Category: Opinion

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to one year Thursday for violating campaign funding laws, he will serve his time at home.

Sarkozy along with 12 other co-defendants in the case was found guilty of spending more than $54 million for the former president’s 2012 re-election bid, flagrantly surpassing the limit of $24 million. The group used fake invoices in an effort to conceal excessive spending, according to CNN.

“Nicolas Sarkozy knew the spending limit. He knew he shouldn’t exceed it,” the judge said.

Sarkozy denied the charges and vowed that he would go “right to the end” in appealing the ruling. The 66-year-old former president will be allowed to serve his one-year sentence at home with the stipulation that he would be required to wear an electronic monitor.

Sarkozy is the first French leader to have received two convictions, according to CNN.

The former French president received a one-year sentence in March 2021 when he was convicted of corruption and influence-peddling although has been free pending an appeal of the decision. The March ruling came as the result of Sarkozy’s 2014 attempt to bribe a magistrate into divulging information about a former president’s involvement in a legal proceeding.

When Tom Brady walks out of the visitors’ locker room on Sunday night in Foxborough, the memories of the previous two decades will pour back into our brains like a deluge of water.

It’s a homecoming for the best quarterback of his generation, and perhaps the greatest of all time, as he returns to the spot where it all started.

After traveling to New England to face the Patriots on Sunday night, we’ll all be feeling the emotions that accompanied the team’s departure.

Brady returns to the field after his departure from the New England Patriots and his relationship with Bill Belichick made headlines.

Before the publication of “It’s Better to be Feared,” a book by Seth Wickersham that delves into the Patriots’ dynasty and Tom Brady’s subsequent departure to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency after 20 years in a Patriots uniform, excerpts from the book have been making the rounds on social media.

Throughout the book, Wickersham claims that Belichick refused to meet with Brady in person to do Brady’s exit interview, instead preferring to conduct it over the phone.

“No, that’s not true,” Belichick said Wednesday when asked if he declined to meet with Brady prior to his departure. “There are a few things about this book; it sounds like it’s a lot of second-, third- and fourth-hand comments. I’m not going to get into that. I’m going to focus on this game and try to prepare for the Bucs.”

Brady — not one to publicly criticize the Patriots organization — took the high road on Thursday, saying that his departure was “handled perfectly.”

“All those things are super personal,” Brady said in his weekly press conference on Thursday.

“We had a great relationship. Everything was handled the right way. We handled everything as gracefully as we could. It was an amazing time, it was handled perfectly. I think everyone understood where we were at — the people involved in the situation. Things worked out the best for all of us.”

But don’t think for a second that Brady will be thinking about his time in New England when he takes the field Sunday.

“I’m just going to try to do what I always do: Go be a great quarterback,” Brady said. “Obviously, I understand the opponent. I know all those guys. They’re some of my great friends, [and] they will be for the rest of my life. I know a lot of coaches, players, the owners, the staff. It will be great to see everyone after the game, but up until the game I’m focused on trying to go win a football game.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women and that they strongly recommend they get the vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for“urgent action” Wednesday for “people who are pregnant, recently pregnant or are trying to become pregnant now, or who might become pregnant in the future” as 125,000 COVID-19 cases reported among pregnant women have resulted in 22,000 hospitaizations and 161 deaths.

The Wednesday announcement cites current data that shows vaccines do not increase the risk of miscarriage or birth defects nor does it have any negative impact on fertility.

CDC data shows that roughly 31% of pregnant women who reported testing positive for COVID-19 received a vaccination, and around 97% of pregnant women hospitalized “either for illness or for labor and delivery” were unvaccinated.

“I strongly encourage those who are pregnant or considering pregnancy to talk with their health care provider about the protective benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their babies and themselves safe,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

The recent announcement highlights the CDC’s efforts to encourage vulnerable groups to receive the vaccine. In an August press release the CDC announced that “the increased risk of severe illness and pregnancy complications related to COVID-19 infection among pregnant people make vaccination for this population more urgent than ever.”

According to the CDC, women who are pregnant or recently pregnant are more likely to get extremely sick from COVID-19 as compared with non-pregnant women. Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 have an increased risk of admission into intensive care which carries a 70% increased risk of death.

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead global health development at the U.S. Agency for International Development argues that brutal partial-birth abortion techniques should not be considered to be worse than other more humane abortion procedures just because it’s “gross.”

“Grossness is not a good objection,” wrote Atul Gawande in a 1998 Slate op-ed. “Lots of operations are gross–leg amputations, burn surgery, removal of facial tumors, etc. But that does not make them wrong.”

In a partial-birth abortion, an abortionist delivers the baby alive, up until the baby’s head is outside the mother’s body, then the abortionist punctures the back of the baby’s head, “removing the baby’s brains,” according to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Biden’s Health and Human Services Director Xavier Becerra fails to recognize the procedure as illegal, though the controversial legislation passed Congress in 2003, was signed by former President George W. Bush, and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as constitutional in 2007.

Gawande describes a partial-birth abortion in gruesome detail in his 1998 op-ed, acknowledging that late-term abortions are “disturbing” because the unborn baby is “big now–like a fully formed child.”

“Partial-birth abortion is, if anything, less grotesque,” he wrote, comparing partial-birth abortion to Dilation and Evacuation procedures. “The fetus is delivered feet first. To get the large head out, the doctor cuts open a hole at the base of the fetus’s skull and inserts tubing to suck out the brain, which collapses the skull.”

The Biden nominee’s callous language concerning the subject echos the past in the fight over abortion — advocates of recent years are less likely to discuss abortion techniques with such candor.

Gawande indicated that if the procedure is “too gruesome to allow,” perhaps dilation and evacuation abortions are too gruesome as well.

“And that’s the inevitable next target for pro-life advocates,” he wrote.

“Two of my obstetrician friends, both strongly pro-choice, told me that, even when it is a mother’s life at stake and abortion is absolutely necessary, doing the D and E feels ‘horrible,’” the Biden nominee wrote. “We imagine, as we look in the fetus’s eyes, that there is someone in there. And if there were any elective late abortion–even by induction–would be wrong, though D and E and partial-birth abortion would seem especially cruel.”

Gawande questioned whether there is “someone in there,” noting that Roe v. Wade led advocates and activists to “focus on whether the fetus is viable.” He argued that a breathing patient on life support is not necessarily a “living person anymore,” adding that what matters is whether the patient’s brain is functioning.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officers in Pittsburgh have obtained packages packed with fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards.

The first package was seized last month when officers began investigating the quality of its contents. The package did not come from the Centers for Disease Control or any other medical agency so officers placed a hold on the second package that was addressed to the same Pennsylvania address. Both packages were opened and found to contain fraudulent cards that were shipped from China.

“Coronavirus and its variants continues to pose a serious health and safety threat to American citizens, and so do unscrupulous vendors who peddle counterfeit COVID vaccination cards,” CBP’s Pittsburg Port Director William Fitting said in a media release. “Customs and border protection will continue to intercept counterfeit goods, such as these fake vaccine cards, that threaten our nation, our people and our economy.”

The FBI issued a statement warning Americans that purchasing fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards is highly illegal. Many other officials have already confiscated fraudulent vaccination cards all over the country.

A Taliban official said that the regime will reinstitute harsh punishment in Afghanistan. Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, who previously served as the Taliban’s justice minister, and now serves to enforce its harsh interpretation of Islam, said Thursday that Afghanistan will once again be ruled under strict adherence to Islamic law which includes executions and cutting off hands.

“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi said of the Taliban’s past public executions. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”

“Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” Turabi said, adding that it has not yet been decided if these types of punishments will be carried out publicly.

These punishments are very common for the Taliban’s targets. Saber Nasseri was punished for working as an interpreter for the U.S. military forces by having fingers removed from both hands. He appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” last month to demonstrate how the Taliban had punished him.

“The Taliban, they cut my fingers off, they cut my body, all of that. I got a lot of shrapnel. I worked for Navy SEALs, U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, but, right now, the Taliban, they are hunting my family,” Nasseri said.

Once the U.S. military was completely withdrawn, the Taliban quickly formed its new government and vowed to “work hard towards upholding Islamic rules and sharia law.”

Throughout the summer and into the beginning of fall, Joe Biden’s presidency has been marred by a number of debacles. For example, he is constantly changing his stance on the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention the disastrous withdrawal of the military from Afghanistan, a potential government shutdown, fighting among Democrats over the Build Back Better plan, a bipartisan infrastructure bill, the border crisis, and many more.

“What do you say to Americans who say that you have not delivered on that promise?” NBC News’ Peter Alexander asked Biden on Friday, citing the president’s “message of competence and unity” when he first took office.

The president began his answer by making excuses and deferring blame.

“I said it’s going to take me a year to deliver everything I’m looking at here,” he said.

Almost immediately Biden laid blame on former President Donald Trump saying that Americans need to “take a look at what he inherited” when he took office. “When I came into office, the state of affairs, and where we were: We had four million people vaccinated. We had no plan. We had – I mean, I can go down the list,” Biden said.

Biden’s approval rating has taken a significant hit as well. According to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday, his approval rating is at 43% – a low for his presidency and six points lower than that of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Biden administration continually blames former president Trump for current crises including the COVID-19 vaccines and the nightmare at the border.

Biden touted his economic plan claiming that it is “overwhelmingly popular” saying the difficulty in getting it passed is that “not everybody knows what’s in the plan.” He claimed it has all the answers Americans are looking for and that “at the end of the day” the plan will get it done.

The president defended the cost, which has been scrutinized by some Democrats, such as Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin who expressed concern over the $3.5 trillion budget plan and cautioned that it would have “grave consequences” for future generations.

“It’s simply irresponsible to continue spending at levels more suited to respond to a Great Depression or Great Recession – not an economy that is on the verge of overheating,” Manchin said in August.

Publicly, the White House has downplayed those concerns. White House Director of the National Economic Council Brian Reese said that the reports that Manchin had given a definite no on the bill were untrue.

Biden also defended the budget concerns saying Friday that the cost is “going to be zero.”

“You know, people, understandably say, ‘Well, you know, it started off at $6 trillion, now it’s $3.5 trillion. Now it’s – is it going to be $2.9? Is it…It’s going to be zero. Zero,” Biden said. “Because in the – in that plan that I put forward – and I said from the outset – I said, “I’m running to change the dynamic of how the economy grows.”

“It’s all paid for. It’s all paid for,” he added.

Biden pointed out that he “hadn’t planned on” the number of natural disasters that have befallen America in the past few months. Americans have been hit by hurricanes, mass floods and wildfires. At the same time, Biden said that he “kind of anticipated it might happen.”

“And so, what I had hoped I would be doing, I do what I did in the campaign: I’d be out making the case about what my plan proposal contained. And it’s been very much curtailed by a whole range of things,” he said.

The president allowed that it’s “understandable” that Americans are “frustrated” and cited that it’s not only members of Congress saying that they “thought this was going to be better.” He briefly touched on Afghanistan, telling reporters that he expects it to come up in his meeting with leaders of Japan, India and Australia.

“So, I guess, I think it’s a totally legit – obviously, it’s a legitimate question you’ve asked – but I think, putting into context here, it’s going to take some time here,” the president answered.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed in an interview over the weekend that if US Border Patrol agents are threatened with termination by the Biden administration as a result of recent incidents, he will hire the agents back immediately to protect Texas.

Abbott said on “Fox News Sunday” with host Chris Wallace that President Biden and Department Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were “in dereliction of duty” because they have “abandoned any pretense of securing the sovereignty of either Texas or the United States by having these open border policies.”

Abbott stated that his decision last week to deploy hundreds of state police officers to the border was made “when the illegal migration ceased.”

“That’s exactly what the Biden administration could do if they wanted to,” Abbott continued. “But Chris, it’s the kind of thing that Texas is going to have to continue to do in addition to the other policies that you did not announce and that is, as opposed to catch and release, Texas has imposed a policy where we are going to arrest and jail people who come in across the border for trespassing into areas into the state of Texas.”

When asked if he was overstepping his authority by effectively assuming control of immigration in Texas from the federal government, Abbott stated that he was doing so “because the Biden administration is refusing to do its duty to enforce the laws of the United States,” leaving Texas “in no position other than for us to step up and do what we have to do.”

Abbott on Biden’s investigation into Border Patrol agents: “I want them to know something. If they are risk of losing their job by a president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border, you have a job in the state of Texas. I will hire you to help Texas secure our border.” pic.twitter.com/gzVtv5iKgt

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) September 26, 2021

Later, when questioned about the Border Patrol agents who rode up on illegal aliens entering the United States, Abbott referred to inaccurate statements regarding the scenario.

“First, they wouldn’t have been in that situation had the Biden administration enforced the immigration laws and secured the border in the first place,” Abbott said. “Second, as you know, Chris, the person who took those pictures said that the characterization that the Democrats have made about the Border Patrol using them as whips, whipping people, coming across the border is false. They were simply maneuvering horses.”

“But the last thing I will tell you is what the President said going after the Border Patrol, who were risking their lives and working so hard to try to secure the border, if he takes any action against them whatsoever, I have worked side by side with those Border Patrol agents,” Abbott continued. “I want them to know something, if they are at risk of losing their job, got a president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border, you have a job in the state of Texas. I will hire you to help Texas secure our border.”

Locals in Del Rio, Texas overwhelmingly supported Border Patrol agents, despite recent viral images that provoked criticism that sparked an internal investigation.

“It brought me to tears,” one man said. “These men are giving their lives, leaving their families, to come here and to secure us. I’m personally very thankful.”

The resident’s wife added: “We’ve been here for 54 years … I’ve watched when there was a multitude of people coming, their kindness to them.”

“They’re not bad people,” she said in an interview with Fox News, “They’re wonderful people.”

Images of Border Patrol agents on horseback trying to stop Haitian migrants in Del Rio recently went viral and led to agents being falsely accused of whipping the migrants.

“We back them completely,” the woman said. “We say don’t lie about them. Please don’t lie about them.”

Diane, who lives at the border, when interviewed said, “Border Patrol are phenomenal.”

President Joe Biden said of the images, that it was “horrible,” “outrageous” and that these people “would pay.” Horse patrols have been temporarily suspended while the Department of Homeland Security investigates the incident

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked Monday whether the new information that had been released had changed anything.

Psaki responded, “I don’t think anyone could look at those photos and think that was an appropriate action.”

However, many Del Rio residents interviewed by Fox News, believe that Border Patrol agents were doing their job and the pictures were taken out of context.

“At first I thought … ‘Oh my god, what are they doing,’” one resident said. “Actually, when I saw the whole video, I saw it wasn’t intentional. They were just doing their job.”

Another resident commented that “they are doing their best.”

One man however said the pictures seemed as if the Border Patrol agents were “chasing people like sheep.”

Jose Carlos, a local business owner, said: “What they’re doing is putting just images, and when you see the video, they’re trying to get people not to cross back anymore.”

“They do a very very hard job,” Carlos said. “I think they need to get a little bit more credit for what they do.”

Dez Bryant, a prominent NFL wide receiver, blasted former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick during a podcast appearance for failing to use his platform to create more jobs for the people Kaepernick claims to be “standing up for.”

Bryant made the remarks on Monday’s “I Am Athlete” podcast, which also featured Brandon Marshall, Channing Crowder, Channing Ochocinco, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder.

“I want to mention this too, like I respect Colin Kaepernick,” he said. “But there is one thing that I don’t respect and I said when I get the opportunity and to get on the stage and say it, I would say it, and I love him to death. So there ain’t no hate or nothing like that.”

“But brother, you had the biggest opportunity in the world to create jobs, and build jobs, give jobs to people,” he continued. “The people that you was talking about, the people that you so-called ‘standing up for,’ the people who stood beside you, the people who lost their jobs because of you. Where you at? I ain’t heard from you. I reached out to you. Where you at? … He brought the awareness and that’s why I respect him.”

Bryant also chastised NFL players for supporting social justice messages on social media just because the NFL directed them to do so, rather than because they choose to do so on their own.