PrairiePundit

 Red States: ... Now it looks like the Iranian backed terror group the Houthis have just fired off a ballistic missile at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and several other Saudi cities are also under drone attack. Fortunately, the Saudis were able to intercept the missile aimed at Riyadh. ... This also followed an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman which is similar to Iranian attacks there in 2019 and the Houthis increasing their attacks on Marib in Yemen. Is this all coincidental that this comes after Biden has come in, lifting the terrorist designation on the Houthis without any concessions on their part or on Iran’s part, and indicated he’s willing to go back into the terrible Iran Deal? Not to mention Biden saying that he would end the support for the Saudis who were backing the internationally recognized government that the Houthis are trying to take out. Biden’s basically waving the flag to the Houthis and saying, “Come on,” and they are. It’s already a blood bath in...

  NY Times: He Came From Thailand to Care For Family. Then Came a Brutal Attack. The fatal assault in San Francisco on a defenseless older man was the latest terrifying episode for Asian-Americans, many of whom have endured racist taunts, rants and worse during the pandemic. I have always gotten along well with Asians and have several friends from high school that I stay in touch with on Facebook.  My daughter spent 10 years in Thailand and I really liked the Thais when I visited her.  I also liked the Vietnamese who were on our side when I was a Marine in Vietnam. One of the things Asians share with whites in this country is that they can be discriminated against in college admissions.  I think that is wrong.  It is also obviously wrong to assault anyone in this country and those responsible should be brought to justice.

  NY Times: At CPAC, a Golden Image, a Magic Wand and Reverence for Trump The faithful who flocked to the annual conference of conservatives made it clear that their allegiance was to the former president far more than to the Republican Party. From the Russian collusion hoax to two bogus impeachment efforts the left in this country has attacked Trump with the politics of fraud and utterly failed to separate most Republicans from supporting him.  Trump is still the most popular figure in the Republican party and in their eyes he was a great President. 

 Epoch Times: The attempt by several House Democrats to pressure television carriers to deplatform certain news organizations could trigger a lawsuit, law professor Alan Dershowitz said Saturday. “When the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, it’s been interpreted to mean, take no action, it doesn’t have to be law. The First Amendment applies to presidents to governors to mayors to anybody who can abridge the freedom of speech. And I think these letters abridge the freedom of speech,” Dershowitz said during an appearance on Newsmax TV. Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) sent a dozen letters to 12 different carriers this week urging them to deplatform or otherwise take action against Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News for allegedly spreading misleading information about the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and the COVID-19 pandemic. They pointedly asked the carriers if they were planning on carrying the networks “both...

  Breitbart: Josh Hawley: ‘Our Rights Come from God, Not Google’ Remember when Google's motto was "Don't be evil?"  They appear to have dropped that.

  Breitbart: Priest: Joe Biden Is ‘Most Aggressively Anti-Catholic President in History’ I think the same could be said of Pelosi.  ... “For most of his political life — from his consistent pro-abortion record to his officiating at a gay wedding in 2016 — despite his Catholic affiliation and public pious practices, Joe Biden has magnified and institutionalized countless major violations of the Ten Commandments,” Father Pokorsky writes in an essay Friday. “The hypocrisy rivals that of the chief priests and Pharisees and is worthy of the same condemnation,” the priest declares. “Indeed, Biden is the most aggressively anti-Catholic President in history.” The reason for the harsh assessment of Biden’s record is the dichotomy between his outward show of piety on the one hand and his record of supporting evil on the other, Pokorsky notes, adding that “Biden’s habitual and unapologetic sinful acts are on full display.” “The next Republican that tells me I’m not religious I’m going ...

  His "what am I doing here moment" was not that unusual. Here we have Jill having to step up and explain Biden's rambling answer about the kids on the border he in effect invited in.  Hat tip to Defiant America.com .

 Silvio Cantu, Jr.: ... What could go wrong?  Let me share a few possibilities: 1. These kids are coming from Mexico and Central America, where COVID is getting worse, not better.  Is it fair to ask: whom will these children infect?  Are they going to be isolated?  How is that going to look? 2. Who is paying for this?  My guess is that the taxpayers will pay for it, but the problem is that no one explained this during the campaign.  All we heard in the campaign was that the Biden administration would be more "humane."  My guess is that most Americans do not believe that "humaneness" is the same as taking thousands of children from other countries. How will this play in 2022?  Not well — every Democrat running in 2022, especially in districts between the coasts, will be worried about explaining this disorder on the border. The Democrat open borders policy is deeply unpopular in much of the country. ...

  Epoch Time: Censorship of people by Big Tech is “probably the biggest problem that we face right now in this country, as a party,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Friday. People being kicked off websites such as Facebook and Twitter leave them without “a communications architecture” and struggling to communicate, Nunes told The Epoch Times’ “Crossroads” at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, with exceptions for the “ghettos of the Internet.” Noting The Epoch Times is available but has been targeted by Big Tech, Nunes also mentioned Rumble, a video sharing platform, and Parler, a competitor to the large social media services. The Californian said he foresees in the future conservatives being removed from services like iTunes. “That’s what’s probably coming. And so we’re in for a long fight. And people are asking, ‘What can we do?’ You have to tell your congressman and your senators that this has to end, so that pressure comes on to these tech oligarchs, be...

 Legal Insurrection: Democrats love to redefine words to suit their purposes, and the latest example of this from the Biden White House is a doozy. They are reportedly calling the Democrat-only support for Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID (aka the Pelosi Payoff ) bill “bipartisan.” Both Democrats and Republicans have long abused the word, of course. Legislation passed with a mere handful of—or even only one or two—opposition party votes is hailed as “bipartisan” because politicians understand that a good segment of the American people prefer legislation that is not rammed through by one party. The Biden White House is taking this one step further. Now, apparently, “bipartisan” means without a single member of the GOP supporting the legislation . . . just polling showing that some GOP mayors, “officials outside Washington,” and voters do support it. ... How would the Biden team feel if Republicans described the bill as receiving bipartisan opposition if somewhere in the country a Democ...

 Washington Examiner: A declassification wish list was sent to former President Donald Trump's White House by members of Congress, according to a former Pentagon official who also served as a top investigator for the House Intelligence Committee. On that list,  Kash Patel  said, was a classified House Intelligence Committee report that criticized the analytic tradecraft in the Obama administration's 2017 intelligence community assessment’s conclusions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations in the interference campaign leading to the 2016 election. However, despite an eleventh-hour declassification order by Trump before he left office last month, it has remained outside the public's view. "I don't know if he personally signaled it," Patel  told  RealClearInvestigations  when asked if Trump ever personally indicated that he wanted that particular document released. "I know it was included in a list of documents that ... some members of Congres...

 Epoch Times: ... In 2019, the United States became energy independent for the first time since 1957, according to the Institute for Energy Research . U.S. energy production in that year was higher than U.S. energy consumption for the first time in 62 years. Total U.S. energy production increased by 5.7 percent in 2019, the institute said, while U.S. energy demand fell by 0.9 percent ( pdf ). Panelist speaker Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said half her state is on federal land, as are many others are in the country. She said these states will be left guttered after Biden’s signed a 60-day moratorium on new oil or natural gas leases and drilling permits on federal land. Beauprez said it is not only “dangerous” but ignorant to believe that clean energy can somehow reliably replace what the oil and gas industry has done. He said it’s wrong to “put that aside and go down this other path and hopes it all works out.” “We are sitting on an abundant supply of energy; now we have the techno...

 Epoch Times South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) told the audience at an annual conservative conference on Feb. 27 that lockdowns and other restrictions imposed by state and local governments were to blame for the economic crash in 2020, not the pandemic which they were intended to snuff out. Noem has become the target of establishment media and Democrat politicians for her approach to the pandemic. South Dakota was the only state which never ordered any businesses or churches to close, never imposed a lockdown or a mask mandate, and refrained from classifying businesses into essential and non-essential categories. “COVID didn’t crush the economy. Government crushed the economy,” Noem said, prompting applause from the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). “Just as quickly, government turned around and held itself out as the savior, and frankly the Treasury Department can’t print money fast to keep up with Congress’s wishes. But not everyone has followed thi...

  1:12 / 1:12 This would be sad if it were not so scary.

  Washington Examiner: Texas freeze killed winter produce, with some food prices expected to spike The loss of fruits and vegetables during last week’s cold snap in Texas could lead to shortfalls at food banks and higher prices at grocery stores. It likely also killed produce in Mexico at the same time.  That produce is usually brought into the US for distribution along with the Texas fruits and vegetables.

  NY Times: Texans Demand Answers as They Grapple With Storm’s Lingering Wrath After millions lost power during a winter storm, lawmakers have held marathon hearings, prosecutors have started criminal investigations and residents have asked for accountability. While the green energy facilities failed, the federal regulators are accused of not allowing increased production of energy by fossil fuels because of worry about global warming.  If that is the case it caused unnecessary suffering and blackouts. I am reminded of a night compass operation in OCS where one of the candidates fell into a hole and was asking for help.  His partner responded by saying that he did not want to lose his azimuth.  Worrying about global warming at a time when people are freezing in the dark is just as nuts.

  NY Times: CPAC Crowd Cheers Josh Hawley’s Vote Against Election Results Senator Josh Hawley received a standing ovation at the Conservative Political Action Conference when he reminded the crowd that he had objected to certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. I think Hawley was right to challenge the unconstitutional changes to election laws and he did so in a constitutional manner.  The Democrats and the mainstream media who tried to cancel him for doing it are the ones who acted disgracefully.  History should remember him as a profile in courage standing up against a liberal mob.

Andrew McCarthy:   Garland Heralds Return of the Obama Justice Department — Radical as Ever   Biden is not so much presiding over Obama’s third term as he is the doddering passenger riding in first class while Obama’s faithful pilots navigate . ... The judge emphasized that his top priority is domestic terrorism. But not all domestic terrorism. It is domestic terrorism as Democrats are defining it — viz., white supremacism, as instantiated by the rioting at the Capitol on January 6. ... I’ve previously detailed how Democrats are laser-focused on domestic terrorism as a political narrative more than an enforcement priority. If it were the latter, they would not be stressing white supremacism (used interchangeably with “neo-Nazism”) and soft-pedaling other iterations of insurrectionist violence — particularly the radical Left’s still-ongoing mayhem, which dominated 2020 and is poised to surge next month when Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis cop charged with murdering Geo...

 The Lid: In 2019, the “ Equality Act ” passed the House of Representatives but was stopped in the Senate. Today, in 2021, it passed the House again, with three so-called ‘Republicans’ voting for it. This time remains a question whether the Senate can stop it. The Act literally destroys sports for girls (Title IX), adherence to biological science for genders, privacy in bathrooms for girls, destroys the First Amendment on its way, especially religious freedom.  There is nothing “equal”  about the “Equality act.” Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Tom Reed (R-NY), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) voted with the Democrats on this bill. They are clueless about the ramifications of this legislation and should step down. Apparently, the word “equality” buffaloed them. The Act would be used to mandate school curriculum to further indoctrinate children in gender identity.   This is a political steamroller with liberal Democrats in charge. That is a strong statement, but it’s the truth. I...

 Elizabeth Economou: If there's one thing we've learned from the COVID-19 lockdowns, it's that the mainstream media duped us time and again.  Not surprisingly, trust in the Fourth Estate is at an all-time low. According to  Axios , nearly 60 percent of Americans agree with the statement that "journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations." From the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the pro-lockdown media propagated an apocalyptical narrative, dismissing any hope whatsoever — even though most people infected with the coronavirus eventually recovered. For nearly a year, the media manically obsessed over cases, cases, cases — instead of highlighting more meaningful metrics, like hospitalization rates and the devastating consequences of lockdowns.  Cases surged because testing increased.  For example, days before Thanksgiving, the line from the Home Depot to th...

 Fox News: The Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve has raised the threat level for US service members in Iraq , while US contractors at Balad Air Base were put on high alert fearing a response to US airstrikes in Syria , two sources familiar with the move tell Fox News. Increasing force protection posture may last several days and is considered a routine precaution given current conditions on the ground. "Protection of coalition troops is the #1 priority, so taking force protection levels higher is wise and prudent," a source told Fox News. At Balad Air Base, a separate decision was made by Sallyport Global, a company that fulfills US government contracts, to put American contractors on high alert, a person familiar said. US LAUNCHES AIR STRIKE AGAINST IRANIAN-BACKED FORCES IN SYRIA From 6:30 pm to 5:00 am local time, only mission-essential movement will be allowed on base. Protective gear will be required for anyone outside of hardened buildings. Balad Air ...

 Don Feder: Everything the Democrat Party does should be seen not from an economic or a political perspective, but one of sin and suffering -- the suffering it imposes on us to expiate our imagery sins. It came to me in a flash of insight when I heard of a now-disgraced bureaucrat (“an undersecretary of climate change” in Massachusetts) who told a gathering of his colleagues that to fight melting ice caps and rising sea levels they would have to “break the will” of ordinary Americans, by “turning the screws” -- raising energy costs so high that they would have to “stop emitting.” Admirable candor from a functionary of the state with the soul of a Medieval torturer. But it goes beyond the need to make us obey. Progressives believe Americans must be made to atone for our sins (environmental, racial, economic and national) with higher taxes and energy costs, a lower standard of living, crime, open borders, racial humiliation and national dissolution. It’s not a power-grab as much as ...