Badlands News Brief

Trump and Elon Set Precedents ... Deep State Most Affected

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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 picks news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.

Items feature original commentary from members of our growing team of citizen journalists, whose stated opinions are their own. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.

Now, onto the news from the Weekend that Was …

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Trump Did 'Incite Violent Insurrection' But Can Still Run For President, Colorado Judge Rules

Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace has become the latest jurist to reject the effort to bar former president Donald Trump from the ballot under the novel 14th Amendment theory. I have long been a vocal critic of the theory, which I view as historically and legally unfounded. I also view it as arguably the most dangerous theory to arise in decades. While Wallace reached the right conclusion, she committed, in my view, fundamental errors in her analysis on the free speech elements of the case.

The case involves a chilling effort of Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold to use her office to prevent voters from being able to cast their ballots for Trump, one of the leading candidates for the presidency. Like other challengers, she claimed to be protecting democracy by denying voters the ability to vote for their preferred candidate on the basis of this dubious theory. Polls show Trump and Biden in a statistical dead heat at 42% (Biden) to 38% (Trump) which is within the margin of error.

Judge Wallace rejected the use of the amendment to prevent voters from voting for Trump in the 2024 election, declaring that “[t]he Court holds there is scant direct evidence regarding whether the presidency is one of the positions subject to disqualification.”

In her 102-page ruling, Wallace declared that “[a]fter considering the arguments on both sides, the Court is persuaded that ‘officers of the United States’ did not include the President of the United States. It appears to the Court that for whatever reason the drafters of Section 3 did not intend to include a person who had only taken the Presidential Oath.” — Jonathan Turley

Our Take: “The ruling dropped Friday evening, and I was shocked. It was unexpected, and a group of us hashed it out in a space on X before I fell asleep. Saturday morning, with a fresh mind and a full cup of coffee, I dissected the full 102-page ruling.

And I came to a startling realization: This case wasn’t about President Trump accessing the ballot.

Every lawyer will tell you this case doesn’t matter. It’s a single judge in a lower court at the state level. It doesn’t really matter for President Trump … unless Jack Smith or Fani Willis decide to try and build upon it, and even if they do, President Trump will be fine.

But that doesn’t mean the case doesn’t matter. It matters for lawfare. It matters for the rest of us, especially those of us in Colorado.

The first 95 pages of this ruling affirm the central narrative, the J6 report, the pseudo-science of far right extremism, thought crimes, speech crimes, and the Fourteenth Amendment being superior to the First.

Trump is allowed to access the ballot because the 14A doesn’t apply to the President. She covered that in pages 96-102 of the ruling after rubber stamping everything the petitioners said as true. No one is appealing this because, technically, it’s a win. Trump is on the ballot.

Perhaps Treniss Evans’ motion to intervene will be granted if the petitioners appeal — and someone can finally, actually argue against the ridiculous insurrection narrative with the entire story in a court of law. I’m not holding my breath, but praying for a chance.” — Ashe in America

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Elon Musk Plans "Thermonuclear" Lawsuit Against Media Matters

Early Saturday morning, Elon Musk said his social media platform X will be "filing a thermonuclear lawsuit" against left-leaning non-profit Media Matters and "all those who colluded" for "completely misrepresenting" the real user experience on X.

"This week, Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers," Musk said. 

Media Matters shared a report Thursday that showed "white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories" content next to "ads for major brands like Apple, Bravo (NBCUniversal), IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity (Comcast)." 

Musk outlined, "X has seen a number of attacks from activist groups like Media Matters and legacy media outlets who seek to undermine freedom of expression on our platform because they perceive it as a threat to their ideological narrative and those of their financial supporters." 

He said these rogue groups are "trying to use their influence to attack our revenue streams by deceiving advertisers on X." 

Musk detailed how the Media Matters' report was nothing but garbage. — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “This feels particularly good for those who've been directly targeted by Media Matters, which includes many of your favorite Anons and Anon collectives, including Badlands Media... and none in the Con Inc. brigade.

Funny.

It's almost like Con Inc. and the 'Conservative' influencers who never lost their blue checks, who told you to vax up, mask up and shut up, who continue to claim Joe Biden received 81 million real, lawful American votes, who claim pizzagate is a conspiracy theory, and who jumped off the Trump train for the DeSimp Circus have been batting for the other team the whole time.

The Wolves in Sheep's Clothing will be revealed, one Sorosian paycheck at a time.” — Burning Bright

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Far-right outsider Javier Milei wins Argentina’s presidency

Javier Milei has won Argentina’s presidential elections in provisional results, wrenching his country to the right with a bombastic anti-establishment campaign that drew comparisons to that of former US President Donald Trump – all against the backdrop of one of the world’s highest inflation rates.

His rival Sergio Massa conceded the run-off vote on Sunday evening in a brief speech even before official results were announced. “Milei is the president elected for the next 4 years,” said Massa, adding that he had already called Milei to congratulate him.

Provisional results so far show Milei with over 55% of votes (13,781,154) with more than 94% of votes counted, according to data from the country’s National Electoral Chamber, which has not yet declared an official winner.

Milei’s victory marks an extraordinary rise for the former TV pundit, who entered the race as a political outsider on a promise to “break up with the status quo” – exemplified by Sergio Massa.

His campaign promise to dollarize Argentina, if enacted, is expected to thrust the country into new territory: no country of Argentina’s size has previously turned over the reins of its own monetary policy to Washington decisionmakers. — CNN

Our Take: “Javier Milei stunned the world in August when he took the majority of votes in the primary as a third party candidate. The result is now in, and Milei has won the Argentina Presidency.

Expect his connections with Russia to be immediately investigated, and probably a porn star and some other fabricated scandals to attempt to derail his agenda. And just wait until you see his agenda.

Milei’s plan for government is a Libertarian fever dream and a Hail Mary to save his nation. Will the world discover that the Argentine Paradox was a feature, not a bug? MAGA.

Congratulations and Godspeed, President Milei.” — Ashe in America

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(SHOT …)

Stacey Abrams’ brother-in-law arrested in Tampa for human trafficking, attacking teen: police

Jimmie Gardner, the brother-in-law of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, was arrested on allegations of human trafficking, according to Tampa authorities.

Tampa police said they arrested the 57-year-old Friday for allegedly attempting to engage in sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl.

A release from the Tampa Police Department stated Gardner met the minor at 1:43 a.m. and invited her to his room at the Renaissance Hotel at International Plaza.

The girl accepted his invitation, and when she got there, he allegedly offered her money for sex, police said.

“The victim initially agreed but later told Gardner that she no longer wanted to engage and he became angry,” the release said. “Gardner advised the victim that she needed to leave his hotel room. The two got involved in a verbal altercation that escalated to a physical dispute after Gardner placed his hands around the victim’s neck, impeding her breathing. After the dispute, Gardner left the hotel room, and the victim called 911.”

When officers arrived, Gardner had already left the hotel, but they found the victim at the scene, according to police. — WFLA

(CHASER …)

Yet Another Leftist Journalist Arrested On Child Pornography Charges

In the last 12 months alone, two senior producers for ABC and CNN were sentenced to prison for child porn.

We're starting to sense a trend.

On Monday, Slade Sohmer, 44, the former managing editor of CNN's now defunct BEME video sharing app and, until a month ago, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning video-driven news site The Recount, was freed on $100,000 bail after he was charged in a Massachusetts court with possessing and disseminating “hundreds of child pornography images and videos.”  He has pled not guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of dissemination of child pornography. — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “Once upon a time, in the early days of the Info War, when Pizzagate was fresh in the sociopolitical ether, I would respond to questions such as, ‘You don't think it's ALL of them, do you?’ with some overly-complicated treatise on the nature of systems, leverage, blackmail, Satanic belief and narrative projection to say what I now say much more directly.

‘Yeah, actually. I do think it's pretty much ALL of them.’

Awakening happens very slowly ... and then all at once.” — Burning Bright

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Speaker Johnson Releases Jan. 6 Videos To The Public

More than 40,000 hours of Jan. 6 Capitol Police security video will be made public on a dedicated website starting immediately and ramping up in the coming months, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced on Nov. 17.

However, individual video clips released to media or other requesters will have the faces of identifiable individuals blurred, a senior congressional aide told The Epoch Times. That restriction drew immediate fire from some Jan. 6 criminal case defendants.

"So while we are significantly expanding the amount of clips that will be available and who can request them, we will be blurring faces with respect to individuals who are identifiable," the source said.

"To restore America’s trust and faith in their government we must have transparency," Johnson wrote on X.com. "This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your Speaker." — The Epoch Times

Our Take: “A few hours before the Colorado ruling dropped, the J6 tapes dropped. The timing is curious because the judge in Colorado found that J6 was an insurrection and that it was incited by Trump. The videos directly undercut her legal conclusions.

How embarrassing.

The videos are being analyzed by everyone. New video cuts that counter the J6 report narrative are being released daily. Reruns are first runs for many, and many people are just now realizing how ridiculous this all is.

The truth will come out and, when it comes to J6, there is a lot of due process that must follow. There were no mistakes in this narrative. It was a coverup and it was a crime.” — Ashe in America

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BONUS ITEMS

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Target Doubles Down, Faces Conservative Backlash As 'Woke' Christmas Decor Hits Shelves

Target has once again triggered conservative criticism after the retailer rolled out Christmas decorations that some saw as too "woke," like a black Santa in a wheelchair or a figurine draped in rainbow-colored "pride" paraphernalia.

End Wokeness, a prominent conservative account on X with over 1.8 million followers, shared several photos of Christmas ornaments that are now being offered for sale at Target.

"Target outdid itself this year for Christmas," End Wokeness wrote in a post on X, with one image showing a black Santa Claus sitting in a wheelchair and another showing a figurine wearing a multi-colored "pride" hat while also holding a rainbow flag.

A number of commenters reacted with criticism and hinted at (or outright called for) a boycott.

"Wow. Just wow. You would think they would have learned from the last time. When will companies finally start to realize it? Go woke, go broke!" one person posted.

"Everyone getting ready to boycott Target again until they go bankrupt," wrote another.

Other commenters recalled earlier boycott calls after Target rolled out its "pride" clothing line over the summer that included LGBT-themed items meant for children. — The Epoch Times

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It’s Time to End Magical Thinking About Russia’s Defeat

As Russian President Vladimir Putin looks toward the second anniversary of his all-out assault on Ukraine, his self-confidence is hard to miss. A much-anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive has not achieved the breakthrough that would give Kyiv a strong hand to negotiate. Tumult in the Middle East dominates the headlines, and bipartisan support for Ukraine in the U.S. has been upended by polarization and dysfunction in Congress, not to mention the pro-Putin leanings of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. — The Wall Street Journal

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Altman Sought Billions For Chip Venture Before OpenAI Ouster

In the weeks leading up to his shocking ouster from OpenAI, Sam Altman was actively working to raise billions from some of the world’s largest investors for a new chip venture, according to people familiar with the matter.

Altman had been traveling to the Middle East to fundraise for the project, which was code-named Tigris, the people said. The OpenAI chief executive officer planned to spin up an AI-focused chip company that could produce semiconductors that compete against those from Nvidia Corp., which currently dominates the market for artificial intelligence tasks. Altman’s chip venture is not yet formed and the talks with investors are in the early stages, said the people, who asked not to be named as the discussions were private.

Altman has also been looking to raise money for an AI-focused hardware device that he’s been developing in tandem with former Apple Inc. design chief Jony Ive. Altman has had talks about these ventures with SoftBank Group Corp., Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Mubadala Investment Company and others, as he sought tens of billions of dollars for these new companies, the people said.

Many details of the scale and focus of Altman’s chip ambitions as well as the project’s codename have not been previously reported. — Bloomberg

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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.

The Badlands Media team will continue to combine our cognitive powers in order to slow things down and find the signal amidst the noise as this series expands.

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.