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The Broadside | Harris is Who We Thought She Was And Baier Didn’t Let Her Off the Hook*

Kamala Harris is flailing in the presidential race and agreed to a sit-down with Bret Baier of Fox News because she obviously needs to reach more than her ideological base. I was surprised because, ever since Faux News’s Chris Wallace hosted the first 2020 presidential debate and turned out to be a liberal, and then when they canned Tucker Carlson, I’ve considered Faux more center-left than outright hostile to progressives. They’re certainly not conservative in the way I think about being conservative.

I’ve even thought that about Bret Baier. But after watching his interview with Harris, even I have to admit that he went after her like no other interviewer. And she completely failed.

Without regurgitating the entire conversation (which, if you didn’t see it, you didn’t miss anything), let me sum it up by saying that her only tactic was to take every question Baier asked and answer it by trashing Trump. She didn’t answer one question about her policies or regrets or what she’d do differently than the last three-and-a-half years. In fact, in one of the most stunning non-answers I’ve ever heard since I’ve been paying attention to politics, she pivoted from Baier’s question about what she’d do differently to talk about “the last decade” of rhetoric from Donald Trump.

The woman is a fraud. Totally and completely. Just another empty pantsuit that will do what the administrative state and Barry Obama tell her to do.

Forgive the short post this morning, but it’s been a rough couple of days of not feeling well.

* Reference to classic NFL moment in title.

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The Broadside | Democrats Panic, But Don’t Get Cocky

Political polls are notoriously imprecise, but they do give us a sense of what the electorate might be thinking. Some recent polls have put Democrats into a tailspin, including this one from NBC “News.”

In the new poll — which was conducted Oct. 4-8 — Harris gets support from 48% of registered voters in a head-to-head matchup, while Trump gets an identical 48%. Another 4% say they are undecided or wouldn’t vote for either option when forced to choose between those two major-party candidates.

That’s a change from September’s NBC News poll, which found Harris leading Trump by 5 points, 49%-44%, though that result was within the margin of error.

An expanded ballot including third-party candidates also shows this shift, with 47% of registered voters in the new poll picking Trump, 46% supporting Harris and a combined 7% picking other candidates or saying they’re undecided.

Because national polls are also notoriously biased in favor of Democrats, the latest findings mean that Trump has opened up a considerable lead.

The results align with a recent Wall Street Journal poll. Via Breitbart:

The NBC poll reflects other poll results, with the Wall Street Journal poll showing Trump leading Harris, 46%-45%, nationwide. The Journal says that the result in swing states is too close to call but currently gives Harris the edge.

CNN is worried too, now that Republicans have a “GOP ADVANTAGE for the first time in many years.”

If swing states are becoming “too close to call” (as the WSJ puts it above), that bodes well for Trump; if one swing state is in play, it essentially means that all swing states are in play. The GOP ADVANTAGE is beginning to show up in some swing states. Activist Scott Pressler, who leads Early Vote Action PAC, is seeing the difference in Pennsylvania.

“Let’s talk about the data for a second and why I think, objectively, we’re in the best place to win Pennsylvania [compared to] four or even eight years ago,” Presler told Morning Wire.

“Two things that really stick out to me are, a.) Since 2020, we have actually cut in half the amount of registered Democrats in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where they had an advantage of 650,000 four years ago,” he explained. “Now that advantage has been narrowed to 333,000.”

“But the other thing that leads me to believe that President Trump has a real shot at winning Pennsylvania is that Democrats are down 416,000 mail-in ballot requests from where they were four years ago at the same time,” Presler revealed.

Voters are also reassessing their experience under President Trump’s first term.

He then noted further polling indicating that only a quarter of families say Biden-era policies are helping their family, whereas 45% say they are “hurting” them. 

“And then here’s the interesting twist. We also asked folks, ‘Think back to when Donald Trump was president. Did his policies help or hurt your family?’ And look at the difference, 44% helping, 31 hurting. Trump’s — the retrospective, you would say, opinion of Trump’s presidency among voters, arguably higher now than when he was president,” Kornacki said. 

For some people, the biggest indicator that Trump will win is his lead in betting odds.

Former President Trump took a double-digit lead in the betting odds over Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time since July, signaling potential momentum for the former president as Election Day draws near.

Trump opened up a 10-point lead in the Real Clear Politics betting average on Sunday, his largest lead over Harris and the largest lead any candidate has enjoyed since the former president’s 10-point lead on July 31.

The lead comes as some in Democratic circles have attempted to quell panic within the ranks after recent polling that has seemingly trended toward Trump,

This is all good for president-in-exile Donald J. Trump. But as I’ve said before, especially since the last presidential election, don’t get cocky. The Democrats don’t want to, and don’t intend to, lose. The only way we can prevent the inevitable cheating that they will engage in to preserve their power is to make the margin of victory so big that they can’t possibly manufacture enough votes to win.

Get registered (if you still can) and make every effort to get out and vote on November 5. And bring someone with you to vote too.

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The Broadside | Two New Videos Shed Light on the Situation Between Israel and Gaza

A friend of mine has co-created and produced a docuseries about Israel called “Hope in the Holy Land.” He reached out to me a couple of days ago and asked if I could help him to get word out that the next two parts in the series are now available.

I’ve watched both parts and can tell you that they are very helpful to understanding the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis leading up to October 7, 2023, and then seeing and hearing from those who lived through October 7, which is incredibly sobering.

If you have the time, I strongly encourage you to watch both parts. Part II examines the history of Gaza leading up to October 7, and Part III takes you through that horrible day from those who were there. You’ll see below that Part III is age restricted; that’s because of some graphic violence shown from October 7, including cell phone footage from Hamas terrorists or victimized Israelis.

You may also want to consider watching the first video in the series, which you can find here along with the background on the series. If you’d like to just jump to the trailer, you can click below.

I hope you’ll make time to watch them all. Have a good weekend.

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The Broadside | Believe Them When They Tell You What They Think

If you’ve been paying attention to the news recently you might’ve seen a couple of stories that underscore the threat to our God-given freedom to speak our mind. As the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution puts it, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Yet our ruling class and associated busybodies have recently started saying out loud that free speech must be limited. Two former presidential candidates top the list.

“We lose total control” says the two-time loser and political criminal. Lose total control of what, you might ask? The ability to control what is said on social media and, eventually, anywhere else. This is the stuff dictatorships are made out of.

Then there’s the presidential flameout with too much time on his hands, John “Swiftboat” Kerry Heinz.

It’s a longer clip, so let me bottom line it for you: Kerry says that the First Amendment is “a major block” to curtailing speech and suggests that they have to “win the right to govern” so that “you’re free to be able to implement change.”

What kind of “change” would that be? Anyone care to guess?

Jonathan Turley, a highly respected legal authority, promoted his new-ish book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” in an op-ed for USA Today (I don’t encourage linking to USA Today or referring to them as a trusted authority, but occasionally they carry columns by people I trust). In it, he takes both Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to task for advocating censorship using lies. For example,

As I have said, the Biden-Harris administration has proved to be the most anti-free speech administration in two centuries. You have to go back to John Adams’ administration to find the equal of this administration.

Harris has been an outspoken champion of censorship in an administration that supports targeting disinformation, misinformation and “malinformation.” That last category was defined by the Biden administration as information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”

In the debate, Walz also returned to his favorite dismissal of censorship objections by saying that it is all just inflammatory rhetoric.

Recently, Walz went on MSNBC to support censoring disinformation and declared, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.”

That is entirely untrue and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the right called “indispensable” by the Supreme Court. Even after some of us condemned his claim as ironically dangerous disinformation, Walz continues to repeat it.

Below is Turley’s guest appearance on Fox News, discussing his column and mentioning both Kerry’s and Clinton’s assaults on free speech.

Let me repeat what I’ve said before and you probably know, but it needs to be said: Government does not confer your constitutional rights to you; they are supposed to protect your already given rights from any intrusion. If they give you your rights, they can take your rights. You are endowed with these rights; they are yours by nature. Resist and object loudly to any law that interferes with your natural, intrinsic rights.

These wannabe dictators are clearly telegraphing their intentions. Come November, do everything you can to keep Harris and Walz out of the White House.

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The Broadside | It’s Been a Year Since One of the Vilest Acts of Modern History Took Place

It’s an unfortunate anniversary. Today marks one year since Hamas launched a barbaric terrorist attack against Israeli civilians in the largest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. 1,200 Jewish people lost their lives, including women and children, and 250 Jews were taken hostage.

Some of the atrocities are almost unspeakable: burning babies alive, killing fathers in front of their children, and gang raping women. We all saw the videos and the read the reports.

Today, Israel has decimated the leadership of Hamas and has leveled portions of Gaza that were hiding tunnel entrances and the “offices” of Hamas leaders. They’ve targeted Hezbollah in southern Lebanon because they began to harass Jews living in northern Israel with rockets. And now Israel’s military is planning something big for Iran in response to the barrage of missiles it launched at Israel last week.

Of course, Israel is being criticized for its war on the Islamists. Why is it that Western governments and busybodies tell Israel to restrain itself in going after these medieval death cults? Don’t they realize that the jihadis won’t rest until they destroy Israel, kill all the Jews, and then turn their attention to the Sunday people?

As Israel marks one year since the horrific Oct. 7 terrorist attack that was orchestrated by Sinwar, Koubi said the Hamas leader would never agree to a ceasefire, and that peace cannot be restored to the region so long as the Hamas chief still lives.

“Sinwar will never, never, never accept peace,” Koubi said. “As long as he is alive, he will carry out another massacre. He must be killed.”

Israel said last month that the whereabouts of the Oct. 7 mastermind are unknown and that he hasn’t been heard from in weeks.

Unfortunately, one of our two presidential candidates refuses to acknowledge Israel’s leader as an ally.

There are thousands and thousands of anti-Semites across the globe, and an unfortunate majority of them are agitating for violence. Due to our feckless and anti-American leaders, thousands of them now reside in the United States.

Watch the news today. It should be a barometer of how ingrained the hate has become.

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The Broadside | Self-Confessed “Old Guy,” “Knucklehead” and “Friend of School Shooters” Invokes “Politics of Joy” While Losing VP Debate to 2028 Presidential Candidate JD Vance

I watched the vice-presidential debate last night and live-blogged for this morning. It was mostly civil, and they both tried to be kind and courteous. It did get contentious at times, especially with the discussion of January 6, which Democrats keep coming back to because it’s all they have.

I’m thinking the J6 schtick is getting old. As JDV said, Trump told the crowds to “protest peacefully” on Jan 6, and he left office peacefully on Jan 20. So give it up already. We all know that Brandon “””won””” because the Democrats cheated, but we’ve managed to keep our anger in check and work with the hand we were dealt. Hopefully that will all be resolved on November 5.

They both had practiced answers along with favorite buzz words: JDV’s was “common sense.” Tim Walz’s was “adjudicated.”

Nora O’Donnell and Margarat Brennan of CBS “””News””” were biased moderators (both are left-wing activists). The framing of questions was hostile toward Vance (obviously) and friendly toward Walz.

As you can tell from my title, I think Vance won the debate. But BLOT: nobody is going to be convinced to change candidates. I think it raised JD Vance’s political capital in the eyes of Republicans and Independents (maybe even some Democrats). He handled himself very well and came across as cool, calm and collected. I was persuaded that he’s presidential material.

Tim Walz, not so much.

BMOT (Bottom Meme on Top):

They sparred on multiple topics that are of importance to Americans, but they started with the conflict in the Middle East. The question was “would you support a pre-emptive strike on Iran?” Vance said it was up to Israel and we should support our allies. Walz didn’t commit and pivoted to blaming Trump—Trump, who negotiated the Abraham Accords—for the problems with Iran.

Closer to home, they talked about “climate change” in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Vance said he’s for clean air and clean water. To support that bring everything back to America instead of relying on China or other polluters. I thought that was a good answer. Walz brought up that Trump said climate change is a hoax. Well, Tim, it is. But he’s a true believer. Walz said that America is “producing more natural gas and oil than we ever have.” I don’t think that’s true, especially oil production. Harris-Biden has drained our strategic reserves and gas prices are at least double what they were under Trump.

When they turned to the illegal alien invasion through our southern border—oh, sorry, they said “migrants”—the “””moderators””” asked Vance if under the mass deportation plan Trump is said to have would he separate parents who are here illegally from their children born in the states? Vance deftly pointed out that the DOJ already have 320,000 children they’ve effectively lost because of Harris’s border policies, including the 94 executive orders that were signed on Brandon’s first day as Resident.

In a discussion about “reproductive rights” the “””moderators””” asked Walz if abortion in the ninth month is okay because he signed into law a policy that says it is. Walz pivots to raise the boogeyman of “Project 2025” that Trump has disavowed many times to put Vance on the defensive. Vance says that the GOP has to “win back the trust” of Americans on this issue. I didn’t like his dodge on this because it sounds like it leaves wiggle room. What are you going to do to “win” trust? Either you’re going to protect life or you’re not and I’d prefer someone who just puts it out there. Both Trump and Vance seem to have gone soft on opposition to abortion. Heck, Walz said that it’s a “woman’s right to choose. Mind your own business.” Let’s be that direct back.

The one thing that I resented about the debate was the unspoken assumption that government is the source of solutions for Americans. This was true in the discussions about healthcare (the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and medications), homebuilding (the government should not be involved in building homes on federal land), and childcare (which the “””moderators””” described as a “crisis”—everything is a “crisis” for these people).

GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY PRIVATE HEALTH DECISIONS as the abortionists are so fond of saying. Ever since Obamacare was passed healthcare has spiked and become nearly unaffordable. It’s outrageous. And why should employers be forced to provide paid leave for new mothers and fathers? It’s a nice benefit, but the problem is that families can’t afford to live without two incomes. Walz mouths some commie platitudes like “an economy that works for all” which means equal outcomes for everybody.

Yep, pretty soon the government controls everything (we’re not that far away, guys).

Walz shot himself in the foot multiple times. Trying to be self-effacing, he says, “I’m a knucklehead at times” in response to a question about leadership qualities. Not exactly a confidence builder for anyone listening who’s trying to decide if you should be a heartbeat away from the top spot. Then, in a segment about guns, he says, “I’ve become friends with school shooters.” Nothing like cozying up to some of the most mentally unstable and violent criminals in our current culture.

Walz lionized John McCain for “saving” Obamacare (conservatives loathe McCain for doing that), praised Mike Pence for his performance on J6 (another RINO), and included Dick Cheney (fake conservative) in his hilarious “coalition” that Harris has pulled together: Cheney, Bernie Sanders and Taylor Swift.

He actually named Taylor Swift! LOL

JD Vance wrapped up nicely with a closing statement that included this: Harris has said what she will do “Day One.” Well, “Day One” was 1400 days ago. She’s had three and a half years to do these things. We have the greatest country in the world, but you can’t achieve your dreams with the broken leadership in Washington, D.C.

As far as I know, that’s the last debate before the election. Get out there and vote. If you’re a believer, vote and pray. This is a critical election.

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The Broadside | Voting Isn’t Just a Right, It’s a Duty

One of the things that has bothered me over the last several years is the tax-exempt status of US churches. It’s true that it’s helpful, but it’s also true that once the government has its hooks in you by conferring a special status, it then has leverage over you. The government can make demands or restrict the activities of the church as the price you pay for their indulgence.

Covid-19 anyone?

I have thought several times that there may come a day when the church will have to give up its tax-exempt status in order to stay true to its calling. That may mean going back to house churches, small gatherings without a formal organizational structure.

That’s the topic of the introduction to the following sermon that pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel delivered on September 8. He mentions the 1954 Johnson amendment which, on the surface, is unconstitutional.

The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

The Johnson amendment is currently being challenged in court and Cornerstone Chapel is a party to the proceedings.

Hamrick takes us back to the early years of the founding era and observes that pastors freely spoke of politics in their sermons. He mentions a two-volume series called “Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805” (which I have on my shelf and recommend if you’re interested in that era). His point is that pastors used to be able to freely speak on what was happening politically in the colonies and then in the newly formed United States of America.

After his introduction he goes on to make three points about our responsibility to vote and why it’s important that we do. I post his sermon here because I think it’s worth listening to as we approach November 5.

I’ve cued it to the second point of his message, which is that we should “vote policies over personalities,” and he then goes on to discuss seven policies that a candidate will influence. I strongly urge you to listen to at least the 15 minutes devoted to those issues.

I know not all readers of this blog are Christians, but I think the majority of us are conservative. Even if you’re not a believer, you can better understand why someone of the faith thinks the way we do about these issues.

If you have the time, I’d encourage you to listen to the whole thing.

Happy Monday and farewell to September.

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The Broadside | Kamala Harris Is An Empty Pantsuit

According to the New York Post, Kamala Harris is “on track to grant the fewest interviews of any major party’s presidential nominee ever.” She’s only given six so far, compared to almost three times as many from Trump in the same time period.

We all know why. It’s because when you get her away from a controlled environment with scripted answers, she’s an empty, vacuous charlatan. The problem is that even in a friendly, controlled environment, she’s no better.

Take her “interview” with Oprah Winfrey. Here’s a sample that, as Kate Hyde says, “might just be the most spectacular two minutes of Kamala’s nonsensical wisdom I have ever heard.” See if you don’t agree.

This woman is so utterly fake in everything she says. Her body language, her words, her emphases—everything telegraphs that she doesn’t know what she’s saying and that it’s just a lot of gibberish pasted together from half-formed thoughts. Empty, mindless patter that means nothing, void of any consequence in the national dialogue and certainly not reaching the level of any meaning for the world.

Just watch Oprah. At some point even she looks at her like she’s a ditz.

I don’t know. I think Kammy is so unoriginal, so uninspired, so used to failing upward, so used to being given everything she has, that she finds herself in over her head. Her role exceeds her talents. So, she falls back on esoteric imagery and empty platitudes, trying to pass them off as some philosophical brilliance.

The other thing that’s going on here is that at her core, she’s a commie. That’s why everything she says sounds so fake. She doesn’t mean a word of it.

I don’t want that woman any closer to the most powerful position in America than she already is.

Have a good weekend.

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The Broadside | *Paging Dr. Hez Bollah. Dr. Hez Bollah.* Hey, Try His Walkie-Talkie.

Hats off to whoever pulled off one of the most ballsy ops in modern-day spy craft that I’m aware of. And I use the term “ballsy” quite intentionally.

Not only did they shock the members of Hezbollah with the remote detonation of thousands of pagers on Tuesday, but they followed up yesterday with the detonation of thousands of smart phones, radios, smart watches, solar panels and (allegedly) even some household appliances.

I was thinking about these clandestine attacks for the last 24 hours. I mean, everyone knows it’s *cough* Israel *cough*, who refuses to comment. But think about what they just accomplished.

First, they infiltrated and compromised the terrorists’ electronics supply chain. It’s not like the Hezbollah chieftains order off of Amazon. They have to skirt international sanctions, and we know that Iran is involved somewhere along the line. That means they had to have understood the logistics involved and planted the explosives in a way that wouldn’t be detected (or after they were inspected, assuming they were).

The second big thing they did was to degrade Hezbollah’s fighting force. The explosions killed 26 (including two children) and wounded at least 3,200 others—some severely, losing eyes or fingers or hands. Depending on injuries, some of them will be out of commission for a few weeks or months, putting pressure on the organization’s command and control grid. And they did it with incredible precision (you can’t prevent all collateral damage).

Next, they severely handicapped the terrorists’ communications network. They’re back to using bicycle couriers and homing pigeons, and neither of those are encrypted. Communication is the connective tissue of any organization and these days it’s made up of bits and bytes.

Not for Hezbollah. No more instantaneous messaging or phone calls. No more email or social media apps on your phone. This sets Hezbollah back to working at a snail’s pace, which will be tough (but not impossible) to adapt to.

Plus, Hezbollah suddenly realizes that *cough* Israel *cough* knows a lot about them. As Laughing Wolf puts it,

… if you think Israel wasn’t watching the hospitals and other locations to see who came in and when, and wasn’t monitoring local social media for news and IDs, I’ve got a bridge for sale… Again, no way for them to know in advance who all the members of Hezballess were. They do now, and can plot that against all the intel from the metadata and…

Then there’s the psychological damage they’ve inflicted. Can you imagine the fear? What will explode next, my refrigerator? I’d be throwing out anything electronic including my PlayStation 2. What will Hezbollah do to rebuild their infrastructure? No way am I carrying a pager or cell phone anytime soon.

Welcome to the terror show, Hezbollah. How does it feel to be on the receiving end?

Other terrorist organizations have to be thinking about their communication devices, too. If *cough* Israel *cough* can simultaneously detonate a few thousand pagers in one country, why wouldn’t they be able to do it in a bunch of other states like, say, Yemen or Iran? You bet other countries are taking a close look at their pagers and phones and smart thermostats today.

It was a brilliant operation and clearly places *whoever it was* at the forefront of the global cloak and dagger games.

Unlike our own clandestine services, which can’t even sweep a golf course for a nutjob hiding in the bushes for 12 hours to take a shot at a former president.

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The Broadside | “They Want Him Dead” Is Pretty Much Right

One of the guys I read occasionally is Mark Steyn, a Canadian conservative who was a popular guest-host for Rush Limbaugh (PBUH) and who now lives in the U.S.

I read his column from yesterday and wanted to call your attention to it because I think he gets at the nut of the truth that no one else has about the two assassination attempts on Trump’s life.

But I think my longtime Rush colleague Diana Allocco is closer to the mark:

Just so. When I heard that an airplane had hit the north tower, I spent the next fifteen minutes going about as usual on the assumption that some twin-prop had had an accident. Then the radio announced that another ‘plane had hit the south tower. The Secret Service failures in Florida are as crude and obvious as they were in Pennsylvania which means that, in the words of my former GB News colleague Neil Oliver, this is happening because they want it to happen. They want Trump to die, and they are willing to create the necessary conditions.

I believe that to be true because the conditions are lax and the USSS has no cogent answers for their failures. At the very least, those in power are okay with leaving Trump vulnerable and hoping that some extreme lefty takes advantage of the opening. Still to be determined is whether or not “they” are clandestinely goading nutjobs like Thomas Matthew Crooks and Ryan Wesley Routh into taking the shots.

There was no unusual level of foreign interference in the 2016 election; instead, the fever about “foreign interference” was a convenient cover for an unusual level of domestic interference in the 2016 election. The Russians have their uses, which is presumably why the Dems are so eager to sleepwalk the world into nuclear war. But, in a more parochial sense, what the Deep Staters were doing in 2016 was prepping the ground for a post-election plan to use Russia “interference” as a pretext for subverting any incoming Trump administration.

This mini-spate of lone shooters is beginning to feel a bit like the 2024 version of Russian interference: they’re getting us used to the idea of Trump being an assassination target, so that the ultimate “October surprise” won’t seem such a big deal.

The Deep State is telling us they will not permit Donald Trump to take office again.

At this point, I would emphatically NOT be surprised if we discover that the Deep State’s hands are all over these two attempts on Trump’s life. We are in very dangerous waters.

Read the whole thing.