Anti-Trump media in a predicament as ratings nosedive

Anti-Trump media in a predicament as ratings nosedive: Analysts were wondering what was going to happen to the mainstream media once they no longer had Donald Trump to kick around. The ratings are in – and it's not pretty.

Historian Warns: Mexican Persecution Could Happen Here

 

Election Redux

By DEACON MIKE MANNO

(The Wanderer) The fight over election laws, expanded mail-in voting, verification requirements — and several other issues that caused a nationwide debate during the 2020 election — is being fought in two venues which could produce contradictory results.

In the East Coast corner, representing the Democrats, the House is now considering HR 1, a proposed law entitled “For the People Act of 2021” which, if passed, would effectively legalize many of the controversial “emergency rules” which opponents claim stole last year’s election from President Trump.

In the West Coast corner, representing the “Stop the Steal” crowd, is a coalition of conservative groups who are in federal court in California seeking a declaratory judgment that many of the state’s election rules are unconstitutional, and an order prohibiting their continued use.

What makes this an interesting fight is that the East Coast group is trying to legalize many of the same things that the West Coast group is trying to invalidate.

Let’s introduce the contestants. The East Coast folks are the Democrats in Congress who are trying to solidify the tactics they successfully used that put Mr. Biden in the White House. The West Coast people are led by the Election Integrity Project of California, Inc., and represented by several conservative public-interest law firms.

As the parties thrust and parry, here are their positions: The D.C. group, in its 791-page bill, claims that “racial discrimination in access to voting and the political process persists,” thus there is a need for a uniform election law that applies to all states “[t]o expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes.”
It includes requirements such as this:

“A State may not require an individual to provide any form of identification as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot, except that nothing in this paragraph may be construed to prevent a State from requiring a signature of the individual or similar affirmation as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot….A State may not require notarization or witness signature or other formal authentication as a condition of obtaining or casting an absentee ballot….A State shall treat the individual’s application to vote by absentee ballot by mail in an election for Federal office as an application for an absentee ballot by mail in all subsequent Federal elections held in the State.”

The bill legalizes unrestricted ballot harvesting, ends voter ID, and permits nationwide mail-in voting. It restores the voting rights for convicted felons, prohibits the use of more than the last four digits of a Social Security number for authentication, requires the use of Internet-only voter registration, and requires same-day registration whereby voters can register to vote on Election Day.

Notably, the states would be prohibited from setting their own election rules, but would be required to follow the federal law. The state could apply no restrictions on absentee voting and must allow early voting for at least 15 days prior to the election date itself. As mentioned above, vote harvesting would be allowed and the placement for drop boxes would be regulated by federal agencies.

Thus, early polling stations and drop boxes should be located to “ensure that each polling place which allows voting during an early voting period under [this] subsection is located within walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route.”
In short, everything that was complained of in the last election will be legalized by this bill.

On the other side of the ring, the Election Integrity Project argues that California’s “Practices that promote the casting of illegal or unreliable ballots fail to contain basic minimum guarantees against such conduct are a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment by leading to the diminution in value of validly cast ballots. . . .

“Predictably, the conduct of the 2020 election eviscerated citizen oversight, caused mass irregularities and opportunities for fraud, and violated the rights of lawful voters, citizen observers, and candidates. The expansion of vote-by-mail ballots and the changes in the law to send vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters created a process where known ineligible voters (including deceased persons, non-citizens, and non-residents) were sent live ballots,” it said in a statement announcing its lawsuit.

Robert Tyler, one of the attorneys involved in the suit, and president of Advocates for Faith & Freedom, said, “COVID-19 has ushered in an unprecedented era of tyranny in state government, and fraud in our elections. Any unbiased observer can recognize that we have a serious problem in California when at least one million more persons are registered to vote than the total number of Californians who are actually eligible to vote.”
Among the complaints set out in the 44-page lawsuit:

“Over the past three decades in California, however, these rights have been intentionally eroded by an onslaught of unconstitutional statutes, regulations, and executive orders, which, taken together, are designed to create an environment in which elections could be manipulated and eligible voters disenfranchised. Among other things, they have:

“A. Eliminated absentee ballots and massively expanded vote-by-mail (VBM) through which even voters who could vote in person receive less-secure VBM ballots;
“B. Legalized unrestrained and unrestricted ballot harvesting by removing mandates of ‘chain of custody,’ unleashing the exploitation of vulnerable populations….
“C. Eviscerated protections on in-person voting;
“D. Implemented laws and procedures that automatically add non-citizens to voter rolls. . . .
“E. Failed to comply with federal laws requiring maintaining accurate voter rolls, allowing deceased persons, non-citizens, non-residents, and other ineligible voters to remain on rolls and receive ballots.”

It then argued, “These efforts culminated in new ‘emergency’ regulations and executive orders put into place without public comment or legislative authority of the State and many of its counties, often under the pretext that they were necessary due to COVID-19.”

Shades of Elections Past? Perhaps, we’ll see, but it is too early to tell how the lawsuit will play out since it was only filed early last month. HR 1, on the other hand, has a good chance of passing since the Democrats effectively have control of Congress. If it passes, however, it will undoubtedly face legal challenges in the courts. The real question here is whether they could all be resolved in time for the 2022 election.

Who said politics is dull? Frightening maybe, but not dull.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every Thursday morning at 10 CT on Faith On Trial at IowaCatholicRadio.com

 

Watch: Rand Paul Grills Biden Nominee on Boys Competing in Girls' Athletics

Watch: Rand Paul Grills Biden Nominee on Boys Competing in Girls' Athletics

SPLC denounced as ‘thoroughly disgraced’ after labeling pro-life, family organizations as ‘hate groups’

SPLC denounced as ‘thoroughly disgraced’ after labeling pro-life, family organizations as ‘hate groups’: Critics of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) say the organization has become extreme and “thoroughly disgraced,” after the center released its 2020 “census of hate groups,” which included numerous pro-life and family organizations.

Podcast of this week's Faith On Trial program

EPISODE NOTES 

Guest #1 Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Topic: Updates on the movement for assisted suicide and euthanasia - US & Canada 

Guest #2 Ashley McGuire, Senior Fellow the Catholic Association and Author Topic: Ashley's book Sex Scandal: Drive to Abolish Male and Female 

The archive of our past programs are listed at the Faith On Trial link at IowaCatholicRadio.com

This week on Faith On Trial (Feb. 4)

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, and Ashley McGuire, author of Sex Scandal: Drive to Abolish Male and Female.

Join Gina and Deacon Mike this Thursday at 10 a.m. CT for Faith On Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 or 94.5 FM, and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com where you can find the archive of our recent programs.  

Are Democrats Really Trying To Scuttle The Church?

By DEACON MIKE MANNO

(The Wanderer) Several times in this column, I’ve mentioned my earlier allegiance to the Democratic Party. I attended conventions, held party office, and was elected as a Democrat to public office. I was as partisan as they come and have the newspaper clippings to prove it.

I came of political age while in grade school. My dad one day pointed to a football game on TV (it was all black and white then) and told me that a senator I had never heard of, by the name of Kennedy, was at the game. In response to my question, he told me that the senator was a Catholic and was going to run for president.

That’s when I first fell in love with politics and started following it. I read the local paper and watched the news. That’s when I fell in love with journalism, a career I chose in high school. That led me to a lifelong study of all things political.

But now we have our second Catholic president. Unfortunately, one who does not follow the tenets of the Church on the issues of life, marriage, and family — just to mention a few! But now as I sort through his policy agenda, along with that of his party, I have to ask the question: Are the Democrats really trying to scuttle the Church? Or, do they just play that role on television?

Here’s what I know for sure. The Democrats have been trying to adopt legislation called the Equality Act. It passed the Democratic House; every Democrat voting for it and every Republican voting against it. Problem for the Dems was that the Senate was in Republican hands and it did not even consider the legislation, and, of course, there was no way President Trump would have signed it if it had reached his desk.

Democrats still control the House, but the Senate has flipped and is tied 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris sitting in the chair ready to break the tie in favor of the Equality Act, and good ol’ Catholic President Joe Biden has pledged to sign it.

Now the title “Equality Act” certainly doesn’t sound like something to fear. Think again. It is designed, whether or not intentionally, to bring the Church to its knees both legally and financially. It would fundamentally and radically alter federal civil rights laws to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in much the same manner as racial discrimination is now prohibited. It would also reaffirm a commitment to a universal access to abortion.

Here are some of the things it would do:

Doctors, nurses, and hospitals — even faith-based hospitals — would be required to participate in and perform abortions, sex-change operations, and other procedures against their moral or ethical beliefs, or lose their medical licenses. All abortions, without restrictions, would be taxpayer funded. Any insurer or entity that provides health care for pregnancy and childbirth would be required to treat abortion as a “related medical condition.”

It would cause women to share locker rooms, bathrooms, hospitals, homeless and women’s shelters, gyms, prisons, military barracks, and other intimate spaces with men who identify as female.

Private and Catholic schools that have single-sex sports teams would be prohibited from competing against public school sports teams where such “discrimination” will be prohibited.

Private and religious schools who refuse to adopt LGBT policies that includes hiring active homosexuals, transgender individuals, as well as those in same-sex marriages would be prohibited from satisfying state compulsory attendance rules. They, along with churches, would be prohibited from obtaining construction loans from federally chartered banks and other institutions unless it adopts those same LGBT policies.

Schools, churches, and employers would be require to use an individual’s preferred pronoun, including those so gender confused that they use such as xe or fae, or any of the multiple variations of non-gender specific pronouns that are available.

If parents object to their minor child taking puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones that are suggested by a school counselor or social welfare agency, they could lose custody of their children.
Foster and adoption agencies that refuse to place children in homosexual or transgender homes or with same-sex couples will violate the law. The Knights of Columbus, Catholic Charities, and other Christian nonprofits will be barred from receiving community block grant funds, unless they specifically agree to the LGBT agenda mentioned above.

And, of course, the kicker: Churches that do not celebrate same-sex weddings and who ordain only male clergy would lose their tax-exempt status. Churches would also become “public accommodations” which would disallow them from refusing to provide services on account of sexual orientation.

Any person or entity — including a church — found violating the provisions of the act — could be forced to pay court costs as well as compensatory damages — in an employment case of up to $300,000 — as well as punitive damages.

The icing on this cake is that the federal law which protects the conscience rights of individuals and businesses (such as Hobby Lobby), the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, would specifically be excluded from the Equality Act and could not be used as a defense.

Robert Marshall, writing in LifeSiteNews before the election to warn voters of the LGBT agenda woven into the Equality Act, said: “Attempting to interfere with the exercise of conscience by Christians is exactly the intent of the Equality Act. LGBTQ+ and pro-abortion leftists offer a choice of apostasy or persecution.”

On my radio program (January 14), he warned that the law could easily cause the financial collapse of the U.S. Church as well as many other Christian churches, organizations, and ministries.

If you would like more information on the Equality Act, our friends at the Heritage Foundation have a fuller explanation which you can find at https://www.heritage.org/gender/heritage-explains/the-equality-act.

So, how do you answer the question?

Then what are you going to do about?

Perhaps you might want to tell your answer to your priest and local bishop. As Archbishop José H. Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement:

“I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live, according to their consciences.”

This is not an exercise in partisanship. It is an exercise to save the Catholic Church and religious liberty in America. Speak up and act fast! Joe Biden has said he wants this bill on his desk during his first one hundred days.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Central Time on Faith On Trial on IowaCatholicRadio.com.)

 

Biden: Undermining women’s sports, privacy, and safety

 By Robert G. Marshall 

Joe Biden noted on his presidential campaign website: “On his first day in office, Biden will reinstate the Obama-Biden guidance revoked by the Trump-Pence Administration, which will restore transgender access to sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity.” During the campaign he stated there should be “no discrimination” against 8-year-olds who want to “change” their gender.

President Trump had stopped the Obama-Biden trans-sex policies compelling all public elementary and secondary schools and colleges to see that “transgender students … participate in such activities and access such facilities consistent with their gender identity.”

Problem

On January 20, Inauguration Day, Biden issued an executive order to “prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, and to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Biden’s policy will remove sports scholarships and other life-advancement opportunities from young women or girls and allow men or boys who “identify” as women to gain the upper hand and jeopardize the personal safety of women.

Will President Biden console parents when their 115 pound daughter is run over by a 210 pound guy “transitioning” to “female” playing on a “girls” soccer, lacrosse or basketball team, or when their daughter is sexually assaulted in a unisex locker, as has happened? Why subject women and girls to such abuse?

A 2019 Washington Post article quoted eighteen-time Tennis Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova, Duke Law School professor and track star Doriane Coleman, and NBC Sports analyst and four-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross strongly disagreeing with Biden’s “unisex” sports mandate:

Title IX…requires educational institutions that receive federal money to provide separate programs and opportunities for females based on sex…because sex segregation is the only way to achieve equality for girls and women in competitive athletics….

Sport…is a public space where the relevance of sex is undeniable, and where pretending that it is irrelevant…will cause the very harm Title IX was enacted to address.…

The evidence is unequivocal that starting in puberty, in every sport except sailing, shooting and riding, there will always be significant numbers of boys and men who would beat the best girls and women in head-to-head competition. Claims to the contrary are simply a denial of science.

Students who value personal privacy who do not want to disrobe in front of men (who identify as women or vice versa) or take showers with them will undoubtedly be called bigots and hate-mongers, but Biden’s policy will absolutely increase sexual assaults on women.

Does Joe Biden remember reciting the words of the Lord’s Prayer, “…lead us not into temptation…” when he attended St. Paul’s Catholic Elementary School during the 1950s in Scranton, Pennsylvania?

One Solution

Citizens can stop President Biden’s attempt to threaten women and overrule Nature by contacting Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to demand that no tax money be spent to implement Biden’s anti-woman Executive orders.

A president’s Executive Order cannot take effect without federal funds. Both parties have regularly restricted using federal dollars; some examples of which follow:

• Cut off military funding which halted the American support of the Vietnam war which led to the Fall of Saigon in 1975;
• Prohibit Medicaid funding of abortion on demand via the Hyde Amendment in 1976;
• Prohibit funds to assist anti-communists to overthrow the Communist government in Angola in 1975-76;
• Prohibit federal monies from paying for abortion in the District of Columbia, and the Military in the late 1970‘s (Rep. Dornan);
• Banned the use of tax funds to assist Contra rebel groups from overthrowing the Nicaraguan government in 1982.

The “transgender” agenda is encroaching at a record pace. The British Broadcasting Corporation had an “education” presentation for school children between ages 9 and 12, claiming there are “over 100 genders.”

Joe Biden gave federal agencies 100 days to impose his transgender mandate on America! Those who oppose this policy can ask their like-minded neighbors and family members to contact their own federal representatives and senators to demand that no tax dollars be used to implement Biden’s “transgender” mandates in our elementary and secondary schools and colleges.

---

CatholicCulture.org is not a political action organization but, in furtherance of its Catholic mission, authorizes free distribution of this analysis of political initiatives which violate a Catholic understanding of the human person. For those unfamiliar with how to contact their Senators and Representatives, we also provide the following public links to their email addresses and local phone numbers:

• Find Your Representative
• Find Your US Senator

Bob Marshall served 26 years in the Virginia House of Delegates and was the chief House sponsor of the 2006 voter-approved Virginia Marriage Amendment and a ban on late term abortion. He recently wrote Reclaiming the Republic: How Christians and Other Conservatives Can Win Back America (TAN Books). Previously, he co-authored Blessed are the Barren, a social history of Planned Parenthood (Ignatius Press). Finally, don’t miss Bob’s Civics Lesson for Catholics in the Catholic Culture Podcast Episode 17. See the full bio. 

 

Today's program (Jan. 28) -- Faith On Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio

EPISODE NOTES

Guest #1 Christopher Dodson, Executive Director and General Counsel for the North Dakota Catholic Conference

Topic: North Dakota lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require priests to violate the seal of confession or face jail time in the state. The measure would remove the ministerial exception from mandatory reporting laws related to child abuse, requiring priests to report knowledge or suspicion of abuse even if it arose from the context of sacramental confession. 

Guest #2 Dr. Matthew Bunson, Executive Editor of EWTN News

Topic: How President Biden's executive orders on gender, life, and religious liberty will impact Catholics and people of faith.

Americans’ Lack Of Trust In Each Other Is Getting Dangerous

Americans’ Lack Of Trust In Each Other Is Getting Dangerous: Not nearly enough attention has been spent on why many Americans have come to believe that ‘the other side’ will destroy the country if it gets power.

Putting the Capitol Invasion, Joe Biden, and American Politics in Perspective

Putting the Capitol Invasion, Joe Biden, and American Politics in Perspective

Maoist Roots Of Deprogramming

By Catholic League president Bill Donohue 

The Catholic League, like all advocacy organizations, makes maximum use of its First Amendment right to freedom of speech. To this extent, the increasing calls for censorship of organizations that espouse traditional moral views is worrisome.

We live in a time of unparalleled attacks on free speech, emanating from establishment sources, including the media. One might think that the media, which does not exist without freedom of speech, would be reflexively opposed to censorship, but not anymore. In many cases, those who work in the media are leading the charge to silence what it sees as its opposition.

This is much more dangerous than the McCarthyism of the 1950s: the variety of tactics being advocated today extends far beyond anything the senator from Wisconsin had in mind. For example, calls to deprogram Trump supporters is now one of the most popular strategies for silencing any organization that has praised Trump's record.

The Catholic League has lauded Trump's policies on religious liberty. We will continue to do so. But we know that our critics are not content to disagree—they would like to deprogram us, if they could. Though calls for deprogramming are now routine, they began last summer.

Last summer, failed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said those on the left should view Trump supporters, and especially those who worked in the administration, as candidates for deprogramming. A few days later, CNN's Don Lemon targeted all of those who voted for Trump in 2016. "And I think a lot of people need to be deprogrammed, right now, before they cast their next ballots."

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich showed his fondness for Stalinist tactics a few weeks before the election. "When this nightmare is over," he tweeted, "we need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It would erase Trump's lies, comfort those who have been harmed by his hatefulness, and name every official, politician, executive, and media mogul whose greed and cowardice enabled this catastrophe."

After the election, the totalitarians went into high gear, zeroing in on Trump voters. David Atkins, a prominent California Democratic operative, said he knew exactly what he wanted to do, but was unsure how to do it. "No seriously…how 'do' you deprogram 75 million people?" He asked, "We have to start thinking in terms of post-WWII Germany or Japan."

Harvard students, who would never consider themselves to be the unwitting dupes of brainwashing, called for reeducation and moral rehabilitation camps. A Bernie Sanders employee was caught in a Project Veritas sting saying, "we need to send all the Republicans to the reeducation camps." Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she wanted to "deradicalize" those who were "radicalized" by Trump.

One of the most clarion calls to deprogram Trump supporters came when Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson said, "there are millions of Americans, almost all white, almost all Republicans, who somehow need to be deprogrammed"; he added that they are members of a ''Trumpist cult." Former "Today Show" host Katie Couric also voiced her support for deprogramming, arguing the need to deal with those "who have signed up for the cult of Trump."

An attorney for Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) went too far even for his left-wing employer when he set his sights on the kids. Caught by Project Veritas, Michael Beller announced, "We go for all the Republican voters, and Homeland Security will take their children away. And we'll put them [Trump supporters' children] in re-education camps." He was subsequently fired. He should move to North Korea.

The roots of deprogramming are found in Maoism. Once Mao Zedong seized power in 1949, he moved quickly to launch the first of his "thought control" campaigns. Everyone from intellectuals to housewives were chosen for "self-education and ideological remoulding of the liberated people."

Under Mao, "thought reform" reached a level the world had never seen before. It was a U.S. foreign correspondent, Edward Hunter, who in 1951 wrote a book, "Brainwashing in Red China," that detailed the workings of "thought reform." Ten years later, American professor of psychiatry Robert Jay Lifton wrote, "Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism." It became a classic.

Lifton fingered two key elements of "thought reform." The first was "confession, the exposure and renunciation of the past and present 'evil.'" The second was "re-education," or the "remaking of a man in the Communist image." To cite one example, young Chinese students had to confess how wrong they were to respect their parents—they were forced to denounce them. That set the stage for their re-education.

Do people like Katie Couric have any idea what they are promoting when they call for deprogramming? Do they know that there is nothing more totalitarian than having government send in agents to police our minds?

The Catholic League will never yield in its fight for freedom of speech. We need all the allies we can get.

 

This Thursday (Jan. 28) on Faith On Trial

Christopher Dodson, executive director and general counsel for the North Dakota Catholic Conference on the legislature’s consideration of a bill that would remove the ministerial exception from mandatory reporting laws relating to child abuse, thus requiring priests to violate the seal of the confession.

Dr. Matthew Bunson, executive editor of EWTN News on how the new executive orders from President Biden on life, gender, and religious liberty will impact Catholics and people of faith.

All at 10 a.m. (central) on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM; streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com; or just download our free and convenient app.

How The Ruling Class Fueled The Capitol Riot

By Catholic League president Bill Donohue

Any investigation of the Capitol riot on January 6 must start by asking what provoked these men and women to act. While thousands showed up, roughly 200 of them managed to enter the Capitol. That small portion of Trump supporters must be held accountable, but we can't get to the bottom of this until we understand why most of the crowd—the non-violent ones—were there in the first place. 

What fueled the anger of this mob were many things, among them being the passive reaction of the ruling class to the wave of violence that encapsulated American cities in 2020. The police were told to stand down and prosecutors refused to hold the rioters accountable. When Americans saw their flags being burned, cops attacked, stores looted, and police stations set on fire—with no pushback—they knew the anarchists were winning. What they witnessed was a total collapse of authority. 

It was worse than this. Mobs took sledgehammers to statues of American icons, and trashed historic landmarks. The anarchists, most of whom were white, took great delight in sticking it to the American people. Religious symbols were also targeted. Catholic churches, schools and graveyards were vandalized, and statues of saints were toppled. All of this was done with impunity, week after week, month after month. 

The decision by Democrats in urban areas to allow their cities to be destroyed by Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters must be investigated. City mayors, city councils and city prosecutors—along with their counterparts at the state level—must be held accountable for their role in fanning the flames. They set the stage for January 6. Did they really think there would be no pushback?  

Democrats act as though the origin of the Capitol riot rests with Trump and his supporters. But choosing to focus exclusively on the rioters is myopic. It would be like focusing exclusively on the black rioters of the 1960s without ever addressing the social and economic conditions that inspired them to act. If the reason why blacks rioted in the 1960s was in response to long-standing grievances, why is it so implausible to believe that the Capitol riot was in response to long-standing grievances in the white working class community? 

One part of the probe must explain why the white working class has been demonized by the ruling class. To be specific, those who work in the media, the entertainment industry, colleges and universities, Big Tech and Wall Street have long exhibited an animus against these Trump supporters. We need to get to the origins of their pathology. 

The ruling class shares a strong anti-Christian bias. Throwing around terms like Christian Nationalism are designed to marginalize Christian voters, suggesting they are engaged in some kind of conspiracy to take over the nation. This is all madness, but it is a madness embraced by pundits and the media. 

Many of the working class are veterans, and are proudly patriotic. But patriotism is seen as provincial by elites, if not worse. Of course, most of those in the ruling class have never served a day in their life. Many are embarrassed by their country, which is why smashing American symbols and burning the American flag doesn't bother them. 

The working class is acutely aware of how the ruling class sees them. When they are called "Nazis" by TV commentators, and when their president is compared to Osama bin Laden by Democratic congressmen, it incenses them. That few in authority call out these lunatics for their lies is just as bad. 

What really gets under the skin of blue-collar workers is the sight of white privileged men and women joining Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters in burning down our cities. To cite one example, it is nauseating to watch young white brats, at least half of whom are women, leave their tony Brooklyn neighborhoods so they can take over bridges and tie up traffic. None had a permit to protest and none practiced social distancing norms. 

To sum up, the root cause of white working class fury is traceable to how the Left destroyed our cities while the ruling class looked away; this is still going on in Oregon and Washington. The fact is that leading Democrats in major urban areas nurtured a year-long culture of violence, and it was this reality that played a major role in enticing Trump supporters to swing into action. Moreover, not once in the four days of the Democratic National Convention did anyone even make reference to the anarchists. 

The sooner we get on with a serious investigation—not the kind of political farce being considered—the sooner we can prevent the kind of mayhem that took place on January 6 from ever happening again.