Category: Opinion

With vaccines springing up from all major pharmaceutical companies in recent weeks, one has to wonder if we really are at the beginning of the end of coronavirus? Could we actually be coming out from under this horrid fog of war?Texas seems to think so, with the Lone Star State Governor announcing that citizens will not be under a mask mandate as of next week, at the same time that businesses will be allowed to open to 100% capacity.

President Joe Biden is also looking to expedite the return of normalcy and has now made an incredibly bold claim about just when every American will be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Following the recent emergency use approval of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, all U.S. adults will be able to receive a coronavirus vaccine by the end of May, President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday.

Biden during a press conference officially announced that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. is teaming up with rival Johnson & Johnson to help manufacture its recently-approved COVID-19 vaccine in a bid to speed the country’s vaccination efforts, a process that began slowly but has accelerated in recent weeks.

The emergency approval of a vaccine, in addition to the collaboration between Merck and Johnson & Johnson, was key in moving the target of the vaccines being available to all adult Americans from July to the end of May, some two months sooner than initially expected. Biden credited a “stepped-up process” in seeing this timeline accelerated.

Biden is also pushing for states to move teachers and childcare workers to a higher priority for vaccinations, as at-home children continue to hamper our economic recovery.

Things are steadily getting worse for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and it appears as though his days are numbered, politically speaking.

Cuomo was first lampooned by New Yorkers over a series of decisions that he made during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he used New York’s nursing homes as overflow facilities when hospitals began having trouble keeping up. Given that the elderly were far more “at risk” for complications from the virus, this led to an untold number of deaths, and then, to make matters worse, Cuomo was caught trying to cover up the extent of this damage.

Then came a trio of credible allegations of sexual harassment against him, which then prompted several former allies to suggest that Cuomo resign.

While President Joe Biden has been mum on the subject of Cuomo’s poor behavior, a recently leaked piece of information about the Biden team’s feelings regarding the NY Governor seems to be conveniently timed.

Joe Biden’s aides were furious that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a self-serving video for the 2020 Democratic National Convention and asked his camp to redo it — but they refused, a new book says.

“Every four years, Democrats asked themselves the same question about the New York governor and former Housing and Urban Development secretary: ‘How is Andrew Cuomo going to f- – us this time?’’ write the authors of “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency.’’

At the convention four years earlier, Cuomo had jarred on “for double his allotted time,’’ while his team refused to participate in fact-checking sessions beforehand, the book says.

Then last year, when Cuomo “was supposed to use his credibility to explain why Biden had the best plan for dealing with the pandemic,’’ he instead “recorded something of a tribute to himself,’’ write authors Jonathan Allen of NBC News and Amie Parnes of The Hill.

Cuomo, a high-profile  Democrat, was once considered a possible dark horse in the 2020 presidential race.

The leaders of the state’s Democratic legislative majorities announced that under new legislation New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s powers would be limited by state legislators.

They said a deal had been finalized to strip Cuomo of his emergency coronavirus powers after growing outrage surrounding accusations of sexual harassment of several women and how he handled the deadly COVID outbreak in New York’s nursing homes.

State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a longtime Cuomo ally, had at first resisted such measures. But on Tuesday, he joined State Sen. Andrew Stewart-Cousins, the Senate’s majority leader, to announce the move.

“A year into the pandemic, and as New Yorkers receive the vaccine, the temporary emergency powers have served their purpose – it is time for them to be repealed,” Heastie said in a statement.

The bill seeks to repeal Cuomo’s emergency powers, but it will keep certain health-related executive orders in place, with additional legislative oversights.

The change aims to prevent Cuomo from issuing new directives under emergency powers granted last year to combat the coronavirus pandemic, putting further restrictions on masks and shutdowns under local control.

The governor would still be able to modify existing orders – such as the percentage of indoor capacity allowed at reopening restaurants.

The legislation also requires the governor to publicly post all current suspensions and directives on his website within 15 days of becoming law.

And in case of future pandemics, the bill would allow state lawmakers to repeal a declared state of emergency through a joint resolution.

Several Democratic lawmakers are calling on Cuomo to resign following the sexual harassment allegations, including U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has often feuded with the governor, said that if the allegations turn out to be true, Cuomo can no longer govern.

The former director of the CIA and Spygate architect, John Brennan, dove into anti-white rhetoric during an appearance on MSNBC and told host Nicolle Wallace that he is embarrassed to be a white man.

The host asked former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill about her feelings toward the attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference complaining about “cancel culture.”

“Because they want to be the victims, not the perpetrators,” responded McCaskill. “I have never seen so many whiny white men calling themselves victims as I saw over the weekend at CPAC. These are all people that think they have a huge grievance from a position of significant privilege.”

Brennan then joined in to shame these aforementioned white males.

“I’m increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days,” he joked.

Watch the entire interview here:

Former CIA Director John Brennan says "I'm increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days," which prompts MSNBC's Nicole Wallace to laugh pic.twitter.com/cbNS8oQ1eK

— Daniel Chaitin (@danielchaitin7) March 1, 2021

The California State Auditor released a report last week accusing the California Air Resources Board of failing to do more to measure reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The report, written by State Auditor Elaine Howle, said the board does not have enough data to determine whether its transportation programs have been teaching their goals of helping reduce GHGs.

“CARB has done little to measure the extent to which its incentive programs lead to emissions reductions by causing individuals and businesses to acquire clean vehicles that they otherwise would not,” the report said. “As a result, CARB has overstated the GHG emissions reductions its inventive programs have achieved, although it is unclear by how much.”

The report concluded that, under these circumstances, California will “fall short” of meeting its 2030 goal of reducing GHG emissions to 40% below 1990 levels “unless emissions reductions occur at a faster pace.”

The report gave a list of recommendations that the agency should implement for better data collection in measuring the progress of its incentive programs.

CARB told Fox News it is proud of the progress it has made in driving down emissions of pollution throughout California and will strive to strengthen its “world-leading programs” as it responds to the State Auditor’s recommendations.

CARB said that implementing those recommendations would likely necessitate additional staffing and resources “so as to avoid directing resources away from regulatory efforts to further reduce toxic air pollutants from trucks, ships, and other freight-related sources.”

An executive order signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September aims to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine cars in California by 2035.

The order directed CARB to develop a phase-out plan that would require 100% zero-emissions personal use and drayage vehicles by 2035 and as many medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicle applications deemed feasible by 2045.”

Contrary to the State Audit report, CARB said it was confident that it would meet its 2030 goal of reducing GHG emissions by 40% below 1990 levels.

To ensure our goals are met, CARB is implementing measures that support the transition to zero-emission mobile and other sources at unprecedented scope and scale.

Last month, Howle released an audit finding that the California Employment Development Department has likely paid $10.4 billion in fraudulent benefits from March 2020 to December 2020.

The report said the agency was slow to react to warnings of an increase in fraudulent claims, saying this inaction cost the state billions as criminals exposed weaknesses in the system.

A third woman has come forward with accusations of unwanted advances against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

According to The New York Times, 33-year-old Anna Ruch has claimed that Cuomo asked to kiss her at a wedding in 2019. In an interview Monday, she specified that Cuomo put his hand on her bare lower back.

A third woman has accused Governor Cuomo of unwanted touching and sexual attention, saying he placed his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her at her friend's wedding. A friend took a series of pictures of the incident as it occurred. https://t.co/bgvzBK4vK0 pic.twitter.com/hXvgTvSntQ

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) March 2, 2021

Ruch said she pulled away and was “so confused and shocked and embarrassed” by the incident. I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment,” she reportedly said.

A spokesperson for Cuomo reportedly referred the Times to a more general statement in which Cuomo apologized for things that “have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.”

Over the past week, two of Cuomo’s former aides have accused him of sexual harassment — something he has denied.

The latest allegation comes as Attorney General Letitia James announced that the governor’s office sent a letter permitting her office to perform an independent investigation.

However, Democratic politicians within the state have already started calling for Cuomo’s resignation after other accusations surfaced. Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former staffer, claimed Cuomo talked about his willingness to have relationships with women in their 20s.

Before Bennett’s allegations came out, Cuomo aide Lindsey Boylan posted a blog accusing the governor of unwanted touching and kissing.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s career is over – he just hasn’t been willing to admit it yet.

The controversial leader has already been battling a nasty scandal in which he was responsible for sending COVID-infected patients to nursing homes and then attempting to bully those around him into silence on the matter.

Then, just as the nation began to start letting that mess slide, two former aides of the governor have come forward to detail perverse, pervasive, and seemingly unending sexual harassment by Cuomo.

Even New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio seems to think Cuomo will have a hard time making it through the scandal.

Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested Monday that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have to step down if an investigation into sexual harassment allegations by two former aides corroborates the accusations.

A second aide to the governor, Charlotte Bennett, told The New York Times Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life, including “if I had ever been with an older man.” That came on the heels of former staffer Lindsey Boylan alleging last week that Cuomo kissed her without her consent and made inappropriate comments, including asking her to play strip poker.

De Blasio said an older man trying to take advantage of a younger woman to make her feel like she could lose her job if she does not consent is “horrible” — and suggested Cuomo should step down if he’s found to have engaged in sexual harassment.

De Blasio was certainly unsubtle.

“If someone purposely tried to use their power to force a woman to have sex with them, of course that’s someone who should no longer be in public service,” de Blasio said during his daily press briefing.

Cuomo has attempted a few halfhearted apologies over the course of the scandal, but those admissions have not yet risen to the level at which forgiveness can occur.

Last week President Joe Biden launched an attack in Syria…against Iran…for what they did in Iraq. If that makes sense to you, then you’re way ahead of me.

Actually, Biden sent troops into Syria within the first 24 hours of him being in office.

The convoy consisted of about 40 trucks and armored vehicles that entered northeastern Syria on the day after his inauguration, supported by helicopters.

The Biden administration will eventually have to answer for these actions, but they’ve already said everything we need to know.

Back in 2017, Jen Psaki tweeted,

“Also what is the legal authority for strikes? Assad is a brutal dictator. But Syria is a sovereign country.”

Also what is the legal authority for strikes? Assad is a brutal dictator. But Syria is a sovereign country.

— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) April 7, 2017

Sleepy Joe Biden also tweeted something similar, but far worse, when President Trump approved the attack that took out terrorist Qasem Soleimani back in 2019. Biden tweeted,

“Trump’s erratic, impulsive actions are the last thing we need as Commander-in-Chief. No president should order a military strike without fully understanding the consequences. We don’t need another war in the Middle East, but Trump’s actions toward Iran only make that more likely.”

OUCH! This one stings. That’s exactly what Joe Biden just did.

When will liberals learn that Democrats are warmongers? They want war because it’s profitable. It makes America money.

This shows the amazing level of hypocrisy that Democrats possess, yet these braindead liberal voters fall for this mess every single time.

The only thing that’s different is the way that the media represents it. Obama puts “kids in cages”…media is silent. Trump still has that goign on…EVIL ORANGE MAN!!! Biden moves the kids to containers instead of cages…media silent.

Much of what led to the attack at the Capitol still remains a mystery. Former President Trump said he expressed his concern over the size of the crowd days before the event on January 6 and personally requested 10,000 National Guard troops to be sent to the Capitol in response.

During “The Next Revolution With Steve Hilton” Trump said he alerted the Department of Defense ahead of time that crowds were expected to be larger than anticipated and 10,000 national guardsmen should be ready for action. Trump claims that the warning was passed to leaders at the Capitol where it was rejected because these leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, did not like the idea of having 10,000 troops at the Capitol.

“So, you know, that was a big mistake,” he said.

Last week, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund told a bipartisan Senate panel that he didn’t know then that his officers had received a report from the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, Virginia, that forecast, in detail, the chances that extremists could bring “war” to Washington the following day.

The head of the FBI’s office in Washington has said that once he received the Jan. 5 warning, the information was quickly shared with other law enforcement agencies through a joint terrorism task force.

Sund and House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving also could not agree on when National Guard assistance was requested.

Sund said he submitted the request at 1:09 p.m. on Jan. 6. But Irving insisted he did not receive the request for National Guard support until after 2 p.m. while in former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger’s office. When pressed, Irving said he took a call from Sund before while on the Congress floor.

Sund and Irving disagreed on when the National Guard was called and on requests for the guard beforehand. Sund said he spoke to both Stenger and Irving about requesting the National Guard in the days before the riot, and that Irving said he was concerned about the “optics” of having them present. Irving denied that, saying Sund’s account was “categorically false.”

Republicans have signaled that evidence could show that Democrat leaders were aware of the threat and did little to prevent the Jan. 6 attack.

Pelosi said the commission will “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.”

Trump said that contrary to reports, he was not watching the riot in real-time and only became aware of the events later on when he heard about the chaos.

He said he hated to see the attack but compared it to unrest that occurred in cities like Portland and Seattle last year.

“I hate to see any of that, but it is a double standard,” Trump said.

A local New York journalist is speaking up about the alleged abuse she faced at the hands of the Cuomo administration as the Democratic governor is struggling to save his political career amid several accusations of sexual harassment.

“‘You have a vendetta against him don’t you!’ That was the last time I allowed someone connected to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration to harass and manipulate me,” former News10 reporter Lindsay Nielsen wrote in a statement on Sunday. “It was during one of the many accusatory and threatening phone calls I received by his staff members that I realized this behavior was never going to stop. It was shortly thereafter that I decided to leave my job at News10.”

“The late-night phone calls from the administration, the constant threats to call my boss, the incessant bullying to try to get me to stop doing my job and reporting specific stories… it would never end. The tactics used were deliberate yet evasive. They skimmed the line of inappropriateness ever so delicately as to make you feel like they were acceptable,” Nielsen wrote.

She continued, “I am writing this today to make sure that those involved in this behavior back then now know that not only was it not acceptable but that it was damaging. I applaud those who have come forward recently with reports of similar behavior by the same administration.”

According to Nielsen’s LinkedIn page, she left the Albany-based News10 in 2017 after joining the network back in 2012.

I have something to say today. pic.twitter.com/qz0EkC5cD5

— Lindsay Nielsen (@Lindsayon10) February 28, 2021

Cuomo is facing several scandals that have plagued his administration. The governor was accused of sexual misconduct by former aides, leading to calls for an independent investigation to look into the alleged misconduct.

The Cuomo administration is also being accused of hiding nursing home death’s caused by COVID after the Democrat’s controversial policy that forced COVID-positive patients into assisted living facilities during the beginning of the pandemic.