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New York Democratic Socialists Urge Ocasio-Cortez to Run for President
The Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City chapter passed a resolution on Saturday urging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to launch a presidential run in 2028. The measure passed 291-123 and is not an official endorsement. Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the local chapter, described it as “a commitment to encouraging and building the foundation for a presidential campaign.” He stated, “AOC and New York City DSA are committed to building a stronger democratic socialist movement, and DSA will create the conditions for a presidential campaign capable of advancing a working-class political agenda.”
Chapters in Atlanta, Colorado, Los Angeles and Ithaca, New York, have already approved similar resolutions. Priorities include an arms embargo on Israel, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez, who rejoined the DSA in August, did not return a request for comment. Some members opposed the resolution, citing her divergence from core DSA priorities.
Why It Matters
Democratic socialists organizing to elevate a leading figure of their movement into a presidential candidacy advances an agenda of radical economic redistribution, open borders, and hostility toward key allies. This push risks mainstreaming policies that undermine free markets, national sovereignty, and Western alliances in favor of collectivist experiments already proven costly.
Nevada Governor-Elect Cites Racist Underpinnings in Call to End Electoral College
Nevada Gov.-elect Aaron Ford, a Democrat who defeated Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV) in the Nov. 3 election, said he supports abolishing the Electoral College, arguing it has racist origins and has allowed candidates to win without the national popular vote. Ford initially had reservations about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact but changed his position after researching it.
“Looking at the Electoral College, understanding the frankly racist underpinnings of it in the first place leads me to believe that we need to get rid of it,” Ford said. “Not only for that reason, but because we’ve, you know, several times now seen the person who has won the popular vote not win because of the Electoral College.” The compact pledges states to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner once they reach 270 votes. Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., accounting for 222 electoral votes, have joined. Nevada’s six votes and those from other newly Democratic-controlled states could push it over the threshold.
Why It Matters
Efforts to bypass the Electoral College through interstate agreements threaten the constitutional balance that protects smaller states from being dominated by large population centers. Such schemes risk concentrating presidential selection power in a few urban areas while eroding the federal structure designed to safeguard diverse regional interests.
Texas Governor-Elect Plans To Reverse Abbott’s Terrorist Designation Of CAIR
Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa intends to reverse outgoing Governor Greg Abbott’s designation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a foreign terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization. Abbott issued the proclamation on November 18, 2025, stating “These radical extremists are not welcome in our state.” He cited the Holy Land Foundation case in which CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator and Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR’s Texas chapter, was convicted for funneling millions to Hamas.
The designation imposed property restrictions and enhanced enforcement measures. Attorney General Ken Paxton later sued to stop the groups from operating in Texas. Hinojosa voted against a 2023 bill expanding tools against foreign terrorist organizations. CAIR has challenged the designation in federal court.
Why It Matters
Stripping the terrorist label from a group with documented Hamas financing ties invites radical networks into state institutions and weakens barriers against Islamist influence. This policy shift prioritizes political payback over security, eroding the rule of law and exposing Texans to the same soft-power tactics that have undermined Western societies elsewhere.
Florida Socialist Senate Candidate Accuses Democrats of Racism After Loss and Launches PAC
Florida Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon lost her U.S. Senate race to Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) by about 3 points. She has since accused Democratic leaders of racism and said the party wants Black candidates’ “labor” but not their leadership. Nixon made the comments in a podcast interview and announced the creation of the Never Scared PAC. She raised $11.3 million, far less than several other Democratic Senate candidates.
Nixon remains under state investigation over the management of a charity that raised $270,000 in 2024 without filing required tax forms. She has also faced criticism for a shrine in her bookstore to black power militants convicted of murdering police officers. In her concession speech, she said, “2028 is around the corner. So, Ashley Moody, you better get it right ’cause we’re coming for you.”
Why It Matters
A failed Democratic Socialist candidate is publicly attacking her own party for insufficient funding while launching a new PAC and signaling another run. The episode exposes internal Democrat fractures and highlights how progressive candidates leverage identity claims when electoral results fall short of expectations.
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Foreign Funding Report Exposes Qatari Grants And Chinese Influence In US K-12 Schools
A Foundation for Defense of Democracies report found Qatar Foundation International spent $10.6 million on 177 grants for Arabic programs in 24 districts across 19 states. Materials featured maps calling Israel Palestine. The Islamic Development Bank, shareholders including Iran, gave over $17 million to private Islamic schools. One Texas school’s textbooks praised extremists who justified suicide attacks and defended Hamas.
Chinese programs continue via the Center for Bridging Cultures, led by a former Confucius Institute official. No federal rule requires K-12 disclosure of foreign funds, unlike universities. Jonathan Schanzer said the $10 million figure is only a representative sample from limited records requests.
Why It Matters
Hostile regimes from Qatar, China, and Iran-linked entities buy access to shape American children’s minds with antisemitic materials and Islamist ideology. This soft power operation undermines Western values, erodes parental rights, and threatens the cultural foundation of the free world by indoctrinating the next generation without accountability.
Treasurer of El-Sayed Habibi PAC Tied to Groups Accused of Misleading Voters
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) launched Habibi PAC shortly after defeating Republican Mike Rogers in the midterm elections. Federal Election Commission records list Howie Stanger as the PAC’s treasurer. Stanger previously served as treasurer for AllVote and VoteWin in 2024. Those organizations faced scrutiny for sending text messages that falsely told voters they had not yet voted or registered to vote.
The texts from AllVote and VoteWin drew attention from election officials in multiple states for containing inaccurate information about voting status and polling locations. Stanger’s role with the new PAC for El-Sayed (D-MI) connects the senator-elect’s fundraising vehicle to groups previously criticized for the misleading outreach. El-Sayed launched the leadership PAC as a vehicle to support other candidates after his election.
Why It Matters
Tying a newly elected senator’s leadership PAC to operatives previously linked to inaccurate voter texts raises concerns about the integrity of election information distributed under the banner of progressive mobilization efforts. Such patterns can erode public trust in the voting process and allow outside groups to inject confusion into the electorate at critical moments.
Soros-Backed New Mexico Attorney General Wins $25 Billion Judgment Against Meta
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez secured a $25 billion judgment against Meta on October 21 after a jury found the company liable for 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act. The case involved claims that Meta made misleading statements about its privacy practices and content moderation. Torrez’s 2016 campaign for district attorney received more than $100,000 in support from a super PAC funded by George Soros. State District Court Judge Francis Mathew imposed the penalty, which carries 15 percent annual interest.
Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, said the lawsuit “seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online.” The company plans to appeal. The judgment exceeds New Mexico’s annual state budget of $11.1 billion. Funds from the penalty would go to the state’s public school system.
Why It Matters
A state attorney general backed by major progressive donors is using consumer-protection laws to extract an enormous penalty that Meta says functions as a tax on speech. Such judgments risk chilling online expression by punishing platforms for moderating or failing to moderate content in ways that satisfy political preferences.
West Point Graduate Who Wrote Communism Will Win Now Studies at University of Chicago
Spenser Rapone, the West Point graduate who wrote “communism will win” inside his graduation cap in 2017, is now a fully funded Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago. He was forced out of the Army with an other-than-honorable discharge after posting the images and calling for violence against Republicans. At Chicago, where he receives a $47,741 annual stipend, Rapone studies modern Arab intellectual history and the history of the modern Middle East.
On social media, Rapone has praised Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “martyred leader” and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as a “symbol of dignity.” He has also expressed support for Syria’s former Assad regime, writing that Hafez al-Assad’s 1982 suppression of a rebellion “was correct.” Rapone previously studied at the New School and the University of Texas at Austin after leaving the military.
Why It Matters
A taxpayer-supported university is funding a former Army officer who openly celebrates terrorist leaders and authoritarian regimes while studying Middle Eastern history. This placement normalizes radical ideologies on elite campuses and raises questions about how public resources support individuals who reject the values of the institutions that trained them.
ON THIS DAY IN FIFTH COLUMN HISTORY 1997:
A Virginia jury recommended the death penalty for Pakistani terrorist Aimal Khan Kasi, who ambushed commuters outside CIA headquarters in Langley in January 1993, murdering two agency employees and wounding three others in an anti-American terror attack.
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Former Obama-Biden Officials Urge Foreign Courts To Target Hegseth Over Boat Strikes
Three former Obama and Biden administration officials proposed that foreign governments gather evidence against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Admiral Frank Bradley and General Francis Donovan for potential prosecutions over Caribbean boat strikes against drug cartels. Sarah Harrison, Benjamin Farley and Tracey Begley wrote in Just Security that Colombia and Ecuador should “quietly gather evidence” now and “wait to issue indictments until Trump is out of office.” The authors treat the strikes as murder and discuss international warrants and extradition.
Harrison served as counselor to the Homeland Security secretary under Obama and later as a Pentagon associate general counsel. Farley advised on Guantanamo matters and returned to the State Department under Biden. Begley served as a senior adviser in the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice. U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz said this “seditious meddling may be illegal” and that the Justice Department will investigate.
Why It Matters
Encouraging foreign governments to build criminal cases against sitting U.S. defense officials for lawful counter-cartel operations undercuts American sovereignty and invites external interference in national security decisions. This lawfare tactic treats elected U.S. leadership as targets for overseas tribunals once political winds shift, weakening the chain of command and the constitutional authority of the executive to defend the nation.
French Novelist Houellebecq Faces Prison Over Comments on Muslims
Michel Houellebecq, 70, France’s most famous novelist, faces up to a year in prison and a 45,000-euro fine for complicity in provoking discrimination, hatred or violence against Muslims. A Nanterre judge placed him under formal investigation Tuesday after complaints from the Union of Mosques of France and MRAP over a 2022 interview with Michel Onfray.
Houellebecq described Muslims as a threat to native French security. He said natives want them to stop stealing and attacking or leave. He predicted “Bataclans in reverse” if Islamist control spreads. His lawyers say the remarks contain no exhortation and fall under protected speech.
Breitbart, The Spectator, DPA International, The Local
Why It Matters
France’s decision to threaten a 70-year-old novelist with prison for predicting violence from demographic change exposes the collapse of free speech. Western societies that jail critics of Islamist trends invite further cultural surrender. Protecting open debate is essential to preserving the values that separate free nations from theocratic ones.
Muslims in Indonesia Use Threats and Permits to Block Christian Churches
Christians in Indonesia face threats, protests, and bureaucratic barriers that prevent them from building churches despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. A 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree requires lists of at least 90 congregants, signatures from 60 neighbors, and official recommendations. Fredrik J. Pinakunary of the Indonesian Christian Legal Society said the rules give hostile groups a “pocket veto.” In one case, a machete-wielding man interrupted a prayer service of about 40 Christians and said, “If you don’t close it, bloodshed will occur inside.”
At least 11 places of worship had construction halted this year after protests alleging permit issues. In some instances, paperwork had already been completed. One church has sought a permit for nine years without success. A Setara Institute report found 3,823 incidents against freedom of religion since 2007. Pinakunary said administrative technicalities are routinely weaponized against minorities.
Why It Matters
In the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, local majorities use legal technicalities and threats to deny Christians the ability to worship. The pattern shows how constitutional promises of religious freedom can be hollowed out by bureaucratic tools and intimidation, threatening minority rights in a strategically important country.
Mossad Warns CIA of Iranian Explosive Drone Plot Targeting Trump
Mossad provided the CIA with intelligence that Iran plans to assassinate President Donald Trump and senior officials with explosive drones. Senior Israeli and American officials said US agencies asked Mossad to verify it, which another Western service corroborated. The threats reduced prospects for a preliminary US-Iran agreement and helped harden Trump’s line on Tehran.
Trump has not appeared publicly since Wednesday. Outdoor events are reduced and counter-drone systems deployed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent relocated to a military base. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are in military housing. Mossad Director Roman Gofman met CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Neither has confirmed the plot.
Why It Matters
Iran’s regime has repeatedly plotted to murder the American president and his top aides. These schemes expose Tehran as a terror state that rejects diplomacy and targets free-world leaders. Leaving such threats unanswered invites more attacks on US sovereignty and the constitutional order. Real deterrence requires action before the next drone launches.
