As of the latest official count, there are a grand total of 195 nations on the planet. And if you consult a history book, they’ll tell you that we’ve had 195 nations for more than a decade, ever since the sovereignty of “South Sudan” was recognized in East Africa during the Obama administration. Who could forget that moment. Ask any person off the street, and they’ll tell you, with a sparkle in their eye, exactly where they were on that momentous day when South Sudan became a country.

Unfortunately, all the rubes who buy into this narrative are being lied to. In reality, South Sudan is not the newest nation that’s been formed. That’s because, for a brief shining moment, back in the summer of 2020, a brand-new country was born, of all places, right here in the United States. The “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” or CHAZ, became the 196th nation, seemingly out of nowhere. The local homeless population teamed up with the Antifa and trans activists. They cordoned off a six-block radius in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, seized control of the East Precinct police station, named a warlord-slash-rapper named “Raz” as their King, and declared their independence. “You are now leaving the USA,” read a sign at the entrance to CHAZ.

Heavily armed border guards and improvised fencing made sure that no unauthorized migrants could enter — because of course, there’s nothing progressives love more than border walls, as long as they’re protecting their own property. 

Seattle’s government recognized CHAZ’s independence for a time. They seemed fine with the fact that the Chazistanis had taken over a police station and seceded from the United States. For his part, the state’s governor, Jay Inslee, defended CHAZ’s right to exist, telling Donald Trump that it was a “peaceful” commune. But after a month or so, things began to break down. First of all, black children started getting shot to death inside of CHAZ. And secondly, CHAZ’s top scientists determined that human beings cannot survive on marijuana alone. Then, in a panic, they tried to make a community vegetable garden to produce actual food, but it didn’t work out. So eventually, the Chazistanis gave up. The authorities reclaimed control over the area. And they pledged that, going forward, all American citizens would be able to access the Capitol Hill neighborhood. CHAZ, it seemed, would be relegated to a footnote of American history.

That was the promise, anyway. But it was never true. 

CHAZ may be defunct as an official nation, but Seattle’s pink-haired Leftist contingent — which is to say, 99 percent of Seattle’s population — still believes that they have full control over the region. And they’re right, frankly. To this day, unapproved opinions are not allowed within the borders of the region formerly known as CHAZ. The right to free speech remains suspended in that six-block radius. If you express your religious and political beliefs in that area — and those beliefs happen to be remotely conservative, Christian, or sane (but I repeat myself) — then you will be physically assaulted, at a minimum. And nothing will happen to the people who attack you. In fact, your attackers will receive the official endorsement of the government of Seattle. Five years after CHAZ was supposedly disbanded, it remains a lawless, violent place where the Constitution does not apply — a place where Christians are persecuted and radical terrorism is rewarded.

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That explains what happened this past Saturday at Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park, which was the centerpiece of CHAZ in its glory days. The pro-life group Mayday USA held an event in the park as part of their “Don’t Mess With Our Kids” campaign. This was a lawful gathering, by all accounts. They had all the required permits. And at this event, people held signs and sang songs that affirmed the sanctity of life, the reality of human biology, the importance of the nuclear family, and so on. It was basically a Christian concert. People of all ages, including young children, were present.

Here’s what it looked like. This is footage from reporter Jonathan Choe — whose name is going to be important in a moment. Watch:

Clearly, they’re not bothering anyone. They’re not exposing themselves in public, as LGBT activists do at every so-called “pride parade.” Instead, they’re peacefully expressing their beliefs, which is obviously protected activity under the First Amendment. But as the event went on, Left-wing activists decided to shut down the event. They began violently assaulting police officers and stormed the stage. Watch:

The woman in that clip really makes the point about as well as you possibly can. On the one hand, you have people who are evil and profoundly disturbed. They’re essentially demons. They’re screaming profanities, exposing themselves, attacking innocent people and police officers. They’re all clearly unhappy and unwell. And on the other hand, you have people who are smiling, singing, and preaching about Christ and the importance of forgiveness.

As far as contrasts go, this one is about as stark as you can get. And by the way, the Christians were minding their own business. They weren’t trying to disrupt any other event, or hassle anyone else. They reserved the park, using all of the appropriate legal channels. But the demons decided to charge in, and use violence to silence the Christians. And eventually they got what they wanted. The police arrested 22 adults and one juvenile — all of them on the side of the Left-wing activists — and shut down the event early.

Hearing all of this, you might be tempted to say that, as bad as it is, at least the police intervened. At least the government stepped in and addressed the lawlessness and the anti-Christian terrorism that occurred. But actually, in every relevant respect, the government of Seattle has taken the side of the LGBT activists who attacked the Christians.

First of all, everyone who was arrested was released without any bond whatsoever, and no charges were announced. There’s one exception — someone who was accused of attacking an officer and throwing an explosive device — who received a whopping $20,000 bail. But otherwise, none of these people have suffered any real consequences, and of course they never will. And there’s zero chance that any of them will be prosecuted in Seattle. We all know that.

Secondly, the mayor of Seattle — a wormy little man named Bruce Harrell, who’s cursed with the same IQ as the warlord King Raz, but with none of the charm — released a statement over the weekend that blames the Christians for being attacked. This is one of the most extraordinary statements ever released by a public official. It’s actually more insane than anything King Raz said when he was running CHAZ.

Here’s what the mayor said, as reported by The Daily Wire.

Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice. Today’s far-right rally was held here for this very reason – to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood … Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did. While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the Parks Department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued.

For a moment, let’s just assume that everything the mayor said is true. It’s not true, as we’ll get into in a second. But let’s assume it’s true. Let’s assume that a group of far-right radicals decided to assemble in a prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood and sing songs, with the deliberate goal of provoking a hostile reaction. Even in that scenario — which again, is not remotely what happened — there would still be zero justification for Left-wing activists to violently assault the demonstrators. That should be the entire statement from the mayor. Period, end of discussion. There’s no reason to review why the permit was awarded. There’s no reason to talk about how inclusive you are to “LGBTQ+ communities.” Instead, as the mayor, your job is to ensure that every citizen is able to enjoy their constitutional rights. That should be the entire discussion.

But mayor Bruce isn’t interested in ensuring that Christians can enjoy their constitutional rights. That’s why he labeled them “far-right.” It’s why he dismissed the violence by suggesting that only a handful of “anarchists” were responsible. And it’s why he issued his unconstitutional order to the Parks Department, demanding that they “review” why the Christians received the permit in the first place.

Just to be very clear about this: In the U.S., a “heckler’s veto” is not permissible under the First Amendment. The government cannot shut down free speech on the grounds that violent activists will start terrorizing the community if free speech is allowed to occur. That is very well-established law in this country, and the Trump administration recognizes that. At the DOJ, Harmeet Dhillon, who now runs the Civil Rights Division, just made that clear on social media. She’s already suggested that Seattle’s mayor is violating the Constitution. And the FBI is now investigating the mayor’s office as well.

Here’s what the Deputy FBI director, Dan Bongino, wrote on social media:

We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert. Freedom of religion isn’t a suggestion.

So that’s a good start, obviously. At the same time, even if the mayor’s office is hauled before a federal court, the truth is that there’s a much deeper problem here. The mayor, after all, was elected by the people of Seattle. And unsurprisingly, in this case, most of Seattle, including the media, agrees with the mayor.

Here’s one news report for example:

The activist they interviewed is basically saying that no Christians or conservatives are allowed in the gay park. That’s what this amounts to.

She says, “You’re gonna put an anti-queer group in the middle of Cal Anderson Park, named after the first openly gay legislator??”

Well, actually, yes. Why not? You don’t get to assault Christians because you named the park after a gay guy.

This is common sense in most of the free world. But it’s not common sense in Seattle. She’s saying that the LGBT movement can exercise unilateral control over everything that happens in the park, just like they controlled CHAZ. And the news media, and the police union, seem to agree with that sentiment, along with the mayor. No one at this news station pushed back in the slightest.

Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the term “victim blaming,” but this is a pretty extreme case of victim blaming. They’re attacking Christians for daring to show up in a public place in the center of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, as if there are no-go zones in major American cities. Of course, we all know that there *are* no-go zones in major American cities. Democrats have made sure of that. But all the same, it’s pretty remarkable for them to admit that out loud.

It’s especially remarkable when you realize that, contrary to the mayor’s statement and all of these media reports, the Christians didn’t actually come up with the idea of holding their event in Cal Anderson Park. Instead, that idea came directly from the mayor’s office. Take a look at these two emails:

These emails were posted by pastor Russell Johnson, who helped organize the Mayday USA rally in the park. He says it’s an email that his group received from the mayor’s office as they were planning the rally. Here’s what the mayor’s office wrote:

The capabilities of Pike Street unfortunately don’t match up appropriately to successfully facilitate what’s being proposed (including available space to safely facilitate the expected number of attendees while also maintaining public access to all businesses along the sidewalks flanking the roadway. I would suggest considering other Seattle Parks locations — when I connected with the Parks Department last, Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill and South Lake Union Park on the south side were both available. Thank you for your understanding.

In other words, the mayor’s office — the same people who are now saying that the Christians were deliberately “provoking” the trans activists by staging their event in the gay park — were the ones who suggested that the Christians hold their event in the park in the first place.

This is a level of cowardice and hypocrisy and moral decay that, even by the standards of the city of Seattle, is really quite something. And to their credit, Christians in Seattle are not tolerating it.

Yesterday evening, they marched peacefully on City Hall. Here’s what that looked like:

Again, they’re dancing and singing and having a good time, even as they’re getting their message out. But once again, the demonic Antifa militants were not peaceful or sane. Instead, they became violent once again. Here are three clips. One of them is footage of several Left-wing activists mobbing the reporter Jonathan Choe (and ultimately making contact with him), which prompts Choe to defend himself. Another clip shows an apparent assault on a detransitioner who was outside city hall. And a third clip shows a mother and her baby being surrounded by an Antifa mob before a fight breaks out. Watch:

There’s a lot more footage like this. There’s also a video of Antifa mobs screaming “f— your kids,” as a man shouts back, “Jesus loves you.” In every single one of these cases, it’s the Left-wing activists who are terrorizing Christians and conservatives. You won’t find a single clip of a Christian demonstrator going out his way to assault some trans activist, or prevent a trans activist from filming. This kind of thing only happens in one direction.

And it’s going to continue to get worse, in all likelihood. The mayor I mentioned earlier is actually considered to be relatively moderate in Seattle, if you can believe it. There are definitely more Left-wing candidates hoping to replace him. They have an election later this year, in fact. And as you can tell by the mayor’s statement, which is clearly designed to appease the violent Left-wing mob, those other radical candidates have a very good chance of success in the upcoming election. So that raises a few obvious questions: How long until Seattle elects someone who runs on an explicit platform of attacking Christians and conservatives? How long will Christians be allowed to gather in a park at all? How long will Christians receive any police protection in the city?

Yesterday, we talked about the eradication of the freedom of speech in the UK, in the context of a 41-year-old woman who was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for sending a tweet. As troubling as that case was, it’s not a phenomenon that’s unique to the UK. It’s happening here as well. A very powerful political faction in this country doesn’t believe you have constitutional rights. And they’re doing everything in their power to ensure that, when they come for you, the government takes their side — and leaves you to fend for yourself.

Five years after the alleged destruction of CHAZ, its founding principles are still alive and well in Seattle. And if these people succeed — if they’re allowed to turn a city of 800,000 people into a commune where Christians are lynched for their beliefs — they won’t stop. They’ll apply these same tactics to every other major city in this country. Their goal is to outlaw Christianity, to the extent that they can. And if there’s anything encouraging about what’s happening in Seattle at the moment, it’s that tens of thousands of Christians are making it very clear that they’re willing to fight back. Now every Christian in the country — along with everyone else who values the fundamental principle of freedom of speech — should join them in that fight.

There is a philosophy that has now become dominant on the Left and even parts of the center. It’s throughout the West.

The deeper roots of this philosophy bear a deadly fruit.

Let’s begin with a bizarre and hilarious spectacle. Great Britain’s King Charles III was visiting the Canadian Parliament and decided that it would be worthwhile to offer a land acknowledgment.

This is hilarious because King Charles is the King of Great Britain. The only reason the Canadian Parliament exists is because of the settlement of Canada by British citizens. That’s why he is there in the first place.

Charles doing a land acknowledgment and taking that seriously would amount to essentially disestablishing Canada, the United States, Australia, South Africa and a bunch of other countries, because all of those countries were originally created as functioning polities by the British Empire.

This bizarre idea that Charles can arrive on Canadian territory and start apologizing to the indigenous people for the presence of white people in this particular area is absurd, especially coming from King Charles, who is the greatest beneficiary on planet Earth of the imperialism of the British Empire.

There are human universals, such as migration, settlement, annexation, and conflict, and they are not unique to white people, Westerners, or Europeans; it’s just that white people, Westerners and Europeans, have been much better at it than other parts of the population on planet Earth. They’re more successful, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, but that does not mean that there is some unique sin that attends to whiteness, being Western, or being European.

Charles said, “I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. This land acknowledgement is a recognition of shared history as a nation. While continuing to deepen my own understanding, it is my great hope that in each of your communities, and collectively as a country, a path is found toward truth and reconciliation, in both word and deed.”

Of course the land is unceded, because the nature of human conflict is that when people migrate from one part of the Earth to another part of the Earth, conflict tends to arise, and then someone wins and someone loses. And it is a very good thing that the British Empire won in Canada.

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Here’s the basic idea: The world is better off because of the British Empire. The world is better off because of American power and the spread of European ideals. That is obviously true. The spread of things like property rights, due process of law, capitalism, freedom of religion, all of which are not human universals — those are the legacy of the West.

There’s always an attempt to take human universals and then project them as West-specific problems. That is not true.

The problems of murder and raping and looting and slavery are human universals.

What is unique about the West is all the other stuff. Reversing that polarity and suggesting that the West is somehow uniquely sinful because it was better at war than others, or because Westerners were better at settlement than the Algonquin who lived on the land where Canada’s parliament now sits, and that is a human tragedy, is not, in fact, a human tragedy.

Bad things happen throughout human history. The bad things are tragedies. But overall, in the broad scope of history, it is an absolutely wonderful thing that Europeans ended up on the North American continent.

Anyone who doesn’t believe so should probably leave. If you don’t believe that, you probably should go back to your dingy apartment and cede it back to the natives from whom your ancestors took it.

All of this ties into a deeper and more deadly philosophy.

The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the White House and was asked about the “Kill the Boer” chant, which has become common at some rallies, targeting the Afrikaner farmers who originally settled in the area of South Africa as early as the 17th century, fought for hundreds of years, and were responsible at one point for tremendous racism against black people.

But the solution to that is not genocidal chants. Yet there’s an idea that as long as the people who are shouting the genocidal chants are not white, European and Western, it suddenly becomes okay.

Why? Because the rules don’t equally apply in this left-wing philosophy, where the sins of the West are unique and the West is unique in its evil.

What that means is that the West has to be destroyed. This has deadly consequences. And it doesn’t matter whether you call this stuff anti-white or anti-Semitic or anti-whatever. The problem with this generalized philosophy is that it is simply evil.

When you separate the world into victims and victimizers and you suggest that anyone who’s been uniquely successful is the victimizer and anyone who is not is a victim, what you get is victimizers with the moral impetus and the moral weight to kill people.

What you end up with is actual terrorism, actual violence, actual overthrow of the institutions that made the West great in the first place.