We’ve got a Brew filled to the brim today, including two fronts on the war against patriotism. But first …

House of Representatives Votes to Hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in Contempt of Congress

The U.S. House of Representatives voted along party lines Wednesday, 216-207, to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for ignoring a congressional subpoena and withholding the audio of Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur from congressional investigators and the American people.

As we’ve said often here at The Stream, it makes no sense to hold onto the audio by claiming “executive privilege” when the transcript has already been released. It only makes sense to hold onto the audio if you know it doesn’t match the transcript and will prove devastating to Biden’s reelection chances.

What happens next? The U.S. Department of Justice most likely won’t do anything. An internal memo obtained by The Hill lays out why it will not prosecute Garland. It’s actually rather stunning in its lack of self-awareness — or more accurately, the department’s blatant double standard.

For nearly seven decades and across presidential administrations of both parties, the Executive Branch has taken the position that the criminal contempt of Congress statute … does not apply to Executive Branch officials who do not comply with a congressional subpoena based on a presidential assertion of executive privilege.

How cute they are being. This same DOJ made the historical decision to prosecute Trump advisors Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon for the same crime of Contempt of Congress, with both men having claimed they were covered by executive privilege. Bannon had not worked in the White House since 2017. However, Navarro was advising Trump from a position inside the White House, and the Supreme Court is deciding whether his claim of privilege is valid. Navarro is the first White House advisor in history to be convicted of Contempt of Congress.

So when DOJ talks about “based on a presidential assertion of executive privilege” they are playing word games. Simply put, they rushed to prosecute Trump advisors and officials for contempt of Congress, they will refuse to pursue charges against Garland.

There is one other option for prosecuting Garland, however.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is vowing to hold a vote to force Garland’s arrest by the House Sergeant at Arms should the Justice Department not act. This would be under an “inherent contempt” resolution, which would empower the Sergeant at Arms to arrest him. According to Luna, although inherent contempt hasn’t be used in more than 100 years, it used to be “a pretty common practice.”

Patriotic Kid and His Sisters Booted from School

Last month, the principal of St. Bonaventure School in Huntington Beach, California, ordered a student named Jimmy Heyward to remove all references to patriotism he planned to use in a speech. Oddly enough, the speech was to be delivered in Heyward’s race to become “Commissioner of School Spirit & Patriotism.” Heyward refused. Therefore, he was not allowed to give his speech — and in his parents’ words, was “humiliated” in front of his classmates.

In that speech, Heyward decried those who don’t appreciate the USA and “eat nachos during the national anthem.” Plus, his slogan was “Make SBS Great Again,” an obvious play on the Trump campaign slogan.

Thanks to Libs of TikTok, Heyward’s experience went viral, amassing more than 6.4 million views.

This is Jimmy. A middle schooler in California. He ran for “Commissioner of School Spirit & Patriotism” at school.

His principal allegedly made him change his speech and remove all mention of patriotism. When he refused, she reportedly didn’t allow him to give the speech and he… pic.twitter.com/25IaDjP5Zw

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

In a shocking update, Heyward’s mother, Hattie Ruggles, reported Tuesday that he and his sisters have been expelled from the school. In a letter sent to their parents, administrators announced they were terminating the children’s enrollment for next year. The excuse? “Severe violations of the Christian Code of Conduct and Parent Electronic Communication Policy.” The school didn’t appreciate the bad publicity or the Ruggleses’ efforts to get the principal fired.

According to the letter, the decision to expel the children had the “support of the Diocese.”

The war on patriotism goes all the way to the top — or at least to the president’s Cabinet.

Pete Buttigieg: Difference Between Pride Flag and “Appeal to Heaven” Flag

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was on CNN Wednesday, putting aside planes, trains, and automobiles long enough to talk about flags. He wanted to explain to the American people the difference between the pride flag (good) and the historic “Appeal to Heaven” flag (bad.)

Pete Buttigieg says he wants Americans to "understand the difference" between the "pride flag" and the "Appeal to Heaven" flag — which he calls "insurrectionist symbology," despite its commissioning by George Washington in 1775 pic.twitter.com/3C4vMzRQIx

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 12, 2024

Here’s the real difference: If you fly the Appeal to Heaven flag, leftists try to ruin your life. If you don’t fly the pride flag, leftists also try to ruin your life.

But forget all that. Why is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation talking about flags instead of improving our collapsing infrastructure? Yapping about “insurrectionist symbology” rather than airline delays and disintegrating supply chains? Unless his pride flag can be turned into a magic flying carpet, who cares? This is not his job. There is no Secretary of Sexual Identity position in the cabinet … yet.

Hey, here’s an idea, Pete. Use all those pride stickers to keep airplane doors from flying off.

Lia Thomas Loses Appeal to Swim for Women’s Olympic Team

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’s dreams of swimming on the USA women’s team in the 2024 Summer Olympics will go unrealized. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Thomas’s bid to overturn the ban on biological males who have already gone through puberty from competing in World Aquatics events. This kills any hopes Thomas had of competing in Paris. Riley Gaines, the swimmer-turned-activist who was forced to compete against Thomas in college, was elated by the “Great News!” She said on X, “This is a victory for women and girls everywhere.”

U.S. Okays Sending Weapons to Nazi-Connected Military Unit as Biden Signs “Bilateral Security Agreement” with Ukraine

The Biden administration likes comparing its opponents to Nazis, and yet just reversed a policy in order to supply a Ukrainian military unit that has deep, dark ties to Nazi ideology — the controversial Azov Brigade — with American military weapons and training.

The Azov Brigade has been one of the Ukraine’s most effective fighting units in its war with Russia, and its leadership insists it has shed its neo-Nazi origins. The U.S. banned weapons from going to the group in 2014 due to its ideology and brutality.

But now, with Ukraine losing ground to the Russians, the State Department has suddenly determined there’s “no evidence” of Azov Brigade committing gross human rights abuses or violations.

And ever deeper into the Ukrainian abyss we go. Joe Biden is in Europe right now for the G7 Summit. Today, he’s signing a new “bilateral security agreement” with Ukraine. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insists the new agreement does not commit U.S. troops directly to Ukraine’s defense effort.

If it is a “bilateral” agreement, what security is Ukraine going to provide for us?

Biden at the G7

Meanwhile, the G7 Summit again puts Biden on the world stage, just a week after his disastrous display at the D-Day commemoration, three days after he froze during a Juneteenth celebration, and two days after the shock of his son Hunter being found guilty of felony gun charges.

You know how we’re supposed to pray for our leaders? This seems like a darn good time to do that.

Quick question: We are now only two weeks away from the first presidential debate. Do you think it will go on as planned?

Rep. Michael Cloud and Sen. J.D. Vance Introduce Dismantle DEI Act

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) have teamed up to introduce the Dismantle DEI Act, which would eliminate all federal DEI programs and ban the federal government from funding DEI positions at federal agencies or with contractors, organizations receiving federal grants, and educational accreditation agencies.

Said Cloud:

These initiatives, presented as promoting fairness, have instead fostered division and racial bias within our institutions and culture — which is not conducive to serving taxpayers well. This bill is a necessary step to restore merit and equality, not equity, in America’s government institutions, and eliminate the DEI bureaucracy that sows division and wastes taxpayer money.

Just in time for that bit of news …

Along The Stream

Cloud is Bunni Pounds’s guest on a brand-new episode of the “Conversations with Christians Engaged” podcast. In it, they discuss the importance of a biblical worldview.” That goes live at 7 a.m. Eastern time.

 

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.