Thorner: Former CIA officer reveals Islam’s Influence in America

Clare Lopez, a former CIA officer, is a strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on Middle East, national defense, WMD, and counter terrorism issues. On Wednesday, May 20, 2020, she held a Zoom meeting on specific areas of expertise, including Islam and Iran. Ms. Lopez writes for The United West organization.

During the span of two hours, Ms. Lopez covered two topics of great importance. The first topic, Bully of Asia, dealt with China and the coronavirus.

This article deals with the second part of Lopez’s lecture based on an abstract of a 45-page paper written by Ioan Pop and Mitchell D. Silber, published online May 13, 2020: Iran and Hezbollah’s Pre-Operational Modus Operandi in the West. The authors served in the NYPD Intelligence Division from 2005 – 2015.

Ms. Lopez informed, as background to Pop’s and Silber’s article, that Iran remains responsible for what its militias did and what they also did under Iran’s control.

As to what happened in Iraq, Iran is using the IRGC’s Qods Force division to back, create, fund and train Iranian “proxies.” When Quds Force came into Iraq and started to attack bases that killed U.S. and other coalition troops, that was the trigger point for President Trump to go after the IRGC-Quds Force leader, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

So it was that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for “forceful revenge” to avenge Soleimani’s death. Likewise, Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hizballah, called on Hizballah operatives globally to carry out “the appropriate punishment,” stating that this “be the responsibility and task of all resistance fighters worldwide.”

Although the revenge might not be immediate, expressed with certainty was that Hizballah operatives are now here on American soil planning a revenge for Soleimani’s death.

And why should Iran be concerned about its operatives placed here in this nation? Even though Iran was responsible for 9/11, no one was ever held accountable. Iran feels impervious to anything happening should operatives be uncovered, even though there are many reports of arrests and even prosecutions in Court here in the U.S. of Iranian and Hizballah operative who were tried, have been found guilty, and are now serving prison time.

As to preoperational modus operandi of Iran and Hizballah, Lopez sets forth the seven modus of operandi stated in the article by Pop and Silber, based on their analysis of Iran and Hizballah’s past operations, foiled plots, the recent U.S. arrests of Hizballah’s operatives, and their personal experience leading Iran and Hizballah intelligence investigations for NYPD.

Each mode of operation is briefly discussed by Clare Lopez. Learn much more about each of the seven modes by reading the entire 45-page abstract written by Ioan Pop and Mitchell D. Silber.

1. Intelligence gathering and surveillance activities: Iran and Hizballah have a sustained commitment to undertake precise intelligence gathering and surveillance activities on targets that could support long-term attack planning. Said Lopez, “They are even better than we are in intelligence gathering.”

U.S. surveillance is being done at Jewish facilities and also of Israeli diplomats and their families at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., as well consulates around the country.

Iranian gathering and surveillance activities have extended beyond New York City. In November of 2019, two men, one with dual U.S. Iranian citizen, and the other an Iranian citizen residing in CA, pleaded guilty to acting as illegal agents of the government of Iran on criminal charges stemming from monitoring two Jewish facilities in Chicago.

2. Plausible diplomatic, business, education and other covers to conceal operational activities: Iran/HZB operatives use the “cover” of local immigrant populations, businesses and Islamic Centers/Mosques, where they can blend in with with those who are not committed to working against this nation.

In New York City an Iranian was arrested for having effectively been a front for the government of Iran through the Alavi Foundation, a nonprofit ostensibly devoted to charity works and promoting Persian and Islamic culture, but which belongs to the IRGC.

3. Infiltration of Iranian dissident groups: Iranian security agencies use a wide range of tactics to safeguard the regime. MEK (People’s Mujahedin of Iran) and NCRI (National Council of Resistance of Iran) were cited as two dissident group that the Iranian regime and its intelligence services are trying to get inside of (infiltrate) to cause mayhem.

4. Logistical planning for possible future attacks: There is a unit within Hizballah known as 910 that is doing long range planning for future attacks. As was discovered in the UK, Thailand, and Cypress, stockpiles of huge quantities of aluminum nitrate (component of building bombs) were being assembled into what looked like first aid ice packs. Those responsible were caught and went on trial. So far no one has been caught in this nation doing the same.

5. Preparing “human target packages” to enable assassinating dissidents and adversaries: Target packages consist of a file of information that enable an intelligence of military unit to find, fix, track, and neutralize a threat. It might include information collected about an individual, or it could include “capture/kill operations.

In this nation, two Iranian-linked individuals operating in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., focused on human targeting packages that could be used to identify and locate individuals related to MEK and their supporters, even if they were members of Congress.

There is no specific information that the Iranians were targeting any members of Congress, but a number of them certainly are open, known supporters of the MEK/NCRI.

6. Counter-intelligence tradecraft, and operational security: Those involved are not uneducated people. They are university educated with advanced degrees. A Lebanese with dark hair and eyes might pass for a Hispanic. A stop in Venezuela (home to many Hizballah) would enable him to learn Spanish. [As to why Hizballah is the preferred spelling rather than Hezbollah, Ms. Lopez explained: Hizballah is two words combined. “Hizb” in Arabic means “Party” and “Allah”, of course, is God, so their name spelled this way is obviously “Party of God.” The meaning is lost if the Hizballah way of spelling is used.]

Unit 910 members use strict communications protocol such as coded e-mails and the use of flash/USB drives, one of which was concealed in a toy on a key chain.

7. Recruiting operatives with dual nationalities and Western passports from the Shia diaspora: Iran and Hizballah have a history of recruiting operatives globally, preferably those who have Western passports. The arrests of the reported Hizballah Unit 910 operatives, Ali Kourani, Samer el-Debek, and Alexei Saab in the U.S., reinforces the idea that Hizballah focuses its external recruitment on individuals residing in the West with dual nationalities and access to Western passports.

Marriage to a U.S. citizen is also used to gain access to a green card and eventually a U.S. passport.

Question and Answers posed by participants to Ms. Lopez

Question 1: How likely is it that political candidates are being recruited by operatives?

Response: Ms. Lopez doesn’t believe elected officials are being recruited by operatives, but they could be backed, supported, and funded to win public office by nefarious elements.

Question 2: What makes Hizballah so good at intelligence gathering?

Response: Said Lopez, Hizballah was trained by the Iranians who were, in turn, trained by the Russians (KGB), as was Hizballah. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this nation took its eye off the ball. We had won the war. Now it was on to the “peace dividend.” Funds were cut for the intelligence community. President Bill Clinton cut funds for the military.

Then came 9/11 which this nation was totally unprepared for. G.W. Bush did as good a job as he possibly could have done, but he was clueless about Islam, Iran, Hizballah, or jihad, which 9/11 was the result of. Bush’s entire administration was penetrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, which remain deeply embedded in our government today at all levels.

Question 3: Tell us more about the Great Purge?

Response: Ms. Lopez spoke of this taking place during the middle of 2000 under the G.W. Bush administration. Bush was co-opted by the Muslim Brotherhood, and he didn’t even know it. It was during this time when the vocabulary began to change. Because of the Brotherhood, the words Islam and the Brotherhood were words no longer acceptable to use. Instead, the term to be used was Countering Violent Extremism, which came to mean those who defended the 2nd Amendment, protesters at abortion clinics, and returning veterans from battle.

Quite telling is that at this year’s National Day of Prayer held in the White House Rose Garden on May 7, U.S. Army Islamic Chaplain Lt. Col. Ibraheem Raheem prayed, https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/5/7/21251082/trump-prayer-mormon-catholic-muslim-evangelical-jews-white-house as did First Lady Melania Trump, for the pandemic’s victims and their families, as well as those fighting for their lives now.

In the past always invited was Imam Mohammad Majid, formerly President of ISNA (Islamic Society of North America), an MB front group. He remains the Imam of the ADAMS Center (All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center), hub of MB operations in the WDC metro area. He would recite the Fatihah,1st Sura of the Qur’an, that contains the offensive verse asking Allah to condemn Christians & Jews, but spoken in Arabic, nobody knew what he was saying.

As to the Islam doctrine vs. the U.S. Constitution, Sharia is not compatible with American law.

Ms. Lopez apologized for the riveting and disturbing nature of her lecture, further acknowledging it was better knowing what was going on than not.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 12:55 PM | Permalink

Comments
Comment below or sign in with Typepad Facebook Twitter and more…
powered by Typepad
Contact IR
Categories

Abortion
ACORN/SEIU
Brinkman’s Reviews
Campaign 2012
Campaign 2014
Campaign 2016
Campaign 2018
Campaign 2020
COVID-19
Di Leo columns
Durbin
Economy
Education
Energy & Environment
Family & Marriage
For the Good of Illinois PAC
Foreign Policy
Free Markets
Government Reform
Health Care
Hesham Shehab Columns
HPV Vaccination
Illinois Hall of Fame
Illinois politics
Immigration
Interviews
IR 2014 Candidate Survey bios
IR Reviews
Jobs & Labor
Legal Issues & Courts
Masters of Manufacturing
Media
Religion
Second Amendment
Taxes
War on Terrorism

Illinois Review | Crossroads of the Illinois Conservative Community

Friday, May 22, 2020

Comments

By Nancy Thorner –

When the State shuts down millions of private businesses but doesn’t lay off a single government employee, it’s not about your health.

When the State puts YOU in a jail cell for walking in a park with your child because it’s too dangerous but lets CRIMINALS out of jail cells for their health, it’s not about your health.

When the State tells you it’s safe to go to Home Depot, but too dangerous to go to your local hobby store, it’s not about your health.

When the State prevents you from buying cucumber seeds because it’s dangerous, but allows in person lottery ticket sales, it’s not about your health.

When the State tells you it’s dangerous to go golfing alone, fish alone or be in a motor boat alone, but the Governor can get his stage makeup done and hair done for five TV appearances a week, it’s not about your health.

When the State bans dental visits because it’s unsafe, but deems abortions safe, it’s not about your health.

When the State tells you it’s too dangerous to get treated by a doctor of chiropractic or physical therapy treatments yet deems a liquor store essential, it’s not about your health.

When the State lets you go to the grocery store or hardware store but is demanding mail-in voting, it’s not about your health.

Since the 1960’s government schools have progressively moved toward social-justice teachings and away from instruction extolling the blessings of liberty as bestowed upon this nation by our Founding Fathers. What should be of great concern is how the current Chinese COVID-19 dilemma is now being used as a testing ground to see how much socialism Americans are willing to put up with and for how long.

Because so many Americans are being unnecessarily driven to hysteria, this fear needs to continue for our nation to undergo the changes desired by the Left; expressly, that socialist controls are necessary to save lives.

COVID-19 will eventually fade out, but will some of the draconian measures handed down also end?

Globalist activism exposed

Under the guise of fighting the coronavirus, globalists are instituting policies that will effectively bring about global government, invasive surveillance, and unending personal control.

In this excellent and poignant commentary by Dr. Jay Lehr & Tom Harris of May 12th, 2020, Today’s COVID Dictators Dishonor Heroes of Past Generations, the authors unmask people like billionaires George Soros, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, who are promoting globalism in contrast to Trump’s “America First” policy.

Dr. Jay Lehr is Senior Policy Analyst with the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) and former Science Director of The Heartland Institute. Canadian Tom Harris is Executive Director of ICSC, and a policy advisor to Heartland.

Excerpts from Lehr and Harris’ piece follow:

“America’s Democrat Party and both the Liberal and conservative parties of Canada remind us of the old South of the U.S. where plantation owners controlled the lives of all who resided there. Under the owners’ control were the slaves they owned as well as those who managed the business of products they grew.

“Under the rule of today’s liberals (and even Ontario’s so-called Progressive Conservatives, an oxymoron if there ever was one), our nations now look like huge plantations.

“Besides the Chinese Communist Party which has its controlling tentacles strangling the World Health Organization (WHO), the people who own the plantation are people like billionaires George Soros, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, who promote globalism in general and the U.N. and the WHO, in particular.”

“These men are apparently the puppet masters who pull the strings and make the members of Congress, the Deep State, the media and academia, dance. They are well intertwined. George Soros nephew is married to Chelsea Clinton; his son is married to Adam Shiff’s sister. Soros is seen in pictures with the likes of the woman who charged Judge Kavanaugh with misconduct as well as Nancy Pelosi and Corey Booker.

“Trump refuses to play nice with the usual suspects who populate the press backrooms and the various Deep State departments and agencies in Washington. So, they will stop at nothing to destroy him and drive him out of office. Just look at their botched effort to impeach the President on bogus grounds.

“Those who hold Schumer and Pelosi responsible for the attempt to get rid of Trump either by portraying him as a Russian agent for the benefit of Robert Mueller, or impeaching him on trumped-up charges related to Ukraine, are being too easily distracted. Schumer and Pelosi are merely the henchmen of globalist thugs. They know how unimportant they actually are.

“The pundits at Fox News make a big deal out of left-leaning law professor Alan Dershowitz just because he expresses respect for the U.S. Constitution. As a result, they love to roll Dershowitz out as an example of an open-minded liberal, and never embarrass him by asking why, as a supporter of the Constitution, he voted twice for Barack Obama and once for Hillary Clinton.

“Pundits and politicians have been comparing the current virus crisis to waging war. This is terribly insulting to those who actually went to war to defend our freedoms. . .

“A century later, we are at also war. But it is not primarily against the virus or, thank God, anyone trying to machine gun or bayonet us or leave us to die dangling on barbed wire . We are at war against the globalists who wish to deprive us of our freedoms and other rights that soldiers like Sgt. Savage fought and died for.

“Every politician who has taken advantage of COVID-19 to grant themselves dictatorial powers previous generations of free men and women risked their lives to defend against should be roundly condemned by all thinking people. They must be removed from office the next time they appear on a ballot, if not sooner.”

Assault on Economic Freedom
Alex Newman, foreign correspondent for The New American, had this to say in his article published in the April 20, 2020 edition of The New American: Coronavirus, Deep State Assault on Economic Freedom. Excerpts follow:

“Using the panic over the coronavirus as a pretext, the Deep State is working overtime to fundamentally transform society—especially the economic front, which is being peddled as a supposed solution or treatment for the Chinese virus.”

President Trump signed a $2 trillion “stimulus” with promises to shower taxpayer cash on big businesses, small businesses, state and local governments, and even individuals, but as Newman wrote, “Where that money was supposed to come from was hardly discussed—especially odd considering the $23 trillion national debt, not counting the new spending for the stimulus.” [Now Nancy Pelosi is requesting $3 trillion more in spending, with vast amounts targeted for blue states like CA, New York, and Illinois, not because of the coronavirus, but to bail them out from billions of accumulated debt because of mismanagement.]

In his article, Newman further discussed the push to globalize the monetary system in response to the coronavirus, relating how “the Deep State has been grooming the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for decades to become a global central bank. IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva has vowed to “boost global liquidity” using Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the proto-global currency that would be issued by the would-be planetary central bank.

There is also the Deep State’s cashless-society agenda being pushed by totalitarians that is being justified by the establishment’s propagandists because cash is supposedly transmitting coronavirus.

Consider also the “ID2020” scheme backed by population-control zealot Gates of Microsoft and the Rockefeller Foundation. ID2020 is a “plot seeking to give everyone on Earth a “digital identity” that would follow them from birth to death. It would also keep track of all sorts of data, including health and vaccine information, enabling governments and globalists to keep people everywhere under control.”

The MIT technology “consists of nanocrystals called quantum dots.” This tattoo-type scheme would “remain under the skin where it emits near-infrared light that can be detected by a specially equipped smartphone.”

Media’s Weapon of Fake News

William F. Jasper, Senior Editor of The New American, in his article also appearing in the April 20 issue of The New American, Fanning Wuhan Virus Hysteria: Media’s Latest Anti-Trump Weapon, took Fake News to task:

“The fear mongering Fake News is truly the ‘enemy of the American people,‘ pushing a totalitarian agenda that is making us more and more like Communist China.

“For the globalists and the media leftists, the new coronavirus epidemic offers the perfect opportunity to weaponize fear for multiple gains:

1) to expand concentrate government control nationally;

2) to expand and concentrate government control globally; and

3) to destroy President Donald Trump, destroy the beginnings of the Trump economic recovery and to destroy the efforts that Trump has initiated to reverse decades of globalist programs.”

November’s election will decide the future of course of this nation. May Americans open their eyes and ears to what is happening before it’s too late!

Monday, May 18, 2020 at 06:54 AM | Permalink

Comments
Comment below or sign in with Typepad Facebook Twitter and more…
powered by Typepad
Contact IR
Categories

Abortion
ACORN/SEIU
Brinkman’s Reviews
Campaign 2012
Campaign 2014
Campaign 2016
Campaign 2018
Campaign 2020
COVID-19
Di Leo columns
Durbin
Economy
Education
Energy & Environment
Family & Marriage
For the Good of Illinois PAC
Foreign Policy
Free Markets
Government Reform
Health Care
Hesham Shehab Columns
HPV Vaccination
Illinois Hall of Fame
Illinois politics
Immigration
Interviews
IR 2014 Candidate Survey bios
IR Reviews
Jobs & Labor
Legal Issues & Courts
Masters of Manufacturing
Media
Religion
Second Amendment
Taxes
War on Terrorism

B0f6fd19-fef0-4954-96aa-9cfa6ffca062-large16x9_A3052E8F58FD41719BA90E98C02CC3E7

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold –

A 1989 movie, Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, told of a farmer who heard a voice telling him to build a baseball diamond in a field. “If you build it, he will come,” referring to Shoeless Joe Jackson, banned from baseball following the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal.

We’re all hearing voices clamoring for the country to open for business following nearly two months in pandemic shutdown. We are assured that if we do this, the economy will rebound like a home-run baseball. It is one thing to allow businesses and stores to resume operations, but recovery depends on consumers. The question is, “If we open, will they come?”

Since the end of February, there has been an unrelenting barrage of bad news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. “There aren’t enough hospital beds or equipment to handle the number of patients expected from the disease.” “If exposed, you must isolate yourself for 14 days.” “The death toll keeps rising [it can’t go down].”

Behind the scenes, there was a morass of inter-agency rivalries between the CDC, FDA and NIH, to name a few. Every agency had the right to say “No” to any innovation and seemed to take that as a mandate rather than a responsibility. This culminated in orders to stay at home, stay inside, and leave only for essential business. Also advised was the wearing of face masks

Essential or arbitrary?

What constitutes “essential” is often capricious and arbitrary. Churches are not permitted to hold services, but abortion clinics are open for business. Beauty salons and barber shops are shuttered, yet marijuana shops are busy serving customers. Vape shops are closed, but liquor shops are open. No sitting on the beach is allowed in Ocean City, N.J., but walking is fine. If you go to a party you will go to jail, but if you are in jail you will be let out because of coronavirus.

In a turn of events of Orwellian nature, citizens have been urged to report alleged violators to the authorities. Police are likewise arresting citizens for violating coronavirus stay-at home mandates and for not following social distancing orders.

Governor Pritzker announced on Monday, May 11, 2020 that power boats will be allowed but with no more than two people on board. Asked if four members of the same household would be permitted. He answered, “No, you would need two boats. Apparently you can’t walk together either in a group.

More discouraging news

With a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, more discouraging news was added to the grim statistics which further undermines the confidence of anyone seeking to re-enter normal society.

We learn that silent, asymptomatic infections outnumber those with acute symptoms nearly 10 to 1, furthermore:

that everybody is a suspect until proven otherwise,
that having the disease does not necessarily impart immunity. You can catch it again and pass it on to other,
that the virus can persist for years (a wild guess) after you have recovered,
that if and when a vaccine is produced, it won’t be the panacea as promised,
that the news will reveal the vaccine is only 50% effective, because once 50% of the population is immune, the disease goes into idle mode, if not full remission.

What many governors, health experts, and the mainstream media fail to realize is that proposed paths to recovery are in many respects no recovery at all, and that the “cure” is often worse than the shutdown (or the disease) itself.

Imagine if the mainstream media gave this much coverage to a pandemic health danger in California where thousands of homeless drug addicts and the mentally ill are living in squalor on city streets, on rivers, and in parks throughout California. Hepatitis, typhus, typhoid fever, and threats of Bubonic Plague are real and do exist among the vast homeless population.

Dr. Fauci as the “grim reaper”

In that Dr. Fauci warned of ‘needless’ deaths if this nation opens up too early during his appearance in front of a Senate panel on Tuesday, May 12. 2020, does not bode well at a time when states are starting to reopen for business. Fauci’s warning was what the Left was waiting to hear.

Wisely refuted by President Trump was Fauci’s warning not to open schools in September. Trump noted coronavirus’ very minimal impact on children before stating that our nation’s schools and general economy must reopen in a safe, yet quick manner.

Fauci is wearing blinders in regard to COVID-19. Apparently delayed cancer treatments and organ transplants do not cause “needless suffering” in his mind. That’s another department’s problem. Let’s also not forget needless suffering due to financial hardships and job loss, not to mention increased incidents of domestic violence and suicides. How many heart attacks are suffered in private for fear of going to the ICU (or being denied access)?

When did risk go out of fashion?

As John Kass of the Chicago Tribune wrote in his commentary of May 8, 2020: Americans are too afraid of risk.What we need in this pandemic is balance. Excerpts from the end of of Kass’ commentary:

“For decades now, we’ve taught ourselves to fear so many things, even risk itself. Risk was once the very idea of America. Your parents or grandparents may have risked everything to get here, just so they could risk even more.
How many of us have already been pushed toward death by binge-eating while watching a steady shrieking stream of coronavirus fear porn on the TV news, and avoiding a visit to the doctor for fear of contracting the disease?

What I’m asking is that we at least think about something we’ve lost, besides jobs and our economic futures and the Bill of Rights: Balance.

All I see is the imposition of extremes. Those of us who want to get the country back to work are portrayed as selfish fools who Just Want People to Die.

And those who never want the lockdown to end are dismissed as fearful Coronavirus Karens, peering through their windows, calling the police if they see someone walking on the street without a mask.”

Will the American people seek balance and venture outside when their state reopens for business, or will they cower in fear to leave what they have been told are the safe confines of their homes.

Hopefully the American people will reject fear and opt for balance for the sake of saving this nation (and themselves) from hardship, emotional stress, financial destitute and ruin.

Friday, May 15, 2020 at 12:15 PM | Permalink

 

 

Monday, May 11, 2020

Architecture-of-the-Apocalypse-competition-02

By Nancy Thorner –

As written by Gary D. Barnett in his article dated May 9, 2020, The Coronavirus Response: The Ultimate Goal is Control of All Humanity:

Propaganda is the most useful tool of those that desire to hold power over others, and for the global ruling class, this equates to power over all.

It is first necessary to create some sort of broad chaos or crisis in order to present a particular scenario meant to initiate fear. This will immediately trigger the herd mentality in the masses, and an escape toward safety will be sought. The next step once the herd is gathered is to first offer protection, and then to offer a solution to guarantee future safety. Once the herd accepts this premise, control by small outside forces becomes possible. As long as the propaganda continues and is accepted by the herd, which requires a continuance of fear, the more control that will evident.

This is exactly what has happened as of late due to a false pandemic called Covid-19. . . As freedom disappears, resistance will lessen, regardless whether the loss of individual freedom is accomplished by voluntary reaction or by force.

CA writer, Burt Prelutsky

Burt Prelutsky, who lives in Los Angeles, CA, writes a daily witty, political commentary through subscription only. Burt has graciously permitted me to share a portion of two of his recent commentaries.

In his May 4, 2020 commentary, Burt not only writes about the present, but he also goes back in time to show how history repeats itself.

THE UNKNOWN FUTURE, May 4, 2020

“Most of us are looking forward to a post-Covid-19 America, but I’m very concerned that it won’t be quite as wonderful as we’re hoping.

For one thing, I assume that once the nation is open once again, the governors and state legislatures, not to mention Congress, will look to increase the tax rate in order to make up for all the lost revenue. It will even seem logical. After all, the bills didn’t disappear just because nobody was making money.

Well, not exactly nobody. The federal government has certainly been “making” money. They barely turned off the printing presses, as they ran off trillions of dollars in funny money, increasing inflation and deflating the value of the dollar. In other words, they came up with a permanent solution to a temporary problem, which also happens to be the classic definition of suicide.

The virus may have started in atheistic China, but the Democrats see it as a godsend. After all, it destroyed President Trump’s supercharged economy.

It’s history repeating itself. The Great Depression was blamed on Herbert Hoover, which gave FDR the opportunity to take advantage of the financial collapse to introduce Socialism to America by creating Social Security, a pyramid scheme that would have been illegal if it had been pulled off by an individual instead of by the federal government.

But FDR didn’t stop there. He also created several new departments and agencies, and expanded several that already existed, knowing that bureaucrats always support the government because the government literally supports them.

Roosevelt’s programs inevitably prolonged the Depression, but, for the Democrats, that was a small price to pay for the unfettered power they enjoyed.

By controlling the White House for 20 consecutive years, the Liberals not only got to enact all the laws they liked, they got to install all nine justices of the Supreme Court, ensuring that their laws would be deemed constitutional.

Looking back, it’s rather alarming to realize that a 21 year old Republican who voted for the first time in 1932 would have to wait until he was middle-aged in 1952 before he would ever get to help elect a president.

But as concerned as I am about what politicians will be up to going forward, I am even more fearful of an electorate who cowered under their beds, surrendering their civil rights, afraid of a virus that has killed so relatively few people…and generally only those who were elderly and/or had impaired immune system
Loss of Religious Liberty

Burt’s commentary of May 9, 2020, discussed the loss of religious liberty.

A MINISTER, A PRIEST & A RABBI, May 9, 2020

“Whenever you see those three religious leaders getting together, it’s either at an ecumenical conference or it’s a joke and they’re walking into a bar.

What I would like is to see them walking into is the Supreme Court and suing various fascistic governors for shutting down their churches and synagogues in violation of the First Amendment.

Nowhere in the Constitution is it written that although the State is prohibited from interfering with the free practice of religion, all bets are off in case there happens to be a virus floating around.

We’ve all heard that you can’t unring a bell, can’t shove toothpaste back in the tube and can’t eat your cake and have it, too. But I’m wondering if we’ll ever be able to get governors, mayors and the members of Congress to relinquish the police state powers they’ve been enjoying.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a long history of despots surrendering power once they’ve savored its intoxicating allure.

I mean, they’ve always been attracted to the bribes that go with handing out contracts to land developers and construction outfits. But this is a brand new high. It’s like moving on from marijuana to cocaine, or so I’ve heard.

As authoritarian as Governors Cuomo, Newsom, Whitmer and Hogan, have been, they may all have to take a backseat to Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker.

Although he has been a hardliner when it comes to forcing the people of his state to imprison themselves, when he was asked how it was that Mrs. Pritzker had not only ignored the stay-at-home order, but traveled to Florida, he climbed up on his high horse and proclaimed that where he came from, the families of politicians were off-limits. But, of course, nobody really cared about his wife’s travel plans, only about his hypocrisy. But he did sound a lot like Mafia dons in the past whose code of conduct meant they could kill each other with impunity, but not the wives and kids.

“My official duties have nothing to do with my family,” he blathered on. Right, they only have to do with everybody else’s family.

“So I’m just not going to answer that question. I consider it inappropriate and downright reprehensible.”

In other words, he and Queen Victoria are not amused.

Is there nobody in Illinois with the gumption to recall this self-important governor?”

About Cops and National Guard units

“It’s not just politicians who take an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, so I’ve been delighted to see various sheriffs around the country refuse to carry out certain orders that conflict with the Second Amendment.

But why am I not seeing cops and members of the states’ National Guard units rebelling against illegal orders to shut down beaches and arrest ministers and congregations for holding religious services?

We’ve all grown used to seeing cops and soldiers doing the bidding of dictators in Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Hong Kong and Venezuela, but this isn’t Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Hong Kong or Venezuela, and it makes me sick to see our people in uniform blindly taking unconstitutional orders from petty tyrants.

About Burt Prelutsky

Burt Prelutsky, born in Chicago, now lives in CA. He has been a humor columnist for the L.A. Times and a movie critic . Burt has authored eight books, and has written extensively for TV (5 movies, along with episodes of “Dragnet,” “McMillan & Wife,” “MASH,” “Mary Tyler Moore,” “Rhoda,” “Bob Newhart,” “Dr. Quinn” and “Diagnosis Murder”). Burt now writes a daily subscription-only political commentary that is filled with humor, wit, and truth.

Contact Burt at BurtPrelutsky@cloud.com for information to sign up for his commentaries. Since his subscription year runs from September 1st to the following September, Prelutsky is offering a special discount rate of $35.00 for new subscribers. For that nominal fee you will receive a delightful Burt commentary each day until September 1st, 2020, when you will have an opportunity to enroll for a year’s subscription. You won’t be sorry you did.

Mr. Prelutsky’s most recent book, Angels on Tap, is undoubtedly unlike any book you have ever read in your life Its sixteen short chapters weave together a wonderful story that is overflowing with humor, with an equal number of “food for thought” moments. Each chapter has its own story to tell. View here Angels on Tap as a major movie film.

Monday, May 11, 2020 at 09:57 AM | Permalink

Comments
Comment below or sign in with Typepad Facebook Twitter and more…
powered by Typepad
Contact IR
Categories

Abortion
ACORN/SEIU
Brinkman’s Reviews
Campaign 2012
Campaign 2014
Campaign 2016
Campaign 2018
Campaign 2020
COVID-19
Di Leo columns
Durbin
Economy
Education
Energy & Environment
Family & Marriage
For the Good of Illinois PAC
Foreign Policy
Free Markets
Government Reform
Health Care
Hesham Shehab Columns
HPV Vaccination
Illinois Hall of Fame
Illinois politics
Immigration
Interviews
IR 2014 Candidate Survey bios
IR Reviews
Jobs & Labor
Legal Issues & Courts
Masters of Manufacturing
Media
Religion
Second Amendment
Taxes
War on Terrorism

Friday, May 08, 2020

C

Wednesday, May 06, 2020

Comments

Comments