The Erick Erickson Show

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The top story leading every news publication today is the collapse of an obscure bank you’ve probably never heard of before. As of an hour ago, Silicon Valley Bank is the largest bank to close its doors since 2008 and the 16th biggest in the country. Banking and legal experts tell me SVB went heavy on short-term bonds that collapsed in value as interest rates continue to rise. To make matters worse, SVB specialized in tech deals that have essentially become nonexistent as the fed pushes forward with additional rate hikes. The question every pundit on tv is asking: Is this the beginning of a financial collapse like we saw in 2008? Probably not. The bottom line is while SVB is likely not the last bank to face serious problems, the big banks and your local bank are likely fine. Here’s why.

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What the hell was that? Geez.

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As Iran continues to threaten Israel and fund terrorism around the world, the Biden administration is enriching Iran by declaring war on American energy. This really is not complicated. Instead of flooding the market with American oil, Biden is putting money in Iran’s pocket by limiting production and driving global prices higher…. all in the name of climate change.

Reports continue to surface in mainstream outlets like The New York Times and Politico that Joe Biden may not run in 2024. Biden has continued to push back his campaign's announcement date, which is worrying Democrats and causing some to leak stories to the press. Democrats need Biden to announce sooner than later in order to avoid poor fundraising numbers before key federally-mandated reporting deadlines that would spawn unflattering stories. However, I don’t think that’s what is really happening. Every story about Biden and 2024 mentions one thing: Kamala Harris is weak and Democrats think she could be beaten. I think Biden is likely to run but is weighing whether to run with Kamala Harris. Here’s why that’s a massive problem.

USA Today published an odd story claiming the majority of Americans have a favorable view of the term “woke.” The editors were kind enough to offer a blanket warning to Republicans that attacking such a favorably viewed term may be a bad idea. However, the problem for USA Today is this poll was conducted online by voluntary participants. The statistical significance of this is akin to posting a question to your buddies on Facebook and inferring the data on the country as a whole. What I find more telling about the country’s true view on the term woke comes from standup comedians who make a living saying out loud what their audience is thinking. From Chris Rock to Dave Chappelle to Bill Burr to Neal Brennan, almost every progressive comedian is ridiculing woke ideology on progressive platforms like Netflix and Hulu. Republicans need to pay attention to this. Let me explain:

Do you know what the US Attorney General, Federal Election Commission, Robert Muller, and the Biden administration all have in common? All four entities decided not to prosecute Donald Trump for the campaign finance violation the Manhattan District Attorney is currently preparing charges. The Democrats' obsession with putting Trump behind bars is blinding them to the flaws in this case and the unintended consequences. Let me explain.

A shocking number of Chinese nationals are leaving their homeland. The problem is they are going everywhere but the United States.

The disturbing number of progressives supporting the attacks in Israel are using mental gymnastics that are based on Marxism. While you and I view things in terms of truths or falsehoods, Marxism views things in terms of power dynamics. Marxists believe that those who claim absolute truth are claiming a source of power that is not rightfully theirs. Since they don’t believe in absolute truth to begin with, if you claim an absolute truth, you are wielding a weapon that unjustly skews the power dynamic in your favor. In order to combat this, they add layers of complexity in an attempt to muddy the water and justify unjustifiable actions. For instance, you and I point out that Hamas is a terrorist organization that invaded Israel to rape women and behead babies. Marxists like US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and anyone who uses the term “Palestinian freedom fighters” obfuscate the point by claiming that Israel was occupying stolen land and had committed human rights abuses of their own in Gaza. While there are countless examples, just consider the following: A Yale professor defended Hamas by saying “Settlers are not civilians. This is not hard.” - National Review The President of the New York Bar Association wouldn’t condemn the “Palestinian resistance” and called the actions “necessary.” - MSN The Northwestern University President said "Northwestern does not intend to make an institutional statement" despite gladly making prior statements about countless other events. - Twitter The University of Michigan allowed an article to be published anonymously in their student newspaper supporting Hamas and the terrorist attacks. - The Michigan Daily Students at The University of Illinois held a rally to show “solidarity” with Hamas. - Twitter These same groups all wore vagina hats and bemoaned the atrocities committed during the #metoo movement because the male perpetrators held a higher power dynamic over the female victims of sexual exploitation. Despite Hamas’s violence against women being inextricably worse, these same progressives will defend those guilty of rape and murder because the victims were really the ones holding the power and lived on stolen land. Over the coming weeks, Israel will rachet up its response and a lot of Palestinians are going to die because Hamas will use them as human shields. These same progressive shrugging off the 1300+ Israeli body count will have ultimate clarity on the atrocities committed against the Palestinians. When progressives use these mental gymnastics based on Marxism to justify the mutilation of women and the beheading of babies, they should not be treated as reasonable people and should simply be exposed for the monsters they have become.