The Outsider Perspective Issue 369 | The Beltway Outsiders

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Good Friday Morning! Especially to Michigan fans, who got all hyped up about lawyers attacking the Jim Harbaugh suspension and then watched him fold like a card table once the BIG10 confronted him. So, there is no head coach for the next few games. It’s still a great story because the memes and college kids making College Gameday signs and game costumes based on it are terrific.

This week, I’m going to walk through some of the bizarre decisions being made by Democrats when you compare the Israeli war with Xi Jinping in San Francisco – links to follow.

Quick hits:

If you read one story this week, make it the one of a hero in Israel who saved 120 people from a music festival – complete with dash-cam footage. The video footage was released and shared by Channel 13 and The Times of Israel, which details how Oz Davidian, a farmer, made 20 trips back and forth to the music festival, picking up survivors. He was driving around 10 miles one way to do this and dodging terrorists, bullets, RPGs, and more. He witnessed all the atrocities and continued trying to save people. It’s one of the most remarkable stories I’ve read.
I’ve frequently joked with a friend that reading a headline involving Rep. George Santos is like a mad-libs jumble of illegal activities thrown together haphazardly. You could invent any insane headline involving George Santos, and I’d believe it on the spot. The ethics complaint led off with an all-timer: “Representative Santos has been the subject of significant public reporting about his many alleged fabrications, including allegations that he has lied about his degrees, his religion, his work experience, his family, and numerous other aspects of his biography. But Representative Santos’ lies go far beyond inaccuracies on a resume.” AKA yes, he lied about everything, but wait, there’s more! What did he lie about? Everything. What was he caught doing? Also, basically, everything. He spent campaign funds on “botox, OnlyFans, an Atlantic City casino, a skincare spa, and other things.” So, while I’m glad he’s gone from Congress soon, I will miss the utterly insane headlines he generated in the news.
I’m on the side of banning TikTok. That belief grew stronger this week when a new trend erupted on the social media site that praised Osama Bin Laden. It started on TikTok and spread to other social media sites. Here’s the NYPost headline: “TikTok shredded as influencers promote Osama bin Laden’s ‘terrorist propaganda’ tirade dubbed ‘Letter to America’ after 9/11 attacks.” The Guardian had OBL’s letter on their site, and because of this viral trend, they ended up taking it down to prevent the spread of people praising it. Since October 7, we’ve witnessed the “pro-Palestinian” protestors go from antisemitic tropes to outright Nazi propaganda and now al-Qaeda propaganda.

Where you can find me this week

Please subscribe, rate, and review my podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play — the reviews help listeners, and readers like you find me in the algorithms. Make sure to sign up for the Conservative Institute’s daily newsletter.

Deport Protestors Attacking Jews – Conservative Institute

If Biden Isn’t Running The White House, Who Is? – Conservative Institute

March For Israel Is A Light In Deep Darkness – Conservative Institute

Messed Up Priorities Everywhere

This week, there was a hilarious moment with Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting San Francisco and meeting with President Biden. During a press conference, Biden took a question from a reporter who asked, “Mr. President, after meeting with him, would you still refer to President Xi as a dictator?”

Someone was filming Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s face as this question came, and he immediately started squirming in his seat, looking deeply uncomfortable. Then Biden uncorked his answer: “Well look, he is [a dictator]…” Blinken goes from visibly uncomfortable to disgusted, dejected, upset, and downcast. It’s a remarkable clip.

These heads of state events are very scripted. The White House would have known the questions and the topics coming and been prepared for them. Biden went off-script with his answer. Neither Blinken nor the White House wanted that answer, even though it’s true.

That moment stands in stark contrast to the other reception Xi got from a room full of some of the most powerful CEOs in the world. They gave him a standing ovation before speaking. And then there’s the reaction of CA Governor Gavin Newsom and San Francisco. It turns out California can clean up a city.

Democrats kicked out the homeless, pressure-washed streets and sidewalks, repainted buildings and structures, did massive renovations, and more. All for the single purpose of cleaning up San Francisco’s look ahead of Xi Jinping’s arrival. Even the NYTimes mocked the effort, saying, “San Francisco had the air this week of teenagers frantically cleaning up after a house party with their parents on the way home.”

When I first started seeing the pictures of this happening on social media, I assumed it was a joke or AI-generated. It was too good to check, so I thought it was all fake news. But no – every word of it is true. It’s an implicit admission by all involved in governing San Francisco as to what a dump it has become.

Jim Geraghty adds this punchline to the whole ordeal:

It’s almost like the city government of San Francisco perceives Xi Jinping as the boss it needs to impress, instead of the voters whose exorbitant taxes (including an 8.625 percent sales tax!) pay city employees’ salaries. If the city is worth making safer, cleaner, and more attractive for a visit by Xi, President Biden, and a whole bunch of diplomats . . . why isn’t it worth making safer, cleaner, and more attractive for the full-time residents?

Then again, the city appears to be just moving the homeless out of the neighborhoods of the conference, not caring where they end up, as long as they’re off camera. The local CBS affiliate reported, “The [San Francisco] Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is not opening any special shelter capacity for APEC.” Ah, feel the compassion! It’s in a moment like this that you can tell that a city run by progressive Democrats is just better run than your hometown, because the city government cares so much.

If you’ve got a good memory, you might recall the “outrage” from Democrats when Republicans bussed migrants to liberal cities. That outrage won’t be found here.

All this, standing ovations and cleaning up San Francisco for a dictator. I’m fully aware that this administration, and Democrats at large, believe they can court China here and drive down tensions. I get that. I think it’s wrongheaded because the White House is giving up leverage when China needs help – China’s economy is in the gutter. Xi is scrambling to save that. The US should use that weakness to drive concessions. Instead, we’re backpedaling, too.

But I raise Xi’s appearance in the US to compare it with what’s happening with Israel. You’ll notice that the people who allegedly oppose “oppression of all kinds” have nothing to say about China. There are no marches for a Muslim minority group being enslaved in China, nothing about forced labor or anything.

You and I both know there are enough leftists to protest this in a place like San Francisco (an anti-Jew mob attacked people outside an LA Holocaust museum). They aren’t raising a finger. It’s another way you can tease out just how much of these “pro-Palestinian protestors” are only there because they hate Jews.

I digress.

Another comparison is how much the White House is bending over to accommodate China. Blinken didn’t want Biden even to say the word dictator. Meanwhile, the White House is claiming it supports Israel in one breath while unlocking $10 billion in frozen aid to Iran in the other.

It’s easy to call this hypocrisy, but it’s deeper than that. It’s wrong priorities, across the abroad. These are actual goals. Biden and his administration are pursuing a course of appeasement of America’s enemies while preventing our allies from responding to existential threats.

It’s wildly out of focus with reality. Then, everything crumbles when Biden accidentally steps “out-of-line” and speaks the truth.

Again, I get there are larger “goals.” This White House fears a larger conflict breaking out. But in that fear, they also miss leverage points that can be used against America’s adversaries. Right now, we’re just giving that up to “ease tensions.”

We’ll see if it works. I have doubts, if only because I remember Robert Gates’s observation on Biden: He was wrong about every foreign policy decision of the last 40 years. We’re hoping Biden gets one right for the first time in his political career.

Links of the week

Biden Unlocks Fresh Funds to Iran Totaling Billions – Washington Free Beacon

The American Multimillionaire Marxists Funding Pro-Palestinian Rage: Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans are China propagandists—and a primary source of the fury exploding on our streets. – Francesca Block, The FP

Pentagon confirms Hamas operating out of Al-Shifa hospital – Politico

Rashida Tlaib member of secret Facebook group where Hamas terrorists glorified: ‘Squad’ member has been part of controversial group for 6 years – Fox News

Hamas terrorist who paraded Shani Louk’s body has been killed by IDF and is ‘roasting in hell forever,’ rabbi says – NYPost

3-year-old American girl crawled from under murdered dad’s body before she was taken hostage by Hamas – NYPost

Israel finds body of Gaza hostage near Al-Shifa hospital: Her body was found by the IDF’s 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion operating in Gaza as part of Operation Swords of Iron. – JPost

Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Professor in Killing of Jewish Man – Washington Free Beacon

CNN Stealth Edits Headline That Said Jewish Homicide Victim ‘Fell and Hit His Head’ – Washington Free Beacon

WATCH: ‘A Real Slap’: Mom of Hamas Hostage Says US Official Clueless About Hamas Treatment of Hostages – Washington Free Beacon

WATCH: Anti-Israel Protesters Injure Cops, Force Evacuation of Lawmakers From DNC Headquarters – The Washington Free Beacon