The fiasco in the Democratic Iowa caucuses have been directly tied to the app that allegedly crashed. That app is run by a group called Shadow Inc.
This is Shadow’s mission statement:
Our mission is to build political power for the progressive movement by developing affordable and easy-to-use tools for teams and budgets of any size.
Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden have been accused of using Shadow to try and steal the Iowa caucuses from Bernie Sanders. I don’t know if that’s true but they have a legitimate beef. Get ready to go down the rabbit hole.
In 2019, a liberal group called ACRONYM acquired Shadow Inc. ACRONYM is a Democrat dark money machine that was founded by Tara McGowan. She has a long resume as a Democrat operative. Her husband advises Pete Buttigieg’s campaign and she is a big fan of Pete.
Buttigieg has been given the moniker of Mayor Cheat by Bernie supporters for claiming victory in Iowa in spite of the results not being released yet. Also, his internal results have him losing to Bernie.
Pete’s campaign gave Shadow Inc. money. Not unusual but given how things are playing out in Iowa, this is giving Bernie supporters fits. It certainly doesn’t look good.
Shadow Inc. describes its mission on its website as: “Our mission is to build political power for the progressive movement by developing affordable and easy-to-use tools for teams and budgets of any size.”
A check of the Federal Election Commission website shows Buttigieg isn’t the only candidate to use their services.
So an app by former Hillary campaign alums got money from Biden and Buttigieg, and Bernie’s Iowa win is being caught up in a disaster of results reporting. I wonder why Bernie supporters might be a bit conspiratorial here?
I just can’t seem to escape the job while I’m on vacation.
A listener pointed out that a recent article on The Atlantic mentioned me by name. It’s an article full of tribalism and confirmation bias that laments the tribalism and confirmation bias of those who disagree with Obama.
Yes, that’s St Joseph County Councilman Mark Telloyan.
Why not, it’s Friday, I’ll respond.
So much straw man fallacy in this piece mixed with ignorance of the current economy, and what happened in Elkhart. It’s an article about confirmation bias without acknowledging both sides are infected by it. I won’t bother you with all of the facts, but stick to the general paragraph where my name came up and Elkhart, IN.
1) The economy isn’t good. There aren’t many financial and economic experts that think it is. Is it better than 8 years ago? Yes. It got to this point slower than at any other point in history, and is currently anemic at best. The main reason for such a slow recovery is that the government didn’t get out of our way.
2) American’s ignorance of economics, taxes and finances continues to be staggering. Fundamentally ignorant media writing inaccurate articles about it is perpetuating the problem. It’s one of the reasons I help produce Wise Money Radio.
3) You can’t ignore the vast changes in local governments swinging to business and tax friendly officials that has happened in the past 8 years. Those changes are far more responsible for positive economic improvements than the federal government. The Democrats have lost 1030 seats since Obama became president. That doesn’t happen if the President’s policies are successful. The American people like Obama personally, but hate his policies.
4) As for Elkhart, lots of people who have never heard of Elkhart, want to credit Obama for what happened here. Big problem with that assertion … it’s nonsense. Nearly every local leader, and the RV industry (which is essentially solely responsible for the positive turnaround) say Obama’s policies had nothing to do with it.
Obama’s legacy in Elkhart is giving tens of millions of dollars in government grants for green jobs, and electric car manufacturing that never materialized. None of those projects benefitted Elkhart, and they cost the taxpayer millions.
Ball State economist Michael Hicks has also pointed out that Obama was trying to force Elkhart’s economy away from manufacturing even as it was becoming more dependent upon it, and manufacturing is exactly why Elkhart is doing well now. The pro-manufacturing candidate just won the presidency.
The RV industry also sells a ton of product in Canada. Obama doesn’t get credit for Canadians buying RVs.
I should also point out Republican led Elkhart County is where most of this progress is happening, not in Democrat controlled Elkhart city. The recent defeat of the former Democratic mayor illustrates this point.
Darth Moore in his Pri Fighter
Furthermore, Elkhart is well aware they are in another RV bubble, and that it will burst. They are trying to diversify economically because the progress made these past few years is too volatile.
5) The left and the right keep fighting over vacation time. Did my listener say they approved of Bush’s ‘vacation’ or was that just straw man? You do realize a lot of people who don’t like Obama weren’t thrilled with Bush either right? If not, it’s because you are a tribalist, and assume everyone else is a tribalist also. This notion that if you don’t like Obama, you must have loved Bush is nonsense. Tribalism is killing this country.
Considering Trump has said he won’t live at the White House full-time, I can’t wait to see the ‘vacation’ trackers the liberal media will incessantly report on.
It’s more about dollars than time off. Fact is, Obama has spent over $90 million on vacations alone. It’s an unprecedented amount. Many taxpayers see this as a waste of money. Especially considering funding and budgetary issues. They aren’t wrong, but $90 million is a small drop in the bucket. It just illustrates a cavalier attitude, and lack of good stewardship of our money.
Bush spent over 500 days at his homes mostly working, not galavanting around exclusive resorts, and shopping at great taxpayer expense. If you are away from DC, and not on an official diplomatic trip, people log it as a vacation when if frequently isn’t. It’s media spin, pure and simple.
No president gets to unplug from the job on any trip. Criticism of Bush’s time at home as ‘vacation’ was utterly ridiculous and intellectually dishonest. Criticism of Obama time away from DC tends to be as well. It’s the fashion in which he does it, and the refusal to interrupt his vacations that irks people.
6) Every president should attend the annual Army/Navy game. It should be tradition in my opinion. Bringing up H. W. Bush to take a dig at someone is pretty petty confirmation bias itself. Did my listener say that they liked Bush Sr.’s decision to not attend the game, or did the author of this article just decide they wanted another man made of straw?
7) Yes Obama started wearing the flag pin after taking considerable public shaming as a result of him not wearing one. Let’s not pretend this was anything other than it was … a calculated political move because Obama was taking a likability hit for not wearing one. Criticism of Obama refusing to wear the pin doesn’t evaporate because he was pressured by the public into wearing one.
I also don’t think it should be an issue. Certainly not the issue many have made it out to be. It’s just a pin, and many believe it violates the Flag Code. As I’ve said before, if I were running for office I’d likely wear a Gadsden Flag pin instead.
8) The sheer amount of winning Trump is doing right now on economic issues is unprecedented. Trump has had a hand in Carrier, Boeing, Lockheed, Ford, GM, Sprint, OneWeb, and SoftBank just to name a few. And yes, Trump’s meeting with SoftBank directly affected the Sprint and OneWeb deals according to those two companies. Liberals are spinning that story to claim Trump is lying.
I can not remember the last time a president-elect has put in this much effort, been this involved, and had this much impact. The fact is that Trump is showing his supporters that he’s here to work. Not throw celebrity parties every Thursday at the White House.
#Bob Costas, a PC libtard, reared his ugly smugness again on Sunday. He decided to school everyone who isn’t offended by the #name ‘#Redskins‘ on why they are wrong … including Native Americans.
After starting off telling everyone that the vast majority of Native Americans aren’t offended by the name ‘Redskins’ (and they aren’t), he went on to say that their opinion doesn’t matter, and that ‘Redskins’ is actually highly #offensive. Apparently, Costas thinks Native Americans are so dumb and naive that they need him to protect their fragile psyche. So he’s stepping up to be offended for them.
I’ve also pointed out that in my many discussions on this topic, Native Americans believe that people like Costas are attempting to erase Native Americans from our culture, and they think it’s motivated by racial discrimination.
It’s hard to argue against the claim that people like Costas are #racist against Native Americans when he goes on national television and tells them that they are wrong for not being offended by something that only they have the authority to decide is offensive.
Black (not so funny) comedian W. Kamau Bell recently said that white people ‘can’t say what’s racist or not’ when it comes to blacks being offended. Ok, if that’s the case, then whites, blacks, asians, etc. can’t say what’s racist or not when it comes to Native Americans. So … shut up about it.
Costas’ logic to support his argument was to make the point that if we go back in time (that would be the 1600’s btw), ‘Redskin’ was a derogatory term used to describe Native Americans.
So what?
Hoosier was a derogatory term used to describe people from Indiana, and now we wear that moniker with pride. Retard and retarded are perfectly legitimate mechanical terms that society foolishly decided was offensive only recently. Can we go back to just 10 years ago and reclaim retard’s legitimate definition like Costas is suggesting with Redskin?
How about if we reclaim the definition of faggot and fag while we are at it. It originally had nothing to do with homosexuals, and isn’t used primarily to disparage them now anyway. Yet we can’t call someone a fag without being accused of being a homophobe. Even though the word is rarely used to describe homosexuals.
South Park explained all of this perfectly:
The professionally offended are destroying our society, culture, and language while stoking bigotry where none exist. It’s time to hold their feet to the fire.
UPDATE:
Mofo Politics has a petition to demand Costas change his offensive name.
I’ve been talking about Cleon Skousen’s 45 Communist Goals for nearly a decade on the radio now. Many hosts are just getting around to it.
Albert Herong, Jr., entered The Communist Goals into the Congressional Record, as follows: “… At Mrs. Nordman’s request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following “Current Communist Goals,” which she identifies as an excerpt from “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen:
45 COMMUNIST GOALS
U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
Do away with all loyalty oaths.
Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
Gain control of all student newspapers.
Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force” to solve economic, political or social problems.
Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self- government.
Internationalize the Panama Canal.
Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
The debate has raged for some days now … was the killing of al-Awlaki in Yemen illegal?
Rep. Ron Paul says it was, but he says everything is illegal.
There are two primary arguments alleging the illegality of al-Awlaki’s killing.
First, he was a US citizen, and as such, was due a trial.
Second, the US violated international law by assassinating him in Yemen.
Neither argument holds up, both morally or legally.
First I’ll address international law.
Neither the Hague Convention of 1899, or the Protocol Addition to the Geneva Convention of 1949 forbid al-Awlaki’s killing by international law. Right off the get go, proponents of this argument are off to a bad start. In fact, the international law community has often taken the stance that killing an adversary can often fall within the confines of international law.
The clauses that traditionally have been construed as prohibiting “targeted killings” are far from clear prohibitions. In the Hague Convention (II) with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land (29 July 1899), Article 23b states that it is prohibited “to kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army.” Treachery is not explicitly defined, and it can be argued that using missiles to attack a car in which a target is traveling, while brutal and having a high probability of injuring bystanders, does not fall within the purview of treachery. Similarly, targeted killings can be argued to fall outside the Protocol I Article 37 prohibition on killing, injuring, or capturing “an adversary by resort to perfidy”—described as “acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence.” Article 37 gives examples of perfidy including “the feigning of an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce or surrender” and “the feigning of civilian, non-combatant status.”
Basically, you can’t ‘assassinate’ under false-flag circumstances. No such circumstance existed with the al-Awlaki killing. It should be noted that this provision addresses someone belonging to a hostile nation OR army. While al-Awlaki did not belong to a hostile nation, he did belong to a hostile army. This is important later when I argue the relevance of his US citizenship.
In addition to this international law, the US has NO LAW forbidding foreign assassinations. We do, however, have a policy of not undertaking assassinations. Policy does not equal law.
The second component to this operation is that Yemen fully approved, and supported the killing of al-Awlaki. So no argument can be made that we violated the sovereignty of a foreign nation.
The other argument making its way around is that al-Awlaki’s killing was illegal because he was a US citizen. As such, an assassination order by the President of the United States would violate his constitutional right of due process. It should also be noted that al-Awlaki was not the only American killed in the attack.
Al-Awlaki’s ties to terrorism are not in dispute, his actual influence is. So can the president order his killing, or not?
8 U.S.C. § 1481 addresses the issue of US citizenship in situations like this.
(a) A person who is a national of the United States whether by birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing any of the following acts with the intention ofrelinquishing United States nationality –
(1) obtaining naturalization in a foreign state upon his own application or upon an application filed by a duly authorized agent, after having attained the age of eighteen years; or
(2) taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after having attained the age of eighteen years;
The law also addresses taking up arms against the United States in section 7. Considering al-Awlaki’s Yemeni citizenship, which does not recognize dual-citizenship, and his taking up arms against the US, it would appear that he renounced his US citizenship long ago.
Section 7 automatically revokes his citizenship because of his terrorist activities, but requires capture and tribunal. Since he was in Yemen, we revert to international law which permits his killing in order to prevent a further loss of life. More relevant is local Yemen law. Again, they assisted in the killing of al-Awlaki.
Is his killing a gray area? Only in the perpetually unrefined laws of US citizenship. Laws that most Americans agree need to be revamped, but the law nonetheless.
The only component missing to classify al-Awlaki as a non-citizen appears to be a mere formality of choreographed theater that would only serve to satisfy the selfish needs of third party citizens, not the parties directly involved. It’s pretty clear that al-Awlaki, the US, and Yemen were all on the same page.
Both al-Alwaki and Yemen agree that he is a citizen of Yemen. The US agrees that he revoked his citizenship. Who are you to swoop in and negate those facts?
The only sources of outcry appear to come from the ignorant, and those with a vested interest in ideological pacifism. Not from a position of morality or legality.
Ultimately, this is a debate that will fall upon opinion. If you think al-Awlaki’s killing was illegal, you’ll likely never change your mind. Same goes for those who think it was legally justified. Each individual will have to decide for themselves if international law, US law, or Yemeni law should reign supreme.
