Does rapid retirement of Shedeur Sanders’ jersey forecast a Deion exit?



#2 has been scratched off the list of available jersey numbers for future Colorado Buffaloes players. Just three months after his college football career ended, Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders’ youngest son, had his jersey retired. It now resides in Folsom Field, the Buffaloes' home stadium.

Most athletes have to wait years for such an honor. Occasionally, the standard is bent for extraordinary players or in cases of tragic death. Neither applies to Shedeur.

Jason Whitlock says the move to retire his jersey screams nepotism and potentially foreshadows Deion’s exit.

Rashaan Salaam, the University of Colorado’s first Heisman trophy winner, had to wait 23 years for his jersey to be retired, says Jason. Compare that to Shedeur, who “after going 13-12, 1-8 against top 25 opponents” gets “spanked in his only bowl game appearance.”

“He’s like the George Floyd of college football, getting statues and tributes and memorials undeserved,” he adds.

In a press conference, Deion was asked about the controversial decision to retire Shedeur’s jersey. Clearly agitated, he snapped, “If his last name wasn't Sanders, we wouldn't have this discussion.”

“Yes, because if his last name wasn't Sanders, his number wouldn't be retired,” says Jason. “Deion Sanders has turned his son into his sugar baby; he's made him an idol.”

Sanders went on to argue that waiting years to bestow honor on someone is outdated and that we’re in the “now generation,” where instant gratification is the norm.

“I give you your flowers now; I'm not going to wait 20 years down the street, then to bring you back when you limping and barely walk or some tragedy happens to recognize your greatness and what you contributed to this program,” he said, noting that Shedeur and Travis Hunter, whose jersey was also retired, “deserve what they deserve right now.”

“Everything we get is right now; we want something, we order off Amazon right now. We ain't in no waiting generation no more. That's over. That’s a wrap on that,” Deion added.

While he may be right about the nature of our now-obsessed culture, it doesn’t mean we should embrace it as good.

“This is idolatry,” says Jason. “I’m embarrassed for Deion Sanders.”

“Fearless” guest Steve Kim adds, “When Coach Prime said if his name was not Sanders we wouldn't be talking about it, it’s the most unironic self-own I've ever seen. I'm like, ‘Yeah, Coach, we all agree.”’

“I know for a fact that a lot of the great Colorado Buffaloes that have that big shiny 1990 co-national championship ring, who built that program, they're not happy about this,” he says.

Steve argues that the real reason Shedeur’s jersey was retired is not because we’re in the “now generation” but rather because “at this point, Deion Sanders has the leverage.”

Jason agrees. “This to me screams this is Deion’s final year at Colorado” because if he was planning to stay, he would have waited longer than three months to retire his son’s jersey.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.

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Luka’s 45-point revenge: Whitlock says Mavs trade is WAY deeper than just stupidity



On Wednesday, April 9, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks faced off on Dallas’ home court with the Lakers coming out victorious for the second time since Luka Dončić was traded to the team back in February. In the first game back in February, Dončić put up 19 points.

In the second game, however, his performance was truly astonishing. Dončić scored 45 points against his old team that traded him – a generational talent and the former face of the franchise – for 32-year-old Anthony Davis.

The trade has been condemned by many sports critics as the worst trade in NBA history. In response to Luka's staggering performance, ESPN analyst and former NBA player Jay Williams called the trade “basketball treason” and “self sabotage.” The scoreboard seems to confirm it.

Are the Mavs regretting their decision to let Luka go?

Well, that all depends on why they made the trade in the first place. Jason Whitlock and Jay Skapinac, host of “Skap Attack,” debate the real reason behind the Luka trade.

Skap chalks it up to pure stupidity on the part of Mav’s general manager Nico Harrison.

Harrison and Mavs ownership “lost their minds” when they traded Dončić – “an absolute generational star,” he says.

“The only two players ever to score at least 30 points per game in their playoff careers [are] Michael Jordan and Luka Dončić, and they trade that guy for Anthony Davis and one first round draft pick?” he asks in disbelief.

Skap predicts that the Mavs’ ship will sink early in the play-in tournament, if they can maintain their play-in position, while the Lakers, thanks to their new addition, may become “the best team in the Western conference.”

“Thanks for nothing, Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks,” he sighs.

Whitlock, however, doesn’t think it’s that simple. Anybody who knows the basics of basketball understands that trading Luka is basketball suicide, so there must be another reason behind it.

Two theories have him interested.

Theory #1: The NBA pushed for the trade because they “wanted LeBron to have a playoff run.”

Theory #2: The trade was spurred by the owners — the Adelson family — who want to use the team to “leverage their way into a casino and new arena.”

“Blaming Nico is an easy way out,” says Whitlock.

To hear more of the debate, watch the clip above.

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How Trump’s fiery Zelenskyy meeting could lead to 5 MASSIVE victories



Last Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy found himself in an icy Oval Office when his insistence that the U.S. continue to support Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia didn’t land well with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

The exchange between the three leaders culminated in a heated argument that ended with no mineral deal signed, Trump threatening to pull “out” if a deal between Russia and Ukraine isn’t made, Zelenskyy being asked to leave the White House, and uncertainty regarding Ukraine's relationship with the U.S.

“Zelenskyy was just playing a game, and you don’t play a game against Trump,” especially when “you don't have any cards” left, says Glenn Beck.

What President Trump is doing, he says, is “playing 5D chess” with both Ukraine and the world.

And his strategy is brilliant. It’s one that could end in five massive victories.

Potential victory #1: Ends the killing and waste of US dollars

Forcing Ukraine to make a deal with Russia would first and foremost stop the killing, which thus far has been relatively mild when you consider death counts in prior wars.

There have been “250,000 people lost in this war. Could be much, much higher. Let's end it ... because I don't even think anybody even knows what this [war] is about anymore,” Glenn says.

Further, “It ends the spending of the United States in Ukraine where we don't have any idea where any of it is going,” he adds. “It is a corrupt country. I don't want to be helping their sock industry.”

Under the corrupt Biden regime, our tax dollars were “paying for all of the Social Security benefits for everybody who has worked in the Ukrainian government,” along with other non-war-related causes.

But this “bleeding of money” will stop if Ukraine can be pushed into a deal with Russia.

Potential victory #2: The illusion of Russian victory

A deal between Ukraine and Russia "lets Putin go home while declaring a win.” However, “Everyone else knows he actually lost,” says Glenn.

After all, his original goal was “to go in there and in two weeks take Ukraine.” Three years later, “He still only has 20%” of the country.

Striking a deal now would mean Putin "can go home and declare he won because he's got some land,” but the truth the rest of us will know is “he lost” because “the idea that Russia can just plow into Europe has now been proven to be false.”

Potential victory #3: The acquisition of rare-earth minerals

“Russia and Ukraine are sitting on a gigantic pile of rare-earth minerals,” says Glenn. “If you don't know what that is, that's the thing that makes your computer work. If we don't have rare-earth minerals, we cannot compete in the world of tomorrow.”

He then explains that the U.S. currently relies heavily on China, which dominates the global supply, for rare-earth minerals. Striking a deal with Ukraine or Russia would allow us to distance ourselves from China while saving money.

On one hand, “giving money to Russia,” which has its own wealth of mineral resources and currently occupies a significant amount of mineral-rich Ukrainian territory, could be “a win for us because we're getting [rare-earth minerals] at a discount,” Glenn explains, noting that a money-motivated Putin would go "away not happy but not vengeful.”

On the other hand, if a deal between the U.S. and Ukraine is signed, then the U.S. will have access to Ukraine’s rare-earth mineral resources, while Ukraine has money for reconstruction. If such a deal is struck, “America's interests are now in Ukraine” — something that ought to tempt Zelenskyy.

Potential Victory #4: A NATO out?

While President Trump has floated the idea of exiting NATO and would likely do it if all the necessary factors aligned, what he really wants above all is “to stop paying 70% for the defense of Europe,” says Glenn.

“Because of the WEF strategy over in Europe, you have them coming together on Zelenskyy’s side. That's not going to make NATO stronger because America is not going to go and get involved,” he explains, noting that America sending troops into NATO is just “not going to happen.”

“That weakens NATO, but it also does what? It forces NATO to spend more money on their own defense — a win for America,” he continues.

Further, “The World War II model for the world takes a major hit,” which is a “goal of anybody who wants to get out of NATO,” including Donald Trump.

Potential victory #5: China loses Russia

“China loses the rare-earth minerals that Russia just captured; China loses its grip not just on Russia but also on us,” says Glenn, reminding us that rare-earth minerals are “what this whole thing is all about.”

“Anybody who says that Trump is stupid [or] Trump is causing a war” is misled, says Glenn.

“No, he's not, but the world is changing, and for once, finally, we have a president that knows how to negotiate ... on so many levels,” he adds, calling Trump’s abilities “mind-boggling.”

To hear more of Glenn’s commentary, watch the clip above.

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Sketch Artists Get Their Day in Court

No doubt there’s a legal thriller about nearly every participant in the courtroom. Lots of noirish books about dogged prosecutors, dashing defense attorneys, a judge with home-life issues. Clint Eastwood just made Juror #2 about a juror who might have actually done the crime.

The post Sketch Artists Get Their Day in Court appeared first on .

Christian animated series 'Gabriel and the Guardians' to get its own comic adaptation with Rippaverse



A Christian anime series is heading to print after hosting an incredibly successful crowdfund that spawned the series.

Angel Studios, the company behind the film "Sound of Freedom," ran a massively successful campaign for the new animated show that garnered over $550,000 and promised to deliver 13 episodes. With just under 1,500 backers, the show drew a whopping average contribution of over $370 per person.

Now that the series is coming to fruition, Rippaverse Comics will bring the show to print as its own manga-style comic series.

'A gift from the Lord.'

The move is part of what has become a massive swing in the media space in terms of publishing and content.

For starters, "Gabriel and the Guardians" is inspired by ancient Hebrew text, taking themes from sources like the book of Genesis. The story follows Gabriel, a celestial guardian who is tasked with recovering a powerful artifact. The show features themes of identity, faith, and the Bible, which are not often broached in an animated series of this caliber.

At the same time, Rippaverse Comics has pushed its way into the publishing space with a firm stance of focusing on content, not progressive themes.

Rippaverse Comics founder and BlazeTV contributor Eric July called the new partnership a "gift from the Lord."

"Couldn't be more grateful," July added in an X post.

— (@)

The new comic will be run by RippaSend, the publishing wing of Rippaverse Comics, which has a stated goal of providing artists a platform to showcase their talents.

July successfully began publishing his own woke-free comics in 2022, starting with "Isom #1," which raised over $3.7 million in a preorder after a stated goal of $100,000. Then "Isom #2" raked in nearly $1 million in preorders within the first 24 hours of its release.

The company now has a cavalcade of characters and stories in its lineup and has a lot to draw from with "Gabriel and the Guardians."

The production has already been greatly received, with top-tier voice talent including Matt Lanter (Lego Star Wars, Call of Duty), Cristina Valenzuela (Sailor Moon, Evil Dead: The Game), and even Johnny Yong Bosch, who starred in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."

Many fans have since theorized the move could signal that Rippaverse Comics is making the jump into animated productions with Angel Studios, but the crossover remains unclear.

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Someone in the United States is buying MASSIVE amounts of gold. What’s going on?



“There's something going on with gold, and nobody really knows what it is,” says Glenn Beck, pointing to the following “must-read” tweet thread from Matt Smith:

— (@)

“Somebody here in the United States is buying a crapload of gold. We think (I hope) it’s the Treasury or the Central Bank,” he says.

Whoever is behind the purchases — “somebody with very deep pockets” — isn’t just collecting gold notes, either.

Whoever this mysterious somebody is, they’re “taking huge physical deliveries, and it's causing shortages in London,” says Glenn.

What on Earth is going on?

Glenn dives into two potential outcomes.

Outcome #1: Trump returns the US dollar to the gold standard

It’s possible that “they're preparing for a full-on gold audit,” says Glenn, noting thaton the government's balance sheet, its gold assets are “valued at $45 an ounce.”

However, the true value of gold as of now is actually “$2900 an ounce.”

“So they're talking now about boosting the price of gold, at least market to market, but maybe even making it $5,000 an ounce. If that happens, the balance sheet starts to fall into line and our debt to GDP is not as bad as it really is right now,” Glenn explains.

“We're coming to a place where we’re not going to be able to finance the debt,” he says. This effort to “reshore up our balance sheet and make ourselves healthier” is “because we're at the end of the dollar. We're at the end of this financial system.”

“So this is an endgame. It’s why tariffs are being brought in,” which will “cause inflation to rise,” Glenn says.

“If [tariffs] are not done exactly right,” the average person will be “punished with higher prices.” However, Donald Trump “is betting that wages will also rise because he's forcing people to keep their profits here and make jobs here.”

“If everything goes right, what the trade on gold is showing us is that we may be going towards a gold-backed financial system or a gold-backed currency of some sort,” says Glenn, adding that “the FED could even be shut down.”

He then explains that “the dollar could be, by design, being collapsed.”

“That's exactly what the Biden administration was doing ... but they didn't have a plan to replace it other than a digital dollar and global slavery. I'm not sure what the plan is here, but it seems much more American-centric — good for America and eventually good for the rest of the world,” says Glenn.

Outcome #2: Nobody owns anything

He then points back to Smith’s X thread — specifically to the part where he suggests that “they’re reshoring the gold that might have been leased out.”

“That’s rehypothecation” says Glenn, warning his listeners that they need to watch carefully for this word in the coming days.

Rehypothecation, he explains, is when “we've taken one asset and we've counted it on several different accounting books.”

If this happens, that means “no one owns anything,” says Glenn, calling it “a Ponzi scheme.”

To hear his advice for the everyday American, watch the clip above.

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Steve Guttenberg helps with hometown evacuations as Los Angeles wildfire rages



Pray for California.

A massive fire continues to rage through the west side of Los Angeles today, spread by winds of up to 100 miles per hour and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in the Pacific Palisades area.

Hollywood journalists want nothing more than a Resistance sequel, but so far it’s not happening.

The fire started Tuesday morning in the Highlands neighborhood, nestled in the hills high above the Pacific Coast Highway. Only one road — Palisades Drive — connects the Highlands to the rest of the city. It soon became jammed as residents fled the area.

Some residents even abandoned their vehicles, causing a problem for first responders racing toward the conflagration.

Lefty Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had more important business to attend to in Africa — celebrating the inauguration of Ghana's new president — but a local news crew did spot a prominent local pitching in: "Police Academy" actor Steve Guttenberg.

"If you leave your car behind, leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there," Guttenberg pleaded to viewers.

“There are people stuck up there," he continued. "So we’re trying to clear Palisades Drive, and I’m walking up there as far as I can, moving cars. ... There are families up there, there are pets up there. There are people who really need help.”

The "Three Men and a Baby" star, a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, served as grand marshal for the neighborhood's 2024 Fourth of July parade.

God bless the Gute — and the brave men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Global cooling

Come back, Ricky!

The Golden Globes handed out trophies Sunday night, but a smaller crowd than usual showed up to watch it.

This year’s telecast, hosted by Nikki Glaser, snagged just 9.3 million viewers, down 2% from last year’s disastrous turn from last-minute fill-in host Jo Koy.

Those numbers don’t sound awful, but just five years ago the show drew double that audience. Credit 2020 host Ricky Gervais, who skewered the Hollywood elite so relentlessly that some stars may still be in therapy from it …

Orange Man Bad fatigue?

Hollywood journalists want nothing more than a Resistance sequel, but so far it’s not happening.

Stars united against President Donald Trump early in the 2016 presidential campaign. Sarah Silverman was among the first to play the Hitler Card(TM) against Trump. It failed. Madonna somehow avoided a Secret Service door-knock after saying she dreamed of blowing up the White House.

Now, with Trump’s commanding Nov. 5 victory in pocket, Celebrity Nation could play its Orange Man Bad greatest hits. So far, the band remains pretty quiet.

The Hollywood Reporter mourned that reality in a recent op-ed. Now, Variety takes a swing at the subject, reading between the lines to find that the true-blue Resistance is about to break open.

Really. Just wait. It’s coming.

“Entertainment Executives Want to Play Ball with Trump. The Stars Who Work for Them May Have a Different Idea,” reads the headline. The article cited trans actor Karla Sofia Gascon’s Golden Globes speech for his winning film “Emilia Perez” as proof.

If you squint, you can see the writer double- and triple-crossing his fingers.

“I am who I am … not who you want." Talk about defiance! Her message was about the dignity and rights of trans people, but given the timing of it, at a globally televised awards ceremony taking place two weeks before the inauguration of Donald Trump, you could hear another message nestled inside it: that the resistance isn’t going away.

Four-plus years ago, stars actively wished for Trump’s death. Now, you have to read between the lines of an awards show speech to glean something remotely Resistance-y …

Clint laughs last

Warner Bros. Discovery had what could be Clint Eastwood’s last movie and said, “Eh, let’s dump it on streaming.”

“Juror #2,” starring Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and J.K. Simmons, appeared in a smattering of theaters before heading to VOD and Max. The film follows a father-to-be (Hoult) who fears he has a personal, and deadly, connection to the case he’s been asked to help adjudicate.

Now, Eastwood is having the last laugh. The film has sat in the number-one spot on Max’s top movie list since debuting on the platform Dec. 20. Oh, and critics loved the movie, giving it a 92% “fresh” rating at RottenTomatoes.com.

Why trust a Bible that doesn't condemn all forms of slavery? The surprising ethics of scripture



Talk to an atheist about the moral wisdom in scripture, and seconds later, you’ll hear him make a statement about the Bible’s stance on slavery. The appeal to slavery is expected to end all arguments about the obviously bankrupt Iron Age morality of the Bible and to lift up modern moral sensibilities as clearly superior in every way.

As I’ve listened to so many responses to these concerns from Jews and Christians, none have resonated with me. Too many are an attempt to defend the Bible by appealing to an evolving morality that makes it sound like God is becoming increasingly moral throughout human history until he reaches the apex of morality that just so happens to align with the popular morality of our day.

The Bible is the most ethical book ever written.

Besides the self-congratulatory chronological snobbery of these kinds of arguments, I suspect that the opposite is more likely to be true. The Torah, also called “the Law” (the first five books of the Bible), contains some of the most ethically insightful writings in scripture. The rest of the Bible does not evolve past this part of the Bible. On the contrary, it is founded on the bedrock of the Torah.

This brings us back to the slavery question because there’s no way to argue that the Torah denounces all forms of slavery. How can modern Christians and Jews embrace the Torah as the revelation from God when we’ve all agreed that some of the things it accepts we see today as morally evil?

The answer is that the Torah has a more ethical and nuanced vision of slavery than any legal code in human history, including our own.

Far from being embarrassed by the Torah or promoting a movement of “unhitching from the Old Testament,” we need to be more confident than ever that the ethical elements of the Torah are trustworthy and their goodness and perfection point far past the Iron Age author to the inspiration of a transcendent, all-knowing, and perfectly ethical God.

The problem is that events in the recent past have demented our ability to discuss a topic like slavery.

There are three things virtually everyone having this conversation agrees on:

  1. The recent, widespread kidnapping of slaves on an industrial scale based on racial characteristics and then making them property, thus giving their owners the freedom to abuse and work them to death without repercussions, is one of the worst human rights abuses in human history.
  2. That slavery is best understood and defined by the above practice.
  3. Thus, slavery is always evil and should be condemned everywhere and every time it was ever practiced, including in the distant past.

While it seems we’ve all agreed to these three propositions, I’d take serious issue with statement #2. That statement is why we can’t look at examples of slavery in the Bible and understand how it might be seen as ethical. Biblical slavery does not involve kidnapping, is not based on race, was not practiced on an industrial scale, and did not give slave owners the kind of rights they would have over other kinds of physical property.

There is nothing good or ethical about the kind of slavery practiced during the time of the transatlantic slave trade. It was pure evil and would have been condemned by any thoughtful reading of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

But it’s only one type of slavery.

What are the other types of slavery? Here are four examples of slavery the Bible would have allowed in ancient Israel. Some of these forms of slavery are unwise to practice today; others are being practiced but are not being categorized as slavery. But all are ethically permissible and perfectly understandable in their native context.

The following examples constitute the vast majority of instances of slavery as described in scripture:

  1. The forced labor of prisoners of war: During World War 2, the allies engaged in wide-spread forced labor of German and Japanese prisoners of war. They were treated more humanely than any other prisoners of war, and this treatment inspired no popular outcry against this kind of slavery because it’s reasonable to insist prisoners contribute to the cost of their confinement. The majority of slavery in biblical times was this type and especially involved women and children of enemy forces after most of the men were killed when the choice was between extracting labor or starvation.
  1. The forced labor of convicted felons: It takes a large-scale industrial economy to house, feed, and guard a huge population of prisoners. The United States, for example, incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any country on Earth, and it’s also the world’s largest economy. These two facts are connected. Ancient societies did not have the wealth required for lengthy prison sentences. The death penalty or forced labor were the only two economically viable pathways to deal with felons. But these felons could refuse to work, and forcing labor in this way is why this can be categorized as slavery.
  1. The forced labor of those in debt: Today, the U.S. government provides loans for college students in order to extract the value of their future labor. This forced labor and repayment is inescapable even in bankruptcy court and makes students into debt-slaves for decades. This was the second-most common practice in biblical times. However, this was not a practice aimed primarily at young adults but was more often debt created by a father of a family and was debt he would incur while attempting to acquire family assets.
  1. Voluntary indentured servitude: In the early days of the colonial settlement of the United States, settlers earned their passage across the ocean by agreeing to a contract of many years of labor once they reached the new world. This kind of slavery is the type most written about in the Torah. It involves strict restrictions on the family holding these contracts where slaves were encouraged to get their freedom but could voluntarily pledge themselves for life to a family who would then be responsible for caring for them.

While these kinds of slavery were allowed in scripture, there were additional laws designed to prevent the unjust treatment of slaves:

  1. Kidnapping in order to enslave was forbidden in both the Old and New Testaments (Exodus 21:16; 1 Timothy 1:10)
  2. Mistreating slaves physically earned their freedom (Exodus 21:24-27)
  3. Slaves set free were entitled to some property by their master (Deuteronomy 15:12-18)
  4. Everyone was encouraged to avoid slavery and get out of enslavement (Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Corinthians 7:21)

The Bible is the most ethical book ever written. Christians and Jews must not allow the thoughtless grandstanding of those who make straw-man arguments and rely on a biblically illiterate public and a simplistic understanding of slavery to take cheap shots at the wisdom of scripture.

Never be embarrassed by the Bible. The Bible would not be a better book if it condemned these four types of slavery. It would be a worse book condemning millions to greater mistreatment and the starvation that would inevitably result from making these options illegal.

This essay was adapted from an article originally published at Jeremy Pryor's Substack.

Harris-supporting Village People singer grateful Trump keeps dancing to 'Y.M.C.A.'



A member of the popular 1970s band the Village People is grateful to President-elect Donald Trump for making the group's classic tune "Y.M.C.A." great again.

In a lengthy Facebook post on Monday, 73-year-old Victor Willis — the self-described "singer and writer of the lyrics" for "Y.M.C.A." — claimed that he has "benefited greatly" from Trump's use of the song at his campaign rallies.

"Y.M.C.A. was stuck at #2 on the Billboard chart prior to the President Elect’s use," Willis wrote. "However, the song finally made it to #1 on a Billboard chart after over 45 years (and held on to #1 for two weeks) due to the President Elect’s use."

Willis added that the "financial benefits" have been nice too, claiming that the song has grossed "several million dollars" since Trump began playing it.

'I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.'

Willis was not always fond of Trump using the song. Four years ago, Willis asked him to stop, claiming that the complaints he had received about the song's use during Trump events had become a "nuisance."

However, there were some complications associated with asking Trump to cease using the song. For one thing, Willis admitted, the Trump campaign had "every right" to continue playing the song at rallies, despite Willis' misgivings, because it had "obtained a political use license from BMI," a performance rights organization.

Additionally, Willis' view on the subject began to soften after he realized that Trump seemed "to genuinely like Y.M.C.A." and was "having a lot of fun with it," he said. At that point, Willis said he "didn’t have the heart to prevent" Trump from continuing to use the song, especially since so many other artists had withdrawn their works from his rally playlists.

Now that "Y.M.C.A." has become a hit once again on account of Trump's rallies and iconic dance moves, Willis, who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, has fully changed his tune. "I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song," he wrote.

In his post, Willis also took issue with people calling "Y.M.C.A." a "gay anthem," calling that label "misguided" and even "defamatory." Though Willis acknowledged that some members of the Village People are gay and that gay men may have met up at their local Y to engage in unsavory "activities," the song was never about gay people or a gay lifestyle.

"When I say, 'hang out with all the boys' that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that," he explained.

"Get your minds out of the gutter."

Willis, who has been married to his second wife for 17 years, even threatened to take legal action against any outlet that refers to "Y.M.C.A." as a "gay anthem," beginning next month.

He believes that, if anything, "Y.M.C.A." is popular because of its "appeal to people of all [stripes] including President Elect Trump."

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Exclusive: DOJ may be curbing executive authority, report reveals



Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has implemented several "substantial" edits to the Department of Justice manual in order to concentrate her office's power, according to findings from the Article III Project obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

The exclusive report shows Monaco's various ties to Big Tech entities like Google, which, combined with her consolidated power at the DOJ, could be "undermining" President Joe Biden's long-standing antitrust policies.

"Just about the only thing President Biden got right in his nearly four years is his antitrust law enforcement against Big Tech," Mike Davis, president and founder of the Article III Project, told Blaze News.

'If Lisa Monaco is looking for her next job and can't do her current job, she should resign immediately,' Davis told Blaze News.

"Now, Lisa Monaco, Biden's #2 Justice Department official, seems to be undermining her boss' long-standing antitrust policies to curry favor with Google, a trillion-dollar Big Tech monopolist currently facing two game-changing antitrust lawsuits from the Biden Justice Department for its egregious abuse of the online search and advertising markets," Davis continued.

Monaco was previously a partner at O'Melveny & Meyers, a law firm that represented Big Tech companies like Apple and Google in class-action and copyright cases, as well as patent lawsuits and antitrust actions, according to the report. Monaco also worked as an adviser for WestExec, working closely with Google on Project Maven, a controversial defense contract to develop artificial intelligence for drones.

In March of this year, authority to edit the DOJ manual shifted from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys to the manual's "Editor-in-Chief" and "Managing Editor," according to the report. Both of these positions are hand-selected by the DAG. As a result, Monaco was able to tailor the language in the manual to strengthen her authority and weaken that of an incoming administration.

At the same time, a line was added to the manual clarifying that "any questions about the controlling internal policy or procedure should be directed to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General," according to the report.

Under Monaco, the manual was also edited in December 2022 to give the DAG power to "delegate authority to adjudicate disciplinary actions pertaining to non-career attorneys," according to the report. The manual was also altered to include a provision allowing the DOJ to adjudicate appeals regarding personal misconduct from the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Inspector General.

The report also compares several portions of the manual that were amended to mandate the DAG's authorization for various communications.

For example, a section called "Communication with the White House" was added to the manual in April 2022, requiring that the initial communications between the White House and the DOJ include only the DAG or AG and the counsel or deputy counsel to the president, according to the report.

Additionally, all communications from high-level security officials in the DOJ, requests for legal opinions from the White House, and communications between the White House and the Office of the Solicitor General with regard to the Supreme Court all must involve only the AG, DAG, or solicitor general, according to the report.

All of these efforts by Monaco to consolidate her office's power, given her past ties with Big Tech companies, pose questions about her compliance with antitrust policies, according to the report.

"If Lisa Monaco is looking for her next job and can't do her current job, she should resign immediately," Davis told Blaze News.

The press inquiry office at the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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