By Mike Huckabee
January 25, 2022
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Good morning!
Blessings on you and your family, and from all the Huckabee staff!
Today's newsletter includes:
- Bible Verse of the Day - Philippians 4:4-7
- The leftists in power show us what a "psy-op" is
- Must-Read
- Biden's Weakness
- "Iowa School Choice Week"
- Ainsworth on "wokeness": Why I no longer eat Peanut M&M's
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Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
1. DAILY BIBLE VERSE
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7
If you have a favorite Bible Verse you want to see in one of our newsletters, please email [email protected].
MORNING NEWS:
2. The leftists in power show us what a "psy-op" is:
Question: how does a regime focused on perpetuating and expanding its own power, such as the one currently occupying Washington DC, crush all opposition --- both actual and potential? According to Michael Anton, in his new commentary for American Greatness, it conducts what in national security parlance is a “psy-op,” or psychological operation. This is what seems to be going on right now in our country.
According to Anton, this form of propagandizing is done to demoralize --- THAT sure seems to be happening --- and also “to create other opportunities that otherwise might not present themselves.” For example, to create the opportunity to stop dissent, they first have to criminalize it. And since we supposedly live in a free country, criminalizing dissent poses a problem. This is America, so unless we’re young and brainwashed, we naturally resist attempts to restrict our free speech and persecute us for our politics. So the regime needs a big-time excuse to make that happen.
So, what do Americans hate and fear at least as much as incursions on their freedom? Terrorism. Mob rule. Civil strife. Civil WAR. Ah –- there we are! Americans hate the thought of civil war! In order to rein in political opposition and stifle dissent, an effective plan might be to make Americans extremely concerned about domestic terrorism and, ultimately, civil war.
And since our rulers are leftists, they have to make the perceived threat come from the right.
The main tool a government has for implementing such a propaganda plan is FACT-BASED LIES. It’s a fact that some conservatives truly believe we’re headed down the road to civil war, simply because the country is so divided –- as they say in divorce court, “irreparably broken.” If we’re talking about a violent rebellion, an insurrection, that’s a war that Anton very reasonably explains could not be won. Perhaps an “amicable divorce” as a last resort could be workable if it came to that, rather than give up our freedom, but not civil war, which he likens to “Bambi vs. Godzilla.” Check this out...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s3UogfAGg0
It’s also a fact that a relative handful of people from the right really were involved in the January 6 riot in a way that went beyond walking into the Rotunda and taking selfies. But the threat they posed has been so greatly exaggerated by Congress and the media that many Democrats actually believe a small, unarmed group posed a serious threat to “our democracy” and were seriously trying to take over the government.
Of course, that is ludicrous. But I think we’re starting to see that there is nothing so ludicrous that people won’t believe it if it’s drummed into them by their political masters.
Even though there’s no domestic terrorism going on (at least on the right), the federal government has set up a “domestic terrorism unit” to go in search of it (at least on the right). They’re targeting “those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies.” Who are those people? So-called “anti-vaxxers”? The unmasked? Parents opposed to CRT? Those who sign petitions for election audits? Conservative bloggers? Subscribers to the Mike Huckabee newsletter?
Importantly, since there are no acts of domestic terrorism being perpetrated by the right, the government is targeting motives, feelings, ideologies --- what people think, not what they do.
We’re even seeing examples in the media of commentaries that defend the use of this “psy-ops” strategy, in the name of “fighting disinformation.”
Of course, the problem with this kind of content control is that “disinformation” or “misinformation” is anything the government authority says it is. For example, the story that the Bidens really have been in bed financially with Ukrainians, Russians and Chinese, as revealed on Hunter’s abandoned laptop, was quickly censored as “Russian disinformation” to keep voters from knowing about it right before the 2020 election. And it’s TRUE.
I would add that because of the two-tier “justice” system the left has established, people on their team politically who actually DO commit acts of domestic terrorism and other violent crimes against civil society will be released without bail, if they are dealt with by law enforcement at all.
Lately, the “buzz” being generated is that because of angry Americans on the right --- typically white and rural, and shamefully portrayed as “white supremacists” --- our country is being primed for civil war. To maintain this narrative, the left uses the closest thing it has to that: January 6. (We’ve said all along that the Capitol Hill riot played into the left’s hands so well that if it didn’t happen on its own, they would’ve had to make it happen. More about that tomorrow.) As Anton points out, “The regime is trying to brainwash everyone that January 6 was the equivalent of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. But it’s not working --- three quarters of Americans think is was ‘a protest that went too far’ --- so the regime needs a Plan B.”
Plan B is to create that “buzz,” to talk up domestic strife and impending civil war –- even books are coming out about this –- so that Americans increasingly believe the threat and become frightened. If they’re frightened enough, they’ll start to accept more draconian measures that would normally be unthinkable. I would add that the virus is a great example of this; those who cower in fear of COVID will accept any amount of restriction: lockdowns, vaccine passports, employer mandates, an endless string of booster shots, social isolation, tracking/travel restrictions, censorship, detention or even denial of medical care for the unvaccinated. It’s just a matter of generating enough fear and dread. The same can be done to instill fear in political opponents; in fact, there’s even some overlap, as resistance to COVID mandates is being politicized.
So, if you’ve been hearing more about the threat or even inevitability of civil war lately, it’s not your imagination. And Anton warns that the feds behind this plan WANT you to step out of line --- to do something that they can paint as a prelude to starting a war. That gives them all the excuse they need to respond, with “more censorship, surveillance, no-knock raids, computer and records seizures, asset confiscation, frivolous (but deadly serious) criminal charges, endless pretrial detention, and draconian sentences for misdemeanors and non-crimes.”
So don't play into it. I would recommend thinking of this as a chess game. Our next move has to be "checkmate" at the ballot box.
https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/18/the-civil-war-psy-op/
LEAVE ME A COMMENT, I READ THEM!
3. Must-Read:
Sen. Marsha Blackburn has a chilling warning for pro-life activists that even if they do score a court victory over Roe v. Wade, they still have to adapt to counter the pro-abortionists’ control over the regulatory levers of the government. President Biden recently made a change to FDA regulations that not only sidesteps court oversight of abortion, it also proves that “protecting women’s health” is just a McGuffin. They’re always willing to sacrifice women’s health, as long it protects abortion.
4. Biden's weakness:
As I wrote yesterday, Russia smells weakness wafting from the White House, and Vladimir Putin thinks he sees an opening to install a Kremlin-friendly government in Ukraine without having to face much in the way of consequences. Russia has sent over 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, and has 140 warships and over 50 aircraft taking part in “naval exercises.” But President Biden held a conference call with NATO leaders, and he claims they’re in “total unanimity” about blocking Russian aggression.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-european-leaders-total-unanimity-call-russia-ukraine
Here’s my question: are they also in total unanimity about how to do that? Or do they just unanimously agree that the US will do most of the heavy lifting to protect Europe?
Biden has put 8,500 US troops on “heightened alert” that they may be sent to Ukraine to deter Russia, and is reportedly considering sending up to 50,000 troops via the UN. But what is NATO sending? Denmark is sending one frigate and four F-16s to Lithuania. The Netherlands is sending two F-35s to Bulgaria. France is vaguely “ready to send forces” to Romania. Spain is sending some ships and “considering” sending jets to Bulgaria, and so on.
Meanwhile, Germany, which thanks to Biden is dependent on Russia for energy, is actively blocking weapons shipments to Ukraine.
https://www.westernjournal.com/germany-shocks-alliance-throws-wrench-ukrainian-defense/
As the writer Bonchie at Redstate.com reminds us, Trump tried to force NATO members to step up and start providing more money, troops and resources for their own defense. For that, he was excoriated by the same arrogant “smart diplomacy” crowd that’s now bumbled us to the brink of a military confrontation with Russia -- one for which we will apparently be expected to provide most of the equipment and put our brave service members’ lives on the line.
By the way, those of us back home in the US will also be paying dearly for Biden’s weakness and dumb policy decisions, not only by worrying about our loved ones in harm’s way, but also from the risk of Russian retaliatory cyberattacks…
…and in the form of even higher oil prices. It’s been little reported, but after coming into office on Day One and launching an attack on our domestic oil and gas industries, Biden ramped up the amount of oil the US buys from Russia. As Nick Arama at Redstate.com reports, in May of 2021, Russian oil imports were increased by 23% to 844,000 barrels a day, or 10% of total oil imports for the month. Only Canada supplies us with more imported oil than Russia.
So if you thought it was crazy that we’ve allowed ourselves to become dependent on China for our medicines, what would you call being dependent for oil on a country that you’re threatening to go to war with?
This potential war could have been avoided if we had strong leadership in the White House. That alone would've been deterrent enough. Failing that, the President should at least be strong enough to tell NATO leaders that while they have our support, they need to fight their own battles to protect Europe. It’s odd that even as liberals are getting rid of cops in American cities, they still think it’s our duty to be the policeman to the world.
5. "Iowa School Choice Week":
Instapundit has a round-up of stories about Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declaring this “Iowa School Choice Week” and saying that children belong to their parents, not the government or school boards, and parents have a right to weigh on what they’re being taught. Also, on the unhinged leftwing educationist reaction to those popular, common sense statements.
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/499359/
And here’s a perfect example of why parents across the political spectrum are becoming so outraged:
Under the circumstances, it’s no surprise that out-of-control politicized schools have become that rare issue that’s bringing Republicans and Democrats together in agreement, and costing Democrats a lot of support (ask Virginia Not-Governor Terry McAuliffe.)
I’ve long said that the worst mistake Republicans ever made was letting the left take over the education system. But if there’s any silver lining to the pandemic, it might be that online classes allowed parents to discover to their horror what their kids were being taught, and it’s given a bipartisan jump start to the school choice movement.
https://reason.com/2022/01/24/the-biggest-education-innovation-is-growing-use-of-school-choice/
6. Ainsworth on "wokeness": Why I no longer eat Peanut M&M's:
I wish to thank Mars --- the corporation, not the planet --- for instantly curing me of my addiction to Peanut M&M’s.
A little background: I try to avoid sugar as much as possible, just because I think it’s healthier to be on a low-carb diet. But one exception I’ve made was Peanut M&M’s. I rationalized that since the candy was just on the outside of each piece, surrounding a peanut, the protein sort of “canceled out” the sugar. And, to some extent, I was correct.
But lately at our house, we’ve been buying not just the little single-serving packages but the big bags, and my nightly ritual was to pour a pretty fair amount into a dish and polish them off after dinner, typically while watching Tucker Carlson. (Tucker can thank me for the plug later.) I even had a little ritual surrounding which colors would be eaten first, leaving one each of green, orange and blue before they were all gone. I am not kidding. And I thought I could stop any time, though I hadn’t yet tested that theory.
But a few days ago, a story came out about the little animated M&M’s mascots getting an “image makeover” for 2022. And my love affair with Peanut M&M’s was suddenly and absolutely over.
https://nypost.com/2022/01/20/mms-g-a-new-look-thats-representative-of-todays-society/
I don’t care if they want to change the look of their characters. But this is yet another example of tedious virtue signaling about “inclusiveness” brought about by the current climate of corporate fear, and I have had enough of it. Mars Inc. had already bowed to pressure and changed the name of its beloved Uncle Ben’s brand rice. The real Uncle Ben was not a slave or a servant –- from the best I can gather, he was a real rice farmer in the Houston area known for his superior product. The model for the picture is Frank Brown, head waiter at a high-end Chicago restaurant when he posed in 1947. But now, in Orwellian fashion, Mr. Brown’s image has been erased, a casualty of wokeness.
But back to M&M’s. From Mars Inc.’s own press release: “M&M’s, a proud part of Mars Incorporated, launches a global platform to increase a sense of belonging for ten million people by 2025, helping to connect and celebrate one another.” Good grief.
Their release announces “a global commitment to creating a world where everyone feels they belong, and society is inclusive.” Skipping down a bit: “Studies show our desire to belong is as strong as our desire to be loved, and that desire is common for all people irrespective of culture, race, ethnicity, geography or location.” Skipping down a bit more, we see that there will even be more emphasis on the ampersand in M AND M’s, “to demonstrate how the brand aims to bring people together.”
Silly me, I thought we came together because of our mutual love of the candy that melts in your mouth, not in your hand. This is too...heavy-handed.
They say they’ve even updated their “tone of voice” to be “more inclusive, welcoming and unifying, while remaining rooted to our signature jester wit and humor.” I apologize for not having picked up on M&M’s “signature jester wit” in the past. But do you know what destroys wit and humor with a sledgehammer? Fear of not being woke enough.
The Global Marketing Vice President refers to these as their new “evolved” characters, introduced as part of their effort “to create a world where society is inclusive.” Other aspects of their “global [there’s that word again] commitment” are “gender balanced leadership teams, running an independent annual diversity audit of its advertising by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media [I am not making this up], and its role as Vice Chair of the Unstereotype Alliance, part of UN Women, amongst others.”
“The world we want tomorrow starts with the way we do business today,” they say, and I agree with that statement. But this way of doing business is just pandering. It’s yet another case of a corporation drinking the Kool-Aid of wokeness, using the required buzzwords and professing the required intentions. It’s already become a cliché. But as fun as it would be to write a parody of this type of press release, why should I when it already reads like a parody of itself?
When you get down to the actual changes being made to these colorful candy characters, they mostly involve superficial characteristics such as footwear. (Come to think of it, that’s just about all they have to work with, style-wise, as M&M’s are otherwise sans clothing. But the brown one does wear glasses, I assume to make nearsighted people like me feel included!) The green M&M used to wear high-heeled boots, which have been exchanged for sneakers. The brown M&M also wore high heels, but they are lower heels now. Well, it’s about time those poor M&M’s got to be more comfortable! Perhaps their focus groups included an oversampling of podiatrists.
The red, yellow and orange M&M’s all sport shoelaces, with the laces left untied on the orange M&M, to make him/it more casual and “street.” I would have loved to be in on the creative session when they decided which color of candy would get which footwear: “Hey, we can’t put the untied shoelaces on the brown one!”)
Sorry to be flip, but you KNOW they talked about it.
Oh, and they’re doing away with prefixes that might identify gender. They want to “focus on their personalities, rather than their gender.” Maybe that’s why high heels were done away with. But what if a male M&M identified as female, and wanted high heels? Somebody has to think about these things!
As reported in the New York Post, “The characters are changing up their looks for ‘a fresh, modern take’ on their style and ‘more nuanced personalities to underscore the importance of self-expression and power of community through storytelling’...adding that today’s ‘more dynamic, progressive world’ would be reflected in the changes.”
They now have “personalities and backstories...representative of today’s society.” Backstories, really? They’re M&M’s.
As the Gov. said when we brought you this story last week, M&M’s were already teaching the lesson that whatever colors we are on the outside, we’re the same on the inside. I’ve always thought that was a great message, but right now, it’s not the precise message that everyone in business must –- repeat, MUST –- convey. So apparently Mars is the latest corporation to be assimilated, like pods in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” They’ve all been frightened by the “progressive” (radical) left into parroting the same mandatory messages in the mandatory vocabulary. They think they have to do this to bring their product up to date, but to me it already seems old, lame, dated –- so 2021.
And, you know what? I’ve completely lost my taste for M&M’s. So, thank you, Mars Incorporated, for that.
Laura Ainsworth is a staff-writer at MikeHuckabee.com. You can read more of her work here.
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7. I Just Wanted to Say:
Thank you for reading the Morning Edition.
For more news, visit my website here.
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