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Dems open eclectic convention with GOP defectors, a Russian lobbyist and Michelle Obama Former First Lady calls on Dems to vote for Biden ‘like our lives depend on it,’ Sanders says planet ‘at stake’ By Nicholas Ballasy

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/obama-calls-dems-vote-biden-our-lives-depend-it-sanders-says-planet-stake

Delivering on a promise for variety, the Democrats showcased the diverse and at times unpredictable state of their party during the first night of former Vice President Joe Biden’s nominating convention.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, warned that planet earth was at stake in the upcoming election while several Republican defectors pledged their support for the impending nominee — including a former congresswoman who worked for Russia as a lobbyist. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on the sidelines of the event, offered an unexpected defense of China. 

In the end, it was Michelle Obama’s impassioned plea for unity to defeat President Trump that rounded out the evening and stole the show.

“We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. We’ve got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden,” she said when closing out the first night of the convention.

Obama also directly attacked Trump, calling him “the wrong president for our country.”

“He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is,” she said.

“If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it,” she added.

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It’s Official: Palestinians Join Iran-led Anti-Peace Camp by Khaled Abu Toameh

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16362/palestinian-iran-anti-peace

By holding a political protest at the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinians are not only desecrating the sanctity of the site, but also sending a warning to citizens of UAE not to visit Jerusalem or the mosque, as many apparently hoped to do.

The Joint Statement of the United States, Israel, and the UAE on August 13 points out that according to President Donald J. Trump’s Vision for Peace, “all Muslims who come in peace may visit and pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Jerusalem’s other holy sites should remain open for peaceful worshippers of all faiths.”

This warning shows that the Palestinians believe they have exclusive control over Islam’s third-holiest site and are free to decide who can visit the site and who cannot. It is therefore the right time for Arabs and Muslims to step in to demand an end to Palestinian hegemony over the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy sites in Jerusalem.

By declaring war on the UAE, the Palestinian leadership has chosen to align itself with those who seek the elimination of Israel: Iran, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. The Palestinian leadership has again demonstrated its determination to act against the interests of its own people, who could have benefited from the UAE-Israel deal by seeking financial aid from the Arab countries and jobs in the Gulf states.

The Palestinians have spent the past few months trying to persuade the international community, including Arab countries, to help prevent Israel from applying its sovereignty to portions of the West Bank.

Now that one of these countries – the United Arab Emirates – succeeded in striking a deal with Israel, according to which the Israeli plan to extend Israeli law to more land would be suspended, the Palestinians are waging an unprecedented campaign of defamation against the UAE and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed.

Instead of thanking the UAE for managing to suspend the Israeli plan, Palestinians are protesting against the UAE because of its decision to normalize its relations with Israel. Palestinians have been burning UAE flags and photos of Bin Zayed and denouncing him as a “traitor,” as well as accusing him of “stabbing the Palestinians and Arabs in the back” and “betraying Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause.”

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The Protests in Belarus by Judith Bergman

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16353/belarus-protests

“You speak about unfair elections and want fair ones? I have an answer for you. We had the elections. Unless you kill me, there will be no other elections.” — Alexander Lukashenko, Tass News Agency, August 17, 2020.

Lukashenko’s crackdown on the protests has been particularly severe: Some 6,700 have been detained since protests erupted in the evening of August 9, at least two people have died and many more have been wounded. Riot police have used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of peaceful demonstrators.

“Crowds outside a detention centre in Minsk say the screams of torture victims are audible from outside, and video footage corroborates this. The evidence points to a campaign of widespread torture and other ill-treatment by the Belarusian authorities who are intent on crushing peaceful protests by any means…. These are people whose only ‘crime’ was to take to the streets in peaceful protest. What we are seeing in Belarus is a human rights catastrophe that demands urgent action.” — Marie Struthers, Amnesty International Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, August 13, 2020.

Unlike the murder of George Flynn in the US, the horrifying police brutality against thousands of peaceful demonstrators in Belarus has not caught the attention of Western activists, none of whom has taken to the streets in solidarity with innocent Belarussians.

The people of Belarus probably need a strong Western response, not just to counter Lukashenko and the rigged elections, but also to show Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who has been pushing for ever-closer “integration” with Belarus for many years, that Belarus will not be abandoned by the West.

Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which border Belarus, will be following developments closely. The West really needs to do the same: supporting Belarussian civil society, while deterring Russia’s designs on the country.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron grip since 1994, “won” his sixth presidential election on August 9 with a remarkable 80% of the vote. Both the US and the EU have described the election — much like the previous elections there — as neither free nor fair.

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Black Lives Matter movement to play elevated role at convention By Rebecca Klar –

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/511932-black-lives-matter-movement-to-play-elevated-role-at-convention

The message of Black Lives Matter will be woven throughout the 2020 Democratic National Convention, starting with a focus on racial injustice during the first night of programming.

The plan by convention organizers to elevate the Black Lives Matter movement reflects the party’s growing embrace of its calls for action on racial inequality and police brutality over the past four years, particularly since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd.

The lineup of prime-time programming for the convention doesn’t list a time slot for Black Lives Matter activists as of Thursday, but the Democratic National Committee (DNC) indicated there would be a focus on the movement and racial injustice throughout the entirety of the convention.

“The Black Lives Matter movement has given voice to the deep-seated inequality that has plagued our nation since its inception,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement. “The Democratic Party shares in their commitment to justice and hears their demands for change. When we nominate Joe Biden to be our standard-bearer, we will not miss this moment to ensure those values are reflected in everything we do.”

Racial injustice will be a key part of the “We the People” programming on Monday, according to the DNC and Biden campaign. Speakers that evening include Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and former first lady Michelle Obama.

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‘The Permanent Coup’ Plotters Take the Virtual Stage Thanks to fearless researchers and writers like Lee Smith, future Americans will have a full account of the Democrats’ modern-day treachery. History should not be kind. Julie Kelly

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/17/the-permanent-coup-plotters-take-the-virtual-stage/

The list of marquee speakers for this week’s Democratic National Convention includes more than just a roster of past, current, and future political stars. Several of the perpetrators of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax will take the virtual stage to once again inveigh against Donald Trump.

In a bit of irony, on the same day—Tuesday—that former deputy attorney general Sally Q. Yates is slated to speak, Lee Smith’s new book, The Permanent Coup: How Enemies Foreign and Domestic Targeted the President, will hit the shelves. Yates, who signed two of the four illicit FISA applications against Trump campaign aide Carter Page, is a decorated soldier in the ongoing coup against Donald Trump. 

In a just world, Yates would be doing prison time for presenting fake evidence to a secret federal court in order to spy on a private U.S. citizen based on his political interests; in the Trump era, however, saboteurs like Yates are heralded as heroines of #TheResistance.

Smith’s book is a sequel to his 2019 New York Times bestseller, The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History, an infuriating account of how Barack Obama’s henchmen concocted and executed, with the full complicity of the American news media, a lawless plan to derail Trump’s candidacy and then overturn the 2016 election after he won. But for Nunes’ fierce pursuit of the truth—even against the objections of some congressional Republicans and at great personal risk—the perpetrators might have succeeded.

The Permanent Coup picks up where Smith left off—a visit with the nine-term Republican congressman in his California home district. After the Senate acquitted Trump in February, the president singled out Nunes for praise during a White House celebration; the packed room gave the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee a standing ovation for taking on the treacherous Obama-Clinton-DNC-media dirty tricks operation almost single-handedly.

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Seattle Defunded Police. Now Businesses Are Leaving, and Rioters Still Aim Explosives at Cops By Tyler O’Neil

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/08/17/seattle-defunded-police-now-businesses-are-leaving-and-rioters-still-aim-explosives-at-cops-n799570

Last week, the Seattle City Council voted to slash funding for the police department, leading the city’s first black female police chief to resign. The council defunded the police even after antifa rioters had wreaked havoc on the city in the name of racial justice. In one particularly memorable case, rioters used a van loaded with explosives to blow open a police station. On Sunday, rioters fired explosives at police, wounding at least three of them. Some businesses in the city have had enough.

“What [the] city council has done has been more detrimental to our business than a global pandemic, by far, absolutely,” Joe Raetzer, co-owner of Steepologie Teas with his wife Andrea, told the Fox affiliate Q13 last week. His wife said there are “only so many times you can hire people and lay them off because they don’t want to be in this location, they already didn’t feel safe pre-COVID, pre-riots.”

Steepologie Teas boasted more than 300 loose-leaf teas on 4th Avenue. Seattle Apartments Magazine rated the tea shop “hands down the best tea in Seattle.” Now, the tea store has closed down permanently.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

The Morning Briefing: DNC Night One—I Think the Democrats Want Trump to Win By Stephen Kruiser

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/columns/stephen-kruiser/2020/08/18/the-morning-briefing-dnc-night-one-i-think-the-democrats-want-trump-to-win-n800423

Well, the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC) kinda/sorta got underway on Monday night and we’re still waiting to hear from the twelve people who aren’t in political media who watched it.

Those who did were in for a real treat if they’ve never had a concussion or done hallucinogenic drugs before and wondered what either is like without having to actually experience one.

After night one of the first of the COVID conventions I can see why the Republicans are playing coy about their plans for next week. It might just be best to reduce it to one big drunken Zoom meeting rather than try to create any sense of normalcy.

The DNC gave it a whirl but, hoo boy, was it a little off.

A series of individually recorded remote speeches gave it a “Gee we’re sorry we can’t be there for your 90th birthday, Uncle Joe,” vibe. That’s perfectly fine when it’s Uncle Joe’s 90th birthday but it’s not as fun if it’s Uncle Joe’s 90th attempt at becoming President of the United States. And Uncle Joe isn’t even at his own party to watch because he’s in the basement.

One of the more perplexing things was the DNC giving a speaking slot to former Ohio governor and noted mailman’s son John Kasich. Kasich brings slightly less excitement than dryer lint to any gathering he graces but what was most amusing was that during the somnambulant lead-up to the DNC, the Democrats were acting like Kasich was a real big get for them.

HISTORY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

When Turkey’s ‘Hero’ Beheaded 800 Christians for Refusing Islam Lessons from the Martyrs of Otranto. Raymond Ibrahim

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/when-turkeys-hero-beheaded-800-christians-refusing-raymond-ibrahim/

The ritual decapitation of 800 Christians who refused Islam 539 years ago—and whose commemoration was last Friday, August 14—sheds much light on contemporary questions concerning the ongoing conflict between Islam and the West.

Background: When he sacked Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II was only 21-years-old—meaning he still had many good decades of jihading before him. He continued expanding into the Balkans, and, in his bid to feed his horses on the altar of Saint Peter’s basilica—Muslim prophecies held that “we will conquer Constantinople before we conquer Rome”—he invaded Italy and captured Otranto in 1480.  More than half of its 22,000 inhabitants were massacred, 5,000 hauled off in chains.

To demonstrate his “magnanimity,” Sultan Muhammad offered freedom to 800 chained Christian captives, on condition that they all embrace Islam.  Instead, they unanimously chose to act on the words of one of their numbers: “My brothers, we have fought to save our city; now it is time to battle for our souls!”

Outraged that his invitation was spurned, on August 14, Muhammad ordered the ritual decapitation of these 800 unfortunates on a hilltop (subsequently named “Martyr’s Hill”).  Their archbishop was slowly sawed in half to jeers and triumphant cries of “Allah Akbar!”  (The skeletal remains of some of these defiant Christians were preserved and can still be seen in the Cathedral of Otranto.)

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BLM Race Hustlers Make Louisville Businesses ‘An Offer They Can’t Refuse’ Who gets to “own” a neighborhood? Richard L. Cravatts

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/blm-race-hustlers-make-louisville-businesses-offer-richard-l-cravatts/

When businesses in the NuLu district of Louisville were aggressively approached by Black Lives Matter activists last week, it raised the thorny issue of who benefits when older neighborhoods are revitalized and made more attractive by the creation of new housing and retail businesses. In this process, when older areas begin to be seen as desirable neighborhoods whose desirable locations, rich social fabric, ethnic mix, and accessibility make them attractive to new residents and the upwardly mobile, local activists start their predictable protests against development, displacement, and, worst of all, what they perceive as the dreaded gentrification that defines these older neighborhoods’ current state.

Contending that “The policies and processes of the revitalization of NuLu has [sic] displaced marginalized people from homes their families have often resided for generations, single-handedly progressing the gentrification of Black neighborhoods,” BLM protestors distributed a list of “Occupy NuLu Demands” to businesses “to express the destruction your business has caused to low-income communities, specifically those with majority Black residents.”

Referring to the economic and social rebirth of an entire neighborhood, benefiting rich and poor alike—as a “destruction” of a low-income community, of course, seems to be counter-intuitive, since most municipalities welcome upgrading of their urban cores, particularly when it eliminates pockets of poverty, widens the tax base, creates new housing, reduces crime, and stimulates the overall investment in the locality by housing developers and retail businesses—precisely what has occurred in NuLu.

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The UAE Deal Shows Middle East Peace Doesn’t Depend on the ‘Palestinians’ The ‘Palestinian’ scam is dying. Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on August 18th, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/uae-deal-shows-middle-east-peace-doesnt-depend-daniel-greenfield/

The big lie that peace in the region could only come from a ‘Palestinian’ state was a scam that diplomats, leaders, and experts bought into and on which they built our relationship with Israel.

The agreement between the UAE and Israel showed that the experts were once again wrong.

We were told for generations that the region was one more negotiating session between whichever Islamic terrorist leader was running things in Ramallah and whichever Israeli prime minister had cobbled together a democratic coalition in Jerusalem away from peace.

The big lie died with a single Trump tweet announcing the deal between Israel and the UAE.

The generals, the diplomats, the pundits, and the professors, some of whom had really been working for Islamic oil states all along, had sold America and the world a big lie.

The big lie depended on a myth that was part antisemitic and part philosemitic, by turns orientalist and anti-imperialist, that everything in the region revolved around Israel. All it took to puncture that myth was the Iraq War, and the rise of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and ISIS.