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Trump speech before Capitol riot not enough for impeachment charges: Jonathan Turley

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://foxbangor.com/national-news/trump-speech-before-capitol-riot-not-enough-for-impeachment-charges-turley/

Democrats are moving to remove President Trump from office after Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riot, but George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said he doesn’t believe Trump committed an impeachable offense.

‘He does not call for riots. He does not call for violence,’ law professor points out

Democrats are moving to remove President Trump from office after Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riot, but George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said he doesn’t believe Trump committed an impeachable offense.

Turley explained to “Fox & Friends Weekend” that the president’s call to protest does not constitute insurrection and that Congress must deliberate carefully on the charges to carry out the process constitutionally. Trump invited supporters to rally in Washington Jan. 6, saying it would be “wild,” and gave a speech where he said ralliers would march “peacefully” to the Capitol. During the speech, he repeated the unproven claim that the election was stolen from him.

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Turley: Swift new impeachment would damage the Constitution By Jonathan Turley

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/533469-swift-second-impeachment-would-damage-the-constitution

The author Franz Kafka once wrote, “My guiding principle is this. Guilt is never to be doubted.” Democrats suddenly appear close to adopting that standard into the Constitution as they prepare for a second impeachment of President Trump. With seeking his removal for incitement, Democrats would gut not only the impeachment standard but also free speech, all in a mad rush to remove Trump just days before his term ends.

Democrats are seeking to remove Trump on the basis of his remarks to supporters before the rioting at the Capitol. Like others, I condemned those remarks as he gave them, calling them reckless and wrong. I also opposed the challenges to electoral votes in Congress. But his address does not meet the definition for incitement under the criminal code. It would be viewed as protected speech by the Supreme Court.

When I testified in the impeachment hearings of Trump and Bill Clinton, I noted that an article of impeachment does not have to be based on any clear crime but that Congress has looked to the criminal code to weigh impeachment offenses. For this controversy now, any such comparison would dispel claims of criminal incitement. Despite broad and justified condemnation of his words, Trump never actually called for violence or riots. But he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to raise their opposition to the certification of electoral votes and to back the recent challenges made by a few members of Congress. Trump told the crowd “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices be heard.”

These kinds of legal challenges have been made by Democrats in the past under the Electoral Count Act, and so Trump was pressing Republicans in Congress to join the effort on his behalf. He ended his remarks by saying a protest at the Capitol was meant to provide Republicans “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” He told the crowd, “Let us walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.” Moreover, marches are common across the country to protest actions by the government.

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HEADLINES NATIONAL NEWS

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

FNC’s Kurtz: Many in Media Aren’t Considering ‘Free Speech Implications’ of Trump Twitter Ban https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/01/09/fncs-kurtz-many-in-media-arent-considering-free-speech-implications-of-trump-twitter-ban/
Nancy Pelosi, in ‘60 Minutes’ interview, slams Trump as ‘deranged,’ calls for ‘prosecution’ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nancy-pelosi-in-60-minutes-interview-slams-trump-as-deranged-calls-for-prosecution
Patrice Onwuka: Twitter, Facebook banning of Trump continues crackdown on conservatives — censorship dangerous https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-twitter-facebook-patrice-onwuka
Tucker Carlson: From Twitter to CNN, the left is coming for your speech https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-on-twitter-and-cnn
9 Big Tech Platforms that Have Blacklisted President Donald Trump https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/01/09/9-big-tech-platforms-that-have-blacklisted-president-donald-trump/
Why ban of @realDonaldTrump proves Twitter not ‘just a platform’ https://nypost.com/2021/01/08/why-ban-of-realdonaldtrump-proves-twitter-not-just-a-platform/
Ignoring the concerns of Trump supporters will destroy America
https://www.theblaze.com/op-ed/whitlock-ignoring-the-concerns-of-trump-supporters-will-destroy-america
WATCH: Armed Antifa Attack Trump Supporters, Cops in San Diego https://www.breitbart.com/law-and-order/2021/01/09/watch-armed-antifa-attack-trump-supporters-cops-in-san-diego/
 Liberal Reporter: ‘The New…Authoritarian Liberal-left…Is Going to be Absolutely Ruthless’ https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2021/01/09/liberal-reporter-sees-right-through-big-techs-reason-to-ban-trump-n2582855?
Thought Control by Controlling the News https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffdavidson/2021/01/09/thought-control-by-controlling-the-news-n2582854?

Rush Limbaugh Deactivates His Twitter Account After President Trump Banned https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2021/01/08/rush-limbaugh-deactivates-his-twitter-account-after-president-trump-banned/
Apple Joins Google in Blacklisting Parler https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/01/09/apple-joins-google-in-blacklisting-parler/

FOREIGN POLICY, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

President Biden Should Quash Abbas’ Newest Offensive by Moshe Phillips

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/01/08/president-biden-should-quash-abbas-newest-offensive/

In December, both Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Russian leader Vladimir Putin called for the “Quartet” to be the sponsor of future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. But why?

The Quartet was established in Madrid in 2002 and is comprised of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia. It has been irrelevant for many years — at least since May 2015, when Tony Blair officially resigned from his role as Special Envoy, and arguably long before that.

The Biden administration should abandon the Quartet as soon as possible before Abbas’ offensive sees success.

A review of the Quartet’s website is instructive on why Abbas has been so vocal lately about his support for the Quartet’s increased involvement.

The tagline included at the top of every page of the Quartet’s website is “supporting the Palestinian people to build the institutions and economy of a viable, peaceful state in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

It’s important to break down that sentence.

First, the tagline does not mention Israel at all. That, in and of itself, is decision that cannot be defended in any way. How can one claim to support peace between two sides and ignore the very existence of one side in your mission statement?

Second, Israel’s major cities and Ben Gurion International Airport would be within easy rocket range of terrorists sitting on the Palestinian side of the border of a “West Bank” state. Does anyone honestly believes that a new Palestinian government would stamp out the terrorists? Does anybody remember the Oslo Accords, which obligated the Palestinian Authority to outlaw and disarm all terrorists? Who enforced that, and who will enforce future Palestinian compliance?

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The woke purge Twitter’s suspension of Donald Trump is a chilling sign of tyranny to come. Brendan O’Neill

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/09/the-woke-purge/

Cancel culture doesn’t exist, they say. And yet with the flick of a switch, billionaire capitalists voted for by precisely nobody have just silenced a man who is still the democratically elected president of the United States. With the push of a button in their vast temples to technology, the new capitalist oligarchs of Silicon Valley have prevented a man who won the second largest vote in the history of the American republic just two months ago — 74million votes — from engaging with his supporters (and critics) in the new public square of the internet age.

Not only does cancel culture exist — it is the means through which the powerful, unaccountable oligarchies of the internet era and their clueless cheerleaders in the liberal elites interfere in the democratic process and purge voices they disapprove of. That’s what Twitter’s permanent suspension of Donald Trump confirms.

The new capitalists’ cancellation of the democratically elected president of the United States is a very significant turning point in the politics and culture of the Western world. We underestimate the significance of this act of unilateral purging at our peril. It demonstrates that the greatest threat to freedom and democracy comes not from the oafs and hard-right clowns who stormed the Capitol this week, but from the technocratic elites who spy in the breaching of the Capitol an opportunity to consolidate their cultural power and their political dominance.

Twitter’s ban on Trump is extraordinary for many reasons. First, there’s the arrogance of it. Make no mistake: this is the bosses vs democracy; corporates vs the people; exceptionally wealthy and aloof elites determining which elected politicians may engage in online discussion, which is where most political and public debate takes place in the 21st century. Those who cannot see how concerning and sinister it is that a handful of Big Tech companies have secured a virtual monopoly over the social side of the internet, and are now exploiting their monopolistic power to dictate what political opinions it is acceptable to hold and express in these forums, urgently needs a wake-up call.

MY SAY: Comments turned off

MY SAY: THE ABHORIORS

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

I got e-mails suggesting that I was too flippant regarding the riot and break-in on January 6, 2021. Maybe they are right.

For the record I despise, detest, loathe, execrate, and revile mob violence. Even more…Je Suis the Capitol. Okay? Enough.

President Trump was denied a fair hearing of evidence- affidavits and video proof of election chicanery. The Supremes and state judges dismissed his lawsuits and allegations without even a cursory look at evidence. The faux conservative media  would not even consider what was a legitimate request for hearings and transparency but now sanctions the venal calls for impeachment. The Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and Homeland Security denied the President his well-earned day in court.

In the Senate, the Mitt Romney clones jumped off the listing Trump ship of state like rats and displayed selective outrage after turning a blind eye to the riots that destroyed and torched cities and private property in the name of racial justice.

Also abhorrent is the tolerance of the Democrat party for blatant anti-American, anti-Semitism and racism in the corridors of power. rsk

FOREIGN POLICY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran, China, Promise to be the Biggest Tests of Biden’s Presidency in 2021 by Con Coughlin

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16905/iran-china-policy-tests

There is eager anticipation among many of Washington’s foes that Mr Biden’s inauguration will result in the new president adopting a less confrontational tone with the outside world than his predecessor.

China’s communist rulers, for example, are hopeful that Mr Biden will engage in the kind of meaningless trade deals so beloved of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. These are the trade deals where Washington agrees to improve trade ties with Beijing on the understanding that China addresses the unfair trading relationship between the two countries, knowing full well that China’s communist rulers have absolutely no intention of fulfilling their end of the bargain.

Before making any move that he may later regret, Mr Biden needs to think long and hard about the likely implications of trying to improve relations with Tehran.

As Iran has demonstrated consistently since signing the 2015 nuclear deal with the Obama administration, Tehran’s primary objective is to become the dominant power in the Middle East — not to live in peaceful coexistence with other nations in the region.

The revelation that Hezbollah has doubled the arsenal of advanced guided missiles it keeps trained on Israel during the course of the past year is a timely reminder that Iran, together with the numerous terrorist proxies it supports throughout the Middle East, promises to present the incoming Biden administration with its most critical foreign policy challenge in 2021.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Marx, Heidegger and the Crocodile by Amir Taheri

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16933/marx-heidegger-mesbah-yazdi

Because Fardid knew no German, his knowledge of Heidegger was based on scanty reading and misreading of French or Persian translations.

Fardid’s understanding of Heidegger could be summed up in two erroneous beliefs: society’s need for order and the need for an unimpeachable leader to impose that order. He also claimed a visceral hatred of Marxism in all its many different forms

No one was allowed to join the debate and suggest, ever so modestly, that maybe it was time for Iranians to use their own heads and begin thinking themselves.

At a time that the ruling elite in Tehran were busy marking the anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Khomeinist movement lost another of its iconic figures: Ayatollah Muhammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi.

The 86-year-old cleric who changed his surname from Givehchi (sandal-maker) to Mesbah (Arabic for lamp) was alone among Khomeinist mullahs to have secured the title of “Super Scientist” (Allameh in Arabic) from the establishment. He was marketed as “the greatest living Islamic philosopher” and, as head of the Imam Khomeini Center of Studies, the custodian of Khomeini’s theologico-political heritage.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

As Democrat lies compound, the truth will out By Earick Ward

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/01/as_democrat_lies_compound_the_truth_will_out.html

Have you ever lied, or ever watched someone else lie?  What commonly occurs is a compounding of more lies, designed to cover the original lie and subsequently keep the truth from being discovered.

It is not enough that the left cheated (a lie).  What we are witnessing today is the left flailing about, working tirelessly to conceal its deceit.

If leftists rightfully won the 2020 presidential election, and now the subsequent Georgia Senate runoff, one would think we’d see a measured process for transitioning Joe Biden and Kamala Harris into the presidency and vice presidency.   

What we’re seeing instead is chaos.  A myriad of leftist entities, from pols to Media, Big Tech, Hollywood, and others, are whipped into a frenzy to silence dissent and cut short the president’s term.

There are the 25th Amendment, impeachment, punishment, and threats of punishment of anyone who dares question the legitimacy of the vote, and now mass censorship of the president and American citizens?  Are these necessary when a peaceful transition of power is scheduled to occur in a mere 10 days?  

If you have the truth, pound the truth. If you don’t have the truth, pound the table.

What we are witnessing is a tantrum of spoiled children, pounding the table.

We know they lied.  They know they lied.  We know they know they lied.  The more that they flail about, the more at peace you should feel that our cause is just.

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Conceding Defeat to Fraud Is Not Patriotic By Dennis L. Weisman

Posted By on January 10th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/01/conceding_defeat_to_fraud_is_not_patriotic.html

I. Introduction

In the aftermath of the protests that devolved into deadly riots in Washington, D.C. and resulted in the breach of the Capitol building, there is a temptation to stand down and not question any further whether Joe Biden is the duly elected president of the United States.  That question, which is key to preserving our democracy, must not go unanswered, violence or no violence.  We hear claims that what occurred in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday happens only in third-world countries.  Perhaps the more germane question is whether these types of elections are third-world phenomena and fall well short of the integrity we should demand of our election process and the officials who preside over it.

 I make no claim that the voting irregularities writ large are of a scope that would change the outcome of the presidential election because I honestly do not know.  But this uncertainty, which I believe that many share, and not just supporters of Donald Trump, is a cancer on the Republic because it strikes at the foundation of our democracy.  If we can’t trust the elections, we can’t trust the politicians who come to power as a result of those elections, and without trust there is no democracy and ultimately there is no country.

II. The “Patriotic Myths”

The first myth is that patriotism demands that we now stand down in questioning the results of the presidential election.  In fact, the opposite is true.  There are no circumstances in which outstanding, credible questions regarding the integrity of our elections should go unanswered because without ensuring the integrity of our elections, we can have no enduring fidelity to those politicians who emerge victorious from those elections.

The second myth is that there is ample time to study the election results and procedures after Mr. Biden’s inauguration.  But what if the wrong man occupies the Oval Office, one not duly elected by a fair and impartial vote of the American people?  What are the American people supposed to do after the fact?  What is the constitutional procedure for removing a sitting president from office should it be discovered ex post facto that he was the product of a fraudulent election?  

The third myth is that a true patriot knows when to stand down even if there are voting irregularities.  The necessary implication is that Mr. Trump is not a patriot because he refuses to go away quietly and simply accept defeat, deserved or otherwise.  I do not doubt that Mr. Trump’s ego plays a prominent role in his challenging the election results.  He does not like to lose.  But there is a much larger issue at play.