Category: Blaze Media
DOJ tries to put the squeeze on Don Lemon over church invasion — but judge says no, enraging Bondi: Report
While the Department of Justice has filed charges against anti-ICE radicals linked to the disruption at a Saint Paul church service, Don Lemon is reportedly escaping charges.
Lemon claimed to have been acting as a journalist when he joined the group protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations by confronting a Saint Paul church whose pastor reportedly leads an ICE office.
‘Once the protest started in the church we did an act of journalism.’
According to CBS News sources, the Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint against the former CNN anchor.
“The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate’s decision,” said a source said to be familiar with the matter to CBS.
However, another source said that the Justice Department had other avenues to seek charges against Lemon.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had announced charges against three of the radicals who allegedly participated in the storming of the church on Sunday. CBS reported that a source confirmed a magistrate judge had approved charges.
The Associated Press also reported that the charges against Lemon were rejected.
“Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people involved, including the pastor, members of the church, and members of the organization,” Lemon later said in defense of his actions. “That’s it. That’s called journalism.”
RELATED: Anti-ICE radical who took credit for the invasion of Minnesota church ARRESTED by feds
The administration is likely to pursue charges under the FACE Act, which was passed during the Clinton administration chiefly to prosecute pro-life protesters outside abortion clinics.
Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023 and has since begun commenting on the news from his YouTube channel.
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Pressed on Greenland, Trump tells Davos the US has weapons he ‘can’t even talk about’
President Donald Trump is dropping more hints about the technology used to capture Venezuela’s former communist leader Nicolas Maduro.
During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the president discussed his thoughts on Greenland as a strategic military location against China and Russia.
After saying how “stupid” the United States was to give the territory back to Denmark after World War II, Trump said the world is in greater danger with Greenland exposed.
‘They weren’t able to fire one shot at us.’
“Now our country and the world face much greater risks than it did ever before because of missiles, because of nuclear, because of weapons of warfare that I can’t even talk about,” Trump began. He then started discussing the weapons used in the capture of Maduro.
“Two weeks ago, they saw weapons that nobody ever heard of. They weren’t able to fire one shot at us. They said, ‘What happened?’ Everything was discombobulated. They said, ‘We’ve got them in our sights. Press the trigger.’ And nothing happened,” he told his fellow world leaders.
The president added that Venezuelan defense forces could not fire any anti-aircraft missiles, saying there was “one that went up about 30 feet and crashed down right next to the people that sent it.”
“They said, ‘What the hell is going on?'” the president added.
Much speculation has been given to the types of advanced technology U.S. forces used in Operation Absolute Resolve, including directed-energy weapons.
One of Maduro’s security guards described American troops as shooting with “such precision and speed; it felt like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute.”
The security guard described the Americans launching a “sonic weapon or whatever it was,” which was like a “very intense sound wave,” and he “felt like” his head “was exploding from the inside.”
“We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood,” he recalled.
RELATED: Did Trump use the ‘Havana syndrome’ weapon on Venezuela?
As for the unresponsive defense systems Trump described as “made by Russia and by China,” reports have claimed that telecommunications towers were among the first targets destroyed by American forces. A Russian-made surface-to-air missile system was also destroyed in airstrikes, others reported.
“So they’re going to go back to the drawing boards,” Trump remarked.
Much of what the United States has revealed about its weapons systems is already advanced, such as helmet technology that provides a sort of X-ray vision, supported by an interconnected drone and communications network, as well as anti-drone energy weapons.
Trump was eager to explain America’s need to acquire Greenland due to it being an “undefended” and “key strategic location” between the United States, Russia, and China.
“We need it for strategic national security and international security,” Trump said as the room remained dead silent.
The president also dismissed notions that the real reason to take Greenland was to acquire rare-earth minerals, saying the real rarity lies with processing and that Greenland’s minerals are buried deep under ice.
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Ilhan Omar under investigation by House Republicans
House Republicans have opened an investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after reviewing recent financial disclosure filings that show a sharp increase in her household’s reported wealth, according to multiple media reports.
The inquiry is being led by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, who say they are examining whether Omar and her husband, Tim Mynett, properly disclosed income and business interests as required by federal ethics laws. The review is in its early stages, and no formal allegations of wrongdoing have been announced.
‘There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years.’
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said the panel intends to pursue answers through congressional oversight channels.
“We’re going to get answers, whether it’s through the Ethics Committee or the Oversight Committee, one of the two,” Comer said.
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Omar, a Democrat who represents much of Minneapolis, reported significantly higher asset valuations in her most recent annual disclosure compared with previous years. The filings list increased valuations tied largely to Mynett’s business holdings, including consulting and investment ventures.
Comer questioned the plausibility of the reported increase, saying it raised immediate red flags.
“There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years,” Comer said. “It’s not possible. It’s not. I’m a money guy. It’s not possible.”
Republicans say the size and timing of the reported increase warrant closer scrutiny. Oversight Committee members have indicated they may seek additional documentation to better understand how the assets were valued and whether the disclosures complied with House ethics rules.
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, said the issue goes beyond routine disclosure review and merits formal examination.
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Scott Heins/Getty Images
“The explosion of wealth, plus the fact that convicted fraudsters helped fund Omar’s campaign, is worth an investigation by the Ethics Committee at the very least,” Emmer said.
The investigation comes amid heightened political attention on financial transparency in Congress and broader scrutiny of fraud cases in Minnesota, though Omar has not been charged or accused of involvement in those cases.
Omar has dismissed the investigation as politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing. She has previously said her financial disclosures are accurate and that her husband’s business activities are lawful.
A congressional investigation does not itself imply misconduct. Lawmakers frequently review disclosures and request clarifications as part of routine oversight. The House Oversight Committee has not released a timeline for potential hearings or subpoenas.
Democrats have criticized the probe as partisan, arguing that Republicans are targeting a prominent progressive lawmaker. Republicans counter that the inquiry is about transparency and accountability.
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‘Handcuff ICE’ bid fails: Appeals court overrules Biden judge, restores agents’ power to stop hostile mobs
Anti-ICE activists’ attempts to frustrate federal immigration law enforcement in Minneapolis and elsewhere hit a snag on Wednesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and three Minnesota-based law firms filed a lawsuit on Dec. 17 against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging its agents violated the constitutional rights of several anti-ICE activists, including a Minnesota woman and a Somali-American who were both accused of attacking federal agents.
A federal judge who was nominated by former President Joe Biden ruled last week in favor of the radicals.
‘A liberal judge in Minnesota tried to handcuff ICE agents.’
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez prohibited federal agents involved in Operation Metro Surge and related operations in the Gopher State from:
- “retaliating against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity”;
- arresting such persons;
- “using pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity”; and
- “stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with Covered Federal Agents.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promptly appealed the Biden judge’s ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. On Wednesday, the appellate court granted the defendants an administrative stay of Menendez’s preliminary injunction.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared greatly pleased with the higher court’s ruling.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“A liberal judge in Minnesota tried to handcuff ICE agents who are enforcing the Nation’s immigration laws and responding to obstructive and violent interference from agitators,” Bondi said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The 8th Circuit just granted an administrative stay HALTING these restrictions, which were designed to undermine federal law enforcement,” continued the attorney general. “This DOJ will protect federal law enforcement agents from criminals in the streets AND activist judges in the courtroom.”
Federal agents didn’t waste any time taking advantage of their restored abilities.
Hours after the ruling, Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol was caught on tape warning a hostile crowd of anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis that gas was coming, then tossing a gas canister their way.
The Department of Homeland Security indicated that “Border Patrol agents who were in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as part of a targeted enforcement operation were repeatedly harassed and blocked by hostile crowds while simply trying to take bathroom breaks.”
“At each gas station where the agents stopped to use the restroom, groups of agitators appeared, yelled at them, stalked them, and even tried to prevent law enforcement vehicles from leaving, creating unsafe conditions,” said the DHS. “At one stop, individuals in the crowd threw food at the agents. At their final gas station stop, someone spit on an agent. When an agent moved to detain the person who spit on him, the crowed tackled and attacked the agents while surrounding them. To safely clear the area agents had to use crowd control measures to disperse the hostile crowd.”
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‘If they don’t …’ DHS doubles self-deport bonus — and warns those illegal aliens who don’t ‘take advantage of this gift’
As the Trump administration celebrates one year in office, the Department of Homeland Security made a big announcement for its CBP Home App program in a bid to keep the deportation numbers high.
In a Wednesday press release, DHS announced that it will be increasing the self-deportation stipend the American taxpayer has been paying illegal aliens to self-deport.
‘Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return.’
The stipend will increase from $1,000 to $2,600. DHS’ offer also covers the airline ticket price and forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties for failing to leave the country.
“Since January 2025, 2.2 million illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands have used the CBP Home program. To celebrate one year of this administration, the U.S. taxpayer is generously increasing the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally — offering a $2,600 exit bonus,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” Noem continued.
DHS explained in the press release that an enforced deportation costs a little over $18,000. With the new offer, the burden on the U.S. taxpayer for a voluntary self-deportation is substantially lessened, dropping to just over $5,000.
The department also claimed that the Trump administration finished its first year with over 675,000 deportations, though more specific breakdowns of the data have been difficult to obtain.
“Those illegal aliens who don’t take advantage of this special offer today have only one alternative: They will be arrested, deported, and they will never be able to return to the United States,” DHS said. “The smart and simple thing to do is to start planning your trip home through CBP Home today.”
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Anti-ICE radical who took credit for the invasion of Minnesota church ARRESTED by feds
Radicals from Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and BLM Twin Cities assembled on Sunday for a so-called “ICE Out Action,” then stormed a Christian church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday morning that at her direction, Homeland Security Investigations and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, the founder of the Racial Justice Network and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, who claimed responsibility for the disruption.
The AG indicated that Chauntyll Louisa Allen, a radical lesbian who has led BLM Twin Cities and worked for the Saint Paul School Board since 2020, was also arrested.
“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” wrote Bondi.
‘President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.’
FBI Director Kash Patel indicated that both Armstrong and Allen were arrested for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon indicated in the immediate aftermath of the radicals’ incursion into Cities Church, which apparently has a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-affiliated pastor, that her office was looking into potential FACE Act violations “by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
Photo by Jason Alpert-Wisnia/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
“We don’t want to prejudge, but I think it is fair to say that I saw multiple federal criminal incidents yesterday, and there will be charges,” Dhillon told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck Monday. “It’s only a question of when we can get a judge to sign off on arrest warrants and exactly what the charges would be.”
The law prohibits the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
Violations can result in prison time and hefty fines as well as civil lawsuits.
Footage of the church-storming appears to show the mob led by Armstrong blocking the altar, yelling Renee Good’s name, and pressing parishioners individually to answer whether they support ICE. One pair of visibly upset churchgoers can be seen in the video comforting one another while the radicals angrily condemn members of law enforcement.
In one video of the mob action, Armstrong apparently yells, “Someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents. Think about what we experienced. The murder of Renee Good at the hands of ICE. A Venezuelan national shot by ICE.”
Armstrong references a pair of individuals who were shot while allegedly attacking federal agents, then yells, “How dare you claim to be a pastor of God? … You are involved in evil in our community,” video appears to show.
“President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday. “The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota.”
Bondi suggested that there are more arrests to come.
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The GOP can’t ‘wield’ the administrative state without being corrupted by it
Many Americans have watched Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.” And many have read J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. Some can quote whole passages and trace Tolkien’s deliberate references to the life of Christ and the horror of modern war.
Maybe House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) live in that camp. If not, they should.
The Republicans’ plan cannot be ‘use federal power while we have it, then trust the next guys.’
A crucial scene comes early in the saga. The council debates what to do with the One Ring, the ultimate source of power. Boromir makes an understandable, dangerous suggestion — a perfect expression of fallen man’s temptation: “Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.”
Aragorn stops him with two sentences rooted in humility and truth: “You cannot wield it. None of us can.”
That is the lesson Republicans must learn now, while they still hold majorities.
Dismantle the machine, don’t borrow it
Many supporters of President Trump want Congress to act boldly. They also want something more important: They want Republicans to roll back the reach and scope of the federal government while they can. If the GOP refuses, Democrats will inherit the same machinery and use it without restraint. Not someday. Soon.
If you think I exaggerate by calling Democrats the enemy or warning that we are doomed, consider a recent message from the second-highest-ranking elected congressional Democrat in the country, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Jeffries posted a video of White House adviser Stephen Miller on X.com and wrote: “Donald Trump will leave office long before the five-year statute of limitations expires. You are hereby put on notice.”
Jeffries did not allege a crime. He did not explain what Miller did wrong. He did not argue facts or law. He issued a threat: We will punish you later because we can.
That is what Republicans keep forgetting. The federal government’s power does not idle in neutral. It exists to be used. If it remains in place, someone will use it — and progressives have already shown what they want to do with it.
Which raises the central point: Nobody can safely wield that power. Not congressional Republicans. Not any administration. The correct move is not to grab the weapon and promise better behavior. The correct move is to destroy the weapon.
Fraud stories shine a bright light
Start with something as basic as fraud.
Look at the unraveling of the Somali day-care scandal in Minnesota and the billions of stolen tax dollars. That story grew so large that it helped end Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’s re-election ambitions. Yet the government did not uncover it.
Not the Government Accountability Office. Not the Congressional Budget Office. Not the Office of Management and Budget. Not House or Senate oversight committees. Not the IRS. Not the Small Business Administration. Not the armies of full-time staffers inside federal agencies reporting up to inspectors general whose job description exists for this very purpose.
All that government power — and it did nothing.
RELATED: America now looks like a marriage headed for divorce — with no exit
mathisworks via iStock/Getty Images
The scandal came to light because of the tenacity of a 23-year-old guy with a camera. If the federal machine can miss fraud on that scale, imagine what else it misses.
Fraud saturates the system. Estimates run as high as $500 billion — roughly 7% of the $6.8 trillion federal budget. That budget still reflects COVID-era spending levels. In 2019, Washington spent $4.45 trillion. Why did we never return to pre-COVID levels?
Because money is power. And like Boromir, too many people convince themselves they can wield it.
Ethics are not enough
Energy policy shows the same temptation in real time.
My nonprofit organization, Power the Future, sent another letter to House and Senate oversight committees and to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging investigations into Biden’s energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm. In the final days of the Biden administration, Granholm awarded $100 billion in green-energy grants — more than the previous 15 years combined. Many recipients had previously supported her political campaigns.
Green money poured out of Washington through the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $60 billion for “environmental justice” — a phrase so deliberately amorphous that it has no fixed meaning. Team Biden spent $1 trillion “going green,” a statistic Vice President Kamala Harris bragged about during her lone 2024 debate with Donald Trump.
That entire structure still stands.
Nothing prevents the current energy secretary, Chris Wright, from spending billions on his favorite projects except his ethics. I believe Wright has ethics in abundance. We should feel grateful. But one man’s ethics do not qualify as a system of government.
The next secretary could be worse than Granholm. If the power remains, someone will use it.
RELATED: Nuke the filibuster or brace for the next impeachment campaign
Viktoriia Melnyk via iStock/Getty Images
Empty the arsenal
Just as in Tolkien’s masterpiece, our enemies do not wait quietly. They scheme. They train. They amass armies of lawyers, activists, operatives, and bureaucrats. They build institutional pipelines that outlast elections. They do not go home after losing once. They plan the return.
Republicans need to plan as well — and their plan cannot be “use federal power while we have it, then trust the next guys.”
One party will not hold Washington forever. When conservatives lose power, they should make sure the left inherits a reduced federal government: weaker, narrower, stripped of the patronage systems and enforcement tools that now function as political weapons.
That is why it is incumbent upon congressional Republicans to do everything in their power — everything — to destroy the Ring.
America’s founders envisioned a weak federal government for this reason. In America’s 250th year, Congress should act like it understands the danger of concentrated power. If Republicans keep the machinery intact, they will regret it. If the Ring finds its next master, it will not spare the people who once held it.
Google’s new motto: Don’t be Christian
Google once had an informal motto: “Don’t be evil.” How about be ideologically driven? Opaque? Arbitrary?
Google sells itself as online Switzerland — a neutral search engine that doesn’t tilt one way or the other. That neutrality vanishes fast when you search for something its algorithm doesn’t like. Suddenly the thing you want becomes strangely hard to find unless you already know exactly where it lives. If you don’t, good luck.
You can’t fix what you’re not allowed to understand.
And good luck advertising it, too — if Google disapproves.
Most people still think of Google as a search engine. That’s outdated. Google is the 900-pound gorilla of online advertising through Google Ads. It has vacuumed up so much of the market that anyone who wants to advertise online usually has to go through Google’s pipeline, under Google’s terms, with Google acting as judge and jury.
This isn’t the print era, when advertisers bought space from newspapers and magazines directly, publication by publication. Today, a huge share of the ad economy runs through a single gatekeeper.
Some might call that a monopoly. Monopolies become even more dangerous when they turn ideological.
Google — and it is far from alone — leans hard left. It dislikes conservative and Christian content, and it has learned how to suppress it without leaving fingerprints. It buries the content in search rankings so that almost no one sees it unless they already know where to look. It throttles monetization. It blocks ads with vague warnings and “policy” language designed to end the conversation.
Google and TikTok now appear to be doing the same thing to faith-based content.
Have you heard of TruPlay? Probably not. That’s the point.
TruPlay is an entertainment app that offers faith-based games and videos for kids. It’s explicitly family-friendly — no sexual themes, no violence, no garbage disguised as “content.” Parents want that. Millions of them. There’s a market for wholesome screen time, and there’s money to be made providing it.
But according to the American Center for Law and Justice, Google has refused to do business with TruPlay for ideological reasons. The ACLJ says Google rejected TruPlay’s efforts to launch advertising campaigns, citing “religious belief in personalized advertising.”
Read that again. Google flagged religious belief as the problem.
The ACLJ says TruPlay tried to comply, filing appeals and revising its ad content repeatedly, only to receive the same rejection notices no matter what changes it made. The ads weren’t inflammatory. They were straightforward: “Turn Game Time into God Time,” “Christian Games for Kids,” “Safe Bible Games for Kids.”
Google’s policy supposedly prohibits “selecting an audience based on sensitive information, such as health information or religious beliefs.” But TruPlay wasn’t targeting a religious audience or harvesting private data. It was advertising Christian kids’ content to the general public.
Google’s response wasn’t “you’re targeting.” It was “your content is too sensitive to advertise.”
That’s the move. “Sensitive” once meant porn, violence, or content not suitable for children. Now it means “Christian games for kids.”
TikTok, the ACLJ says, applied the same logic with even less transparency. The platform allegedly suspended TruPlay’s advertising account over unspecified “repeated violations,” without explaining what those violations were. The ACLJ says one rejected ad contained the word “church.” Another issue allegedly involved an App Store preview image showing Jesus on the cross — not in the ad itself, but in the app’s images. The ACLJ claims TikTok barred advertising anyway.
RELATED: Google’s new plan: To learn everything about you from your online shopping
Photo by Idrees MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images
You can’t fix what you’re not allowed to understand. That’s the point of opacity. You don’t get a rule you can follow. You get a verdict.
What makes this even more revealing is the economic angle. This isn’t Google or TikTok avoiding ads that risk scaring off customers. TruPlay offers the kind of content parents actively want. Platforms should want that money. Instead, they appear willing to lose revenue just to suppress anything overtly Christian and family-friendly.
The ACLJ has sent a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, urging an investigation into what it calls “systemic discrimination” against Christian content creators and advertisers — part of a broader pattern of viewpoint-based censorship.
Google and TikTok will respond with the standard defense: We’re private companies. We can do what we want.
Fine. But stop pretending you’re Switzerland. If you present yourself as a neutral platform open to all, while quietly functioning as a political gatekeeper, you don’t get to hide behind the language of neutrality when people notice the double standard.
You can’t have it both ways. Either you’re Switzerland — or you’re not.
Google and TikTok are not. It’s time to treat them accordingly.
How Americans can prepare for the worst — before it’s too late
Imagine standing in a war-torn city overseas, as I have on numerous deployments, walking through communities shattered not just by bombs and sectarian conflict, but by the follow-on failure of basic systems — water, power, food, even the educational system.
It’s a stark reminder that resilience isn’t abstract; it’s the difference between chaos and recovery. Back home, over 20 million Americans reported in 2023 that they could last at home for a month or more without publicly provided water, power, or transportation, a rate more than double that reported in 2017.
This trend is not occurring because of government guidance, but rather because of a perceived fear of government failure. Across the world, civil defense and national preparedness are surging in discussions, extending beyond disasters or war to encompass health, economics, energy, and the social, spiritual, and built environments of our communities.
Civilians have an active role to play and should not passively wait for government salvation.
The core question remains: Are we truly resilient?
Identifying gaps
In 2019, Quinton Lucie, a former attorney for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, wrote a blistering academic piece in Homeland Security Affairs. He argued that America no longer has the institutional experience or framework required for civil defense, a large pillar in overall national resiliency. In his words, the U.S. “lacks a comprehensive strategy and supporting programs to support and defend the population of the United States during times of war.” Retired Air Force General Glen D. VanHerck, the former commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, recently commented that America needs to be able to “take a punch in the nose … and get back up and come out swinging” regardless of whether the attack came in the cyber realm or something conventional.
An all-inclusive plan is not optional. Presidential Executive Order 12656 mandates whole-of-government responsibilities for various national security emergencies. Article Three of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, which created NATO, stipulates resilience, focusing on continuity of government, essential services for citizens, and military support. Implicitly, it calls on individuals to step up too — not just for war, but for natural disasters, economic slumps, or grid failures.
While non-binding, the 2020 NATO NSHQ Comprehensive Defence Handbook states that “resilience is the foundation atop the whole-of-society bedrock” and “is built through civil preparedness and is achieved by continually preparing for, mitigating, and adapting to potential risks well before a crisis.” The challenge is that civil preparedness requires this whole-of-society approach, not just a whole-of-government one. That is, we can’t have a strong nation without strong individuals and communities.
Facing perils head-on
What other perils might we confront? Food security is a prime example. During the U.S. government shutdown, food banks near bases experienced a 30%-75% surge from military families. This comes at a time when 42 million Americans are on food stamps and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. push for a healthier fighting force and populace. Globally, a February 2025 report by the U.K.’s National Preparedness Commission indicated that civil food resilience is highly vulnerable to myriad shocks to the status quo and that the populace was underprepared.
RELATED: Minneapolis ICE protesters are BEGGING for civil war — and we need to take them seriously
Photo by DAVID PASHAEE/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Utilities failures like water and electricity are another concern. In October 2025, the former top general of the National Security Agency warned of China’s aggressive targeting of U.S. critical infrastructure. This aligns with China’s “Three Warfares” strategy, which seeks to manipulate or weaken adversaries via public opinion warfare, psychological warfare, and legal warfare. China’s gray-zone activities against the U.S. also include synthetic narcotics like fentanyl and online actions to deepen political fissures.
Leaders are not sitting still. President Trump supports reshoring manufacturing capacity in the U.S. Onshoring and friend-shoring are hot topics among various industries, given rare-earth metal availability, tariffs, and general uncertainty. The U.S. Army is bolstering energy resilience, planning nuclear small modular reactors on nine bases by late 2028 and reclaiming a “right to repair” in contracts.
Big business is also in on the action. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase recently announced a $1.5 trillion plan for a more resilient domestic economy, seeing it as an issue of national security. With two Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025 potentially fueling inflation, hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio advises 15% portfolio allocation to gold. Even Jan Sramek of California Forever is investing hundreds of millions to build a resilient city near San Francisco. Resilience, clearly, permeates every facet of life.
Resilience is global
This is not unique to the English-speaking world. Latvia, a small Baltic state bordering Russia and Russia’s ally Belarus, exemplifies a whole-of-society approach. The nation’s 2020 State Defense Concept — currently in execution — is comprehensive in its approach, both to potential perils and responsibilities. Accidents, pandemics, war, severe weather, and cyberthreats all require a citizenry-to-parliament strategy. The church plays a major role, as does physical fitness, patriotism, and education, which is why state defense is now compulsory in Latvian schools.
Germany is getting back into the bunker business and has earmarked €10 billion through 2029 for civil protection. Many Polish citizens do not see their governments doing enough and are taking matters into their own hands by building bunkers and attempting — unfortunately without much success — to establish neighborhood civil defense groups.
What resilient citizens can do
What should we take from this? First, preparedness is neither fringe nor irrational. It is a global movement involving politicians, billionaires, and everyday people. Second, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Resilience spans the full human spectrum: social, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual components, as I outline in my book “Resilient Citizens” through frameworks like the five archetypes (from Homesteaders to the Faithful) that show diverse, adaptable paths. Third, civilians have an active role to play and should not passively wait for government salvation. Tiered responsibility requires each echelon — from state to citizen — to play their parts, own up to their agency and responsibility, and act. Will you?
‘Absurd fraud’: Former Hochul minion declares NYC’s only GOP-held congressional seat unconstitutional
Democrats, ever desperate for one-party control, filed a lawsuit in October claiming that New York City’s only Republican-held congressional district was unconstitutionally drawn because it allegedly “dilutes black and Latino voting strength.”
The Staten Island plaintiffs, represented by the Washington, D.C.-based Elias Law Group, demanded that the map — which was approved by the Democrat-controlled state legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in 2024 — be redrawn such that it’d be virtually impossible for Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis to defend her district.
‘This entire exercise is a cynical attempt to enact an illegal partisan gerrymander under the guise of a voting rights case.’
Jeffrey Pearlman, a justice on the New York Supreme Court who was not only appointed by Hochul but previously served as her lawyer and chief of staff, delivered the plaintiffs a win on Wednesday, claiming that the configuration of New York State’s 11th congressional district is unconstitutional.
“It is clear to the Court that the current district lines of CD-11 are a contributing factor in the lack of representation for minority voters,” wrote Hochul’s former chief of staff.
While the Democratic plaintiffs proposed new gerrymandered district lines for the Hochul judge to adopt, he noted that the New York state Constitution leaves it to the legislature to correct the law’s legal infirmities in the event that a congressional map is invalidated by a court.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.). Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.
Accordingly he ordered the New York Independent Redistricting Commission to draw a new map by Feb. 6.
Days ahead of the ruling, Malliotakis told “The Point with Marcia Kramer” that the Democratic campaign to redraw the map was “ludicrous” and “an insult to the people of Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn, who had a Democrat, by the way, Max Rose, who represented them, and they fired this individual.”
“So they had a choice here between a Republican and a Democrat, and they decided they didn’t want the Democrat representing them anymore,” continued Malliotakis. “And here comes this Washington firm saying they don’t care about the will of the voter. They’re going to set it up so a Republican can never win and it’ll always be one-party rule.”
Aria Branch, a partner at the D.C.-based Elias Law Group, claimed that the decision was “a victory for every voter in New York’s 11th Congressional District who has been denied an equal voice.”
Hochul also lauded her former underling’s decision.
“The New York State Constitution guarantees the principles of fair representation, and New Yorkers in every community deserve these protections,” stated Hochul. “The court’s decision underscores the importance of these constitutional principles and directs the congressional map be redrawn by the New York Independent Redistricting Commission so impacted communities are fully represented and have a voice in our democracy.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) characterized the apparent effort to disenfranchise Republican voters in New York City as “the first step towards ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R) rejected Jeffries’ framing, suggesting the Hochul judge’s order amounted to an “absurd fraud” perpetrated against those “New Yorkers who demanded independent redistricting and overwhelmingly rejected partisan gerrymandering.”
Ed Cox, chairman of the New York Republican Party, similarly condemned the ruling.
“This was a partisan ruling made by a partisan judge in a case brought by a notoriously partisan attorney,” stated Cox. “Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats did not alter this district when they had a chance in 2024. This entire exercise is a cynical attempt to enact an illegal partisan gerrymander under the guise of a voting rights case.”
The district Hochul’s former underling deemed unconstitutional has been represented by Malliotakis since 2021, when she beat her Democratic opponent in a landslide, 63.8% to 35.8%.
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