What’s Behind the Rash of Anti-Semitic Incidents?

The apparent increase in anti-Semitic incidents is troubling, but responsible commentators would do well to wait for hard evidence before assigning blame.

St Louis Post-Dispatch

National Review  "On Monday, for the fourth time since the beginning of the year, bomb threats shut down multiple Jewish Community Centers across the country. The calls are the latest in a series: Sixty-nine threats have been called into 54 Jewish Community Centers in 27 states and a Canadian province since January 1, according to the JCC Association of North America. Meanwhile, also on Monday, vandals toppled nearly 200 tombstones at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis.

"Anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Europe for several years. In April 2015, Jeffrey Goldberg penned a long essay for The Atlantic entitled “Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?” In the final paragraph, he wrote: “I am predisposed to believe that there is no great future for the Jews in Europe, because evidence to support this belief is accumulating so quickly.” But the prospect of rising anti-Semitism in the United States, which does not share Europe’s tragic history, seems different — and perhaps, for that reason, even more troubling.
. . .
"None of this is to let the president off the hook. If it becomes undeniably clear that American Jews face a rising tide of violence to which the president has contributed, every side should call him to account. There is no place for anti-Semitism in the United States. But accusations warrant evidence, and that should be the case no matter who is in the White House."

Ian Tuttle is the Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow at the National Review Institute.

Ann Coulter: American Gigolos (GOP Watch List, Part 2)

Ann Coulter  "Americans thought electing a trash-talking billionaire reality TV star to the presidency of the  United States would finally be enough to convey the message that they hate both political parties. If anything, they hate Republicans more.

"But the Uni-Party can’t learn. The bureaucracy, the judiciary and congressional Republicans are all openly working for the “Resistance.” It’s President Trump against the world.

"In Congress, the hate for Trump is personal. Not only did he throw a grenade into politicians’ little do-nothing club, but his very existence destroys their self-conception as people with a set of skills.

"While Trump was making billions of dollars building skyscrapers, developing golf courses and starring on a hit reality TV show, members of Congress were slowly working their way up the political ladder — interning at think tanks and congressional offices, taking some small government job, then running for the House or Senate, and, hopefully, marrying a woman with a large inheritance.

"A stunning number of senators and congressmen are supported by rich wives — Sens. John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Richard Blumenthal, John Kerry and Ron Wyden, and Reps. Michael McCaul, Scott Peters and Paul Ryan, to name a few. Is there any other profession with as high a percentage of men sponging off their wives’ inheritances?

"Then a self-made billionaire came along, violated all the rules they had lived by, and swept aside more than a dozen experienced politicians just like themselves! Not only did Trump make his own money, but he beat them at the one thing they thought they knew how to do.

"How else to explain Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s sneering dismissal of Trump’s request for an investigation into voter fraud, followed — one week later! — by McConnell’s assurance that the Senate would investigate former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s phone call to the Russian ambassador?

"These useless Republicans allowed a Senate seat to be stolen from under their noses in Minnesota in 2008, giving Obama the vote he needed to pass Obamacare and destroy our health care." . . .

Come back! These agencies serve the American People!

Trump administration revokes Obama-era transgender bathroom guidance for schools   . . . "Anti-bullying safeguards would not be affected by the change, according to the letter. "All schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment," it said." . . .

In Foxx, Trump & DeVos Have a Staunch Education Ally  . . . "With control of all three branches of government, Republicans are set on unraveling President Obama's education legacy and pushing an unprecedented amount of funding and authority back to states." . . .

Pregnant Mother of Three Supports GOP Replacement Plan After ‘Absolute Nightmare’ Experience With Obamacare

Feds probing VA employees as opioid thefts sharply increase . . . "Now, consider what would happen at a private-sector clinic or hospital. First off, the DEA would have climbed all over any practitioner, pharmacist, or hospital for not keeping spotless records regarding the security of narcotics. Also, these drugs are not exactly cheap, so having significant amounts of it go missing would eventually prompt questions about costs even without the issue of inspections. The comparison to the government’s own performance when regulating its own operations speaks for itself."

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley’s epic Moynihan-like defense of Israel at U.N.

"I’m here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I’m here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the UN’s anti-Israel bias. We will never repeat the terrible mistake of Resolution 2334 and allow one-sided Security Council resolutions to condemn Israel. Instead, we will push for action on the real threats we face in the Middle East." UN Ambassador Nikki Haley of the United States

Legal Insurrection

"Nikki Haley always has been pro-Israel. But as U.N. Ambassador, she doesn’t get to voice purely personal opinions, but rather, speaks for the administration.

"Yet, any ambassador cannot help but bring his or her own style and wording to the job.
We certainly saw that with Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan, when he lambasted the U.N. General Assembly after passage of the infamous (and now revoked) 1975 “Zionism is Racism” Resolution 3379." . . .

"Given that the rhetoric from the anti-Israel boycott movement, including far-left regressive Jews, mirrors the “Zionism is Racism” resolution, it’s worth revisiting Moynihan’s words".

Does Maxine Waters consider Haley and Moynihan to be "scumbags" as well?

. . . "(full audio here, worth listening to the whole thing)
"Haley just had her Moynihan moment, though I suspect she’ll have many more before her tenure is over.

At her first press availability since becoming Ambassador, Haley lashed out at the blatant anti-Israel bias of the U.N. in general, and the Security Council in particular.
Here is her full prepared statement. I was going to excerpt it, but it’s just too good (emphasis added):

American Silliness; it just gets worse and worse. 2/22/2017

Yale Students Are Offended — Calhoun College’s Name Was Changed to Honor a White Woman   "People were complaining that Yale University’s John Calhoun College was named after a slave owner, so they changed it to “Grace Hopper College,” in honor of the female computer scientist and rear admiral — but some people are still upset, because Grace Hopper was white." . . .

Scripps Students Upset About Madeleine Albright Speech Because She’s White

. . . "Now, to be fair, not all of Mabon’s criticisms of the selection are unwarranted. For example: Mabon explains that — as a woman who does not support Hillary Clinton — she does not want to have to “sit quietly” and listen to someone who once insinuated that women who do not support Hillary Clinton have a “special place in Hell.” As a fellow woman in this category, this is definitely something I can understand." . . . 

UC California has created a travel ban of its own, which prohibits its own public university students from traveling to “anti-LGBT” states.  . . . "UCLA’s football team is scheduled to play Memphis in September and Cal State Long Beach baseball will play North Carolina in March. After these visits, the universities will no longer be able to play games in these states." . . .

"Unhinged Maxine Waters Calls Trump’s Cabinet a ‘Bunch of Scumbags’ and the ‘Kremlin Klan’ "

"Maxine Waters: I just think the American people need to know what is going on. This is a bunch of scumbags. That’s what they are. They’re all organized around making money."
That would be this Maxine Waters: . . . "The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent panel, said it had found “a substantial reason to believe” that Waters may have violated House ethics rules when she used her position on the Financial Services Committee to arrange a meeting between Treasury Department officials and representatives of the National Bankers Association, a trade association for minority-owned banks." . . .

And way back then, she saw no scumbags in the riots in 92 "Waters' confrontational style has earned her--and others who share her approach--both praise and criticism. After the riots, the Orange County Register, conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and other media lambasted Waters for refusing to denounce the looters." . . .

Muslims raise $42,000 to repair vandalized Jewish cemetery

thenewscommenter

Washington Examiner  "A crowdfunding page that was organized by the Muslim community wants to pay for 100 headstones that were destroyed at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis. In the first few hours of the operation the page has received 1,500 donations and doubled its funding goal as of late Tuesday.


"Launch Good's site states that the original goal of the "Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery" was met just three hours into the project's commencement. More than $42,000 has been donated so far.


"Linda Sarsour and Tarek El-Messidi launched the fundraiser to fix what one or more vandals did to headstones at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery on Monday. The suspect also wrote anti-Semitic messages throughout the property.


" 'On the heels of bomb threats and hate crimes against dozens of Jewish community [centers] across the United States, a historical Jewish cemetery was vandalized this past weekend when over 100 headstones were damaged," the crowdfunding page states."

More at The Hill.

It's Time to Scrap Property Taxes

American Thinker   . . . "Property taxes, conversely, are applied simply because a person owns something. Under virtually all modern property tax schemes, it doesn’t matter how long you own property, how much you paid when you purchased the property, or the fact that you already paid taxes (in the form of sales taxes and other levies) when you first acquired the property. The government taxes you simply because you have something that is perceived to be valuable.
. . .
"What claim over property, however, does an individual truly have if he or she must pay the government for the right to keep the property? Although no private property belongs to the government, the government does, through property taxes, have such substantial power over property to effectively render ownership rights as nothing more than a mere privilege.

"Not only do property taxes fundamentally limit owners’ rights, they are often unfairly applied and unjust, because many property owners will end up paying as much or more in taxes than they do for the property itself." . . . 
Read more

Is James O'Keefe About To Smoke CNN? Tells Hannity He's Set To Release "Hundreds of Hours" Of Newsroom Footage "Wikileaks Style"

ZeroPointNow   "James O'Keefe of Project Veritas is set to unleash holy hell Thursday on #FakeNews network CNN. Well, he didn't exactly say it was CNN, but it was heavily implied. "Apparently the network has a mole...

"O'Keefe is known for undercover sting operations which have led to such bombshells as the DNC's paid agitator network [4], the outing of "DisruptJ20" / Antifa organizers which took place at comet ping pong - and netted three arrests (including a suspected pedophile [5]), and most recently New Hampshire election fraud [6].
"Today O'Keefe was interviewed on Sean Hannity's radio show where he revealed that a major network has been "stung"

O'Keefe: In the next 48 hours, Project Veritas, like Wikileaks, will be releasing hundreds of hours of tape from within the establishment media. Our next target is in fact, the media.

Hannity: How long have you been working on this?

O'Keefe: We've had people on the inside come to us. Just like Julian Assange has people come to him, we've had people, sources come to us and give us information, and we're going to be releasing it "Wikileaks Style" this week.

. . .
"In other words, a closeted Trump supporter working deep inside hyper-liberal CNN just gave O'Keefe a ton of behind the scenes footage of "The Most Trusted Name In News." My guess is we're about to hear a bunch of establishment media puppets revealing their extreme hatred for the sitting President of the United States.
"Remember that time CNN employees were laughing about Trump's plane crashing? If O'Keefe's release is anything along these lines, popcorn sales are about to go through the roof...:

Leaky John Brennan; will the former CIA director be hoist by his own petard?

The American Spectator

Will the former CIA director be hoist by his own petard?

"Out of hatred for McGovernite liberals, a Republican president in the 1970s broke the law. Now those aging radicals break the law out of hatred for a Republican president.

"Nested within intelligence agencies, they have fed a series of criminal leaks to a press corps that functions like an anti-Trump dirty tricks operation.

"Donald Trump has publicly speculated that former CIA director John Brennan is one of the criminal leakers. In January, he tweeted out, “Was this the leaker of Fake News?” Trump has now charged the Justice Department with investigating “low-life leakers” in the government.

"Former CIA analyst Tony Shaffer also suspects Brennan as one of the leakers. He said on Fox Business Network that the leaks which forced Michael Flynn out can be laid “squarely at the feet of” Brennan, among other embittered Obama aides." . . .

Progressive movement is about power and authoritarianism

Weasel Zippers

Great Falls Tribune  "The left-wing progressives have had a tough time with President Trump’s election. In addition to the generalized weeping and gnashing of teeth, secessionist movements have begun in California, Oregon and Washington (Although strangely, they are not ridiculed by the mainstream press like Texas was after President Obama won…?). Mayors of so-called “Sanctuary Cities” are panicking at the thought that the federal government might withhold funds for their refusal to follow federal laws, and just the other day the media blamed the Trump administration for unlawfully detaining a Muslim Olympian, even though the detention occurred in December 2016, under the Obama Administration.

"Students and others at Berkeley rioted and attacked property at the mere thought that someone who disagrees with them might be allowed to speak in public." . . .

Former Gitmo Detainee Fighting For ISIS Blows Himself Up In Mosul –

Weasel Zippers

(BBC) – A British IS fighter who died in a suicide bomb attack on Iraqi forces in Mosul is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, the BBC understands.
"The self-styled Islamic State group said two days ago that Abu-Zakariya al-Britani detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base in Tal Gaysum, south-west of Mosul.
"He is believed to have been originally known as Ronald Fiddler.
"Fiddler, 50 and from Manchester, was sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2002.
"IS has now published a photograph of Fiddler, who was also known as Jamul-Uddin al-Harith before taking the nom-du-guerre Abu-Zakariya al-Britani.
"He had been seized by US forces in Pakistan in 2001, before being sent to Guantanamo.
"US interrogators found he provided useful information to them about the Taliban’s methods, and he was released after two years.
"The Daily Mail reported Fiddler received a million pounds in compensation from the government when he came back to the UK." . . .

More here.

Trump's New Executive Order on Immigration: What You Need to Know

Katie Pavlich

"President Donald Trump and his team at the White House are working on a new and improved executive order barring refugees from terror hot spots around the world and bolstering enforcement of current immigration laws. 

"As explained by Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano, a rewriting of the order is a more effective and less time consuming way for the President to reach his goal of keeping the country safe. It also nullifies a ruling handed down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals opposing the order. 

"What the new order will do: "

-Temporarily ban refugees from the same previously selected countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya. The selection of these countries comes from an Obama administration recommendation.
-Allow green card holders from the seven selected countries to travel in and out of the United States
-Those in transit on visas at the time when the new order is signed will not be detained at the airport and sent home
-Refugees citing religious persecution, such as Christians under genocide in the countries listed, will not receive special consideration

How is it different than his first executive order?

-The first executive order issued in January did not exempt green card holders from being barred entry in to the U.S.
-The first executive order allowed refugees being persecuted on the basis of religious to receive special consideration for entry 

"The new executive order is expected by the end of the week. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday the administration is confident the new executive order will pass legal muster."