Liberty & Prosperity Blog

Sunday morning, former DFL State Party Chair Brian Melendez debated GOP lobbyist Brian McDaniel on the state of this year's presidential race. During the Political Analysis section of At Issue with Tom Hauser, Melendez told a couple of whoppers . Melendez Whopper #1 The first of Melendez's whoppers happened when Hauser asked him "Why are the Democrats trying to protect him (Gov. Walz) and Kamala Harris from press conferences and interviews?" Melendez replied "I don't know that they're protecting them from interviews and news conferences but I think they decided to get their message out through retail politics so that they don't seem like they're Donald Trump and he doesn't need a filled ampitheater filled with cheering Romans in order to validate himself. Walz and Harris aren't that insecure." Hauser replied that the American people would like to hear from Harris and Walz without all the choreographyy (paraphrased). Melendez Whopper #...

Colin Allred, Ted Cruz's opponent in the Texas Senate race, is getting hit with a $3,000,000 ad buy that's hitting Allred for one of his votes. It must be effective because Josh Stewart, Allred's campaign spokesperson is already whining. Stewart is complaining "This is a disgusting, false attack, and another example of how Ted Cruz only wants to divide Texans." To provide some context, the ad accuses Allred of "vot[ing] against the Protection of Women and Girls Act of 2023. He stood with woke progressives and radical Democrats, not our daughters." There's nothing false about the ad. According to this vote-tracking website , Allred voted no on "H.R. 734: Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023." The vote happened on April 20, 2023. According to the text of the bill , it simply states that " for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reprod...

Predictably, Iranian mullahs have made a series of brave noises while Israel's Defense Forces, aka the IDF, has all but eliminated Hezbollah's senior leadership, including eliminating Hassan Nasrallah, the top leader in Hezbollah. Iran's brave noises have included talk of escalating the war against Israel. That hasn't stopped Israel's assault on Hezbollah. Now that Hassan Nasrallah has been eliminated, Iran has announced that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, "has been transferred to a secure location somewhere within the country." Khamenei's location is unknown, except to Iran's mullahs and to Mossad, Israel's intelligence-gathering unit. According to the Washington Examiner's article, "Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location somewhere within the country, according to Reuters. The outlet reported that Iran is in 'onstant contact'with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other proxy ...

If you aren't paying attention to the shift from Democrat-to-GOP voter registration, then you're missing this year's biggest election stories. Yes, I meant plural. The first article that caught my attention was this article from Salena Zito about voter registration data. In the article, Ms. Zito wrote "Two weeks ago, Trump held a rally here that, as always, was massive. Voters attending said repeatedly that they were hopeful he would talk more about issues of the utmost concern to them: the economy and the border. He didn’t. They said that if he didn’t, it wouldn’t change their vote for him, but they worried he might lose the male suburban voters he needs to overcome the female suburban voters he lost." These aren't the unthinking people that Trump supporters are often characterized as. They might not be scholars like Victor Davis Hanson but they have plenty of wisdom. Ms. Zito continues, saying "In 2020, when Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump, Democrats...

It didn't take Dana Perino long to demolish Kamala Harris with a well-chosen set of words. So thorough was the whipping that Jessica Tarlov, the token liberal on the set of The Five, didn't attempt to reply to Dana. It was that obvious that Dana's argument was airtight. In the brief tweet , Dana said "She (Kamala) does 1 interview with a friendly interviewer, her first solo interview since she became the nominee 65 days ago. She cannot answer an actual question with actual sentences and words and punctuation and it kind of pains me to say it because I'm thinking 'what have you been doing for 4 years? Do you not have any set of principles or ... She has still not figured out how to separate herself from Biden and then, Biden said yesterday 'she was there every step of the way. She's completely linked with me.'" Watch it for yourself (be prepared to cringe.): PERINO: You just saw a huge contrast. Kamala does 1 interview with a friend. She can...

During the ABC Presidential Debate, moderator/co-debater Linsey Davis insisted that "There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” Ms. Davis should've done a better job researching the subject. Students for Life Action has started running this ad which makes specific accusations about Minnesota: SFLA's ad states the opposite: In the opening frame, it says "As Governor, Tim Walz signed legislation REMOVING the requirement that babies born alive after botched abortions receive medical care." In the second frame, it continues, saying "During his tenure, at least eight babies were born alive during abortions, and died gasping for air." That sounds like proof contradicting Ms. Davis.There's additional proof of this happening. On the final Saturday in the 2023 budget session, after the conference committee report had been agreed to for the HHS Omnibus Bill, Tina Liebling slipped a provision into the omnibus bill...

When it comes to retail politicking, Donald Trump is one of the best in the business -- ever. In 2015 at the Iowa State Fair, Trump showed up with his corporate helicopter and started giving kids rides. That it was a little ostentatious didn't matter to him. It helped him win over voters, which was his goal. He's back to winning over new voters, this time in Kittanning, Pennsylvania . Salena Zito writes "Jennifer Krantz was in the checkout line at Sprankles grocery store in this Armstrong County city with her three boys, Brayden, Eddie, and Frederick, along with her husband, Bryant, when former President Donald Trump handed the clerk waiting on them a $100 bill. 'Here, it is going to go down a little bit,' Trump told the clerk, to everyone’s astonishment." Trump is still the America First guy: "U.S. Steel was the greatest corporation in the world 70 years ago — it was the biggest, best in the whole world,” Trump said, adding that "we have to bring th...

Apparently, Kamala Harris suddenly loves debating. Let me rephrase that. Harris loves debating as long as the moderators are partisan hacks. She wants nothing to do with a debate moderated by Fox's Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. She's afraid of Bret and Martha because a) they'll either fact-check both her and Trump or they won't fact-check either of them and b) Bret and Martha aren't afraid of asking follow-up questions. To a candidate whose answers are scripted and who isn't quick on her feet, the last thing you want is a follow-up question. Kamala fears follow-up questions like vampires hate wooden stakes, sunlight and holy water. Why has Kamala Harris avoided Fox News like the plague? The moderators/propagandists fact-checked Donald Trump aggressively but didn't fact-check Harris . Why didn't David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-check both candidates equally? Is it because Harris doesn't like fair fights? Perhaps she's just afraid of getting exp...

After the midterm elections, potential presidential candidates start stepping forward in hopes of raising their profile, getting an ambassador's job or cabinet position. Some are legitimately serious about winning the White House. Those that get serious consideration for the position of Leader of the Free World pass an informal test that I've called 'the Commander-in-Chief-Test' since the 1980s. Ronald Reagan passed the test with flying colors. George H.W. Bush passed it, too. Walter Mondale passed it, too, though not the way that Reagan passed it. Obama passed this test from a managerial standpoint. From a belief standpoint, he didn't pass the test. Joe Biden could pass it for minutes at a time by faking it. I'll put this as diplomatically as possible. VP Kamala Harris will never pass the Commander-in-Chief-Test. VP Harris should feel happy, though. She consistently passes the Lighter-Than-Air-Test. Nobody will deny that Harris's thoughts aren't lighter...

House Democrats have continuously complained about "extreme MAGA Republicans" being "threats to democracy" even though House Republicans have played by the rules. Now they're complaining that they "felt betrayed" by the Teamsters because the Teamsters picked Donald Trump by a 59.6%-34% margin in this year's presidential endorsing convention. This Washington Times article opens by saying "House Democrats expressed disappointment and said they felt betrayed by the Teamsters union, which decided it would not endorse a presidential candidate this cycle." The article continues, saying "The traditionally pro-Democratic Party union was on the receiving end of the party’s ire Wednesday after announcing its nonendorsement decision and releasing its national electronic poll of its 1.3 million members showing the rank-and-file overwhelmingly support former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, 59.6% to 34%." Let's ...

In a major defeat to Vice President Harris's campaign, the Teamsters refused to endorse a presidential candidate for the 2024 election. In their official statement to the brethren, "Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said "For the past year, the Teamsters Union has pledged to conduct the most inclusive, democratic, and transparent Presidential endorsement process in the history of our 121-year-old organization—and today we are delivering on that promise to our members. Our members are the union, and their voices and opinions must be at the forefront of everything the Teamsters do. Our final decision around a possible Presidential endorsement will not be made lightly, but you can be sure it will be driven directly by our diverse membership." Let's note that O'Brien isn't being entirely truthful. Let's be truthful: Following the Republican National Convention and Biden’s campaign exit, the Teamsters commissioned a national electronic poll of i...

I never thought I'd live to see the day when a Far-Left leftist like Sen. Richard Blumenthal unloads on Joe Biden. Satan must be handing out figure skates in Hades. Now I've seen everything. According to this article , "Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) within the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was 'almost derelict in its duty by resisting our requests for documents, evidence and information that are necessary to investigate. The Democrat reiterated his disappointment in the department and added that he has become 'angry' that DHS has not been more 'forthcoming.'" Coming from a Far-Left leftist Democrat like Sen. Blumenthal, them's fighting words. This isn't surprising considering this is Secretary Mayorkas' department. This underscores the dysfunctionality of a Mayorkas-run department. Simply put, S...

Alan DErshowitz is creating a host of problems for the DNC. Accordfing to this article , "Prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz announced his departure from the Democratic Party, citing several 'anti-Jewish' lawmakers that make up the ranks of the party and the recent Democratic National Convention in which Vice President Kamala Harris became the party's presidential nominee." Dershowitz is a skilled negotiator. It wouldn't be surprising to hear someone accuse Dershowitz of pulling a stunt in order to gain better treatment of Israel. Dershowitz made it clear that he's disgusted with the DNC's mistreatment of Israel: Speaking with radio host Zev Brenner on "Talkline with Zev Brenner," Dershowitz cited the DNC, which he said gave legitimacy to anti-Israel speakers, and anti-Israel protesters outside the gathering. "It was the most anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist convention I've experienced," he said. "I was disgusted at t...

Kamala Harris supposedly crushed Donald Trump in Tuesday night's debate. Kim Strassel's latest article disputes that. Actually, voters dispute that opinion. According to Strassel's article, "Tuesday’s debate postmortem is the best example yet. The press is fist-pumping over Kamala Harris’s “win,” how she went about “eviscerating [Donald] Trump,” how she turned in (no joke) “one of the more resounding debate performances in recent decades.” Republicans are still stewing over biased moderators, even as they grudgingly admit Mr. Trump blew it. Social media is mixed on whether Taylor Swift’s endorsement seals victory for the vice president." For the record, I thought that Harris earned a B- while Trump earned a C+ for their performances. Harris was too prepared. Trump was too agitated. Both candidates failed to connect with the people. The closest anyone got was Trump's closing statement: Back in the real world, this is all ridiculous. There was no winner in this...