The News Cycle is almost impossible to track these days. At least, to do so fully.
That’s where we come in.
In the Badlands News Brief, the Badlands Media team hand pick news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.
Many items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see our writers’ Substack accounts and check out their other work.
Now, onto the news from Thursday, May 2 …
Joe Biden Says There Are Very Fine People On Both Sides Of The Oct. 7 Debate
“I condemn the anti-Semitic protests ...” President Joe Biden told reporters after days of anti-Jewish demonstrations at Columbia University and other Ivy League schools. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians ...”
Any morally clearheaded American already has a very good idea of what’s going on. Biden is bothsidesing the actions of keffiyeh-wearing terror cheerleaders on Columbia’s Gaza Quad—who target American Jews who have absolutely no bearing on Israel’s actions—with those who refuse to accept the blood libel of “genocide” in Gaza. It is the kind of odious moral relativism one expects to hear from a “Squad” member or clout-chasing far-right “influencer,” not the president.
Hamas, the governing authority in an autonomous Gaza—still supported widely by the Palestinian people—flooded over the border on Oct. 7, 2023, raping, murdering, and kidnapping more than a thousand men, women, and children in Israel, including American citizens. Afterward, Hamas retreated and hid among civilians to generate as many Palestinian martyrs as possible. The Israelis retaliated against this nihilistic death cult, keeping the civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio lower than perhaps any other instance of modern urban warfare. — The Epoch Times
Our Take: “In October 2008, Barack Hussein Obama said, ‘I just have two words for you tonight: five days. Five days. After decades of broken politics in Washington, and eight years of failed policies from George W. Bush, and 21 months of a campaign that's taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.’
I’ve always said Trump is the only President to keep his campaign promises, but Obama certainly kept this one. Fundamental transformation happened, and the country looks nothing like 2008 America.
Biden was a co-conspirator in the communist revolution, but like all communist revolutions, it’s hard to put the crazies back in the cage. That reality leaves Biden stuck between a river and a sea without a paddle. And that leads us to his ‘very fine people’ moment.
This delicious comparison highlights the critical distinctions between scrotus and 45. This line is, perhaps, the most important in the article: ‘…unlike the nuts in Virginia, these people will be working at our top law firms, in media organizations and in the State Department. Oh, the president also wants you to pay their loans.’
If you want to understand the fundamental transformation, the ivies are a good place to start. I think the country might be better off if we let this thing play out. Sun Tzu said something about that.” —
Biden’s Patience With Campus Protests Runs Out
For the past couple of weeks, the vortex of campus politics has threatened to suck Joe Biden in. Protesters at colleges have dubbed the president “Genocide Joe” and demanded that he act to stop Israeli actions in Gaza, while conservatives have sought to blame Biden for disorder at colleges and universities. Even as other Democrats grew nervous about the political ramifications of the protests for the upcoming election, the White House tried to stay out of it, seeing the protests as a distraction. The president has seemed, if not exactly sympathetic to the protesters, not interested in castigating them or really having anything to do with the protests at all.
Today, Biden’s patience ran out. In brief remarks at the White House, he affirmed the importance of free speech but mostly seemed intent on delivering a message of law and order.
“We’ve all seen images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld. We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,” Biden said. “But,” he went on, pausing, “neither are we a lawless country. We’re a civil society and order must prevail.”
In doing so, Biden accepted the conservative framing of the protests as fundamentally a problem of discipline. Protesters and their defenders have argued that, despite the fevered tone of some coverage, the demonstrations have largely been without real violence (at least until police arrived). Biden’s remarks indicate that he has become worried that the sense of disorder is catching with the public and thus becoming a liability. Chaos in the streets—real, imagined, or exaggerated—is never to an incumbent’s advantage. — The Atlantic
Our Take: “If you had any lingering doubts as to which side the Crisis Convergence and Narrative Whiplash is affecting more strongly in the current stage of the Info War ... witness the MSM beginning to program the following into its audience:
Joe Biden is somehow against both sides of the Israel-Gaza cultural inflection point.
Chaos is terrible for incumbent presidents, historically, and Biden is presiding over nothing if not unmitigated, engineered chaos.
The only bipartisan point of agreement on the extremes of the ideological and sociopolitical spectrum is in mutual hatred of Joe Biden, and by extension, the establishment (of which the MSM is a major part) that propped him up on marionette strings and defended him for three+ years.
The pictures, videos and by extension stories the MSM has sold to its audience as the chaos spins out of their narrative control may or may not be 'real' in any meaningful sense of the word.
Retreat is defeat in the Mind War.
Act accordingly.” —
'Unity': Pro-Israel And Pro-Palestine Supporters Chant "F**k Joe Biden" In Solidarity As Democrats In 'Panic Mode'
Our Take: “Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article on the Badlands Media Substack entitled "Horseshoe Theory."
In the article, I shared historic anecdotes of warring parties uniting during pivotal moments in human history, where their existential demise was at hand. They found common ground in a shared enemy, and while these coalitions (defined as temporary political alliances to achieve specific goals) did not resolve all of the political differences between the warring parties, they were able to set aside those differences in order to secure their own future existence.
Only the strongest minds of the highest caliber are capable of such coalitions. Any moron can employ violence; It takes a real leader to employ peace.
In the article, I go on to explain what I perceive to be two distinct cognitive "muscles"-- the Logical Mind and the Bleeding Heart-- and those concepts manifest in the media-manufactured political spectrum as "Right" and "Left," respectively. Both have their virtues and their short-comings, but it seems that when one of these muscles is too weak, the other will compensate in ways that are not necessarily ideal. (I also provide examples of how the "Right" can fall victim to their Bleeding Heart, such as the case with religion and warmongering in the Middle East.)
Without the Bleeding Heart, the Logical Mind becomes a Neo-Con (aka a Republican Communist).
Without the Logical Mind, the Bleeding Heart becomes an Emotional Woketard (aka a Democrat Fascist).
The cognitive bridge that connects these two muscles is Inspiration. And as the 4th Psyop Group presented in last night's epic new video, the Psywar is won with the power of words and ideas; winning the hearts and minds of the people through Inspiration.
We still have a ways to go, and we may not win over everybody, but Horseshoe Theory is real, and it is happening.
Do you believe in the power of words and ideas?” —
"Very Solid": Trump Scores $1.8 Billion Windfall After Significant Increase In Truth Social Stake
Donald Trump has added roughly $1.8 billion more to his net worth after regulatory filings show that he increased his stake in Truth Social by a significant degree - bringing the former president's ownership to nearly 65% in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).
Trump secured an additional 36 million shares of TMTG, bringing his stake to 114.75 million shares, according to an April 30 filing with the SEC. According to the latest price of nearly $50 per share, Trump's stake in TMTG is valued at around $5.7 billion.
The additional $1.8 billion was secured through 36 million additional "earnout shares" granted if TMTG hit certain performance metrics over a certain period, according to an April 15 filing. That said, Trump can't sell any shares due to a six-month lockup agreement.
As the Epoch Times notes further, TMTG shares have been on a roller-coaster ride since the company listed on Nasdaq last month through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and was snapped up by Trump supporters and speculators. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “There's a LOT of signal to this story, but the headline is actually pretty based for one simple reason: Donald Trump is betting on himself in the most literal way possible, and leading by example for those of his supporters who've been holding stock in his company (and by extension, in the movement) through the most short interest from institutional investors of any company in 2024.
According to an April 30 SEC filing, Trump stacked 36 million more shares in himself last month, in the midst of what was a flash crash in the stock prompted by the aforementioned institutional short-sellers.
His interest now stands at 115 million shares, representing a 65% stake in the company that owns Truth Social and recently announced beta testing on an America First streaming service.
Another dasting tidbit is the fact that he can't sell the shares for 6 months, bringing us right up to election time.
In short, Trump has refused to be shaken out of his own bags, and literally bought his own dip.” —
China Humiliated Blinken But Blinken Kept Begging
It is not clear whether a Chinese official was at the Beijing airport to bid farewell to Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he ended his three-day visit to China on Friday, but the send-off was in any event low-key and Chinese leader Xi Jinping slighted America's top diplomat at the end of his troubled stay.
Also, China, literally and figuratively, did not roll out the red carpet for his arrival in Shanghai on Wednesday. Only a low-level official was on hand to greet Blinken as he stepped off the plane.
"The Chinese government flouted international protocols at the airport on the secretary of state's arrival in Shanghai and departure from Beijing," Charles Burton of the Prague-based Sinopsis think tank told Gatestone.
"It was petty."
"This was more than a slight," Burton, a former Canadian diplomat who served in Beijing, said.
"Aside from a calculated insult to the dignity of the United States, the move indicates Xi Jinping is making clear that the accepted norms of diplomacy will not be respected by China anymore." — The Gatestone Institute
Our Take: “It looks like Xi is now at bat, with Putin and Crown Prince MBS now on base. (I feel like Trump already batted in Kim Jong Un for a run back in 2018, which is why we don't hear much from him these days.)
Putin did a fine job of humiliating the Biden [globalist] regime throughout 2022 and 2023, and MBS had his turn over the past 12+ months. There seems to be a pattern of "moderated" posturing from these leaders, once they have sufficiently disrespected the Deep State.
Despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we've seen Putin exercise great restraint and measure in responding to blatant provocations from the western hegemony. A similar restraint has been demonstrated by the Arabs and Persians under the leadership of MBS and the Saudi Foreign Ministry. Both MBS and Putin consistently take the high road when their efforts to resolve geopolitical conflict are frustrated and subverted—though they still seem to continue enjoying a periodic mic-drop moment with the Deep State. (This is the age of memetic warfare, after all.)
There seems to be a consensus among our community that it feels like Xi and China are on deck, and the next protagonist/antagonist (depending on which "story-teller" you are reading) in this epic saga.
The Middle East has been the common theater for Putin, MBS and Xi. We've seen Putin protecting Syria from Israel and NATO, while establishing a military naval alliance with Sudan, which will bolster security in the Red Sea; MBS has been subverting efforts by proxy militia groups operating in the Red Sea to cut shipping to Israel or escalate regional tensions through missile strikes.
This past week, we had Xi demanding that Israel end its 57-year military occupation of Palestine, after the United States issued sanctions against Iran's oil sales to China—who is Iran's #1 customer. Meanwhile, all three leaders are investing billions of dollars in massive energy infrastructure projects In Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Now NATO is breathing down China's neck, posturing for kinetic conflict under the premise that China has become too close to Russia, as Xi is ramping up his phase of the humiliation ritual of the Biden-globalist regime. (Isn't it funny to see how the Deep State's relations with China have dissolved under "China Joe?")
Am I stretching the metaphor too far by speculating that we'll see Xi get on base, and then hear the stadium's PA system start blaring President Donald Trump's at-bat-music, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th?
It sure feels like the gameboard is setting up for a walk-off grand slam.” —
BONUS ITEMS
Trump Media pushes House to probe 8 firms over short-selling of DJT shares
The CEO of Trump Media urged leading House committee chairmen to investigate eight financial firms over concerns of potentially illicit short selling of DJT, whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump.
“I believe quick action is necessary to protect retail shareholders, identify wrongdoers, and determine whether any laws including [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] statutes and tax evasion laws have been violated,” wrote CEO Devin Nunes, who on April 24 first asked top House Republicans to probe short selling of Trump Media stock.
Nunes, in a letter dated Wednesday, wrote that the committees should seek documents and testimony from the eight firms that he named: Apex Clearing, Clear Street, Cobra Trading, Cowen and Company, Curvature Securities, StoneX Securities, TradePro and Velocity Clearing.
A spokesperson for Clear Street declined to comment on Nunes’ letter. CNBC has requested comment from the other companies named in the letter. — CNBC
Trump Moves To Toss Florida Indictment Based On ‘Vindictive Prosecution’
Former President Donald Trump filed a motion on Thursday to dismiss the Florida classified documents indictment on the grounds of “selective and vindictive prosecution.”
Trump’s legal team previously attempted to throw the case out on the basis of the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which Judge Aileen Cannon rejected on April 4. The defense’s new motion cites Robert Hur‘s February report, where the special counsel wrote that “with one exception, there is no record of the Department of Justice prosecuting a former president or vice president for mishandling classified documents from his own administration.” (RELATED: Judge Denies Trump’s Bid To Dismiss Classified Docs Case Based On Presidential Records Act)
“President Donald J. Trump respectfully submits that the Indictment must be dismissed on the basis of the Office’s selective and vindictive prosecution,” the motion reads. “The exception is President Trump. The basis is his politics and status as President Biden’s chief political rival. Thus, this case reflects the type of selective and vindictive prosecution that cannot be tolerated. Accordingly, further discovery and a hearing are necessary, and the Superseding Indictment must be dismissed.” — The Daily Caller
"We Have To Have Law And Order": Trump Lays Out Plan For Second Term In TIME Interview
In an in-depth interview with TIME magazine, former President Donald Trump laid out his agenda for a second term should he retake the White House in 2025 following the election later this year.
The wide-ranging interview, held over two days at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, with a follow-up phone interview, was the cover story for the magazine titled “If He Wins.”
The interview covers all of the big issues in the 2024 election, ranging from border security and immigration to economic policy, abortion, and foreign affairs.
President Trump also touched on the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach and the related court cases, as well as the legal issues he faces.
In a transcript of the interview with TIME’s national politics reporter Eric Cortellessa, President Trump said on day one of his second term he would take aggressive action over the illegal immigration crisis.
President Trump plans to initiate a vast deportation operation, citing unsustainable numbers of illegal immigrants, expressing a desire to replicate Dwight Eisenhower’s mid-20th century mass deportations.
President Trump said he plans to do this by using local law enforcement as well as the National Guard when necessary.
“When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard,” President Trump said, according to the transcript. “But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se. We have to have safety in our country. We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job.”
Regarding housing illegal immigrants in detention facilities or even expanding the nation’s stock of detention facilities, he said it would likely not be necessary due to his policy of mass deportations but did not rule it out if needed.
If local police departments did not want to cooperate, President Trump said the best option to get them to comply would be to incentivize their cooperation. — The Epoch Times
We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.
As always, if you have any thoughts on these news items or the MANY others swirling in the digital ether, drop into the comments below to share them with your fellow Badlanders.
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It really does take sifting through the news stories to see the truth. I'm connected to Badlands everyday, here and on Telegram, so I feel good about things, in general. But so many people are feeling hopeless because they watch the news. Without my faith, I could be like them. Whenever I choose to realize Biden really is the resident, I feel despair but I conquer it with connections to other patriots, and knowing it's temporary. God bless Badlands Media and the patriots that keeps us informed and hopeful!
Love GBPH's baseball metaphor cuz it's so hilariously on-target. Can't U just picture Putin avatar getting a sneaky lead s from 1st base to tease KM pitcher w/ prospect of stealing 2nd? And the visual of MBS running around bases in his Saudi attire is just too delicious. I bet Xi wants to clear the bases.