Daily Archives: March 29, 2022

The propaganda wing of the Democrat Party known as the corporate press is used to smearing, pressuring, and shaming Republicans into piping down. Sometimes it doesnt work, but well never even know how many times it has.

Got a bill in the works about keeping men out of girls sports? Be a shame if the media slandered you as a transphobe while corporate interests put pressure on your campaign coffers. Think you can trust your own eyes more than Anthony Fauci on Covid? Itd be too bad if you got fact-checked and deplatformed.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis isnt the only Republican whos put up a good defense against media bullies, but he has made a brand out of going on the offensive against them. Here are eight lessons that others in the GOP (and all Americans) can learn from him about schooling the propagandists in the corporate press.

In May 2020, when the Covid-panicked medias predictions about Floridas Covid response were already being proven wrong, DeSantis didnt just call out their lies, he pointed to their motivation for lying.

Our data is available, our data is transparent. So, any insinuation otherwise is just typical, partisan narrative trying to be spun, DeSantis told reporters. Weve succeeded and I think that people just dont want to recognize it because it challenges their narrative, it challenges their assumption. So, theyve got to try and find a boogeyman.

The more partisan the big names in media like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and their ilk become, the more inaccurate it is to call them mainstream. Call them the corporate media, the propaganda press, legacy media, or use DeSantis nickname for them: smear merchants.

DeSantis took notes from former President Donald Trumps penchant for cutting through forgettable politician-speak and leaning into one-liners and comebacks. A witty line will help people remember what you said, and thats not limited to media interactions.

Just look at the cheeky memo DeSantis put out Tuesday recognizing Emma Weyant, who placed directly behind male swimmer Lia Thomas, as the rightful winner of the NCAA 500-yard freestyle. Its far more memorable and therefore, effective than a whiny, boring press release. Well-placed snark cuts through the cloud of media lies and signals that you wont play their game.

The corporate media loves it when Republicans go after each other, whether its NeverTrumpers piling on criticism of the former president, neocons smearing conservatives who want to avoid war as Putin-lovers, or National Review going after Sen. Josh Hawley for questioning a Supreme Court nominees soft-on-sex-crimes record. DeSantis showed he can see through that game, and more Republicans should too.

One podcaster asked DeSantis about the medias trying to drive a wedge between you and one of your constituents here in Florida, former President Trump. Is there any sort of animosity? Whats that relationship like?

This is what the media does and you can not fall for the bait. You know what theyre trying to do. So dont take it, the governor responded. Emphasizing the need for GOP unity, he added We need everyone on board.

Last April, CBSs 60 Minutes ginned up a fake scandal about DeSantis, smearing him for using the ubiquitous Florida grocery store Publix to help distribute Covid vaccines. Instead of being intimidated by the smear, DeSantis hit back. When youre talking about this ridiculous smear narrative, its important to break down just how false, how thoroughly dishonest it is. Because this is bad for our country to have big corporate media smearing for profit just because Im in the other party than them, and using their partisanship to craft narratives, regardless of the facts.

In August, when the Associated Press cooked up a similar conspiracy theory, DeSantis had a similar response. The APs attempt to create a political narrative has backfired, as the conspiracy theory has been easily debunked and the credibility of your organization has been further diminished, he shot back.

If the corrupt press will make up scandals about you, theyre not going to be your BFF. Stop trying to grovel in front of [corporate media outlets], stop thinking that theyre going to like you, DeSantisadvised his fellow Republicans, in an exclusive interview with The Federalist in June. Too many Republicans in D.C. are lovable losers who let the corporate media define the narrative, he added. Its like trying to fight your way out of a wet paper bag. You have to reject these narratives.

The corporate media and House Speaker Nancy Pelosis sham committee love to talk about the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, because its one of the few talking points that doesnt make them look terrible. Republicans shouldnt let themselves be sucked into wasting airtime tongue-wagging about an issue that most normal Americans are ready to stop talking about.

When asked about Jan. 6 on the events one-year anniversary, DeSantis predicted the commemorations from Democrats and their media allies were going to end up being a politicized Charlie Foxtrot today.

There is an obsession with this amongst the D.C., New York journalist class and again I think its because it allows them to spin a narrative that they want to spin, he added, and took the opportunity to pivot to issues more relevant to voters. People here in Florida, they care about inflation and they care about gas prices and education and crime.

From fawning over disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to saying Joe Biden would be an adult in the room about foreign policy to insisting Hunter Bidens laptop was a Russian plant, the corporate press has been pants-on-fire wrong time and time again. Theyve lost all credibility and Republicans should stop lending it to them.

The message is for people out there is unless youre a partisan leftist, do not trust corporate media, DeSantis said in June. Cant trust them, theyre not trustworthy. They will lie.

Elle Reynolds is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. You can follow her work on Twitter at @_etreynolds.

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8 Lessons From The DeSantis School Of Dominating The Corrupt Media - The Federalist

Beyond hospitals and public transportation, the only classes subservient to the mask regime are now children and the forgotten servants.

Despite their damage to adolescents, nearly a third of all students and staff in K-12 schools nationwide remain required to wear masks, according to a tracker kept by MCH Data. While more than 100,000 unmasked fans packed SoFi Stadium for the Super Bowl at about $6,000 a ticket, thousands of area children prepared to return to school the next morning with their faces covered, deprived of fresh air privilege.

These irrational mask mandates for children harm those who are statistically at less risk of Covid damage than from severe consequences of the seasonal flu, according to Centers for Disease Control data.

In August, footage of Democrat politicians dining maskless outdoors at a Napa Valley fundraiser with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was leaked, featuring all the servants fully masked.

The lunch fundraiser to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) was held in Californias ritzy wine country with tickets priced between $100 to nearly $30,000 a ticket while members of The Help wore facial coverings their masters had shed.

The post, immediately exposing the double standards of compulsory mask mandates, previewed a Covid caste system implemented by Democrats for the foreseeable future.

There are no shortage of examples to show lockdown Democrats flouting the rules they harshly imposed on their own subjects. No episode has been more consequential than when California Gov. Gavin Newsom dined maskless at the French Laundry, a three-star Michelin restaurant also in the heart of west coast wine country where prices go $350a plate at a minimum. Newsom had signed health orders to prohibit similar gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving.

The scandal propelled Newsom into a costly recall, only for the states left-wing voter base to bless the blatant hypocrisy and green light tyranny. It should have come as no surprise, then, when Newsom was caught once again flouting public health orders on face masks to take pictures with celebrities at SoFi Stadium.

With the go ahead from voters signaled Newsoms survival in Septembers statewide recall, California politicians became the worst offenders of the Covid caste system with laughable excuses.

Retail stores along with restaurant and bar managers around the country still engage in Covid theater, compelling staff to wear masks while their patrons roam freely without them. With little momentum to reverse our thinking, this caste system threatens to cement itself as complacency grips a population no longer concerned about the mask issue since its become a lower-class problem.

The National Restaurant Association did not respond to The Federalists inquiries on whether it would endorse allowing staff to shed the mask along with customers.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.

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Making 'The Help' Wear Face Masks Reinforces The Covid Caste System - The Federalist

Last week, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)unveiled three cases, which accused five individuals, including Chinese Americans and Chinese nationals, of stalking, harassing, and spying on Chinese dissidents in the United States on behalf of Chinas Ministry of State Security (MSS), sending shock waves within overseas Chinese communities.

According to the DOJs press release, MSS is more than an intelligence collection agency. It executes the Chinese governments efforts to limit free speech, attack dissidents, and preserve the power of the Communist Party. MSS is known to deploy illegal tactics to intimidate the Communist partys political rivals and dissidents inside China. But in recent years, MSS has felt emboldened to reach its long arms beyond Chinas border to suppress dissenting voices overseas.

Other nations that seek to repatriate criminals in foreign countries usually go through official channels by working with local legal systems. But China decided to take the matter into its own hands. It launched Operation Fox Hunt and Operation Sky Net in 2014. These programs seek to bring overseas Chinese criminals back to China, bypassing judicial systems in other countries.

China claims it has successfully brought more than 8,000 criminals to face justice in China. Among the captured are high-level Chinese officials, businessmen who were accused of committing financial crimes, and political dissidents.

Since the Chinese judicial system has a nearly 100 percent conviction rate, no one who was forced to go back should expect to receive due process or a fair trial. MSSs brazenness has effectively intimidated many oversea Chinese from speaking out on sensitive political issues, fearing either themselves or their families in China may suffer the governments retributions.

MSS often sends undercover Chinese police or security officials overseas, working with spies recruited locally or pressuring Chinese immigrants for assistance. According to areport, In countries likeVietnamand Australia, Chinese agents have simply abducted their prey, whether the targets were dissidents or people accused of corruption. But in the United States, where such kidnappings are more difficult, Fox Hunt teams have relied mainly on coercion.

The United States and China have no extradition treaty. Not surprisingly, the United States is the prime target of MSSs Fox Hunt and Sky Net. FBI Director Christopher Wraysaidthese programs are not the actions we would expect from a responsible nation-state. Instead, its more like something wed expect from an organized crime syndicate. Furthermore, he pointed out, Its outrageous that China thinks it can come to our shores, conduct illegal operations, and bend people here in the United States to their will.

In October 2020, the Trump administrations DOJchargedeight people, including seven Chinese nationals (one of them was police from Wuhan, China), of coercing a Chinese man in New Jersey to return to China to face criminal charges. The intimidation campaign occurred between 2016 and 2019, which included surveillance and online harassment of the mans adult daughter, unsolicited packages sent to the mans home, and a threatening note left taped to his front door.

Last weeks DOJ charges included three cases. One case involved a Chinese national trying to disrupt the political campaign of a naturalized U.S. citizen by planning violent acts. The target was a student leader in the Tiananmen protests who fled to the United States and is currently running for U.S. Congress.

The second case involved a Chinese American who used his support for the pro-democracy movement as acover to spy on other Chinese pro-democracy activists, and report their activities and information to Beijing. According to DOJ, at least one activist he reported a Hong Kong democracy activist was later arrested in Hong Kong. The victim of the third case was Arthur Liu, the father of American figure-skating Olympian Alysa Liu. Arthur fled China after organizing student protests in 1989.

The day before the DOJ disclosed these cases, a Chinese dissident who was also an immigration lawyer in New York City was murdered by a Chinese woman on a student visa. The victim was Li Jinjin, who came to the United States after spending two years in jail due to his participation in the 1989 pro-democracy protest in Beijing. So far, Lis murder has been treated as an ordinary homicide. But given Lis political activism and what we have known about MSS, his murder has raised many questions.

Chinese immigrants feel trapped between a rock and a hard place. The CCP thinks it owns us and can control what we say and do, no matter where we live. We dont know whom to trust within the Chinese community because Chinese government agents and spies are among us. Some in our community willingly do the governments dirty bidding, and others are pressured into it because their families and loved ones back home have been threatened.

Regardless of their reasons, these agents and spies endanger the safety of the rest of us, especially for people like me who dont shy away from criticizing the CCP for the evil it commits. We know that we are constantly being watched. Every time we speak out, we put our families as well as ourselves at risk. Who knows what kind of evil plots are being planned against us.

Outside of the Chinese-American community, we dont always feel welcomed. Criminals see us as easy prey. Anti-Asian hate crimes continue to rise in some of Americas most progressive cities (seehereandhere). It doesnt matter how long we have lived in the United States, some Americans treat us as perpetual outsiders who do not belong. Others believe all people of Chinese descent are spies of the Chinese government and constantly question our American patriotism.

In todays politically divided America, those of us who choose to support the Republican Party fall to the bottom of the American lefts racial hierarchy. Leftist media has no interest in publishing our work or making our voice heard, because how dare we not follow the lefts lead but insist on having our thoughts and beliefs?

Im troubled by the canceling everything Russian madness after Russia invaded Ukraine. Witnessing Russian artists, athletes, and even cats boycotted is an unsettling experience. So many Americans are unwilling to separate Russian people from the oppressive regime.

I cannot help but wonder if China invades Taiwan or gets into a direct military conflict with the United States, will there be a cancel everything Chinese movement? Will I be forced to defend my patriotism? Will both the left and the right cancel me or my books and writings? How many friends will I have left?

I dont know the answers to these questions. I only know that many Chinese Americans feel trapped in an unwinnable situation with hostility from all sides. All I can do is use my platform to urge everyone not to judge all Chinese Americans with a group label or a group identity that the Chinese government defines.

Ayn Rand reminded us, The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Each of us is accountable for our own words and behaviors. Condemn and criticize when there is clear evidence to support your judgment, but please dont cast the blame indiscriminately on all of us. As these DOJ cases have demonstrated, most victims of the CCPs aggressions are people of Chinese descent.

This article was originally published at Helen Raleigh Speaks.

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Thanks to Spies, Chinese Americans Face Threats At Home And Abroad - The Federalist

As we acknowledge World Down Syndrome Day this week, we two mothers recall vivid memories of sitting alone in our obstetrician-gynecologists offices and experiencing firsthand the push for pregnant women to get early prenatal genetic testing. One of us decided to decline this testing, and one of us decided to proceed, although we both had already decided we would let our babies continue to live out their precious lives no matter what the test revealed.

Alarming to both of us, however, was the similar sales pitch used by the OB/GYN offices to convince us that we needed this test. Youre definitely going to want the test, right? Are you sure you dont want it? It tests for things like Down syndrome and other rare diseases, and you know, Down syndrome children dont run as fast, jump as high, or do as well academically. And youd want to know early, right?

Every pregnant woman in America knows the drill: sometime in the first trimester, the doctor offers to do prenatal genetic testing. With just a few vials of blood, these tests promise to tell new parents about potential genetic problems their child may have, including Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and other rare conditions. The pamphlets about the testing promise peace of mind, total confidence, and clear answers things that would appeal to anyone, but especially to new parents!

Theres just one hitch: some of these tests are mostly wrong. In a groundbreaking report published last month, The New York Times revealed that at detecting various rare and serious genetic issues, prenatal genetic screening tests provide incorrect results as often as 83 percent to 91 percent of the time.

Despite this alarming record, prenatal genetic testing is increasingly billed as a routine part of pregnancy care. The absurdly high number of false-positive screening results for various rare genetic disorders not only causes deep emotional harm to new parents, but even more tragically, in some cases motivates doctors and genetic counselors to incorrectly use these erroneous results to encourage women to abort their perfectly healthy children.

It is essential for women to understand that these genetic screening tests are exactly just that: a screen. They do not have the capability to definitively diagnose any genetic condition with 100 percent confidence or accuracy. As noted by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an organization that researches and publishes data regarding abortion-related issues, too little emphasis is placed on the fact that these tests are merely screening and not diagnostic tests. While the manufacturers recommend that a positive indication on the test should be confirmed with an invasive test such as an amniocentesis, some parents are choosing to abort their unborn children based entirely on these screenings.

Testing companies provide physicians patient literature that urges parents to test for these potential genetic problems in advance, as this will purportedly allow parents to prepare themselves. But all too often, parents feel coerced into aborting a child they have been told will either be unable to survive outside of the womb or have a lesser quality of life compared to other children.

According to The Guardian, Rebecca Price and Patrick Kiely were advised by medical staff to abort their son, Christopher, after two test results in 2019 indicated he had Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome Sadly, when the couple went through with the advised abortion, another test result revealed Christopher did not in fact have Trisomy 18 The high court in Dublin announced that Rebecca Price and Patrick Kiely will receive damages after five consultants from Merrion Fetal Health clinic, the hospital, and a lab admitted negligence.

Yet the prenatal testing business continues falsely promising highly accurate tests and peace of mind.

Although it is difficult to find reliable published data regarding exactly how many prenatal tests are done, one company, Natera, reports that it performed 400,000 tests for a single genetic condition in 2020, according to The New York Times. One study found that four out of every one thousand tested pregnancies ends in abortion because of a detected fetal anomaly. Even if the tests were correct, this would be a tragedy.

It is also important to understand that the exact prognosis and outcome for many of the rare genetic conditions tested are often unclear. Numerous studies in neonatal palliative care literature illuminate a clear theme: physicians frequently underestimate the quality of life for children with these relatively rare genetic conditions, whereas parents often describe their experiences with their children as precious and valuable.

Many patients with these rare genetic conditions may even survive much longer than anticipated with appropriate support. These rare conditions, once labeled terminal, are now more appropriately described as life-limiting, as they are expected to either shorten the life expectancy of the child to various degrees or present various challenges.

Parents who have chosen to continue to carry a child to delivery despite a life-limiting condition frequently report that the time that they have with their little ones, whether minutes or years, were some of the most beautiful and meaningful times of their lives. Parents who, instead, decide to abort their child based on an adverse prenatal genetic diagnosis unfortunately often experience profound emotional and psychological trauma, which is often underrecognized or even ignored by many physicians.

This trauma can take months or even years to resolve, and unlike the grief that accompanies a natural miscarriage or stillbirth, often manifests as psychosomatic disturbance and debilitating guilt. With the availability of perinatal hospice and neonatal palliative care programs all over the country, designed to gently guide families through the care of a child with a life-limiting condition, the added physical and psychological trauma that accompanies abortion for both the parents and the child is avoidable.

The reality is that parents are aborting children because a corrupt testing industry has succeeded in selling the lies that a) every pregnant woman needs this prenatal genetic testing; b) the testing is completely accurate (parents routinely report not being informed that a false positive was possible); and c) if the testing detects an anomaly, abortion is the appropriate response. Many women have even reported being abandoned by their medical provider and discharged from a medical practice after choosing to continue to carry a child with a life-limiting condition. That is horrific.

Countless women who have taken these tests and received an adverse screening result for their child, yet chose to continue and not abort their child, found that the screening was wrong, and their child was perfectly healthy. For those whose screening was correct, the childs life was honored not violently interrupted and the parents and family were afforded closure as the childs life ended naturally, in the arms of loving parents, siblings, and grandparents.

But, tragically, there are many parents who have taken the advice of testing companies and of misguided or corrupt medical professionals, aborting children who deserved to be loved and supported regardless of their diagnosis.

Prenatal testing companies false claims have stolen from innumerable parents a lifetime of love and happiness with their beautiful children. Its time for accountability. We cant bring back the countless children who were lost at the hands of a corrupt and flawed prenatal testing industry, but we can speak out to protect future victims.

Alison Centofante is the founder of Centofante Strategies, LLC and an active public speaker, activist, and writer with more than ten years of experience speaking on abortion. She is the mother of two. Dr. Kendra Kolb is a practicing neonatologist in Pennsylvania, providing care for newborns with a variety of medical conditions including prematurity, genetic abnormalities, and other issues. She is a mother of three.

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How Many Have Aborted Healthy Children Due To Faulty Prenatal Tests? - The Federalist

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a plan to mitigate soaring gas prices where residents pay more per gallon than any other state in the nation: a giveaway to the rich.

On Wednesday, the governors office unveiled a plan to give $400 per registered vehicle to each Californian, regardless of income, with an $800 cap per individual but not household.

Were taking immediate action to get money directly into the pockets of Californians who are facing higher gas prices as a direct result of Putins invasion of Ukraine, Newsom said in a press release in a regurgitation of White House talking points to blame record prices at the pump on Russian aggression.

The $9 billion in direct payments are slated to benefit Californias high-income earners with multiple cars. Even owners of electric vehicles would collect payments.

Californians who dont own vehicles would be excluded from the checks. Only $2 billion in the proposal is set aside for three months of free public transportation courtesy of taxpayers, complemented by a partial sales tax holiday on diesel and suspension of inflationary adjustments to excise taxes on fuel.

This package is also focused on protecting people from volatile gas prices, and advancing clean transportation, Newsom added. The proposal also promotes electric cars by allegedly fast-tracking projects on electric vehicle infrastructure.

Earlier this month, gas prices reached new heights with a national average of $4.33 per gallon, according to AAA travel agencys gas tracker. The national average as of Thursday stood at $4.33, still more than 20 cents above the prior record set in 2008 when prices reached $4.11. California residents are coping with the highest prices of any state, at an average of $5.88 per gallon. Some areas have seen prices eclipse $6.

Those without vehicles are still affected by the rapidly rising cost of gas, which presents inflationary ripple effects throughout the economy with higher prices to manufacture and transport basic goods.

While Newsom plans to give gas cards to the states wealthy, Democrats in the state legislature have constructed an alternative proposal to dole out targeted relief to those most affected by rising energy prices. Democrat Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Temp Toni Atkins want to send $200 cash payments to every California taxpayer and dependent, with eligibility for checks capped at household incomes of $250,000.

I appreciate Gov. Newsoms work on developing another option to bring relief to Californians experiencing the rising cost of fuel and consumer goods, Atkins told the Los Angeles Times. The Senate is focused on ensuring that state money is targeted to those who actually need relief, and we look forward to working with Gov. Newsom, Speaker Rendon and our Legislative colleagues.

While offering short-term relief, neither plan addresses the underlying issue of high gas prices created as a direct consequence of Democrats suppression of domestic energy production, starting with the White House. Instead, like with schooling, state subsidies are likely to spike prices in the long run. The phenomenon is known as the Paradox of Subsidies.

States are constrained from increasing American energy production with limited options in comparison to the federal government, which reserves jurisdiction over about a third of the nations lands. Gas prices began their immediate ascension upon President Bidens day-one orders to cancel domestic energy projects and suspend new oil and gas leases on federal lands, killing opportunities and incentives for producers to sustain operations in the wake of rising demand. The Biden administration has sent mixed signals to the oil and gas industry with demands to ramp up exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) while refusing to endorse more investment.

One policy lever pulled by governors is to suspend gas taxes using state surpluses from excessive Covid relief to absorb the revenue shortfall. Governors in Connecticut, Maryland, and Georgia have already signed gas tax holidays for this spring, while lawmakers in Michigan, and Florida are considering similar measures.

Billions in leftover Covid stimulus could be reallocated to states that also wish to suspend the tax but require the funds to do so.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom's Gas Card Giveaway Is A Subsidy For The Rich - The Federalist