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BY MIKE HUCKABEE
Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee staff! Thank you for subscribing and I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter.
With gratitude,
Mike
DAILY BIBLE VERSE
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12
Democrat weakness
Now that we’ve had a couple of high profile Senate debates, it’s becoming clearer why so many Democrats are dodging debates the way NBA players dodge paternity tests.
I won’t go into the specifics of all the topics and the back-and-forth, but you can get the idea from these recaps of the debates between Blake Masters and Mark Kelly in Arizona…
And last night’s debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan in Ohio, which was such a beatdown of Ryan that if it had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it.
These debates are proving what I’ve long said: the Democrats’ over-reliance on a biased media to lie for them has made them a weaker Party that’s grown increasingly out of touch with reality and unable to defend their positions in open debate, which is why they're so desperate to silence their opponents. In this election, they can’t run on their record on crime, the economy, border security or any of their other disastrous policies. So they’ve fallen back on “Hey, those other guys are even worse! Look at them, with their barbecue grills and American flag lapel pins! Obviously, they’re ignorant, racist, woman-hating, election-denying, violent, insurrectionist, homophobic, fascist extremists!!” That way, they don’t have to defend their failed policies; they just have to fan fear of the fictitious straw man opponents they’ve created.
But then come the debates, and it all falls apart as reality intrudes. Voters get a look at the alleged braindead monsters they’re running against and think, “I believe we’ve been had.”
To cite just one example, we’ve heard for months about what a terrible candidate and dumb, rightwing extremist and Trump disciple J.D. Vance is. That worked on some people. Sadly for Ryan, he couldn’t debate the fantasy Vance. He had to debate the real J.D. Vance, who is a Marine veteran, attorney, best-selling author and successful venture capitalist with a summa cum laude degree from Ohio State and a Yale law degree. To say Ryan was not prepared was an understatement.
For me, the most telling moment came when he accused Vance of being an anti-abortion “extremist” who didn’t support any exceptions for rape or incest, despite Vance having just said that he did support those exact exceptions. Ryan was clinging to his talking points like a Titanic passenger clinging to a life preserver.
After this, I wouldn’t be surprised if John Fetterman had an urgent schedule conflict on the night of his debate with Dr. Oz, and Katie Hobbs fakes a case of COVID so she can go into quarantine to avoid debating Kari Lake.
Tulsi Gabbard leaves the Democrat Party
Military veteran and former Democratic Congress member and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party, and she explained why in a nearly 30-minute YouTube video that’s definitely going to leave a mark.
https://www.foxnews.com/
Ms. Gabbard said, "I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism” and “actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms...I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people and for the people. Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by and for the powerful elite. I'm calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party."
This doesn’t surprise me too much. I’ve always liked and respected Tulsi Gabbard. I complained when she wasn’t given her due time on the Democratic debates and booked her as a guest on my TV show. She’s one of the few remaining prominent Democrats who can have a civil conversation with people of different views and find common ground. I’ve long had an open invitation for Democrats to appear on my show, and the few who do will tell you they’re stunned by what a friendly welcome they receive. But very, very few take me up on it.
Ms. Gabbard didn’t announce plans to become a Republican or any other political affiliation. In that, she’s representative of millions of Americans who grew up voting for Democrats back when there were patriotic, moderate, pro-life Democrat politicians. That was before the radical left faculty lounge wokesters drove them all out. As Ronald Reagan said, he didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Party left him. Now, it’s up to the GOP to convince all those people looking for a new political home that there’s a place in the tent for them.
They could start by reminding them that if they believe in government that's "of the people, by the people and for the people," that's a quote from Abraham Lincoln, who was a Republican.
Is the FBI STUCK with Peter STRZOK?
Due to the recent deluge of FBI news, this update on former FBI agent and self-appointed Trump nemesis Peter Strzok had to wait a few days. Strzok, you ask?? Yes, he’s been back in the news again lately because of his ongoing lawsuit against the Bureau to get his job back, WITH back pay. However, the just-released termination letter sent to him in August 2018 by then-Deputy Director David Bowdich is not going to do much to help his case.
Consider this excerpt: “As I considered all the known facts associated with the adjudication of your case, it was difficult to imagine another incident like yours which brought so much discredit to the organization. In my 23 years in the FBI, I have not seen a more impactful series of missteps which called into question the entire organization and more thoroughly damaged the reputation of the entire organization. In our role as FBI employees, we must sometimes make unpopular decisions, but the public should be able to examine our work and not have to question our motives.”
Bowdich said in the letter that he took out all the politics, pundits, commentary and media in order to reach his decision in Strzok’s case, concluding, “When I strip away all the ‘noise,’ I am left with the facts and the extremely damaging impact to our organization, which will take years to overcome.”
Whew! What could Strzok possibly say to get his job back in light of this? Honestly, the only argument that comes to mind is that since he left the FBI, it’s gone so much further into the dumper that he might as well come back.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/read-in-full-fbi-termination-letter-peter-strzok
It’s surprising that Strzok is suing for back pay, considering that after he was fired, he was given a lucrative book deal, has been featured prominently as an analyst on CNN, and received a teaching job at Georgetown University. He was canonized by the left; there’s no word on how much he might have made in speaking fees, but we can imagine. Surely Strzok, who's lucky he wasn't sent up the river, has made boatloads more money as a disgraced FBI agent than he was making during his years with the Bureau.
As Jonathan Turley said in August, “It was an extraordinary recovery from a scandal where he showed flagrant bias, engaged in an affair with another married colleague at the FBI, and fought to continue to investigate Russian collusion claims despite early warnings over the questionable basis of the allegations pushed by the Clinton campaign.”
His piece sums up Strzok’s exploits nicely.
(Note: Turley mentions that Lisa Page, the aforementioned married colleague, also received a media contract, but hers is as a legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC. So at least they’re not passing each other in the halls all day.)
“Strzok often seems to lack any self-awareness of his past controversy,” Turley says. Indeed, the fact that after all he’s done to damage the FBI, he would be SUING the FBI is evidence of that.
One thing that’s been hard to uncover: Was Strzok denied his pension from the Bureau? He was fired at 48, two years before he normally would have started receiving his full pension, but news reports vaguely suggest that he might still have been granted part of it. Heck, if he’s nervy enough to go for all his back pay after what he did, he’s probably suing for his pension, too. But I don’t think most of us would get very far with a termination letter like the one he got.
Special counsel needed to stop "controlled demo" of Hunter's case
With the WASHINGTON POST reporting that federal agents believe there’s enough evidence to charge Hunter Biden with a couple of crimes --- never mind all the OTHER crimes, the ones involving his family --- former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared on Sean Hannity’s TV show Monday to remind us about something.
This case, as a matter of national security, is so important, she said, “yet they choose not to get a special prosecutor...Legally, that is an actual conflict, because, as we know, the U.S. attorney reports to Merrick Garland. Merrick Garland reports to Joe Biden. Joe Biden and his kids are now witnesses in any case against Hunter Biden. It’s really unbelievable, legally, to me that that has not been dealt with and there’s not a special prosecutor on this case.”
It’s true that even if Hunter were to be charged only with the crime of lying on his gun application, members of his family, including his father, might be called as witnesses concerning their knowledge of his drug addiction at the time he filled out the form.
Merrick Garland, as attorney general, could –- and should –- appoint a special counsel. The glaring conflict of interest essentially demands that he do it. But, of course, a special counsel investigation would quickly expand into President Biden’s role in Hunter’s global business deals and all the national security implications of that. Garland will not let that happen. That's also because he reports to Joe Biden.
Next in Hunter news, if you’ve ever forced yourself to risk a terminal case of brain-fry and watch MSNBC, you won’t be surprised to hear that just this Friday, one of their analysts said it was “perfectly legal” for Hunter Biden to take money from foreign governments. Yes, he actually said that.
“Justice Correspondent” Ken Dilanian said this to Joe Scarborough:
“In terms of, like, corruption, conflict of interest, we’ve never heard a hint that there were potential criminal charges there because Hunter Biden wasn’t an officeholder. It was perfectly legal for him to take money from foreign governments, as long as he wasn’t inappropriately giving them information from his family or something. There’s no hint of that.”
He acknowledged that “it looks terrible” –- no kidding –- but still stressed the point that Hunter broke no laws.
It was “perfectly legal” because he “wasn’t an officeholder”? Out of curiosity, we checked to see if Dilanian has a law degree, and it turns out –- surprise! –- that he does not. He studied political science and history and began working in journalism immediately upon graduation. So if we want to see where Hunter stands legally, perhaps we should turn not to a reporter on MSNBC but to an actual attorney and law professor, such as Jonathan Turley.
Ah...so refreshing. Turley speaks of the very narrow scope of a possible indictment of Hunter Biden as a “controlled demolition” of the much bigger scandal. I’d think the force of the entire scandal would be closer to that of an atomic bomb. Here’s the column Turley wrote about the cooperation that might be needed to carry off that controlled demo. (By the way, he agrees with Pam Bondi on the “overwhelming need” for a special prosecutor.)
Turley refers to “the recent disclosure [of] open influence peddling by Hunter, referencing access to his father.” Can you say “illegal”? He even coordinated trips with his father on Air Force Two to arrange business meetings with associates.
According to Turley, “Even if the ‘Justice’ Department is set to decline charges linked to foreign money transfers or influence peddling, there is the obvious omission of charges under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). The ‘Justice’ Department has used FARA aggressively in past prosecutions such as that of Trump associate Paul Manafort. The omission of a charge under FARA would be glaring and troubling in light of those past prosecutions.”
(We would note that Manafort “wasn’t an officeholder.”)
This case is so big, Turley suggests the administration is trying to collapse it “by triggering a smaller explosion.” He says they’ve already downgraded the Hunter case “from a Category 5 hurricane to a tropical storm.” Of course, one way to facilitate this minimization is through helpful reporters who try to play down what Hunter has done.
U.S. Military faces a recruitment crisis
The US military is facing a serious recruitment crisis, but top leaders continue to deny that it’s because they’ve instituted “woke” social engineering and strictly enforced leftist “diversity, equity and inclusion” dogma that are driving away the kind of people who traditionally join the military, those who believe in patriotism and a colorblind meritocracy.
But try asking some military members off the record what they think about the leftward lurch of the military. Fox News Digital did just that and got an earful:
https://www.foxnews.com/
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