Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
April 13, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Trump Mocks SCOTUS, Predicts Court-Packing From Biden . . . Former President Donald Trump released a statement Monday in which he lamented the U.S. Supreme Court’s lack of courage “to do what they should have done” and predicted court-packing. Trump said that it would be ironic if the Supreme Court got “PACKED” by the “the Radical Left Democrats” whom he claimed the “politically correct Supreme Court” catered to. “Now there is a very
good chance they will be diluted with many new Justices added to the Court . . . and . . . they will be term-limited,” Trump speculated. “Our politically correct Supreme Court will get what they deserve—an unconstitutionally elected group of Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country,” the statement reads. Daily Caller
Biden Commissions the Supreme Court to Study Court Packing . . . President Biden on Friday announced his Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court, which is better understood as the commission on packing the Supreme Court. The White House is trying to make this seem like routine political business, but don’t be fooled. Democrats had a meltdown over Donald Trump’s three High Court appointees, and Mr. Biden’s commission idea was a
way to appease progressives and avoid taking a firm position during the 2020 campaign. The commission will have an unwieldy 36 members, who tilt markedly to the political left. The co-chairs are Bob Bauer, Barack Obama’s former White House counsel, and Cristina Rodriguez, a former official in the Obama Justice Department. Public trust in American institutions is dangerously low, and the Supreme Court isn’t immune. If the commission endorses court-packing, or some other “reform” that smacks
of an attempt to shape legal outcomes, the political backlash will be furious. Wall Street Journal
FDA recommends pause of Johnson & Johnson vaccine after blood clot cases . . . The Food and Drug Administration together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending a pause in the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after several instances of a severe blood clot in recipients. According to the FDA, there have been six reported cases of the rare and severe type of
blood clot in over 6.8 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients. "Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare," the agency said on Twitter. "Treatment of this specific type of blood clot is different from the treatment that might typically be administered. CDC and FDA will further review these cases and assess their potential significance. However, until that review is completed, the FDA is "recommending this pause." Fox News
UK Strain Doesn’t Result in More Severe Covid-19 Among Hospitalized Patients: Study . . . The coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. spreads more easily than older strains but doesn’t lead to more severe disease among hospitalized patients, a new study found. People infected late last year with the variant, known as B.1.1.7, had more virus in their bodies than patients infected with older strains, a sign the newer
variant is more infectious, according to the study published online Monday by the medical journal the Lancet Infectious Diseases. But the patients hospitalized with B.1.1.7 didn’t die at higher rates or have worse outcomes overall. The findings add to scientists’ understanding of B.1.1.7’s impact, which has become especially important now that the strain has come to dominate cases in the U.K., U.S. and some other countries. Wall Street Journal
US flying blind with coronavirus variants . . . The United States is largely flying blind on the extent to which variants of the coronavirus are spreading. The U.S. lacks the needed genomic sequencing to track variants, a weakness that only recently has the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention begun to address.
The current surge of COVID-19 cases is being driven by the B.1.1.7 variant, now the most common lineage circulating in the United States. Some public health professionals say that adequate genomic sequencing would have warned the U.S. that B.1.1.7 was spreading much earlier. Genomic sequencing is a test that enables researchers to know if a particular case of COVID-19 is caused by the original strain or a variant and it can inform public health officials whether a variant strain
is spreading. Washington Examiner
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Democrats reject compromise on Biden's infrastructure bill . . . Senate Republicans panned President Biden’s infrastructure package as a “dog’s breakfast” of wasteful spending and voiced skepticism about the White House’s efforts to win bipartisan support for the massive $2.3 trillion plan. The president said Monday that he wants to move forward with members of both parties, but congressional Democrats already are making moves to again go
it alone. “I’m confident everything is going to work out perfectly,” President Biden said to some laughter from the crowd in the Oval Office. “It’s going to get down to what we call infrastructure. … I think broadband is infrastructure. It’s not just roads, bridges, highways, etc.” Washington
Times
Biden's gun control push poses danger for midterms . . . President Biden’s call for an assault weapons ban is putting pressure on Democrats to pass legislation that strategists worry could put lawmakers in a vulnerable spot heading into next year’s midterm elections. The president’s latest push goes beyond expanded background checks and sets the stage for votes to ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines — a potential
political liability in Senate battlegrounds such as Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. One North Carolina-based Democratic strategist said voting on an assault weapons ban would help fuel Republican arguments that the Biden administration is coming to take their guns. “The question which is going to determine 2022 is: Is it going to be enough to get those Trump voters out to vote?” The Hill
Durham Subpoenaed Liberal Think Tank As Part Of Probe Into Steele Dossier: Report . . . Federal prosecutor John Durham recently subpoenaed a prominent foreign policy think tank as part of his investigation into the Steele dossier, the New York Times reported Monday. Durham subpoenaed the Brookings Institution for records related to Igor Danchenko, a former analyst at the think tank who was the primary source for dossier author Christopher
Steele. The development sheds some light on a question recently asked by Donald Trump. “Where’s Durham? Is he a living, breathing human being? Will there ever be a Durham report?” Trump asked in a statement released on March 26. Durham, who is serving as a special counsel, is conducting a broad but vague investigation into several aspects of the intelligence gathering activities against the Trump campaign. Daily Caller
When will someone - anyone among the corrupt intelligence and law enforcement "professionals" - be held accountable for amplifying Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election by hatching and weaponizing a fake 'Trump-Russia collusion' plot against the American people? Several years of dragging the country through chaos and dysfunction - while destroying innocent Americans' (like General Flynn, Carter Page and many others) lives and livelihoods, in the
process - and no punishment?!
Nikki Haley: I would not run in 2024 if Trump did . . . Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley says she will not run for president in 2024 if her former boss decides to enter the race.
Haley announced on Monday that she would support former President Donald Trump in the event that he runs for reelection after losing to President Joe Biden in 2020. “I would not run if President Trump ran,” Haley told reporters at a press conference in Orangeburg, South Carolina. “And I would talk to him about it,” Haley added. “You know, that’s something that we will have a conversation about at some point if that decision is something that has to be made.” White House Dossier
Because that would probably be a bad idea.
How Far Left Infiltrated Corporate America and What Can Be Done About It . . . The radical left has infiltrated corporate America and is using big business to promote a political agenda. Justin Danhof, general counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research and director of the Free Enterprise Project, is a member of a new coalition called Stop Corporate Tyranny. Danhof joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the ways in
which Stop Corporate Tyranny is working to end the left’s influence on American companies, and how you can be a part of the movement for change. Daily Signal
Sen. Josh Hawley Unveils ‘Trust-Busting’ Initiative Against Big Tech . . . Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley unveiled new legislation on Monday aimed at breaking up big business, with a particular focus on large tech companies. The “Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act” offers a solution to “anti-competitive big business” by strengthening antitrust enforcement and targeting mergers and acquisitions by large corporations,
according to a press release. In addition to tech companies, Hawley criticized “Big Banks, Big Telecom, and Big Pharma.” “A small group of woke mega-corporations control the products Americans can buy, the information Americans can receive, and the speech Americans can engage in. These monopoly powers control our speech, our economy, our country, and their control has only grown because Washington has aided and abetted their quest for endless power,” Hawley said in a statement. Daily Caller
Military Service Academies Go Woke . . . America’s military service academies are using "anti-racist" and critical race theory teaching tools to train their faculty and future officers. Administrators at West Point are embracing the radical racial politics that have taken hold over many American campuses, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The prestigious military institution will not only adapt critical race
theory into its curriculum but will also use such practices in admissions. A West Point diversity and inclusion plan for 2020 to 2025 said that in order for the academy to remain competitive with the civilian sector among potential applicants, the school must appeal to the sensibilities of "America’s younger generation." Inclusivity will matter just as much as marksmanship, according to the documents. Washington Free Beacon
Hmm. 'Sensibilities' and 'warfighter' in the same sentence? God help us, if the American people actually have to rely on woke warriors to "defend" us from the Russian or Chinese threat.
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Russia calls US an adversary, warns its warships to avoid Crimea . . . Russia on Tuesday called the United States an adversary and told U.S. warships to stay well away from Crimea “for their own good”, calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves. “The United States is our adversary and does everything it can to undermine Russia’s position on the world stage,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Ryabkov was cited as saying by Russian news agencies. The comment was a sharp break with the usual language from Moscow, which has often referred to the United States in the past as “a partner”. Reuters
You didn't really think Russia and Putin consider the United States a "partner," did you? We'd be better off getting a dog, or as the Russians would respond Tambov's 'wolf.'
Ukraine, allies try to gauge Putin’s appetite for war . . . Ukraine and its western allies are once again trying to work out whether Vladimir Putin means war. In 2014 and 2015, following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula and seizure of parts of eastern Ukraine, the Russian president threatened a wider conflict before backing off following western sanctions and a putative peace accord, whose terms have still not been
implemented. Tens of thousands of Russian troops have been mobilized on Ukraine’s eastern border and in Crimea, while Russian warships have been sent from the Caspian to the Black Sea. Dimitry Kozak, the Kremlin’s point man on Ukraine said any escalation by Kyiv would be “the beginning of the end” for the country. Russia’s response would be “not a shot in the leg, but in the face”. Analysts are speculating about possible Russian interventions. These range from heavier fighting in
the conflict zone to seizure of the entire Donbas region and territory contiguous with Crimea, to a full-scale invasion. Financial Times
To learn about Putin's motivations and Russia's anti-American strategy, pre-order my upcoming book Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat
America. Pending pre-publication security review by my former agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, Putin's Playbook will be released on July 27, 2021.
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Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking talks to ease military tensions . . . Kyiv has accused Moscow of blocking attempts to begin talks aimed at calming military tensions sparked by the deployment of tens of thousands of Russian troops close to the Ukrainian border. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has not received a response to his request for a telephone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, his spokesperson said,
amid concerns from the US and other European powers that an escalation in military deployments could result in full-blown conflict.More than 14,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since 2014 in fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine’s army for control of Donbas, a region in the east of the country bordering Russia. The fighting first erupted after Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. Financial Times
Congress May Overturn Trump-ordered Space Command move . . . When former President Donald Trump awarded the permanent basing of U.S. Space Command headquarters to Alabama, where he had some of his highest approval ratings, in his final week in office, he yanked the command from front-runner Colorado Springs. In so doing, he triggered a pair of government investigations that lawmakers say could ultimately doom Trump's decision. Where
Spacecom is based has wide-ranging implications, from U.S. efforts to confront adversaries’ hostile actions in outer space to billions of dollars in unneeded investments of taxpayer funds. Trump overruled the Air Force secretary’s advice by choosing Alabama on Jan. 13, just seven days before he left office. For now, the 45th commander in chief's order to move the command stands, but the results of the reviews could sway his replacement or Congress to reverse it. Washington Examiner
As Russia and China are threatening to exploit US reliance on technology by fielding counter space weapons, our government apparatchiks are tinkering around with the best location for Space Command. Almost 20 years after Donald Rumsfeld's Space Commission identified US vulnerabilities to foreign space threats, Trump was the first president who actually had the 'cojones' to stand up US Space Command. Now "experts," like Jen Psaki mock our Space Force service men
and women who'd be protecting them from Putin's ASATs (anti-satellite weapons) and EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) attacks.
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Why President Biden can’t quickly solve the computer chip shortage . . . President Joe Biden faces an inconvenient reality as he tackles the political and economic headaches caused by a global shortage of chips needed to build computers, medical devices and automobiles: There’s no immediate fix. Biden on Monday told CEOs gathered virtually at the White House for a meeting on the problem that he has bipartisan support to
boost funding for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. But the results of that effort would take years to manifest and would do little to address the crunch in the near term. A White House summit on the semiconductor shortage lays bare the idled factories, lack of infrastructure and geopolitical complications that Biden must navigate to address the issue. Politico
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Minnesota police, rioters clash after Daunte Wright shooting; dozens arrested . . . Minnesota authorities arrested about 40 people after rioters and police clashed for a second night in Brooklyn Center, Minn., authorities said during a news conference early Tuesday. Hundreds gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department Monday and defied curfew, demanding justice for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man fatally shot
by police during a traffic stop. Authorities fired tear gas, and flash-bang grenades into the crowd after warning them that they were in violation of curfew. Some rioters retaliated by throwing smoke canisters back toward law enforcement, while others launched fireworks at the police lines. Fox
News
Officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright identified as Kimberly Potter . . . The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a black man during a Sunday traffic stop has been identified as 26-year veteran Kimberly Potter. The 48-year-old officer acquired her Minnesota police officer’s license in 1995 at the age of 22 and began working for the Brooklyn Center Police Department shortly after. During her career, Potter has served on
the department’s negotiation team. Potter has been placed on administrative leave following the fatal shooting. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Time Gannon has said the officer mistook her gun for a Taser. Police bodycam footage released Monday shows the officer yelling “Taser! Taser!” as others struggled with Wright in his car. Potter is married to a former police officer and has two adult sons. New York Post
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Small dogs chase trespassing bear out of California home . . . A bear got more than it bargained for when it wandered into a California home through an open door and was chased off by a pair of pint-sized pooches.
Deedee Mueller said she was napping in her Paradena home on Saturday with multiple doors open to allow for fresh air to circulate through the home and so her dogs, Mei Mei and Squirt, could go in and out of the house as they pleased. She awoke when Mei Mei suddenly darted out of her bedroom and started barking loudly, with Squirt following close behind. "Based on the barks, I knew something was up," Mueller wrote on Facebook. Mueller's home security cameras revealed a bear had
wandered through the open door into the kitchen, where it was chased back out of the house by Mei Mei and Squirt. The bear, who appeared to be 2 or 3 years old, looked nervous inside the house, as shown on the footage. Once outside, the bear wandered to a pond on the other side of the yard, but was again chased away by the small canines. UPI
Little dogs think they are Rottweilers trapped in a small body. I could see my tiny maltipoo Ivan ("The Terrible") doing something like this. :-)
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Rebekah
Rebekah Koffler
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