Pope Appointed Divisive Cardinal As Roadblock To Trump

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Pope Francis’ decision to appoint a liberal cardinal to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. was reportedly done in response to the person President-elect Donald Trump selected as Vatican ambassador.

The Pope on Monday announced his appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s immigration stance and who has also advocated for the “radical inclusion” of women and “LGBT” people in the Church. The decision was apparently made to counter to Trump’s selection of Brian Burch, the president of the advocacy organization CatholicVote and a supporter of the president-elect’s immigration and pro-life policies, The Pillar reported.

Several members of the Church leadership had reportedly signed off on Jefferson City’s Bishop Sean McKnight to replace the outgoing Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, who had reached the age of retirement in 2022, but the Pope reversed the decision upon hearing the news of Burch’s nomination, sources told The Pillar. McElroy had previously been ruled out as an option to fill the position due to fears he would be seen as a “provocative” choice due to his conflicting politics with Trump.

“It was considered settled [in favor of McKnight], ready to make the call, and then it suddenly wasn’t,” an unnamed source told the outlet.

The Vatican apparently perceived Trump’s decision as “aggressive” and “undiplomatic” and decided to respond in kind, The Pillar said. (Read more from “Pope Appointed Divisive Cardinal As Roadblock To Trump” HERE)

Mark Zuckerberg Promises Less Censorship on Facebook as He Scraps Biased Third-Party ‘Fact Checkers’

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Mark Zuckerberg has announced major changes to Meta’s content moderation policies and practices on Facebook and Instagram, citing a desire to embrace free speech and avoid censorship. Zuckerberg’s changes begin with scrapping Facebook’s third-party “fact check” system which is notorious for its leftist bias.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, is undergoing a major overhaul of its content moderation practices. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the company will end its fact-checking program, plagued by severe leftist bias, and replace it with a community-driven system similar to X’s Community Notes. The changes come as a response to what Zuckerberg perceives as a “cultural tipping point” towards prioritizing speech, influenced by the recent elections.

In his video, Zuckerberg states: “We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms. More specifically, here’s what we’re going to do. First, we’re going to get rid of fact checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.”

In a press release, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, stated, “Meta’s platforms are built to be places where people can express themselves freely. That can be messy. On platforms where billions of people can have a voice, all the good, bad and ugly is on display. But that’s free expression.” (Read more from “Mark Zuckerberg Promises Less Censorship on Facebook as He Scraps Biased Third-Party ‘Fact Checkers’” HERE)

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Costco Triples Down on ‘Wokeness’ as Board Member Defends DEI Practices, Rebukes Companies Scrapping Policies

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A Costco board member has taken aim at companies rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, calling for businesses to “maximize” DEI instead as the wholesaler faces pressure to join the growing list of brands ditching the controversial practice.

Jeff Raikes, co-founder of the Raikes Foundation and former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has served on Costco’s board of directors since 2008, according to Costco’s corporate website.

Raikes and other board members have come under scrutiny in recent days after they shut down a shareholder request to dismantle DEI internally and called on other shareholders to vote against the proposal seeking to eliminate Costco’s DEI program in an upcoming meeting.

The board’s position came as a surprise to some, in light of a recent corporate trend that’s spurred a widespread abandonment of DEI policies.

But a Fox News Digital assessment of Raikes’ online history revealed a staunch proponent of DEI practices — and a man on a mission to discourage companies from biding them farewell. (Read more from “Costco Triples Down on ‘Wokeness’ as Board Member Defends DEI Practices, Rebukes Companies Scrapping Policies” HERE)

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Manhattan DA and Judge Are Hell-Bent on Continuing Lawfare Against Trump

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The Democrat judge presiding over the sham New York criminal case against Donald Trump remains adamant that the president-elect appear for sentencing on Friday — a mere ten days before Trump takes his oath of office.

On Monday, Trump’s legal team filed a two-fold motion seeking the stay of the January 10, 2025 sentencing hearing that Judge Juan Merchan ordered to proceed in an 18-page opinion he issued on Friday. In that opinion, Judge Merchan denied the president-elect’s Motion to Vacate the Jury Verdict and Motion to Dismiss the 38-count indictment a grand jury returned against Trump related to payments made to Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s motion argued first that the proceedings against him were automatically stayed during the pendency of his forthcoming appeal related to presidential immunity. Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision last term on presidential immunity, Trump’s legal team argued in Monday’s Motion to Stay that no further proceedings could take place until the issue of immunity was resolved by an appellate court.

Second, and alternatively, attorneys for the president-elect argued that even if a stay were not required under federal law, Judge Merchan should stay the proceedings under New York law.

Unsurprisingly, by day’s end on Monday, Judge Merchan had denied Trump’s request for a stay. The denial came in a perfunctory two-page order: After noting that D.A. Alvin Bragg had opposed the stay, Judge Merchan reasoned that a stay was inappropriate because Trump was merely repeating the arguments he had raised previously. The Manhattan trial judge then concluded that the precedent on which Trump relied to seek a stay was either distinguishable or inapplicable. (Read more from “Manhattan DA and Judge Are Hell-Bent on Continuing Lawfare Against Trump” HERE)

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How The Biden FBI Let An ISIS Acolyte Slip Right Past Them

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A political agenda combined with a lack of information on the New Orleans terrorist likely culminated in Shamsud-Din Jabbar escaping the FBI’s radar, former agents told the Caller. The terrorist who allegedly plowed a truck into a crowd on New Years pledged allegiance to ISIS, reportedly possessed an ISIS flag, and even traveled to Egypt — yet no action was taken by the FBI for months.

Jabbar was identified by authorities as the driver of the Ford pickup truck that rammed through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans last Wednesday morning, killing 15 people. He was subsequently killed by police in a shootout.

After initial reports that claimed Jabbar had accomplices, the FBI stated the next day he acted alone. The bureau found an ISIS flag, weapons, and potential IEDs in Jabbar’s vehicle.

The Caller asked former FBI agents how the agency seemingly took no action for months despite numerous glaring red flags.

(Read more from “How The Biden FBI Let An ISIS Acolyte Slip Right Past Them” HERE)

Whistleblowers Say Canadian Doctors Pushed Euthanasia On Unwilling Disabled Patients

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Whistleblowers Heather Hancock and Roger Foley tell The Federalist that Canadian doctors pressured them to accept euthanasia amid long-term disabilities.

Canada legalized “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) in 2016, legally permitting doctors to help kill patients. Officials updated the law in 2021, enabling the medical killing of patients without a terminal diagnosis. Dying With Dignity Canada has even pushed to expand the legislation to include “mature minors.” Nazi Germany’s euthanasia program also included children.

“I’m so frightened for my people who are vulnerable,” says Angelina Ireland, executive director of the Canadian Delta Hospice Society, a patient advocacy nonprofit organization.

According to a recent report, “euthanasia regulators have tracked 428 cases of possible criminal violations” in Ontario between 2018 and 2023, and none were reported to police. One doctor in Vancouver repeatedly accused of violating MAID rules has helped kill hundreds of patients, as The Federalist reported. According to CTV News, one family recently named the doctor and her clinic in a lawsuit for alleged “unlawful administration of MAID,” claiming this resulted in a psychiatric patient’s “wrongful death.”

The MAID process may appear morbidly peaceful. In “clinician-administered” MAID, “a physician or nurse practitioner directly administers a substance that causes death.” (Read more from “Whistleblowers Say Canadian Doctors Pushed Euthanasia On Unwilling Disabled Patients” HERE)

Poll: U.S. Parents Across Political Spectrum Reject Gender Ideology in Schools

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U.S. parents of all political stripes oppose gender ideology in schools, new polling from Parents Defending Education (PDE) shows.

The survey from PDE, which describes itself as a grassroots organization “working to reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas,” found that 75 percent of parents “oppose teachers, counselors, school nurses, classroom aides, coaches or administration withholding information about a child’s gender identity from parents.”

That sentiment is shared by a majority of parents with varying political viewpoints, including 88 percent of Republican parents, 72 percent of independent parents, and 58 percent of Democrat parents.

Strong majorities of every ethnicity agree, including 76 percent of white parents, 79 percent of black parents, 69 percent of Asian parents, and 73 percent of Hispanic parents.

PDE notably found in 2023 that more than 1,000 school districts across the United States have policies openly stating that district personnel can or should keep students’ transgender status hidden from their parents. That figure includes 18,335 schools and 10,712,558 students.

(Read more from “Poll: U.S. Parents Across Political Spectrum Reject Gender Ideology in Schools” HERE)

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‘Spit in the Face of Every American’: Watch Man Photographed With Would-Be Trump Assassin Get Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Joe Biden spit in the face of every American on Saturday as he awarded Hillary Clinton and George Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Other undeserving recipients include Bill Nye the [Communist] science guy, Denzel Washington, Anna Wintour and Chef Jose Andres, the man who was photographed with would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh.

“José Andrés is a renowned Spanish-American culinary innovator who popularized tapas in the United States. His World Central Kitchen provides large-scale relief to communities affected by natural disasters and conflict around the world,” Biden said in a press release.

In September federal prosecutors charged Ryan Routh with attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate after he pushed the muzzle of his rifle through the fence line at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.

Ryan Routh was previously charged with two federal gun crimes: Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession (max penalty of 15 years in prison and $250,000 fine), and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number (max penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine). (Read more from “‘Spit in the Face of Every American’: Watch Man Photographed With Would-Be Trump Assassin Get Presidential Medal of Freedom” HERE)

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Trump Legal Team Moves to Block Release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Final Reports

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Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are seeking to prevent the release of the final reports prepared by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding two significant investigations: the Washington, D.C., election interference case and the Florida classified documents case. In a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday, Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blance and John Lauro, presented arguments for blocking the publication of these reports, citing a range of legal and constitutional concerns.

The legal team argued that the release of the final reports would violate the Presidential Transition Act and the Presidential Immunity Doctrine. They contended that these legal principles protect certain documents from being made public during the transition period between presidential administrations. Additionally, Trump’s lawyers questioned the legitimacy of Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel, asserting that Smith was not appointed “validly” and therefore could not issue a report.

Moreover, the attorneys claimed that the release of the report would undermine fundamental legal principles, particularly the presumption of innocence. The defense team suggested that making Smith’s findings public could be perceived as a premature judgment, potentially influencing public opinion before any legal proceedings are completed.

In their filing, the lawyers revealed that they had only been granted limited access to a two-volume draft of Smith’s report, which they reviewed over the weekend in Smith’s Washington office. The attorneys argued that this partial access reinforced their belief that the release of the final report would be a political maneuver rather than an objective legal action.

Trump’s lawyers described the release of Smith’s report as a “lawless political stunt.” They suggested that the intention behind releasing the documents was not to serve the public interest but to harm Trump politically, especially in light of his election victory. The filing stressed that the report’s release would serve no legitimate purpose, particularly given the “sensitive nature” of the ongoing presidential transition process.

In addition to seeking a block on the report’s release, Trump’s legal team called for the immediate removal of Special Counsel Jack Smith from his position. The lawyers proposed that if Smith is not removed, the handling of the report should be transferred to Trump’s incoming Attorney General, Pam Bondi.

Husband, Wife Die in Separate Accidents Between Christmas and New Year’s

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A Michigan couple died in two separate accidents between Christmas and New Year’s Day, according to local officials.

Scott Levitan, 66, and Mary Lou Levitan, also 66, were both residents of Livonia, a suburb west of Detroit. According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the sequence of events unfolded after Scott Levitan fell into a frozen lake on Dec. 26.

The Michigan resident, who was ice-fishing with his 15-year-old grandson, was drilling a hole into the ice on Lake George in Addison Township at the time. . .

The next day, Mary Lou Levitan was on her way to pick up her husband’s vehicle when she was fatally injured in a car accident, according to police. Scott Levitan was on life support at that time.

The sheriff’s office said a 19-year-old driver crossed into the northbound lane of an Oakland Township road “for an unknown reason,” striking the car in which Mary Lou Levitan was riding. (Read more from “Husband, Wife Die in Separate Accidents Between Christmas and New Year’s” HERE)