Keep the immigration enforcement/no amnesty calls flowing

art credit: beforeitsnews.com

From our friend Steve Salvi at Ohio Jobs & Justice Pac :

The backlash that Pres. Trump has gotten from immigration activists is moving him away from his "I sign anything" stance just days ago. Keep the immigration enforcement/no amnesty calls and social media posts flowing into the White House and US Congress! We're still far from stopping an amnesty let alone any end to chain migration, visa lottery, and funding for border protection.

So here are two recent CTP Action Alerts, re-posted:

#1   Take Action and call the White House

White House comment line: 202-456-1111

What to say: Ask the President to oppose any illegal alien DREAMER amnesty and to immediately end the unconstitutional DACA program.

Need talking points or background before you make your call? The Cleveland Tea Party blog citing Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) on DACA is here. Our blog citing Mark Steyn, with link to Ann Coulter, both on the priority of stopping illegal immigration, is here. 

This blog also linked to additional facts and background information about the DREAMers amnesty. Click here.

#2   DACA Amnesty Alert from NumbersUSA:

CAN YOU HELP STOP THIS? The bi-partisan Senate proposal is a DACA amnesty that

(1) continues Chain Migration

(2) rejects E-Verify

(3) gives green cards to TPS, and

(4) rewards parents of DACA with lifetime of work permits

In other words, the Senate proposal is the opposite of the House of Representatives DACA bill -- H.R. 4760 -- that NumbersUSA is endorsing.

Your senators need to know that their voters see the so-called balanced senate amnesty deal as a scary joke.

Phone Sen. Sherrod Brown at (202) 224-2315

Phone Sen. Rob Portman at (202) 224-3353

Pick one or more numbered items from above that you oppose and tell the Senators' staffers that is why they should make it clear that they want nothing to do with that "Durbin-Flake amnesty proposal" presented to the White House Thursday.

# # #

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

photo credit: alcalde.texasexes.org

The above pictures monument of Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. is at the University of Texas; it was installed in 1999. It captures the inspiration of the man. 

Then there is the The Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial monument in DC, which was dedicated in 2011. At that time, blogger Aaron Worthing at patterico’s pontifications had this to say:

However, there has been controversy over the choice of Lei Yixin, a 57-year-old master sculptor from Changsha in Hunan province, to carry out the work. Critics have openly asked why a black, or at least an American, artist was not chosen and even remarked that Dr King appears slightly Asian in Mr Lei’s rendering.

And of course the actual work was mainly outsourced:

Mr Lei, who has in the past carved two statues of Mao Tse-tung, one of which stands in the former garden of Mao Anqing, the Chinese leader’s son, carried out almost all of the work in Changsha.

More than 150 granite blocks, weighing some 1,600 tons, were then shipped from Xiamen to the port of Baltimore, and reassembled by a team of 100 workmen, including ten Chinese stone masons brought over specifically for the project.

Personally, I think to focus on the ethnicity of the man kind of misses the point of Dr. King’s legacy.  If the best sculptor doesn’t happen to be black, what of it?

Wanting to have it made in America isn’t wrong, however, but let me posit this.  If it should be a source of national pride for the Chinese that one of their own made this, then perhaps it will encourage the Chinese to learn more about the man.  They will learn in his belief in freedom, and equality of opportunity.  They will learn of his courage, and he will tell them forthrightly from the grave that it was his faith that gave him that courage.  Is that such a bad thing?  It seems the Chinese could use some of his philosophy.

So my only objection is, well…  look at it.

Photo credit: AP via Patterico’s Pontifications

The monument is intended to honor a great American, but instead it brings to mind the role of cultural Marxism in expressions of art, architectures, etc., and, in this case, statuary. Jay’s Analysis has a summary of that school of expression:

It is a frequently misunderstood notion that "modern" and "abstract" art was an organic development that arose from grassroots battles against "oppression" and the "folk art" of the lower classes. In fact, ugly, degenerate art arose from Soviet and communist circles as a means to attack aesthetic beauty. I often remark that "Bauhaus" architecture is communist to the surprise of listeners, but the facts are, "modern art" is almost wholly a communist and Soviet invention of weaponized culture. To understand this, one must look at the Frankfurt School of Marxism, tasked primarily with social engineering and destroying culture.

Weaponized culture was a key tool for destroying the West's social values and social structure. This is also true of the modern transformations of "art" into its own internal nihilist critique of meaning itself  . . .

It’s in the same family as what Olivia Mull described as “Brutalist buildings” in London. Big, clunky, and just plain ugly. Well, that's my take, anyway.

Here’s a link to photos of two dozen monuments to the Reverend. Most of them strike me as a more appropriate tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King than the one in DC.

Here's the background on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

# # #

Could the false alarm in Hawaii happen here?

NORAD provides airspace surveillance to protect all states in the lower 48, including Ohio. But like Hawaii, Ohio also has its own Emergency Management Agency.

RIck Moran at American Thinker reports:

The false alert yesterday that informed Hawaiians a missile was inbound and told for residents to seek shelter was caused by an employee of the Emergency Management Agency pushing "the wrong button" during a shift change.

. . .

It should be noted that some empty headed leftists are blaming Trump for the SNAFU, but that's just ignorant. The [Hawaii] EMA is wholly a state agency and the responsibility for issuing alerts rests completely with the state government.

Those of us in Ohio probably don’t feel as vulnerable as Hawaiians to incoming missile attacks, but Moran raised the point:

Today, I have no doubt that the other 49 states in the nation are looking at their notification systems under a microscope. But what should they look for? What happened in Hawaii?

. . .

Hawaii says the alert was sent out because of a mistake made by an employee. Currently, we have no reason to doubt that explanation. But would Hawaii - or any state - announce to the public that the system had been hacked and the entire EMA system was vulnerable to intrusion?

As in, hacked by the Russians?

Seriously, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s website’s most recent postings concern extreme weather alerts and information. It has a page with information about the three nuclear power plants constructed in Ohio. The only other reference to anything “nuclear” at the website is a link to the “Center for Rad/Nuc Training at the Nevada National Security Site Program,” so the agency does not appear to have incoming nuclear missiles or improvised nuclear terror attacks on its priority lists. Still, those potential events could be covered by The EMA Watch Office:

The Ohio EMA Watch Office is one of the newest branches of the agency and is a key component of the state emergency management system. This office aims to help facilitate a quicker, more informed decision-making process for the preparation for, and response to hazards and incidents impacting Ohio. 

Just FYI.

# # #

Trump craziness

Glenn McCoy cartoon via trump-conservative.com

Last week, Conrad Black wrote a column on the Trump presidency and the continuing temper tantrums on the left. It was published by the New York Sun with the colorful title “Trump’s Foes Beat Retreat To a Rat-Infested Trench And Wave 25th Amendment.” Mr. Black contrasted Michael Wolff’s recent “demonography” [Fire and Fury] and concomitant media pronouncements concerning Trump’s mental incapacity, with President Trump’s negotiations with members of Congress about illegal immigration – live in front of the TV cameras. Mr. Black’s column concludes:

To appreciate what has happened, a little perspective is needed: Mr. Trump’s candidacy was a joke; then he was unelectable, then his election could be invalidated, then he could be impeached, and then he could be removed for past harassment of women, or violating the Logan Act, or obstruction of justice, and now mental incapacity.

Donald Trump is a strange cat and an acquired taste, but he is one of the most vivid, and one of the most astoundingly successful figures of American history. I predict that a year from now, David Brooks and Bret Stephens will be at least closet supporters, even if they have socio-cultural clothespins on their noses.

Black’s column is here. And in related comments on social media about how crazy Trump is: 

             The people calling Trump “mentally ill”:

·         Dress like genitalia to protest Trump [see below: Eye Bleach caution alert]

·         Scream at the sky

·         Think there are 63 genders

·         Think that cutting off your genitalia is normal

·         Need “safe spaces” to protect their feelings

Photograph credit: dailywire.com

# # #

Did Trump even say that bad word?

image credit: uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com

Josh Dawsey at the Washington Post reports on Trump's offensive, obscene, racist remarks in a meeting with some Senators:

. . . according to several people briefed on the meeting.

“Why are we having all these people from $#!+hole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers.

Cue: media freak out. But did Trump actually say that? According to Jim Treacher’s brief analysis at PJ Media:

Take a closer look at Dawsey's construction there. He got this from "several people briefed on the meeting." Oh, okay. So these people, whose names we do not know, were told that Trump said this bad word by somebody who was actually in the room at the time. We're getting it third-hand.

So, who are these unnamed people? Any hints? MSNBC's Kyle Griffin gives us one.

NBC News has confirmed Trump's "$#!+hole countries" remark with a Democratic aide briefed on the meeting.

So it's been confirmed by... a Democrat. Who wasn't even in the room.

Hey, what more proof do you need?

As Treacher agrees, maybe Trump said it. Or maybe it’s Fake News, in compliance with the new standard: “If it rings true, it is true.”  

# # #

DACA Amnesty Alert

NumbersUSA posted this Action Alert this morning:

CAN YOU HELP STOP THIS? A much-awaited bi-partisan Senate proposal is a DACA amnesty that

(1) continues Chain Migration

(2) rejects E-Verify

(3) gives green cards to TPS, and

(4) rewards parents of DACA with lifetime of work permits

In other words, the Senate proposal is the opposite of the House of Representatives DACA bill -- H.R. 4760 -- that NumbersUSA is endorsing.

Your senators need to know that their voters see the so-called balanced senate amnesty deal as a scary joke.

Phone Sen. Sherrod Brown at (202) 224-2315

Phone Sen. Rob Portman at (202) 224-3353

Pick one or more numbered items from above that you oppose and tell the Senators' staffers that is why they should make it clear that they want nothing to do with that "Durbin-Flake amnesty proposal" presented to the White House Thursday.

# # #

Musical chairs: political headlines at cleveland.com

art credit: australianpoliticsonline.com

Musical chairs: political headlines at cleveland.com 

(just the last two days!)

Jim Renacci drops out of the Ohio governor's race to run forSenate

Dennis Kucinich to enter Ohio governor's race on Wednesday

Nan Whaley to drop out of Ohio governor's race Friday

Mary Taylor unveils Hamilton executive [Nathan Estruth] as running mate [in Governor’s race]

Richard Cordray and Betty Sutton announce joint Ohio gubernatorial ticket

# # #

DREAMer amnesty: moral imperative or Democrat votes

image credit: jimbovard.com

The DREAMers, we are told, are in the U.S. through no fault of their own. The Uniparty’s selling point for amnesty is the “moral imperative” and compassion. But it is really all about votes, as Michael Bastasch at The Daily Caller confirms:

The Center For American Progress (CAP) Action Fund circulated a memo on Monday calling illegal immigrants brought here at a young age — so-called “Dreamers” — a “critical component of the Democratic Party’s future electoral success.”

The memo, co-authored by former Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri, was sent around to allies calling on Democrats to “refuse to offer any votes for Republican spending bills that do not offer a fix for Dreamers and instead appropriate funds to deport them.”

. . .

“The fight to protect Dreamers is not only a moral imperative, it is also a critical component of the Democratic Party’s future electoral success,” reads Palmieri’s memo, obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“If Democrats don’t try to do everything in their power to defend Dreamers, that will jeopardize Democrats’ electoral chances in 2018 and beyond,” reads the memo. “In short, the next few weeks will tell us a lot about the Democratic Party and its long-term electoral prospects.”

YouTube of meeting with President Trump and Senators on immigration

Yesterday's report at Zero Hedge was not encouraging about whatever bill President Trump will sign, but Trump's meeting with senators in front of the media tells me there's more here than meets the eye. 

Probably a good time to call the White House if you oppose any amnesty; the Action Alert is here.

# # #

President Trump is a dope?

cartoon by A.F. Branco at legalinsurrection.com

At The American Spectator, Dov Fischer traces the sorry history of the liberal media branding a (D) President as brilliant, and an (R) President as a bumbling moron, regardless of the factual record. Then Fischer gets to President Trump. I am posting the paragraph because it’s a handy and concise summary of the first year of his Presidency:

But is the President stupid? It depends. Without any prior political experience, he defeated a field of serious Republican candidates for the nomination and then defeated a former United States Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, Yale Law grad with half a century of political experience for the Presidency. In a year, he has set the economy booming with a huge nationwide increase in consumer confidence, a soaring stock market, sustained economic growth exceeding three percent for consecutive quarters, muted unemployment, a record number of successful appointments of federal appellate judges, and much more. He has revived the energy sector, deregulated the economy, honored promises from approving the Keystone XL and Dakota oil pipelines to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, induced allied world leaders to start paying their fair share of NATO costs, sharply reduced illegal immigration along our southern border, restored civil liberty protections to college students accused of assault, promoted charter schools and school choice, enacted the most overarching tax reduction in the past thirty years — perhaps the most ever — and advanced an ambitious agenda for his second year. So, if that is the mark of stupid, then this guy is a dope.

The most recent attacks on President Trump’s unfitness for office or stupidity or [fill in the blank] prompted Trump’s response on Twitter, branding himself as a “stable genius.” Which, as Scott Adams of Dilbert fame pointed out, was sheer genius itself, because Trump’s detractors will keep referring back to his tweets, endlessly mocking him as a “very stable genius.”

# # # 

Action Alert Updated: No DACA No Dreamer Amnesty!

 Image credit: aldawood81.wordpress.com

Action Alert: No DACA  No Dreamer Amnesty!

UPDATE: Last week, callers were getting either a busy signal or a message that due to inclement weather, the office was closed and callers were requested to try again on the next business day. So this is a re-post for the week of Jan-08. 

Our friend Steve Salvi at Ohio Jobs & Justice Pac sent out this Action Alert:

Take Action this minute and call the White House:

White House comment line: 202-456-1111

What to say:

Ask the President to oppose any illegal alien DREAMER amnesty and to immediately end his unconstitutional DACA program.

Be polite but firm.

Need talking points or background before you make your call? The Cleveland Tea Party blog citing Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) on DACA is here. Our blog citing Mark Steyn, with link to Ann Coulter, both on the priority of stopping illegal immigration, is here. 

And yesterday, this blog linked to additional facts and background information about the DREAMers amnesty. Click here.

 # # #

More info on DACA / DREAMers amnesty

art credit: beforeitsnews.com

Re: Amnesty for DREAMers, I’ll be re-posting the Action Alert from last week, starting tomorrow, Monday (DC weather prevented most calls from being answered last week). But over the weekend, several blogs, especially American Thinker, have reported on some facts and developments that relate to DACA.   

From American Thinker blogs: Are most of the DREAMers “valedictorians and Medal of Honor-level military heroes” or are they “functional illiterates” and “underachievers”? Thomas Lifson reports here. And in another blog, Lifson sums up the dilemma for the Democrats pushing for DREAMer amnesty, and asks whether Sen Chuck Schumer can risk a government shutdown:

President Trump engineered this dilemma for Schumer by rescinding Obama’s executive order creating the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, but giving Congress until March 2018 to come up with an alternative approach. That trap is now closing in on Schumer. He has 10 Democrat senators up for re-election in November in states that voted for Trump. Will Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, John Tester of Montana, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri be willing to tell their voters that they think amnesty for a group that includes MS 13 members is so important that the government ought to be shut down? Or, if President Trump and the GOP offer some form of amnesty that does not include chain migration (thereby rewarding the parents that illegally brought their children here) but does include border wall funding, are they willing to vote against it?

We are watching another negotiation-in-process.

# # #

Progressive vs conservative solutions

 

A. F. Branco cartoon at legal insurrection

Ever since their Feb. 2016 issue dedicated to “Conservatives Against Trump,” I have been wary of National Review online. But historian Victor Davis Hanson recently published an essay on “The Great Experiment” at the NRO website, and he concludes:  

The true test of conservative solutions is to see how things are after four years of a strongly conservative president, with at least two years of a Republican Congress.

. . .

Antidote One, of unapologetic progressivism under Obama, did not lead to an economically robust and growing America, one safer abroad in a more secure world, and more cohesive, united, and stable at home — at least if that truly was the leftist agenda rather than the more hushed opposite goal of more equal but poorer Americans, America as just another nation among many, and a cultural revolution aimed at accentuating rather than assimilating race, class, and gender identities.

We shall see if the subsequent Antidote Two, of unregretful conservatism under Trump, will provide what conservatism has always promised: greater prosperity, security, and unity.

The engines of prosperity are already revving up, yet we still see anti-Trump foot-stamping, temper tantrums, and hysteria on display in the media (see cartoon at top), in academia, in the entertainment industry, and in groups like BLM and Antifa. No unity there. Yet. Perhaps when take-home pay increases due to the tax cuts, some of the hysteria will start to subside. Anyway, you can read the rest of Hanson’s essay here.

# # #

Action Alert: No Dreamer Amnesty

 Image credit: aldawood81.wordpress.com

Action Alert: No DACA  No Dreamer Amnesty!

UPDATE: Callers are getting either a busy signal or a message that due to inclement weather, the office is closed and the caller is requested to try again on the next business day. I'll re-post this on Monday. 

Our friend Steve Salvi at Ohio Jobs & Justice Pac sent out this Action Alert:

Take Action this minute and call the White House:

White House comment line: 202-456-1111

What to say:

Ask the President to oppose any illegal alien DREAMER amnesty and to immediately end his unconstitutional DACA program.

Be polite but firm.

Need talking points or background before you make your call? The Cleveland Tea Party blog citing Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) on DACA is here. Our blog citing Mark Steyn, with link to Ann Coulter, both on the priority of stopping illegal immigration, is here. 

 # # #

Ohio Division of Liquor “Out of” Control

 headline from 1933:

image credit: mafiapedia.wordpress.com

 headline from 2018:

Ohioans Are Going to Have a Hard Time 

Buying Their Favorite Vodka in 2018

John Ellis at PJ Media reports on a development at the Ohio Division of Liquor Control:

Ohio's Orwellian named Division of Liquor Control is forcing many Ohioans who want to enjoy their favorite flavored vodka to spend their money in neighboring states thanks to its decision to place new limits on liquor sales.

. . .

Making the decision for consumers, Ohio's Division of Liquor Control has decided that over 700 liquor brands will no longer be sold in the state. According to a spokesperson [via Cincinnati Business Courier], this decision was made to, "to free up shelf space for more popular products as well as new-to-market products."

Our household doesn’t consume much in the way of liquor, but undoubtedly some Tea Party people will not be happy about this. PJ Media provides the list of banned liquor:

If you're interested in seeing the complete list of now-banned alcohols in Ohio, click here.

Read the entire report here. Out. Of. Control.

# # #

Healthcare in 2018

cartoon by Jake Fuller via caymancompass.com

Residents in Geneva, New York have been promoting single-payer (i.e., government-run) healthcare as better than healthcare provided by the private sector:

Those supporting an effort to get universal health care in New York — including members of a fledgling organization in Geneva — hope to convince state legislators of the need through the stories of their constituents.

. . .

The goal is to gather information with these surveys to help lobby lawmakers to support the New York Health Act, which would provide comprehensive, universal health coverage to all state residents, and which would replace private insurance coverage.

Coverage would be funded through a graduated tax on payroll and non-payroll taxable income, based on ability to pay. 

These people should be careful what they wish for. Even with the Obamacare mandate eliminated, repealing the entire Obamacare bill remains a legislative priority for President Trump. It should be a priority for McConnell and Ryan, because this is what government-run healthcare looks like (posted at Hannity.com on Jan-03-18):

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service announced this week that it was canceling all “routine operations” until February, saying all “non-emergency” procedures will be delayed after a flu-outbreak left hospitals overcrowded and under-funded.

According to the Telegraph, the nation’s government-run health services axed over 50,000 operations in every hospital in the UK following claims by doctors that patients were being treated as if they were in “third world countries.”

. . .

The chaos comes as prominent Democrats and liberal legislators like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders advocate for a similar, single-payer healthcare system in the United States. Left-wing advocates often point to Canada and the United Kingdom as an “ideal” vision for the future of America’s health industry.

The NHS is closing clinics, cancelling surgeries, the hospitals are overcrowded, they are even “running out of corridor space,” and there are ambulances lined up outside. 

At present, the Senate does not have enough GOP votes to repeal Obamacare (see here). The elimination of the mandate was a good start, but just a start. I still think that if the exemption from Obamacare currently enjoyed by members of Congress were eliminated, they'd find a way to get the job done.

# # #

It can happen. Hillary to Trump.

THE TRUMPET @Hillary Is 44 

It can happen. During the election cycles when Hillary (that’s “Felonia von Pantsuit” to you, Kurt Schlichter) was a potential or actual nominee for President, there was a website called “Hillary is 44" – and it promoted Hillary in every way possible. Then, in 2016, something happened to the website. On the 2017 anniversary of the November 2016 election, "Hillary is 44" published this:

On November 11, 2016 we traveled from being the premier Hillary Clinton website to an endorsement of Donald J. Trump for President.

On November 4, 2016 we predicted that Donald J. Trump would win the election. We provided a map of a state by state analysis. We declared on that Friday before the Tuesday elections three states “too close to call”. Those states? Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, all of which Donald J. Trump won.

Since then, the website has morphed into an informed and perceptive resource for those attempting to follow and understand the developments and dynamics of the Trump administration, his strategy to drain the swamp, and so on. If you had told me in October 2016 that this pro-Hillary website would flip to one that celebrates our “MAGAnificent” President, I’d have laughed out loud.

It can happen. 

# # #

Fake News Propaganda – a Case Study

art credit: Henry Payne cartoon at Townhall 

Happy New Year! I’m starting off 2018 with a close-up look at how the media manufactures Fake News.

Frank Miele publishes news commentary in the Daily Inter Lake, a Montana newspaper. On Dec. 30, he ran an editorial about an AP wire report, the misinformation it contained, and his subsequent efforts to wrench a correction out of the AP higher-ups (h/t Thomas Lifson). It is a bit of a read, but I am linking to it, because it provides a look inside a newsroom and how “Fake News” gets so widely disseminated. It is also a classic illustration of Trump Derangement Syndrome infecting the media pushing progressive propaganda. The Russian Collusion phony baloney is starting to collapse of its own weight, and Miele’s report is related to that, insofar as Andrew McCabe is one of the cast of characters at the FBI. Miele’s report starts off:

I took a rare shift as news editor last Saturday, which gave me an unexpected chance to put my finger in the dike holding back the flood of fake news caused by those afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome. 

As I was sifting through the Associated Press news report looking for wire stories worth putting into the Sunday paper, one story on the news digest caught my attention right away: “President Donald Trump reacts to reports about the retirement of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe by retweeting falsehoods about McCabe’s wife.” 

“Oh no,” I thought. “What has Trump done now?” Because even though I am a Trump supporter, I’ve learned that Twitter can be a cause of trouble in the Trump administration as well as a frequent force for good.

But when I looked up the story, I discovered that my worries were unfounded. So, unfortunately, was the story.

When I read AP reporter Darlene Superville’s story, it was immediately obvious that she had either misunderstood Trump’s tweet or intentionally lied about it. She also plainly didn’t know the meaning of the verb “retweet,” since Trump had tweeted an original statement, not a quoted one.

Getting to the truth will take a bit of context, so here goes . . .

And he goes on from there in some detail. He eventually gets a correction from the AP, but here’s his conclusion, and one which I will put in my mental file for the next time I have a conversation with a liberal on media propaganda:

It was a small step, but an important one. Yes, I felt like the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the dike to stop the floodwaters, but it may be a hollow victory in the war on fake news. I have to wonder about all those hundreds of editors who put the same erroneous story in their newspapers or websites last weekend without question. Didn’t anyone other than me question the accuracy of the report? Besides, with the power of the Internet, the damage may be irreparable. I checked on Tuesday and found out that the fake version of the story was listed in a Google search 7,790 times whereas the corrected version only appeared on 5,710 websites.

Let the reader beware. 

You can read the rest here. It’s an uphill battle, so please pass it on!

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