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November 2019

Rep. John Ratcliffe: Adam Schiff’s Problem Isn’t That He’s Biased, It’s That He’s Running A Corrupt Process: Sean Davis

https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/01/rep-john-ratcliffe-adam-schiffs-problem-isnt-that-hes-biased-its-that-hes-running-a-corrupt-process/

“The person who planted fake evidence shouldn’t be the one ruling on the admissibility of fake evidence,” Ratcliffe said of Schiff on Friday.

A former federal prosecutor who sits on the committee tasked by Democrats with removing President Donald Trump from office blasted Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., as being unfit to oversee the process. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Tex., told The Federalist on Friday that Schiff’s problem isn’t mere partisan political bias, it’s that Schiff has a conflict of interest given his secret interactions with the anti-Trump whistleblower before his false complaint against Trump was even submitted.

“It’s more than just bias—it’s an actual legal conflict of interest,” Ratcliffe told The Federalist. “Schiff is using his authority as a Chairman presiding over an impeachment inquiry to prevent the investigation and discovery of facts about his own actions or the actions of his staff.”

“He is essentially a witness in the trial over which he is presiding,” Ratcliffe continued. “He has a conflict of interest because his testimony is relevant to the origins of the impeachment process that he is simultaneously conducting, directing and managing.”

The Reserve Army of the GOP By Matthew Continetti

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/11/trump-reelection-campaign-white-working-class-democratic-nominee/

How the white working class — and the Democratic nominee — could save Donald Trump in 2020

At first glance, President Trump’s reelection chances don’t look good. Stories about impeachment and presidential misbehavior dominate the news. Trump’s disapproval rating is high. Independent voters are against him. GOP congressmen are retiring from suburban districts that trend Democratic. The generic ballot is about where it was last cycle. Trump’s win in 2016, when some 78,000 voters in three states gave him the Electoral College, was a close-run thing. Seems hard to repeat.

And yet liberals are filled with apprehension. They are coming to recognize the potential size of the president’s pool of supporters. They fret over the capacities and liabilities of the eventual Democratic nominee. And their concerns are related: Trump’s ability to recapitulate or expand his winning coalition depends in large part on the identity of his opponent. Given these uncertainties, it would be foolish to predict Trump’s fate. He might even be stronger than he appears.

“Despite demographic trends that continue to favor the Democrats, and despite Trump’s unpopularity among wide swathes of the electorate, it will still be difficult for the Democrats to prevail against an incumbent president who has presided over a growing, low-unemployment economy and retains strong loyalty among key sectors of the electorate,” write Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin of the Center for American Progress. No conservatives they.

The Democratic difficulty has a name: the Electoral College. Twice in the 21st century, the level of the presidential vote has mattered less than its distribution. Trump’s people are spread much more evenly across the country than his opponents are. His base of white voters without college degrees, say Teixeira and Halpin, “make up more than half of all eligible voters in critical Electoral College states he won in 2016—including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—and in key target states for 2020 such as New Hampshire.”

AOC backs anti-cop protesters who jumped subway turnstiles in New York Adam Shaw 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-backs-anti-cop-protesters-who-jumped-subway-turnstiles-in-new-yor

“AOC backs anti-cop protesters who jumped subway turnstiles, spewed anti-cop hatred and held signs that said “Punch that cop!” “Don’t let these pigs touch us,” and “Hit em!” — DPS Reaction: NYC’s Democrat gift to America. You really want this to be our political leadership in the future?”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Saturday gave her backing to a New York City anti-police protest, in which demonstrators jumped subway turnstiles and yelled anti-cop slogans to protest a crackdown on fare evasion and allegations of police brutality.

“Ending mass incarceration means challenging a system that jails the poor to free the rich,” the left-wing freshman congresswoman tweeted, retweeting a video of protesters jumping subway turnstiles in Brooklyn Friday night.

In the video, protesters are shown helping each other jump turnstiles without paying the fare, while others are holding signs with slogans like “No cops, no fares.” One straphanger who did choose to pay the fare can be heard being yelled at by a protester.

“How do you spell racist? N-Y-P-D,” protesters in the video chant. But the anti-cop chants heard in the video didn’t prevent Ocasio-Cortez from lending her support to their actions.

“Arresting people who can’t afford a $2.75 fare makes no-one safer and destabilizes our community,” she said. “New Yorkers know that, they’re not having it and they’re standing up for each other.”

Other videos and images from the same protest that were not shared by Ocasio-Cortez showed banners that said: “Punch that cop!” “Don’t let these pigs touch us,” and “Hit em!”

The New York Post reported that protesters cited both a planned crackdown on fare evasion and two controversial incidents involving police officers in Brooklyn that they say are examples of police brutality as reasons for the protest.

LET THEM GO AHEAD AND IMPEACH TRUMP … HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS THEN…… By: Hyram F. Suddfluffel

I have a degree in Political Science, and I am a card-carrying Libertarian. I’ve been studying politics and political history for the past 30 years. My specialty is U.S. Presidents. That said, I hope that the House of Representatives impeaches Trump. Let me tell you what will happen next!

The House can pass articles of impeachment over the objections of the Republicans and refer to the Senate for trial.

2. The Senate will conduct a trial. There will be a vote, and the Republicans will vote unanimously, along with a small number of Democrats, to not convict the President. Legally, it will all be over at that point.

3. However, during the trial, and this is what no one is thinking about right now, the President’s attorneys will have the right to subpoena and
question ANYONE THEY WANT! That is different than the special counsel investigation, which was very one-sided. So, during the impeachment trial, we will be hearing testimony from James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr, Glenn Simpson, Donna Brazille, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Christopher Steele, Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, James Clapper, and a whole host of other participants in this whole sordid affair and the ensuing coverup activities. A lot of dirt will be dug up; a lot of truth will be unveiled. Finger pointing will occur. Deals will start being made, and suddenly, a lot of democrats will start being charged and going to prison. All this, because, remember, the President’s team will now, for the first time, have the RIGHT to question all of these people under oath – and they will turn on each other. That is already starting.

4. Lastly, one more thing will happen, the Senate will not convict the President. Nothing will happen to Trump. Most Americans are clueless about political processes, the law, and the Constitution. Most Americans believe that being impeached results in removal from office. They don’t understand that phase 2 is a trial in and by the Senate, where he has zero chance of conviction. Remember, the Senate is controlled by Republicans; they will determine what testimony is allowed — and *everything* will be allowed, including: DNC collusion with the Clinton campaign to fix the election in favor of Hillary, the creation of the Trump dossier, the cover up and destruction of emails that very likely included incriminating information.

How Did Democrats Get Here? Democrats’ embrace of thuggery over democracy is not normal.Karin McQuillan

https://amgreatness.com/2019/11/02/how-did-democrats-get-here/

Democrats have become the party of thuggery, from the top leaders abusing President Trump as a traitor and criminal, to the Antifa black shirts beating up Trump supporters in Democrat cities. The ginned up hysteria over Trump’s election has grown with Trump’s triumphant successes with the economy and national security.

The Democrats’ motivation for the fake impeachment crisis is obvious—they have no platform and no candidate that gives them a path to the White House. What is less obvious is why three years of ugly, crude propaganda, threatened and actual violence, wearisome agitation and lies is playing so well to previously normal Democrats.

The Democrat Party has veered far left very fast, without any pushback from within the party. Their voters have turned, seemingly overnight, from normal American citizens to a deranged mob after Trump’s blood. This weird transformation is normalized by blaming it on Trump himself, and the shock of his victory. A moment’s reflection shows how superficial that derangement explanation is.

Trump did not make the Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders a powerful political force in 2016. He is not responsible for Elizabeth Warren’s desire to confiscate people’s wealth. Trump did not cause the majority of Democrats to reject freedom of speech and religion, or to prefer socialism to capitalism. How did those radicals become so powerful that they now dominate the party leadership?

There is nothing in what Trump has done as president that explains the unconstitutional attacks against him. It is the reverse—the attempt to frame and entrap President Trump and his team as traitors with Russia, was begun by the Obama DOJ, FBI, CIA and White House before his inauguration. It was the Obama Administration’s actions that necessitated the all-out attempt to delegitimize President Trump before he could expose them.

Free of Charge For Bill de Blasio and other progressives, newcomers to the U.S. have no obligations. Seth Barron

https://www.city-journal.org/government-benefits-immigrants

Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced that it would expand the list of government benefits it considers when defining a person as a “public charge.” Under the new terms, an immigrant receiving, say, food stamps, emergency cash assistance, or living in public housing may see those benefits count against him when he seeks to upgrade or extend his visa status or apply for citizenship.

It was long believed that immigrants to the United States should not impose social burdens and should thus secure local sponsors who could guarantee their expenses until they got settled. The Immigration Act of 1891, for example, excluded from entry “insane persons, paupers or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome or a dangerous contagious disease,” and other undesirable categories, including felons and polygamists. 

Progressive localities have responded furiously to Trump’s directive. New York City and State have joined a lawsuit to prevent the expansion of public-charge criteria, alleging that it reflects animus against nonwhite immigrants. “The ultimate city of immigrants will never stop fighting President Trump’s xenophobic policies,” declared New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. New York attorney general Letitia James called the rule change “a clear violation of our laws and our values” that would make “more children go hungry,” though aid to children was excluded from consideration in the new rule.

Anti-Semitism report points to ‘hotbed for hate’ at Columbia

https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/11/01/new-report-on-anti-semitism-at-columbia-university-barnard-points-to-a-hotbed-for-hate/
The 33-page dossier “reveals the disturbing truth about anti-Semitism at one of the highest-regarded universities in the United States.”

The American NGO Alums for Campus Fairness released a comprehensive report last week that documents what ACF describes as “systemic anti-Semitism and an ingrained delegitimization of Israel” at Columbia University and its sister school, Barnard College.

The 33-page dossier documents more than 100 incidents that have made Columbia and Barnard “a hotbed for hate” since the 2016-17 academic year.

The catalog categorized each act into one of these categories: anti-Semitic expressions, meaning language, imagery or behavior that would be considered anti-Semitic according to the guidelines outlined by the US State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism; incidents targeting Jewish students and staff; or activity related to the anti-Israel BDS movement.

In one such incident, Students for Justice in Palestine held a “die-in” on the Columbia campus in May and released a statement that condoned terrorism, denied the right to Jewish self-determination, and accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Connecticut: Where Ridicule is a Crime by Alan M. Dershowitz

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15108/connecticut-ridicule-censorship

Among the most fundamental First Amendment rights is to ridicule — regardless of the reason. The same is true of holding people or groups up to contempt. Were Connecticut’s absurd statute to be upheld — which it will not be — it could be applied to comedians, op-ed writers, politicians, professors and other students.

And what about “creed”? Is being a conservative or a Trump supporter a creed that cannot be ridiculed?… [T]herein lies its greatest danger: selective prosecution based on current political correctness. Precisely the kind of unpopular speech which the First Amendment was designed to protect…

Such hateful expressions [Anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and anti-conservative] are not only tolerated, they are often praised as “progressive” by some of the same students and faculty members who would censor politically incorrect hate speech. Under the First Amendment, such selective censorship is intolerable.

All who care about civil liberties, regardless of race, should now join with the racist students in opposing their criminal prosecution and demanding that the Connecticut statute be struck down as unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the president of the university should lead the campaign against criminalizing speech that ridicules. Now that would take courage in our age of political correctness and at a time when the hard left is demanding “free speech for me but not for thee.” But this is not an age in which courage is widely practiced, especially on university campuses, and most especially by administrators.

Two students at the University of Connecticut have been charged with the crime of ridiculing African Americans by shouting the N-word as part of a childishly inappropriate game. A video of the incident went viral and generated protests on and off the campus.

Outrageous as shouting this racist epithet is, the First Amendment protects it from criminal prosecution or other governmental sanctions. The Connecticut General Statute under which the students were charged is just about as unconstitutional as any statute can be. It is not even a close case. Here is what the statute criminalizes:

Section 53-37 – Ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race.

Any person who, by his advertisement, ridicules or holds up to contempt any person or class of persons, on account of the creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race of such person or class of persons, shall be guilty of a class D misdemeanor.

James freeman: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Deserves to Be Believed A new tale from Bill Clinton implies that she misled the Senate.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rbg-deserves-to-be-believed-11572633115

Remarks by former President Bill Clinton this week appear to contradict a 1993 sworn statement from Ruth Bader Ginsburg about their discussions prior to her confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice. History suggests readers should be skeptical of the Clinton claim.

Justice Ginsburg was present when Mr. Clinton made the comments on Wednesday evening in Washington, but may not have expected the need to address details of a decades-old conversation as alleged by Mr. Clinton.

The former President and the current Justice were on stage along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Georgetown Law’s second annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg lecture. The three were being interviewed by Georgetown law professors Wendy Williams and Mary Hartnett, who are the Justice’s authorized biographers.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times notes that Mr. Clinton was discussing a 1993 interview with Ms. Ginsburg which occurred while he was considering nominating her to the Court:

“I knew after about 10 minutes that I was going to give her the job,” he said.
They discussed abortion, Mr. Clinton said. Justice Ginsburg, then a federal appeals court judge, had been critical of aspects of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.
The Supreme Court had moved too fast, Justice Ginsburg wrote in 1992. It would have sufficed, she wrote, to strike down the extreme Texas law at issue in the case and then proceed in measured steps in later cases to consider other abortion restrictions.

Andrew Cuomo: ‘We Didn’t Have Hurricanes’ Before Climate Change By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/video/andrew-cuomo-we-didnt-have-hurricanes-before-climate-change/

On Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) said that hurricanes, superstorms, and tornadoes did not occur before climate change. In the same breath, he said that anyone who questions the left’s climate-alarmist hysteria is “just delusional.” He may want to check in a mirror.

After he finished berating President Donald Trump in an interview with MSNBC, Cuomo turned to his latest attempt to enforce climate change orthodoxy.

“You know, anyone who questions extreme weather and climate change is just delusional at this point,” Cuomo said. “We have seen in the State of New York what everyone is seeing. We see these weather patterns that we never had before. We didn’t have hurricanes, we didn’t have superstorms, we didn’t have tornadoes.”

While it is at least plausible that carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels might lead to increasing global temperatures and rising sea levels, it takes a special kind of insanity to think that there were no hurricanes or tornadoes before human beings started burning carbon for energy.

Even interpreting Cuomo’s words charitably, the governor said that New York State did not experience hurricanes, superstorms, and tornadoes until the effects of manmade climate change. It is difficult to assess this claim, because written records do not go very far back, but even this less delusional suggestion is entirely incorrect.

An analysis of sedimentary evidence from New Jersey showed that a major hurricane struck the New York/New Jersey area between 1278 and 1438, long before the internal combustion engine. Another hurricane tracked parallel to the East Coast with impacts on New England and New York in August 1635. On September 8, 1667, a “severe storm” was reported in Manhattan. The Great Storm of 1693 caused severe damage on Land Island in October 1693. In September 1785, ships crashed into Governors Island as a result of powerful waves reportedly generated by a tropical cyclone. In August 1788, a hurricane struck New York City or Long Island, causing severe flooding and leaving the west side of the Battery “in ruins.”

Unless the Iroquois and their ancestors were secretly burning fossil fuels — and cleverly erased the evidence they did so — Cuomo’s statement about there having been no hurricanes and superstorms in New York prior to climate change is flat-out wrong. A simple Google search would have set him straight.