News & Opinion*
Compiled by Michael Hernandez, 10-20-24
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: election, Trump lawfare, immigration, wars, massive orchestrated ‘Palestine’ protests/riots, weaponization of government, our nation going bankrupt, massive inflation, phony climate change controversy and related expenses of government/industry attempting to address these issues, and the Chinese threat. So here are just a few:
Oct. 12: Breitbart By Dr. Thomas Williams
Michigan Bishops Protest Gov. Whitmer’s Mockery Of Holy Communion
The Michigan Catholic Bishops’ Conference has protested Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s mockery of the sacrament of the Eucharist, calling the blasphemous stunt “offensive.” A video posted on Instagram Thursday featured Gov. Gretchen Whitmer placing a Dorito chip on the extended tongue of a kneeling woman, in a gesture readily recognizable as the Catholic practice of Holy Communion.
After giving Canadian feminist Liz Plank (@feministabulous) “communion,” Whitmer — wearing a Harris-Walz hat — then stares expressionless into the camera: The skit specifically imitates “the posture and gestures of Catholics receiving the Holy Eucharist, in which we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present,” said Paul A. Long, president of the Michigan Catholic Conference.
“It is not just distasteful or ‘strange;’ it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices,” Long said on behalf of the bishops, adding that “whether or not insulting Catholics and the Eucharist was the intent, it has had an offensive impact.”
Oct. 12: Fox News By Gabriel Rigobuto
NFL Wife Devon Moastert Receives Racist Hate Online For Defending DeSantis Against Harris
Devon Mostert, wife of NFL running back for the Miami Dolphins’ Raheem Mostert, is standing by her comments earlier this week about Vice President Kamala Harris’ “ridiculous” attack on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantia amid Hurricane Milton.
Harris took aim at DeSantis Monday when she told reporters that he was not taking her calls in the days preceding the second storm to smack Southwest Florida in two weeks.
“People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations . . . is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” Harris said of DeSantis on Monday.
Mostert took to her Instagram at the time to praise DeSantis for doing a “great job” and continues to vocalize her support for the governor’s response to back-to-back natural disasters. “I really don’t think that Kamala’s comments about him add up,” Mostert told Fox News Digital during an exclusive video interview. “He is focused on taking care of his Floridians, and that’s exactly where his focus should be. All of our resources and time were supposed to be on that,” Mostert went on. “Yet she’s standing on the tarmac complaining that somebody didn’t take her call. To me, that just seems ridiculous.”
Oct 12: Breitbart By Elizabeth Weibel
Gretchen Whitmer Issues Apology After Mocking Holy Communion With Dorito Chips
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) issued an apology after posting a video appearing to mock the sacrament of the Eucharist, noting that she “would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith.” In a statement provided to Fox2 Detroit by Whitmer’s office, the governor explained that the video, in which she can be seen wearing a Harris-Walz camouflage hat and placing a Dorito chip on the tongue of Canadian author and journalist Liz Plank, was “supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs.”
“Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith,” Whitmer said in her statement. “I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs. My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference. What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs, has been construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that.”
Oct 13: The Epoch Times By Brad Jones
Armed Man Who Allegedly Said He Wanted To ‘Kill The President’ Arrested
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department arrested an armed man who allegedly said he wanted to “kill the president” outside the perimeter of a Trump rally on Oct. 12, Sheriff Chad Bianco told The Epoch Times in a text message on Sunday. The rally was held in the city of Coachella in Southern California, 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
“We arrested a man trying to get in the perimeter with two firearms who ended up saying he was going to kill the president,” Bianco said in the text. The arrest occurred in the wake of two previous alleged assassination attempts on Trump, the first on July 13 when a shooter’s bullet grazed his ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the second at the former president’s golf course in Florida in mid-September.
Further details of the California arrest were not immediately available. Another man, an Iraqi national, who was singled out as a “hit” by police dogs trained to identify explosives, was also turned away from the event, Bianco said.
Oct. 14: Breitbart By Wendell Husebo
Kamala Harris Supported Changing Columbus Day To ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ In 2019
Vice President Kamala Harris supported the radical idea of changing Columbus Day to “Indigenous Peoples Day” when she ran for president in 2019. Recognizing “Indigenous Peoples Day” is a leftist attack on Western civilization’s overwhelming success that brought numerous advancements and raised the standard of living for the entire world. Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, is a U.S. holiday, one of 11 official federal holidays.
“Sign me up,” Harris said in 2019 in response to a voter’s question about whether she would support trying to remove the celebration of Columbus discovering the New World. Columbus was an Italian explorer from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1492, after defending Spain from Muslim attack, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II sponsored Columbus to sail West, thereby discovering the Americas on 12 October.
Fifty-two percent of Americans have a somewhat or very favorable opinion of Columbus, while only 32 percent view him unfavorably, a YouGov poll found Friday. The left has consistently tried to denigrate the holiday by replacing it with “Indigenous Peoples Day.” Last year, President Joe Biden proclaimed October 14, 2024 as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
Oct. 15: Red State By Bob Hoge
‘It’s a Crime, by the Way’—Harmeet Dhillon Tells Tucker Carlson Just How Kamala Harris Ascended To Power
Conservative civil rights attorney Harmeet Dhillon appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show Friday, and she laid into Kamala Harris’ past. Dhillon, who was just appointed to head the Trump campaign’s Election Integrity team in Arizona, had a wide-ranging conversation with the former Fox News host about the many problems of the extremist Border Czar and Democrat presidential nominee, but there was one section that stuck out to me where she discussed the slippery ways in which the now-VP came into prominence in the first place.
It was in the 2003 race for the job of San Francisco District attorney, which Harris won—by cheating. She had agreed, under penalty of perjury, to spending limits, as had her rivals, but then she simply ignored them. Dhillon: “Well it turns out that Kamala Harris, who by the way started out in this campaign third, behind her boss Terence Hallinan, who was in the lead, and then a guy named Vic Fazio, who was a former prosecutor, then defense attorney, who was going to be the hard-on-crime guy. He was eventually endorsed by the Republicans in San Francisco, so she was third. She was the underdog. And so she quickly she was getting no traction at first. So she realized she was going to have to really supercharge her spending. [One-time boyfriend and longtime SF powerbroker] Willie Brown helped her with this.
“Willie Brown also helped raise money for independent expenditures to support her as well. So. It’s a funny story, but you know one of her campaign themes was that she was going to be tough on drugs, tough on marijuana, and back in 2003, marijuana wasn’t the recreational use of marijuana, [it] was not legal in California, and so she was gonna be tough on pot.
Oct. 15: Gateway Pundit By Cristina Laila
Biden Admits His DOJ Is Working To Jail Trump After The Election
Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud and admitted that his DOJ is working to jail Trump after the election. “The same guy who has three other major cases waiting for him when he loses,” Biden said referring to Jack Smith’s federal cases against Trump. “And by the way, 34 felonies,” Biden said after he sent his DOJ hatchetman Matthew Colangelo to New York to get Trump. “He got the sentence kicked back, but I want to watch that sentence,” Biden gleefully said hoping Trump is jailed.
Oct. 16: Breitbart By Nick Gilbertson
Poll: More Americans Lean Republican Than Democrat By 7-Point Margin
More Americans either identify as Republicans or align more with the GOP than Democrats, according to Gallup polling. When asked whether they identify as Republicans, Democrats, or independents, 31 percent of respondents answered Republican, 28 percent said Democrat, and 41 percent chose independent.
When those independents were pressed on which party they lean toward and those results were included in the full sample, 49 percent of all respondents either identified as Republicans or said they leaned toward the GOP, versus 42 percent who either identified as Democrats or leaned that way.
This seven-point edge for Republicans is a major swing toward Republicans and away from Democrats since last month. Gallup’s September poll showed Democrats with a 49 percent to 45 percent advantage over Republicans on this front. This month-over-month change represents a net 11-point swing the GOP’s way.
Oct. 16: Right Side Broadcasting Network By Dillon Buroughs
Trump Says He’ll Ban Transgender Athletes In Women’s Sports
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will “ban” transgender athletes in women’s sports. The 45th president shared the response during an all-female town hall hosted by Lauren Green on Fox News.
“How do you plan on addressing the transgender issue in women’s sports? I have nine grandchildren, six of them female, all playing sports, and we are very concerned for their safety,” a woman asked during the town hall. “We just ban it. We’re not going to let it happen,” Trump replied. “We stop it. We stop it. We absolutely stop it. You can’t have it,” he added.
Trump also expanded on the topic by addressing the ongoing controversy of a biological male volleyball player on the San Jose University women’s volleyball team. “I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” he said. “But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently — I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men,” Trump stated.
The answer suggested Trump would sign an executive action to stop biological males from playing in girls’ and women’s sports, perhaps including K-12th grades and college.
“It’s a man playing in the game. I mean, physically from a muscular, even if it was a little bit less, maybe they do all sorts of tests and drugs and everything else,” he said. “Look at what’s happened in swimming. Look at the records that are being broken.”
https://www.rsbnetwork.com/news/trump-says-hell-ban-transgender-athletes-in-womens-sports/
Oct. 17: Breitbart By Joel Pollak
IDF: Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar May Have Been Killed In Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Thursday that it may have killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, after a body was discovered that closely resembled him in the aftermath of a battle in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar was the architect of the October, 7, 2023, terror attack, and became the overall leader of Hamas when Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, Iran, in late July.
Initial report – During IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were eliminated. The IDF and ISA are checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar. At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed. In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area. The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution.
Sinwar was believed to have been hiding underground, surrounding himself with over a dozen hostages to prevent Israel from killing him in an airstrike. His possible presence in a building above ground led to speculation that he might have been trying to leave Gaza.
Photos of a dead body resembling Sinwar circulated on social media, as Israeli officials took the remains back to Israel for DNA testing. (Israel has Sinwar’s DNA on file because he was once a prisoner in Israel, and was even saved from cancer by Israeli doctors.)
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2024/10/17/idf-hamas-leader-yahya-sinwar-may-have-been-killed/
Oct. 18: Breitbart By Associated Press
Judge Unseals Heavily Redacted Trove Of Evidence In Trump’s 2020 Election Interference Case
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case made public Friday a heavily redacted trove of documents that provide a small glimpse into the evidence prosecutors will present if the case ever goes to trial. The nearly 1,900 pages of documents collected by special counsel Jack Smith’s team were initially filed under seal to help U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan decide what allegations can proceed to trial following the Supreme Court opinion in July that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office.
The information that could be seen in the redacted version released Friday appeared to be material that for the most part had already been made public, including screenshots of Trump social media posts about the 2020 election and a transcript of the video statement he made on Jan. 6, 2021 in, which he told the rioters attacking the Capitol to go home, but added: “we love you” and “you’re very special.”
The overwhelming majority of the pages released Friday were whited-out. The redacted files are believed to include things like transcripts of grand jury testimony, which remain under wraps because of grand jury secrecy rules.
Oct. 18: Gateway Pundit By Jim Hoft
Biden-Harris Regime Is Illegally Holding Steve Bannon Beyond His Release Date
In a bold statement to The National Pulse, former Trump White House Chief Advisor Steve Bannon has accused the Biden-Harris administration of unlawfully keeping him in prison beyond his release date, violating his rights under the First Step Act. Bannon claims that his extended incarceration is a political move aimed at silencing one of Donald Trump’s most prominent allies ahead of the 2024 election.
“Kamala Harris is the ‘Queen of Mass Incarcerations,’” Bannon told National Pulse, pointing out her troubled history with minority communities. ““detested by black and Hispanic men who are refusing to turn out and vote for her. She has done nothing to implement President Trump’s heroic First Step Act, in fact welcoming hundreds of thousands of hardened illegal migrant criminals while allowing US citizens eligible for early release to rot in prison. No mass deportations, but continual mass incarcerations,” Bannon added.
Bannon’s lawyers filed a motion on August 29, urging for his immediate release and questioning why the government’s response to his petition has been delayed for over 75 days.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/biden-harris-regime-illegally-holds-steve-bannon-beyond/
Oct 19: Red State By Becca Lower
Marine Corps Vet Says Delta Employee Made Her Deplane, Remove Shirt Supporting Her Fellow Veterans
Claiming that her clothing sported a “threatening” message, a Marine Corps veteran with over 20 years of service to our country was forced by an airline employee to disrobe in public and don another piece of apparel before being allowed to re-board her flight, she says. Banks explained that when “[h]e said that shirt [she was] wearing is threatening,” all she could manage was disbelief. And what was the allegedly “threatening” message? “Do Not Give In To The War Within. End Veteran Suicide.”
Banks said it’s a cause that’s close to her heart. SFGATE reported that her t-shirt is all about honoring and supporting soldiers who need help with mental health. But the ordeal wasn’t over. After she was allowed back on the flight, she was told she could not return to her seat (with extra legroom, which she had paid for), but had to take a different seat in the back of the plane. The delay also caused her to miss a connecting flight.
Oct. 20: Gateway Pundit By Christina Laila
Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears Reveals How Many Noncitizens Were Removed From Voter Rolls Before Biden-Harris DOJ Sued State
Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears appeared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday to discuss the Biden-Harris DOJ’s lawsuit against the state for cleaning up its dirty voter rolls. The Justice Department earlier this month announced it is suing the state of Virginia for removing non-citizens from its voter rolls.
“The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections to challenge a systematic state program aimed at removing voters from its election rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA),” the DOJ announced.
“Section 8(c)(2) of the NVRA, also known as the Quiet Period Provision, requires states to complete systematic programs aimed at removing the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections. The Quiet Period Provision applies to certain systematic programs carried out by states that are aimed at striking names from voter registration lists based on a perceived failure to meet initial eligibility requirements — including citizenship — at the time of registration,” the DOJ said.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/virginia-lt-governor-winsome-sears-reveals-how-many/
Michael Hernandez, from California is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes,” “Nov. 5 Election Day Countdown” and “Revive America: Make America Great Again.”
*Although the content appears factual, we classified this round-up as “Opinion” because it is somewhat one-sided)…
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida
