This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump wants Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C.
Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin had been nominated, but his named was pulled after a single senator announced his opposition.
"I am pleased to announce that Judge Jeanine Pirro will be appointed interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia," Trump wrote. "Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself."
Martin's progress had been blocked by opposition from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who objected to Martin's work with, and in defense of, some of the J6 protesters who trespassed at the Capitol four years ago.
Tillis has explained he wants someone in that role "who believes that every single person who came into this building illegally should've suffered some consequences."
They were pardoned by Trump, of course.
But with Tillis holding a key vote on a Senate committee that must approve the nomination, reports appeared Thursday with Pirro's name.
A commentary at RedState explained, "'Be careful what you wish for' is something I routinely think when mulling over political strategy. Whenever you want a certain politician or appointee removed, you have to be sure that the replacement won't be worse."
It continued this is "something Sen. Thom Tillis (R-RINO) should have thought about when obstinately and publicly dissing President Trump's selection for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin. While taking questions from reporters Thursday, Trump signaled that he would be naming someone else for that office since Martin's nomination wouldn't be able to get out of the Senate Judiciary Committee due to Tillis' opposition, which seemed to be a Tillis victory."
Pirro is a former judge and prosecutor.
"Pirro is on the same page as Martin regarding January 6 defendants, so Tillis is likely to oppose this nomination too, but given Pirro's decades of legal experience and her experience as both a prosecutor and a judge (Martin did not have that experience) and the fact that Pirro did not represent January 6 defendants in court, Tillis will have a hard time outright opposing the nomination," it explained.
The Washington Examiner said significantly, Tillis now is up for re-election in a possibly competitive primary, and "has yet to secure a Trump endorsement."
Trump has said Tillis is "disappointing.,"
Martin is serving in an interim capacity now but that can last only another two weeks.
If a replacement isn't in place, anti-Trump Judge James Boasberg would play a role in picking a temporary for the post.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Despite Senate confirmation hearings set to begin this week on President Trump's first surgeon general nominee, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, he has now replaced her with a new nominee: Dr. Casey Means, an adviser to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who is well-known in the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement.
"Casey has impeccable 'MAHA' credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"Her academic achievements, together with her life's work, are absolutely outstanding. Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History."
Referencing his first nominee, Trump wrote, "Congratulations to Casey! Secretary Kennedy looks forward to working with Dr. Janette Nesheiwat in another capacity at HHS."
Nesheiwat recently came under fire for past remarks about the COVID vaccine and DEI initiatives.
CNN notes that both Means and her brother, White House health adviser Calley Means, have made frequent public appearances at MAHA events and on podcasts, arguing that Americans are sick with chronic disease because the health care system and federal agencies are prioritizing medication and financial incentives over nutrition and holistic health.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new lawsuit alleges the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is running what's being called an "unconstitutional shadow agency," going beyond the responsibilities of the judicial branch by taking regulatory actions.
The fight was launched by America First Legal Foundation, which was started by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy.
Chief Justice John Roberts was cited in his capacity as the head of the U.S. Judicial Conference. Also named was Robert J. Conrad, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
A report from Fox News explains: "The complaint accuses both the U.S. Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts of performing certain regulatory actions that go beyond the scope of resolving cases or controversies, or administratively supporting those actions, which they argue are the 'core functions' of the judiciary."
It also charges that records of those organizations should be subject to Freedom of Information Act requirements.
The newest fight comes amid a campaign by district judges, those who run the entry level of the federal court system, to issue a long list of nationwide injunctions through which they claim the authority to make decisions for the executive branch, which by the Constitution is the responsibility of the president.
Those injunctions cover topics from deportation of illegal alien criminals to firing unwanted federal employees to handing out taxpayer cash that Trump wants to keep and use for American interests to securing the border and deciding who can claim American citizenship.
The Fox report said new fight cites "actions taken by both the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office in 2023 to 'accommodate' requests from Congress to investigate allegations of ethical improprieties by Justices Thomas and Alito, and subsequently to create or adopt an 'ethics code' for justices on the high court."
The complaint states, "Under our constitutional tradition, accommodations with Congress are the province of the executive branch. The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are, therefore, executive agencies."
Such a ruling would give the president more authority to deliver instructions to those organizations.
"The U.S. Judicial Conference is the national policymaking body for the courts. It is overseen by the Supreme Court's chief justice and tasked with making twice-yearly recommendations to Congress as needed. The Administrative Office for the U.S. Courts, meanwhile, operates under the guidance and supervision of the Judicial Conference. Its role is to provide administrative support to the federal courts on certain administrative issues and for day-to-day logistics, including setting budgets and organizing data, among other things," Fox reported.
The filing charges that such duties are "executive functions."
"Courts definitively do not create agencies to exercise functions beyond resolving cases or controversies or administratively supporting those functions," the complaint said.
At the Gateway Pundit, a report said the allegations amounted to a "bombshell" against Roberts.
It characterizes the lawsuits as accusing "the powerful duo of running what AFL describes as an 'unconstitutional shadow agency' and violating federal transparency laws."
It, essentially, accuses the bureaucracies of being "rogue 'executive agencies' that have collaborated with far-left lawmakers to wage lawfare against conservative Supreme Court justices."
It charges, "For several years, the media and enterprising lawmakers have launched an onslaught to destroy the impartiality and political neutrality of Article III courts and, particularly, the Supreme Court. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh have all faced political and physical threats because of the politicization and weaponization of the law. This lawfare has been led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Hank Johnson, relying upon an ideologically favorable legacy media to falsely accuse Justices Thomas and Alito of ethical improprieties. Their aim was simple: to chill the judicial independence of these Supreme Court Justices."
The court case follows requests by AFL for information and arguments that the bureaucracies must comply with FOIA because they exercise "executive powers."
In the face of the agencies' refusal, the case was filed.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
It's the great mystery of our time.
On the one hand, it's been rabidly undermining America's culture, government, morality, religious faith and core sanity for decades – from championing the mass amputation of healthy body parts of children, to justifying the importation of vast armies of convicted murderers, rapists, drug dealers, sex traffickers and terrorists, to insisting everyone from surgeons to airplane pilots to vice presidents be hired not based on their merit or experience, but on their skin pigment, gender or sexual preferences.
Insane, yes. But when attempting to justify these catastrophic, civilization-destroying forces – and why skin color and sex/gender should trump common sense and reality – virtually all defenders speaks in strange, largely indecipherable code.
You see, they continually assure Americans, it's all because of the absolute necessity of "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" or "DEI," along with "Intersectionality," based on "Critical Race Theory" – which achieves "Social Justice" for "Marginalized Communities," because "Trans Lives Matter." All championed by "The Left" and "Progressives," who are "Woke." Oh, and who champion "Democracy!"
What on earth do these and other intentionally opaque terms actually mean? Almost never are they stripped down to their core reality. Let's find out why.
By now, most Americans realize an increasingly dark and destructive transformation has been ripping their beloved country apart in a thousand different ways.
For example, after a shocking string of plane crashes, Americans recently learned that the Federal Aviation Administration, tasked with the profoundly vital job of safeguarding all civilian air travel within the United States, announced during the "woke," "DEI"-obsessed Biden administration its brand-new "special emphasis in recruitment and hiring." Incredibly, the FAA – which hires virtually all U.S. air traffic controllers, who in turn single-handedly prevent, or fail to prevent, deadly aircraft catastrophes – initiated a hiring mandate with a strong preference for people with disabilities, specifically to include "hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism."
As the saying goes: What could possibly go wrong?
Obviously, such a policy is both deranged and suicidal. One could even argue homicidal.
In light of all the nation-corrupting, soul-destroying insanity already ravaging so much that Americans hold dear, it's time to leave behind the comfortable, familiar and intentionally evasive code words and phrases designed to anesthetize everyone to the total revolution that has taken place in America, and instead to dive directly into the nuclear core of the matter.
A full-blown religious cult
"Wokeism" is quite literally a cult. Not "cult-like" – but the full-blown, mandatory, heretics-will-be-destroyed, exalted religion of "The Left."
And what is "The Left"? In contrast to traditional liberals, "The Left" is code for today's full-blown Marxists and communists (Marxism being the ideology and communism its implementation).
Since most cults have an "outer circle" for the unwashed masses and one or two inner circles populated by the power-obsessed elites, where the cult's true but hidden agenda becomes apparent, let's start with the outer realm of the Cult of Wokeism and then delve inward.
On the surface, Wokeism worships "Diversity," the first element of the DEI trinity.
"Diverse" literally means … "different." That's it – check your dictionary. But how, you ask, can being "different" become the basis for hiring an air traffic controller, doctor, policeman or president? What if the candidate is different ("diverse") because he or she is insane, or a total idiot, or a criminal sex maniac, or perhaps just totally unfit for the job? Don't laugh: This is precisely what "diversity" has come to mean in today's "Woke" America.
A few recent, high-profile, real-life examples:
* What if a "nonbinary," "they-them"-pronoun-using, dress-wearing, lipstick-using, mustache-and-goatee-sporting "biological man" who specializes in repeatedly stealing women's luggage at airports so he can revel in their underwear – yes, really – suppose that person were elevated to a critical position in the federal government's Office of Nuclear Energy?
That's Sam Brinton, the disgraced Biden-appointed executive who was chosen for this sensitive and important federal leadership role because of, not in spite of, his obviously deranged appearance, activities and personality. That's "diversity."
* Or what about Admiral Rachel Levine, the biological male (born Richard Levine) who was chosen by Joe Biden to be U.S. assistant secretary for Health after being promoted to the rank of admiral, and put in charge of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps? Why choose a ridiculous-looking "transgender" person whose very appearance and speech are profoundly off-putting, disturbing – and to the vast majority of Americans, laughter-inducing? Because of "diversity."
* And just recently, the Hollywood Bowl announced that in its upcoming new stage production of "Jesus Christ Superstar," Jesus, the Savior of the world, will be portrayed by Cynthia Erivo, a bald, black, hyper-radical, "queer and bisexual" woman with a nose ring. How "diverse" of Hollywood.
Yet these examples barely scratch the surface of how the Woke religious tenet of "diversity" plays out every day in American society.
Communism, American-style
One of the most prominent "diversity hires" in American history was Kamala Harris – whom Joe Biden chose as his vice presidential running mate (and who later became the Democrats' 2024 presidential candidate) specifically because she is a so-called "woman of color."
In late April 2020, as National Public Radio reported at the time, "more than 200 black women who are leaders and activists within the Democratic party signed an open letter to the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden calling on him to select a black woman as his running mate."
"It is a fact," said the letter, "that the road to the White House is powered by Black women and Black women are the key to a Democratic victory in 2020."
Biden had already vowed the previous month to choose a woman as his running mate – so that was set in stone – but the pressure to pick a woman "of color" was mounting throughout the Democratic Party. Indeed, a Politico/Morning Consult survey taken in June 2020 found that nearly half of all Democrats – 46% – insisted it was "important for Biden to choose a candidate of color as his running mate." So that's how America got Kamala Harris, widely viewed today as both the most radical and least competent major-party presidential candidate in U.S. history.
All of which brings us to "Equity," the second member of the Woke cult trinity. Harris herself explained – repeatedly and with crystal clarity – exactly what "equity" is really all about.
It's about communism.
Indeed, as Elon Musk asserted explicitly during 2024's presidential campaign season, "Kamala is quite literally a communist. She wants not merely equal opportunity, but equal outcomes." Musk posted a brief video compilation on X, in which Harris, daughter of prominent Marxist economist Donald J. Harris, repeatedly offers a textbook communist explanation of "equity" – not equality of opportunity, as Americans might think, but equality of "results." "Everybody should end up in the same place," Harris repeatedly insists. That's communism.
What about "Inclusion," the third member of Wokeism's trinity? Most definitions, at least in the context of DEI, describe "Inclusion" as "diversity in practice. It's the act of welcoming, supporting, respecting and valuing all individuals and groups." All individuals and groups – which, judging by four years of Biden-Harris immigration policy, includes illegal-alien rape gangs like the Satan-worshipping MS-13, and radical Islamists and terrorists, as well as just plain home-grown Antifa-type, America-detesting communist radicals who live to riot. They all need "Inclusion" too, because their "Diversity" from the norm requires they reach "Equity."
Any questions?
Meanwhile, anyone who disagrees with the DEI agenda is routinely characterized by the Democratic elites and their propaganda ministry (the "mainstream media") as a "bigot," "racist," "white supremacist" or possibly worse. (Biden publicly referred to tens of millions of Trump voters as "semi-fascists" and "garbage.")
But remember, Wokeism is not merely crazy – it's a full-blown cult, which explains, among other things, why so many millions of people at least appear to believe in it: For though most "believers" don't actually buy the sacred doctrine that, for example, men can menstruate, get pregnant and give birth to babies, they pretend to believe it out of self-preservation. In short, they wish to escape persecution, so they go along with the state's official religion out of fear. As with all merciless false faiths, intimidation and bullying constitute the Woke Cult's primary evangelists.
As famed Stanford historian Victor Davis Hanson puts it, "Wokeism is a cruel cult – created by and for the careerist benefit of the privileged."
Religion, real and false
The essence of true religion – or at least, of the truest of all religions, Christianity – is the miraculous cleansing of a person's sin and guilt by means of genuine heartfelt repentance and the grateful embrace of God's redeeming gift of grace and eternal life, all made possible by the sacrificial death – and resurrection – of His beloved Son Jesus.
But in the religion of Wokeism, newfound innocence and redemption – or rather, their illusion – are attained simply by identifying with, and championing, any of an ever-expanding kaleidoscope of "oppressed" classes of people – "people of color," Muslims, illegal aliens, transgenders, homosexuals, the disabled, the homeless – basically, anyone and everyone other than middle-class heterosexual white people. But here's where the merciful and expansive "grace" of Woke religion manifests: Even a member of the cursed oppressor class can attain "imputed righteousness" and absolution – in other words, innocence – by identifying as an "ally" of any of the many oppressed classes, which mercifully allows them into the tent of redemption as well.
This, of course, is classic Marxism/communism, wherein society is divided into the evil "oppressors" and the righteous "oppressed." There is no god in communism: Oppressors represent evil, while the oppressed constitute the good, and government – well, government is the god of communism, charged with meting out justice and mercy … and retribution and death.
Thus, the secular religion that has long been infecting American culture, education, business and government has not merely been insane. It has been a modern variant of 20th century communism, which from the Russian revolution of 1917 through China's Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong and the Cambodian "Killing Fields" of Pol Pot and dozens of other communist revolutions, has brought about more human suffering and death than any other factor in human history.
Today, only the identities of the "oppressors" and "oppressed" have changed with the times. Everything else is essentially the same. The Religion of Wokeism, a modern retread of cruel and inhuman Marxism, is a reliable formula for the total destruction of a once-great nation.
Fortunately, thanks in large part to the bold efforts of the new Trump administration, the spell is starting to break. But there is still a very long and difficult road ahead before everyone truly wakes up, forsakes Wokeism as the bizarre and destructive cult it really is, and embraces once again the Judeo-Christian values that once formed the very foundation and substance of American society.
The insane cult of Wokeism is explored – and clearly exposed as perhaps never before – in the May 2025 edition of WND's acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, in an issue headlined "DEFEATING THE WOKE MIND VIRUS: Why Americans are finally rejecting Marxist 'DEI' madness."
Highlights of "DEFEATING THE WOKE MIND VIRUS" include:
* "Freeing America from the destructive and utterly insane Cult of Wokeism" by David Kupelian
* "'Killed by the woke mind virus': Elon Musk opens up about his eldest son coming out as trans
"It's incredibly evil, and the people promoting this should go to prison. So I was tricked into doing this" by Hailey Gomez
* "On Day 1, Trump orders total and rapid end to all forms of 'illegal and immoral' government DEI programs"
* "Here's why Obama created DEI: 'These people are trying to divide us into a Marxist binary between victimizers and victims'" by Victor Davis Hanson
* "Secret Service agent confirms DEI contributed to near-killing of Trump: 'What I've seen with the United States is a different set of standards based on gender'" by Susan Crabtree
* "JD Vance unloads on Obama/Biden's denial of white air-traffic controllers 'because of the color of their skin': 'It means we don't have the best and the brightest sometimes in these positions. But even more importantly than that, even when we do get really good people, they're going to be way overstressed'" by Joe Kovacs
* "Under Biden, FAA demanded 'special emphasis in recruitment and hiring' of people with disabilities, including 'hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism': Trump orders immediate review of perverse FAA diversity hiring agenda and demands problems be corrected now" by Bob Unruh
* "FAA turned away 1,000 job applicants because of its DEI rules despite staff shortages, claims lawsuit"
* "DEI recruiting nightmare: 'We spent $1 million to get 1 kid in the Army': 'If you're a white male, you're not really a welcome person in the Army right now'" by J.M. Phelps
* "The history of DEI in the military: 'Blacks and women are advantaged by DEI policies only if they happen to be LGBT'" by Scott Lively
* "To stop wildfires, burn wokeism and manage the forests! 'Leftist politicians are trying to distract the public from their own incompetence'" by Victor Joecks
* "DEI must DIE for students to succeed: Leadership's 'priorities' to blame for today's system being is 'so poor' at teaching children" by Rhyen Staley
* "Trump goes to war with the education mafia: 'Harvard, through affirmative action, has denied some of the brightest minds in the land an entrance into its hallowed halls because they had white skin'" by Carole Hornsby Haynes
* "Walmart abandons trans products for kids as corporate world sheds 'woke mind virus': Likewise with Bud Light, Ford, Stanley Black & Decker, Lowe's, Target and others, amid widespread boycotts and plunging stock values" by Ireland Owens
* "A SIGN OF THE TIMES: In surprise move, Google cuts Pride Month from calendar app" by Jim Hoft
* "DEI goes underground: Rooting out woke Marxist madness in education, corporations and government requires more than executive orders" by Ed Thompson
* "How Donald Trump is defeating a communist revolution … right here in America: 'The counterrevolution to the American Revolution is in full force. And it can no longer be dismissed or ignored, for it is devouring our society and culture'" by David Kupelian.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'It took media elites 2,000 years to ask'
The New York Times, under the headline, "A Hot Accessory, at the Intersection of Faith and Culture," has unleashed its 1,400-word investigatory piece about the … Christian cross.
It seems that members of the faith wear them, on necklaces and such.
And the Times' discovery has prompted merciless trolling online.
"It took 2000 years for the media elites to ask what those funny T-shaped necklaces are that everybody's wearing," was one snark, from Not the Bee.
"This is real. People wear crosses and the NYT is ON IT," announced Mary Katharine Hamm.
Not the Bee explained, "Across TikTok, young Christian women have been sharing the meaning behind their own cross necklaces, saying they help cultivate a sense of belonging and connection with others. Sage Mills, a student at the University of Oklahoma who has posted videos about her cross necklace, said that seeing women in government like Ms. Leavitt and Ms. Bondi wear their own 'makes me feel good. It makes me feel like God is the important thing for people that are governing our world.'"
It continued, "The Times has the history lesson for anyone confused by this strange symbol. The cross, a symbol most associated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, first emerged during the Roman Empire when it was an instrument of mass torture, said Robert Covolo, a theologian and associate pastor at Christ Church Sierra Madre near Los Angeles. By the 4th century, Mr. Covolo said that Christians had begun to use the cross as an emblem of their religion. Not long after, the cross became a focal point for daily jewelry. Cross jewelry dating as far back as the 5th century is prevalent in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London."
The report said, "Think about it: A 1,500 word article … in what used to be the most prominent newspaper in the world … explaining the cross to an American audience."
Twitchy also had assembled some of the comments:
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Chuck Todd, the former longtime anchor of NBC's "Meet The Press," is melting down over recent claims the national news media covered up the failing mental health of former President Joe Biden.
"I just refuse to accept this stupid premise because it's a ring-wing manufactured, right-wing premise in order to stain the media," Todd told ex-CNN pundit Chris Cillizza on his Substack channel Monday.
"This is not a media failure. This is a failure of the Democratic Party."
"This isn't WMDs [Weapons of Mass Destruction], where the White House worked with the mainstream media to manufacture a story that did not exist. That was a press failure, massive press failure," Todd explained, alluding to biased news coverage of President George W. Bush's "War on Terror."
"This is an attempt by some to virtue signal, and it's this horrible sort of pitting different news organizations against each other when ultimately the people at fault are Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, every elected member of Congress."
"The media's got plenty of things to attack them for, and there are MSNBC and CNN and pundits that absolutely carried water for Joe Biden, but they're not journalists. They're former strategists that carried water for Joe Biden."
Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, Alex Thompson, the national political correspondent for Axios, reprimanded so-called journalists for going along with the White House narrative that Biden was physically fit for a second term.
"President Biden's decline and its coverup by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception," Thompson said.
"But being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story."
Online journalist Collin Rugg noted: "The media is so mad they got caught."
"Anyone with eyes and ears could see Biden's mental decline but now the media is trying to rewrite history by pretending they weren't actively covering it up. Truly remarkable."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Democrats across America have used the talking point "destroying democracy" to describe anything they don't like.
It's Donald Trump. It's identification for voting. It's secured ballot counts.
Now, apparently, it's a majority of Democrats.
That's because a report at Complete Colorado explains how the majority of Democrats in the state are trying to banish citizen comments from the state's "democracy." Democrats hold the majority in both the House and Senate in Colorado, as well as the governor's office.
This is the state where all Democrats on the state Supreme Court tried to ban President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. This is the state that has gone to the Supreme Court twice, in its attempts to dictate the thoughts and censor the statements of business owners.
And lost twice.
Now the Complete Colorado article confirms, "A new Democrat-backed bill moving rapidly through the Colorado legislature poses a serious threat to one of the most fundamental rights in our state Constitution: the right of citizens to initiate laws through the petition process."
This comes at a time when lawmakers are also attacking the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a constitutional amendment from decades back that requires voter approval for tax increases beyond the growth of the population and inflation.
It's already been undermined by state lawmakers who repeatedly have claimed that their new taxes actually are not taxes but "fees."
For example, there are road and bridge "fees" that apply only to Colorado-registered vehicles, whose owners must pay to use roads and bridges. Of course, travelers using the same roads and bridges pay no such "fees."
Leftist courts in the state have agreed that those taxes, in fact, are "fees."
The report noted the legislation has already passed the House and a Senate committee.
It would "significantly restrict the ability of Coloradans to bring citizen initiatives forward. Among other provisions, it shortens an already tight timeline for title-setting, imposes new procedural hurdles, and adds new fines of up to $1,500 on petition organizers for non-compliance with reporting requirements," the report said.
"What makes this particularly alarming is the inclusion of the 'safety clause' — legislative language that declares the bill is necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety. The practical effect? Voters are prohibited from filing a referendum to challenge the law at the ballot box. It's an ironic — and telling — twist that a bill restricting petition rights also blocks any citizen-led challenge of its own passage."
The report noted that both Republicans and Democrats have previously used the initiative process.
The moves in Colorado, the report warned, "reflect a troubling trend: elected officials using their power not to expand democratic engagement, but to restrict it. Colorado voters have repeatedly voiced support for transparency, fiscal limits, and the right to challenge government action through the initiative process. Yet here we are again — with those same rights back on the chopping block."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Social Security Administration has reversed itself when confronted over its decision to refuse to grant a religious accommodation to an employee.
The news comes from Liberty Counsel, which worked on the case on behalf of an SSA worker who is now protected from requirements he work on issues involving same-sex issues.
"This settlement agreement complies with Title VII, allowing the employee to do his job without violating his religious beliefs. There simply was no hardship for the Social Security Administration in accommodating this employee's religious beliefs. In addition, President Trump's executive order recognizing biological reality and the binary nature of sex is now helping protect the free exercise of religion and free speech in the federal workplace. People have a right to live according to their conscience and religious beliefs," explained Liberty Counsel chief Mat Staver.
The legal team was able to reach a settlement with the SSA under which the agency is granting the worker an accommodation that allows him to be exempted from policies and tasks "that violate his religious convictions."
"Under the agreement, he no longer has to adjudicate 'same-sex marriage' claims and adhere to other gender-related policies that violate his biblical beliefs on gender and sexuality. After initially being denied a reasonable accommodation, the employee filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, which has now closed his complaint, making the settlement agreement final," the report said.
It noted that also playing a role in the settlement was President Donald Trump's recent executive order that rebukes the false gender ideology.
"Under the order, 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,' the federal government now rejects the concept of 'gender identity' and recognizes there are only two sexes, male and female," the report said.
The order provides that the worker now "will not be required to perform any actions in connection with his duties that would violate the terms of Executive Order 14168." This means the employee will no longer be required to address others by false pronouns and use restrooms with the opposite sex.
Under the SSA practices, it recognizes "same-sex marriage," but under Joe Biden, the options have been expanded to include "more than just two genders," resulting in the agenda calling for using false personal pronouns and more.
"The employee's sincerely held religious beliefs center on biblical teachings that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that God created people as 'male and female' where people cannot change their 'God-given gender,'" Liberty Counsel said.
The SSA already had proven his case for him, because when the issue arose, it assigned him to cases not involving "same-sex" issues with "no negative impact to agency operations," the report said.
It later claimed that the action was, in fact, an "undue hardship."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Forever bars qualified job applicants for indiscretions from years earlier
A Texas court ruling means that a lawsuit over the state's "irrational" rule regarding social workers can advance.
The rule simply bans people who ever have had a conviction from getting a license for social work, ever.
It's being challenged, according to a report from the Institute for Justice, by "two Texas grandmothers with masters' degrees who want to be social workers."
Their problem? Decades ago, while young and under the influence of substance abuse problems, each was convicted of an assault.
The favorable ruling for their arguments came from a Travis County Court, which refused a state motion to dismiss the case.
It's on behalf of Katherin Youniacuff and Tammy Thompson.
"Under a Texas law that the court deemed 'irrational,' each woman is permanently ineligible for a social work license based solely on an old and irrelevant conviction. But the Texas Constitution protects Texans' right to earn an honest living in an occupation of their choosing free from unreasonable government interference," the IJ reported.
"Should people be judged solely on old mistakes? That's what's happening in Texas. Katherin and Tammy both struggled with substance abuse issues early in their lives and each woman pleaded guilty to a single assault conviction during that time. Nearly two decades later, Katherin and Tammy have turned their lives around and want to help people facing similar problems," the IJ explained.
"Texas won't let them. A 2019 Texas law imposed a new, permanent punishment on Katherin and Tammy: Despite their rehabilitation, they are forever barred from working as social workers."
But, the legal team said, that hurts not only the two women involved, but others because of "an exploding mental health and substance abuse crisis coupled with a dire shortage of professional social workers…"
The court's ruling, rejecting the state's demand to dismiss, said, "[a] categorical ban on personal experience directly relevant to a job is irrational."
The IJ said, "The state can of course exclude individuals who truly pose a danger to their clients from practicing social work. But that's not Katherin, or Tammy, or many other aspiring social workers targeted by the state's ban."
The judge found, "any danger that otherwise qualified applicants . . . pose to potential clients is not rationally possible to determine on anything other than an individualized basis."
James Knight, an institute lawyer, explained, "This decision is the first step towards giving Katherin and Tammy and everyone in a similar situation the justice they deserve. Katherin and Tammy made mistakes and paid for them. Permanently punishing them doesn't protect the public. It just makes it harder for people to pull themselves up and provide for their families. That's unconstitutional."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Democrat party has decided, apparently, that going pottymouth, cursing, swearing, being crude and vulgar, is an excellent strategy to win back voters they've lost.
Even leftist publications are noting the development.
"S*** talking is Democrats' new strategy," charged CNN. And PBS, noted for its far-left agenda, stated, "What the #$@! Democrats are swearing more. Here's why…."
The Washington Examiner cited Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who long has claimed, wildly, that he saw evidence of Trump campaign collusion with Russia in 2016 when investigators have confirmed it didn't exist, as among those who have let their language turn dirty.
"I'm a good Democrat. So my view, of course, is when they go low, we go high, he can go f*** himself," Schiff said on a television show.
That report described the Democrats' language as increasingly turning to a "jarring choice of words" with "increasing profanity."
Strange, the report noted, for "a party that has long touted itself as the adult in the room in comparison to the freewheeling Trump and his MAGA acolytes."
The report noted Democrat lawmakers and organizations alike are lobbing "X-rated comments against Trump," but it remains "unclear how it could translate to winning back key constituents who defected from the party during the 2024 election."
Jacob Neiheisel, a communications expert at the University of Buffalo, told the publication, "I don't think it works necessarily, but I think they're in a tough spot. I think that there is a cadre in the Democratic Party from good primary voters up through good donors who wants to do something, anything, and they're struggling.
"They're really struggling with what a response looks like. And when you don't have any of the levers of power, there's not a lot you can do."
Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Democrat who was on Kamala Harris' losing presidential team in 2024, claimed he could "kick most of their a**," referencing Trump supporters. Joe Biden had made a similar claim about President Donald Trump earlier.
Sen. Tina Smith, also a Minnesota Democrats, has used epithets like "d***" and "a******" to describe those in the Trump administration.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas., went straight into the muck when she told a reporter her message to Trump appointee Elon Musk would be to "f*** ***."
Fox News explained the ideology being pursued by Democrats is what is called, now, "#darkwoke."
Beyond just gutter language, that also includes, the report said, "sharing jokes and memes that wish for the suffering of Trump supporters."
"Though the term is largely an online phenomenon, some members of the Democratic Party are beginning to see some benefits to the 'crass' and 'rude' attitude," the report said.
Bhavik Lathia, communications consultant for Democrats in Wisconsin, said, "Republicans have essentially put Democrats in a respectability prison. There is an extreme imbalance in strategy that allows Republicans to say stuff that really grabs voters' attention, where we're stuck saying boring pablum. I see this as a strategic shift within Democratic messaging — I'm a big fan of 'dark woke.'"
The report cited the fact many Democrats now are "injecting profanity into their vocabulary in response to MAGA and in an attempt at 'authenticity.'"
One orchestrated example was a series of videos from Democrats who all were reciting the same mantra: "S*** That Ain't True."
In the report, Caleb Brock, working for leftist Rep. Ro Khanna of California, claimed it was a response.
Young staffers, he claimed, "grew up seeing extremely vile content overflowing from right-wing spaces into regular spaces."
Democrats now are fighting back, he said, "by any means necessary."
The Tampa Free Press charged, "Democrats thinks swearing like drunken sailors will help," and The Hill said, "F-bombs away: Why lawmakers are cursing now more."
The New York Post cited the "Democrats' foul-mouthed strategy," and The Hill, in another analysis, warned that the Democrats now have gone further, even to "embrace hate speech."