Preparing to vote / judicial candidates

With just over 2 weeks to go before the Nov 6 election, time to prepare to vote. You can find your sample ballot for Cuyahoga County here. You should have your Cuyahoga County voter registration postcard at hand with your precinct details. (For Lake County voters, go here. For Geauga County voters, go here.)

Most of the candidate lists with recommendations are focused on the top of the ticket races. But I’ve been researching judicial candidates and found some ratings, endorsements, and report cards. One source was the <Judge4yourself> website, which collects ratings from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Associationm the Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association, the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, and the Ohio Women’s Bar Association.

But it also specifies which candidates receive an endorsement from the Editorial Board of the PD / cleveland.com. Since there will be some Tea Party readers who would not consider a cleveland.com endorsement as a positive, I searched further.  

The <Ohio.ivoteconservative> website represents the collective recommendations of its signatories, many of which Tea Party members will recognize. If you visit their home page and fill in three boxes of info, you will get a list of recommended candidates who will appear on your ballot. It prints out on one page, so you can take it with you when you go to vote. Below is the list of recommended judicial candidates in a downtown Cleveland precinct (if you vote elsewhere, including in another county, you’ll want to go the website and enter your details to get your list of recommended candidates.):

Oh Supreme Court (1/1/19)

  Craig Baldwin

Oh Supreme Court (1/2/19)

  Mary Degenaro

  

Ohio Court Of Appeals #8

  Raymond Headen

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/1/19)

  Jeffrery C. Sindelar Jr

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/2/19)

  Bradley Hull IV

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/3/19)

  Lorraine Coyne

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/5/19)

  Lon Cherie D. Billingsley

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/6/19)

  Wanda C. Jones

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/7/19)

  Kathleen Ann Sutula

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/8/19)

  Jarrett J. Northup

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/9/19)

  Brian Darling

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/11/19)

  Lori Anne Dyke

Cuyahoga Cnty Cmn Pleas Court (1/1/19)

  Denise Nancy Rini

I’ll re-post this information shortly before Election Day.

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And the censorship goes on

Four headlines reporting censorship on social media and at movie theaters -- just in the last week:

From Newsbusters:

Twitter Locks Conservative Site Outfor ‘Hate’ Citing Facts About STDs

From Steve Green at PJ Media:

Twitter Permanently Bans 'GayPatriot' Bruce Carroll, Cites Kafka for Precedent

From Beth Baumann at Townhall:

Suppression: Theaters Drop 'Gosnell' Movie Despite It Being a Top-Grossing Film

From John Stossel at NWF Daily News:

            Shut up, they explain

UPDATED 5pm

From Scott McKay at American Spectator:

           A Letter From Facebook Jail: The casualties of Big Tech’sassault on free expression

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We Tea Party people

photo credit: historynewsnetwork.org

The unhyphenated American Lloyd Marcus posts at American Thinker. Here’s the last two paragraphs of his article titled “Not Guilty: The Tea Party and Violence”:

We Tea Party people never beat up our opposition. Desiring the best for all our fellow Americans, we reach out to Democrats/leftists trying to educate them. Democrats/leftists have become super-hostile to facts and truth. They now seek to silence, punish and jail anyone daring to disagree with their agenda. Tea Party people are the opposite. We highly respect our constitutional right of free speech. So don't tell me that Tea Party people are just as guilty of incivility as Democrats/leftists. That is a lie.

Trump's swift dismantlement of Obama's anti-America agenda and successfully placing another conservative on the Supreme Court has caused Democrats and the fake news media to suspend any pretense of civility, honesty, and respect for the law. The Democratic Party has morphed into an angry insane mob. Their enforcers, joined by fake news media, are determined to beat the American people into submission. The Democrats' Trump resistance mob bears no resemblance to the Tea Party which is dignified, patriotic, and good. The Democratic Party has become the home of pure evil and must never be allowed back into power, controlling the house, senate or White House.

It’s a good article to keep in mind as we head into November. The entire article is here.

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Caravan crossing the U.S.-Mexico border

From today’s NumbersUSA newsletter:

Thousands of Central Americans joined a caravan this week, originating in Honduras, with hopes of reaching the U.S.-Mexico border where they plan to claim asylum, illegally enter the country, or both.

Pres. Trump has already issued warnings to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and has threatened to back out of the USMCA trade pact with Mexico if the country doesn't do its part to prevent the caravan from reaching the U.S. border. There are reports that Mexico is willing to cooperate.

The President has also said that he plans to move troops to the border to help prevent the caravan from entering the country.

So far, the Administration has responded well. But how it responds if, and when, the caravan reaches the U.S.-Mexico border remains to be seen.

If there's one thing that we've learned from past caravans and border surges, should any of the more than 4,000 economic migrants successfully make it into the United States, they'll be released to the interior of the country and never be heard from again.

Therefore, the best action the Trump Administration can take is to prevent anyone from the caravan from actually entering the country. Pres. Trump could even use his executive authority to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent the caravan from entering the U.S.

Handling Asylum Claims

Many in the caravan have told reporters that they plan on claiming asylum once they reach the United States, hoping to take advantage of loopholes within the process. 

They've said they'll claim asylum because of the criminal violence throughout Central America and/or the lack of decent paying jobs. But under federal law, those are not reasons for claiming asylum.

Under both U.S. and international law, an asylee is someone who claims that they fear persecution from their government if returned to their home country because of the their "race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."

If the caravan was actually fleeing persecution, they would apply for asylum in Mexico.

The U.S. should take all legitimate asylum claims seriously. But it is critical to deny the caravan admission into the United States while their claims are being considered. Again, once anyone from the caravan steps foot in the United States, they're here for good. DHS is already running short on detention space, so there will be no way to detain illegal border crossers and asylum seekers while their cases move through the process.

Preventing caravans and surges

The Trump Administration has already taken steps to strengthen the asylum process. Earlier this year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a ruling that moved the adjudication of credible fear claims more in line with federal asylum law. DHS implemented the policy this summer. However, if the Administration does not take the necessary steps to prevent this caravan from reaching U.S. soil, this dangerous and unlawful migration will be the new norm.

But Congress also needs to act. The House Judiciary Committee has already marked up and passed H.R. 391, the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act. House Leadership should bring the bill to the floor during the lame-duck session.

H.R. 391 would close the asylum loopholes by requiring that asylum adjudicators only approve credible fear claims when "it is more probable than not that the statements made by the alien in support of the alien's claim are true" and the alien is likely to be granted asylum in the U.S.

[The NumbersUSA website is here. You can sign up to access their Congressional Alert boards.]

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Calling all deplorables!

image credit: first posted on conservative treehouse by keln

Alicia Colon is one of my favorite columnists, and she recently posted on American Thinker here.

Sometimes it's important to preach to the choir, because I'm pretty sure only the choir shares my political opinion.  It is absolutely imperative that the deplorables come out in force in a few weeks because they will be able to do the impossible.  Just imagine what will happen in the midterm elections if the most powerful Democrats are ousted from office.  In California, that means Dianne Feinstein , Nancy Pelosi, and Maxine Waters; in New York, that means Andrew Cuomo and Kirsten Gillibrand, and New York State would then have a Republican governor and senator.  Impossible, you may say, but if all who voted for Trump in 2016 came out in force and voted straight Republican, this might happen.  Unfortunately, with less than a month left, the RNC still hasn't admitted that it hasn't worked hard enough for GOP candidates in New York and California.

. . .

I get frequent calls from the RNC urging me to donate, and I patiently explain that until the RNC starts supporting candidates in my state, I will continue to donate directly to their campaigns, not the RNC.

. . .

Since we can't depend on the GOPe to drain the swamp, it's up to us deplorables and...what was it Biden called some of us?  Oh, yes: the dregs of society.  That means we have to do our homework by supporting with donations those good candidates who need to air ads to combat the lies the Democrats are airing.

. . .

So how does one combat that lack of knowledge?  Television ads on the networks that the low-info voters watch should have some impact, but these are highly expensive.

It's up to us, to the millions of us, to donate even a little to the brave candidates opposing the swamp.  Here are their names and websites:

·         Gov. Andrew Cuomo vs. Marc Molinaro

·         Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand vs. Chele Farley

·         Rep. Maxine Waters vs. Omar Navarro

·         Rep. Nancy Pelosi vs. Lisa Remmer

·         Calif. Gov. Race – Gavin Newsom vs. John H. Cox

·         N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez vs. Bob Hugin  

·         Florida Gov. Race – Socialist Andrew Gillum (supported by Soros and Steyer) vs. Ron DeSantis (Floridians should take note: if Gillum wins, no more tax-free income.)

·         Sen. Claire McCaskill vs. Josh Hawley

And wouldn't we love to have this man in the Senate – John James?

. . .

It's up to us deplorables in each state to hunt down the worthy candidates to drain the swamp. 

Read the entire columns here. She’s singled out (IMHO) important races, with candidates worthy of whatever you might have contributed to various GOP organizations.

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Richard Cordray and Operation Choke Point

image credit: americaswatchtower.com

Here’s some information about what Ohio gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray was up to at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Ken Blackwell at the Washington Examiner reported yesterday:

Operation Choke Point was a plot by President Obama’s Department of Justice, the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other government agencies to cut off banking and financial services for small businesses and industries that they deemed to be political enemies or otherwise undesirable.

Some of these businesses included gun stores, ammunition shops, fireworks stores, small dollar lenders, and home-based charities.

Some government officials tried to deny the existence of the program. That includes former CFPB director, Richard Cordray, who dodged questions from Sen. Mike Crapo in 2014 as to the CFPB’s participation in Operation Choke Point. Yet in that same year, Cordray warned banks against doing business with “… unscrupulous lenders and their payment processors.”

Cordray was not alone in trying to hide the truth about this operation. Officials from the DOJ and FDIC all worked to keep the program’s existence from the public and to bury the truth. Finally, however, the truth is now being unmasked.

Government documents were just unsealed providing evidence of just how far reaching and destructive Operation Choke Point really was to small businesses.

. . .

With this new evidence, it has become even more clear how invested the Obama administration was in Operation Choke Point. If an industry stood against their political agenda, it was only a matter of bringing the full force of the administrative and regulatory state against that industry as a means of coercion and punishment. Operation Choke Point was “Chicago-style politics” brought to Washington, D.C.

Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and Sean Duffy, R-Wis., have been leaders in exposing Operation Choke Point. And I cannot agree more Luetkemeyer’s reaction to the latest revelations when he said, “I am appalled by the blatant intimidation and bias employed by unelected bureaucrats to play partisan politics with the livelihood of our citizens. No matter your ideological leanings, the American government should not be able to destroy all that you have worked for.”

Read the rest here. Pretty ugly.

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#WalkAway with Brandon Straka

The #WalkAway march is scheduled for Saturday, October 27. Many speakers are confirmed, including Dinesh D’Souza and Wayne Dupree (and by remote, Herman Cain and Diamond & Silk).

You may or may not have heard of Brandon Straka. The Heavy.com blog reported that

Brandon Straka is a New York hairstylist who gained fame as the face of a new #WalkAway movement urging people to leave liberalism, which he says has become too intolerant.

Straka gained fans among conservatives when he appeared in a video denouncing the left and saying that he was switching political allegiance. In the wake of that attention, he says he has been denied service while trying to buy a camera and other equipment. Conservative celebrities like Sarah Palin and websites then highlighted Straka’s effort, which has turned into the hashtag #WalkAway.

Breitbart reported on the #WalkAway movement last July – see here. In September, Davis Richardson at Observer reported on Straka’s temporary suspension from Facebook.

The #WalkAway march in Washington DC will take place on Saturday, October 27 (time and location not yet posted on the website). The website is here. I could not find any buses scheduled for this event from the northern Ohio area. I’ll update if I find any details.

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