Al Perrotta is taking the day off.

What lesson should we take from the Durham investigation? First, that the abuse of power in America has no consequences whatsoever. The Deep State can ruin lives (see General Mike Flynn), make fake charges of treason, deep-six evidence of bribery and foreign influence, cause a totally baseless presidential impeachment, and effectively cripple an elected president in defiance of the people’s will …

And nobody will be punished. The media won’t even report on it. By failing to file criminal charges against the responsible parties (who will all collect their pensions), Durham effectively rewarded their un-American lawless power-grab.

This is unfixable. There is no program of reform, no set of safeguards, that can make the FBI or any equivalent organization safe for American freedom. So what should we do instead?

Creative Destruction Media offers an answer:

Severe reputation damage for the FBI is just what is needed since the FBI generally enjoys a high degree of public approval that is wholly unjustified. It is well past time for a more realistic assessment of the FBI for what it is: an unnecessary, unconstitutional, and incompetent agency. Moreover, FBI agents have long displayed a contempt for basic human rights, and instead function as a partisan federal “secret police” designed to protect the powerful at the expense of ordinary Americans. This organization should be decentralized, defunded, stripped of its powers, and ultimately abolished. There is nothing the FBI does that military intelligence and state and local police cannot do on their own.

The long FBI tradition of disregarding the law to get the “bad guys” provides far too many examples to fully recount here. James Bovard, however, in his article, “The FBI’s Forgotten Criminal Record” reminds us of many shameful FBI efforts from arresting dissenters during wars, to burning women and children to death at Waco. There was also, of course the illegal FBI efforts against peace activists under COINTELPRO and countless cases of blackmail, intimidation, and illegal spying.

Bovard has also cataloged how the FBI routinely ignores the law in its own investigations, and instead employs tactics long used by organizations we could accurately describe as “secret police.” He writes:

According to Politifact, the FBI is not a “secret police agency” because “the FBI is run by laws, not by whim.” But we learned five years ago that the FBI explicitly teaches its agents that “the FBI has the ability to bend or suspend the law to impinge on the freedom of others.” No FBI official was fired or punished when that factoid leaked out because this has been the Bureau’s tacit code for eons. Similarly, an FBI academy ethics course taught new agents that subjects of FBI investigations have “forfeited their right to the truth.”

The FBI is becoming more of a clear and present danger to Americans than the drug cartels, foreign spies, and organized crime gangs it claims to police. We’d be safer with nothing at all. Republican congressmen should vote accordingly.

Ukrainian Strongman Gives Pope Icon With Jesus Ripped Out

The Western Journal informs us:

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met with Pope Francis last week, but now we are learning of the dubious “gift” the wartime leader bestowed on the pontiff, and it is one that many Catholics have found to be extremely insulting.

…

As Catholic Courier describes it, “The work commemorates the 243 children who died in the first 58 days of Russia’s full-scale invasion Feb. 24, 2022, which continued attacks launched by Russia in 2014.”

But that description fails to really encapsulate this “gift.”

What it actually shows is an unflattering image of Mary holding an entirely blacked-out baby Jesus.

pic.twitter.com/AljuJbho0n

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) May 18, 2023

As a Catholic embittered by Francis’ ideological war against traditional Catholic beliefs and worship, I wonder if Francis actually appreciated the gift. But it’s certainly symptomatic of Zelenskyy’s high-handed, callously pragmatic attitude toward religion. While cozying up to globalists like George Soros and Klaus Schwab, he has persecuted the historic religion of Ukraine, its Orthodox church in union with Russia. No wonder the Biden cabal and U.S. elites are so intoxicated with this regime.

Target Stores Want to Help Kids Adopt Transgender Madness

No, it’s not just Anheuser-Bush and Disney. The list of repulsive Woke corporations grows longer by the day. The Gateway Pundit reports:

Conservatives have launched a boycott of Target after it was revealed that the retail giant is selling “tuck-friendly” bathing suits and chest binders for “transgender” children.

The items are part of a sizeable LGBTQ-themed selection of children’s apparel, books, and accessories aimed at gender-bending minors.

Items of children’s clothing sold by Target include a shirt that says “live laugh lesbian” and another that says “Queer Queer Queer Queer.”

…

“One book called ‘Bye Bye Binary’ centers on a ‘joyful baby’ who ‘refuses to conform to the gender binary and instead chooses toys, colors, and clothes that make them happy’ and is marketed as a ‘perfect tool to encourage children to love what they love and is also a great baby shower gift for all soon-to-be-parents,’” the Daily Wire reports. “Another volume entitled ‘The Pronoun Book’ exposes ‘readers both young and old’ to a ‘diverse cast of people and simple text that introduces their pronouns.’”

Maybe shop somewhere else that doesn’t hate you and everything you hold sacred.

Church Victimized by Transgender Shooter Joins Campaign to Keep Her Manifesto Secret

The Blaze announces:

Over the weekend, the Covenant Presbyterian Church and associated Covenant School filed a motion to block the public release of the manifesto of the transgender shooter who attacked the school, court documents revealed.

On March 27, a 28-year-old female opened fire at the Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three children and three adult staff members before being fatally shot by police.

…

The motion, filed against the Tennessee Firearms Association, and another filed against the Nashville Police Association stated that the manifesto “may include and/or relate to information owned by Covenant Church,” such as “schematics of church facilities and confidential information” regarding employees.

The church claimed the manifesto’s release could “impair or impede its ability to protect its interests and the privacy of its employees.”

Maybe the church’s motives are those it cites there. Or maybe its leadership got leaned on by the power-brokers of the LGBTQMYNAMEISLEGION movement, which is desperate to prevent American Christians from learning the level of violent hate being fostered among “trans” activists. It doesn’t matter. The rest of faithful Christians in this country have the right to know, and at best the church is acting selfishly. The court should reject its motion.

John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or co-author of ten books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. He is co-author with Jason Jones of “God, Guns, & the Government.”