NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

What Rights Do Illegal Immigrants Get Next?

A federal judge just ruled illegal immigrants can carry firearms. The ruling by an Obama-appointed judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Sharon Coleman, says the federal law against illegal immigrants owning firearms violates the Second Amendment. 

• Fun fact: Liberals found the one gun control law they are against! 
• More fun: From Nick Mordowanec’s article in Newsweek about the judge’s order: “The defendant, who contended the firearm was possessed for self-defense and protection of property ‘during a time of documented civil unrest’ in the spring of 2020, has never been convicted of a felony, a violent crime or a crime involving the use of a weapon.”
  • Wait what? Chicago is dangerous? 
  • Guns can protect you from civil unrest? 
  • Law-abiding citizens have no choice but to arm themselves in the wake of Black Lives Matter riots?
  • A judge admits the Second Amendment is absolute? 
  • Says an Obama-appointed judge?!
  • Will the sun rise in the east tomorrow? 

But in a larger sense, if the Second Amendment applies to illegal immigrants, why doesn’t the right to vote, what about a right to work? How about commercial driver’s licenses? 

• Illegal immigrants already count in the census, so the massive (recent) influx of illegal immigration will count toward increasing the number of congressional seats in major (blue) American cities. 

Oprah Can’t Catch a Break!

For lack of a better term, Oprah held an hourlong infomercial for weight loss drugs last night. 

• “For 25 years, making fun of my weight was national sport,” Oprah joked during the townhall.

Isabelle Stanley has a great write-up in the Daily Mail of all the people now skinny-shaming her. 

• Fair point: So why is everybody shaming or “slamming”  her now? First, they shamed her for being fat; now, they shame her for being thin.
• Bottom line: Oprah can’t catch a break
• Spoiler alert: If you didn’t watch the special, she didn’t give everyone in the audience free Ozempic. 

Turning Off School Board Cameras

The school board in one of America’s wealthiest counties will now turn off cameras during their meetings.WJLA reports the Loudoun County School Board voted along party lines, with the Democrat members voting to turn off the cameras during public comment sessions. 

• Why now? A few weeks ago, a group of parents voiced the radical idea of not wanting 18-year-old men to use bathrooms with 15-year-old girls. 

Look back: Loudoun County School Board meetings changed America, specifically the public comments sessions during COVID-19 lockdowns when issues regarding critical race theory, transgender bathrooms and lockdowns dominated America’s cultural conversations. 

• Per The Washington Post back then: “How and why Loudoun County became the face of the nation’s culture wars.”
• Thought bubble: The Washington Post masthead reads “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” yet the Post doesn’t have a single story about the school board literally creating darkness during their Democratic processes. 
• The best justification for turning off the cameras, from WJLA’s report quoting a school board member: “‘Turning the cameras back on now only invites and undermines the work of the school board and the transparency of the school board.’”

Do they teach George Orwell’s “1984” in Loudoun County schools? Cameras undermining transparency would be a perfect visualization of the novel. 

Why it matters: Governor Glenn Youngkin turned Virginia red as “education” became a proxy for everything Americans were fed up with in 2021. 

Final thought: If turning off cameras during public meetings isn’t a threat to democracy, what is? 

Rape Versus Sexual Abuse — Trump Sues ABC

Trump sued ABC and George Stephanopoulos over Stephanopoulos’ interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., where the Sunday show host kept repeating the objective falsehood that a jury held Trump liable for rape. It didn’t.

• What actually happened: The jury in the E. Jean Carroll case found Trump NOT liable for rape but liable for sexual abuse. 
• Is what Stephanopoulos said — “rape” — substantively different misconduct or materially worse conduct than “sexual abuse”? 

Forget the verdict for a second. Discovery in this case would be wild. All the Stephanopoulos notes, emails and staff texts? 

• It would help us answer some of the questions Rep. Mace and I speculated about during her first TV interview after her appearance on “This Week.” 

There Are No Good Guys Left

In his typically artful and nuanced way, Trump opined on the vocal and increasingly powerful pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party, saying, “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.”

Let the meltdown begin. 

Rabbi Jay Michaelson called Trump’s comments “truly disgusting” on CNN.

The White House called it “unhinged antisemitic rhetoric.” 

• Thought bubble: So it’s antisemitic to say Jews voting for Democrats hate their religion, but it’s okay to say if you vote for Trump “you ain’t Black.” 

MSNBC analyst Donny Deutsch said, “How dare you tell me what it takes to be a good Jew!” 

Look back: If only there was another presidential candidate in recent memory who demanded an entire group vote from him. How far back would we have to look?!

• 2020 flashback: Biden said to Charlamagne tha God, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”
• Certainly all those outraged folks above had a similar response to Biden’s comments?

Here is the sad part: There are no rights and wrongs anymore, just your team versus my team. 

We make a real effort every day to call the game fairly. If you like what we do, please tell your friends! 

Point of Personal Privilege 

Former Trump aide and epic blowhard Peter Navarro reported to jail today. 

He and your humble correspondent once went a few rounds on national television … you can watch it here.

One can imagine, or read about the blowback, experienced by a Fox News anchor asking fair questions and pointing out the — to be generous — inconsistencies of a Trump adviser’s questionable statements.

That said, it would be easy to smile today at Navarro’s pompous arrogance finally catching up with him as he surrendered to jail. 

In reality: We are heartbroken for the country. The use of the Department of Justice by the Biden administration to investigate and punish political enemies is something we as a country will have a very hard time coming back from.  

Prosecutors like New York Attorney General Letitia James running for office on promises to “We’re going to definitely sue him, we’re going to be a real pain in the ass” sound like things from third-world countries, not the United States. 

Trump talking about revenge isn’t any better. 

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.