Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wants officials at West Point to revoke the commission of an officer who tweeted photos of himself with pro-communist messages while in uniform.
Rubio wrote to acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy this week, calling the images an “extreme embarrassment” for the U.S. military, according to the Military Times.
“It is extremely concerning that someone who so often expressed such hostile views towards the United States’ system of government was able to obtain a commission,” he wrote. “(His) revolutionary ideas were harbored long before he was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant. Were West Point administrators or faculty aware of his views and behavior?”
In one photo, 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone is seen wearing a Che Guevara shirt under his uniform. In another photo, he reveals that the words “communism will win” are written under his hat. The photos were taken at his graduation in May 2016.
Supreme Court justices clashed on Tuesday over whether courts should curb the long-standing U.S. political practice of drawing electoral maps to entrench one party in power, with conservative Anthony Kennedy likely to cast the deciding vote.
The nine justices heard an hour of arguments in the major voting rights case out of Wisconsin involving the practice known as partisan gerrymandering. Their ruling, due by June, could have an impact on U.S. elections for decades by setting standards for when electoral districts are laid out with such extreme partisan aims that they deprive voters of their constitutional rights.
Kennedy, who sometimes sides with the court’s liberal justices in big rulings, did not definitively tip his hand on how he would rule but posed tough questions to Wisconsin’s lawyers that signaled his aversion to electoral districts drawn to give one party a lopsided advantage in elections.
Liberal justices voiced sympathy for the Democratic voters who challenged the Republican-drawn legislative map in Wisconsin as a violation of their constitutional rights. Conservative justices expressed doubt about whether courts should intervene in such highly political disputes, and questioned the challengers’ legal standing to bring the case. The court has a 5-4 conservative majority.
Gerrymandering, a practice that began two centuries ago, involves manipulating boundaries of legislative districts to benefit one party and diminish another.
As previously recounted in these pages, I was recently hospitalized for two separate visits. The first time for kidney and blood ailments; the second for a further analysis of these ailments, resulting in a diagnosis of lymphoma.
Whoopee.
As it was the same hospital, the intake both times was similar. Entry through the ER, admittance, followed by a number of uncomfortable days and tests.
During the first day, I was given what I was told was a standard questionnaire. Questions asked and answered. Questions like: Do I wish my Life would end? Do I sometimes with I’d go to sleep and not wake up?
With the additional: Did I bring any weapons or drugs into the hospital? (They do have the standard useless sign prohibiting weapons upon entry.)
As I knew my personal items would be unsecured much of the time, I opted to go unarmed.
During the second admittance, no such questionnaire was offered on day one.
On Day Two, however…
A genial nurse brought the questions to my room. Do I want to kill myself, yatta, yatta, yatta. I could answer these in my sleep.
Then came the weapon and drug questions. No and No.
Then the nurse said, “NOW WE HAVE TO SEARCH YOUR CLOTHES!”
WAIT, WHAT?
I asked her for her warrant. She said she didn’t have any, just like the airport. I said exactly. She, of course, didn’t understand my point.
After a long, angry standoff, she agreed to have me search my own clothes while she observed. (She obviously had no idea how to do a search.) I could have had two sidearms and kept them hidden from her!
I told her about my previous questionnaire, and no subsequent search. She said those folks would get in serious trouble for not searching me. Apparently, there have been problems with guns (and drugs)!
My search of my own clothes showed nothing.
I oft wondered if she did find weaponry, what was her next move?
Harry Dean Stanton passed away Friday at 91. (Reuters)
Character actor Harry Dean Stanton, who appeared in such films as “Cool Hand Luke,” “Kelly’s Heroes,” “The Godfather Part II” and “Alien,” has died at age 91, Fox News confirmed Friday.
Stanton passed away from natural causes at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.
Before finding fame in Hollywood, the Kentucky native previously served in the Navy during World War II and fought in the Battle of Okinawa. After his service, Stanton pursued acting on-stage in a University of Kentucky production of “Pygmalion.”
Once Stanton moved to Los Angeles to further pursue his craft, he appeared in his first film, “Tomahawk Trail,” in 1957.
Stanton later landed roles in numerous hit films, including “Cool Hand Luke,” “The Godfather: Part II,” and “The Missouri Breaks,” which featured his lifelong friend Jack Nicholson.
Stanton’s film career continued to flourish in the ‘80s with classics, such as “Escape from New York,” “Paris, Texas,” and “Pretty in Pink.”
In 1990, he played an ill-fated private investigator in “Wild at Heart,” which was directed by David Lynch. The filmmaker went on to cast Stanton again in “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” in 1992 and “The Straight Story” in 1999.
(Zero Hedge) President Trump was crucified by the mainstream media a few weeks back after hosting an improvised press conference and saying there was “blame on both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville that resulted in the death of a counterprotester. The comments resulted in most of Trump’s advisory councils being disbanded, as CEO’s around the country pounced on the opportunity to distance themselves from the administration, and heightened calls from CNN for impeachment proceedings.
The problem is that while Trump’s delivery probably could have been a bit more artful, the underlying message seems to be proving more accurate with each passing day and each new outbreak of Antifa violence.
As Politico points out today, previously unreported FBI and Department of Homeland Security studies found that “anarchist extremist” group like Antifa have been the “primary instigators of violence at public rallies” going back to at least April 2016 when the reports were first published.
Federal authorities have been warning state and local officials since early 2016 that leftist extremists known as “antifa” had become increasingly confrontational and dangerous, so much so that the Department of Homeland Security formally classified their activities as “domestic terrorist violence,” according to interviews and confidential law enforcement documents obtained by POLITICO…
Previously unreported documents disclose that by April 2016, authorities believed that “anarchist extremists” were the primary instigators of violence at public rallies against a range of targets. They were blamed by authorities for attacks on the police, government and political institutions, along with symbols of “the capitalist system,” racism, social injustice and fascism, according to a confidential 2016 joint intelligence assessment by DHS and the FBI…
Now, how about adding Black Lives Matter and all George Soros’ funded entities (and their fellow travelers)? Throw the RICO statutes at then and seize their assets!
A new Oregon gun control law was recently passed by the governor in an attempt to establish Extreme Risk Protection orders. The governor, who signed the bill with no comment remarked previously that the new law was the, “best way to ensure that a person who is at risk of harming themselves or others is identified, while still ensuring their rights are protected by a court review.” Unfortunately, the law is a far cry from being protective of individual gun owners’ rights as it allows police to confiscate a valid owner’s firearm without providing them with their day in court before the confiscation occurs. While those affected by the law would have a right to be heard in court, the owner would not be able to appeal their rights in court until after they have been revoked.
In essence, the law is multi-faceted allowing police officers to confiscate a gun owner’s weapon if the police, a family member, or close friend reports that they pose a risk to themselves or others. Once the order is established by the court, the individual will be prevented from buying firearms or ammunition for the duration of a year, and the police will have the right to seize the owner’s weapons or require them to be stored with a gun dealer for the duration of the order.
While this new law was created to reduce the risk of firearm related suicides that has been on the rise in recent years, it is doing it at the expense of law-abiding citizen’s rights and requires them to prove that they are not a danger to themselves or others. This situation could cause many well-meaning family members and friends to have their loved one’s rights stripped from them for something that may be no more than an unfounded concern or an attempt at revenge.
In the United States, a citizen has the right to due process, which requires that a person is informed of the crime they are being charged with as well as the rights they are entitled to during the criminal process. After they are informed, they may be temporarily detained until they are seen by a judge. The proceedings will then proceed to trial and a sentencing phase if convicted, but during this entire process, a citizen’s rights may not be limited until they are convicted and sentenced in a court of law. The new Oregon law SB 719A will have citizens subject to the restriction of rights based on suspicion or presumption. It is then their responsibility if they want those rights back to schedule a hearing and prove they deserve them, in essence violating some of the most important laws that established the founding of this country.
In addition to the fact that the law will allow citizens to be stripped of their 2nd amendment right to bear arms before they are granted the right to due process, it will also put the determination of one’s mental state and intention in the hands of people that are not qualified in the mental health field or even have the tools to make a valid determination on one’s mental health. Quite simply we have mental health professional make these types of assessments because they are the ones who are properly trained to do so. The new law also provides gun restriction requirements for those who have had a restraining order filed against them by a significant other as well as allowing the indefinite delay of gun sales to be completed. The previous law gave the state three days to determine whether or not a gun purchase could go through. With the new law, this period could be extended indefinitely, which in effect will inhibit a citizen’s right to obtain personal protection.
While the intentions of the new gun confiscation law in Oregon may have started with good intentions, to achieve the desired results, the state is allowing law-abiding citizens to be stripped of their rights without due process and proper assessment. The new law will end up having more citizen’s in court explaining why they deserve their rights instead of the court system fighting to protect the rights of their citizens.
Whatever happened to DUE PROCESS?
Of course, Oregon is rapidly becoming California North. And Washington isn’t far behind. Seems the pioneer spirit that brought folks westerly stopped at Idaho, Utah and Arizona.
Like so many comedians/comic actors he had amazing range and talent. Some Hollywood types are a one-trick pony. Jerry certainly wasn’t. Have you seen King of Comedy?
After his split from straight man Dean Martin, it was publicly asked, “What’s Dean going to do?” 😛
My lovely sister was in one of his movies. The Nutty Professor (the original in 1961) filmed exteriors on Arizona State University campus. My sister was one of the extras! Unfortunately, her scenes were cut! She still adored the man.
Then, there was his long commitment to the Muscular Dystrophy charity. How giving was this man?
I’ll leave you with this. When I heard he had passed, I imagined him just like this, sneaking into the Supreme Being’s conference room and pantomiming again, to Count Basie…
(CNSNews.com) – Seizing on the outrage at President Donald Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) announced Thursday that he is introducing articles of impeachment against the president, saying Trump “has failed the presidential test of moral leadership.” Cohen had already expressed that he had no confidence in the president, when he introduced the “Resolution of No Confidence” last month. “I have expressed great concerns about President Trump’s ability to lead our country in the Resolution of No Confidence (H.Res. 456) that I introduced in July with 29 of my colleagues; however, after the President’s comments on Saturday, August 12 and again on Tuesday, August 15 in response to the horrific events in Charlottesville, I believe the President should be impeached and removed from office,” the congressman said in a statement on his website.
“Instead of unequivocally condemning hateful actions by neo-Nazis, white nationalists and Klansmen following a national tragedy, the President said ‘there were very fine people on both sides.’ There are no good Nazis. There are no good Klansmen,” Cohen said.
“We fought a World War to defeat Nazis, and a Civil War to defeat the Confederacy. In reaction to the downfall of the Confederacy, and the subsequent passage of the Reconstruction Amendments to our constitution, the KKK embarked on a dastardly campaign to terrorize and intimidate African Americans from exercising their newly acquired civil rights,” he said.
“Subsequent incarnations of the Klan continued to terrorize African Americans with lynchings and civil rights murders such as the assassination of Medgar Evers and the killings of Schwerner, Chaney, Goodman and other civil rights workers,” Cohen added.
As CNSNews.com previously reported, Trump said Tuesday that both sides in Charlottesville were violent and that not all the people protesting were white supremacists – some were just there to protest the taking down of the Robert E. Lee statue.
“I will tell you something. I watched those very closely — much more closely than you people watched it, and you have — you had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now,” he said.
When asked whether he thinks what he called the alt-left is the same as neo-Nazis, Trump said, “Those people — all of those people –excuse me, I’ve condemned neo-Nazis. I’ve condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue of Robert E. Lee.”
Cohen, who is Jewish, said the protests by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in last weekend reminded him of Ku Klux Klan rallies and of Kristallnacht, also referred to as “the Night of Broken Glass,” when Nazis torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools, and businesses, and killed close to 100 Jews. In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
“When I watched the videos from the protests in Charlottesville, it reminded me of the videos I’ve seen of Kristallnacht in 1938 in Nazi Germany. It appeared that the Charlottesville protesters were chanting ‘Jews will not replace us’ and ‘blood and soil,’ an infamous Nazi slogan, as they marched with torches that conjured up images of Klan rallies,” Cohen said.
“None of the marchers spewing such verbiage could be considered ‘very fine people’ as the President suggested. And it certainly appeared the participants were in lock-step,” he said. “Some of the white nationalist protesters were interviewed by the media, such as Sean Patrick Nielsen. He said one of his three reasons for being there was ‘killing Jews.’
“Another was Christopher Cantwell, one of the white nationalist leaders, who said he couldn’t watch ‘that Kushner bastard walk around with that beautiful girl’ and said he hoped ‘somebody like Donald Trump, but who does not give his daughter to a Jew,’ would lead this country,” Cohen said.
Cantwell was referring to the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who converted to Judaism.
“As a Jew and as an American and as a representative of an African American district, I am revolted by the fact that the President of the United States couldn’t stand up and unequivocally condemn Nazis who want to kill Jews and whose predecessors murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, and could not unequivocally condemn Klansmen whose organization is dedicated to terrorizing African Americans,” Cohen said.
“President Trump has failed the presidential test of moral leadership. No moral president would ever shy away from outright condemning hate, intolerance and bigotry. No moral president would ever question the values of Americans protesting in opposition of such actions, one of whom was murdered by one of the white nationalists,” he said.
“President Trump has shown time and time again that he lacks the ethical and moral rectitude to be President of the United States. Not only has he potentially obstructed justice and potentially violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, but he has also shown that he is incapable or unwilling to protect Americans from enemies, foreign and domestic,” Cohen said.
“Neo-Nazis and the KKK are domestic terrorists. If the President can’t recognize the difference between these domestic terrorists and the people who oppose their anti-American attitudes, then he cannot defend us,” he said.
Most of you know I am not a supporter of the current President. I believe he is a ‘populist’, not unlike Huey Long, who rode the Silent Majority into the White House, in part because there were so many questions of character surrounding his opposition.
And, in a rough comparison, I do prefer him to her as the Chief Executive. (Hobson’s choice?)
Having said that, do the President’s actions (or inactions) rise to the level of Section 4 of Article Two of the United States Constitution, that is other High Crimes and misdemeanors?
He has consistently, and for years, disavowed the KKK and their fellow travelers. The fact he didn’t do it again quickly enough for the Left suggests ONLY a political votive for these articles of impeachment.
And, even though I am not a fan (and wish the President were more libertarian!) I wish they’d leave him alone to do his job of further draining the swamp.
(Perhaps those who attack him incessantly are swamp denizens? Who knows?)
There have been four arrests in the wake of the vandalism of a Confederate statue Monday night in Durham, North Carolina.
Takiyah Fatima Thompson, Dante Emmanuel Strobino, Ngoc Loan Tran and Peter Hull Gilbert have all been arrested in relation to the unlawful tearing down of the prominent Durham statue.
According to local media, the four could be in for big fines if found guilty:
All three are charged with disorderly conduct by injury to a statue and damage to real property, which are both misdemeanors, and participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 and inciting others to riot where property damage exceeds $1,500, which are both felonies.
However, those arrested have something other than potential big fines in common. It turns out that at least three of them are members of the Communist Party. This seldom-reported fact is inconvenient to the narrative that the protest were spontaneous. The protests were in fact organized in large part by the communist Workers World Party, which the arrested members belong to.
According to ABC News, Workers World Party is fighting to bring about a socialist America (emphasis added):
It’s a communist party that was founded in 1959 by a group led by Sam Marcy of the Socialist Workers Party. The group supports myriad issues including anti-racism to anti-imperialist struggles.
The party is active in the Black Lives Matter movement and supports the struggles of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. The group says they’re “dedicated to organizing and fighting for a socialist revolution in the United States and around the world.”The group said it destroyed the statue hoping to “take down white supremacy.”
(more at IJR link, including some lovely photographs of the miscreants!)
Agendas much, Lenin’s useful idiots?
It’s amazing to me how a small group of people (who obviously have the time to protest and vandalize) can accomplish such things. HOW do they live? WHERE does there funding come from?
Bob Dylan likes to wear hoodies in public — it helps him stay inconspicuous. But this time, it led to his detainment.
Bob Dylan Arrested, Police Officer Says “That’s Not Bob Dylan”
Caleb J. Murphy June 29, 2017 I Love Rock N Roll No Comments
Bob Dylan likes to wear hoodies in public — it helps him stay inconspicuous. But this time, it led to his detainment.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
On a rainy night back in 2009 in some New Jersey suburbs, police responded to a call about an “eccentric-looking old man” wearing a hoodie wandering in someone’s yard.
Police officer Kristie Buble was the responding officer.
“We got a call for a suspicious person,” Buble told ABC. “It was pouring rain outside, and I was right around the corner so I responded. By that time he was walking down the street. I asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood and he said he was looking at a house for sale.”
When she detained the man, he said his name was Bob Dylan.
“Now, I’ve seen pictures of Bob Dylan from a long time ago and he didn’t look like Bob Dylan to me at all,” Officer Buble said. “He was wearing black sweatpants tucked into black rain boots, and two raincoats with the hood pulled down over his head.”
So she started questioning this man.
“Okay, Bob,” she asked him. “What are you doing in Long Branch [New Jersey]?”
He said he was touring the country with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp.
“So now I’m really a little fishy about his story,” she explains.
Bob Dylan likes to wear hoodies in public — it helps him stay inconspicuous. But this time, it led to his detainment.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
On a rainy night back in 2009 in some New Jersey suburbs, police responded to a call about an “eccentric-looking old man” wearing a hoodie wandering in someone’s yard.
Police officer Kristie Buble was the responding officer.
“We got a call for a suspicious person,” Buble told ABC. “It was pouring rain outside, and I was right around the corner so I responded. By that time he was walking down the street. I asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood and he said he was looking at a house for sale.”
When she detained the man, he said his name was Bob Dylan.
“Now, I’ve seen pictures of Bob Dylan from a long time ago and he didn’t look like Bob Dylan to me at all,” Officer Buble said. “He was wearing black sweatpants tucked into black rain boots, and two raincoats with the hood pulled down over his head.”
So she started questioning this man.
“Okay, Bob,” she asked him. “What are you doing in Long Branch [New Jersey]?”
He said he was touring the country with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp.
“So now I’m really a little fishy about his story,” she explains.
Bob Dylan
photo via The Odyssey Online
Then she asked him for his ID, but he didn’t have any on him. She asked where he was staying and he said in a tour bus parked at a hotel by the ocean.
She found this very suspicious.
But she went along with his story as her training taught her. She asked him to take her to this hotel, so she put him in the back of her cruiser and off they went.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t really believe this was Bob Dylan,” she said. “It never crossed my mind that this could really be him.”
Buble made small talk on the way to the hotel, never believing a word he said.
“He was really nice, though, and he said he understood why I had to verify his identity and why I couldn’t let him go,” she said. “He asked me if I could drive him back to the neighborhood when I verified who he was, which made me even more suspicious.”
But she pulled into the hotel parking lot and what do you know — there were huge tour buses parked in the lot. Also, Buble’s Sargent was there waiting for her.
“Sarg,” she said. “This guy says he’s Bob Dylan,’”
The Sargent looked in the window.
“That’s not Bob Dylan,” the Sargent said.
But they went over to the tour buses and knocked on the door. Soon enough, Bob Dylan was able to prove his identity to Buble and her Sargent with his passport.
“Okay,” Buble sheepishly said. “Um, have a nice day.”
h/t Crazy4Rock
There is, of course, a larger message here. (One’s opinion of Bob Dylan and the misspelling of Sergeant, aside…)
Persons being ‘detained’ because they cannot identify themselves.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that these kinds of laws can be legal, as long as the officers had reasonable suspicion to detain you in the first place.
And how sad is THAT?
When I took a Criminal Law course (back in the olden days) there was a then famous case wherein a subject was walking along along a beach with no ID. At 0300. The police stopped and questioned him, as he appeared ‘suspicious’ Seemed he was carrying a large beach ball, and wearing swim fins!
He wasn’t harming anyone or anything.
(This may have been the case that made it to the Supreme Court)
Turned out, the subject was a local city councilman testing the police’s authority!
My point is, in a free society, we shouldn’t have to ID ourselves, unless the police have at a minimum reasonable suspicion of a crime having been committed nearby. OR, probable cause you might be a viable suspect. (and NO, I am NOT a lawyer…)
“Papiere, bitte.” (translation, “Papers, please”)
From the history of that country who brought us those Nazis everyone is talking about!
The problem is that while Trump’s delivery probably could have been a bit more artful, the underlying message seems to be proving more accurate with each passing day and each new outbreak of Antifa violence.
By now, most of you have probably heard.
Guffaw in AZ 