Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally Thursday in Phoenix, making a finish-line pitch to voters in a key swing state ahead of next Tuesday’s presidential election. Harris mostly focused on themes she has hit during her campaign and in recent speeches. The vice president said she is for protecting “democracy,” Trump is about punishing enemies, and she would preserve the freedom of Americans. Here’s a fact check of four statements Harris made at her Phoenix rally. Banning Abortion Harris repeated false arguments about Trump and abortion that she made Tuesday in a speech near the White House. “He would ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control and put IVF treatments at risk, and force states to monitor women’s pregnancies,” Harris said. “Just google Project 2025.” Trump has insisted that any restrictions on abortion should be decided by the states, as the Supreme Court decided in 2022. The former president has not proposed a national abortion ban. “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land—in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video posted in April on Truth Social, his social media site. Trump said at one point that he was “looking at” possible restrictions on contraception, but later said he “has never and will never” restrict birth control. Not only has Trump supported in vitro fertilization, or IVF, he has advocated subsidizing it. On Tuesday, my colleague Tyler O’Neil fact-checked Harris’ claim about Project 2025, which is worth repeating here in full: As for Project 2025—a project launched by The Heritage Foundation in partnership with over 100 conservative organizations to empower a conservative president to undermine the deep state and restore the Constitution—Trump has stated that he has not read it and does not support it.  The project consists of three major parts: ‘Mandate for Leadership,’ a list of policies Heritage recommends; a database of conservatives who would be interested in joining a conservative administration; and trainings for those in the database. The claim about forcing states to monitor women’s pregnancies comes from a twisting of a policy advocated in ‘Mandate for Leadership.’ Even left-leaning outlets like PolitiFact have rightly branded this claim false. The Project 2025 document does not call for the federal government to force states to monitor women’s pregnancies. It does, however, urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to require every state to submit abortion data. Currently, the CDC does not require states to submit abortion data, but many of them do. Cost of Living Harris promised Thursday to get control of the cost of living, which skyrocketed during the Biden-Harris administration. “I will fight to make sure that hardworking Americans can actually afford a place to live,” she said. Harris said again that she plans to pass national legislation against price gouging to address inflation. But many economists argue that it’s the Biden-Harris administration’s spending that has caused prices to soar, not corporate greed. EJ Antoni, public finance economist at The Heritage Foundation, says prices have simply gone up across the board because of inflation, not because businesses are making more profit. “The prices that businesses are paying have gone up by the same percentage that our prices have,” Antoni told The Daily Signal in August. “So, all of the cost increases that businesses have faced, they’re simply just passing them on to consumers, and that’s why we’re all paying more.” Enemies List “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy,” Harris said Thursday. “He wants to put them in jail; I’ll give them a seat at the table.” Harris insisted in her speech that Trump is obsessed with revenge and wants to use “unchecked” power if elected again. “If he is elected, on Day One, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list,” she said. “On Day One, when I am elected, I’ll walk in with a ‘to do’ list.” When Harris was California’s attorney general and later represented the state in the Senate, however, she made a habit of targeting the Left’s enemies. “Harris made headlines a decade ago by threatening to punish nonprofit groups that refused to turn over unredacted donor information,” The Wall Street Journal’s editors wrote in August. “She demanded they hand to the state their federal IRS Form 990 Schedule B in the name of discovering ‘self-dealing’ or ‘improper loans.’ The real purpose was to learn the names of conservative donors and chill future political giving—that is, political speech.” Harris targeted Christian and pro-life organizations too. When she was attorney general, Harris unleashed California Department of Justice resources on pro-life journalist David Daleiden, who recorded undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials. “This is a pattern for her,” Daleiden said in an interview with The Daily Signal. “Her weaponization of the powers of her office, on behalf of her powerful special-interest sponsors in the abortion industry, to cover up their wrongdoing and persecute the people who want to expose it, that began in California with my case. And I think it’s a pattern that she’s continuing to this day.” Ending Israel-Hamas War The vice president at one point during her Phoenix speech was again interrupted by anti-Israel protesters. “That’s all right. That’s all right. Democracy can be complicated, but we believe in democracy,” Harris said. She then addressed Israel’s war with the Hamas terrorist organization, which has ravaged the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists entered southern Israel from Gaza, killed 1,200, and took about 250 hostages.  “Let’s talk for a moment about Gaza,” Harris said. “We all want for this war to end and get the hostages out, and I will work on it full time when I am elected president.” The Biden-Harris administration has said it is committed to bringing the hostages home. However, four Americans are still being held by Hamas, and the administration’s message about the Israel-Hamas war has been unclear. Harris and Biden have faced criticism for undermining Israel’s war on Hamas and Hezbollah, another terrorist group, and for publicly criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At a campaign stop at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in early October, Harris seemed to agree with a protester who accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians who live in Gaza.After the protester was escorted out, the New York Post reported, Harris said: “Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice.” The post Fact-Checking Kamala Harris’ Phoenix Speech appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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“‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Role in Jan. 6 Riot” crowed the New York Times as the funniest man I’ve ever met was leaving D.C. and heading back to L.A. to pack up his life. Jay Johnston wasn’t just Bob’s rival Jimmy Pesto; he was the officer on the "Sarah Silverman Program" who said, “As a cop, I’ve seen things that would make you crap a book on how to puke.” I hate that Jay is going to prison for a year, but I love this story because it is a perfect example of the brutal hypocrisy of Hollywood, the left, and everyone who thinks they’re 'creative.' True comedy fans know him more for his incredible performances on "Mr. Show," including “The Story of Everest,” where he knocks down his parents' thimble collection eight times. Slapstick is his forte. The guy is about a hundred feet tall or, as Andy Dick once called him, “a legal giant,” so when he falls, it’s hilarious. Jeepers cheapers I wrote a TV pilot with him once called “The Two Bennies,” where we updated the slapstick of Benny Hill with over-the-top lunacy. Instead of a woman slapping one of us for being fresh, she chopped our heads off with a chainsaw. I remember pitching him certain ideas and ending with, “Do you think that’s funny?” to which he would pause and say, “Let me ask you something … do you think that’s funny?” I’ve known this guy for a quarter of a century, and he was never political. He was a hard-drinking, heavy-smoking madman who drove a Jeep with no sides or windshield so that when you got in, he’d hand you a coat and goggles to stay alive. He’s Hunter S. Thompson meets RanXerox but he’s also an incredibly moral and courageous person who will run down the street chasing a purse snatcher into hell. We’d go on vacation together every year with a bunch of other people in the funny community, and the discussions were always retarded. Once when I picked Jay up at the airport in Saint Martin, we got lost trying to get out of the airport. He said, “This parking lot was originally designed by the infamous municipal planner William P. Nillard, known to his friends as Willy Nilly.” Jay often mocked me for being a typical Scottish cheap-ass. On one trip, he went to open the door for me, but it only went halfway because it got stuck on a rock. “Sorry,” he said insincerely. “I’m cheap too.” I pulled it shut hard over the pebble, and the loud bang led Jay to add, “Take it easy, Slammy Davis Jr.” Blind man's baseball I remember in Jamaica in 2003, David Cross ("Mr. Show") was giving me s**t for being a Republican, and Jay asked, “You’re a Republican? Why? Don’t you see that diversity is ultimately better for everyone and all that?” This was one of the only remotely political things I ever heard him say, and his response was typical of the L.A. comedy scene back then. They talk about politics the way British people talk about baseball: blindly. The next time politics came out of his big mouth was in 2016 when Trump was running for president. He was at Starburns Industries, and Dan Harmon ("Rick and Morty") was talking about how important it was that Hillary win. Johnston dared to disagree and said that he liked the idea of Trump shaking things up. It was as if he had said, “I don’t know. You have to admit at least SOME toddlers are sexy.” Everyone in the room was gobsmacked, and Dan turned purple with rage before giving Jay a screaming diatribe that sounded like Mussolini in a bad mood. I spoke to Jay soon after that and worried that one incident was going to get him blackballed, because Harmon basically runs comedy over there. “I don’t think it’ll be that bad” he replied. “Maybe brownballed.” Refusing to embrace Trump derangement syndrome was Jay’s first scarlet letter, but it wasn’t the end of his career — possibly because he wasn’t politically active. Yes, he dared to blaspheme Hillary, but to hang out with this guy was 99% workshopping comedy bits. Transformers convention I used to grab drinks with him and other people way funnier than me, like Jeff B. Davis and Dino Stamatopoulos at the Rustic Inn in L.A. “I just flew back from a Transformers convention, and boy are my arms tires,” one of them would quip. The table became incredibly serious after that as each guy tried to outdo the other. “George W. Bush just flew back from seeing the devastation Katrina caused, and boy are his farms mired” got some groans before someone added, “Bush just flew back from Afghanistan, and boy are his armies tired.” I think it was Jay who ended the volley by saying he just flew back from a Hitler convention, and boy is his arm tired. Little did he know that joke would become reality in Biden’s America and that he’d be going to prison for an arm that wasn’t even tired because it didn’t even do anything. Social distancing Jay’s 2016 transgression remained a minor black cloud above his career until Dino had a party in 2021 at the tail end of COVID. Johnston arrived with no mask and was hugging everyone and shaking hands like it wasn’t an instant death sentence. The lefties of La La Land had moved on from Hillary and had focused all their attention on health protocol. Jay’s negligent behavior confirmed their worst fears about him. This guy is a right-winger after all. This wave of ostracism annoyed Jay and made him more interested in what the “evil” right had been up to all these years. He started to follow Trump more closely. When he heard of the January 6 rally, he texted me. “Are you going to check this out?” he asked. “F**k no,” I responded. “I will be avoiding it like the plague.” This exchange ended up in court. When the big day arrived, Jay was curious. Again, this is a British person at a baseball game, so he wasn’t experienced enough to know how these things usually go. At the ripe old age of 53, this was his first rally. Giant injustice During the chaos, Jay was handed a police shield because he’s 6’4” and could easily get it out of there. His girlfriend later joked that Jay was on trial for "being tall." He passed it over his head to police. In the footage, however, he could just as easily have been using it to attack police. You can’t tell. The FBI began circulating his image and asking the public if they knew who he was. The sh**bags in L.A. couldn’t wait to respond. This is why I hate those people so much. They have no honor. They don’t just lack the courage of their convictions. They lack courage. Tim Heidecker (known to many as the guy who got Sam Hyde canceled) couldn’t wait to point out Jay’s involvement. Jeff B. Davis went a step farther and actually spoke to the FBI himself, sharing texts that included Jay saying, “The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Though, it kind of turned into that. It was a mess. Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic.” Jeff and Jay must have spent a thousand hours together. I think Jeff is the one who came up with “boy are his farms mired.” I always suspected Jeff was jealous of Jay’s sense of humor, and the backstabbing confirms it. It wasn’t just Jeff and Tim who couldn’t wait to string up the kindest guy I’ve ever known. The whole L.A. comedy scene piled on. Jay’s 13-year-old daughter was taking an improv class because she wanted to be like her dad. Unfortunately, what got her into the class also got her out, because she was sent home for the sins of her father. "Bob’s Burgers" fired him, his new film "Wing Dad" was shelved, and his entire career came to a screeching halt.Rat pack This was going way past brownlisted. A friend of mine was at David Cross’ 60th birthday party recently (David and I were very close, but we broke up after he got TDS). This guest is still friends with Jay and me, but he hates Trump, so he still gets invited to parties. He was pleading with everyone there to see Jay’s side. "You don’t think it's insane that he’s facing serious jail time?” he kept asking. Do you think they gave a s**t about the nuance of the police shield? Do you think any of them had even heard about the shield? They all — to a man — shrugged their shoulders and harrumphed, “F**k around and find out.” Not one of them showed any sympathy (or dared let anyone else know they felt sympathy) despite knowing Jay for almost 30 years — funny, that. Three years after Jay’s visit to D.C., he was charged with violation of 18 USC 231, “Obstructing law enforcement officers during a civil disorder,” and sentenced to 366 days in prison as well as two years of supervised release. I hate that Jay is going to prison for a year, but I love this story because it is a perfect example of the brutal hypocrisy of Hollywood, the left, and everyone who thinks they’re “creative.” The drama-club nerds don’t grow up with empathy and the ability to see outcasts for the human beings they really are. They grow up to be bitter victims hell-bent on revenge. If that means throwing your buddy in a cage for disagreeing with you, so be it. These are the neighbors who will rat you out to the Stasi if communism ever takes over. This is why it’s so important that we win this election. The other side is so immoral that it’s not funny. I donated to Jay’s GiveSendGo. You should too.

It’s a mask-off moment. On the “Possible” podcast, co-hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates insisted humanity would need a new religion or philosophy to cope with the reality of AI and the technological conquest of the world. In his final comment on the episode — which Hoffman calls a “tour de force” — Gates reflects at length on the spiritual situation he believes unbridled tech is coercing us into. Maybe we want to focus on ensuring people aren’t led into the darkness of worshipping their machines or automating their religion? “The potential positive path is so good that it will force us to rethink how should we use our time,” he says. “You know, you can almost call it a new religion or a new philosophy of, okay, how do we stay connected with each other, not addicted to these things that’ll make video games look like nothing in terms of the attractiveness of spending time on them.” On the surface, Gates seems to be advancing a claim plenty of people can agree with — the idea that the coming virtual world will be so tempting to disappear into that only a deep source of spiritual authority will be enough to remind us that we’re still best off sharing life together as the human beings we are. But it’s not just the virtual world he’s talking about. “So it’s fascinating that we will, the issues of, you know, disease and enough food or climate, if things go well, those will largely become solved problems. And, you know, so the next generation does get to say, ‘Okay, given that some things that were massively in shortage are now not, how do, how do we take advantage of that?’” Here’s where things get tricky. You might have wondered already why Gates, if he feels so sure that we need cosmic protection against becoming cyber zombies, doesn’t immediately reach for a religion that already exists and flourishes — especially Christianity, which still dominates American faith identification and significant segments of public life. Well, his assumption is that tech will make obsolete at least some of the words of Christ, such as “you have the poor with you always,” as in always there for you to help and serve. Now one might say that if physical sickness and hunger are “solved problems,” many might still (or especially) suffer from mental and spiritual illness and thirst. But even that logic is not what Gates is interested in. He’s more concerned about sports. Yes, sports. “You know, do we ban AI being used in certain endeavors so that humans get some — you know, you know, like you don’t want robots playing baseball, probably,” he stammers. "Because they’re, they’ll be too good. So we’ll, we’ll keep them off the field. Okay. How broadly would you go with that?” Maybe so “broadly” that we’d want to focus on ensuring people aren’t led into the darkness of worshipping their machines or automating their religion? Perhaps that’s something we need to do already, not after the machines and their self-appointed masters — no matter how well intentioned — drag us to a place where our given humanity is almost unrecognizable. “We are so used to this shortage world that, you know, I, I, I hope I get to see how we start to rethink the, these deep meaning questions,” Gates concludes. But for all his ostensible futurism, he blinds himself to the present — where some tech-savvy Christians are carrying on the work of years in making plain that the tools we need to ensure that we don’t wipe ourselves out with awesome wonders are already at hand … because they are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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