US Navy Seals rescue a hostage in Nigeria.

 

File photo of President Trump. Reuters.

The United States has pulled off a daring rescue mission of an American citizen in Nigeria. Reuters. The American, Philip Walton, a 27 year old living in Niger, was abducted from his farm by armed men on motorcycles. The captors were demanding money for his release. The Navy Seals were called and they were able to rescue Walton and kill his captors with no casualties of their own. It is unclear who the kidnappers worked for or if they were common criminals but Islamists in the region regularly abduct people for ransom and the United States has criticized other governments for paying. 

My Comment:

Fairly impressive operation by the Navy Seals here. Not only did they rescue the hostage they also killed most of the hostage takers (other sources have said only one survived). This is very good work by one of America's premier special forces outfits. Hostage rescue is one of the more dangerous jobs out there but these guys made it look easy. 

As for the kidnappers, they made a pretty big mistake when they tried to go up against the Untied States. Unlike other countries we tend to not mess around when it comes to hostage takers, especially since President Trump made it to office. This is going to be a lesson to other potential hostage takers: Don't do it to Americans if you value your life. 

I do kind of wonder what the security situation was for Mr. Walton. Given the fact that he lived in a volatile area where kidnapping was a threat, it would seem that it would have been wise to have been armed. Perhaps he was and he didn't want to risk a shootout harming his family? Regardless, I probably would have found a way to have at least a rifle if I was working there. 

For President Trump this is a late win in a close presidential race. His work saving American citizens has been underreported in general so it's nice to have quick reminder of what he has accomplished. The article said that 55 hostages have been rescued in 24 countries since Trump took office, which is a record he should take pride in. 

As for Northeast Africa? It seems like their problems are getting worse. They have a serious issue with Islamic militias and kidnapping and it looks like it's not getting better. These terrorists are running amok and I hope that they are able to get the issue under control without the need for foreign intervention. Then again, unless those terrorists start to become a threat to the rest of the world there is little incentive for anyone outside of the region to work on the problem... 

Why I don't believe the polling for the Presidential race.

 

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Public domain photos

As you are almost certainly aware the Presidential election is next Tuesday. If you trust the polling you might be expecting a massive blue wave that elects Joe Biden as president, costs the Republicans the senate and increases the Democrats hold on the house. 538 says that President Trump only has an 11% chance of winning. 

If you believe the polls the election is already over and the Democrats have won, not by the skin of their teeth, but by historic margins. But me? I don't believe the polls. At all. Indeed, I think the entire thing is an effort to depress Republican votes and has very little relations to reality. 

There are a lot of problems with the polls themselves. For one thing I don't think they did much to fix the systemic issues they had in 2016, where very few polls correctly predicted President Trump winning and the electoral landslide he accomplished. 

One of those problems is the "shy Trump" problem. Many Trump voters are afraid to answer that they are voting for Trump, either for social reasons or because they are concerned about retribution. I know my outspoken support has cost me some friendships and I can see why some people would prefer to remain silent. And even worse, people are afraid of retribution, either losing their jobs when people find out or even violence. Is it any wonder why people don't answer polling truthfully?

However, I think the "shy Trump" problem isn't the only problem they have. I really don't think the left understands how much the average GOP voter absolutely despises most polling companies. As far as many of us are concerned the polling companies are the enemy. At best they are lying about the true level of support that President Trump has, at worst their actions are an effort to support voter fraud by making the effort to steal the vote more plausible. I really think that the most prominent pollster, Nate Sliver, is one of the most hated men in America right now. 

Indeed, I think a lot of Trump voters are lying to the pollsters out of spite. They hate the polling companies and want to see them embarrassed in 2020. Doing so is win/win/win for them. First, if Trump wins the polling companies will be humiliated and would possibly go out of business. Second, it could depress the Democratic vote if they think they are so far ahead they won't even vote. Third, it will light a fire among GOP voters who might not otherwise vote if they thought they were winning. 

But let's forget about the polling for a moment. Consider this, if there were no polls would you think that President Trump is losing? Let's take a closer look at what is actually happening in this country:

President Trump is drawing tens of thousands of people to his rallies. Everywhere he goes he gets a ton of voters showing up. Even in Blue states like California and Maine. Biden on the other hand has hardly gotten an event with more than 1000 people, and I am not even sure he has gotten that. Some of his events barely break double digits and if he or his surrogates get to triple digit attendees it's a big deal.

Even worse, Trump supporters have begun to show up at Biden events. These Trump supporters usually outnumber the Biden supporters at the events and have tried to disrupt them. They ran a Biden bus out of Texas with a large convoy of Trump supporters chasing it. It's to the point where the Biden campaign has closed their events to the public and are no longer announcing where their events are. 

 

Here is it running Red light. #RoadTrolling Biden/Harris Bus. So much fun https://t.co/cIHovtOjkg pic.twitter.com/NvtoGniSgN

— Keith (Ghost) (@GhoSTorM143) October 29, 2020

The amount of voter enthusiasm for the Trump campaign is amazing. Not only are Trump, Mike Pence and Trump's family drawing huge crowds there have been hundreds of spontaneous grassroots events  in support of the President. During the summer there were massive boat parades, some so huge that it caused waves that actually sank boats. Now car parades are more common, some of them having thousands of cars and extending for miles. 

There is also data from the primaries that show that President Trump is doing well. Even though he was an incumbent, Trump got a record amount of votes supporting him. I know that I went out and voted for him even though the primary election was mostly pointless, just out of spite for the Democrats. And that was back in April when everyone was still scared of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Voter registration has been in favor of the Republicans as well with many swing states showing a major uptick in republican voters. Though new voters are often unreliable it's still a very bad sign for the Democrats that they are getting fewer new voters then the Republicans. 

Not to mention the fact that the Hunter Biden scandal is having a bigger effect then the Democrats are admitting. Even though the story has been censored, the censorship has greatly increased the interest in the story. I think most people have a vague idea now of what happened, even if they aren't clear on all the details. They know Hunter Biden is a degenerate wastrel who is corrupt and his father is responsible for him.

And it's also pretty clear that Joe Biden is not in good health. He looks frail and ill compared to Trump, who didn't even let a Coronavirus infection slow him down that much. Biden's mind is fading and even today he stumbled on his words making zero sense. The guy just isn't the same man that Americans have known since the 70's.

“#Trunalimunumaprzure!!”

Grampy Dementia has the strategy to mobilize whatever the hell that is.

pic.twitter.com/X7lu4Lmv3G

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) October 30, 2020

 

Most of all though I have been watching the campaigns themselves. The Trump campaign is not acting like they are losing and the Biden camp is not acting like they are winning. If Biden was truly ahead he wouldn't be spending time in swing states like Pennsylvania and Minnesota (!), he'd be in more traditionally red states like Iowa, Georgia and Texas. Biden did have a couple of events, but I tend to think that had more to do with senate and congressional races, not an actual attempt to win the states. And President Trump? He's trying to win new states like New Hampshire, Minnesota and Nevada, all blue states that he barely lost in 2016. 

But more then anything else, the attitude is the biggest sign I have seen. President Trump is happy, confident and cheerful. But Biden and his allies in the campaign and media? They seem crestfallen, angry and confused. It's clear that they aren't confident at all that they will win. 

All of this and more makes me think that the polls are at least inaccurate. I don't think the polls are telling the story, largely because I think the pollsters are lying through their teeth. And the "Biden is in a double digit lead" just doesn't make sense given the rest of the data I am seeing. It makes zero sense that Biden can't even get 100 people at most of his events but is somehow going to win in a landslide.

So does that mean that Biden doesn't have a chance to win? Of course not. It's very possible that Biden pulls out a slim victory. I don't think the campaign is strong at all, but that doesn't mean that he could win, either through fraud or on his own merits. Nobody will know until November 4th, and maybe not even then. But what isn't going to happen is the massive "blue wave" election where Biden wins in a landslide. The polls are wrong. 

Democrats panic in Florida after bad numbers in Miami/Dade county.

 

Early voters in line in Miami Beach. Politico.

Democrats are panicking in Florida after bad numbers have been found in Miami/Dade county. Politico. Democrats will likely need Florida if they are to win in 2020 but turnout is down in Miami compared to this point in 2016, even after the emphasis on mail in ballots. Many of those voters are younger and less reliable Democrats. The Democrats are blaming a lack of ground game and get out the vote efforts in the county, which haven't really even begun yet. Republicans also have a lead in turning out their voters in Miami/Dade county with 56% of their voters having already voted while only 53% Democrats having voted. Republican Hispanics have an even larger lead over Democratic Hispanics with a 9 point lead. 

My Comment:

Again, the media is starting to admit that President Trump has a decent chance of winning next Tuesday. Miami is a hugely important city for the Democrats as it is their last, best hope of winning Florida. If President Trump wins in Florida his path to the White House gets extremely easy. Assuming that Trump holds onto other red states like Arizona and North Carolina, Trump would have 260 electoral votes and would only need to win one of the Rust Belt states or flip Nevada and New Hampshire. Biden would have to ensure that Trump didn't flip any new blue states and win every Midwest state or try and flip Arizona or North Carolina. 

I do think it's rather stunning that the Democrats ground game is so bad. Usually they have an excellent ground game and are very good at getting their voters to the polls. To see them just assume that these people will vote is just confusing to me? Are they giving up the ghost or are they so arrogant that they don't think they can lose? 

Hispanic voters are key in Miami and Florida in general and it's very clear that both Cubans and Venezuelans want nothing to do with the Biden Harris ticket. They hate socialism for good reason and they don't like that both candidates have been easy on the communist government of Cuba and the Socialist one of Venezuela. Other Hispanic groups aren't as effected but I think President Trump is chipping away at their support as well. Indeed, the trend of Trump supporters crashing Biden events began in the Hispanic areas of Florida. 

Another problem is black turnout, which is down again. I just don't think black voters like Biden that much and nobody likes Kamala Harris, who is seen as a "fake" black person. It's also a major problem that President Trump has made a major push to get black voters. Even today he was seen working with Little Wayne, a hugely famous rapper. Not to mention his efforts at criminal justice reform. He is peeling away voters and convincing others to just stay home. 

I also think it's pretty important to note that the Democrats admitted that their internal polling does not match at all what the polling companies are coming up with. I think their polls show them losing in Florida and they are scared about it. Though the Politico article says they are not panicking I think they are. And it's not just Florida as well, there are signs that Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are probably going to go for Trump as well and Democratic pipe dreams, like picking up Texas or Georgia are just that. Time will tell if these signs are real but I do think that the Democrats are in major trouble. 

Terror attack in France leaves three dead at a church.

 

The scene of the attack. BBC/EPA.

A terror attack in France has left three people dead at a church in Nice. BBC. Two people, a man and an elderly woman, were attacked in the church itself, with the woman being decapitated or nearly so. A third woman attempted to run away but was stabbed several times, dying shortly after fleeing to a café. A suspect was shot and detained. No motive was released but the suspect shouted "Allah Akbar", which suggested Islamic terrorism. The attack occurs weeks after a teacher was beheaded for showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons that depict Muhmmad, which is forbidden by most sects of Islam. Two other incidents happened, one with a man with a gun in Montfavet, who ended up being shot and killed by police, and an attack on the French embassy in Saudi Arabia, which only left a guard injured. France's President Emmanuel Macron has defended the right of free speech when it comes to Islam and it has led to a collapse of relations with Muslim countries, most notably Turkey. The President of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, was mocked in the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo. 

My Comment:

Looks like things are getting bad in France again. The secular culture of France is not meshing well with the religious culture of Islam and it's leading to violence. I support the actions of President Macron and the Charlie Hebdo paper, these attacks should not deter their commitment to free speech. Depicting Muhammad may be against Islam but sooner or later they will have to concede that non-Muslims aren't going to follow their rules. 

I also consider the three people murdered in this attack to be martyrs for their faith. There is no doubt in my mind that these three people were brutally murdered because they were Christian. Nobody just decides to attack a church unless they hate the people that worship there and I think that is what happened here. 

Of course the irony is that the Christian Church has nothing to do with Charlie Hebdo or the secular French government. It's not the Christian faith making the argument that these cartoons are necessary, it was the French government and the French people. Targeting Charlie Hebdo or the French government would make more sense but my guess is that the attacker hates Christians as much as they hate secularism. It's likely Islam or nothing for the attacker. 

It's unclear if this was an organized attack or not. It's possible that the attacker had local support like the guy who decapitated the teacher awhile back, but I don't think a major terror organization ordered this just due to the fact that ISIS and al-Qaeda are mostly gone. Of course it's not like a mass stabbing needs much in the way of support, almost anyone can pull one off. 

I do blame some of the governments of the Middle East for this, most notably Turkey. Nobody has been louder in attacking Charlie Hebdo then Turkey and it's president, Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan is a dictator and a terrible ally but he deliberately made this situation much worse by commenting on it. A respectful leader would have not started this slap fight between him and France. I didn't think my opinion of Erdogan could get much lower but here we are... 

I do expect there to be a minor wave of these kinds of attacks in France, though I doubt it will grow beyond their borders. Erdogan and other Muslim leaders have done a good job of whipping people up into a frenzy and that means the crazies and the folks with nothing to lose will probably try more of these attacks. 

However, it's possible that the Coronavirus situation in France might change things. The country is going into another lockdown which means people won't be on the streets as much. It probably won't deter a determined attacker but it may give him fewer targets. On the other hand, the obvious economic damage a lockdown will cause could lead to more disorder and more attacks. In short, it's not a great time to be in France right now... 

I'm not happy to see a resurgence of violence in Europe. Islamic Terrorism hasn't been much of a concern lately until some random person uploaded a teacher talking about free speech. I guess it just goes to show that even though ISIS and al-Qaeda are afterthoughts today the ideology that spawned them still exists and can still cause deaths. 

I officially endorse Donald Trump for President.

 

President Donald Trump. Official photo.

As you are most certainly aware the United States presidential election is next Tuesday, November 3rd, between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. I think it is time to make it official, I endorse President Trump for his reelection campaign. 

This is a bit different then my endorsement in 2016. Back then I endorsed "anyone but Hillary Clinton". I mostly centered my voting recommendation on how terrible Hillary Clinton would have been as president. Though I am VERY critical of Joe Biden, I do think that President Trump has earned my endorsement on his own merit. I would also add that the 3rd party choices this year are in no way as notable as Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were in 2016. Right now there are no choices other then Trump and Biden. And of those two it's clear that Trump is the better choice and the better man. 

So why am I voting for President Trump? The first reason is the economy. It was doing gangbusters before the Coronavirus hit and my personal wealth has increased dramatically. I got several raises at work even before the virus hit and after it did my per hour pay has increased by around $5 since 2016. I'm on track to make more money then I have had ever in my entire life and I'm actually considering buying a house once I build up my savings after buying a fairly new car. This things are all due to President Trump. One of my raises was directly due to President Trump's tax cuts and he's generally treated my industry very well. 

Speaking of taxes, President Trump's tax cuts also majorly helped my take home pay. Far from only helping the rich, the increase in standard deduction helped increase my tax return while at the same time less money was taken out of my check. Joe Biden would of course let these tax breaks expire and would raise taxes in other areas as well. 

President Trump has also been amazing on foreign policy. Unlike the Obama Administration, the world is in much better shape now. Trump's actions against terrorism alone has payed massive dividends. I know 2015 seems like a lifetime ago but back then we were seeing monthly and sometimes even weekly terror attacks from ISIS and al-Qaeda. Both of those groups have been mostly destroyed now and terrorism is not anywhere near the threat it was even a couple of years ago. And that is because President Trump decided to stop funding rebel groups and instead bombed the hell out of the terrorists instead. 

President Trump has also been a major peacemaker. In addition to drawing down troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, he hasn't started any new stupid wars, despite major pressure to do so. He avoiding wars with the governments of Syria, Iran and North Korea and even attempted the impossible by trying to turn North Korea from an enemy to a friend. He has also scored major peace deals in the Middle East and Europe, things widely thought impossible before he became President. It's very clear that the fears people had about Trump being a warmongering loose cannon are completely unfounded. 

"But what about the Coronavirus" I hear you ask. Well, considering Joe Biden's plans are pretty much exactly the same, I am not sure what President Trump could have done. He cut off travel to China, used the Defense Production Act to secure critical industries (I know this as I work in one of those industries), secured medical supplies and generally did all he could. His only flaw here was not stopping Democratic governors like Andrew Cuomo and Gretchen Whitmer from shipping their Corona cases to nursing homes but there wasn't much he could do there. Given that the much ballyhooed "success" Europe had with the virus it's clear that it was always going to be a rough year. 

If you are conservative you have to be thrilled with President Trump's action on judicial appointments. He's put into place dozens of federal judges and he has also appointed three Supreme Court justices, ensuring a 6-3 or 5-4 conservative majority (depending on what you want to count John Roberts as). With the Democrats threatening to pack the court if you want that to continue you have to vote for President Trump.  

It's not just Trump's accomplishments that should win him your vote, it's the utter terribleness of both the Democratic Party and Joe Biden himself. The Democrats have quite literally gone insane over the past four years. They have completely abandoned any sense of human decency and have gone beyond being opposition and turned into actual enemies to anyone who disagrees with them on even minor issues. 

Nowhere is this more clear than the summer of violence we have seen since the death of George Floyd. Democrats have sanctioned rioting, looting, arson and even murder, all in the name of fighting "racism". Because a few criminals died the entire country had to burn and if people died in the process, be they innocent citizens, police or even the rioters themselves, it was just fine to them. So many cities were damaged and possibly destroyed, so many lives ended and so many people lost everything. But it didn't matter. Because "racism"...

The opposition to President Trump has also given up even the appearance of impartiality. They have used the tech companies to almost completely silence opposing voices, getting rid of anyone who questions their narratives. They also use the tech and media allies to bury negative reporting on their activities. That is completely against the spirt of free speech and should not be tolerated in a free country. President Trump will likely take action on this on his 2nd term but if Joe Biden wins then these people will only double down. 

Speaking of Biden, there has never been someone less medically qualified then him. I have followed Joe Biden's career for a long time and it's very obvious that the man just isn't there anymore. The difference in behavior and ability between the man who defeated Paul Ryan at the debate in 2012 and the man who was utterly destroyed by President Trump in the 2nd one is drastic. It's very clear that he has some form of dementia and that alone disqualifies him for President. 

But it is much, much worse then that. Biden is corrupt, it's almost undeniable now if you have been reading the various releases from his son's laptop computers. He and his son Hunter were apparently taking bribes to change US foreign policy. That is, of course, treason, and should completely disqualify Joe Biden from running for dog catcher, let alone President of the United States. 

Most disturbing of all is how poorly he did raising his son, Hunter Biden. It's clear that there is something very wrong with Hunter Biden and though the childhood accident that killed his mother and sister, nothing can justify his actions. And Biden is a huge hypocrite, tolerating behavior from Hunter that he would never tolerate from the public. Hunter can smoke crack and meth and nothing will happen to him but Biden threw thousands of people in prison for the same thing. Rules for thee but not for me.

On policy Biden is terrible. He would ban guns, raise taxes, destroy the economy in the name of the environment, stop the rollback of outright sexism and racism in the government, start new wars, sell out the country, bring in millions of immigrants and export millions of dollars to other countries, including our geo-political foes like China and Iran. He would be a disaster for the short time he served and his VP, Kamala Harris, would be even worse. 

Worst of all though is that Biden isn't even trying to earn your vote. He isn't campaigning, with most of his rallies being jokes and he's constantly canceling events by "calling a lid". He doesn't have much of an argument other then "Orange man bad!" All he does is lie about how bad President Trump is using well known hoaxes like the "fine people" and "suckers and losers" hoaxes, which have been completely destroyed by people doing even the most basic of fact checking. 

In short, I can't see how anyone could possibly vote for anyone other than President Trump. He's been a very good president and he accomplished that all while having to deal with the Democrats  (and even some in his own party) trying to undermine his every move. It would be an easy choice if Trump was running against a generic Democrat but against Joe Biden, the most corrupt and senile man to ever run for President? How is it even a question? Even Hillary Clinton would be a better choice and she would have gotten us nuked by Russia. 

So I would ask that everyone that reads this votes for President Trump. Or votes against Joe Biden. Our country is at risk and it's clear that Trump has proven he is the right man for the job. Voting against him makes any sense and I hope you will join me in voting for him in the 2020 race. 

Riots in Philadelphia after police shoot and kill a man armed with a knife.

 

A shop that was looted in the rioting. BBC/Reuters.

Riots broke out in Philadelphia after police shot and killed Walter Wallace, a mentally ill man that was charging at officers with a knife. BBC. 30 police were injured in the riots and many businesses were looted. One of the officers suffered a broken leg after a deliberate ramming attack. 91 rioters have been arrested. Wallace was having a mental health incident and was shot and killed after not dropping a knife and approaching officers. The officers shot seven times each and did not use tasers as they were not issued them. Police are preparing for new riots and businesses are closing up shop to prevent looting. 

Philadelphia cops fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr. today, firing 10+ times at him while he stood at least 10ft away. He allegedly had a knife but cops made NO attempts at de-escalating the situation in this video. They went straight to killing Wallace in front of his loved ones! pic.twitter.com/U2zYGqK7Ag

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) October 27, 2020

My Comment:

Apologies for posting Ben Crump. The man is a racial huckster and is quite frankly evil. He's a major cause of the riots and his utter lies about the police has directly led to deaths. But he's the one that published the footage (and caused the riots) so if I wanted to show people what really happened I had to use his tweet as it isn't really available elsewhere.  

The shooting itself seems like a classic case of a justified shooting. Walter Wallace was clearly out of control and even his own mother couldn't stop him from trying to attack the cops or dropping his knife. I didn't see anything that comes close to showing that the police did anything wrong here. With Wallace being so close to officers and being armed with a knife if they hadn't shot they would have likely been stabbed. They did nothing wrong here. 

Of course that doesn't matter to racial hucksters and racists like Ben Crump. They always change the framing so that the lives of the officers don't matter but the life of a mentally ill, violent and dangerous man. Race had nothing to do with this shooting, it was Wallace's actions that caused his death. But Black Lives Matter and other racists couldn't care less. 

The riots were of course terrible. There were several attacks on officers including the major ramming incident that left an officer with a broken leg. I'd post the video of that but the quality was terrible so I am not going to bother, but the point is that the rioters were specifically targeting officers who were trying to keep the peace. 

And the businesses that serve Philadelphia? They were looted. Far from helping black people these rioters are destroying the businesses that serve their community. And those businesses, that employ and are possibly even owned by black people. And these businesses may end up being shut down. 

Given where this riot happened it could have a huge impact on the 2020 election. Philadelphia is the major Democratic stronghold in Pennsylvania and anything that can depress turnout for the Democrats could cost them the state and also the election. A riot could do that very well. People will be too busy with their destroyed businesses and jobs to vote and they might be too scared to do so. And I think there will be more then a few people in Philadelphia that will no longer support the Democrats after they have experienced the violence their rule can cause. Given the riot, Joe Biden's recent comments on fracking and the fact that Trump won the state in 2016, I can't see Biden winning this state in 2020. And that means he will likely lose the election. 

It's also a major problem for the Democrats nationally. The summer of riots has faded into the background. There hasn't been as many of them recently due to a change in coverage and focus from the media, which is now talking about Coronavirus 24/7. They figured out that riot coverage damaged their chances and did not want to talk about it anymore but the Philadelphia riot will bring the issue back to the forefront just a week before the election. To describe this as an own-goal would be a massive understatement. 

Finally, I think this demonstrates how fragile the Democratic coalition actually is. I have no doubt that the leadership of the Democrats, the neo-liberal wing, wants nothing to do with these riots anymore. But the woke side of the party absolutely does and their leadership, including Ben Crump, want the riots as they fundraise off of it and gain power from them. These groups are fundamentally opposed and only their mutual hatred of President Trump allows them to tolerate each other. Regardless of the outcome of the election, that is a problem that isn't going to go away. Trump will either be out of office (not likely) or will never run for election again, meaning the cracks in the Democrat's coalition will likely be the biggest political story soon... 

Amy Coney Barrett has been confirmed to the Supreme Court.

 

Amy Coney Barrett during her confirmation hearings. NPR/Getty.

The Senate has voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as the latest justice to join the Supreme Court in a 52-48 vote. NPR. Senate Democrats had attempted to delay the vote but with a GOP lead in seats they were unable to do so. The vote was among party lines with only Senator Susan Collins of Maine, facing a difficult reelection battle, breaking ranks. Democrats are furious with the move since the election is just eight days away and because the GOP refused to hold hearings for Obama's replacement for Antonin Scalia, Merrick Garland, when his seat became available when Obama was a lame duck. Barrett is 48 and will help insure that the conservatives on the court have a majority for a long time. 

My Comment:

As expected Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court. The only way that would not have happened is if at least 4 GOP senators had balked at voting for her. Only one did, Susan Collins of Maine. The other three squishy Senators, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Corey Gardner, all ended up voting for Barrett in the end. 

So what does this mean? It means that the Supreme Court will actually have a conservative majority. We did not have that before today. We had three strong liberals, four strong conservatives and John Roberts, supposedly a conservative but who often votes with the liberals. Now we have five strong conservatives who can outvote John Roberts when he wants to go liberal. 

This should have a major impact on upcoming cases and will likely lead to some huge victories. The biggest winner of this confirmation is probably America's gun owners. John Roberts famously blocked many of the court cases that were pending on gun rights and the other four conservative justices said that they wouldn't take cases because they thought Roberts would vote against them. That is no longer a problem and it should mean that we should be seeing a roll-back of America's most draconian gun laws. 

The confirmation will likely affect the 2020 election. This is going to be hugely demoralizing for the Democrats who only have pipe dreams of stacking the court, which isn't realistic at all, to try and counter the victory. Republicans are going to be thrilled and will turn out for President Trump after his third court nomination. 

And it also means that any election cases, like the infamous 2000 election, will be decided by a court that is in theory supportive of the President. Though I doubt that scenario will happen now that President Trump seems to be catching up even in the famously biased polling, it is still a comfort to know that any voter scams won't happen now that the court will likely overturn any shenanigans. 

The hearings went a lot smoother then a lot of people expected. I think this was due to how badly the tough Brett Kavanaugh hearings went for the Democrats. People hated what was done to Kavanaugh and if they had tried to do that to Barrett not only would it have made little sense as Barrett is a woman, it would have infuriated the electorate. 

Finally, I have to say that the Democrats complaints here are pretty much idiotic. You can't tell me that if Hillary Clinton was President right now and the Democrats had the Senate, they wouldn't replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Indeed, the media would be crowing about it. Their anger here isn't because the Republicans did anything wrong but because the Republicans are winning... 

United States brokers a cease fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

Artillery fires in the region. BBC/EPA.

The United States has brokered a cease fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan. BBC. The two countries have been fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh area. The cease fire will start at 8:00 am on Monday, local time. Two other cease fires have been called since fighting began in September and both have fallen apart quickly. Those cease fires were brokered by Russia while this was was brokered by the United States. Several thousand people have died in the conflict, mostly due to artillery. 

My Comment:

The election has really overshadowed the Armenia/Azerbaijan conflict and it really only gets covered when it might affect the election. This is a pretty obvious example of that as President Trump will take credit for this deal. 

This is another example of President Trump advancing the cause of peace. Far away from the warmonger he was slammed as during the 2016 election, Trump has done a ton to not only avoid new wars but end current ones. Attempting to stop the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be another victory for him, even if it doesn't work out.

Will this cease fire hold though? Probably not. There has already been two of them called and neither of them held for very long. We have seen this in the Ukraine conflict where cease fires are broken and then the fighting broke out again. There is every chance this happens again. 

The problem is that Azerbaijan doesn't want to tolerate the Armenians who live in the Nagorno-Karabakh area. They are Christians in a Muslim dominated country and Armenia supports the people there who try to self govern. And the Armenians want to protect their fellow Christians in the breakaway province. 

I do have to confess I don't know too much about the conflict beyond that. As I said before, the election has distracted me and everyone else from the war. I do hope thought that this cease fire holds and that we are on the path to peace. Time will tell if this cease fire holds. 

Senator Lisa Murkowski says she will vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court

 

Amy Coney Barrett. Rachel Malehorn.

Senator Lisa Murkowski says she will vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, almost assuring that she will join the court. The Hill. Murkowski in the past did not support having the hearing into Barrett until after the November election. She was also the only GOP senator to vote against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. However, despite not wanting the hearing to happen, Murkowski said she lost the fight and will approve Barrett based on her legal credentials and philosophy. Maine Senator Susan Collins, who is trailing in her reelection effort, is now the only GOP Senator expected to vote against Barrett.

My Comment:

This is a huge victory for the Republican Party and may even decide the fate of the 2020 election. Amy Coney Barrett is almost certainly going to be confirmed to the Supreme Court with a vote of 52-48 with only Susan Collins voting against her from the GOP. I doubt if any of the Democrats will cross over to vote for her but it seems very clear that their efforts to block Barrett have failed. 

Of the squishy Senators only Susan Collins has balked at voting for Barrett, and I think that has more to do with her trying to save her seat then anything else. Collins is facing a tough reelection campaign and probably has the blessing of the GOP to keep her seat. Though I do wonder if it won't cause some GOP voters in Maine to not vote for her. I know I couldn't even if I understand the politics of the situation. 

As for Murkowski, I have to say that I am not impressed with her either way. Either she should have stuck to her guns and voted Barrett down or she should have stuck to her party and supported the vote from the start. This playing both sides routine is getting pretty pathetic and though I am glad she did the right thing, I don't like what she did here. 

The other squishy Senators have already come out to support Barrett. Mitt Romney, ever the RINO, has in fact said he will vote for her. There was some concern that he would vote against her just out of spite but even his supporters in Utah would not forgive him for that. Corey Gardner, a potential lame duck just like Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama, has also come out to support Barrett.

As for the Democrats I have very little sympathy for their arguments. If they wanted to choose who the Supreme Court Justices were going to be they should have won the presidency in 2016 or the Senate in 2018. They did neither and this is the consequence of that. There was no chance that the GOP wasn't going to try and confirm someone and if the Democrats had the wheel of power they would do the same thing that the GOP has done here. 

I personally am thrilled that Barrett is going to be on the court. She should help protect the election from voter fraud and that's just the start. I think that now that she is on the court we actually have a 5-4 majority as Chief Justice Roberts is so obviously compromised. We might finally get some rulings on gun rights cases and have a court that actually protects the rights of Americans instead of being a rubber stamp on whatever the Democrats are pushing at any given moment. This is a huge win for America and I am glad that we won here. 

President Trump brokers yet another peace deal, this time between Sudan and Israel.

 

President Trump  seals the deal via telephone. The Guardian/AP.

President Trump has brokered yet another peace deal in the Middle East, this time between Sudan and Israel. The Guardian. Sudan now joins Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in normalizing relations between the countries and Israel. Though Sudan is not a major player in the Middle East or Africa, the move has major symbolic value as in 1967 a major summit was held there with the Arab states and agreed to the "three noes" pledge. That pledge said no to peace, negotiations and recognition of Israel, but now Sudan has agreed to yes on all three. It is also a major accomplishment as unlike the UAE and Bahrain, Israel and Sudan have had wars, including the 1948 war, the six day war and the Sudan insurgency in 1970's.The deal will be an economic boon to Sudan, which has had major economic issues due to instability and the poor leadership of former leader Omar al-Bashir. Sudan has also been removed from the state sponsors of terrorism list due to their agreement to pay for damages suffered under the 1990's embassy attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, assuming congress agrees. 

My Comment:

In the unlikely event that President Trump leaves office in 2021 his real legacy isn't going to be his tweets or his impeachment, it's going to be all of these peace deals that President Trump has made. This one between Sudan and Israel is just the latest in a long line of peace efforts that have helped the world remain a safer place. This, plus his efforts in Serbia and Kosovo, plus his avoidance of war in Syria, Iran and North Korea are his real legacy and it's a legacy I sincerely hope he gets a chance to add to. 

I also have to say that this was very good reporting from The Guardian, to my surprise and shock. It didn't spend much, if any, time on bashing the President and had a good round up of why the this deal is important and who will benefit in the end. Though I often bash the media, with good reason, I think it's also good to give them credit when they put out a good story like this one. 

As for the deal itself it will work out well for both parties. Sudan is going to get a lot of aid out of this deal and they desperately need it. They have been ravaged by war, poor leadership and the 2020 locust plague and they could use the help. In addition to foreign aid they will also gain economic stability due to trade that they would not have access to otherwise. 

For Israel this is a major victory as well. They will get some economic benefits as well, but the real win for them is that they will be getting a major boost in credibility and stability. With one fewer enemy surrounding them they can relax a bit and not worry so much about being destroyed. And like the article said, Israel has in fact been at war with Sudan so this is a major symbolic win for them. 

The big loser though? Iran. They used to be allied with Sudan but it's pretty clear that Sudan is backing the winning horse. Same with the UAE and Bahrain. This new peace effort isn't just to end the conflict between the Arab and Sunni Muslim states, it's about isolating and containing the Iranian state. And since more nations are likely to make peace with Israel, including Saudi Arabia itself, the Iranians must be furious. 

Finally, I do think that this is a major win for President Trump himself. He promised to be a peacemaker  and to avoid stupid wars and this is another example of him keeping his promises. Though I doubt it will change too many votes (though a few Jewish-Americans might switch their votes, the real value here is turnout. His anti-war base will love this move and will likely turn out to vote for him this November. 

FDA approves Remdesivir as a treatment for Coronavirus.

 

Remdesivir being produced at a Gilead factory. Politico/Gilead.  

The FDA has approved Remdesivir as the first treatment for Coronavirus. Politico. In three FDA administered trials they found that the drug reduces the length of hospital stays and reduces the need for oxygen. However, the trials did not find that the drug reduces the death rate. However, WHO studies have not found Remdesivir to be an effective treatment. 

My Comment:

Remdesivir was created as a treatment for Ebola but it was never effective in that role. However, it does seem now that it helps with Coronavirus infections. The drug is a powerful antiviral and it has been used to treat many people infected with the virus. Even President Trump used the drug when he got sick and it seems to have worked out well for him. 

But why doesn't it save lives? My guess is that the drug works by stopping the virus from reproducing and if you wait to administer it to someone who is already critical there isn't much point. The virus has already expanded enough and done enough damage that they are probably going to die anyways. 

What it does seem to do is reduce the suffering for sick patients and keep them from going critical. Many of these patients would survive otherwise but this drug may help prevent long term effects from the virus. Though not a cure this is still a huge deal and even if it doesn't help with the death rate all that much it will help people in the end. 

Of course, combined with other treatments the drug could indeed help people survive the disease. President Trump wasn't just treated with Remdesivir, he also got steroids and an antibody treatment. The drugs were so effective for him he went from getting oxygen to doing three campaign events a day. It won't work that way for everyone but it does show that if you are sick that there is hope. 

This is going to be a huge financial boon for Gilead, the company that developed Remdesivir. As the only FDA approved treatment for Coronavirus, millions of doses are going to be made and the drug isn't exactly cheap either. If I had a better knowledge of investment I probably would have bought stocks awhile back and if I had I would be rich right now...

As for the virus itself, I think the outbreak is in a new stage. Yes, a ton of people are still getting sick, especially in my area, but the difference is that now we have effective treatments for the disease. It's not the mystery it once was, we know a lot better how to deal with it. And I have said it before, the disease itself has changed. Back in the early days of the outbreak there was a ton of video of people just dropping dead in the streets. That hasn't happened for months now and it's clear that the virus has mutated to a less lethal form. 

Final debate information and live tweet reminder.

 

President Trump and former Vice President Biden. NPR.

As you are almost certainly aware the last Presidential debate is happening tomorrow night. At least supposedly, given the insanity of the current media cycle it's very possible the debate will be canceled. If that happens this post is moot, but until then I thought I could give a little information. 

NPR has an article up and I will summarize. The debate will start at 8:00pm and will continue until 9:30pm central time and will be broadcast on most major networks. NBC News will be hosting the debate and Kristen Welker will be the moderator. Here is the list of topics that will be covered. 

fighting COVID-19

American families

race in America

climate change

national security

leadership

As always I will be live tweeting the debate. As always you can follow along on Twitter, Gab or Parler, assuming I don't have technical issues. I usually have a lot of fun doing so and it's always nice to follow along. 

The debate is shaping up to be a mess. I don't trust the objectivity of Kristen Welker at all and given the debate rules have been updated so that the mics can be muted. In theory this might be a positive development as candidates yelling over each other makes the debates a lot more hard to follow along, but I doubt that it will be used fairly. 

I also hope that the debate doesn't devolve into the yelling contest the last one did. Though I do think that Trump won the debate it was a pyrrhic victory at best. Trump did damage to Biden but neither one came off to well. I am hoping that President Trump lets Biden talk and hang himself with his gaffes and policies. 

I hope that Biden's laptop scandal gets brought up as well, but I kinda doubt it. The scandal should be the biggest story in the world today but the media has collectively decided to ignore it. It might be President Trump's only chance to get the scandal out to the people. 

The other big news with this debate is that they decided to remove most of the questions on foreign policy. I find this to be obvious bias against President Trump as his best argument is how well his foreign policy is doing. It's especially annoying since all of the questions are ones that came up in the 1st debate and the town halls. 

I'm not expecting much from this debate but I will enjoy watching it. It will be the last one of these I get to do for a long time and it may well prove to be a historic night. We will have to wait and see but assuming it happens it will be must watch television. 

About the #Laptopfromhell...

 

Hunter Biden. Center for Strategic & International Studies

As you are probably aware, Joe Biden's son had a laptop computer that was left at a Delaware computer repair shop. The laptop had a few e-mails released already that showed that Hunter Biden was corrupt. But a lot of people were expecting more. Today we got it. 

Rudy Giuliani claims that the computer had a lot more. Very illegal stuff. Giuliani says that the hard drive had child pornography and has evidence that Biden was snapchating with underaged girls. Giuliani handed over the hard drive to the Delaware State Police and released an e-mail where Hunter Biden admitted to chatting with underaged girls. 

This comes after news that DNI Ratcliffe, the FBI and the DOJ says that the laptop was NOT foreign interference. The laptop is authentic, people have confirmed the e-mails are real and the intelligence community, no fans of President Trump or his campaign, have said that there is no foreign interference. 

As you may have noticed I haven't included any sources so far. Why not? Because mainstream media isn't covering it yet. They might not do so at all, even though the story seems to be legit. They have already blackballed the New York Post to the comparatively tame corruption story. Indeed, I don't know if I will be able to keep my blog, my social media accounts or even my personal non-political accounts on social media because I am writing about this. I do have a tweet from Newsmax where Giuliani discusses the email, but if it gets deleted we are out of luck. 

  

DISTURBING NEW ALLEGATIONS: Rudy Giuliani reveals new text messages between Hunter Biden and his father, Giuliani says it’s evidence of pedophilia and he has turned over the information to the Delaware State Police. pic.twitter.com/p62tg5Yl81

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 21, 2020

So what does this all mean? Good question. It's clear that Hunter Biden is corrupt and a pervert but will the voters care? And since millions of people voted isn't this too late? My guess is that people that would vote for Joe Biden if he murdered someone in the street because they hate so much, but  would balk if they find out that Hunter Biden is a pedophile. People hate pedophiles and it's ruined many careers in the day. 

Another problem is that people might not believe Rudy Giuliani. Trump derangement syndrome doesn't just effect the President they also affect people in his inner circle. I believe him but I am guessing most Democrats won't. And it's not like they can release the images to the public since they are illegal content. 

But this has the potential to be the biggest October Surprise in recent history. If the story pans out Hunter Biden is going to prison, no question. And it will cost votes for Joe Biden, especially if the tech companies try to cover it up and Biden just keeps ignoring the story like he has been. And Biden may not be a pedophile himself, though it's very possible he is. Regardless, it sure looks like he raised one. 

Media is starting to concede that Joe Biden could very well lose the election.

 

President Donald Trump. Politico.

Politico admits that President Trump may be unexpectedly strong and could win in 2020. Politico. Though polling shows Joe Biden in the lead, many other factors could lead to a Trump victory. Turnout is an active question and there are fears from Democrats that the early lead in mail in ballots will not hold due to most Republicans not trusting mail in ballots. And there is also fear that many mail in ballots will be rejected due to people filling them out incorrectly. Trump also saw a major increase in registration for Republicans and among demographics most likely to support him. Biden also made a major error in not activating get out the vote operations until this month due to fear of Coronavirus, while Trump was working hard the entire time. Politico also admits that the polling is likely wrong due to "shy Trump" voters that do not answer polling questions or lie about who they are supporting. 

My Comment:

I agree with most of what Politico said here other then a few obvious disagreements. For one thing I don't think for a second that the polling is anywhere near correct. They are still assuming 2008 Barack Obama turnout and are vastly oversampling Republicans and Independent voters. I also think the accusations of "voter suppression" is nonsense at best and enemy action at worst. I have zero fear of any right wing militias showing up at the polls, but I wouldn't be surprised if Antifa or Black Lives Matters terrorists show up instead. 

Still, it's a good sign that Politico is so worried here. To see them admit this is a major change in the way the media is covering the race. Even as recently as last week the media was lockstep in saying that there was basically no way that President Trump wins. It's a major about face to admit that President Trump even has a chance. 

Of course there were some huge elephants in the room that Politico pretty obviously ignored. The most damning is of course the October surprise, probably the biggest one to hit in my lifetime. I am of course talking about the bribery and corruption concerns revealed in the Hunter Biden e-mails. The full scope of this scandal has not even been reveled at this point and could include actual sex crimes. It has already shown that the Biden family is at the least corrupt and may even show evidence of treason. You would have thought that Politico would have mentioned it, even to dismiss it, but to ignore it completely sure looks like they are terrified of it. 

There is pretty obvious evidence of the Biden campaign itself being rattled about the story. Their media allies are trying to use the "Russia" deflection but it's pretty clear it isn't working, especially after DNI Ratcliff said that the claim was nonsense. Biden's put a lid on his campaign for this week meaning that he has zero events from yesterday until Thursday's debate, which I don't even think will happen at this point. It's clear that something huge is going on with the Biden campaign. 

And that's not the only factor that Politico ignored. Another one is that I suspect that President Trump will do better among Blacks and Hispanics then any other Republican in recent history. Just today, rapper 50 Cent gave a back handed endorsement to Trump due to Biden's tax plan and he's not the only black figure to do so. Polling has shown too that black male approval of Trump is up compared to 2016 and if President Trump can get 15-20% of the black vote that alone should be able to 

Plus, Hispanics will probably go for Trump in larger numbers as well. Hispanics are not monolithic and it's very clear that the Venezuelans and Cubans want nothing to do with the Biden/Harris ticket. They are opposed to communism and hate how Biden and Harris assume that they will vote for them. And given that immigration is on the back burner this year due to the Coronavirus I think that other groups of Hispanics will likely vote for Trump as well. 

But the biggest omission from the Politico article? It has to be voter enthusiasm. President Trump is having massive rallies everywhere he goes. Even his visit to rock solid blue California yesterday had thousands of people lining the streets cheering him on as his motorcade passed. That wasn't for a rally, it was for a closed to the public fundraiser. 

Biden on the other hand has rallies with attendance in the double digits at best. Indeed, in many cases the number of Trump supporters honking their horns and heckling Biden outnumber the Biden supporters themselves. And we are supposed to believe that people are excited to vote for Biden?

Indeed, I think there is a lot of evidence that people don't like Joe Biden. He's been credibly accused of rape and corruption. He also is showing signs of dementia and could be in poor health. He's not a good speaker and his debate performance was terrible. He's not woke enough for the woke crowd but moderates are turned off by his lip service to the woke and his awful choice for VP. None of his voters appear to be happy to vote for him, they just want to vote against President Trump. 

Another indicator is how many primary votes President Trump got. Normally incumbents with no credible primary challengers, which Trump counts as, hardly get any votes. But President Trump? He's been getting record setting turnout, sometimes even outnumbering votes from the actually contested Democratic Primaries. And that was during a pandemic that was actually still scary during some of the votes. I know in my case I voted during the height of the pandemic with no facemasks or treatments available just because I was that angry with the Democratic Party. And that was before the Democrats starting burning down our major cities. 

I continue to say that I think President Trump is going to pull off another "upset". He will get the required 270 electoral votes and I think he will do better then that. He might even get the popular vote as well given how good turnout was in California. Does he still have a chance of losing? Of course, but I think he's going to win again and do so without even having to rely on the Supreme Court. 

Trump draws massive crowds in California as thousands line the streets to support him.

 

President Trump greets supporters at the airport. Patch.

President Trump drew massive crowds in California as thousands line the streets to support him as he traveled to a fundraiser in Newport Beach. Patch.com. He was greeted by hundreds as he left Air Force One at John Wayne Airport and thousands more waved to him as he drove by in his motorcade. A half dozen Biden supporters also showed up as well as many Armenian Americans, some Trump supporters themselves, that were demanding action in the Armenia/Azerbaijan conflict. The fundraiser was hosted by Palmer Luckey, a tech guru that used to work for Facebook and sold his company Oculus to Facebook. 

President @realDonaldTrump departing Newport Beach, California for a rally in Carson City, Nevada. THANK YOU CALIFORNIA!!!! #TrumpPence2020 #MAGA🇺🇸🦅
🌐https://t.co/zqgeZMtyiF pic.twitter.com/FqJRweT71k

— Dan Scavino🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) October 18, 2020

My Comment:

Watch the video in the above tweet, it's amazing how many people showed up. I know that Orange County is one of the more red counties in California but even for that, it's amazing that so many people were out to support the President. 

The President has not campaigned in California for obvious reasons. The state is not in danger of flipping red anytime soon and though there are major pockets of GOP support, the state is mostly blue. Even turnout like this won't be able to outperform the massive blue wall in California. 

So why do this event? Well, fundraising is important. Thanks to the Black Lives Matter scam that funneled millions of dollars that was supposed to go to black people to the Democrats, Biden has gotten quite a bit of money. A major fundraising event like that will cut that advantage. 

More importantly, doing so will bolster President Trump's chances to take back at least some of the seven districts the GOP lost in 2018. Almost all of those districts are in play and would go a long way to taking back the house from the Democrats. A small visit like this will increase voter enthusiasm, which is high already, and help drive GOP turnout.  

And by driving out the vote in California it's possible that the President could win the popular vote. Normally GOP voters living in blue districts have little reason to vote in elections as their votes will not count. But if they realize that they could help the President win the popular vote they might end up doing so. Winning the popular vote, which is certainly possible, would help legitimize the Presidency and give President Trump a mandate for his 2nd term. 

This kind of turnout in California, of all places, shows me that the media narrative is most likely a lie. I don't buy the polls at all when we see this kind of enthusiasm in a blue state. Everywhere President Trump goes he has huge crowds of every happy people who say they will crawl through glass to vote for him. And Joe Biden? Even before the Hunter Biden scandal he was drawing crowds in the double digits. Someone is completely delusional this election and I would be very surprised if it was President Trump's supporters.  

Teacher decapitated in France after showing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

 

People stand near the scene of the attack. Reuters. 

A teacher has been beheaded by a radical Muslim in France after showing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in class. Reuters. The attacker was shot dead by police after he killed the teacher and was originally from Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack, calling it an Islamic terror attack. The attacker screamed "Allahu akbar", a common saying during Islamic terror attacks. The murder of a teacher is being considered an attack on the French state itself by many of France's leaders. The teacher had shown the cartoons as part of a civics class but video from that class was leaked by one of his students and went viral on social media. France has a long history of Islamic terror attacks and most recently had a man attack people with a meat cleaver near the old offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, which were also victim of a terror attack in 2015. 

My Comment:

Terrible case out of France today. There are graphic photos of this attack but I am not going to share them here. But it is very clear that the victim was decapitated in a brutal murder. This is one of the more terrible attacks to hit France since the fall of ISIS.

I think the teacher was right to show the cartoons in his class. Like it or not, those cartoons are part of France's history now and you can't teach history if you have to censor it. After all, those cartoons are a symbol of free speech and the French State and you can't possibly understand the Charlie Hebdo attacks if you don't see the cartoons. 

I know that depicting the prophet Muhammad is against most forms of Islam but what French Muslims need to understand is that most people don't follow their religion. Considering how important the Charlie Hebdo attacks are now it's pretty much impossible for those cartoons to not be discussed. And there is no reason why a secular school can't show them to their students, most of them who have zero religious objection to it whatsoever. 

I was somewhat surprised that the attacker was from Russia, specifically Moscow. I know that Russia has a large Muslim minority but I didn't realize that there were many in Moscow. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though as I am sure many of them traveled around internally in Russia. And there have been several major terror attacks in Russia committed by Russian Muslims. 

I don't think this attack had any wider connections to any terror groups. Mostly because al-Qaeda and ISIS simply don't exist as organized forces anymore. Their base of power has been destroyed and with it the ability to conduct terror attacks. The attacker may have viewed their online information but I doubt there was much more than that. 

Indeed, this looks like a classic "lone wolf" attacker. I don't see much in the way of a larger conspiracy here unless his friends and family helped him. Though I would say that the people that made the teacher go viral are responsible for this attack as well. They doxxed this teacher and did it full well understanding that someone like the attacker could hurt or kill him. And that's exactly what happened. 

As for the teacher himself, I consider him a martyr for free speech, a right that has been under fierce attack in the west for some time now. Anyone who stands up for that right is brave and anyone who dies because of it is a martyr. And since he was brave, I will continue to do so as well and publish one of the Muhammad cartoons on this page.

My reaction to President Trump's town hall on NBC News.

 

As you are probably aware President Trump had a town hall on NBC News tonight with Savannah Guthrie moderating. It happened after the debate fell apart a town hall was used instead. Joe Biden was doing his at the same time but I couldn't watch both so I just watched President Trump.

Overall, I think it was a good event for President Trump. Unlike the last debate he was a lot more respectful and serious then he was at the last debate. Though Guthrie interrupted him a lot he didn't really fight with her. He showed a more human side and did a good job at behaving himself a little bit. Forgive me for saying this, but in the last debate he came off as mean and maybe even a bit of an "asshole". This debate he was still Trump, but a more likeable less angry one. Plus he showed a bit of the classic Trump humor than helped get him elected. 

He also fixed many of the criticisms people had of the first debate. He was much more forceful in denouncing White Supremacy, which he kind of flubbed in the last debate. He also made sure to point out that he does support a peaceful transfer of power should it be necessary while at the same time pointing out that Democrats never did the same thing for him. This is huge for him because I don't think the left can really say he hasn't denounced White Supremacy or that he won't accept the results of the election, which have been major attacks on him. I know that it has to be tiring to have to answer the same stupid question again and again even after denouncing it many times but he didn't handle it well in the first debate and did a much better job this time.

Trump looked good and healthy too. This is the first time a lot of people are seeing him since he got diagnosed with Coronavirus and I think he may have reassured people that were worried the virus might have taken a large toll on him. He looks fine to me and I don't think anyone has to worry too much about his health. Other then the normal concerns you would have for a man of his age, of course. 

As for the answers to the questions, I think he did good enough. Some of them were pretty dumb questions, like the one on his taxes which have been asked and answered many times. But I think that Trump answered most of the questions in a fair and decent way. I do think he could have been a little more clear on the facemask issue as he tried to say that he both supports them and doesn't think they really work that well. I think that's a defensible position but he didn't argue for it all that strongly.

As for the moderation, it wasn't the best. Guthrie was much better than Chris Wallace but I still thought some of her questions were unfair and I didn't like how she interrupted President Trump so much. But I do think that at least she got some decent questions from the public and at least showed the President some amount of respect. I don't think she did great but I give her some credit for at least trying to be fair. Compared to Chris Wallace she was great, which isn't saying much. 

The people that asked the question were pretty good. They were all respectful and had decent questions. Not all of them were ones that I would ask but I thought they were good enough. I did think it was hilarious that the last woman mentioned how pretty Donald Trump's smile was. It was a bit surreal but I actually think she did the President a favor as it was a humanizing moment for him. 

A few other issues came up. One of them was QAnon of all things. President had to walk a fine line there as he doesn't want to denounce his most rabid supporters but at the same time doesn't want to be liable if one of them goes off of the reservation and does something evil. He did a decent job and framed it as not really knowing too much about them but agreeing that pedophilia is a serious problem. Is he being honest about not knowing about them? Probably not, but I will give him a pass. I don't think the QAnon folks are bad people, just misguided and not actually wrong about the elite being full of pedophiles, even if they are wrong on a lot of the details. 

The question on Roe vs Wade might get him into trouble with pro life people. I think they wanted to hear that he wants Roe vs Wade overturned and they might be upset that he doesn't want to influence Amy Coney Barrett (or Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch). I think he is right to do so as he's right, he shouldn't be influencing the court that way, but they might not like the answer. Still, I can't imagine them voting for Joe Biden instead. 

Overall I think this was a good event for President Trump. He showed a more human side and wasn't rude like he was in the last debate. He showed a more human side and did a decent job answering the questions. He wasn't perfect but the difference was night and day compared to the last debate. He may have won over a few voters who may have been shaky on him and I think he made a strong argument for why he should have a 2nd term. 

Editor's note: President Trump's Town Hall on NBC

 

President Donald Trump.

As you may be aware, President Donald Trump is scheduled to have a town hall event tomorrow on NBC News. The event is in place of the 2nd debate, which was canceled after the debate commission insisted on a "virtual" debate. The event will start at 7:00 PM central time and will be broadcast on NBC (and presumably MSNBC as well). 

Complicating things is that Joe Biden is also having a town hall event on ABC News at the very same time. Since both events are happening at the same time, I won't be watching Joe Biden's event. Instead I will be watching Trump's event as that is the one that is more likely to be impactful and intresting. 

As always, I will be live tweeting the event. You can follow along on if you want on Twitter, Parler and Gab. And since the event is happening fairly early in the evening and only lasts an hour I should be able to get a blog post up reacting to the event right away tomorrow night. 

There is a bit of controversy for holding the event at the same time. I tend to agree, but not for the reasons the blue check marks do on Twitter. I personally would have liked to see both events but that isn't going to possible unless I watch it later. I also think that it might hurt President Trump as nobody is going to watch the Biden event and that means less people are going to be exposed to his probable poor performance. 

Still, I am pretty sure that this will be a ratings coup for NBC News and a disaster for ABC News. The President is popular even among those who hate him and more people are going to tune in for his event. Plus all of his fans are likely to be watching. Though I think NBC is biased against President Trump, they couldn't leave these ratings on the table. 

As for the event itself, I'm not sure it works better than a debate. I don't doubt that the Florida voters will be anti-Trump, even if they are billed as being "undecided voters". Plus Trump won't be able to attack voters who ask him bad questions like he could with moderators or Joe Biden. On the other hand, if he keeps calm and shows a more adult/human side it might change a few minds. Either way it will be interesting to watch. 

Facebook and Twitter censor New York Post story on Hunter Biden and the Bursima scandal

 

Hunter Biden with a crack or meth pipe in his mouth. New York Post.

Tech giants Facebook and Twitter have censored a New York Post story alleging that Hunter Biden introduced his father to Bursima executives, which is something Joe Biden has denied. AFP. The Post reported that they had received a copy of a hard drive dropped off by Hunter Biden and never retrieved. The computer repair shop owner who received the computer was never paid and when the impeachment effort began he turned it over to the FBI but also sent a copy to Rudy Giuliani's Lawyer, Robert Costello. Biden's campaign denied the allegations, but Facebook and Twitter have banned people from sharing the article. This has caused criticism from across the spectrum with many GOP officials saying that the two tech giants should have their Section 230 protections pulled.  

The New York Post story can be found here. 

My Comment:

This is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing the tech companies have ever done. Not only are they making this story blow up to an incredible degree, they are putting themselves in the crosshairs for what is now likely regulation of tech companies. This action is so partisan that it's essentially election interference. 

I can personally confirm that if you try to post the New York Post story on Twitter, you are not able to do so. It pops up an error message and then says that it's "potentially harmful". I mean, I guess that's true as it's harmful to the Joe Biden campaign, but thats an obvious miss use of the term. Twitter went even further and locked the White House Press Secretary out of her account for sharing the article. 

I posted the link on my facebook account and whatever censorship is happening there didn't affect me at least. I posted it fine and people were able to comment on it. I don't know if it's because I posted it on my personal account or if because my account is small but it appears to be easier to post there. 

I think that this essentially confirms that the story is correct. If the story is so obviously false then why censor it? There isn't any evidence that it is false, the pictures appear genuine and so does the e-mail. And they allow mainstream media to post things that are a lot more thinly sourced then the New York Post story. I'd list examples but then this post would be 40 paragraphs long... 

And, of course, the Streisand effect is real, when you censor things on the internet people will find new ways to share that information and it will spread further than it would have initially. I'm not sure I would have wrote a post up about the Hunter Biden story but  I sure as hell am now! Facebook and Twitter have turned what would have been a minor scandal into a huge one and it's pretty much all on them. 

As for the story itself, it does prove that Joe Biden lied about his sons connections to Bursima and his own knowledge of the corruption therein. I'd say that was disqualifying but we all know that the Democratic Party doesn't care. The story also shows that President Trump was impeached for trying to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and that doing so was pure politics. 

I personally think though that the photos of Hunter Biden, which weren't even the focus of the story, are more damaging to the Biden campaign then the story itself. Nobody wants to vote for a president that has a crack or meth addicted son. Hunter Biden's problems were well known but we didn't get to see them face to face until now. 

I also don't doubt the veracity of the e-mail or the story of how it occured. Leaving a damaged computer at a computer repair place and never picking it up seems like something a drug user would do. And I also think this destroys the argument that these are illegal leaks. The computer was abandoned property and as such the computer repair shop could do whatever they wanted with it. 

The story raises serious questions about the FBI. This email was exculpatory evidence for President Trump's impeachment trial and it was not released by the FBI when it could have affected the outcome of the trial. They had the computer since December of last year and did nothing. There is no word for that other then corruption. 

As for the President himself, I guess I understand why he didn't have Giuliani release this immediately. He knew that the impeachment effort would fail and would rather have it be an "October Surprise". Doing so was risky but it looks like it paid off as the story was big enough to knock the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings off the top page of the news. 

Will this story affect the election? As things stand right now, probably not too much. There will be a few people that won't vote for Biden over it, but I don't think it's a game changer... yet. It is possible that there will be follow up stories. If there are more revelations of corruption between Hunter Biden, Joe Biden and Ukraine (or even possibly China) it could move the needle considerably. And at some point Facebook and Twitter will have to allow the discussion to take place. 

Speaking of Facebook and Twitter, I do agree that their section 230 protections should be revoked. By censoring users they are acting as a publisher and as so they should be held responsible for what their users post. As far as I am concerned they can either shape up and stop the censorship or be sued into oblivion. Not doing this when the GOP controlled the House, Senate and White House has to be one of the biggest mistakes the Trump administration and the Republican party ever made and if they manage to restore control in 2020 it has to be one of the first things on their agenda.