October 17, 2023 Good morning, Leading the News . . . US Takes Key Step Toward Using Military Force in Case Iran Enters War . . . The House Foreign Affairs Committee is drawing up legislation to give the
go-ahead for U.S. military force in the Middle East if Iranian-backed forces become involved in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the committee's chair has said. "I hope I never have to mark this bill up," Texas Representative Michael McCaul told CNN on Monday, adding lawmakers were drafting the legislation "in the event that it's necessary." "But we have a situation in the Middle East that's growing day by day with intensity," he said. "And if Hezbollah gets involved, Iran
has already threatened [...] if IDF (Israel Defense Forces) goes into Gaza that they're gonna come out." Newsweek Russia played both Israel and Hamas: Here’s why Putin has picked the side of the terrorists . . . Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the creation of an
"independent, sovereign Palestinian state" and accused Israel of having taken by force "native Palestinian" lands." Putin’s statement, made in Moscow, during an international forum "Russian Energy Week," marks the reversal of the Kremlin’s almost two-decades long policy that aimed to play both sides – Israel and the Palestinians – while clearly favoring the Jewish state. Here’s why Putin has chosen to side with the murderous Hamas terrorist organization, which orchestrated the largest mass
terror attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Rebekah Koffler | Fox News Trump: I Wish Biden Was Doing A Phenomenal Job, He's The Worst and Most Corrupt President In History . . . Former President Donald Trump in an interview with Join Just The News' John Solomon and Association of
Mature American Citizens' Rebecca Weber said he wishes President Joe Biden were doing a great job but he's not. "I wish Biden were doing a great job even though that would be very hard politically as opposed to the worst job," Trump said. "He's the worst president in history, the most corrupt president in history, and the most incompetent president by far. He can't even get off the stage, and can't put two sentences together." Real Clear Politics Stop exploitation of your personal information with Incogni . . . Hundreds of companies are collecting & trading your personal information. Data brokers
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The world is on fire and Joe Biden is the arsonist . . . President Joe Biden ’s reckless decision to abruptly withdraw United States troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 set into motion an unstoppable sequence of events that have made the world a far more dangerous place. From heads of state to the legacy media, people everywhere recognized that the aftershocks of Biden’s catastrophic withdrawal would be felt for years to
come. America’s humiliating military retreat had shaken the balance of power across the globe profoundly and irrevocably. Though Biden placed blame for the chaos that ensued at the hands of the inept Afghan National Army and even on former President Donald Trump , his responsibility was clear. His massive display of weakness and his abdication of duty as the leader of the free world had created a power vacuum. And, well aware of the opportunity this presented, the tyrants of the world joined
forces to exploit it. Washington Examiner Biden is reaping what appeasement of Iran has sown . . . Winston Churchill once called one of his adversaries, “A sheep in sheep’s clothing.” He wasn’t referring to Neville Chamberlain. But he might as well
have been referring to Joe Biden, Chamberlain’s modern appeasement-happy equivalent. White House Dossier Biden admin set to allow Iran UN sanctions on ballistic missile program to expire: 'Huge victory for Tehran' . . . The Hamas war against Israel is slated to be given a potent shot in the arm if the U.S.
and its European allies allow U.N. sanctions to be lifted on Iran’s capability to purchase and supply missiles to enemies of the U.S. and Israel, according to experts on Tehran. This coming Wednesday is the so-called "Transition Day" when the expiration of the U.N.’s embargo against Iran’s ability to procure and sell missiles and drones goes into effect. Fox News Everything this man does (or whoever controls him) runs counter to America's interests. EVERYTHING. Not just foreign policy-wise. Jim Jordan scrambles to lock down support for Tuesday’s vote for House speaker . . . Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee and a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, arrives as House Republicans meet behind closed doors to try to unite around him as their new nominee for speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. A floor vote that could turn into a showdown is set for midday Tuesday. Washington
Times AOC targets vulnerable New York House Republicans ahead of speaker vote for Jim Jordan . . . Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pointed her finger at fellow New York House lawmakers ahead of an expected vote to elect Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as speaker, asking whether the House Republicans from her state will "actually vote to install a man who voted to overturn the United States's election." Ocasio-Cortez told CNN she had no regrets in voting
to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the position, adding, "It has never been, truly, within the integrity and history of this institution for one party to elect another party's member as speaker." Washington Examiner
War in the Middle East Challenges Biden’s Defense Strategy . . . The war between Hamas and Israel is forcing the Biden administration to send more forces and military capabilities back into the region, once again refocusing American policy on the Middle East at a time when it has been hoping to concentrate on potential threats from China and Russia. Fearing that the conflict set off by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel could
widen, including by drawing in Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Biden administration in the past week has re-established some of its military footprint in the region. Though the recent U.S. deployments of naval assets, fighter squadrons—and potentially support troops—are intended to be temporary, the crisis that triggered them doesn’t appear to be short-term. That conflict could force the U.S. to rethink how it uses its military in the Middle East and poses a test for how the Pentagon can
continue to support Ukraine and keep its focus on China, which the Defense Department has dubbed its top longer-term priority, as the new flashpoint erupts. Wall Street Journal None of these conflicts - Russia-Ukraine, China-Taiwan, and the unfolding broader Middle East crisis -- are
short-term. US security apparatus is woefully unprepared for to handle them because they have prioritized every possible other thing -- ideology, transgender, pursuing domestic political opponents of the ruling class -- except the actual security of America and Americans. Dissed by Saudi Arabia, lectured by Egypt: U.S. diplomacy meets Mideast reality . . . America’s intense war-time diplomacy is so far failing to sway Arab countries in the Middle East —
and President Joe Biden’s planned visit to the region may not help. In recent days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been nearly ghosted by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and given a bizarre history lesson by Egypt’s ruler. U.S. officials have been unable to get most Arab leaders to denounce Hamas for the Palestinian militant group’s brutal attack on Israel or make statements supporting Israel’s military response. Politico House Committee: Biden administration policies empower cartels, undermine national security . . . In July, Mayorkas testified before the House Judiciary Committee claiming his policies had “weakened” the cartels’ operations. Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security say they are continuing to produce evidence to support their
claim that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is derelict in his duty and should be removed from office. In July, the committee published its first report detailing the laws and court orders the committee says Mayorkas has “ignored, abused or failed to follow.” Just the
News Pentagon Asks Industry for Ideas to Protect Supply Lines . . . The Indo-Pacific theater stretches from the coast of California to the western shore of India, consuming more than 50 percent of the Earth’s surface with mostly water. When the Pentagon declared the region its priority theater, another challenge inevitably surfaced: contested logistics. Al Shaffer, former deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, described contested
logistics as “delivering and sustaining food, fuel, munitions and repair parts in an area of vast distances” like Indo-Pacific Command. Supplying necessary goods across vast domains is further complicated by potential adversaries . . .” Shaffer said. National Defense Discover the
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Israel Attacks 200 Targets in Gaza Ahead of Biden Visit . . . The Israeli military said Tuesday that it attacked 200 targets in Gaza overnight, as aid workers warned of a looming humanitarian collapse in the strip and U.S. diplomats prepared for President Biden to visit Israel. The Biden administration is seeking to achieve a complicated set of goals after Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls Gaza, struck
Israel more than a week ago in one of the most devastating attacks in the country’s history. Wall Street Journal A trap has been set for Israel. America's new world order has empowered its enemies . . . Israel’s forces are massed at the border awaiting orders to launch a “full offensive” against Gaza.
Gaza had been catastrophically misjudged. Israel’s leaders believed that Hamas was contained, while Washington’s smart set held that increased aid and normalisation would induce Hamas to moderate its positions and play a constructive role in “dialogue”. In 2008, Robert Malley, the lead White House negotiator with Iran for both Obama and Biden, provided what would become the dominant conceptual framework among America’s foreign policy mandarins. “None of them are crazies,” Malley
told an interviewer of Hamas and Hezbollah. “They may do things that we consider to belong to a different realm of rationality, but within their own system it’s often very logical.” Why would the US fund both sides in a conflict? Biden, by all accounts, is sincere in his personal commitments to Israel. The reason they did it is because they actually thought it would work. Only last week, Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, boasted: “The Middle East region
is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” This is the trap Israel now faces: the country is already at war in what could rapidly spiral into an existential conflict, while its greatest ally, the US, has constructed a new regional order that has aimed to constrain Israel while empowering its enemies. UnHeard Jordan will
not accept Palestinian refugees, king says . . . Jordan will not be accepting Palestinians refugees displaced by the Israeli-Hamas conflict, the nation's monarch says. King Abdullah II made the remark Tuesday following a meeting with German Chancellor OIaf Scholz in Berlin. "This is a red line," Abdullah said. "No refugees to Jordan and also no refugees to Egypt." Fox News Hmm. Could it be perhaps they willingly elected a government that is a terrorist organization? What is the Gaza Strip? What you need to know about the territory at the heart of the Israel-Hamas war . . . The Gaza Strip has been the epicenter of heavy bombardment for more than a week after Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes for
the unprecedented terror attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7. The enclave — a narrow strip of land between Israel and Egypt, next to the Mediterranean Sea — is home to roughly 2.3 million Palestinians and is described as one of the most densely populated places on Earth. The 140-square-mile region is roughly the size of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The majority of those who live in Gaza are young, with almost 65% of the population under the age of 24. CNBC Putin visits 'dear friend' Xi in show of no-limits partnership . . . Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a widely watched trip aimed at showcasing the trust and "no-limits" partnership between the countries even as the war in Ukraine raged on. In only
his second known trip abroad since the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, Putin and his entourage flew into the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday morning where he was greeted by the Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Reuters
Money Tucker Carlson’s Media Company Secures Investment Led by New ‘Anti-Woke’ Firm 1789 Capital . . . Five years ago, Omeed Malik was a self-described “run-of-the-mill corporate Democrat,” with a seat on the Council on Foreign Relations, a summer house in the Hamptons, and stints at Bank of America and white-shoe law firm Weil, Gotshal under his belt.
Then Covid happened. Chafing under government mandates he found illogical and corporate limits on speech that felt to him like censorship, he moved from Manhattan to Florida and began hanging out with Republican donors. He discovered a business opportunity in a so-called parallel economy of conservative-friendly companies. Now, he is one of their financiers. Malik this year launched 1789 Capital, which aims to capitalize on the opportunities that it sees left open by the “wokeness” of more
traditional sources of capital. Wall Street Journal China Invested $1 Trillion to Gain Global Influence. Can That Go On? . . . China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, founded the Belt and Road Initiative a decade ago to use the country’s economic
might to enlarge its geopolitical heft and counter the influence of the United States and other industrialized democracies. China has since disbursed close to $1 trillion to mostly developing countries, largely in loans, to build power plants, roads, airports, telecommunications networks and other infrastructure. Mr. Xi has used China’s cash and infrastructure expertise to tie together countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and parts of Eastern and Southern Europe. Belt and Road has
established for China a role in global development rivaling that of the United States and the World Bank. New York Times
Culture Our public schools are a national disaster, and more money will not solve the problem . . . Perhaps what’s most distressing about the latest collapse in high school test scores is that no one seems distressed about it. You’ve probably heard the news that ACT scores have fallen for the sixth straight year. Our graduation high school seniors are less
equipped for a job or college than at any time in three decades. One response has been to dumb down the tests. Another is to abandon testing. Why isn’t anyone in Washington or anyone in our $800 billion education bureaucracy sounding the alarm and declaring this a national emergency? It certainly puts our national security, our technological superiority, and our economic prosperity in grave danger. Washington Times
Obama-Appointed Judge’s Gag Order On Trump Is The First Of Its Kind . . . Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision to place a gag order on former President Donald Trump is unprecedented, legal experts said Monday. Chutkan issued a gag order following a hearing Monday restricting Trump’s statements about special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, witnesses and court personnel. While less expansive than the order requested by prosecutors, legal
experts said it is nevertheless the first gag order to be placed on a presidential candidate and will present problems for the former president on the campaign trail, making a swift appeal likely. Daily Caller Meet Michael Hayden, Deep State Spy Chief Turned Media Blacklister
. . . Michael Hayden has been in the news lately after he called for Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville to be "removed from the human race," a comment the senator condemned as a call for assassination. This wasn't the first partisan outburst from Hayden. Hayden compared Trump supporters to the Taliban, called the Trump movement "more dangerous than al Qaeda," and even said that unvaxxed MAGA supporters should be given a "one-way ticket to Afghanistan." But who is Michael
Hayden and why should we care? Hayden is currently an advisor to NewsGuard, an organization that claims to offer nonpartisan assessments on the trustworthiness of news outlets. First, let's take a look at the man who wants Americans to disappear for their political beliefs. This is a former four-star general who was at the pinnacle of the U.S. intelligence community. He served under three presidents, going from one top spy role to the next. He was director of the NSA
under Clinton and Bush, at a time when its domestic surveillance of Americans went into overdrive. He was deputy director of national intelligence again under Bush, and he was director of the CIA under Bush and Obama. Real Clear Politics I used to respect General Hayden, until I
personally witnessed him speaking arrogantly and derogatorily about blue-collar folks who were Trump supporters, including his own family members, in a small private event in Washington DC. Hayden was so blatantly partisan and it was clearly evident that he assumed that everyone else in the audience was either a democrat or pro-Washington Establishment. It was shameful. The Wexner Foundation is ending its relationship with Harvard University . . . The
non-profit informed the Ivy League school and its board of overseers of its intentions to do so in a Monday letter. It is closely connected to billionaire L Brands founder Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail Wexner, whose names appear on the letter as chairs of the foundation. L Brands once owned retail outlets such as The Limited, Victoria's Secret, PINK, Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel and Lane Bryant. The couple created the Wexner Foundation, which describes its focus as being on
developing Jewish and Israeli leadership, decades ago. Fox Business Putin Faces No Real Opposition, Spokesman Says . . . Russian President Vladimir Putin faces no real competition ahead of next year's election, his spokesman said on Tuesday, adding that there could be "no rivals" to
the long-time leader. Putin has led Russia since the turn of the century and presided over its seismic Ukraine offensive. He has won four presidential elections and briefly served as prime minister in a system where political opposition has become virtually non-existent. Moscow Times Shocking.
Republicans Sure Glad Nothing Important Happening In World While They Sort Out Speaker Mess . . . House Republicans were relieved nothing globally significant happened this week while they hashed out who will replace ousted Kevin McCarthy as the next Speaker of the House. "So lucky it's been a quiet, dull week!" Rep. Matt Gaetz told reporters. "No rush whatsoever on our little civil war here. Aw, hang on…getting another spam
call from an international phone number." Babylon Bee
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