Did Portland Violate the First Amendment by Selectively Tolerating Violence?

. . . "Journalists yawned when an Antifa goon was given probation by a liberal judge after attacking seven people from behind. The Antifa thug hit his victims so hard with a heavy metal bike lock that one victim had a piece of his “helmet broken off,” and another suffered a “head laceration that required five staples to fix.' ”

Intellectual Takeout

"Portland and its police may have violated the First Amendment by allowing members of the left-wing group Antifa to physically attack people, such as a conservative journalist and an elderly man. Police are not allowed to permit attacks on disfavored speakers, or permit violence by ideologically favored groups, while otherwise enforcing the law. That violates the First Amendment. Police have no duty under the Constitution to protect the public at all. But if they do, they can’t selectively withhold protection from people with disfavored views, or selectively permit violence by a group they ideologically sympathize with. 
. . .
"In Portland, police did nothing as Antifa attacked people nearby. For example, Antifa members viciously attacked journalist Andy Ngo on Saturday at a Portland rally. They assaulted him with fists and milkshakes that may have contained caustic quick-dry cement, sending him to the emergency room. Other video of Antifa shows “a group of masked thugs beating an elderly man in Portland with a crowbar and macing him.”

"Andy Ngo is a photojournalist and editor at conservative-leaning Quillette. As Reason Magazine’s Robby Soave notes, an “antifa mob beat up a journalist … who posed no physical threat to them and was only there to document their activities — on a public street. This is indefensible, and yet there are tons of progressive-leaning people currently defending it, or at the very least rationalizing and making light of it.” It is unfortunate that some progressive journalists have chosen to minimize or excuse this violence, because it was aimed at a journalist for a conservative-leaning publication. (Ngo himself is a gay Vietnamese-American).

"In response to these beatings, people have argued that the City of Portland needs to be sued for allowing (or directing) the police to not protect the innocent. They have criticized the City of Portland and its left-wing mayor, who sympathizes with Antifa, for doing nothing. In response, other people have pointed out that police have no constitutional duty to enforce the law. For example, one lawyer noted that “the Supreme Court upheld that officers have no legal duty to protect you.' ”  . . .

Unmask Antifa and Watch the Cowards Retreat

Anti-masking laws can be unconstitutional when applied to peaceful demonstrators seeking to protect their identities as a matter of personal safety, but that reasoning doesn’t apply to Antifa. Its members seek to engage in violence and destruction with impunity, and the mask protects them from legal accountability.  . . .

National Review  "I’d urge everyone to read my colleague Jim Geraghty’s post on the thuggery this weekend in Portland. It was appalling to watch masked Antifa thugs attack Andy Ngo, and it was also appalling that the police weren’t immediately present to arrest his attackers. Antifa’s propensity to violence is well known, and while I’d love to hear a sympathetic explanation for the absence of police, the lack of response looks a lot like a dereliction of duty.
"There is, however, a simple and well-known legal reform that will go a long way towards deterring Antifa violence — even when police aren’t close by, but iPhones are. It’s called an anti-masking law. They’ve long existed in the South as a check on Klan violence, and they not only make it easier for police to immediately identify and arrest criminals, they also allow witnesses to preserve the pictures and videos of violent attackers for later criminal or civil action.
"When I tweeted over the weekend in support of an anti-masking ordinance in Oregon, a number of correspondents asked me if the laws were consistent with First Amendment protections for anonymous speech. The answer is generally (though not always) yes, and there’s relatively recent on-point case law in the Second Circuit saying so. While court of appeals cases aren’t nationally dispositive, the panel in Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kerik included Sonia Sotomayor, and its reasoning is instructive." . . .
Watch Alabama do what Portland would not.

“Kamala Harris is *not* an American Black. She is half Indian and half Jamaican.

If that’s the best the Democrats can come up with to defend Kamala Harris, calling a Republican black man a racist, they are really desperate.

WND  "The left is excited about Sen. Kamala Harris running for president because she’s a black female. But she’s not African American. The term “typically refers to descendants of enslaved black people who are from the United States.” Harris is half Jamaican and half Indian. And her father says their ancestors owned slaves.

"However, she’s trying to play the race card in the presidential election to attract the black vote. She tried to portray Joe Biden as a racist during the first Democratic debates last week.

“It’s personal and it was actually very hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” Harris said, referring to praise Biden had given segregationists he worked with in Congress. “It was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

Ali Alexander

"Ali Alexander, an outspoken conservative activist who is half African American and half Arab, was disgusted with Harris pulling the race card during the debate. He called her out on her heritage Thursday. Alexander tweeted, “Kamala Harris is *not* an American Black. She is half Indian and half Jamaican. I’m so sick of people robbing American Blacks (like myself) of our history. It’s disgusting. Now using it for debate time at #DemDebate2? These are my people not her people. Freaking disgusting.” Unlike Harris, Alexander’s ancestors lived through slavery and the Jim Crow era. Harris’ parents moved to the U.S. in 1960-61, the tail end of Jim Crow laws.

"Hardly anyone else has dared to bring up Harris’ heritage, instead giving her a free pass for speaking out on African American issues. Harris also uses her black identity to talk about issues like reparations. This is even more absurd considering her ancestors owned slaves. But she talks about it as if she’s a victim.". . .  Read more.

When Will Race-Baiting Kamala Harris Acknowledge She Is A Descendent Of A Slave Owner?

New 'terms' for customers at restaurant that refused to serve Sarah Sanders

WND  "The restaurant co-owner who refused to serve then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and her family says that as long as Donald Trump is in the White House, businesses must operate under different rules of customer service, meaning administration officials “should consider dining at home.”

"Stephanie Wilkinson, co-owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, reacted in a commentary published by the Washington Post to a Chicago cocktail bar employee spitting on Eric Trump, the second son of the president.

"Wilkinson claimed “no one in the industry condones the physical assault of a patron,” but she said standards of good businesses that have been practiced for years are changing.

Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia.

“ 'The once-ubiquitous idea that companies exist purely and solely to provide profit to shareholders is withering away like corn husks in the summer sun,” she wrote.

"She said the new unwritten policy is that “all are welcome” but “terms and conditions apply.”

“ 'The high-profile clashes rarely involve one citizen fussing at another over the entrees. It’s more often a frustrated person (some of whom are restaurant employees) lashing out at the representatives of an administration that has made its name trashing norms and breaking backs. Not surprising, if you think about it: You can’t call people your enemies by day and expect hospitality from them in the evening,” she wrote.

“ 'So when the day comes that the world feels returned to its normal axis, I expect we’ll see fewer highly charged encounters making headlines. In the meantime, the new rules apply. If you’re directly complicit in spreading hate or perpetuating suffering, maybe you should consider dining at home,” she warned.

"In a previous commentary for the Post, Wilkinson complained about the “hate mail” she’s been receiving since her business originally refused to serve Sanders.

"She said she drew a line for Sanders over “a person whose actions in the service of our country we felt violated basic standards of humanity.”

"But Wilkinson said she didn’t expect the “blowback.”

"That included" . . .

Would she happily serve these people?

Antifa Plans Acid Attacks at July 6 Free Speech Rally

As at the Trump inauguration, they put out this story and then threw water on the Inauguration attendees, terrorizing people needlessly. But given the real harm the Antifa movement has inflicted on innocent people lately, real acid would be consistent with past actions. 

Faye Higbee

A user with the name “POUND ON YOUR BOY” made several threats against the rally, prompting co-organizer Enrique Tarrio to contact the FBI and DHS, who are now planning to provide additional security to the event.

Over the course of about 10 minutes last night, the “POUND ON YOUR BOY” account asked how the D.C. event is “coming along”, and referenced muriatic acid multiple times.

"Enrique Tarrio, (Hispanic male, please note) the current leader of the Proud Boys, said that the use of wax with muriatic acid would cause more than the normal minor burns. While muriatic acid can be easily washed off the skin, the addition of wax would form a film over the person’s skin, which could cause severe injury.

"Antifa plans -they have upped their violence in recent days, after throwing quick drying cement in “milkshakes” at people in Portland, and beating journalist Andy Ngo. These jackwagons must ALL be rounded up and thrown in the nearest jail cell for a long time. They are terrorists, and should be treated as such.

"They have also promised to continue attacking other conservatives, such as Fox Host Tucker Carlson and Jack Prosobiec from One America News Network. According to the Gateway Pundit, they planned to once again go to Tucker Carlson’s house and posted it on Twitter under a different account than they used before. Jack outed them. Antifa plans toast." . . .

Scientists find evidence of global warming on Mars

Washington Times

"Earth isn’t the only planet grappling with climate change, although this other orb doesn’t have much in the way of fossil fuel emissions or a 97 percent of scientific “consensus” on global warming.
"Newly published evidence suggests Mars is experiencing global warming as it emerges from an ice age.
"The red planet, which moved closer to the Earth on Monday than at any other time since 2005, has retreated from a glacial period that would have covered large areas in white before the thaw about 370,000 years ago, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science.
"The research was conducted using an instrument on board the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that allowed an unprecedented examination of “the most recent Martian ice age recorded in the planet’s north polar ice cap,” according to a NASA press release.
"Research was led by planetary scientist Isaac B. Smith at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado" . . .

AOC and the Women's soccer team or President Trump: which serves America best?

U.S. Women’s Soccer Rejects Trump, But Plans to Visit AOC

"Today, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) invited co-captain Megan Rapinoe and the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) to the U.S. House of Representatives.
"She tweeted, “It may not be the White House, but we’d be happy to welcome @mPinoe & the entire #USWNT for a tour of the House of Representatives anytime they’d like.”
. . .
"Co-captain Alex Morgan responded to Senator Harris, tweeting, “Thank you!!!! Gotta rep California loud and proud!”
"Morgan has also become a controversial figure as she refused to sing the national anthem, in line with Rapinoe, in Friday’s quarterfinal match against France.
"She told Time that “There’s the narrative that’s been said hundreds of times about any sort of athlete who’s spoken out politically. ‘Stick to sports.’ We’re much more than that, OK?' ” . . .

That would be this AOC the women's soccer team venerates:
Holocaust Survivor Nominates AOC for 'Nobel Prize in Stupidity'
. . . "Now, one of the few Holocaust survivors still alive has some very firm opinions about the Mouth that Never Shuts:" . . .
. . . "Ed Mosberg is the survivor who coined that gem, and he also happens to be the president of "From the Depths."
More from the New York Post:

"“She should be removed from Congress. She’s spreading anti-Semitism, hatred and stupidity,” Mosberg told The Post. “The people on the border aren’t forced to be there — they go there on their own will. If someone doesn’t know the difference, either they’re playing stupid or they just don’t care.”

"I suppose it's both when it comes to AOC. She's a shameless opportunist who has learned that she can spew any ignorant nonsense and virtually no one in the media will point out the fact that she is a paste-eating moron. In fact, they're stepping up to defend her:" . . .

. . .
 "Mr. Mosberg further clarifies what the MSM won't:

Mosberg, who lost his entire family during the Holocaust and himself survived both the Plaszów and Mauthausen camps, said: “Her statement is evil. It hurts a lot of people. At the concentration camp, we were not free. We were forced there by the Germans who executed and murdered people — there’s no way you can compare.”

"He then offers a genuine, honest assessment of the Brooklyn Bartender:

“She should be taught a lesson,” he said. “If you’re not there, you will never know what happened. She doesn’t want to learn — she’s looking for excuses. I would like to nominate her for the Nobel Prize in stupidity.' ”

Much more on the Holocaust survivor who called out AOC

. . . "She made these remarks and then doubled down.  A Polish lawmaker sent her a letter asking her to tour the concentration camps to see the difference, something she dismissed as a right-wing stunt.

"After that, she was one of the very few House members to vote down any money to improve the migrant detention center conditions.  She wanted to keep them as they were." . . .

How many of the US Women's soccer team know about the Holocaust?  But we digress...

MSNBC host calls AOC a ‘far left’ Democrat after she invites women’s soccer team to tour the Capitol

Obama Built The ‘Cages’ for Illegals, Not Trump, Says Obama ICE Chief

PJ Media

"Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visits the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Nogales Placement Center June 25, 2014 (Barry Bahler/Department of Homeland Security)"

"It was only a few months ago that Democrats were dismissing the crisis at the border as manufactured by Trump, and now they’re comparing migrant detention centers to concentration camps and blaming Trump for “putting kids in cages.”

"But for those still trying to blame President Trump, Barack Obama’s former ICE chief, Thomas Homan, has a reality check for them. Speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, Homan explained that the “cages” Democrats are blaming on Trump were the product of the Obama administration:

“I’ve been to that facility, where they talk about cages. That facility was built under President Obama under (Homeland Security) Secretary Jeh Johnson. I was there because I was there when it was built,” said Thomas Homan, who was Obama’s executive associate director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for nearly four years.

At an immigration conference today, Homan, under consideration for a new position of “border czar” in the Trump administration, grew visibly angry answering a question about “cages” often cited by Democratic critics of the president.

Homan, who ran Obama’s successful deportation operation, ripped Democrats who question Trump immigration officials on the Obama-era idea.

He cited one Democratic chairman who asked a Trump official, “You still keeping kids in cages?”

Homan, at the conference hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, said, “I would answer the question, ‘The kids are being housed  in the same facility built under the Obama administration.’ If you want to call them cages, call them cages. But if the left wants to call them cages and the Democrats want to call them cages then they have to accept the fact that they were built and funded in FY 2015.”

"Homan explained that the fencing that separates kids from adults is done for safety reasons. “It’s chain link dividers that keep children separate from unrelated adults. It’s about protecting children,” he said. He also added it’s only temporary accommodations until they are moved elsewhere by the Department of Health and Human Services. According to a Google News search, only conservative media seems to be talking about Homan's comments. Gee, I wonder why." . . .

Top Fundraiser Drops Biden After Debate Citing Segregation Remarks and Hyde Flip-Flop

Legal Insurrection

"People on both sides of the aisle seem to agree that Joe Biden did not have a great night at the second Democrat debate on Thursday. Standing on stage with many younger candidates made him seem old and he didn’t score a positive memorable moment.

"As a result, the following day he lost one of his top fundraisers.

"Brian Schwartz reported at CNBC:

Joe Biden loses support of top campaign fundraiser in Bay Area after comments on segregationists and Hyde amendment

Former Vice President Joe Biden lost one of his top fundraisers after controversial comments regarding his work with past segregationists and his flip-flop on repealing the Hyde Amendment, CNBC has learned.

Tom McInerney, a veteran San Francisco based lawyer, informed Biden’s team on June 20 that he can no longer help him raise campaign cash to compete in the 2020 presidential election.

“I had actually let the campaign known I’d pulled back my support of Biden for now,” McInerney told CNBC. “I don’t think he did well last night,” he added, reflecting on Biden’s debate performance on Thursday night.

While McInerney is the first financier to publicly withdraw his support after Biden’s controversial round of comments, the loss is significant because it could be a harbinger of further defections.

"Staffers and advisers may come and go, but when effective fundraisers leave a campaign, it’s a more serious matter. The only saving grace for Biden is that it’s early in the race and he’s already sitting on a considerable war chest. If other fundraisers follow McInerney, however, that will hurt him.

"And it could happen." . . .

Ian Macfarlane

The Most Fundamental Problem with Democrats' Push for Reparations

William Sullivan  "In 1927, several socialist-leaning American academics visited the Soviet Union, anxious to bring back stories of how successful the new Communist regime had been in its decade of infancy, and how it was exceeding American prosperity by cobbling a technocratic, redistributive path into the future. 

"Many returned with fantastic stories about how America was, by contrast, backward in its reliance upon free markets and aversion to Soviet-style economic principles.  But among those mildly disillusioned by the trip was Roger Baldwin, the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, who seemed to recognize that, despite whatever fondness he held for redistributionist economic policies, the Soviet Union lacked something which was most fundamental in America, and, incidentally, would lead to the horrific injustices that the Soviet Union would later inflict upon its people.

"That is, in America, we’ve long held the notion of individual liberty as sacrosanct.  The “social justice” promised by Soviet Communism offered no such protections to its people.

"Like many in America, Baldwin was a critic of the treatment of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.  Soviet propaganda had made the two immigrants the poster boys of American capitalists’ intolerance and political tyranny.  When Baldwin spoke to a group of airplane factory workers about the injustices in America, the Soviet workers began to chant “Sacco and Vanzetti,” as the two had been executed since Baldwin had left America.

"Baldwin felt compelled, however, to tell the Soviet factory workers that Sacco and Vanzetti had “enjoyed the full defense of the law.”  He then related a contrary story, according to Amity Shlaes, in her excellent book, The Forgotten Man.  Baldwin said to the Soviet factory workers:

But what about yourselves? Two months ago, a group of bank clerks were arrested at two o’clock in the morning.”  Here, the interpreter stopped and refused to go on…. “They were tried at four o’clock and executed at six.  Where was their right to assemble witnesses, to engage counsel, to argue their case, and, if convicted, appeal?”

"What Baldwin would “remember for decades” is a woman “approaching him with a countering argument” afterward.  “You only talked about individual justice,” she said.  “This is a bourgeois idea.' ” . . .

How do you know you are no longer a Democrat?

Anna L. Stark  "How do you know you are no longer a Democrat?

You believe and respect the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The founding documents of the United States still matter and must not be set aside.  

You believe the right to free speech applies to everyone, regardless of political party affiliation.

You believe in the sanctity of human life and abortion is murder.

You believe in the Second Amendment and the right to own guns.

You believe that the United States is a sovereign nation with recognized borders; which must be respected, guarded, and protected.

You know there are only two biological sexes. Men pretending to be women and vice-versa is make-believe. There is no such thing as being born in the wrong body.

You believe that men pretending to be women should not be allowed to use women’s bathrooms, nor should men be allowed in women’s dressing or locker rooms.

You are well aware that men have a physical advantage over women in sports and men pretending to be women should be prohibited from competing in women’s sporting events.

You believe in religious rights. Sexual orientation does not supersede your right to practice your faith, nor should you end up in a court of law, because of your faith.

You believe the ongoing illegal invasion of foreigners is detrimental to the economic well-being of the United States and must be stopped. 

You believe in the free market, capitalist economic system.

You don’t subscribe to the far-leftist, Marxist/Socialist ideology.

You believe slavery was wrong, but don’t support monetary reparations be paid to descendants of pre-Civil War African slaves.

"You think that jailing or fining people for not using make believe pronouns is absurd."

White South African farm activist is stabbed and beaten to death at her home in horrifying hammer attack

UK Daily Mail  "A South African activist who spoke out against attacks on white farmers has been found stabbed and beaten to death on her own farm.

"Annette Kennealy, 51, was killed on a smallholding in Limpopo province on either Monday night or Tuesday morning where she had been staying with an employee, police said.

"The alarm was raised by Ms Kennealy's mother, Kim Labuschagne, after she tried and failed to get in touch with her daughter on Tuesday.

"A male relative then went to the farm where Ms Kennealy's body was found face-down in a pool of blood. " . . .

. . . "Kennealy was a publicly outspoken supporter of the white Afrikaner community, a prominent farmer and a former councillor with the opposition Democratic Alliance. 

"In her last Facebook post, she shared a link alleging that 10 farm attacks, including one murder, had been reported in four days in 21019.

"She also routinely shared links and stories relating to politics in South Africa, and the government's plans to start expropriating farms from white land-owners." . . .