American Silliness, Nov 3, 2017

California is a good place to start for things like this:

California girl, 5, who set up $1 lemonade stand to raise money for a new bike is told by officials four months later to pay $25 for a BUSINESS LICENSE  This made news in the United Kingdom!

Autumn Thomasson, five, proudly sold $70 worth of lemonade and
candy to buy herself a new bicycle in June. This week, her mother
 received a citation from city officials claiming she needed a business
license and asking them to pay $25 to obtain one retroactively 

. . . "The letter was sent in response to that complaint but they have since retracted their demand for the $25 fee. 

'There's no excuse why it should have been sent." . . . 

Liberal Reporter Bashes Trump  . . . "After being asked what he thought about Trump’s response to the NYC terrorist, Stokols left viewers downright shocked with what he accidentally let slip on live television. As it turns out, the man asked why he didn’t do the same for the white gunman involved in the recent Las Vegas shooting.

"Yes, he’s referring to the white shooter who is already dead when criticizing Trump for not saying that the dead gunman should also get the death penalty." . . . 

"BLM leader" writes that white people who are inheriting property should consider selling it to minority families  . . . “If you are a developer or realty owner of multi-family housing, build a sustainable complex in a black or brown blighted neighborhood and let black and brown people live in it for free.” . . .

Michelle Obama claims men are 'entitled' and 'self-righteous'  . . . "It's surprising that Michelle Obama would fail to recognize the evolution in society and portray women as both victim and enabler."

Mathematics Is Not 'White'  . . . "We have seen the consequences of such P.C. madness in other professions.  Just consider one example outside education: firefighters are expected to climb four flights of stairs carrying a heavy load of nasty, necessary rescue gear in a specific and short time limit.  What to do if an applicant for this heroic job cannot?  Most of us would say, "Sorry.  You don't pass."  Would our lady professor argue that the firefighter test is  "white"? " . . .

Saints: It's 'unfortunate' vet rejects honor over anthem protests

This is a follow-up to a previous story:  A retired Navy officer declined to be honored at an NFL game over the anthem protests

. . . "Wells wrote, according to a release, per reports. "I am unable, in good conscience, to enter an NFL stadium while this discourtesy prevails. Since this award is tainted with the dishonorable actions of the NFL and its players, I cannot accept it.' "

MSN  . . . "The Saints called Well's decision "unfortunate and disappointing" in a lengthy statement released Thursday.

"Respectfully and honorably, we chose Mr. Wells for the Peoples Health Champion Award purposefully for this game to bring to light the exact issues that he and his organization represent - the health and well being of our military, veterans and their families," the Saints said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, he has chosen very publicly not to accept this honor and refused the opportunity to promote the very cause for which he was being honored and distract from awareness we hoped to build throughout our community. We respect his decision, he has that right, and we thank him for his service to our country and his past efforts on behalf of the military and veterans."

"The Saints later point out every player has stood for the national anthem since the franchise was founded in 1967 -- outside of Week 3 this season where "a few of our players did sit."

"Since then, the Saints have kneeled prior to the anthem in a show of unity against racism and social injustice before rising and standing for the anthem.. . . 

. . . "When a fan said people are mad because they believe the Saints will eventually sit during the anthem again since they did so earlier in the season, Vaccaro responded, "We already said what we were gonna do so get the picture or don't come." . . .  Has anyone kneeled over this?

Eric Holder said Americans were too cowardly to have a "conversation" about race. Heaven help anyone who dares to try it.

Hillary: That Dirty Russian Dossier on Trump That We Lied About Paying For Was Just Opposition Research

Katie Pavlich  "Twice failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is finally admitting her campaign paid for the Russian dossier on Donald Trump, albeit by default, and is calling it typical "opposition research."

"During an interview with The Daily Show Wednesday night, Clinton argued the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials to win the presidential election and denied any wrong doing in hiring Fusion GPS and a foreign spy. " . . . 

"Keep in mind the Clinton campaign and DNC officials have denied paying for the dossier for nearly a year, but were forced into an admission after a subpoena from House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes revealed both entities had in fact employed Fusion GPS to create the dossier. 

"Today Fusion GPS confirmed $168,000 of the estimated $12 million total went directly from the Clinton campaign to Steele." . . . 

US Backlash

VIDEO: Clueless Hillary Says She Refuses to “Go Away;” Americans Who Dislike Her Are Sexist Women Haters  "Hillary Clinton vowed to stay in politics Wednesday night and fight politicians who get elected to line their own pockets with personal wealth.

"No, this is not a joke. She did actually say that. Right after accusing half of the country as sexist women-haters. If it were only that simple.

"She nailed the hate part though. But it’s simply directed toward Hillary Clinton and not women as an entire gender.

"The portion of the interview from Trevor Noah on the Daily Show where she vows to fight against corruption should be clipped and rolled out in a new Twilight Zone series. It truly is surreal.

"Pablo Picasso was a true genius with oil paints on canvas. Hillary’s art is lying and her canvas is television. She painted another masterpiece Wednesday night."

A retired Navy officer declined to be honored at an NFL game over the anthem protests

Wells is the longtime Executive Director of Military Veterans Advocacy, a national organization based in Slidell, Louisiana, that works for veterans' rights.

Circa   "A retired Navy officer has declined an award that would have been given to him at an upcoming National Football League (NFL) game, according to WDSU 6 News.

"WDSU on Thursday reported that Cmdr. John Wells will not accept the honor at this Sunday’s New Orleans Saints contest due to the NFL’s ongoing national anthem protests.

"Wells was selected for the Peoples Health Champion Award, which is given to people who have “significant accomplishments” and have achieved “senior citizen status.”

“ 'I am unable, in good conscience, to enter an NFL stadium while this discourtesy prevails,” he wrote to executives of Peoples Health and the Saints." . . .

“ 'I had hoped and prayed that the NFL would outlaw these disgraceful protests and wanted to give the commissioner and the owners a fair opportunity to do so,” Wells added.

“ 'Their failure to act is a slap in the face to all of those who served in uniform. Men and women have fought and died for the flag that the players are disrespecting.”

"Wells additionally noted that the award has been “tainted with dishonorable actions” by the NFL and its players.

"The award would have been presented to Wells during this Sunday’s game between the Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans." . . .

Veterans advocate declines award from Saints  . . . "Wells says he's had enough of the actions by players in the league and their disrespect. He says he is a longtime fans of football and the Saints.

'' 'I haven't gone to any games, I've talked to other veterans and we feel these protests in the NFL are a slap in the face to veterans,'' said Wells.

DAV.org

"Wells was to accept the People's Health Champions award. Wells says while he's touched to be selected, he just can't accept.

'' 'Basically, I want it to stop, and if there's a conversation to be had, then let's have a conversation, but let's not disrespect the very flag that gives us the right to have that conversation,'' said Wells." . . .

Hillary wonders. "Et tu, Donna Brazile?"

"The Democratic Party is in disarray, thanks to all the same players the media cheered incessantly for years. But that means that the power in the party is now located at a Ben and Jerry’s in Vermont." Ben Shapiro

Legal Insurrection: Donna Brazile Throws Hillary Campaign Under the Bus

"Democrat Party still hasn’t learned from Hillary’s campaign mistakes."

"While everyone concentrates on the White House, the Democrat Party continues to dive deeper into a civil war.

TD

"Former interim DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile has taken aim at failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Democratic strategist Stanley Greenerg is “still fuming about Hillary Clinton,” especially since Democrat candidates are still using her failed tactics." . . .

"Let’s first look at Donna Brazile’s scathing article at Politico about Hillary’s campaign and the moves she made before she even became a candidate. She took over the DNC after leaks of emails showed officials working against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the primary. This led then-Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (R-FL) to resign right before the DNC convention.

"Rigging a primary

"Brazile, after she was named acting chairwoman, promised Sanders that she “would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process, as a cache of emails stolen by Russian hackers and posted online had suggested.' ” . . .

The main point of this post, the Politico article on her book
Politico: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC Brazile writes:

"When I was asked to run the Democratic Party after the Russians hacked our emails, I stumbled onto a shocking truth about the Clinton campaign."

. . . 'I told Bernie I had found Hillary’s Joint Fundraising Agreement. I explained that the cancer was that she had exerted this control of the party long before she became its nominee. Had I known this, I never would have accepted the interim chair position, but here we were with only weeks before the election." . . .

Explosive Brazile Confession: Trump and Bernie Were Right, DNC Rigged Nomination For Hillary From the Start

"Politico has published an extended excerpt from Brazile's book, and oh my, is it explosive.  First, she takes a hatchet to the state of the party heading into the 2016 election:"

Townhall: "In her forthcoming book, former DNC chair Donna Brazile absolutely unloads on her party, blasting Barack Obama for decimating the DNC's finances, savaging the leadership of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and confirming that yes, Hillary Clinton's campaign had the party in its pocket long before she was its nominee. You'll likely recall Donald Trump's frequent play to Bernie supporters during the general election, claiming that the Democratic establishment "rigged" the nominating process against Sanders and for Clinton.  He probably didn't even realize how absolutely accurate that characterization was. " . . .

Daily Wire: BOMBSHELL: Former DNC Head Admits Obama Cleaned Out The Party, Hillary Stole It, Bernie Got Robbed  Excerpts below:

"Here are 7 revelations from Brazile’s piece:

1. Brazile Is Rather Self-Aggrandizing. . .

2. Wasserman Schultz Was A Disaster Who Turned Over The Party To Hillary. . .

3. Obama Cleaned Out The Party.  . . .

4. Hillary Ran The Party. . .

5. Hillary Essentially Laundered Campaign Money Through The DNC.  . .

6. Bernie Got Jobbed.  . . .

7. Brazile — And Everyone Else — Sees Bernie As The Future Of The Party. .

"The Democratic Party is in disarray, thanks to all the same players the media cheered incessantly for years. But that means that the power in the party is now located at a Ben and Jerry’s in Vermont."  Ben Shapiro

Earl of Taint

NYC Victims Lost Schumer's Diversity Visa Lottery

Daniel John Sobieski  "Maybe now, Democratic liberals will see the folly of giving illegal aliens drivers licenses on the false premise that it makes us all safer. And maybe liberal judges from Hawaii will think again about the wisdom of Trump’s travel ban and desire to switch to a merit-based immigration system.

"Sayfullo Saipov was not an illegal alien and his home country of Uzbekistan was not on the travel ban list of countries, but his presence here to kill and maim American citizens speaks to another idiotic immigration program -- the diversity visa lottery created by the same Sen. Chuck Schumer who cried about the cruelty of Trump’s travel ban amidst a bevy of aliens from central casting. He is now free to shed a tear for the victims of his program:" . . . Full Article

Yet Another Radical Islamic Terror Attack That Could Have Been Prevented

. . . "Shortly after the attack, President Trump blasted the misbegotten Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, signed into law in 1990, which enabled Sayfullo Saipov to enter the country. Under the program, 50,000 are awarded visas by lottery if they're from countries that otherwise wouldn't send immigrants to the U.S. 

"At the start of 2010, the year Saipov came to the U.S., the State Department under President Obama announced that it was going to use the program to bring in thousands of immigrants living in terror watch list countries." . . .

If these people are all "known to authorities" beforehand, why didn't the authorities take more aggressive action? What are the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and all the other agencies whose mission is to protect American lives doing with the tens of billions of dollars they get from taxpayers each year?

MSNBC and CNN guests look to blame Manhattan truck terror on anything but jihad

Thomas Lifson  "It took only a day for the cable news propagandists to find guests who would blame the truck attack on bicyclists in Lower Manhattan on the personal troubles of the perp.

"On MSNBC, as noticed by Justin Caruso of the Daily Caller, guest Mubin Shaikh, a "former Islamic extremist," told viewers:

"They go online, they get most of their ideology, but, this is something that they've already decided to engage in. A person doesn't go online and read something and decide, 'Oh, I'm going to be – oh, I believe this. I'm going to go and act on this.' They already have this going on inside them before they turn to the internet or somebody like in a real human network.

"What we need to look into is why this person even feels they need to look that way. And one of the things is hatred – is hatred, and alienation, and marginalization. Think about it this way – when you tell a kid that he's dumb, he's stupid, he's going to amount to nothing, what do you think is going to happen with that kid? He's going to take that, internalize that, and externalize it by acting it out onto other people," he continued.

"Here's a news flash for Mr. Shaikh: teens and young adults go through all sorts of misery finding their place in the world.  Everyone has frustrations, setbacks, and critical voices.  The Quran and other scriptures teach such people that killing infidels is a way to solve all their problems by becoming a martyr and thereby gaining entrance to heaven with virgins available for their pleasure.

"Absent the enabling ideology of jihad, such young people work out their problems in a more constructive fashion, sometimes even by studying or working harder, and showing people they were wrong to denigrate them." . . .

President Trump Tweets NYC Terrorist Deserves Death Penalty

Townhall  "Late Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter about what he thinks should happen to Sayfullo Saipov, the man who was arrested on Tuesday after he drove a truck into pedestrians in New York City. Trump tweeted that he thinks Saipov "SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!", as since he seemed "happy" in the hospital and asked for an ISIS flag.

NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017

"Federal terrorism charges have been filed against Saipov, and those charges are punishable with death. However, he may escape a death sentence if he agrees to plead guilty as part of a plea bargain.

"Trump was criticized by many for his tweet, which could potentially be seen as tainting a jury pool. In the case against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, his lawyers argued (unsuccessfully) that the case should be thrown out because of then-candidate Trump's similar comments. The judge declined to dismiss the case, but said that Trump's statements would be considered to be a mitigating factor in sentencing. " . . .

Please get serious, Mr. President! A plague on both your houses:

usbacklash.org

Former Newsweek Journalist On NY Attack: “Trumpian” To “Overreact To A Small Terrorist Attack,” It’s “Not That Important”

Our Ex-Presidents' Insincere Praise of 'American Generosity'

Now Clinton deserves credit for signing the welfare reform act of 1996, which for the first time put caps on welfare* along with time limits. Able-bodied and able-minded people got off the couch and into the job market. But for the most part, these Presidents, while in office, expanded the federal government to do things that could and should be done by the very same American people they insist are so compassionate.

Larry Elder at Investors Business Daily "All five living former Presidents recently came together at a benefit concert for victims of this year's devastating hurricanes. A month earlier, they broadcast an appeal for Americans to donate for hurricane relief efforts.

Former President Jimmy Carter praised the generosity of Americans: "Across this great country, Americans have answered the call." So did former President George W. Bush, who said, "That special calling that compels us when others are down to step up and do whatever it takes." Former President Barack Obama said: "We could not be prouder of the response of Americans. When they see their neighbors, when they see their friends, when they see strangers in need, Americans step up." Former President Bill Clinton said, "We've been volunteering since before the Constitution, when Benjamin Franklin organized the first volunteer fire department in Philadelphia."

"But the former Presidents' records of expanding government belie their rhetoric about the generosity of Americans." . . .

* Made to do this by Newt Gingrich and Republicans.

Major sponsor of NFL broadcasts blames sales decline on kneeling controversy

Thomas Lifson   "Becoming the NFL's "official pizza sponsor" worked out well for Papa John's until Colin Kaepernick launched his protests.  Yesterday, the chain's founder, John Schnatter, blamed the NFL kerfuffle for his company's same-store sales decline that sparked a 13% tumble in its stock price.  In a post-earnings report conference call, via Bloomberg:

"The NFL has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players' and owners' satisfaction," Schnatter, who serves as the pizza chain's chairman and chief executive officer, said on a conference call. "NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders." ...

"Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership," Schnatter said.

"This has got to scare the NFL owners, if they have any brains.  It is evidence that their brand is becoming toxic.  For years, companies have sought identification with the NFL by licensing, advertising, sky box rentals, Super Bowl events, and other expensive investments.  That process is now working in reverse." . . .

Ending 'Sue-and -Settle' Extortion

Timothy D. Terrell  "Last week, federal Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a directive aimed at reducing “sue-and-settle” lawsuits. For those who like voters to have input in the creation of environmental regulation, this is a great move.

"For decades, environmental advocacy groups have exerted outsized influence—and profited financially—from “friendly” lawsuits against the EPA. These lawsuits have been a conduit for activists inside and outside the EPA to get new regulations in place over the protests of state governments, businesses, and consumers that must bear the costs.

" Starting about 1970, Congress began writing clauses into certain environmental statutes allowing “any person” to file suit alleging that the EPA had insufficiently enforced the law, whether or not the plaintiff was personally harmed by the violation. These “citizen suit” provisions in environmental legislation opened the courtroom door to environmental organizations, which quickly discovered the money-making potential of these lawsuits.

" Some settlements involve a “mitigation project” that often benefits environmental groups, and in addition, the groups often received above-cost reimbursements of attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses. The revenues became so substantial that environmental law attorney Michael Greve referred to citizen suits as “an off-budget entitlement program for the environmental movement.” Environmental organizations also discovered that citizen suit-based “sue-and-settle” tactics could be used to obtain regulatory changes without legislative action.

"Green groups could accomplish their goals without Congress and without much worry much about objections raised during the “public comment” period following a consent decree or agreement. By the time public comments are made, it’s pretty much a done deal." . . . 

Here's What 'Allahu Akbar' Really Means

Daily Wire

. . . "When the terrorist (ISIS, an Islamic extremist group, has claimed responsibility) jumped from the vehicle, witnesses say he yelled, "Allahu akbar!" CNN likes to translate this phrase as meaning "God is great." The New York times does, too, as in this passage from its front-page story on Wednesday, when it said the terrorist "ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun and shouting “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great...."

"But it doesn't mean that — not by a longshot.

" 'Allahu akbar" means, literally, "Allah is greater." But the elative tense in Arabic is somewhat flexible, so it can also mean "Allah is greatest." Either way, though, there is no generic deity — it isn't just "God." No, Allah is explicit in the phrase and means, literally, "Allah" — not "God."

" 'The translation of the phrase is often rendered as 'God is Great,' but when you unpack the term you quickly realize that it is much more than a simple expression," The Jerusalem Post wrote. "After all, a simple expression would never do as the last words a Muslim speaks while maiming and murdering innocents.' " . . .

Joseph Curl has covered politics for 30 years, working as the White House correspondent for The Washington Times from 1998-2010 and then as a columnist. He also ran the Drudge Report for four years as the a.m. editor. He'll watch things you don't want to watch — like Rep. Nancy Pelosi's Thursday presser and sometimes Rachel Maddow's really awful show — and tell you about them. It's his job.