POLITICS Comments turned off

POLITICS ARIZONA : CURT SCHILLING MULLING A RUN FOR CONGRESS

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

http://www.rollcall.com/news/campaigns/trump-endorses-curt-schilling-bid-congress-arizona-terrific

Former Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling can count on the endorsement of President Donald Trump if he decides to run for Congress in Arizona.

The former Major League Baseball player turned conservative talk show host is weighing a congressional run in the Copper State, he told the Arizona Republic this week.

Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday to support that potential development, writing that Schilling was a “great pitcher and patriot” and that it is “terrific!” he is considering running in Arizona.

Schilling, who is listed as a Massachusetts resident, has long been one of Major League Baseball’s most politically active former players. In 2016 and 2017, he expressed interest in running to unseat Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts before ultimately backing out of the race. He actively campaigned for Republican presidential nominee John McCain in 2008 and supported President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004.

He endorsed Trump in 2016 and has vehemently defended the Trump administration as a commentator for the conservative media outlet Blaze TV.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

5 Biggest Misconceptions About The Trump Administration’s Record On LGBTQ Issues Matthew Craffey

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/14/5-big-misconceptions-trump-lgbtq-record/

If you cut through the lies and the false narratives peddled by the media, you’ll find Trump has been one of the greatest presidents for LGBTQ Americans in history.

Recently Ric Grenell, the openly gay U.S. ambassador to Germany, hosted a discussion in Berlin with international LGBTQ activists as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. More than 70 countries have laws against LGBTQ activities. Through economic influence, increasing education, and advocating policy changes, this important new global campaign hopes to change that.

Activists from countries such as Lebanon, Georgia, and Botswana shared their experiences and discussed the harrowing conditions LGBTQ individuals face in their nations. Grenell gave activists from the most affected countries a forum to develop better strategies to fight for LGBTQ policies and made it clear the United States would help in their struggle however it could.

The Trump administration also announced the appointment of another openly gay man, Robert Gilchrist, as the U.S. ambassador to Lithuania. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Gilchrist could play a pivotal role in LGBTQ policy. His challenge will be to do this in a culturally conservative country that lags other nations in affirming LGBTQ desires.

There is a large potential political and cultural impact to our top diplomat in a country like Lithuania being a gay man. It sends a high-profile message that to have a good political and economic relationship with the United States, nations will need to accept LGBTQ individuals and improve treatment of their own LGBTQ citizens. It’s one more example of how the Trump administration is using soft-power and influence to carry out this important global initiative.

However, the dominant narrative weaved by the media and Democrats incorrectly paints the administration’s record on LGBTQ issues. The very same Advocate article on Gilchrist’s appointment still claims that overall, “the Trump administration has taken many anti-LGBTQ actions.” But has it?

As a gay man myself, it’s important to me to know how the facts measure up to these accusations. Below are the most notable allegations of anti-LGBTQ actions supposedly taken by the Trump administration, and whether the media and leftist politicians reported them accurately.

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

If You’re Not Grateful To The United States, Why Are You Here?By Casey Chalk

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/14/youre-not-grateful-united-states/

Rather than ridicule America’s past, as if the travesties of U.S. history nullify its soaring glories, immigrants and longtime Americans should be grateful for America and its political and cultural traditions.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post featured an op-ed entitled “I am an uppity immigrant. Don’t expect me to be ‘grateful,’” by New York University professor Suketu Mehta, an author who recently published a book arguing that “immigration is a form of reparations” for past American crimes.

In the article, Mehta accuses America of stealing “the futures of the people who are now arriving at its borders,” of causing many immigrants “to move in the first place,” and of “despoil[ing] their homelands and mak[ing] them unsafe and unlivable.” He censures the West for “despoil[ing] country after country through colonialism, illegal wars, rapacious corporations and unchecked carbon emissions.”

Mehta asserts, for such reasons, that he’s “entitled” to live in the United States. Yet a few brief historical reflections will demonstrate that immigration as reparations is a bit more complicated than Mehta lets on. Moreover, no one, whether first-generation immigrants or direct descendants of voyagers on the Mayflower, deserves to be here. Being American is a gift for which every citizen should be inordinately grateful.

MEDIA Comments turned off

A Week in the Life of ABC ‘News’ Trump-bashing, race-baiting, and fear-mongering. Or as they call it at the network, Tuesday. Edward Ring

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/08/13/a-week-in-the-life-of-abc-news/

ABC Nightly News,” televised daily across the nation at 5:30 p.m., offers what is perhaps the lowest common denominator of the mainstream media’s liberal, anti-Trump bias. But even if you compare what ABC has to say to what actually constitutes balanced reporting, as well as to what qualifies as newsworthy reporting, ABC falls short.

By these standards—by what used to be the basic editorial criteria for good journalism—ABC “news” is a dangerous fraud. They spew propaganda, calibrated at an almost infantile level, calculated to reinforce carefully nurtured biases within their television audience.

ABC News is anchored by the dashing metrosexual, David Muir, an actor of extraordinary skill. Muir, along with a laudably diverse collection of equally telegenic thespians masquerading as “journalists,” manages to exude convincing gravitas despite delivering, night after night, an embarrassing infotainment sham, mixing in equal parts pablum and agenda-driven propaganda. Forget about the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism, or the Edward R. Murrow Award. Give David Muir an Oscar.

ABC’s nightly “news” is easily dissected. Their 30-minute formula, which all three legacy networks follow, consists of a prolonged opening segment, about 15 minutes in length, in which the  top national and international stories are presented (or so they tell us). An examination of what they reported on last week, during the five days from August 5 through August 9, provides ample evidence of just how far removed they are from genuine journalism.

POLITICS Comments turned off

The Rise of Cultural and Economic Jihadism in American Civilization Selling us cultural suicide as a moral virtue. Jason D. Hill

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274618/rise-cultural-and-economic-jihadism-american-jason-d-hill

Two Democratic presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders and Julian Castro, have agreed to speak before the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). The candidates will address the forum during its convention in Houston on August 31, 2019.

The ISNA is listed by the United States Justice department as an entity of the Muslim Brotherhood which is a terrorist organization linked to several Islamist and Jihadist global political movements. These movements have as their goal the establishment of a global caliphate. This means that their goals are to subject all human beings to Sharia law. In fact, the president of ISNA was quoted in a 2006 film as saying that the organization’s mission was to change the Constitution of America. The organization has as its goals, by means of a jihad campaign, the destruction of western civilization from within.

There are several reasonable people who believe that both Sanders and Castro are either ignorant of the ISNA’s real goal, or are simply trying to turn a blind eye to an organization’s radical agenda with the hopes that they can modify the nihilistic and jihadist agenda of the movement.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I submit that both Castro and Sanders, given their virulent demonstrations of Americaphobia are directly complicit with the goals of ISNA. They are joining forces with an enemy organization to delegitimize our great republic under the current form of its constitutional configuration. Before analyzing the real motives behind these America-hating politicians, let us briefly examine their stated political visions for America.

Bernie Sanders is an avowed democratic socialist. He intends to transform our system of free market enterprise that has lifted millions out of poverty and raised the standard of living for all persons. What does he intend to transform our socio-economic American civilization into? A totalitarian, expropriative government of theft by legalization. Socialism advocates vesting ownership and control of the means of production, capital and land in the community as a whole. Socialism is not a morally neutral system. Any system of governance presupposes an answer to the questions: Are you a sovereign entity who owns your life, work and mind? Is your mind something that can be nationalized and its material contents distributed by the state? Socialists think the answer is yes. They believe the products of one’s efforts belong to the community; that the state and society have a moral and financial responsibility to care for other people’s children; that is, the procreative choices made by those who are strangers to us, and that the most successful and productive people should be the most penalized.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Humanitarian Hoax of White Supremacy: Killing America With Kindness – hoax 44 by Linda Goudsmit

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

http://goudsmit.pundicity.com/23077/the-humanitarian-hoax-of-white-supremacy-killing

http://goudsmit.pundicity.com http://lindagoudsmit.com 

The Humanitarian Hoax is a deliberate and deceitful tactic of presenting a destructive policy as altruistic. The humanitarian huckster presents himself as a compassionate advocate when in fact he is the disguised enemy.

The radical leftist hucksters in the Democrat party have repeatedly accused President Trump of being racist and a white supremacist. Is it true? Let’s find out.

Racial unity has been the subject of political speeches since before the Civil War. The United States was founded in 1776 during an era of worldwide slavery when even black men owned black slaves. Supremacy is the corollary of enslavement – you have to be a supremacist to own a slave. Slavery was outlawed in the United States in 1865 with the passage of the 13th Amendment. So, let’s be clear, slavery has been illegal in the United States of America for 154 years.

Many countries and religions in the world continue to legally practice and embrace slavery – not Judeo-Christian America. The United States has Constitutionally rejected slavery and the attitude of supremacism that supports it. Instead, our American national credo strives for racial equality that is made possible through upward mobility and a robust middle class.

Equality in America is a matter of equal opportunity, not a guarantee of equal outcome. This is a very important distinction because it is what separates President Trump’s America-first ethos of individualism, from the radical leftist Democrat party’s ethos of collectivism. We will come back to that.

President Donald Trump is an unapologetic advocate of upward mobility and wealth creation for ALL Americans. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! President Trump’s economic policies are color-blind and responsible for the lowest unemployment in the black community in history, as well as the lowest unemployment rate for hispanics in America since records were kept.

BOOKS Comments turned off

The Education of Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution by Myron Magnet. Reviewed by Peter Wood

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/the-education-of-clarence-thomas/?

Clarence Thomas graduated cum laude from the College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts in 1971 and received a J.D. from Yale University in 1974. His memoir, My Grandfather’s Son (2007), testifies to a much deeper educational journey—one that began under the determined watch of his maternal grandfather in Jim Crow Savannah and that culminated in his ordeal during the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings. In between came his appointments as head of the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education, chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

What he learned in those positions was significant, but not transformational. The transformational moment, we learn in Myron Magnet’s new book, Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution, came in 1980, “after he read through [Thomas] Sowell’s works, registered as a Republican, and voted for Ronald Reagan.” He was drawn by Reagan’s “promise to end racial social engineering.” Thomas had had a bellyful of that at Yale and had concluded that “blacks would be better off if they were left alone” instead of being conscripted into the utopian schemes of liberal politicians.

Needless to say, this wasn’t an idea he picked up from his teachers at Holy Cross or Yale, though it did owe something to his grandfather. Moreover, it prepared him for the opportunity he had at the EEOC when “he hired as special assistants Ken Masugi and John Marini, students of political philosopher Harry Jaffa.” Masugi and Marini introduced Thomas to texts that deepened his knowledge of the American founding.

IMMIGRATION, POLITICS Comments turned off

Note to 2020 Dems: It’s Not Racist to Ask Immigrants to be Self-Sufficient By Tyler O’Neil

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/note-to-2020-dems-its-not-racist-to-ask-immigrants-to-be-self-sufficient/

On Tuesday, the Trump administration issued a final rule empowering federal officials to deny green cards to legal immigrants who have received certain public benefits or who are deemed likely to do so in the future. Democrats have attacked this “public charge” regulation as racist, but it is not racist to ask immigrants to be self-sufficient.

Ken Cuccinelli, acting director at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), put it this way: “President Trump’s administration is reinforcing the ideals of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, ensuring that immigrants are able to support themselves and become successful here in America.”

Cuccinelli is right, and the public charge policy seems narrowly tailored to address the kinds of long-term services that suggest a lack of self-sufficiency. The benefits considered under the policy include food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, and housing assistance, Politico reported.

The public charge policy does not consider enrollment in the Children’s Health Insurance Program or enrollment in Medicare Part D, nor does it consider the use of Medicaid by children, pregnant women, or new mothers during a 60-day period. Enrollment in the supplemental food program WIC, for low- to moderate-income pregnant women, infants, and children, would also not contribute to a public charge determination.

Polling suggests this rule is popular. A full 73 percent of voters said they would support a new requirement that incoming immigrants must be able to support themselves financially, according to an America First Policies poll. Americans want to welcome new immigrants — but they don’t want to see them go immediately on the public dole.

Yet, as if on cue, Democrats denounced the policy as racist and cruel.

“This administration’s cruel new policy called [Public Charge] is another racist policy that targets the less fortunate & is intended to prevent certain immigrants from becoming citizens & voters. It’s wrong & goes against our values. I will reverse it as president,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, tweeted as the final rule became public.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

‘Racist!’ The word that has been stripped of all meaning. By Patricia McCarthy

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/racist_the_word_that_has_been_stripped_of_all_meaning.html

It should be clear to all Americans by now that the word the left loves to spew indiscriminately — racism — often now means nothing, absolutely nothing.  That word is meant to be an accusation of the worst order, an epithet that is supposed to destroy all those so charged.  But now it’s used so frequently, it has no meaning at all.  It’s like the f-word, overused and merely a sign of one’s lack of a wider vocabulary.  Like the overused f-word, calling someone a ‘racist’ is a sign of sloppy, uncritical thinking.  The word “racist” now means nothing more than any other bit of profanity hurled at those whom lefties have been directed to hate.  As the eminent Charles Kesler said a few weeks ago, it just an all-purpose epithet.  Martin Luther King, Jr., someone who knew about real racists, would have been appalled by the cheapening of the term, as much as he would be horrified to learn that one’s character no longer counts at all; not one bit.  Only skin color, sexual orientation or some other fabricated victim grouping of which one can claim membership matters, or perhaps having a sufficiently Alinskyite ideology. 

President Trump is no racist by any definition of the word and all those Democrats calling him one know it.  The president has a long record of color-blindness in business and in his personal life. The Dems know that as well.  They are the people who see skin color first and foremost.  They think their abdication to its primacy above all is crucial to their taking back the presidency.  In reality, they are the actual racists.  But the word no longer has any meaning and they know it.  That is why they have escalated their attacks on Trump as a “white supremacist.”  How absurdly ridiculous.  If there are any white supremacists in the U.S. today, they are small in number and certifiably insane.  Everyone knows that, including the Democrats who are tossing that smear around.  

ISRAEL Comments turned off

May Dvir Sorek’s legacy be a lesson to the Jewish left by Ruthie Blum

Posted By on August 14th, 2019

https://www.jns.org/opinion/may-dvir-soreks-legacy-be-a-lesson-to-the-jewish-left/

Faced with what they clearly viewed as a contradiction in terms, Israel Prize laureate David Grossman and his fellow peace fantasists were stunned.

The slaughter last week of 19-year-old yeshivah student and Israel Defense Forces’ recruit Dvir Sorek from the Judea and Samaria community of Ofra was not exceptional. Palestinian terrorists with hatred in their hearts and weapons in their hands are integral to the Jewish state’s otherwise vibrant landscape.

But this particular tragedy struck a nationwide nerve even among those who blame the so-called “occupation” for Palestinian violence, and consider citizens like Sorek to be illegally and immorally living in territory that should become part of a future Palestinian state.

One detail of Sorek’s slaying that caused even hard-core leftists to pause was the fact that this “religious settler” was found clutching a book by internationally renowned author David Grossman. The book was among others that Sorek had purchased prior to his brutal murder as end-of-the-year gifts to his rabbis at the Machanayim seminary, an institution that combines Torah study with military service.

Unarmed and in civilian clothes, Sorek was ambushed by his knife-wielding killers as he made his way on foot from the bus stop to his evening class. His failure to arrive sparked the search that led to the discovery of his body six hours later.