Freedom Convoy, Ottowa, Canada 2022 via Wikimedia Commons
Christine Anderson, a member of the European Parliament and a member of Germany’s conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party says that freedom, Democracy, and the rule of law are on the brink of collapse in Western nations and the Covid-19 pandemic is partially to blame.
“We are now violating what we thought was the foundation our societies were built on,” Anderson said.
Anderson recently completed a tour in Canada visiting the Freedom Convoy and decided to take the opportunity to attend this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) which is known to host thousands of conservative supporters, activists, and lawmakers to draw attention to the threats currently facing Western democracy.
The Freedom Convoy is a series of ongoing protests and blockades in Canada against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions. The convoy was originally created to protest vaccine mandates for crossing the United States border but later evolved into a protest about oppressive Covid-19 restrictions in general.
The German politician noted that her concerns are focused on Western democracy, admitting she doesn’t expect governments in China, North Korea, or even Russia to value ideals like freedom and rule of law.
“I hold the Western democracies to a higher standard, but we are now violating what we thought was the foundation our societies were built on and a really scary thing is that all these Western democracies seem to be in lock-step right now with whatever agenda they are trying to implement and push,” she explained.
The right-leaning EU parliament member says it’s time for the people to hold countries accountable for their actions.
“What is Democracy all about?” Anderson questioned. “Democracy is all about the people telling the government what to do, not the other way around.”
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were forced to shutter businesses, close schools, and blindly agree to take newly released vaccinations. And if anyone dared speak against the latest narrative regarding vaccines or the virus? They could expect to be ridiculed, questioned, and ostracized by friends, family, co-workers, and even leaders in government.
“The whole narrative about ostracizing people was frustrating…the whole narrative of ‘my choice my body’ was gone. People were ridiculed and scapegoated,” the German politician reflected.
In 2021, President Joe Biden insulted Americans who had yet to receive “the jab” conveniently forgetting the fact he had cast doubt on the vaccines while Donald Trump was in the White House.
“If you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought you were,” Biden said.
Joe Biden insults unvaccinated Americans: "You're not nearly as smart as I thought you were" pic.twitter.com/KsMCPY90yp
President Biden was an outspoken critic of former President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed program which is largely credited for helping create and distribute Covid-19 vaccines.
“The way [then-President Donald Trump] talks about the vaccine is not particularly rational,”
Biden said per the Western Journal. “He’s talking about it being ready, he’s going to talk about moving it quicker than the scientists think it should be moved. … People don’t believe that he’s telling the truth, therefore they’re not at all certain they’re going to take the vaccine.”
“And one more thing,” he said. “If and when the vaccine comes, it’s not likely to go through all the tests that needs to be and the trials that are needed to be done.”
However, while Covid-19 was able to highlight some government corruption Anderson says this dangerous assault on democracy has been happening for decades.
“We’ve seen a full-blown gaslighting of the people.” Anderson said. “Now, fundamental rights are being discussed as though they are privileges that the government grants or withholds depending on the citizen’s behavior.”
But all hope is not lost. The German politician was optimistic that more people have “woken up” over the past three years and are ready to push back.
“The so-called pandemic highlighted the left’s pressure campaign to redefine certain concepts,” Anderson reckoned. “It highlighted their ridiculousness and their willingness and determination to push back against people, disenfranchise them, and take away their rights.”
Anderson noted that her home country came dangerously close to repeating history by enacting legislation that would have forced unvaccinated citizens to pay for their own medical treatments or even be turned away for treatment altogether.
Germany’s public healthcare system ensures free healthcare for all.
“My country has been there historically,” Anderson warned. “This is exactly the stuff totalitarianism is made of. I had hoped that the Germans had learned their lesson, but I have to say they have not learned a damn thing.”
However, despite what some could call insurmountable odds Christine Anderson said she’s ready to take a stand against anti-democratic efforts whenever she sees it and refuses to let history repeat itself.
“I will always say what I believe to be true. When I see parallels between another totalitarian regime I will be there and I will point it out.”
ANALYSIS – Even as the indictments pile up, or maybe because of them, a new national NBC News poll finds former President Donald Trump expanding his national lead in the Republican presidential nominating contest to 43 points over his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Trump leads the first-choice field with 59% of national Republican primary voters. In comparison, Ron DeSantis gets support from 16% — followed by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 7% and former Vice President Mike Pence at 4%.
The poll also includes an all-time high disapproval of Joe Biden’s job performance. Fewer than 4 in 10 voters (37%) approve of his handling of the economy. This is huge.
Deeper inside those numbers, Biden is underwater among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 (46% of them approve of his job performance), all women (46%), Latinos (43%) and independents (36%).
What’s more, the NBC News poll finds 37% of voters approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, and 41% approve of his handling of foreign policy.
Biden is also taking a big hit for his open borders policy and unprecedented waves of illegal immigration on his watch, as also shown by a recent The Washington Post-ABC News poll.
“A variety of factors may be at play,” [ABC News’ Gary] Langer writes in his analysis. “Biden’s poor performance ratings, the extent of economic discontent, the immigration crisis and doubts about his age clearly are relevant.”
Axios added: “In the Post-ABC poll, 44% said they’re worse off — the most for any president in the poll since… 1986, ABC News’ Gary Langer said in his poll analysis.”
“In NBC, Biden’s disapproval rating is the highest of his term for that poll.”
NBC News also noted that: “Another 60% have major concerns (45%) or moderate concerns (15%) about Biden’s possible awareness or involvement in the business dealings of his son, Hunter, including alleged financial wrongdoing and corruption.”
“This [NBC] survey is a startling flashing red light for an incumbent party,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies. McInturff conducted the September 15-19 poll with Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt and his team at Hart Research Associates.
“Yes, the numbers for Biden aren’t where he needs them to be,” said Horwitt. However, Trump and Republicans have challenges, such as the GOP front-runner’s unpopularity with the general electorate.
Most polls show that both Trump and Biden have high unfavorability going into a general election.
NBC News reported: “Three-quarters of voters say they’re concerned about President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, while nearly two-thirds have concerns about the multiple trials former President Donald Trump faces, a new national NBC News poll finds, casting a gloomy shadow over the upcoming 2024 presidential election.”
Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.
ANALYSIS – When Republican governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas began busing illegal migrants from their states to deep blue ‘sanctuary’ cities like New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., Democrats, and the establishment media called it a political ‘stunt.’
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, leading another state suffering from the same migrant crisis, has also sent migrants from his state to sanctuary cities in recent months.
Abbott has been the most prolific bussing migrants north.
DeSantis sent a couple of busloads to the uber liberal and wealthy enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, the exclusive Massachusetts island that is a regular playground for liberal Hollywood and DC elites.
The governors want to put the pressure of Joe Biden’s horrendous border and immigration policies on the front stoops of big city Democrat mayors, instead of the backyards of mostly red Republican border states.
They also wanted to highlight the issue nationally and emphasize the sheer insanity of the entire sanctuary city concept where illegal aliens are virtually invited to come and stay, safe from federal law enforcement.
And the governors’ ‘stunt’ appears to be working.
Both the outgoing mayor of Chicago and the new mayor of NYC are begging for help with the crush of these migrants.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a national surrogate for Biden, has been the most outspoken, recently saying Biden has “failed” his city which is being “destroyed by the migrant crisis.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago sent a letter to Abbott on Sunday requesting that he stop sending busloads of migrants to the Windy City over what she called political motivations.
She said the city has been caring for more than 8,000 penniless migrants since the first buses arrived from Texas in August. And the number is growing.
But Abbott began sending migrant buses to these blue cities in the fall as a response to the surge of migrant crossings at the southern border caused by Bien’s obscene and likely illegal immigration policies.
Abbott has said the migrant ‘relocations will continue until the federal government secures the border.
In her letter, Lightfoot said she is sympathetic to the challenges of border towns in Texas but wrote:
Chicago is a Welcoming City and we collaborate with County, State, and community partners to rise to this challenge, but your lack of consideration or coordination in an attempt to cause chaos and score political points has resulted in a critical tipping point in our ability to receive individuals and families in a safe, orderly, and dignified way.
Well, good. Now she can truly be ‘sympathetic’ to the border towns suffering under the stampede of illegal migrants Biden is allowing into the country.
She added a bunch of other claptrap in her letter blaming Abbott for being heartless and creating a humanitarian crisis, etc.
Unfortunately, what she totally ignores is that her ‘welcoming’ policies, and those of her party and the president, are the direct cause of the migrant crisis.
Meanwhile, Politico reports that “Republicans just gained an unlikely ally in their attacks on the president’s immigration policies: the Democratic mayor of New York.”
Unlike Lightfoot, Adams seems to get it.
GOP leaders high-fived this month after hearing Mayor Adams say Biden had “failed” the city on immigration and that NYC “is being destroyed by the migrant crisis.”
In this past year, more than 57,000 migrants have arrived in New York after crossing the southern border. Some were sent from states like Texas, but others arrived on their own.
City services used to house, feed, educate, and provide health care to newcomers are estimated to cost taxpayers $2.9 billion next year alone.
This is more than the entire NYC Fire Department operating budget.
Adams’ new rhetoric has drawn praise from some Republicans and the conservative editorial page of the New York Post.
His words have also echoed remarks by Fox News contributor Sean Duffy.
But not all Republicans are cheering for Adams. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas wasn’t quite ready to applaud the New York mayor.
“Eric Adams is right to blame the Biden Administration for the border crisis, but this is the same guy who campaigned on his city’s sanctuary status and extended childcare, colleague classes and other taxpayer-funded programs to illegal migrants,” Roy said in a statement.
“Texas has been bearing the brunt of this crisis for over two years — now New York is getting a taste of their own medicine.”
Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.
Construction continues on new border wall system project near Yuma, AZ. Recently constructed border wall near Yuma, Arizona on June 3, 2020. CBP photo by Jerry Glaser.
ANALYSIS – Please hold the door! Well, it can’t get more ironic or infuriating than this.
A new video appears to show a U.S. soldier, apparently, a female National Guard troop activated by Joe Biden, unlocking and opening a gate in Texas to allow a large group of illegal aliens to cross into the United States.
And Biden thinks it’s funny.
This, after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas shamelessly said on ABC’s “This Week” that Team Biden had succeeded in getting the word out that the nation’s borders were not open.
The video tweeted by Fox News Channel (FNC) Los Angeles bureau reporter Bill Melugin, is dated May 15, just after Biden allowed the Trump-era Title 42 to expire. The specific location in Texas was Eagle Pass in the U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector.
I asked the Texas National Guard if this is one of their soldiers who opens the gate for the group of migrants. They tell me she is NOT a TX soldier & is not TX ARNG. I’m told she is a Title 10 soldier from the Missouri ARNG under orders from the federal gov & working w/ BP. pic.twitter.com/zKWy121u1K
It is not an official Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry point. In fact, the gate is part of a Texas state border barrier, and the land is reportedly private property.
And to be clear, the soldier was reported to be acting under orders, and the migrants were loaded on a U.S. government bus.
Texas officials quickly highlighted that the soldier is not a member of the Texas National Guard deployed by Governor Greg Abbott under Operation Lone Star.
Instead, she is a Missouri Army National Guard (ARNG) member deployed to “assist” Border Patrol agents under Title 10 by Team Biden.
But the joke is on us.
It seems Biden’s understanding of “assisting the Border Patrol” involves opening the gates to allow illegal migrants to enter the country before being symbolically “processed” and released into the country.
Many of the migrants are being given immigration court date appearances set so far into the future as to be meaningless. Others are let go without any specific court dates.
One Venezuelan told the Washington Examiner that his mother “was told to wait 10 years before she can see a judge.” Another Venezuelan man was told to appear in court in March – 2027.
When asked by reporters about how he believed things were proceeding after Title 42 expired, Biden responded with a laugh, saying: “Much better than you all expected.”
Of course, they are better than expected when you are facilitating their entry to avoid images of mass chaos at the border. “Thank God there’s a camera there so we can watch them all come through in a nice orderly fashion,” one Twitter user commented.
Even disgraced and fired liberal CNN host Chris Cuomo bashed Biden about this:
…we have our president laughing, “Ha ha ha. It’s not as bad as you expected.” Really? With record numbers being processed and released into America. It’s no laughing matter, but if it is a joke, the joke is on us, because the people in power are allowing this to continue.
And while the border looks less chaotic than in recent months, illegal migrants are filling processing centers to capacity, with an unbelievable backlog of two million pending court cases.
Meanwhile, Mayorkas also touted a 50% drop in illegal migrant encounters on the border since Title 42 was rescinded, with 6,300 encounters on Friday and about 4,200 on Saturday.
But their numbers had exploded right before the end of the pandemic-era restriction, topping more than 10,000 a day, so a big drop isn’t hard to achieve.
And with U.S. troops deployed, order is restored – because the border gates are now officially open. The joke really is on us.
Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.
President Joe Biden hugs his family during the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)
ANALYSIS – After an outrageously long five-year investigation, federal prosecutors are finally going to charge Hunter Biden for various crimes. He is expected to plead guilty.
The catch?
The charges are minimal misdemeanors, and Hunter will get a sweet deal that allows him to avoid any federal jail time. This is thanks to Biden’s attorneys who have been negotiating with prosecutors for a very long time.
Many will contrast this to the way former President Donald Trump is being treated by federal prosecutors and see the first son getting preferential treatment.
But don’t expect Republicans to just let things go.
Hunter has been under investigation for tax crimes related to his shady overseas business dealings and for illegally possessing a firearm, having allegedly lied about his documented illegal drug use when purchasing a handgun in 2018.
The deal reached between U.S. Attorney David Weiss and Hunter’s attorneys, which a judge still needs to approve, will undoubtedly intensify concerns that Hunter received a sweetheart deal.
According to the Washington Post, Hunter “has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of failure to pay in 2017 and 2018.” Hunter is accused of not paying taxes on a liability of about $1.2 million. But instead of jail, prosecutors agreed to recommend Hunter receive only probation and pay the amount of taxes that he originally owed.
Meanwhile, Hunter will admit to illegally possessing a firearm, but he will not plead guilty to lying on the federal form. Under typical circumstances, possessing a firearm while using illegal drugs is a felony. But Hunter will technically not be prosecuted for the crime. Instead, he will be offered a diversion program and probation.
When Hunter Biden meets the conditions of diversion, the crime will be removed from his record, but he will be banned from owning firearms, the New York Times reported.
The deal would require Hunter to remain drug-free for 24 months and agree to never own a firearm again. Good luck enforcing any of that.
While the Biden’s say, ‘case closed,’ and spin it all as just a wayward son with a drug problem gone astray, it won’t end the superheated politics of the case.
Republicans have argued for years that Hunter Biden committed an array of crimes that should put him behind bars. They have also argued that his crimes call into question the honesty of his father.
And Republicans won’t be letting go. This sweetheart deal for Hunter will just intensify their efforts.
Coming less than two weeks after the Justice Department indicted former President Donald J. Trump on charges that he risked exposing national security secrets and obstructed efforts by the government to reclaim classified documents from him, an agreement that allows Hunter Biden to walk free is also sure to bring a torrent of criticism from the right and intensified efforts by House Republicans to portray the Justice Department and the F.B.I. as biased.
As president, Mr. Trump had long sought to tie Hunter Biden’s business deals and personal troubles to his father. Mr. Trump’s first impeachment had its roots in his efforts to persuade the Ukrainian government to help him show wrongdoing in Hunter Biden’s work for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, and while in the White House he pressured the Justice Department to investigate.
Republicans still believe, notes The Times, that “the president has been complicit in an effort engineered by his son to enrich his family by profiting from their positions of power.”
The Times even admits about Hunter:
After his father became vice president, he built relationships with wealthy foreigners that brought in millions of dollars, surfacing concerns inside the Obama administration and among government watchdog groups that he was cashing in on his family name…
But the questions about what occurred during that period never led to conduct that prosecutors believed could win them a conviction in court.
Let’s see if the House investigations will find more damning evidence than federal prosecutors did.
Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.