Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea. Let’s dive into the latest news.

Assassination Porn, FBI Version: Reaction to Revelation FBI Was Ready to Use “Deadly Force” in Mar-a-Lago Raid

Fallout continues from Tuesday’s revelation that the FBI was set to use “deadly force” in its raid on Mar-a-Lago. (All you need to know about the cases of the presidents’ respective possession of classified documents:  Guns for Trump, kid gloves for Biden.)

The former president reacted to the news on Truth Social.

 

The FBI and its media sycophants say the “deadly force” provision was “standard protocol,” and “no departure from the norm.” As if there is anything standard or normal about sending armed agents swarming into the home of a former president, least of all over pieces of paper.

In a rare statement Tuesday night, the FBI insisted Joe Biden was in the dark about the fact they were packing heat. “The President has nothing to do with, and has zero input on, an Ops Plan. This is an internal law enforcement document and a standardized form that FBI lawyers require before engaging in any enforcement operations.” 

Fact One: Note the phrase “Ops Plan.” They’re not denying Biden’s involvement in the operation — just the paperwork.

Fact Two: It was Biden’s unprecedented decision to shatter the concept of executive privilege by waiving Trump’s executive privilege in May 2022 which allowed the DOJ investigation into the classified documents to happen in the first place. 

Fact Three: Months before the raid, Biden had expressed his frustration that Attorney General Merrick Garland had not been more aggressive in going after Trump.

Fact Four: Garland said he “personally approved” the raid. (And the media want us to believe he didn’t give The Big Guy a head’s up — on an armed raid of a former president and his chief political opponent? Sure, and Michael Cohen is Atticus Finch.)

REMINDER: Even senior FBI agents thought the plan from Biden's AG to use heavily armed agents to raid Mar-A-Lago was absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/JNdY1XQezL

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 22, 2024

FBI whistleblower Bryan Dean Wright said on X his friends still at the Bureau were aghast. “No one thought it was wise or prudent to have authorization of deadly force during the MAL raid. Said one, ‘We kill someone over documents at a US president’s house? Stupid. Unnecessary. Not normal.’”

Speaking of “Not Normal” …

On Tuesday, the White House issued a whopping nine corrections to the transcript of Joe Biden’s speech to the NAACP last Saturday.

Primarily, when Biden was talking about how Barack Obama had sent him to Detroit to deal with the “pandemic” when he was VP, the White House says he meant to say “recession.”

That makes sense. However, don’t forget that in his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, Biden had no idea when he was vice president.

What other notable corrections did they list? He did not save families “$800,000” a year by expanding the Affordable Care Act. He was supposed to say $800.

He also came up with a humorous, if slightly vulgar, substitute for “insurrectionist.” (But we’ll leave that one out of our Afternoon Tea.)

Also not normal: Let’s take a quick look at Joe Biden’s new Navy.

Do you think videos like this show strength and confidence in our military? pic.twitter.com/PdusDIQrmm

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 21, 2024

This stuff makes the Village People look like poster boys for toxic masculinity. Seriously, “In the Navy” was classic ’70s camp. Today it would be a recruitment video.

The fact that this ad is coming out just before Memorial Day adds to the dismay, but paints a clear picture of America in 2024. A trans soldier vamping it up with lip gloss on an aircraft carrier is fine. But Catholics holding a mass for our fallen soldiers is not fine. 

Fighting the “Unnecessary”: Knights of Columbus Sue National Park Service Over Ban of Annual Memorial Day Mass at National Cemetery

Every Memorial Day since at least the 1960s, the Knights of Columbus Petersburg (Virginia) Council 694 has held a Mass in Poplar Grove National Cemetery. However, last year the National Park Service decided to ban any “religious service” by declaring the masses “demonstrations,” which are not allowed at national cemeteries.

The Knights of Columbus, with the help of the First Liberty Institute, has filed suit, asking for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the National Park Service in order for the Catholic group to hold its Memorial Day service next Monday.

The lawsuit notes that in the past (before the current regime took power), park rangers actually assisted in planning the Memorial Day service, in keeping with its mission. “National Cemeteries provide the setting for patriotic services and ceremonies honoring those thousands of veterans interred therein as well as those buried elsewhere.”

We wonder what the “devout Catholic” who heads the administration has to say about yet another example of government-wide efforts to clamp down on religious expression.

A Programming Note: Stream editor and bestselling military author Tom Sileo will be swinging by to talk about his new book I Have Your Back: How an American Soldier Became an International Hero. We will have that for you on Memorial Day. 

Challenging the “Stupid.” School District in Texas Becomes First to Sue Biden Admin Over Wrecking of Title IX

The Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas has become the first school district in the nation to sue the Biden administration over its mutilation of Title IX protections for women and girls.

The Biden rewrite trades biological sex for gender, thus forcing schools to allow biological males to compete in girls’ events and share the same facilities. And any school or district that defies that order faces dire consequences for “misgendering.”

Alliance Defending Freedom filed the suit on behalf of the 11 schools in the Carroll ISD, arguing the edict jeopardizes principles of fairness as well as students’ privacy, safety, and First Amendment rights.

Texas Values, which has been helping Southlake fight back against LGBTQ indoctrination in schools, celebrated the lawsuit. Mary Elizabeth Castle, the group’s director of government relations, said in an email:

Families in Southlake, Texas (Carroll ISD) want the Biden administration to know they have gone too far by forcing school districts to accept the lie that “sex” can be redefined to have over 50 definitions and not just “male” and “female.” President Biden may invite men like Dylan Mulvaney to wear dresses to the White House, but these men and boys don’t belong in girls’ sports or private spaces in Texas schools. Today, Carroll ISD is telling the Department of Education you don’t mess with Texas girls!

Here’s where you come in. Do you know why the Carroll ISD is fighting back?

Because in 2021, local churches upset at the school district’s embrace of DEI, LGBTQ+ radicalism and other woke indoctrination of students got involved in the local elections. Sure enough, that November, the liberal school board was tossed out and conservatives took control. In fact, the election was a blowout. 

If you don’t like the nonsense at your local public schools, Carroll ISD is here to show you that believers and their churches can do something about it. 

 

On The Stream Menu

Legal expert Daniel Street has Part Three of “The Hunting of Sidney Powell.” This dives into the sanctions levied against Powell and the court’s stunning lack of interest in hearing her defense. Plus it delves into Powell echoing a Georgia judge’s concerns over Dominion Voting Systems.

Bunni Pounds offers advice for what to do “When Leaders Disappoint Us, How Do We Overcome Our Pain and Keep Moving Forward?”

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.