Kamala Harris' decision to select Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate for the 2024 election has been met with growing concern within the Democratic Party. While Walz's reputation as a progressive governor who has successfully implemented a far-left agenda in Minnesota initially appeared to be a strategic choice, his complex history and political baggage are now emerging as potential liabilities that could hinder Harris' campaign. Walz, who gained national attention for his progressive reforms in Minnesota, including universal background checks for gun purchases and expanded school meals, was chosen to appeal to working-class voters in the Rust Belt. However, his handling of significant crises during his governorship, particularly the George Floyd protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, has provided ample ammunition for Republican attacks. Critics argue that his delayed response to the riots following Floyd's death, which led to the burning of a police precinct in Minneapolis, exemplifies his weak leadership during critical moments​. https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1824494631968714989 Moreover, Walz's stance on China has become another point of contention. His nuanced approach, which includes advocating for cooperation with Beijing while criticizing its human rights abuses, has been seized upon by Republicans as evidence of his "soft" stance on China. This has sparked concerns that his foreign policy views might alienate voters who are increasingly wary of the Chinese government's global ambitions. The Trump campaign, in particular, has highlighted Walz's comments about not viewing China as an adversary, branding him as out of touch with mainstream American sentiment​. The scrutiny of Walz's ties to China comes at a time when the U.S.-China relationship is a central issue in American politics. Walz's extensive engagement with China, which includes numerous visits and efforts to foster cooperation, is being portrayed by some as a vulnerability that could weaken the Harris-Walz ticket. Critics have gone so far as to label his potential policies toward China as the "weakest in generations," a claim that Walz's supporters dispute by pointing to his advocacy for human rights and democracy in Hong Kong​. https://x.com/TONYxTWO/status/1822001500953960664 Despite these challenges, Walz's supporters argue that his deep connections to the working class and his military service make him a valuable asset to the Harris campaign. Walz's background as a high school teacher and his long tenure in the Army National Guard resonate with voters who feel disconnected from the political elite. His ability to win in rural, traditionally conservative areas of Minnesota demonstrates his appeal to a broader electorate, which is crucial for Democrats aiming to rebuild the "Blue Wall" in the Midwest​. However, the far-left policies that Walz has championed in Minnesota could prove to be a double-edged sword. While they endear him to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, they also provide fodder for Republicans who are eager to paint the Harris-Walz ticket as too extreme for mainstream America. This is particularly significant in swing states, where voters may be more conservative and wary of the progressive agenda that Walz represents. As the 2024 election approaches, the question remains whether Walz's progressive record and controversial stances will energize the Democratic base or alienate moderate and independent voters. What is clear is that the Harris-Walz ticket will face intense scrutiny from both sides of the political spectrum as they navigate the complex landscape of American politics. The post Tim Walz: A Far-Left Liability for Kamala Harris? appeared first on The Conservative Brief.

'I think this was a masterclass'

Regular Twitter users now have the power to fact-check elites themselves.

Whistleblower Calley Means, a former lobbyist, told Tucker Carlson that doctors “feel trapped” by Big Pharma in an interview released Friday. Carlson had asked Means how he would use political power to address the medical industry. Means argued that they would need to use “executive orders” and attack “incentives,” giving specific examples. Carlson then questioned […]

'Infatuated with some sort of big government knows all'

'Completely disingenuous'

A wave of project delays

The mayor of Huntington Beach, California, is fighting for parental rights despite a recently signed state law requiring schools to conceal students’ gender transitions from parents. Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark introduced an ordinance Aug. 6 to make the Southern California beach town a “Parents’ Right to Know” city. “The state of California is one of the most dangerous states to raise a child,” Van Der Mark told The Daily Signal. The city’s legal department has until Sept. 3 to determine the details of how to best protect parental rights in light of the new California law allowing public schools to hide a student’s gender identity from his or her parents. Van Der Mark wants to send a message to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature that despite Newsom’s signing Assembly Bill 1955 into law last month, Huntington Beach will respect parents, the mayor said. Van Der Mark also wants the “Right to Know” ordinance to help parents who want to sue the state to overturn AB 1955. “One of the reasons people don’t sue is because the process is so tedious and so dysfunctional that they don’t know where to start,” Van Der Mark said. “It’s also expensive, so we want to do whatever we can to make it easier for the parents to fight for their parental rights.” AB 1955 overrules any school board policies that require transparency with parents about their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Though Van Der Mark has no jurisdiction over the schools, she said the law affects her constituents and she wants to do what she can to help parents protect their children. “There are schools that are pushing back,” Van Der Mark said, “and we want to help any parents who would like to push back on their end.” The Anderson Union High School District and the Orange County Board of Education voted unanimously to join a lawsuit filed by the Liberty Justice Center challenging AB 1955. “We all know that AB 1955 is unconstitutional,” Van Der Mark said. “So, if we can help in any way for parents who want to fight for their constitutional rights to raise their children however they see fit with their morals, their values, which should be allowed, then we want to help them.” Long-standing U.S. Supreme Court precedent establishes that parents have the right to determine major issues affecting the education of their children, said Harmeet Dhillon, founder of the Center for American Liberty and managing partner at Dhillon Law Group Inc. Dhillon told The Daily Signal she expects California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, to sue Huntington Beach and any other city or school district that challenges AB 1955. “Whatever Huntington Beach passes that protects parents’ rights, we can expect the attorney general of California, like he has done in multiple other cases where clients of ours have been affected, to sue those school districts or those municipalities over these issues,” Dhillon said. She said parental rights in education are not just a constitutional issue, but also a human rights issue. “It’s a fundamental natural law issue, and so Huntington Beach is doing a brave thing,” Dhillon said. “They know they’re going to get sued, and they’re standing up for the rights of parents, and they’re right under Supreme Court precedent.” Less than 20 minutes from Huntington Beach, Santa Ana public schools allow students to change their name, gender, and pronouns without parental consent. “School personnel should not discuss information that may disclose a student’s transgender or gender-nonconforming status to others, including parents/legal guardians and other school personnel, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure,” Santa Ana Unified School District’s “Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Nonconforming Students” board policy says. Van Der Mark wants to keep such policies out of Huntington Beach so parents feel safe to raise their kids there. She said the high cost of living makes it hard for working parents to monitor their children’s education as closely as necessary. “They’re completely shutting out every single person who’s blood-related, who loves and cares for this child and knows them better than anyone, and they’re giving perfect strangers who are not trained, like teachers and counselors, the discretion to make decisions for this child,” Van Der Mark said. Patti Pappas is a retired college professor of child development and educational studies and a Huntington Beach resident. Her grandchildren attend local public schools. “Puberty is not easy, and the school can’t be the one guiding them,” Pappas told The Daily Signal. “The parent needs to know, so the parent has to have that right, and the parent can then guide them and work with them.” Six of Van Der Mark’s children attended public schools in Huntington Beach. A stay-at-home mom, Van Der Mark decided to run for City Council after finding pornography in her children’s schools in 2017, she said. In Huntington Beach, City Council members take turns serving one-year terms as mayor. “I’ve been home raising my children for the past 23 years,” the mother and grandmother said. “But because the community is so concerned with what’s going on, they have supported me to the point where now I’m the mayor of the city. Parents are concerned. They just don’t know how to fight back.” “Now that my kids are adults, and they don’t need me, I’m going to dedicate every single day of my life that I can to fighting against this nonsense coming from Sacramento,” she continued. Protecting parental rights should not be a partisan issue, Van Der Mark said. “A lot of us have children, and this would be an issue to bring us all together,” the mayor said, “but once again, it became a four-three vote, where the four of us conservatives do support Huntington becoming a Parents’ Right to Know city and the other three do not.” The post Sanctuary Cities for Parental Rights? California City Aims to Protect Families from Radical Gender Policies appeared first on The Daily Signal.

One of my favorite bits of ancient wisdom, which I have quoted many times over the years, is the Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu’s adage that a battle is won before it is fought because it is won by choosing the terrain on which it is fought. Accordingly, as I noted in a column a few months ago: “If former President Donald Trump and other Republicans on the ballot this fall want to win, they must choose the proper terrain.” He who controls the narrative and framing necessarily controls the result. Every good trial lawyer knows this. And so should every good politician. Although recent days have been more focused and suggest a possible turning of the tide, the electoral terrain for Republicans has generally been rather shaky ever since the bloodless Kamala Harris coup of Joe Biden a few weeks ago. Asking whether Harris—the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants—actually counts as “black” for U.S. demographic purposes is fair substantive game, but it is certainly not fertile swing voter terrain. Even less compelling, and certainly less propitious, is incontinent friendly fire directed at the popular governor of a crucial swing state, Georgia. Early voting begins in Pennsylvania, arguably this election’s single most decisive battleground state, on Sept. 16. That is just around the corner. Can Republicans pull it together in time and successfully define the electoral terrain? Republicans are not entirely themselves to blame for the current state of the race, which has seen the GOP squander much of its momentum from the former president’s heroic survival of an assassination attempt and the party’s successful nominating convention. The corporate media has aided Democrats every step of the way. After pretending to be real journalists for a few weeks and holding Biden accountable for his palpable senility, the Washington press corps immediately returned to regime-apologist form after party elites succeeded in their coup. Thus, the present spectacle of Harris not answering a single real question from the press for nearly four weeks. Funny how quickly the media went from probing to outright laconic. Republicans and the Trump campaign need to break through the corporate media’s shameless attempt to shield Harris and prairie socialist running mate Tim Walz from any scrutiny whatsoever. Part of that strategy will necessarily entail utilizing alternative media sources, as Trump did earlier this week during his much-hyped X Spaces conversation with Elon Musk. But ultimately, there can be no substitute for hitting the physical campaign trail in the nation’s core swing states—for attending small-town rallies in Pennsylvania, leading local parades in Michigan, going on local news programs in Wisconsin, and the like. And it is imperative that in making the local rounds, Trump and Republicans define the proper terrain on which voters will make their fateful voting booth decisions. It ultimately boils down to this: If Republicans can successfully frame the 2024 election as boiling down to the actual issues—and above all, the economy, inflation, immigration, and crime—then they stand a strong chance of prevailing. But if Democrats and their media propagandists can successfully frame the election as a subjective “vibes” competition or a mere high school-like popularity contest, the GOP could very well lose. Harris is already attempting to distance herself from Biden. Republicans must not allow her to do that. Harris has been Biden’s (tongue-twisted and dim-witted) right-hand wingwoman since Day One. Harris owns the Biden-Harris administration’s abysmal record no less than Biden himself. And that record is decidedly unpopular with the American people: According to current polling averages, the Biden administration’s approval rating is 20 points underwater on the economy, 21 points underwater on foreign policy, 29 points underwater on immigration, 28 points underwater on inflation, 19 points underwater on crime, and an astounding 34 points underwater on the war in Gaza. Let’s be blunt: The Biden-Harris administration’s record is about as popular with the American people as venereal disease. That suggests an obvious path to victory in November for the Trump-Vance campaign, and for Republicans as a whole: Stay disciplined and make the case on the leading substantive issues facing the American people. Now is not the time for self-indulgence. Now is not the time for needless distractions. Now is not the time to relitigate the past or to settle old scores. But now is the time for a ruthless, meticulous assault on the entirety of the fetid Biden-Harris oeuvre, and a concomitant positive case as to why a Trump-Vance administration will produce better results for a besieged and beleaguered populace. The road map could not possibly be clearer. In fact, it practically writes itself. All that is left is to execute the plan. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Republicans Must Make a Laser-Focused, Issues-Based Case to the People appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A baby-face, prominent eyes, and a charm like no other – flat-faced dogs are becoming increasingly popular as family companions around the world.