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August 2020

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Portrait Of The Biden Voter Francis Menton

By on August 30th, 2020

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2020-8-29-portrait-of-the-biden-voter

Over at Instapundit, Professor Glenn Reynolds is often the master of the pithy phrase that captures the essence of the political moment. Yesterday Reynolds wrote that, while the Democrats are trying to make everything in this election (and in life) about race, “Trump’s making clear that it’s about people who are constructive, productive, and generally happy, vs. people who are destructive, parasitic, and generally miserable, and that that difference transcends things like race.”

Have things really gotten so bad that the entire Democrat/Biden campaign has become the coalition of the “destructive, parasitic, and generally miserable”? Well, you can start with the protesters/rioters/looters/arsonists who have been endlessly destroying businesses and neighborhoods in major Democrat-run cities for the past three months. Yes, those people are “destructive, parasitic, and generally miserable”; and of course, every one of them intends to vote for Biden. And if you think that the conduct and attitudes of those people are somehow not representative of the Democrat/Biden coalition, ask yourself who in that coalition has been willing to come forth to strongly condemn them. The answer is no one.

But for today, let’s move beyond the riots and violence that have been dominating the news cycle, and look at what’s going on in the regular run-of-the-mill precincts of progressive/Democrat Biden-voting monoculture — places like woke corporations, the art world, and academia.

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China’s Brand of Communism . By Peter Berkowitz

By on August 30th, 2020

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/08/30/chinas_brand_of_communism.html

Communism is back in the news. That’s in part because the Trump administration has made a national priority of informing the public about the China challenge. Earlier this summer four senior officials — National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General William Barr, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — gave a series of speeches highlighting the communist roots of China’s autocratic conduct and of its ambitions to reconfigure world order.

Those speeches, however, did not include any scoops. They addressed a widely neglected — and sometimes aggressively downplayed — development stretching across the better part of a decade. Since his accession in 2012 to the position of general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping has ruled China with dictatorial powers while consistently reaffirming the centrality of communism to the CCP’s quest to transform China into the world’s most powerful and influential nation.

According to the “South China Morning Post,” Xi wrote in an article published this month that “The foundation of China’s political economy can only be a Marxist political economy, and not be based on other economic theories.” Therefore, “The dominant position of public ownership cannot be shaken, and the leading role of the state-owned economy cannot be shaken.” 

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The free world’s craven fifth column Britain’s unholy alliance over the world’s most dangerous terrorist state Melanie Phillips

By on August 30th, 2020

https://melaniephillips.substack.com/

When Britain’s foreign Secretary Dominic Raab visited Jerusalem last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly chewed his ear off.

Small wonder. It’s hard to exaggerate the perfidy, cynicism and head-in-the-sand cowardice currently being displayed by Britain, along with France and Germany, over Iran.

Instead of joining forces with those trying to neutralise the growing threat from the Iranian regime, Britain and these two other key European powers are actually acting in concert with the world’s twin empires of evil, Russia and China, in shoring up this terrorist rogue state.

Earlier this month, the United States proposed at the UN Security Council to extend the Iran arms embargo, which is due to expire on October 18.

This was strongly supported by the Gulf states, which said that Iran has continued to supply conventional weapons to terrorists and separatists in the region and to intervene militarily in neighbouring countries.

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US election 2020: Trump handed huge boost as Biden makes major mistake – Exclusive poll

By on August 30th, 2020

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1329041/US-election-2020-donald-trump-joe-biden-latest-polling

DONALD TRUMP is on course for a clear victory in the US Presidential election after he opened up a three point lead over Joe Biden in an exclusive poll for the Sunday Express.

According to the latest monthly Democracy Institute (DI)/ Sunday Express poll President Trump has 48 percent of the popular support over former Vice President Biden’s 45 percent.

In the key swing states the gap is even bigger with 49 percent for Trump to 42 percent for Biden giving the incumbent US President an almost unassailable seven point lead.

Since the DI poll in August – a crucial month which saw the Democrat and Republican conventions – the President has gained a point in the swing states while his opponent has lost a point.

Significantly, the latest poll shows that 21 percent were positively influenced to vote Trump after the Republican convention but a negligible eight percent were inspired to vote Biden after the Democrat convention.

Trump is set to win in Minnesota 48 to 45, Florida 47 to 44 and New Hampshire, where he just held a major rally, 47 to 43. 

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The French Wish List for Lebanon by Amir Taheri

By on August 30th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16428/lebanon-france-wish-list

The first defect of the Macron plan, as we understand it, is that it treats what Lebanon faces as a humanitarian disaster, something like a major earthquake or tsunami, rather than a man-made tragedy plotted outside and executed by elements in the Lebanese political system. In other words, Lebanon’s crisis is caused by geopolitical factors with internal manifestations.

Tehran has tried to rewrite the Lebanese rules of the game in two ways. First, it has recruited, often purchased, allies not to say clients, in all communities. To be sure, Hezbollah remains Tehran’s main Trojan horse. But Iran also has baby Trojan horses in all other communities.

The second way in which Tehran has changed the rules of the game is to transform Hezbollah into a state-within-the-state, turning the official institutions of the Lebanese state into empty shells. Worse still, Hezbollah itself is held on an increasingly tight leash from Tehran. Those who follow the official narrative in Tehran know that the hard core of the Islamic Republic leadership treat Hezbollah as servants rather than allies.

Even before the mullahs seized power in Tehran, Iran exercised some influence in Lebanon and is likely to maintain a high profile there even after the mullahs are seen off the stage. But, while Iran will always be here, it would be wrong to assume that the Islamic Republic, too, will always be there.

Does Emmanuel Macron have a plan for helping Lebanon out of its current crisis? Sources close to the French president claim he does.

The plan consists of mobilizing international support for a fund to rebuild the shattered port of Beirut and upgrade the country’s ramshackle infrastructure.

In exchange, it would require a new national consensus that transcends sectarian divides without ignoring them altogether.

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The Attempt to Overthrow America by Guy Millière

By on August 30th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16430/overthrow-america

The situation had become “worrying,” in fact, even before the results of the 2016 presidential election were known. As we now can read in the Department of Justice report by Michael Horowitz, the senior levels of government during the Obama Administration were colluding to prevent President Trump from winning the election, and then, after it, to frame him in an attempted coup d’état.

Mayors of many cities and other local officials have deliberately protected criminals over law-abiding citizens and allowed the destruction to take place.

“I thought things were partisan and tough 30 years ago — nothing compared to today. Things have fundamentally changed… [the left] represents a revolutionary Rousseauian party that believes in tearing down the system… They’re interested in complete political victory. They’re not interested in compromise. They’re not interested in dialectic, exchange of views… It’s a substitute religion. They view their political opponents… as evil because we stand in the way of their progressive utopia that they’re trying to reach…” — US Attorney General William Barr, Fox News, August 9, 2020.

“Today our nation is facing the most serious threat to establish such a tyranny in our entire history.” — David Horowitz, Frontpage Mag, August 10, 2020.

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020 might appear, looking back, as a pretext for mayhem. His killing by a white police officer was immediately followed by a wave of riots during which neighborhoods in several major cities were devastated. Stores were looted, buildings were burned and people were murdered as mayors and other local public officials chose to let the rioters run wild, whip up racial conflict and protect the criminals rather than the citizens being brutalized. The riots quickly appeared to have nothing to do with Floyd’s death and everything to do with groups seeking to overthrow America.

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Meet the Democrats’ Newest Strategist For Vicky Osterweil, “Looting represents a material way that riots and protests help the community.” By Roger Kimball

By on August 30th, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/29/meet-the-democrats-newest-strategist/

Her name is Vicky Osterweil. It’s a pity that she is only emerging on the scene now. Had her ideas enjoyed broad circulation even a month ago, she could have made a major and clarifying contribution to the Democratic Party’s platform.

Many commentators, from the Left as well as the Right, grumbled that the Democrats’ convention lacked a clear policy agenda. Sure, we all knew in general outline what they were about—they were “against racism,” “against white supremacism,” above all, they were “against Trump.” 

But the policy particulars that flowed from these sentiments were more adumbrated than stated directly. Vicky Osterweil (formerly Willie) fills in some blanks. Too bad she didn’t have a spot speaking at the convention. She sums up so much of what the Democrats are about today.

Like Joe Biden (and like his mentor Barack Obama), she is passionately committed to “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Peeking out of his basement in May, Joe Biden saw “an incredible opportunity to transform America.” 

Vicky Osterweil agrees. “[W]e need a total transformation of our society,” she writes in her new book. “This society we live in under capitalism is entirely structured around the production [and] circulation of commodities. It is a cruel system, built for the creation and revocation of things not for the flourishing of people.”

In her interview with Stephen Colbert earlier this month, Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris cheerfully noted that the “protests” coruscating across the country were “not going to stop.” “This is a movement,” she explained, smiling. The riots “are not going to let up and they should not and we should not.” 

Osterweil sees Harris’ bet and raises it. She, too, regards the riots as part of a “movement for liberation,” a movement that is just getting started. 

I mentioned Osterweil’s new book. It is called In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action. I should note that the word “riotous” as used here does not mean “uproariously funny.” In means “having to do with riots,” i.e., violent insurrectionary action: looting, destroying property, burning things down. These are the actions that Osterweil recommends to bring about that “total” or “fundamental” transformation of society that she, like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, long to bring about. 

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‘In Defense of Looting’ Author Says the Value of Small Businesses Is a ‘Right-Wing Myth’ By Tyler O’Neil

By on August 30th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/columns/tyler-o-neil/2020/08/29/new-book-provides-a-terrifying-glimpse-into-how-antifa-justifies-looting-and-rioting-n864754

After the police killing of George Floyd, mobs descended on major cities, rioting, looting, and burning down buildings. Yet left-leaning journalists, commentators, and politicians insisted that the riots were “mostly peaceful protests.” A new book seeks to justify looting, in particular, and taxpayer-funded National Public Radio (NPR) published a lengthy interview with the author. Among other things, the author defends looting as a way to undermine the “white supremacy” behind the idea of property and that the value of small businesses is a “right-wing myth.”

NPR’s Natalie Escobar introduced the subject by claiming “there has been a lot of hand-wringing about looting.” In the newly-released book In Defense of Looting, (published by Hachette Book Group, which has published books by Joel Osteen, J.K. Rowling, Newt Gingrich, and others) Vicky Osterweil “argues that looting is a powerful tool to bring about real, lasting change in society. The rioters who smash windows and take items from stores, she says, are engaging in a powerful tactic that questions the justice of ‘law and order,’ and the distribution of property and wealth in an unequal society.”

Indeed, in an interview with Escobar, Osterweil claimed that looting — which she defined as “the mass expropriation of property, mass shoplifting during a moment of upheaval or riot” — is a tool for justice that doesn’t really harm anyone. She also dispelled certain “myths” about looting, like the idea that rioters and looters are disconnected from a peaceful protest.

Attacking the idea of property

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War Hero Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL district 18) Shows the Meaning of Courage When Confronted by the Mob By Rick Moran

By on August 30th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/08/29/war-hero-rep-brian-mast-shows-the-meaning-of-courage-when-confronted-by-the-mob-n863712

https://www.mastforcongress.com/

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Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) lost both of his legs a decade ago in Afghanistan. He was an explosive ordnance disposal technician, which says a lot about his personal courage. Coming back from his injuries to serve the nation says even more.

On Thursday night following Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the White House, Mast was walking home when he was confronted by dozens of angry protesters. He faced the screaming protesters and tried to answer their questions.

Needless to say, it didn’t go well for the bullies.

Brian Mast

@BrianMastFL
They thought I would be an easy target because my prosthetics move slowly. They were wrong.

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What Trump Got Right: Our Choice Isn’t Democrats Vs. Republicans, But Socialism Vs. Democracy

By on August 30th, 2020

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/08/29/what-trump-got-right-our-choic

Even today, we often hear there are no real differences between the two parties. They’re like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, we’re told. But hearing President Donald Trump’s lengthy, and detailed, acceptance speech Thursday night, we must agree: Never in modern history has there been a greater gap between the two major parties.

“Despite all of our greatness as a nation, everything we have achieved is now endangered. This is the most important election in the history of our country. At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas,” Trump told Americans.

“This election will decide whether we save the American Dream, or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.”

He’s right. And yes, the choice is that stark.

In the midst of an American cultural and political crisis, brought on by far-left inspired terrorism and rioting in the nation’s cities, it’s important to draw clear distinctions. And that’s exactly what Trump and others did in their convention speeches.

“The president and his surrogates boasted of replacing NAFTA with USMCA, passing criminal-justice reform, getting a significant tax cut through Congress (though this didn’t receive as much attention as usual for a GOP convention), destroying ISIS, and killing Qasem Soleimani, along with many less widely heralded achievements in foreign policy and regulatory reform,” as Daniel McCarthy of the Spectator USA magazine neatly summed it up.

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