Thursday, October 17, 2019


A Striking Contrast:  Conservative gratitude versus Leftist hate
 
President Trump delivered a rousing pro-America speech at his rally in Minneapolis Thursday night!

He presented the 2020 election as a stark choice, and correctly so in my view, between those who want to preserve religious liberty, free markets, the sanctity of life, our Second Amendment rights, and our national sovereignty against those demanding open borders, abortion-on-demand, socialism, and gun control.

I was particularly struck by how the president talked at length about what it is like to be commander-in-chief. It involves regular trips to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which are rarely covered by the media. On those visits, the president sees firsthand the horrific wounds our soldiers endure.

It involves going to Dover Air Force Base to receive the bodies of fallen heroes. It involves writing personal letters, not form letters, to every family who loses a loved one serving in the military.

It was a side of the president people don’t see very often. When I am at the White House, I see him in a very different mood than what is presented by the media. He is a much more compassionate man than the left would like you to believe.

Sadly, there was violence after the rally ended. MAGA hats were burned. Trump supporters were assaulted. Leftists waved the flag of communist China. Police officers had to create a path for cars to leave because demonstrators were attacking vehicles in the parking garage.

It was a striking contrast. Inside the Target Center, Trump praised our brave men and women in uniform, our soldiers, and police officers. He defended our flag and our country.

Outside, the left-wing radicals, the activist base of the Democrat Party, were attacking cops, burning flags, yelling their hatred for America, and assaulting conservatives.

I’m not suggesting that Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren would be part of that crowd. But there’s no question which candidate that crowd would vote for come November, and it won’t be Donald Trump. Nor is that crowd ever denounced by the leadership of the Democrat Party.

On Fox News Thursday night, a Democrat consultant was asked about the violence at the rally. Of course, he insisted it was wrong, but then proceeded to justify the violence by suggesting it was a natural reaction to Trump!

If, after any speech by a leading Democrat, a mob formed outside and began punching people and attacking cars, every network would be running the footage non-stop. Every Republican would be forced to condemn it on the record.

But no elected Democrat today will be asked to condemn what happened on the streets of Minneapolis Thursday night. And I won’t hold my breath waiting for any progressives to voluntarily distance themselves from the protests.

SOURCE 

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Elections Watchdog Seeks Answers in Michigan Voter Fraud Case

A Michigan municipal election official being charged with six felonies in the discarding of nearly 200 votes is not likely an indication of voting problems nationally, election experts say. But an election integrity watchdog still wants to get to the bottom of the matter.

“Whether it changed the outcome is not really an issue when you are talking about civil rights. What does matter is canceling votes,” J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “The Justice Department needs to carefully scrutinize what votes were canceled and why she would have improperly discarded those 193 [votes].”

Michigan State Police arrested Southfield City Clerk Sherikia Hawkins in late September on charges related to altering or throwing away 193 absentee ballots.

The nonprofit Public Interest Legal Foundation made a public records request to find out what happened to the absentee ballots, from the time the voters applied for them through the time the ballots were discarded and altered to the time the ballots were reinstated and counted.

This type of election fraud is not likely widespread, because it was fairly simple to unravel, Adams said.

“This was caught because the votes cast did not equal the ballot tallies,” Adams said.

Hawkins was charged with falsifying election returns, which carries a maximum five-year sentence and a $1,000 fine. She also was charged with forgery of a public record, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence; misconduct in office, which carries a maximum five-year penalty; and three counts of using a computer to commit a crime, each with a maximum seven-year sentence.

After posting a $15,000 bond, Hawkins is set for another court hearing on Oct. 15.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges against Hawkins, a fellow Democrat, at a late September press conference.

In May, at the Michigan Democratic Party’s Legacy Dinner, the party gave Hawkins its Dingell-Levin Award. The award is named for two former longtime Democratic members of Congress.

There are “only two possibilities,” Adams said. “Either this Michigan city had an incompetent election official, or two, she didn’t like those 193 voters for some reason and decided to cancel them out.”

Michigan state officials said all votes were ultimately counted and that no election results were altered.

Election Officials and Fraud

Most jurisdictions have safeguards in place to prevent this type of fraud by election officials, said Susannah Goodman, director of the election security program at Common Cause, a government watchdog group.

“You don’t see [election official fraud] very often,” Goodman told The Daily Signal. “If a person knows how the system works, they know they will be caught. Reconciliation is pretty basic. If someone is a sophisticated fraudster, why would they do the one thing they should know will be checked and cross-checked?”

Since 2013, there have been three criminal convictions of election officials trying to alter vote counts, according to The Heritage Foundation’s voter fraud database.

A Miami-Dade County, Florida, elections department official pleaded guilty to filling out the mail-in ballots of other voters in favor of a Republican mayoral candidate in the November 2016 election. An Canton, Mississippi, elections committee member was convicted in 2013 of stealing a ballot box. A Clackamas County, Oregon, election official pleaded guilty to altering a ballot in 2013.

In 2007, the Justice Department brought a civil penalty against Ike Brown, a former superintendent of Democratic primary elections in Noxubee County, Mississippi, for manipulating ballots for race-based reasons.

“The kind of post-election audit we are pushing for has to do with vote tabulation and providing a statistically significant number of paper ballots for the audit to limit the risk of electing the wrong person,” said Common Cause’s Goodman.

The city of Southfield, a suburb of Detroit, put Hawkins on administrative leave after her Sept. 23 arrest.

“The City does not have all of the facts at this time, and there will be no rush to judgment,” said a public statement released by city spokesman Michael Manion. “The City will also be conducting a thorough internal investigation and review of these charges. After the City has examined the underlying facts of this matter, we will explore all appropriate and legal avenues to protect the voting process and rights of the Southfield citizenry. Mrs. Hawkins will be on administrative leave with pay at this time.”

Southfield Deputy City Clerk Nicole Humphries said, “The city clerk’s office is still functioning.”

“If they submitted a [Freedom of Information Act] request, we will be responding,” she told The Daily Signal regarding the Public Interest Legal Foundation’s records request.

‘Noticeably Silent’

Adams, of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, said actions occurred that, had they not been corrected, would have meant votes didn’t count. So, he said, it’s puzzling that groups that typically speak out against voter suppression have not spoken out in this case.

“Voter suppression is a fake term. It’s not in the law. The proper term is vote denial,” Adams said. “The voting rights groups are noticeably silent on this case. They don’t show up talking about an actual case of voting denial.”

The Daily Signal contacted several organizations that have opposed policies they labeled as “voter suppression” about concerns over the Michigan case.

One of the newest such groups is Fair Fight Action, which was started by former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams after her narrow loss in the 2018 Georgia governor’s race.

The group’s website says, “Efforts to discourage and disenfranchise voters—in voter registration, ballot access, or counting of votes—have a catastrophic effect on our democracy and our communities.”

The League of Women Voters says, “We work year-round to combat voter suppression through advocacy, grassroots organizing, legal action, and public education.”

Project Vote warns against “illegal and cynical attempts to suppress the vote and manipulate voters,” adding that “[a]mong the strategies used are voter intimidation and voter challenges.”

Brennan Center for Justice spokesman Derek Rosenfeld said the organization had no comment. But its website says, “Vote suppression has a long and ugly history in the U.S., and over the last two decades, it has resurfaced with a vengeance. Through research, lawsuits, and advocacy, we are fighting vote suppression on every front.”

The silence could be that some of these groups don’t want to acknowledge election fraud, said Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the election law reform initiative at The Heritage Foundation. Or, he said, it could be because Hawkins is a registered Democrat.

“Those 193 votes ultimately counted only because this clerk was caught. Why did the clerk do this? Did she know who they were?” von Spakovsky asked. “Most election officials are honest people who do the right thing, but sometimes election officials do bad things and break the law.”

SOURCE 

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Hillary in form



From Vince Foster and Seth Rich to Jeffrey Epstein, a large number of Clinton associates have died sudden deaths

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Democrats Embrace Cultural Devolution

CNN’s forum for 2020 Democrat presidential candidates to opine on “LGBTQ” issues was yet another in-kind campaign contribution to the DNC. The primacy and promotion of people with various types of gender disorientation in family entertainment is about emotion-based indoctrination. In politics, it’s about appealing to women voters.

So what did the Democrats talk about on CNN? Space won’t permit us to dissect every tendentious twisting of fact or tyrannical policy pronouncement. But here are a few key moments.

Elizabeth Warren literally applauded child abuse. After being introduced along with her mother, billed as “an advocate for transgender youth,” a young girl dressed up as a boy announced, “My name’s Jacob, and I’m a nine-year-old transgender American.” Warren immediately applauded and cheered, “All right, Jacob!” The girl then asked Warren a softball question about her issues in school — a question fed to her by her adult handlers.

A couple of things. First, and again, enabling and encouraging a kid to embrace gender dysphoria — to the point of dressing and “identifying” as the opposite sex, taking hormone-altering drugs that can do permanent damage, or sometimes even having body-altering surgery — is child abuse, plain and simple. If a child identified as a fire truck and wanted to play in the street, running through busy intersections while screaming like a siren, no one would tolerate it. Yet when it comes to innate biology, these “advocates” aid and abet fantasy, including deeply wounding self-harm, in the name of “tolerance.” With incredibly rare exception, all people are born with the “hardware” for one of two genders. That’s the way God made them. “Transgender” is a phony alternate reality that should not be encouraged, especially in kids who haven’t even hit puberty yet, and Warren and every other Democrat should be ashamed for exploiting these kids.

Warren wasn’t done. She also declared that “people who are transgender” — even inmates — are “entitled to medical care,” including sex-reassignment surgery. And of course, “entitled” means American taxpayers would be forced to foot the bill.

Other moments included blatant attacks on Christians who actually believe what the Bible teaches about sex and marriage. Warren bemoaned the “hatefulness” of such Christians. Pete Buttigieg sermonized that Christians who hold to biblical teaching actually make “God smaller.” Says the man who seemingly will only “worship” a god created in his image. Cory Booker complained that people “use religion as a justification for discrimination.” And Beto O'Rourke, who claims to be Catholic, declared that he’d be the one doing the discriminating: “Yes,” he would strip churches of their tax-exempt status for holding to millennia of biblically based Christian doctrine on marriage. We’re just surprised he didn’t say, “Hell yes.”

On a final note, Warren was asked what her response would be to “a supporter [who] says, ‘Senator, I’m old-fashioned, and my faith teaches me that marriage is between one man and one woman.’” Warren gave a very misandrist response: “Well, I’m going to assume it’s a guy who said that. And I’m gonna say, ‘Then just marry one woman. … Assuming you can find one.’”

That insult is quite illustrative of how Democrats look at Americans who hold to traditional values: To them, we’re mouth-breathing Neanderthals who aren’t just wrong, we’re bigoted and hateful — all for holding positions they themselves maintained until the last few years. The hypocritical intolerance is astounding, even if it is par for the course with leftists.

SOURCE 

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IN BRIEF

TALIBAN PEACE TALKS: "U.S. officials and representatives of the Afghan Taliban have begun discussing ways to revive a peace process after talks fell apart last month." (The Wall Street Journal)

GETTING ITS ACT TOGETHER: Mexico halts caravan of 2,000 migrants bound for U.S. (Fox News)

NANNY-STATE COURTS — COMING SOON TO AMERICA? Canadian court strips father of rights, allowing teen to transition against his wishes (The Daily Signal)

"NEXT!" "Democratic House committee chairmen Elijah Cummings, Eliot Engel, and Adam Schiff sent a letter Thursday to Energy Secretary Rick Perry alerting him to a subpoena demanding documents related to their impeachment inquiry into President Trump's dealings in Ukraine — the ninth subpoena issued so far." (National Review)

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Ronan Farrow book claims Hillary Clinton pressured Farrow to drop Harvey Weinstein investigation (The Daily Wire)

"PUBLIC CHARGE" RULE BLOCKED: "Under the rule," The Hill reports, "any immigrant who receives at least one designated public benefit — including Medicaid, food stamps, welfare or public housing vouchers — for more than 12 months within any three-year period will be considered a 'public charge' and will be more likely to be denied a green card by immigration officials." Federal Judge George Daniels "said the Trump administration likely exceeded its authority."

GOWDY PRECLUDED: As a corollary of lobbying rules, "a deal that [Trump's legal team] had reached with former South Carolina Republican Representative Trey Gowdy fell through," The Daily Wire reports.

DUBIOUS TIMING: Hunter Biden stepping down from Chinese firm, vows no foreign work if father wins in 2020 (The Hill)

SYRIA UPDATE: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed Sunday that President Trump has ordered a larger withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria than was previously indicated," according to The Hill. Meanwhile, Fox News says, "Fresh airstrikes from Turkey reportedly targeted civilians and a group of foreign reporters in the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn."

POWER RESTORED: "PG&E Corp. crews have restored power to more than 700,000 homes and businesses in California that had been subjected to a deliberate blackout," The Sacramento Bee reports. Ironically, many Californians are discovering that solar panels don't work in blackouts.

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCHPOLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated), A Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here  (Personal).  My annual picture page is here

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