The press secretary for Democrat Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs resigned Wednesday after a meme she posted on Twitter alarmed the public, since it appeared to be a threat against conservatives.
The post was made hours after a transgender individual killed six people, including three children, at a Christian school in Nashville.
Hobbs’ Press Secretary Josselyn Berry used an image from the movie “Gloria,” showing a woman with handguns pointed at some type of threat off screen. Berry captioned it “Us when we see transphobes.” Progressives like Berry use the word ‘transphobes’ to describe conservatives.
Since the mass shooting, a number of messages have been placed on social media that menace conservatives. Many conservatives believe there are just two genders, an idea that appears to be the equivalent to “genocide” to a radicalized segment of the progressive Left, such as Berry.
Hobbs’ office issued a statement on Wednesday:
“The Governor does not condone violence in any form. This administration holds mutual respect at the forefront of how we engage with one another. The post by the Press Secretary is not reflective of the values of the administration. The Governor has received and accepted the resignation of the Press Secretary.”
Hobbs won as governor in 2022 against conservative Kari Lake in a tight race. Although Lake challenged the results, the courts have rejected her appeals.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, re-introduced the Sanctions Targeting Aggressors of Neighboring Democracies (STAND) with Taiwan Act of 2023, which would impose crippling, comprehensive economic and financial sanctions on China if ever the People’s Liberation Army or its proxies initiate a military invasion of the island of Taiwan, which has declared its independence from China.
“Taiwan stands on the frontline of the struggle between the American-led free world and the powerful, expansionist Chinese Communist Party regime,” said Sullivan. “No one in America wants a war in the Taiwan Strait, but we cannot be blind to the implications of a successful CCP military takeover of Taiwan. This would deliver a devastating blow to the U.S. and global economy, lead our allies in Asia to question America’s commitments, allow the CCP to break out further into the Pacific, and give Xi and his global authoritarian model extraordinary new legitimacy at home and abroad. One of the lessons that we learned the hard way from the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine is that comprehensive economic and financial sanctions have the best chance of deterring a conflict when they are clearly articulated and ready to go before the conflict begins. Congressman Gallagher and I are reintroducing the STAND with Taiwan Act to put the CCP on notice that no corner of its economy will be left untouched by sanctions, from finance to trade to its industrial capacity. We are urging our colleagues to join us in utilizing this critical instrument of American power—our global economic and financial strengths—to strongly deter a CCP invasion and keep the Taiwanese people free.”
The suite of sanctions includes the targeting of Chinese Communist Party members and Chinese financial institutions and industrial sectors, as well as banning U.S. financial institutions—including investment companies, private equity firms, venture capital firms, or hedge funds—from making any investments in a Chinese entity that benefits or is affiliated with the CCP. The bill would also prohibit the importation of certain goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly, or in part, in the People’s Republic of China.
The Alaska Legislature has passed House Joint Resolution 11, urging the United States Environmental Protection Agency to develop a woodstove certification program in Fairbanks, and for the state Department of Environmental Conservation to develop an economically and legally defensible state implementation plan for the Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area.
The resolution highlights the serious health concerns associated with fine particle pollution in the Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area, particularly during winter. Studies identified wood burning as the greatest contributor of PM2.5 pollution, and efforts taken under the state DEC’s moderate and serious state implementation plans resulted in a significant reduction in PM2.5 emissions.
However, the resolution notes that the United States EPA’s national wood heater certification program is deeply flawed. This is due to United States EPA-certified appliances installed in the Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area failing to decrease PM2.5 emissions compared to previously installed solid fuel burning appliances due to the United EPA’s failure to competently manage and implement testing standards for this program.
“Improving air quality is a complex issue that requires collaboration and a multi-pronged approach,” said Rep.Will Stapp (R-Fairbanks), the prime sponsor of HJR 11.
“This resolution recognizes the tremendous efforts of the people of the North Star Borough to come into compliance, only to have the EPA change the regulations they previously set. This resolution offers the opportunity for common sense solutions, particularly for the people of that community,” he said.
The resolution also expresses concern that the United States EPA seems intent on turning attention toward so-called greener sources of heat, including electric heat pumps that will not work as solutions in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
The resolution highlights the need for adequate and affordable sources of heat in harsh subarctic winter conditions and acknowledges that a pathway for the use of solid fuel-burning appliances is essential to residents of the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
The resolution urges the United States EPA to develop a woodstove certification program that the state DEC and residents of the Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area can rely on to address the core threat to clean and healthy winter air in Fairbanks and urges the state DEC to develop an economically and legally defensible state implementation plan.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio blasted the Pentagon’s increasingly leftward bent as it struggles to keep up with national security interests.
“The United States military is the greatest fighting force in the world, but woke activists in the Biden Administration are undermining military readiness, cohesion, and purpose,” Rubio, R-Fla., told The Center Square. “We cannot allow these left-wing crazies to hollow out our military. The world is an increasingly dangerous place and America’s security requires a strong military capable of deterring – and if need be, defending – our nation.”
Rubio’s comments come after The Center Square reported that the Pentagon is struggling to fulfill military requests even as it increasingly gives attention, and funds, to diversity, gender and critical race theory issues.
The Pentagon would struggle to manufacture enough precision missiles if conflict with China broke out, reports indicate. That comes after the U.S. sent over a decades worth of Stinger missiles to Ukraine as soon as the war there broke out, one of multiple shortages or potential shortages exposed by the U.S.’ support for Ukraine.
Critics argue the military has become distracted. For example, a recent Department of Defense Comptroller report points to $86.5 million for “dedicated diversity and inclusion activities.”
“The Department will lead with our values – building diversity, equity, and inclusion into everything we do,” the report said.
In a hearing earlier this week, Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman, R-Wisc., raised concerns about “progressive ideals” infiltrating the military.
“We all know that the primary mission of the Armed Forces is to protect and defend the nation and our interests abroad,” Grothman said. “However, the military is not the institution for social experiments and political correctness. This Administration seems to be willfully blinded by how its progressive ideals are affecting military readiness and recruitment.”
GOP lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban the teaching of critical race theory in the military as well as cut off the funding for the diversity offices that push these ideas, but the legislation has not gotten enough traction.
Grothman said the liberalization of the military is hurting recruitment, which has become more difficult in recent years. The Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps all failed to meet their recruiting goals last year.
“Despite lowering fitness standards, relaxing tattoo policies, and increasing recruiting bonuses, fewer and fewer young adults are joining our military ranks,” he said. “Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is more focused on how cadets at military academies use the correct pronouns rather than learn how to lead, work as a team, and defend our nation.
“The Biden Administration thinks that service members understanding ‘white rage’ – as recently described by General Mark Milley, our highest-ranking military official – is more important than promoting cohesiveness throughout the armed forces,” he added.
Rubio and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, commissioned a report on these kinds of concerns that was released last year. It showed several examples of gender and racial ideology in U.S. military training, policies and leadership.
In one case, official training materials for West Point cadets lecture them on white privilege. The report points to another example where a slide presentation for the Air Force Academy is titled, “Diversity & Inclusion: What it is, why we care, & what we can do.” This taxpayer-funded training warns cadets to avoid using gendered language, which includes terms like “mom” and “dad.”
Casey Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, and USA Today.
A new report shows that 67 percent of suspects arrested in Washington D.C. over the course of a year were not prosecuted by President Joe Biden’s handpicked U.S. prosecutor.
As reported earlier this month on the Substack newsletter DC Crime Facts, the decision to not prosecute has nearly doubledfrom 2015, when prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office refused to prosecute about 35 percent of such cases.
“This is the anarchy Mary Peltola embraced when she backed lower penalties for violent crime like murder, robbery and carjacking in Washington D.C.,” said National Republican Congressional Committee Spokesman Ben Petersen, speaking of Alaska’s lone congressional representative. “Mary Peltola threw her lot in with the extreme defund the police wing of the Democrat Party. Now she must own the total lawlessness and anarchy that has resulted from their dangerous ideology.”
On Feb. 9, Peltola voted with the Democrats against a measure that, due to its passage in the House and Senate and approval by the president, reversed the get-out-of-jail law, similar to Alaska’s unfortunate experience with SB 91 under Gov. Bill Walker (repealed under Gov. Mike Dunleavy).
The cases that the U.S. Attorney last year refused to prosecute include 52% of all felony arrests and 72% of all misdemeanor arrests in the nation’s capital, which has become a violent dystopia, where law-abiding citizens cannot carry firearms without going through a rigorous and lengthy concealed-carry permitting process.
“Pursuant to recent amendments to the Firearms Regulations Control Act of 1975 (D.C. Act 20-447), anyone wishing to carry a concealed pistol must submit an application to the Metropolitan Police Department, including proof of firearms training and the basis for requesting a concealed carry pistol license,” the MPD says on its website. The District of Columbia has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. It is illegal to open carry and in order to conceal-carry a handgun in DC, you must have the local permit. Out-of-state conceal-carry permits are not valid in DC and you can be arrested for having a firearm.
The D.C. violence is so bad that even lawmakers and their staff are being attacked. On Feb. 10, a day after Peltola’s vote for criminals, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., was attacked in her apartment building. Craig had voted for the D.C. pro-crime law as well.
On Saturday, an aide to Sen. Rand Paul was stabbed in daylight hours on H Street in Northeast Washington. The suspected assailant, Glynn Neal, 42, was charged with assault with intent to kill. The victim, Phillip Todd, was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, including a deep knife wound to the head, abdomen, and lungs. He underwent multiple surgeries over the weekend.
Phillip Todd, chief economist for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, was attacked in DC by a man wielding a knife.
Glynn Neal, the presumed assailant of Phillip Todd, who is back under lock and key.
Tim Todd wrote on Facebook Tuesday that his nephew Phillip, who is the chief economist for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, had more surgery Monday on his ear and was scheduled for yet another surgery Monday: “His lung is collapsed and his skull is fractured.” He is still in critical condition and may suffer seizures due to the brain injuries.
The suspect had been released from prison the day before the attack.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is scheduled held a hearing on Wednesday to consider crime and safety in D.C.
“The citizens of D.C. and the visitors to our nation’s capital deserve to feel safe and our police deserve to have the resources to ensure safety for all,” said Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chair of the committee.
There have been more than 50 murders so far in 2023 in the District of Columbia.
This is the kind of lawlessness Peltola endorsed when shebacked lower penalties for violent crime in Washington D.C. Peltola’s dangerous position was too extreme for President Biden and even Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The local ordinance that ended up being overturned by the president, was even too radical for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower, who tried to get the D.C. Council to reverse its ruling. The House and Senate passed a law overturning the lawless legislation, and Biden signed it.
Activist George Martinez may be the most radical of the radicals running for Anchorage Assembly. He started in an Occupy Wall Street video in New York City, where he is from, in 2018.
As the Anchorage Assembly continues on its journey of radicalization, Martinez may be setting a new standard for Alaska’s largest city as he runs against normal-guy Spencer Moore for East Anchorage Assembly Seat I in District 5.
In spite of his radical background, the police union in Anchorage supports him.
Martinez last ran for office in New York City, when he ran for Congress, but only got 752 votes — less than 3%. He marketed himself as the “hip-hop diplomat” and Wall Street protester. Martinez moved to Anchorage and worked for the now-disgraced former mayor Ethan Berkowitz. He is a program director for the radicalized group Alaska Humanities Forum, which has begun promoting drag queen performances for children.
Axiom Strategies is among the campaign firms that have been signed by a group gathering together a political action committee for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is considering a run for president.
Axiom Strategies, whose CEO Jeff Roe is pictured above, has worked on high-profile campaigns in Alaska, including for Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and congressional candidate Nick Begich. Justin Matheson is the Northwest regional director for Axiom and spends several weeks a year in Alaska. His work also covers campaigns in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
The Never Back Down PAC was launched by Republican former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump ally, who has also brought along with him other people associated with former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 campaign for president, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s successful 2021 campaign for Virginia governor.
Axiom also worked on the successful campaign of Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana and other high-profile races across the country.
Axiom Strategies and the Never Back Down PAC, reported first by Politico last week, are expected to have a major role in the launching of the DeSantis presidential bid.
“Jeff Roe and the Axiom team have the experience, know-how and the resources needed to elect the next president of the United States,” a source close to Never Back Down PAC told NBC. “If DeSantis announces he’s running, Roe’s team will make the difference in getting him to overtake Trump in the primary.”
Axiom is a Republican-allied firm based in Kansas City, Mo. that has offices in many states. The company is a one-stop shop that can handle everything from mailers, opposition research, walking lists, media buys, and fiscal campaign compliance.
Of interest to up-and-coming political activists, Axiom is now accepting applications for its Summer 2023 Apprenticeship Program for rising college juniors and seniors, as well as recent college graduates. As an Axiom Apprentice, interns get hands on campaign experience and learn from some of the best in the campaign industry, Axiom says. There is a stipend available as well. Applications can be found here.
Only 8.5% of registered Anchorage voters have voted so far in the Anchorage Municipal election, which ends April 4. As of Tuesday, 19,944 ballots had been received by the Municipal Clerk out of the 235,564 registered voters in Anchorage.
In addition to the candidates for various Assembly seats, there are 15 ballot measures, some of which can affect property taxes.
When it comes to social media influencers in the political realm, DC Draino stands out above the crowd with millions of Americans who follow his conservative commentary.
Alaskans can meet Rogan O’Handley (aka @DC_Draino) at an event hosted by Alaska Young Republicans on June 2, at the Egan Center. Also keynoting the event will be National Young Republicans Co-Chair Hayden Padgett. There’s also an event planned for Settlers Bay Lodge in the MatSu Valley on June 1.
O’Handley is a millennial who is known across the conservative political landscape for his outspoken, commonsense views on a range of political issues and current events, as well as his criticism of progressive movements and politicians.
O’Handley quickly gained a massive following on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, where he shares his analysis of politics and culture. He has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and is a Turning Point USAambassador.
Hereis the link to purchase tickets to the Mat-Su event
Here is the link to puchase tickets to the Anchorage event.
O’Handley has over 2.3 million followers of his Instagram account, 691,000 followers on Twitter, even after having been banned under the previous regime, and 246,000 followers on Facebook, even though he is shadow banned by Facebook hall monitors.
After graduating magna cum laude with two bachelor degrees in political science and criminal justice from Northeastern University and a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, O’Handley planned to be an entertainment industry lawyer. But soon he found out that in California, if you support Trump or even conservatives in general, you lose friends, jobs, and opportunities.
O’Handley left his L.A. law practice and moved from progressive Southern California to the Free State of Florida.
“As Trump basked in his win, O’Handley watched as California shifted further left. Antifa started running around Berkeley. The state’s fiscal policies ballooned into skyrocketing tax rates. Leftism wasn’t just hit or miss, but pervasive. The successful lawyer started to feel some serious cognitive dissonance between his belief system and the place he dearly loves,” the Federalist wrote in 2020 about the transformation that O’Handley experienced.
“When Obama was in office, you could support him, you could do anything. On Facebook, people were unfollowing me because I supported Trump,” O’Handley told the reporter. When he saw some political memes on Instagram, he thought it was a brilliant way to communicate messages, and so he started his Instagram account under a pseudonym “DC Draino,” a tip of the hat to the “Drain the DC swamp” conservative slogan.
He gets frequent meeting invites to Mar a Lago for events with Trump and recently had private dinner with Trump to discuss the current landscape of the country and in anticipation for the 2024 election cycle.
An example of DC Draino commentary can be found in this classic Monday post that adds context to the mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville:
