We Don't Trust You

Ann Coulter

It's not the underlying issue in any of these examples that's the problem -- it's the flouting of the democratic process. I'm not saying: We trusted you and got a bad result. I am saying: We trusted you, but you abandoned the Constitution and the law to get the result that you could not win honestly.

     "Like all Americans, I've been deeply moved and horrified by the recent spate of mass shootings. Surely, I thought, there must be some commonsense gun regulations that could put an end to the carnage -- red-flag laws, longer waiting periods, age limits, something!
     "Leaving aside the usual suspects, who are rushing to the microphones to demand the immediate confiscation of all guns, liberals are appealing to us to come together in good faith and formulate a plan to keep guns out of the hands of these monsters, using fair process and common sense.
     "The only problem is that no one on their side believes in good faith, fair process or common sense. Here's the reality: We don't trust the other side, nor should we.
Americans used to be able to rely on two bulwarks to protect us from stupidity:

1) Legal process -- The genius of our founders was to strictly limit the power of capricious, and often armed, government officials and to create a government of laws that made major changes difficult, but not impossible." . . .2) Common sense -- We also used to be able to assume that a basic reasonableness undergirded our society, flowing across generational lines, political divides, racial differences and policy disputes. Until the 1970s, for example, federal courts mostly enforced actual legal and constitutional rights on the books. The other branches of government tended to perform their roles in good faith -- or at least not in obvious bad faith.

     "Whether you were a Taft Republican or a JFK Democrat, you believed that we had a border, that people here illegally would be processed according to law, that there were two sexes, that free speech was a hallmark of our nation, and that a kid could dress up as a cowboy or Indian for Halloween without being branded a "racist."
. . . 
. . . "Surely, we can count on the next generation to believe in free speech down to the marrow of their bones. They clearly understand that college campuses, whatever else they are, must always be bastions of open inquiry and far-reaching debate. They obviously recognize the wisdom and majesty of the Constitution's Electoral College.

Nope! None of that is true.

"Actress Debra Messing is collecting names of Trump supporters for a new Hollywood blacklist. Armed and masked left-wing brown-shirts patrol the streets of Portland, Oregon, beating up suspected Trump supporters. I tweet, "It's a nice day," and 2,000 people respond that they hope I will die." . . .

The Brains Behind AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Royal Diadem Magazine . . . "Rather than Ocasio-Cortez actually running for a position in government because she desired to affect change, she is a paid “actor” who auditioned with the group Justice Democrats after her brother nominated her. Ocasio-Cortez was chosen by this outside political action committee out of more than 10,000 nominations to be the new mouthpiece to do the PAC’s bidding. You can view the video here, made before the exit of Saikat Chakrabarti:

Saikat Chakrabarti, and the organization Justice Democrats has some interesting history:

Comment to this post: They tapped a personality, just like they did with Barack Obama. Did anyone really think Obama was promoted in 2008 because of his accomplishments? That is too silly to even consider. They put him in a suit and propped him up because he's a charismatic black guy who would further their agenda to destroy America, and it's literally that simple.

The Wizards Behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Oz  
. . . "The words socialist and progressive are, of course, just euphemisms for communism, so rather than just continue to make sport of Ocasio-Cortez, which is admittedly fun, we need to peel back the onion and see just who is behind this fresh crop of outsiders infiltrating the nation’s Capitol. The men behind the curtain in Ocasio-Cortez’s Oz are Cenk Uygur, of the Young Turks, Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff, and Zack Exley, a board member of the Charlotte-based PAC Brand New Congress." . . .

AOC's Chief of Staff Saikat ChakrabartiIs Out. Is Pelosi to Blame?  "Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) right before the August recess. On Friday, one week later, AOC's office announced that her chief of staff and early patron, Saikat Chakrabarti, is leaving for a liberal nonprofit focused on the Green New Deal. Chakrabarti had made many high-profile flubs recently, but his worst offense involved a scathing attack on moderate Democrats. It is highly probable that Pelosi asked AOC to oust Chakrabarti in exchange for something AOC wanted." . . .

Saikat Chakrabarti, the brain behind Ocasio-Cortez to leave office  . . . "Chakrabarti has also been at the center of legal controversy. In April, he and Ocasio-Cortez were named in a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing them of overseeing a "shadowy web" of political action committees (PACs) that allowed them to raise more cash than they could have legally. The complaint also alleged that a limited liability company (LLC) was created to avoid federal expenditure requirements by offering Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic candidates political consulting services at a price so low that the company apparently shut down before the election was even over." . . .

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff, Comms Director Depart  . . . "After the rebuke, Pelosi’s allies within the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) moved simultaneously to defend the Speaker and attack the freshman congresswoman. A number of the CBC’s members, including Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), directed their anger at both Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff.

“ 'It shows you how ignorant and little history [Chakrabarti] knows, how ignorant he is to American history. How dare he,” Clay told The Hill.

"The Missouri Democrat extended his criticism to Justice Democrats, the group started by Chakrabart to support left-leaning primary challenges to establishment Democrats.

“I find it juvenile, their tactics, I find their ignorance to be beyond belief about American history and about who are really segregationists,” Clay said. “And so how dare they try to play the race card at this point, it shows you the weakness of their arguments.”

"Other moderates appeared to echo the sentiment, with some even anonymously calling for Chakrabarti’s ouster." . . .

 Allie Beth Stuckey on Backlash Over Video Spoofing Ocasio-Cortez.  

AOC would be a laugh riot if not for those behind her election. TD

A Perfect Distillation of Beto O’Rourke

National Review

"To make bastard use of the Lionel Trilling phrase, Beto O’Rourke’s bid for the White House has been but a series of “irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas.”

"O’Rourke’s campaign has wandered about the political wilderness in pursuit of some transcendent “moment,” one that might elevate it above that which it most plainly is: an ego trip for Robert Francis O’Rourke, who will not be the Democratic nominee, and never, in truth, was anything more than an heir to the Jon Ossoff–mania that so exercised a certain sort of MSNBC viewer. The Blue Wave has come and gone, but Beto O’Rourke has not.

"Beto went on CNN on Sunday desperate for a viral moment, one that might energize his campaign. It came while discussing the spate of mass shootings, when O’Rourke casually dropped the F-bomb mid-sentence, delivered with a certitude that captured the very essence of his candidacy — a caricature of authenticity. The vulgarity is shorthand meant to show that Beto is really serious, serious in a way you might not divine from his profligate use of a skateboard or insistence that the public watch him at the dentist. If you’re unconvinced, consider that in the immediate aftermath of the CNN interview, O’Rourke’s website started selling— what else? – profanity-laden t-shirts in honor of the episode.

"He is so serious.

15

"O’Rourke uses profanity as shorthand for seriousness. He skateboards as a crude stand-in for verve. His tabletop jeremiads beg for an energy from the audience that he does not and will never inspire. Clunky Spanish sentences delivered without a hint of affect are recited as though it they were genuine outreach. His trite bumper stickers are pathetic simulacra of the thoughtful, if misguided, policy solutions offered by some of his peers.

"The flashes of emotion and patented stop-start cadence belie O’Rourke’s capacity to pursue that most elusive — and demanding! — task: to traffic in the realm of ideas rather than mimetic innuendo. The CNN F-bomb is not merely a distillation of the O’Rourke campaign. It is the O’Rourke campaign: glorified performance art, laden with that most noxious pretense that voters will fall for it. Thus far, to their credit, they haven’t." . . .

The 'It's Easier To Buy A Gun Than Cold Medicine' Crowd Just Got Slapped With Reality

Townhall  "Okay—let’s look at the positives of this story. A Business Insider reporter, Hayley Peterson, tried to buy a gun at Walmart to test “the placement, selection, marketing, and security of firearms in Walmart's stores, and to learn more about the retailer's processes governing gun sales.” In other words, she wanted to make sure that background checks work. So, she’s going to try and buy a gun, which is something that tens of millions of Americans have already done. And she walked into a Walmart—a family-owned business that’s anathema to the Left. After the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Walmart has been hit with a petition to end all gun sales. 

"During the process, Peterson admits that the process was more complicated than the false narrative that’s peddled by the liberal media, the most popular being that it’s easier to buy a gun than cold medicine. Well, her journey just slapped all those clowns who thought that reality. Background checks are effective. Everyone who goes through a Federal Firearms Licensed dealer to buy their firearms, which is the vast majority of sales in this country, has to undergo a background check. Period. It’s the law (via Business Insider): . . .

Hayley Peterson's article in Business Insider: I tried to buy a gun at Walmart twice, and roadblocks left me empty-handed both times  . . . " 'One person referred me to Walmart's main customer-service line. I called that number and spoke with someone who said he also couldn't help me." 'When it comes to item availability, they don't want us to discuss that because of various reasons," he said."He declined to elaborate on this and said he knew of at least one location near me that didn't sell guns." . . ."I crossed that store off my list." . . .

Storming Back to the Impeachment Charade

Andrew C. McCarthy
Jerry Nadler claims to be conducting an impeachment inquiry, but his committee has never actually voted to have one. Here’s why.

"Elections have consequences. This was a point we tried to make many times in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections. The Democrats won control of the House fair and square. That means they get to drive the agenda.

Their agenda, kinda sorta, is the impeachment of President Trump — which is to say, the quixotic quest to build political support for it. According to the Washington Post, that effort is about to sink deeper into farce: Hearings on Stormy Daniels and the hush-money payments to conceal trysts that Donald Trump had — allegedly, of course — a decade before he ran for president.

"Such a quest is a two-edged sword, though. If this is how the Democrats choose to spend the public’s time and money, they must be accountable for it. They must be pressured to demonstrate the courage of their anti-Trump convictions. So far, for all the bluster, they’ve gotten away with cowardice.

"Most of the impeachment quasi-action is in the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.). We have to qualify the word “action” because, while Nadler claims to be conducting an impeachment inquiry, his committee has never actually voted to have one.

"This reflects the political needle Democrats cannot thread." . . .

How One Professor’s Angry Censorship Backfired

Alliance Defending Freedom

"Nothing.

"That’s what Bernadette Tasy had to show for her pro-life efforts on the Fresno State University campus, as the school year drew to a close. 

"She and a friend had launched a Students for Life group that fall, gaining only a few non-committal members – and some angry resistance from other students.

"Discouragement nagged at Bernadette as she planned one final effort for the school year.

"For her club’s last major activity, she had secured the university’s permission to create pro-life chalk messages along the main mall of the campus.

"The group had just finished the task when a professor approached. Greg Thatcher, who taught public health, made it clear he didn’t like what they were doing.

"Moments later, Bernadette saw a circle of students – enlisted by Thatcher – smearing out her club’s messages with their feet. Stunned, she pulled out her phone to record video of what was happening.

“ 'College campuses are not free speech areas,” the professor snarled. By then, Thatcher himself was working to deface and destroy the messages – claiming that he was exercising his own free speech. 

"Bernadette walked away shaken, but determined to stand up for her rights. Ultimately, she took legal action with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom.

"And what Thatcher meant for harm, God used for good.

"Her video confrontation with the professor was posted and went viral, drawing attention to both her case and her pro-life cause. Six months later, her Students for Life group won a resounding victory for free speech on her campus.

"And, in the middle of it all, they also helped save a life…

"Learn more about Bernadette’s story in the latest issue of Faith & Justice.

Biden Again Misrepresents Iraq War Stance

Free Beacon

NPR: ‘Biden told us that he opposed the war...but the reality is murky’

"Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden again misrepresented his previous stance on the Iraq war, claiming he "came out against the war" the "moment it started" despite defending his vote to authorize force in Iraq months after the war began.

"After laughing at the notion that critics question his judgement on foreign policy, Biden inaccurately defended his record on the Iraq War in an interview with the NPR Politics Podcast. While acknowledging his Senate vote to authorize the war, Biden claimed he opposed combat efforts as soon as the "shock and awe" bombing campaign and invasion began.

"President George W. Bush "said he needed the vote to be able to get inspectors in, into Iraq to determine whether or not Saddam Hussein was engaged in dealing with a nuclear program," Biden said. "He got them in, and before we know, we had ‘shock and awe.'"

" 'Immediately, the moment it started, I came out against the war at that moment," Biden claimed.

"Biden voted in favor of the 2002 Iraq invasion as a senator, saying at the time he did not believe the vote represented a "rush to war," but rather a "march to peace and security."

"Biden doubled down on his support for the war in a July 2003 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Biden said he "voted to go into Iraq," and he'd "vote to do it again."'  . . .

Planned Parenthood Kills 247 Black Babies Every Day, But the Media Calls White Pro-Lifers Racist

Life News  "I’m black. And white. I’m “biracial.” So was Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionist.

"I was conceived in rape. So was Frederick Douglass.

"As an adoptee and adoptive father, I fight for human dignity and for our God-given equality. So did Frederick Douglass.

"To many on the Left, I don’t exist. Black pro-lifers, apparently, don’t exist. In fact, they think I should have been aborted.

"Imagine the same if the inimitable Frederick Douglass were so easily discarded. The sin of racism—in the form of the brutal institution of slavery—would probably have continued to dehumanize and destroy for many more years.

"Mainstream media refused to tell the truth about slavery during Douglass’ time. He had to start his own newspaper, called the North Star, to do the job that so-called “journalists” refused to do. Today, I’m passionate about providing truth in my creative content and thoroughly researched articles, that—like Douglass—are fearless, factual and freeing. My columns are my North Star. 

"Mainstream media was fake news then and largely remains fake news now.

"That’s why the Washington Post can publish tripe like Marissa Brostoff’s deranged “How White Nationalists Aligned with the AntiAbortion Movement.” They make yellow journalism look legit." . . .

T’laib: Trump is “scared” of the squad. (Frankly, their voters scare me. TD)

What’s On Politics.

"Michigan Rep. Rashida T’laib is back in the news after some sort of downtime following her recent scuffle with Israel.
"And since she’s back, she had her target set once again on none other than – Donald Trump.
Trump “scared” of the squad
"From earlier lashing Trump  as “racist” for what she claims is the President’s frequent “attack of women of color lawmakers,” T’laib has a new narrative to push – Donald Trump is scared of “The Squad.”
"For those not closely watching the news, “The Squad” is a group of progressive freshmen lawmakers, who happen to all be women, and in one way or the other, have ethnicities belonging to immigrants in America. They also all happen to be Trump haters. The leader of the band is self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, T’laib herself, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and lawmaker Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, whom I call the “progressive wannabe” trying to be as progressive as the three other controversial congresswomen.
"Speaking after her planned trip to West Bank was canceled, T’laib, who by the way was the one who refused to visit citing “oppressive conditions,” said Trump is obviously “threatened” by the “elite,” ultra-liberal lawmakers, thus, his frequent “attacks” on them." . . .

Anti-Trump crusader dishonestly reports anti-Semitic 'scoop' and runs young Trump appointee out of his job

Regardless of what happens, an incident like this is certain to sour the public just a little bit more on the press with all its double standards (hellooo, Ilhan Omar!) — and throw fuel to the already growing public support for the backatcha doxxing of journalists as righteous payback.

Monica Showalter  "There's nothing like the power of dishonest journalism, and don't think the mass media don't know it.

"One of the people Ben Rhodes probably meant when he spoke of 27-year-olds "who know nothing," named Ben Penn over at Bloomberg, has come up with a dishonest story claiming to prove that a young Trump official named Leif Olson at the U.S. Department of Labor is an anti-Semite.  His big scoop (Penn's word, not mine) concerned some doxx-style digging of his on (or maybe an activist tip against) the low-level staffer, followed by an irony-

Babylon Bee

challenged claim that a Facebook post the young man made was his presented evidence of anti-Semitism.  It wasn't true — it actually was the opposite of true — and wiser heads pointed it out.  But Olson nevertheless resigned.

"Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner wrote a column exposing just how disgusting the whole story was, noting:

. . . And yet Bloomberg used this to tear him down. Ted Frank, a lawyer and friend of Olson (who happens to be Jewish), has a Twitter thread on this disgrace. Frank also notes that "a good man who just moved his family from Texas to engage in public service has his life disrupted." Even liberal Jonathan Chait, no fan of the Trump administration, acknowledged this was "terribly unfair."

"Has that served to chastise Ben Rhodes's finest?

"Not in the least.  He's doubling down to defend his dishonest story because he's happy he got his scalp:" . . .

. . . Mollie Hemingway pointed out that Penn has a pattern of this kind of obsession.

After that, Penn played the victim:

Mollie‏Verified account @MZHemingway

More

Mollie Retweeted Janet Jackson

Bloomberg's Ben Penn @benjaminpenn has a history of public bigotry against supporters of religious liberty, which he keeps framing falsely as nefarious. He also was upset that Olson supports the First Amendment's religious liberty protections. This is an interesting pattern.

. . . "Along with Klein, Mollie Hemingway wrote a piece blasting the travesty.  So did Rod Dreher, calling it "a revolting smear" and noting its resemblance to communism.  So did the Tablet's Yair Rosenberg.  Update: So did National Review's Michael Brendan Dougherty, calling it "bad faith."  So did Will Chamberlain at Human Events.  So did, hold your socks...Vox of all places.  And get ready to lose your wig: Matthew Gertz at Media Matters.

To cave on this slimy effort to slime an innocent man is very un-Trumpian behavior, raising questions about the competence of the Labor Department's bosses who caved so quickly.

Whoopi Goldberg warns Debra Messing about those 'lists' targeting Trumpers

Goldberg can be pretty impressive when she wants to be. Pity she's not leading the Democrats instead of the hydra-headed monster the Democrats and their broader left have become. She's kind of the grand lizardlike old Yoda they really need.

Debra Messing

Dianny of Patriot Retort

Monica Showalter  "Making herself the left's voice of reason, and not for the first time, Whoopi Goldberg has stepped in once more to try to end another leftist meltdown. The academy award-winning actress on Tuesday warned Hollywood T.V. star Debra Messing that her call to create Joe McCarthy-style lists of campaign donors was bound to backfire. Messing, as I noted here, was out crazy-tweeting a few days ago about the need to doxx Republicans who support Trump in a bid to target President Trump as he gets ready to attend a fundraiser in Beverly Hills on Sept. 17.

"Goldberg had a response to that, according to a report in Mediaite:

“This is not a good idea, okay?” Goldberg said. “Your idea of who you don’t want to work with is your personal business. Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on, and then people will be coming after you!”

"No sheet Sherlock, to speak the Whoopi-ese. She continued:

“We had something called a blacklist, and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff. Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work. … In this country, people can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country. You don’t have to like it, but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for. We don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff, but we don’t print out lists. I’m sure you guys misspoke when you said that because it sounded like a good idea. Think about it. Read about it. Remember what the blacklist actually meant to people and don’t encourage anyone, anyone, to do it.” 

. . . Full article

Seinfeld Star Rips ‘Will & Grace’ Actors for ‘Embarrassing’ Actions Against Trump Supporters  As Mr. Peterman would have said, "That would be grounds for dismissal".

Biden Claims He Was There 3,000 Years Ago When Isildur Took The Ring And The Strength Of Men Failed

Babylon Bee (You did catch that this is from the Bee, didn't you? The Babylon Bee; BABYLON BEE. The conservative CNN you know)

"HANOVER, NH—At a New Hampshire campaign stop, presidential candidate Joe Biden claimed he was at Mount Doom 3,000 years ago when Isildur decided to take the Ring instead of destroying it.

" 'I was there," he said, his voice trailing off as some long-forgotten memory flashed before his eyes. "I was there 3,000 years ago... when Isildur took the Ring. I was there the day the strength of men failed." Biden said that "the time of white men is over" and that "the time for us to listen to minority voices instead has come," though he was quick to clarify that he should still be the one to wield the Ring of Power.

"Biden seemed not to have a very strong recollection of the events, however, claiming that Harry Potter then flew in on a broom and took the ring in order to drop it in an exhaust port on the Death Star to stop the Borg.

" 'I remember it like it was last summer," he said wistfully. "The summer of '69.' "