Political Pistachio
* The Fallbrook Vineyard Church, The Vineyard 1924, 1924 E. Mission Rd., Fallbrook, California, October 26 at 10:00 am
* Independence Hall Tour: Buena Park, CA; Knotts Berry Farm Independence Hall, October 27 at 10:30 am
* Meet and Greet with Eric Stalter, candidate for Riverside County Supervisor, District 5 (invite only)
* Pastor’s Appreciation Breakfast: San Diego, CA; Handlery Hotel, October 28 at 8:00 am (tickets sold out)
- Title Sponsored by Mr. Constitution Douglas V. Gibbs, Hosted by K-Praise, featuring guest Pastor Jack Hibbs and worship by Michael Sanchez.
By Douglas V. Gibbs
The first time I personally faced off with Antifa was when they appeared during my third speaking event for the College Republicans at UC Riverside. Antifa lined the stairs to the venue, forcing four brave students to escort me through what felt like a battlefield. I remember thinking, “The flak gets heavier when you’re over the target.” That day confirmed for me that I was doing something right as a constitutionalist.
While Democrats claim Antifa doesn’t exist, I can tell you from firsthand experience that they do. They are real, organized, and well funded.
Antifa is not your typical leftist organization. They are anarcho-communists, intent on tearing down the American system so that they can raise a new communist order from the rubble. They claim all they are doing is protesting, but what we are watching is insurrection. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution authorizes the federal government without state approval to suppress such insurrections when they threaten the United States.
Antifa is a militant force, encouraged to get arrested, trained to be violent, and it is becoming clear that they are funded through laundered taxpayer dollars. We’ve seen their chaos in Portland, Seattle, and even North Carolina, where a masked individual opened fire at a Donald Trump supporter’s home.
Their violence is emboldened by rhetoric from the radical left and their Democratic Party counterparts. Whether through Antifa, or other extremist channels, they are signaling their intent to silence opposition by any means necessary. According to InfoWars, “They want to kill us.”
Texas congressional candidate Jolanda Jones told CNN, “I’m from the hood…I’m gonna go across your neck.” Was that a veiled reference to the horrific shooting of Charlie Kirk?
In Los Angeles, schoolteacher and prominent anti-ICE activist Ron Gochez warned, “They are not the only ones with guns in this city.” Another video revealed an elementary schoolteacher pointing her fingers to her neck in an obvious mocking of Charlie Kirk’s murder.
These aren’t simply individuals with isolated outbursts. The theme runs through the left as a part of a broader movement that trains to be disruptive, destructive, and, in their own words, “ungovernable.”
The message is clear: the radical left is embracing political violence. Whether through Antifa or other extremist channels, they are signaling their intent to silence opposition by any means necessary.
Candidates like Jay Jones openly fantasizing about murdering political opponents has drawn no condemnation from the Democratic Party. There has been no accountability. Instead, they mock the assassination of Charlie Kirk and entertain fantasies of a “successful” Trump assassination attempt.
They have a darkness within them. They are chasing evil in ways that go way beyond insurrection. What we are seeing is moral collapse. They are crossing a line that is not reversible. And as they unleash chaos while daring President Trump to respond, I’m reminded of the schoolyard bully poking a kid in the chest, daring him to take the first swing. I pray that we handle this with wisdom and resolve. Constitutionally, the Trump administration has every authority to treat this as insurrection and deploy the National Guard if necessary. The lower courts may fumble, but the Constitution is clear.
One thing is certain: the American people are watching. And come 2026, they’ll have their say in the Midterm Elections – not with bricks or Molotovs, but with ballots.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
By Douglas V. Gibbs
The media has always been tainted, or at least during my lifetime. Back when I was a kid the left had it contained on three major networks. Then, Rush Limbaugh broke radio wide upon for conservative thought, and the advent of cable television added more voices. But, even though the left permeated the ranks of radio and television journalists, they at least tried to look like the facts mattered back then. Now, journalism has become a game of “gotcha” instead of “get the facts”? A good example is the recent textbook case of the left-wing media complex trying to smear Tom Homan with a rumor so thin it couldn’t hold up a cocktail napkin.
You know Tom Homan. He’s pulls no punches. He’s the perfect Border Czar. Straight shooter. No-nonsense. The kind of guy who actually believes in enforcing the law. And because of that, the left hates him. So what do they do? They float a nasty, unsubstantiated rumor that he accepted a $50,000 bribe. The claim is it got handed to him by undercover FBI agents. No true evidence exists of this rumor. There are no charges. No indictment. No trial. Just hearsay and headlines.
And who’s pushing this garbage? The usual suspects. A big one has been George Stephanopoulos, the Clinton consigliere turned Sunday morning inquisitor. He tried to corner Vice President JD Vance on ABC’s This Week, asking about a so-called FBI tape that nobody’s seen, nobody’s authenticated, and nobody’s confirmed. Vance, to his credit, didn’t flinch. He called it what it was: a smear. A distraction. A reason why fewer and fewer Americans tune in to the mainstream media circus.
“You’re insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong,” Vance said. “Let’s talk about the real issues.”
And this is the kind of shadow-chasing that is important to Stephanopoulos while the government is shut down. Troops aren’t getting paid as they should be. Low-income families are wondering where their next meal might be coming from (though I believe safety nets like welfare should be administered by the States, not the federal government – that’s just a constitutional authority thing, with me). But ABC wanted to talk about a bribe that didn’t happen.
And then, when Vance got going, the ABC team cut Vance off. Mid-sentence. Boom. Commercial break. Because when the truth doesn’t fit the narrative, the left hits the mute button.
Then, we get to Bill O’Reilly, the former FOX News personality. He confronted Homan directly, in front of a live audience, with no plan to cut him off like ABC did to Vance. No teleprompters. No spin. Just a question: “Did you take $50,000?”
Homan looked him dead in the eye and said: “I didn’t take $50,000 from anybody.”
Then he dropped the hammer:
“Day one I came back, I recused myself from any discussions, of any contact or any monetary decisions like that because I used to have a company that did consulting…I took a significant, huge pay cut to come back and serve my nation…I am not enriching myself doing this job.”
That’s what integrity looks like, folks. That’s what service looks like. And that’s why the left can’t stand him.
They can’t beat Trump or his people on policy. They can’t beat him on results. So they try to beat him with rumors. But here’s the thing: Tom Homan doesn’t care what they think. He said it himself:
“I don’t care what people think about me, I never have because I know who I am. I work for the greatest president in the history of this nation in my opinion. And we’re doing the right thing every day.”
Boom. Mic drop. That’s how you handle fake news.
It’s the same B.S. as usual; the media trying to sell you a scandal. I get asked these questions all the time about what I think about what the media says. I always respond: “Who said it, is it backed by facts, or is it just another leftist attempt to deceptively attack a patriot?”
In the end, truth wins. And Tom Homan? He’s still standing.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
As we watch the lefties violently march around our city streets and assault ICE agents, as we grasp that they really do think that men can be women, and as we continue to shake our heads as their Trump Derangement Syndrome reaches epic proportions a new confrontation with a story that cuts to the heart of our national character has emerged. The FBI has announced the arrest of NBA Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, alongside Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, in connection with a sprawling illegal gambling operation tied to none other than La Cosa Nostra, the Genovese, Gambino, and Bonanno crime families. Yes, you heard that right. Organized crime, woven into the fabric of professional sports.
Sure, we’ve seen this kind of thing before. The Black Sox scandal that has kept Joe Jackson out of the Hall of Fame comes to mind. But with the rise of gambling, especially sports gambling of late, did we really think that the envelope wasn’t going to be pushed in this manner?
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, this is a “historic arrest” that exposes a criminal enterprise stretching from the hardwood to the underworld. Forty individuals have been taken into custody. The NBA, once a symbol of American athletic excellence, now finds itself entangled in a web of corruption that threatens the integrity of the game and the trust of the people.
Billups, a five-time All-Star and NBA champion, was taken into custody for his role in illegal poker games. Yet, astonishingly, he still stood on the sidelines coaching his team against the Timberwolves. Rozier, meanwhile, was absent from the Heat’s game against Orlando, his arrest cloaked behind a hamstring injury. Ironic, considering he faked an ankle injury during one of the gambling scams where he pulled himself out of a game early so that a bunch of people could bet the under regarding his game-play, and then count the winnings at his house with his cut.
While I hear that the NBA is cooperating, we have heard no official statements from the teams. No accountability. Just silence.
Realize, this isn’t just about basketball. It’s about the erosion of virtue in our institutions. It’s about the slow bleed of honor from the veins of our republic. When sports icons become pawns in criminal syndicates, when multimillion-dollar franchises turn a blind eye, we must ask: where is the moral backbone of this country?
We are not spectators in this republic, we are its stewards. Only a virtuous people, after all, can truly understand freedom and appreciate something as precious as our Constitution. Fortunately, we have the Trump administration on guard shining a light on the shadows.
By Douglas V. Gibbs
If Trump was a King he would:
Not have allowed the “No Kings” rally to occur in the first place.
Increase regulations against the business sector rather than reduce them as he has been doing. By the way, the Democrats believe in increasing regulations against the business sector, while also using progressive taxation to tax them into extinction. You know, like communism did in the Soviet Union, China, Venezuela, Cuba and the list goes on and on and on.
Suspend the First Amendment’s principle of Free Speech. You know, like the Democrats and their allies have done on College Campuses, Social Media, and pretty much everywhere else they could cancel speech that disagrees with their narrative by calling it misinformation and disinformation.
Suspend the First Amendment’s principle of Free Press by shutting down all of the leftwing media with a wave of his scepter. You know, forcing the media to report the way he wants like the Democrats and their allies have done by infiltrating and taking over most of the mainstream media with their hard left journalists and opinion pundits who report their ideology like it isn’t fake news.
Weaponize the IRS to target his political enemies. You know, like the Obama administration did when conservative groups applying for non-profit status were flagged and delayed.
Force schools to teach ideologically-tilted lessons. You know, like Biden did when he threatened to cut off school lunch funding if school districts did not adopt a gender dysphoria indoctrination curriculum.
Mandate vaccinations. You know, like Biden and his accomplices tried to do during the COVID scamdemic – where Americans were forced to decide to obey or lose their jobs in many cases, some of those as members of the U.S. Armed Forces who were forced out of service and cadets expelled for refusing the shot. According to Military News, the Army ended the military pay and benefits for more than 60,000 National Guard and Reserve Soldiers who refused the COVID-19 shot, an authoritarian action that affected more than the servicemember – it affected their families.
Use intelligence agencies to spy on political opponents. You know, like the Democrats did when the FBI surveilled Trump’s campaign under questionable pretenses during the 2016 election.
Pack the Supreme Court with loyal ideologues. You know, like the Democrats have threatened to do every time a ruling doesn’t go their way, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt threatened to do during his presidency, and like the leftist Hamiltonian Federalist Party actually did during the Midnight Judges scandal.
Use drones to kill Americans who don’t agree with him – without trial, without due process. You know, like Obama did in 2011 when his administration authorized a drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, in Yemen. Weeks later, another strike killed his 16-year-old son. Citizens. No charges. No courtroom. Just executive power and a missile.
Use the government to buy out companies. You know, like Obama did with General Motors.
Use the government to control banking, regulate lenders, and dictate financial behiavior in the name of protecting consumers. You know, like Obama did with the Dodd-Frank Act, which gave federal agencies sweeping power over banks and mortgage to combat so-called “predatory lending.”
Use law to dictate to private industries and force your participation. You know, like Obama did with the Affordable Care Act, which compelled individuals to buy insurance and pressured businesses to comply or face harsh penalties.
House detained illegal aliens tightly in cages (including children). You know, like Obama did.
Raise taxes to give the government more power to spend and redistribute wealth in a communist manner. You know, like the Democrats have.
Declare climate emergencies to bypass Congress. You know, like the Democrats and their internationalist leftist allies have to push through radical authoritarian environmental policies without legislative approval.
Ban gas-powered cars and stoves. You know, like progressive states and cities have started doing in the name of climate justice – regardless of cost or practicality (and we can throw incandescent light bulbs and a whole list of other products on that list, too).
Use executive orders to erase borders to win elections and create chaos so that more federal government involvement in local communities is required to control the situation – and then proclaim that police need to be defunded which creates even more need for federal influence. You know, like Biden did when he reversed Trump-era immigration policies and created a humanitarian crisis at the southern border and in each of our cities.
Force banks to report your transactions over $600. You know, like the Biden administration proposed to monitor Americans’ financial activity under the guise of catching tax cheats.
Redefine words to fit his agenda. You know, like the left did when they changed the definition of “recession” during economic downturns to avoid bad press.
Use the DOJ to prosecute political rivals over things that are not even a crime. You know, like the Democrats did with their lawfare campaign against Trump and his allies where investigations were more about the accusation than any actual criminal activity – and then make sure they had their judges in place to hammer home the verdicts.
Push for digital IDs and centralized currency for more authoritarian control over people’s lives. You know, like globalist Democrats have floated to increase surveillance and control over personal finances.
Use the FBI and civilian agitators to infiltrate opposition rallies, provoke chaos, and fabricate an image of insurrection – then unleash federal officers to hunt down anyone nearby, even passive onlookers. You know, like the Democrats did on January 6, 2021 when they deployed 274 FBI assets, Antifa operatives, and the Capitol Police to ignite a staged riot at the Capitol, even before those who watched Trump speak at The Ellipse even arrived.
… I’m sure you can think of more, if you tried.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Schumer Shutdown: Democrats Block Pay for Federal Workers While Demanding Leverage
By Douglas V. Gibbs
While the halls of Capitol Hill echo with partisan rhetoric and political theater, real Americans are bracing for empty paychecks and shuttered benefits. On Thursday, Senate Democrats voted down the Shutdown Fairness Act; a bill that would have ensured federal workers, including military personnel, TSA agents, and law enforcement officers, received pay during the ongoing government shutdown.
This wasn’t a bill to end the shutdown. It wasn’t a Trojan horse for Republican demands. It was a lifeline. It was a simple, targeted measure to pay those who are still showing up to work while Washington plays chicken with the American economy. And Democrats killed it.
The vote fell short at 54-45 in the U.S. Senate, just shy of the 60 votes needed for cloture to advance. Only three Democrats – Fetterman, Ossoff, and Warnock – crossed party lines to support the bill. The rest chose party over people.
Why?
Because for the Democrats suffering is leverage. Because missed paychecks and unfunded benefits are bargaining chips in a high-stakes game of political brinkmanship. Because the party that claims to champion working families is now using those same families as hostages in a legislative standoff.
If this shutdown continues, benefits programs like SNAP will not be funded come November 1. Millions of Americans who rely on food assistance, housing support, and basic services that the Democrats typically champion will be left in the cold while Capitol Hill debates optics and power.
Those political ideological hacks who voted against the bill are not representing the people who sent them to office. They are not governing as the voters want them to. The Democrats are committing political extortion, and they are doubling down somehow believing that this behavior is good for America – let me rephrase that: they believe it is good for them. They could care less about America, nor the people who sent them to office. This is all about their power. Pure and simple.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced the bill, calling it a matter of fairness. The Shutdown Fairness Act would have paid those deemed “essential,” those still working, still protecting, still serving, while Congress sorts out its dysfunction. But Democrats objected, claiming the bill gave the President too much discretion over who gets paid. So instead of fixing that, they blocked the whole thing.
They voted for people to suffer because they hate President Trump so much that they wish to block him from doing things that their own guys in the past did with congratulations from these some of these very same Democrats.
The Democrats countered with a bill that would have paid all federal workers while also limiting the president’s authority, which is unconstitutional by the way. That bill was blocked by Republicans earlier in the week. Constitutionally, Congress cannot pass a law to tell the President he can’t do something that he is constitutionally afforded. Article II clearly gives the President of the United States full authority over all executive powers, which includes his position as head of the executive branch. He can hire, he can fire, and he can determine internal strategies regarding the movement of funding. Those duties are constitutionally granted to the President of the United States. But remember, the Democrats don’t truly care about the Constitution. All they care about is stopping the guy who has done the most to reduce their level of political power and control. And in response, the authoritarians of the Democratic Party seek to steal authorities constitutionally granted to the President of the United States.
So here we are: two parties, two bills, and zero paychecks.
The Democrats have put their power, and their hatred for Donald Trump, ahead of America and We the People. They have put their ideology over doing what’s right. Democrats have put their demands ahead of serving the American People.
The Schumer Shutdown is a betrayal. Every unpaid worker, every unfunded benefit, every struggling family is a casualty of that betrayal.
The court of public opinion is watching, and the Midterm Elections loom on the horizon.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary