weekend bloodshed leaves 31 people shot, 6 killed…”
Why is this allowed to go on? Why do the people who support BLM ignore what is clearly the biggest threat to black lives in this moment — a threat happening right before our eyes, every single day?
Last night, tonight, and tomorrow night, as sure as the sun rises and sets, dozens more young black and brown men will be slaughtered on the streets of our cities by other young black and brown men. It’s no mystery where, why or how these killings are happening.
For the most part it’s in the same economically challenged, minority populated areas, where liberal democrat politicians have been in control for decades making empty promises and delivering nothing.
Where is the outrage about this daily massacre? Perhaps these political hacks are too busy screaming for bail reform, defunding the police or emptying our prisons — which inevitably leads to the loss of many more black lives.
To me, and the people I served with, every homicide victim’s life mattered. Regardless of the circumstances, every one of them was someone’s son or daughter, brother or sister, mother or father. The hearts of those families break like any other hearts.
Why isn’t this being treated like the national emergency it is? Why do the corrupt media, politicians and celebrities across the entertainment and sports world want you to believe the real threat is systemic racism inside police forces? Why do they say police officers are running amok, murdering unarmed young black men and women everyday when, with very few exceptions, there is no evidence to support it?
The CDC reports there were <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm">24,576 homicides in America in 2020</a>. Roughly 10,000 of those victims were African American or black. On average, police fatally shoot about 1,000 people per year. That number includes people who were using deadly force against the police or someone else when they were killed. About 6% of those <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/">police shootings</a> involve an unarmed suspect.  A very small fraction of those involved some accusation of misconduct by the police officer.
In a country with a general population of over <a href="https://www.census.gov/popclock/">333,000,000</a>, that doesn’t seem like an epidemic. But it is among these few cases that the race hustlers and their partners in the propaganda media find their ammunition to create and peddle this dangerous false narrative of white supremacy.
The New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles police departments are the <a href="https://policeteststudyguide.com/largest-police-departments-in-the-united-states/">three largest departments</a> in the country. They each serve a very significant minority population.
According to 2021 Census figures, of the <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/about/about-nypd/about-nypd-landing.page">36,000 plus members of the NYPD</a>, 43% are White, 31% Hispanic, <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ccrb/policy/data-transparency-initiative-mos.page">16% Black, 10% Asian</a>.
In Chicago’s <a href="https://informationportal.igchicago.org/chicago-police-department-active-sworn-officer-overview/">11,000 plus member department</a>, 45% of the officers are White, 31% Hispanic, 20% Black and 3% Asian.
And of the roughly <a href="https://www.lapdonline.org/">10,000 officers serving in the LAPD</a>, 50% are Hispanic, 30% White, 9% Black, 8% Asian, 2% Filipino and .3% Native American — hardly a bastion of white supremacy.
Having done the job for over 2 decades in New York City, in a very violent era, I can’t think of a worse job for a white supremacist. Not only are you likely to be working side by side with or for a minority colleague, the vast majority of your duties are risking your life in dangerous neighborhoods while serving, protecting and coming to the aid of mostly minority residents.
In 1994, when Republican NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani came into office, the city would suffer <a href="https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm">more than 2,000 homicides that year</a>. He implemented smart, sensible strategies that helped the men and women of the NYPD save tens of thousands of mostly black lives over the next two decades, in many cases risking and sometimes giving their own lives to do so.
After giving their blood sweat and tears to make the city a safe place, I can think of no greater insult than to be labeled a racist or white supremacist.
If BLM, the clueless social justice warriors like LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, and the lemmings who blindly support them truly believed black lives matter, their fight for justice and equity would be away from the cameras. They would be on the violent, inner city street corners standing side-by-side with the police calling out the real problems, imploring these young people to stop killing each other, uniting not dividing. They would demand the crony politicians fix the failing schools and make the streets safe for the good people who live there. But don’t hold your breath.
BLM was founded by self proclaimed Marxists who have long ago forgotten the spirit of their optimistic mission statement. And as long as these phonies continue to peddle the false narrative that police departments are full of white supremacists and not well intentioned, honest, hard working police officers, many more black lives will be lost and that should matter to everyone.
John Dove is a retired NYPD Detective Lieutenant and the former co-executive producer of CSI-NY.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Funeral Held For NYPD Detective Killed During Attempted Robbery In Queens

‘I Can’t Think Of A Worse Job For A White Supremacist’: Career NYPD Cop Breaks Down BLM Claims

Chicago Police

LAPD

NYPD

When I saw the footage, I didn’t know how to react. Scream at the top of my lungs? Break down and weep? Or call the police?
I’m talking about a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vjz1NPetpd4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">short video clip</a> featuring drag queens engaging in despicable behavior with little children. (Let the viewer be forewarned.) The clip begins with a little girl touching one of the drag queens inappropriately, seemingly at the performer’s direction. I kid you not.
The Chattanooga, Tennessee, bar that hosted the event, however, assured concerned citizens the drag queen was a biological female. Well, that’s a relief.
For many years now, conservative activists have warned that the normalizing of deviant sexual behavior would one day lead to the normalizing of pedophilia, a charge vehemently rejected by far-left activists. Now, in front of our eyes, it seems to be happening.
The question is, will we let it happen on our watch?
To be clear, no one is talking about normalizing the raping of children. And not only are most gays not pedophiles, they are as sickened as anyone by predators who victimize children. Yet, for years a small subset within the gay community has openly sought to destigmatize pedophilic attraction.
And there is no denying the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mom-blasts-school-board-over-drag-show-for-high-schoolers-while-wearing-the-same-outfit-the-drag-queen-wore">growing trend of drag queens</a> displaying themselves sexually <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ny-library-hosts-events-for-young-teens-to-learn-the-art-of-drag">to little children</a>, all while other adults watch with amusement.
Is this not the very slippery slope of which we have warned?
As for pederasty in homosexual history, Jim Kepner, formerly curator of the International Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles, <a href="http://lanternproject.org.uk/library/general/articles-and-information-about-sexual-abuse-and-its-impact/homosexuality-and-child-sexual-abuse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>:
<blockquote>“if we reject the boylovers in our midst today we’d better stop waving the banner of the Ancient Greeks, of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Horatio Alger, and Shakespeare. We’d better stop claiming them as part of our heritage unless we are broadening our concept of what it means to be gay today.” </blockquote>
Kepner also <a href="https://www.nambla.org/kepner1.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>: 
<blockquote>“Many of the men who picked me up so lovingly, would today be stigmatized as pedophiles. They were all kind and respectful and were very important to me. I&#8217;ve seen that same considered manner in most pedophiles I&#8217;ve known, though I don&#8217;t share their love for children. &#8230; Most, not all, men I&#8217;ve known who were as boys befriended by boy-lovers were grateful to them.”</blockquote>
This is hardly a secret.
As proudly <a href="https://www.nambla.org/history.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> by the notorious NAMBLA website (NAMBLA stands for the North American Man Boy Love Association):
<blockquote>“From famous couples such as Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, to cultural institutions such as that of ancient Greek pederasty, to cultural concepts such as China’s ‘passion of the cut sleeve’, to iconic figures such as Francis Bacon or Walt Whitman. From the earliest known homoerotic couple, Smenkhkare and Akhenaten, to medieval Andelusian troubadors, to 20th century figures such as Allen Ginsburg [sic] and Arthur C. Clark, man/boy love spans every dimension of history, both Western and non-Western.”</blockquote>
It is little wonder, then, that pioneer gay activists like <a href="https://www.nambla.org/hay2002.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harry Hay</a> and <a href="https://www.nambla.org/ginsberg.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Allen Ginsberg</a>, were open advocates of “man-boy love.”
And it is little wonder that one of the demands of the <a href="https://afaofpa.org/archives/1972-gay-rights-platform/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1972 Gay Rights Platform</a>, formulated in Chicago, Illinois, was: 
<blockquote>“Repeal of all laws governing the age of sexual consent.”</blockquote>
I know this is repulsive to read. I can assure you that it is repulsive to write. (I’m sure it’s repulsive to most gay men as well.) But there is no denying that this has been a major part of homosexual history through the centuries.
That’s also why prominent psychiatrists like the late <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/15/richard-green-obituary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Richard Green</a>, who advocated for the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the authoritative work in psychiatry) in the 1970s also advocated for the removal of pedophilia from the DSM. (See Green’s article in the Archives of Sexual Behavior 31 [2002].)
As <a href="https://www.helping-people.info/articles/sandf_constr_quest.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> by the famous Dutch psychiatrist and Columbia University professor <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/people/our-faculty/tgs2001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Theo Sandfort</a>:
<blockquote>&#8220;If paedophiles are no longer forced to live underground and to be secretive about their relationships, but instead their desires are recognized as legitimate, and they are guided towards a responsible expression of their desires, we might prevent some cases of genuine sexual abuse.”</blockquote>
I discovered writings like this, which can be quoted at length (and ad nauseam) when doing research for my 2011 book A Queer Thing Happened to America. Talk about a dark, ugly subject. But it is a subject we cannot ignore.
Back then, the term I found most commonly used to describe these attractions (and to destigmatize them) was “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2086635/#:~:text=Intergenerational%20intimacy%2C%20social%20as%20well%20as%20sexual%2C%20has,been%20to%20label%20such%20behavior%20%22child%20sexual%20abuse.%22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intergenerational intimacy</a>.” It sounds so innocent.
More recently, the term “<a href="https://www.christianpost.com/voices/from-intergenerational-intimacy-to-minor-attracted-persons.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">minor attracted people</a>” has been suggested.
Anything but calling it for what it is.
Now we are witnesses to an epidemic of <a href="https://archive.askdrbrown.org/library/here-come-drag-queens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drag queens</a> reading to toddlers in libraries, with the <a href="https://www.ala.org/advocacy/libraries-respond-drag-queen-story-hour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enthusiastic support</a> of the American Library Association, along with overt sexual acts being committed in other drag queen settings.
So, I ask once again: we will let this happen on our watch?
Dr. Michael Brown (<a href="http://www.askdrbrown.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.askdrbrown.org</a>) is the host of the nationally syndicated <a href="http://www.lineoffireradio.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Line of Fire</a> radio program. He holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University and has served as a professor at a number of seminaries and is the author of 40 books. Connect with him on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AskDrBrown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/DrMichaelLBrown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbINn3x-intLp88Zrf8acpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Drag queen with hand on hip, close-up

We Cannot Ignore The Slippery Slope Of ‘Minor Attracted’ Behavior

Drag Queen story hour

Drag Queens

Homosexuality

LGBTQ

At the highest levels of education, we are allowing our children to exalt victimhood and denigrate excellence. The price will be more than lax standards and subpar achievement. It will result in a generation incapable of confronting the difficulties — and glories — of life itself.
One of the most under-rated films of the past two decades is a movie called <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384680/">The Weatherman</a>, starring Nicholas Cage and Michael Caine. There is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfbxD1M5YI4">an extraordinary scene</a> in which Michael Caine’s character attempts to impart some paternal advice to his son, an existentially bewildered weatherman struggling to achieve anything of real substance in his middle-aged, fledgling life.
He asks his son, “Do you know that the harder thing to do and the right thing to do are usually the same thing?”
This week, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/nyu-organic-chemistry-petition.html">featured a story</a> about a much-celebrated Princeton and New York University chemistry professor named Maitland Jones Jr., who was suddenly dismissed from his adjunct position at New York University. Eighty two of three hundred fifty students signed a petition against him, claiming his chemistry course was unnecessarily rigorous and was becoming an unfair hurdle in their quest to win acceptance to medical school someday.
The article inadvertently stumbled on the truth when it observed, “In short, this one unhappy chemistry class could be a case study of the pressures on higher education as it tries to handle its Gen Z student body.”
The problem of how “to handle” Gen Z students is actually rather simple: students, even at elite universities, have the misbegotten notion that rigor is wrong, that sacrifice is a form of stealth oppression, and that any inequality of outcome is proof of a malevolent and systematic cabal foisted upon ambitious students who have an absolute right to achieve their dreams.
Consider some of the quotes from Professor Jones:
<blockquote>&#8220;Students were misreading exam questions at an astonishing rate . . .&#8221;
&#8220;In the last two years, they fell off a cliff . . .&#8221;
&#8220;We now see single digit scores and even zeros . . .&#8221;
&#8220;They weren’t coming to class, that’s for sure, because I can count the house . . .&#8221;
&#8220;They weren’t watching the videos, and they weren’t able to answer the questions . . .&#8221;</blockquote>
A colleague of Dr. Jones made a comment that every high school and college teacher in America can relate to, “I think this petition was written more out of unhappiness with exam scores than an actual feeling of being treated unfairly. I have noticed that many of the students who consistently complained about the class did not use the resources we afforded to them.”
Almost a decade ago, legendary researcher Jean Twenge noticed that modern students craved wealth and success but didn’t particularly seem interested in putting in the time and effort commensurate with such success. In the past decade, the amount of time students spend studying, reading, or doing school work, in general, has absolutely plummeted. I have been guilty of catering to this cult of ease in my own teaching career—the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbJvSo5EoJ8">most popular YouTube video</a> I ever taped for my AP classes, by far, was titled, “Pass AP Government exam w/ 75 MINUTE REVIEW!!!!” 
My colleagues and I have noticed that if we tape any review video over five minutes long, the students simply will not watch it. The notion they should spend time outside of class studying for a test is anathema to modern sensibilities, even for the most gifted students.
And yet, this attitude is more than simple sloth or empty entitlement. It is an ethic which does not comprehend, or even recognize, that sacrifice rocks the cradle of genuine achievement, that time, talent, and an endless zeal for a particular ambition can still come up short of the ultimate goal for most people, most of the time. 
But what is most worrisome transcends classrooms and boardrooms and reveals a more poignant ailment of the American soul: if young Americans think organic chemistry is hard, imagine what it is like to kick drug addiction or raise a special needs child or endure the hardship of chemotherapy or confront the infidelity of a spouse or the betrayal of a close friend. Life is not a festival of therapeutic accommodation and the world is not a global Make a Wish Foundation.
In a League of Their Own, Tom Hank’s character, Jimmy Dugan, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyiQl2mDHsE">attempts to explain</a> what makes baseball so special: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” It is fascinating and worthy of further exploration that most young Americans aren’t exposed to movies with dialogue like this or characters of Dugan’s ilk.
For some reason, in the realm of sports, Americans are fully accepting of exceptionally high standards. We revel in stories of Michael Jordon’s superhuman competitiveness, we are inspired that Kobe Bryant would take up to <a href="https://www.popworkouts.com/kobe-bryant-workout-routine/">1,000 practice shots a day</a>, or that Andre Agassi would spend his Christmas vacations <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19544091/build-endurance/">running up hills outside Las Vegas</a>, sometimes until he vomited. If a football coach responded to poor effort and a lackadaisical ethic from his players by raising his voice and hitting a chalk board he would probably be celebrated for his devotion to excellence.
If a math teacher (or organic chemistry professor) does it, he gets petitioned and loses his job.
Don’t tell me there isn’t something wrong here. A word that has vanished from modern parlance but was one of the most cherished virtues of antiquity is “fortitude.” Fortitude is strength, it’s resilience, it’s a dozen different tributaries of grit. And it is a virtue because it is wholly necessary for a successful and flourishing existence. 
We do our children no favors by empowering them to denigrate excellence and exalt victimhood. And yet that is exactly what we are doing in our schools and in our universities.
Good luck America. 
Jeremy S. Adams is the author of Hollowed Out: A Warning About America&#8217;s Next Generation, recently released in paperback. He has taught American civics for 24 years in Bakersfield, California and was the 2014 California Teacher of the Year (DAR). You can follow him on Twitter @JeremyAdams6.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

NYU Sets Up COVID-19 Testing Tent Ahead Of Start Of School

Gen Z Students Invoke Victimhood And NYU Chemistry Professor Gets The Ax

Education

Gen Z

New York Times

New York University

Professors

Are you in a cult? Even without knowing you, I know the answer is yes. Everybody is in one to some degree.
Cults exist in politics, too. We saw this week what happens when somebody like Elon Musk goes against a popular culture narrative and questions Ukraine&#8217;s strategy to defeat Russia.
But before we dive into that, let&#8217;s talk about the definition of a cult.
The definition is a “sect generally is considered to be extreme or false under the guidance of an authoritarian or charismatic leader.”
And the word cult derives from the Latin word &#8216;cultus&#8217; which is a noun meaning “training education, adoration to cultivate &#8230; adoration or love for.”
I was thinking about various cults because I was pondering the term “pop culture.” &#8216;Pop&#8217; stems from the word popular and culture obviously has the word &#8216;cult&#8217; in it for a reason. More specifically, I was thinking about social media influencers.
No matter how strong you think you are against the wave of influencers, they are to some degree influencing your thoughts or what you buy. You might see something on Instagram and think, &#8220;Oh, I love this. I have to buy this really quickly.&#8221; It happens to me with make-up and fashion all the time.
Personally, I would say if I&#8217;m in any cult, it&#8217;s probably the fitness cult. I love to watch girls who are working out on Instagram so I can copy them when I&#8217;m on the road. My point is that social media was designed for you to find your cults — so to speak.
But the problem with pop culture is that it can influence you to hold more extreme views. It can influence you to believe in false things and become beholden to certain ideological waves. Think of people who follow around the latest wave like a robot.
Millions of people use the same language, posting the same messages when talking about climate change, and then it&#8217;s Black Lives Matter, and then it&#8217;s a rainbow flag on their profile picture. 
Then the next thing they&#8217;re posting is a Ukrainian flag, because that&#8217;s what pop culture demands. The cult around Ukraine is maybe the most vocal right now. The idea that the West must step up and go to war to defend Ukraine is the accepted narrative. 
The majority of Americans can&#8217;t point out Ukraine on a map, but suddenly they&#8217;re foreign policy experts because somebody who they follow on social media told them that they should be pro-Ukraine.
I&#8217;ve never fallen for that nonsense. I’ve covered Zelensky extensively and how he&#8217;s always been corrupt. Western media used to agree with that notion as recently as 2019, but, the latest wave has washed over it. 
One person who seems to be pretty resilient to the tides of pop culture, and now has landed himself into some more deep trouble, is Elon Musk. 
Musk has been trending on Twitter since early Tuesday because he made the mistake of weighing in on an already established narrative about Russia and Ukraine. 
Musk put forth a peace plan that included things like redoing elections for areas annexed under United Nations supervision — giving Crimea to Russia for historical reasons and making sure Ukraine remains neutral. So essentially what he&#8217;s offering is that Ukraine should not join NATO — which is what Russian President Vladimir Putin has been asking for for quite some time. I discuss more of this <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-18-the-secret-injection-celebrities-are-taking-to-rapidly-lose-weight-2">on my podcast today</a>.
All of what Musk said, as evidenced by being attacked by thousands of Twitter users — including Ukrainian officials and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday — goes against the pop culture narrative. Despite all of this, Elon Musk had the courage to tweet his proposals. 
People are angry with him, saying things like, &#8220;How dare he go against the narrative? How dare Elon Musk have the courage to go against the wave of pop culture?&#8221;
Honestly, I think we should be calling it pop fiction most of the time.
For whatever reason, people just cannot process that there is propaganda surrounding Ukraine. Propaganda exists in both the Western and the Eastern Hemisphere. You do not live in some special nation that does not engage in propaganda.
The reason the Ukrainian and American governments engage in propaganda is to make sure that the masses are not too informed. An overly educated mind cannot be enslaved. The governments want us all enslaved to whatever the narrative is and they don&#8217;t want us asking questions. Or at least not the kind of questions you’d ask as critical thinker or commenting on topics from informed viewpoint as Elon Musk just did.
And so now Musk is referred to as a Russian puppet.
Join the club, Elon.  
We&#8217;re all Russian puppets, apparently.
And that’s just what people in a cult do when you dare question their brainwashing. They attack you for thinking differently.

Candace_416x9 copy 22 (1)

Elon Musk’s Twitter Poll Questions ‘The Cult Of Ukraine’

Elon Musk

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

Elon Musk made a surprise offer to purchase Twitter this week — days before the social media giant and the world’s richest man were slated to battle over nixing the merger in court.
Though Musk had been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-purge-is-coming-twitter-explodes-after-elon-musk-tanks-44-billion-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attempting to cancel</a> the deal over a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-the-latest-in-the-elon-musk-twitter-legal-feud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dispute</a> about the platform’s true number of users, he suggested making the transaction at the original $54.20 per share — an offer that Twitter <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-releases-statement-following-news-that-elon-musk-wants-to-proceed-with-purchase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accepted</a>. The deal could close as soon as the end of this week.
Musk, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX, has spent the past several months floating ideas on reforms that could make Twitter a more robust space for free expression. Here are some of the changes that could come to the platform once the mercurial visionary takes the reins.
<h3>The Great Uncancellation</h3>
Twitter has been known to suspend or entirely remove conservatives, especially over their remarks about hot-button social issues. 
Libs of TikTok, a popular account that reposts videos from radical leftist activists, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/libs-of-tiktok-locked-out-of-twitter-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">locked out</a> of Twitter two months ago for a “hateful conduct” warning. Allie Beth Stuckey, a commentator and podcast host, was suspended from Twitter on two separate occasions — once for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-suspends-conservative-pundit-allie-beth-stuckey-for-stating-that-transgender-weightlifter-is-a-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> that a transgender Olympic weightlifting competitor is “still a man,” and again for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/allie-beth-stuckey-suspended-from-twitter-after-challenging-fox-news-segment-that-went-viral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denouncing</a> a Fox News segment that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shapiro-a-complete-betrayal-at-fox-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted</a> a family who claimed their child was transgender before she could speak. The Babylon Bee, a Christian satire outlet, was suspended earlier this year for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-locks-out-babylon-bee-over-rachel-levine-tweet-the-bee-responds-truth-is-not-hate-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mocking</a> transgender Biden administration health official Rachel Levine.
However, Musk — an outspoken fan of The Babylon Bee — reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-contacted-the-babylon-bee-before-buying-9-of-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contacted</a> the website’s leadership to confirm that they had indeed been sacked. “He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter,” Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said. “Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.”
It is entirely possible that the era of routine conservative suspensions and harassment from Twitter could end under the leadership of Musk.
<h3>Orange Man Returns</h3>
Twitter removed President Donald Trump from the platform — while he was still in office — over his alleged support of the January 6 riots at the United States Capitol. Earlier this year, Musk confirmed that he would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-to-reverse-twitters-ban-on-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reverse</a> the ban.
“I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Musk explained, contending the decision was “morally bad.”
Trump has since launched his own social media venture, Truth Social, which reportedly experienced a lackluster introduction to the marketplace. The former commander-in-chief, however, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-releases-statement-on-possible-return-to-twitter-after-elon-musk-buys-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> that he is “not going back to Twitter” and will remain on his own platform.
Yet a pivot from Trump could have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-could-be-back-on-twitter-by-midterms-under-elon-musks-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">serious implications</a> for the upcoming midterm elections. As many as 92% of his nearly 200 endorsed candidates emerged victorious from their primary races — although some swing-state nominees have since <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dr-oz-purges-website-of-trump-branding-after-winning-republican-primary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downplayed their connections</a> with Trump in order to appease moderate voters.
<h3>Free Speech With A Catch</h3>
Musk began his shakeup campaign several months ago with a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-becomes-twitters-largest-shareholder-after-shakeup-tease" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> for his millions of followers: “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle? The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.”
The poll showed that more than 70% of the 2,000,000 respondents answered in the negative. Musk at first teased creating a new platform of his own and noted that Twitter “serves as the de facto public town square,” yet does not “adhere to free speech principles” — and thus “fundamentally undermines democracy.”
Though he has since <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/freedom-of-speech-and-freedom-of-reach-elon-musk-tells-twitter-employees-users-should-be-able-to-tweet-pretty-outrageous-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affirmed</a> that users should be able to post “pretty outrageous things,” Musk appears to have little desire for overtly polarizing discourse on the platform. He reportedly said during a meeting with Twitter employees that he wants to prioritize “freedom of speech,” but not necessarily “freedom of reach” — implying that extreme views may not receive amplification.
<h3>Woke Purge</h3>
Musk is no conservative, but he is also no friend to radical leftism. Beyond <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-says-tesla-moving-headquarters-from-california-to-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moving</a> his automotive company from California to Texas over lockdown policies, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nothing-is-more-permanent-than-a-temporary-government-program-elon-musk-continues-crusade-against-biden-agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">balking</a> at spending proposals from Democratic lawmakers, and <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1498848735798960130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498858611241635843%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Felon-musk-hits-joe-biden-hard-after-state-of-the-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confronting</a> President Joe Biden over his support of unionization, it appears that Musk likewise does not appreciate wokeness within the ranks of his own businesses.
Days after Musk announced that he had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-tips-hat-toward-ron-desantis-to-be-next-president-of-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cast a ballot</a> for Mayra Flores — a Mexican-American Republican congressional candidate who won a historically Democratic district in southern Texas — employees at SpaceX circulated an open letter blasting Musk for his “behavior in the public sphere” and exhorting the rocket company to “swiftly and explicitly separate itself” from his “personal brand.” Those responsible were quickly and unceremoniously fired.
Amid broader layoffs at Tesla, two employees who had also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lgbtq-diversity-officials-heads-roll-at-elon-musks-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">volunteered</a> as diversity leads were relieved from their jobs — despite receiving multiple promotions in their relatively short tenures, indicating their performance was not the motivation behind the dismissals.
Musk therefore <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/some-people-are-dusting-off-their-resumes-elon-musk-is-stirring-fear-among-twitter-employees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stirred fear</a> in the hearts of Twitter employees, who complained that Musk would alter their corporate culture of inclusivity. Staffers reportedly began “dusting off their resumes” after Musk received a board seat. When asked by Twitter employees if he is committed to a diverse workplace, Musk replied that he wants “at least a billion people on Twitter” — which he considers the “most explicit definition of inclusiveness.”
<h3>Back To Work</h3>
Over the past two years, Musk has cultivated a distaste for remote work — a practice which he believes to be a cause for laziness and low productivity.
Earlier this year, he informed employees of Tesla that “remote work is no longer” acceptable at the automaker. “If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly,” he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-has-a-super-bad-feeling-about-the-economy-wants-a-massive-layoff-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> in an email. When asked for a response to people who believe “coming into work is an antiquated concept,” Musk shot back that “they should pretend to work somewhere else.”
Once Twitter employees asked the same question, Musk informed them that it would be “much better if you are on location physically.” He also voiced concern about costs exceeding revenues and signaled a willingness to dismiss unproductive employees. “If somebody is getting useful things done, that’s great,” he said. “If they aren’t getting useful things done, then why are they at the company?”

NORWAY-INDUSTRY-BUSINESS-ENERGY-OIL-GAS

5 Things That Could Happen At Twitter As Soon As Elon Musk Takes Over

Babylon Bee

Donald Trump

Free Speech

Twitter

The reaction to “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-gun-maverick-becomes-studios-highest-earning-film-at-domestic-box-office-in-its-110-year-history">Top Gun: Maverick</a>” proved the exception to the new cultural rule.
Rotten Tomatoes recorded a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/top_gun_maverick" target="_blank" rel="noopener">96% “fresh” rating</a> from movie critics for the Tom Cruise sequel, while 99% of general audiences adored it.
More often than not, though, critics and audiences disagree … and it’s not even close. Extreme examples abound, including takes on comedy, blockbusters and dramas.
The 2021 documentary “Fauci,” for example, boasts <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fauci" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an 86% to 2% split</a>.
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-28/critics-and-fans-have-never-disagreed-more-about-movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg recently crunched the numbers</a> on the growing divide, hailing the chasm to be the worst in decades.
Audiences have given the top 10 movies an average score more than 19 points higher than critics, by far the biggest difference this century. The only two of the year’s 10 biggest movies where audiences and critics are even close are “Top Gun: Maverick” and  “The Batman.”
Film critics are supposed to be audience surrogates. Their reviews aren’t perfunctory but pragmatic.
Should Joe and Jane Sixpack spend their Saturday night on a clunker or a dazzling drama or comedy? When the audience/critic chasm grows as large as it is now, the public isn’t being served.
Some of this is unavoidable. Cheesy blockbusters, driven by special effects and hokey dialogue, aren’t meant to draw raves. Audiences are less willing to pick apart a movie as long as it delivers the escapism they crave.
The most popular film of a given year shouldn’t automatically be given the Best Picture Oscar, either. Still, critics should examine why they no longer reflect the will of the people and consider ways to bridge that gap.
The first suggestion may be the most important. Today’s critics are overwhelmingly left-of-center. That may have always been the case, but the modern critic lets his or her ideology filter into reviews like never before.
They analyze a film’s diversity, social messaging and more, and what they find directly impacts their reviews as much as poor acting or clunky dialogue.
That means a film from Dinesh D’Souza, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, or Nick Searcy has a much greater chance of being hammered by critics, and dramatically so. Conversely, anything associated with far-Left filmmaker Michael Moore, or stories espousing a pro-abortion sentiment, stands a greater chance at a rave review.
And that’s wrong.
Perhaps the most cartoonish example comes from a 2018 review of “Kin,” a Dennis Quaid thriller featuring a teen fighting back against an alien threat.
The teen (Myles Truitt) uses a space gun to protect his family. The Entertainment Weekly reviewer <a href="https://ew.com/movies/2018/08/28/kin-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went ballistic over the plot point</a>.
<blockquote>&#8220;This dangerous adventure is meant to be pulse-pounding and heartwarming in equal measure. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the film’s deeply troubling underlying message long enough for my pulse to pound or my heart to warm. Because, make no mistake, Kin is a movie about a child with an all-powerful firearm that makes him feel important and special and powerful. On a one-to-ten scale of moral fecklessness, this ranks about a thousand.&#8221;</blockquote>
Rating? A disastrous F.
If a critic can’t see past his anti-gun sentiments he has no right reviewing a movie like “Kin.”
The savage attacks on Ron Howard’s “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81071970" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hillbilly Elegy</a>,” spun from conservative star <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.D. Vance’s popular memoir</a>, captured how ideological fevers can impact a film’s critical reception. It’s hardly Howard’s best film, but the savage notices went above and beyond what was seen on the screen.
And most audiences enjoyed it, witness its <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hillbilly_elegy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">83% “fresh” score on RT.</a> 
The folks behind the scenes also should do a better job of embracing ideological diversity within their critical ranks. Quotas aren’t the goal here, but if an outlet’s entire staff leans to the Left, and hard, some diversity could help bridge the critic/audience gap.
At least a little.
<a href="https://filmthreat.com/">Film Threat</a>, a veteran indie site, offers a fine template on balancing voices and diverse opinions.
Critics also must learn to leave their woke sentiments aside when addressing comedy. There’s a good reason we see so few funny, R-rated comedies today. Filmmakers are afraid of angering the woke mob on social media. They’re also keenly aware any “problematic” jokes will trigger critics and hurt their overall grades on sites like Rotten Tomatoes.
In recent years critics have savaged comedies from liberal stars like Will Ferrell (“Get Hard”) and Amy Schumer (“Snatched”) for being racist. Are those actors racist? Of course not. Will they think twice about topics that could be hilarious but might trigger audiences?
Absolutely.
Critics should also diversify their news and Twitter feeds. Someone feasting on HuffPo, The New York Times or Keith Olbermann’s social media musings might not realize there’s half the country eager for woke-free content or, conversely, exhausted by cinematic lectures.
They also risk alienating half their readership. That’s a disconnect that’s damaging to their mission statement.
We all know Twitter isn’t real life. The same holds true, perhaps even more so, for Film Twitter.
Critics aren’t as allergic to genre fare as in the past, but it’s still important to meet a film halfway. A comedy-horror romp doesn’t demand the same interpretation as an Oscar-bait drama based on recent history.
Professional critics often walk in lockstep on a given film, and it can be hard to go against the professional tide. Do it, assuming it comes organically to the project in question. Groupthink impacts plenty of professions, and it ultimately does audiences little good.
Richard Roeper blasted his fellow critics for <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/roeper-critics-ghostbusters-biased/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grading the 2016 dud “Ghostbusters” on a curve</a>, hoping to buoy the feminist film’s fortunes. He has a point, and it’s hardly the only time critics sang from a very similar hymnal without firm footing.
Perhaps the best way to reconnect with general audiences is literally meet them on their turf. Ask questions following a movie screening about what they liked, and loathed, about a film. Track social media for instant, honest observations. You don’t have to agree with every sentiment. Chances are you’ll disagree with plenty.
It’s still one way to make sure you’re on a similar wavelength to the average movie goer. Pleasing the customer, as best a critic can, should remain job no. 1.
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Daily Wire.

81st Annual Academy Awards – Overhead Arrivals

How Leftist Film Critics Are Driving A Wedge Between Fans And Filmmakers

Film Reviews

Hillbilly Elegy

Movies

Top Gun

What the passing of Jim Redmond teaches us about fatherhood and the tragic situation afflicting the millions of suffering American men who are without jobs, families, professions, and most of all, deep meaning. It is not a “them” problem, it is an “us” problem.
In the semifinal heat of the men’s 400 meters race at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games, British runner Derek Redmond tore his hamstring in the middle of the race. Derek began to hobble to the finish line on one leg. His father, Jim, rushed past track officials to help his son make it to the finish line, dramatically holding him up as his son wept in his arms.
Yesterday, the man who made this moment happen, <a href="https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/34730301/jim-redmond-helped-son-derek-finish-400m-race-1992-olympics-dies-81">Jim Redmond passed away</a>
It is the most poignant moment I have ever witnessed in a sporting event. But what often gets missed is that Jim had to fight to carry his son. Track officials came up to him multiple times as he assisted his son towards the finish line and every time he aggressively waved them off, refusing to abandon his son at the most fragile — and public — moment of his life. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2G8KVzTwfw">Watch it</a> and try not to weep — there is a purity of love and transcendent affection on display that most of us never witness in our everyday lives.
I could not help but feel a personal connection to the timing of Jim’s death. My father passed away a little over a year ago and today is his birthday; he would have been the same age of Mr. Redmond, eighty-one-years-old.
He had a terrible and macabre end — the kind of death one reads about in books or watches in movies that makes a normal person shudder in terror at the prospect of his own end. The doctors discovered the brain cancer first. Then they found out it had originated from the lungs. Just as they his doctors started his treatment, he contracted COVID and was put on an arbitrary and unnecessary twenty-day quarantine. He was already weak and in a precipitous decline.
I knew with the quarantine I would never see him again.
I went outside and sat under the stars and composed the final text I would ever send to him:
&#8220;Dad—I just got off the phone with you. You sound discouraged. And I would be too. I can’t imagine how you are feeling. But whatever happens I just want to tell you one thing, and I really want you to hear it . . . . You were the ABSOLUTE BEST FATHER a baby, and a boy, and a teenager, and a man could have ever had. I am many many things in this life, but nothing makes me prouder than being your son. Always. Forever. I know you prayed over candles when I was about to get born. And I wish I could somehow return the favor now when you need it. If you need ANYTHING, anything at all, please call me. I love you dad!&#8221;
He couldn’t reply with anything other than an emoji heart symbol.
Just fifteen days later he was gone.
There were so many times I needed my own dad’s shoulder in the forty-five years he fathered me. So many times, he was there when I limped through different segments of life.
But now, with three of my own children, I have also discovered the tender splendors of being a father myself. I used to always imagine being a disappointed Derek on the track of life, but now I know and revere the necessity of being a Jim, of acting as a paternal pillar in the tumultuous lives of my children. I know that fatherhood is about more than locking the door at night and putting food on the table — it’s about conditioning our children to embrace the journey of life, the ecstasies and the agonies, the moments of exhilaration and delight along with the pulses of pain and depths of despair. Making no promises along the way except for the presence of unconditional love.
A lot has been written and said in recent weeks about the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/book/of-boys-and-men/">declining fate of males</a> in American civil society. The widening schism of educational attainment between the sexes. The reality that the labor market is evolving in ways that are far less lucrative for traditional blue-collar jobs than service, female-dominated industries. The anecdotal testimony of teachers across America that the boys are less motivated, less ambitious, less organized and polished.
I cannot imagine what the future must hold for this country — so many young men are ill-equipped to be positive father figures to their children and many will never even try. Talk to American teenagers and for so many of them their fathers are a source of pain, a dysfunctional fantasia of paternal neglect and absence.
Andrew Sullivan and Richard Reeves released <a href="https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/richard-reeves-on-struggling-men">an extraordinary podcast</a> last week about Reeves’s new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Men-Modern-Struggling-Matters/dp/0815739877">Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It</a>. What sticks out about their extraordinary conversation is their own testimonies about the power of male models in their lives — teachers, fathers, friends. 
And because we are beings who learn by example, who are social creatures who need guidance navigating the tricky ecosystems of life, the absence and decline of such models is a national calamity and a personal impoverishment for so many of my students who have almost no adult males in their corner of life.
Everyone suffers when men fail to engage their families and communities. 
That’s why Jim Redmond’s heroic rescue of his injured son is forever etched in my memory as the penultimate embodiment of what a loving father looks like. 
Jeremy S. Adams is the author of Hollowed Out: A Warning About America&#8217;s Next Generation, recently released in paperback. He has taught American civics for 24 years in Bakersfield, California and was the 2014 California Teacher of the Year (DAR). You can follow him on Twitter @JeremyAdams6.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Athletics – Barcelona Olympic Games 1992 – Men’s 400m Semi Final

The Passing Of Jim Redmond: Why The Most Poignant Moment From The Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games Wasn’t About Athletics, It Was About Fatherhood

Great Britain

Olympics

Sports

How does the war in Ukraine end?
This is precisely the question no one is supposed to ask these days. The supposition by our thought leaders seems to be that if we keep up the pressure on Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, he’ll fold and go home; his threats to use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield is nothing more than saber-rattling. He will then retrench on the domestic front, re-solidify his power, and continue throwing his prospective enemies from third-story windows. 
Perhaps that’s actually best case scenario. Because if Joe Biden gets his wish – if Putin is indeed ousted from power in Russia – what would follow could easily be even worse than Putin: the Russian public remains highly supportive of aggressive foreign action to expand the “empire”; other than the military, there are no well-organized or powerful groups in Russia, and Putin does have an inner circle of possible successors who are, if anything, more anti-West even than he is. If none of those successors take the fore, the possibility of internecine warfare akin to Syria isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility either – and that, in a country armed with a massive and aging nuclear arsenal.
Then there’s the other possibility: that Putin is serious, and that if he sees his mission in Ukraine failing, he actually unleashes nuclear weapons. Most observers thought Putin was saber-rattling over his threats to invade Ukraine in the first place; underestimating Putin’s aggressive radicalism now could be foolish. And there are no real plans to deal with Putin unleashing a nuke: while former CIA director David Petraeus has suggested that America would respond by “leading a NATO, a collective effort, that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea,” that could also lead Putin to escalate even further, perhaps even trying to directly threaten a civilian center in NATO territory with nuclear weapons.
In November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, attempting to place a puppet communist government in place; the West united in opposition to Soviet intervention, shipping weaponry to the Finns, who bravely stood against the forces of Stalin. The USSR lost at least 126,000 soldiers over the course of the three-and-a-half month war, but responded in the late going with a massive infusion of troops and a heavy offensive that drove the Finns back on their heels. Faced with the prospect of open war with the Western powers, Stalin signed the Moscow Peace Treaty in March 1940, with the Finns ceding 9 percent of their territory to Stalin. 
Was the mutual stand-down the best solution? Should the West have pressed Stalin to the brink in Finland? Perhaps. But the West was facing down Stalin and Hitler simultaneously. Today, the threat isn’t a second front from a powerful enemy, but the direct threat of nuclear weapons. Henry Kissinger has been publicly excoriated for suggesting that the off-ramp to this conflict will be territorial concessions by Ukraine to Russia – a repeat of the Moscow Peace Treaty. But he may be correct, particularly if the West is unwilling to bear the full economic and military cost of a larger war with Russia – as historian Niall Ferguson writes, “Thus far, the West have given Zelensky and his brave people enough military and economic support to avoid losing. We are not yet giving them enough to win – and the window for victory is not infinite.” In the end, it may be that the least-bad scenario is about simply preventing the worst case scenario.

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