The Patriot Post® · Monday: Below the Fold
Security
Hezbollah rocket attack kills 12 Israeli children: On Saturday, a rocket attack launched by Hezbollah, the Iranian-back jihadi terrorist organization in Lebanon, killed 12 Israeli children and teenagers at a soccer field near Israel’s northern border. Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz stated, “There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that.” He added, “We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-out war.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was returning from his recent visit to the U.S., responded by promising that Israel “will not let this pass in silence.” The Biden administration’s first concern was, “What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months.” This serves as yet another reminder of why Iran is the biggest problem in the Middle East.
Netanyahu meets Trump for talks seeking to ease tensions (Reuters)
French fiber optic networks “sabotaged” days after “coordinated” attacks paralyzed rail service ahead of Olympics (NY Post) | Paris beefs up security for the Olympic Games (Morning Brew)
Newly surfaced texts show Trump rally shooter was on authorities’ radar more than 90 minutes before shooting (NY Post)
Senate tees up kids online safety bill for vote this week (Roll Call)
Government & Politics
Biden spells out his SCOTUS “reform” plan: Not that a lame-duck president has a snowball’s chance in hell of getting such controversial legislation pushed through Congress in the waning months of his presidency, but Joe Biden’s proposal to “reform” the Supreme Court to remove its conservative tilt is still noteworthy. As Fox News reports, Biden “will call on Congress to impose term limits and a code of conduct on the Supreme Court while also drafting limits on presidential immunity.” Fox adds, “Biden will discuss the proposed reforms during remarks on Monday at the LBJ Presidential Library, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.” As for Joe Biden’s sterling credentials for upsetting the time-honored size of the Supreme Court, his handlers penned him an op-ed for The Washington Post in which he’ll have you know, “I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today.”
Peter Strzok-DOJ settlement: One of the primary figures involved in the Trump/Russia collusion hoax was former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was eventually fired after his politically motivated anti-Trump texts came to light. Strzok, who at the time was the lead investigator of the Russia probe, was having an affair with fellow FBI official Lisa Page and exchanged politically motivated anti-Trump text messages with her on his government-issued devices. He was fired from the FBI in August of 2018. Strzok eventually raised a lawsuit over his dismissal, and on Friday, Joe Biden’s Justice Department agreed to a $1.2 million settlement. Strzok’s lawyer, Aitan D. Goelman, welcomed the settlement, ridiculously claiming that “this outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete.” He further asserted that “it also vindicates the privacy interests of all government employees.”
Harris questions J.D. Vance’s loyalty to his country: It takes a lot of chutzpah to question the loyalty of an American who has served honorably in our nation’s Armed Forces. But it takes chutzpah to another level entirely when a Bay Area progressive of Indian and Jamaican descent whose dad was a Marxist and who was raised in Canada does the questioning. But that’s exactly what happened recently when Kamala Harris said Donald Trump’s vice-presidential nominee would “be a rubber stamp for [Trump’s] extreme agenda,” adding, “Make no mistake: J.D. Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country.” As might be expected from an honorably discharged jarhead, Vance had this to say in response: “I saw the other day Kamala Harris questioned my loyalty to this country. That’s the word she used: loyalty. And it’s an interesting word. Semper Fi — loyalty. Because there is no greater sign of disloyalty to this country than what Kamala Harris has done at our southern border.”
AP forced to delete embarrassing fact-check about J.D. Vance (Townhall)
CBS denies Kamala Harris raised money to bail out BLM rioters (The Federalist)
Trump maintains narrow polling lead over Harris: It’s officially the morning after, and Kamala Harris is still Kamala Harris. That’s the finding of the RealClearPolitics average of polls, which shows Donald Trump at 48.9 and Harris at 46.2. That’s nearly a two-point lead for Trump, which is a marked contrast from the final polls before the 2020 election, which had Trump trailing Joe Biden by 3-4 points. Put another way: It’s essentially the difference between a narrow electoral loss for Trump and a landslide victory for Trump. It’s also important to note that Harris polling better than Biden isn’t news. She was already polling better than Biden in multiple polls before she announced her candidacy a week ago. Late last week, Rasmussen, which is historically among the most accurate pollsters, had Trump ahead of Harris 50-43, while a Wall Street Journal poll had the two candidates essentially within the margin of error. But even that poll raised the red flags, noting, “Harris faces significant headwinds. Her tenure as vice president is closely tied to a Biden administration record that includes a chaotic southern border, rising prices and protracted wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.”
Google accused of omitting Trump assassination attempt in search results: Google is allegedly suppressing search results for the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. When searching Google for “assassination attempt on,” the field would autocomplete a number of famous figures like Ronald Reagan, Bob Marley, or Gerald Ford. But Google tellingly failed to produce Trump among the names listed. This has led to backlash on social media, with the tech giant being accused of engaging in election interference. Republican Senator Roger Marshall (KS) promised that he will “be making an official inquiry into Google this week.” Meanwhile, a spokesman from Google claimed that no “manual action was taken on these predictions.” Rather, the algorithm uses “protections” to prevent Autocomplete from producing things “associated with political violence.” The spokesman added, “We’re working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date. Of course, Autocomplete is just a tool to help people save time, and they can still search for anything they want to.”
Trump to return to site of assassination attempt for repeat rally (National Review) | Trump is planning more outdoor rallies despite Secret Service warning against them (PJ Media)
Climate
Yellen calls for an extra $3 trillion annually to fight global warming: If it really is the economy, stupid, as the Democrats’ Corporal Cueball is fond of saying, then Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen isn’t doing her team any favors. During a speech she gave over the weekend at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Yellen told the assembled climate alarmists that the world needs to pony up an extra $3 trillion annually to reach the Left’s fever dream of a low-carbon economy and thereby fight the very thing that Joe Biden says is “literally an existential threat to our nation and to the world”: global warming. And who’s going to be on the hook for that extra $3 trillion anually? Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw has a hunch: “The United States would be expected to shoulder the lion’s share of the burden because we wind up paying for almost all of this madness.”
Kamala Harris touted a $5 billion electric school bus program. Three years later, it’s produced just 60 buses. (Washington Free Beacon)
Good News
- California gig workers win: The California Supreme Court just handed a big win to gig workers and a blow to Big Labor. The issue was the passage of Prop 22 back in 2020, which allowed individuals like Lyft and Uber drivers to maintain their worker status as independent contractors rather than being forced to be full employees of these companies. Democrats and Big Labor fought to have Prop 22 overturned, claiming that it was unconstitutional. As independent contractors for Lyft or Uber, these companies would not be required to provide benefits as they would if they were employees. Democrats claimed that this hurt these workers. However, independent contractors noted that forcing them to become employees hurt their freedom to work at their own pace and on their own schedule. The court agreed, issuing a unanimous ruling upholding Prop 22. This ruling has national implications, as Kamala Harris and congressional Democrats want to eliminate independent contract work within the gig industry nationwide by forcing gig workers to be recognized as employees.
Misc.
Jen Psaki finally apologizes for lying to Gold Star families (RedState)
Second survivor of Trump rally shooting, James Copenhaver, released from hospital but faces long recovery (NY Post)
Massachusetts governor signs sweeping gun control bill into law (Bearing Arms)
Pentagon to review 20 Medals of Honor from Wounded Knee Massacre (Military Times)
Jerry Falwell Jr., Liberty University reach settlement agreement (Christian Post)
Paris Olympics draws 28.6 million viewers; most-watched opening ceremony since 2012 (Bleacher Report)
Maduro locked in standoff with opponents as each side claims victory in Venezuela presidential elections (AP)
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