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Amy Acton, the physician who served as director of the Ohio Department of Health in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, is running as a Democrat in hopes of succeeding her former boss, Gov. Mike DeWine (R).

Although the Republican governor has attempted to shield his former underling from blame over her efforts to curtail basic liberties during the pandemic in the name of public health, critics appear unwilling to forgive or forget, especially with the election shaping up to be a close race.

‘Amy Acton shut down our society.’

The Ohio Republican Party, for example, recalled on Tuesday that Acton “installed an order during COVID to lock down nursing homes,” adding that “visits were deemed permissible for loved ones and patients based on whether or not they were ‘grieving.’ Truly sickening.”

The state GOP noted in a previous post that Acton — who has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and the Ohio Federation of Teachers — also saw to the closure of bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters, playgrounds, museums, libraries, fitness centers, and small businesses.

“She deemed her allies ‘essential’ — and left the rest to fend for themselves,” said the Ohio GOP.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, with whom Acton is poised to face off in November’s general election, has dubbed her “Dr. Lockdown” and blasted the Democrat for her role in closing Ohio public schools — which she insisted in an interview last year was necessary — and businesses.

RELATED: Damning study of over a million kids finds myocarditis only in the vaccinated

Megan JELINGER/AFP/Getty Images

Hours before Ohioans were supposed to begin casting ballots in the state’s March 2020 presidential primary, Acton ordered the closure of the polling locations. On the day of the punted vote, she ordered the closure of all Ohio bars and restaurants.

Days later, Acton issued a stay-at-home order, forbidding virtually all public and private gatherings occurring outside a single household; closing all “places of public amusement” including playgrounds; and prohibiting Ohioans from leaving their homes except for “Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, or to participate in Essential Businesses and Operations.”

Acton’s actions prompted state lawmakers to introduce multiple bills aimed at reining in her power.

In the face of immense backlash and possible curbs on her authority, she resigned in June 2020.

“Amy Acton shut down our society,” Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R) tweeted on Thursday. “Then she walked away when Ohioans pleaded for help in getting back to normal. She quit on Ohio once and we won’t give her a chance to do it again.”

Acton’s campaign declined a request for comment from Blaze News about Republicans’ recent criticism.

A Quantus Insights survey conducted last week found that 45.9% of respondents signaled support for Acton, 44.9% signaled support for Ramaswamy, nearly 6% said they were undecided, and 3.3% signaled support for some other candidate.

According to the survey, a plurality of respondents placed the economy, inflation, and the cost of living as the most important issues facing the state.

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Details have begun to emerge about a shooting at an Air Force base in New Mexico that resulted in at least one death.

On Tuesday, one person died and one person was injured after a suspect open fired near the Shoppette at Holloman Air Force Base in Otero County in southern New Mexico.

The injured victim and the deceased ‘were not married.’

In a press release on Wednesday, base officials identified the injured party as “an active-duty service member assigned to Holloman AFB” and claimed the individual was in “stable condition.” Officials said the individual’s identity will not be released.

The press release stated that the deceased individual was a “civilian” who had previously been a service member once “stationed” at the base.

RELATED: Retired Air Force major allegedly trained Chinese military fighter pilots — and is linked to spying, hacking network

Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images

On Friday, base officials confirmed the identity of the deceased individual: Ashanti Stewart. The latest press release claimed that Stewart committed suicide after shooting the active-duty service member. She was declared dead at the scene, officials said.

Officials have characterized the shooting as an “isolated incident” related to some kind of “domestic” issue. However, the injured victim and the deceased “were not married,” officials noted.

A lockdown order was issued at the base around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday following reports of an active shooter, a press release on Tuesday said. That order was soon lifted after authorities determined that the scene was “safe.” Officials later said that there was “no ongoing threat.”

The shooting remains under investigation.

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There’s a new young adult novel out that has America’s teen readers spellbound. It’s got mystery, romance, fantasy, and plot twists — everything a young reader craves.

There’s only one problem: It’s demonic pornography, according to Allie Beth Stuckey.

On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie and “Library 4 Kiddos” founder Anne Sey dive into the dark world of “Sibylline” by Melissa de la Cruz and explain why parents should be cautious about young adult literature.

Shortly after its publication earlier this year, “Sibylline” quickly became a New York Times best-seller and was even selected as a “Good Morning America” YA Book Club pick for February.

This shocked both Allie and Sey, because the book is full of dark and explicit content.

“Initially it was marketed to 12- to 17-year-olds, and it’s very problematic, because not only does it have magic that dives into the occult — like there’s seances … possession of people, necromancy,” says Sey.

“But also on page 284, there is a very graphic scene of a threesome, and it’s done on the friend who they think is dead. So not only a threesome, but necrophilia.”

Allie pulls no punches about the depravity of this particular scene. “I just want to be clear about what is actually being depicted. It’s not some closed-door thing,” Allie explains. She goes on to outline all the depraved, explicit, X-rated ways this sexual scene is depicted in the book.

“So that is the kind of necrophilia, sexual assault that is being … not only depicted but glorified.”

Sey, who provides curated book recommendations focused on wholesome young adult literature, says, “What a lot of people don’t understand … is that over half of the people reading young adult [books] are actual adults … 18 and on.”

She cites a 2024 study from HarperCollins UK that found that 74% of young adult readers in the U.K. are adults — 28% of whom are over age 28.

Publishers, says Sey, “know this” about their readership. So even though protagonists in YA novels are typically in the same age range as young adult readers (12-17), the content is often tailored to a far more mature audience.

But this can be tricky for parents, because sometimes YA authors, including Melissa de la Cruz, also write age-appropriate books for teens.

“Melissa de la Cruz is known for her middle-grade novels as well,” says Sey, referring to de la Cruz’s “Alex & Eliza” trilogy — a historical romance series that reimagines the real-life love story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler.

“So my fear is that parents who are not aware and who have said, ‘Well, we’ve read her ‘Descendants’ series or, you know, her ‘Alex & Eliza’ series’” will assume “it’s okay to read this book, and it’s not,”’ she tells Allie.

To hear more about the dangers of young adult literature and what you can do to protect your kids, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Afroman did not defame officers when he made songs about a police raid that destroyed his front door but resulted in no charges, an Ohio jury has decided.

In 2022, deputies from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office burst into the rapper’s home while he was away by way of search warrant in order to look for evidence of drug trafficking and kidnapping.

‘I didn’t win, America won.’

As reported by WCPO Cincinnati, Afroman — real name Joseph Foreman — faced no subsequent charges, but he allegedly had a different mess on his hands. Afroman said officers tore his house apart, cut the cords of his video cameras, and even took his cash. According to CNN, officials later claimed their deputies had merely miscounted the money.

The defamation lawsuit stemmed from multiple Adams County deputies who claimed Afroman used their likeness without permission when he included his security footage in a series of music videos.

CBS News reported that Deputy Lisa Phillips said the rapper made a “derogatory” music video that questioned her gender and sexuality, seemingly referring to Afroman’s 2022 song “Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera.”

However, just days before the trial, the artist released “Licc’em Low Lisa,” which has over 500,000 views on YouTube at the time of this writing. Footage has since emerged of Phillips crying from the stand as Afroman’s lyrics were played for the courtroom to hear.

Furthermore, Sgt. Randy Walters reportedly said his child had been mocked at school over his inclusion in music videos. Afroman ended up releasing the song “Randy Walters Is a Son of a Bitch” on the first day of the trial, which had over one million views on YouTube in just four days.

RELATED: Sean Penn and Ben Stiller: 2 Oscar no-shows, 2 VERY different excuses

The most popular song of Afroman’s security footage genre was likely “Lemon Pound Cake.”

The song has over three million views and pokes fun at a deputy who eyes up a lemon pound cake on the counter as he walks through Afroman’s house with a pistol drawn.

After leaving the courthouse on Wednesday, Afroman said his victory was a crucial win for the First Amendment.

“I didn’t win. America won. America still has freedom of speech. It’s still for the people, by the people,” the rapper told reporters.

“I didn’t go down here and sue the police department,” he continued, pointing at the courthouse. “I fixed up the damages they made, and I sung songs about it to raise money to do it. They were unapologetic.”

A small group of fans were seen cheering Afroman on in celebration of his court win, and the artist showed significant gratitude for their support.

“I’m glad things went my way, but if they would have took it all from me, I was happy about all the love I was getting from everybody,” Afroman added, fighting off tears.

RELATED: ‘I love being your mom’: How Best Actress Jessie Buckley made motherhood Oscars’ biggest winner

“Afroman is a modern day civil rights hero and a true and living embodiment of the Hungry Hustling American Dream,” Grace Legal Group attorney Jordan Dixon-Hamilton, who is not representing Afroman, told Blaze News.

“His victory in court against the group of thugs from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office in their baseless defamation suit is another testament to the strength of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment,” the lawyer added.

Steven Lee Rachel from Baste Records, Afroman’s label, told Blaze News, “We support and stand by Afroman and his First Amendment rights.”

Afroman had a final message to Americans as he celebrated with his supporters:

“When life give you lemons, you make lemon pound cake.”

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​News, Afroman, Ohio, Police raid, Marijuana, Civil suit, First amendment, Freedom of speech, Politics 

Action movie star Chuck Norris has passed away, his family revealed online Friday.

The 86-year-old burst onto the film scene in the late 1970s and had a major influence on the boom in martial arts movies of the 1980s and 1990s.

‘To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather.’

Norris’ family wrote on his Instagram page that the star passed away Thursday morning, but wanted to keep the circumstances surrounding the death private.

“To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family,” the caption read.

The family added, “He lived his life with faith, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved. Through his work, discipline, and kindness, he inspired millions around the world and left a lasting impact on so many lives.”

RELATED: ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ gets woke reboot, to star ‘gay, conservative’ character

CBS/Getty Images

The family went on to say that they were grateful for Norris’ life and the “unforgettable moments” they were “blessed to share with him.” They thanked his fans and his friends and said they were “truly grateful” for offers of prayer and support they received during Norris’ recent hospitalization.

Norris hit it big with films like “Good Guys Wear Black” in 1978 and “A Force of One” in 1979. He was a mainstay on television as well with “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which had more than 200 episodes during its 1993-2001 run.

RELATED: Netanyahu says Israel is ‘indestructible’ with Chuck Norris supporting it

Paul Drinkwater/NBC via Getty Images

Norris was involved in politics in recent years, such as endorsing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017.

In 2016, Norris was reportedly set to attend a rally for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but ultimately did not attend, and a spokesman said any presidential endorsement from the action star at the time was only a rumor.

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In its review of old X and Tumblr accounts believed to have belonged to New York City Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Ruma Duwaji, the Washington Free Beacon discovered posts glorifying Palestinian terrorists and romanticizing Islamic martyrdom.

For instance, Duwaji, the child of Syrian migrants, appears to have posted a photo on Sept. 23, 2017, of Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled captioned, “If it does good for my cause, I’ll be happy to accept death.”

‘American soldiers fighting in imperialist wars are not brave.’

Khaled, a prominent member of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who claimed in a 2024 interview that the “7th of October was a must,” was involved in plane hijackings both in 1969 and 1970.

On March 8, 2015, Duwaji reportedly shared a post praising Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, a PFLP terrorist who participated in the bombing of an Israeli bus and ultimately blew herself up in 1968 building a bomb she apparently meant to use on an Israeli building.

In July 2015, Mamdani’s wife apparently shared a post stating, “American soldiers fighting in imperialist wars are not brave nor are they fighting for anyone’s freedom. They are mercilessly slaughtering 3rd world civilians and fighting to maintain American hegemony.”

RELATED: Why America’s enemies always target Western civilization first

Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images

When Snapchat added Tel Aviv to its “live story” feature that same year, Duwaji reportedly retweeted a post that stated, “@Snapchat has disappointed me. F**k #TelAviv. Shouldn’t exist in the first place. They’re occupiers. You celebrate them.”

Duwaji’s old account appears to have been deactivated in the wake of the Beacon’s exposé.

Blaze News did not receive a response from New York City Hall.

CNN pundit Scott Jennings and Dalia Al-Aqidi, a Republican running for Congress in Minnesota, highlighted on Wednesday the liberal media’s kid-glove treatment of Mamdani’s wife, especially when compared with the treatment the wife of another high-profile figure has received.

Jennings responded to the Beacon report, writing, “Remember when the national media tried to impeach Justice Alito because his wife hung up George Washington’s flag on their porch?”

Whereas the liberal media appears reluctant to indict Mamdani for the foreign-focused radicalism of his 28-year-old wife, the media desperately attempted to paint Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in recent years as ideologically compromised and incapable of faithfully executing his judicial duties because his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, supposedly hoisted American flags.

The CNN pundit highlighted headlines corresponding with the controversy ginned up by Obama hagiographer Jodi Kantor in May 2024.

Kantor concern-mongered about a “‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol” — the American flag suspended upside down — allegedly displayed at Justice Alito’s house in January 2021. Kantor suggested on the basis of insights from so-called experts that “the flag was a clear violation of ethics rules … and could sow doubt about Justice Alito’s impartiality in cases related to the election and Capitol riot.”

Justice Alito explained, however, that the distressed flag had nothing to do with the Jan. 6 protests as insinuated but was rather hoisted by his wife in response to alleged verbal abuse from a neighbor who had erected a “F**k Trump” sign within 50 feet of where children await the school bus.

‘The mayor is weaponizing the mainstream media.’

Democrats nevertheless made hay of the story with the intention of sidelining Alito, while Kantor — who had effectively blown up her original framing with a report detailing the harassment Mrs. Alito endured before the distressed flag was raised — joined other liberal propagandists in penning another alarmist piece about an “Appeal to Heaven” flag spotted over Alito’s New Jersey beach house.

Other publications, including Rolling Stone magazine, got in on the action, attacking Mrs. Alito for expressing mainstream conservative views.

Dalia Al-Aqidi noted in a March 18 op-ed, “When Martha-Ann Alito, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, flew an upside-down American flag at her home in 2021, it triggered national outrage and relentless media coverage. The standard was clear: proximity to power is power. And with power comes scrutiny. But in Duwaji’s case, we are told to look away by the mayor. Why?”

“The mayor is weaponizing the mainstream media and the political class’s fear of being labeled ‘Islamophobic,'” said Al-Aqidi.

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The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for over a month, and Congress has made no progress toward reopening it.

Democrats partially shut down DHS on February 14 by refusing to pass the appropriations bill in protest of the deaths of anti-ICE agitators Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Although Democrats took aim at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE is already funded through President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was passed last summer.

‘They have barely been in the same building.’

Instead of crippling our country’s immigration-focused agencies, Democrats are withholding funds from TSA and FEMA, sparking delays and frustration across the country.

Even still, Congress — which will break for a district work week from March 30 until April 10 — has shown no urgency to address the issue.

RELATED: White House offers concessions to end DHS shutdown — but Dems still choose illegal aliens over unpaid American TSA agents

Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“The House and the Senate have had weeks to fix this, and they have barely been in the same building,” American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said in a statement obtained by Blaze News. “Members of Congress have walked past our TSA members at airport security checkpoints more often than they’ve met to negotiate an end to this stalemate.”

“Those officers deserve to be paid for the work they do to keep those members safe,” Kelley added. “The least Congress can do for these patriotic American workers is act before legislators leave town for the weekend, or, worse, head off on a weeks-long recess.”

RELATED: Spring break blues: DHS highlights outrageous airport conditions amid Democrat shutdown

Photo by Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty Images

Kelley called the partial shutdown a “moral failure,” noting that families are unable to put food on the table simply because Congress can’t put in the work.

“A TSO selling plasma to keep the lights on is unconscionable,” Kelley said. “Tens of thousands of families turning to food banks because Congress refuses to do its job is a national disgrace. This is a profound moral failure, and the American people should know who’s responsible for it.”

“The time for excuses is over,” Kelley added. “Pass a measure to reopen DHS, pay these workers, and don’t go home until you do.”

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President Trump was reportedly stunned to find out that the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may be gay.

According to sources, Trump was so shocked upon hearing the information that he even laughed when he was briefed on the development.

And Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck’s reaction isn’t much different.

“Did you see that the ayatollah’s son might be gay?” Glenn asks BlazeTV host Pat Gray on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“Yes,” Gray answers, adding, “Which is impossible of course, because there’s no gay people in Iran, right?”

And according to former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Gray is right.

“In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals,” Ahmadinejad claimed in 2007, as homosexual conduct is illegal in Iran.

“He’s not apparently really a devout Muslim, because he’s [allegedly] having sex with men, apparently,” Glenn says.

“And that might be why his dad wasn’t that excited about him taking over,” Gray chimes in, adding, “Because he’s gay.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Rene Echevarria broke into show business by penning episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in the ’80s.

Now, the versatile writer/director is putting his Christian faith front and center with a limited series unlike any other.

‘Play it like you don’t know you’re in the Bible.’

“The Faithful: Women of the Bible” debuts at 8 p.m. March 22 on FOX and airs the next day on Hulu. The three-part saga explores the book of Genesis through the eyes of consequential women.

Think Sarah (Minnie Driver), the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac, whose infertility gave way to a spiritual miracle. Or Rebekah (Alexa Davalos), mother of Jacob and Esau and wife of Isaac.

In the beginning

Echevarria’s production partner, veteran TV producer Carol Mendelsohn, came up with the show’s angle.

“She knew I was a believer and loved the Bible,” Echevarria tells Align. “She’s a seeker, with a restless curiosity about spiritual matters.”

The veteran storyteller wasn’t initially convinced that the project would be the perfect fit for him.

“I was a little skeptical … [asking], ‘Is that too limiting?’” he says of the concept, adding that his initial fears were unfounded. “The experience has been great; it opened my eyes to understanding these timeless stories.”

Deeper truth

Echevarria, who has worked with James Cameron (“Dark Angel”) and Steven Spielberg (“Terra Nova”) throughout his expansive career, says he took care to balance creative license with both his faith and the source material.

“I’ve been blessed to have worked in this business a long time. mostly making up stories. interpreting stories,” he says. Not this time.

“I always have to check myself, and sometimes I wish that little piece of Scripture wasn’t there. It would be so much easier,” he says from a dramatic perspective. “I found that if I didn’t try to avoid the challenges but steer into them, … you’ll find something deeper, a deeper truth, … things that I didn’t think of.”

“The Faithful” was shot in Italy, giving the creative team access to lush landscapes, including expanses of olive trees, that created a reasonable facsimile to biblical times. The team decided early in the production to work with mostly British actors and use their vocal cadences in the process.

A new light

The son of Cuban immigrants says making “The Faithful” impacted his personal faith.

“It re-invigorated my love of Scripture. … I’m seeing things I thought I knew in a completely new light,” he says.

Some cast and crew members didn’t necessarily share his faith, which added nuance to the production.

“There’s a lot of downtime on set. So many times, people shared with me stories about why and how this project came to them at the right place in their lives,” he says. “Like people struggling with having lost a parent or having troubles with their kids.”

Others were skeptical about doing a Bible-based project.

“One actor shared that he found himself drawn in and said, ‘Yes, I want to do that,’” he recalls after the performer’s initial reluctance.

RELATED: ‘Last Days’ brings empathy to doomed Sentinel Island missionary’s story

Vertical

No ‘unearned piety’

Still, he turned having actors who didn’t know Scripture into a positive development. It made the humanity of the core players pop.

“Play it like you don’t know you’re in the Bible,” he says of his advice to the cast. That allowed them to avoid an “unearned piety” that brought the figures down to earth. “It’s just ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.”

Echevarria wouldn’t mind telling more tales from the “Faithful” perspective. He cites the book of Ruth and the Samaritan woman at the well as stories ripe for future “Faithful” installments. That’s assuming viewers flock to the show, set to wrap on Easter Sunday.

“That’s my fondest hope, that the show finds an audience,” he says. Those chances are better than ever given the current pop culture climate. Shows like “The Chosen” and “House of David” have connected with Christians the world over, and the first part of Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ” series could be one of 2027’s biggest movie events.

“There’s a hunger out there for this kind of storytelling,” he says. “They’re resonating. People are taking notice.”

And he hasn’t forgotten how he entered show business several decades ago. He dreams of rejoining the “Star Trek” universe after penning 30-plus episodes across “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine.” He’s been noodling with an idea “out of left field” to share in that franchise.

“I’m waiting for the right moment to bring it over there,” he says.

​Faith, Movies, The faithful, Genesis, Women of the bible, Television, Christianity, Minnie driver, Rene echevarria, Entertainment 

After nominating James Talarico for the Senate in Texas, are Democrats now racists and misogynists?

It’s a reasonable question. Democrats chose James Talarico, a white man, over Jasmine Crockett, a black woman. That choice also collides head-on with what Democrats told the country after Kamala Harris lost the presidency: that racism and misogyny decided the outcome.

Democrats can’t keep changing the rules depending on who wins.

In Texas’ recent Democratic Senate primary, Talarico, a member of the Texas House since 2018, faced Crockett, a two-term member of Congress from Texas’ 30th District. On paper, Crockett looked like the stronger Democrat brand: a young, outspoken black woman with far left-wing views and national visibility.

Yet Talarico won handily, 53% to 45%, after a primary season marked by intraparty drama — including fights that centered on race.

If identity politics commands the party, the result looks odd. Even sympathetic Democratic observers described the two candidates as ideologically similar. MSNBC analyst John Heilemann said Talarico is “not a moderate” and that he and Crockett held “basically the same positions on almost every issue.” In other words, voters didn’t choose a centrist over a firebrand. They chose one firebrand over another — and they chose the white male.

Democrats will reply that the answer is “electability.” They’ll say Talarico gives them a better shot in November. Maybe that’s what many primary voters believed. But Democrats have spent years insisting that “electability” talk is often a cover for bias, a way to push women and minorities aside while keeping the old hierarchies intact.

That’s why the question won’t go away.

Democrats routinely portray themselves as the party most attuned to race and sex. The 2024 numbers underline that self-image: Exit polls showed Harris won overwhelming support from black voters and strong support from women, including black women. Democrats treat those blocs as moral proof of the party’s mission.

They also treated Harris’ loss as moral proof of the country’s failure.

Former President Joe Biden blamed the 2024 defeat on sexism and racism, saying voters “went the sexist route” and wouldn’t accept “a woman of mixed race.” When candidates for DNC chairman were asked whether racism and misogyny played a role in Harris’ defeat, all eight raised their hands. David Axelrod said bluntly that the campaign included appeals to racism and that “anybody” who thinks bias didn’t affect the outcome is wrong.

Rank-and-file Democrats echoed the claim. NBC News’ post-election interviews featured Democrat voters attributing Harris’ loss to the country’s unwillingness to elect a woman, with race layered on top. “Regardless of race,” one black Democrat from Pittsburgh said, “they didn’t want her to win.”

RELATED: James Talarico found a verse — and twisted the meaning

Mark Felix/Bloomberg/Getty Images

So Democrats have made this argument, loudly and repeatedly: When a woman loses at the top of the ticket, the country’s sexism and racism bear much of the blame.

Then Texas Democrats faced their own test. They could nominate the black woman — especially in a race where ideology wasn’t the separating line — and they didn’t.

Democrats might point out that Harris flamed out early in the crowded 2020 presidential primary and that the party still elevated her to vice president and then the 2024 nomination. That’s true. But that history cuts both ways. It suggests Democrats will showcase race and sex when it serves the coalition — and set it aside when it doesn’t.

And this time, they aren’t even pretending they didn’t set it aside.

Talarico’s profile rose fast, aided by a national media moment. Stephen Colbert posted an interview online after CBS declined to air it over “equal time” concerns, and the clip drew millions of views. The controversy boosted Talarico’s visibility and fundraising — and helped turn a state primary into a national narrative.

Democrats are now framing their choice as pragmatic. They’re saying: We picked the candidate who can win.

Fine. But Democrats don’t get to treat “electability” as an illegitimate dog whistle when Republicans use it — then invoke it as a clean, neutral justification when Democrats do.

Here’s the bottom line: When America chose Trump over Harris in 2024 — in a race with major policy contrasts — Democrats blamed racism and misogyny. When Texas Democrats chose a white male over a black woman in 2026 — in a race Democrats say offered little substantive contrast — the party expects everyone to treat it as smart strategy.

That double standard is the point.

Either identity is decisive and bias explains outcomes — or voters, including Democrat voters, sometimes make other calculations and deserve to be treated like adults.

Democrats can’t keep changing the rules depending on who wins.

​James talarico, Jasmine crockett, Texas senate race, Democrats, Gop, Texas, Kamala harris, Identity politics, Texas democrats, Opinion & analysis, Racism, Misogyny, Sexism, Joe biden, 2026 midterms 

In recent years, the national conversation has drifted toward the Arctic and the geopolitical contest unfolding there. Greenland pops into the headlines as a strategic prize for the United States. But the truth is, we already hold the most important ground for early warning, deterrence, and defeat of airborne threats: Alaska.

No other place on American soil combines geography, infrastructure, military capacity, and testing range in a way that can anchor what defense planners call the “Golden Dome” — a multilayered, 21st-century shield against missile and air-launched threats.

From the polar sky to the missile fields below, Alaska stands as the nation’s shield — strong, tested, and ready.

For conservatives who believe in peace through strength, constitutional defense, and American sovereignty, Alaska is not just valuable; it is indispensable.

The geographic high ground

Alaska’s advantage begins with location. At the top of the world, it sits astride the northern approaches that matter in great-power competition. When Russia or China run long-range aviation patrols, they do not approach through Florida or California. They come over polar routes.

For decades, the Alaska NORAD Region has met them first. American and Canadian forces have executed countless intercepts, sending a message that never changes: We see you. You will not approach unnoticed.

That deterrence does real work. It prevents miscalculation. It keeps pressure off the rest of the country. Alaska makes that possible by standing watch on America’s northern frontier.

Building the Golden Dome

Homeland defense now faces threats that do not fit Cold War assumptions. Hypersonic glide vehicles, low-flying cruise missiles, and next-generation systems demand fast detection, precise tracking, and long-range defeat.

A Golden Dome won’t be a single system. It will require an integrated network of sensors, communications, long-range radar, interceptors, and command and control.

Alaska already hosts critical pieces of that architecture: early-warning infrastructure, long-range radar, secure communications, and the operational footprint to integrate new systems quickly. Fort Greely anchors an established missile defense mission, with layered capability aimed at threats inside and outside the atmosphere. That foundation allows faster expansion than any “build-it-from-scratch” option elsewhere.

Closing the gaps

Coastal coverage can track many high-altitude threats. Low-altitude cruise missile detection presents a harder challenge, because adversaries design these systems to fly fast and low and to exploit radar limitations.

The Army’s Long-Range Persistent Surveillance system offers a proven way to close those gaps. Alaska’s geography provides a vantage point no other state can match across northern air corridors.

Detection only matters when response follows. Alaska maintains frontline intercept forces today, including fifth-generation fighter squadrons. A Marine Corps presence in Alaska also supports a mobile ground-based air defense mission that can move to critical nodes and build resilient, flexible layers.

A responsive homeland air defense posture starts with geography. Alaska supplies it.

RELATED: America’s next-gen weapons face a down-to-earth foe: The elements

DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images

The world’s premier testing ground

Missile defense depends on systems tested, refined, and validated under realistic conditions. Alaska offers a unique advantage: the largest live-ordnance range on Earth.

That range supports testing and training at scale — emerging radar and sensor concepts, counter-hypersonic development, and joint-force exercises in conditions that mirror the northern environment where homeland defense may be decided.

Alaska lets the U.S. test what it builds and field what it tests in the same strategic space.

America’s shield, ready today

Alaska is more than a strategic location. Alaska is a living, operating defense ecosystem.

With infrastructure already in place, the latest technologies ready for deployment, multilayered detection systems available, and unmatched training and testing ranges at our disposal, Alaska stands ready to detect and defeat airborne threats long before they reach American cities.

Every investment that strengthens Alaska’s surveillance, detection, and intercept capacity multiplies security across the country. In an era of tight budgets and rising instability, that is exactly the kind of smart national defense conservatives should demand: protect American lives and territory by leveraging American assets that already work.

Other places capture attention. Alaska carries the burden. It remains the geographic high ground of missile defense, the first line of deterrence, and the proving ground for the systems America needs next. From the polar sky to the missile fields below, Alaska stands as the nation’s shield — strong, tested, and ready.

​Alaska, Golden dome, Missile defense, Russia, China, Hypersonic missiles, American defense, Airspace, Opinion & analysis 

America is only months away from celebrating its quarter-millennial birthday — officially billed as “America 250” and even, in some quarters, a “Super Centennial.” But will America make it another 50 years, all the way to its tricentennial? Even as President Trump wages an existential conflict abroad, another one rages at home.

Without question, the country has lived a long and remarkable life. But the world also knows it has not been free of grave danger. Go back 165 years to the Civil War, and you’ll find proof that the American experiment can wobble — and nearly break.

‘We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.’

Even at the nation’s birth, the outcome was not guaranteed. The men who signed their names to independence did so knowing that the newborn republic could be stillborn. In the eyes of King George III, they were committing treason.

That fragility hit me again recently on one of my many walks through Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in my neighborhood of Sleepy Hollow, New York. Sleepy Hollow is the final resting place of captains of industry — families such as the Rockefellers and Carnegies — as well as Washington Irving, America’s first internationally recognized literary giant.

Inside the cemetery’s borders stand monuments commemorating the dead of both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. They are stark reminders of how fragile a nation’s life can be.

The words carved on the Revolutionary monument still land with force.

Photo by Albin Sadar

1776 — 1783
In Memory
of the
OFFICERS and SOLDIERS
of the
REVOLUTION
who by their valor
sustained the cause of liberty
and independence
on these historic fields.

While we honor the dead, we should remember the courage of the living — including those too old to take up arms themselves. When Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence, an act of treason in the eyes of the Crown, he is said to have offered a grim assessment: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

That line came rushing back when Susan Rice laid out what amounts to a warning shot about the next round of political retribution. On a recent podcast, Rice promised a reckoning for those who “take a knee to Trump,” and she made clear that Democrats, once back in power, will not “play by the old rules.”

Her message was simple: Align yourself with Trump — or with the tens of millions who support him — and your time “is not going to end well.”

For anyone who watched what happened to people swept up in the post-Jan. 6 dragnet, the implication is not subtle. The left’s appetite for lawfare is real. And it rarely stops with the obvious actors. It metastasizes. It broadens. It looks for new targets.

So what can derail the Democrats’ destructive engine?

The answer may be hiding in Franklin’s line: Hang together.

RELATED: America at 250

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Trump has made two standards central to national survival: secure borders and honest elections. The border is more secure than it has been in years. But Congress still hasn’t delivered the SAVE America Act — and that failure matters.

Within months of July 4, 2026, Americans will again head to the polls. The choices will be stark, and Democrats will not be shy about what they want: revenge, institutional capture, and a reset of the country on their terms.

Two things now matter, and they are not complicated. First, patriots must keep pressure on elected officials to pass the SAVE America Act. Second, they must show up and vote in overwhelming numbers this November. Nobody gets to sit this one out.

That’s how Republicans keep their majorities. That’s how Trump’s agenda survives. And that’s how the country avoids another round of “fundamental transformation” — imposed by people who have already told you they plan to discard the old restraints.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at American Thinker.

​American founding, President trump, Donald trump, Save act, Civil war, Border security, Ben franklin, Opinion & analysis, America 250, Declaration of independence, Hang together 

A man who committed many “depraved” acts of child molestation was given a record long sentence after being convicted for numerous child sex abuse crimes in Tennessee.

Walter Lucian Lewis, 32, was sentenced to three life sentences without the possibility of parole, with another 60 years in prison added, according to the Sumner County District Attorney’s Office.

‘This behavior will not be tolerated in Sumner County, and you will be held accountable for your crimes.’

The Sumner County Sheriff’s Office began its investigation into Lewis after hearing from two children that he had touched them inappropriately.

Lewis told them to keep the incidents a “secret,” according to the children, who also claimed to have witnessed him molesting a third child. One of the victims was 5 years old during the abuse.

Police said follow-up interviews with the children led them to believe Lewis had molested them in periods in 2024 as well as 2025. They also determined that he had sexually abused a child in 2022 in Rutherford County.

When they confronted him at his Portland house, police said Lewis barricaded himself in a bathroom with a 1-year-old child hostage. After police gained entry, Lewis stabbed himself in the neck with a knife in an apparent attempt to commit suicide.

Deputies found the child unharmed in the bathtub and were able to subdue Lewis. He was hospitalized for treatment.

Lewis was convicted of a slew of crimes as follows:

Continuous sexual abuse of a child;Three counts of aggravated rape of a child;Aggravated sexual battery;Especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor;Sexual exploitation of a minor;Especially aggravated kidnapping; andAggravated assault on a first responder.

The sentence given to Lewis was the longest one handed out in Sumner County for abuse-related crimes. It’s also the first sentence given without the possibility of parole in the county.

RELATED: California couple sentenced for ‘monstrous’ abuse of sons after decapitating other two children

“Walter Lewis’ depraved actions have negatively impacted the lives of multiple children and their families. Our community is now safer because he will spend the rest of his life behind bars,” District Attorney General Thomas Dean said in the statement from the end of February.

“This sentence should serve as a warning to anyone who may wish to follow in Mr. Lewis’ footsteps: This behavior will not be tolerated in Sumner County, and you will be held accountable for your crimes,” he continued.

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​Walter lucian lewis child molester, Tennessee child molester, Serial child molester, Sumner county child molestation, Crime 

A growing identity crisis is shaking the conservative movement, as longtime tensions between grassroots audiences and establishment voices boil over in our increasingly digital age.

According to BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre, the chaos is driven by years of mistrust built first between the mainstream media and their own audiences, and now between conservative institutions and their audiences.

“To say that the conservative movement has come off the rails would comically understate the damage,” MacIntyre begins.

“Plenty of commentators blame podcasts for this new disorder, and the new ecosystem gives them no shortage of bad behavior to cite. But that diagnosis misses the deeper cause,” he says, pointing out that the “deeper cause” is, conservatives are now replicating the legacy media’s attitude toward their listeners.

“Establishment conservatives treated their audience the same way the legacy press did: as a resource to be managed, manipulated, and occasionally milked. A movement that spent decades being lied to will not be stitched back together by scolding the people who finally stopped listening,” MacIntyre says.

“Democrats screamed about disinformation, warned about the dangers of free speech, and then launched research projects designed to replicate what they claimed to hate. The right cheered the upheaval. Establishment conservatives, however, never fully grasped what the shift meant for them,” he continues.

“Trump didn’t rise only as a battering ram against progressive media. He rose as a middle finger to conservative establishment media as well. That plan worked and then kept working in ways that many people didn’t anticipate,” he adds.

Now, MacIntyre explains, “conservative gatekeepers” are mimicking the “panicked reflexes the left showed” as they accuse others of “dangerous rhetoric,” call for “deplatforming,” and ask for “responsible voices to regain control.”

“These instincts never belong to one ideology. They belong to institutions that sense their monopoly slipping away,” he says.

Now, MacIntyre is warning conservatives that they “can’t lecture podcast audiences about responsible broadcasting after years of manipulating their own viewers.”

“The level of mistrust runs too deep. Censorship will fail too. Shaming and platform policing didn’t rebuild credibility for Democrats, and it’s not going to rebuild credibility for Republicans, either,” he adds.

Want more from Auron MacIntyre?

To enjoy more of this YouTuber and recovering journalist’s commentary on culture and politics, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The auron macintyre show, Auron macintyre, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Conservatives, President trump, The trump administration, Censorship 

Radical progressives love to say the United States has no culture of its own — only whatever happens to be popular at the moment. If America amounts to little more than a consumer brand, then why do so many anti-American activists talk less about tweaking our politics and more about erasing Western civilization altogether?

America isn’t distilled water. It carries a civilizational inheritance. That fact explains why the people who hate the American project so often hate Western civilization writ large.

A country can’t treat open hostility to its civilizational foundations as harmless expression while expecting those foundations to survive.

A case in point: Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist and apologist for Islamic jihad who led a coalition at Columbia University called Columbia University Apartheid Divest. The group’s stated goal is the “total eradication of Western civilization.” That goal raises the obvious question: Why the West? Why not simply “America”?

Because, for many activists in this mold, America represents the West at full strength — the most successful expression of the Western tradition.

America as the West’s culmination

In “The Roots of American Order,” Russell Kirk argued that the United States fused traditions from key centers of Western thought and life: Jerusalem gave us a Judeo-Christian moral order and the idea of covenant under God. Athens bequeathed reasoned inquiry and ordered thought. Rome passed down republican government and the rule of law. London developed parliamentary practice and secure property rights under the common law.

In Philadelphia, America’s founders combined those inheritances into a constitutional republic built around Judeo-Christian concepts of contract, incorporation, property, and ordered liberty. Put simply, America did not emerge from nothing. It grew out of a specific civilizational soil.

Why the West wins — and gets blamed

Many non-Western societies struggle under political and economic systems that concentrate power, block opportunity, and punish initiative. When institutions work well in those places, they often resemble Western inheritances: stable law, predictable property rights, accountable governance.

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, the authors of “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” summarized the phenomenon in more politically correct terms, arguing:

Nations fail primarily because of extractive political and economic institutions that concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few elites, stifling innovation, incentives, and broad-based economic growth. Unlike inclusive systems that foster prosperity, extractive regimes discourage investment and education, creating a “vicious cycle” of poverty and political instability.

That reality should invite honesty. Instead, it often produces resentment.

Under the reigning narrative, Western culture becomes “colonization,” “genocide,” and “taking” — a catch-all scapegoat for failures at home. That story also ignores inconvenient facts, including that Western colonialism had a relatively brief modern run and that many Western countries ultimately divested themselves of empires while insisting — at least in principle — on freedom and sovereignty.

So the West gets blamed for the world’s troubles, while the West remains the place millions still want to move to.

RELATED: What will replace the old world order?

Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

Importing anti-Western radicalism

That leaves America with a growing problem: activists and migrants who embrace America’s freedoms while rejecting the civilization that produced them.

The Trump administration sought to remove Khalil, arguing that his presence created “adverse foreign policy consequences.” An activist judge later ordered his release from detention, and the useful idiot New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) publicly celebrated him at Gracie Mansion.

Whatever one thinks of that specific case, the larger principle holds: A country can’t treat open hostility to its civilizational foundations as harmless expression while expecting those foundations to survive.

A nation that loses confidence in its roots will not protect them — and a nation that refuses to protect them will not keep them.

If the United States wants to survive beyond President Trump’s current term, it needs to recover a healthy pride in its Western inheritance and shape immigration policy with that reality in mind. A society that invites people who openly seek its destruction invites its own decline.

​America, Western civilization, United states, Donald trump, Roots of american order, Russell kirk, Migration, Opinion & analysis, Immigration, Jihad, Terrorism, Decolonization 

A South Carolina prison inmate handed a judge a “wad” of counterfeit cash to pay his trespassing bond — and then told the judge to “keep the change,” the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office said.

Officials on Monday said an inmate at the Chesterfield County Detention Center was charged with forgery after the incident.

With that, instead of a relatively minor charge of trespassing, Alexander soon was charged with counterfeit money/forgery, the sheriff’s office said.

A judge said he had set bond for inmate Patrick Alexander, 33, of Mississippi in the amount of $250 on a trespassing charge, officials said.

After being given his personal property, Alexander reportedly “removed a wad of money, sorted through the bills, and handed the judge” three $100 bills — and then told the judge to “keep the change,” officials said.

As you can imagine, the judge wasn’t impressed by the suspect’s supposed generosity.

Instead, the judge told Alexander he “could not keep the change and, while holding the money, noticed the color of the bills appeared unusual,” the sheriff’s office said.

Upon further inspection, the judge observed Chinese writing on the back of the bills, officials said.

A detention officer then checked the bills using a counterfeit detection pen, and that revealed the bills were counterfeit, the sheriff’s office said.

Alexander then was informed the currency was fake, and the judge instructed the detention officer to hold the money as evidence, officials said.

RELATED: Video shows Texas man shoot up meat market after worker refuses to accept counterfeit $50 bill: ‘Watch what’s gonna happen’

Image source: Chesterfield County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Office

With that, instead of a relatively minor charge of trespassing, Alexander soon was charged with counterfeit money/forgery, the sheriff’s office said.

A warrant was obtained and served on Alexander at the Chesterfield County Detention Center, the sheriff’s office noted.

“Under South Carolina Code § 16-13-10 (Forgery), it is unlawful for a person to falsely make, forge, or counterfeit, or knowingly assist in the making or counterfeiting of any writing or instrument,” officials said.

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​Dumb criminals, South carolina, Chesterfield county sheriff’s office, Forgery, Counterfeit cash, Bond hearing, Judge, Keep the change, Crime 

A man who formerly worked as a principal at an Oregon high school was convicted on child porn charges after he was placed on paid leave for comments about the death of Charlie Kirk.

Jeremy P. Williams, 50, was on paid leave when he was arrested in Sept. 2025 on numerous charges, according to a letter written by Rainier School District superintendent Chad Holloway.

He was charged with possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit content, as well as distribution of the same.

He resigned as principal in Nov. 2025 and was getting paid $99.5K in his last year.

Police said they were informed by alerts from a social media site about the illicit images connected to an account used by a resident of Longview, Washington.

Investigators obtained warrants to confirm that the account belonged to Williams and then served a search warrant at his home to confiscate computers, phones, and other digital storage devices.

He was charged with possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit content, as well as distribution of the same.

Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Thad Scudder sentenced Williams to five years and one month in prison after he was convicted in February. He must also serve three years of probation, pay $3K in court fees, and register as a sex offender.

None of the images were of students from the high school, police say.

RELATED: Child sex abuse material found on PE teacher’s phone after he inappropriately touched students, police say

Investigators said more than 30 child sex abuse images were found on his devices. One involved a 6-month-old child.

A reporter for the Daily Chronicle in Longview said Williams previously boasted about winning awards for writing erotic fiction.

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​Principal comments charlie kirk, Jeremy p williams convictions, Child sex abuse material principal, Politics, Oregon principal child porn 

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has been reportedly subpoenaed in the investigation into a “grand conspiracy” against President Donald Trump.

The development was confirmed by two sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Axios. It was also reported by NBC News, which cited two sources as well.

‘No one is above the law. … We will follow the facts in this case.’

The “grand conspiracy” investigation is targeting top officials from the former Biden and Obama administrations, according to the sources, and has produced more than 130 subpoenas.

The subpoena against Comey reportedly relates to the infamous Intelligence Community Assessment about Russian election interference that was sent in January 2017.

The investigation into the grand conspiracy is being led by U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones from the Southern District of Florida.

Comey was indicted in Sept. 2025 by a grand jury for allegedly abusing his office out of political motivation.

“No one is above the law,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement following the indictment. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”

That was dismissed after a judge found in Nov. 2025 that Trump had improperly appointed Lindsey Halligan, his personal attorney, to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Justice Dept. has appealed that ruling.

RELATED: Trump rips into Comey over seashell message: ‘He knew exactly what he was doing!’

Comey made headlines in May 2026 when he snapped a photo of shells on a beach that many took to be a threat against Trump. After posting the image on social media, he denied knowing that the message could be taken as a threat.

“He knew exactly what that meant,” Trump said about the incident. “A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant? That meant assassination.”

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​James comey subpoenaed, Grand conspiracy against trump, Trump vs comey, Trump lawfare, Politics 

A major political shake-up unfolded in Illinois as progressives whose views align with those of “the Squad” were dealt a decisive blow in recent Democratic primaries.

According to BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere, the losses highlight growing fractures within the Democratic Party, particularly between establishment figures and the party’s far-left flank associated with the likes of Jasmine Crockett, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“What we saw in Illinois was a situation where you’ve got obviously a bright, bright, bright blue state, right? This is the bluest of the blue basically where, you know, you can kind of do whatever you want if you’re a Democrat,” Stu begins.

“So, you have these factions of the Democratic Party warring with each other. They’re fighting, they’re going back and forth trying to take control. Of course, one of the big groups that is trying to do that is the sort of Squad left,” he continues.

“The Squad left,” Stu explains, is the “AOC left.”

“Someone who’s very, very socialist leaning, very, very anti-Israel, very, you know, pro-abortion and trans, everything as far as you can go,” he says.

“And they had a play here in Illinois. They had a chance to do something. They had a chance to move the needle a little bit, and it did not work,” he says, referencing an article by Axios titled, “The ‘Squad’ left suffers complete wipeout in Illinois.”

“The left suffered a virtually total collapse in the Illinois Democratic congressional primaries on Tuesday night — even in races where the AIPAC-backed candidate lost,” the article reads.

“It’s a bad sign for the dozens of insurgent Democrats running in congressional races across the country, both in open seats and as primary rivals to older or more establishment-oriented incumbents,” it continues.

“AIPAC is like, I don’t know, they’re supposedly the ultimate villains of all the world right now because, you know, a lot of people even on the right, certainly plenty on the left, are blaming them for pushing us into war with Iran and, you know, all sorts of different things,” Stu explains.

Stu notes that AIPAC was “very excited” about Illinois’ results, as “they put a lot of money into these races to try to stop very hardcore anti-Israel candidates from winning those primaries.”

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​Stu does america, Stu burguiere, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, The squad, Leftism, Ilhan omar, Aoc, Hamas, Democrat primary illinois, Jasmine crockett 

On March 17, Joe Kent resigned from his position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center in protest over the Trump administration’s ongoing war in Iran. He claimed he could not “in good conscience” support the conflict, arguing that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S. and that the war was started due to pressure from Israel and its American lobby.

BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler was taken aback when she read Kent’s accusatory letter.

“This is a very big claim that Joe Kent is making,” she says.

On this episode of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” Liz unpacks Kent’s letter and explains why she’s skeptical of its contents.

“He is making the allegation that President Trump was duped … with false information into embarking on this military operation in Iran, and he claims that this trickery happened at the hands of Israel and the Israeli lobby in the United States,” she says, summarizing the allegations listed in his letter.

“He further claims that there is no evidence in the intel community, which he would be aware of as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, of an Iranian threat,” she adds, calling it “the scandal of the century” if proved true.

Liz is unwilling to entertain Kent’s claims until he can provide hard evidence.

“Where’s the evidence of this?” she asks. “If you are so certain that President Trump’s military operation in Iran is essentially based on manipulation by the Israelis and that Iran posed no threat, … shouldn’t you show us evidence of this?”

While Liz welcomes a “whistleblower,” she demands the “receipts.”

“If you make a claim of this enormity — I mean, the implications of a claim like this being true would shake our nation — then you owe us the receipts. You need to show us the evidence of this,” she insists.

But Kent’s lack of evidence isn’t the only cause of Liz’s skepticism.

She considers his recent podcast appearances a calculated “media tour” on which he speaks only to hosts who are the “least likely to ask the most important questions.”

“To go on a media tour insinuates one of two things,” she says, “that either you have information of severe corruption — so severe that it could not be remedied internally — that you have to take this to the American people rather than go the legal whistleblower route internally in the intelligence community, or there’s some kind of other attention that is being sought.”

Liz acknowledges Kent’s traumatic history — he “lost his first wife” to “an ISIS suicide bomber”; however, the information she currently has makes her believe that Kent is “behaving as an opportunist.”

To hear more of her analysis, watch the full episode above.

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​The liz wheeler show, Liz wheeler, Joe kent, President trump, Iran, Iran war, Blazetv, Blaze media, Israel