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July 2019

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Squad’ Member Ayanna Pressley Explains Why She Refuses to Call Donald Trump President By John Ellis

By on July 18th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/congresswoman-ayanna-pressley-explains-why-she-refuses-to-call-donald-trump-president/

Although lesser known that her three colleagues, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is counted among “The Squad,” one of the four congresswomen that President Trump suggested should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” During an interview on CBS This Morning, Pressley responded to Trump’s attacks, explaining to Gayle King why she refers to the president as the “occupant” of the White House instead of by his official title.

The congresswoman huffily told King that President Trump “is only occupying the space. He does not embody the principles, the responsibility, the grace, the integrity of a true president… I’m not dishonoring the office. He does every day.”

Rep. Pressley wasn’t alone in the interview, being joined by the other three members of “The Squad” — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn). Tlaib felt the need to insert into the conversation that President Trump is “the biggest bully” she’s ever encountered.

Pressley’s comments to CBS This Morning were a doubling down on the statement she made during the congresswomen’s joint press conference on Tuesday. Riling up the sympathetic crowd, she said that she will only refer to Donald Trump as the occupant of the White House and not the president. She added, “We are grateful for your solidarity, your encouragement, and your support, in the face of the most recent xenophobic, bigoted remarks from the occupant of our White House.”

Democrats, of course, are laying aside their differences at the moment as they rally around Pressley and her better-known colleagues. From Nancy Pelosi condemning Trump from the House floor to the myriad of articles in the MSM calling anyone even remotely associated with Donald Trump a racist, the left appears more galvanized than usual. However, what matters come November 2020 is how the voters respond.

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EPIC FAIL: Anderson Cooper Tries to Convince Texas Women That Trump Is a Racist By Megan Fox

By on July 18th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/epic-fail-anderson-cooper-tries-to-convince-texas-women-that-trump-is-a-racist/

In yet another CNN attempt to make people from south of D.C. look stupid and racist, Anderson Cooper and his crew gathered up eight Republican women from Texas and tried to harass them into agreeing that the president said a racist thing by telling AOC and her cronies to leave America if they don’t like it.

It went hilariously sideways. I especially like the part where the CNN “reporter” asks the leading question, “don’t you think that’s racist?” in a condescending and outraged tone.

Note to CNN: This crap doesn’t work anymore. Everyone was bored and now they’re getting angry. You can see it in their faces. Everyone knows that the Trump tweet the media is so desperate to condemn in every corner of America is equal to a bumper sticker slogan that has existed forever. No one is shocked by Trump repeating the same joke we tell about celebrities who promise to leave the country every time a Republican is elected. There’s nothing racist about pointing out the obvious. If America is that bad and immoral and worthy of constant scorn then GET THE HELL OUT.

They all should go, American or not, to whatever socialist hell hole they can find where they’ll be happier. It’s really out of love we suggest this. They’re so miserable! We want nothing but their happiness and some peace and quiet. Luckily for them, the wall doesn’t stop anyone from leaving. CONTINUE AT SITE

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ICE Raids Will Force Long-Needed National Immigration Debate— by Thomas McArdle

By on July 17th, 2019

https://issuesinsights.com/2019/07/17

Americans’ steadfast adherence to the rule of law separates the United States from almost every other country, even other free societies. There is nothing more contrary to the rule of law, however, than the current lack of control over our southern border, across which thousands now pass illegally every day.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the young French diplomat who toured America extensively in 1831 then wrote De la démocratie en Amerique, the most celebrated portrait of the young nation’s society, marveled at the operation of the rule of law here.

He wrote that “in America one man never obeys another man, only justice or the law.” And Tocqueville observed: “I doubt whether crime evades punishment less often in any other country … During my stay in the United States, I saw the inhabitants of a county where a major crime has been perpetrated spontaneously form committees with the aim of arresting the guilty man and handing him over to the courts.”

That spirit is why the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that began days ago against thousands of illegal aliens who have been served final deportation orders from the courts are a political loser for the Democrats so convinced of the opposite.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, rising in the polls in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, last week unveiled “a sweeping plan to change the country’s immigration system” and decriminalize illegal immigration, while giving away $1.5 billion “to fund programs targeting crime, poverty, sexual violence, and trafficking in Central America” – the operative principle being that if you can’t end a crisis, normalize it.

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Congressman Al Green Forces Impeachment Vote By John McCormack

By on July 17th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/congressman-al-green-forces-impeachment-vote/

On Tuesday night, after the House voted to condemn as racist President Trump’s recent tweets about four Democratic congresswomen, Democratic congressman Al Green of Texas introduced an impeachment resolution.

“There will be a vote,” Green said Tuesday night. “There will be a vote to either table [it], send it to committee, or allow it to go forward.”

Green’s impeachment resolution doesn’t say anything about the Mueller investigation or Russia. It is solely focused on Trump’s comments about immigrants and the bigoted comments directed toward four Democratic congresswomen.

Green’s impeachment resolution states: 

In maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high misdemeanors committed as president, constituting harm to American society, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Article 1, the House of Representatives on July 16, 2019 strongly condemned President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimatized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color by saying that our fellow Americans who are immigrants and those who may look to the president like immigrants, should go back to other countries, by referring to immigrants and asylum seekers as invaders. And by saying that members of Congress who are immigrants or those of our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immigrants, do not belong in Congress or in the United States of America.

In all of this, the aforementioned Donald John Trump has by his statement, brought the high office of the President of the United States in contempt, ridiculed, disgraced and disrepute, has sown seeds of discord among the people of the United States, has demonstrated that he is unfit to be president and has betrayed his trust as President of the United States to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. And has committed a high misdemeanor in office.

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Omar to Introduce Resolution Declaring Support for Anti-Israel BDS Movement By Jack Crowe

By on July 17th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/omar-to-introduce-resolution-declaring-support-for-anti-israel-bds-movement/

Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) will introduce a resolution this week declaring support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to elevate the Palestinian negotiating position vis-a-vis Israel through an international pressure campaign.

“We are introducing a resolution . . . to really speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our first amendment rights in regard to boycotting,” Omar told Al-Monitor. “And it is an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support a nonviolent movement, which is the BDS movement.”

The announcement comes on the same day that the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on which Omar sits, plans to vote on another non-binding resolution explicitly condemning the BDS movement as an attempt to “undermine the two state solution” by demanding “concessions of one party alone and encourag[ing] Palestinians to reject negotiations in favor of international pressure.”

The anti-BDS resolution further notes that the movement’s founder, Omar Bharghouti, has openly dismissed the possibility of reaching any settlement that allows the state of Israel to retain its sovereignty.

Omar is expected to cast the lone vote against the anti-BDS resolution, further highlighting the divide between herself and the panel’s older, more-established lawmakers, who have condemned her comments about Israel in the past.

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AOC Draws a Challenger — a Black, Female, Jamaican, Republican Challenger By Stephen Green

By on July 17th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/aoc-draws-a-challenger-a-black-female-jamaican-republican-challenger/

Most racist, woman-hating, immigrant-fearing party ever, amirite?

The not-so-inside talk has been whether Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s four-woman war against Nancy Pelosi would earn her a Democratic primary challenger next year, but her high-profile antics have drawn another Republican into the race to represent heavily Democratic NY14.

Fox News reports that Scherie Murray, a 38-year-old New York businesswoman and Jamaica native (she emigrated as a child), has launched a campaign to unseat AOC next year. She told Fox, “There is a crisis in Queens, and it’s called AOC.” Murray went on to say, “Instead of focusing on us, she’s focusing on being famous. Mainly rolling back progress and authoring the job-killing Green New Deal and killing the Amazon-New York deal.”

The polls might just bear out Murray’s complaint against Ocasio-Cortez. The first-term congresscritter was put on the defensive earlier this week, blasting a negative new poll — conducted by her own party — as a “mass distortion of reality.” In a nationwide survey, it was revealed that 74% of people recognized AOC by name, but only 22% viewed her favorably. The poll was conducted by Democrats hoping to identify potential swing voters for 2020. Instead what they found was that the party’s oh-so-public up-and-comers are almost universally loathed. Ellie Bufkin reported for the Washington Examiner:

Fellow “squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar was recognized by 53% of participants and viewed favorably by only 9%. Other questions on the poll included approval of socialist policies, which showed only 18% of participants viewed favorably. Democrats looking ahead to the 2020 election characterized the results as, “Socialism is toxic to these voters.”

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A Third of Dems Believe Any White Politician Who Criticizes a Politician of Color is Racist By Matt Margolis

By on July 17th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/a-third-of-dems-believe-any-white-politician-who-criticizes-a-politician-of-color-is-racist/

On Wednesday, Rasmussen released a very disturbing poll that found “one-in-three Democrats think it’s racism any time a white politician criticizes a politician of color.”

While 80% of Democrats believe the president is a racist, 85% of Republicans think the racism charges by his opponents are politically motivated. Voters not affiliated with either major party are evenly divided on the question.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of Democrats, however, say it’s racist for any white politician to criticize the political views of a politician of color. That’s a view shared by just 16% of both GOP and unaffiliated voters.

Among all voters, 22% think it’s racist if a white politician criticizes the political views of a politician of color. Sixty-eight percent (68%) disagree, while 10% are undecided.

But only 11% believe the term “racism” refers only to discrimination by white people against minorities. Eighty-four percent (84%) say racism refers to any discrimination by people of one race against another. These findings have changed little in surveys for the last six years.

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Back to Videos Kamala Harris: Trump “Lighting Fires” Around Race; “He Needs To Go Back Where He Came From” VIDEO

By on July 17th, 2019

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/07/17/kamala_harris_trump_lighting_a_fire_around_race_he_needs_to_go_back_where_he_came_from.html

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) sits down with CNN’s Kyung Lah and gives her response to President Donald Trump’s controversial tweets attacking four Democratic congresswomen.

“It is irresponsible. It is hateful. It is hurtful. And he has taken the presidency to a new low,” Harris said of the tweets.”He wants to distract by… lighting fires around the issue of race and ethnicity. It’s disgusting,” Harris said on CNN. “He needs to go back where he came from and leave that office. And so that’s why I’m running with the intention of making sure there will not be four more years.”

Watch the full interview below.

KYUNG LAH, CNN: How do you not get distracted? How do you not fall into his trap where he controls the narrative with a tweet like this?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): I’ve said it many times. This president purposely, I believe, distracts and attempts to distract by flame-throwing, because the reality of it is that he has done nothing to help working families in America…

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Mark Esper headed for quick confirmation for head of Defense Department after acing largely bipartisan Senate hearing by Jamie McIntyre

By on July 17th, 2019

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/mark-esper-headed-for-quick-confirmation-after-acing-largely-bipartisan-senate-hearing

Mark Esper, President Trump’s fallback nominee to head the Defense Department, did everything he needed to do yesterday to win quick and easy confirmation. With one notable exception (more on that below), he cruised effortlessly through his 2 hour, 45 minute hearing before the Armed Services Committee, telling the senators just what they wanted to hear, reassuring them he would work on their concerns, and generally showing a deep understanding of the issues facing the U.S. military.

For the most part the hearing was a bipartisan lovefest, beginning with the introduction of the nominee by Democratic former vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine, who compared Esper to Jim Mattis, the widely-respected previous defense secretary, who resigned last December over policy differences with the president.

“Most of us were very discouraged by the resignation of Secretary Mattis. And what we’ve hoped for is a successor who could show the same level of candor and principle and a willingness to remain independent even in the most challenging circumstances,” Kaine said at the start of the hearing. “I believe that Dr. Esper has those traits.”

IN THE MOLD OF MATTIS: Though lacking Mattis’ résumé as a decorated general and legendary commander, Esper does have a solid military background, having spent 10 years on active duty and another 11 years in the Guard. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, he served as an infantry officer with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

And while Esper was not exactly a protégé of Mattis, he has adopted his positions, including Mattis’s three “lines of effort” to move the Pentagon into the 21st century, namely to build a more lethal force, strengthen alliances, and reform the Pentagon to free up resources.

Michigan Democrat Gary Peters asked Esper point-blank, “Would you be a secretary of defense with views more aligned with Secretary Mattis or more aligned with President Trump?”

“I don’t know where to pick between the two,” Esper said, “but clearly I shared Secretary Mattis’ views and I’ve expressed that publicly.” Pressed by Peters about whether he might also consider resigning on principle if asked to support a policy counter to his values, Esper said, “Absolutely,” adding “In the Army, I grew up with this view that you’re asked to do anything that is illegal, or immoral, or unethical, then that would be the point at which you have to consider resignation and you’d be willing to do that.”

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The white supremacy phantom Does Donald Trump’s habit of tweaking the commentariat mean he must be impeached? Roger Kimball

By on July 17th, 2019

https://spectator.us/white-supremacy-phantom/

Well la-dee-dah. The House votes to condemn ‘President Trump for his “racist comments” about four Democratic congresswomen of color.’

First, I am glad that ‘racist comments’ was in scare quotes. Why? Because there was nothing racist about the president’s tweets inviting creeps like Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar to leave the United States if she doesn’t like it here.  

Second, I wish people would give the phrase ‘people of color’ a rest. Everyone is a color — even, I suppose, Albinos (is that ‘racist’ now, too?). I, for example, am a pleasing pink. 

But the fact that someone is dark-skinned imparts to him no special virtue, just as the fact that someone is Caucasian saddles him with no special liability. 

Except, alas, that it does. At least in the racist court of identity politics. 

Please note the absence of scare quotes around ‘racist’ this time. It is one of the signal moral and intellectual deformations of our time that many people strain every action through the sieve of racial redress. The result is that a pretended campaign against racism is fueled by a thoroughly racist imperative. Remember that the next time someone condemns the phantom of ‘white supremacy.’ It is a category as vacuous as ‘counter-revolutionary’ for a paid-up Jacobin or ‘bourgeois capitalist’ for a Marxist. 

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