Happy Monday!

Let’s get pouring on this fine fall morning. 

Republicans Try AGAIN for a New Speaker. Nine Now In the Running

Candidates for House Speaker are starting to pile up like autumn leaves. Nine now who have tossed their hat in the ring, with Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) jumping in Sunday. A candidate forum is scheduled for 6:30 tonight, with an internal conference vote Tuesday morning. 

🚨🚨BREAKING — NINE GOP candidates for speaker.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Republican Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson, RSC Chair Kevin Hern (Okla.), Reps. Byron Donalds (Fla.), Austin Scott (Ga.), Jack Bergman (Mich.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Gary Palmer (Ala.) and Dan…

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 22, 2023

Reminder to Republicans: Picking a Speaker shouldn’t have more self-induced drama and posturing than a season of The Bachelor.

Always Check the Fine Print

In his national address Thursday night, Joe Biden said he wants $14 billion for U.S. border security. Makes sense. You have literally a record number of illegal immigrants coming into the country in September, with a good number from regions and nations not exactly friendly.  Folks on terrorist watch lists are already popping up.  So let’s seal that border tight. Well … . Look at the fine print. The White House doesn’t want to use the money to actually secure the border, but to accelerate getting people into the country. Expanding “lawful pathways” and helping people “resettle in the United States.” 

What’s the saying? “Never let a genocidal massacre go to waste.”

Or in this case, “Never let a massacre go to waste. I’m going to the beach.” (Yup. The president — with American hostages experiencing untold horrors, China moving ships into the the Middle East, Israel threatening to lay waste to the “head of the snake” (Iran) if its Hezbollah proxies jump into the fray — spent the weekend chillin’ at his beach pad in Rehoboth. Well, Middle Atlantic beaches in autumn are splendid and having pro-Hamas protesters screaming at your White House gate is bad for getting good shut-eye.)  

So what are the illegal immigration numbers, according to Customs and Border Protection’s report out Saturday? For Fiscal Year 2023 — October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023 — agents encountered 3,201,144 illegal immigrants. As PJ Media notes, that record amount is up 434,000 over last year.

Campus Love for Terrorists

Pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations continue filled with curses and condemnation of Israel and praise for the Hamas “resistance.” Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a resolution last week to condemn anti-Semitic student groups and protests in support of Hamas. The resolution was blocked by Maryland Sen. Chris van Hollen.

Van Hollen gave his reasoning. And Hawley gave a blistering response.

.@HawleyMO just tried to pass a resolution condemning antisemitic student actions on college campuses across the U.S.

Sen. Van Hollen blocked it. Said it smeared students engaged in pro-Palestine/anti-Israel protests.

Then leaves, as Hawley responds. pic.twitter.com/E4l3do6FTO

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 19, 2023

Florida Gov. and GOP candidate Ron DeSantis declares,” When I’m President, if foreign students are out there celebrating terrorism, I will cancel their visas and send them home.”

Disgraceful Adults

Some want to cut students some slack because they’re young, susceptible and, well, doing dumb things in college is almost a given. But what about adults?

Take the woman in this video from Libs of TikTok, tearing down pictures of women and children taken hostage by Hamas.

WATCH: A woman in Chestnut Hill, MA, which has a large Jewish population, was filmed tearing down pictures of the women and children who Hamas terrorists took hostage. She then turns to the camera and smiles before walking away. pic.twitter.com/EGALJkznB5

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 20, 2023

Libs of TikTok offered an update Sunday. This woman, who is one of many going around taking down pictures of the kidnapped, has been identified as dentist Dr. Zena Al-Adeeb. She has been fired. Also, a New York City cardiologist named Dr. Anthony DeCicco admitted he sedated an Israeli patient to “quiet him” down after being challenged over his Palestinian pin.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post quietly edited a caption that described children who had been kidnapped amid the unimaginable bloodbath of October 7 as “detained.”

Ohio Town Sees the Light After Trying to Ban Faith-Based Booth From Festival

Jake and Jan Seabaugh were allowed to sell their faith-based wares at the 50^th Annual Groveport, Ohio Apple Butter Day festival last week after all. The Seabaughs had been reserved booths for years, selling such items as wood carvings, crosses, doves, a Star of David and signs like “Peace, Believe, Love.” Except this year, the city sent word it was banning “faith-based” items, claiming that Groveport wanted to avoid “endorsing” religion.

Then, as World News Daily reports, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) got involved reminding city officials that the Supreme Court is now crystal clear: the ‘government must abstain from regulating speech when the specific motivating ideology or the opinion or perspective of the speaker is the rationale for the restriction.”

According to FIRE, their letter worked. Groveport reversed its new policy, allowed the sale of faith-based items and personally reached out to Jake Seabaugh, as well as a church and a religious organization that had previously reserved booths at Apple Butter Day, to notify them of the policy change.

And for the record, I gained ten pounds just looking through the photos from Apple Butter Day posted by Groveport.  

Along The Stream

We are honored to kick off a weeklong series from Dr. Jim Garlow on “Understanding Israel’s War.” Part One is “How Did We Get Here?” What a great primer!

Our John Zmirak got a sneak peak at Dinesh D’Souza’s new documentary Police State, which is in theaters tonight and Wednesday. He’ll give you a rundown on what he calls “the most important Conservative film ever made in America.” 

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and co-author of the counter-terrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.