RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/07/hawaii-republican-party-prepares-comeback/

One-party rule has wreaked havoc in the state, and voters might turn to a new crop of Republicans.

A visit to the semiannual meetings of the national committees of the two major parties makes you realize that even in the polarizing Age of Trump, a midterm election isn’t one national election but 50 state ones. At last month’s Republican National Committee meeting in Austin, Texas, the mood ranged from optimistic to ready to ready for a funeral

On the one hand there was Maryland, where despite the fact that Donald Trump won only 34 percent in 2016, GOP governor Larry Hogan has a 68 percent approval rating. But in neighboring Pennsylvania, which Trump won against all expectations, Democratic governor Tom Wolf is favored for reelection, and a court-ordered redistricting map puts up to five GOP House seats at risk.

Then there is Hawaii. Local Republicans think they’ve hit rock bottom and begun to recover.

When Hawaii became a state in 1959 along with Alaska, it was the more Republican of the two. But gradually their positions reversed. As late as 1976, Hawaii still had a Republican U.S. senator, and Jimmy Carter won the state that year with only 50.59 percent of the vote.

https://unitedwithisrael.org/far-left-candidates-pushing-democrats-further-away-from-israel/?

Much like the 2016 presidential election, the 2018 midterm congressional elections are shaping up to be one of the most contentious in recent memory. Democrats are attempting to retake both houses of Congress in a bid to serve as a check on US President Donald Trump and to rectify their embarrassing defeat in 2016. Yet for the American Jewish and pro-Israel community, the upcoming midterms and their results may also have a profound effect on the future of bipartisan support for Israel.

Many worry that the leftward shift among Democrats in their opposition to Trump during this election season may bring the party closer towards the anti-Israel views found on the party’s far-left, as exemplified by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

One of the biggest surprises so far in the primary season was the upset victory by Democratic Socialist candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over incumbent New York City Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in a party primary in June.

Shortly after her surprising primary victory, Ocasio-Cortez was criticized for a tweet that said Israel was committing a “massacre” in Gaza, in reference to the deaths of more than 60 Palestinian rioters massed along the Israel-Gaza on May 14, most of whom were later acknowledged to be members of Hamas.

In July, Ocasio-Cortez again drew criticism in an interview with PBS’s “Firing Line” when she said, “I also think that what people are starting to see—at least in the occupation of Palestine—is just an increasing crisis of humanitarian condition and that to me is just where I tend to come from on this issue.”

https://pjmedia.com/trending/the-left-is-working-overtime-to-normalize-fascism/

It is hard to believe that the president of the United States is often accused of being a fascist by the same people who advocate harassing, assaulting, and censoring his supporters. But, that is exactly what is going on now. The political left is labeling anything conservative as hateful, bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc., to justify un-American suppression of non-left-wing views.

Freedom of speech is an essential American value, and restrictions on free speech aren’t likely to sit well with a majority of the American people. But, Democrats have a found a loophole: let privately-owned companies do the censoring. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have long been accused of anti-conservative bias. Earlier this year, Facebook temporarily prevented my ability to promote my new book. A couple of months ago, they demanded personal information from me in order for me to have the “privilege” of paying to promote my books. I have chosen not to give them any information that could potentially be misused.

I’ve had better luck on Twitter, but Hispanic science fiction author Jon Del Arroz has experienced repeated censorship there.

“Leftists have been successful in targeting me on Twitter every time I’ve reached new heights in my writing career,” he told PJ Media. “When I hit #1 Amazon Bestseller, Twitter gave me a notice within 30 minutes as if I was permanently banned, giving me no reason, but the account became unlocked a few minutes later.”

Del Arroz recently launched a comic book crowd-funding project on Indiegogo called Flying Sparks and found that his self-promotion on Twitter was met with a coordinated attack by left-wing authors who reported his tweets en masse. “I didn’t violate Twitter’s Terms of Service, but now I’m suspended for a week and can’t promote my project to my nearly 5,000 followers just as it’s gaining momentum,” he said.

Google is no exception either. Last year, PJ Media contributor Megan Fox found her YouTube channel demonetized after Rush Limbaugh read one of her columns on his radio show. This was by no means an isolated incident, as YouTube had been targeting conservative content creators long before that.

But throttling conservatives on social media isn’t enough for the radical left. The vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), recently wrote to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, accusing him of profiting off the sales of materials he considers “racist” or linked to “hate groups.” What exactly does Ellison mean by “hate groups”? For Ellison, he trusts the wisdom of the embattled Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Despite its history, in recent years the SPLC has become a tool of leftists to brand conservative groups “hate groups.”

Tucker Carlson recently and accurately described it as “a left-wing political group that uses ‘hate crime’ designations to target its ideological enemies and to crush people.” Several years ago they targeted the Value Voters Summit and its primary sponsor, Family Research Council for being “bigots” and “haters.” Why? Because they believe in traditional marriage and that homosexuality is a sin. The SPLC haphazard tossing around the “hate group” label has gotten them into some serious trouble. The SPLC recently agreed to a $3 million court settlement after falsely listing Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz, in its 2016 “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists.” Nawaz is a practicing Muslim. Following the settlement, at least 60 organizations branded as “hate groups” by the SPLC are considering legal action against the left-wing organization. CONTINUE AT SITE