Badlands News Brief
Trump's Strength Grows & Ukraine's Support Slows
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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.
Some items feature original commentary from members of our growing team of citizen journalists. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.
Now, onto the news from Tuesday, June 27 …
Speaker McCarthy: ‘Trump Is Stronger Today Than He Was in 2016’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Breitbart News exclusively on Tuesday that he believes former President Donald Trump is “stronger today than he was in 2016.”
“As usual, the media is attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees are holding Biden’s DOJ accountable for their two-tiered levels of justice,” McCarthy said in a brief conversation with Breitbart News on Tuesday. “The only reason Biden is using his weaponized federal government to go after President Trump is because he is Biden’s strongest political opponent, as polling continues to show.”
McCarthy pointed to polls released on Tuesday from Morning Consult which show, for the first time the pollster began asking the question last year, Trump leading incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden.
“Just look at the numbers this morning—Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016,” McCarthy said.
The speaker’s comments here are significant because after an appearance on CNBC on Tuesday morning a CNN reporter selectively quoted one part of it that made it appear as though he was criticizing Trump. The broader conversation, however, shows McCarthy solidly defending the former president–more than media reaction to the interview would suggest–even though McCarthy has yet to formally endorse a candidate in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. — Breitbart
Our Take: “Kevin McCarthy is a polarizing figure in basically every cognitive theater in the Info War.
To Democrats, he’s just another Trump flag-waver. To Establishment Republicans, he’s on the team. To the MAGA base, he’s seen as something of a Uniparty enabler of Establishment schemes.
To some of us, he’s exactly what we need him to be at this point in the Mind War, and he’s almost certainly marching to the beat of Donald Trump’s drum while the exposure of the Uniparty’s System of Systems continues.
That said, his comments to Breitbart on Tuesday represent some of his most direct statements in some time, and whatever his intentions, they are absolutely true. Donald Trump is more powerful now than he ever was, even during the heights of his first (public) stint in the Oval Office.
And we haven’t seen anything yet, because the best is yet to come …” Burning Bright
FBI Director Christopher Wray to testify before House Judiciary Committee on July 12
FBI Director Christopher Wray will testify before the House Judiciary Committee next month amid accusations by whistleblowers that the bureau mishandled the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
A source familiar with the situation told The Post that Wray will appear before the panel headed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on July 12 after lawmakers return from the July 4 congressional recess.
The Justice Department, and Wray’s FBI in particular, has been a lightning rod for Republican lawmakers, who have accused the bureau of being weaponized against conservatives and unwilling to investigate corruption allegations against President Biden.
Wray was recently embroiled in a multi-week subpoena battle with Congress over an informant document that outlines bribery allegations against the 80-year-old president. — The New York Post
Our Take: “Chris Wray answering questions before Senate Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and team should be must-see-TV. And there are plenty of questions.
Corruption is top of the list, with Biden’s bribery scandals, Wray’s futile attempts to obstruct House investigators’ access to the FD-1023 that alleges one of those bribes, and the fact that allegations of Biden taking bribes are continuing to surface. As reported yesterday, Patrick Byrne alleges that Hunter Biden was negotiating bribes with his father and Iran as recently as 18 months ago — while his father was president. Wray’s disinterest in investigating hard evidence of a captured Biden Executive branch should claim the majority of the hearing’s time.
Also top of mind for this hearing is the weaponization of law enforcement more broadly, including the Bureau’s targeting of pro-life and other America First activists, specifically as mentioned, the Catholics.
But I guess, if I have to choose the topic I most want Wray to speak to, it’s this allegation from Patrick Byrne’s forthcoming memoir, which is now expected to hit newsstands on Saturday, July 1:
‘In early February 2016, I met with the two FBI agents again. They brought a third, for the following reason. They said that in 2008 a law was passed that made it possible for the Director of Central Intelligence to sign a piece of paper, under certain circumstances, and take over the FBI. Director Brennan had done that on matters relating to Russia. So the DCI would be driving the FBI. They did not say exactly when Brennan had signed that, but they may have indicated it was some months earlier.’
I wonder what Wray would say about that?” — Ashe in America
Top Anheuser-Busch Marketing Executives Responsible For Boycott Are No Longer Employed
The two top Anheuser-Busch marketing executives who were placed on leave amid the company shakeup no longer work for the brand, a source inside Anheuser-Busch confirmed in texts obtained by the Daily Caller on Tuesday.
Group Vice President for Marketing Daniel Blake and Bud Light Marketing Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid are “gone gone,” according to obtained text messages with a current regional head of marketing. The Caller is granting anonymity to the source to discuss legally fraught internal company policy.
“To my understanding if we publicly announced the word ‘fire’ it opens up the potential for them to sue us. Thats why we said leave of absence,” the source said in a text message obtained by the Caller.
“The wholesalers would have had an absolute HAY DAY with leadership if they didn’t remove her,” the source inside the company also said.
“To be fair- Daniel Blake was actually awesome. I think he was just caught in cross fire. But also he did hire her… so that’s a fault,” the source continued.
“Wholesalers were told they are both gone for good by leadership during in person conversations. They already shifted all their direct reports to new people and the head of marketing,” the source added in another text message obtained by the Caller. — The Daily Caller
Our Take: “It's unfortunate that Alissa Heinerscheid lost her job, but as a Harvard graduate who has worked with several American mega-corporations (Johnson and Johnson, General Mills), it's safe to assume that some other woke, S&P 500 company will employ her. I just don't see the point in Anheuser-Busch firing these marketing executives to quell public outrage immediately after doubling down on their position by sponsoring the Toronto Pride Parade, where naked men were exposing themselves to small children.
At the end of the day, even if this was Heinerscheid's idea, somebody higher up had to approve it. This changes nothing.
Keep this little victory in mind whenever you purchase any consumable product from one of these ESG/DEI-centric companies. When an entire demographic votes with their dollar, we make a powerful statement. Maybe Dylan opening that Bud Light can was the start of a consumer revolution. The "tssss crack" heard round the world.” — Ryan DeLarme
Putin Tells Troops They "Stopped A Civil War" - Confirms Russian Pilots Were Killed By Wagner
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Tuesday speech before soldiers and security officers at the Kremlin explained more about the fate of Wagner Group after its weekend armed munity which shocked Russia and the world. While the Wagner chief has been exiled to Belarus, and the treason charges have essentially been forgiven - with the mutiny case closed - he strongly hinted that corruption charges could be on the horizon, given Wagner had received billions in state funds.
Importantly, the Russian President also stressed that the nation's armed forces and security services had stopped a "civil war" - which is the first such dramatic reference made by Putin to this worst-case scenario. "You have de-facto stopped the civil war, you acted in a clear and well-coordinated manner in a difficult situation," Putin said during the ceremony at the Kremlin's Cathedral Square. "We did not have to remove combat detachments from the special military operation zone" in Ukraine, he said.
He also confirmed that Russian air forces pilots had been killed. Wagner had previously claimed to have shot down helicopters during the Friday through Saturday turmoil, and that the Russian military had fired on its positions and convoys. Subsequent reports in the West tallied six helicopters and a plane that were shot down, but this total hasn't been confirmed from Moscow. But it's now been revealed in international reports that at least 12 Russian pilots were killed as Wagner convoys made their way to Moscow Saturday, before the armed "march" was called off. Wagner possesses sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons. — ZeroHedge
Our Take: “I’ve been very public and very clear about my belief that, as difficult as it is to suss out what IS true in the Info War, it isn’t as difficult to find out what IS NOT true.
The ‘Wagner Coup’ stands are one of the most obvious—to me—bits of Kayfabe (false feuding) or MILDEC (military deception) we’ve yet seen in this war, and comes on the heels of the very same entity baiting the Azov battalion into a disadvantageous/disastrous position in Bakhmut just one month ago by using similar (albeit, admittedly less direct and dramatic) feuding with Putin and the Kremlin.
I see the entire charade as a mix of an ongoing loyalty test by Putin, an opportunity to smoke out Deep State actors within his ranks, and irresistible bait to both kinetic forces on the ground in the Donbas and the Globalist media rags cheering them on.
As for said media rags … things are JUST starting to turn on them in the public narrative.
To wit:
Zelensky is now being painted more and more as a warmonger, while Trump calls for peace, and Putin presents evidence of the very peace deal he offered to Zelensky in March 2022.” — Burning Bright
Jeffrey Epstein's suicide: New details revealed
A new Justice Department Inspector General report details the failures that occurred beginning one month before Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while in custody of the Bureau of Prisons. The report also makes clear that foul play was not possible.
When officers discovered Epstein unresponsive in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019, Officer Michael Thomas, who was charged criminally in the case, said, "Breathe, Epstein, Breathe," according to the new report issued Tuesday.
When Thomas saw Epstein dangling from the bed, he said, "We're going to be in a lot of trouble," according to the report.
Epstein died by hanging at New York City's Metropolitan Correctional Center while he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The disgraced financier hanged himself in his jail cell with an orange noose he fashioned from "a sheet or a shirt," the report said.
When Epstein's room was searched after his death, investigators found extra bedsheets, another mattress and a noose, according to the report.
[…]
The Inspector General makes clear that Epstein's death was in fact a suicide.” — ABC News
Our Take: “A series of unfortunate coincidences. MCC was understaffed and underfunded. Incompetence at levels that defy belief for the world’s most wanted villain. But, ‘The report also makes clear that foul play was not possible.’
Not possible! That is stunning.
The cameras didn’t work, and they knew the cameras didn’t work. Epstein wasn’t supposed to be alone, but his roommate was moved. The guards skipped their required checks on him. They moved the body. And the photos in this article show a shocking number of sheets and other linens for a patient on suicide watch. The report — the report that was delivered after months of investigation — states that the noose Epstein used was fashion from ‘a sheet or a shirt.’
They don’t know? After months of evaluating this literally unbelievable death, they don’t know if it was a shirt or a sheet?
This report is not just silly, it’s insulting to the people’s intelligence. Epstein didn’t kill himself ... but they are going to great lengths to convince us he did.
Did 51 former intelligence officials contribute?” — Ashe in America
Chef Causes a Meltdown After He Bans All Vegans from His Restaurant for 'Mental Health Reasons'
“I’m done with vegans. I’m absolutely done, done, done with vegans.”
No, that wasn’t a comment made by my 89-year-old grandma at Thanksgiving, although it sounds like it. The comment came from one of the top chefs in Australia, who finally had the guts to say what many may be thinking.
British celebrity chef John Mountain is causing animal activists and vegans to reach for their inhalers en masse after he banned vegans from his restaurant, Fyre, in Perth, Australia, following a negative review, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.
Mountain responded to the negative review from a non-meat eater saying, “F*** vegans … they can f*** off.”
Subsequently, the 55-year-old celebrity chef has implemented a ban on all vegan customers at Fyre. — The Western Journal
Our Take: “He did it. No doubt others have thought about it. He banned vegans from his restaurant.
This story is good to consider for a few reasons.
Bear in mind, we’re living in a society where most people don’t know their rights or how to defend them. As a result, it’s like having a four-year-old running a restaurant—he’ll do his best but it’s very easy for him to be taken advantage of.
What obligation does a restaurant owner have to satisfy the demands of customers, even if those demands are unreasonable? And what rights of defense does a restaurant owner have when disgruntled patrons are leaving bad reviews for services that were never promised or advertised?
It’s a problem we see a lot in online shopping. You buy a book from Amazon. It shows up late because the driver was stuck in traffic. Who do you report this bad experience to? There’s no way to leave a review for the driver, the person who actually caused the issue. You could contact the book retailer, but they didn’t cause the package to show up late. You could leave a review on Amazon, but then Amazon gets scapegoated.
The only place you can leave any kind of feedback is on the Amazon listing. If you leave the review, it won’t really be fair to the lister, because it wasn’t his fault the package arrived late.
This is the dilemma. It’s created a situation where an enormous amount of dissatisfaction in commerce gets directed to the wrong people, thereby harming innocent parties.
On top of this issue, we have the problem where vegans—one of the entitled social groups in our society—believe they are entitled to a quality vegan option wherever they go.
Now, to be fair, not all vegans are like this. And it’s not veganism, per se, that is the issue. It’s entitlement.
People can be led to believe that they are entitled to services, benefits, discounts, preferential treatment, and so on, merely for existing or being a member of a protected class.
One of the most entitled groups out there is the transgender/LGBTQ-types, who have been told they are entitled to ours daughters sports teams, bathrooms, even the concept of womanhood itself is on the table, to the exclusion of actual women—for instance.
It is damaging and harmful to a business owner to have bad reviews online for products and services they never promised to deliver. The restaurant owner has the right to protect their businesses from bad-faith customers—customers who won’t fairly engage in commerce with the business owner.
This isn’t the only place were non-compliance with the dictums of culturally-reinforced entitlement has power. Masking, mandatory vaccination, CBDC QR codes, and a host of other policies and behaviors we never agreed to but were compelled via coercion to comply with.
Perhaps if conservatives had a thimble of the gumption this restaurant owner had in the past, we wouldn’t have some of the draconian policies and cultural trends we have to labor under today.” — Justin Deschamps
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.
I’m with Ashe: Epstein didn’t kill himself.
Appreciate all of your takes on the current news. Thank you, Conservative Warriors for Truth ❤️🇺🇸
McCarthy is a schmuck. He’s in encouraging CA donors to support non-trump presidential candidates. He handed Biden the whole fiscal basket, hamstringing the next president. I’ve said all along he’s a loser. He controls all the House committees and subcommittees.....WHERE ARE THE SUBPOENAS?? I believe he is a loser more now than ever.