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This massive cyberattack is reminiscent of the Chinese hack on the Office of Personnel Management back in 2015, when the personal information of more than 20 million federal employees was compromised.

CISA, the agency responsible for monitoring and protecting U.S. government agencies against cyberattacks, explained that its primary system designed to detect such hacks, dubbed Einstein, failed to identify the breach. That was due to a myriad of factors, including the sophistication of the hack, which expertly exploited known and unknown weakness within the federal network using novel U.S. IP addresses that had not previously been associated with foreign actors or criminal activity.

The scope of the hack and the number of agencies compromised are still being uncovered, though it’s clear that this was a major breach with ramifications yet to be fully appreciated. The Washington Post says that the Texas-based software developer SolarWinds “reported that nearly 18,000 of its customers may have been affected worldwide.”

Why does this ultimately matter? Well, beyond national security implications, especially at the Pentagon and DHS, it goes to the issue of trustworthiness. The recently fired head of CISA, Christopher Krebs, infamously declared last month that the 2020 U.S. election “was the most secure election ever.” He was fired by President Donald Trump on November 17. Does anyone really believe him, especially now?   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/76512?mailing_id=5512&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.5512&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body

For example, in the explosive and violent aftermath of the death of George Floyd, Kansas City (MO) Mayor Quinton Lucas found a simple solution for his city to the complex and emotion-driven problem of tensions between police and citizens. He removed a needless barrier to citizens’ ability to file complaints against police officers by doing away with a notarization requirement. It was the simplest of acts, but it let the community know their concerns were being heard, and that alone reduced friction.

In Sisters, Oregon, local woman Amy Burgstahler wanted to avoid the riots over policing seen in nearby Portland, so she cofounded Citizens4Community, a forum for residents to talk directly to local police officers. Burgstahler’s goal was not to drive policy but understanding. “It was awesome,” she said of the first online meeting. “People were, like, ‘Wow, I’m feeling more at ease.’ … It was never our goal to send a specific message. Our goal was to let people talk.”

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) points to another example in his home state, where a young black teenager beat a local policer officer in the head with a skateboard during a heated protest. Rather than allow passions and violence to escalate, the police officer, Raymon Washington, agreed to meet with the young man. That meeting turned into a friendship, and Officer Washington now regularly visits with the young man and his family, attends his football games, and has become his mentor.

As Rubio correctly notes, “That police officer and what he’s doing is 50 times more impactful than any law that you could pass.”

Regarding another often contentious issue — abortion — private citizens and pro-life Christian ministries across the nation have taken significant steps to provide solutions to one of the primary drivers of abortion: namely, women who feel they don’t have the means or resources to care for a child.

In Fredericksburg, Virginia, Kathleen Wilson cofounded Mary’s Shelter, a nonprofit crisis pregnancy center that provides housing for pregnant women seeking an alternative to abortion. The program, which started as a single basement apartment for a single pregnant woman in 2005, now has six homes providing shelter for up to 16 women and their families. In the 15 years since it was founded, Mary’s Shelter has helped more than 300 mothers in crisis.

In Duluth, Minnesota, local leaders started “Speak Your Peace: The Civility Project,” which set ground rules for participating in public debates on local issues in a way that lets everyone be heard on controversial issues without becoming contentious. The program has been replicated in more than 100 communities across America.

During this year’s COVID-19 pandemic, the wisdom of government-mandated shutdowns of schools reached a boiling point in many states, yet Maryland’s Republican Governor Larry Hogan devised a solution that cooled the temperature of the debate: He let counties decide for themselves when to reopen and under what circumstances. Even better, regardless of the decision of each county, Hogan declared private schools could also determine for themselves whether to reopen.

Ironically, at a time of unprecedented expansion of federal power that dictates every aspect of our lives, the American people are engaging in a brilliant display of organized chaos at an individual and local level, coming up with innovative solutions to complex problems, even as national leaders are mired in gridlock, rancor, and recriminations.

Which is exactly what our Founding Fathers wanted (the innovation, not the rancor).

Because government is force, our Founders understood the need to control that force, allowing government to do only those things the people could not do for themselves. And when government is empowered to act, it should do so at the most local level possible in order to be most accountable to the people it serves.

Article I, Section 8 delegated a very limited set of powers to the federal government, giving it primacy in the execution of those powers, but denying it any other powers. All other powers are reserved to the states, or to the people, at least in theory.

Federal power is often a zero-sum game, creating winners and losers, because it is a one-size-fits-all proposition. If I get my way you don’t get yours. It stifles innovation and crushes individual liberties. It makes neighbors enemies instead of friends, allies, and partners in community success.

The bottom line is that when people are free to choose and free to innovate, individual liberty is protected and problems are solved in positive, proactive ways. Society benefits and national unity is nurtured.

It seems like the Founding Fathers had it figured out pretty well.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/76497?mailing_id=5512&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.5512&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body

Gabbard recently introduced H.R. 8923, a bill to update the U.S. criminal code to “ensure a health care practitioner exercises the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.” The bill was similar to one introduced by House Republicans earlier this year that was rejected by Democrats, who have increasingly become the party of abortion absolutists.

Demonstrating just how absolutist the Left has become on the issue of abortion, Gabbard was castigated on social media. One of the most prominent arguments against Gabbard’s bill is the assertion that there is simply no need for such a law because it’s rare that babies are born alive from botched abortions. As Imani Gandy, editor at Rewire, claimed, “You seem to be under the impression that born alive is a thing. It is not. Shame on you. I don’t know what your problem is but you’re turning out to be a real right wing s—t heel.”

Yet abortion advocates have a leftist Democrat to thank for highlighting the issue. Remember the shocking comments made by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam last year, when he essentially argued in favor of infanticide? “If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam said. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

Gabbard has also received praise and support for her stance. Franklin Graham, for example, weighed in by commending her for taking a stand for justice. “Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii is getting attacked by the left for being bold enough to do the right thing. She introduced a bill to protect babies who survive abortions and are born alive. How could any sane person be against that?” Graham wrote, adding, “But the progressive left is shocked that anyone — especially a Democrat — would dare to come against them. Thank you Tulsi Gabbard. I believe there are millions of Democrats across the country who agree, and I hope they will stand with her and let her know. I’ve always liked Tulsi because she’s got guts!”

The reaction from leftist Democrats to Gabbard’s bill serves to expose just why Democrats lost so badly in down-ballot races this election. As political consultant Jacob Lupfer contends, “If House Democrats elected in the 2018 ‘blue wave’ had been allowed to support humane legislation like the born-alive bill, the party wouldn’t have fared so disastrously in 2020 House races. … This is why Republicans win. Literally no one other than abortion interest-group elites thinks doctors should kill babies after botched abortions.”

We commend Gabbard for daring to stand against her party’s radical left. However, with her looming departure, Democrats have lost yet another sane voice as they march toward being a party only of leftist extremists.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/76494?mailing_id=5512&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.5512&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body

scumbag/liar-Joe Biden gave a rough speech to the American people Monday. It was a rough speech to listen to because he was clearly sick. His voice was hoarse, and he frequently coughed throughout his remarks.

But at various points he also sounded like a sore winner. scumbag/liar-Biden seemed incredulous that anyone would question the results of an election with so many irregularities. He declared that the election was “honest, free, and fair.”

Well, there are millions of Americans who question that, including 30% of Democrats!

“Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact,” scumbag/liar-Biden said. “Now it is time to turn the page, to unite, to heal.”

Of course, that’s not what the left, including scumbag/liar-
Biden, did four years ago. It declared open “resistance” to the new administration. It held massive protests in silly hats. It rioted at the inauguration. It even screamed at the sky!

And behind the scenes, it was working to sabotage the incoming administration. We know that scumbag/liar-Joe Biden was in that infamous Oval Office meeting in which they tried to overturn the results of the 2016 election, not through the courts, but secretly through the Deep State bureaucracy.

Major Cyberattack

Does the name Christopher Krebs ring a bell? If not, keep that name in mind. I’ll come back to Krebs in a moment.

Over the past 24 hours, there have been disturbing reports of a massive cyberattack against the United States, which now appears to have spread to other countries. Multiple government agencies, including the Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, and Treasury Departments, were compromised.

We don’t yet know the full extent of the attack. Russia is the primary suspect, although security experts won’t rule out China.

The attack likely began sometime in the spring, but it was only recently detected. It was so successful because it hijacked a software update from a well-respected company, SolarWinds, to create a “back door” to access other systems. According to reports, about 18,000 private and government computers downloaded this “tainted update.”

Of course, every federal agency has its own IT department with staff responsible for protecting against cyberattacks. And there is an entire agency devoted to coordinating and supervising the government’s cyber security efforts. It’s called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and it’s part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Until recently, CISA was led by Christopher Krebs, who gave numerous interviews insisting that the 2020 election was the “most secure election ever.” He was fired by President Trump on November 17th.

Given that this major cyber attack took place right under his own nose, I don’t think we can trust anything Krebs said about the election being secure.

Good Company

Michael Gerson is one of the kennel-fed poodles who makes a living as a “conservative voice” at liberal outlets like The Washington Post. And, of course, he saves his worst vitriol for real conservatives. I haven’t seen Gerson go after the radical left with near the same level of passion that he deploys against conservatives like Eric Metaxas or me.

Yes, I found myself in good company when Gerson attacked me, Tony Perkins, Bill Bennett, and Jim DeMint in his latest Washington Post column.

His argument essentially boils down to this: If you don’t accept the results of an election with so many oddities, irregularities, and statistical red flags (not to mention the first election in history that depended on mail-in voting), then you’re no longer a conservative.

Gerson, who claims to be pro-life, can’t get his arms around the idea that today’s left, built on the “right” to destroy babies in all nine months of pregnancy, might cheat in an election.

Gerson just can’t fathom that a movement willing to weaponize our intelligence agencies against a populist conservative and his appointees might cheat in an election.

Gerson refuses to believe that a movement totally content with allowing American cities to burn would ever cheat in an election.

I don’t need lectures from establishment sellouts like Michael Gerson. I’d much rather rely on true conservatives like you than be paid by one of the left’s leading propaganda outlets.

Padlock This Gates

Pardon the pun, but someone needs to padlock Bill Gates’s mouth.

There’s a lot to admire about Mr. Gates. He’s a living example of the American dream. He had a great idea and made $120 billion in America. But he’s also a globalist who despises the idea of America first.

In an interview Monday, Gates declared that bars and restaurants should be shut down, and that we won’t get back to normal until sometime in 2022.

He should be ashamed of himself. He made these remarks just as the first doses of the COVID vaccine were being administered!

Monday should have been a day of hope, symbolizing the beginning of the end of this national nightmare. Yet Gates is promising more pain to come.

Gates can’t possibly begin to understand what small business owners are facing right now because left-wing bureaucrats and politicians are listening to people like him. If he wants another economic shutdown, then I suggest he donate his billions to struggling workers and families.

Gates is one of the biggest public advocates for vaccines. But it’s not surprising that some people don’t trust them when they are associated with people like Gates who don’t seem to like America very much.  ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/76499?mailing_id=5512&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.5512&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body

BETSY MCCAUGHEY 

Cuomo Not Fit to Be Attorney General

Governor Andrew Cuomo is reported to be on scumbag/liar-Joe Biden’s shortlist for attorney general of the United States, though Cuomo claims he’s not interested. A savvy response, considering he might not be scumbag/liar-Biden’s final choice, and if he is, he’ll have to undergo Senate scrutiny. He’s got a lot to explain.

Not because of an unsubstantiated accusation of sexual misconduct hurled against Cuomo on Sunday. The real issue is Cuomo’s track record of proven public policy blunders that cost New Yorkers their lives.

Cuomo’s constituents are bearing the brunt of his left-wing criminal justice policies that put repeat offenders back on the streets hours after their arrest with no bail required. That includes looters — but also shooters. New Yorkers are being terrorized by a huge increase in gun violence, mostly by repeat offenders who would be behind bars if Cuomo hadn’t kowtowed to the extreme left on bail “reform.” The toll: 1,756 dead or wounded so far this year in New York City, according to the NYPD.

scumbag/liar-Biden should also look at Cuomo’s hand-picked parole board, which released cop killer Perry Bellamy and convicted killer Samuel Ayala, guilty of raping and murdering two mothers in front of their kids.

Since the tragic death of George Floyd, Cuomo has been panderer-in chief, accusing all cops in the state of racial bias, and threatening funding cuts to any local police department that didn’t reform, as if they’re all equally in need of reform. That bullying rhetoric won praise from scumbag-Al Sharpton, but it’s not the even-handed approach to policing America deserves.

A U.S. Attorney General is also responsible for ensuring the Justice Department roots out corruption. But Cuomo wallows in it. Cuomo ran for governor in 2010, promising to clean up Albany’s culture of corruption. Then he shut down the Moreland commission created for that very purpose.

Cuomo himself has never been accused of a crime, but several of his closest aides have been convicted and sentenced to prison, notably Joseph Percoco. He was Cuomo’s longtime confidante who ran two of the governor’s campaigns and was described by Cuomo as his father’s “third son.” Percoco was convicted of soliciting bribes — he called the money “ziti” — and demanding a low-show job for his wife from companies doing business with the state.

And without tagging Cuomo’s fundraising as illegal — it’s not under the state’s lax laws — he’s been largely supported by donors doing business with the state. Hardly a model to be emulated nationwide.

This year, it cost thousands of seniors their lives. The carnage started in March when hospitals inundated with COVID-19 patients insisted on clearing out elderly patients even if they were still infected and sending them to whatever nursing homes had empty beds. To swing that, they had to get rid of a safety regulation requiring that patients test negative twice for COVID-19 before being placed in a home. Cuomo’s state Health Department willingly complied.

On March 25, the Cuomo administration mandated that nursing homes accept COVID-19 patients being discharged from hospitals and barred any testing. Facilities had to fly blind, not knowing who was infected. The infection spread like fire, killing thousands.

Yet, the Cuomo administration stuck with its deadly policy until May 10, way too long. Why? Because it wasn’t a mistake. It was a sellout.

The hospital industry’s lobbying organization, the Greater New York Hospital Association, is a megadonor to the state Democratic Party’s housekeeping account, which helps elect Cuomo. GYNHA’s head, Ken Raske, is usually seated at the governor’s table at events. When GNYHA was called on for campaign cash in 2018, it came through with over $1 million. No wonder Cuomo’s Health Department does the hospital industry’s bidding.

To cover up the nursing home deaths, the Cuomo administration began fudging numbers, reporting only patients who died in a home and excluding those who expired after being sent to a hospital. That reduced the toll by half.

The Justice Department wasn’t fooled. Since August, it’s been pressing for the truth.

Yet, scumbag/liar-Biden’s praising Cuomo for doing a “heck of a job” against the virus. Don’t be fooled by the Emmy, scumbag/liar-Joe.

Cuomo is anti-cop, comfortable with corruption and willing to lie, even about death. He’s not what America needs in a top law enforcement officer.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/76498?mailing_id=5512&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.5512&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body

HANS VON SPAKOVSKY 

Judge Sullivan's Long-Overdue Dismissal of Flynn Case

Federal Judge Emmet G. Sullivan last week finally got around to doing what he should have done months ago.

Sullivan officially dismissed the Justice Department’s case against Michael Flynn, but only after President Donald Trump had pardoned him the day before Thanksgiving.

It never should have taken this long for Sullivan to dismiss the case, and frankly, it never should have come to this.

In fact, Sullivan’s obstreperous behavior in this case has been unpardonable.

It’s been almost a year since Flynn first asked to withdraw his guilty plea and more than seven months since the government itself moved to dismiss the charges against him because, as Sullivan noted, the Justice Department said:

(1) Mr. Flynn’s false statements to the FBI agents were not ‘material’ to any investigation; (2) the government is doubtful that it could prove the falsity of Mr. Flynn’s statements; and (3) the government has ‘no substantial federal interest in penalizing a defendant for a crime that it is not satisfied occurred and that it does not believe it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.’

So, why did it take this long for Sullivan to dismiss a prosecution that the parties agree never should have been brought in the first place?

Well, he took the extremely unusual step of appointing a retired federal judge, John Gleeson, as a “friend of court” — just a few days after Gleeson wrote a harsh polemic against Flynn in The Washington Post. Sullivan tasked him with investigating whether he should agree to the dismissal and whether Flynn should potentially be charged with perjury in connection with initially having entered a guilty plea.

The implications of Sullivan’s moves were staggering.

Moreover, it’s been three and a half months since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, gave Sullivan a face-saving “out” to continue handling the case, overruling a panel decision that had ordered him to immediately dismiss the case.

The en banc court gently prodded him to resolve the issues quickly, saying, “we trust and expect the District Court to proceed with appropriate dispatch.”

Unfortunately, he did nothing of the sort, demonstrating that the “trust” of the appellate court was misplaced. Given Sullivan’s questionable conduct throughout the case, it should have known better.

And now, it appears he’s only dismissed the case because Trump’s pardon made it moot. As one news outlet blared, in a headline that illustrated Sullivan’s appearance of partisan bias, “Judge takes final shots at Trump, Flynn as he agrees to dismiss case.”

Let’s be clear here. At this point, Sullivan didn’t have a choice. And troublingly, he tried to tilt the scale in his favor on unresolved issues surrounding the scope of a federal judge’s authority when both the government and the defendant agree that criminal charges should be dismissed.

Of course, he asserted, the “Court Has Discretion to Review the Unopposed Rule 48(a) Motion [to Dismiss],” and to review it for either “Deficient Reasoning Or Prosecutorial Abuse.”

While never actually saying whether he would have refused to dismiss the charges absent the president’s pardon — although from his order it seems likely he would have refused, despite the grave separation of powers concerns such an action would have raised — Sullivan claimed it was a “close call.”

In fact, he goes on to say that “while not conclusory, many of the government’s reasons for why it has decided to reverse course and seek dismissal in this case appear pretextual, particularly in view of the surrounding circumstances.”

Contrary to that assertion, though, it’s those “surrounding circumstances” — such as the FBI’s ambush interview, the FBI’s failure to follow standard protocols, and the FBI and Justice Department’s failure to turn over potentially exculpatory or impeaching evidence, among other things — that no doubt played a part in the Justice Department’s decision to no longer pursue charges against Flynn.

Sullivan wants to simply ignore all of this troubling conduct by federal agents and prosecutors.

Instead, he said, “the Court finds … [the Justice Department’s stated rationales as to why it believed it could not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt] dubious to say the least, arguably overcoming the strong presumption of regularity that usually attaches to prosecutorial decisions.”

So, just to be clear, Sullivan implies that he thinks he could unilaterally require the government to move forward with a prosecution when it no longer believes it can prove the case or when it believes the interests of justice require a dismissal.

Imagine if that standard were applied regularly or in any other criminal case. There would, rightly, be an outcry.

Sullivan seems to be confused about what country it is where he’s a judge. For example, in France and Spain, judges act as both judges and the government prosecutor. That, wisely, is not the case here, where the Constitution’s doctrine of separation of powers divides those responsibilities between the judicial and executive branches.

In a final political potshot at both Trump and Flynn that has no place in a legal opinion, Sullivan said, “President Trump’s decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision, not a legal one. Because the law recognizes the President’s power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot.

"However, the pardon ‘does not, standing alone, render [Mr. Flynn] innocent of the alleged violation.’”

No, but the government saying it had no case and that it could not actually prove that Flynn had violated any law certainly means he is “not guilty” in the eyes of law.

And for Sullivan, that’s what should count.

What’s even more clear is that the law does not, and never has, rendered Sullivan a sovereign entity, capable of writing the law, prosecuting those who violate the law, and passing judgment on those alleged violations.

Ours is a nation of checks and balances. And fortunately, Trump used his pardon power to check a judge who was out of control and to deliver long-overdue justice to Flynn.  ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/76502?mailing_id=5512&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.5512&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body