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Pollsters prepping to lay another gigantic steaming pile of (cow dung) on Election Day Yes it is. No it’s not. Yes it is. No it’s not. Yes it is. No it’s not. Yes, it is! No, it’s not! YES IT IS! NO IT’S NOT! You’re allowed a little confusion as to who’s speaking in this fictional conversation. For months, it seems, pollsters and pundits have gone back and forth discussing the results of surveys of American voters concerning the upcoming election. Throughout the campaign, the numbers purportedly showed that Democrat challenger Joe Biden has maintained and even grown a consistent popularity lead over President Donald Trump. The aforementioned experts bolstered their arguments with various sets of data. “X percent of voters are worried about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP, or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus and feel the administration’s response was inadequate”, and, “Y percent consider the economy to be the most important issue in their decision on who to vote for…” blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, weeks and months passed and very little seemed to sway the bottom (or top?) line much. The campaigns and parties fundraised off the poll numbers, claiming they needed more and more cash to either keep the momentum going (Biden) or to close the gap (Trump). Closer to the ground, the average person witnessed the tug of war and just wants to see Election Day determine where the truth lies. It’s a time where Karl Rove and his white board full of scribbles will offer real substance rather than mere ruminations of a well-worn establishmentarian who achieved fame for being “George W. Bush’s brain.” Jonathan Easley reported at The Hill, “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s polling lead over President Trump is holding steady in a significant shift from 2016, when Democrat Hillary Clinton saw her lead fall in the week before Election Day. “All of the factors that pollsters measure to analyze volatility among likely voters — the number of undecideds, those considering third-party candidates and leaners who could still change their minds — are down at this point in 2020 compared to in 2016, keeping the race at a steady level that favors Biden in the home stretch. “Nearly 60 million people have already voted, and the pool of undecided voters is dwindling. And while the polls have not fully digested last week’s debate, which seemed to be a net positive for Trump, it seems unlikely it will be a late game-changer.” The media is what it is and Easley’s been a reliable liberal establishment voice for a long, long time. These people talk about “game-changers” and trends and, and, and… It all sounds great to the news consumer who’s just hanging on searching for snippets of information that support their own beliefs and observations. Because liberals are still smarting from the news industry’s giant rotten-egg in 2016, they’re starving for indications that next week will turn out differently for their side. You know, Barry “The big O” Obama won two elections. That was sure fun, wasn’t it? The great healer in power! Stall the rise of the oceans! Pass out the money! Frankly, comparing Hillary Clinton to Joe Biden doesn’t reveal a whole lot. One, the former, is eminently not likable, even to her own family. The latter appears agreeable but yet Democrats are still so terrified of letting him loose to campaign and spread the good cheer. Maybe they should fashion a whole-head mask for him and insert a skilled impersonator in the thing, and program the guy to recite preapproved platitudes. Only there’s no way to make everyone on the left happy, so they just hide the game ball and tell everyone he’s so far ahead that they can go home now. If the polls are indeed correct, it’s indicative of a large segment of the American public that apparently doesn’t weigh candidate quality -- at all. And the ultimate outcome is determined by whom the people like the least. That’s no way to set the future course of the preeminent nation in the world. I don’t think I’ve ever voted for someone I wholly disliked in my life, and my sentiments probably aren’t all that different from anyone else’s. I didn’t think much of Mitt Romney’s principles (or lack thereof) in 2012, for example, but he clearly was the better choice that year. The concept isn’t that difficult, and most people aren’t controlled by negative thoughts. The pollsters are missing something here. Millions of people wouldn’t base their candidate preference on a virus that really isn’t all that dangerous to over 99 percent of the people who contract it. There has to be more to it. Maybe the “experts” are only reaching those who willingly take random cell phone calls, or those who actually want to answer an opinion survey or those who aren’t wary of who’s on the other end of the phone line. Where are the pollsters getting their phone lists, the local Democrat party? Where are all the new Democrat voters coming from? Why aren’t the people participating in the semi-spontaneous Trump parades being surveyed? What about the inroads Trump has made into traditional Democrat constituencies such as African-Americans and Hispanics? Just in the past few weeks alone, several famous rap artists have come out for Trump. Are they atypical of their fan base? I don’t see it. What about the big parades of “Jews for Trump” in New York City? Miscreants threw rocks at them. Shouldn’t this be considered anti-Semitic and a hate crime? I have personally talked with a number of individuals who said they’re first time voters -- and they additionally mentioned their families are newbies too. And they’re motivated to vote for the first time in their lives because of Donald Trump and what’s at stake in this election. Are the pollsters and pundits asserting there are a like number of first-time Biden backers? How many brainless college students are out there, and are they actually wowed by the prospect of choosing a 78-year-old tall-tale telling white man as president? There’s more. Traditionally speaking, the union rank-and-file vote Democrat. These were the “Reagan Democrats” in the eighties that took a respite from big government politics to vote for The Gipper, then supposedly returned to their political roots to support Big Bubba Bill Clinton in the nineties. They also took to Barack Obama’s “Hope and Change” message in this century. The problem (where the polls are concerned) is these Americans might as well be labeled “Trump Democrats” now. Trump locked up their votes four years ago and they haven’t switched back. Trump also enjoys the enthusiastic support of police unions from sea-to-shining-sea, as well as inner city folks who have had it with empty Democrat promises to improve their communities and safeguard their persons. Survey after survey shows people want more police protection, not less. Are these individuals dying (pardon the pun) to vote for Joe Biden? If so, how? What about the millions of Americans who have purchased guns in recent years, including a significant percentage of first-time buyers? Is this a hidden Joe Biden constituency? While it’s true that the radical left is starting to arm itself, common sense says most firearms purchasers aren’t wild about the notion of gun control and confiscation. Where do these people factor into the polls? Are they scared to come out of their houses due to the CCP virus? (No chance.) The “experts” point to Trump losing support with seniors due to COVID-19 as well as the nameless, faceless suburban woman who is allegedly all gung-ho for doddering Joe and his giggling socialism denying sidekick, dancin’ Kamala what’s-her-name. Is the number in these categories who voted for Trump and have now switched to the D side significant? Does anyone know a 2016 Trump voter who’s gone over to the dark side? If anything, there are a lot more who were skeptical of Trump back then and would “crawl over broken glass” to vote for him today. What does all this add up to? Confusion. I had a colleague who swore that polls should be trusted because the people who conduct them are professionals who stake their reputations and livelihoods on reporting accurate information. This is true, but with a caveat. The gold standard in polling, Gallup, gave up trying to peg the quadrennial horserace because of the difficulty of obtaining a representative sample in the digital phone age. It was a flat-out admission by the premier polling outfit that it couldn’t be done accurately enough. One wonders whether some of these other pollsters would be willing to stake their lives on the validity of their numbers…? Are they prepared to cut loose their client list if Joe Biden doesn’t win by eight, nine or more points in the national popular vote? Would they place a mortgage sized bet that they’re right? There’s no doubt that conservatives hope for a 2016 repeat. Some pretty smart writers (like Christopher Bedford at The Federalist) have cleverly addressed the topic. Establishment defenders like Jonathan Easley seem comforted by the fact Joe Biden is in a more stable position than Hillary Clinton was four years ago. But when you look at all the other factors, do they make sense? Or is the polling industry on the verge of producing another big stinking zero? Is campaigning important or not, Democrats? As I argued the other day, this (and every one from now on) is a turnout election between competing bases of support. Just as it was four years ago, there’re the enthusiasm filled backers of Trump and the hate-ensconced supporters of Joe Biden. The latter’s voters have had four-plus years to hone their Trump Derangement Syndrome into a political hurricane. It seems to spin round and round without much substance in the center (where they eye would be), yet will supposedly leave a path of destruction when it makes landfall. What stirs up the Democrats? What “warm water” is there to strengthen the developing storm? Is a lot of hot air enough? It definitely isn’t the lackluster gaffe-prone person of Joe Biden. Even when he emerges from his basement hideaway, no one shows up. Does it matter? Democrats often cry about how Hillary Clinton lost Wisconsin in 2016 because she didn’t campaign there. This year they’re claiming Joe Biden’s going to win everywhere, including in Wisconsin, despite campaigning nowhere. What’s it going to be? Is the candidate’s presence among the ballot-casters important or not? In all of this, Democrats are laying the groundwork for four years’ worth of excuses for why they didn’t win in 2020 when every pundit said they would. And the polls will help them whip their leftist strike forces into a tizzy with the argument that the election was “stolen” from them. If Joe Biden is so far ahead, like all the polls suggest, then how could he possibly lose? Fraud! Evil Trump! The greedy corporate interests! The Russians! Some computer geek in Bangladesh! (I just threw this in there.) The Brexit people! Elections are won by having more votes than your opponent. If Joe Biden doesn’t campaign and isn’t much of a candidate, where are all his votes coming from? As an issue, COVID-19 is losing steam. Is it too late to matter? If you studied the Joe Biden campaign, you’d think everyone in the world was at risk of succumbing to the CCP virus, a modern-day plague similar in danger to the Black Death of the 14th century. While the threat isn’t exactly going away, its severity has diminished considerably despite much of the economy having reopened. Tom Howell Jr. reported at The Washington Times, “Deaths from COVID-19 are ticking up slightly in the U.S. alongside record highs for recorded cases, with California, Texas and Florida reporting the most fatalities overall in the past week while the Dakotas and Montana report the most deaths as a share of their populations. “Roughly 800 people are dying from the virus per day in the U.S., according to the seven-day rolling average. It’s a far better picture than the 2,200-plus who died during the spring crush in the Northeast and 1,200-plus who were victims of the ‘Sun Belt surge’ in mid-summer. “But the average daily death toll is up 12% compared to two weeks ago. As winter approaches, experts warn that increased transmission will follow a familiar pattern, with greater transmission leading within weeks to more hospitalizations and more deaths.” We know the virus is easy to contract. It’s also treatable in practically every case. Howell’s article indicated the death rate is actually around 0.6% now, down from earlier this year. Needless to say, the rate for people under 65 is even lower than that. President Trump wants people to be cautious, but open up the economy. Biden prefers everyone cower in fear. Which worldview presents a more enticing option? Voters know the answer, and it’s only a matter of days until we see the results, something no pollster knows in advance. 2020 Election Mike Pence Kamala Harris Donald Trump Joe Biden COVID-19 media polls Trump parades rallies

On Tuesday Tucker Carlson hosted an hour-long interview with former Navy Lieutenant and respected international businessman Tony Bobulinski, during which Mr. Bobulinski revealed in shocking detail how the Biden family traded on former Vice President Joe Biden’s name and position during and after he was in the government. Mr. Bobulinski also detailed how Joe Biden has lied not only about his financial ties to Communist China, but the years-long web of influence peddling that formed the basis for what the Biden’s called their family “legacy.” That Joe Biden is a corrupt liar comes as no surprise to conservatives who have watched for years as he legislated in favor of banks that employed his son, Hunter, and other interests that employed his brother, James. But what has proven shocking is how the establishment print and television media, social media and almost the entire Washington professional political class have circled the wagons to protect the Bidens and erase any trace of their corruption from the public discourse prior to the election. That the media giants lean Left is no surprise, and that they hate Donald Trump is an established fact – but for all of these individuals to engage in what amounts to a cover-up of a multi-million-dollar corruption and influence peddling racket that extended directly into the White House defies belief. What’s more, the tentacles of the Biden’s corrupt influence extend well beyond Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and James Biden. The stepson of former Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry is implicated, as are dozens of other government officials, some well-known, some obscure. Why would the establishment media participate in this cover-up? Why wouldn’t one brave reporter, producer or commentator break ranks, or better yet show some real integrity and resign and reveal the facts of how the media bosses and editors squelched the story? One answer, and in our view the most likely answer, is that they don’t see anything wrong with what Hunter Biden, James Biden and Joe Biden were doing, because influence peddling and the legalized bribery of hiring friends and family and the culture of jobs as consultants and PR representatives is how the DC, New York and L.A. political and media elite obtain and maintain their positions and power. As Erick Erickson, then Editor-in-Chief of RedState.com put it in RealClear Politics: There is a pretty substantial symbiotic relationship between the political left in Washington and the media… Jay Carney went from Time to the White House press secretary's office. Shailagh Murray went from the Washington Post to the Veep's office while married to Neil King at the Wall Street Journal. Neil King has left the Wall Street Journal to work for Fusion GPS. Linda Douglass went from ABC News to the White House and then the Atlantic. Jill Zuckman went from the Chicago Tribune to the Obama Administration's Transportation Department. Douglas Frantz went from the Washington Post to the State Department and Stephen Barr went from the Post to the Labor Department. Ruth Marcus, who heads the Washington Post Editorial Board, is married to the Obama Administration's former Federal Trade Commission Chairman. Jonathan Allen had been at the Politico before going to work for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, then back to Politico before going to the left leaning Vox. Now he is at NBC News. Andy Barr worked for the Politico before leaving for Democrat politics. Michael Scherer was at both Salon and Mother Jones before going to Time. Laura Rozen was at Mother Jones and the American Prospect before Foreign Policy magazine. Even Nate Silver had started out at Daily Kos. Then, of course, there is Matthew Dowd, who worked for scores of Democrats before working for George Bush. That, though he later washed his hands of Bush, bought him street credibility with ABC News to become its senior politically analyst alongside George Stephanopoulos, formerly of the Clinton Administration. It goes on and on in a feedback loop of incestuous politics and worldview shaping. In the Obama Era, it was all about protecting their precious. Now it is about undermining the president. Want to know why Facebook is so committed to censoring the Hunter Biden and Tony Bobulinski stories? Just check this snippet from a 2019 article in the UK’s Guardian: So far this year (2019), Facebook has employed 68 federal lobbyists, 12 in-house employees and 56 from K Street firms – spending nearly $12.3m on federal lobbying through 30 September. Sludge dug through Center for Responsive Politics and Legistorm databases and found that out of these lobbyists only three have never held jobs in the federal government. The Facebook lobbyists have worked for 29 current members of Congress – 18 representatives and 11 senators – including key Democratic party leaders. Four of the lobbyists have worked in the office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Two have worked in the office of Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Other Facebook lobbyists have worked for the majority leader Steny Hoyer, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer , Senator Mark Warner, who is vice chair of the chamber’s Democratic caucus, and Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of Senate Democrats’ steering committee and a 2020 presidential candidate. Facebook spent nearly $12.3m on federal lobbying, so why not keep all that beautiful money in the family? The Guardian reported most Facebook lobbyists were high-level Democratic Party political operatives, no 2019 Facebook lobbyist worked for current members of the Republican House and Senate leadership, although several had worked for GOP Senate committee chairmen. Tony Bobulinski’s courageous revelations about the corruption and lies of Joe Biden, James Biden and Hunter Biden are important and stand on their own as evidence in what we hope will be the indictment and conviction of the Biden Crime Family, but what should really enrage honest American voters is that the poison of that corruption has seeped into every facet of Washington media and political culture and in the process has revealed how corrupt the entire Washington elite have become. 2020 Election Joe Biden Hunter Biden Tony Bobulinski China corruption Hunter laptop Jim Biden Hunter Biden emails media, censorship John Kerry stepson Facebook lobbying

As we’ve explained in numerous articles over the past four years, Democrats and their Far Left allies have no intention of adhering to constitutional forms of opposition to President Trump and his policies. See Unconventional Warfare – The Democrat Plan To Oust Trump, Antifa Confirms The Coup We Warned You About In September and It’s Not A Protest, It’s Not A Riot, It’s A Revolution (Part 4) for examples. Now our friends at thefederalist.com have added two more articles to the growing body of evidence that the 2020 election is merely a phase line in the Far Left’s bid to seize power. In “7 Open Leftist Threats That Political Terror Is Coming To America Whether Trump Wins Or Not” Stella Morabito documents how “mainstream” Democrats and Left-leaning media and tech companies have begun to normalize the idea of killing conservatives and Trump supporters. Among the seven examples Ms. Morabito cites are three that bear careful review because they come from Leftist thought leaders who have used social media to target conservatives for death. The first is Nils Gilman, a George Soros-funded agitator who heads something called the Berggruen Institute and is a co-founder of the “Transition Integrity Project,” which war-gamed the ouster of Trump from office regardless of whether he wins re-election. Gilman tweeted, and the tweet remains up as of the publication of Ms. Morabito’s column, calling for the Claremont Institute’s Michael Anton to be executed as a Nazi collaborator. Second, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo objected to the company Coinbase’s decision to ease up on forcing employees to engage in social justice agendas such as critical race theory. Costolo accused Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong of being among the “me-first capitalists” who would be the first lined up and “shot in the revolution.” Costolo, who has 1.5 million Twitter followers, added that he would “happily provide video commentary” of the executions. The tweet has disappeared, although there is no mention of it being deleted wrote Ms. Morabito. The third of Ms. Morabito’s examples that jumped out at us was an Aug. 4, 2019 tweet by supposed religious scholar and CNN contributor Reza Aslan, who announced on Twitter — a tweet still up as of Oct. 22 — that all Trump supporters “must be eradicated from society” along with Trump, and that there is “no longer any room for nuance.” Aslan has nearly 300,000 followers. His extremely defamatory and threatening tweet reads verbatim: “The President is a white nationalist terror leader. His supporters — ALL OF THEM — are by definition white nationalist terror supporters. The MAGA hat is a KKK hood. And his evil, racist scourge must be eradicated from society.” These threats of violence are not from random street radicals. Much like the threats of death and violence by Colorado Democratic Party leader Kris Jacks that Project Veritas captured on video they come from allegedly mainstream voices in the Democratic Party and intellectual Left, and make clear that win or lose on Election Day violence against conservatives will continue. In “Trump Resistance Plans ‘Mass Mobilization’ After Election To Shut Down The Country If Biden Doesn’t Win,” thefederalist.com’s Joy Pullman added further documentation to the Left’s post-election chaos plan we dissected in Antifa Confirms The Coup We Warned You About In September. The important addition Ms. Pullman makes to the growing literature about the planned Anti-Trump coup is to point out that it is national in nature – while the plan is posted online by “Shut Down DC” “Preventing Donald Trump from stealing the election and remaining in office is likely to take mass, sustained disruptive movements all over the country,” the group’s website posted on Oct. 7. “Puting [sic] pressure on the media and social media agencies to refuse to declare a victor, resisting demands to call the vote in forvor [sic] of Trump, physically protecting the vote count from counter-protestors, federal agents, or white supremacist militias are all potential actions in this moment,” says the group’s “Disruption Guide for 2020.” According to protecttheresults.com, a coalition of over 100 Leftist organizations there are now more than 210 post-election “actions” planned around the country – and they aren’t limited to Democrat-controlled major urban areas. College towns, such a Lafayette, Indiana (home of Purdue University) and small cities, such as Lakeland, Florida are also in the sights. Even Red States, such as Texas, are targeted, with “actions” planned for Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, and perhaps other locations. ShutDownDC’s website indicates that it expects Trump to be “forced from office,” adding: “We are not seeking a ‘return to normalcy,’ because we know that returning to ‘normal’ means returning to a system that was built on oppression. Rather, we see this as the time to rise up against the current crisis and move forward to dismantle the interlocking systems of oppression that have plagued this land for centuries.” Translation: Prepare for the revolution. This is a “no BS moment” for armed patriots and anyone else who simply wants to be left alone to live in the constitutional republic bequeathed to us by the Founders. We urge CHQ readers and friends to take this warning seriously and if you haven’t downloaded it and read it, click this link to get your copy of Insurrection and Violence - A Citizen’s Guide to prepare yourself and your family for what the violent Left promises is coming. CHQ Editor George Rasley is a certified rifle and pistol instructor, a Glock ® certified pistol armorer and a veteran of over 300 political campaigns, including every Republican presidential campaign from 1976 to 2008. He served as lead advance representative for Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and has served as a staff member, consultant, or advance representative for some of America's most recognized conservative Republican political figures, including President Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. He served in policy and communications positions on the House and Senate staff, and during the George H.W. Bush administration he served on the White House staff of Vice President Dan Quayle. 2020 election riots protests voter fraud Voter ID coup revolution far left Nils Gilman Berggruen Institute critical race theory Dick Costolo Reza Aslan Project Veritas Kris Jacks

Fr. Edward Meeks is a Catholic priest of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, and the founding pastor of Christ the King Church in Towson, Maryland. In his homily “Staring into the Abyss” Fr. Meeks lays out moral principles for Catholics to observe when voting – but these principles are not limited to Catholics alone, they are principles which all Christian believers can and should consider when conducting their civic duties, especially when voting. We urge CHQ readers and friends to share this transcript and video with their priest or pastor in the hope that it will be read from the pulpit or form the basis of their sermon or homily on Sunday, November 1, 2020. Father Edward Meeks: I’ve been mentioning for the past two Sundays that I’m going to be speaking today on the November 3rd election, and I want to give you a little heads-up as I begin. I will be going a little bit long this morning because I have a lot of ground to cover*. We are “staring into the abyss” This will be for me, personally, the 14th presidential election I will have voted in since reaching the age of majority, and this one is unlike anything I have ever seen. I actually said this same thing about the last election in 2016, but the events of the last 4 years—in fact, of the past 6–7 months—have cast this upcoming election in a whole new and ever more dire light. I believe that at this moment in time and history, you and I find ourselves as part of a society that is staring into the abyss. And, how our nation votes on November 3rd will determine whether we collectively step off the cliff into that abyss or step back from it, if only temporarily. Your vote should align with Church teachings Now, let me preface my remarks by saying [that] it is not my place to tell you how you must vote. We do, after all, still live in a free country with free elections—at least for the time being. But, it is my place as your priest and pastor to help you see how your vote may or may not line up with the teachings of the Church. So, I will tell you emphatically that what I’m about to say to you should not be taken as an implicit endorsement of any candidate by Christ the King Church or by the personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. I’m taking this opportunity to speak to you personally, to share with you my own personal opinion. But, it’s an opinion both formed and informed by the Word of God and by the crystal–clear teaching of the Church for the purpose of helping you think through the choices. Because, again, there are certain realities about the candidates and their parties that directly impact our Catholic faith. And so, we must be aware of these realities before we cast our vote. And, my first allegiance is not to any political candidate or party, but to the truth of God and His Church. So, what I’m going to say is not politically- motivated because the stakes involved far transcend politics. But, what I’m going to say, I believe, has to be said. “I grieve for what has become of America” Now, let me begin by telling you that I have struggled mightily with this message—not because I’m afraid of the Truth (I think you know me better than that!)…To the contrary, the Truth is what motivates me every day of my life. I resonate completely with St. Paul who said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the truth of the Gospel.” (1 Cor. 9:16) Frankly, if I were not sold out to the truth, I wouldn’t even be standing in front of you today because I would not be a Catholic priest. No, the reason from my struggle has to do with the vitriol and the vicious animosities that are evident in our society today…animosities that have played out tens of millions of times daily on social media and in the violence that has overtaken so many of America’s cities, and was even on full display in the recent Presidential Debate. Brothers and Sisters, we live in a nation that is—sadly, tragically—divided; a nation at odds with itself. Jesus’ words in the Gospel of this past Friday (Oct. 9, 2020 from Luke 11:15-26) were never more true: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I grieve for what has become of America. And so, the last thing I want to do is to have this message contribute to that division in our country, and—least of all—to have it cause division in our parish. You and I are children of the same Heavenly Father. You and I are servants of the same Lord and Master. We are first Christians, Catholics; we are second, American; and, then, somewhere down the line from there we are Republicans or Democrats or Independents or whatever. Never forget that order. And so, it has almost become a cliché to declare that we have “reached the tipping point” in our nation, but it is also true. And, it is time for faithful Catholics and other Christians to stand up courageously and forthrightly to confront the evil that has overtaken our culture and say, “Enough is enough!” Because whether you are aware of it or not, there are powerful forces in government at every level, as well as in the mainstream media, and in the Silicon Valley technocracy that are working aggressively to silence the Church through legislation, lies, intimidation, and censorship. “Think with the Church” So for us faithful Catholics, the starting point of our choice of whom to vote for needs to be that we intentionally think with the Church. Think with the Church!—something that too many Catholics have failed to do for far too long—a fact that has largely contributed to the dire condition of our culture today. The Church has clearly and consistently based Her teaching on the Sacred Scriptures and on the living tradition embodied in 2,000 years of Her Magisterium. That teaching has led to an array of foundational principles when it comes to us as Catholics and our moral and civic responsibilities. It’s not always easy to sift through the myriad of issues at play in Presidential politics. So, it becomes crucial, then, that we properly prioritize those issues, because some are clearly more important than others. We can respectfully disagree. And, we can have differences of prudential judgment and opinion around issues like the economy, taxation, immigration, national defense, trade, health care, climate change, and so on. But, don’t get side-tracked by the spurious “seamless garment theory” espoused by many in the Church that asserts that issues like immigration and the environment are of equal weight with abortion. “Non-negotiable values” Because, there is a set of issues upon which Catholics must not disagree. Pope Benedict XVI specified those issues in his 2012 Apostolic Constitution entitled Sacramentum Caritatis, in which Benedict defined what he called our “non-negotiable values”—a concept which he repeated countless times during his pontificate. Among the list of “non-negotiable values” which he identified, chief among them are: 1) the sanctity of life from conception to natural death; 2) the sanctity of marriage as a life-long sacramental union of a man and a woman; 3) the preservation of religious liberty. They are “non-negotiable” because they are of paramount importance in Catholic moral theology. They are the moral principles where the Church draws a clear line in the sand. In all of the fog and the confusion and spin that surrounds every political season, we must, as faithful Catholics, conscientiously vote in such a way that best upholds and protects these “non-negotiable” values. Again: 1) the sanctity of life; 2) the sanctity of marriage; and 3) religious liberty. Not that other issues are unimportant, but these three are foundational to who we are as human beings and to what kind of society we are constructing. As Pope Benedict wrote regarding these values (quote): “In the face of fundamental and inalienable ethical demands, Christians must recognize that what is at stake is the essence of the moral law, which concerns the integral good of the human person.” On these and other critical issues, there is one presidential candidate who stands in very public, very obstinate opposition to Church teaching, namely, former vice-president Joe Biden, along with the Democratic Party. And so, I’d like to share with you the five things that every Catholic needs to know about “Catholic” Joe Biden, and how these line up with the “non-negotiables.” And, by the way, before I begin, and for the sake of those of you who might be a little bit squeamish about what I’m about to say, let me quote for you a principle from the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, entitled Gaudium et Spes. The Council Fathers wrote this (quote): “At all time and in all places, the Church should have the true freedom to teach the Faith, to proclaim its teaching about society, to carry out its task among men without hindrance, and to pass moral judgments even in matters relating to politics whenever the fundamental right of man or the salvation of souls requires it.” (paragraph 76) Five things that every Catholic needs to know about “Catholic” Joe Biden OK, then. The five things that every Catholic needs to know about “Catholic” Joe Biden: #1—Joe Biden is unabashedly pro-abortion. This fact is clear from his long voting record, his public pronouncements, his allegiance to and support of groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL, and from his party’s platform not only in this election year but in their platform going back decades. He and they support abortion for any reason or for no reason, right up to and even beyond the moment of birth. He and they oppose the effort in Congress to pass legislation requiring doctors who perform abortions to provide medical care to babies who survive the abortion, opting, rather, to let such babies simply die outside the womb with no care. He and they are pushing for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, and action which would force all American taxpayers, including you and me, to fund abortions, to pay for them. Along with their anti-life positions on euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and other issues, the Democrat Party has become the party of death. And, “Catholic” Joe Biden is their standard-bearer—or, as he said in the first Presidential Debate: “I am the Democratic Party!” #2—Joe Biden opposes the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage. While he was vice-president, he publicly endorsed same-sex marriage in 2012, three years before the Supreme Court ruling. And, in 2016 (while still the vice-president) he officiated over the “wedding” ceremony of two men, posting a photo of the ceremony on Twitter, with the captions: “Proud to marry Brian and Joe at my house. Couldn’t be happier! Two long-time White House staffers, two great guys!” #3—A Biden presidency would be a danger to our already dwindling religious liberty. He and his party advocate for the repeal of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which protects the religious conscience rights of healthcare workers who decline to participate in abortions, and of Church-based adoption agencies that choose to place children only with married, heterosexual couples, among other things. Biden is also on record committing to restoring the Obamacare mandate requiring religious ministries and orders like the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptive and abortifacient drugs to their employees, despite the fact that that is a direct violation of their faith conviction and of Church teaching. And, by the way, on the subject of religious liberty, Joe Biden is on the record as saying that as President he would not hesitate to re- institute a nation-wide pandemic lockdown if the science demands it. Undoubtedly, such a lock-down would once again close our churches. Let me remind you of what it was like for us to have no public Masses and no sacraments for 11 weeks this past Spring. #4—Although Joe Biden rejects the label of “socialist” his presidency would undoubtedly open the door for America to very quickly become a socialist country. Evidence for this assertion is in his signing on to the self-avowed socialist Bernie Sanders’ agenda. His selection as a running mate of Senator Kamala Harris, identified by bi-partisan groups, by non-partisan groups as the THE most leftist member of the U.S. Senate. His months’-long silence on the murder and mayhem being inflicted on America’s cities by Marxist–Socialist organizations, as well as the all-too-obvious and serious influence being exercised within the Democrat Party by leftist extremists. “So, why,” you may ask, “should that be an issue of concern for Catholics?” One has only to consider the lessons of history and the teachings of the Popes to answer the question. For more than 200 years, wherever Socialism has sought to gain a foothold—in France (following the French Revolution), in the 20th Century and today in Latin America, in Eastern Europe, in Asia, or wherever—the Socialists have viewed the Church—especially and specifically, the Catholic Church—as an enemy to be destroyed, or that the very least, to be silenced and marginalized. Socialism is a soul-robbing ideology that always and inevitably leads to totalitarianism, where the government presumes to put itself in the place of God in the lives of its subservient citizens. For this reason, Socialism has been clearly and vigorously condemned and denounced by an unbroken string of no less than 11 consecutive Popes, from Pius IX in 1849 to Benedict XVI in 2005. Mob rule is one of the chief tactics and strategies of Socialism. And, in a perverse twist of ironies, the same Socialist mobs who like to chant “Silence is violence”, reaped the benefits of the several-months- long silence of Joe Biden and his party as the mobs carried out their orchestrated campaign of violence in America’s cities. Again, Joe Biden is probably personally not a Socialist. But he and the Democrat Party can validly called out for giving aid, comfort, and encouragement to those who are, whether they be the demonic forces unleashed in the streets of America’s cities by Marxists, Nihilists, Anarchists, Revolutionaries or those in elected office in his own party who seek to push America so far to the left as to make it unrecognizable and to establish a socio-politic, socio-economic and political system that is openly hostile to the Church. #5—Joe Biden’s position on these 4 moral issues as a very high-profile Catholic—a man who served in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades and then as vice-president for eight years, and now as a candidate for President—a very high-profile Catholic. His positions, then, serve to subvert and undermine the faith of nominal and poorly- catechized Catholics. As, for example, it gives rise to the misinformed effort known as “Catholics for Biden.” At least one of Biden’s campaign ads pictures his with Pope Francis and with a group of smiling nuns in an effort to portray himself as a devout Catholic. And, by the way, when you have to tell people what a good Catholic you are, does that not make you question how good a Catholic the person really is? Ironically, it’s another group of nuns—namely, the Little Sisters of the Poor—who would once again be targeted by a Biden presidency for enforcement of the Obamacare mandate. Furthermore, Senator Kamala Harris, [Biden’s] running mate, is on record calling the Knights of Columbus, quote: “An all-male extremist group”— “Extremist” because of the Knights’ clear support of Church teaching on the “non- negotiables” that we’re talking about here. And, by the way, Deacon Bud, Father Rob and I are all members of the Knights of Columbus…and, yeah!—we’re all male. What of it? I leave it up to you to decide if we’re also “extremists.” Also, isn’t it interesting that the same leftist media which gives high praise to Joe Biden’s “Catholicism”, while characterizing the Catholicism of Judge Amy Coney Barrett as “dangerous and extremist.” The perennial failure of many of our Bishops to call out Biden and other Catholic politicians who publicly defy the Church’s most cherished moral teachings only serves to confuse many Catholics and many others in our society, causing them to think, “Oh, I guess what he holds isn’t that bad.” Isn’t that bad?—: the willful destruction of 61 million babies in the womb, including, by the way, 23 million black babies—Isn’t that sad? I ask you, “What could be worse?” In its document entitled, “Living the Gospel of Life,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared abortion to be the pre- eminent moral issue of our time. The right to life undergirds all other rights. That’s why it’s mentioned first in the Declaration of Independence. And, it represents government’s most important responsibility. So, don’t let anyone—be he a priest, a bishop, or a cardinal—tell you otherwise. Abortion is, I believe, spiritually speaking both the primary cause and the primary symptom of a society in a downward death spiral. As I said, it’s time for faithful Catholics to stand us and say, “Enough is enough,” to all office-holders and politicians who claim to be devout Catholics while publicly and obstinately contradicting the Church and subverting her teachings. Sobering reflection by Archbishop Fulton Sheen In conclusion, we are as a nation—as I stated earlier—I believe, staring into the abyss, stemming from our culture’s wholesale rejection of God and His law—a rejection manifested most tangibly in five decades of legalized abortion. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once wrote these words almost 60 years ago–quote: “A nation always gets the kind of politicians it deserves. If a time ever comes when the religious Jews, Protestants, and Catholics ever have to suffer under a totalitarian state which would deny to them the right to worship God according to the light of their conscience, it will be because for years they thought it made no difference what kind of people represented them, and because they abandoned the spiritual in the realm of the temporal.” And so the bottom line, Brothers and Sisters, is: VOTE! And, when you do, think with the Church—while also understanding this: that no one running for public office is ultimately the solution for what ails America. Only God is! That’s not a statement of resignation to the inevitable. It is, rather, a statement of hope. The late Father Richard John Neuhaus once wrote: “Christians have not the right to despair, for despair is a sin. And, we have not reason to despair, quite simply because Christ is risen.” You and I are called to be salt and light in a dark and dying world. And, you and I as faithful American Catholics are engaged in the battle for the soul of our beloved Nation. Let’s take that call seriously. I’d like to conclude this homily with a quote from the Old Testament that you’re no doubt familiar with. It’s one of my very favorite Scripture quotes and one which is most pertinent and most compelling for today—2 Chronicles 7:14—Almighty God declares this: “If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then…then…will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.” God bless you! And may God continue to bless America! *Transcript courtesy of Iowans for Life 2020 Election Joe Biden Fr. Edward Meeks Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter Donald Trump abortion born alive legislation Hyde Amendment religious liberty Catholic vote

Something’s happening here, just what it is ain’t exactly clear… Stop, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down… What’s going on? My wife and I traded off asking the query as we rode home from lunch over the weekend. She suggested that we deviate from our usual direct route to see how many folks were out and about on this sunny and warm seasonal day in southeastern Virginia. We were travelling -- or more aptly, not travelling -- on a divided four lane state road that typically moves along just fine through the business part of town at all times of the year, even during peak tourist season and Christmas time. But that day, for some reason, it took several cycles to go through a single traffic light. Seeing as there’s no football at the College of William and Mary this season, it couldn’t have been homecoming or something else of that nature. And the “Black Lives Matter” protests were months ago, the participants having expended their woke energy last summer. So what gives? A bad traffic accident, perhaps? No emergency vehicles in sight. No real sense of urgency on anyone’s part, either. No impatient drivers turning around in the center divider. No clues to the nature of the delay other than lots and lots of stop-and-go cars inching forward in front of us. After ten minutes and two blocks, we cut though an outlet mall’s parking lot and made it to a less travelled two-lane road that would take us towards home. Even then, there were way more cars than usual making the turn at the intersection. Back at the house, my son checked his social media networks and discovered there was a Trump 2020 parade in town. We’d seen a few cars, trucks and motorcycles proudly waving Trump flags and various other partisan indicators, but weren’t aware there was anything organized here in our neck of the woods. For the past few weeks/months we’d heard about similar demonstrations and celebrations taking place in other parts of the country, but not in this “purple” region where it appears there are equal numbers of Biden/Harris and Trump/Pence signs dotting the landscape. We felt regretful for having missed the parade. If we’d known, there would’ve been at least one more mini-van joining the show of force. Who organized the extravaganza? Not the Trump campaign, apparently. And there are lots of these things going on where the president’s enthusiastic backers display pride in their candidate while urging others to join in the movement to reelect him. Writing on a much larger such rally in Pennsylvania, Byron York reported at The Washington Examiner, “It was the biggest political rally no one saw. And gatherings like it have been happening for months in some of the places President Trump needs most to win if he is to be reelected. And, remarkably, the rallies are not the work of the Trump campaign. The road rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was organized and staged by local Trump supporters, linked together largely by Facebook, who want to show that enthusiasm for the president in western Pennsylvania and surrounding areas is not just strong but stronger than it was when Trump eked out a victory in Pennsylvania in 2016. If Trump wins this critical state, it will owe in significant part to this organic movement and the energetic organizers who have nothing to do with his campaign... “There were so many cars — organizers estimated the number to be 2,000, many of them with whole families inside — that it took a very long time to pass through the lot. As that happened, people honked and waved American flags, and Trump flags, too, and talked about why they think it is critical for the president to be reelected... “Political strategists often refer to the ground game, the work that campaigns do to knock on doors and make personal contact with voters. Certainly the Trump campaign is doing a lot of that. But if the president wins Pennsylvania, and that would mean he'd have a good chance at winning a second term, he might well owe his victory to his grassroots supporters' work on the road. Jumping in their cars and trucks and inviting others to come along has heightened the enthusiasm in oil and gas country. Look for them to keep driving all the way to Election Day.” Our Williamsburg rally didn’t have 2000 cars (maybe five hundred?), but it was big enough to draw the local press to cover it. My wife looked on the local social media network and there were a handful of liberals complaining about the impromptu gathering -- and even more responses of “I voted for Trump” to answer their griping. The mostly “shy” population in this area is becoming slightly less bashful about expressing their views. And we haven’t seen anything even close to a Biden “parade.” Meanwhile, the COVID-19 recovered president is barnstorming the country this week traveling to swing states and speaking to thousands of people in outdoor settings. Many thousands more (based on aerial photography of the venues) are standing outside in a human throng, not getting to see the “show” but still willing to mingle with other Trump voters. The grassroots reception continues to be exceptionally strong, which contrasts remarkably with the tepid treatment Biden and Kamala Harris -- and Barack Obama -- receive everywhere they go. And don’t go. Polls are moving in Trump’s direction too, including one that even places him in front in the national popular vote. The media rages on about the most recent spike in positive Chinese Communist Party (CCP, or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus infections. And the death toll continues to tick upward, more people who succumbed with the virus (not necessarily due to it). But the question is how many of these unfortunate people perished because they lacked proper medical treatment for other serious conditions. Certainly the young and healthy aren’t dying from the Chinese plague. News stories about more NFL players and staff testing positive are frequent, yet none of these people die or are hospitalized due to the virus. The media-fostered hysteria is waning for a lot of Americans. Treatments have drastically improved. Biden and his cohorts can’t get away with scaring people any longer. The terrified have long since filled out their mail-in ballots and voted for the fearmonger party. The rest are out riding around in Trump parades, watching them from the side of the road or viewing them on TV at home. Fox News’s ratings much be through the roof lately. When the election is over, what then? These simple citizen gestures aren’t supplying the Trump campaign with the type of dollars Joe Biden is attracting, however. The doddering Democrat may rail about “Wall Street” being on Trump’s side, but Biden’s the one getting most of the financial industry’s contributions. The “average” American is giving time, energy -- and votes -- to the man who has made a difference in their lives and will continue to do so, starting on Nov. 4 if he’s reelected. No transition needed this time, even if there will be some turnover from one Trump administration to the next. Trump makes promises he knows he can keep. Biden tosses out wild claims about “existential threats” and offing the oil and gas industry if he takes power. It’s not exactly the stuff parades are made of. If you don’t believe it, just ask the people with the huge blue Trump banners on their cars. Talk about a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Yes, a Biden presidency would be bad; but a Trump second term would be stellar Much has been written about all the bad things that would likely happen if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win the election and take over for Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the third week of January next year. Perhaps it’s time to look ahead and highlight all the good things that will take place if Trump and Pence are granted four more years by the voting public. In no particular order, there would be: a vaccine for COVID-19. Various pharmaceutical companies are drawing nearer to receiving approval for widespread distribution of a vaccine to combat the CCP virus. President Trump has said the military will be involved with disbursing doses quickly. Public skepticism abounds as to the viability of the vaccine, but within a span of time, when cases draw down or disappear, Americans will trust that it’s safe to lead normal lives again. I’ll make sure to keep my “Trump 2020” masks as souvenirs and remembrances of a time when hope and optimism overcame the Democrats’ doom and gloom “We’re all going to die!” pessimism. Next, at long last, immigration will be dealt with. Nancy Pelosi and “Chucky” Schumer have held off on making a deal with the Trump administration over the fate of so-called “Dreamers” and the future of legal immigration in this country. Staring at the prospect of four more years of Trump, they’ll realize that the best they’ll get is some sort of compromise involving possible legalization for the law abiding “un-documented”, but not citizenship. Or, Trump could simply step up deportations if they refuse to bargain. The liberal outcry would be enormous! Here’s thinking the issue will be resolved in a positive way. The transformation of the federal courts will be complete. A second Trump term would include lots more qualified, Constitution-revering judges in the federal court system. While it’s true that the Senate majority may swing to the Democrats, they can’t stall everything forever. There could be a wave of retirements as well, since a lot of liberal judges probably would not want to risk going four more years only to have another Republican replace Trump. In addition, Justice Stephen Breyer is 82. Trump could easily have more Supreme Court nominations in term two. The U.S. military will get even stronger. A reelected Trump will definitely push to keep the U.S. military at proper readiness without engaging in any “stupid wars” that a President Biden would commit us to. The last thing Trump would want for his legacy is to bog the country down in a foreign Iraq-like quagmire. With domestic energy production churning along, there would be no incentive for adventurism in the Middle East. Trump would get some sort of concessions from North Korea while continuing to wage fierce resistance to China. Trump would sanitize the deep state. Much of the good work done to root out the corruption and sleaze in the deep state would be wasted if Trump isn’t reelected. A second term Trump would demand a wholesale cleansing of the nation’s intelligence apparatus, perhaps led by someone like Rick Grenell. The FBI, CIA and other federal law enforcement agencies would regain the reputation of upholding the law rather than engaging in witch hunts and political targeting. Big Tech will finally meet its match. No one doubts that the big tech barons are powerful people, but even they can’t compete with the long arm of federal law. The social media giants cower behind walls of legal protection, but if they’re deemed to be publishers, those barriers will come tumbling down like a masonry structure in a Silicon Valley earthquake. Free speech will be restored, and America will become itself again. The media can run, but it can’t hide. Low taxes and reduced regulation will rebuild the economy. We’re already seeing it in the improving job numbers and the dramatic increases in GDP, but the economy will come roaring back in Trump’s second term. As soon as people get a taste of what it’s like to be “normal,” they’ll rush back to living life again, including traveling and partaking in the freedom to move around. Biden will keep people scared indefinitely. Trump will bring America back quickly. Politically speaking, there’s still much to do. If they lose, Democrats will be angrier than hornets attacking nest invaders on a hot summer day. Never Trump Republicans will be out of power forever. A new electoral coalition will be formed including liberty-loving African-Americans, Hispanics and middle-class whites. The future looks good for conservatism. As America’s Trump parades, gatherings, rallies and picnics have demonstrated, there’s a ton of enthusiasm backing the president’s reelection efforts. Joe Biden can’t even draw a parking lot full of cars to his pathetic appearances. A Trump victory next week would inspire a wave of optimism and plans for the future. What would a Biden win arouse? 2020 Election Mike Pence Kamala Harris Donald Trump Joe Biden COVID-19 Trump parades grassroots organizing Get out the vote GOTV

The Supreme Court has issued a series of confusing rulings on the upcoming election, with Chief Justice Roberts being the wild card in the process. In the recently decided case of Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar, Roberts sided with the three activist Democrats on the Supreme Court to allow Pennsylvania’s Democrats to count ballots received up to three days after Election Day – even though Pennsylvania law allows only ballots received on or before Election Day to be counted. In that case the Pennsylvania Supreme Court also said that ballots lacking a clear postmark could be counted unless there was evidence that they were mailed after the polls closed. What Roberts did in Bookvar was make postmarks the new “hanging chads” of contested elections, while giving potential election manipulators a clear roadmap of how to go about getting their fraudulent ballots counted. However, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots in Wisconsin could be counted only if they are received by Election Day. Democrats in the state had asked the federal court to allow the counting of ballots that arrive up to six days after Election Day if they were postmarked by November 3. Unlike the Pennsylvania order last week, the Wisconsin order Monday concerned a ruling from a lower federal court, not a state court, and Chief Justice John Roberts said that made a difference. A federal district court in Wisconsin had sided with the Democrats to allow mail-in ballots to be received up to six days after Election Day, but an appeals court blocked that order, and the Supreme Court upheld the block. "Different bodies of law and different precedents govern these two situations and require, in these particular circumstances, that we allow the modification of election rules in Pennsylvania but not Wisconsin," Roberts wrote. If you are confused, so are many others, but Roberts’ point that federal courts should not jump in to overturn or modify otherwise valid state election laws in the middle of an election is a hopeful sign. But what about state courts, as Roberts’ decision to let the state court ruling stand in Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar seemed to imply they have unlimited, even arbitrary power to decide election matters in their respective states? Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to shoot that idea down. "Under the U.S. Constitution, the state courts do not have a blank check to rewrite state election laws for federal elections," Kavanaugh wrote in a footnote of his concurring opinion. Kavanaugh referenced Bush v. Gore, the court's opinion that decided the 2000 election. Kavanaugh picked up on the reasoning of then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist in a concurrence that garnered the votes of two other conservative justices -- the late Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas. "The text of Article II means that the 'clearly expressed intent of the legislature must prevail' and that a state court may not depart from the state election code enacted by the legislature," Kavanaugh wrote. In the Wisconsin case Monday, Kavanaugh wrote to explain why he agreed with the court's 5-3 majority to block a federal district court's ruling that would have extended the deadline for the receipt of absentee ballots in Wisconsin amidst the pandemic. For important reasons, most States, including Wisconsin, require absentee ballots to be received by election day, not just mailed by election day. Those States want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election. And those States also want to be able to definitively announce the results of the election on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter. Moreover, particularly in a Presidential election, counting all the votes quickly can help the State promptly resolve any disputes, address any need for recounts, and begin the process of canvassing and certifying the election results in an expeditious manner. See 3 U. S. C. §5. The States are aware of the risks described by Professor Pildes: "[L]ate-arriving ballots open up one of the greatest risks of what might, in our era of hyperpolarized political parties and existential politics, destabilize the election result. If the apparent winner the morning after the election ends up losing due to late-arriving ballots, charges of a rigged election could explode." Pildes, How to Accommodate a Massive Surge in Absentee Voting, U. Chi. L. Rev. Online (June 26, 2020) (online source archived at www.supremecourt.gov). The "longer after Election Day any significant changes in vote totals take place, the greater the risk that the losing side will cry that the election has been stolen." As Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter noted, Kavanaugh said he thought the district court changed the state's rules too close to an election and that courts should defer to state legislatures to address health concerns about Covid-19. He also said he thought that Wisconsin's deadline is the same as that of several other states and is "reasonable given the all the circumstances. The Supreme Court has yet to resolve how far state courts may go to change election rules put in place by state legislatures and as of right now, beyond the date of the required meeting of the Electors (this year December 14, 2020) there is no national deadline for the post-election counting of ballots or resolution of recounts. 2020 Election Joe Biden Voter ID vote fraud vote counts courts Chief Justice John Roberts mail-in ballots Wisconsin case Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar ballot counting

The Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America have filed lawsuits against Governor Cuomo's arbitrary and capricious COVID restrictions on religious assembly. According to New York’s WABC-TV, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn on Thursday, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state of New York, on the basis of violating their First Amendment right, the free exercise of religion. The lawsuit is in response to the New York State executive order issued this week that reduces capacity at Catholic Churches throughout Brooklyn and Queens. "The executive orders this week have left us with no other option than to go to court. Our churches have the capacity to accommodate many worshippers and to reset our attendance capacity to 10 people maximum in the red zone, and 25 people in the orange zone, when we have had no significant cases, impedes our right to worship and cannot stand," Bishop of Brooklyn Nicholas DiMarzio said. "The State has completely disregarded the fact that our safety protocols have worked and it is an insult to once again penalize all those who have made the safe return to Church work." In addition, Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish group, filed a federal lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order against New York State's enforcement of attendance limits on houses of worship. The limits, announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo just two days ago, would cap Shul and other houses of worship attendance in so-called "red zones" to ten individuals. "This is something which is very devastating to communities of faith," Rabbi David Zwiebel of Agudath Israel of America said. "Why in the world would a large shul with large capacity be treated the same as a small shul?" Other groups in the filing were Agudath Israel of Kew Garden Hills, Agudath Israel of Bayswater, Congregation Zichron Moshe Dov, Rabbi Yisroel Reisman, Rabbi Menachem Feifer, Rabbi Aaron Stein and Steven Saphirstein. "Social distancing, masking, and all health precautions must, of course, be observed," said Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel. "However, we think that it is possible to stay safe and at the same time have more than ten people in a Shul building that is meant to hold hundreds." Deep animosity was directed towards the Mayor Bill de Blasio for singling out these alleged hot spot neighborhoods to begin with, reported WABC. "He knows that most of the Jews are gonna vote for Trump and he doesn't want that to happen," Midwood resident Rachel Aviv said. "So he thinks that if he locks us down and keeps us in our homes, then we will not be able to go out to vote." During a recent news conference New York’s Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed the opposition to his arbitrary and capricious lockdown orders on President Trump. “Here the Trump campaign wants to inflame divisions. Meanwhile, they are putting people's lives at risk. 20% of the cases coming from these districts. 20% from 2.8%. some of those people will die. What is the Trump campaign saying, play politics. Play politics. It's disgusting," Democrat Cuomo said. The governor also read a tweet from Jewish protest organizer Heshy Tischer saying, "Urgent: Who can print 'Cuomo hates Jews.' 'Cuomo killed thousands' on flags.” Governor Cuomo’s protests that his orders are motivated purely by health concerns ring hollow in the aftermath of the attacks Jews and Catholics have suffered at the hands of the anti-religious Left in New York. There have been three recent reported incidents of Catholic Church vandalism; Resurrection Roman Catholic Church on Gerritsen Ave in Marine Park, Brooklyn was vandalized, in September, a suspect picked up a statue outside a Catholic church in Coney Island and tossed it to the sidewalk below, causing significant damage to the statue, and in June, a vandal spray-painted a statue with the word "idol" in Queens. And just last weekend a “Jews for Trump” car parade was attacked by Leftists who hurled rocks from overpasses on to cars below and assaulted members of the caravan as it passed through Times Square. In one incident a family of seven ‒ including four kids ‒ were pepper-sprayed by violent rioters. The convoy of hundreds of cars draped with American flags and "Trump 2020" banners rolled slowly through Manhattan and Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon. The caravan traveled from Coney Island to the Trump Tower in Manhattan before heading to a rally in a Brooklyn park running through a gantlet of abuse and assaults. Chief Terence Monahan said that NYPD detectives are investigating the rock-throwing incident, but as yet there seems to be no let-up in the Leftist violence and government sponsored intimidation of New York’s Catholics and Jews who wish to do nothing more than practice their faith and express their political views in peace. 2020 Election Joe Biden Catholic voters Jewish voters New York City religious liberty riots assaults religious assembly Governor Cuomo First Amendment lawsuit Agudath Israel of America social distancing Mayor Bill de Blasio

Weighing personality versus the most important signature in the world It seems hard to fathom, but one week from today Americans will go to the polls (if they haven’t already dropped by the mailbox) to vote in what is undoubtedly the most important and consequential election of our lifetimes. Undoubtedly many (about half?) will do so motivated by support for their candidate. Others will do it as a civic duty. And the rest will likely make the journey out of personal preference. The airy notion that politics matters eludes a huge segment of the population. These are people who slept through civics class in high school, because it was too much bother to learn how the local, state and federal governments function. The Constitution stops at the end of the preamble, right? If it weren’t true, why wouldn’t School House Rock have written a jingle for the whole thing? The anti-Trump voters will be voting to get rid of President Donald Trump. The few Republicans among them will satisfy themselves with the notion that they’re doing the right thing. Trump is “mean” or “divisive” or “in it for himself” or “racist.” Whatever their justification, the #NeverTrumpers know not what they do. Rhetorically asking, “Is disapproval of a president’s personality sufficient reason to transfer power to the Democrats?” Daniel Henninger summed it up well last week at The Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Biden has made a Faustian bargain with his party’s activist left, and should he win, their price will be putting the U.S. on a fast track toward significant income confiscation and ‘distributive justice.’ The Obama presidency got close, and economically, it was not a good experience for lower-middle-class workers or the unemployed. The creation of economic opportunity is why the possibility of support for Mr. Trump among black Americans and Hispanics may be one of the election’s sleeper issues. “At its finish, this presidential election is of a piece with everything else in 2020—the desire that some things just go away. So which is it, Donald Trump or the Democratic Party? “I think the greater national need is for the Democratic Party to go away and rethink what has become its profound alienation from the history, traditions and identity of the United States. If they win, the divisions will get deeper. In our invaluable system of checks and balances, it’s a bigger risk to have one of America’s two major parties this far off the tracks than any single personality.” Well said. As always, Henninger presents a cogent argument and cuts straight to the heart of the matter. Trump’s personality, quirks and mannerisms turn a lot of people off. We know it. A secret, it’s not. Some were alienated long ago by Trump’s regular tabloid presence, braggadocio about his properties and himself and seeming disloyalty to his first two wives. These critics didn’t like the fact he commented on political issues and came out and favored or disavowed something he later adopted. Some conservatives distrusted him, suggesting he wasn’t serious about the Republican Party and furthering its platform, especially on social issues. Some people didn’t like Trump’s TV show, “The Apprentice.” He was brash. Always confident. Sometimes harsh… and seemed to enjoy the “You’re Fired!” ending of the program a little too much for his own good. Trump was in the media so often that he didn’t seem genuine or real. He was like a talking celebrity wax figure in a museum, complete with styled orange hair. When he announced his candidacy for president, many of us, including myself, considered it a grand publicity stunt to market his business ventures. If not, why was he so critical of beloved figures in the party? Many, many conservatives lost faith in the two Bush presidents but practically everyone agreed they were good men who did their best for the country. Why kick them when they’re down? And did Trump really say Marco Rubio was little? Or that Ted Cruz was, gulp, a liar? Or that Carly Fiorina had a less than desirable face? Or Jeb Bush had low energy? How could Americans elect someone like Donald Trump as president? Even if we could get used to the off-putting aspects of his personality, there was a lot more there to get on our nerves. At times, his voice sounded as pleasant as a sixth grader intentionally running his fingernails over a chalkboard. His agenda sounded more like a populist plea for votes rather than something he was serious about implementing. Do something about illegal immigration? The swampy establishment would never allow it. But paired with the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency, the choice became easier… much easier A ton easier. Maybe it was because Hillary’s personality was worse than Trump’s. Her arrogant condescension, her unbelievable denials concerning her private email server, her marriage to big Bubba Bill, who gave philandering an even worse name -- on a bulbous red-nosed face, too. The corruption, the criminal behavior, the aura of sleazy political favors for cash. It all added up. (Lock her up?) It was easy for a lot of folks to conclude Clinton was worse than Trump. He won, she lost. And the Russians had very little, if anything, to do with it. His personality has largely remained the same in his first term. It is part of who he is. His record is good. He’s been through a lot. But without a doubt, the most important thing about Trump isn’t his face, his accent, his odd hand gestures or fondness for Tweeting. It is his signature. Huh? Most people wouldn’t recognize it if they saw it. For those of us familiar with it, it's got a flourish -- like someone with a big ego owns it. So what, correct? Well, Trump’s signature means a lot. It means everything, in fact. To those suburban women or other wayward Republicans, conservatives or America-lovers out there, consider this: the office of the president is much more than just a butt in the seat of the chair at the Oval Office. The fact is, the American legislative process requires the president's signature to make laws. FACT: Joe Biden won't sign ANYTHING the conservatives in Congress manage to pass. Trump will. With the help of the grassroots, we have some hope of actually making progress in the next four years. We won't get ANYTHING done with Biden and a Democrat Congress. Trump has never shown himself to be overly ideological. Therefore, if the conservatives in Congress are able to exert some influence, then we could conceivably get something done to try and fix the leaks in the ship. The captain's somewhat irrelevant here. Throwing the election because you're mad at the GOP for nominating Trump four years ago or the American people for electing him is counter-productive. I'm not going to concede any chance we have to get things turned around after the devasting year of 2020. The president signs a lot more than bills from Congress There’s really no need to go into the growth of executive power in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Everyone who’s paid attention to politics and history realizes the president has become the central focus of American political life. The parties battle at the state and district level for senate and House seats, but these elections are “only” for control of part of the legislative branch. They have power, but it isn’t like the modern president’s authority. A lot more comes across the president’s desk for his (or her?) signature. Article II, Section II of the Constitution reads, “The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. “He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. “The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.” There you have it. The president’s signature ends up on a lot of documents. Even if you don’t like Trump personally, do you still like his policies? Did his signature make you happy on any legislation or executive order over the past four years? Did his signature please you when he signed the nomination papers for Judges (now Justices) Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett? Was it a sight to see when he signed the new trade bills? Or issued the Born Alive Executive Order? Do you like the American Flag? Do you support police departments? Do you think historical monuments deserve defenses from vandals and miscreants? Do our cities deserve protection from lawless anarchists? Want to purchase a firearm for your family’s safety? Are you glad you can go to the gas station and buy a gallon of gas for two bucks? Do you enjoy not having to pay the individual mandate penalty under Obamacare? Do you rest easier at night knowing that the U.S. military is stronger than it was four years ago? Is it more important for the fighting forces to be ready to defend our country’s interests or to further the leftist social agenda? Want to pay for transgender surgeries out of your taxpayer dollars? Do you appreciate that under Trump, there’s a lot less chance that America’s finest won’t be sent into harm’s way because of political reasons? Tired of war? Want our European allies to pay their fair share for their own defense threats from Russia? Do you want local or state control over COVID-19 regulations, closures and mandates? Are you glad that the terrible Iran Deal was rescinded? How many lives have been saved because the Iranian mullahs are now starved of cash and on the brink of collapse? Were you impressed when peace negotiations resulted in recognition of Israel by Bahrain, the UAE and now Sudan? How about when the U.S. embassy in Israel was moved to Jerusalem? What do you think of school choice? Are you a big fan of teachers’ unions and their dominance over education? Everyone liking “virtual” schooling? Would the public schools benefit from more competition and parent input? Have your kids benefited from Common Core? Is it a good thing to have biological males playing on girls’ sports teams? Did you love being labeled a racist by some idiot if you were disgusted by media-massaged “peaceful protests” and violence? Does everyone need to be taught racial sensitivity? Was it a good idea to move on criminal justice reform? Were you giddy when you discovered that the 2017 tax law saved you a lot of money? Do you like how yours or your spouse’s (or son’s or daughter’s) job was preserved by Trump’s decision to withdraw from the constricting, China pampering Paris Accord? Or that someone you know is making a great wage because of the protections in the USMCA trade pact with our north American partners? Do you smile when you realize that your religious institution doesn’t have to violate its conscience to provide birth control and abortifacients against policy? How awesome is that the federal government has become so powerful? Do you desire to transfer more authority to a nameless, face-less bureaucrats thousands of miles away? All of these things are or were dependent on President Donald J. Trump scribbling his name on pieces of paper with lovely seals and/or official stamps. If the hand guiding the pen had been Hillary Clinton’s, you would not have been happy. And if it’s Joe Biden doing the signing in the next four years, think of all the bad things that will happen. Biden himself talked about it extensively last Thursday evening. If he says he wants to dictate to the nation on practically every subject on God’s green earth, we should believe him. In our divided nation, opinions diverge widely on whether to give President Trump another four years in the White House. Both sides can’t be right and there won’t be two winners. The president of the United States has a powerful signature. If actions mean more than words, consider that signature when you enter the voting booth next week. 2020 Election Mike Pence Kamala Harris Vice President debate Donald Trump Joe Biden COVID-19 town hall debate NBC ABC Trump signature Constitution Article II

Our friend Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit has posted some truly disgusting sexual content from Hunter Biden’s laptop, verifying in part what we reported in our article Is Child Pornography The Real Hunter Biden Computer Scandal? and adding another tranche of evidence to the growing Biden corruption saga. The material the Gateway Pundit obtained was first released by China’s GTV, and is definitely not family friendly or safe for viewing at work, so we recommend you give the video link a skip. GTV is ostensibly an anti-Communist outlet, and their statement of purpose attached to the release of the video (translated from Mandarin) says this: We apologize if the video has caused you any serious discomfort! But it is for the sake of justice that we, the New Federal State of China, have made the video public. Because the friends of the communist are our enemies. We will not allow anyone to steal from the Chinese people! We will not allow anyone to enslave the Chinese people! We will not allow anyone to abuse our children! The video shows only the tip of the iceberg of what is important in the Chinese Communist Party’s Blue-Gold-Yellow (BGY) program. They take advantage of all those Western politicians, celebrities, and their families who are greedy for Chinese wealth, and threaten them by getting hold of and recording their sex and drug videos, forcing them to sell out their countries and people, and even their own national security in order to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party’s world domination. U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden is 100% controlled by the Chinese Communist Party as one of the most successful political instances of the BGY program. He is also a target of the CCP’s 3F plan, which aims to “fall, fail, and fell,” to weaken, destroy and kill America! The Chinese Communist Party’s use of this tactic to threaten Biden and his sons and to bribe them with large amounts of wealth is one of the major causes of the disputes over the South China Sea, US-China trade, intellectual property rights, and energy prices, etc., as well as Biden’s provision of large numbers of CIA intelligence agents in China to the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party has such a BGY program in the United States and in several Western countries in Europe. We will have millions of videos and photos of government officials, corrupt people, traitors, and criminals colluding with the Communist Party to dominate the world. It doesn’t matter what country you come from, what ethnicity or color you are, or what party you belong to. The next person to be abused may be your daughter, your wife, your sister, so there are no party or ethnic borders when it comes to eliminating the Chinese Communist Party. GTV is owned by controversial Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Guo) whom Hongkuan Li, a well-known dissident who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, says is a "gangster," a "communist spy puppy," "a rapist" and "suffering from schizophrenia." Guo claims he became a dissident after his brother was killed by police in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests, however, as a New York Times magazine profile pointed out in 2018, that timeline doesn't appear to explain why Guo spent the next two decades growing rich in China through real estate development, a business that typically requires close cooperation with government officials even in democracies, let alone an authoritarian state like China. In nearly three decades after his brother's death, there is no record of Guo taking a public stand against the party he says caused it, the Times wrote. Australian authorities have shut down Guo Wengui's "New Federal State of China" because it harassed other Chinese dissidents – and similar charges have been leveled against Guo Wengui's operation in Texas for harassing prominent Chinese Christian dissident Pastor Bob Fu. Midland, Texas Mayor Payton hosted an unprecedented news conference wherein he charged that Guo Wengui organized “protesters” harassing Pastor Bob Fu are paid by Chinese Communist Party interests: "They have no connection to China other than they wanted to get out of China. And so they’re no longer in China. China knows where they are … knows how to contact them, knows how to hire them and knows how to pay them." Mayor Payton said Guo Wengui's people make threats against him personally and against the city: "They make threats against me. They make threats against this city. They make threats against our law enforcement. All of this is in service to the Communist Party." And as former intelligence operator J. Michael Waller has documented in his long-running tracking of Guo Wengui's organization, Guo has targeted other well-known Chinese dissidents saying, “They deserve to die.” Our point in going through all this background on Guo Wengui is this – the Chinese Communist Party has been very effective in suppressing so-called “independent” information about China when it chooses to do so. And, in this case the Hunter Biden sex tapes have surfaced through a source that many people we trust say is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, to us that means the Red Chinese have concluded that there is no utility in hiding the information for later use, because Joe Biden isn’t going to be President and can’t be blackmailed with it. Hunter Biden Joe Biden China North Korea Tony Bobulinski GTV video Guo Wengui Chinese Communist Party Hunter Biden sex tape

In the weirdest campaign strategy since Jimmy Carter’s Rose Garden strategy Joe Biden rarely ventures out from his basement lair. But he did do a drive-in rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday which also brought out a crowd of enthusiastic Trump supporters. As Karen Townsend reported for Hot Air, they gathered in a parking lot across from the parking lot for the Biden rally. The enthusiastic Trump supporters were making some noise, shouting and honking their horns. “We don’t do things like those chumps out there with the microphones, those Trump guys,” Biden railed to supporters ensconced in about 130 cars at a drive-in rally at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania. As Abigail Marone, of Trump Rapid Response tweeted, “Looks like more Trump supporters showed up to Biden’s Bucks County, PA event than Biden supporters!” And judging by the video posted it does look like there were more than 130 cars in the Trump counter rally. There were cars, pickup trucks and SUVs draped with American flags and campaign banners, who invaded a nearby parking lot — within earshot of Biden — to honk horns and try to shout the Democrat down. The Trump counter-rally is important because Bucks County is crucial swing county just north of Philadelphia, which Hillary Clinton won by less than 1 percent in 2016 — and which Democrats hope to win more resoundingly this year, with the help of suburbanites allegedly turned off by Trump. Here’s Biden’s problem – in 2016 Trump won big around the coal-producing parts of Appalachian Pennsylvania. His oversized turnout in the coal counties of Washington, Greene, Cambria, Somerset, Westmoreland, Luzerne and Fayette helped earn him that 41,000-vote edge over Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, who famously told a town-hall audience during her campaign, “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” And Western Pennsylvania is still strongly pro-Trump. A recent study by the Allegheny Conference, reported by Salina Zito, found Pennsylvania’s coal industry supports about 17,000 jobs either directly or indirectly. In addition, Pennsylvania’s oil and natural gas industry fuels more than 322,000 direct and indirect jobs and contributes $45 billion to the state’s economy, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis. Those voters and their families could swing an election. And they haven’t forgotten that back in February Joe Biden said during a rally that he wants to "get rid of fossil fuels." Biden said: "We are going to get rid of fossil fuels." Referring to radical environmentalist protestors who interrupted the event, Biden said: "That's okay, these guys are okay, they want to do the same thing that I want to do, they want to phase out fossil fuels and we're going to phase out fossil fuels." Biden also said there would be "no more coal plants." Biden's hostility to energy industry workers is nothing new, either. In December of 2019 he suggested if coal miners lose their job due to his policies they should learn to code. Now, the Associated Press reports America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC, ran an eight-week ad campaign for TV, the internet and mail over the summer reinforcing Biden’s anti-fossil fuels positions to the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who work in the industry, or see their businesses benefiting or receive royalties from a well on their land. Trump’s campaign is running its own ad this fall featuring a fracking technician named “Jen” who says Biden would end fracking and “that would be the end of my job, and thousands of others.” And Great America PAC, which supports Trump, produced an ad calling Biden and Harris “fracking liars.” The Coal Region Canary website was not impressed by Biden’s “chumps” remark either, posting video of Biden’s remarks with the comment: Joe Biden called Pennsylvania Trump supporters “chumps” today during one his bizarre car rallies in Bristol, Bucks County. In fact, he didn’t do it just once. He said it twice. C’mon man! How’s he going to play us like that? The pro-Trump enthusiasm in Western Pennsylvania means Biden and the Democrats are going to have to vastly improve on Clinton’s suburban numbers and judging by the turnout of pro-Trump “chumps” at the Bucks County counter-rally, the numbers in the suburbs are not trending very strongly in Joe Biden’s favor. 2020 Election Joe Biden House investigation Special Counsel Hunter Biden Twitter Facebook censorship retweets comments Biden parking lot Bucks County coal fossil fuels

From here on out, every election is a “base” election Every election, much is made about whether it’s a “base” election, or whether either of the candidates could possibly help his or her chances of winning by attracting members of the opposite party, or completely new voters, or voters who might not have shown up in opinion surveys as “likely” to turn out to cast a ballot. Both President Trump and Joe Biden have been accused of campaigning strictly to rile up their own bases of support, but recent data doesn’t necessarily indicate that it’s happening that way. At least where Trump is concerned. Numbers from Trump’s post COVID-19 recovery rallies (or more succinctly, his “Peaceful protest” in Michigan) shows that many of those in attendance were not the voters the president locked up prior to 2016’s election, and that his electoral coalition appears to be much broader than the media would have us believe. If the data is to be trusted -- and there’s no reason to suspect it’s inaccurate -- Trump’s enthusiastic “base” includes a significant portion of registered Democrats, minority voters and women. And first-time voters too. The inimitable Paul Bedard reported at The Washington Examiner the other day, “In the 13 reelection events since returning to the campaign trail following his COVID-19 diagnosis, President Trump has attracted over 167,000 rally goers, many of them first time voters and even more who are not Republicans. “According to GOP rally data posted by Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, the Trump airport campaign events strongly suggest that he is building out his base and that media reports the president is only talking to his core constituency are wrong. “Her reports, based on information taken by attendees and those who signed up to attend, show that about one quarter did not vote in 2016 and a third were not even Republicans. For example, at Trump’s Oct. 17 stop in Janesville, Wisc., McDaniel said that 47.5% of the 13,850 said they were not Republicans.” These percentages echo those from Trump’s earlier campaign events, in the old days when he could speak indoors and attract thousands of mask-less humans unafraid of catching contagion and a life-threatening sickness. Even so, this is a staggering figure. One only needs to watch a Trump rally to see that the raucous crowds are a good mix of “ordinary” folks who are not only enthusiastic about their candidate, they’re there for a good time celebrating their exceptional nation and its culture. This “base” of support appears to be in evidence all over the country, though Trump’s campaign focus has been on the swing states exclusively. And while a rally would naturally draw only the most fervent of backers, the “silent” stats probably aren’t that far apart from them. This isn’t predicting that all the establishment polls are wildly wrong and that Trump will win the election in a landslide rivaling Ronald Reagan’s 1984 performance, but here’s thinking that Trump’s campaign strategy -- hammering Grampa Joe relentlessly and making the vote all about so-called Trumpism vs. Biden and the Democrats’ corruption, profligate spending and socialism, probably isn’t that bad of a plan after all. Trump always dominates the post-debate online polls, but the media doesn’t pay any attention to those. Who would bother dropping fifty cents or a dollar to register approval for Joe Biden? No one, that’s who. He’s an idiot and the reason he’s ahead in establishment polls is his status as the not-Trump candidate. The Democrat’s fundraising totals are impressive, but the vast majority of his money stems from large liberal billionaire donors and bundlers collecting checks as tribute rather than genuine love. Not to mention these “supporters” will be there with both hands extended seeking a piece of the federal pie if Democrats pull off the improbable on Election Day. Of course Biden isn’t conducting any rallies of significant size, and before Thursday night, had locked himself in his basement bunker (supposedly to practice and prep for the debate) without any news releases while the Hunter Biden laptop scandal raged all around them. But even if Grampa Joe was more actively conducting rallies than the relatively inert Hillary Clinton did four years ago, there’s no way a quarter or more of his attendees would identify themselves as Republicans. The media makes great hay over the miniscule but boisterous #NeverTrump faction, but how many of them are out there? Their ranks haven’t grown significantly since Trump’s 2016 win, and, if anything, a big chunk of the never-never-ever-ever Trumpers have subsequently jumped on the Trump bandwagon. Trump’s “base” support is so strong that there was no prominent intra-party movement to knock him off in this year’s party primaries. And now it looks as though he’s getting a lot of Democrat, independent and first time/rare voter backing as well. So therefore, it’s not surprising that Trump took the aggressive anti-Joe tack in the first debate and somewhat again on Thursday night. The difference being that Trump could still be himself and also come across as professional and in-control. He had very little to lose and only a bit to gain, but I think he accomplished it in Nashville. It'll be a cold, dark day in you-know-where before Trump is anything less than confident. Meanwhile, Biden didn’t exactly come across as a man who believed he would surely win. The older man was typically petulant and defensive whenever challenged, but clearly the events of the past couple weeks have taken their toll on the near 78-year-old. Whereas Trump seemed tired and irritable in the first debate, it was Biden who appeared worn-out and in need of a hospital stay in Nashville. Think about it. Anyone could envision Trump going to a Tennessee country music honkytonk bar and getting along swimmingly with the clientele, even if he was dressed in a suit. But Biden? He obviously feels most at home hanging with the elites in business and government, because that’s all he’s known for the past fifty years of his life. He’s completely lost touch with the “average” American and he's not really a “regular” guy at all. And it shows. Grampa Joe may not be taxing himself to the brink on the campaign trail, but he’s clearly not as spry as he was twelve years ago as Obama’s running mate. And the Joe that showed up in Nashville on Thursday night is a shadow of his former loud-talking self in the senate. The lame attempts at humor are still there, but these days, the laughter is more from pity than it is authentic empathy. Can anyone who viewed Thursday night’s debate seriously picture Joe Biden as president? October Surprise… or late term predictability? One reason for the anti-climactic atmosphere of Thursday night’s debate was the fact so many people already made up their minds on voting months ago and there wasn’t a single thing either candidate could say that would move them from their rock. To this group, which is probably at least ninety-five percent of those planning to participate in this election, it doesn’t matter how many “October surprise(s)” are out there. Where Trump is concerned, these types of non-damaging revelations have been continually released since before he even took office. With a nonstop drumbeat of “Russia, Russia, Russia”, Democrats long ago exhausted the “wow” factor among news consumers. The nauseating, mundane and stupid Robert Mueller investigation consumed much of everyone’s attention span in addition to the tens of millions of dollars it costed to conduct it. How about impeachment over a phone call? It turns out everything that was in Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian president in July, 2019 was on the level and completely justified. Thanks, Hunter! Perhaps the president should be nominated for another Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to stamp out international corruption. Bring forth the Biden family as witnesses -- and defendants -- please! At any rate, nothing much turns heads these days. Valerie Richardson reported at The Washington Times, “The 2020 election season already has provided enough October surprises to fill a pinata, but the would-be bombshells involving President Trump and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden have yet to pack much of a punch. “The Bob Woodward book, the Trump tax returns, the Hunter Biden laptop emails — so far none has been able to hold the public’s attention beyond the first few days of the news cycle, which may say more about the roller coaster news cycle than the disclosures themselves.” It's true. If Americans weren’t astonished by what was stored in Hunter Biden’s computer, it says something. Some of apathy is due to the media’s and big tech’s frantic efforts to suppress the story, but most of it is because there’s nothing that shocks folks anymore. People are comfortably numb. The dissatisfaction with the establishment political class is much more pervasive than fear of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP, or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus. Leftists and liberals closed their eyes and ears to Donald Trump well before the 2016 election and haven’t opened them since. Another reason is the lack of necessity to define the other candidate. Donald Trump has been an American household name for decades and there isn’t a voter in the country who doesn’t have an opinion of him after all that time plus four years of his presidency. Even the media, which hates him, still feels compelled to plaster his face all over their pages and broadcasts. What or who else are they going to talk about, “Chucky” Schumer? Then there’s Joe Biden, who’s also universally known (but not necessarily understood or admired). Biden was nationally famous before he even took office, the subject of news stories about the young newly elected Delaware senator whose wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident before Christmas. A widely publicized Biden run for president went down in flames in 1987 because of a plagiarism scandal, and subsequent brain aneurysms also kept him in the headlines. Grampa Joe wouldn’t dare admit it now, but the brain aneurysm thing is probably why he’s so terrified of contracting COVID-19, figuring the aggressive flu-like virus might permanently debilitate or kill him. At any rate, people recognize Biden for all he’s been through and his seemingly dutiful support of “The One”, Barack Obama, in the man’s “Hope and Change” presidency. The media’s watered down versions of corruption don’t register any longer. And where Trump is the center of attention, it’s like we’ve heard it all before, including several times in 2016. If the “Access Hollywood” tape didn’t bring him down then, what would now, another Stormy Daniels accusation? 2020 features two incredibly vetted candidates. The rest is just white noise in the midst of a fireworks show. Obama says Trump empowers the racist in his supporters Speaking to a parking lot full of cars the other day, none other than former president Barack Obama gave his pitch for electing Grampa Joe n’ sidekick Kamala Harris. The big O doesn’t want us to have to argue about Trump’s tweets in the next four years, so that’s why we should turn over our economic futures to a doddering, mentally failing idiot and his opportunistic socialist running mate. Jessica Chasmar reported at The Washington Times, “Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday compared President Trump to a ‘crazy uncle’ whose rhetoric encourages others to be ‘cruel and divisive and racist.’ … “’With Joe and [vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris] at the helm, you’re not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day,’ the former president said. ‘And that’s worth a lot. You’re not going to have to argue about them every day. It just won’t be so exhausting. You might be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner without having an argument.’ “’There are consequences to these actions,’ he added. ‘They embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist, and it frays the fabric of our society, and it affects how our children see things. And it affects the ways that our families get along. It affects how the world looks at America. That behavior matters. Character matters.’” So, let me get this straight. If two family members disagree over Trump’s opposition to the Iran Deal or the Paris Climate Accord, they should just bury their differences and talk about Grampa Joe’s latest foray out of his basement? This coming from the guy who said “The police acted stupidly” and accused liberal-wary rural voters of being bitter clingers to guns and religion. What a crock. Obama and crew are trying to hold on with the election being all about Trump’s tweets. They think we’re stupid and petty, just like they are. They’re wrong. People will continue to talk about Thursday night’s final presidential debate until another subject arises to take its place. Perhaps it will be the full senate vote for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, or more revelations from Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop. With only a week to go until Election Day, time is running out to change the narrative. Excitement is on the horizon. Hunter Biden Joe Biden Trump base brand social issues cultural issues abortion pro-life law and order COVID-19 Nashville debate Kristen Welker China North Korea Tony Bobulinski

There were definitely some grenades tossed during last night’s debate, not the least of which were these: Trump said Biden’s family is like a “vacuum cleaner,” following Biden around and sucking up money. Trump said if he spent $1 million on Joe, he’ll find a lot wrong, noting Biden’s brother made money in Iraq and it all goes through Joe. Trump hit Biden over Hunter’s emails, saying he owes Americans an explanation about raking in money. Trump said Biden has to “clean it up” and talk to the America people about the revelations from Hunter’s laptop and the Tony Bobulinski news conference. Trump said “You’re the ‘Big Man’ Joe, or maybe you aren’t…” But the real bombshell of last night’s debate wasn’t what the candidates said, it was what the media refused to report about it. There was Chris Wallace on Fox News saying, “Vice President Biden has actually released his tax returns – unlike President Trump – and there is no indication he ever got any money from anybody in these business deals.” Leftwing sites The Raw Story and Salon then used Wallace’s comments in their debate coverage: "The question is whether or not he personally benefitted financially," Wallace explained. "Remember that the hard drive [that the computer repair shop] gave to the FBI in December of 2019 — so about 10-11 months ago — they've had and one assumes that had Biden taken money from a foreign entity while he was vice president and had he lied because we've seen his tax returns from 2019 that we would have seen the fruits of that investigation by now." CNN’s Daniel Dale running interference for Hunter Biden – “It is not true Hunter Biden did not have a job when he was appointed to Burisma board in 2014 (or before Joe was VP). He was a lawyer at a firm, an adjunct prof at Georgetown U, chairman of the board of World Food Program USA, and CEO of investment firm Rosemont Seneca Advisors.” Editor’s Note: Rosemont Seneca Advisors was one of the conduits for Chinese money to the Biden family. NBC's Hallie Jackson carrying water for her friends in the Democratic Party, insisting that the Bobulinski presser and documents over the last week are "foreign disinformation." Multiple progressive social media accounts reporting Donald Trump has made history tonight. He is the first presidential candidate to spread foreign disinformation during a debate. And Foreign Policy magazine said, “At the heels of Facebook and Twitter removing a dubious New York Post story from their platforms this week, the U.S. must start taking disinformation seriously.” The Huffington Post reminded viewers a coalition of former intelligence officials issued a joint letter condemning a recent smear campaign against Hunter Biden, saying it appeared to have the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to influence the upcoming election. And David Frum tweeting: Gotta give credit to Trump, the past 2-3 minutes was the most impressive lying/per/second ratio of his career, after one of the questions about the Biden cash from China. Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News teed-up their debate coverage saying, “Some of the same people who pushed a false conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton that first emerged in 2016 are now targeting Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son, with similar falsehoods... The fantastical rumors, which NBC News is declining to repeat…” And Chris Hayes of MSNBC tweeted, “It's not really surprising at all, this was always the play, but still kind of head-spinning to watch all the players from 2016 run exactly the same hack-leak-smear op in 2020. Even with everyone knowing exactly what's happening this time.” The real bombshell from last night’s debate should have been the revelations coming from Hunter Biden’s laptop which confirm that Joe Biden lied to the American people when he repeatedly claimed he never discussed or knew anything about his son’s foreign business deals. In fact, according to emails and documents uncovered on the laptop, the Biden family enriched themselves by leveraging Joe Biden’s position for lucrative foreign business deals, and Joe Biden was in the know about the scheme the entire time, but the establishment media has done its best to cover up and erase this massive corruption – even after the President brought it up during a nationally televised debate. Hunter Biden Joe Biden brand social issues cultural issues abortion pro-life law and order COVID-19 Nashville debate Kristen Welker China North Korea Tony Bobulinski