Russia – Ed Hoffman

The Main Event – July 20, 2018

July 20, 2018

Connect with The Main Event on social media! Follow Ed Hoffman on Twitter @EdHoffman, where he tweets about current events all week long – and, like the show on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheMainEventEdHoffman. You can also call the new listener hotline to leave Ed a voicemail and tell him what you think of the show! Call The Main Event listener hotline at (855) 640-2092. Here’s a preview of this week’s show!

Trump and Putin Summit

The long-anticipated Helsinki Summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place on Monday, leaving Democrats and the media in hysterics all week. Ed alert: “You can control where you buy his house, but you can’t control who buys the house next door. You can hate your neighbor, or try to get along. We’re the number one superpower and they’re number two. It’s probably a good idea to have some kind of relationship with them at some point.” Tune in to hear more thoughts along these lines!

You’d have to be living under a rock to miss the negative feedback on Trump’s comments on Russian election meddling. Whether the President walked back his comments on election meddling or not, we were bound to see hysterical reactions from people on the left – and not surprisingly, one of them was Obama’s CIA Director, John Brennan.

Someone needs to tell Brennan that once you start calling everything treasonous, the concept of treason loses its meaning.

Tune in to hear Ed consult Siri on the definition!

What are the Democrats Up To?

In the last months before the midterm election, House Democrats have finalized their new campaign slogan: “For the People.” According to Politico, the Democrats plan to begin working “For the People” into their statements and press conferences, with a focus on three key areas: addressing health care and prescription drug costs; increasing wages through infrastructure and public works projects; and highlighting “Republican corruption” in Washington.

The slogan is supposed to summarize the economic-based messaging Democrats have been pushing since last summer…when they unveiled a different slogan, “Better Deal” — but that one didn’t catch on, and was even mocked by some Democrats in Congress.

But the Dems may have legal trouble on their hands, because “For the people” is already taken by a major personal injury law firm in Florida, and that firm owns the website domain ForThePeople.com.

During her weekly press conference on Thursday, Nancy Pelosi took it upon herself to clear up any confusion by using both the old and new slogans, and she hit it out of the park (not really).

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is up to something too. Is she trying to stay politically relevant for legacy reasons, or is she running for President again?

Five times in the last month alone, Hillary sent emails touting her super PAC’s role in combating President Trump. Most seized on headline events, such as the family separation issue at the southern border.
Under the message line “Horrific,” she wrote on June 18: “This is a moral and humanitarian crisis. Every one of us who has ever held a child in their arms, and every human being with a sense of compassion and decency should be outraged.” She then said that she warned about Trump’s immigration policies during the 2016 campaign.
Three days later she was back again, saying that her group Onward Together (the Super PAC she launched in 2017) raised $1 million and would split it among organizations working to change border policy, including the American Civil Liberties Union and a gaggle of immigrant, refugee, Latino and women’s groups.
And the day after Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, Clinton introduced yet another new resistance partner. Called “Demand Justice,” it promises to protect “reproductive rights, voting rights and access to health care” by keeping Senate Democrats united in opposing any conservative Truonmp nominee. Guess who’s running Demand Justice? Brian Fallon, her 2016 campaign press secretary. And Demand Justice is one of the organizations linked to on Clinton’s Onward Together website. Speaking of Onward Together’s website, OnwardTogether.org, the New York Post called it “a Clinton 2020 campaign vehicle in waiting.”

Ed alert: “Wait until you start getting phone calls from this organization.”

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The Main Event – February 2, 2018

February 2, 2018

They Released the Memo! Here’s What’s In It

After two weeks of media demands to the House Intelligence Committee to “release the memo,” Congress did just that. The biggest revelation from the memo is that the phony “Trump dossier” written by ex-British spy Christopher Steele was used to substantiate the application for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant granting the FBI permission to spy on members of the Trump team (most notably, Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Carter Page, who members of the left have smeared considerably and even called a “Russian spy” with no verifiable proof).

The six-page memo also has plenty of “connect the dots” information that shows the Department of Justice, then-FBI Director James Comey and others knew the fake dossier was used to obtain the warrant, which Ed elaborates on this week – and, it shows that the entire thing was bankrolled by none other than the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign, all of which was also known by the Department of Justice and the FBI. Incredible! Ed alert: “The collusion is obvious; it’s so blatant. All because no one wanted this non-establishment businessman to come in and upset their world.”

State of the Union Recap

President Trump’s first State of the Union was Tuesday night. Despite the Democrats in the room staging silent protests, the President hit a home run with uplifting and patriotic overture.

Here’s what we saw from the Dems during the State of the Union:

Nancy Pelosi refused to stand for any part of the speech (Ed alert: “…And it was disgusting!”)
The Congressional Black Caucus stared angrily at the President while wearing African kente cloth, and most of them didn’t even clap when he cited the lowest black unemployment rate ever recorded (Ed alert: “That’s how you know someone hates Trump more than they love America. They can’t even applaud something good.”)
Large groups of Dems didn’t stand or clap when Trump praised members of our military, the national anthem and even the American flag.
Several of them didn’t even stand to applaud Congressman Steve Scalise, their own colleague who was critically injured in the shooting at the Republican baseball practice last summer.

Regardless of their sour grapes, the show went on and the President had great things to say about the economy, energy and immigration. As always, there were inspiring guests in attendance at the President and First Lady’s invitation – from the North Korean defector who victoriously held up crutches, to the families of two Long Island girls tragically killed by MS-13 gang members, to the family of Otto Warmbier, to the law enforcement couple who adopted the baby of a heroin-addicted homeless woman – this was truly a parade of heroes. Don’t miss this week’s show!

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The Main Event – January 6, 2018

January 5, 2018

Huma’s Emails: They’re Baaaaack!

Last Friday, the State Department released 2,800 work-related emails from Huma Abedin that were found by the FBI on the laptop of Abedin’s disgraced husband Anthony Weiner. The emails were released because of the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the conservative group Judicial Watch filed against the State Department.

By Thursday, the number of emails that were deemed to be classified had risen to 18 (last week, the number was only 5). According to Politico, some of these emails deal with:

Talks between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas, which the U.S. has classified as a terrorist organization
A phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Conversations with the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister

The message with the fewest redactions is from November 2010. It concerns a call to the Prince of Saudi Arabia and Hillary’s talking points about WikiLeaks’ impending release of the documents leaked by former Private Bradley Manning (AKA “Chelsea” Manning). Ed alert: “Remember, we’re such a caring society that if you’re in prison and you want gender reassignment surgery, we pay for it.”

But that’s not all!

Huma also forwarded State Department passwords to her personal Yahoo email account before 500 million Yahoo accounts were hacked by foreign agents.
What foreign agent? Russian spy Igor Suschin.
Who did Igor Suschin work for? Renaissance Capital.
What’s Renaissance Capital? A Russian investment bank that paid Bill Clinton $500,000 to give a speech in Moscow in 2010.

Ed alert: “I just follow the bouncing ball. You want to support something worthy? Donate to Judicial Watch. These guys are making sure information comes out.”

Ed’s talking about the conservative group Judicial Watch filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department to get all of Huma’s emails released. Without that lawsuit, we would not know any of this.

Who’s Running for Senate, and Why Should You Care?

The 2018 midterm elections will be enormously important. Here’s what’s up for grabs in November:

The entire House of Representatives
One-third of the Senate
36 state governorships
Many state legislature seats

So we have to start paying attention to who’s running, and we’re already getting a couple of hints. First is Mitt Romney, who is said to be running for the seat that will soon be vacated by Utah’s Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Senate Republican. Ed alert: “If you’re looking for a candidate with no skeletons in his closet, he’s your guy. I think they found he beat up some kid in 6th grade and that’s about it…but in 2016, they asked him to come forward to say what a loser Donald Trump was, and I didn’t appreciate that.”

But Romney’s not the only well-known Republican to consider running for Senate this year. Al Franken resigned as Senator from Minnesota this week, and one well-known Republican who is considering running for the seat is former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann.

New California Laws in 2018

In 2017, California state lawmakers passed nearly 900 bills that Governor Jerry Brown signed into law. Most of them took effect on January 1, 2018. Here are some of the laws taking effect with the new year.

IMMIGRATION

Police will no longer be able to ask people about their immigration status or participate in federal immigration enforcement actions under a law, making California a sanctuary state. Ed alert: “Instead of ‘Watch for Falling Rocks Signs,’ we need to make ‘Watch for Falling Home Values’ signs.”
The law also allows jail officials to transfer inmates to federal immigration authorities only if they have been convicted of “certain” crimes; as far as we can tell, those crimes are only major felonies. Ed alert: “In California, ‘major felonies’ only means murder someone. I think you’re allowed to shoot cops or rape a woman and it’s not a major felony.”
And in a different law, immigration officials will now need a warrant to access employee records, and landlords will be barred from disclosing tenants’ citizenship. Yet another new law will prohibit university officials from cooperating with immigration officers.

CANNABIS

Remember voting on Prop 64 in 2016? That’s the bill that legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, and it took effect on January 1^st. However, it will still be illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana – and this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he will roll back Obama-era policy that helped legal marijuana to thrive at the state level without federal intervention.

EMPLOYMENT

The state minimum wage will increase to $10.50 per hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees, and to $11 per hour for those with 26 or more employees, with the goal being to reach a $15 minimum wage by 2022. Ed alert: “I’m not sure how there should be a difference in minimum wage depending on what the size of the company is.”
Small businesses with between 20 and 49 people will have to offer 12 weeks of unpaid maternity and paternity leave to employees.
Employers can no longer ask job applicants about their past salaries. Ed alert: “What kind of bull is this? We can’t just talk to people anymore?”
California will become the 10th state to require both public- and private-sector employers of five or more employees to delay background checks and inquiries about job applicants’ conviction records until they have made a conditional job offer, a measure known as “ban the box.” Ed alert: “Now we’re not allowed to ask you if you’ve been convicted of a felony. But you know what? We still get to do a background check, and if it comes up that you’ve been convicted of a felony, we’re not going to hire you.”
Those arrested but not convicted of a crime may ask a judge to seal their records, a move advocates say will help them get hired.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs will start disappearing from shelves because they can no longer meet energy efficiency standards under a 2007 federal law.
The regulations take effect nationwide in 2020, but the federal government is letting California impose the higher standards two years early, which is why they are being enforced as of January 1^st.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy challenging the law.

EDUCATION

The first year of community college may be free for full-time, in-state students under a law that waives the $46 per unit fee for one academic year for first-time students. Lawmakers still must provide the money in the next budget, so technically this has not passed yet.
Schools in grades 7-12 must be taught about sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Schools will be prohibited from “lunch shaming” (that’s publicly denying lunch to students or providing a snack instead because their parents haven’t paid meal fees).
School superintendents can no longer allow people with permits to carry concealed guns on school grounds.

FIREARMS

Speaking of guns, proposition 63 took effect on January 1^st. That’s the 2016 ballot initiative that says ammunition purchased in another state, online or through a catalog can’t be brought into California except through a licensed ammunition dealer.
It also sets a new process and deadlines for gun owners to give up their weapons if they are convicted of a felony or certain violent misdemeanors.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Repeat drug offenders will no longer automatically get an additional three years added to their sentences.
Officials must consider paroling inmates who are over age 60 or older and have served at least 25 years – or, inmates who are age 80 or older and have served at least 10 years – would be eligible for parole, as long as they have not been sentenced to death or life without possibility of parole. This law is supposed to lead to the creation of a state Elderly Parole Program.
Intentionally transmitting the HIV virus is being reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, the same punishment as transmitting other communicable diseases. REALLY?
But here’s some good news: Criminals who videotape or stream their crimes on social media could face longer sentences under a law that allows judges to consider the recordings as aggravating factors in sentences for certain violent crimes.

JUVENILE OFFENDERS

California inmates serving life sentences for crimes they committed as juveniles will get the chance to leave prison after 25 years – and another bill expands California’s “youthful parole” program to age 25. State law already required that inmates who were under 23 when they committed their crimes be considered for parole after serving at least 15 years. Sound redundant?
Counties will no longer be able to aggressively collect “cost of care” fees from the parents of juvenile inmates.
One more bill will require that records be sealed for dismissed juvenile court petitions or after a juvenile completes a diversion program, while another will let a judge seal juvenile records even for serious or violent offenses after the offender has completed the sentence.

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Los Angeles:

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Internet radio:

Red State Talk Radio’s Encore Channel, Sundays at 1 PM Pacific

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It’s Getting Harder for the Left

December 16, 2016

By Ed Hoffman

If you’ve listened to Clinton’s water boy Stephanopoulos on ABC, journalistic disgrace Chuck Todd on NBC or literally anyone on CNN this week, then you’ve probably heard that we’re all supposed to be frightened out of our wits that Donald Trump chose a Secretary of State with economic interests in Russia, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. I was hoping for Rudy Giuliani myself, but so be it; Trump is making choices that are aligned with his “America first” mantra, and that’s the bottom line.

How does choosing someone like Tillerson reflect the promise of putting America first? First of all, it ensures that we have the respect of Russia and that is not such a bad thing. Putin clearly didn’t respect Barack Obama and John Kerry – but Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson, he holds in high esteem. If you ask Democrats, that’s a travesty; however, something tells me they would be fine with Putin respecting a President Hillary Clinton. Why do they worry about us being “hated around the world” only when a Republican is in power? When they’re in power, they seem to have no problem with other countries respecting us. Remember when Obama told Dmitry Medvedev that he would have “more flexibility” after the 2012 election and Medvedev replied, “I will transmit this to Vladimir”? The media refused to criticize that; they said it was Obama exercising good diplomacy with Russia. And as you know, that’s not what they’re saying about Trump this week.

Speaking of double standards, another issue that Democrats and the media all of a sudden care about is cybersecurity. This is something they laughed off during the election when it only concerned Hillary’s role in the hacking of her emails – but now that they can find the slightest hint of a connection to Trump behind it, it’s a huge deal. With the CIA providing intelligence that Russia may have been responsible for hacking and leaking DNC/Hillary staff emails to Wikileaks, the left wants us to believe that Russia interfering with our election was the only reason Hillary Clinton lost. They don’t seem to care about the actual content of the emails or who sent them, or why they were not secure.

So she didn’t lose because she was a terrible candidate who people find totally unrelatable? She didn’t lose because she showed no regard for the seriousness of her office when she used a private email address to conduct government business? She didn’t lose because she demonstrated gross negligence in the disastrous handling of Benghazi, where four Americans died on her watch? How about her using the Secretary of State position to get massive donations to her fake charity – that’s not the reason? According to the left, no; she lost because Russia wanted Donald Trump to win. Sure, that makes perfect sense.

As former FBI official James Kallstrom said this week, maybe it wasn’t the hacking that did Hillary in; maybe it was that Americans didn’t like what they found out about her when the hacked emails were released. Period.

They’re blaming Hillary’s loss on anything they can: first, they blamed the FBI for continuing to investigate her up to election day; next, they blamed it on racism (a myth Trump has debunked once again this week by meeting with prominent black entertainers); and finally, they blamed it on voter error (hence the failed recounts they demanded in states where it turned out Trump won by even more votes than previously thought). So now, all they can do is throw up flares designed to scare Americans into organizing against the incoming President Trump. Last week they focused on the call from Taiwan; this week, it was Russia. Trust me: When that doesn’t work, it will be something else.

As I’ve said on my show many times this month, people don’t realize how much happier they’re going to be when they’re getting a hand up, rather than the handout they’re used to under a Democratic administration. Once they see the prosperity of a Trump presidency for themselves, people will tune out the left’s insanity. When the proof of his success is right in front of them, it’s going to get harder and harder for anyone to convince them otherwise.

Ed Hoffman is host of The Main Event, which is broadcast on select talk radio stations in Southern California and is available on-demand via podcast. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheMainEventEdHoffman.

Tag: Russia

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It’s Getting Harder for the Left