Peter Myers Digest: Orban; RFK Jr. vows to pardon Assange, Snowden; Veteran slams US Navy over drag queen

(1) No migration, no gender, no war – Orban
(2) RFK Jr. vows to pardon Assange, Snowden, and other whistleblowers if elected President
(3) Veteran slams US Navy over drag queen; “This is not the same military I served under”

(1) No migration, no gender, no war – Orban

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/at-cpac-hungarys-viktor-orban-decries-lgbtq-rights-migration

At CPAC, Hungary’s Viktor Orban decries LGBTQ+ rights, migration

May 4, 2023 2:43 PM EDT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s populist prime minister likened liberalism to a “virus” in an opening speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the Hungarian capital on Thursday, painting a picture of a global right-wing movement mobilizing to defeat “progressive elites.”

Viktor Orban’s speech at CPAC Hungary centered around battling what he frequently described as “woke culture,” and delved primarily into hot-button cultural topics such as transgender and LGBTQ+ rights, migration and the content of education for children.

The two-day conference, the second in Hungary in as many years, featured segments titled “Make Kids Not War” and “No Country for Woke Men.” A sign over the entrance to the venue, a conference hall on the Danube River, read, “No Woke Zone.”

After receiving a standing ovation, Orban said Hungary had become “world-famous” for its hard-line migration and cultural policies, and offered those in attendance a recipe for implementing a similar right-wing agenda at home.

“No migration, no gender, no war,” Orban said, urging his international audience to focus on these issues in their own countries.

READ MORE: Why is the GOP escalating attacks on trans rights? Experts say the goal is to make sure evangelicals vote

“Hungary is actually an incubator where experiments are done on the future of conservative policies. Hungary is the place where we didn’t just talk about defeating the progressives and liberals and causing a conservative Christian political turn, but we actually did it,” Orban said.

Orban has styled himself as a champion of what he calls “illiberal democracy,” drawing controversy and raising concerns in the European Union and elsewhere about Hungary sliding into authoritarian rule. He has depicted himself as a defender of European Christendom against Muslim migrants, progressives and the “LGBTQ lobby.”

In 2021, his right-wing Fidesz party banned the depiction of homosexuality or sex reassignment in media targeting people under 18. Information on homosexuality was also forbidden in school sex education programs, or in films and advertisements accessible to minors.

On Thursday, Orban argued that liberalism sought to degrade nations, which had led to the West falling behind Asia in economic and demographic indicators.

“The woke movement and gender ideology are exactly what Communism and Marxism used to be,” he said. “They artificially cut the nation into minorities in order to spark strife among the groups.”

The CPAC Hungary conference was the latest embrace of Orban by the U.S. right-wing movement. Last summer, he spoke at CPAC’s national conference in Texas where he told the crowd in Dallas to “take back the institutions in Washington and Brussels” and focus on winning U.S. elections next year.

WATCH: In GOP response, Arkansas Gov. Sanders slams Biden for ‘woke fantasies’

Orban was the first European national leader to publicly endorse former President Donald Trump’s candidacy in 2016, and voiced his support for Trump’s 2020 campaign as well. On Thursday, Orban said he was certain that “if President Trump were president now, there would be no war affecting Ukraine and Europe today.”

“Come back, Mr. President, make America great again, and bring us peace!” he said, to vigorous applause from the audience.

As in 2022, the Associated Press and other international news organizations were not granted accreditation to cover the CPAC Hungary meeting despite making multiple requests over several months.

In opening comments, CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp said that CPAC in the U.S. had decided to “go Hungarian” in their approach to the media, deciding for themselves “who is a journalist and who is not a journalist” when determining which outlets to allow into their events.

Orban, in power since 2010, has overseen a deep transformation of Hungary’s media landscape. His government has frequently been accused of eroding press freedoms and rolling back democratic checks and balances.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday gave brief comments by video link, one of his first public appearances since the network ousted him in April.

“I wish I was there in Budapest,” Carlson said. “If I ever get fired and have some time and can leave, I will be there with you. But in the meantime, Godspeed.”

(2) RFK Jr. vows to pardon Assange, Snowden, and other whistleblowers if elected President

RFK Jr. vows to pardon Assange, Snowden, and other whistleblowers if elected President

May 3, 2023

RFK Jr. vows to pardon Assange, Snowden, and other whistleblowers if elected President
“I’ll pardon brave truth-tellers like Julian Assange and investigate the corruption and crimes they exposed.”

By Dan Frieth

Posted 1:08 pm

TruthMindsGettr

In the race for the 2024 US Presidential Elections, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made a significant campaign pledge: to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Kennedy Jr. emphasized that the United States should not be a country that imprisons dissenters.

The presidential hopeful’s bold promise extends to other whistleblowers, including Edward Snowden, who, like Assange, has faced persecution for exposing government wrongdoing.

Kennedy took to social media to assert that the US should be upholding free speech, rather than persecuting journalists and whistleblowers. In a series of tweets, he committed to pardoning individuals such as John Kiriakou, Chelsea Manning, Reality Winner, Daniel Hale, Thomas Drake, Jeffrey Sterling, and Edward Snowden.

WikiLeaks, established in 2006, gained widespread attention in 2010 after publishing a series of leaks provided by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. The leaked information revealed previously unreported incidents involving the US military killing civilians in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Additionally, WikiLeaks disclosed over 25,000 messages from American diplomats, which showed the US seeking sensitive biographical and biometric data on key UN officials. The organization also released a video in 2010 depicting the killing of civilians by a US military helicopter in Baghdad.

The US government initiated a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks following the 2010 leaks, and Assange faced legal battles in Sweden over allegations of sexual assault. In 2012, after losing his fight against extradition, Assange sought refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where he was granted asylum due to political persecution and the risk of extradition to the US. However, after disputes with Ecuadorian authorities, Assange’s asylum was revoked in 2019, and he is currently held in Belmarsh, a category A prison in London.

(3) Veteran slams US Navy over drag queen; “This is not the same military I served under”

https://www.rt.com/news/575790-navy-seal-binladen-drag-queen/

4 May, 2023 16:13

Bin Laden operation hero slams US Navy over drag queen

Former Navy SEAL Team Six member Robert O’Neill has joined a chorus of veterans expressing disgust

Former US Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, a member of the legendary SEAL Team Six credited with taking out al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, ripped into his former employer for “using an enlisted sailor Drag Queen as a recruiter” on Wednesday.

“I’m done. China is going to destroy us. YOU GOT THIS NAVY,” O’Neill tweeted, concluding, “I can’t believe I fought for this bulls***.”

O’Neill was referring to the Navy’s selection of Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley – or rather, Kelley’s drag persona ‘Harpy Daniels’ – as one of the Pentagon’s inaugural class of “Digital Ambassadors.” Kelley, who identifies as non-binary, performs for service members in full makeup, women’s dress and a bouffant blonde wig.

The former SEAL, who claims to have personally delivered the fatal blow to bin Laden during the May 2011 raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was far from the only veteran to publicly call out the Pentagon’s platforming of the flamboyant sailor.

“This is not the same military I served under,” US Army veteran Graham Allen tweeted, lamenting “our enemies LAUGH at us.”

Mike Marugg, whose Twitter profile describes him as a veteran of 21 years, called the program “an insult to every veteran,” while another Twitter user going by ‘Johnny Fuzeball’ claimed “the writing was on the wall” when he left the military in 2010, pointing to the repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ ban on open homosexuality in the service and the decision to allow women into the infantry as the start of its downfall.

Former Space Force Lt.Col. Matthew Lohmeier, who was relieved of his command in 2021 for criticizing the military’s embrace of critical race theory as “Marxist” and “un-American,” told Fox News’ Jesse Watters that while the military’s embrace of the drag performer was no longer surprising, “what’s surprising is that senior military leaders continue to push an agenda like this despite the fact that it’s hurting our recruiting efforts and it’s hurting our retention and frankly it can’t help our lethality and our readiness.”

Kelley took to Instagram to post a “rebuddle” [sic], proclaiming the sailor “DGAF” – “doesn’t give a f***” – while flouncing and twirling in and out of drag. Accusing detractors of “only want[ing] to support the military when it benefits you and doesn’t involve queer people,” the performer claimed the “haters” were only piling on for clout.