Monthly Archives: July 2023

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Daily Broadside | Archer Will Testify If He Isn’t Suicided Or Arrested Before Monday

It’s hard to even pretend to be shocked by anything the Resident and his team of mobsters do these days, especially when it comes the Department of Just Us, where any reference to the rule of law and the constitution have been scrubbed when it comes to blindfolded application.

On Monday, Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee to expose Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter’s foreign business dealings. The Biden administration is doing everything possible to prevent that from happening.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is attempting to arrest Archer on unrelated charges mere hours before his scheduled testimony. On Saturday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued a request to trial judge Ronnie Abrams to compel Archer to surrender to authorities.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer was asked about this development on Sunday, during an appearance on Fox News.

“I have in my hand a letter from the Department of Justice that was sent to the Southern District of New York on Saturday,” host Maria Bartiromo began. “By the way, Devon Archer is testifying on Monday — do you ever see … the DOJ send letters like this out on a Saturday?”

“Never, never,” Comer replied. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of the Department of Justice doing anything on a Saturday.”

When it comes to protecting the Regime, Saturdays are a must. And you must respect the Regime.

“We are aware of speculation that the Department of Justice’s weekend request to have Mr. Archer report to prison is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him in advance of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee,” Schwartz said in a statement, per Politico.

“To be clear, Mr. Archer does not agree with that speculation,” Schwartz added. “In any case, Mr. Archer will do what he has planned to do all along, which is to show up on Monday and to honestly answer the questions that are put to him by the Congressional investigators.”

No sense in getting Epsteined if you don’t need to. Assuming he lives to testify, what will Archer say?

Hunter Biden would dial in his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone into meetings with his overseas business partners, according to testimony expected before Congress this week from Devon Archer, the first son’s former best friend. 

Archer, 48, who is facing jail for his role in a $60 million bond fraud, is scheduled to testify to the House Oversight Committee about meetings he witnessed that were attended by Joe Biden either in person or via speakerphone when Hunter would call his father and introduce him to foreign business partners or prospective investors. 

“We are looking forward very much to hearing from Devon Archer about all the times he has witnessed Joe Biden meeting with Hunter Biden’s overseas business partners when he was vice president, including on speakerphone,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the committee chairman. 

Trying to have a hostile witness arrested and jailed before testifying is sheer intimidation tactics used by communist governments the world over. And now by our government here, in the former United States of America. I don’t know what it is now, but it’s not the America that I grew up in.

The walls may be closing in on Brandon, but I’m not confident that he’ll suffer any consequences. As John Kass, the former Chicago Tribune columnist put it,

Remember that for years the Democrats and their media lickspittles have insisted–and Joe Biden has himself stated emphatically and publicly before the last presidential election, that he knew nothing of his son Hunter’s shady overseas business deals. Of course he knew.

He was the muscle. And Hunter, like his Uncle Jim before him, was the bagman. The guy who carried the treasure to “The Big Guy” or “President Ten Percent.”

Those of you who know Chicago know how this works–The Delaware Way is the American Way is the Chicago Way. And how do you keep the suckers from ‘beefing’ or ‘complaining?’ You control the media to suppress problematic facts. And do they ever control it.

Now you understand why the Democrat Media Complex was so furious with voters after the mid-term elections. They would be exposed. All the rocks would be turned over. There were no moist corners in which to hide.

The great heavyweight champion Joe Louis had a saying, “They can run but they can’t hide.” Eventually they’d be trapped and take a public beating.

I’d like to think that  is true, but the difference being that there is a great political machine between Biden and his opposition. They protect Biden and take the punches for him and then counter-attack with deadly vengeance, and as long as there are low-information voters out there (i.e. stupid, easily manipulated voters) who don’t read and don’t pay attention. These are the true chumbolones who steadily consume corrupt media the way diabetics guzzle soda-pop. And it is through this stupidity–most of it demonstrated by Democrats during big-city elections, that guys like Joe and Hunter Biden are protected and saved.

A thoroughly corrupt “president” presiding over a thoroughly corrupt administrative state, with a thoroughly corrupt son who took money to fuel his drug and whoring habits with “ten percent to the Big Guy.”

They deserve to be taken down, and hard.

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Daily Broadside | “What a Drag It Is Gettin’ Old”

A short post today noting some milestones in the world of music this week.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones turned 80 years old on Wednesday. He and the Stones were pivitol in the counter-culture movement of the 1960s. Their first hit was “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in 1965 and they went on to score massive hits across five decades including “Brown Sugar”, “Honky Tonk Women”, “Start Me Up” and “Paint It Black”.

The Rolling Stones frontman is still strutting and gyrating in front of packed-out arenas, most recently touring Europe to mark the band’s 60th anniversary.

The icon of 60s counterculture underwent a heart valve replacement in 2019, but his regime of running, kick-boxing, cycling and yoga has maintained his svelte figure and longevity as an energetic showman.

The band completed its 14-date “Sixty” tour last year, although had to cancel one date when Jagger caught Covid.

It was the first time the band had performed without drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021.

The Stones have been a band for 60 years.

Closer to home, founding member of the Eagles, Randy Meisner — who co-wrote and sang the band’s hit song “Take It to the Limit” — has died at 77.

Born on March 8, 1946, in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Meisner formed the Eagles in 1971 with Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Bernie Leadon.

He worked on many of the rock group’s albums, including “Eagles,” “Desperado,” “On The Border,” “One of These Nights,” and “Hotel California.”

Tony Bennett has also died at 96.

Legendary crooner Tony Bennett, known for his smooth voice and popular music, died Friday. He was 96.

Bennett died in his hometown of New York City just two weeks before his birthday, his publicist, Sylvia Weiner, confirmed to Page Six in a statement.

She added that there was no specific cause of death.

Bennett, born in 1926, began singing at age 10.

Over the span of his decades-long career, Bennett released more than 70 albums, sold more than 50 million records worldwide and won 20 Grammys and two Emmys.

He also broke the Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to release an album of new material, at the age of 95 years and 60 days.

He was known for many hits including “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” and duetted with Gaga on standards like “Love for Sale” and “Anything Goes.”

Finally, troubled Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at age 56.

Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56 after years of mental health battles, her ‘devastated’ family confirmed.

The Irish Grammy-winning singer, whose cause of death is not yet known, became world famous in 1990 with her heartrending cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U.

It comes 18 months after the mother-of-four’s son Shane, 17, took his life in January 2022 after escaping hospital while on suicide watch.

At the time of her death, the musician, who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 when she converted to Islam, was thought to be spending her time between Co Roscommon, Ireland, and London.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | Bye Bye Birdie and Bye Bye Affordable Housing in One Local Village

Twitter just became “X.” Here’s a screen grab of the two logos side-by-side on my browser at the same time. Don’t ask me how that happened.

Twitter, Elon Musk’s social media platform, is about to undergo a major rebranding. Musk has announced that the platform’s name will soon change to “X,” and all bird symbols, a long-standing logo for the platform, will be phased out.

The Verge reports that Musk took to Twitter to announce the upcoming changes, stating, “Soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.” The tech mogul has been steering Twitter through a series of changes since acquiring the platform last year for a massive $44 billion — even though about half his purchase price has already been wiped out.

In a series of tweets, Musk also hinted at a potential change in the platform’s default color. “Paint It Black,” he posted, followed by a user poll asking whether the platform’s default color should be changed to black. He further added, “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow.”

It’s basically Extreme Makeover: Social Media Edition.

Personally, I think this is a good move. It breaks past associations conservatives and liberals make with “Twitter.” Conservatives and moderates remember the censorship aimed primarily at them. Liberals remember it as their power center and now resent that some weird billionaire has taken it away from them.

I hope Musk follows through on his promise to make it a more open platform free from government and blue-haired censors.

Ace of Spades HQ (a daily read) writes about a report showing that wealthy LIBERALS use zoning laws to keep poor minorities out of their neighborhoods.

A new think tank report shows how liberal New York suburbs use restrictive zoning laws to drive up housing prices and prevent poor minorities from moving into their neighborhoods.
The Century Foundation released a study about zoning laws and educational opportunities in Scarsdale and Port Chester, liberal suburban areas in Westchester County, New York, located north of New York City. The study compares zoning laws, demographics and public school performance in the neighboring towns as a case study for how liberal suburbs prevent low-income people and racial minorities from moving in.

“Today, among the most important government policies and practices driving segregation include (1) decisions about where to place public housing; and (2) flagrant income discrimination through exclusionary zoning (which disproportionately hurts people of color),” the study reads.

Scarsdale has a median household income of $250,000 and its population is 71.2% white, with 90.7% of adults having attained a bachelor’s degree or more of education, according to data from New York University’s (NYU) Furman Center. Port Chester has an $88,093 median income and its population is 64.2% Hispanic, with 31.1% of adults attaining at least a bachelor’s degree.

I call your attention to this because I saw something very similar in person last week. I attended a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting at a local village hall (I’ll keep it anonymous to avoid embarrassing them). The agenda included a discussion with a public hearing on annexing a 2.6 acre property to provide affordable rental apartments for people with limited means.

Renters would have to prove credit-worthy, undergo a background check, and the government would subsidize their rental to make it affordable. The plan would require the property to be rezoned from single home residential properties to a multi-family residence (specfically a two-story apartment building).

The property in question sits adjacent to a neighborhood that is unincorporated and therefore not part of the village. However, the residents of that neighborhood were out in force to oppose the planned development and rezoning. They weren’t the only ones who spoke; there were a few who spoke in support of the affordable housing. But those who supported the development were in the minority.

The town is not a liberal stronghold, but skews Democrat. Although 48% are Protestant or Catholic, 46% claim no religion. 81.2% of residents have earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

As of 2021, the village has 20,000 residents, 87 percent of whom are white, 1% who are black, 9% who are Asian, and 4% who are Hispanic or Latino. 3.8% of residents live in poverty.

The median income is $118,000, the average cost of a single-family home is $401,000, and the tax rate is 9.5%. 81% of residents own their home, while the other 19% rent. The cost of living is in the “Highest” range as compared across the United States as a whole.

In other words, it’s a wealthy town.

With that as background, I was stunned at what I heard as person after person got up to oppose the planned development. Almost to a person they started off their comments with something like, “No one here opposes helping the underresourced, but …”

After issuing this disclaimer, one homeowner got up and literally said, “I live next door to the property. I’ve lived there for 30-some years” and then he described how he had succeeded through his own hard work to live there. He then proceeded to say, “You’ve heard of NIMBY — well I’m that guy.”

“NIMBY” means Not In My Back Yard. I’m all for helping the poor, but do it somewhere else.

Another woman, a German immigrant who still has her accent, got up to oppose the project. She literally said, “Will you do background checks on anyone who visits the residents?” This was such an affront that a person in the audience gasped, “O-M-G” and was admonished by the deputy chair to keep it quiet.

I was told that at the June meeting, one resident said that they wanted people like themselves to move in, not the icky poor people.

My church fellowship supports this endeavor, but several residents of the neighboring community made it a point that “God” has nothing to do with rezoning the property. In fact, many sent in what seems to be a form letter, one of which reads, in part:

Keep God out of it. Well, what do you expect from a community where nearly half of the residents don’t practice any sort of religion?

What’s amazing is that a mostly white, wealthy community that leans Democrat is doing everything they can to keep the poor out of their neighborhood, and thus reflect the opening paragraph of The Century Foundation’s report:

New York State, like many other states, has a housing affordability crisis, which also exacerbates large inequalities between local public education systems. Government zoning laws that constrain the supply of housing and exclude people of modest means from living in high-opportunity communities are a major cause of both problems. While most of the debates in New York over housing policy have centered around the first problem—the ways in which restrictive zoning drives up housing prices—this report focuses on an equally important and often overlooked challenge, the impact of zoning on the educational opportunities of children.

Liberals talk a good game but are hypocrites when it comes to practicing what they preach. They’re ready to label you a racist if you oppose throwing our borders open to hundreds of thousands of the world’s poor, but once those peasants wind up in their town, they scream “Not in my backyard!”

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Daily Broadside | New App Schedules Time to Enter Country Illegally

When you think of illegal aliens, a.k.a illegal immigrants, a.k.a. undocumented immigrants, a.k.a. migrants, what images come to mind? Do you imagine a family — a mom, a dad, two kids — wading into the Rio Grande river on the Mexico border, fighting the current and struggling to keep their heads above water as they try to wade, swim and float to the other side? Do you see them scrambling up through the brush on the Texas side of the river, collapsing in the dust and waiting for U.S. border patrol to pick them up?

Maybe you see them piling out of a semi-trailer along a deserted highway in the Arizona desert after making the harrowing journey hidden from U.S. Customs and Border Protection? Maybe you think of infrared videos showing white figures against a grainy gray background climbing over a wall separating Mexico into San Diego.

Maybe you remember the Central American caravans that traveled all the way up through Mexico and attempted to bum rush the border. Or the thousands of “migrants” camped on the border just waiting for Title 42 to expire. Or this administation’s secret flights and bus rides of foreigners to unknown destinations across the U.S.

Whatever you see, I’ll bet nothing has prepared you to see what Ben Bergquam has documented.

What is the CBP1? CBP One is an app that can be downloaded from any online store that offers mobile applications. Why are illegal aliens using it?

The CBP One app is one of the latest tools the Biden administration is using to funnel illegal immigrants into the United States, while obfuscating the true scope of the border crisis. As Mark Krikorian, host of Parsing Immigration Policy and executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, puts it, the app allows illegal immigrants to “essentially schedule their illegal immigration into the United States.”

Andrew Arthur, the Center’s resident fellow in law and policy and a former immigration judge, joins this week’s podcast to discuss the creation of the CBP One app and how it operates. At its inception during the Covid pandemic in October 2020, the CBP One app was intended to allow legitimate travelers to schedule appointments at ports of entry to limit the amount of time that travelers were spending face-to-face with CBP officers.

However, the Biden administration now uses the app to allow travelers arriving without proper documentation to enter the United States – travelers who normally would have no right to enter the country. Migrants can only make appointments through the app in Mexico and Central America, which has encouraged aspiring illegal immigrants to employ smugglers. There is also now a huge backlog of migrants in Mexico waiting for appointments through the CBP One app.

In his closing commentary, Krikorian highlights the deceptive CBP border numbers released this week. The Biden administration reports a 70 percent reduction in unlawful entries “between ports of entry.” However, closer inspection of the numbers shows that the Biden administration has simply allowed illegal immigrants to enter at ports of entry using the CBP One app, so they appear “legal.”

Instead of crossing the border between ports of entry by crossing a river or scaling a fence, Brandon is simply letting illegals schedule an appointment at a legitimate port of entry and then facilitating their entry into the U.S. As the numbers of foreigners using the app increase, the number of those trying to avoid the ports of entry decrease.

Slick.

But how many illegals are being processed and let into the country, like in the video above?

Under the CLAP rule, the asylum and protection claims of aliens who cross the border illegally between the ports are subject to a higher level of scrutiny, while those who take advantage of the CBP One app port interview scheme have their claims considered under the (much looser) prevailing standards.

Well, that’s what the administration claims. In May, CBP both lifted a requirement that aliens who take advantage of the scheme show up at a time certain (they can now appear at any point in a 23-hour window) and expanded the number of available interview slots from 1,000 per day to 1,250; in June, the number of CBP One port interview slots was expanded further, to 1,450 daily — or 529,000-plus per year.

There’s no way CBP officers at the ports can reasonably evaluate protection claims made by 1,450 CBP One app interviewees per day, and especially no way they can do so for aliens who appear at 11:00 at night. And there’s really, really no way they can vet more than 99 percent of those 1,450 aliens per day in any meaningful way before releasing them into the United States.

This is nothing more than a shell game concocted by carnies at the White House and DHS to hide the millions of aliens the Biden administration is allowing to pour over the Southwest border into the United States. Worse, it’s criminally reckless, as it flouts not only our norms and laws but also the very security of the nation and of towns and cities nationwide to which those aliens are headed.

But at least it allows the Biden administration to crow that Border Patrol apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico line have now fallen below 100,000 per month — for now.

The anti-Americans in the White House not only lie about the condition of the border, they’re actually using slight-of-hand to make us think they’re reducing the flow of illegals when, in fact, they’re simply hiding the true number of illegals they’re helping into the U.S.

There is no way to describe what’s happening other than an invasion. It’s not being done with guns and violence from an enemy nation, but it’s being done BY OUR OWN LEADERS who are subverting our laws with the intent of destroying the unique American culture that built and sustained this county for the last 200 years. It’s a specific strategy to undermine the strength of the U.S. to bring it more in line with what the Diversity Brigade wants, which is to tear down a superior culture in order to make it more “equitable” to whoever they deem to be “oppressed.”

It’s insidious, unconscionable, malicious and treasonous. I don’t care what the Marxist-infused Leftists about white people and our national heritage.

But here’s a twist for believers. If and when you are confronted with someone who is here illegally, never forget that they matter to our heavenly Father. They are created in His image Jesus died for each one.

We have to separate our dismay about people entering the country illegally from our attitude toward illegal aliens themselves. You can be angry at our lawless governors and their destructive intentions while still extending the arms of Christ to those who have flaunted our laws with the blessing of the state.

You don’t have to accept the reckless and illegal policies of our government; you can support the deportation of anyone here illegally; and you can love someone while they’re here.

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Daily Broadside | A Confidential Source Says the Bidens Were Bribed to Protect Burisma

I feel like a truant high schooler when I miss more than a day of posting, but the truth is that my life is just packed this summer with all kinds of projects and a wedding in the fall. I really want the Daily Broadside to live up to its name, so I’ll keep pushing to figure out how to do better.

Thanks to those of you commenting, and hello to some new suscribers. Glad to have you.

Did you see that Sen. Chuck Grassley released a document today in which a confidential human source (CHS) says that the Ukrainian oligarch who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden, was “coerced” into sending them money?

Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, the Ukrainian oligarch who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden, was “coerced” into sending them money, according to an FBI FD-1023 form released Thursday by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Zlochevsky and the confidential human source (CHS) allegedly participated in a phone call after the 2016 presidential election, in which Zlochevsky said he was “pushed to pay” the Bidens and did not want to send the money, according to the form.

“CHS asked Zlochevsky whether he was concerned about Burisma’s involvement with the Bidens. Zlochevsky stated he didn’t want to pay the Bidens and he was ‘pushed to pay’ them,” the FD-1023 form reads.

“(CHS explained the Russian term Zlochevsky used to explain the payments was ‘poluchili’ (transliterated by the CHS), which literally translates to ‘got it’ or ‘received it,’ but is also used in Russian-criminal-slang for being ‘forced or coerced to pay’,” the form continues.

“CHS then stated, ‘l hope you have some back-up (proof) for your words (namely, that Zlochevsky was ‘forced’ to pay the Bidens). Zlochevsky replied he has many text messages and ‘recordings’ that show that he was coerced to make such payments,” the form adds.

“Zlochevsky asked whether it would make any (legal) difference whether he voluntarily made such payments, or if he was ‘forced’ to make them,” the form continues.

The Ukrainian oligarch said he had a total of “17 recordings” involving the Bidens including two featuring Joe Biden, according to the form. The other 15 recordings allegedly only feature Hunter Biden, who served on Burisma’s board beginning in April 2014 until he left the position in 2019.

The FBI sat on this information to protect “the Big Guy.” Replace the name “Biden” with “Trump” and the ink wouldn’t even be dry on the leak to the press before the articles of impeachment were drafted. Yet this scummy agency and Merrick Garland’s DOJ do NOTHING about this clear threat to national security.

Congress and Granny Box Wine impeached Trump twice with little more than hearsay, yet the evidence is overwhelming that the Biden family has been involved in criminal, if not treasonous, activity to enrich themselves and to hell with what it means to the country.

CHS was made aware of Hunter Biden’s position on the Burisma board of directors during the initial meeting, where he was told Hunter Biden was hired to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” while Joe Biden was serving as vice president, according to the FBI form. Burisma wanted additional assistance with the U.S. acquisition because they did not believe Hunter Biden was smart, the FBI form continues.

But Joe considers Hunter the smartest guy he knows.

At the Austria meeting, the CHS allegedly told Burisma it would be difficult for the IPO to take place while then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General (PGO) Viktor Shokin was investigating the firm. Zlochevsky told the source, “Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad,” according to the FBI form.

Oh. So a protection racket. But the Resident swears he never discussed business dealings with his son backed by his word as a Biden.

How much money did the Ukrainian pay the Bidens?

After an investigation of Burisma by Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was disclosed in 2016, the source told Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of Burisma, that the disclosure would have a negative effect on the prospective initial public offering. Mr. Zlochevsky replied that Mr. Hunter Biden “will take care of all of those issues through his dad,” according to the document.

Mr. Zlochevsky was also cited as saying that it cost $5 million to pay one Biden and $5 million to pay another Biden.

The source replied that payments to the Bidens would complicate matters and that the Bidens didn’t have experience with the oil and gas sector, according to the document. Mr. Zlochevsky said that despite his low opinion of Mr. Hunter Biden’s intelligence, Mr. Zlochevsky needed to keep him on the board “so everything will be okay.” He also said both Bidens had told him that Mr. Hunter Biden needed to remain on the board.

At about the same time, Mr. Joe Biden, U.S. vice president at the time, was pressuring Ukrainian officials to fire Mr. Shokin.

“‘We’re leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Mr. Joe Biden said at a public event about the interaction, referring to a $1 billion loan guarantee he threatened to withhold. “Well, son of a [expletive]. He got fired.”

Mr. Shokin has said that the threat was cited when he was ousted. He said in a sworn statement that then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked him to resign because of “pressure from the U.S. presidential administration, in particular from Joe Biden.”

The FBI source told the bureau that he gleaned from the conversation that payments had already been made to the Bidens, presumably to deal with Mr. Shokin.

The Bidens are a corrupt, malicious, self-gratifying crime family. While they use their positions of power and proximity to power to enrich themselves and lie about everything to maintain their grift, they destroy the country they swore to serve. Well, only Brandon swore, but he and his family are suckling at the teats of the great American sow.

If our government now protects the corrupt and prosecutes the innocent, looking for a crime that fits the man, we no longer have a “democracy” or a “republic.” We have an unaccountable, lawless criminal enterprise that is hellbent on keeping its power and protecting itself.

The colonies of the 1700s rebelled over much less.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | ‘Not My Concern’: Pence Tanks His Campaign With Odd Response

When Trump chose Mike Pence as his VP, I thought that Pence was a good choice (and it made a funny “Trumpence” sound). By all accounts he was a seasoned Christian man, he guarded his marriage by not having a meal alone with another woman and, as governor of Indiana, he seemed to have done an adequate job.

But ever since the events of January 6 and its aftermath, when Pence refused to challenge the results of the 2020 election even though there was plenty of evidence of fraud, he has revealed himself to be more of an establishment figure.

One thing we don’t need right now is an establishment figure.

Fortunately, Pence did us all a favor and deep-sixed whatever minimal chance he might have had as a candidate.

But even though Tucker emerged as one of the stars of the evening, the show was not about him but about that clutch of GOP hopefuls. Who among that gang of six won?

It’s probably easier to start with the loser, chief among whom was Mike Pence, who might just as well have used the occasion to perform an act of self-immolation. The key moment came in an exchange about foreign policy, in particular U.S. policy with respect to the war in Ukraine. Pence said he was distressed that we had yet to send Ukraine the promised Abrams tanks or train Ukrainian pilots to fly F16s.

“You are distressed,” said Tucker, “that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks. Every city in the United States has become much worse in the last three years. . . .and yet your concern is that the Ukrainians . . . don’t have enough tanks? Where’s the concern in the United States in that?”

“Well, that’s not my concern. Tucker, I’ve heard that routine from you before, but that’s not my concern.”

“Not my concern.”

Bang. “Not my concern.”

While Mollie Hemingway was generous in her critique of the comment, that phrase is going to haunt Pence for the remainder of his campaign. It was not at all clear what was “not” Pence’s concern, but it sure sounded like it was America and its problems, rather than a proxy war in which we have almost no vested interest.

My take on it is that whether he was referring to our support of the war in Ukraine or he was referring to the sad state of American cities, saying that either is “not my concern” is a rather stunning backhand to the question.

And Carlson is no slouch — he was direct with all the candidates who sat with him in the forum.

Carlson is free to ask difficult questions since he is not working for the establishment media. He lost his evening TV show because his populist questions prompted Fox’s establishment board to shut him down, despite the resulting huge loss of viewers.

By the way, Fox News aired their “new and improved” lineup last night of Ingram, Watters, Hannity and Gutfeld. Do they really think that rearranging the deck chairs is going to save this sinking ship? More to the point, do they even care?

In fact, Carlson has a pocketbook and a ratings incentive to keep the pressure on politicians. Millions of ordinary Americans have given up on the establishment’s media coverage of the establishment’s political priorities. That popularity was made clear the next day when Carlson spoke at the TPUSA Conference in Florida:

[…]

Several of the politicians stared daggers at Carlson — and the leading candidate refused to sit in the hot seat.

That’s what I find refreshing about Carlson — he seems to be fearless and isn’t interested in soft focus interviews. That’s also what I found refreshing about Trump: he didn’t play the game — he disrupted it. That’s what Tucker is doing — disrupting the “normal” routine we’re used to seeing with political figures.

Carlson is doing the American public a favor by exposing the thinking underneath what they say on the surface.

If the participants thought this was going to be another tongue bath, they were certainly surprised. He asked hard questions, and some of their answers exposed their muddled thinking. At least two of them – Asa Hutchinson and Mike Pence — were clear losers and can now be safely considered out of the running.

For what it’s worth, of all the candidates not named Trump, I currently like Ramaswamy and DeSantis.

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Daily Broadside | Uncovering the Truth About AI As a Blog Writer

I’m new to AI-driven content. I keep hearing how AI platforms effortlessly create written reports and articles, computer code, music, visual art and more. As a writer, this comes as a bit of shock to me. I’ve always thought my career was fairly safe from cost-savings strategies, like outsourcing writing to India or Poland or the Philippines, where English is often a second language. But the onset of AI-powered tasking is suddenly the talk of the town.

On Nov. 30, 2022, ChatGPT was released to very little fanfare. Today, it is a hot topic in the media and politics, the subject of hand wringing among any number of sectors fearing inaccurate, harmful, or otherwise unethical results. At the G-7 Summit May 21-23, global leaders paid special attention to AI, committing to work with technology leaders to ensure safe and trustworthy AI, and in June, prompted by public ChatGPT concerns, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for the U.S. to regulate AI. On July 13, the Federal Trade Commission announced its investigation of the headline-grabbing technology.  

ChatGPT seems to have captured public attention by its timing and its features. It promises to automate much of the work many of us procrastinate doing, from writing reports and documents to conducting research. It has made us pause and question what the future of work, school, even our personal lives will be if we are relying on AI to do it.  

At dinner this weekend, a friend extolled the benefits of AI and how he asked ChatGPT to write a set of emails that he could send in a drip campaign to promote his business. He was astonished when it returned the emails with the right tone, the right information, and the right sequencing that he was looking for — all in a matter of seconds.

Curious, I thought, “maybe this ChatGPT thingy could help me write a blog post.” Of course, it would have to retain my signature wit, charm and searing insights. No small task for a soulless machine that collects data and spits out a totally emotionless product for free.

So I asked it to write a blog post examining the investigation of cocaine found in the White House. Here’s what it gave me in about 30 seconds:

Title: Uncovering the Truth: Examining the Investigation of Cocaine Found in the White House

Introduction: In a shocking turn of events, the recent discovery of cocaine within the confines of the White House has sent ripples through the nation. As the investigation unfolds, it becomes crucial to examine the circumstances surrounding this incident and shed light on the steps being taken to uncover the truth. This blog post aims to delve into the ongoing investigation, highlighting its significance, potential challenges, and the implications it holds for the reputation of the White House and the wider implications for national security.

  1. The Gravity of the Situation: The presence of illegal substances within the White House is an unprecedented breach of security. It raises concerns about the vulnerability of one of the most heavily guarded places in the country. The investigation should leave no stone unturned in order to determine how such a breach occurred and identify the individuals responsible. This is not just about illicit drugs; it is about the integrity and sanctity of an institution that holds immense symbolic value.
  2. Transparency and Impartiality: To maintain public trust, the investigation must be conducted with utmost transparency and impartiality. It is imperative that all involved parties, whether they are White House staff, visitors, or other individuals, are subjected to a fair and comprehensive examination. Any perception of bias or cover-up would further erode public confidence in the investigation’s findings and undermine the credibility of the White House as an institution.
  3. The Challenge of Internal Investigations: Investigating illegal activities within the White House poses unique challenges. The very nature of the environment necessitates thorough scrutiny of the staff and individuals who have access to the premises. Balancing the need for confidentiality and preserving national security with the imperative of accountability is a delicate task. This investigation should strive to strike the right balance and ensure that no one is above the law, regardless of their position.
  4. National Security Implications: While the immediate concern lies in identifying those responsible for the cocaine, the investigation must also assess any potential threats to national security. The presence of illicit substances within the White House raises questions about possible vulnerabilities that could be exploited for nefarious purposes. It is vital that the investigation examines any links between the drugs and national security risks, ensuring appropriate measures are taken to safeguard the country’s safety and information.
  5. Rebuilding Trust and Restoring Integrity: The investigation’s outcome will have far-reaching implications for the reputation of the White House. The administration must demonstrate a commitment to transparency, accountability, and rectifying any flaws in the security protocols. It is crucial to restore public trust in the institution by actively addressing the situation, holding responsible parties accountable, and implementing necessary changes to prevent future incidents.

Conclusion: The investigation into the cocaine found within the White House carries immense significance beyond the scope of illegal drugs. It is a pivotal moment to assess the security measures, hold individuals accountable, and uphold the integrity of the institution. By conducting a transparent and impartial investigation, the White House can rebuild public trust, strengthen its security protocols, and reaffirm its commitment to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct. Only by uncovering the truth and taking appropriate actions can the White House regain its standing as a symbol of governance and inspire confidence in the American people.

I don’t know about you, but I’m underwhelmed. It reads like a position paper written by a committee of Republicans who are feigning interest while trying to look busy. Did you notice what ISN’T mentioned in that “blog” post?

Hunter Biden. Wouldn’t you think that the central suspect would be fair game? But NOoooOO, it’s kept as sterile as a hospital room.

Worse, it’s written as though we’re still operating under the rules of the old regime. “By conducting a transparent and impartial investigation, the White House can rebuild public trust, strengthen its security protocols, and reaffirm its commitment to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct.” This adminstration is the farthest thing from the “highest standards” of “professionalism and ethical conduct.”

Those rules no longer apply.

Of all the excuses offered by the Secret Service to explain why they shut down the White House cocaine investigation last week after just 11 days, one jumped out as particularly ridiculous. 

They couldn’t conduct interviews of potential cokeheads known to be in the vicinity of where the bag of drugs was found, because they didn’t want to infringe on their civil rights, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC. 

“We have no evidence to approach them,” he said of 500 possible suspects identified in the area on the holiday weekend before July 4. 

Hah! Tell that to the hundreds of people rounded up by the FBI for just being in the vicinity of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

Sorry, nobody believes that the Biden administration cares about safeguarding civil liberties unless it’s part of a coverup. 

It looks like I’ll have to keep writing my own blog posts. At least until AI platforms develop a healthy dose of skepticism and snark.

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Daily Broadside | Bud Light Falls Out of the Top Ten Popular Beers in America

Sorry for being AWOL the last couple of mornings. Family responsibilities kept me busy.

When the experimental Titan submersible went missing a few weeks ago, the whole world felt the tension as rescuers launched a seemingly impossible effort to locate and raise the sub before its air supply ran out. As we all know now, it was a recovery effort from the start, not a rescue, because the Titan experienced an implosion and lay in pieces on the ocean floor.

An implosion is when the external pressure on a container becomes too great and it collapses in on itself. I like the way this article states it: “a phenomenon experienced by an object when the external pressure becomes so high that it manages to overcome the resistance of the vessel’s body.”

The Titan saga, tragic as it is, reminds me of what is happening to Bud Light right now.

Bud Light is no longer one of America’s 10 most popular beers following months of a boycott over its partnership with a transgender influencer, according to a YouGov survey.

The survey, which measures popular opinion on beers, found that Bud Light fell from the list of Americans’ top 10 favorite beers. The poll, which surveyed Americans during the second quarter of 2023, found the percentage of people who “like” the beer hasn’t changed and still sits at 42 percent, but the percentage of those who like rival drinks soared. Guinness, Corona, and Heineken ranked as the three most-liked beers in 2023. They clocked approval ratings of 58 percent, 53 percent, and 51 percent, respectively.

Bud Light has also lost its position as America’s top-selling beer. In addition, parent company Anheuser-Busch’s market cap has fallen by $20 billion.

As if that weren’t enough, the company can’t even give it away. Besides that, Costco, the warehouse discount retailer, has marked Bud Light with its dreaded “Death Star” — an asterisk on their pricing signs.

It’s the logo that Costco shoppers dread: when the “Death Star” appears next to their favorite item, indicating that the discount retail giant won’t restock once current inventory has sold out. Just this year, the Death Star has appeared on Filthy brand blue cheese olives, Kinder’s organic toasted onion dip mix, and Jonny Pops chocolate dipped strawberry pops.

Now the Death Star has been spotted adorning the price signs for Bud Light, which was the most popular beer in America back in the olden days of […checks notes…] a couple months ago.

This, my friends, is an implosion, “when the external pressure becomes so high that it manages to overcome the resistance of the vessel’s body.” Tranheuser-Busch has resisted apologizing to their customer base and has tried to thread the needle between angry conservatives (i.e. Normals) and angry Marxist-infused trans-anarchists. It’s not working, and the pressure that conservatives have brought to bear on the company is not only threatening their flagship beer, but other brands that AB owns.

As Bud Light continues to face plummeting sales amid a conservative boycott over its collaboration with a transgender influencer, other brands made by parent company Anheuser-Busch are also taking a hit.

Sales of Michelob Ultra fell by 4.3 percent in the week that ended July 1 compared with last year, and Busch Light was down 8.5 percent, the New York Post reported. Both brands are, like Bud Light, owned by the Anheuser-Busch brewing company.

“Budweiser trends have been slipping for a very long time, but it’s the Michelob Ultra negative numbers and now Busch Light negative trends that are most alarming to me,” Bump Williams, whose consulting firm ran the numbers from NielsenIQ data, told the Post. “They were very healthy prior to April 1.”

Conservatives, generally speaking, don’t want to mete out a beat down; they’d like to resolve their conflicts peaceably. But we’re beginning to wake up to the fact that the LGBTQXYZ+ tyrants aren’t interested in resolving anything “peaceably” — unless it is total submission to their ideology. They don’t want just tolerance; they want complete affirmation and obedience to their diktats.

This is the first time that I can remember a boycott this effective. I no longer buy Gillette, I don’t shop at Target, I’ve dropped Fox News (I still peruse their online site) and I don’t watch the NFL, NBA, MLB or any other political organization masquerading as a sport. Some of them, like Target and the NBA, have lost a lot of brand value, but continue to operate with pretty much the same framework.

Bud Light, however, is in a free fall. They offended their customer base so severely that prior customers have abandoned them completely.

Of course I’m pleased by this because as I’ve written before (here and here), it’s not enough to just temporarily boycott offending brands. You have to abandon them. And that’s what this feels like: conservatives are finally demonstrating that they’ve had enough of corporate wokeness and their pressure on Bud Light in the form of abandonment has caused an implosion of the brand.

An apology at this point won’t be enough to bring their customers back. Bud Light is dead to the American Right. It may survive as a brand of beer, but it won’t thrive. Tranheuser-Busch ignored the warning signs, the blinking lights, the concerns about its new “strategy” to refresh the “fratty, kind of out-of-touch” consumers and charged ahead anyway.

It brought the implosion on itself and has only itself to blame.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | The Church is Being Infected by Wokeism

It probably shouldn’t surprise us that our secular culture is being “wokeified” because a secular culture is what results when the people ignore what God has said.

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.
    But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
— Proverbs 29:18 NLT

What might be more surprising is the “wokeification” that’s taking place among those who are supposedly paying attention to what God says. In the last few weeks there have been stories that are alarming examples of what happens when men and women who lead churches lose their sense of God’s revealed will.

Andy Stanley, the founder and pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, recently said that believers should not insist on biblical inerrancy because it’s an issue that keeps potential converts from coming to faith.

Stanley explains his apologetic:

“The bottom line in terms of what a person must believe about the bible in order to be a follower of Jesus, it’s really this simple: you just have to believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John are reliable accounts of actual events. That’s it. … because if you do, then you will also believe that Jesus, who claimed to be the son of God and our king, and everything we’ve stated in this series follows from that one idea.”

He notes that Christian apologists always build their case on the resurrection of Jesus, not the inspiration of the Bible, and that “our faith does not rise or fall on an errorless text” or a bible without error, but rather Christianity rises or falls on the identity of Jesus. 

Without going into a long discussion about the inspiration and infallibility of the biblical texts, it is possible to agree with Stanley without agreeing with his conclusion about infallibility or inerrency. For instance, “Christianity rises or falls on the identity of Jesus.” That’s true. Our faith is not founded on the biblical text itself, but on the real, historical manifestation of Jesus, his resurrection from the dead, and his ongoing, current existence. As Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14). It’s not the text that saves us (see John 5:39-40).

Someone who follows Jesus and is led by the Spirit but does not accept that the bible is without error is not committing an unpardonable sin. In other words, I believe that person’s salvation is secure. We don’t insist that someone who doesn’t accept biblical infallibility cannot be saved or cannot be a Christ follower.

However, such a person does leave themselves open to confusion and error because they cannot be sure what is and is not true in the scriptures, including what it says about Jesus. Such a view of scripture also leads to uncertainty about how to live as a believer, because you can’t logically determine what can and can’t be trusted in the bible. It would be very easy under the cultural pressure we face to simply declare that a biblical prohibition against homosexuality, for example, is an “error.”

While Stanley’s concern for those who are near-converts is admirable, I think he makes a dangerous compromise that unnecessarily muddies the waters for his congregants and for new believers.

Stanley’s theology is controversial but generally still within mainstream Christianity. Not so the next two stories, which take place in more radically progressive congregations.

First up is a female Lutheran pastor who led her congregation in reciting the “sparkle creed.“

A female Lutheran pastor in Minnesota has gone viral for leading her congregation in a “sparkle creed” prayer in honor of LGBT pride month in which she described God as “nonbinary” and Christ Jesus as having “two dads.”

Anna Helgen, co-pastor of Edina Community Lutheran Church (ECLC) in Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis, delivered the prayer during a Sunday service live stream on June 25, when she called on members of the church to stand in honor of the “sparkle creed.”

In this prayer, Helgen recited a statement of faith known on social media as the “sparkle creed.”

“I believe in the nonbinary God, whose pronouns are plural,” Helgen said. “I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic, and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling child of God.

“I believe in the rainbow spirit who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity. I believe in the church of everyday saints, as numerous, creative and resilient as patches on the … quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars in wonder. I believe in the calling to each of us that love is love is love, so beloved let us love. 

“I believe, glorious God, help my unbelief, Amen.”

The “sparkle creed” may be a “statment of faith,” but it’s not based on any biblical text that I know. This is what is called eisegesis, which means reading into a text one’s own ideas. Instead of coming to the text humbly and allowing it to inform you, you come to the text to inform it — you’re telling the text what it means instead of letting the text speak for itself.

It’s clear that the creed she cites is not biblical, and it is certainly not Christianity. I don’t know what you’d call it, but it is a false religion with a Christian gloss using made up creeds to patronize a rebellious “community.”

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” — Exodus 32:1

Then there’s the “problematic” use of “Our Father” in the Lord’s prayer.

The woke Church of England’s latest assault on the tenets of the Christian religion is apparently the Lord’s Prayer, which the Archbishop of York has criticised for being “oppressively patriarchal” over its reference to “Our Father”.

During a meeting of the General Synod, Church of England’s governing body, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell called into question the use of the Lord’s Prayer, branding the prayer offered to Christians by Jesus Christ during the Sermon on the Mount as “problematic”.

“I know the word ‘father’ is problematic for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive, and for all of us who have laboured rather too much from an oppressively patriarchal grip on life,” Archbishop Cottrell said according to GB News.

“We remain stubbornly unreconciled, appear complacent about division, and often also appear all too ready to divide again… We have got used to disunity,” he added, continuing: “We think it’s normal when in fact, it is a disgrace, an affront to Christ and all he came to give us.”

The comments from Cottrell, the second-highest ranking bishop in the Church, come amid a broader push to adopt progressive beliefs from the CoE leadership, which voted to allow priests to offer “prayers for God’s blessing” for same-sex marriages earlier this year for the first time in the history of the established church of England.

Again, this is a case of taking cues from the culture rather than from the scriptures. These aren’t people who are serious about reverencing God and His Word. To say that the word “father” is problematic because some people had horrible experiences with their biological or adoptive fathers is to miss that our Heavenly Father is not a bigger version of our earthly father — He’s something altogether different. He’s the ideal of what a father should be.

To “correct” the terminology that Jesus used and taught us to pray is unimaginably arrogant. It’s a case of allowing our compassion for the misfortune of others to override our sense of propriety by changing the system or the terms or the story, as opposed to encouraging the wounded to come to the Father as he is and casting themselves on his mercy and compassion.

Never presume to come to God on your own terms. We come to God on His terms.

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.  — Leviticus 10:1-2

I sincerely wonder how it is that the Lutheran pastor and the Archbishop of York can still consider themselves part of the true Christian church, but they do. They seem to take a Darwinian approach to God’s relationship to man, meaning that our theology must evolve to meet people where they’re at today.

A recent article titled, “Queering Jesus: How It’s Going Mainstream at Progressive Churches and Top Divinity Schools,” examines “how progressive churches are moving beyond gay rights, even beyond transgender acceptance, and venturing into the realm of ‘queer theology.’ Rather than merely settling for the acceptance of gender-nonconforming people within existing marital norms and social expectations, queer theology questions heterosexual assumptions and binary gender norms as limiting, oppressive and anti-biblical, and centers queerness as the redemptive message of Christianity.”

Perverse, blasphemous, narcissistic, heathenish, heretical and cultish are the ways in which queer theology will appear to traditional Christians and to many nonreligious people with a conventional notion of religion. Robert Gagnon, a professor of New Testament theology at Houston Baptist Seminary, described the movement as a form of Gnosticism, referring to a heresy that has surfaced in various periods of church history. Followers of Gnostic cults claimed they possessed esoteric or mystical knowledge that is not accessible to the uninitiated and the impure, Gagnon said, a belief that often leads to obsessive or outlandish sexual practices, like radical abstinence and purity, or libertinism and licentiousness.

Beneath the theological posturing about disrupting power, he said, is an insatiable will to accumulate power. 

“They’re only for subversion until they’re in power,” Gagnon said. “And then they’re adamantly opposed to subversion.”

It’s a perversion of the scriptures and all authentic, biblically-centered Christians must be on their guard against the insidious nature of the woke theology that threatens to destroy their faith and reject it with extreme prejudice.

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Daily Broadside | Sleeper Hit “Sound of Freedom” Makes Its Money Back While Championing A Cause Hollywood Ignores

Happy Monday. Hope you had a good weekend.

My wife and I went with another couple to see Sound of Freedom, the movie starring Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) that outperformed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in it’s opening day sales.

Elsewhere, and in nearly 2,000 fewer theaters than Dial of Dud (2,850 compared to 4,600), Sound of Freedom, AKA the Little Christian-Themed Indie That Disney Dumped, hauled in another $15.2 million. By Monday, this $14.5 million budgeted movie — THAT DISNEY DUMPED – will have grossed close to $40 million.

Sound of Freedom — THE MOVIE DISNEY DUMPED – came in number three at the box office and – UNLIKE DISNEY’S DIAL OF DUD — is already making millions in profit. In its second weekend, Sound of Freedom trounced the opening weekend of Joy Ride, a woke comedy—he wrote as though “woke comedy” is not an oxymoron—that belly-flopped in 2,850 theaters with just $6 million.

How’s that for justice? Disney acquired 20th Century-Fox in 2019 and immediately shelves Sound of Freedom, which wrapped in 2018. Why would Disney shelve a $14.5 million Christian-themed film when Christian-themed films make money? Easy answer: it’s a Christian movie. Also, Sound of Freedom sounds an alarm about child exploitation, and as we now know, Disney is pro-child exploitation.

I’d call the film a “docudrama” because it is based on a true story but it is more drama than thriller, and there’s no doubt that Sound of Freedom is a compelling movie. It’s based on the true story of Tim Ballard (Caviezel), a U.S. Homeland Investigations agent hunting pedophiles who quits his job in order to rescue children from global sex traffickers.

As a visual experience, the cinematography is excellent. The acting throughout is believable, and of particular note is the performance of Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave; Joker) who plays Vampiro, a former cartel boss trying to expunge the evil he has himself engaged in by rescuing trafficked children.

POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD

The story is provocative and gripping (although a bit choppy in the beginning), even though it depicts nothing explicit. The violence and cruelty are all implied, allowing it to keep its PG-13 rating (language, smoking, drug and sexual references). Even a scene of hand-to-hand combat that ends with the death of a trafficker is mostly done in the shadows and we’re only shown his lifeless legs.

That reticence to more fully depict violence leads me to my only real complaint about the film: it feels “flat” because there’s no real emotional rhthym of build and release. Caviezel shows plenty of tears, but his character portrayal comes across as a strictly one note grim, with only one notable moment of humor to break the monotony.

The subject matter is sobering and tough to watch, but the gut-wrenching agony of losing a child and the terror of what they have been through would seem to elicit more grief from the parents and the children. The prospect of being reunited with a child thought to be lost would also seem to generate overwhelming emotion, but it remains very reserved throughout.

END POSSIBLE SPOILER

None of that is to dissuade you from seeing the film; far from it. Not only does it tackle a topic that Hollywood largely avoids, it has the noble purpose of trying to raise awareness of a global business that does $150 billion in transactions annually. This despite the film being completed in 2018 and then being shelved by Disney. Freedom only gained its freedom after a crowd-funding effort.

That’s too bad because there’s obviously an audience for it. While some film critics have been unnecessarily harsh in their reviews (looking at you, Rolling Stone), at least one recognized that one doesn’t have to be a Christian to appreciate what the film tries to accomplish.

In a largely positive review, Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman wrote, “Let’s assume that, like me, you’re not a right-wing fundamentalist conspiracy theorist looking for a dark, faith-based suspense film to see over the holiday weekend. (The movie opens July 3.) Even then, you needn’t hold extreme beliefs to experience ‘Sound of Freedom’ as a compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from.” Other critics seemed to agree, giving “Sound of Freedom” an impressive 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Go see it. And take someone with you.