Posts on Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Residents of Xinjiang, China have been under one of the strictest Coronavirus lockdowns anywhere in the world, and they showed their frustration in a city-wide scream on Monday. A video from the city of Ürümqi is capturing attention because of the sheer upset in the countless voices who want to be heard. China's Xinjiang region has been under a formal lockdown for over a month now, and it appears to have worked. The lockdown started at the end of July when Xinjiang faced growing numbers. So, the city's denizens were forced to take shelter inside their homes (snip) One user alleges that they must all drink a medication
Residents in the capital of Xinjiang are being forced to take traditional Chinese medicine, being handcuffed to buildings and ordered to stay inside for weeks as part of a harsh range of measures to tackle coronavirus, according to posts online. Urumqi, the capital of the semi-autonomous region known for its draconian security measures, has been in a “wartime state” of lockdown for more than a month after a cluster of cases emerged in July, when the outbreak had been mostly contained elsewhere in China. Since Friday, internet users have flooded social media platforms with complaints about overly harsh measures and extended quarantine at home or in designated locations,
America’s Great Ambassador First Lady Melania Trump spoke at the RNC 2020 on Tuesday night. Melania is the most gracious and beautiful First Lady in American history. Melania has been a rock for this president and a courageous example to all American women. Melania Trump, “It is my greatest honor to serve you… Thank you to all who serve our country in our military.” Melania spoke about her trips to Europe and Africa and her visit to the slave coast. And she called out the rioters and looters. “Everyday we must remember that we are one nation under God.”
AOC proposes progressives ‘take’ elephant
mascot for themselves, suggests fierce
replacement for GOP replies
mascot for themselves, suggests fierce
replacement for GOP replies
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set herself up for a round of stinging mockery on social media after whining that Republicans have an elephant as their mascot.
The progressive New York lawmaker sparked plenty of eyerolls on Twitter after she posted her jab at Republicans and offered a “new mascot proposal” that essentially suggested the left just “take elephants from Republicans.”
Ocasio-Cortez ridiculed the GOP for not announcing a new platform as this year’s Republican National Convention kicked off.
The RNC left the 2016 party platform in place in a new resolution explaining that the 2020 challenges and changes made the move necessary and, instead, they would “enthusiastically support” President Trump’s agenda.
Trump campaign blasts Rachel Maddow
with truth bomb after false ‘fact check’ on
coronavirus treatment replies
with truth bomb after false ‘fact check’ on
coronavirus treatment replies
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow was fact-checked after she attempted to claim that a new coronavirus treatment recently green-lighted by the Trump administration and announced by the president on Sunday was not approved by the FDA or top immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci.
On Monday as the Republican National Convention got underway, Maddow broke in during one segment to ‘fact-check’ President Donald Trump’s statement that “your blood is valuable, that plasma thing.”
“Again, the president not talking in a way that is copasetic with the science,” she continued.
More than 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across eight states have been linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally held earlier this month in South Dakota. Jeremy Fugleberg, regional health correspondent for Forum News Service, reported Tuesday on Twitter that at least 103 new cases of coronavirus are connected to the annual 10-day event, which was held from Aug. 7 to Aug. 16 in Sturgis. It was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom did not wear masks and clearly violated social distance orders. (Snip) According to South Dakota Department of Transportation, a total of 460,000 vehicles arrived
A C-Span caller who’s a lifelong Democrat from a liberal Ohio town said he was so inspired and moved by the Republican National Convention that he will now support the Republican Party.
“I’m a lifelong Democrat. I’m from Lorain, which is a Democrat city in Ohio,” said a caller named Rick. “We are a Democrat town, and we have been for 50 years. After watching the [RNC] convention tonight, I am definitely changing my vote to Republican. They put the Democrat Party to shame. I’m going to file with the Republican Party now.”
When asked by the C-Span host what convinced Rick to switch sides,
KENOSHA, Wis. - The family of the Black man shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, made an emotional plea for the value of their son's life on Tuesday and called for an end to the violent protests that erupted in the city. "They shot my son seven times. Seven times! Like he didn't matter," Jacob Blake Sr., his voice crumbling with emotion told a news conference following the Sunday shooting of his 29-year-old son. "My son matters. He's a human being and he matters." The news conference was called by the family's lawyers as state and local officials brace for a
ALBANY — New York City’s unemployment rate remained near 20% in July as the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic continue to ravage the Big Apple’s economy. The city’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 19.8% in July, a decrease of 0.5% from June and a rise of 15.9% from a year earlier, according to state Department of Labor statistics released Tuesday. Statewide the jobless rate was 15.9%. The unemployment rate rose slightly in the Bronx, one of the boroughs worst hit by the coronavirus crisis, from 24.7% in June to 24.9% in July. Businesses have slowly reopened across the city following
Critics of mass mail-in balloting including President Donald Trump who worry about the potential for voter fraud due to outdated registration rolls were vindicated last week after canvassers discovered 72 percent of Detroit’s voting precincts did not match the number of ballots collected.
Officials in Michigan’s largest county have asked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office to conduct an investigation in the findings by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers ahead of a critical November election in a battleground state that is vital to the president’s reelection after he barely won it nearly four years ago.
“Without an explanation from Detroit election workers for the mismatches,”
Kimberly Klacik, who is running to represent Maryland’s 7th district in Congress, made quite a splash when she addressed the audience at the Republican National Convention on Monday. Her highly-anticipated speech was expected to be powerful enough to cause MSNBC to cut away from it when it was her turn to speak. During her speech, Klacik castigated the Democrats for failing the people of Balitimore, Maryland for decades. “The Democrats have controlled my city, Charm City, for over 50 years and they have run this beautiful place into the ground, she said. “We want safety in our neighborhoods. We want jobs and innovation, like tapping the potential of
Night one of the Republican National Committee’s first-ever remote convention kicked off Monday, rejecting Democrats’ hosted model for a faster-paced, single-location-centered event that beat its competitor in production value and rally atmosphere, although still stunted by the lack of a live audience.
Activists and everyday Americans stole the show, telling moving stories of the fights, lessons, victories and tragedies that brought them to that stage, skillfully parlaying those stories into specific policies they support the president on. While some veteran public speakers struggled in an empty room bereft of boos, cheers, and applause, the understated and often emotional deliveries of the less-experienced speakers hit the high notes of the evening,
Kimberly Klacik to Democrats at GOP
Convention: ‘You’ve Neglected Us for Too
Long,’ ‘We’re Sick of It’ replies
Convention: ‘You’ve Neglected Us for Too
Long,’ ‘We’re Sick of It’ replies
Maryland congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik (R) said at the 2020 Republican National Convention on Monday that Democrats have neglected black constituents for “far too long” and that she supports what President Donald Trump is doing for all Americans.
“Let me remind you the Democrats have controlled the part of Baltimore City for over 50 years and they have run this beautiful place right into the ground,” Klacik said. “Abandoned buildings, liquor stores on every corner, drug addicts, and guns on the street — that is now the norm in many neighborhoods.”
Klacik said Democrats are for high taxes
Amazon Prime Video did not offer a live stream of the Republican National Convention during primetime on Monday after it livestreamed all four nights of the Democratic National Convention last week. The RNC blackout meant that Amazon Prime subscribers couldn’t watch the first night of the convention through the Prime Video mobile app or through Fire TV devices. Breitbart News made multiple attempts to search for a primetime RNC livestream on Amazon but only found archived RNC footage from earlier in the day. Multiple Amazon Prime subscribers took to social media to complain about the RNC blackout Monday evening. Amazon’s official customer service Twitter account
"Disgusting," Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) tweeted on Monday. "Nancy Pelosi just called Republicans 'domestic enemies.' I was shot because of this kind of unhinged rhetoric. Where’s the media outrage?" Appearing on MSNBC's "Live With Ayman Mohyeldin," Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said the Russians aren't the only ones trying to interfere in the 2020 election: "We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic," Pelosi said. "And sadly, the domestic enemies to our voting system and our honoring our Constitution are right at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has joined the Lincoln Project, a group of “constitutional conservatives” who oppose President Trump, the organization announced.
Steele, who served as RNC chair until 2011, will join the “Never Trump” group as a senior adviser, the group said Monday.
In a statement, the former party bigwig justified abandoning the GOP, arguing that “The chair behind the Resolute Desk has always been bigger than any political party.
Heavily armed civilians have been filmed protecting businesses in Kenosha after arsonists set buildings alight, torching much of the black business district Monday. In footage taken by a local reporter, a small group of men can be seen carrying rifles and wearing combat gear as they protect local shops. They deny they are part of a militia.(Snip) 'I'm on your side but you can't burn down your local businesses.' Another adds: 'We’re out here trying to protect residents, we’re trying to protect the innocent people and we’re trying to protect the businesses of the citizens out here.'
Melania Trump will speak at the Republican national convention on Tuesday night, in the shadow of an extraordinary report that she was taped making derogatory comments about her husband’s adult children and even Donald Trump himself. On Monday the media reporter Yashar Ali cited unnamed sources in reporting that Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend and adviser, “taped the first lady” and plans to share the remarks in her book.
Watch: Former DNC Head Donna Brazile
Freaks Out On ‘Fox And Friends,’
Brian Kilmeade Cuts Away replies
Freaks Out On ‘Fox And Friends,’
Brian Kilmeade Cuts Away replies
On Tuesday, Fox News contributor and former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile became irate on “Fox & Friends” when speaking with conservative pundit Tammy Bruce about the current wave of violence breaking out across America. The moment became so heated that co-host Brian Kilmeade had to cut away. The heated exchange began when Tammy Bruce highlighted the fact that few if any, Democrats have spoken out against the violence unfolding in cities across America.“No Democratic has spoken out against the nature of what’s happening in Kenosha, Portland, Seattle, Baltimore, New York, Chicago.
Former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Tuesday that both the Trump and Biden campaigns get "an incomplete" on communicating their visions for the future.
Messina, speaking after the first night of the Republican National Convention, said President Trump and the GOP have not put enough emphasis on policy ideas ahead of November, especially in light of the some 54 million Americans who have filed for unemployment since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"As you know, [Trump] trails Biden by 17 points, and it's not just enough to rip down Joe Biden. If you're the incumbent, you gotta kind of paint a picture of where you're going to take the future,
The opening night of the 2020 Republican National Convention blew last week’s Democratic snoozefest out of the water, drawing in six times more viewers on C-SPAN’s livestream.
Approximately 440,000 people tuned in to watch the first night of the virtual GOP convention on Monday, compared to just 76,000 views for the first night of the DNC, according to a Hill report.
While the Democratic gathering boasted speeches from big names such as former first lady Michelle Obama, who gave a rousing endorsement of Joe Biden and drew the ire of President Trump, far more people tuned in to see Donald Trump Jr., Nikki Haley and the gun-wielding McCloskeys bash Biden.
Ukrainian flagged as intel danger to Trump
had extensive contact with Obama
officials, memos show replies
had extensive contact with Obama
officials, memos show replies
In December 2015, the Obama State Department and its ambassador in Kiev were upset over a negative story about then-Vice President Joe Biden ahead of his visit to Ukraine. So a U.S. embassy official turned to a "sensitive source" for help.
"Thank you very much for looking into this and very sorry to ask," U.S. embassy official Alexander "Sasha" Kasanof wrote businessman Konstantin Kilimnik in a Dec. 6, 2015 email.(Sniip)
Ordinarily, such discussions would raise little interest in everyday America. But it turns out Kilimnik is no ordinary contact: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week described Kilimnik as a Russian intelligence officer in its final report on Russian interference
In the 1970s and ‘80s, NASA had a serious marketing problem. The glory years of the moon landings were over, and the Space Shuttle, initially fascinating to the public, became a routine, in-the-background news story, until it wasn’t, when the Challenger exploded in 1986. NASA was sitting on hundreds of hours of film shot by the astronauts on converted U.S. Air Force aircraft gun cameras during the lunar missions, which it meticulously kept stored in climate-controlled conditions, but the public rarely saw this footage.
Enter Al Reinert (1947-2018), a former journalist who had covered Apollo 17, the last moon landing, for the Houston Chronicle.
The Democrats managed to launch the pantomime horse of their nominees into the election campaign after a strained farce of a virtual convention. It is an ambitious exercise. An election platform, no major components of which could possibly receive the support of a majority of Americans, is fronted by an apparently inoffensive presidential candidate and an ostensibly presentable running mate. And the sleight-of-hand of making these two the standard-bearers of a radical socialist and authoritarian program was covered by a diversionary crescendo of Trump-hate.
Examined carefully, none of it is remotely acceptable to a majority of Americans. The Democrats’ presidential candidate, Joe Biden, is 77. And after 48 years
Some white guy named Tommy Craggs who is the enterprise editor (whatever that is) at Mother Jones has a message for black conservatives like Sen. Tim Scott, former NFL great Herschel Walker, and congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik. Tommy wants them to know that they are being used by racist Republicans who are just dying to say the N-word.
In a piece subtitled, “Your nightly guide to racism at the Republican National Convention,” Craggs calls the black speakers at last night’s convention the GOP’s “black friends.” See, Tommy knows a lot about racism, he’s probably read at least one book about it and he knows better than a black sitting US
Hold On… President Trump is leading former Obama Vice President Joe Biden by 10 points in the latest polling by CBS. This is huge and occurs even before the President has a chance to share his vision for America at this week’s RNC.Newsmax reported yesterday CBS shows President Trump is way ahead of his opponent Sleepy Joe Biden in the all important Independent vote. President Donald Trump holds a 10-point lead over Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden among independent voters, though Biden leads overall, according to the latest poll from CBS and YouGov.
Democrats put on the broad face of party unity at their convention, but don't be fooled: One of four voted against the party platform -- not because it's too crazy, but because it not socialist enough. That presents a dilemma for tired old Joe Biden.
According to Emily Zanotti at the Daily Wire:
Democrats are more divided than they appear according to numbers released by the Democratic National Committee following their nominating convention last week.
(Snip)of the 5,000 delegates that voted on the party’s platform, widely recognized as the most progressive Democratic Party platform in years, more than a thousand delegates — around 25% of all attendees — voted against the decision
The line stretched a quarter-mile before the sun was barely up Saturday, snaking around corners like bread lines in the 1930s. But the hungry in Queens are today’s New Yorkers, left jobless by the coronavirus. Until the pandemic struck the city, La Jornada food pantry used to hand out groceries to roughly 1,000 families a week. Now, the figure tops 10,000. And volunteers serve lunch every day to 1,000—many of them kids with growling stomachs.(Snip) Seniors, moms and kids, singles—many immigrants from China and Mexico—wait for hours. They turn out in droves wherever, and whenever, the food pantry’s truck shows up.
Protesters have been setting fire to yet another American city today to tell us that black lives matter. This latest eruption is in response to a disturbing video that shows a black man being shot repeatedly in the back by police as he reaches into his car in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The man in question is called Jacob Blake. He is reported to be in a serious condition, but still alive in hospital this morning.
An investigation into the shooting is taking place, but the mob smashing up Kenosha doesn’t care about that — it cares about rage and destruction.
The search for collusion
replies
Byron York's new book, Obsession: Inside the Washington Establishment's Never-Ending War on Trump, will be published Sept. 8. An account of the long effort to remove President Trump from office, from the roots of the Mueller investigation through the impeachment acquittal, the book includes interviews, documents, and accounts that have never been seen before. (Snip)From Obsession:
Trump and his team began the Mueller investigation by believing that 1) they could build a good working relationship with Mueller and 2) it would be all over by the end of 2017, just six months away.
“The president wanted it over yesterday,” recalled Michael Bowe. “I believe he felt like any client wrongly accused:
The National Guard was called in to quell fiery riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin—as protesters defied a curfew to loot and destroy a mostly black business area they are supposedly trying to defend following the police shooting of a local black man. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers summoned 125 members of the National Guard Monday after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear Sunday after the shooting of Jacob Blake. But that and a dusk-to-dawn curfew did not stop the city from exploding once again on Monday night—with blazes set near the scene of Blake’s shooting
A California Highway Patrol division has prohibited officers from displaying Thin Blue Line items, meant to honor law enforcement. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Police Department is decorating its precincts with materials celebrating Black Lives Matter, an organization calling for the defunding of the police. The CHP memo, a leaked roll call briefing document with the Border Division, directed officers to “remove all Thin Blue Line paraphernalia, including anything resembling it … immediately.” Around the same time, SFPD unveiled prominent Black Lives Matter posters to display in city police stations. The San Francisco Police Commission passed a resolution requiring the messaging. Correction*
Periods may be coming to a full stop. While older texters may consider the period an innocent symbol that a sentence has ended, digital natives consider it a triggering form of aggression. The punctuation problem ignited over social media recently, with Gen Z and millennials agreeing that ending a sentence with a period is overly hostile and, worse yet, extremely uncool. “Only old people or troubled souls put periods at the end of every sentence,” wrote digital culture journalist Victoria Turk in her book on digital etiquette “Kill Reply All.” Corrections*
The future of local police departments has become a top election issue. Rasmussen released recent polls showing that Americans pay close attention to debates about law and order. For instance, 50% of likely voters want to see harder crackdowns on urban unrest, while only 38% support continuing protests in cities. Overall, 72% are concerned about recent reports of urban violence. Over 60% of Americans said their feelings about the protests will have an effect on their November voting.
The NFL is preparing to end the use of military honor guards to present the American flag ahead of the national anthem, according to reports.
A league source claims that the policy benching military, federal, and police guards is part of its COVID-19 response, according to Front Office Sports.
“They won’t be on the field,” a source told the site. “That could change as the season progresses. But that’s the plan at the beginning.”
It appears that there will be no flags on the field and the flag will only appear on electronic scoreboards during the playing of the national anthem, at least for the beginning of the season.
A new study published to the journal Scientific Reports suggests that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with slightly decreased brain volume.
Scientists have long known that heavy alcohol use shrinks the brain, but it's not clear whether or not moderate drinking has a similar effect.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki in Finland explored the possible link within a sample of 353 Finnish men and women aged 39 to 45. On average, the subject group reported moderate alcohol consumption, indicated by an AUDIT-C score of 3.92. Such a score is roughly equivalent to drinking two to four times a month, having between three and four drinks a session,
On the eve of the Republican convention, more than two dozen former GOP lawmakers endorsed Joe Biden for president. Trump Derangement Syndrome is spreading faster than COVID-19.
Retired Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake makes his case for supporting Biden by claiming Trump “is not conservative,” that Biden “will approach his constitutional role with the reverence and dignity it deserves” and “reach across the aisle.”
This is the same argument John Kasich, a former congressman and Ohio governor, made at the Democratic National Convention, when he reassured the public that Biden is “respectful” and won’t “turn sharp left” when he gets in
The Mind-Bendingly Insane, Completely Craven,
Utterly Unconscionable Redemption of Al Sharpton replies
Utterly Unconscionable Redemption of Al Sharpton replies
This past weekend, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella group uniting 125 local Jewish communities and 17 national Jewish organizations, sent an email to its followers proudly announcing that it has signed on as a partner in the Virtual March on Washington this week, an event organized by Al Sharpton.
Because last week also marked the 29th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots, it’s worth it to stop and recall that among his many distinctions—MSNBC pundit, and an adviser who reportedly regularly speaks to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, collector of innumerable sateen suits—Al Sharpton is also currently America’s only living pogrom leader.
The GOP is famous for its civility, its reasoned arguments, its uplifting messages, its thousand points of light, its doughty flag-waving. Historically, it's always been a bit of an anti-climax to the more raucous version from the Democrats.
Not this time.
What stood out for me in this convention was not its uplift, which was there, but its ragecat fury, its fight. As Eric Hoffer wrote in his 1979 memoirs: "People need to get angry,' and earlier 'there is a lack of ability to get angry.'
The GOP is getting angry.
But it was a positive anger, one that explicitly
While many students in Massachusetts will start the school year with remote learning, some teachers are upset that they will still have to report to the classroom.
"My husband and I are both teachers. I have a kindergartner starting school in a hybrid model, and a 7-month-old at home," said Emily Mackie.
Mackie is currently juggling life as a parent and a third-grade teacher in Brookline, where school is scheduled to start in a remote model in the fall. But under the recent state guidelines issued by Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley, teachers are still being instructed to teach from their classrooms, even during remote learning.
It’s official. Joe Biden is no longer the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential candidate. And this week, Donald J. Trump became the Republicans’ official nominee, too. [Snip] In 148 days, that winner will take the oath of office, facing a myriad of complex problems and simple opportunities. What will happen? What might we expect from a new Biden administration or a second Trump term? The honest answer is
Gun-Toting St. Louis Couple: Democrats
Want To Spread ‘Chaos And Violence
Into Our Communities’ replies
Want To Spread ‘Chaos And Violence
Into Our Communities’ replies
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who defended their home from demonstrators who allegedly threatened them and came onto private property, slammed the Democratic Party during the Republican National Convention’s opening night, warning that the Democratic Party presents a threat to everyday Americans because of how extreme it’s becoming.“America is such a great country that you not only have the right to own a gun and use it to defend yourself, but thousands of Americans will offer you free advice on how to use it. At least that’s what we experienced,” Patricia McCloskey said.
Democratic Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones bashed his party and declared his ardent support for President Trump in a speech Monday night at the 2020 Republican National Convention.Jones, who was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2016, made waves in April with his endorsement of Trump.During his RNC address, he railed against his party, saying it had become “infected with a pandemic” of intolerance, bigotry, socialism and anti-cop sentiment.Dems have “a dangerous tolerance for people who attack others, destroy property, and terrorize our communities,” he said.
On Monday night, Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, who won the trophy at the University of Georgia before starring for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, spoke at the Republican National Convention, where he stated of President Trump, “It hurts my soul to hear the terrible names that people call Donald. The worst one is ‘racist.’ I take it as a personal insult that people would think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist.”“I’m Herschel Walker,” he began. “Most of you know me as a football player. I’m also a father, a man of faith, and
The most unusual year and the presidential campaign that accompanies it are now at the top of home stretch. The unconventional conventions soon will be behind us, as the GOP takes its turn this week. The virtual campaign of a basement “Rose Garden strategy” will be forced out into the open. Then the real fun will begin.
Although the return to fall and the start of the final leg of the campaign won’t be like anything we’ve seen before, one thing is still certain: Campaigns are won on the ground.
The blocking and tackling of presidential politics is what it takes to emerge victorious.
Hollywood elites expressed disgust and even physical revulsion during the first night of the Republican National Convention, ruthlessly mocking the evening’s speakers for supporting the reelection of President Donald Trump. “Is it just me or is anyone else throwing up right now?” Rob Reiner asked at the top of the broadcast.Celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Bette Midler, Dave Bautista, and anti-Trump comedian Kathy Griffin joined in the mockery, providing snarky commentary of Monday’s virtual convention. Many of those same stars were quiet during last week’s Democratic National Convention in the latest indication that the left’s hatred of Trump outweighs their passion for Joe Biden.Rob Reiner asked
WYLIE, Texas - Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called for the firing of a Wylie ISD teacher who assigned a lesson to students that featured a cartoon that appeared to compare police with the KKK and slave owners. The cartoon caught the attention of the National Fraternal Order of Police.
The district issued an apology and removed that assignment after 400 8th graders received the political cartoon as part of a lesson.
The governor tweeted that is was "beyond unacceptable," and "the opposite of what must be taught."
The difference in tone between the Democrat and Republican conventions could not be more distinct. The four days of the Democrat infomercial were characterized by misery and anger. Not one of the Democrat speakers even smiled. They made it clear, each and every one of them, that they hate this country.
Consider Michelle Obama’s scowling face; every person who spoke exuded rage, fury that President Trump had survived the four years of their demented attempts to destroy his presidency. Even before the election, higher-ups at the FBI, the DOJ and the CIA had hatched a scheme to prevent his victory.
At the end of their grim convention, the Democrats formally nominated Biden. A fragile-looking Biden gave a short, anodyne stump speech that garnered enthusiastic praise from Democrats grateful that he didn’t get confused or say, “you know, the thing.”
Republicans did things differently. They nominated Trump on the first day. Trump then appeared in North Carolina before a small, live audience and, showing his usual boundless energy, Borscht Belt comic timing, and mastery of the material, gave a 52-minute stemwinder. Trump could not have presented a starker contrast to Biden’s geriatric minimalism.
From the start, Trump was on fire. He opened by dropping a hint that, in the Russia Hoax investigation,
The Democrats and their fellow travelers in the NeverTrump Lincoln Project are terrified that, if Americans hear Trump without mediation, Americans will (a) like what they hear and (b) know that neither he nor his supporters are racist. (And defamatory racism accusations, of course, are the biggest sticks with which they can beat conservatives.)
So it was that, when Trump appeared in North Carolina to give his acceptance speech upon receiving the Democrat nomination, CNN cut away from the speech because of alleged “outright lies.” Then, the hate-filled carpetbaggers in the Lincoln Project, a coalition made up of failed Republican campaign advisors,
Days before the crucial Republican primary in South Carolina in 2016, Sen. Tim Scott and then-Gov. Nikki Haley rallied for Sen. Marco Rubio in a desperate effort to slow down the Trump train. The image of the three young stars was seen as a glimpse into the future of the Republican Party that most insiders argued needed to appeal to a demographically changing American electorate.
Four years later, Scott and Haley appeared before the mostly virtual Republican convention to endorse President Trump, who had been formally nominated for a second term earlier in the day, unopposed. And Haley and Scott both felt the need to come to terms
In a new video released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) Monday, Planned Parenthood officials give sworn testimony describing how abortionists alter abortion procedures in order to produce more intact human fetuses and, therefore, more usable fetal tissues and organs that can be sold for profit.
In 2015, the CMP and journalist and activist David Daleiden released a series of videos featuring undercover conversations with Planned Parenthood officials and medical directors. Planned Parenthood and their media allies decried the undercover videos as “edited” and claimed their late-term abortion practices were in complete compliance with the law.
The Mirror-Image Convention
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The first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention was a mirror image of last week's Democratic telethon. The issues that the Democrats ignored—violence in the cities and China—were mentioned again and again. Where the Democrats showcased elected officials and celebrities, some of the most effective speeches on night one of the RNC came from lesser-known individuals such as activist Andrew Pollack, Cuban immigrant Maximo Alvarez, and nurse Amy Ford. The phrase "systemic racism" wasn't heard. But paeans to American greatness and American exceptionalism limned each address.
The Story Behind Bannon's Arrest
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On August 20th, President Trump’s former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was arrested on fraud charges relating to the “We Build the Wall” construction project on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The news made for splashy headlines, but story behind the charges was more mundane. Brian Kolfage, a triple amputee veteran and Purple Heart recipient, used a crowdfunding website as part of a political gag aimed at raising $1 billion dollars to construct a U.S.-Mexico border wall. After unexpectedly raising $17 million dollars within the first week, Kolfage decided to hand off the suddenly real and ambitious initiative to someone with more experience, connections, and resources. Steve Bannon stepped up to help
A little-noticed feature of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s tax plan would flip the incentive structure of a retirement system grounded for nearly a century on the tax deductibility of saving.
The former vice president’s "drastic" proposal, in the words of one industry lobbyist, would upend existing tax preferences for retirement saving in 401(k)-style plans. The Investment Company Institute, which represents mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles in the U.S. and abroad, has already promised opposition.
Under current law, workers contribute pretax dollars and thereby reduce their annual taxable income, but they pay full freight when funds are eventually withdrawn in retirement.
The first night of the Republican convention was . . . go figure, pretty good!
Who would have been surprised if this whole thing had turned into a mess? The Republicans had already changed venues twice, the limitations of holding a big event during a contagious pandemic are considerable, the GOP can’t count on many Hollywood celebrities or musical numbers, the polling looks grim, and last week’s Democratic convention had generally gotten good reviews.
But the Mellon Auditorium made a suitably dramatic and stately backdrop.
One potential flaw in the programming schedule is a bunch of good speakers were kept early in the evening.
One of the best and most important speeches of either national convention came from a young lady named Natalie Harp, a onetime bone cancer patient who quite appropriately praised President Trump for signing the “right to try” legislation that allowed her to take the experimental medicine that saved her life.
The truth is that under Trump, a combination of legislation and administrative action by Trump’s appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services has improved American healthcare in numerous ways. As Harp noted in her speech, these Trump administration actions have sped up the approval process for generic drugs, improved price transparency, provided more insurance options than the regimented choices
Hillary Clinton urged Joe Biden not to concede the presidential race if he is trailing President Trump on election night.
Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election and conceded the morning after the contest, said she believes this year's election will drag out for several days because of issues with voting during the pandemic. She told Showtime's The Circus that Biden would be wise to stay in the race long past Election Day.
"Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually, I do believe he will win if we don't give an inch
“This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall.” That was the only response noted from former White House strategist Steve Bannon after his indictment for fraud in New York last week.
Facing up to 20 years in prison, it was perhaps the most ambitious political spin from a man whose creativity was matched only by his audacity. If Mr. Bannon is hoping to convert his signature deep-state conspiracy into a criminal defense, however, he will face perhaps his most formidable opponent yet: himself.
In a recent book, “Deep State: Trump, the FBI and the Rule of Law” by James B. Stewart, Mr. Bannon is quoted as saying
It is now November 2021, one year after Joe Biden was elected president after a razor-thin election. We have been given a glimpse into the future to see Biden’s America.
Summer 2021 was another scorcher. The rolling brownouts California suffered in 2020 spread throughout the West. Record demand for air conditioning combined with the ongoing closures of coal, nuclear, and even gas-powered electric plants have left millions powerless in these heat waves.
Energy Secretary Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with the support of President Biden, has permanently extended the airlines’ drastic curtailments of flights, first seen during the late pandemic, in keeping with the Green New Deal they both support.
Police Shooting In Wisconsin
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The state of Wisconsin has been roiled by an incident yesterday that culminated in the shooting of a man named Jacob Blake by Kenosha police officers. The events leading up to the shooting are unclear, but this video shows some of what happened:(Snip for video) Apparently there was some kind of domestic disturbance that resulted in police being called. As the video begins you can’t see Blake, but several officers are standing next to a parked car. Blake either stands up from lying on the ground or–I think–gets out of the vehicle. Two officers have their guns drawn, but we don’t know why. Blake walks around the car
It took approximately 20 seconds for former Secretary of State John Kerry to drop the first flagrant lie in his Democratic National Convention speech on Tuesday, when he claimed that the Obama administration's so-called Iran deal had "eliminated the threat of an Iran with a nuclear weapon." It didn't get any better from there.
Kerry knows well that sunset provisions in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action provided Iran's government with a pathway to building nuclear weapons in a few years. He knows well that Israel uncovered a giant cache of documents with instructions on how to jumpstart a program to build a nuclear arsenal,
Most political prognosticators delay their final predictions for a presidential race until the morning of Election Day. In 2016, for example, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight and Nate Cohn of the New York Times released their final projections during the wee hours of November 8. One forecaster, however, routinely publishes his predictions six months in advance. Professor Helmut Norpoth of Stony Brook University in New York issued his last word on the Trump–Clinton contest 246 days before the voters went to the polls. In March 2016, Norpoth confidently predicted that Donald Trump would be elected president. He not only contradicted Silver, Cohn
The Democratic convention portrayed an America suffering from every possible sort of malady — except urban unrest.
Is the country going through a terrible pandemic? Yes. A punishing recession? Absolutely. Is our democratic system itself under threat? Of course. Is the planet about to be destroyed by inaction on climate change? Check. Are systemic racism, income inequality and corporate greed blighting our national life? Most definitely.
The Democrats put an accent on every disturbing development during the Trump years, but not on the disorder that has caused countless millions in property damage, killed and injured innocent people and contributed to rising lawlessness in cities around the country.
The IRS announced it will temporarily stop sending past-due balance notices to taxpayers until it makes some headway opening a massive backlog of mail.
The agency issued a notice that it will suspend three specific follow-up mailings that are usually automatically sent to people with a balance due on their taxes.
“Although the IRS continues to make significant reductions in the backlog of unopened mail that developed while most IRS operations were closed due to COVID-19, this temporary adjustment to processing is intended to lessen any possible confusion that might be associated with delays in processing correspondence received from taxpayers,” the agency said in a statement.
About an hour into the first night of the virtual proceedings, The New York Times ran this banner headline: “GOP Pushes Falsehoods and Fear at Convention.”
CNN and MSNBC, which carried virtually every minute of the Democratic convention, kept breaking in with fact-checking, criticism and punditry.
That’s not to say the GOP show was above aggressive analysis. Several of the speakers made over-the-top, even apocalyptic charges against Joe Biden at the Democrats that stretched well beyond traditional political hyperbole. But in terms of the media applying roughly the same standards to each convention, it wasn’t even close.
Some of the speakers sounded very much like President Trump, aiming to rouse the base
Black power has arrived. For the first time in modern memory, both of America’s major political parties are making an all-out push for the votes of African-Americans.
Good for them, and good for our country.
The hunt for black votes is a given with Democrats, but the first night of the Republican convention showed that two teams are chasing the same prize this year. Count me as surprised at the GOP’s bold effort to woo members of a group that has long represented the Dems’ most loyal constituency.
The effort showcased an impressive list of black speakers in prominent roles vouching for President Trump and slamming Joe Biden and the Dems.
The first night of the Republican National Convention was, all in all, sensationally effective — and effective in ways that the mainstream media and its Twitter chatterers clearly found it impossible to understand.
America’s opinion leaders loathe Donald Trump so much that it remains a great puzzlement to them how he can retain the support of even 42 percent of the population, rather than, you know, zero.
The implicit theory they share is the “deplorables” theory — that anyone who wants Trump to be and remain president is, at root, a bad person or someone too easily tempted by false promises and evil lies.
If they had ears to listen,
Kimberly Guilfoyle delivered a passionate, pro-Trump message at the 2020 Republican National Convention on Monday.The Trump campaign surrogate made waves on social media with her in-your-face address trashing the Democrats’ “socialist agenda” and painting a doom-and-gloom picture of America with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in charge.“They want to destroy this country, and everything that we have fought for and hold dear,” Guilfoyle roared.“They want to steal your liberty, your freedom. They want to control what you see and think, and believe, so they can control how you live.”
Sen. Tim Scott said President Trump had made historic progress for black Americans “to clean up Joe Biden’s mess," calling on voters to examine the Democratic nominee's decades in office in an election the South Carolinian said would be about “the promise of America.""This election is about your future, and it’s critical to paint a full picture of the records of Donald Trump and Joe Biden," Scott said, appearing as the final speaker on the first night of the Republican National Convention. "Joe Biden said if a black man didn’t vote for him, he wasn’t truly black. Joe Biden said black people are a monolithic community.
Andrew Pollack, the father of a teenager who was shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., praised President Trump's leadership in an emotional speech during the first night of the Republican National Convention. Pollack has been outspoken about his frustrations with the media and the gun control movement in the aftermath of the 2018 Parkland shooting where his daughter Meadow,18, was killed. Pollack on Monday described in detail his reaction to the day that changed his life and his subsequent meeting with the president.