Iowa is poised to be first in the nation — again!



My little state of Iowa has played a pivotal role in shaping national politics for decades. It began in 1976 with the Iowa caucuses, where many viewed Ronald Reagan as a washed-up politician. Yet, the former California governor challenged a sitting president in the state’s first-ever caucus, setting off political reverberations that reshaped the Republican Party and American politics.

That same year, a little-known Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter, pulled off a major upset in Iowa, launching his path to the presidency. Decades later, Barack Obama’s road to the White House likely would have ended if he hadn’t defeated Hillary Clinton in the Hawkeye State. Iowa also made history by becoming the first state to remove three Supreme Court justices in a retention election, rejecting their ruling on same-sex marriage and striking a blow against the canard of judicial supremacy.

The gloves are off, and lawmakers are being reminded that what may have been a safe election in the past might not stay that way in the future.

Now, with fewer than four million residents, Iowa again has a chance to shift the nation’s political direction. This week, the Iowa Legislature is poised to make it the first state to strip gender identity protections from its civil rights code. And you can bet if this happens in Iowa, the impact will extend far beyond our borders, shaping the national political debate for years to come.

“It’s pretty simple,” said Chuck Hurley, vice president and chief legal counsel for the Family Leader family policy center. “A male is a man, a female is a woman. Gender identity, which was put into the Iowa Civil Rights Code in 2007, 18 years ago, has been a pathetic mistake. It’s allowed men into women’s spaces. It’s forced taxpayers to spend several million dollars on mutilating healthy body parts of people.”

So in a state where Democrats are vastly outnumbered and with President Donald Trump providing more cover than ever before on this issue by slaying Maine’s governor for her trans madness in broad daylight last week, why worry? Well, for the same reason as always: feckless Republicans.

“We already had two Republicans who have gone on the record in opposition to the bill,” said Josiah Oleson, the Family Leader’s elections director. “What’s interesting is you would expect that those Republicans would come from a weak suburban seat that is going to be a tough re-election. But the two who have actually bailed both come from pretty Republican seats that voted for Trump by heavy margins this last fall.”

“So you’re left with the option that they might actually believe this ideology, which is just ridiculous,” Oleson continued. “One of the legislators in the statement he put out in opposition to the bill said that he was afraid that if we didn't allow people to put their preferred gender on their birth certificate, that it might be a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.”

Imagine the reaction if someone had made this argument about gender just a few decades ago — let alone in the 19th century. Anyone pushing such a position now should resign from the legislature out of shame.

Fortunately for supporters of the bill, Hurley and Oleson believe there aren’t enough opponents to block its passage. But they also know how quickly fear can spread, so they’re taking no chances. The gloves are off, and lawmakers are being reminded that what may have been a safe election in the past might not stay that way in the future.

“Looking at the legislators we're concerned about, all but one or two of them didn't even have a primary opponent when they ran this last time,” Oleson said. “But we’re talking about a fundamental issue here that if we can’t agree that a man is a man and a woman is a woman in the conservative movement, then what are we even doing here?”

Hurley added that in his 35 years fighting for legislation at the Iowa State Capitol, one of the biggest problems Republicans have always had is "the people who run for office just because they want to be liked and they get in there and they realize, ‘Uh-oh, we’ve got a very polarized culture. Not everybody likes me anymore.’”

Do they really not understand that calling themselves Republicans won’t win them votes from the transgender mob? Well, let’s make darn sure this time we make them understand. While I’d like to believe strong arguments alone could accomplish that, my experience in broadcasting has shown me that sunlight is the best medicine for the nicer-than-God Republican when he is about to do something really stupid.

Every Iowan should take note of which legislators refuse to act in the wake of the recent federal election landslide. Voters in states like Arizona, Alabama, and South Carolina will be watching to see how Iowa leads with unapologetic clarity and conviction.

As I said before, Iowa has long set national trends, for better or worse. But now, as we debate fundamental issues of reality and decency, we cannot afford to falter. Iowa must lead.

Parental rights activist sounds alarm about in-school clinics that medicalize kids without parents' knowledge



Dozens of public schools across Maine have opened in-school HealthReach Community Health Centers that offer students birth control, vaccines, mental health care, and possibly sex-change drugs.

Some parents have taken issue with the federally funded medicalization of their children's schools, especially since Maine law allows clinics to administer certain drugs and services to kids without parental consent — an opportunity that has already been exploited.

HealthReach assistant director of operations Diandra Staples admitted in October that just last year, seven out of 181 students kept their parents in the dark about services rendered at the clinics, reported WGME-TV. "They'll probably remain confidential for their safety or because they may not have support at home," said Staples.

Alvin Lui, president of the parental rights advocacy group Courage Is a Habit, is sounding the alarm that following months of controversy and debate, a Maine school board "snuck" in a vote for Dec. 5 to install one such federally qualified health center in its district.

"They have to submit their agenda within 5 business days. They waited until Thanksgiving Eve hoping no one would be paying attention through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend," Lui told Blaze News. "If by chance a few parents realize it Tuesday or Wednesday, it would be too late to alert the community. That is what this MSAD 11 school board was counting on."

The "possible approval to host a Health Clinic at Gardiner Area High School in the 2025-2026 school year" is on the agenda for the Maine School Administrative District No. 11 board's Thursday meeting, where Staples is scheduled to give a presentation.

'All will happen immediately, without parental consent.'

"We were fortunate that amazing on-the-ground parents we work with were monitoring, knowing how unethical this school board is," added Lui.

When asked about the admitted instances of "confidential" student visits and whether parents will increasingly be kept in the dark about their kids' medicalization, Lui said, "They are doing the, 'It's not happening, it's not happening that much, but it's good it's happening a lot,' line of dishonest manipulation. The reason they gave for the seven children they had to treat without parental consent (parents are 'unsafe and abusive') will be the same reason they give for the next 70 children, the next 700, and eventually all children whose parents do not agree with transgender ideology and/or birth control."

"This is the same blueprint they used for keeping transgender secrets in schools and the Transgender Trafficking Bills we've been fighting," added Lu, referencing legislation like Maine's LD 227.

Although Courage Is a Habit and other parental rights activists were successful in defeating an earlier version, Gov. Janet Mills ratified Democratic state Rep. Anne Perry's LD 227 in April. LD 227 — which Lui previously referred to as the "Transgender Trafficker Protection Act" — prohibits "interference" with abortions or sex-change mutilations, protects medical practitioners from lawsuits, and conceals the known whereabouts of interstate child runaways from their parents, among other things.

Michelle Tucker, a newly elected member of the school board who has spoken out against state-mandated policies for transvestic students, noted in October, "They are children, and maybe they're not mature enough to make these decisions without parental support."

Lui suggested that whereas parents might be willing to push back against various medical interventions at school, "Children of any age will be paired with an affirm-only counselor or therapist to put them on the transgender path. Children will be given binders and tucking for transgender reasons. Girls will be able to obtain any and all types of birth control. All will happen immediately, without parental consent."

"Ultimately, all medical decisions will be made within school grounds, without parental consent, and all that will be needed is someone at the clinic to deem the parents 'unsafe and abusive,'" added Lui.

Blaze News reached out to the MSAD 11 superintendent's office as well as to HealthReach for comment but did not receive responses by deadline.

When the idea for the clinic at the Gardiner Area High School was first floated, Lindsay Hammes, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement to the Kennebec Journal, "The school-based health centers enhance educational outcomes for students by limiting missed instructional time for external appointments, reducing absenteeism from chronic conditions, and decreasing disciplinary actions among students needing behavioral or medical support."

Ahead of the vote Thursday, Courage Is a Habit created an online form that community members can use in the final hours before the vote to deluge the board with emails expressing their concerns about the initiative.

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'Blaze News Tonight' RECAP: Elon Musk's Trump donation, Secret Service failure, and a Jan. 6 victory



In the wake of Trump’s near-assassinaton, Elon Musk has not only endorsed Donald Trump for president but has also pledged $45 million a month to a Trump-affiliated PAC, likely making him an even bigger target for the left. Corrupt Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.) has been convicted on 16 counts, leading several Democrat senators to call for his resignation, even threatening to expel him if he refuses to step down. Next, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) gives her thoughts in an exclusive interview on Trump’s decision to appoint JD Vance as his running mate, as well as Biden’s calls for unity. Next, former Navy SEAL and security expert Erik Prince joins the show to shed light on the newly surfaced Iranian assassination plot, as well as the failure of the Secret Service not only at the rally but in general. However, there is a hopeful development in one January 6 case. A federal judge ordered the release of January 6 prisoner John Strand. Blaze News investigative journalist Steve Baker calls in to discuss the ruling.

Elon Musk Goes Full MAGA with Monthly $45M Trump Super PAC Pledge | Guest: Erik Prince | 7/16/24 www.youtube.com

Elon gets super political in super PAC donation

Senior politics editor and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media Christopher Bedford joins Jill and the panel on “Blaze News Tonight” from day two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to discuss Elon Musk’s recent political moves and Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez’s conviction.

In regard to Musk’s donation pledge, Bedford says, “My gosh, he’s brave.”

Not only did Musk pledge “$45 million a month, a staggering amount of money,” to a Trump super PAC, but he also expressed his disapproval of Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bill that permits children to transition behind their parents’ backs by vowing to “move his space company to Texas.”

Further, Democrat Senator Bob Menendez, who Bedford says is “one of the more openly corrupt senators” and “an incredibly arrogant politician,” has been convicted on “federal corruption charges.”

Even “the Democrats just want him to go away,” says Bedford.

Further, Julio Rosas, Blaze Media’s national correspondent, who is also attending the RNC convention, spoke with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) about her thoughts regarding Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance.

“It’s the direction I want the party to go in, and that’s going to be America first,” Greene said of Vance.

To Biden’s calls for “unity,” Greene was candid: “If Joe Biden and the Democrats were serious about unity, he would completely stop the weaponized Department of Justice that he has enabled, he would reel back Merrick Garland, he would drop all the charges against President Trump, [and] he would release political prisoners who are being held in prison for years now for protesting election fraud.”

Secret Service failure and Kimberly Cheatle’s refusal to step down

The Secret Service is on high alert after reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump have surfaced. Former Navy SEAL and security expert Erik Prince joins the show to shed light on the threat.

“I think this is a desperate effort to deflect from a completely botched job of protecting the leading Republican candidate and front-runner for the next presidency,” Prince tells Jill, adding that he doesn’t give the threat “a whole lot of credibility.”

“We suffer from a from a whole collection of federal agencies that are bloated, obese, unaccountable, and ineffective, and we continue to steer away from a merit-based, execution-based excellent society to our detriment,” he continues, noting that had Trump been killed, “we could have literally torn the country asunder.”

When Prince points to the lack of merit in our federal agencies, he is, at least in part, referring to Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle’s DEI initiative to ensure 30% of the force is made up of women.

Even though Cheatle has technically “[taken] responsibility” for Trump’s near-assassination, she has nonetheless refused to step down from her position.

While the FBI has sworn to investigate Saturday’s unfortunate events, Jill questions the authenticity of their claims, given “the way that the federal agencies have handled Donald Trump-related issues in the past.”

Prince agrees, stating he has “zero confidence in the federal government being able to investigate itself.”

A January 6 victory

The tides have turned for one January 6 defendant, John Strand, who was ordered to be released by a federal judge this July.

Blaze News investigative journalist and fellow January 6 victim Steve Baker joins the show to explain the details of Strand’s case. Steve tells Jill and the panel that Strand is one of the more “high-profile cases” of all the January 6 defendants.

Strand attended the Capitol on January 6 because he was the friend and bodyguard of Dr. Simone Gold, who was deplatformed during the height of COVID for recommending “alternate therapies that were not part of the approved narrative from the administration.”

Dr. Gold was scheduled to speak at the Capitol that day — an event that was “legally permitted.” When the Oathkeepers and Strand escorted Dr. Gold to her speaking location, however, the chaos had already begun.

“John Strand and Simone Gold did not participate in violence; they did not participate in breaching the Capitol building whatsoever,” says Baker, “but when the doors opened, they, like so many hundreds and even thousands of others, did in fact go inside peacefully, and she actually decided to deliver her prepared remarks there in the Rotunda.”

After Dr. Gold delivered her speech, she and Strand “peacefully left.” However, both were “arrested very early on” and were “charged not only with a handful of misdemeanors,” but also with the “infamous 1512 obstruction of an official preceding felony, which carried up to 20 years potential imprisonment.”

While Gold ended up “taking a plea deal" involving “60 days in prison,” Strand decided that “he was going to be a warrior” and fight the charges. In the end, he was sentenced to “32 months in prison.”

“They committed exactly the same crimes, but because he wasted the government's time and he put them through the hassle of having to prepare for a trial … Simone got two months in prison and he got 32 months in prison,” says Baker.

However, the Supreme Court’s “overturning of 1512" led to Strand’s release.

'Blaze News Tonight' RECAP: Implications of Trump’s near-assassination, JD Vance, and eerie parallels between Trump and Roosevelt



Last weekend, President Trump came within a literal inch of death during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The following Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed his classified documents case due to the unconstitutionality of Jack Smith's involvement. BlazeTV host of “Stu Does America” Stu Burguiere joins "Blaze News Tonight" to discuss the historic last few days for Donald Trump and what they could mean come November. Next, Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford and Blaze Media national correspondent Julio Rosas tune in from the RNC convention in Milwaukee to discuss President Trump's VP pick — Ohio Senator JD Vance — and the anti-Trump protests raging in the streets outside the convention. Next, the panel discusses the group of attendees at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally who witnessed the shooter mount the roof and who called for help but were ignored. Former intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense and chief researcher for Glenn Beck Jason Buttrill joins to break down the failure of the Secret Service to protect former President Donald Trump from danger. Lastly, BlazeTV host of "The Glenn Beck Program" and Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck joins the show to discuss the parallels between the attempted assassination of Trump and that of President Theodore Roosevelt.

'America’s Hitler'?! Biden’s Unity Message TANKS After Trump Picks JD Vance for VP | 7/15/24www.youtube.com

Historic days for Donald Trump

At a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, former president Donald Trump was nearly assassinated when a shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire from a nearby rooftop, hitting Trump in the ear. Two days later, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.

“This is probably one of the craziest sequences of events that I've ever seen in politics,” says BlazeTV’s Stu Burguiere.

“To just have a bullet go through your ear, you're an inch away from dying, to have the presence of mind to stand up there and raise your fist and show America that … not only did this not hurt you, but we're going to keep going is one of the most incredible moments — the most bada** moment — I've ever seen,” he tells Jill.

According to Stu, Trump’s bold display of courage will likely result in “a bump” for him, meaning that people who have never considered voting for him before may find themselves “crossing that line for the first time because there is something really, truly American” about “the way [Trump] reacted.”

Further, Stu suspects the mainstream media will soften toward Trump for a while and conveniently “forget about all the rhetoric” it’s been spreading about his similarity to Hitler.

“You call somebody Hitler over and over and over again, it's going to create an impression among some unstable people that the correct, moral thing to do is to take him out,” says Stu, suggesting that the media’s rhetoric is at least partially to blame for Trump’s almost-assassination.

Republicans unite at Milwaukee RNC Convention, anti-Trump protests rage on

According to Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford, currently attending the RNC convention in Milwaukee, the events that occurred over the weekend seem to be unifying the right.

“The Republicans were already set to walk into this week more unified than the Democratic Party by an absolute long shot, but the historic deadly attack and the attempted assassination that we watched on television on Saturday has even heightened that,” says Bedford, adding that the spectrum of Republicans coming together ranges from warmongering Nikki Haley to 50 Cent.

As for Trump’s VP pick — Ohio Senator JD Vance — Bedford alleges that the majority of convention attendees seem “thrilled with this decision,” but there are certain individuals, “some of the old Tea Party conservatives,” for example, who are not so thrilled.

“What choosing Vance says — a young senator, 39 [years old], in his first term, a rising star, telegenic, intelligent — is it allows the MAGA movement to know that there's some kind of future, a potential successor, after Trump's second term in office if he wins,” Bedford explains.

For all the unity among Republicans, however, there seems to be equal solidarity among Trump-haters. Footage shows mass anti-Trump protests in the streets of Milwaukee, where Trump-Hitler rhetoric has not waned at all.

Blaze Media national correspondent Julio Rosas tells Jill that in the press conference that followed the march on the RNC, protest leaders were “denouncing Trump,” likely realizing that his “popularity [is] rising in the aftermath” of the assassination attempt.

“One of the speakers did say that, generally speaking, she was against any assassination attempt on any politician, but then she caveated that by saying it's undeniable that Trump's rhetoric, policies, and actions has led to the legitimization of political violence by white nationalists,” Rosas reports.

Secret Service failure?

Police forces and Secret Service at the rally where President Trump was shot have come under intense scrutiny after a group of bystanders witnessed the armed shooter mount the roof but were ignored when they reported the threat.

Jill plays the footage of one witness recounting to the BBC’s Gary O'Donoghue that he “[pointed] at the guy crawling up the roof” to police and Secret Service and even told police that “there's guy on the roof with a rifle,” but nothing was done until after Crooks had already started firing.

He also asked: “Why is there not Secret Service on all of these roofs?”

Former intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense and chief researcher for Glenn Beck Jason Buttrill calls the situation “ridiculous” and “chaotic.”

Jason, who’s “worked alongside Secret Service,” says that he “cannot fathom how this happened,” as Secret Service — especially when the protective operation involves a president — will “show up weeks in advance” to conduct a “site survey” for the purpose of developing a “multi-tiered security plan.”

Part of that security plan involves setting up “firing positions” that fall “outside the perimeter,” completely debunking the narrative of the Secret Service director who claimed that “they’re not responsible outside that perimeter.”

All considered, it seems highly unlikely that the roof from which the shooter fired was not considered a high-risk area by the Secret Service prior to the rally.

Parallels between Teddy Roosevelt & Donald Trump’s almost-assassinations

Glenn Beck, a lover of history, couldn’t help but notice several parallels between Donald Trump’s near-death experience and that of Teddy Roosevelt in 1912.

When Roosevelt was shot, the bullet “didn't go into his lungs” but rather “lodged between two ribs because the speech and his glasses,” which he’d put into his front coat pocket, “caught that bullet,” says Glenn, adding that Roosevelt “went on to give the speech” despite his wound.

“The way Donald Trump handled the assassination attempt is almost identical to what Teddy Roosevelt did,” he tells Jill. “When Donald Trump got up and he said, ‘Wait, wait, wait,’ and then he looked at the crowd and held his fist up and he said ‘fight.’ I ... immediately thought of Theodore Roosevelt.”

Jill agrees, adding that Trump “never backs away from a fight,” which is also “what Teddy Roosevelt is known for.”

As for Trump’s decision to select JD Vance as his running mate, Glenn says, “I think it was a really good move.”

Vance, according to Glenn, has the potential to carry on Trump’s legacy and counteract the left’s narrative that Trump will refuse to leave office.

“You could interpret this as … Donald Trump saying, ‘I know I'm only going to be there four years,”’ says Glenn, meaning that Vance, if he runs for president in 2028, could actually accomplish much of what Trump set out to do — things that Trump knows are impossible to achieve in one term.

'Blaze News Tonight' RECAP: Project 2025, the SAVE Act, and Inflation



The left is panicking over Project 2025, villainizing it as far-right extremism, but what's really in the document? Heritage Foundation president and co-author of the initiative Kevin Roberts joins the show to answer questions and debunk lies regarding Project 2025. Next, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) explains the SAVE Act — a bill that would bar non-citizens from voting in the 2024 election. Democrats have largely voted against it; Biden has even vowed to veto it, and yet, 81% of the American people agree that only American citizens should have the right to vote in U.S. elections. What the people want is crystal clear, but how likely is the SAVE Act to pass prior to November? Finally, Carol Roth joins the program to tell us the truth about inflation, including what the recent one-tenth drop means for the average American.

Project 2025: Heritage President DEBUNKS Lies | Guests: Kevin Roberts & Sen. Mike Lee | 7/11/24www.youtube.com

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts on Project 2025

Democrats are in an uproar over Project 2025, calling the initiative far-right extremism and attempting to attach the document to Donald Trump, who has denied any affiliation. Headed by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a detailed plan of policy proposals for the next conservative administration. What's in the document, though? Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation president and co-author of Project 2025, joins the show to "separate fact from fiction."

The list of lies liberals are spreading about Project 2025 grows longer by the day, but "the one thing they get right," Roberts says, "is that we call for the utter elimination of the U.S. Department of Education."

As for the people "doxxing" and "threatening" those behind Project 2025, Roberts promises unapologetic prosecution.

"We are going to prosecute you, and we're going to do that using every ounce of the law. It's going to be peaceful; it's going to be lawful, but you have picked the wrong fight," he says.

Sen. Mike Lee on the SAVE Act

Among the many fears Americans harbor regarding Biden's open border policies that have ushered in millions and millions of illegal immigrants is the concern that non-citizens will be given voting rights prior to the 2024 election, potentially changing the outcome. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), however, alongside Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have proposed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act that aims to ensure only American citizens can vote in the 2024 election. Unsurprisingly, most Democrats have voted against it. Biden has also mentioned vetoing the bill.

Sen. Mike Lee, who joins the show, explains that liberal opposition to the bill is rooted in Democrats' desire to "rely on non-citizens" to impact "a federal election" — something he calls "terrifying."

While Lee admits that they face "some heavy obstacles to passing [the SAVE Act]," he knows that should the bill be voted down, the decision "is going to come at a price," granted "81% of American voters agreed that only citizens — only American citizens — should vote in federal elections," which is "a huge bipartisan supermajority."

Sen. Lee also broke down his op-ed on Blaze News, which discusses the legal lawfare the left has used to take down Trump. "[Democrats] are the rule of law," he says, adding that "Democrats love throwing around ... the term 'our democracy,' and yet, when they use the term democracy, they're more often than not talking about something that is the exact opposite of democracy."

As for President Biden's cognitive decline, Lee says his Democratic colleagues "are referring behind closed doors to this situation ... as the 'Weekend at Bernie's' chat."

"I think they've finally started to accept the fact that they've pushed it so far they can't take it any farther."

Carol Roth on inflation

Blaze News contributor and author of "You Will Own Nothing" Carol Roth joins the show to tell us the truth about inflation, one of the biggest — if not the biggest — complaint of American citizens.

"The top issue on Americans’ minds as they head to the polls is the economy," Roth wrote in her recent article "The GOP needs to stay focused on inflation, not cognition."

Roth, who agrees that Biden's mental acuity is a problem, argues that his administration's destructive policies — including the ones driving inflation through the roof — are the far more pressing issue.

"We're missing the opportunity when we're talking about his cognitive decline to talk about the fact that whether it's Biden or someone they put in his place ... these are the broader policies of not just this man but of the Democrats and that if we want to save our country, we need to be making a change in holding those people accountable, and that goes farther than just Joe Biden," she says.

As for inflation, which as of yesterday was down "one-tenth of 1%," Roth says she isn't hopeful it will make a real difference for the average American.

"A quarter of a percentage point, which is probably what is on the table today for September (if that even happens) isn't going to change things meaningfully," she says, adding that she thinks "we need to see something like a 1% cut ... then maybe Americans start to feel a little bit of relief in terms of anything that is tied to an interest rate."

"The most meaningful thing it will mean is that the $35 trillion in debt we have — that big portion of it that needs to be refinanced plus the almost $2 trillion deficits that we're running that need to be financed — they will be able to be financed hopefully at lower interest rates, which will overtime, theoretically, bring down the deficits and hopefully have a positive impact on inflation ... that's the best we can hope for."

For more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, tune in to 'Blaze News Tonight' daily on BlazeTV.

Chip Roy makes ATF Director SQUIRM when Grilled on 2nd Amendment Views
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Chip Roy makes ATF Director SQUIRM when Grilled on 2nd Amendment Views

Judge upholds hate crime charges against Navy veteran who toppled satanic statue — but a jury will have the final word



A Christian Navy veteran toppled a satanic statue at the Iowa Capitol just before Christmas. A Democratic prosecutor subsequently slapped him with hate crime charges. This week, a judge ensured that the charges would stick.

While the Satanic Temple and the Democratic prosecutor might like to see Michael Cassidy ultimately locked up, his fate will be determined by a jury — a jury likely to contain at least a handful of sympathetic, God-fearing Americans.

"We believe that the jury will have the opportunity to consider all of the facts in this case, including Mr. Cassidy's military service and motivation," Davis Younts, Cassidy's lawyer, told Blaze News. "He was compelled by his faith to act to protect others."

'Enemy of humanity'

The Satanic Temple is an anti-Christian leftist organization that has performed public "unbaptisms"; advocated for mothers to kill their unborn babies by way of its "religious abortion ritual"; agitated to prevent chaplaincy in Florida schools; disseminated satanic literature to kids; held a demonization ceremony in protest of the canonization of the Catholic Spanish priest Junípero Serra; and pushed the LGBT agenda.

In recent years, the ST has also erected multiple demonic statutes across the country on public property. Ahead of Christmas 2023, the Satanic Temple raised one such statue — a ram-headed Baphomet statue holding a red pentacle — along with a satanic altar on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol.

We have reached the point where our Capitols are removing Jefferson while monuments to Satan are erected.\n\nRealize where we are.
— (@)

There was plenty of impotent rage in the face of the seemingly intentional Christmastime affront to both Christians and Muslims. After all, Blaze News previously reported that Baphomet possibly originated as a slight against the Muslim faith.

UCLA professor Zrinka Stahuljak indicated "Baphomet" was originally a French corruption of the name Mohamed. British historian Peter Partner suggested further that the Knights Templar, who reclaimed territory previously occupied by Islamic forces, were accused by inquisitors of worshiping Baphomet as part of what was likely a 14th-century smear.

Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) called the demonic altar "objectionable" but encouraged critics to engage in prayer at the state Capitol.

State Rep. Jon Dunwell (R), a Christian pastor, outlined why this was the optimal response, noting that the Satanic Temple successfully "petitioned for their display in August and were approved with some modification."

Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the ST, noted, "I would hope that even people who disagree with the symbolism behind our values, whether they know what those values [are] or not, would at least appreciate that it's certainly a greater evil to allow the government to pick and choose between forms of religious expression."

Younts, Cassidy's lawyer, told Blaze News, "The reality is that the Satanic Temple of Iowa chose a symbol of hatred, lies, death, and destruction in an effort to mock religious displays during the Christmas season. It would have been reasonable and appropriate for the State of Iowa to deny their application, the same way we would hope an application to display obscene material or a statue honoring Adolf Hitler would be denied."

"The idol was displayed as either a sincere attempt to worship Satan, the enemy of humanity, and promote lies, death, and destruction, or it was placed in an intentional effort to show hatred for and mock the Christian faith and traditional American values," added Younts.

Baphomet takes a tumble

After liking a post by Blaze News columnist Auron MacIntyre, which said, "Periodic reminder that the religious right were correct about everything," Cassidy, of Lauderdale, Mississippi, entered the Iowa Capitol on Dec. 14, 2023, and decapitated the Baphomet statue.

"I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged. My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted," Cassidy, a former F/A-18 Hornet pilot who served on the USS George Washington, said in an interview with the Sentinel.

"The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment," Cassidy continued. "Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water."

Cassidy was originally charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief. However, Polk County Democratic Attorney Kimberly Graham's office enhanced the charge to third-degree criminal mischief on the basis of Cassidy's statements both to law enforcement and the public indicating he destroyed the property due to its anti-Christian nature — or what prosecutors referred to as "the victim's religion."

The Sentinel suggested that Graham, a failed U.S. Senate candidate, might have a bias against conservatives, highlighting the $300,000 of in-kind campaign support she reportedly received from the George Soros-funded Justice and Public Safety PAC.

Cassidy's legal team, which similarly suspects the charging decision was the result of anti-conservative bias, recently attempted to axe the hate crime charges. However, on Tuesday, an Iowa judge denied the motion.

Younts told Blaze News, "The judge ruled against our motion to dismiss even though the DA's office could not produce a single example in Iowa or across the United States where a similar statute had been used to justify charging a hate crime where the 'victim' was an organization rather than an individual."

Jury selection is expected to begin Monday. Cassidy reportedly faces as many as five years in prison.

"Our message is simple — America was founded by men and women whose primary source for the Constitution and our system of government was the Bible and traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs," said Younts. "Because of the religious beliefs and influences of our founders, America has experienced a profound history of religious freedom and prosperity. Our society will continue to collapse into chaos and tyranny if we abandon those beliefs and biblical principles that made our nation possible."


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Reporter goes viral for attacking Christians who believe rights come from God — and the responses are glorious



Politico reporter Heidi Przybyla claimed on Thursday that Christians who believe rights are derived from God are "Christian nationalists."

Speaking on MSNBC, Przybyla claimed that former President Donald Trump is surrounding himself with an "extremist element" of Christians, whom she identified as "Christian nationalists."

That's when things got weird. According to Przybyla, there is one belief that all so-called Christian nationalists share.

"[T]he thing that unites them as Christian nationalists — not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different — is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don't come from any earthly authority. They don't come from Congress. They don't come to the Supreme Court. They come from God."

The "problem" with believing that rights come from God, Przybyla claimed, is that "men" misapply "so-called natural law" to oppose progressive issues, like abortion, sex education in schools, IVF, and gay marriage.

— (@)

There is an obvious problem with Przybyla's argument: the Declaration of Independence. Philosophical debates about "rights" aside, the founding document is clear that rights are not derived from man like Przybyla claimed.

The Declaration of Independence declares:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Founding Fathers, then, were aware of the dangers of a government being empowered to control rights: if the government giveth, then government can taketh. But if fundamental rights are ultimately derived from God, no government can take them.

Przybyla comments went viral on Friday afternoon and triggered an avalanche of mockery:

  • "Our rights as human beings don’t come from the Constitution, the government, Congress, the president, or the Supreme Court. They are inherent. ... This belief that rights precede government—regardless of whether you believe in God—is fundamental to what it means to be an American," former Rep. Justin Amash said.
  • "Is someone’s ignorance and religious bigotry showing?" Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked in response.
  • "What the state gives the state can take away. What God gives the state takes at its moral peril. Sincerely, The prophets of old," Jordan Peterson responded.
  • "Human rights come from God. That’s why all human beings have innate value and no human entity has the authority to strip them of those rights.That belief doesn’t make millions of Christians around the world Christian nationalists," AND Campaign president Justin Giboney responded.
  • "We are all Christian Nationalists now," pastor Tom Ascol responded.
  • "I guess those truths just aren't as self-evident as they used to be," National Review writer Dan McLaughlin mocked.
  • "This is what secularists want you to believe. If your rights originate from government, then the government is ultimate and statism becomes the dominant belief.But God is ultimate and human rights come from God," pastor Grant Castleberry pointed out.
  • "Imagine believing your rights come 'from Congress,'" Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) mocked.
  • "This is a civics failure, a talent failure, an intelligence failure, a historical failure, an ethics failure...shall I keep going?" professor Andrew Walker pointed out.
  • "I can only suppose that this is what comes of liberal elites living in a bubble. They speak with supreme confidence only to reveal spectacular ignorance--of history, philosophy, the beliefs of the people they regard as their intellectual and moral inferiors and hold in contempt," professor Robert George responded.

Przybyla responded to the controversy by gaslighting, claiming she did not say what everyone heard her say. And yet, she somehow also managed to double down.

"While there are different wings of Christian Nationalism, they are bound by their belief that our rights come from God," she said on social media. "If you are Hindu, Jewish etc, this might help you understand the next part of my point, which is they are using this for a man-made policy agenda."

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Leftists claim it is a 'dark day' after Canadian province ratifies parental bill of rights



The fight to re-establish and bolster parental rights has spread far beyond the borders of red states and Eastern European nations. Among the various battlegrounds to see a decisive victory in recent days is the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

The prairie province introduced a policy in August upholding parental rights in taxpayer-funded classrooms. The usual suspects lashed out, but Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and his right-leaning Saskatchewan Party held firm, going so far as to invoke the "nuclear option" to pass and entrench the law on Friday.

What's the background?

Moe's government, handed an overwhelming majority and clear mandate by the electorate in 2020, announced mid-summer new parental inclusion and consent policies aimed at protecting parental rights in the classroom.

In addition to temporarily cutting radical LGBT activist groups out of sex education in the classroom, the policy stipulated that if a child wants to identify as a member of the opposite sex in school, educators cannot affirm the delusion unless the student's parents consent. This would help ensure that children are not transitioned with the help of educators behind parents' backs.

The province's former education minister said, "Our government has heard the concerns raised by Saskatchewan parents about needing to be notified and included in their children's education in these important areas."

The effort was immediately denounced and characterized as a threat to non-straight students.

The socialist New Democratic Party was among the radical factions to oppose the bill, with its provincial leader Carla Beck claiming, "Teachers will have to choose between shoving kids back in the closet or putting them in harm's way," reported Global News.

Heather Kuttai, the head of the province's so-called Human Rights Commission resigned in protest of the bill, claiming, "Removing a child’s rights, in the name of 'parental rights' is fundamentally anti-trans and harmful."

The LGBT activist group UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity successfully challenged the policy before a provincial court, securing a temporary injunction against the policy, reported Jurist.

The group alleged in its application, "The policy presents an impossible choice: be outed at home or be misgendered at school, even in one-on-one counselling sessions with school personnel. ... Either outcome entails devastating and irreparable harm to a vulnerable young person."

The group wanted to leave such consequential decisions up to educators' "professional judgment."

Despite the backlash, the premier made expressly clear in September, "We are not backing down."

Notwithstanding the backlash

Saskatchewan Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill introduced the act to the legislature as Bill 137 on Oct. 12, revealing that the province would invoke section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to see it through. This maneuver, called the "notwithstanding clause" or the "nuclear option," allowed the province to override certain Charter rights with which the legislation might conflict, thereby protecting it from court challenges as well as challenges under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.

Cockrill, a member of the Saskatchewan Party, noted that extra to ensuring parents won't be left in the dark about their kids' possible sexual confusion, the legislation would enshrine various other parental rights ideologues might seek to erode or usurp. These include the right to:

  • "act as the primary decision-maker with respect to the pupil's education";
  • "be informed on a regular basis of the pupil's attendance, behaviour and academic achievement in school";
  • "have access to the pupil's school file";
  • be informed at least two weeks before sexual health content is presented to the pupils and withdraw, if desired, the pupil from the presentation of that content; and
  • preclude educators and school staff from using their child's "new gender-related preferred name or gender identity at the school."

"Parents and guardians have a right to know what is being taught in their children's school," said the province's education minister, Jeremy Cockrill. "The Parents' Bill of Rights is an inclusionary policy that ensures that parents are at the forefront of every important decision in their child's life."

On Friday, the legislature passed the bill in a 40-12 vote, eliciting cries from protesters. The legislation then received royal assent, thereby becoming the law of the land.

Moe said after its enactment, the law "is providing parents the right, not the opportunity, to support their child through the formative years of their life and some very important decisions that our children are facing through those particular years."

Defeated UR Pride executive director Ariana Giroux said, "We here at UR Pride are upsettingly unsurprised that the Government of Saskatchewan would force through legislation that would cause irreparable harm to children."

Egale, the LGBT activist group that recently argued in favor of Jordan Peterson's re-education, said in a statement, "This is a dark day in Canadian history. We will remember this as the first time that an elected government has used the notwithstanding clause to limit the rights of children and young people as well as the first time that an elected government has done so with respect to 2SLGBTQI people."

Harini Sivalingam, the director of the so-called equality program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, similarly bemoaned the restoration of parental rights, calling the ratification of Bill 137 "a stain on the history of the province."

Canadian state media claimed earlier this year that Republicans in the U.S. are responsible for making parental rights "a legislative lodestar," noting that in 2022, 95 parental rights bills were introduced in 26 states. According to CNN, between January 2021 and June 2023, state lawmakers had introduced nearly 400 parental rights bills.

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PARENTAL ADVISORY: What just passed in California is coming for all kids across the nation



One of the last things any parents want to do is fight a power-hungry government in order to raise their kids with their own family’s values and morals.

But now, that’s exactly what parents are being forced to do.

Especially in California, where an alarming new law aims to force parents to affirm their child’s gender dysphoria — or else.

Glenn Beck is obviously not pleased and wants Americans to consider: “Who gets to raise your children?”

Because while it shouldn’t be the government, officials sure are trying to change that.

“It’s an emergency, and you have to be aware of the emergency. Because, well, it’s happening in California. Maybe not in your state yet, but it will be soon,” he adds.

Glenn is referring to the law that has just passed in California that will require judges in child custody cases to consider whether parents support their child’s gender transition in order to determine the “health, safety, and welfare of the child.”

The law passed along strictly party lines, 57-16 in the State Assembly and 30-9 in the state Senate.

Under the law, parents who fail to acknowledge and support their child's gender transition could lose custody rights to another parent or even the state itself.

California State Assembly member Lori Wilson, who originally introduced the bill, explained why the law is important. “What’s mentioned in the law is the child’s gender identity and expression and the parents affirmation of that, whatever it is, because that is our duty as parents: to affirm our children.”

“That’s the dumbest parents advice you’ll ever hear,” Glenn responds.

“According to Lori Wilson and the state of California, you have to affirm the most permanent, completely life-altering thing a kid can possibly do to themselves.”

“This new law should alarm and disgust everyone in America, for the way it will let the state override the private family life and parenting decisions,” he adds.


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