Amid cries of outrage, a decade of tradition is ending at the University of Virginia this year as the college decided to cancel its Veterans Day 21-gun salute to veterans. “I am very disillusioned, very upset, and very surprised that they would make such a decision,” veteran Jay Levine said, according to WHSV. Levine, who…
Quraysh Media, a media organization that supports the Islamic State, is encouraging ISIS followers to start wildfires in the U.S. and Europe as a new way of “waging jihad.”
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) spotted four posters distributed by Quraysh Media since April containing the (literally) incendiary message to Islamic State devotees, or “monotheists” as Quraysh Media prefers to call them.
Two of the posters included images of American firefighters battling wildfires.
“Ignite fires in the forests of America, France, Britain and Germany, for they are painful to them,” instructed the fourth poster, which was released on Monday.
Various Western media outlets speculated the Islamic State was inspired by the rash of wildfires in California, although there seems to be no clear evidence of this. ISIS has been known to celebrate American deaths in previous wildfires, and has taken credit for setting crop fires in Syria and Iraq.
Quraysh Media is one of the more prominent Islamic State mouthpieces to question whether ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was truly killed by U.S. special forces in a late October raid. Quraysh generally refers to Baghdadi as if he were still alive.
In addition to touching base with its overseas supporters, the Islamic State has been busy convincing affiliated terrorist gangs to renew their oaths of fealty to the new ISIS leader, who works under the alias “Abu Ibrahim al-Hashini al-Qurashi.” His pseudonym, and the name of Quraysh Media, both refer to the tribe Islam’s prophet Mohammed came from.
ISIS media has been distributing photos of affiliated fighters reciting the bay’ah, the ritual oath of loyalty, to the new leadership. Prominent among the groups responding to the new leadership is IS-Khorasan, the dangerous and determined Islamic State branch in Afghanistan. With an estimated four to five thousand fighters, IS-Khorasan is considered one of the largest affiliates of the terrorist organization.
A shirt that drew outcries for potentially promoting pedophilia has been pulled by the retail giant Amazon after being on sale for the past five months. The shirt — sold for children — bore the words “Daddy’s Little Sl–.” Although no longer listed for sale by the seller Onlybabycare, the shirt’s product description claimed it…
Mollie Hemingway, a senior editor at The Federalist, left a panel of cowards on Fox News stunned and stuttering after she dropped Eric Ciaramella’s name on a Fox News live broadcast.
We’re surprised Fox News didn’t bleep out his name because they recently bowed to pressure and vowed not to say the CIA snitch’s name.
Everyone knows Eric Ciaramella is the CIA leaker who is trying to pass himself off as a whistleblower in order to remove Trump from office — Adam Schiff accidentally forgot to redact Ciaramella’s name from Bill Taylor’s transcript and outed him too.
Paul Sperry of Real Clear Investigations outed Eric Ciaramella as the ‘whistleblower’ and since then, only a handful of conservative websites have reported the truth and named Ciaramella.
The rest of the media are pathetic cowards.
Mollie Hemingway argued that the New York Times all but named the whistleblower in September. The Times revealed a lot of information about Ciaramella but didn’t say his name.
“Real Clear Investigations has identified a man name Eric Ciaramella as the whistleblower so it’s already out there so we could be talking about this reporting and talking about whether that’s accurate reporting or not,” Hemingway said. “So I feel a little bit confused why we are pretending that it hasn’t already been reported.”
Fox News host Howard Kurtz immediately jumped in to “clarify” that he doesn’t know if Ciaramella is the whistleblower.
Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Phillipe Reines chimed in and said, “I think that is the first time that his name has been mentioned on Fox News.”
Howard Kurtz was left stuttering and slack jawed as he was trying to do some damage control, saying he “doesn’t want to speculate” if Eric Ciaramella is the whistleblower.
This is the media today — a bunch of cowards who won’t report the truth.
As soon as Paul Sperry published Eric Ciaramella’s name in a Real Clear Investigations report, The Gateway Pundit went into overdrive and dug up as much information as possible about Ciaramella.
TGP was even threatened by Facebook to have our entire page of nearly 650,000 followers unpublished because we posted Ciaramella’s name and photo, but we never backed down to the pressure.
Thank you, Mollie Hemingway for saying Eric Ciaramella’s name live on Fox News!
First Lady Melania Trump scored a touchdown when she arrived in Alabama for a college football game, alongside President Trump, in winter crisp black cashmere and luxury sunglasses.
Melania Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama with her husband for a college football game wearing a cashmere-wool blend peacoat by Burberry — the London-based house that former Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci has recently rebranded. The coat features a large lapel covered in a knit sweater.
The long-waisted black coat was paired with oversized aviator acetate shades by Celine, a departure from her usual Yves Saint Laurent sunglasses. The shades retail for about $500.
Of course, what Mrs. Trump look is complete without her favorite style of Manolo Blahniks. This pair of Manolos are black to match the look and suede for the ultimate winter vibe.
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John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
A massive mural of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is going up on a building in downtown San Francisco in an effort to force citizens of the Bay Area to think critically about their contribution to global climate change.
The project, which features a 60-foot by 30-foot depiction of the tight-lipped Swedish adolescent and bears a striking — almost comical — resemblance to the “Big Brother” mural that graces the cover of the paperback version of George Orwell’s 1984, is a project by the environmental non-profit, OneAtmosphere.org. The mural, located on the side of a building just off downtown San Francisco’s famous Union Square, will have its official unveiling this week.
The group told CNN that they want to “celebrate” Thunberg’s contributions to environmental activism and that it hopes to make the mural one of several showcasing key anti-climate change figures.
“If we can amplify her message and get more people involved and listening to what she’s saying, then we’re doing some good,” Paul Scott, director of OneAtmopshere.org, told the media outlet.
Scott added that he hopes that the cartoon Thunberg’s watchful eyes force Bay Area residents to do some soul-searching over their climate-killing activities. If they don’t recognize Thunberg, he hopes they’ll seek out information on her crusade, which includes a series of “climate strikes” in major cities, most headlined by high schoolers.
“They’re struck by the image and want to learn more,” he said. “If they take the time to learn more about what she’s trying to share, that I think has an impact on most people. Makes them want to help.”
“Argentine muralist Andres Iglesias, who signs his art with the pseudonym Cobre,” is completing the work, according to the Associated Press. “Cobre,” who also did a now-demolished hyper-realistic mural of the late comedian Robin Williams, also in San Francisco, told media that the mural has been in development for a year, and that he is donating his skills because “we have to take care of the world.”
“I think It’s a very important mission to try to awake some citizens that they are wasting a lot of energy and resources for no reason, and I think it’s very important to try to help in a way,” he told TIME magazine. “People need to know about these things.”
“I usually don’t paint political stuff, because it kind of gives you people who will love it and people who will hate it,” Cobre added. “But this one I think was really important.”
If Cobre truly intended to “help” the cause of battling climate change, though, he might have jettisoned his preferred medium, aerosol spray paint. The 60-by-30 mural is expected to require hundreds of the climate-killing color to complete.
OneAtmopshere.org is supplying the paint, and would only admit to the artist using around 133 cans, which they say Cobre plans to repurpose into a sculpture to prevent the highly toxic items from ending up in a landfill. But The Blaze reports that a similar, smaller mural by the same artist took more than 500 cans to complete. The Thunberg mural will likely take closer to 700 cans to finish.
Cobre can be seen using hundreds of cans of spray paint in a promotional video for the mural.
World Atlas notes that, despite technological advances in chemical propellants, aerosol cans — particularly spray paint cans — are still thought to be a major contributor to global climate change.
The modern CFC-free aerosols still emit the volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which still affect the ozone and the environment. The VOCs are the primary component of the asthma-inducing smog. Besides, the propellants in aerosol cans are highly flammable when in contact with fire and can cause explosions and start fires. Empty aerosol cans are considered as hazardous waste in the US.
And that’s not the only carbon-spewing element of creating a massive outdoor painting. The Ohio EPA notes that major coating and painting projects also involve climate-killing industrial solvents and multiple layers of paint, including topcoasts and sealants, multiplying the negative environmental impact the mural.
It’s difficult to quantify exactly how destructive the Thunberg mural is, but it’s likely to be significant — and hypocritical, given that Thunberg herself rejects most everyday products that contribute to climate change, and groups affiliated with Thunberg’s crusade often go so far as to suggest that people stop using things like deodorant and dry shampoo in order to minimize the environmental impact of aerosols.
The Electoral College is under threat from states looking to enact legislation that ignores local voters in favor of national election results, experts said during a panel Thursday at The Heritage Foundation.
Responding to a wave of 15 states that have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact since the 2016 election, they argued that the Founders instituted the Electoral College to ensure stability and representation to all states.
“We only got the Constitution because the Constitutional Convention persuaded the states to enter into a federation arrangement,” Allen Guelzo, a history professor at Gettysburg College, said. “Federalism is in the bones of our nation, and I would be concerned that we can’t start removing bones without the whole body collapsing.”
The panel, titled “The Fight to Preserve the Electoral College,” featured Guelzo as well as Trent England, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, and Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Heritage.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a legislative partnership among states that agree to award all their electoral votes in future elections to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, disregarding the results of ballots cast in each individual state.
The compact would take effect only once enough states join to determine an election by awarding all 270 electoral votes needed to secure a presidential win.
So far, 15 states and the District of Columbia have joined the compact. Lobbyists actively are looking to expand the agreement to more states whose leaders were upset by the results of the 2016 election, when Republican Donald Trump won the presidency despite losing the national popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Guelzo argued that the Electoral College slows down presidential elections by design, providing legitimacy to the presidency and combating voter fraud.
“The Electoral College embodies a fundamental instinct of the Founders, which is to say ‘slow down,’” he said, adding that “gridlock is not actually an accident.”
The history professor pushed back on objections to the Electoral College, including by some analysts who have argued that the current system violates the principle of one person, one vote.
“If one man, one vote is to be the rule, then as soon as a president loses popular support we ought to have another vote,” Guelzo said. “So we could have presidential elections every six months, three months, eight months—every time there’s an unpleasant tweet.”
England based his arguments on the 2000 election, when Republican George W. Bush lost the national vote to Democrat Al Gore and a recount in Florida for that state’s electoral vote threatened to decide who sits in the Oval Office.
“This is not just going on in blue states, this is going on across the country,” England said of the movement to bypass the electoral college. “This is a serious threat wherever you live. Red state, purple state, there are people there lobbying to hijack the Electoral College.”
England said the movement for states to bypass the Electoral College without going through the difficult process of amending the Constitution gained renewed strength after the 2016 election.
Grassroots activists and lobbying organizations, he said, are driving a message that misleads many voters about the facts of the current electoral system.
Von Spakovsky, manager of Heritage’s Election Law Reform Initiative, turned to voting numbers to argue that rural areas would be left behind if the Electoral College were abolished.
“The whole point of the Electoral College is to balance the states’ demands for greater representation and sovereignty against the risk of what James Madison liked to call the tyranny of the majority,” von Spakovsky said.
Looking again at the 2000 election, he warned that without the Electoral College, the chaos that voters and the nation at large experienced during the Florida recount would be extended to every state and county across the nation, as candidates demanded recounts in every region that potentially could sway an election in their favor.
As a result, von Spakovsky said, the decisions of the president would be seen as illegitimate by significant portions of the nation, and voter fraud would run rampant in areas unprepared to deal with it.
“What we’ve had for over 200 years with the Electoral College system is unbelievable stability,” he said.
Editor’s note: Count on The Daily Signal’s audience to have a lot to say on the state of public education and other topics, as this week’s mailbag reveals. You can join in by emailing letters@dailysignal.com.—Ken McIntyre
Education is too important to leave to education
professionals.
The federal role in education should be very limited. Note that the Constitution omits education as a federal responsibility, leaving it to the states and the people.
The failures of the Head Start program do not mean that it is a bad idea. To begin, it should be a state-level program (at the highest), not a federal program. Disadvantaged children still need increased opportunities.
Business communities at the local level need to be much more involved in public education to assure that they will have an educated work force in the future.—Steve Lipson, Tucson, Ariz.
Dear Daily Signal: Thank you for the interview with theologian Bruce Ashford (“The Gospel of Marx: A False Religion Explained”). I am 39 years old and grew up in California’s Marxist public schools, where I was a conservative activist in high school.
After reading your excellent podcast interview
with Dr. Ashford, it makes sense to me for the first time why we can’t use
their tactics in service of our own goals.
For all that schools steep students in Marxism, they never tell you they’re doing it, and they don’t lay out their assumptions for students to critique.
It’s all about using the artificial environment of the school to condition students to a false view of what it means to be human. Thanks to Dr. Ashford for turning the lights on.—Jacquelyn Soniat, Franklinton, La.
***
Dear Daily Signal: I enjoyed reading Ken Larson’s letter on his journey from California to Virginia and the lack of education in public schools (“We Hear You: Notes on Our Schools From the Belly of the Beast”). This agenda of dummying down our youth and promoting an indoctrination started in the 1960s.
These were the
same college students who protested and burned the American flag. These
radicals became teachers and taught several generations thereafter.
We are now seeing clearly what their real agenda is. You need to move your family and protect your children and grandchildren. Homeschooling or a decent Christian school is the only answer to saving our youth.—Nina Lewis
Dear Daily Signal: I applaud Star Parker’s
commentary, “The Left’s Real
Impeachment Wish.” Trump supporters need to
stand up for him.
Trump supporters need to write letters to the editor and speak out
about the constant fake news and lies of the Democrats. Civility has left our
planet. America is not only divided, it is at war.
I am fed up with the battle between Democrats and Republicans. Enough
is enough.
Even Ellen DeGeneres made the left irate by sitting with a former
Republican president, George W. Bush, at a Dallas Cowboys football game. It is
absurd that anyone would not agree with her remark about it: “Be kind to one
another; I do not mean the people that think the same way that you do, I mean
anyone!”
I wish all Democrats were like Ellen. We need to heal and unite
America and start working together to solve our country’s problems.—Pat
Ellis, Clinton, Miss.
***
That was a fabulous essay by Armstrong Williams, structuring an explanation for what is happening in the government due to President Trump’s goals (“The Deep State Plot Against Trump”). Of course, that is why we voted for him.
Today
we agree with leaving the Syrian border area with Turkey, and the news is
showing how complicated that area is: Turkey (a NATO ally), Assad and Syria,
the Kurds, Russia, Iraq, Iran, etc.
A
sensible choice by Trump, who has been telegraphing for awhile that it was his
preference. But still I keep wondering, does the military think they should
control the world?
However,
I think the U.S. is correct to confront China, especially in the South China Sea.—Jennifer Runquist
I have sent in multiple online
requests for the company to fix the lack of industry standard TLS encryption on
my gmail account. No response. Why?—Kathleen Goryl
***
Walter Williams is right (“U.S. in Moral Decline”). He continues to gift us with his pearls of insight and honesty. The U.S. is in moral decline and it is up to the people to step in and take back the country.
As
always, Walter Williams is a true patriot.—Dorothy Buckelew
His professor’s comment reminded me of one of my Arizona State University educational psychology professor’s observations: “You wouldn’t care so much about what people thought of you if you knew how seldom they did.”—Cynthia Curtis
More on Red Flag Laws
Dear Daily Signal: There are no good “red flag” laws. Seriously. In her commentary, “What’s in a Good Red Flag Law,” Amy Swearer advocates raids, confiscations, and arrests—even if temporary—on the basis of what is essentially a rumor.
This reaction to hysteria is typical of leftist
media, but disappointing to see on The Daily Signal site. So scratch the Second,
Fourth, Fifth, and 14th amendments. There isn’t much left of people’s
individual rights.
Too bad. Swearer could have taken a principled stand in favor of individual rights, but didn’t. It won’t matter to you, but I unsubscribe.—Lee Deming
***
Red flag laws are wrong by nature. They are
unconstitutional. I will never be able to trust The Heritage Foundation again.
You are cutting your own throat and that of all conservatives, especially the president of the United States.—Richard Cure
Timothy Goeglein of @FocusFamily: A return to our nation’s founding principles—to robust religious liberty—will allow true freedom to flourish. https://t.co/hUmaJHh8oJ
Dear Daily Signal: First, I’d like to say I am a big fan of The Daily Signal, and especially love the podcast. However, I am a bit disappointed at the fawning praise of Attorney General William Barr’s recent speech concerning religious liberty.
Most especially,
Timothy Goeglein’s commentary piece (“Why Faith Is Key to Preserving
Our Liberty”) was effusive in its praise, but
never once brought up the fact that our ability to maintain and preserve our
religious liberty is severely threatened, not only by the leftists but by Barr
and his own views and policies—and various other views and
policies of the Trump administration.
During his speech, Barr said: “If
you rely upon the coercive power of government to impose restraints [on faith],
this will inevitably lead to a government that is too controlling, and you will
end up with no liberty, just tyranny.”
But the attorney general has no qualms
applying the coercive powers of government to impose restraints on other civil
liberties, such as our Second Amendment rights to gun ownership through his
support of red flag laws.
He has no problem with invading our
personal effects for the purposes of search through massive government
surveillance and his insistence that the government have access to encrypted
data through back doors.
He has no care or concern to rein in
the coercive power of government to impose restraints on the use of personal
property and be free from confiscation by the government under civil asset
forfeiture.
Barr supports all of these: red flag
laws and restrictions on gun ownership, government surveillance of private
citizens, encryption back doors, civil asset forfeiture, and more.
The attorney general’s support of the erosion of our personal liberties and his pursuit of governmental overreach in these other areas tells me that he is not at all concerned about “the coercive power of government to impose restraints.”
Personally, when I read about the
speech, I see only “bread and circuses” meant to keep the masses
content and silent by falsely believing that Barr and the Trump administration
are supportive of our American rights and liberties—even as they
continue to work to erode and destroy them.
I am sorely disappointed that The Daily Signal, along with other outlets which I consider to retain a bit of journalistic integrity and strongly uphold American values and liberties, is looking intently at the waving of the right hand and ignoring the activity of the left. I fear that the fiddlers are already tuning to play as the fires of Rome burn.—Matt Dent
Dear Daily Signal: I share news articles from The Daily Signal and other publications with more than 400 local conservatives. I try to include, by way of editorial comment in brackets, bill numbers and titles for any legislation being discussed.
This allows me to
point my readers to the actual documents, sponsors, and current status of the
bills so they can pursue their own studies and know of what they speak when
they discuss bills or issues with their legislators.
It would be extremely helpful to me, and others, if The Daily Signal’s writers consistently
would include that information in articles, particularly as they, no doubt,
already have it for their own research purposes.
If you want readers to take action, you need to give us more than a script or broad commentary. Bill names and numbers would be a helpful start.—Kathy Klumpp, Adrian, Mich.
***
Hi, guys. I enjoy the podcast very much. I think the strongest part of the program are the interviews with authors and experts.
My least favorite
part is when the hosts or others discuss an issue on which, while they are
sincere, they don’t necessarily have an expert opinion. Examples recently
would include the NBA and the “Joker” movie piece.
While I believe
the topics were timely, I think they would have been better served being
addressed by an expert.—Hans Johnson,
Naples, Fla.
***
Many of the Democrat candidates
are talking about abolishing the Electoral College. Those of us who
understand the reason the Electoral College works know that it gives every voting
citizen a true voice in presidential elections.
As a result, it is in our best
interest to take every step necessary to protect this essential part of our
election process.
If we have serious questions as to
why the system should be preserved, we need only turn to the 17th Amendment,
which changed selection of our U.S. senators to the “popular vote”
process rather than appointment by the legislators of the individual states.
This now allows senators to
participate in the largess created by pandering to the voters with lies and
promises in order to increase their individual and collective power.
I would like to see an article by
one of your reporters evaluating the effort to eliminate the Electoral College
and the damage done to the nation through enactment of the 17th Amendment.—Dennis Komes, Alamo, Texas
***
Let me begin by
saying that I read newspapers, journals, books, etc., on the internet day after
day. And I do enjoy reading some of The Daily Signal’s articles virtually every
day. They’re good.
I have a
suggestion about the design of your website that I hope you will seriously consider.
I often decide to ignore the link that offers to “show more” articles. This may
seem ridiculous, but it causes me to avoid reading more.
I would encourage
you to simply allow your readers to be able to quickly and easily slide down
all your articles without interruption. I asked a few friends how they felt
about this and they too agreed with me. And
I thought I was the only nut case.
Lastly, as a
retired businessman whose success depended upon listening to clients and such,
I learned early on to pay attention to them and take their observations and
even their criticisms seriously.—Jim McCabe
***
Why is The Heritage
Foundation not commenting on President Trump’s decision to abandon the Kurdish
people to the Turks?
The Daily Signal talks about many less
important things than the lives of tens of thousands of our Kurdish friends in
northeast Syria. Now abandoned and left to be murdered, tortured, and raped.
Why are you silent?
I am a Christian who is greatly saddened by this heartless betrayal. If the president does this, it will hurt his reelection chances. He can be seen either as an accessory to the Kurds’ murders or a great hero on a white horse who saves tens of thousands of women and children.—Charles Ragsdale
Editor’s note:We hope you read this commentary on the Kurds and Turkey by James Phillips, Heritage’s Middle East expert.
***
Medicaid does not sufficiently fund nursing homes that care for the loved ones of all, regardless of race or color. Too much money is going to illegal aliens who have invaded America. The brains at The Heritage Foundation should speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves.—Edward Kampermann
How Are We Doing?
Dear Daily Signal: The Daily Signal presents timely, in-depth
news coverage in the format that was so valuable in the best of journalism when
the paper thumped against our doors years ago.
Using the immediacy of current
technology, the Signal maintains our tradition of true journalism. The
only thing missing is the thump at the door.—Deborah Caserotti
***
We are so bombarded with information
in today’s media. We have to decide what is the truth on top of being
bombarded.
Thank you for being a dependable news
source for me. I do not tolerate news manipulation. Your good writers
report the information without a manipulative tone.—Stuart Schmidt
***
You are terrific. I neglected to send Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James a thumbs-up for the good interview on C-SPAN. I love to hear a person’s history. Sincerely grateful, and your No. 1 cheerleader.—LaRena Davis
Although I can’t give monetarily, I’m
supporting The Daily Signal in thought and prayer. Keep on keeping
on! Thank you for your honest reporting.—Mary Weidner
***
You are doing great. Just keep it up.
The more the better!—Dave Dick
I really enjoy your work. Thank you.—Leo
Jablonski
Some especially well-written articles today. Thanks for the thought-provoking journalism.—Deborah Caserotti
The infamous “Baby Trump” balloon, that made its debut in a series of protests in London last summer, met an untimely end outside of the University of Alabama – Louisiana State University football game in Alabama Saturday during a small protest of President Trump’s visit.
Trump made an appearance Saturday, to raucous cheers, at the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers, ending a short streak of appearances — one at game 5 of the World Series in Washington, D.C., and one at a UFC fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City — where the President appeared to a mixed reception.
“There was little sign of political sentiment on campus but plenty of bipartisan grumbling about the long lines to get in due to enhanced security,” NBC News reported — but there was a small demonstration involving the “Baby Trump” balloon, which organizers paid a shocking $4,500 to “adopt” for the day (the group raised nearly $8,000 for the effort, with the extra going to the Equal Justice Initiative).
“Jim Girvan, the organizer of a group that ‘adopts’ out the Trump balloons for protests, said a man charged the balloon with a knife and cut an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) gash in the back,” according to the Associated Press.
Hoyt Hutchinson, a 32-year-old Alabama fan, was arrested for the attack on the balloon, which depicts Trump as an orange-hued baby wearing a diaper and holding a cell phone set to Twitter. He is shown in a video, posted to social media, being loaded into the back of a police car, while still screaming at the protesters.
Robert Kennedy, a volunteer “babysitter” for the towering balloon, says that the demonstration was relatively uneventful before Hutchinson showed up, but the protest wasn’t as well-received as it’s been in other places. Spectators, he said, mostly just yelled “Trump 2020” at the balloon or posed in front of it for selifes, before Hutchinson sidled up to the back of the balloon and stabbed it with a small knife.
“It is rare to get that kind of anger,” Kennedy told media. This is the first time, in its many appearances, that the “Baby Trump” balloon has met with a disastrous fate, he added.
Hutchinson posted a Facebook live video from his car ahead of the Alabama-LSU game, telling friends that he had a plan to disrupt the anti-Trump protest: “I’m going down here to make a scene, so y’all watch the news,” he said. “This is pathetic. I’m fixing to get rowdy.”
“I’m shaking I’m so mad right now,” he continued. “I’m fixin’ to pop this balloon. Stay tuned. It should be interesting.”
Security at the game was heavy and Hutchinson was quickly apprehended, though he did try to slink away after stabbing the balloon.
“Officers observed Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, age 32 of Tuscaloosa, AL, cut into the “Baby Trump” balloon, and then attempted (sic) to flee the area. Officers apprehended the suspect and took him into custody on a charge of Criminal Mischief First Degree. Hoyt was transported to Tuscaloosa County Jail where he was held on a $2,500 bond,” according to a statement from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, police.
Friends of Hutchison launched a crowdsourcing page Saturday night to help Hutchinson afford bail.
“Hoyt made sure our beloved president didn’t have to see this disrespectful balloon on the streets of Ttown today!!,” the page’s description crowed. By the time the page came to the attention of national media, Hutchinson’s friends had raised more than $13,000 — well more than the page’s $6,000 fundraising goal.
On this week’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called the impeachment inquiry a “calculated coup,” and accused Adam Schiff Of orchestrating it.
McCarthy said, “It is clear now more than ever this is a calculated coup, and it is being orchestrated by Adam Schiff.”
He added, “We are watching him orchestrate a takedown of a president after we just celebrated 30 years of taking down the Berlin Wall.”
