Memo to Kaepernick: Read More Frederick Douglass

American Greatness

"Many observers were quick to correct Colin Kaepernick’s recent selective quoting from Frederick Douglass’s speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” They were right to do so. Misrepresenting anyone’s words in the manner that Kaepernick did breaks one of the first rules of good writing.

"In spite of his error, thanks are due as well to him for bringing attention to a very fine speech that all Americans should read. Another of Douglass’s speeches that I urge Mr. Kaepernick and others to read addresses the great document that stands next to the Declaration of Independence: the United States Constitution.

"Douglass, born into slavery, escaped and purchased his freedom with the help of others who raised funds. He eventually moved to Rochester, New York and worked to end slavery by helping people reach freedom on the Underground Railroad, supporting anti-slavery political parties, and publishing his own antislavery newspaper, The North Star. It was at the invitation of the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society that he appeared on July 5, 1852 to deliver the Independence Day speech. The circumstances for his speech on the Constitution were very different. The title of the speech is in the form of a question: “The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-slavery?”

"After Douglass’s escape from slavery he worked with the Anti-Slavery Society founded by William Lloyd Garrison. The American Anti-Slavery Convention convened in 1833 in Philadelphia to address the enslavement of one-sixth portion of the American people. They looked back 57 years to 1776 and acknowledged the effort to deliver America from a foreign yoke, stating that the Temple of Freedom was founded on the principles of the Declaration—that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights." . . .

Elizabeth Eastman holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate School, an M.A. in Liberal Education from St. John’s College, and a B.A. in French Literature and Civilization from Scripps College. She has taught in the Political Science and History Departments at Chapman University and Azusa Pacific University, and in the Liberal Studies Programs at Roosevelt University in Chicago and at California State University at Fullerton.

Rhoprose

Dolly Parton Denies Senator Elizabeth Warren Permission to Use '9 to 5'

TooFab  "Dolly Parton wants to stay far away from politics.

"The country legend's manager has revealed Senator Elizabeth Warren asked for — and did not get — permission to use her song "9 to 5", which she did anyway at a town hall meeting in New York City on Friday.

" 'We did not approve the request, and we do not approve requests like this of (a) political nature," Danny Nozell, told The Associated Press.

"The CTK Management CEO did not say whether he was pursuing the matter formally.  

"Dolly's issue isn't with the Massachusetts Senator personally; rather she famously keeps her songs out of politics and her opinions to herself.

" 'Of course I have my opinion about everybody and everything, but I learned a long time ago to keep your damn mouth shut if you want to stay in show business," she told Nightline last year. "I'm not in politics. I'm an entertainer.' " . . .

Biden and wife made more than $15 million after leaving office

Ian Macfarlane

Yahoo  "Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, earned more than $15 million in the two years after Biden left government in early 2017, according to tax records released by his campaign on Tuesday.

"The majority of their income came from speaking engagements and payments for two books written by Biden, a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

"The former U.S. senator from Delaware served as Barack Obama’s vice president for eight years, leaving office in January 2017 after the election of Republican President Donald Trump.

"According to federal and state tax returns, the Bidens earned about $11 million in 2017 and $4.58 million in 2018. About $13.2 million of that was attributable to book payments.

"Biden earned more than $775,000 in salary as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 and 2018." . . .

Trolling for an Obama endorsement; have you noticed how often Biden says "Barack and I"...

Seven Facts About Obama’s Immigration Record Liberals Refuse to Admit

PJ Media

. . . Obama built the cages for immigrant children. Not even Snopes could deny this one. Two former Obama administration officials have publicly acknowledged this fact, and the media even reported on the migrant detention facilities that were built by the Obama administration—but those reports lacked the outrage you see today. There is a lot of photographic evidence of migrant detention facilities during the Obama years, with children crowded in caged areas, sleeping on concrete floors, that just didn’t resonate with the media or the political left at the time. It's almost as though they were trying to protect Obama's legacy.

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

"For months, Democrats accused President Trump of manufacturing a border crisis for political purposes. Because of this, they’ve generally refused to work with Trump or Republicans to do anything about it. They’re singing a different tune now, however, but instead of blaming Trump for manufacturing a crisis, they’re blaming him for the crisis. All the negative news we’re hearing from the border has Democrats pouncing, hoping to pin the blame on Trump and policies.

"But when you look at the facts, it’s clear that while the crisis wasn’t manufactured, the Democrats’ outrage is. For years, they’ve stood idly by as the issues they now are hoping to turn into political footballs were going on in plain sight without a peep. Why? Because when it happened under Barack Obama they cared more about his image than the immigrant children and families they pretend to be advocating for today.

"Below are seven facts about Obama’s immigration record that liberals are in complete denial over." . . .

Best-Selling Author Reveals Why Trump Kicked Epstein Out Of Mar-A-Lago

Daily Wire  "Best-selling author James Patterson — who wrote "Filthy Rich: The Billionaire's Sex Scandal--The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein" — told Fox News on Tuesday that then-private citizen Donald Trump threw alleged pedophile Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago after he was notified about complaints being made against Epstein." . . .

. . .  "Perino asked Patterson about Trump's remarks: "President Trump said earlier that he had a falling-out with Epstein about 15 years ago. Do you know what that was about?"

"Patterson responded: "Well, I know that there were some complaints about Epstein at Mar-a-Lago and also I spoke to the head of the spa there. I said ‘did you ever meet Epstein?’ She said, 'oh yes... he was inappropriate with some of the younger women there.' She said she went to Trump and he threw him out of the club."

"At another point in the interview, Patterson said he "knows Trump didn't know" about Epstein's alleged criminal activity." . . .

Ian Macfarlane

Jeffrey Epstein’s A-list pals rush to distance themselves . . . "A list of contacts identified as Epstein’s “Little Black Book” was published by the now-defunct webSite Gawker in 2015 and contains hundreds of names, including those of celebrities, politicians and other ­A-listers, with their phone numbers and email addresses blacked out.
"Notable entries include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, actor Alec Baldwin, singer Jimmy Buffett, industrialist David Koch and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
"Epstein treated some of his rich and powerful pals to trips aboard his Boeing 727, with Clinton revealed in 2016 to have flown on the private jet airliner at least 26 times between 2001 and 2003, according to flight logs obtained by Fox News.
"The plane was nicknamed the “Lolita Express” in media reports following the first wave of underage sex abuse allegations that led to Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida." . . .

Dubious Domination

I cannot deny sour grapes over our soccer women and would love to heap some praise on any pro-American ladies such as Kelley O'Hara, who took the flag from the ground when Allie Long handed it to her after Long let drop to the ground. 

Taki's Magazine

No, America dominates women’s soccer for the same reason South Korea dominates women’s golf: because nobody else has much cared.

. . . " This year, the media appeared newly intent on lesbianizing the image of women’s soccer as some sort of triple-bank-shot ploy in its War on Trump. This would not be good for women’s soccer’s popularity.

"Professional men’s leagues are based on teams representing cities rather than, say, Coke or Nike because it’s natural for human beings to cheer on their community’s strong young men as they Defend The Home Turf from raiders. This is such a primal instinct that it can keep up male interest through an inordinate number of contests each year, such as Major League Baseball’s 162 regular-season games.

"But few humans conceive of women as their saviors in territorial struggles. While men’s sports are obviously stand-ins for war, women’s international sports instead are less like battles and more like beauty contests or talent competitions to show off to the world these exemplars of the American Way of Life. Granted, French girls may dress better, Italian girls cook better, and Russian girls dance better, but all those billions of miles chauffeured by American soccer moms have made our girls world champs.

"Moreover, the long interims between World Cups and Olympics appeal to women spectators, who find it hard to stay interested in endless regular-season contests, but appreciate the human drama of these major turning points in life." . . .

Hey, it could happen.

The elephant in the room on Jew-hatred

This incident is disturbing following Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib's and Ilhan Omar's attempts to dilute the memory of the Holocaust.  Add to this current trend their horde of Democrat colleagues joining arm in arm to support these two proud, overt, apparently impervious to any rebuke Jew-haters.

Alan Bergstein  "Now that the newest bunch of Democrat presidential hopefuls, both black and white, have opened up the dangerous door of race-baiting that presently targets only those of the Caucasian persuasion, I can wipe my brow and come clean about blacks and their attacks against my people, the Jews.  This has always been a third-rail issue with Jews, including our own well funded protective agencies, who, usually being key players on the Far Left Team, have avoided coming clean about the obvious hate directed against them by ordinary blacks who emulate their leaders.  Just a pinch of them: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Wright, Barack Obama, Maxine Waters, Ilhan Omar, N.Y. state assemblyman Charles Barron, Tamika Mallory, and Valerie Jarrett, and toss in the whole gang down at the Congressional Black Caucus.

"Let's focus on a recent hate scene development down in my neck of the woods: Boca Raton, Florida.  It was spawned by the principal — principal, mind you — of Spanish River High School, William Latson, who by his picture appears to be black.  He wrote an email, some time ago, to a Jewish parent . . ."

'Frankly, Megan, I don't give a damn'

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "The ladies won and let's salute them.  The TV ratings were great and everyone is happy.  

"How does this translate to more people watching women play soccer in the U.S.?  I hope it does but women's pro soccer has not been good at selling tickets.

Cropped from Wilkow

"Actually, not everyone is happy.  I am not happy and lots of people I've heard from are not happy.  
"First, the tournament showed that international women's soccer is a total mismatch.  In other words, there aren't enough good women's soccer teams in the world.  The U.S. is obviously "the queen" of soccer and will only get better because our young women have more resources. 
"On that point, it did not help that some of the ladies showed so little class, as when they pounded Thailand 13-0!
"Second, someone should remind the ladies that they are wearing the U.S. uniform not "blue states."  They should show respect for U.S. fans who don't like to see flag disrespected.   
"In particular, the outspoken Megan [Rapinoe] who thinks that she was put on this planet to talk politics:  " . . .

Naturally, she bashes the President on - where else? - CNN

The Epoch Times

Report: Epstein’s Lawyers Offer Plea Deal to Divulge Names in Exchange for 5-Year Sentence

"Alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein will agree to give up names of individuals who took part in the trafficking ring he’s charged with running—in exchange for a substantially lower sentence, according to a report by broadcast channel One America News Network (OANN).

“ 'Epstein’s lawyer has already made a proffer to SDNY,” OANN host Jack Posobiec said in a July 8 Twitter post. SDNY refers to the Southern District of New York.

“ 'Epstein will agree to cooperate with the investigation, including giving up the names of individuals that paid for activities with underage girls in exchange for a maximum sentence not to exceed 5 years,” he continued, without indicating where he got the information." . . .

The Roots of Political Correctness

"In the meantime, political correctness – which had once been rightly considered so radical and authoritarian – was becoming mainstream. It did not lose its authoritarian element; instead, by gaining popularity among the students, it transformed into something totalitarian." . . .

Intellectual Takeout

"Over the last thirty years, political correctness has metastasized. Today, so many politically-correct assumptions have become mainstream that, as Tocqueville once predicted, they have narrowed our questions and our ability to question, rather than actually tell us the exact answers to things.

"Over the last decade, it has become normal for students, professors, and the public at large to think of Western civilization as a term meaning, covertly and not so covertly, white supremacy or the mere history of white people. In many circles today, well beyond the intelligentsia, it has become commonplace to sneer when Western civilization is mentioned, as if we’re really all in on the secret. Too clever. Too clever, by far.

"Undoubtedly, these attacks – often known broadly as political correctness – stem from the Maoist and the New Leftist infiltration of Western society in the 1960s. Unlike the Stalinists and the Old Left, the New Left – often the actual biological children of the Old Left, a.k.a. “Red Diaper Babies” – understood that Marxist economic determinism had failed time and again, especially in a society as abundantly wealthy as that of America (even during the Great Depression, the economy continued to persevere, if only half-heartedly). Rather than rely on the supposed inevitable Marxist dialectic of history, the New Left understood that it must change things culturally if it were to have any real influence at all. As opposed to leading labor unions, they understood they must play the long game, hiding out in institutions that matter culturally, especially those in education and religion. The long game told them to ignore the present generation and begin to train the upcoming and forthcoming generations. By the early 1980s, the New Left controlled much of academia (and the public schools, K-12).

"This had been the plan since, at least, 1962, when the New Left formed around the ideas of Tom Hayden:

"The university is located in a permanent position of social influence. Its educational function makes it indispensable and automatically makes it a crucial institution in the formation of social attitudes. Second, in an unbelievably complicated world, it is the central institution for organizing, evaluating and transmitting knowledge. Third, the extent to which academic resources presently are used to buttress immoral social practice is revealed, first, by the extent to which defense contracts make the universities engineers of the arms race. Too, the use of modern social science as a manipulative tool reveals itself in the ‘human relations’ consultants to the modern corporations, who introduce trivial sops to give laborers feelings of ‘participation’ or ‘belonging,’ while actually deluding them in order to further exploit their labor. And, of course, the use of motivational research is already infamous as a manipulative aspect of American politics. But these social uses of the universities’ resources also demonstrate the unchangeable reliance by men of power on the men and storehouses of knowledge: this makes the university functionally tied to society in new ways, revealing new potentialities, new levers for change. Fourth, the university is the only mainstream institution that is open to participation by individuals of nearly any viewpoint." . . .

If You Flew On Epstein’s Plane, The Feds Would Like A Word With You…

Weasel Zippers

"Via Bloomberg:

After Jeffrey Epstein’s latest arrest on sex trafficking charges, some famous people may be squirming. His notorious little black book and private-jet manifests contained a long list of boldface names, including Victoria’s Secret mogul Leslie Wexner and former president Bill Clinton.

U.S. prosecutors on Monday encouraged anyone with information about Epstein’s conduct to come forward, not just potential victims. To the socialites, celebrities and politicians who attended lavish parties at Epstein’s homes in Manhattan or Palm Beach in the early 2000s — or hitched rides on his private jet nicknamed the “Lolita Express” by the tabloids — the request carried a clear message: Come talk to us before we seek you out.

“You would much rather be visiting the Department of Justice and engaging a conversation about what you saw rather than making the DoJ find you,” said Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor now at Dickinson-Wright. “There’s a much greater potential for influencing the parameters of an interview and the scope of cooperation by going in voluntarily than becoming a compulsory guest” of the government, he said.

Keep reading…