Mike Pence, the sycophant exiled from his hero’s kingdom. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images For very nearly four years, Mike Pence managed to become the all-time exemplar of obsequiousness in a job inherently characterized by that quality. As the toadiest toady in vice-presidential history, the white-domed Hoosier was like the loudest barker in the kennel, the quietest bookworm in the library, or the silliest clown in the circus. He didn’t just slavishly submit to the Big Boss’s every erratic whim; Pence sang cringingly frequent hymns of praise to Trump’s “broad shoulders” and other manly leadership virtues. Then January 6, 2021, happened, when the veep notoriously refused to overturn the Biden-Harris ticket’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Trump repeatedly warned Pence against the “betrayal” involved in refusing POTUS’s demand that he exceed the purely clerical vice-presidential powers laid out in the Electoral Count Act of 1887 . And when Pence made it official, Trump branded him a coward and traitor , even as the mob he had just addressed began its assault on the Capitol, with some rioters reportedly chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” For the record, Pence really didn’t have the power to do what Trump expected him to do on January 6. Had he refused to acknowledge Biden electors in states the Democrat clearly won, or worse yet, awarded those states to Trump and himself, he would have definitely been overruled by majority votes in both houses of Congress under the same procedures MAGA members of Congress deployed, unsuccessfully, to contest the actual results. Pence would have gone down in history disgraced, and Joe Biden would have still taken office on January 20. But according to the sole standard of loyalty to Trump, Pence refused to fall on his sword for the 45th president, and now his own political future is in serious question. Until January 6, it had long been assumed that Pence’s yeoman service to the cause, enhanced by his own ...
Mike rowe on tucker carlson
Justin Danhof: Vote the Corporate Bums Out
After being disappeared, the social media platform Parler found its way back to the Internet two weeks ago. It was an arduous journey that shows how widespread the left’s desire is to cancel conservative organizations, people, speech, and ideas. In early January, Apple, Google, and Amazon teamed up to kick Parler, a social media company favored by conservatives, off the Internet. There one day and gone the next, Parler was declared unfit by these corporate oligarchs simply because it allowed conservatives to freely communicate. These tech giants disappeared Parler with the stroke of a key. Full stop. Conservatives are rightly furious at these corporate censors. But I have to ask: What are conservative leaders doing about it? Conservatives are also justifiably furious at Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for banning all manner of conservative speech, including deleting former President Trump’s accounts. But again, what are conservative leaders doing about it? Some right-wing state leaders are threatening to divest state pension funds from these Orwellian businesses. That’s the last thing they should do. When big business teams up with the political left and takes actions that are anathema to conservatives, the right-wing reaction is almost always to call for a boycott. But sit back and ask yourself when that has ever worked. Remember when conservatives were going to boycott Nike after it signed cop-hating Colin Kaepernick to a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal? They didn’t. So when Kaepernick demanded that Nike pull a shoe honoring Betsy Ross and the American flag from store shelves, Nike’s management complied. Conservatives once again threatened to boycott. They didn’t. So now Nike knows that these are hollow threats. I could repeat this example hundreds of times with hundreds of companies. Remember the conservative boycott of Procter & Gamble over its toxic masculinity and transgender promotion ads? Me neither. Remember the conservative ...
Jasmine Harrison delights in Atlantic Ocean world record row
(CNN) When your phone goes off in the middle of the night, it isn't usually good news. At best, it signals a call into action, albeit with a foggy head and a scrambled mind. At worst, the incessant ringing or buzzing represents news of a dreadful event, or an impending one. As the British rower Jasmine Harrison discovered, being woken up at 4 a.m. -- when you're all alone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean -- is a harbinger of all of the above. "Oh my God," Harrison declared on a video recording that she made of the incident, "I'm actually shaking. This is as scary as anything!" Read More She was roughly halfway through a daring solo adventure -- rowing across the Atlantic -- when she realized that she was teetering on the brink of total calamity. Her tiny 550-pound (249 kilograms) rowing boat was on a collision course with a drilling ship, which could easily have swatted her asunder without ever knowing that she was there. Recalling the incident to CNN Sport, the 21-year-old revealed the stream of consciousness that overcame her in that terrifying moment: "I've got to use my radio, I've got to use equipment, maybe flares. Then row, steer! Go do this, go do that. Contact technology. Find out which direction. Bearings! All sorts," she says. "I really needed to engage my brain when I've just been woken at half past four in the morning after a long shift of night rowing. "So that was quite scary," she adds, with something of an understatement. Jasmine Harrison, a 21-year-old from North Yorkshire, set a new world record for the youngest female solo rower to row any ocean after completing the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Thirst for adventure Harrison is a rare breed of solo adventurers, an ocean rower who'd never even picked up an oar until she decided to go for it at the end of 2019. Since the first attempt to row across the Atlantic in 1896, only around 900 attempts have been made to row any ...
Exclusive – Todd Rokita, GOP Attorneys General Call on Joe Biden to Withdraw Vanita Gupta’s Nomination
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and four Republican attorneys general wrote to President Joe Biden Monday, urging him to withdraw Vanita Gupta’s nomination to be the next associate attorney general, arguing that her support for defunding law enforcement and other “radical” views disqualify her for the position, Breitbart News has learned exclusively. “Ms. Gupta’s past comments and track record have demonstrated her disinterest in meaningful police reform in favor of destructive policies that would defund the police,” the attorneys general wrote to Biden. “Her nomination will further divide our nation instead of implementing policies to protect our communities and support law enforcement.” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter joined Rokita in the letter urging Biden to withdraw Gupta’s nomination. Rokita said that Biden, who used to oversee the Justice Department as the Senate Judiciary chair, should know that it remains essential to public safety to maintain a cooperative relationship between the Justice Department and local law enforcement. However, he and the other attorneys general argued her confirmation could jeopardize that relationship, especially as many communities experienced a spike in crime last year. They wrote: As you know, the roughly 18,000 local law enforcement agencies across the country are the tip of the spear when it comes to protecting our communities from criminals. 2020 was a difficult year for many reasons, including a rise in violent crime in our cities. Many metropolitan areas ended 2020 with a record number of homicides. At this juncture, we need to support our police and provide them resources to help make our cities and neighborhoods safer. This is not the time for the Department to pull back policing and implement policies that would shift resources to other priorities and “decrease police ...
Trump, Florida complicate Biden approach to Cuba
The Trump administration’s hard-line approach to Cuba may complicate efforts by President-elect Joe Biden Joe Biden Biden offers support to union organizing efforts Senate Democrats nix 'Plan B' on minimum wage hike Kavanaugh dismays conservatives by dodging pro-Trump election lawsuits MORE to return to Obama-era policies. The State Department is reportedly weighing a proposal to put Cuba back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a step intended to make it more difficult for Biden to open relations. In addition, while former President Obama won the state of Florida twice, Biden was defeated by Trump in Florida in 2020 — at least partly because of disappointingly low support from Latin American voters in the state. Much of this has been attributed to GOP efforts to paint Biden as a president who would bring socialism to the United States. ADVERTISEMENT Biden won just a narrow victory in Florida’s Miami-Dade County, while Florida Reps. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell Debbie Mucarsel-Powell Trump, Florida complicate Biden approach to Cuba The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Mastercard - Coast-to-coast fears about post-holiday COVID-19 spread The Memo: Democrats see warning signs beyond 2020 MORE (D) and Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala It's time for a second Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health Biden's new challenge: Holding Trump accountable Trump, Florida complicate Biden approach to Cuba MORE (D) both lost their seats to Trump-aligned GOP challengers. In 2014, Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro announced that their governments would restore full diplomatic ties, signaling the start of a new era following more than 50 years of bilateral tensions. The following year, Obama removed Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list. The Caribbean country had first been placed on the list by President Reagan in 1982 for its support of leftist militant groups in Central America and ...
