USA Politics.
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"Coming directly from the U.N.'s own website, I was furious to find out that the second largest direct funder of their global gun ban is American taxpayers like you and me.
Figures going back to the Obama administration show hundreds of thousands of dollars coming from our own government towards promoting the U.N.'s "Small Arms Treaty."
And sadly, those funds haven't slowed down since President Trump has taken office.
Could it just be oversight? Or could it be entrenched holdovers from the Obama administration willfully blocking President Trump from knowing this is going on?
Either way, it is unacceptable that we are continuing to fund this global gun ban.
If fully implemented in the United States, our Second Amendment would be put on life support, and it would take years to undo the damage.
That s why I'm counting on you to sign the National Association for Gun Rights' "Defund the UN Gun Ban" Petition.
You see, the anti-gun global elites are breathing a sigh of relief.
Even with their anti-gun cheerleader Hillary Clinton not in the presidency, they are able to keep their yearly check courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer -- which they are using to work towards global implementation of the Treaty.
In fact, the anti-gun global elites recently got back from a posh set of meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, where they schemed about ways to implement their anti-gun agenda world-wide.
They know that as long as U.S. money keeps flooding in and our signature stays intact they will have their way eventually.
And even if implementation isn't possible under President Trump, they are fully prepared to wait for someone like Senator Elizabeth Warren to take over the White House.
In the meantime, they can get by on the hundreds of thousands in U.S. funds they will accumulate by then.
And one important way to slow them down is immediately cutting off our funds to the U.N.'s "Small Arms Treaty."
Frankly, I think President Trump would be wise to cut off a lot, maybe even all, funding to the United Nations given its long history of anti-American activity . . . but that's a subject for another day.
Today, I hope you will stand with me in at least cutting off U.S. funding for the U.N.'s global gun ban scheme.
So please sign your "Defund the UN Gun Ban" Petition right away.
After reading through the details of the Treaty, it's hard to see how our Second Amendment could survive such an assault.
Perhaps the worst of the Treaty's provisions can be found in Article V, which mandates countries establish a "National Control List" -- or a NATIONAL GUN REGISTRATION database!
You and I both know gun registration is just the first step toward outright CONFISCATION.
And the U.N. is already plotting their next step -- developing new "International Small Arms Control Standards" (ISACS).
Their goal is to impose these radical anti-gun initiatives on every nation who signs the U.N. "Small Arms Treaty." Introductory language already includes:
*** Mandated national "screening" for all persons seeking to own guns, giving bureaucrats the final say on whether or not you're "competent" enough to own a gun;
*** Restrictive licensing for gun and ammo sales, and perhaps even bans on certain types of firearms. This could include anything from semi-auto rifles to shotguns to handguns!
*** Restrictions on the number of guns and amount of ammo any "properly-licensed" individual may legally own;
*** Bans on magazines holding more than ten rounds;
*** Bans on owning a firearm for self-defense -- unless a citizen can somehow demonstrate need and get federal government approval.
And with U.S. funding continuing to support this treaty, the global anti-gun elites are convinced that the U.S. will come on board with full implementation.
As one anti-gun world leader stated:
"We expect the U.S. to abide by the Treaty even if ratification will take some time."
That's why the immediate defunding of this treaty is so important, and why I am asking for your support.
So please sign your "Defund the U.N. Gun Ban" Petition without delay!
I really hope I can count on you to join me in supporting this vital program.
For Freedom,
Rand Paul
United Stated Senator (R-KY)
P.S. I was shocked and angered to find out that the United Nation's "Small Arms Treaty" is largely funded by U.S. tax payers like you and me.
That's more than every country in the world with the exception of Japan.
That's why I'm hoping I can count on you to sign NAGR's "Defund the U.N. Gun Ban" Petition right away."
Figures going back to the Obama administration show hundreds of thousands of dollars coming from our own government towards promoting the U.N.'s "Small Arms Treaty."
And sadly, those funds haven't slowed down since President Trump has taken office.
Could it just be oversight? Or could it be entrenched holdovers from the Obama administration willfully blocking President Trump from knowing this is going on?
Either way, it is unacceptable that we are continuing to fund this global gun ban.
If fully implemented in the United States, our Second Amendment would be put on life support, and it would take years to undo the damage.
That s why I'm counting on you to sign the National Association for Gun Rights' "Defund the UN Gun Ban" Petition.
You see, the anti-gun global elites are breathing a sigh of relief.
Even with their anti-gun cheerleader Hillary Clinton not in the presidency, they are able to keep their yearly check courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer -- which they are using to work towards global implementation of the Treaty.
In fact, the anti-gun global elites recently got back from a posh set of meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, where they schemed about ways to implement their anti-gun agenda world-wide.
They know that as long as U.S. money keeps flooding in and our signature stays intact they will have their way eventually.
And even if implementation isn't possible under President Trump, they are fully prepared to wait for someone like Senator Elizabeth Warren to take over the White House.
In the meantime, they can get by on the hundreds of thousands in U.S. funds they will accumulate by then.
And one important way to slow them down is immediately cutting off our funds to the U.N.'s "Small Arms Treaty."
Frankly, I think President Trump would be wise to cut off a lot, maybe even all, funding to the United Nations given its long history of anti-American activity . . . but that's a subject for another day.
Today, I hope you will stand with me in at least cutting off U.S. funding for the U.N.'s global gun ban scheme.
So please sign your "Defund the UN Gun Ban" Petition right away.
After reading through the details of the Treaty, it's hard to see how our Second Amendment could survive such an assault.
Perhaps the worst of the Treaty's provisions can be found in Article V, which mandates countries establish a "National Control List" -- or a NATIONAL GUN REGISTRATION database!
You and I both know gun registration is just the first step toward outright CONFISCATION.
And the U.N. is already plotting their next step -- developing new "International Small Arms Control Standards" (ISACS).
Their goal is to impose these radical anti-gun initiatives on every nation who signs the U.N. "Small Arms Treaty." Introductory language already includes:
*** Mandated national "screening" for all persons seeking to own guns, giving bureaucrats the final say on whether or not you're "competent" enough to own a gun;
*** Restrictive licensing for gun and ammo sales, and perhaps even bans on certain types of firearms. This could include anything from semi-auto rifles to shotguns to handguns!
*** Restrictions on the number of guns and amount of ammo any "properly-licensed" individual may legally own;
*** Bans on magazines holding more than ten rounds;
*** Bans on owning a firearm for self-defense -- unless a citizen can somehow demonstrate need and get federal government approval.
And with U.S. funding continuing to support this treaty, the global anti-gun elites are convinced that the U.S. will come on board with full implementation.
As one anti-gun world leader stated:
"We expect the U.S. to abide by the Treaty even if ratification will take some time."
That's why the immediate defunding of this treaty is so important, and why I am asking for your support.
So please sign your "Defund the U.N. Gun Ban" Petition without delay!
I really hope I can count on you to join me in supporting this vital program.
For Freedom,
Rand Paul
United Stated Senator (R-KY)
P.S. I was shocked and angered to find out that the United Nation's "Small Arms Treaty" is largely funded by U.S. tax payers like you and me.
That's more than every country in the world with the exception of Japan.
That's why I'm hoping I can count on you to sign NAGR's "Defund the U.N. Gun Ban" Petition right away."
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/state-offici ... -migrants/
"Last summer, a 5-year-old girl was orally, anally and vaginally raped and urinated upon by three Muslim migrant boys in Twin Falls, Idaho. Since then, instead of getting justice, the victim’s family has been abused by law enforcement and governing authorities as if they were the criminals – because what happened to their little girl contradicts the politically correct narrative about Muslim migrants.
And it just keeps getting worse. The victim’s mother has now informed me that, despite the huge medical expenses for their daughter that this attack has necessitated, the state of Idaho has told her the maximum assistance that her family can get is $4,500.
Make sure you’re never raped in the state of Idaho: If you’re five years old and your attackers are from a politically protected class, you’re only worth $4,500.
There seems to be no willingness on the part of the state or the county to reimburse this long-suffering family for any of the other costs that they have incurred because of the crime. Because they felt threatened – with very good reason – in continuing to live next door to one of the attackers’ families, they have been living in a succession of hotels; they have spent in excess of $2,000 in hotels alone.
Why did they have to relocate? Because Muslims were stopping in front of their home at night and shooting bottle rockets at it at 11:30 p.m. Apparently that kind of menacing and harassment doesn’t qualify as demonstrating a need for relocation.
The family also incurred babysitting fees, as well as expenses for transportation to get themselves to and from court. Then there is the astronomical cost of their lawyer, and other costs that he will require to accomplish anything positive for them.
This poor family has suffered almost every kind of injustice, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Get Pamela Geller’s book, “The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America.”
It is outrageous. And it gets even worse. For the longest time, the attacker wasn’t even limited in his access to the community’s children; now he must be supervised by someone 14 years old or older. When they stipulated this, the court had to have been aware that there was a boy who videotaped the rape who was also 14. This is a gross insult against this victimized family – and a direct result of a judge’s decision.
Meanwhile, the neighbor of the family who caught the perpetrators in the act, an elderly woman known to all as “Grandma Jo,” has been living in constant terror since she first happened upon the grisly scene. She has been stalked by the Iraqi family of the 7-year-old attacker. Her apartment is back-to-back with theirs; they peer into her windows and pace back and forth in front of her apartment in a clearly menacing manner.
The prosecuting attorney, Grant Loebs, has gone out of his way to imply that this rape was false information. His interviews have led the media and public officials to deny clear facts of the case. The U.S. attorney for Idaho even vowed to charge anyone who made false statements about the perps. The Hamas-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations has whined that the case has become “a lightning rod for anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee sentiments.”
Meanwhile, the victim in Twin Falls, once a happy and social child, now frequently insists that she wants to be alone. She finds a small and safe space inside a closet and stays in it alone for hours. Once a very chatty and happy child, she has become very quiet. Even during the summer heat of Twin Falls, she always wore two T-shirts and two pairs of underwear. She talked constantly about “those naughty boys” and asked her mother repeatedly not to tell her father everything that happened because it will upset him.
The alleged attackers’ families had no trouble getting new homes, but the victim’s family is still without a new apartment. Now that the media firestorm has subsided, the family is simply being ignored.
This little girl deserves justice. And she is not getting it. We are not going to forget about this case. The authorities who have failed this family and betrayed it for political correctness need to be repudiated, rejected, rebuked and removed from office. Enough is enough.
Join Pamela Geller in her fight to retain free-speech rights and the uniquely American culture — read “Stop The Islamization Of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance”
http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/state-offici ... drWtQqY.99
"Last summer, a 5-year-old girl was orally, anally and vaginally raped and urinated upon by three Muslim migrant boys in Twin Falls, Idaho. Since then, instead of getting justice, the victim’s family has been abused by law enforcement and governing authorities as if they were the criminals – because what happened to their little girl contradicts the politically correct narrative about Muslim migrants.
And it just keeps getting worse. The victim’s mother has now informed me that, despite the huge medical expenses for their daughter that this attack has necessitated, the state of Idaho has told her the maximum assistance that her family can get is $4,500.
Make sure you’re never raped in the state of Idaho: If you’re five years old and your attackers are from a politically protected class, you’re only worth $4,500.
There seems to be no willingness on the part of the state or the county to reimburse this long-suffering family for any of the other costs that they have incurred because of the crime. Because they felt threatened – with very good reason – in continuing to live next door to one of the attackers’ families, they have been living in a succession of hotels; they have spent in excess of $2,000 in hotels alone.
Why did they have to relocate? Because Muslims were stopping in front of their home at night and shooting bottle rockets at it at 11:30 p.m. Apparently that kind of menacing and harassment doesn’t qualify as demonstrating a need for relocation.
The family also incurred babysitting fees, as well as expenses for transportation to get themselves to and from court. Then there is the astronomical cost of their lawyer, and other costs that he will require to accomplish anything positive for them.
This poor family has suffered almost every kind of injustice, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Get Pamela Geller’s book, “The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America.”
It is outrageous. And it gets even worse. For the longest time, the attacker wasn’t even limited in his access to the community’s children; now he must be supervised by someone 14 years old or older. When they stipulated this, the court had to have been aware that there was a boy who videotaped the rape who was also 14. This is a gross insult against this victimized family – and a direct result of a judge’s decision.
Meanwhile, the neighbor of the family who caught the perpetrators in the act, an elderly woman known to all as “Grandma Jo,” has been living in constant terror since she first happened upon the grisly scene. She has been stalked by the Iraqi family of the 7-year-old attacker. Her apartment is back-to-back with theirs; they peer into her windows and pace back and forth in front of her apartment in a clearly menacing manner.
The prosecuting attorney, Grant Loebs, has gone out of his way to imply that this rape was false information. His interviews have led the media and public officials to deny clear facts of the case. The U.S. attorney for Idaho even vowed to charge anyone who made false statements about the perps. The Hamas-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations has whined that the case has become “a lightning rod for anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee sentiments.”
Meanwhile, the victim in Twin Falls, once a happy and social child, now frequently insists that she wants to be alone. She finds a small and safe space inside a closet and stays in it alone for hours. Once a very chatty and happy child, she has become very quiet. Even during the summer heat of Twin Falls, she always wore two T-shirts and two pairs of underwear. She talked constantly about “those naughty boys” and asked her mother repeatedly not to tell her father everything that happened because it will upset him.
The alleged attackers’ families had no trouble getting new homes, but the victim’s family is still without a new apartment. Now that the media firestorm has subsided, the family is simply being ignored.
This little girl deserves justice. And she is not getting it. We are not going to forget about this case. The authorities who have failed this family and betrayed it for political correctness need to be repudiated, rejected, rebuked and removed from office. Enough is enough.
Join Pamela Geller in her fight to retain free-speech rights and the uniquely American culture — read “Stop The Islamization Of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance”
http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/state-offici ... drWtQqY.99
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"This is the real deal. Apparently in 2007, the Pentagon in 2007 started a secret program researching military pilot's encounters with UFO's. Someone leaked the program to The New York Times forcing them to admit the black project. What you're about to see is amazing. The Pentagon released 3 actual cockpit footage videos of the encounters over the Pacific. You'll hear the pilot's audio in the video below.
First watch the MSNBC news report on this from yesterday. It summarizes what's going on behind this disclosure:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1ccRpbo4g8E
The footage.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mMZTCscTvsA
More video in the Times article including a long version where it streaks off at lighting speed as the Hornet closes in on it.
Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program - NYTimes.com
Here is the pilot of the Hornet describing the encounter.
2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen’ - The New York Times
First watch the MSNBC news report on this from yesterday. It summarizes what's going on behind this disclosure:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1ccRpbo4g8E
The footage.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mMZTCscTvsA
More video in the Times article including a long version where it streaks off at lighting speed as the Hornet closes in on it.
Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program - NYTimes.com
Here is the pilot of the Hornet describing the encounter.
2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen’ - The New York Times
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
https://constitution.com/u-s-military-p ... ing-video/
"The Roswell incident, in which a purported UFO crashed to earth and was recovered by the U.S. military, came immediately following the fears of World War II in which several technological races were occurring between the U.S., Germany, and the Soviet Union. When something happened in Roswell, many believed that our wartime enemies had gotten a leg up on the competition.
Now, as more and more Americans find themselves enamored with the possibility of extraterrestrial visitation to earth thanks to television and media, the Navy is releasing footage and eyewitness accounts of a bizarre 2004 incident that many believe could be the real deal.
“Commander Fravor began a circular descent to get a closer look, but as he got nearer the object began ascending toward him. It was almost as if it were coming to meet him halfway, he said.
“Commander Fravor abandoned his slow circular descent and headed straight for the object.
“But then the object peeled away. ‘It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen,’ he said in the interview. He was, he said, ‘pretty weirded out.’
“The two fighter jets then conferred with the operations officer on the Princeton and were told to head to a rendezvous point 60 miles away, called the cap point, in aviation parlance.
“They were en route and closing in when the Princeton radioed again. Radar had again picked up the strange aircraft.
“’Sir, you won’t believe it,’ the radio operator said, ‘but that thing is at your cap point.’
“’We were at least 40 miles away, and in less than a minute this thing was already at our cap point,’ Commander Fravor, who has since retired from the Navy, said in the interview.”
The video is even more bizarre.
The recent increase in bizarre UFO stories making the rounds in American media has spurred conspiracy theories of its own, with many believing that these releases are coordinated to lessen the psychological impact of a scheduled disclosure of information by the U.S. government."
"The Roswell incident, in which a purported UFO crashed to earth and was recovered by the U.S. military, came immediately following the fears of World War II in which several technological races were occurring between the U.S., Germany, and the Soviet Union. When something happened in Roswell, many believed that our wartime enemies had gotten a leg up on the competition.
Now, as more and more Americans find themselves enamored with the possibility of extraterrestrial visitation to earth thanks to television and media, the Navy is releasing footage and eyewitness accounts of a bizarre 2004 incident that many believe could be the real deal.
“Commander Fravor began a circular descent to get a closer look, but as he got nearer the object began ascending toward him. It was almost as if it were coming to meet him halfway, he said.
“Commander Fravor abandoned his slow circular descent and headed straight for the object.
“But then the object peeled away. ‘It accelerated like nothing I’ve ever seen,’ he said in the interview. He was, he said, ‘pretty weirded out.’
“The two fighter jets then conferred with the operations officer on the Princeton and were told to head to a rendezvous point 60 miles away, called the cap point, in aviation parlance.
“They were en route and closing in when the Princeton radioed again. Radar had again picked up the strange aircraft.
“’Sir, you won’t believe it,’ the radio operator said, ‘but that thing is at your cap point.’
“’We were at least 40 miles away, and in less than a minute this thing was already at our cap point,’ Commander Fravor, who has since retired from the Navy, said in the interview.”
The video is even more bizarre.
The recent increase in bizarre UFO stories making the rounds in American media has spurred conspiracy theories of its own, with many believing that these releases are coordinated to lessen the psychological impact of a scheduled disclosure of information by the U.S. government."
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"This election is NOT yet over. And Judge Moore has NOT conceded defeat.
Red Flag: The Alabama Supreme Court, in an after-hours ruling, overturned a lower court to ALLOW the deletion of all voting records in the Moore federal election. Because it was a federal election, regardless of Alabama law, it is ILLEGAL to delete voting records for 22 months after an election.
Shroyer: MA$ EIect|on Fraud In R0Y M00RE Loss - YouTube
Alabama Election Integrity Board is launching a full investigation, so things could get rather interesting in Alabama:
You’ve probably heard that a van full of illegal immigrants was apprehended at a polling location in Alabama casting fraudulent votes for Democrat Doug Jones or that blacks were being bused in from other states to do the same. Maybe you heard about the town where Jones got more votes than there are registered voters or even the piles of dead bodies that somehow voted for him. Maybe you noticed it was a little weird that black cops chose to harass whites on their way to polling locations — especially since more than 98 percent of blacks voted for Jones. No matter which part of the drama unfolding around the Alabama special election to the Senate you’ve heard, it should be clear that the whole thing stinks to high Heaven.
Fortunately, the Alabama Election Integrity Board, established in January after President Trump took office as part of his nationwide push for fair, transparent elections, has launched a “full investigation” into Doug Jones’ very blatant attempts to steal the election from the man Alabamans actually want for the job. The Mobile Register reports:
Election Integrity Board president Alan Cumbersen says that there is “sufficient evidence that there may have been wrongdoing” and vows to “get to the bottom of things.”
Cumbersen says the allegations against Jones are “deeply concerning” and that “if Jones tried to cheat, those fraudulent votes will be invalidated.” More than one-third of Jones’ votes have been called into question to date.
This comes at a time when Democrats are desperately begging Republicans to hold up a vote on a tax bill until Jones can be sworn in because his vote is needed to stifle efforts to improve lives for millions of Americans.
It’s clear that Democrats are desperate. They needed Jones to vote for their agenda. They cheated to get him in office. It seems pretty simple."
Alabama Officially Investigating Doug Jones For Election Fraud
Red Flag: The Alabama Supreme Court, in an after-hours ruling, overturned a lower court to ALLOW the deletion of all voting records in the Moore federal election. Because it was a federal election, regardless of Alabama law, it is ILLEGAL to delete voting records for 22 months after an election.
Shroyer: MA$ EIect|on Fraud In R0Y M00RE Loss - YouTube
Alabama Election Integrity Board is launching a full investigation, so things could get rather interesting in Alabama:
You’ve probably heard that a van full of illegal immigrants was apprehended at a polling location in Alabama casting fraudulent votes for Democrat Doug Jones or that blacks were being bused in from other states to do the same. Maybe you heard about the town where Jones got more votes than there are registered voters or even the piles of dead bodies that somehow voted for him. Maybe you noticed it was a little weird that black cops chose to harass whites on their way to polling locations — especially since more than 98 percent of blacks voted for Jones. No matter which part of the drama unfolding around the Alabama special election to the Senate you’ve heard, it should be clear that the whole thing stinks to high Heaven.
Fortunately, the Alabama Election Integrity Board, established in January after President Trump took office as part of his nationwide push for fair, transparent elections, has launched a “full investigation” into Doug Jones’ very blatant attempts to steal the election from the man Alabamans actually want for the job. The Mobile Register reports:
Election Integrity Board president Alan Cumbersen says that there is “sufficient evidence that there may have been wrongdoing” and vows to “get to the bottom of things.”
Cumbersen says the allegations against Jones are “deeply concerning” and that “if Jones tried to cheat, those fraudulent votes will be invalidated.” More than one-third of Jones’ votes have been called into question to date.
This comes at a time when Democrats are desperately begging Republicans to hold up a vote on a tax bill until Jones can be sworn in because his vote is needed to stifle efforts to improve lives for millions of Americans.
It’s clear that Democrats are desperate. They needed Jones to vote for their agenda. They cheated to get him in office. It seems pretty simple."
Alabama Officially Investigating Doug Jones For Election Fraud
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
Greg Pence:
"I stand with President Trump because he stands for the values of the forgotten men and women across the country. I support the MAGA agenda and will work alongside President Trump to repeal Obamacare, reform our broken tax code, secure our borders, and take care of our veterans.
As a Marine, I want to make sure our heroes get the help they need while serving as well as when they return home from duty."
Greg Pence for Congress
PO Box 218 103 East Washington St.
Shelbyville, IN 46176-9998
"I stand with President Trump because he stands for the values of the forgotten men and women across the country. I support the MAGA agenda and will work alongside President Trump to repeal Obamacare, reform our broken tax code, secure our borders, and take care of our veterans.
As a Marine, I want to make sure our heroes get the help they need while serving as well as when they return home from duty."
Greg Pence for Congress
PO Box 218 103 East Washington St.
Shelbyville, IN 46176-9998
-
Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit Thursday to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, telling them he brought Christmas greetings from President Trump.
Mr. Pence said that before he left Washington, he asked Mr. Trump what message to deliver and he said: “Tell them I love them,” the vice president told troops at Bigram Airfield in Afghanistan.
“During this special season, I know that President Trump was speaking for all Americans,” he said, adding that it is always difficult to be away from home for the holidays. “I know there will be a place saved at the dinner table for every one of you.”
The surprise visit before Christmas was the first trip to the war-torn country by either Mr. Trump or the vice president, and it coincided with the administration’s new strategy for ending the 16-year war in Afghanistan.
Mr. Pence quietly slipped out of Washington Wednesday after attending a White House event to celebrate Congress’ final passage of a tax cuts package that is the centerpiece of the president’s economic agenda.
The vice president was previously scheduled to be in Israel this week, but had to stay in Washington in case he needed to cast the tie-breaking vote on tax cuts in the Senate.
Under heavy security, Mr. Pence landed at Bagram Air Base, the largest U.S. base in the country, by military aircraft shortly after sunset and then arrived by helicopter in the capital of Kabul to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
He later returned to the base to address U.S. troops and receive briefings from military leaders, including Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
The trip was focused on the Trump administration’s new strategy, released in August, to “fight to win” in Afghanistan by attacking enemies, routing al Qaeda and preventing terrorist attacks against Americans.
In the speech to U.S. troops, Mr. Pence plugged a recent pay increase for service members and noted that “yesterday we cut your taxes.”
Both lines earned him some of the loudest applause of the night.
Mr. Pence also thanked the troops and civilians also in the room for their service. “You are heroes,” he said. “You are the best of us.”
He reflected on the start of this war 16 years ago — when many in the audience were just children — and reflected on the “forces of Islamic terror” that plotted the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The American people understood what this was. It was an act of war,” he said, adding that the war was started to liberate the Afghan people and stop the terrorist threat. “We are staying in that fight, and we will see it through until the end,” Mr. Pence told the troops.
At least 15,000 U.S. forces are in Afghanistan after Trump decided to send about 3,800 troops to the country this fall to enhance U.S. efforts to advise Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism missions.
The expected deployment of hundreds more U.S. Army trainers to Afghanistan early next year could increase the total number of American forces there to nearly 16,000, U.S. officials have said.
Top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, met with Afghan leaders in recent months in hopes of stabilizing the country.
But in a sign of the delicate security situation, the Taliban unleashed a barrage of rockets at the Kabul international airport in late September that targeted Mr. Mattis’ plane during his trip to the country. The U.S. responded with an airstrike.”
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=35821?omhide=true
.
Mr. Pence said that before he left Washington, he asked Mr. Trump what message to deliver and he said: “Tell them I love them,” the vice president told troops at Bigram Airfield in Afghanistan.
“During this special season, I know that President Trump was speaking for all Americans,” he said, adding that it is always difficult to be away from home for the holidays. “I know there will be a place saved at the dinner table for every one of you.”
The surprise visit before Christmas was the first trip to the war-torn country by either Mr. Trump or the vice president, and it coincided with the administration’s new strategy for ending the 16-year war in Afghanistan.
Mr. Pence quietly slipped out of Washington Wednesday after attending a White House event to celebrate Congress’ final passage of a tax cuts package that is the centerpiece of the president’s economic agenda.
The vice president was previously scheduled to be in Israel this week, but had to stay in Washington in case he needed to cast the tie-breaking vote on tax cuts in the Senate.
Under heavy security, Mr. Pence landed at Bagram Air Base, the largest U.S. base in the country, by military aircraft shortly after sunset and then arrived by helicopter in the capital of Kabul to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
He later returned to the base to address U.S. troops and receive briefings from military leaders, including Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
The trip was focused on the Trump administration’s new strategy, released in August, to “fight to win” in Afghanistan by attacking enemies, routing al Qaeda and preventing terrorist attacks against Americans.
In the speech to U.S. troops, Mr. Pence plugged a recent pay increase for service members and noted that “yesterday we cut your taxes.”
Both lines earned him some of the loudest applause of the night.
Mr. Pence also thanked the troops and civilians also in the room for their service. “You are heroes,” he said. “You are the best of us.”
He reflected on the start of this war 16 years ago — when many in the audience were just children — and reflected on the “forces of Islamic terror” that plotted the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The American people understood what this was. It was an act of war,” he said, adding that the war was started to liberate the Afghan people and stop the terrorist threat. “We are staying in that fight, and we will see it through until the end,” Mr. Pence told the troops.
At least 15,000 U.S. forces are in Afghanistan after Trump decided to send about 3,800 troops to the country this fall to enhance U.S. efforts to advise Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism missions.
The expected deployment of hundreds more U.S. Army trainers to Afghanistan early next year could increase the total number of American forces there to nearly 16,000, U.S. officials have said.
Top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, met with Afghan leaders in recent months in hopes of stabilizing the country.
But in a sign of the delicate security situation, the Taliban unleashed a barrage of rockets at the Kabul international airport in late September that targeted Mr. Mattis’ plane during his trip to the country. The U.S. responded with an airstrike.”
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=35821?omhide=true
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
https://www.westernjournalism.com/ann-c ... roy-moore/
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter sought to counter the prolific misrepresentations by media outlets in their reporting about Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore.
“It’s hard to disprove accusations from 40 years ago — that’s why we have statutes of limitations — but, despite that, there are a surprising number of problems with the allegations against Moore,” Coulter — a lawyer and former federal court of appeals judicial clerk — wrote in a piece for Breitbart.
“Contrary to what you have heard one million times a day on TV, there aren’t ‘multiple accusers.’ There are two, and that’s including the one with the fishy yearbook inscription whose stepson says she’s lying,” Coulter highlighted.
As reported by The Western Journal, accuser Beverly Young Nelson’s attorney Gloria Allred has refused to turn over a yearbook she claims was inscribed by Moore in 1977 to a neutral party in order for the handwriting and the date of the ink to be analyzed. The yearbook was presented as proof by Allred at a news conference that Moore and Young knew each other.
Regarding Moore’s other accuser, Leigh Corfman (featured in the Nov. 9 Washington Post story alleging Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when she was 14), Coulter contended her account has problems too.
“The main accuser has gotten a lot of her facts wrong, such as where she was living at the time (she moved to another town 10 days after meeting Moore); the corner where she allegedly met Moore for their liaisons (she named a corner more than a mile away from her house, across a busy intersection); and when she began to get into trouble with boys and alcohol (it was before meeting Moore, not after),” Coulter wrote.
Further, “There’s a lot of room between HE’S A CHILD MOLESTER and THE WOMEN ARE LIARS,” she added.
“They could be misremembering. They could be confusing Moore with someone else. They could be suggestible. They could be delusional. They could have repeated the story to themselves so many times that they believe it,” Coulter said.
As for the other “accusers” who claimed they dated Moore when they were between 16 and 19 and Moore was in his early 30s, Coulter pointed out that comedian Jerry Seinfeld dated 17-year-old Shoshanna Lonstein in the 1990s, when he was 39.
Therefore, Moore was closer in age than Seinfeld to those he allegedly dated.
Coulter circled back to one of her main concerns with the allegations.
“It was 40 years ago!” she wrote. “But it’s just weeks before the election and that’s the media’s favorite time to produce wild accusations against Republicans.”
The conservative commentator recounted other late-in-the race grenades lobbed against Republican candidates in the past, including an indictment of former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger four days before the 1992 presidential election by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, which seemed to implicate George H.W. Bush in a lie regarding the 1987 Iran-Contra Scandal.
In 2004, CBS’s Dan Rather employed documents easily discovered to be forged to report George W. Bush had shirked his National Guard service during the Vietnam War.
Coulter also contrasted the reporting Moore is receiving for alleged sexual contact in the 1970s versus that given to former Democrat Rep. Gerry Studds, who admitted to having homosexual relations with a 17-year-old congressional page in the 1980s.
Studs, in his 40s at the time, defended his actions, saying it was a “consensual relationship with a young adult,” according to The Associated Press.
“Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy denounced the ‘witch hunt’ against Studds, saying his critics wanted ‘to torch the congressman for his private life,’” Coulter wrote.
The House censured him, but he was not removed from office, and successfully ran for re-election six more times.
Studds was lionized when he died in 2006 by The Washington Post (“Gay Pioneer“), The New York Times (“First Openly Gay Congressman“), NPR (“Congressional Pioneer“) among other mainstream media outlets.
Coulter, who endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks over Moore in the Alabama Republican primary this summer, concluded her piece by writing, “The media say that Republicans support Moore just because they want another GOP vote in the Senate. I support Moore just because I hate the media.”
As reported by The Western Journal, Brooks, who announced last week he had already voted for Moore by absentee ballot, offered a similar rebuttal to the allegations against Moore as Coulter.
“What you have is the mainstream left-wing socialist Democrat news media trying to distort the evidence to cause people to reach the conclusion that Roy Moore engaged in unlawful conduct with a minor and my analysis of the evidence is that is not the case,” Brooks said last week on “The Dale Jackson Show,” a program on Alabama radio station WVNN-AF.
“Most importantly, the media likes to say ‘well, there are nine complainers.’ Seven of them aren’t complainers. In fact, I would be calling seven of those ladies as witnesses on behalf of Roy Moore on the issue of whether he is engaged in any kind of unlawful conduct,” the former prosecutor added.
Brooks continued, “There are only two that have asserted that Roy Moore engaged in unlawful conduct. One of those is clearly a liar because that one forged the ‘love, Roy Moore’ part of a yearbook in order to try to for whatever reason get at Roy Moore and win this seat for the Democrats and there’s a lot more to it as to why I believe that the evidence is almost incontrovertible about whether the yearbook was forged.”
The congressman went on to note that just left one accuser. “Well, that one witness’ testimony is in direct and stark contrast with that of the other seven ladies, who said that he acted like an officer and a gentleman.”
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter sought to counter the prolific misrepresentations by media outlets in their reporting about Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore.
“It’s hard to disprove accusations from 40 years ago — that’s why we have statutes of limitations — but, despite that, there are a surprising number of problems with the allegations against Moore,” Coulter — a lawyer and former federal court of appeals judicial clerk — wrote in a piece for Breitbart.
“Contrary to what you have heard one million times a day on TV, there aren’t ‘multiple accusers.’ There are two, and that’s including the one with the fishy yearbook inscription whose stepson says she’s lying,” Coulter highlighted.
As reported by The Western Journal, accuser Beverly Young Nelson’s attorney Gloria Allred has refused to turn over a yearbook she claims was inscribed by Moore in 1977 to a neutral party in order for the handwriting and the date of the ink to be analyzed. The yearbook was presented as proof by Allred at a news conference that Moore and Young knew each other.
Regarding Moore’s other accuser, Leigh Corfman (featured in the Nov. 9 Washington Post story alleging Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when she was 14), Coulter contended her account has problems too.
“The main accuser has gotten a lot of her facts wrong, such as where she was living at the time (she moved to another town 10 days after meeting Moore); the corner where she allegedly met Moore for their liaisons (she named a corner more than a mile away from her house, across a busy intersection); and when she began to get into trouble with boys and alcohol (it was before meeting Moore, not after),” Coulter wrote.
Further, “There’s a lot of room between HE’S A CHILD MOLESTER and THE WOMEN ARE LIARS,” she added.
“They could be misremembering. They could be confusing Moore with someone else. They could be suggestible. They could be delusional. They could have repeated the story to themselves so many times that they believe it,” Coulter said.
As for the other “accusers” who claimed they dated Moore when they were between 16 and 19 and Moore was in his early 30s, Coulter pointed out that comedian Jerry Seinfeld dated 17-year-old Shoshanna Lonstein in the 1990s, when he was 39.
Therefore, Moore was closer in age than Seinfeld to those he allegedly dated.
Coulter circled back to one of her main concerns with the allegations.
“It was 40 years ago!” she wrote. “But it’s just weeks before the election and that’s the media’s favorite time to produce wild accusations against Republicans.”
The conservative commentator recounted other late-in-the race grenades lobbed against Republican candidates in the past, including an indictment of former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger four days before the 1992 presidential election by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, which seemed to implicate George H.W. Bush in a lie regarding the 1987 Iran-Contra Scandal.
In 2004, CBS’s Dan Rather employed documents easily discovered to be forged to report George W. Bush had shirked his National Guard service during the Vietnam War.
Coulter also contrasted the reporting Moore is receiving for alleged sexual contact in the 1970s versus that given to former Democrat Rep. Gerry Studds, who admitted to having homosexual relations with a 17-year-old congressional page in the 1980s.
Studs, in his 40s at the time, defended his actions, saying it was a “consensual relationship with a young adult,” according to The Associated Press.
“Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy denounced the ‘witch hunt’ against Studds, saying his critics wanted ‘to torch the congressman for his private life,’” Coulter wrote.
The House censured him, but he was not removed from office, and successfully ran for re-election six more times.
Studds was lionized when he died in 2006 by The Washington Post (“Gay Pioneer“), The New York Times (“First Openly Gay Congressman“), NPR (“Congressional Pioneer“) among other mainstream media outlets.
Coulter, who endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks over Moore in the Alabama Republican primary this summer, concluded her piece by writing, “The media say that Republicans support Moore just because they want another GOP vote in the Senate. I support Moore just because I hate the media.”
As reported by The Western Journal, Brooks, who announced last week he had already voted for Moore by absentee ballot, offered a similar rebuttal to the allegations against Moore as Coulter.
“What you have is the mainstream left-wing socialist Democrat news media trying to distort the evidence to cause people to reach the conclusion that Roy Moore engaged in unlawful conduct with a minor and my analysis of the evidence is that is not the case,” Brooks said last week on “The Dale Jackson Show,” a program on Alabama radio station WVNN-AF.
“Most importantly, the media likes to say ‘well, there are nine complainers.’ Seven of them aren’t complainers. In fact, I would be calling seven of those ladies as witnesses on behalf of Roy Moore on the issue of whether he is engaged in any kind of unlawful conduct,” the former prosecutor added.
Brooks continued, “There are only two that have asserted that Roy Moore engaged in unlawful conduct. One of those is clearly a liar because that one forged the ‘love, Roy Moore’ part of a yearbook in order to try to for whatever reason get at Roy Moore and win this seat for the Democrats and there’s a lot more to it as to why I believe that the evidence is almost incontrovertible about whether the yearbook was forged.”
The congressman went on to note that just left one accuser. “Well, that one witness’ testimony is in direct and stark contrast with that of the other seven ladies, who said that he acted like an officer and a gentleman.”
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
[/center]Where were you when Waco burned?
The deadly government raid at the Texas compound was an awakening experience for many.
Never-before-broadcast audio tapes of cult leader David Koresh trying to negotiate with the feds are heard during an upcoming documentary about the siege that ended with the fiery deaths of 80 Branch Davidians. "Waco: Madman or Messiah" airs on A&E next month.
Waco: Madman or Messiah Promo | Premieres January 28 | A&E - YouTube
Infamous Cult Leader David Koresh's Voice Haunts New Documentary on Waco Siege
Waco CNN Live Coverage - Part 1 - YouTube
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"After eight long years of Barack Obama's devastating policies... ...I'm proud to report that in 2017, the Freedom Center was finally able to start undoing some of the damage:
• We exposed the powerful campus organization Students for Justice in Palestine as a front group for Hamas terrorists – and challenged universities to cut funding for this extreme student group.
We launched a postering campaign on 14 campuses where we showed the names and faces of leading student and faculty backers of SJP and its allied groups. We also released a carefully documented report naming the "Top 10 College Administrations Most Friendly to Terrorists and Hostile to the First Amendment."
Our effort led to coverage by ABC National News, the Associated Press, Fox News, and over 100 other local and national media outlets.
• We targeted the Left's push to make college campuses across the country "sanctuary campuses." At each of the schools in the University of California and Cal State systems (the leaders in this rancid movement), we put up "WANTED" posters featuring UC president Janet Napolitano and Cal State University Chancellor Timothy White calling for their prosecution and the federal defunding of their campuses.
This No Sanctuary Campuses campaign has already generated media coverage from the San Diego Union Tribune, Breitbart.com, Fox News and The Washington Times. And in 2018 we'll expand this campaign to other universities across the country.
• We launched a campaign to stop the infiltration of left-wing ideology into our public schools by promoting a Code of Ethics for K-12 teachers that enforces and restores the traditional approach to a democratic education. Children in school should be taught how to think, not – as in authoritarian and totalitarian societies – told what to think.
In the coming months, we'll sound the alarm before state boards of education and legislators sitting on education appropriations committees. The Left's effort to infect the minds of our youngest and most vulnerable students will no longer take place in the dark.
In addition to these new programs, the Freedom Center team continued to publish critical books, e-books, pamphlets, and news articles.
In fact in the past six months alone, we produced over sixty thousand copies of "Southern Poverty Law Center: A Hate Machine" and "The Left's Racist War Against Trump and America."
And of course, we continue to operate some of the most influential news sites on the web – FrontPage, our award winning daily journal; TruthRevolt, our watchdog of the fake news of the media,DiscoverTheNetworks, our unique encyclopedia of the Left, Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer's vigilant record of the inroads radical Islam has made in our world.
As you know, the Freedom Center's uniqueness as an organization comes from the fact that we know the Left and know how to fight against it. That fight is a 3D fight, taking place on many battlefields at once.
No other organization is as willing or able to engage the Left in the intellectual equivalent of house-to-house fighting. The trenches of the culture war are where we live.
The Obama plague years have come to an end, but as we have seen over the past year the fight for the American future has just begun.
Sincerely,
David Horowitz
The David Horowitz Freedom Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 55089 Sherman Oaks, CA 91499
HorowitzFreedomCenter.org"
• We exposed the powerful campus organization Students for Justice in Palestine as a front group for Hamas terrorists – and challenged universities to cut funding for this extreme student group.
We launched a postering campaign on 14 campuses where we showed the names and faces of leading student and faculty backers of SJP and its allied groups. We also released a carefully documented report naming the "Top 10 College Administrations Most Friendly to Terrorists and Hostile to the First Amendment."
Our effort led to coverage by ABC National News, the Associated Press, Fox News, and over 100 other local and national media outlets.
• We targeted the Left's push to make college campuses across the country "sanctuary campuses." At each of the schools in the University of California and Cal State systems (the leaders in this rancid movement), we put up "WANTED" posters featuring UC president Janet Napolitano and Cal State University Chancellor Timothy White calling for their prosecution and the federal defunding of their campuses.
This No Sanctuary Campuses campaign has already generated media coverage from the San Diego Union Tribune, Breitbart.com, Fox News and The Washington Times. And in 2018 we'll expand this campaign to other universities across the country.
• We launched a campaign to stop the infiltration of left-wing ideology into our public schools by promoting a Code of Ethics for K-12 teachers that enforces and restores the traditional approach to a democratic education. Children in school should be taught how to think, not – as in authoritarian and totalitarian societies – told what to think.
In the coming months, we'll sound the alarm before state boards of education and legislators sitting on education appropriations committees. The Left's effort to infect the minds of our youngest and most vulnerable students will no longer take place in the dark.
In addition to these new programs, the Freedom Center team continued to publish critical books, e-books, pamphlets, and news articles.
In fact in the past six months alone, we produced over sixty thousand copies of "Southern Poverty Law Center: A Hate Machine" and "The Left's Racist War Against Trump and America."
And of course, we continue to operate some of the most influential news sites on the web – FrontPage, our award winning daily journal; TruthRevolt, our watchdog of the fake news of the media,DiscoverTheNetworks, our unique encyclopedia of the Left, Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer's vigilant record of the inroads radical Islam has made in our world.
As you know, the Freedom Center's uniqueness as an organization comes from the fact that we know the Left and know how to fight against it. That fight is a 3D fight, taking place on many battlefields at once.
No other organization is as willing or able to engage the Left in the intellectual equivalent of house-to-house fighting. The trenches of the culture war are where we live.
The Obama plague years have come to an end, but as we have seen over the past year the fight for the American future has just begun.
Sincerely,
David Horowitz
The David Horowitz Freedom Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 55089 Sherman Oaks, CA 91499
HorowitzFreedomCenter.org"
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
https://conservativetribune.com/lawyer- ... tyalliance
"The United States of America is supposed to be a land of liberty, where individuals are free to live as they want as long as they don’t harm others around them. Sadly, it looks like that ideal is slowly being twisted into state-enforced conformity: Either you do what others demand, or pay the price.
For Aaron and Melissa Klein, that price was steep — $135,000 to be exact. That’s the penalty they were ordered to pay after they declined at their bakery in Oregon to make a custom cake for a lesbian wedding.Michael Berry, an attorney from First Liberty Institute who is representing the Klein’s, had sharp words for the court’s decision.
“If you look at the court’s opinion one of the the things the court said was, they didn’t think that custom designing and making a custom wedding cake is a form of art,” he said.
“As the ACLU themselves said, freedom of expression for ourselves means we have to allow freedom of expression for others,” Berry continued.
“Aaron and Melissa Klein just want the same basic treatment that everybody else in this country wants and deserves.”
The Fox News reporter asked an obvious question: Could this ruling affect other people, including liberal workers and business owners who might be forced to provide a service that goes against their beliefs?
That’s when the attorney for the custom bakers perfectly summarized the concerns of so many Americans.
“Punishing people for their religious beliefs is wrong, it’s un-American,” he stated.
“And if you take this court’s opinion and you look at what it truly means for religious liberty, but for freedom of speech and the First Amendment in this country, it absolutely can be extended that far,” Berry continued.
He conclusion summed it up perfectly:
“What about what’s happened to Aaron and Melissa Klein and their family? The fact that this $135,000 penalty has forced them to close their business … That’s harmful, not only to Aaron and Melissa Klein, but really to all Americans. Because that means the government can now force us, under threat of massive penalties, to say things that go against our religious beliefs. And that’s just wrong.”
It’s an extremely good point: What prevents this ruling from being applied to many other areas? Where is the line?
Take a videographer or a web designer, for instance. What happens if an alt-right group tries to hire a liberal to make a promo video for a rally or build a website that the business owner finds completely distasteful? Should those entrepreneurs be forced to do the work, under threat of lawsuit?
Or, how about a Muslim-owned magazine publisher? If somebody pays for an advertisement with a full-page drawing of Muhammad, is the magazine now required to print it?
For all the lip service that the left gives to providing “choices,” progressives instead seem intent on tearing down anybody who dares make a choice that is different from theirs.
There’s no end in sight… and that should trouble Americans who value individual freedom, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.Michael Berry, an attorney from First Liberty Institute who is representing the Klein’s, had sharp words for the court’s decision.
“If you look at the court’s opinion […] one of the the things the court said was, they didn’t think that custom designing and making a custom wedding cake is a form of art,” he said.
“As the ACLU themselves said, freedom of expression for ourselves means we have to allow freedom of expression for others,” Berry continued.
“Aaron and Melissa Klein just want the same basic treatment that everybody else in this country wants and deserves.”
The Fox News reporter asked an obvious question: Could this ruling affect other people, including liberal workers and business owners who might be forced to provide a service that goes against their beliefs?
That’s when the attorney for the custom bakers perfectly summarized the concerns of so many Americans.
“Punishing people for their religious beliefs is wrong, it’s un-American,” he stated.
“And if you take this court’s opinion and you look at what it truly means for religious liberty, but for freedom of speech and the First Amendment in this country, it absolutely can be extended that far,” Berry continued.
He conclusion summed it up perfectly:
“What about what’s happened to Aaron and Melissa Klein and their family? The fact that this $135,000 penalty has forced them to close their business … That’s harmful, not only to Aaron and Melissa Klein, but really to all Americans. Because that means the government can now force us, under threat of massive penalties, to say things that go against our religious beliefs. And that’s just wrong.”
It’s an extremely good point: What prevents this ruling from being applied to many other areas? Where is the line?
Take a videographer or a web designer, for instance. What happens if an alt-right group tries to hire a liberal to make a promo video for a rally or build a website that the business owner finds completely distasteful? Should those entrepreneurs be forced to do the work, under threat of lawsuit?
Or, how about a Muslim-owned magazine publisher? If somebody pays for an advertisement with a full-page drawing of Muhammad, is the magazine now required to print it?
For all the lip service that the left gives to providing “choices,” progressives instead seem intent on tearing down anybody who dares make a choice that is different from theirs.
There’s no end in sight… and that should trouble Americans who value individual freedom, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.”
.
"The United States of America is supposed to be a land of liberty, where individuals are free to live as they want as long as they don’t harm others around them. Sadly, it looks like that ideal is slowly being twisted into state-enforced conformity: Either you do what others demand, or pay the price.
For Aaron and Melissa Klein, that price was steep — $135,000 to be exact. That’s the penalty they were ordered to pay after they declined at their bakery in Oregon to make a custom cake for a lesbian wedding.Michael Berry, an attorney from First Liberty Institute who is representing the Klein’s, had sharp words for the court’s decision.
“If you look at the court’s opinion one of the the things the court said was, they didn’t think that custom designing and making a custom wedding cake is a form of art,” he said.
“As the ACLU themselves said, freedom of expression for ourselves means we have to allow freedom of expression for others,” Berry continued.
“Aaron and Melissa Klein just want the same basic treatment that everybody else in this country wants and deserves.”
The Fox News reporter asked an obvious question: Could this ruling affect other people, including liberal workers and business owners who might be forced to provide a service that goes against their beliefs?
That’s when the attorney for the custom bakers perfectly summarized the concerns of so many Americans.
“Punishing people for their religious beliefs is wrong, it’s un-American,” he stated.
“And if you take this court’s opinion and you look at what it truly means for religious liberty, but for freedom of speech and the First Amendment in this country, it absolutely can be extended that far,” Berry continued.
He conclusion summed it up perfectly:
“What about what’s happened to Aaron and Melissa Klein and their family? The fact that this $135,000 penalty has forced them to close their business … That’s harmful, not only to Aaron and Melissa Klein, but really to all Americans. Because that means the government can now force us, under threat of massive penalties, to say things that go against our religious beliefs. And that’s just wrong.”
It’s an extremely good point: What prevents this ruling from being applied to many other areas? Where is the line?
Take a videographer or a web designer, for instance. What happens if an alt-right group tries to hire a liberal to make a promo video for a rally or build a website that the business owner finds completely distasteful? Should those entrepreneurs be forced to do the work, under threat of lawsuit?
Or, how about a Muslim-owned magazine publisher? If somebody pays for an advertisement with a full-page drawing of Muhammad, is the magazine now required to print it?
For all the lip service that the left gives to providing “choices,” progressives instead seem intent on tearing down anybody who dares make a choice that is different from theirs.
There’s no end in sight… and that should trouble Americans who value individual freedom, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.Michael Berry, an attorney from First Liberty Institute who is representing the Klein’s, had sharp words for the court’s decision.
“If you look at the court’s opinion […] one of the the things the court said was, they didn’t think that custom designing and making a custom wedding cake is a form of art,” he said.
“As the ACLU themselves said, freedom of expression for ourselves means we have to allow freedom of expression for others,” Berry continued.
“Aaron and Melissa Klein just want the same basic treatment that everybody else in this country wants and deserves.”
The Fox News reporter asked an obvious question: Could this ruling affect other people, including liberal workers and business owners who might be forced to provide a service that goes against their beliefs?
That’s when the attorney for the custom bakers perfectly summarized the concerns of so many Americans.
“Punishing people for their religious beliefs is wrong, it’s un-American,” he stated.
“And if you take this court’s opinion and you look at what it truly means for religious liberty, but for freedom of speech and the First Amendment in this country, it absolutely can be extended that far,” Berry continued.
He conclusion summed it up perfectly:
“What about what’s happened to Aaron and Melissa Klein and their family? The fact that this $135,000 penalty has forced them to close their business … That’s harmful, not only to Aaron and Melissa Klein, but really to all Americans. Because that means the government can now force us, under threat of massive penalties, to say things that go against our religious beliefs. And that’s just wrong.”
It’s an extremely good point: What prevents this ruling from being applied to many other areas? Where is the line?
Take a videographer or a web designer, for instance. What happens if an alt-right group tries to hire a liberal to make a promo video for a rally or build a website that the business owner finds completely distasteful? Should those entrepreneurs be forced to do the work, under threat of lawsuit?
Or, how about a Muslim-owned magazine publisher? If somebody pays for an advertisement with a full-page drawing of Muhammad, is the magazine now required to print it?
For all the lip service that the left gives to providing “choices,” progressives instead seem intent on tearing down anybody who dares make a choice that is different from theirs.
There’s no end in sight… and that should trouble Americans who value individual freedom, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.”
.
-
Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
http://www.wnd.com/2017/11/woman-told-h ... -of-grave/
"A Pennsylvania woman fighting her local government’s decision to open her private property to the public is demanding to know where in the U.S. Constitution one can find “warrantless searches” and “unbridled trespassing.”
The case is being presented to the U.S. Supreme Court, since state courts have insisted precedent doesn’t allow them to rule, and federal courts say they won’t take action until the state courts do something.
The suit was filed by Rose Mary Knick, who lives alone on about 90 acres of Pennsylvania land that has been in her family for nearly half a century.
Officials in Scott Township abruptly decided to create a law taking away the private property rights of landowners if anyone even suspects there was an old gravesite on the land.
No proof was necessary for the law to then require that the landowner provide daily public access for anyone to trespass.
Knick is asking the high court to overturn the law as a violation of her constitutionally protected property rights.
“Scott Township’s graveyard law forces property owners to allow warrantless searches by government and unbridled trespassing by the public,” said Pacific Legal Foundation Senior Attorney J. David Breemer. “The Supreme Court should take Ms. Knick’s case to make sure the township does not get away with its flagrant abridgement of constitutionally protected rights.”
Her land is used for grazing for cattle, horses and other animals. It’s bounded by fences, stone walls and “No Trespassing” signs.
“There is no cemetery mentioned in the chain of title going back hundreds of years,” said Pacific Legal Foundation, which has won numerous property rights cases at the Supreme Court.
“Nevertheless, in 2013, a town enforcement officer entered the property searching for graveyards. Soon after, Ms. Knick was issued a notice of violation claiming her property contained an old burial ground that had not been kept open to the public. She later received a second notice of violation.”
Knick said: “It was unbelievable that the town would trample all over my rights this way, making it open season for trespassing on my land. I am very hopeful that the Supreme Court will take a stand for the Constitution, and for everybody’s property rights, by striking down this outrageous law.”
Isolated grave sites are not uncommon in parts of the country where there is no ban on burials on private ground. And, indeed, sometimes burials date back to before rules and regulations were in place. So the plains of Pennsylvania contain small burial plots for families.
However, the records don’t show any such location on Knick’s land, PLF said.
The township simply adopted procedures for its “code enforcement” agents to search her land without permission, and while trespassing, they claimed to have found stone evidence of burial plots.
The lower courts then decided the township had created a “right of way” for the public.
The township issued her citations, but when the arguments began in state court, suddenly withdrew them. The state court then said it couldn’t make a decision until an enforcement action was pending.
When Knick then went to federal court, the judge there claimed an adjudication in state court was required first.
“What a mess,” the petition to the high court said. “The Constitution requires a ‘reasonable, certain and adequate provision for obtaining compensation.’ But this is exactly what [precedent] prevents. It creates a chaotic and unworkable system for adjudicating federal takings claims.”
PLF President Steven D. Anderson said his group “fights for individual liberty, a core component of which is protection from unconstitutional government intrusion on one’s property and privacy.”
“Defending property rights also means insisting that landowners who have suffered constitutional wrongs have direct access to federal court for redress. Securing these protections requires determination and vigilance, and we look forward to vindicating these vital principles,” he said.
The demand for access to Knick’s land came after an anonymous “citizen inquiry” claimed there was a burial ground there.
http://www.wnd.com/2017/11/woman-told-h ... fxOCy8f.99
"A Pennsylvania woman fighting her local government’s decision to open her private property to the public is demanding to know where in the U.S. Constitution one can find “warrantless searches” and “unbridled trespassing.”
The case is being presented to the U.S. Supreme Court, since state courts have insisted precedent doesn’t allow them to rule, and federal courts say they won’t take action until the state courts do something.
The suit was filed by Rose Mary Knick, who lives alone on about 90 acres of Pennsylvania land that has been in her family for nearly half a century.
Officials in Scott Township abruptly decided to create a law taking away the private property rights of landowners if anyone even suspects there was an old gravesite on the land.
No proof was necessary for the law to then require that the landowner provide daily public access for anyone to trespass.
Knick is asking the high court to overturn the law as a violation of her constitutionally protected property rights.
“Scott Township’s graveyard law forces property owners to allow warrantless searches by government and unbridled trespassing by the public,” said Pacific Legal Foundation Senior Attorney J. David Breemer. “The Supreme Court should take Ms. Knick’s case to make sure the township does not get away with its flagrant abridgement of constitutionally protected rights.”
Her land is used for grazing for cattle, horses and other animals. It’s bounded by fences, stone walls and “No Trespassing” signs.
“There is no cemetery mentioned in the chain of title going back hundreds of years,” said Pacific Legal Foundation, which has won numerous property rights cases at the Supreme Court.
“Nevertheless, in 2013, a town enforcement officer entered the property searching for graveyards. Soon after, Ms. Knick was issued a notice of violation claiming her property contained an old burial ground that had not been kept open to the public. She later received a second notice of violation.”
Knick said: “It was unbelievable that the town would trample all over my rights this way, making it open season for trespassing on my land. I am very hopeful that the Supreme Court will take a stand for the Constitution, and for everybody’s property rights, by striking down this outrageous law.”
Isolated grave sites are not uncommon in parts of the country where there is no ban on burials on private ground. And, indeed, sometimes burials date back to before rules and regulations were in place. So the plains of Pennsylvania contain small burial plots for families.
However, the records don’t show any such location on Knick’s land, PLF said.
The township simply adopted procedures for its “code enforcement” agents to search her land without permission, and while trespassing, they claimed to have found stone evidence of burial plots.
The lower courts then decided the township had created a “right of way” for the public.
The township issued her citations, but when the arguments began in state court, suddenly withdrew them. The state court then said it couldn’t make a decision until an enforcement action was pending.
When Knick then went to federal court, the judge there claimed an adjudication in state court was required first.
“What a mess,” the petition to the high court said. “The Constitution requires a ‘reasonable, certain and adequate provision for obtaining compensation.’ But this is exactly what [precedent] prevents. It creates a chaotic and unworkable system for adjudicating federal takings claims.”
PLF President Steven D. Anderson said his group “fights for individual liberty, a core component of which is protection from unconstitutional government intrusion on one’s property and privacy.”
“Defending property rights also means insisting that landowners who have suffered constitutional wrongs have direct access to federal court for redress. Securing these protections requires determination and vigilance, and we look forward to vindicating these vital principles,” he said.
The demand for access to Knick’s land came after an anonymous “citizen inquiry” claimed there was a burial ground there.
http://www.wnd.com/2017/11/woman-told-h ... fxOCy8f.99
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=36763?omhide=true
"PHOENIX (AP) — Former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio has announced he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Jeff Flake.
The 85-year-old Arpaio is a Republican and close ally of President Donald Trump.
Arpaio tweeted Tuesday he is seeking the post to support Trump’s agenda “in his mission to Make America Great Again.”
Arpaio was spared a possible jail sentence last year when Trump pardoned his conviction for disobeying a judge’s order in an immigration case.
He flirted with the idea running for Arizona governor five times but decided against doing so each time.
Arpaio says in a fundraising email that he filed paperwork Tuesday for the Senate run."
.
"PHOENIX (AP) — Former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio has announced he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Jeff Flake.
The 85-year-old Arpaio is a Republican and close ally of President Donald Trump.
Arpaio tweeted Tuesday he is seeking the post to support Trump’s agenda “in his mission to Make America Great Again.”
Arpaio was spared a possible jail sentence last year when Trump pardoned his conviction for disobeying a judge’s order in an immigration case.
He flirted with the idea running for Arizona governor five times but decided against doing so each time.
Arpaio says in a fundraising email that he filed paperwork Tuesday for the Senate run."
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Joel
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 7043
Re: USA Politics.
Having Trump and Arpaio focus on the birther issue again would make for some fun political dialogue
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Joel
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 7043
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
https://conservativetribune.com/double- ... tyalliance
"when former President Obama said something involving almost the same expletive that Trump used to describe an African nation in chaos — one which the Obama administration likely wasn’t totally jazzed about letting immigrants in from.
The nation was Libya, which came up during a 2016 interview with The Atlantic. The former president was talking about how the whole thing had gone to pot after Gadhafi had been deposed.
“So we actually executed this plan as well as I could have expected: We got a UN mandate, we built a coalition, it cost us $1 billion — which, when it comes to military operations, is very cheap,” Obama said during the interview.
“We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess.
Do you think President Trump should have made the s***hole remark?
“Mess is the president’s diplomatic term; privately, he calls Libya a ‘s*** show,’ in part because it’s subsequently become an ISIS haven — one that he has already targeted with air strikes,” The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg noted.
“It became a s*** show, Obama believes, for reasons that had less to do with American incompetence than with the passivity of America’s allies and with the obdurate power of tribalism.”
This isn’t to criticize Obama for his choice of words, although his strategy in the North African country left something to be desired. Libya, as a polity, was a s*** show, and the president duly acknowledged this fact. This deserves a rare plaudit for our former commander in chief.
As for what Trump said, we can only ascertain that his remarks involved Haiti, El Salvador and other unspecified African nations. In each of those cases, you may disagree with the expletive. If you’re a liberal, you may think this somehow makes Trump a racist. However, at least in the two countries we can identify, you’re unlikely to book your next vacation to these feces-burrows, and not without reason.
For those attracted to the charm and squalid danger of the Haiti portrayed in Graham Greene’s “The Comedians,” rest assured things have somehow managed to get a lot worse in the intervening years. Decades of ruin under the Duvalier family dictatorship and their tontons macoutes turned the Caribbean nation into one of the most indigent and defeated places on earth. Since they were deposed, several earthquakes and a concatenation of corrupt and inept leaders (who one can safely assume managed to skim off no small amount of skrilla from disaster relief efforts) have made things no better in Haiti.
This has predictably led to an upsurge in crime in the country. In a 2012 State Department advisory — issued under, for those bad with dates, the Obama administration — travelers were urged not to visit Haiti unless they enjoyed playing roulette with their lives.
“US citizens have been victims of violent crime, including murder and kidnapping, predominantly in the Port-au-Prince area. No one is safe from kidnapping, regardless of occupation, nationality, race, gender, or age,” the advisory read.
Lovely. While El Salvador doesn’t quite have any dictator with the depravity factor of the Duvaliers or many of Haiti’s other exigencies, that hasn’t stopped the country from being the most violent in the world not currently experiencing a war. Insight Crime reports the Central American nation reported 5,278 murders in 2016 “for a homicide rate of 81.2 per 100,000.” That was actually down from the 104 per 100,000 just the year before.
And what’s responsible for this? Gangs like MS-13, which have terrorized the populace and cornered the market on human and drug trafficking, extortion and other fun stuff.
I’m not quite sure how I feel about presidents calling entire countries s***holes. That said, I’m also not too keen on presidents calling entire countries s*** shows. Yet, Obama’s utterance induced almost total media silence, while the other one caused the country to ground to a halt and start wringing its hands over a president that’s said something “racist” for the eleventy-billionth time.
If Barack Obama’s State Department can quite rightly point out the rampant criminality in Haiti, so can Donald Trump. And if Obama can call a country a s*** show, I think s***hole isn’t exactly too far off when we’re dealing with El Salvador and Haiti."
"when former President Obama said something involving almost the same expletive that Trump used to describe an African nation in chaos — one which the Obama administration likely wasn’t totally jazzed about letting immigrants in from.
The nation was Libya, which came up during a 2016 interview with The Atlantic. The former president was talking about how the whole thing had gone to pot after Gadhafi had been deposed.
“So we actually executed this plan as well as I could have expected: We got a UN mandate, we built a coalition, it cost us $1 billion — which, when it comes to military operations, is very cheap,” Obama said during the interview.
“We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess.
Do you think President Trump should have made the s***hole remark?
“Mess is the president’s diplomatic term; privately, he calls Libya a ‘s*** show,’ in part because it’s subsequently become an ISIS haven — one that he has already targeted with air strikes,” The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg noted.
“It became a s*** show, Obama believes, for reasons that had less to do with American incompetence than with the passivity of America’s allies and with the obdurate power of tribalism.”
This isn’t to criticize Obama for his choice of words, although his strategy in the North African country left something to be desired. Libya, as a polity, was a s*** show, and the president duly acknowledged this fact. This deserves a rare plaudit for our former commander in chief.
As for what Trump said, we can only ascertain that his remarks involved Haiti, El Salvador and other unspecified African nations. In each of those cases, you may disagree with the expletive. If you’re a liberal, you may think this somehow makes Trump a racist. However, at least in the two countries we can identify, you’re unlikely to book your next vacation to these feces-burrows, and not without reason.
For those attracted to the charm and squalid danger of the Haiti portrayed in Graham Greene’s “The Comedians,” rest assured things have somehow managed to get a lot worse in the intervening years. Decades of ruin under the Duvalier family dictatorship and their tontons macoutes turned the Caribbean nation into one of the most indigent and defeated places on earth. Since they were deposed, several earthquakes and a concatenation of corrupt and inept leaders (who one can safely assume managed to skim off no small amount of skrilla from disaster relief efforts) have made things no better in Haiti.
This has predictably led to an upsurge in crime in the country. In a 2012 State Department advisory — issued under, for those bad with dates, the Obama administration — travelers were urged not to visit Haiti unless they enjoyed playing roulette with their lives.
“US citizens have been victims of violent crime, including murder and kidnapping, predominantly in the Port-au-Prince area. No one is safe from kidnapping, regardless of occupation, nationality, race, gender, or age,” the advisory read.
Lovely. While El Salvador doesn’t quite have any dictator with the depravity factor of the Duvaliers or many of Haiti’s other exigencies, that hasn’t stopped the country from being the most violent in the world not currently experiencing a war. Insight Crime reports the Central American nation reported 5,278 murders in 2016 “for a homicide rate of 81.2 per 100,000.” That was actually down from the 104 per 100,000 just the year before.
And what’s responsible for this? Gangs like MS-13, which have terrorized the populace and cornered the market on human and drug trafficking, extortion and other fun stuff.
I’m not quite sure how I feel about presidents calling entire countries s***holes. That said, I’m also not too keen on presidents calling entire countries s*** shows. Yet, Obama’s utterance induced almost total media silence, while the other one caused the country to ground to a halt and start wringing its hands over a president that’s said something “racist” for the eleventy-billionth time.
If Barack Obama’s State Department can quite rightly point out the rampant criminality in Haiti, so can Donald Trump. And if Obama can call a country a s*** show, I think s***hole isn’t exactly too far off when we’re dealing with El Salvador and Haiti."
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of those in the meeting Thursday where President Trump reportedly called some developing nations “sh—hole” countries, used similar language himself during the last big immigration debate, calling Mexico and other Latin American nations “hellholes.”
The South Carolina Republican was arguing for the need for stiffer enforcement to stop a new wave of illegal immigrants, blaming the jobs magnet for enticing millions of people to flee their home countries for the U.S.
“The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America,” Mr. Graham said during a 2013 debate in the Judiciary Committee on an immigration bill he co-authored."
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=37130?omhide=true
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The South Carolina Republican was arguing for the need for stiffer enforcement to stop a new wave of illegal immigrants, blaming the jobs magnet for enticing millions of people to flee their home countries for the U.S.
“The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America,” Mr. Graham said during a 2013 debate in the Judiciary Committee on an immigration bill he co-authored."
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=37130?omhide=true
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Elizabeth
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 11796
- Location: East Coast Australia
Re: USA Politics.
"Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of those in the meeting Thursday where President Trump reportedly called some developing nations “sh—hole” countries, used similar language himself during the last big immigration debate, calling Mexico and other Latin American nations “hellholes.”
The South Carolina Republican was arguing for the need for stiffer enforcement to stop a new wave of illegal immigrants, blaming the jobs magnet for enticing millions of people to flee their home countries for the U.S.
“The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America,” Mr. Graham said during a 2013 debate in the Judiciary Committee on an immigration bill he co-authored."
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=37130?omhide=true
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http://www.gopusa.com/multiple-people-i ... mhide=true
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday that Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin is spreading a false story about President Trump saying the U.S. does not need more immigrants from “sh**hole countries” such as Haiti and El Salvador.
Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said Mr. Durbin “has a history of misrepresenting” such private meetings, which are not customarily recorded.
“I certainly didn’t hear what Sen. Durbin has said repeatedly,” Mr. Cotton said on the CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Sen. Durbin has a history of misrepresenting what happens in White House meetings, though, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by that.”
He was referring to the Obama administration contradicting Mr. Durbin’s account of a 2013 meeting in which he claimed then-House Republican leader Eric Cantor told President Obama, “I cannot even stand to look at you.”
At the time, White House press secretary Jay Carney said it didn’t happen, but Mr. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, never backed down from his account.
Mr. Cotton, who attended the Oval Office meeting last week on immigration, said Mr. Durbin got it wrong this time too.
Mr. Trump himself denied making the closed-door meeting remarks, which was first reported by The Washington Post, tweeting that “the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.”
He elaborated that he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said ‘take them out.’ Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings — unfortunately, no trust!”
At least two Republicans at the meeting, Sen. David Perdue of Georgia and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, also said Sunday they did not hear the president use the sh**hole word.
“I don’t recall him saying that exact phrase,” Ms. Nielsen told Fox News.
Mr. Perdue was more emphatic in an interview on the ABC News program “This Week.”
“I’m telling you he did not use that word, George. And I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation. How many times do you want me to say that?” he told host George Stephanopoulos.
Some other Republicans defended Mr. Trump without denying that he might have said what was reported.
“I think it’s unfair to sort of paint him, ‘Oh well, he’s a racist,’ when I know for a fact that he cares very deeply about the people of Haiti because he helped finance a trip where they would get vision back for 200 people in Haiti,” Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who is an ophthalmologist, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He said the comments were not constructive, “but I also think that, to be fair, we shouldn’t draw conclusions that he didn’t intend.”
The South Carolina Republican was arguing for the need for stiffer enforcement to stop a new wave of illegal immigrants, blaming the jobs magnet for enticing millions of people to flee their home countries for the U.S.
“The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America,” Mr. Graham said during a 2013 debate in the Judiciary Committee on an immigration bill he co-authored."
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=37130?omhide=true
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http://www.gopusa.com/multiple-people-i ... mhide=true
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday that Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin is spreading a false story about President Trump saying the U.S. does not need more immigrants from “sh**hole countries” such as Haiti and El Salvador.
Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said Mr. Durbin “has a history of misrepresenting” such private meetings, which are not customarily recorded.
“I certainly didn’t hear what Sen. Durbin has said repeatedly,” Mr. Cotton said on the CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Sen. Durbin has a history of misrepresenting what happens in White House meetings, though, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by that.”
He was referring to the Obama administration contradicting Mr. Durbin’s account of a 2013 meeting in which he claimed then-House Republican leader Eric Cantor told President Obama, “I cannot even stand to look at you.”
At the time, White House press secretary Jay Carney said it didn’t happen, but Mr. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, never backed down from his account.
Mr. Cotton, who attended the Oval Office meeting last week on immigration, said Mr. Durbin got it wrong this time too.
Mr. Trump himself denied making the closed-door meeting remarks, which was first reported by The Washington Post, tweeting that “the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.”
He elaborated that he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said ‘take them out.’ Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings — unfortunately, no trust!”
At least two Republicans at the meeting, Sen. David Perdue of Georgia and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, also said Sunday they did not hear the president use the sh**hole word.
“I don’t recall him saying that exact phrase,” Ms. Nielsen told Fox News.
Mr. Perdue was more emphatic in an interview on the ABC News program “This Week.”
“I’m telling you he did not use that word, George. And I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation. How many times do you want me to say that?” he told host George Stephanopoulos.
Some other Republicans defended Mr. Trump without denying that he might have said what was reported.
“I think it’s unfair to sort of paint him, ‘Oh well, he’s a racist,’ when I know for a fact that he cares very deeply about the people of Haiti because he helped finance a trip where they would get vision back for 200 people in Haiti,” Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who is an ophthalmologist, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He said the comments were not constructive, “but I also think that, to be fair, we shouldn’t draw conclusions that he didn’t intend.”
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msfreeh
- Level 34 Illuminated
- Posts: 7718
