Quick Hits: Small Change Edition

Democrats will pass law to delay the the elections to replace Stefanik.

The party that claims to want to "defend democracy" has decided to abandon the struggle in New York.

New York state Democrats are going to pass a bill that allows Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul to delay scheduling special elections until November. Current law requires Hochul to schedule a special election 90 days after a vacancy is declared.

The nomination of former Rep. Elise Stefanik to be UN ambassador will create a vacancy in her deep red district once the Senate confirms her nomination. Once the bill passes (Democrats have large majorities in both Houses), Hochul could deny citizens of New York's 21st Congressional District any representation for an extra six months.

The move has profound national implications. Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson will have one fewer vote to pass Trump's agenda. Currently, Johnson has a 218-215 majority with two vacancies, as well as Stefanik's seat once she's confirmed. In addition to Stefanik's seat, Florida's Mike Walz resigned to become Trump's national security advisor, and Rep. Matt Gaetz resigned when Trump nominated him for attorney general.

All three seats are expected to be filled by Republicans. But in the meantime, Speaker Johnson has a nightmare majority where he can't lose more than one GOP vote.

Schumer announced a website -- where did the funding for it come from? -- for Deep State ringers to "report" on DOGE workers.

Schumer's announcement touts the new portal as a means to encourage "brave public servants" to report wrongdoing, but the move raises skepticism about its true purpose. While whistleblower protections are important, the timing and framing of this initiative suggest it could be used selectively rather than as a genuine tool for government transparency.

The online form allows individuals to file complaints on issues like fraud and wasteful spending, but concerns remain over how these complaints will be handled and whether they will only target agencies or individuals unfavorable to Democratic leadership. Given the history of politicized investigations in Washington, critics argue this could be another tool to shield allies while selectively targeting opponents.

Nike ran a Super Bowl ads promoting women's sports -- despite having used all their corporate power to displace female athletes with male ones.

Nike's Super Bowl advertisement managed to combine a grating woke lecture with the gender ideology hypocrisy that has come to define the brand over the last several years.

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However, instead of celebrating women's sports, Nike chose to present its ad with obnoxious woke talking points. The commercial's narrator (rapper Doechii) asserted that men are telling female athletes that they can't be confident, emotional, ambitious, set records, keep score, or have any fun. The ad then says female athletes should do those things, ending with the tagline, "You can't win. So win."

It's a bizarre ad that would still be out of place in 2020, when woke corporate posturing was the norm. Who is out there telling female athletes they can't keep score in their games, set records, or have fun playing sports? Watching Nike's ad, you would think there is some large-scale sexist backlash against women's sports for existing.

Weirder, though, is that Nike is doing far more damage to women's sports than this phantom group of sexists. Nike is one of the biggest promoters of the transgender movement, to the point that it partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a man who claims to be a woman, to promote sports bras and other women's sports attire. In 2023, Nike announced its "No Pride, No Sport" campaign that asserts that sports without transgender people are "incomplete." The campaign urged people to "prioritize safe spaces for trans and non-binary youth" and promoted "trans-led grassroots" movements.

Nike is trying to present itself as the brand of women's empowerment despite its own shortcomings when it comes to female athletes. That includes boosting a movement that asserts that men should be able to break women's records in women's sports and force female athletes out of women's locker rooms so men can be more comfortable in them. If anyone is telling female athletes what they can't do, it's Nike. They tell women that they can't have their own sports without including men who claim to be women, which makes the sanctimonious preaching that much more bizarre.

The Boy Scouts have officially dropped "Boy" from their name.

The Boy Scouts of America's recent name change to "Scouting America" has ignited debate over the organization's legacy and the role of traditional masculinity in raising strong men. Mark Hancock argues that instead of erasing history, America should reaffirm the foundational principles that once guided young men toward honor and purpose.

Key Details:

Mark Hancock warns that American boys are struggling due to a culture that has "devalued traditional masculinity" and failed to provide them with a clear sense of purpose.

The principles set forth by scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell offer a "roadmap" for raising strong, capable men.

Programs like Trail Life USA seek to preserve and expand on these values, offering boys the mentorship and challenges needed to build character.

Surprise! The Communist Samantha Power used USAID to fund terror groups in the Middle East.

As the Trump administration works to shutter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), current and former U.S. officials who worked closely with the embattled aid group say they watched for years as it funneled millions of dollars to anti-Israel advocacy groups and entities linked to terrorism.

That funding caused internal friction across multiple administrations, according to those who spoke with the Washington Free Beacon. In some cases, USAID fought to conceal how taxpayer funds were spent. And when it came to Israel, officials recalled battling USAID over funding for groups that worked to undermine the Jewish state or maintained ties to terror organizations.

"For those who believe in a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, elements of USAID have been problematic for years," said one former State Department official who worked with USAID during the Biden administration. "There was even a lack of embarrassment among some USAID staffers about being associated with terrorist organizations."

Some of the terror-tied funding initiatives are publicly known. In November 2022, for instance, USAID awarded $100,000 to a Palestinian activist group whose leaders hailed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror group. Just six days before Hamas's Oct. 7 assault on Israel, USAID handed $900,000 "to a terror charity in Gaza involved with the son of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh."

USAID's hostilities toward the Jewish state, however, ran deeper than the agency's grantmaking.

Under Samantha Power, former president Joe Biden's pick to run USAID, agency officials fought pro-Israel policymaking at the State Department, often urging their colleagues at Foggy Bottom to pare down statements that praised the Jewish state, former officials said. In 2021, during a period of conflict with Hamas, Power herself refused to meet with Israel's ambassador unless Israel reached a ceasefire with the Iran-backed terror group. The decision put Power at odds with the White House National Security Council, which had signed off on the meeting, emails obtained by the Free Beacon show.

Years later, in September, Power's USAID accused Israel of deliberately blocking Gazan aid deliveries, which Hamas is known to steal for its own use and for black market sales that fund its terror activities. USAID staffers went as far as to urge the Biden State Department to end military aid to Israel. Former secretary of state Antony Blinken rejected the request.

The overwhelming majority of those staffers were set to go on leave by midnight Saturday. A federal judge blocked the action until Feb. 14, though the decision is temporary and the case is expected to go to the Supreme Court. Democratic lawmakers have vehemently opposed the cuts, arguing that they endanger millions of vulnerable people across the globe.

"People can quibble about this or that," the current U.S. official said of the Democratic attention surrounding USAID. "But let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good. This is long overdue."

While Biden was telling us that FEMA just didn't have the money to help American victims of Hurricane Helene, he was spending tens of millions of dollars to put up illegal aliens in "luxury hotels."

Note that FEMA attempted, illegally, to make a payment to house illegals in hotels even after Trump ordered them to pause their spending.

Elon Musk @elonmusk

The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.

Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President's executive order.

That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!

A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.

posted by Ace at 05:50 PM

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