By Mike Huckabee
January 6, 2024
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Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee team! Today, if you have a moment, leave me a comment about something you read. Comments help me fine tune what I am writing, and they show that we have an active community of readers.
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
Daily Bible Verse
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
John 14:1-2 ESV
Newsletter Notes
12 stories
3,216 words
Reading time: About 15 minutes
SCOTUS agrees to review the Colorado Supreme Court’s ballot decision
Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to review the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision removing Donald Trump from the state ballot. It’s on an expedited schedule for a February 8th hearing, and questions were not limited, which I hope means they will address the entire range of nonsense claims about insurrection and the 14th Amendment, and throw all of this garbage lawfare on the ash heap of history where it belongs. Then we can get back to letting Americans decide for themselves who to vote for. That is, if the guardians of “our democracy” in the Democratic Party don’t come up with some other harebrained scheme to interfere with their right to vote.
Related: A judge in Wyoming just threw out an attempt to block Trump from the ballot over the 14th Amendment ban on “insurrectionists.”
https://www.westernjournal.com/judge-shuts-newest-attempt-remove-trump-ballot/
Well, it’s that most sacred of days on the Democrat’s holy calendar:
January 6th, a darker date than Pearl Harbor Day and 9/11 combined, when Democrats would be flying their American flags at half-staff if any of them still flew the American flag.
Expect to hear endless dark and divisive speeches from President Biden on down to the lowest bowels of Congress (that would be the Squad) and the media (MSNBC), about how a group of unarmed Trump supporters, many of whom were milling around taking selfies, were engaged in an “insurrection” to overthrow the United States government. And of course, how only voting for Democrats can save “our democracy.” The hype grows bigger every year. By this time next year, I expect DC to have a January 6th Day Parade, with giant balloons of Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff, which like the real things will be filled with hot gas.
But is all this balloon juice and wailing and gnashing of teeth over January 6th actually working to convince the public that the GOP is the party of riots and undermining elections? It appears that all the government and media efforts to dominate the news and shut down opposition speech have only raised more questions and suspicions. To paraphrase one of those old dead, white guys who supposedly has nothing to teach us, “Methinks they dost protest too much.”
After three years of endless caterwauling over the January 6th “insurrection” and Trump’s “false, unsubstantiated claims” of a rigged election, a new Suffolk University/USA Today survey found that Americans’ skepticism about J6 and the 2020 election is actually rising.
https://www.wnd.com/2024/01/poll-stunner-nearly-40-say-jan-6-protesters-point/
The percentage who think the J6 protesters were criminals has dropped from 70% shortly after it happened to only 48% today. One-third say the DOJ’s legal actions against them should be reversed. Most surprising, the number who say they “went too far, but had a point” has risen from 24% to 37%. The poll also found that a rising number of Americans are concerned that ballots won’t be accurately cast and counted this November. You can find all the numbers at the link above.
For the record, I’ve said from the beginning that anyone who actually committed rioting or acts of violence in the Capitol should face the full legal consequences. But that doesn’t mean that every aunt and uncle in a MAGA cap who walked past the Capitol that day should be hounded into prison by politicized prosecutors who are more jealous than Inspector Javert in “Les Miserables.”
January 6th Legal News:
This anniversary weekend also brought some welcome news in the fight back against the politicization of the justice system. First, Judicial Watch has filed a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the government on behalf of the husband and estate of Ashli Babbett, the protester shot at point black range and killed by Capitol police officer Lt. Michael Byrd. Babbitt was unarmed, surrounded by cops, and her empty hands were in the air. She was posing no threat to Byrd before he shot her dead.
Yet he was not only not charged, the entire case was whitewashed. The Capitol Police cleared him of any wrongdoing, and he was treated like a hero in liberal media circles, despite his record of unsafe handling of firearms.
https://www.westernjournal.com/federal-govt-sued-30m-wrongful-death-jan-6-protester-ashli-babbitt/
Judicial Watch has dug up some shocking info on Byrd’s history of mishandling guns that had yet to be revealed, such as that he’d had his police powers revoked on more than one occasion for failing to meet or complete semi-annual firearms qualifications requirements. Also, his police powers were once revoked after he shot at his car while off-duty as some teenagers were stealing it, and stray bullets hit the sides of houses.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/30-million-wrongful-death-suit-jan-6-protester/
Despite Biden’s repeated false claims of multiple deaths of police officers on January 6th, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, “The only homicide on January 6 was the unlawful shooting death of Ashli Babbitt. Her homicide by Lt. Byrd is a scandal beyond belief.”
Let’s hope the civil court system will finally bring some justice that the Biden “Department of Justice” refused to pursue.
And in another J6 lawsuit, a defendant is seeking to overturn the charges on the basis of selective prosecution. He says the DOJ gave the mysterious figure Ray Epps a sweetheart deal, charging Epps with a single misdemeanor, while they charged him with eight felonies and ignored the same mitigating factors.
That second case is a good example of our two-tiered justice system, where the same party that turned a blind eye to hundreds of violent BLM and Antifa riots across America continues to treat anyone who was even in the general vicinity of the Capitol that day like John Dillinger. The intelligence agencies that were too distracted to see the October 7th Hamas attack coming have devoted three years to tracking down and charging over a thousand people, throwing not just the book but the entire law library at them, in what is now the largest investigative and prosecutorial campaign in US history. It would be nice if they went after the drug cartels with that much drive.
Here’s an example of one of those violent insurrectionists, whose convictions for doing things that video showed he clearly didn’t do was just upheld by totally impartial Judge Tanya Chutkan, who’s also overseeing one of Jack Smith’s cases against Trump.
By the way, Trump’s attorneys have formally requested that Smith be cited for contempt of court for continuing to press discovery demands even though the case has been halted pending appeal, a clear violation. Anyone want to bet that she’ll actually hold Smith accountable?
https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-makes-powerhouse-move-hold-jack-smith-contempt-court/
FYI, Smith is also continuing to use propaganda to try to poison public opinion and taint the jury pool, you know, like non-contemptuous prosecutors do.
https://instapundit.com/625328/
Well, I think that’s enough about January 6th for now. But if the Democrats insist on running on that all through 2024 (because that and unfettered abortion are literally all they’ve got to run on), this should give them an idea of how it’s going over.
National Bird Day
By “Huckabee” pop culture guru Pat Reeder (http://www.hollywoodhifi.com)
This weekend marks one of the most important dates of the year. I refer, of course, to January 5th, which was National Bird Day.
It’s a day established to appreciate the beauty that birds bring to the world, and to call attention to the cruelty of the international bird smuggling trade and bird breeding mills, and the plight of pet birds that are kept in captivity without proper care. Parrots especially are likely to fall victim: people buy them because they're colorful or they (might) talk. They don’t realize they aren’t décor; they’re as intelligent as a four-year-old child and need a great deal of attention and interaction. But they can be great pets and even become part of the family. Plus, having bird cages can actually make the New York Times useful again.
This day is a big deal to my wife/co-writer Laura Ainsworth and I because we’re bird lovers who share our home with a dozen rescued parrots and cockatoos, and we support a number of parrot rescues, including the Oasis Sanctuary, Wings of Love, Ricki's Rescue, Mango's Haven and more. We'd like to remind you that pet rescue is not just for dogs and cats: there are many pet bird shelters that desperately need support. Parrots can live up to 70 years and are often shuffled from owner to owner. Their vet bills and other expenses are very high (as we know well.)
Also, if you want a parrot because you think it would be funny to teach it to curse, please DON’T! These birds often need to be rehomed. If you teach a parrot to curse, you greatly diminish its odds of finding a future loving home. Some people even punish the bird by locking it away when it doesn’t even know what it’s done wrong. Teaching a parrot to curse is straight-up animal cruelty.
If you've ever thought of adopting a parrot, please check out these shelters online. There are many sweet, beautiful, intelligent birds who have been through heartbreaking experiences at the hands of people, but they can blossom into fantastic, trusting friends with a little love and attention.
And that includes the special needs ones, like those taken in by Ricki’s Rescue in Florida. Here's an essay I wrote about a little disabled cockatiel named Rosey who was the light of our lives.
https://www.lauraainsworth.com/news/rosey.htm
Finally, if you're sick of hearing about Taylor Swift, here's another singer that we believe is much better:
“Free and Fair Elections”
A reminder that President “Free and Fair Elections” is not only using every tactic to keep his Republican opponent off the ballot, he’s also trying to keep his Democratic challengers off the primary ballot.
The Democrats view both voter choice and “a woman’s right to choose” the same way that Henry Ford viewed customer choice for the Model T: “It comes in any color you want, as long as it’s black.”
Epstein update
As the Jeffrey Epstein documents continue to be released, the first batch showed that, despite the hopes and false narratives of Democrats, the testimony exonerated Trump, with witnesses saying they’d never seen him at Epstein’s homes or on his island, nor had one of them ever given him a massage. Bill Clinton, however, didn’t come out so well, with one recounting that Epstein had once said that Bill “likes them young.”
Juanita Broaddrick had a comment on that disclosure, and since I’m sure that many liberal media outlets that claim to be champions of women who’ve been victimized (but are really just party mouthpieces) will not report what she said, I will:
A new jobs report
The Labor Department reported this morning that 216,000 jobs were added in December, which is higher than expected.
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2024/01/05/america-created-216000-jobs-in-december/
Of course, due to years of fiscal mismanagement and profligate spending by the government, we now have a no-win situation where strong hiring means the Fed might have to keep interest rates painfully high to tamp down the economy and prevent another inflation surge. Considering 52,000 of those new hires are government jobs, I seriously doubt that anyone’s learned any lessons.
The Experts Speak!
The “experts” predicted that once the large field of GOP presidential contenders started winnowing down, they’d stop splitting the anti-Trump vote and Trump’s wide lead would dwindle to his hardcore MAGA base of 35%. Well, the field is now down to only three serious contenders (Trump, Haley and DeSantis – Christie should drop out; I’d say his audition for a job at CNN is already accomplished. And Stephen Kruiser at PJ Media says the perfect job for Vivek Ramaswamy would be Trump’s press secretary, based on how deftly he filets biased reporters…
…And here he is, doing it again…)
Yet according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, with the vote mostly now split in just three ways, Trump is currently at nearly 63%.
Of course, I always warn people not to put too much faith in polls, particularly not those that are taken before a single primary vote has been cast. But it seems clear that the Democrat lawfare effort to destroy Trump with bogus felony charges and frivolous lawsuits has backfired bigly, enraging fair-minded Americans and rallying them to Trump. Anyone who might disapprove of porn in schools, wide open borders or abortion up to the age of weaning must look at the legal persecution of Trump by these leftist zealots and think, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
It might also be a factor in black voters turning away from Biden (the idea that the criminal justice system is always fair and unbiased against system outsiders doesn’t play very well with that demographic.) But of course, that could just be due to the fact that Biden is a horrible, horrible President.
Related: This news will have Democrats rushing to squeeze some Play-Doh. A new survey by the Daily Mail finds that Biden’s support among young women aged 18-29 has plummeted by 18 points since last June, from 60% to 42%.
This is the “Life of Julia” demographic, the young women that Democrats condescendingly view as dependent on Big Daddy government. They’re the main reason the expected 2022 red wave was blunted. The Dems think they’re single-issue voters (abortion), so I guess they think they’ll forever overlook issues like inflation, crushing interest rates, rampant crime and having their rights systematically stripped away from them in order to appease the trans cult.
We can expect the Dems to react to this news with panic, and by turning up to 11 the shrill accusations that Trump will take away abortion rights (he’s actually pretty moderate on that issue, while it’s the Dems who’ve become extremists and back unlimited abortion far beyond any laws in Europe) or that he’s a Hitler-like dictator. I would hope that any women who are old enough to remember when he was President for four years might remember that it was a time of widespread peace and prosperity, law and order, dismantling of government power, restoration of individual rights and the first Administration in years that started no new wars.
Still, as the article predicts, the left hopes that young women will come around to voting for Biden as “the lesser of two evils.” I hope I am never in the same room with anything that could be described as a greater evil than this presidency.
A small court Trump victory
In a small court Trump victory, a California judge dismissed “with prejudice” (meaning it can’t be brought into court again) an attempt to keep Trump off the state ballot. It was based on a plaintiff’s novel complaint that watching the January 6th riot on TV caused him such trauma that Trump was guilty of “negligent infliction of emotional distress.” The judge said that law has a two-year statute of limitations. But what if it took the plaintiff three years to work up the courage to come out of his safe space?
Blaming someone else
In the Democratic Party’s never-ending effort to blame the Biden-created border crisis on anyone other than Biden (and even some liberal media outlets are finally starting to see through that), New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that he will sue the bus companies that transport illegal aliens from Texas to New York. He wants them to pay $700 million for the costs of providing hotel rooms, food, etc. to their passengers.
Legal analysts call it a ridiculous and frivolous lawsuit that will just waste more taxpayer money in legal fees. The bus companies are doing nothing wrong. It was Biden who decided that these people should be allowed to enter the US and go anywhere they want; transporting them there is the bus companies’ job. Adams should sue Biden, but that would be placing the blame where it belongs.
I will be watching this lawsuit carefully, though. If the courts rule that bus companies have to pay the hotel and meal bills for their passengers after they get off, I’ll be doing all my traveling by Greyhound from now on!
“Huckabee” Preview
Join me tonight for a news making episode of “Huckabee” on TBN. I’ll have a report on my recent trip to Israel where I visited with victims of the October 7th attack with Yael Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and we even had to take shelter from a rocket attack ourselves at one point. I’ll also talk to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who’s leading a landmark social media censorship case against the Biden Administration. You’ll also meet a Huck’s Hero with a great idea for all dads (moms, too.) And we’ll have terrific entertainment from comic Jeff “Big Daddy” Wayne and country star Niko Moon.
Be there tonight at 8 and 11 EST, 7 and 10 CST, or Sunday at 9 EST/8 CST on TBN. To find out how to watch TBN, from local cable and broadcast channels to streaming, visit https://www.huckabee.tv and click on “Channel Finder” on the top menu. You can stream previous episodes, highlights and online-only “Digital Exclusives,” including extended interviews, “In Case You Missed It” and “Facts of the Matter” segments, plus extra performances by our great musical and comedy guests and links to all their sites, at https://www.huckabee.tv. You can also find past shows, highlights and digital exclusives on YouTube and my Facebook page.
David Soul RIP
By “Huckabee” pop culture guru Pat Reeder
As we were going to press yesterday, word came that actor David Soul died late Thursday night at 80.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/starsky-hutch-actor-david-soul-dead-80
Soul was best known for playing Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson on the buddy cop series “Starsky & Hutch” (Starsky was Paul Michael Glaser) from 1975 to 1979. He had previously played one of the Bolt brothers on the series, “Here Come The Brides,” and he appeared in the Dirty Harry movie, “Magnum Force” and the TV horror film, “Salem’s Lot.” He continued as a working actor for years, forging a new career as a stage star in London’s West End, including the hit musical “Blood Brothers.”
A bit of trivia other obits likely won’t mention: In 1983, Soul starred in an NBC series that lasted only five episodes. It was called “Casablanca,” and he played Rick Blaine, the role Humphrey Bogart played in the classic movie ("Play it again, Huggy Bear.") It was one for the Bad Idea Hall of Fame.
Since I’m the co-author of “Hollywood Hi-Fi” (http://www.hollywoodhifi.com), a book about singing celebrities, I must also mention that he parlayed his “Starsky & Hutch” fame into teen idol success, landing a #1 hit in the US in 1976 with “Don’t Give Up On Us.” He also scored five hit singles in the UK and eventually released five albums. RIP.
(By the way, since this news will probably make you curious, both Glaser and Antonio Fargas, who played “Huggy Bear,” are still alive.)
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