NEWS AND OPINION:
The Office of Strategic Services Society — a nonprofit organization that preserves the legacy of the World War II predecessor to the CIA, the U.S. Special Operations Command, and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) — presented a replica of the OSS Congressional Gold Medal to NATO Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ) in Mons, Belgium, on May 6.
NSHQ’s commander, Lt. Gen. Antonio Fletcher, accepted the medal, Congress’ highest civilian honor, on its behalf.
As part of the presentation ceremony, the OSS Society screened its award-winning short documentary about D-Day, “Operation Overlord: OSS and the Battle for France,” for NSHQ personnel.
The film tells the story of Allied special forces whose daring exploits changed the course of World War II.
It was written and directed by Carl Colby whose father, William Colby, jumped into France after D-Day as a member of the legendary OSS Jedburghs and later served as CIA director.
Charles Pinck, the OSS Society’s president and the film’s producer, said, “As we confront totalitarianism on the European continent again, America and its allies must have the same courage to defeat tyranny as the soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy. OSS founder General William ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan would expect nothing less from us.”
The film can be viewed on OSSsociety.org by clicking on “OSS documentaries.”
THE FETTERMAN EFFECT
“Do Democrats finally have their answer to Trumpism? John Fetterman is neither a centrist nor a progressive. He’s a vibe, and he just won a Senate Democratic primary in a landslide,” noted Rolling Stone, after the votes were counted in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Mr. Fetterman is currently the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, stands 6‘9”, has a preference for hoodies, gym shorts and tattoos — and boasts a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.
He also had a pacemaker successfully implanted on Tuesday to counter atrial fibrillation, the underlying cause of a stroke the candidate suffered last week. He is now “recovering well,” according to his campaign.
The press, in the meantime, appears fascinated.
“Is John Fetterman the future of the Democratic Party?” asked The New York Times.
“John Fetterman charts an unconventional path to flip a Senate seat for Democrats,” noted NBC News.
“He is unconventional: John Fetterman’s unique persona is put to the test in the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary,” advised CNN.
UFOs: THE AFTERMATH
A two-hour congressional hearing Tuesday delved into persistent reports of unidentified aerial phenomena — that’s UAPs (or UFOs) for short — which appear to visit Earth from time to time. The House Intelligence Committee’s counterterrorism, counterintelligence and counterproliferation subcommittee event garnered significant and curious press coverage.
Pollsters, meanwhile, have probed public opinion on the matter in the last year, with surprising results.
A Pew Research Center poll released June 20 revealed that 65% of U.S. adults say their “best guess” is that intelligent life exists on other planets.
“Most Americans say intelligent life exists outside Earth and don’t see UFOs as a major security threat. A smaller but still sizable share of the public (51%) says that UFOs reported by people in the military are likely evidence of intelligent life outside Earth,” the survey analysis said.
“Most Americans (87%) say that UFOs are not a threat at all (51%) or are a minor threat (36%). One-in-ten say UFOs are a major threat to U.S. national security. In general, Americans are not inclined to assume that UFOs are hostile. When asked for another best guess, 17% say UFOs are friendly, 7% say they are unfriendly and 74% said they are neither,” Pew noted.
A Hill-HarrisX poll conducted July 8-9 meanwhile, found that 60% of registered U.S. voters think the U.S. government is withholding information about it.
A Gallup poll released on Aug. 20 found that 4 in 10 U.S. adults say the spacecraft are visiting Earth from other planets or galaxies. This is up from 33% who agreed with that in a previous poll, reported Lydia Saad, director of U.S. Social Research for Gallup.
Indeed, the 2019 Gallup poll found that 49% of the respondents agreed there are “people somewhat like ourselves” living on other planets. Another 75% said that “life of some form” exists elsewhere in the universe.
A ‘FAITH AND FREEDOM’ UPDATE
The Faith & Freedom Coalition has revealed more confirmed speakers for its Road to Majority Policy Conference, an annual gathering meant to empower conservative voters to fight for their values at the polls.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Republican Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have joined the speaker’s roster for the big event, set for June 16-18 in Nashville, Tenn.
Previously confirmed speakers also Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican; former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, and NFL great turned U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker.
Find the details at FFCoalition.com.
FOR THE LEXICON
“Undocu-Graduation.”
Undocumented immigrant students at California State University Northridge recently participated in this special event, cited by Campus Reform, a student-written “conservative watchdog” which monitors higher education in the U.S.
“Institutions in the California State University system are publicly funded. Though illegal immigrants are not eligible for federal assistance, they can receive state aid,” Campus Reform noted.
“The California Dream Act allows illegal aliens access to state financial aid, including Cal Grant A & B Entitlement awards, Cal Grant C awards, institutional grants and community college fee waivers,” the publication explained.
POLL DU JOUR
• 21% of U.S. adults are “scared” by the way things are going in the U.S. today; 25% of Republicans, 22% of independents and 17% of Democrats agree.
• 65% of U.S. adults are “concerned” about the way things are going; 66% of Republicans, 64% of independents and 64% of Democrats agree.
• 10% overall are “optimistic”; 3% of Republicans, 12% of independents and 16% of Democrats agree.
• 4% overall are “excited”; 6% of Republicans, 3% of independents and 3% of Democrats agree.
SOURCE: A CNN/SSRS poll of U.S. adults conducted May 12-13.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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