Sunday Standard - January 7
Here are the top stories from this week that I think you will want to read.
And after you read my Sunday Standard, please leave me a comment.
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
Biden to the border: Will it be a political smokescreen?!?
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on January 5, 2023.
President Biden is expected to FINALLY visit our southern border this Sunday for the first time since taking office. But critics are concerned that the visit will be a political smokescreen. They’re demanding that it not be one of those “ten minutes on the tarmac” visits, but that Biden be given a real tour of the border, talk to the border agents, and be forced to look at the national security and humanitarian disaster that his policies have created. I guess they hope it will have a similar corrective effect to rubbing a puppy’s nose in its own mess and saying, “BAD dog!”But I can’t imagine Biden’s handlers allowing that to happen. I’m sure they realize what a PR disaster that would be. Still, he’ll have to say something, and anytime Biden opens his mouth in public, there’s the potential for disaster. In fact, it already happened during a planned, scripted speech announcing his upcoming visit to the border. Imagine the historic disaster that Biden has created at our southern border. Now, put all that chaos and incompetence into the form of a speech, and you have an idea of how well Biden’s speech about the border
went.
At the link, Mary Chastain of the Legal Insurrection blog offers a stunning collection of quotes and clips, from Biden called Kamala Harris “President Harris” (again) to him getting the name of Customs and Border Protection wrong, to him thinking we can replace Title 42 with Title 9 (or Title 8, whatever), to him comparing the economic migrants flowing into the US to Jews fleeing the Holocaust, to him saying that 20,000 pounds of fentanyl is “enough to kill as many as 1,000 people.” It could actually kill 4.5 billion people.And that’s before we even get into his baffling new plan to let impoverished people risk the dangerous trek to the US border, then somehow apply for entry using a new government app on their cell phones. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.But as crazy as all that is, it sounds like a lecture from Albert Einstein compared to Biden’s attempt to blame the illegal immigration crisis on…brace yourselves…Republicans, who are allegedly preventing him from fixing the problem. You know, the one he created. The one he continues to sue states over when they try to do anything to stop it. Those darn Republicans!!
Someone needs to fetch a big butterfly net, and I don’t mean to catch illegal border crossers with.
Leave me a comment, I read them.
Looking ahead to a great year
By Mike Huckabee
This was originally published on January 2, 2023.
Happy New Year! I can’t speak for you, but I’m glad we’re moving out of 2022. Highest inflation in over 40 years, fuel prices double from when Donald Trump was President, interest rates climbing, a border that is easier to get through than a wet paper towel, and a lazy and irresponsible media that lies to you every day and pretends they are telling you the truth.
But one thing that has been a wonderful part of 2022 is that my wife and I started the year with 2 wonderful new puppies. We actually got them the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Gumbo is a Cavalier King Charles/Bichon mix and Bandit is a Shi-Tzu/Bichon mix. They aren’t blood brothers, but don’t tell them that. They are virtually inseparable. The love to wrestle, chase each other, and sometimes make big messes. But these boys have brought a lot of joy to our lives in a year that otherwise would have been at times rather depressing.
I often say “I wouldn’t live in a world without dogs,” and I really mean it. During the past year, these 2 guys have taken more of my time than I had, caused me to do a lot of cleaning up behind them, replacing things they chewed up, and trying to figure out what they’re barking at. But through it all, they have given a level of loyalty I sure never experienced in politics, and a steadfast love that is a true taste of God’s unfailing love for us.
You may wonder why I’d start my 2023 newsletter talking about my dogs. And the honest answer is, “Because I could!”
But there’s method to the madness. I’m convinced that dogs bring people together. It’s hard to frown when looking into the eyes of a puppy. It’s hard to think about harsh divisions in our nation and world when holding a puppy in your lap. So I just think a lot of our problems would be solved if people got a dog. Maybe Democrats and Republicans would still disagree, but not be hateful about it. And dogs can teach us a lot about being patient as well as grateful for even the smallest thing, like a tiny treat.
I don’t mean to imply that all of 2022 has been unpleasant. Our daughter got elected Governor of Arkansas and will sit in the old seat I sat in. She will be sworn in in less than 2 weeks and start her own journey of leading our state. We’re proud of all three of our children, but they have their own lives and careers. We do as much baby-sitting of our 7 grandchildren as we are allowed, but when they aren’t there, having the dogs fills the house with activity, love, and of course noise. Lots of noise.
Some of our friends thought we were crazy to get two dogs at the same time, but it just doubled our delight to watch them grow, play, and show us their unconditional love. So, we’re starting 2023 with hope and anticipation and year-old puppies that got us through this past year. From Janet and me and Gumbo and Bandit, Happy New Year, and may God give you a great year, and maybe a puppy of your own!
Leave me a comment, I read them.
Under the radar: another election story that almost slipped by
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on January 2, 2023
Who --- besides me and my staff and other obsessive news-hounds --- paid really close attention to breaking stories from just before Christmas through New Year's Day? Normally, that's a low point in the news cycle, but as it happened this year, it was the time we ended up with perhaps the biggest story of 2022, the release of the "Twitter Files," which showed us how pre-selected information has been spoon-fed to us, literally for years, a deception that almost certainly changed history. And now, here's a related story that almost got lost over the weekend, but NOT QUITE. You'll be hearing more about it in the coming days.
Jason Chaffetz, subbing for Steve Hilton on Sunday's THE NEXT REVOLUTION, offered an update on a story concerning an executive order issued by President Biden just days into his administration, EO#14019, This order quietly directed executive departments and agencies to "partner with state, local, Tribal, and territorial election officials" --- even "selected and approved" non-governmental organizations --- to protect and promote the exercise of the right to vote, eliminate discrimination and other barriers to voting, and expand access to voter registration and accurate election information."
Well, that all sounds wonderful, doesn't it? On the surface, the buzzwords make it sound like something to which no one could take a legitimate exception. After all, who could possibly have a problem with "discrimination" and "accurate voter information"? Never mind what the wording of this order might mean in practice. Here's an excellent analysis from October, just before this past election. Read it and be shocked.
https://www.thesavvystreet.com/is-bidens-executive-order-14019-designed-for-electoral-wrongdoing/
As Joel B. Pollack wrote in BREITBART NEWS, it "reads like a Democratic Party wish list of 'reforms.'" And that's just what it is --- probably ghostwritten by Marc Elias. One provision of the order states: "It is the responsibility of the federal government to expand access to, and education about, voter registration and election information, and to combat misinformation, in order to enable all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy."
No, it is not. By now, we know the government is not to be trusted to determine what is election "information" and "misinformation." (See Hunter's laptop.) The federal government needs to KEEP ITS GRUBBY PAWS off "our" elections, and that includes the work-around of using social media and/or any other entity as an unconstitutional intermediary. We've seen that in the name of protecting us against misinformation, they themselves are the biggest spreaders of it. The disconnect between what they say and what we observe for ourselves is so huge, it simply can't be maintained, except for the relative few who are glued to the state propagandists at MSNBC and CNN. (The border is not open? Really??)
Anyway, the administration has, according to Chaffetz, ignored public records requests surrounding the implementation of this "partnership." He points out that the federal government has no constitutional authority over elections; only state legislatures are supposed to have that. There might be multiple laws that the federal government has violated by inserting itself into elections.
An organization called the Foundation for Government Accountability has sued Biden's DOJ for stonewalling requests for details on how the feds are interjecting themselves into elections at the state level because of this executive order. Tarren Bragdon of the FGA spoke with Chaffetz, saying that Biden's order commanded the bureaucrats in "literally hundreds of federal agencies," using our tax dollars, to get involved in an intensive --- and, you can bet, highly targeted --- get-out-the-vote effort. They're not supposed to be doing this sort of thing at all.
So the FGA wants to see the plans the administration has submitted to these agencies. But even though this group won in court, all they've received are heavily redacted, essentially worthless pages. If this involvement in elections is appropriate activity, why is the administration hiding so much?
And get this: the administration has cited EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE as the reason for not releasing the requested documents. Huh?
"You know, it would be a lot easier if Elon Musk took over the Department of Justice," Bragdon quipped. "Then we'd see the files, and get the information. But instead, we're taking the Department of Justice to court, and ultimately we'll win, and see what their plans are."
He continued: "This is essentially having federal tax dollars contract with partisan groups to increase voter participation. It's what political parties do, but the President is trying to do it through executive order and our tax dollars. And this is just part of an unaccountable and out-of-control federal government. We need to put a stop to it and hold their feet to the fire, and that's exactly why we sued them." Good for them; we wish them the best of luck. Let's go, Bragdon!
Here are more details about Biden's order, in a statement the FGA put out in September 2021. Maybe now it will finally get the attention it deserves.
...........
The FBI was already busily inserting itself into our elections, ostensibly to counter "misinformation," but as we all know (after the fact), it ended up promoting that very thing. Over the holidays, law professor Jonathan Turley posted a great commentary about how the FBI has worked to protect the Biden family while targeting conservatives and is now even attacking its critics. That's right --- if you criticize them, YOU'RE to blame as a purveyor of disinformation! Turley has had enough and calls for a complete, top-down reform of the FBI. This is a must-read if you missed it last week.
................
Speaking of the FBI and its efforts to protect the Biden administration, Margot Cleveland posted a couple of columns over the past few days detailing its relationship with Twitter and making it clear why the federal bureaucracy can NEVER be trusted to tell the truth.
You might have seen this one, as it came out right before Christmas after the release of Twitter File #7, but in case you didn't...
Her most recent column, from a few days ago, details how the FBI was working overtime to control the Biden story --- so much so that even Twitter executive and former FBI general counsel Jim Baker (of all people) was calling it "odd."
"'Odd' doesn't begin to capture the situation," writes Cleveland, "which, given the connection between those two FBI offices [Baltimore field office and FBI headquarters] and the Hunter Biden investigation, suggests a new wing to the Big Tech scandal: one in which FBI agents proactively sought out people and speech to censor for the benefit of their politician of choice."
If you're still not convinced that the FBI needs to be taken apart and put back together in a totally different way, this must-read piece at AMERICAN GREATNESS by John D. O'Connor (who doesn't sound too optimistic) should persuade you. If anything is a threat to "our democracy," it's the FBI's usurping of authority. And, yes, the institution rots from the head down, meaning FBI Director Christopher Wray.
https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/26/wrays-fbi-is-rotting-from-the-head-down/
Oh, and here's another reason why non-governmental entities should not be "partnering" with federal agencies to mitigate the spread of election "misinformation." Have you ever heard of Arabella Advisors?
"Many of the Arabella-funded research projects cite conservatives predominantly as purveyors of misinformation, with several projects recommending solutions to mitigate the spread of misinformation, including censorship," the DAILY CALLER reports. This is a must-read. Remember it the next time anyone even mentions the word "misinformation."
https://dailycaller.com/2022/12/26/arabella-network-dark-money-misinformation-research/
Leave me a comment, I read them.
Kevin McCarthy for Speaker
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on January 4, 2023.
I’m disgusted with a small and selfish group of Republicans who probably feel they are “Spartacus” but the movie best fitting them is “The Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”
Several of these hold-outs (I should say “hold-ups”) are friends and I supported and campaigned for many. I won’t be in the future. The simple of rule of politics is that you take your stand, but if you don’t have enough following to lead, then recognize that you simply didn’t sell your ideas very well. Less than 20 GOP members of Congress are stopping 200 of their fellow Republicans from getting about the business of investigating corruption in the White House, FBI, DOJ, and in Congress itself. Instead, without being able to articulate a specific reason for their objections, they have blocked the election of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker and in so doing making the Republicans look like a bunch of 6 year olds who refuse to play unless the majority surrenders to the tantrums of the few.
Is Kevin McCarthy perfect? Of course not. But he has faithfully worked to recruit candidates, help fund them, and get them elected. The ultimate outrage is that some he helped win and raised funds for now have shown they really DO think it’s about them and not the bigger principles of the conservative movement.
Dr. E. V. Hill, longtime CA pastor used to say “If you think you’re a leader and you look behind you and no one is following, you aren’t a leader—you’re just out for a walk.” The actions of the petulant circle of “Never-Kevins” don’t amount to enough votes to get close to winning. But they may have enough to make sure their own team loses. These guys are setting fire to their own hosue, but they are arsonists who didn’t even have fire insurance. The mission is just “burn it down.” And in so doing, empowering the very Democrats some of us worked very hard to put in the minority.
We did NOT work to blow up our own opportunity to take on the Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler, and Squad team, but that’s the effect of the actions of the camera hungry Congress members who may deep down believe they are more “principled” than everyone else, but have shown a startling level of political immaturity.
If the tiny crowd of political tots can’t convince a majority of their peers to follow them off the cliff, they should have the self-awareness to admit they fired their best shot and simply missed the target. Now it’s time to fight for the American people. If after taking leadership, Kevin and company don’t deliver, you might be able to make a better case for lighting the fuse to the bomb to blow up the place.