The Complete Obama Timeline July 2016

The Complete Obama Timeline
July 2016
On July 1 California Governor Jerry Brown signs six gun control bills into law. One law
allows the purchase of ammunition only after passing background check and the creation
of a state-wide list of buyers. Another bans magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.
[94517, 94518]
DCWhispers.com writes, “There was a time when Bill Kristol’s Weekly Standard was
considered one of the bastions of conservative publications in this country. Mr. Kristol
has made a very comfortable living claiming to be a spokesperson for American
conservatives. And yet, today, this same Bill Kristol appears all too willing to see Hillary
Clinton win the White House instead of Donald Trump, a man who has amassed more
GOP primary votes than any Republican in history. Trump is also polling higher among
Hispanic voters than either Mitt Romney or John McCain—the very ‘growing the party’
mantra Kristol repeated so often in recent years. Yet here we are today, though, watching
and listening as Bill Kristol declares there should be a revolt at this year’s GOP
convention—a revolt whose goal is to snatch the nomination away from Donald Trump
and give it to someone Kristol deems ‘appropriate’ to be the Republican nominee…”
[94462]
“Mr. Kristol reveals what was always the Establishment’s true intent this past election
cycle. There were three candidates this Establishment deemed ‘acceptable’ and those
were Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and a somewhat outlier, Marco Rubio. When Donald
Trump’s support surged, it turned over the table and Bill Kristol and others were caught
unaware and found themselves scrambling to reassert control. This effort had them
working side by side with the liberal media, Democrat operatives, and it would appear,
the Hillary Clinton campaign as well. Collusion is the name of the game in American
politics these days. It is a comfortable collusion whereby both sides make lots of money
pretending voters have a choice when in fact, there is hardly a difference between the two
parties anymore. It is why a Republican-controlled House and Senate has done almost
nothing to halt the authoritarian progression that has been the hallmark of the Obama
White House. Too many Republicans want merely to give a speech or two, attend DC
cocktail parties, and count the cash that is rolling in as they peddle their legislative
influence to the highest bidder. (Which these days most often is the House of Saud and its
affiliates.)” [94462]
“Bill Kristol isn’t a conservative. Nor is he a Reagan Republican. He is merely another
opportunist grown fat off the world of pretend that is Washington D.C. His attacks
against Donald Trump have nothing to do with saving the Republican Party or America,
and everything to do with saving himself. Donald Trump is pulling back the curtain on all
of this, and in doing so, is enemy #1 of the political machine that has for too long
suffocated OUR American potential. Mr. Trump is the here and now. Bill Kristol is the
1
sad and pathetic past that Republican voters are rejecting by the millions as they unify
behind Donald Trump. America wants real change, and its tired of being lied to,
manipulated, and made to sit down and shut up. Those days are over.” (The Trump
phenomenon may remind some of the Japanese saying: “The nail that stands up gets
hammered down.”) [94462]
At WashingtonExaminer.com Byron York writes, “We know what Donald Trump says
about trade and China. Google ‘Trump’ and ‘China’ and ‘trade war’ and you’ll get an
idea of how many people have criticized Trump’s threat to use tariffs to retaliate against
Chinese currency manipulation. But Trump is not the first Republican nominee to say
such things. Many, many, many years ago—say, in the 2012 campaign—GOP candidate
Mitt Romney repeatedly threatened to use tariffs to retaliate against Chinese currency
manipulation. …The introduction to Romney’s 59-point economic plan, released earlier
in September 2011, contained five executive orders Romney pledged to enact on Day
One of his presidency. One of them was: ‘An Order to Sanction China for Unfair Trade
Practices: Directs the Department of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator
in its biannual report and directs the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing
duties on Chinese imports if China does not quickly move to float its currency.’”
“Later in the document, in a section headlined ‘Confronting China,’ Romney pledged to
‘impose targeted tariffs.’ ‘If the United States identifies a Chinese firm or industry that is
relying on unfair practices or misappropriated American technology for its competitive
advantage, we should be in a position to impose punitive measures in response,’ Romney
wrote.” In November 2011 Romney said, “Well, number one, on day one, is
acknowledging something which everyone knows, they’re a currency manipulator. And
on that basis, we also go before the WTO and bring an action against them as a currency
manipulator. And that allows us to apply selectively tariffs where we believe they are
stealing our intellectual property, hacking into our computers or artificially lowering their
prices and killing American jobs. We can’t just sit back and let China run all over us.
People say, well, you’ll start a trade war. There’s one going on right now, folks. They’re
stealing our jobs and we’re going to stand up to China.” [94553]
FoxNews.com writes, “FBI agents are ‘livid’ about Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s
meeting with Bill Clinton, Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge
reported today on Outnumbered. Herridge said that, according to a well-placed FBI
source, the agents are not just upset about the poor optics of the meeting. She explained
that Bill Clinton is a potential witness because the FBI is separately investigating
corruption allegations against the Clinton Foundation.” (The Clinton Foundation’s
application for tax-exempt status stated its purpose was to “construct a library, maintain a
historical site with records, and engage in study and research.”) [94463, 94464, 94943]
New York Times reporter Amy Chozick provides a “defense” of Bill Clinton’s meeting
via Twitter: “Bill Clinton has run into Orrin Hatch, Schwarzenegger, Paul Ryan, Ted
Cruz, etc, as he’s boarded private jet.” [94522]
2
Observer.com’s Ken Kurson reports on his “interview with a security source who was
present at the unplanned meeting Monday night [June 27] on a Phoenix tarmac between
former President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch… The source has
decades of experience providing security to government officials” and “was on-hand for
the entirety of the meeting and some of its aftermath. According to this source, whose
credentials were checked and confirmed by the Observer with sources inside both the FBI
and the United States Secret Service, the attorney general was caught completely off
guard by the meeting and the source dismisses suggestions that have been raised alleging
that she waited there to see Bill Clinton or accommodated his request to see him. In fact,
it seems from this source that it was Bill Clinton who was maneuvering for face time with
the attorney general, because his plane had been scheduled to leave before hers arrived.”
[94564, 94571]
According to Kurson’s source, the FBI agents protecting Lynch knew Clinton “was in
town and another executive was coming and knew Lynch was coming so we knew
there’d be congestion. We were waiting for her plane to touch down at the executive
terminal area of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor where it’s best suited to control. Clinton’s plane
was on the ground already. But he wasn’t there. We had been hoping to get him out
before she arrived, just to avoid too much traffic. They [their planes] were 75 yards apart.
We have a procedure we do to clear [space for] a motorcade. As we were ready to receive
her, I saw the other motorcade coming in—we were like, ‘great timing. …Then I see
Clinton walking over. His detail guys ran over to hers and said he’s coming. ‘He’s
closing.’ He walked straight there to the Air Force guy at the door and next thing I know
he’s going up the steps [of her plane].” [94564, 94571]
“…I don’t agree with her politics and all that, but I knew from the beginning that she got
caught off guard and her staff was already talking about it that it’s going to be a political
problem for her. Her staff was flipping out. We didn’t think about the political part until
we saw her staff flipping out. For the security guys, it was more of a ‘I’ve got armed guys
coming into my perimeter’ problem. But the staff guys saw right away that it was a
political problem. After Clinton got off, they were like, ‘that wasn’t good.’ And I know
from others who were in the actual car with her that her people knew immediately the
political ramifications of it and were very upset.”
[94564, 94571]
White House press secretary Josh Earnest ducks, dodges, and weaves when asked by
reporters about the Clinton/Lynch meeting. His responses include: “Well, listen, I think,
again, I think what should give people confidence is the 30-year career that Attorney
General Lynch has in keeping the public’s trust, and making sure that she continues to be
an effective advocate for the rule of law and for the fair administration of justice. She’s
done that throughout her career. She’s done that in the Office of the Attorney General.
And again, when it comes to appearances, she was asked very directly about the meeting.
And she answered the question very directly. So for what impact that may have on the
investigation, I’m just not going to comment on that because I don't want to be in a
3
position of second-guessing an investigation that, quite frankly, I haven’t been briefed
on.” [94465]
Lynch announces that she will probably accept the recommendation of FBI investigators
when they complete their investigation of Hillary Clinton and her email server.
(Translation: “The fix is in and there will be indictment.”) Lynch states, “The
recommendations will be reviewed by career supervisors in the Department of Justice and
in the FBI, and by the FBI director, and then as is the common process, they present it to
me and I fully expect to accept their recommendations.” HotAir.com writes, “The first
option is to conclude that this is actually good news and public pressure has prevailed
over politics as usual. If the FBI turns over a report saying that Clinton should be
indicted, we might assume that the Justice Department will move forward. This would be
a welcome decision, particularly considering the fact that the last time the DoJ received a
recommendation (that time from the Inspector General) to prosecute someone on
Clinton’s team—Huma Abedin’s embezzlement charges in that case—they tossed the
case in the trash. Perhaps they don’t want even more appearances of impropriety haunting
their steps going into an election.” [94473]
“The reason I said ‘might’ in the previous paragraph is that Lynch still seems to be
parsing her words very carefully. You’ll note that the preview of her comments very
specifically says that she will be accepting the decision of, ‘career prosecutors and the
F.B.I. director.’ Not only is she not taking her department out of the loop and appointing
a special prosecutor, but she’s not 100% accepting the call of the FBI either. There are no
‘career prosecutors’ on James Comey’s team. Those prosecutors all work for Lynch in
the Justice Department. From the beginning she’s been saying that it would be those
‘professionals’ who would decide the merits of the case, so this may be nothing other
than window dressing to appease the voters outraged by the meeting with Bill Clinton
while sticking with business as usual.” [94473]
“But there’s a second possibility as well and I’m just going to toss it out there. It’s been
leaked from multiple sources that the FBI investigation is winding down and Comey is
close to wrapping this thing up. Very likely the final decision has already been made and
he’s just making sure all the I’s are dotted and the T’s crossed before handing over his
work. What are the chances that Lynch doesn’t know what the decision is at this point? In
fact, I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if that was part of the conversation she had with Bill
Clinton. (Yes… I’m basically saying that they’re lying about the meeting. If you can ever
prove me wrong I’ll be happy to apologize.) What if Comey has already decided to pull
the rip cord and recommend no formal charges against Hillary Clinton because the
firestorm resulting from a call to prosecute would just be too hot for him? Then Lynch
and [Obama] are in the clear. She can simply claim that she was leaving it up to Comey
all along and the entire unpleasant affair drops down the memory hole. Conspiracy
theory? Sure. But as far as I’m concerned it certainly passes the smell test, and I wouldn’t
put it past this crew in the least.” [94473]
4
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, nine ISIS terrorists kill at least two and take as many as 40
hostages—in a bakery/restaurant frequented by foreigners and diplomats. After a 10-hour
stand-off, police storm the restaurant and kill six terrorists. Thirteen hostages are rescued,
and the death toll is 22. The gunmen reportedly spared the lives of hostages who could
recite verses from the Qu’ran. According to FoxNews.com, “Three of the hostage victims
attended U.S. colleges. Abinta Kabir [an American from Miami] and Faraaz Hossain
were students at Emory University in Georgia; and Tarushi Jain, a 19-year-old Indian
national, was a student the University of California at Berkeley.” [94466, 94493, 94494,
94495, 94509, 94528, 94541]
The White House states, “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms
today’s heinous terrorist attack.” [94519]
A pro-ISIS Twitter account threatens July 4 weekend attacks at London’s Heathrow
Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and New York City’s Kennedy Airport.
[94502, 94503]
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri warns of “the gravest consequences” if Boston
Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is executed. (Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by
lethal injection for his participation in the attack that killed three and injured hundreds.)
According to the Daily Mail, in an online video al-Zawahiri states, “If the US
administration kills our brother the hero Dzhokhar Tsarnaev or any Muslim,” [it] will
bring America’s nationals the gravest consequences.” [94504, 94505, 94580]
Breitbart.com reports, “Police have charged Tommy Robinson, a PEGIDA [Patriotische
Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, or Patriotic Europeans Against the
Islamisation of the West] UK organiser, with ‘inciting racial hatred against Muslims’
after he was pictured with a flag with ‘Fuck ISIS’ written on it, his lawyer has claimed.
The lawyer alleged in a statement that an application for a football [soccer] banning order
against Mr. Robinson was ‘brought on the basis of a harassment campaign’ linked to his
‘high social media profile, and is associated with Pegida UK’ and amounted to an attack
on his ‘free speech.’ Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), an ‘antiIslamophobia’ think tank with Islamist sympathies, said on Twitter that Mr. Robinson
was ‘inciting hate’ by mocking the genocidal terrorist group.” Jihad Watch’s Robert
Spencer writes, “We’re constantly told that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. So how is
opposing ISIS inciting hatred against Muslims?” [94507, 94508]
On Facebook, Donald Trump writes, “Yet another terrorist attack today in Israel—a
father, shot at by a Palestinian terrorist, was killed while driving his car, and three of his
children who were passengers were severely injured. I condemn this latest terrorist attack
and call upon the Palestinian leadership to completely end this barbaric behavior. I also
call upon … Obama to recognize and condemn each and every terrorist attack against our
allies in Israel. This cannot become the ‘new normal.’ It has to stop!” (Trump has the
courage to condemn the Palestinians for their atrocious acts of terror, while Obama and
5
many politicians play the “moral equivalency game” and always blame Israel as well.)
[94543]
An 18-year-old Muslim, Mahin Khan, is arrested in Tucson, Arizona and charged with
terrorism. [94559, 94560]
NYTimes.com reports, “Austria’s highest court threw out the results of the nation’s
presidential election on Friday, giving a far right, euroskeptic party a second chance to
win, and putting debates central to the future of the European Union back in the cross
hairs of voters only a week after Britain’s shocking decision to quit. …Citing
irregularities in ballot counting, Austria’s highest court ordered a do-over of the country’s
presidential runoff, which a far-right, euroskeptic candidate, Norbert Hofer, narrowly lost
in May.” [94471]
DailyCaller.com reports, “Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to meet
Saturday [July 2] with the FBI, a source close to the investigation into her private email
server tells The Daily Caller. The source went on to suggest the interview may take place
at her Washington, D.C. home.” [94488]
Donald Trump is reportedly set to meet with Indiana Governor Mike Pence over the
holiday weekend—which may mean that Pence is on Trump’s short list of vice
presidential choices. [94513]
Former Department of Justice attorney J. Christian Adams suggests to Rush Limbuagh
that the meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch was a signal
to DOJ employees that Lynch is siding with Hillary Clinton. Adams says, “[T]hose career
prosecutors are still going to be at the Justice Department seeking promotions in the
future, living under the Regime. …They don’t need to have a discussion about whether or
not [Clinton’s] wife is going to be indicted. They aren’t that stupid. They know how the
bureaucracy works. I was in the bureaucracy. I know how it works. And career DOJ
lawyers don’t want to fight their superiors. They don’t want to put up a battle to indict
Hillary when it looks like the fix is in. And so the ministerial state can read the tea leaves,
the bureaucrats can read the tea leaves and know that they’ll have a fight on their hands if
they try to indict. It’s even bigger than the fight they thought they had in the first place.”
[94489]
Adams also says, “These people are so devious and smart. The worst thing you want is
Lynch to recuse herself. Republicans who are calling for that are making a big mistake
because then autopilot kicks in. All of the left-wing tendencies of the bureaucracy
become unattached from the political winds. And so you want Lynch now, who’s under
the gun, to be the one to be making this decision because the bureaucrats under her aren’t
gonna [sic] indict Hillary. They might be working for Hillary shortly. Lynch will be
gone, but they’ll still be working for a potential Hillary administration. …So for him [Bill
Clinton] to pal around with the attorney general in charge of the investigation helps kill
6
the investigation. And so it benefits Hillary to have the story out there and to have all the
line attorneys, all of the career prosecutors, all of the FBI agents know that their target is
palling around with their boss.” [94489]
FoxNews.com reports, “Hedge fund manager Marc Mezvinsky had friends in high places
when he bet big on a Greek economic recovery, but even the keen interest of his motherin-law, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wasn’t enough to spare him and his
investors from financial tragedy. In 2012, Mezvinsky, the husband of Chelsea Clinton,
created a $325 million basket of offshore funds under the Eaglevale Partners banner
through a special arrangement with investment bank Goldman Sachs. The funds have lost
tens of millions of dollars predicting that bailouts of the Greek banking system would
pump up the value of the country’s distressed bonds. One fund, exclusively dedicated to
Greek debt, suffered near-total losses. Clinton stepped down as secretary of state in 2013
to run for president. But newly released emails from 2012 show that she and Clinton
Foundation consultant, Sidney Blumenthal, shared classified information about how
German leadership viewed the prospects for a Greek bailout. Clinton also shared
‘protected’ State Department information about Greek bonds with her husband at the
same time that her son-in-law aimed his hedge fund at Greece. …[S]haring such sensitive
information with friends and family would have been highly improper. Federal
regulations prohibit the use of nonpublic information to further private interests or the
interests of others. The mere perception of a conflict of interest is unacceptable.” [94491]
Judicial Watch reports on additional Hillary Clinton emails it obtained via a Freedom of
Information Act request. A March 22, 2009 email from Clinton to aides Huma Abedin
and Lauren Jiloty reads: “Dear Lauren and Huma -- I have just realized I have no idea
how my papers are treated at State. Who manages both my personal and official files? I
am sending out material the way I did w Lauren in the Senate, but I don’t know what’s
happening w it all. For instance, I’ve sent a few things to Cheryl [Mills] but she says she
hasn’t read them. Does Claire manage this or does it all go to Joe? Are there personal
files as well as official ones set up? If I don’t write anything on paper—as I mostly
don’t—Lauren knew how to file it all in the Senate. I’m sending out a mix which
sometimes Claire and other times Lauren picks up from the out box. What happens then
is a mystery to me! So, I think we need to get on this asap to be sure we know and design
the system we want. Let me know what you both think. Thx.” Abedin responds, “We’ve
discussed this. I can explain it to you when I see u today.” [94557, 94558]
Clinton had been Secretary of State since January 21, yet two months later she was
writing, “I have just realized I have no idea how my papers are treated at State.” Abedin
replies that they have “already discussed this,” but she obviously was forced to explain
the process to Clinton again. Clearly, Clinton is not particularly bright, and the fact that
she did not know how documents were handled makes it clear that she had no business
using a private email server. [94557, 94558]
Judicial Watch writes, “The new emails also show new communications between Clinton
Foundation advisers (including Douglas Band), Abedin, and Clinton about the Middle
7
East, and a Haiti ‘donors’ conference. The emails show that Clinton wanted to collect
positive comments about her tenure to give to the press reporting on her first 100 days in
office. The emails also show that Clinton tried to obtain a job at State for the son of
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. And a March 21, 2009, email from a sender
whose name seems to have been kept secret contains explicit instructions to Clinton and
Mills on how to handle a State Department ‘team meeting’ that is to occur the following
day. Clinton is advised to create the ‘perception’ that ‘you are interested and engaged …
that you are listening and that you are watching.’ [Emphasis in original]” [94557]
At ThePostEmail.com editor Sharon Rondeau reminds readers of one of the interesting
pieces of information uncovered by Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Cold
Case Posse (CCP) investigation of Obama’s past. Lead investigator Mike Zullo noted
“that his team contacted the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) for
airline passenger manifests of flights arriving in Hawaii from overseas from a ten-year
period of time encompassing the year 1961. Zullo reported that NARA said it did not
have passenger manifests but that it did have ‘microfilm copies of INS records depicting
every individual coming in to the country from overseas.’ The CCP asked NARA to
make copies of the microfilm from the decade identified, which the agency did. Zullo
said that the CCP asked WND’s Dr. Jerome Corsi to examine the approximately 685 rolls
of microfilm which NARA provided and that Corsi noted that the records from August 17, 1961, ‘disappeared from the microfilm, and they picked up on August 8th and
continued on.’ Zullo said that NARA could not explain why microfilm representing
seven days in August 1961 were missing from their records. ‘As a result, we still have to
entertain information that he [Obama] was possibly born abroad,’ Zullo reported…”
[94492]
On July 2 the New York Post’s cover shows Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch with the
headline, “SNAKES ON A PLANE.” [94521]
Hillary Clinton—who has yet to have held a press conference in 2016—is interviewed by
FBI agents for about three-and-a-half hours. (Before the interview, former Clinton chief
of staff Cheryl Mills is seen leaving Clinton’s house. It is likely that Mills and Clinton
discussed “keeping their stories straight.”) Although Clinton’s testimony is not under
oath, it is nevertheless a federal crime to lie to the FBI—oath or not.) Clinton spokesman
Nick Merrill states that Clinton “is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the
Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion.” (The campaign continues
to refer to the investigation as a “security review,” rather than a criminal investigation.)
Because the “primary target” of an investigation is typically the last person to be
interviewed, Clinton’s questioning by the FBI suggests the process is close to its final
phase. Merrill also states, “Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning
about her email arrangements while she was secretary.” (Of course, had she not
“volunteered” she would have been issued a subpoena.) [94496, 94514, 94515, 94526,
94527, 94539, 94562, 94569]
8
Three-and-a-half hours is not particularly long for an interview with the target of an
investigation has been going on for about one year. It brevity of the interview may reflect
that many of Hillary Clinton’s responses were of the “I don’t recall” variety. Or perhaps
the FBI already has enough information to know what the facts are and simply wanted to
catch Clinton in a few blatant lies in order to bolster its case. (Some media pundits are
claiming that the interview was long. This Timeline disagrees.)
Holocaust survivor, author (Night), and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel dies at age
87. Upon receipt of his Nobel Prize, Wiesel said, “We must speak, we must take sides,
for neutrality helps the oppressor—never the victim.” [94516, 94540]
The execrable, anti-Israel Max Blumenthal (son of the execrable, anti-Israel Sidney
Blumenthal, close confidante of Hillary Clinton) tweets, “Elie Wiesel is dead. He spent
his last years inciting hatred, defending apartheid & palling around with fascists.”
[94537, 94538, 94556]
In 2012 DailyCaller.com reported that far-left journalist Max Blumenthal “helped craft”
Hillary Clinton’s YouTube video explanation for the attack in Benghazi. “…Max
Blumenthal pushed his conspiratorial theories onto the secretary of state in the hours after
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed. …Clinton first mentioned the
video publicly on the morning of Sept. 13, 2012. Obama’s White House speechwriter
Ben Rhodes, an NYU-educated fiction writer who was initially blamed for crafting the
talking points, didn’t mention the video until Sept. 14, when he sent around a memo
preparing Susan Rice and others for Sunday-show appearances to discuss the attack. Now
we know that Hillary became aware of the video on Sept. 12, the day after the attack,
through her political adviser Sidney Blumenthal—Max Blumenthal’s father.” [76101]
“…In the hours after the deadly terrorist attack on Clinton’s consulate, Sidney
Blumenthal rushed political guidance to the secretary. …At 2:11 p.m. on Sept. 12, Hillary
Clinton personally forwarded a link to an article about ‘Innocence of Muslims’ to a
colleague. That article was posted on MaxBlumenthal.com, and was written by Sidney
Blumenthal’s son Max, who is now the senior writer for the far-left website AlterNet.
Max Blumenthal’s article was entitled ‘Meet the Right-Wing Extremist Behind AntiMuslim Film That Sparked Deadly Riots.’ In the piece, he implicated anti-Muslim
activist Steve Klein as a consultant on the Hollywood-produced film. ‘Pls print,’ Hillary
Clinton wrote to her colleague, referring to Max Blumenthal’s article. Where did Hillary
get the link from originally? That part is redacted. Max Blumenthal spent that day
feverishly promoting the obscure film’s role in the Benghazi violence.” [76101]
Pamela Geller wrote, “While Politico rants and raves that Hillary Clinton will be good for
Israel, what’s been overlooked is that her closest advisor, Sidney Blumenthal, defends
claims that Israel is Germany, and Israelis must leave Israel. …Blumenthal repeatedly
stands against Israel. In fact, he is also a fierce defender of his anti-Israel son, Max
Blumenthal, who is an activist solely devoted to harming the Jewish people. Even liberal
Nation columnist Eric Alterman has said that a book Blumenthal wrote ‘could have been
9
published by the Hamas Book-of-the-Month Club (if it existed)’—and Sidney
Blumenthal hosted a launch party for that book. Max Blumenthal has compared Israelis
to Nazis, and says that ‘the ‘non-indigenous’ majority of Israelis should not remain in the
country now known as Israel.’ And Sidney Blumenthal—Hillary’s closest advisor—has
defended him repeatedly. It gets better—Max Blumenthal apparently inspired the Nazi
who shot two Kansas Jewish community centers. The killer made 300 references to
Blumenthal’s work, including saying ‘Max Blumenthal is insightful & sometimes funny.’
In ‘Kikes gone wild by Jew Max Blumenthal,’ there’s praise for anti-Israel videos, and a
Blumenthal video on ‘How To Kill Goyim And Influence People.’ Sources in the know
indicate that one of Hillary Clinton’s other longtime advisors and associates is extremist
New Israel Fund supporter Karen R. Adler.” [77655]
DCWhispers.com writes, “Judge Jeanine Pirro was among the only ones to fully
comprehend the warning Hillary Clinton fired at Barack Obama a few weeks ago when
Mrs. Clinton told the media EVERYONE in D.C. knew about her private email server.
Within days of sending that warning, Barack Obama was telling the media there was
nothing to see regarding the Clinton email scandal, and then just this week, Bill Clinton
was having a private one-on-one with Attorney General Loretta Lynch.” (Pirro said on
Fox News, “The reason she [Clinton] will not be indicted is because her first witness as a
defendant in a criminal case is [Obama]. Why? Because Hillary Clinton emailed
…Obama. He knew that she had a private email server… so he is complicit. And they
will not allow a constitutional crisis where [Obama] knew about the risking of security…
And she threw a shot across the bow when she said, ‘Everyone knew about my email
situation, everyone in Washington knew. Translation: “Mr. [Obama], this ain’t
happening.” (Another translation: “If I go down, I’m not going down alone.”) [94529,
94530]
CNN Senior Producer Edward Mejia Davis tweets, “Sources tell CNN’s Evan Perez:
expectation is that there will be announcement of no charges in Clinton email probe w/in
next two weeks or so.” [94535, 94536, 94536, 94539, 94547, 94585]
It seems unlikely that such information would have been leaked to CNN just hours after
the FBI’s interview with Clinton—unless “the fix is in” and she will be allowed to slide.
More than 100 people within the FBI who have been working on the investigation for
about one year will certainly be less than pleased if an indictment is not recommended.
Clinton clearly violated more than one federal law, and it would be difficult to believe no
damning evidence against Clinton will be leaked by any of them if she walks away
without charges. Of course, even if Clinton gets away with her crimes, Donald Trump
may still gain because the “system is rigged” sentiment that propelled him to the
Republican nomination may grow even stronger. (That “system is rigged” sentiment was
already ginned up by Bill Clinton’s ill-advised and improper meeting with Attorney
General Loretta Lynch.)
Some might suggest an elaborate scheme by Obama and Valerie Jarrett is taking place.
The Obamas hate the Clintons and the Clintons hate the Obamas. If Obama allows
10
Clinton to be indicted, she will take revenge on him by bringing him down with her. If
Clinton is spared an indictment, the revenge factor is taken away. But agents within the
FBI can then leak information from the investigation which severely damages Clinton. If
that happens before the Democrat National Convention, Obama and Jarrett may be able
to get convention delegates to dump Clinton and nominate Vice President Joe Biden—
with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as his running mate. When Clinton raises a fuss,
Obama can shrug his shoulders and say, “Well, Hillary, I did everything I could to protect
you. But I had no way of stopping rogue agents from leaking the truth about the email
investigation.” Clinton avoids an indictment and prosecution, but Obama gets his legacy
protected by a Biden-Warren ticket.
Donald Trump tweets, “It was just announced by sources that no charges will be brought
against Crooked Hillary Clinton. Like I said, the system is totally rigged!” [94544]
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is essentially guaranteed reelection as the Democrats in his
conservative state nominate Misty K. Snow to challenge him in November. According to
SLTrib.com, Snow, who was born male, “began living openly as woman in October 2014
and believes being a transgender person, a rarity in U.S. politics, will drum up attention
and campaign money, while her Sanders-inspired run will fire up Democrats and some
independents.” Snow, who is “employed as a cashier at a Harmons grocery and hasn’t
gone to college” “has called for a $15 per hour minimum wage, paid family leave,
legalized marijuana, criminal-justice reform and free or reduced tuition for higher
education…” [94554]
On July 3 ISIS claims responsibility for several bombing that kill at least 213 people at a
shopping center in Karrada, Baghdad. [94545, 94583]
Obama takes a break from golf to meet with architects to discuss designs for the Obama
Presidential Center. (Whether he asked for more minarets is not known.) [94568]
On Meet the Press, Hillary Clinton claims she has been “eager” to talk with the FBI
about the investigation of her email practices. [94546]
Congressman Xavier Beccera (D-CA) makes the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to
cover for Hillary Clinton and insist she is honest. On Fox News Sunday he says, “She
understands that she’s got to earn people’s trust. She’s going to work very, very hard to
do that. And I give her credit for saying that she’s made some mistakes.” [94555, 94552]
Also making talk show appearances are Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, Senator Sherrod
Brown (D-OH), and Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ), all of whom—along with Becerra—
appear to be trying out for the Vice President spot on the Democrat ticket. [94555,
94552]
11
On Sunday Morning Futures, former Senator Alfonse D’Amato suggests that Donald
Trump should “talk about how Hillary [Clinton] made it possible for the Russians to take
control of one of our huge uranium producers and allow them to own the company,
export the uranium—and who did they sell the uranium to? Iran. Now, if people knew
that, and that the [Clinton] Foundation as a result of this got $135 million, I think people
would start saying, ‘What?’” [94550]
NYTimes.com reported on April 23, 2015, “As the Russians gradually assumed control
of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records
show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman
used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those
contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs.
Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other
people with ties to the company made donations as well. And shortly after the Russians
announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton
received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to
the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.” [94551]
On May 1, 2016 researcher and author (Clinton Cash) Peter Schweizer wrote at
Breitbat.com, “Bill and Hillary Clinton had helped a Canadian financier named Frank
Giustra and a small Canadian company obtain a lucrative uranium mining concession
from the dictator in Kazakhstan; The same Canadian company, renamed Uranium One,
bought uranium concessions in the United States; The Russian government came calling
and sought to buy that Canadian company for a price that would mean big profits for the
Canadian investors; For the Russians to buy that Canadian company, it would require the
approval of the Obama administration, including Hillary’s State Department, because
uranium is a strategically important commodity; Nine shareholders in Uranium One just
happened to provide more than $145 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation in
the run-up to State Department approval; Some of the donations, including those from the
Chairman of Uranium One, Ian Teler, were kept secret, even though the Clintons
promised to disclose all donations; Hillary’s State Department approved the deal; The
Russian government now owns 20 percent of U.S. uranium assets. In short, here was
what you might call a radioactive scandal. It included secret donations, the Russian
government, foreign financiers, more than $145 million, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.”
[94552]
Schweizer notes, “And yet, one year later, Hillary Clinton has never once been asked
about this controversial uranium deal by the national media. It never came up during the
many Democratic Party presidential debates; never during any of her media appearances
on cable news or network television; never by print journalists who are covering her
campaign. The single time she was asked about the uranium deal was by a local reporter
in New Hampshire. In June 2015, she sat down with Josh McElveen of local television
WMUR. Kudos to McElveen, who raised the uranium deal during the interview. Hillary’s
response was evasive. She tried to obscure the facts. She argued that as Secretary of State
she was unaware of the deal. She also claimed that the flow of money and the transfer of
12
the uranium were not connected because the timing ‘doesn’t work.’ She claimed that the
money flowed from the Canadians to the Clinton Foundation before she was Secretary of
State. This is flat out untrue. …It is remarkable that in the year following the release of
Clinton Cash and a 3,000-word article on the front page of the New York Times
confirming these facts, that no one in the media (save Mr. McElveen) has been interested
in asking Hillary Clinton about this troubling uranium deal.” [94552]
Donald Trump tweets, “Only a fool would believe that the meeting between Bill Clinton
and the U.S.A.G. [U.S. attorney general] was not arranged or that Crooked Hillary did
not know.” (Loretta Lynch may have been blindsided, but it is a certainty that Bill
Clinton know what he was doing and that Hillary Clinton knew he was doing it. Nothing
they do is unplanned.) Trump then follows with another tweet: “Crooked Hillary Clinton
knew that her husband wanted to meet with the U.S.A.G. to work out a deal. The system
is totally rigged & corrupt!” [94561]
WND.com reports, “In contrast to the traditional notion that immigrants should be
required to learn the dominant language of a nation, the 2016 draft of the Democratic
Party platform no longer recommends undocumented immigrants learn English as a
condition of amnesty in the U.S. In contrast, the 2012 version of the document included
the need for comprehensive immigration reform, but specified undocumented immigrants
should ‘get right with the law, learn English, and pay taxes in order to get on a path to
earn citizenship.’ The 2008 Democratic Party platform was even more firm on
requirements for citizenships, stating: ‘We support a system that requires undocumented
immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, pay taxes, learn English, and go to the
back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.’” [94548, 94589]
Many Democrats are also calling for the party’s platform to call for a tax on stock trades.
According to Newsmax.com, Bernie Sanders “has proposed taxes on all trades—
imposing a rate of 0.5 percent for stocks, 0.1 percent for bonds and 0.005 percent for
derivatives.” (Someone who buys $1,000 worth of stocks would be charged a federal tax
of $5.00. Such a stock would have a dramatic, negative impact on the stock market
because investors would be discouraged from making trades. Some Democrats have gone
so far as to suggest a tax on all financial transactions. Just writing a check to pay for a
purchase would require the payment of a tax. Such an absurd tax would encourage people
to deal with cash and encourage black markets—which could actually result in reduced
overall tax revenue.) The Democrat platform calls for a “carbon tax.” [94549, 94589,
94944]
In a Gravis Marketing poll, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 50-48. (The poll is
meaningless, partly because it ignores the Libertarian and Green Party candidates, Gary
Johnson and Jill Stein. Neither Clinton nor Trump is anywhere near 50 percent. Each has
about 40 percent, and about 20 percent can be swayed. Roughly 40 percent would vote
for Clinton even if photos of her in bed with Huma Abedin surfaced, and roughly 40
percent will vote for Trump no matter what he says. The campaigns will spend their ad
money trying to persuade that final 20 percent.) [94575]
13
On the Fox Report, former Jimmy Carter pollster Pat Caddell says Hillary Clinton should
pick Congressman Xavier Beccera (D-CA) as her running mate because “he is the
smoothest liar I have ever seen” and Clinton “needs someone who can lie for her.”
On July 4 Barack “it’s always about me” Obama tweets “Happy Fourth of July—with a
photo of himself, wife, and one of his daughters watching fireworks. [94565]
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who apparently understands and appreciates
the American holiday better than Obama, tweets, “I admire your history; I treasure your
friendship; I cherish our alliance. To all Americans, happy 4th of July!” [94566, 94567]
Donald Trump meets with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), fueling rumors that she may be on
his list of potential running mates. Ernst later says, “Iowans are frustrated by the current
direction of our country. We simply cannot afford to continue these failed policies under
Hillary Clinton. I had a good conversation with Donald Trump today and we discussed
what I am hearing from Iowans as I travel around the state on my 99 county tour, and the
best path forward for our country. I will continue to share my insights with Donald about
the need to strengthen our economy, keep our nation safe, and ensure America is always
a strong, stabilizing force around the globe.” (Interestingly, quite a few GOP elitists are
interested in who Trump selects as his running mate—a choice that should be irrelevant if
they really do believe he will lose to Clinton in a landslide.) [94563, 94572, 94584,
94590]
Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump falls to 45.6-40.4 in a USA Today/Suffolk
University national poll. (In the previous poll, Clinton led 50-39.) [94593, 94594, 94600,
94602]
NYTimes.com reports, “…Democrats close to [Hillary] say she may decide to retain
[Loretta] Lynch” as her attorney general if elected. (Translation: “That’s what Bill
Clinton promised Lynch on her plane in exchange for not indicting his wife.”) [94573,
94574]
On July 5 police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana shoot and kill a 37-year-old black man
named Alton Sterling. WashingtonPost.com reports, “Sterling was shot and killed early
Tuesday morning after police responded to a complaint about an armed man threatening
people outside a convenience store. Cellphone video showing Sterling on the ground,
underneath two officers, when he was killed, began circulating online early Tuesday
evening. By the end of the night, the outrage was rippling nationwide. …The video of the
shooting was captured by chance by members of Stop the Killing Inc, a local antiviolence activist group and documentary team that listens to police scanners and shows
up at the scene of potentially violent confrontations to take video. A second video that
emerged later in Wednesday appeared to show one of the police officers removing a gun
from Sterling’s pocket after he was shot.” [94985, 94692, 94741, 94780, 94956]
14
FBI Director James Comey spends almost 15 minutes laying out damning evidence
against Hillary Clinton—and then abruptly declares that he will not recommend an
indictment. Comey says, “Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton
or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified
information, there is information that they were extremely careless in their handling of
very sensitive, highly classified information.” (There does not need to be evidence of
intent to indict Clinton for some of the federal laws she violated. Comey is providing a
weak excuse for his cowardice. The whole point of having her emails on a private server
was, of course, for Hillary Clinton to avoid having them released in response to Freedom
of Information Act requests. Clinton’s “intent” was obvious. That the FBI found no email
from Clinton stating, “This is why and how I intend to break the law” is irrelevant. If
someone is arrested for robbing a bank there will likely be no document left by the
criminal stating that his “intent” was to gain cash without earning it—but that does not
mean he did not rob the bank for that purpose.) [94577, 94587, 94588, 94591, 94596,
94601, 94604, 94609, 94610, 94617, 94628]
“Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling
of classified information,” Comey says, “our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor
would bring such a case.” (Translation: “Although Clinton broke the law, we’re wasting
our time if we think a jury would convict her.”) [94577]
Twitter user Sarah Lauren asks, “If #Hillary were to accidentally Tweets [sic; tweet] out
our nuclear lunch [sic; launch] codes would that be ‘extremely careless’ or ‘grossly
negligent’ #Trump2016.” [94982]
Politico.com writes, “Comey, who did not take questions during the press conference,
detailed specific findings from the FBI’s investigators, who interviewed Clinton just last
Saturday morning for three-and-half hours. Some of the findings contradicted statements
from Clinton’s camp, which has long sought to downplay the seriousness of the probe
and of the classified information on Clinton’s private server. Of the 30,000 emails
Clinton turned over to the State Department in 2014, Comey announced that 110 emails
in 52 separate chains had been determined to contain classified information ‘at the time
they were sent or received.’ Of those, he continued, eight included ‘Top Secret’
information, while 36 chains had ‘Secret’ information at the time it was received, while
eight contained ‘Confidential’ information, the lowest level of classification. In addition
to those, another 2,000 were ‘up-classified’ to make them ‘Confidential’ after they had
already been sent. …‘But even if information is not marked ‘classified’ in an email,
participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still
obligated to protect it,’ Comey said.” [94577]
Comey says that although the FBI, did not find “direct evidence” that Clinton’s emails
were hacked, “…given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we
assess that we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence. We do assess that hostile
actors gained access to the private commercial email accounts of people with whom
15
Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account. We also assess that
Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail domain was both known by a large number
of people and readily apparent. She also used her personal email extensively while
outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related emails in the
territory of sophisticated adversaries. Given that combination of factors, we assess it is
possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account.”
(Translation: “Clinton put the security of the United States at risk, but we are not going to
do anything about it.”) [94577]
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon states, “We are pleased that the career officials handling
this case have determined that no further action by the Department is appropriate. As
[Clinton] has long said, it was a mistake to use her personal email and she would not do it
again. We are glad that this matter is now resolved.” [94577]
Donald Trump tweets, “The system is rigged. General [David] Petraeus got in trouble for
far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment.” “FBI director said Crooked Hillary
compromised our national security. No charges. Wow! #RiggedSystem.” [94577, 94603]
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) states, “While I respect the professionals at the FBI,
this announcement defies explanation. No one should be above the law.” [94577]
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) tweets, “The FBI decision shows once again how the
Clintons and others at the top get to live by a different set of rules from everyone else.”
[94577]
WND.com posts numerous comments:
Columnist David Limbaugh: “Many Dems don’t care if Dems break the law (ends justify
means); others are so brainwashed they will never believe Hillary broke the law.”
Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt: “Damning. She’s disqualified. You can vote for
her, but she’s a danger to the national security of US because of her recklessness.”
Conservative commentator Monica Crowley: “Rule of law? What rule of law? Rule of
law is for schmucks.”
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY): “Today Comey & Obama’s DOJ made it clear to the
American people there’s no accountability no justice & the Clintons live by different
rules.”
Former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton: “The #FBI recommends no charges & yet there is
evidence of potential violations regarding the handling of classified info. Unbelievable.”
16
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer: “If Hillary were still Sec State, Pres
O would have to fire her. But instead, he travels with her and seeks to promote her.
Disgusting.” “Bottom line: Hillary is reckless, careless and has poor judgement, but she’s
not a criminal. Which means she’s likely to be our next POTUS.”
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA): “The FBI decision shows once again how the Clintons
and others at the top get to live by a different set of rules from everyone else.”
Fox News host Eric Bolling: “FBI recommends no further action… [it’s a] good thing
there’s an Atny General who will uphold rule of law. Oh wait she just met with Bill
…#GUILTY.”
“Conservative commentator Daniel Horowitz: “Let’s face it, a republican who faced such
allegations would be forced to withdraw candidacy, irrespective of criminal charges.”
Washington talk-radio host Larry O’Connor: “People never INTEND to act with ‘gross
negligence.’ That’s the whole point of the law! #clintonrules.”
Conservative commentator Dana Loesch: “They will do everything in their power to get
Clinton into the White House.” “So glad Comey was able to take care of Hillary’s
awkward little investigation right before Obama campaigned with her.”
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: “Clinton had emails marked Special Access Program
(beyond Top Secret). Put nat’l security at risk. Unfit to be POTUS.” (Special Access
Program data is not transmitted over any network. It is often delivered via a hard drive in
a locked pouch via special couriers. It defies believability that Clinton could have had
such data on an unsecured server and not be charged with a crime.) [94660]
Conservative commentator John Podhoretz: “If you think Comey got it right, please note
he called her a liar.”
Wall Street Journal editor James Taranto: “Laws Are for Little People: Comey delivers
an indictment but won’t seek one.”
Conservative commentator Jedediah Bila: “Hillary is a liar. We’ve seen it many times.
The question is whether that will matter enough to people to cost her the election. I say
no.”
Conservative commentator Katie Pavlich: “Obama DOJ: James Rosen is a criminal coconspirator but Hillary Clinton should be the next President of the United States.
¯ \_(ツ)_/¯ .”
Columnist Ben Shapiro: “Hillary’s got her fig leaf. That’s all that matters to the media.”
17
More Shapiro: “Obama on a plane with Hillary as Comey prepares to exonerate her is
like Michael Corleone taking confession as Clemenza murders his enemies.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), quoting The Washington Post: “WP: ‘For a candidate
already badly struggling on questions of whether she is honest and trustworthy
…Comey’s comments are devastating.'”
CNN political analyst Amanda Carpenter: “Clinton compromised natl security but we
can’t think about revoking her security clearance bc she might be President. Fantastic.”
“Saying HRC didn’t ‘intend’ to compromise natl sec. w server setup is like chugging a
fifth of rum & saying you didn’t intend to get drunk.”
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee: “Hillary may not be POTUS, but she’ll be on
the Winter Olympic team for ice skating; no one has successfully skated on more thin
ice…”
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL): “The FBI’s decision regarding Clinton’s mishandling of
classified emails once again proves that she is DQ’d [disqualified] from being
Commander in Chief.” [94603]
Democrats will argue, “It is time to move on” and claim Clinton broke no laws.
Technically, however. Comey did not say that. In fact, Comey states, “To be clear, this is
not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would
face no consequences.” That is, if a person still on the payroll of the federal government
did what Clinton did, he or she would at least lose security clearance and be demoted or
fired, if not prosecuted. (Translation: “Although we will give Clinton a pass, that does not
mean the rules still don’t apply to the ‘little people.’”) [94577]
“To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative
sanctions, but that’s not what we’re deciding now. As a result, although the Department
of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view
that no charges are appropriate in this case.” Comey is stating that a conviction would be
unlikely, and he therefore was not recommending an indictment—but he is not
sanctioning Clinton’s conduct or suggesting that “normal people” could get away with
what she did. Clinton can use, “I am not a crook” as her campaign slogan if she so
chooses, but she has been labeled reckless and untrustworthy by the FBI Director.
[94577]
Arguably, Comey shamefully “worked backward” from the no-indictment decision he
was under pressure to provide, and “found” a way to justify that decision. That thought
process may remind some of the Supreme Court’s absurd ObamaCare decision, in which
Chief Justice John Roberts decided that he had to make ObamaCare’s unconstitutional
provisions constitutional and came up with a convoluted justification for the Affordable
18
Care Act. It may also remind some of the Supreme Court’s refusal to even hear the case
Kerchner v. Obama, which argued that Obama is not a natural born citizen and is
therefore not eligible to serve as president. In each of those three situations, “the
establishment” ruled against the law and in favor or “not rocking the boat.” (The nation
cannot survive long—at least as a republic—when the rule of law is disregarded in favor
of elitists who maintain power.)
For those who recall the O. J. Simpson murder trial, the FBI director’s announcement
was essentially James Comey rescuing Hillary Clinton by having her try on the gloves.
Former prosecutor and mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani says, “It would be
unreasonable for a prosecutor not to go forward with it [prosecution of Hillary Clinton]
and almost an abrogation of duty. The minute you say someone is extremely careless,
you’re saying they are grossly negligent. The circumstantial evidence here was
overwhelming, he [FBI Director James Comey] laid it all out. I thought [listening to the
announcement] that he was going to come to the conclusion she was going to be indicted.
And here’s the biggest piece of circumstantial evidence, destruction of the 34,000 emails.
I don’t know how he ever, ever, is going to be able to charge anybody in the CIA or the
FBI that [sic; who] is ‘extremely careless’ with top secret information if he isn’t charging
Hillary Clinton. This is the special exception for the Clintons… I don’t have any doubt I
could win this case in front of a jury. …Would she [Clinton] pass an FBI background
check for top security clearance? The answer is no. She couldn’t possibly. I’ve read a
thousand FBI background checks, maybe 2,000; this would get thrown right in the ash
can. She wouldn’t be the number 35 person at the State Department. We wouldn’t hire
her as an assistant U.S. Attorney with this record.” [94629, 94636]
Giuliani also notes, “Now the interesting thing is the statute of limitations will not have
run out on this [Clinton’s crimes]. If Trump should win and appoint an attorney general
who’s got the courage to do it, they could bring this indictment.” (While Giuliani is
correct, if Trump is elected Clinton can be pardoned “in advance” by Obama before he
leaves office on January 20—which he most certainly would do. On the other hand, if
Obama only pardons Clinton for her email server crimes, she and her husband could still
face possible prosecution for any illegal activities in which they engaged while running
the Clinton Foundation.) [94650]
At NationalReview.com former prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy writes, “There is no
way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey (disclosure: a former
colleague and longtime friend of mine), Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a
felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18): With lawful access
to highly classified information she acted with gross negligence in removing and causing
it to be removed it from its proper place of custody, and she transmitted it and caused it to
be transmitted to others not authorized to have it, in patent violation of her trust. Director
Comey even conceded that former Secretary Clinton was ‘extremely careless’ and
strongly suggested that her recklessness very likely led to communications (her own and
those she corresponded with) being intercepted by foreign intelligence services.” [94586]
19
“Yet, Director Comey recommended against prosecution of the law violations he clearly
found on the ground that there was no intent to harm the United States. In essence, in
order to give Mrs. Clinton a pass, the FBI rewrote the statute, inserting an intent element
that Congress did not require. The added intent element, moreover, makes no sense: The
point of having a statute that criminalizes gross negligence is to underscore that
government officials have a special obligation to safeguard national defense secrets;
when they fail to carry out that obligation due to gross negligence, they are guilty of
serious wrongdoing. The lack of intent to harm our country is irrelevant. People never
intend the bad things that happen due to gross negligence.” [94586]
“I would point out, moreover, that there are other statutes that criminalize unlawfully
removing and transmitting highly classified information with intent to harm the United
States. Being not guilty (and, indeed, not even accused) of Offense B does not absolve a
person of guilt on Offense A, which she has committed. It is a common tactic of defense
lawyers in criminal trials to set up a straw-man for the jury: a crime the defendant has not
committed. The idea is that by knocking down a crime the prosecution does not allege
and cannot prove, the defense may confuse the jury into believing the defendant is not
guilty of the crime charged. Judges generally do not allow such sleight-of-hand because
innocence on an uncharged crime is irrelevant to the consideration of the crimes that
actually have been charged.” [94586]
“It seems to me that this is what the FBI has done today. It has told the public that
because Mrs. Clinton did not have intent to harm the United States we should not
prosecute her on a felony that does not require proof of intent to harm the United States.
Meanwhile, although there may have been profound harm to national security caused by
her grossly negligent mishandling of classified information, we’ve decided she shouldn’t
be prosecuted for grossly negligent mishandling of classified information. I think highly
of Jim Comey personally and professionally, but this makes no sense to me. Finally, I
was especially unpersuaded by Director Comey’s claim that no reasonable prosecutor
would bring a case based on the evidence uncovered by the FBI. To my mind, a
reasonable prosecutor would ask: Why did Congress criminalize the mishandling of
classified information through gross negligence? The answer, obviously, is to prevent
harm to national security. So then the reasonable prosecutor asks: Was the statute clearly
violated, and if yes, is it likely that Mrs. Clinton’s conduct caused harm to national
security? If those two questions are answered in the affirmative, I believe many, if not
most, reasonable prosecutors would feel obliged to bring the case.” [94586]
Federal criminal statute 18 USC Section 793(f) reads: “Whoever, being entrusted with or
having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book,
sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument,
appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross
negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered
to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2)
having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of
20
custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or
destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction
to his superior officer—Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten
years, or both.” The statute refers to gross negligence; prosecution does not require
intent. FBI Director James Comey ignored a federal criminal statute in order to protect
Hillary Clinton. [94597]
HotAir.com comments, “The phrase ‘extremely careless’ [by Comey] is a wink at the
gross-negligence standard in Section 793(f). The phrase ‘any reasonable person’ is
another. That’s how courts typically define negligence, as a failure to exhibit the same
duty of care that a hypothetical ‘reasonable person’ would exhibit. He’s telling you flat
out here that she was negligent and then leaving you to infer from the rest of his remarks
that her actions were so shockingly careless under the circumstances as to rise to the level
of gross negligence—which means she’s guilty of violating 793(f). His blather about
intent at the end of his remarks, insisting that prosecutors traditionally haven’t prosecuted
crimes related to classified information unless the information was mishandled
intentionally, is extraneous nonsense designed to take the heat off of [Attorney General]
Loretta Lynch and the DOJ [Department of Justice] in deciding whether to break with
tradition or not. That’s a matter of prosecutorial discretion and, eventually, grand-jury
discretion. Comey’s job was simply to decide whether a crime has been committed. It
has, by his own admission. So why wasn’t that fact noted and the rest left to the DOJ?”
[94599]
“I’m treating this as further evidence for my theory that Comey, for whatever reason, felt
that he couldn’t recommend charges for political reasons (in which case, why didn’t he
resign on principle?) but wanted to make sure that Hillary was punished at least insofar as
she suffered political damage. He didn’t need to note how ‘extremely careless’ she was or
what ‘any reasonable person’ would have done if all he wanted to do was say ‘we’re not
recommending charges.’ That was added, I assume, because Comey knew what people
like [Rudy] Giuliani and [Andrew C.] McCarthy who are familiar with 793(f) would do
with it. They’d tout the fact that Comey’s all but accusing of her committing a crime and
would use that against her politically. Comey and his agency would take a hit in the
process for not recommending charges but they were always destined to take a hit for
that. The least Comey could do amid this foreordained travesty of justice is let the world
know that he agrees with them that a crime was committed. And that’s exactly what he
did. She won’t be charged, but she certainly wasn’t ‘cleared.’” [94599]
DailyCaller.com reminds readers, “On Friday August 20, 1999, then-director of the CIA
George Tenet announced he had suspended the security clearance of previous director
John M. Deutch for storing classified information on a private server at his home. On
January 20, 2001, as one of his last acts as president, Bill Clinton granted Deutch a
presidential pardon, sparing him the prospect of a criminal conviction. ‘The pardon of
Mr. Deutch spares the former spy director any criminal charges for mishandling secret
information on his home computer. Mr. Deutch, who resigned in 1996, has already had
his security clearance stripped,’ The New York Times reported at the time. ‘He had been
21
considering a deal with the Justice Department in which he would plead guilty to a
misdemeanor charge of keeping classified data on home computers.’” [94592, 94649]
Ronald T. Hosko, a former assistant FBI director, tells DailyCaller.com, “I know a lot of
people will be way beyond disappointed [by Comey’s announcement]. They will be
angry. There will be widespread frustration among agents about the fact she [Hillary
Clinton] will be able to walk away. As an FBI agent, I would have been fired and likely
prosecuted if they caught me doing this.” [94773]
On the other hand, although FBI Director James Comey’s decision arguably gives Hillary
Clinton a legal pass, she is still severely damaged by his comments. Comey was under no
obligation to hold a press conference and provide any details of the investigation. He
could have announced that the investigation was over and that the files have been turned
over to Attorney General Loretta Lynch for her to make a decision on an indictment—
and said nothing more. Lynch could then have taken months to do anything, and then
declare there was no evidence justifying a prosecution of Clinton. That Comey at least
took 10 minutes to outline the evidence against Clinton at least brought to the public’s
attention information Lynch was likely to bury.
Hillary Clinton travels with Obama aboard Air Force One for a joint campaign
appearance in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Taxpayer dollars should not be used for such
transportation for a candidate.) [94576, 94595, 94598, 94608, 94627]
Not only does Clinton travel aboard Air Force One, when she arrives in Charlotte, the
presidential seal is improperly left on the lectern after Obama finishes speaking to the
audience—as an obvious signal that she should be the next president. Obama lays it on
thick in his introduction, saying there has “never been any man or woman more qualified
for this office than Hillary Clinton, ever, and that’s the truth.” (This is not Obama’s first
brush with abuse of the presidential seal. While campaigning in June 2008 he placed a
customized “Obama presidential seal” on his lectern when he gave speeches. The seal did
not last long; its use was discontinued after intense criticism of Obama’s arrogance—and
when the campaign learned that it is illegal to create and use a false presidential seal.)
[353, 94618, 94637, 94657]
In his remarks, a stuttering Obama—using his fake southern accent—says, “So, if, if, if
you’re votin’ for the other team, it’s not because of the economy. It’s not because of the
economy, you gotta [sic] be, you gotta [sic] be clear about that. I mean, even, even, even
if, even the, uh, even the, the, the Republicans on the other side don’t really know what
the guy’s talking about. They really don’t. They really don’t. You ask ’em, they’re all, eh,
I don’t know, then they kinda, duck the other way. I, am I joking? No. So, so you can
choose a path that divides us, with harsh rhetoric, and [that] pits workin’ people against
each other, all the while pushing policies that will just help folks at the top do even better,
but that’s not hel… helping workin’ families.” [94641]
22
Clinton piles on the compliments as well, saying, “As we went from political rivals, to
partner, to friend, my esteem for him just kept growing, and so did my admiration for his
brilliant wife, Michelle, and those two amazing daughters they have raised. I happen to
think those two young women may be the most impressive accomplishment of all of the
president.” (Translation: “Thank you for rescuing me from an indictment. Of course, we
still hate each other, and you know that had I been indicted I would have taken you down
with me.”) [94646]
It is worth noting that the Obama-Clinton trip to North Carolina was not a spur-of-themoment decision. Because of the security logistics, the trip had to have been planned
days in advance. That means Obama already knew the FBI would not be recommending
an indictment of Clinton, because Obama would not want to chauffeur a soon-to-be
indicted candidate individual on Air Force One. FBI Director James Comey’s claim that
the investigation was secret and not influenced by others is a lie. Obama could not have
known what Comey was going to say unless he was told. The fix was therefore in—and
Comey is not the “straight arrow” everyone believed him to be. (At the very least, Bill
Clinton and Loretta Lynch were holding and aiming Comey’s bow.) It is also worth
noting that Comey made no mention of the separate investigation of the Clinton
Foundation. [94656]
While the FBI Director whitewashes Clinton’s crimes, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in the District of Columbia rules that federal employees cannot evade Freedom of
Information Act requests by using private email servers. According to TheHill.com, “The
White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) said it did not need to
search for or turn over records held by the head of the OSTP on a private email account
as part of the open records request. In addition to official White House email, John
Holdren, the director of the OSTP, also sent and received emails from a domain at the
Woods Hole Research Center. Throughout the case, the government argued that
‘[d]ocuments on a nongovernmental email server are outside the possession or control of
federal agencies, and thus beyond the scope of FOIA.’ Judge David Sentelle… disagreed
with that reasoning and ordered the lower court to reconsider the case. ‘If a department
head can deprive the citizens of their right to know what his department is up to by the
simple expedient of maintaining his departmental emails on an account in another
domain, that purpose is hardly served,’ Sentelle wrote. ‘It would make as much sense to
say that the department head could deprive requestors of hard-copy documents by leaving
them in a file at his daughter’s house and then claiming that they are under her control,’
he said.” [94605, 94606, 94607, 94619]
The case may remind some not only of Hillary Clinton’s email abuses, but the email
account used by former EPA head Lisa Jackson to evade Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) requests. Jackson used an email account under the name “Richard Windsor” for
many of her emails, knowing that no one would know to use FOIA to request Windsor
emails. (Like Clinton, Jackson was not held accountable.) [40270, 40984, 40985, 40991]
23
At NationalReview.com David French writes, “I defy any member of the military or any
civilian not directly affiliated with Hillary Clinton to engage in such conduct and get
away with it. The first thing that would happen is you would lose your security clearance.
Next, you would lose your job. Finally, good luck escaping prosecution. Comey claims
that prior FBI prosecutions included ‘some combination of: clearly intentional and willful
mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a
way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to
the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice.’ But those aren’t the elements of the
relevant crime—which merely requires prosecutors to prove Clinton guilty of ‘gross
negligence’ in removing classified information from its proper place of custody. Yet even
if those were the elements, Comey outlined many of them in his statement. Hillary
Clinton mishandled classified information when ‘any reasonable person in her position’
should have known unclassified systems were ‘no place’ for that information. She deleted
e-mails that should have been preserved. She housed national-defense information on a
server less secure than Gmail. She lied, repeatedly and publicly. No one less politically
connected could get away with misconduct this brazen. No one.” [94610]
“…It would be a mistake to consider this outrage in isolation. Scandal and incompetence
follow Hillary Clinton like the cloud of filth that accompanies Peanuts’ Pig-Pen. She
botched the Libya intervention so thoroughly that the country is now an ISIS playpen.
Her State Department left men alone to die in Benghazi, then she misled the American
people to cover up her own failure. Her family foundation is a pay-to-play influencepeddling operation. And now we know that she mishandled classified information and
lied to conceal her own wrongdoing. But rules and standards are for the little people. The
FBI demolished every Clinton excuse and blew apart every Clinton lie, but soon she
might well walk into rooms serenaded to the sweet sounds of ‘Hail to the Chief.’ To
paraphrase the words of Benjamin Franklin, we’ve got a banana republic, if Hillary can
keep it.” [94610]
Shannen W. Coffin, a former senior lawyer in the George W. Bush Justice Department
and White House, writes, “The FBI built a solid case for prosecuting Hillary Clinton’s
criminal misdeeds—but then inexplicably decided not to recommend her prosecution.
…[I]t is clear to me that Director Comey blinked under pressure. Comey’s Tuesday
morning press conference read like the opening statement for the prosecution. He
dismantled several of the lies that Hillary’s camp has propounded over the last 16
months. As to her claim that there were never any classified materials or classified
markings in her e-mail, he concluded that 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains contained
information that was classified at the time they were sent. Eight of those e-mail chains
were classified top secret and seven contained special-access (or ‘SCI’) material, the
most sensitive secrets our government protects.” [94611]
Comey “all but concluded that Hillary had been hacked by foreign powers—or at least
substantially increased the risk of such hacking with her reckless handling of her e-mail
system. The FBI did not find ‘direct evidence’ of successful hacking, but given the nature
of the system and the sophistication of the hackers, it was ‘unlikely to see such direct
24
evidence.’ Nevertheless, the FBI knows that ‘hostile actors gained access to the private
commercial accounts of people’—such as Sidney Blumenthal—‘with whom the
Secretary was in regular contact from her personal account.’ That risk, of course, would
have existed with an official account as well. But the director also noted that her use of a
personal e-mail account to conduct foreign business ‘was both known by a large number
of people and readily apparent,’ which substantially increased that risk. Finally, and most
damningly, she ‘used her personal e-mail extensively while outside of the United States,
including sending and receiving worked-related e-mails in the territory of sophisticated
adversaries.’ This merely confirms what was already public, including e-mail chains in
which her aides talked of security incidents while traveling in China. As a result, the FBI
determined it ‘is possible that hostile actors gained access’ to her official e-mails.”
[94611]
“…The greatest shortcomings of Comey’s public comments, though, were in his
conclusion that ‘no reasonable prosecutor’ would bring a case for mishandling of
classified information. Comey himself made the case for such a prosecution. The
investigation ‘looked at whether there is evidence that classified information was
improperly stored or transmitted on that personal system in violation of a federal statute
that makes it a felony to mishandle classified information either intentionally or in a
grossly negligent way.’ Here, Comey referred to 18 U.S.C. § 793(f), which criminalizes
conduct by which the recipient of national-defense information ‘through gross negligence
permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone
in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed.’ …Comey simply
ignored—or rewrote—the plain language of § 793(f), which does not require any
showing of criminal intent. There is a reason that Congress did not require a showing of
intent in this provision of the Espionage Act: to protect against even inadvertent
disclosure or risk of disclosure of protected information where the perpetrator
demonstrated gross disregard for the national security. How Comey could conclude that
‘no reasonable prosecutor’ could make this case is inexplicable in light of his own
words.” [94611]
“Director Comey’s press conference was a study in contradiction. But it was also an
example of how divorcing an inquiry from its context leads to indefensible results.
Comey found that Hillary Clinton quite plainly mishandled classified information and
exposed the United States to a heightened risk of national-security harm. But he forgot to
explain the reason she did so—to keep her business, both public and private, beyond the
reach of public scrutiny. She did all of this to avoid congressional oversight, FOIA
requests, and accountability to the public. Comey’s decision simply ensures that she was
successful in avoiding that accountability.” [94611]
WashingtonExaminer.com lists “The 14 most damaging things said about Clinton’s
emails at the FBI press briefing… 1. Clinton lied about using just one device for emails…
2. Clinton lied about no classified information being sent from her private server… 3.
There were work emails not turned over by Clinton… 4. Her lawyers took steps to ensure
additional emails wouldn't be found… 5. The FBI director called Clinton ‘extremely
25
careless’… 6. Clinton ‘should have known’ her system was unsafe… 7. The level of
incompetence/carelessness was astounding… 8. Clinton should have known her subject
matter was classified… 9. Security culture at State under Clinton was ‘generally
lacking’… 10. People who emailed with Clinton had their email accounts hacked… 11. It
‘is possible’ that Clinton’s email servers were hacked… 12. Clinton potentially violated
federal law, even if the FBI recommended no charges… 13. People in similar situations
would face sanctions… 14. Clinton didn't intentionally do this, she was just that
stupid…” [94621, 94622]
Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson asks, “1. Did Clinton improperly use personal
email and systems for government work? Yes. 2. Was classified information improperly
stored on Clinton’s personal systems? Yes, although she claimed the opposite. 3. Was
classified information improperly transmitted through Clinton’s personal systems? Yes,
about 2,000 emails, although she claimed the opposite. 4. Was any of the information
marked classified at the time it was sent or received? Yes, although she claimed
otherwise. (Though the FBI could not recover all of Clinton’s emails, among the ones it
reviewed, 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains contained classified information, including
Top Secret, at the time they were sent or received.) 5. Did the presence of the classified
emails violate protocol? Yes. The FBI noted, ‘None of these e-mails should have been on
any kind of unclassified system.’ 6. Should she have known better? Yes.” [94634]
“7. Were Clinton and her colleagues careless in their handling of the public’s classified
information? Yes, the FBI found Clinton and her colleagues were ‘extremely careless’ in
their handling of ‘very sensitive, highly classified information.’ But the FBI did not find
‘clear evidence’ that they intended to violate laws. 8. Were Clinton’s systems vulnerable,
thus exposing the classified information? Yes, the FBI found Clinton used systems that
were even less secure than ‘a commercial service like Gmail.’ 9. Did Clinton’s actions
jeopardize classified information? Yes. 10. Was Clinton’s email information, including
classified material, likely accessed by hostile forces? Yes, because the FBI found, Clinton
‘extensively’ used her personal, unsecure email systems ‘in the territory of sophisticated
adversaries.’ Additionally, the FBI found, ‘hostile actors gained access to the private
commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular
contact from her personal account.’” [94634]
“11. Did Clinton likely destroy public, work-related emails that are unrecoverable? Yes.
12. Did Clinton’s lawyers ‘clean’ their devices in a way to ‘preclude complete forensic
recovery’? Yes. 13. Was the FBI able to reconstruct the mysterious electronic sorting of
records done by Clinton’s lawyers? No. The FBI says it does not have ‘complete
visibility’ but assumes there was no ‘intentional misconduct.’ 14. Is there evidence that
Clinton potentially violated laws on handling of classified information? Yes, but the FBI
says, ‘our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.’ 15. Would
someone in similar circumstances face consequences? Yes, the FBI says such individuals
have often been ‘subject to security or administrative sanctions.’ But the FBI said that’s
not what it was deciding ‘now.’” [94634]
26
FBI Director James Comey will soon face Congressional committees, whose members
will no doubt ask him a fair number of questions about his decision not to indict Hillary
Clinton—and why he thinks she did not meet the “gross negligence” requirement of
federal statues she violated. [94623, 94630, 94631]
Talk radio’s Mark Levin tells his listeners, “They found several thousand emails that
were not disclosed to the FBI. You know what I call that? A cover up. She [Hillary
Clinton] intended to cover up, she intended to unravel the security system that was put
into place. It’s worse than gross negligence. This is a slam dunk prosecution. This is a
slam dunk case. …She used multiple smart phones, multiple mobile devices. She lied
about that. She lied about the servers—with an ‘s’— plural. She lied about not getting
any classified information. Always skating on the edge, always protected and dammit she
might be the next president of the United States.” [94626]
Hillary Clinton is booed when she addressed the National Education Association and
says, “When schools get it right, whether they are traditional public schools or public
charter schools, let’s figure out what’s working …and share it with schools across
America.” (A large percentage of public school teachers oppose charter schools, which
receive public funding but are allowed to operate rather independently.) [94651]
The Washington Post upgrades the “two Pinocchio” ratings of some of Clinton’s email
lies to the “four Pinocchio” level. (Providing cover for Clinton, ABC and NBC ignore the
story.) [94639, 94694, 96242, 96243]
Leftists in the mainstream media are, not surprisingly, ecstatic over Comey’s capitulation.
ABC’s Matthew Dowd calls it “a momentous day” for Hillary Clinton. ABC’s Jonathan
Karl, thrilled by Clinton’s ride on Air Force One, says, “[T]his whole process has been a
cloud hanging over the head of Hillary Clinton and her campaign so that cloud is lifted.”
MSNBC’s Beth Fouhy makes the remarkable claim that it is “hard for anybody to agree”
with the “sort of notion that the system is rigged” after Comey’s statements. MSNBC’s
Kristen Welker says the day’s events “will also allow the Clinton campaign to move on
from this issue…” On CNN, Emory University Professor Drew Westen suggests Clinton
respond to criticism of her email scheme by calling it a “bogus scandal.” [94612, 94613,
94614, 94615]
MRCTV.org reports, “The National Science Foundation gave $1.4 million to the Woods
Hole Research Center to help them create a ‘demographic change in the Arctic research
community.’ According to the grant: ‘This project is integrating scientific research in the
Arctic with education and outreach, with a strong central focus on engaging
undergraduate students and visiting faculty from groups that have had little involvement
in Arctic science to date. Science and society in the United States will be stronger in the
long-term if the scientific workforce more closely reflects the racial, ethnic, and cultural
diversity of its residents. The Arctic research community currently does not [do so]. Of
the Principal Investigators funded by NSF’s Arctic programs in the past five years, only
27
1% were African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Native.’” (Apparently
there are not enough Eskimos studying ice to satisfy the federal bureaucrats.) [94620]
Connecticut’s taxpayer-funded ObamaCare exchange, HealthyCT, becomes the 14th of
23 exchanges to be shut down. [94625]
Campaigning in Raleigh, North Carolina, Donald Trump says, “So Hillary said today, at
least according to what I saw on television, which you can’t always believe. I found it
hard to believe she’d said this, but she said today that [she] may consider the Attorney
General to go forward [and keep her job after the election] …I mean, the attorney general
is saying, ‘If I get Hillary off the hook, I’m going have four more years or eight more
years, but if she loses I’m out of a job. It’s a bribe! It’s a disgrace! It’s a disgrace! She
[Hillary Clinton] is laughing at the stupidity of our system. She is laughing and so is her
husband, Bill, laughing at what’s going on.” [94635, 94638]
On CNN, Don Lemon blames Clinton’s email problems on sexism. He says, “When
you’re the first woman with a real shot a winning the White House, you know at least one
thing is for sure: the men at the top are going to have a lot to say about you. First, I want
you to listen to the FBI Director James Comey’s blistering assessment of Hillary
Clinton’s email scandal.” (For Lemon, Clinton’s problems have nothing to do with her
actions and everything to do with her gender.) [94661]
On The Kelly File, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) says, “I think the DNI, the director
of national intelligence, should block her [Hillary Clinton’s] access to classified
information, given how recklessly she handled this during the presidential campaign.
…No one should be above the law, but based upon the [FBI] director’s own statement, it
appears damage is being done to the rule of law. Declining to prosecute Secretary Clinton
for recklessly mishandling and transmitting national security information will set a
terrible precedent.” [94640, 94671, 94690, 94704, 94762, 94763]
Typically, the Republican and Democrat Party nominees gain access to classified
information after their national conventions and are given security briefings. Ryan’s valid
point is that Clinton should be denied that access and those briefings, because she would
be unable to receive security clearance for even a low-level State Department job. She
could receive access to confidential information only if she is elected and sworn in as
president. In addition, Clinton aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills and Clinton pal
Sidney Blumenthal should not be given security clearance to work in the White House.
(Ryan will ask Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to deny Clinton and her
aides security clearance, Clapper will deny the request, and Ryan will puff his chest in
outrage—and then do nothing.) [94889, 94899, 94940]
White House press secretary Josh Earnest later responds to Ryan’s suggestion, telling
reporters, “What the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [DNI] has indicated is
that they expect those briefings to move forward after the party conventions. And the
28
expectation that the DNI has is that they’ll provide the same information to both
candidates. We should leave those decisions in the hands of our intelligence professionals
and not risk them being sullied by the political debate.” At HotAir.com John Sexton
reacts: “You have to appreciate the sheer audacity of this statement. Earnest is suggesting
we wouldn’t want politics to interfere in the handling of classified intelligence. We’re
supposed to put out of our minds that she did exactly that for 4 years as Secretary with
her private server that kept all of her email out of reach of FOIA requests. We’re also
supposed to forget that she and her campaign have been lying outlandishly for more than
a year, all of it clearly in the service of her political ambitions. But now that the truth has
finally come out, the White House doesn’t want to sully this pristine issue with any
politics.” [94690, 94691]
Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) announces, “We’re introducing legislation to withdraw
the security clearances for all those people that were involved with that [Hillary Clinton’s
email abuses].” The bill “would revoke Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s
security clearance as well as the security clearances of Secretary Clinton’s colleagues at
the State Department who exhibited extreme carelessness in their handling of classified
information.” (If such legislation passes, Obama will probably issue a veto.) [94703]
In a national Morning Consult poll conducted June 30-July 4, Hillary Clinton leads
Donald Trump by a mere one point, 41-40; 19 percent are undecided. [94643]
In a July 1-5 Reuters/Ipsos poll, Clinton leads Trump 46-33. (The poll is clearly an
outlier and should not be trusted because it surveyed adults, rather than registered or
likely voters.) [94698, 94699]
In July 1-8 Reuters/Ipsos polling, Clinton leads Trump 44-34; 7 percent prefer
Libertarian Gary Johnson; 5 percent support Green Party candidate Jill Stein. (The poll is
arguably flawed in that it is an online survey of adults. That necessarily excludes older
voters who may not use the Internet. Further, pollsters should start limiting their surveys
to registered or likely voters; simply polling adults results in the inclusion of people who
are not registered to vote or who have no intention of voting.) [94802]
The Daily Mail reports, “A young left-wing German politician has admitted she lied to
police about the racial background of three men who raped her in case it triggered
reprisals against refugees in her country. Selin Gören, the national spokeswoman of the
left-wing youth movement Solid, was attacked by three men in January in the city of
Mannheim where she works as a refugee activist. The 24-year-old was ambushed late at
night in a playground where she said she was forced to perform a sex act on her attackers.
After the assault she went straight to the police—but she did not tell them the ethnic
make-up of the men, that they were speaking Arabic or Farsi. Selin, aware of the
backlash that migrants suffered after the events in Cologne on New Year’s Eve—when
hundreds of women were sexually assaulted and robbed by marauding gangs of
immigrant youths—instead said she was robbed and said her attackers spoke German.
Now she has told Germany’s Spiegel magazine why she lied. After her initial interview at
29
the end of January she returned to the police 12 hours later to tell them the real story.
…Selin, who has visited refugee camps in Iraq where she was shocked at the squalor
people are living in, did not want to stoke ‘more hatred against migrants in Germany.’”
[94663]
On July 6 former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez criticizes FBI Director James
Comey’s recommendation not to indict Hillary Clinton, arguing he should not have
issued a recommendation at all: “What I’m really surprised about was the statement that
no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. That is not his job. His job is to do the
investigation, present the evidence and maybe privately as a former prosecutor give his
assessment as to whether or not to move forward. To say that no reasonable prosecutor
would bring such a case, means that if anyone dare disagree, you’re unreasonable. If
[Attorney General] Loretta Lynch decides to move forward, she’s unreasonable. If she
does, what does that do to Jim Comey’s credibility and judgment? …[Comey’s] job is not
to make an assessment as to whether or not there could be a prosecution. His job is to
present the evidence.” [94654].
At TheWeek.com Ed Morrissey writes that Comey’s “use of the phrase ‘extremely
careless’ early in the statement turned out to be a precise calculation. The most
significant governing statute in this case is 18 USC 793, which makes the mishandling of
sensitive national-security information a felony—regardless of whether the mishandling
is intentional, or whether a foreign government succeeded in accessing it… Another
statute, 18 USC 1924, makes unauthorized retention of classified information a felony as
well… This statute requires an establishment of intent, but the first expressly does not.
Congress wrote 18 USC 793 to ensure that the onus fell to those with access to classified
information to properly protect it. Comey himself insists that ‘any reasonable person’ in
Clinton’s position would know not to send classified or even sensitive information
relating to national security through an unsecured and unauthorized communications
system. Comey somehow intends to distinguish this as ‘extremely careless’ rather than
gross negligence, even though protection of that information was an explicit part of
Clinton’s job as secretary of state and as an officer of the government with a security
clearance. That leaves ‘gross negligence’ as a standard beyond definition—and beyond
any enforcement at all.” [94695, 94696]
“…There is plenty of evidence that a similar set of circumstances would result in a
prosecution. Consider the extant case of Kristian Saucier, a sailor who unwisely decided
to use his cellphone to take a few photographic mementos of his tour of duty on board a
submarine. The photographs allegedly include classified systems within the ship. Saucier
is not accused of transmitting the photographs, unsecurely or otherwise. Saucier’s case
didn’t involve ‘vast quantities of materials,’ exposed or not. Nevertheless, Saucier has
been charged under 18 USC 793 (e), and has accepted responsibility for those violations
in an agreement with prosecutors. Saucier did attempt to render his storage of the
photographs unusable and inaccessible after suspicion arose. However, there seems to be
little difference between Saucier’s attempts and the efforts by Clinton’s team to ‘wipe’
her server rather than submit it to the State Department when requested—actually, a
30
number of servers, as Comey pointed out. If Saucier’s actions amount to obstructing
justice, then shouldn’t Clinton’s? ‘Clearly, a double standard [exists],’ Saucier’s attorney
Derrick Hogan told me hours after Comey’s statement. ‘To me, there’s really nothing that
Mrs. Clinton did that was any different than what Mr. Saucier did.’ Saucier currently
faces 63 to 78 months in prison for the 793(e) violations.” [94695, 94696, 94799]
The 18 USC 1924 statute reads, “Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or
consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or
contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information
of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority
and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall
be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.” It is absurd to
claim that Hillary Clinton did not violate that statute. She certainly “knowingly” arranged
to have a home server set up on which to store all her emails, and that server was most
assuredly at an unauthorized location. [94738]
Obama announces he will leave 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan until he leaves office—
rather than the 5,500 he had previously pledged. Obama says, “The security situation in
Afghanistan remains precarious. I strongly believe it is in our national security interest
…that we give our Afghan partners the best opportunities to succeed. …We have to deal
with the realities of the world as it is. We can’t forget what’s at stake in Afghanistan.
This is where al-Qaeda is trying to regroup, this is where ISIL [ISIS] continues to try to
expand its presence. …Compared to the 100,000 troops we once had there [in August
2010], today, fewer than 10,000 remain. And compared to their previous mission, helping
to lead the fight, our forces are now focused on two narrow missions: training and
advising Afghan forces and supporting counter terrorist operations against the remnants
of al-Qaeda as well as other terrorist groups, including ISI. …In short, even as we’ve
maintained a relentless, you know, case against those who are threatening us, we are no
longer engaged in a major ground war in Afghanistan.” [94632, 94633, 94644, 94647,
94695]
“In January, the next U.S. president will assume the most solemn responsibility of the
commander in chief, security of the United States and the safety of the American people.
The decision I’m making today ensures that my successor has a solid foundation for
continued progress in Afghanistan as well as the flexibility to address the threat of
terrorism as it evolves. …Afghanistan is not a perfect place. It remains one of the poorest
countries in the world. It is going to continue to take time for them to build up military
capacity that we sometimes take for granted. And given the enormous challenges they
face, the Afghan people will need the partnership of the world, led by the United States,
for many years to come.” [94632, 94633, 94644]
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) later states, “It’s kind of the classic White House way of
addressing an issue. All the military, every one of them, our commander in Afghanistan,
all of our service chiefs, recommended 9,800, which is the level that it’s at now. So
somehow, somewhere in the White House, either Mr. [Ben] Rhodes, that great science
31
fiction writer, or these others with great experience, National Security Council staff, they
arbitrarily reduced it to 8,400. Now I want to know what capabilities we have lost going
down from 9,800 to 8,400. What are those 1,400 billets that the military thought were
very important? So here we are again, putting the men and women who are serving in
greater risk because we’re not complying with the recommendation of the military
commanders on the ground, who, by the way, I have great confidence in. …They [U.S.
troops] have certain missions, which the military leadership, including our commander in
Afghanistan, has [sic; have] laid out. Those missions and capabilities, they believe, are
sufficient to prevail over the Taliban actions and activities. So when [Obama] goes
against their recommendations, and reduces by 1,400, then some of those missions and
capabilities have to go away. That puts the American men and women who are serving in
jeopardy, and, by the way, in greater risk.” [94705]
White House press secretary Josh Earnest tells reporters, “With regard to a reaction [to
the FBI’s decision not to recommend an indictment of Hillary Clinton] from the White
House, I don’t have an official reaction to share. The reason for that is simply that, while
the FBI is completing their investigation, the career prosecutors at the Department of
Justice still have to make a final determination about how and whether to proceed. And
we have gone to great lengths to avoid the appearance of interfering with this ongoing
process. [Earnest does not say the White House avoided interfering, only that it avoided
giving that appearance.] [FBI] Director [James] Comey himself noted that there was no
outside influence brought to bear on this investigation. That certainly is consistent with
the effort that we have made to protect the independence of the investigation.” [94648]
CNSNews.com notes, “In October 2015, …Obama, commenting on Hillary Clinton’s use
of a personal email server, said, ‘I can tell that you this is not a situation in which
America’s national security was endangered.’ This was one month after the FBI quietly
began its investigation.” (Obama’s statement was interference.) “Then in April, Obama
told ‘Fox News Sunday,’ ‘I continue to believe that she [Clinton] has not jeopardized
America’s national security. Now what I’ve also said is that—and she has
acknowledged—that there’s a carelessness, in terms of managing e-mails, that she has
owned, and she recognizes. But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective.
This is somebody who has served her country for four years as secretary of state, and did
an outstanding job. And no one has suggested that in some ways, as a consequence of
how she’s handled e-mails, that that detracted from her excellent ability to carry out her
duties.” (That is also interference.) [94648]
In June, Fox News’ James Rosen asked Earnest, “So when a career prosecutor or an FBI
agent who is working on the Clinton investigation hears [Obama] speak openly of how he
wants Hillary Clinton to succeed him, you don’t think that that career prosecutor or that
FBI agent takes that as some indication of how [Obama] wants to see this case resolved?”
Earnest responded unconvincingly, “No, I think that those career prosecutors understand
that they have a job do to. And that that job that they are supposed to do, which is to
follow the facts, to pursue the evidence to a logical conclusion, that that is a job that they
are responsible for doing without any sort of political interference. And [Obama] expects
32
them to do that job. And that’s why [Obama], when discussing this issue in each stage,
has reiterated his commitment to this principle that any criminal investigation should be
conducted independent of any sort of political interference, and that people should be
treated the same way before the law regardless of their political influence, regardless of
their political party, regardless of their political stature, and regardless of what political
figure has endorsed them.” [94648]
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich campaigns with Donald Trump in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Gingrich asks the audience, “Is there a single person here who believes that if you
had done what Hillary Clinton had done that you would not be prosecuted?” Trump says,
“I’m not saying anything, and I’m not telling even Newt anything, but I can tell you, in
one form or another, Newt Gingrich is going to be involved with our government. …I’ll
tell you one thing folks. I’m not saying it’s Newt [who will be Trump’s running mate],
but if it’s Newt, nobody’s going to be beating him in those debates, that’s for sure, right?
Nobody is beating our Newt in the debates.” [94642, 94684]
According to a Rasmussen survey, “37% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with the FBI’s
decision. But 54% disagree and believe the FBI should have sought a criminal indictment
of [Hillary] Clinton. Ten percent (10%) are undecided. Sixty-four percent (64%) of
Democrats agree with Comey’s decision not to seek an indictment of their party’s
presumptive presidential nominee. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Republicans, 63% of
voters not affiliated with either major political party and 25% of Democrats disagree with
the decision.” [94645, 94714]
According to a July 1-3 Fox News poll, only 21 percent of independent voters consider
Clinton to be trustworthy; 58 percent consider Trump trustworthy. [94653]
Tony Elliott writes at FreedomOutpost.com, “Most of you have probably noticed during
the Hillary Clinton campaign that Bill Clinton looks like some zombie or mummified
corpse from some science fiction movie. He is clearly very ill and showing it. The truth
is, Bill Clinton exhibits all the physical symptoms and actions of a person who has
advanced AIDS. His drastic weight loss, trembling hands at times, red blotches on his
face, and inflamed nodules on his nose are sure signs of advanced AIDS. In noticing
these same symptoms in actor Charlie Sheen, I wrote an article stating that Sheen had
AIDS and would announce it soon. The article was published some 3 weeks before Sheen
publicly announced he had AIDS. Like Charlie Sheen, Bill Clinton has led a sexually
promiscuous life for most of his existence, and his chances of contracting HIV from one
of his sex partners is very high. Both Hillary and Bill have had their medical records
sealed, and aside from some obvious health issues with Hillary and her coughing fits, the
primary reason for keeping much of their medical records secret is because it would show
Bill as having AIDS.” [94837, 94838, 95866]
“…Hillary will do anything to keep this secret, at least until after the election, in fear that
such an admission of her husband having AIDS would ruin what little chances she has of
becoming the next POTUS. As the demands of the campaign drastically increase the
33
closer we get to the general election in November, it would not be a surprise to see Bill
Clinton collapse during some public function, or disappear from Hillary’s campaign trail
altogether. Bill Clinton is a gravely ill man who, more than likely, will have to admit to
having AIDS in the very near future. It is a race against time now for Hillary Clinton's
campaign, where she hopes her husband can hold it together, at least until after the
Presidential Election. With the stress Bill is under during his wife’s campaign, it is highly
doubtful he can keep this a secret for much longer.” (This is all speculation in the part of
Elliott, of course. Although many believe Clinton looks like he is not long for this world,
his problems may stem more from cocaine use than AIDS. The truth may never be
known, as “heart attack” would likely be listed as the cause of death even if it were not.)
[94837, 94838, 95866]
TWCNews.com reports, “Two Raleigh men will spend time behind bars after pleading
guilty to trying to support terrorism. Authorities say 23-year-olds, Avin Brown and Akba
Jordan, had discussions with an FBI informant about traveling to either Syria or Yemen
to kill non-Muslims. Brown was arrested at RDU in 2014. He told authorities he bought a
ticket to Istanbul with the intention of going to Syria. Jordan, a Millbrook High School
graduate, was taken into custody that same day. Brown will serve more than seven years
behind bars while Jordan was sentenced to nine years.” [94666, 94667, 94789]
At Spectator.org R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. writes, “Some unanswered questions that remain
regarding Crooked Hillary’s server(s). How did classified information get transferred
from the ‘high side’ computer to her ‘low side’ computer? ‘High side’ computers carry
classified material. They do not communicate with ‘low side’ computers. Thus we might
ask: Who transferred the classified information to Hillary Clinton’s server or servers?
Was it a fellow named [Bryan] Pagliano? Who ordered and authorized the e-mail process
to move classified information to an unclassified e-mail account? Was it a fellowess
named [Huma] Abedin? Who is going to answer these questions? Is it a fellow named
[James] Comey? Or is he retiring?” [94652]
According to TheHill.com, “The Obama administration is moving ahead with a new
regulation that could make it easier for students to seek forgiveness of their federal
student loans. The proposal is roiling the higher education industry, with the backlash
particularly fierce among for-profit colleges that feel they are being singled out.” [94655]
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s campaign announces a proposal to eliminate tuition at instate public colleges and universities for families with annual incomes up to $125,000.
(Translation: “Vote for me and I’ll get someone else to pay for your college education.”)
According to NYTimes.com, under the Clinton plan, “the federal government would
provide tuition grants to states that agree to put up some matching money. …Education
policy experts generally praised the new proposal, calling the requirements for state
financial participation essential to reversing the drastic state cuts in higher education
support. But some experts said details of the initiative—including exactly how it would
work and be paid for—were sketchy, and raised concerns that some states would decline
to contribute money.” [94672, 94674, 94675, 94854]
34
Clinton’s scheme would do nothing to lower the cost of education. It would simply shift
the costs from the students and their families to taxpayers who are not their parents. In
fact, the proposal would cause college to become more expensive—because the students
would have no incentive to choose a less expensive schools. (If college is “free,” why not
choose the best, most expensive school in the state?) In addition, of course, neither the
states nor the federal government has the cash to fund such an expensive proposal.
Clinton’s proposal is simply a way to buy the votes of young people with someone else’s
money.
At Newsmax.com Megan McArdle later writes, “The cost of this [Clinton college]
program? As far as I can gather, about $450 billion over 10 years. Or maybe $520 billion.
It is paid for by ‘closing high income tax loopholes,’ including limiting deductions for
folks whose income puts them in the 33 percent tax bracket: about $190,000 for singles
and $215,000 for married couples. … Which deductions would be hit? Practically all of
them, according to the Tax Policy Center: All itemized deductions (except for charitable
contributions), tax-exempt state and local bond interest, employer-sponsored health
insurance paid for by employers or with before-tax employee dollars, health insurance
costs of self-employed individuals, employee contributions to defined contribution
retirement plans and IRAs, the deduction for income attributable to domestic production
activities, certain trade or business deductions of employees, moving expenses,
contributions to health savings accounts and Archer MSAs, and interest on education
loans.” [94854]
Clinton’s scheme “solves a ‘problem’ that’s just not that big a problem. The fact is that
most graduates don’t have much student debt. The median amount of school debt is just
$12,000, the price of an OK used car. Yet no one writes articles about how new grads are
having their lives stunted—never able to marry, change jobs, buy a home—by the
outrageous cost of Toyota Camrys. …The political logic is simple enough: Yes, people
would like to have their tuition paid for. They’d also like it if you gave them the same
amount of money in cash. But spending almost half a trillion dollars over 10 years
usually requires a somewhat higher public policy rationale than ‘people would like it.’”
[94854]
“…What America needs, much more than free college tuition, is a comprehensive plan to
bring our outflows roughly in line with our inflows over the long term. A sensible agenda
would first figure out how to pay for the things we’ve already promised to do, and then
see if we have the stomach for even higher taxes to cover new spending. Instead we keep
piling on the new spending while ignoring the old promises. When the bill comes due, it
will be a humdinger. And the politicians who ran up the total will be long gone.” [94854]
To the surprise of no one, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces that the
Department of Justice will follow FBI Director James Comey’s recommendation and not
indict Hillary Clinton for violating federal laws. [94658, 94680, 94688]
35
The State Department tries to provide additional cover for Clinton, arguing that some of
the emails she received were marked classified by accident. (That is, of course, no excuse
for her violating the law.) [94669, 94687]
Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS) states, “I’ve read those 22 top-secret emails that she
[Clinton] had on her private server, that [FBI] Director [James] Comey has confirmed are
now likely in the hands of our enemies. If you have a family member in the military, they
are less safe today as a result of what Secretary Clinton did.” [94670]
Senate Democrats block legislation that would cut federal funding for “sanctuary cities”
that protect illegal immigrants and refuse to turn them over to federal authorities for
deportation. The Democrats also block “Kate’s Law,” legislation that calls for mandatory
prison sentences for illegal immigrant criminals who repeatedly sneak back into the
United States. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) states, “These bills follow
Trump’s lead in demonizing, criminalizing immigrant, Latino families.” (Reid is, of
course, mistaken. Illegal immigrants from Sweden or Ireland who break the law would
also face prosecution under the proposed laws.) [94659, 94671, 94702]
Reid whines that the legislation would “undermine the ability of local law enforcement to
police their own communities to ensure public safety. It would deny millions of dollars of
critical community and economic development funding to cities and states that refuse to
target immigrant families.” (Of course, to keep the federal cash flowing all the cities
would have to do is comply with existing immigration laws, rather than defy them.)
[94702]
The Trump campaign announces that it raised $51 million in June. [94673, 94693, 94728]
On The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly shows photos of Obama wearing Muslim garb
when he attended the wedding of his half-brother, Malik Obama. O’Reilly comments that
Obama’s “deep emotional ties” to Islam prevent him from evaluating the threat of ISIS
and other radical Islamist groups. “There is no question the Obama administration’s
greatest failure is allowing the Islamic terror group ISIS to run wild, murdering thousands
of innocent people all over the world, including many Muslims. Mr. Obama has never,
never acknowledged that mistake, nor does he define the ISIS threat accurately. That
group is killing innocent people in order to impose a radical version of Islam on the
world. The jihad is solely based on theology, perverted as it may be.” [94683]
On July 7 Obama travels to Poland for a NATO summit. [94662]
Upon arrival in Poland, Obama says, “Good evening, everybody. I know we’ve been on a
long flight, but given the extraordinary interest in the shootings that took place in
Louisiana and Minnesota, I thought it would be important for me to address all of you
directly. And I want to begin by expressing my condolences for the families of Alton
Sterling and Philando Castile. As I said in the statement that I posted on Facebook, we
36
have seen tragedies like this too many times. The Justice Department, I know, has opened
a civil rights investigation in Baton Rouge. The governor of Minnesota, I understand, is
calling for an investigation there, as well. As is my practice, given my institutional role, I
can’t comment on the specific facts of these cases, and I have full confidence in the
Justice Department’s ability to conduct a thorough and fair inquiry.” [94725]
“But what I can say is that all of us as Americans should be troubled by these shootings,
because these are not isolated incidents. They’re symptomatic of a broader set of racial
disparities that exist in our criminal justice system. And I just want to give people a few
statistics to try to put in context why emotions are so raw around these issues. According
to various studies—not just one, but a wide range of studies that have been carried out
over a number of years—African Americans are 30 percent more likely than whites to be
pulled over [by the police while driving]. After being pulled over, African Americans and
Hispanics are three times more likely to be searched. Last year, African Americans were
shot by police at more than twice the rate of whites. African Americans are arrested at
twice the rate of whites. African American defendants are 75 percent more likely to be
charged with offenses carrying mandatory minimums. They receive sentences that are
almost 10 percent longer than comparable whites arrested for the same crime.” [94725]
“So that if you add it all up [sic], the African American and Hispanic population, who
make up only 30 percent of the general population, make up more than half of the
incarcerated population. Now, these are facts. [It may also be a fact that blacks and
Hispanics commit a greater percentage of the violent crimes than whites. It is absurd to
expect that it is impossible for 30 percent of the population to never commit 29 or 31
percent of the crimes.] And when incidents like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our
fellow citizenry that feels as if because of the color of their skin, they are not being
treated the same. And that hurts. And that should trouble all of us. This is not just a black
issue. It’s not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we should all care
about. All fair-minded people should be concerned.” [94725]
“Now, let me just say we have extraordinary appreciation and respect for the vast
majority of police officers who put their lives on the line to protect us every single day.
They’ve got a dangerous job. It is a tough job. And as I’ve said before, they have a right
to go home to their families, just like anybody else on the job. And there are going to be
circumstances in which they’ve got to make split-second decisions. We understand that.
But when we see data that indicates disparities in how African Americans and Latinos
may be treated in various jurisdictions around the country, then it’s incumbent on all of
us to say, we can do better than this; we are better than this—and to not have it
degenerate into the usual political scrum. We should be able to step back, reflect, and ask
ourselves, what can we do better so that everybody feels as if they’re equal under the
law?” [94725]
“Now, the good news is is [sic] that there are practices we can institute that will make a
difference. Last year, we put together a task force that was comprised of civil rights
activists and community leaders, but also law enforcement officials—police captains,
37
sheriffs. And they sat around a table and they looked at the data and they looked at best
practices, and they came up with specific recommendations and steps that could ensure
that the trust between communities and police departments were rebuilt and incidents like
this would be less likely to occur. [“Incidents like this”? Obama is suggesting the two
incidents to which he referred necessarily involved impropriety on the part of the police
officers—and he says that not long after saying he “can’t comment” on the specifics of
the cases. Suggesting the police were in the wrong—and they very well may have been—
is nevertheless commenting on the specifics.] [94725]
“And there are some jurisdictions out there that have adopted these recommendations.
But there are a whole bunch that have not. And if anything good comes out of these
tragedies, my hope is is [sic] that communities around the country take a look and say,
how can we implement these recommendations, and that the overwhelming majority of
police officers who are doing a great job every single day, and are doing their job without
regard to race, that they encourage their leadership and organizations that represent them
to get behind these recommendations.” [94725]
“Because, ultimately, if you can rebuild trust between communities and the police
departments that serve them, that helps us solve crime problems. That will make life
easier for police officers. They will have more cooperation. They will be safer. They will
be more likely to come home. So it would be good for crime-fighting and it will avert
tragedy. And I’m encouraged by the fact that the majority of leadership in police
departments around the country recognize this. But change has been too slow and we
have to have a greater sense of urgency about this.” [94725]
“I’m also encouraged, by the way, that we have bipartisan support for criminal justice
reform working its way through Congress. It has stalled and lost some momentum over
the last couple of months, in part because Congress is having difficulty, generally,
moving legislation forward, and we’re in a political season. But there are people of
goodwill on the Republican side and the Democratic side who I’ve seen want to try to get
something done here. That, too, would help provide greater assurance across the country
that those in power, those in authority are taking these issues seriously. So this should be
a spur to action to get that done, to get that across the finish line. Because I know there
are a lot of people who want to get it done.” [94725]
“Let me just make a couple of final comments. I mentioned in my Facebook statement
that I hope we don’t fall into the typical patterns that occur after these kinds of incidents
occur, where right away there’s a lot of political rhetoric and it starts dividing people
instead of bringing folks together. To be concerned about these issues is not to be against
law enforcement. There are times when these incidents occur, and you see protests and
you see vigils. And I get letters—well-meaning letters sometimes—from law
enforcement saying, how come we’re under attack? How come not as much emphasis is
made when police officers are shot?” [“Well-meaning letters sometimes”? Does Obama
believe some are not well-meaning?] [94725]
38
“And so, to all of law enforcement, I want to be very clear: We know you have a tough
job. We mourn those in uniform who are protecting us who lose their lives. On a regular
basis, I have joined with families in front of Capitol Hill to commemorate the incredible
heroism that they’ve displayed. I’ve hugged family members who’ve lost loved ones
doing the right thing. I know how much it hurts. On a regular basis, we bring in those
who’ve done heroic work in law enforcement, and have survived. Sometimes they’ve
been injured. Sometimes they’ve risked their lives in remarkable ways. And we applaud
them and appreciate them, because they’re doing a really tough job really well.” [94725]
“There is no contradiction between us supporting law enforcement—making sure they’ve
got the equipment they need, making sure that their collective bargaining rights are
recognized, making sure that they’re adequately staffed, making sure that they are
respected, making sure their families are supported—and also saying that there are
problems across our criminal justice system, there are biases—some conscious and
unconscious—that have to be rooted out. That’s not an attack on law enforcement. That is
reflective of the values that the vast majority of law enforcement bring to the job.”
[94725]
“But I repeat: If communities are mistrustful of the police, that makes those law
enforcement officers who are doing a great job and are doing the right thing, it makes
their lives harder. So when people say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ that doesn’t mean blue lives
don’t matter; it just means all lives matter, but right now the big concern is the fact that
the data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents. This isn’t a
matter of us comparing the value of lives. This is recognizing that there is a particular
burden that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens. And we should care about
that. We can’t dismiss it. We can’t dismiss it.” [94725, 94756]
“So let me just end by saying I actually, genuinely, truly believe that the vast majority of
American people see this as a problem that we should all care about. And I would just ask
those who question the sincerity or the legitimacy of protests and vigils and expressions
of outrage, who somehow label those expressions of outrage as ‘political correctness,’ I’d
just ask folks to step back and think, what if this happened to somebody in your family?
How would you feel? To be concerned about these issues is not political correctness. It’s
just being an American, and wanting to live up to our best and highest ideals. And it’s to
recognize the reality that we’ve got some tough history and we haven’t gotten through all
of that history yet. And we don’t expect that in my lifetime, maybe not in my children’s
lifetime, that all the vestiges of that past will have been cured, will have been solved, but
we can do better. People of goodwill can do better.” [94725]
“And doing better involves not just addressing potential bias in the criminal justice
system. It’s recognizing that too often we’re asking police to man the barricades in
communities that have been forgotten by all of us for way too long, in terms of
substandard schools, and inadequate jobs, and a lack of opportunity. We’ve got to tackle
those things. We can do better. And I believe we will do better. Thanks very much,
everybody.” [94725]
39
The Facebook message to which Obama refers reads: “All Americans should be deeply
troubled by the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando
Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. We’ve seen such tragedies far too many times, and
our hearts go out to the families and communities who’ve suffered such a painful loss.
Although I am constrained in commenting on the particular facts of these cases, I am
encouraged that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation in
Baton Rouge, and I have full confidence in their professionalism and their ability to
conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and fair inquiry.” [94723]
“But regardless of the outcome of such investigations, what’s clear is that these fatal
shootings are not isolated incidents. They are symptomatic of the broader challenges
within our criminal justice system, the racial disparities that appear across the system
year after year, and the resulting lack of trust that exists between law enforcement and too
many of the communities they serve. To admit we’ve got a serious problem in no way
contradicts our respect and appreciation for the vast majority of police officers who put
their lives on the line to protect us every single day. It is to say that, as a nation, we can
and must do better to institute the best practices that reduce the appearance or reality of
racial bias in law enforcement.” [94723]
“That’s why, two years ago, I set up a Task Force on 21st Century Policing that convened
police officers, community leaders, and activists. Together, they came up with detailed
recommendations on how to improve community policing. So even as officials continue
to look into this week’s tragic shootings, we also need communities to address the
underlying fissures that lead to these incidents, and to implement those ideas that can
make a difference. That’s how we’ll keep our communities safe. And that’s how we can
start restoring confidence that all people in this great nation are equal before the law. In
the meantime, all Americans should recognize the anger, frustration, and grief that so
many Americans are feeling—feelings that are being expressed in peaceful protests and
vigils. Michelle and I share those feelings. Rather than fall into a predictable pattern of
division and political posturing, let’s reflect on what we can do better. Let’s come
together as a nation, and keep faith with one another, in order to ensure a future where all
of our children know that their lives matter.” [94723]
Obama is mistaken when he says, “what’s clear is that these fatal shootings are not
isolated incidents.” They are, in fact, isolated incidents. There is no coordinated effort by
police officers to shoot black men. If the shootings in the two cases Obama mentions are
unjustified, the police officers will be punished and prosecuted. In his comments Obama
is stoking the flames of racism. He makes no similar comments when a white police
officer shoots a white man (and he has historically been remarkably silent about the many
black-on-black shootings in the nation’s inner cities). Further, in the vast majority of
cases in which a police officer shoots and kills someone, the person is armed and a threat.
In addition, the situation is not as simple as Obama suggests. (If 12 percent of the
population is black that does not “prove” that the police are racist simply because more
40
than 12 percent of the arrests are of black people. Women make up more than 50 percent
of the population but nowhere near 50 percent of the criminals are women. If racism were
the reason for large numbers of black men in jails, why are there not astounding numbers
of black women in jail?)
At DailyWire.com Aaron Bandler writes, “Some may argue that [crime] statistics are
evidence of racist treatment toward blacks, since whites consist of 62 percent of the
population and blacks make up 12 percent of the population. But as [Heather]
MacDonald writes in The Wall Street Journal, 2009 statistics from the Bureau of Justice
Statistics reveal that blacks were charged with 62 percent of robberies, 57 percent of
murders and 45 percent of assaults in the 75 biggest counties in the country, despite only
comprising roughly 15 percent of the population in these counties. ‘Such a concentration
of criminal violence in minority communities means that officers will be
disproportionately confronting armed and often resisting suspects in those communities,
raising officers’ own risk of using lethal force,’ writes MacDonald.” [94757, 94774,
94782]
“MacDonald also pointed out in her Hillsdale [College] speech that blacks ‘commit 75
percent of all shootings, 70 percent of all robberies, and 66 percent of all violent crime’ in
New York City, even though they consist of 23 percent of the city’s population. ‘The
black violent crime rate would actually predict that more than 26 percent of police
victims would be black,’ MacDonald said. ‘Officer use of force will occur where the
police interact most often with violent criminals, armed suspects, and those resisting
arrest, and that is in black neighborhoods.’” [94757, 94774, 94782]
In addition, “According to MacDonald, 12 percent of white and Hispanic homicide
deaths were due to police officers, while only four percent of black homicide deaths were
the result of police officers.” Further, “Black and Hispanic police officers are more likely
to fire a gun at blacks than white officers,” and “Blacks are more likely to kill cops than
be killed by cops. This is according to FBI data, which also found that 40 percent of cop
killers are black.” [94757, 94774, 94782]
According to The Washington Post, 990 people were killed by police officers in the
United States in 2015; 93 were unarmed; 494 were white; 258 were black; 17 were
Hispanic; 730 occurred while an attack of some sort was in progress. In Chicago alone,
there were 468 murders in 2015—most of which were black-on-black crimes. Black men
are far more likely to be shot and killed by other black men than by a white police officer.
[94796, 94797]
FoxNews.com reports, “An Ohio professor is reportedly under investigation for making a
Facebook post calling for anti-gun activists to ‘storm the NRA headquarters’ and ‘make
sure there are no survivors.’ James Pearce, an adjunct professor at Southern State
Community College in Hillsboro, wrote the post on June 13, the day after the terrorist
mass shooting attack in Orlando. ‘Look, there's only one solution,’ Pearce wrote. ‘A
bunch of us anti-gun types are going to have to arm ourselves, storm the NRA
41
headquarters in Fairfax, VA, and make sure there are no survivors.’ He continued: ‘This
action might also require coordinated hits at remote sites, like Washington lobbyists.
Then and only then will we see some legislative action on assault weapons.’” (After
being investigated, Pearce claimed his post was a joke.) [94821, 94822]
At LewRockwell.com Judge Andrew Napolitano asks, “What has become of the rule of
law—no one is beneath its protections or above its requirements—when the American
public can witness a game of political musical chairs orchestrated by Bill Clinton at an
airport in a bizarre ruse to remove the criminal investigation of his wife from those
legally responsible for making decisions about it? How hairsplitting can the FBI be in
acknowledging ‘extreme carelessness’ while denying ‘gross negligence’ about the same
events, at the same time, and in the same respect? These are questions that now beg for
answers in light of what can only be the politically motivated FBI report delivered earlier
this week on the likely criminal behavior of Hillary Clinton. The espionage statute that
criminalizes the knowing or grossly negligent failure to keep state secrets in a secure
venue is the rare federal statute that can be violated and upon which a conviction may be
based without the need of the government to prove intent.” [94664]
“…It is obvious that a different standard is being applied to Clinton than was applied to
[General David] Petraeus and… others. It is also now painfully obvious that the game of
musical chairs we all witnessed last week when Bill Clinton entered the private jet of
Comey’s boss—Attorney General Loretta Lynch—unannounced and spent 30 private
minutes there with her at a time when both he and his wife were targets of FBI criminal
probes was a trick to compromise Lynch and remove her and her aides from the DOJ
chain of command regarding the decision as to whether to present evidence of crimes
against either of the Clintons to a federal grand jury. Why do we stand for this?” [94664]
“The criminal case against Mrs. Clinton would have been overwhelming. The FBI
acknowledged that she sent or received more than 100 emails that contained state secrets
via one of her four home servers. None of those servers was secure. Each secret email
was secret when received, was secret when sent and is secret today. All were removed
from their secure venues by Clinton, who knew what she was doing, instructed
subordinates to white out ‘secret’ markings, burned her own calendars, destroyed
thousands of her emails and refuses to this day to recognize that she had a duty to
preserve such secrets as satellite images of North Korean nuclear facilities, locations of
drone strikes in Pakistan and names of American intelligence agents operating in the
Middle East under cover. Why do we stand for this?” [94664]
“Comey has argued that somehow there is such a legal chasm between extreme
carelessness and gross negligence that the feds cannot bridge it. That is not an argument
for him to make. That is for a jury to decide after a judge instructs the jury about what
Comey fails to understand: There is not a dime’s worth of difference between these two
standards. Extreme carelessness is gross negligence. Unless, of course, one is willing to
pervert the rule of law yet again to insulate a Clinton yet again from the law enforcement
42
machinery that everyone else who fails to secure state secrets should expect. Why do we
stand for this?” [94664]
FBI Director James Comey is questioned by the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee. Democrats on the committee label the proceedings partisan, praise
Comey, ask questions and make statements intended to cover for Hillary Clinton, and
waste time on issues that have nothing to do with the email server (such as white
supremacist groups, criticisms of Donald Trump and George W. Bush, and the shootings
of blacks by white police officers). Republicans on the committee attempt to get Comey
to justify his decision not to recommend an indictment. Comey argues he was unable to
prove Clinton’s intent. (His claim is absurd. The sole purpose of her private server was to
avoid scrutiny of her communications. There was no other purpose. Clinton was either
purposefully trying to evade Freedom of Information Act requests or she is grossly
incompetent.) [94665, 94676, 94677, 94678, 94681, 94682, 94707, 94713]
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) reminds Comey that Clinton lied to the
committee in a 2015 hearing when she stated, “There was nothing marked classified on
my emails, either sent or received,” and says the FBI will be given a criminal referral “in
the next few hours.” (That is, because Clinton lied to the committee under oath she can be
prosecuted.) Chaffetz says, “Hillary Clinton created this mess. [She] made a decision.
…to avoid and bypass the safety, the security and the protocol of the State Department.
There doesn’t seem to be any consequence [for Clinton]. It wasn’t just an innocent
mistake. This went on for years.” [94665, 94700, 94709, 94710, 94734, 94761]
Lying under oath to Congress, as Clinton clearly did, can result in fines of up to $100,000
or up to five years in jail. Comey would find it difficult to ignore such a criminal referral
and he certainly cannot claim Clinton did not lie to Congress—because the FBI
investigation resulted in evidence that proves she did. Attorney General Loretta Lynch
would then have to decide whether to prosecute Clinton—but the process would certainly
be drawn out past election day. (The simple reality is that people often lie to Congress
under oath, and they do so because they know the odds of being prosecuted at close to
zero. The lying will stop only when witnesses start getting prosecuted and convicted.)
[94665, 94700, 94709, 94710, 94734, 94761]
Chaffetz asks Comey, “Did Hillary Clinton lie?” Comey replies, “To the FBI? We have
no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI.” Chaffetz: “Did she lie to the public?” Comey:
“That’s a question I’m not qualified to answer. I can speak about what she said to the
FBI.” Chaffetz: “Did she, did Hillary Clinton lie under oath?” Comey: “Not to the FBI.
Not in a case we’re working.” (Reasonable people will ask, “How can Comey not be
qualified to conclude that Clinton lied to the public? She has made countless statements
the FBI investigation has proven to be lies!”) Comey does not even have the courage to
properly answer Chaffetz when he asks, “Did Hillary Clinton do anything wrong?”
Comey responds, “And what do you mean by wrong?” [94700, 94701, 94708]
43
Remarkably, Comey states that for her July 2 deposition, Clinton was not under oath, her
testimony was not recorded (no doubt at the insistence of Clinton), and no transcript has
been released. (University of California law professor John Yoo tells Newsmax.tv, “I
don’t think it’s strange that Comey himself didn’t conduct the interview. I would prefer
that more expert people who are more familiar with the case clearly do it. But I think it’s
very strange that she wasn’t under oath and really, really strange that there was no
transcript of the interview. People higher up than those agents have to make the decision
whether to prosecute Hillary and her aides. If they’re not present in the interview, how do
they know what she said if there’s no written record of it?”) [94686, 94747, 94759]
Comey also admits to the committee that Clinton’s attorneys erased some of her devices
in a manner that would ensure the FBI could not recover their contents—yet no one is
being charged with destruction of evidence. [94686]
Comey does Clinton no favors when he suggests she may not have been “sophisticated
enough” to understand that classified emails sent to her were classified. [94689]
Comey also says, “I understand why people are confused by the whole discussion. I get
that. But you know what would be a double standard? If she [Clinton] were prosecuted
for gross negligence. That would be celebrity-hunting. That would be treating this person
differently than John Doe.” (The claim is ridiculous. If Clinton were indicted it would be
a result of her actions, not because of her “celebrity.” It is her “celebrity” that saved her
from being indicted. Few Americans will agree with Comey’s claim.) [94689]
Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), eager to portray Comey as fair because he gave
Clinton a pass despite his politics, asks, “Although our politics are different—I gather
you’re a Republican—[is] that correct?” Comey replies, “I have been a registered
Republican for most of my adult life, not registered any longer.” (Comey’s response will
lead some to believe he left the GOP because he opposes Donald Trump’s candidacy—
which would mean he had a reason not to recommend an indictment of Clinton.) [94743]
Comey absurdly suggests Clinton may not have been aware that the classified markings
on emails meant the messages were classified. (WikiLeaks tweets, “Busted: 23035 cables
sent to Clinton using ‘C’ (classified) marking in her 1st year alone…”) [94951, 94952]
Congressman Will Hurd (R-TX) says, “Mr. Chairman, I’m offended. I’m offended by my
friends on the other side of the political aisle saying this is political theater. This is not
political theater. For me, this is serious. I spent nine-and-a-half years as an undercover
officer in the CIA. I was the guy in the back alleys collecting intelligence, passing it to
lawmakers. I’ve seen my friends killed. I’ve seen assets put themselves in harm’s way.
And this is about protecting information, the most sensitive information the American
government has, and I wish my colleagues would take this a little bit more seriously.”
[94775]
44
“So the former Secretary of State, one of [Obama’s] most important advisors on foreign
policy and national security had a server in her basement that had information that was
collected from our most sensitive assets and it was not protected by anyone, and that's not
a crime? That’s outrageous. People are concerned. What does it take for someone to
misuse classified information and get in trouble for it?” Comey responds, “It takes
mishandling it and criminal intent.” Hurd: “So an unauthorized server in the basement is
not mishandling?” Comey: “Well no, there is evidence of mishandling here. This whole
investigation, at the end here, is focused on is there sufficient evidence of intent.” (Intent
does not have to be proven. Clinton’s mishandling of classified information is a violation
of federal statutes.) [94775]
Hurd: “How in the world can there not be a crime? She’s got our biggest secrets
unsecured in a server in the basement that’s unsecured. She’s got classified information.
She’s misusing it.” Comey: “Well, absolutely right, but we don’t think she intended any
criminality.” Hurd: “You don’t think this sends a message to other employees that if the
former Secretary of State can have an unauthorized server in their basement that
transmits top secret information, that that's not a problem?” Comey: “Oh, I worry very
much about that. That’s why I talked about that in my statement, because an FBI
employee might face severe discipline. And I want them to understand that those
consequences are still going to be there.” [94775]
Hurd: “Director Comey, do you have a server in your basement?” Comey: “I do not.”
Hurd: “Does anybody in the FBI have a server in their basement?” Hurd: “I don’t know.
Not to my knowledge. They’d better not.” Hurd: “Do you think it’s likely?” Comey: “I
think it’s unlikely.” Hurd: “It’s your job to be involved in counterintelligence as well?”
Comey: “Yes.” Hurd: “So that means protecting our secrets from foreign adversaries
collecting them, is that correct?” Comey: “Correct.” Hurd: “Did this activity you
investigated make America's secrets vulnerable to hostile elements?” Comey: “Yes.”
[94764, 94775]
In a series of questions, Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) gets Comey to agree that
many of Clinton’s statements about her emails have been lies, and then says, “If you are a
private in the Army and you email yourself classified information, you will be kicked out.
But if you are Hillary Clinton and you seek a promotion to commander in chief, you will
not be.” Gowdy also corrects Comey, saying that Clinton was not careless—she was
extremely careful. (That is, she knew how far she could go in breaking the law without
getting indicted.) [94707, 94711, 94712, 94713, 94760]
Meanwhile, former Secret Service agents Gary Byrne’s book, Crisis of Character,
reveals that Bill Clinton gave Monica Lewinsky gave access to his top-secret phone line
in the White House. Catherine Dunn at Townhall.com: “After Byrne saw Lewinsky call
Clinton from the Roosevelt Room, he had a stunning realization: the president had given
her his number. The only direct number to the president is a top-secret phone line that
connects ‘senior military brass’ to the president. It is hyper secure, requiring a four-digit
passcode that depends not only on the numbers entered but also the way they are
45
entered—‘how long each digit key is depressed and even how long the pauses between
digits last,’ he explains. To give such privileged intel to an intern is unthinkable.”
[94679]
WashingtonPost.com reports, “A Marine Corps officer who has been locked in a legal
battle with his service after self-reporting that he improperly disseminated classified
information will use Hillary Clinton’s email case to fight his involuntary separation from
the service, his lawyer said. Maj. Jason Brezler’s case has been tied up in federal court
since he sued the service in December 2014. He became a cause celebre among some
members of Congress, Marine generals and military veterans after he sent a classified
message using an unclassified Yahoo email account to warn fellow Marines in southern
Afghanistan about a potentially corrupt Afghan police chief. A servant of that police
official killed three Marines and severely wounded a fourth 17 days later, on Aug. 10,
2012, opening fire with a Kalashnikov rifle in an insider attack. An attorney for Brezler,
Michael J. Bowe, said that he intends to cite the treatment of Clinton ‘as one of the many,
and most egregious examples’ of how severely Brezler was punished.” [94729, 94730]
At WashingtonExaminer.com Sarah Westwood asks, “1. What about the Clinton
Foundation?” (Comey dodged the questions when asked, “Did you look at the Clinton
Foundation?” and “Was the Clinton Foundation tied in to this investigation?”) “2. Why
did Bryan Pagliano need an immunity agreement if no laws were broken?” “3. What
reason did witnesses give for setting up the servers in the first place?” “4. How much did
this investigation cost?” “5. Why was a special prosecutor never appointed?” “6. How is
‘extreme carelessness’ different from ‘gross negligence’?” “7. Were the FBI
recommendations to Lynch the same for every individual involved in the Clinton email
network?” (That is, could Clinton staffers Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, or Jake Sullivan
be indicted?) [94735]
CNSNews.com reports, “The Palestinian Authority dedicates an estimated ten percent of
its budget to pay the families of Palestinian terrorists, including those killed during
attacks and those in prison, the House Foreign Affairs Committee heard Wednesday. In
the P.A.’s 2016 budget, $137.8 million was earmarked for prisoners and their families,
and $172.5 million for the families of ‘martyrs,’ Yigal Carmon, founder and president of
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told the panel.” Many Americans are
not aware that the Palestinian Authority gets considerable money from U.S. taxpayers,
who “accounted for $338 million in foreign assistance to the P.A. in fiscal year 2015,
according to State Department data. The Obama administration plans $442 million in aid
in FY 2016 (of which $47.7 million has been spent so far) and $363.5 million in FY
2017.” [94706]
More than 200 Senate and House Republicans meet with Donald Trump.
WashingtonExaminer.com reports that some who attended “described a mostly positive
exchange with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee that was punctuated briefly by
‘frank exchanges’ and some ‘tough’ talk from Trump, who is rankled by some in the
GOP conference who refuse to endorse him. …[H]e made it clear to the GOP lawmakers
46
that he believes they should be supporting him and told them: ‘It’s down to two, and if
you can’t support me you are supporting Hillary.’ …Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn
(R-TX) described the meeting as ‘the beginning of a conversation that will hopefully
improve relationships,’ with lawmakers. But he didn’t deny Trump took aim at
dissenters.” [94715, 94731, 94815]
Congressman Dave Brat (R-VA) tells WashingtonExaminer.com that Trump “nailed it in
there. The bigger subtext was just, look, you’re winning over everyone in the room right
here, you’re saying all the right things, this is a great meeting, and it was just like—can
we count on you to stay on that narrative and keep nailing it like that?” [94731]
WashingtonExaminer.com reports, “Finally acting on a promise made to House leaders,
the Justice Department on Thursday shut off funding to so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ that
ignore federal laws and protect illegal immigrants wanted for crimes. ‘Today, the DOJ
notified local and state law enforcement agencies across America that they will no longer
be eligible for federal law enforcement grants unless they certify under oath that their
local or state laws do not interfere ‘in any way’ with requests for immigration
information from federal authorities,’ according to Texas Rep. John Culberson who
demanded action earlier this year. …It is a huge victory for Culberson, chairman of the
Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee on Appropriations, and others who
sought to shut down the once secret system in cities. The practice of taking federal money
then refusing to give up criminal illegals became public after the 2015 San Francisco
killing of Kate Steinle allegedly by an illegal immigrant who had been deported for
crimes several times.” (More than a few Americans would like sanctuary cities to lose all
federal funding, not just law enforcement grants from the Department of Justice.) [94842]
At WND.com Jerome Corsi reports, “FBI Director James Comey has a long history of
involvement in Department of Justice actions that arguably ended up favorable to the
Clintons. In 2004, Comey, then serving as a deputy attorney general in the Justice
Department, apparently limited the scope of the criminal investigation of Sandy Berger,
which left out former Clinton administration officials who may have coordinated with
Berger in his removal and destruction of classified records from the National Archives.
The documents were relevant to accusations that the Clinton administration was negligent
in the build-up to the 9/11 terrorist attack. …Curiously, Berger, [Attorney General
Loretta] Lynch and [former Hillary Clinton chief of staff] Cheryl Mills all worked as
partners in the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson, which prepared tax returns for the
Clintons and did patent work for a software firm that played a role in the private email
server Hillary Clinton used when she was secretary of state.” [94718]
Corsi notes, “There is no evidence Comey’s investigation for the Justice Department
made any attempt to determine if anyone affiliated with the Clinton White House
prompted Berger or coordinated with him in the decision to remove the classified
documents.” Berger illegally removed documents from the National Archives in order to
protect the Clintons—yet Comey may have done nothing to investigate whether the
Clintons themselves prompted Berger’s action. (That is tantamount to someone
47
murdering a neighbor’s wife and the police making no effort to question whether the
husband had anything to do with it. Similarly, Hillary Clinton’s attorneys destroyed
thousands of her email records, yet there is no indication that those attorneys are in any
legal jeopardy.) [94718]
Corsi continues, “Lynch and Comey both served as U.S. attorney for the Southern
District of New York. They crossed paths in the investigation of HSBC bank, which
avoided criminal charges in a massive money-laundering scandal for which the bank paid
a $1.9 billion fine. After Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself in the Valerie
Plame affair in 2004, Comey appointed as special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who
ended up convicting [I. Lewis] ‘Scooter’ Libby, a top aide to then Vice President Dick
Cheney, of perjury and obstruction of justice. [Fitzgerald is the godfather of one of
Comey’s children] The charge affirmed the accusations of Plame and her former
ambassador husband, Joe Wilson—both partisan supporters of Bill and Hillary Clinton—
that Libby outed her as a CIA agent. New York Times reporter Judith Miller’s 2015
memoir strongly suggests Fitzgerald improperly manipulated testimony and withheld
crucial evidence in obtaining a conviction against Libby in his 2007 trial. [94718, 94975,
94976]
On April 1, 2016 Randy DeSoto wrote at WesternJournalism.com: “FBI Director James
Comey’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private, unsecured email server does not
mark the first time that he has investigated the presidential candidate for alleged
wrongdoing. Time reports that 20 years ago, Comey was a deputy special counsel on the
Senate Whitewater Committee, looking into the conduct of then President Bill Clinton
and the first lady. The inquiry focused on whether Bill had used his political position as
governor of Arkansas in the 1980s to push through an illegal loan to benefit the couple’s
business partner in the Whitewater [real estate] Development Corporation. Several people
involved with the Whitewater corporation (including Clinton’s successor as governor)
ultimately went to jail, but the Clintons never faced criminal prosecution. The issue of
their involvement none-the-less lingered as Bill Clinton ran and was elected president.”
[94719, 94720]
“The alleged wrongdoing directed at Hillary Clinton was akin to her current email
scandal: mishandling of documents related to a criminal investigation. The New York
Times reports that when Clinton’s former law partner Vince Foster met an untimely death
at 48 (reportedly by suicide), the first lady had Whitewater papers that he had in his law
office taken to the White House, where they were locked away. Comey found Hillary
Clinton’s conduct unacceptable. Time reports: ‘In 1996, after months of work, Comey
came to some damning conclusions: Hillary Clinton was personally involved in
mishandling documents and had ordered others to block investigators as they pursued
their case. Worse, her behavior fit into a pattern of concealment: she and her husband had
tried to hide their roles in two other matters under investigation by law enforcement.
Taken together, the interference by White House officials, which included destruction of
documents, amounted to ‘far more than just aggressive lawyering or political naiveté,’
Comey and his fellow investigators concluded. It constituted ‘a highly improper pattern
48
of deliberate misconduct.’” (The Clintons were up to their eyeballs in criminal activity,
yet were not indicted.) [94719, 94720, 94721]
AmericanFreedombyBarbara.com notes, “Comey was also involved at both ends of the
case of Marc Rich, a billionaire oil trader indicted for tax fraud and trading with Iran
during the hostage crisis, who was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton during his
final day in office in 2001. In a letter to the U.S. Senate, Comey describes working as
both the lead prosecutor in New York on the original case against Rich in 1983 and then
later, in 2002, overseeing criminal investigations into Clinton’s last-minute pardons. The
investigations concluded there was no wrongdoing on the president’s part, despite public
outcry over evidence that Rich’s ex-wife had donated to Hillary Clinton’s Senate
campaign.” (Translation: “Comey has let the Clintons slide in the past.”) [94722]
DailyCaller.com reports, “The German parliament unanimously voted to tighten its
sexual assault laws Thursday, making it easier to deport foreign perpetrators. The bill
dubbed ‘No means no’ by the media changes the definitions of sexual assault and rape,
and imposes tougher penalties for perpetrators. The reform comes after several instances
of mass sexual assaults over the past months. It was previously not considered rape if the
victim didn’t physically fight back. If a person verbally disagrees to a sexual encounter, it
will now be classified as rape. More than 500 women reported getting sexually assaulted
on New Year’s Eve in Cologne. The vast majority of the perpetrators were of North
African origin, and the attacks were carried out by large groups.” (Some nations refuse to
accept the return of their citizens when they are deported: Cuba, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Iran
Afghanistan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, China.) [94792, 94793, 95959]
WND.com reports, “New details about the foiled terrorist plot of Mohamed Bailor Jalloh
reveal the former member of the Army National Guard encouraged a ‘targeted’
assassination attempt against internationally renowned human rights activist and antiShariah campaigner Pamela Geller. According to the affidavit submitted by Special
Agent Nicholas Caslen of the FBI, Jalloh’s plot focused on conducting a Fort Hood-style
massacre against the United States armed forces. However, the affidavit reveals Jalloh
also spoke to an undercover FBI source… about other potential operations, including
killing a specific person. Evidence suggests the most likely target was Pamela Geller.”
(The FBI did not bother to warn Geller that she was target.) [94794, 94795]
Former Department of Justice Attorney J. Christian Adams tells talk radio’s Mark Levin,
“People get the idea that there’s some sort of Chinese wall between the DOJ and the FBI,
like they don’t communicate before the recommendation is made. But there is no Chinese
wall. He [FBI Director James Comey] not only would consult them, he said that he
consulted them, that there was an ongoing give and take. And the important thing for
people to understand is that during that give and take, that’s when the FBI realizes how
high the hurdle is for them to make a case. The DOJ lawyers, you know that mostly they
donate to Hillary—when you look at the disclosures and the campaign finances. They’re
in the tank, half of them, for Hillary. Those guys could be rolling their eyes. They could
be pushing back, saying that’s not enough evidence. There’s a constant give and take.
49
Comey was talking to Lynch about it. So those are the moments when the antagonism
manifests, when the DOJ shows that they don’t like the case. When he said in the hearing
today that they have ‘grave concerns’ about using the statute, that tells me that it was the
DOJ that sabotaged this—not the FBI.” [94832]
A sniper fires at police officers at a protest in Dallas, Texas, wounding seven and killing
five. Two civilians are reportedly also wounded. (The protest is in response to recent
police shootings of black men, including Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.) The
sniper, who tells police his goal was to kill white people, especially police officers, is
eventually killed by a bomb-carrying robot. Two men and one woman are taken into
custody. The sniper reportedly uses a clumsy and decades-old SKS rifle—which does not
fit the “assault rifle” descriptions used by the media. [94716, 94726, 94727, 94736,
94737, 94745, 94749, 94751, 94753, 94754, 94784, 94817, 94818, 94819]
The dead sniper is later identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, age 25, a black nationalist,
former member of the Houston Chapter of the New Black Panther Party, and former U.S
Army Reservist who served one non-combat tour of duty in Afghanistan (and who was
charged with sexual harassment by a female soldier). According to LATimes.com,
Johnson, who apparently also used the name Fahed Hassen, “showed interest in groups
affiliated with the black separatist movement. He had ‘liked’ Facebook pages for the
founder of Nation of Islam and for the Black Riders Liberation Party, which are classified
as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. …In addition to his interest in
separatist groups, Johnson had ‘liked’ a page for the Huey P. Newton Gun Club, named
for the Black Panther Party's co-founder. The group, founded last year, teaches its
members self-defense and conducts what it calls ‘armed patrols’ through neighborhoods
where the police have killed black men. …In his Facebook photo, Johnson wore a purple,
yellow and gold dashiki and thrust his fist into the air. His cover photo displayed the red,
black and green stripes of the Pan-African flag.” [94736, 94783, 94785, 94786, 94811,
94824, 94830, 94994]
According to a Pew Research Center poll, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 66-24
percent among Hispanics. “At a somewhat later point in the campaign four years ago,
Barack Obama’s lead over Mitt Romney among Hispanics was comparable to Clinton’s
lead over Trump today (69%-21%). And in the summer of 2008, Obama led John
McCain 66%-23% among Hispanic voters.” [94895]
On July 8 Obama attends various NATO-related meetings in Warsaw, Poland. [94717]
On Fox & Friends, former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino remarks, “I’m done with
…Obama, and frankly, so are my law enforcement friends. I literally don’t have one law
enforcement friend at the federal, state, or local level who has anything nice to say
anymore [about Obama]. You know, it’s interesting when he gives these speeches, he
opens them up by saying the facts matter, let’s wait for the facts. He has no facts on this
yet, and he goes right to gun control and says we’ll have to address that in the next few
days. It’s just incredible, and yesterday, in his speech about the Alton Sterling shooting,
50
which obviously was a horrible incident, but he goes on to say, ‘This is an American
problem.’ Well, what was an American problem? We don’t even know what happened.
Are we not even willing to give police officers the benefit of the doubt? We’re willing to
paint with a broad brush, the entire country? He doesn’t even have the facts. It’s
incredible.” [94744, 94750]
Also on the program is Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who says, “Have we
heard from the cop-hater-in-chief Obama on this? And Mrs. Bill Clinton, who threw up
the hashtag Black Lives Matter yesterday? They exploited two situations—one in
Louisiana [the shooting of Alton Sterling], one in Minnesota [the shooting of Philando
Castile]—horrible situations, no doubt. But especially the commander in chief opens his
mouth and he sticks his foot in it. He starts exploiting things that just don’t exist. He has
no evidence or data or research to support any disparate treatment by the American police
officer. That’s what I’m talking about. He didn’t cause this, but you know what, he fuels
this sort of anger, this misplaced anger about things going on that were thousands of
miles away. This stuff didn’t happen anywhere near Dallas. …Some people thought that
was over the top when I said that war [on cops] had been declared, but the American
police officer knows it has. This is just another ugly chapter in that war.” [94836]
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani says, “I believe I saved a lot more black
lives than Black Lives Matter. I don’t see what Black Lives Matter is doing for blacks
other than isolating them. All it cares about is the police shooting of blacks. It doesn’t
care about the 90 percent of blacks that [sic; who] are killed by the blacks. That is a
simple fact. I saved more black lives than anyone in the history of the city. I took over the
city with 1,924 murders [per year], I gave it to Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg with 500
plus murders. Seventy-five percent of the people saved during that time were African
American. I spent a lot of time in the black community. Black Lives Matters never
protests when every 14 hours someone is killed in Chicago.” [94844, 94859]
Meanwhile, more than a few Black Lives Matter supporters use Twitter for vile
comments: “fuck you dallas & all you white crackers ..” “Wish all them crackers in
Dallas died” “I don’t care about the Dallas shooting. I just don’t fuckin care about police.
If a civilian got shot, sorry, but to you POs: FUCK YA!” “Y’all keep stamping the police
#Dallas they don’t give a fuck bout us” “One love to those snipers that shot ten cops in
Dallas #fuckthepolice ahahahaha” “Shoutout to the sniper in Dallas! Doing what too
many of us have been on the receiving end of. #Dallas #FuckThePolice” “1 cops Shoot 4
dead in Dallas. #FuckThePolice let them drop” [94752]
In contrast, others tweeted: “people walking around Dallas holding signs that say “Fuck
Police”. as soon as gunshots went off who did they run to? the police.” “why are yall
running & asking for the police’s help in dallas? stay and defend yourself. YOU ARE
THE ONE SAYING FUCK THE POLICE !” “’Fuck the Police’ but who were the FIRST
responders to head TOWARDS the gunfire in Dallas as everyone else ran AWAY? Get a
grip, America!” [94752]
51
A “Black Power Political Organization” posts on the Internet, “#BlackPower!
#BlackKnights! Sniper Assassins Take Down Five Police Officers! And More Will Be
Assassinated In The Coming Days!” “Do You Like The Work Of Our Assassins? Get
Your Own Sniper Rifle And Join Our Thousands Of Sniper Assassins Worldwide In The
Fight Against Oppression!” [94776, 94777]
Attorney General Loretta Lynch delivers a statement on the shooting of 12 police officers
in Dallas. She says, in part, “After the events of this week, Americans across the country
are feeling a sense of helplessness, of uncertainty and of fear. These are understandable
and they are justified. But the answer must not be violence. The answer is never
violence.” (Lynch refuses to take questions from reporters.) [94739]
Obama calls the Dallas massacre of police officers “a vicious, calculated, and despicable
attack.” “I believe that I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified
over these events, and that we stand united with the people and the police department in
Dallas. According to police, there are multiple suspects. We will learn more,
undoubtedly, about their twisted motivations. But let’s be clear: There is no possible
justification for these kinds of attacks or any violence against law enforcement. The FBI
is already in touch with the Dallas police, and anyone involved in these senseless murders
will be held fully accountable. Justice will be done. …We also know that when people
are armed with powerful weapons, it makes shootings like this more deadly and more
tragic, and in the days ahead we’re going to have to consider those realities as well.”
[94742, 94770, 94771, 94772]
Hillary Clinton blames white people, saying on CNN, “I will call for white people, like
myself, to put ourselves in the shoes of those African-American families, who fear every
time their children go somewhere, who have to have the talk about …how to really
protect themselves, when they are the ones who should be expecting protection from
encounters with the police. I’m going to be talking to white people. I think we are the
ones who have to start listening to the legitimate cries that are coming from our AfricanAmerican fellow citizens, and we have so much more to be done, and we have got to get
about the business of doing it. We can’t be engaging in hateful rhetoric or incitement of
violence. We need to bring people together.” [94848]
Donald Trump says of the killings, “It is a coordinated, premeditated assault on the men
and women who keep us safe. We must restore law and order. We must restore the
confidence of our people to be safe and secure in their homes and on the street. The
senseless, tragic deaths of two motorists in Louisiana [Alton Sterling] and Minnesota
[Philando Castile] reminds us how much more needs to be done. This morning I offer my
thoughts and prayers for all of the victims’ families, and we pray for our brave police
officers and first responders who risk their lives to protect us every single day. Our nation
has become too divided. Too many Americans feel like they’ve lost hope. Crime is
harming too many citizens. Racial tensions have gotten worse, not better. This isn’t the
American Dream we all want for our children. This is a time, perhaps more than ever, for
strong leadership, love and compassion. We will pull through these tragedies.” [94748]
52
Note that Sterling was not a “motorist.” He was selling CDs on a sidewalk and had
threatened people with a gun, after which he was shot by police while resisting arrest.
According to ConservativeTribune.com, “The 310-pound Sterling was placed on the sex
offender list after being convicted of having had sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl
when he was 20. In 2009, he was caught up in a wrestling match with a police officer
when a handgun fell from his waistband and he was arrested. He had a lengthy criminal
record. With assault and battery incidents as well as a domestic battery case, Sterling
didn’t appear to have had much respect for the police or the law at all.” [94748, 94779,
94781, 94814, 94816]
Castile was pulled over by the police because he matched the description of an armed
robbery suspect. Castile had a gun out in the open at his right thigh when stopped by the
police officer. After Castile was shot, the passenger in the car (girlfriend Lavish
“Diamond” Reynolds) told the Hispanic officer (Jeronimo Yanez) that Castile had a carry
permit for the weapon. But the police department states that no permit had been issued
and Castile had never applied for one. Whether Castile was the robber of the convenience
store has not been established, but he was a member of the Crips gang and once tweeted,
“Merry CRIPmas and happy BLUE year.” Castile’s mother Valerie Castile has a criminal
record: second degree assault, fraudulently obtaining public assistance, theft, prostitution,
DUI, public nuisance, forgery. [94748, 94779, 94781, 94814, 94816, 94856, 95029,
95176]
FoxNews.com reports, “An arsenal of weapons—including bomb-making material—was
found in the home of the sniper who shot five Dallas police officers Thursday night and
then told police he ‘wanted to kill white people.’ During a search of Micah Xavier
Johnson’s home, detectives found bomb making materials, ballistic vests, rifles,
ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics, the Dallas Police Department
reported late Friday. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings later told a late afternoon press
conference that he believed Johnson was ‘the lone shooter, a mobile shooter’ with
‘written manifestos about how to shoot and move.’ …One friend who served in his
platoon during a tour in Afghanistan said Johnson changed after he came home. ‘When
he came back from Afghanistan, he got in touch with some bad folks and went all Black
Panther,’ the man, who asked not to be identified, told FoxNews.com.” [94778]
TheDailyBeast.com reports that Dallas shooter Johnson’s “anti-cop sentiment was shared
by his sister [Nicole Johnson] on Facebook. Two days [sic; one day] before the massacre,
she posted an ominous message about police being harmed. ‘Everything coming into the
light and i [sic] for one think these cops need to get a taste of the life we now fear.’” (The
Facebook post was dated July 6; the shooting occurred the evening of July 7.) [94803,
94804]
Judicial Watch asks a federal court for permission to depose Hillary Clinton in a Freedom
of Information Act lawsuit looking into aide Huma Abedin’s special employment
arrangement with the State Department. According to the Daily Mail, “The court gave
53
Clinton, along with two other officials—Clarence Finney and John Bentel—until
Tuesday [July 12] to respond. At the heart of the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit is
Abedin’s double-dipping job arrangement. In the spring of 2012, Abedin went from being
Clinton’s deputy chief of staff at the State Department to a senior advisor role, a job with
a ‘special government employee’ status that allowed Abedin to bring in outside income
as well. The longtime Clinton aide, who now serves as the likely Democratic nominee’s
vice chairwoman of the campaign, then worked for the Clinton-affiliated global
consulting firm Teneo. Abedin also did work for the Clinton Foundation.” (On July 12
Clinton’s lawyers respond, telling the judge her testimony is unnecessary.) [94862,
94864, 94931]
Donald Trump cancels a campaign event in Florida. [94767, 94769]
Hillary Clinton cancels a Black Lives Matter event in Pennsylvania, but nevertheless
campaigns at the African Methodist Episcopal Church Conference in Philadelphia. She
says, “Ending the systemic racism that plagues our country, and rebuilding our
communities where the police and citizens all see themselves as being on the same side,
will require contributions from all of us.” A stern-faced and angry-sounding Clinton
lectures, “White Americans need to do a better job of listening when African-Americans
talk—talk about the seen and unseen barriers you [black people] face every day. We need
to try as best we can to walk in one another’s shoes, to imagine what it would feel like if
people followed us [white people] around stores, or locked their car doors when we walk
past. Or if every time our children went to play in the park or went to, for a ride, or just to
the store to buy iced tea and Skittles—we said a prayer, ‘Please God, please God, don’t
let anything happen to my baby.’ …How can I show that your life matters to me? That I
have stake in your safety and well-being?” [94805, 94806]
Clinton’s mention of “iced tea and Skittles” refers to Trayvon Martin, the black teen-ager
who was shot by George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012. The mainstream media
incessantly reported that Martin was on the way home from a store where he bought
“iced tea and Skittles” candy. In fact, Martin had bought Skittles and cans of Arizona
Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail. Clinton and her staffers are apparently unaware that
those items are mixed with codeine-containing cough medicine to make a drug cocktail
known as “lean,” “sizzurp,” and “purple drank.” Martin was not an “innocent child
returning from a store with candy;” he was a young thug seeking to get high. (“Lean”
also makes a person aggressive and paranoid.) One need only read some of Martin’s
Twitter messages to understand that he was not an angelic child, but a street punk.
(Interestingly, when Clinton refers to “iced tea and Skittles” her black crowd reacts with
silence. They seem to know what she does not. They may also not know that Martin’s
autopsy revealed liver damage that is unusual in a 17-year-old—but not one who uses
drugs.) [46588, 46589, 46590, 46593, 46622, 46643]
Clinton’s speech is clearly pandering to a black audience. In fact, portions of it appear to
have been lifted from comments made by Obama. On July 19, 2013 Obama told
reporters, “There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had
54
the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That
includes me.” Clinton essentially repeats that, asking white people to “imagine what it
would feel like if people followed us around stores…” Obama and Clinton—and perhaps
quite a few people in Clinton’s black audience—are apparently unaware that white teens
are also routinely viewed with suspicion by department store security guards. While it is
true that many white people cross the street or turn around when they see a group of
young blacks or Hispanics, an awful lot of white people do the same if they see a group
of young whites bounding down the street. The reality is that many Americans are simply
suspicious of and cautious around groups of youths. It is youthful pranks and violence
they fear, not skin color. Proof of that lies in the fact that virtually no white person in
America would be nervous if a group of older black women approached from the
opposite direction. [46554, 46557, 46584, 46594, 46658, 94807, 94808]
El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen (who happens to be black) states, “Black Lives Matter,
as far as I am concerned, is a radical hate group, and for that purpose alone, I think the
leadership of this country needs to look a little bit harder at that particular group. The
consequences of what we saw in Dallas is due to their efforts.” (Allen’s remarks result in
death threats against him.) [94827, 95028]
On CNN Angela Rye, a Congressional Black Caucus staffer, charges that “there are
rogue cops who shoot black people for sport.” [94852]
FirstCoastNews.com reports that 10-term Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-FL) “has
arrived at the Jacksonville Federal Courthouse ahead of a first appearance. The
congresswoman was indicted Wednesday and the case details are just coming out. A
federal case has also been filed against her chief of staff, Elias Simmons. Out of a 24
count indictment, Brown is facing 22 counts ranging fraud, conspiracy to commit mail
fraud, making false statements, wire fraud, and more. Simmons is facing 19 counts.
‘Congresswoman Brown and her chief of staff are alleged to have used the
Congresswoman’s official position to solicit over $800,000 in donations to a supposed
charitable organization [One Door for Education], only to use that organization as a
personal slush fund,’ said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.” (The New York Times
does not cover the story.) [94732, 94733, 94755]
The Department of Labor reports that an estimated 287,000 jobs were added in June.
With more people trying to re-enter the work force, the unemployment rate increases
from 4.7 to 4.9 percent. [94746, 94766, 94768]
Fox5dc.com reports, “A Virginia man [Haris Qamar] has been charged with attempting to
assist the Islamic State by photographing targets in the Washington, D.C., area for what
he thought would be a video encouraging lone-wolf terrorist attacks in the nation’s
capital.” [94787, 94788]
55
Emad Hasso, a 22-year-old Syrian refugee who has been in the United States only two
months, is arrested for “inappropriately touching” a 13-year-old girl at a public
swimming pool in Lowell, Massachusetts. (Obama’s “thorough vetting” of refugees is
apparently not so thorough. Even worse, the Obama administration moves refugee
families into communities without always notifying city officials that they are doing so.
According to WND.com, “The city manager of Lowell told his local newspaper … that
he was not even notified by the U.S. State Department or its resettlement contractor that
Syrians were being delivered to his community. …Hasso is one of 18 Syrians, all of them
most likely Sunni Muslims, who have been secretly planted in the Lowell community
since May, according to the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center online
database.”) [94825, 94826, 94929]
In Syria, ISIS beheads four professional soccer players after declaring the sport antiIslamic. [94867]
Hillary Clinton tells CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “I greatly appreciate the work that the FBI and
the Department of Justice did—and they handled it very professionally. I have said many
times, and I repeat clearly today, it was a mistake for me to use personal e-mail and I
regret that. I am certainly relieved and glad that the investigation has concluded. But I
also know how important it is to make sure everybody understands that I would certainly
not do that again. That is something that, at the time, as even [FBI] director [James]
Comey said, seemed like a convenience—but it was the wrong choice.” [94801, 94885,
94922]
At StlToday.com Charles Krauthammer writes, “FBI director James Comey spent 14
minutes laying out an unassailable case for prosecuting Hillary Clinton for the
mishandling of classified material. Then at literally the last minute, he recommended
against prosecution. This is baffling. …Comey let her off the hook, citing lack of intent.
But negligence doesn’t require intent. Compromising national secrets is such a grave
offense that it requires either intent or negligence. …So why not [indict] Hillary Clinton?
The usual answer is that the Clintons are treated by a different standard. Only little people
pay. They are too well-connected, too well-protected to be treated like everybody else.
Alternatively, the explanation lies with Comey: He gave in to implicit political pressure,
the desire to please those in power. Certainly plausible, but given Comey’s reputation for
probity and given that he holds a 10-year appointment, I’d suggest a third line of
reasoning.” [94865]
“…[Comey] did not want the FBI director to end up as the arbiter of the 2016 presidential
election. If Clinton were not a presumptive presidential nominee but simply a retired
secretary of state, he might well have made a different recommendation. Prosecuting
under current circumstances would have upended and redirected an already year-long
presidential selection process. In my view, Comey didn’t want to be remembered as the
man who irreversibly altered the course of American political history. And with no
guarantee that the prosecution would succeed, moreover. Imagine that scenario: You
knock out of the race the most likely next president—and she ultimately gets acquitted!
56
Imagine how Comey goes down in history under those circumstances. I admit I’m giving
Comey the benefit of the doubt. But the best way I can reconcile his reputation for
integrity with the grating illogic of his Clinton decision is by presuming that he didn’t
want to make history. I don’t endorse his decision. …But I think I understand it.” [94865]
Breitbart.com reports, “A new study has revealed that German attitudes towards mass
migration have dramatically shifted and that the era of ‘Refugees Welcome’ may be
coming to an end. … The researchers found that less than a third of native Germans, or
32.3 per cent, still believed in the idea of the welcome culture and continued mass
migration into Germany. One of the most interesting findings, according to the
researchers, were the attitudes of Germans who themselves come from a migrant
background. Among foreign born Germans only 41 per cent would like to see a
continuation of mass migration and 28 per cent want an end entirely, believing migrants
should not make any demands on the German people.” [94790, 94791]
On July 9 Obama talks about gun violence while at the NATO summit in Poland. He
says, “You’re not seeing riots. You’re not seeing police going after people who are
protesting peacefully. You’ve seen, almost uniformly, peaceful protests and you’ve seen,
uniformly, police handling those protests with professionalism. We have to make sure
that all of us step back, do some reflection and make sure that the rhetoric we engage in is
constructive and not destructive, that we’re not painting anybody with an overly broad
brush and we’re not constantly thinking the worst in [sic; of] other people rather than the
best. …Now with the respect to the issue guns, I am going to keep on talking about the
fact that we cannot eliminate all racial tension in our country overnight. We are not going
to be able to identify ahead of time and eliminate every madman or troubled individual
who might want to do harm against innocent people, but we can make it harder for them
to do so.” [94798, 94809, 94810]
“…Part of what’s creating tensions between communities and police is the fact that
police have a difficult time in communities where guns are everywhere. Now they have a
low margin of error in terms of making decisions. …If you care about the safety of our
police officers, you can’t set aside the gun issue and pretend that’s irrelevant.” The
availability of guns “is a contributing factor, not the sole factor, but a contributing factor
between the broader tensions that arise between police and the communities they serve.
I’m not going to stop talking about it. It’s part of the problem.” [94798, 94809, 94810]
Obama also laughably claims, “I think it’s very hard to untangle the motives of this
shooter [in Dallas]. Uh, as we’ve seen, uh, in a whole range of incidents with mass
shooters, um, they are by definition troubled. By definition if you shoot people who pose
no threat to you, strangers, uh, you have a troubled mind. Uh, what triggers that, what
feeds it, uh, what sets it off, uh, you know, I’ll leave that ta [sic; to] psychologists and
people who study, uh, these kinds of incidents.” (Obama’s staffers apparently neglected
to brief him on one important point: Micah Xavier Johnson told the police he wanted to
kill white people, especially police officers. Had Johnson survived and gone on trial, his
57
statements would be referred to as explaining his motive.) [94800, 94809, 94810, 94823,
94902]
The Democrat Platform Committee meets. One topic: whether the platform language
should refer to LGBT rights to LGBTQ rights. (Some might wonder, “What difference
does it make?”) [94828]
A P.M.I. poll shows House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) falling below 50 percent in his bid
for reelection. Ryan leads his August 9 primary challenger Paul Nehlen 43-32—a
stunning fall from what was once a lead of more than 30 points. Nehlen tells
Breitbart.com, “Paul Ryan is the most open borders, pro-Wall Street, anti-worker
member of Congress in either party. Everything that Americans despise about their
government, Paul Ryan represents… Can you name one time when Paul Ryan fought as
hard for you and your family as he’s fought for corporate America?” (A Nehlen victory
would be the upset of the year, and would signal that Donald Trump may do much better
than the pundits believe.) [94839]
Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrate in New York City, Rochester, Phoenix,
Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Nashville, San Francisco, Seattle,
Washington, D.C., Atlanta (where as many as 2,000 block Interstate 75), Philadelphia
(where protest leader Kamau Becktemba calls the murder of five police officers in Dallas
“justified rage”), and St. Paul (where more than 100 people are arrested, Interstate 94 is
blocked, and 21 police officers are injured. One officer suffers a spinal fracture when a
protestor drops a concrete block on his head.) [94820, 94829, 94833, 94847, 94896]
On July 10, a few minutes after 4:00 a.m., Washington, D.C. police respond to the sound
of gunshots. They find 27-year-old Seth Conrad Rich, who later dies at the hospital.
Conrad was an employee of the Democrat National Committee. (ConservativeBase.com
later writes, Rich “was the Voter Expansion Data Director at the DNC and had been
working on exposing the recent cases of election fraud and voter suppression during the
recent primaries around the country, according to his LinkedIn.com listing. Some Internet
web sites that cover politics have said Rich was a whistleblower who discovered
irregularities in Democratic Party voting patterns.”) [96102, 96103]
Obama returns to the White House, a few days early from his NATO trip, to “bring
people together to support out police officers and communities, and find common ground
by discussing policy ideas for addressing the persistent racial disparities in our criminal
justice system.” [94831]
Meanwhile, some are doing their best to tear the country together. Breitbart.com reports,
“Babu Omowale, the so-called national minister of defense for the People’s New Black
Panther Party, says his group and allied organizations have their sights set on establishing
‘our own government in a nation within a nation.’” Omowale “claim[s] five states as
belonging to the ‘Black Nation’: Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, and
58
Georgia. The revolutionary stated: ‘We just need to start migrating back to those states
and taking control of the economics in those states. If black people move in, most
definitely white people will move out. So it’s not a hard process for us to have our own
country within a country.’” [94897, 94936]
Obama releases al-Qaeda member Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman from the detainee center
at Guantanamo to Italy. He is considered high-risk by the Department of Defense, which
recommended “Continued Detention.” [94840, 94841]
On Sunday Morning Futures, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke says, “What leads
to so many interactions of young black males and police in urban centers? It’s crime.
That might be an ugly truth, but it’s still the truth. …Those things [drugs and gangs] are
going to increase the risk of a deadly encounter. No one wants to ask, ‘Where are the
dads? Where are the fathers?’ Instead, we go after the low-hanging fruit. Too many
people want to attack the police.” Asked what Obama could say to calm things down,
Clarke replies, “He should say nothing. Every time he opens his mouth, he fans the
flames of this anti-police sentiment that is sweeping the country in some of these urban
centers. With what he’s done to set this whole country on fire with his race politics, he
should just leave it alone.” [94835]
Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, apparently eager to be Donald Trump’s
running mate, decides he is no longer a pro-choice Democrat but is now a pro-life
Democrat. (His change of stripes will not help him become Vice President—but he might
be in the running for Secretary of Defense if Trump is elected. Flynn may be a Democrat,
but he is more in the mold of former Senators Henry “Scoop” Jackson or Sam Nunn than
any of today’s “progressives.”) [94843, 94845, 94846, 94851]
On July 11 Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with police leaders to “discuss
best methods to build trust between the community and law enforcement.” Obama tells
the group, “I’m your best hope.” [94834, 94915]
In a Berrien County, Michigan courthouse, a man on his way to jail takes a gun away
from a deputy, shoots and kills two bailiffs, and wounds a deputy and several civilians.
The shooter is then shot and killed by police. [94863, 94893]
The Obama administration is set to send an additional 560 troops to Iraq, and transfer two
terrorists (Muhammadi Davlatov, a native of Tajikistan, and Mansur Ahmad Saad alDayfi, of Yemen), from Guantanamo to Serbia. [94877, 94899, 94907]
FreeBeacon.com reports, “The Obama administration is brushing aside new German
intelligence reports indicating that Iran has accelerated its efforts to procure key nuclear
materials, despite promises to end this behavior as part of last summer’s nuclear accord…
Germany’s internal intelligence agency concluded in a recent report that sources have
witnessed ‘extensive Iranian attempts’ to procure illicit materials, ‘especially goods that
59
can be used in the field of nuclear technology,’ according to the report. The report
appears to show that Iran is not upholding its most critical commitments under the
nuclear deal. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear this week that the
intelligence shows ‘Iran continued unabated to develop its rocket program in conflict
with the relevant provisions of the UN Security Council,’ particularly one Security
Council resolution that bars Iran from pursuing ballistic missile technology. The
intelligence report and subsequent warnings were met with a tepid response from the
Obama administration, which declined to comment on the intelligence and told the Free
Beacon that it continues to view Iran as complying with the nuclear accord.” [94999,
95000]
According to a Washington Post/ABC poll, 56 percent of Americans disagree with the
FBI’s decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton—yet 58 percent say the
decision will make “no difference” in their vote in November. (A fair number of
Americans apparently believe Clinton broke federal laws but will vote for her anyway.)
[94849, 94850, 94876]
According to a Rasmussen poll, “just 22% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with Obama’s
statement that ‘there has never ever been any man or woman more qualified for this
office than Hillary Clinton.’ Sixty-five percent (65%) disagree with [Obama’s] statement.
Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided. …Not surprisingly, just five percent (5%) of
Republicans and 15% of voters not affiliated with either political party agree with
[Obama’s] high praise of the likely Democratic presidential nominee. But even
Democrats aren’t convinced: 42% of voters in Clinton’s and Obama’s party agree with
the statement, but 36% do not, with another 21% who are not sure. When given the
choice, 41% of all voters think Clinton is better qualified to be president, but just as many
(40%) say that of Trump. A sizable 19% are undecided.” [94855]
According to a Monmouth University poll in Nevada, Hillary Clinton leads Donald
Trump 45-41. (Obama won Nevada 52-45 in 2012.) [94900, 94901]
Politico.com reports, “Democrat Baron Hill is dropping out of the Indiana Senate race
and will be replaced as the Democratic nominee by former Sen. Evan Bayh, upending the
race in a state Republicans expected to hold easily this fall. Bayh, who is also a former
governor of Indiana, still has approximately $9.3 million in a federal campaign account
that has sat nearly dormant since he left the Senate in 2010. GOP Sen. Dan Coats won the
seat that year but is retiring this fall. Hill, a former House member, was preparing to face
GOP Rep. Todd Young in the general election. …Republicans immediately seized on
Bayh’s work for the lobbying and law firm McGuireWoods… NRSC Executive Director
Ward Baker called Bayh ‘the definition of a Washington insider’ in a statement, and said
that Bayh ‘is a lobbyist who backed the Obama agenda 96 percent of the time as he left
the Senate in 2010.’” (Bayh—who retired from the Senate in 2010 because he knew he
would lose his bid for reelection—obviously entered the race because he assumes Donald
Trump will lose and Hillary Clinton’s “coattails” will help Democrats win back the
60
Senate. Voters would be wise to demand that Bayh move back to Indiana from
Washington, D.C., where he works at a law firm as a lobbyist.) [94853, 94894]
Congressmen Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) formally ask the U.S.
Attorney for Washington, D.C. to investigate whether Hillary Clinton committed perjury
when she testified before a congressional committee about her use of a private email
server. [94898]
In a speech in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Donald Trump calls the Veterans Administration
scandals “widespread and totally inexcusable: and pledges a full investigation if elected
president. [94857, 94860, 94875]
At a press conference, Dallas Police Chief David Brown says, “We’re asking cops to do
too much in this country. We are. We’re just asking us to do too much. Every societal
failure, we put it off on the cops to solve. Not enough mental health funding? Let the
cops handle it. Not enough drug addiction funding? Let’s give it to the cops. Here in
Dallas we [have] got a loose-dog problem. Let’s have the cops chase loose dogs. Schools
fail? Give it to the cops. Seventy percent of the African-American community is being
raised by single women. Let’s give it to the cops to solve that, as well. That’s too much to
ask. …You won’t see me walking past an officer without grabbing them and hugging
them and shaking their hand and telling them how grateful I am for their commitment and
sacrifice. Become a part of the solution. Serve your communities. Don’t be a part of the
problem. We’re hiring. We’re hiring. Get off that protest line and put an application in,
and we’ll put you in your neighborhood and we will help you resolve some of the
problems you’re protesting about.” [94858]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel admits what thinking Germans have known for over a
year, saying, “In part, the refugee flow was even used to smuggle terrorists.” [94866,
94873]
Home Secretary Theresa May will become the next Prime Minister of Great Britain, after
rival Andrea Leadsom drops out of the race. May, an alleged conservative, opposed
leaving the European Union. (The Shari’ah-court-supporting May has worked against
free speech by blocking people like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer from entering
England to deliver speeches warning about the dangers of radical jihad. Some may worry
that May will govern more like German Chancellor Angela Merkel than former Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher.) [94868, 94878, 94937, 95004, 95005]
In The Journal of the American Medical Association, Obama calls for a “public option”
to be added to ObamaCare. He writes (or, more accurately, someone wrote on his behalf),
“Public programs like Medicare often deliver care more cost-effectively by curtailing
administrative overhead and securing better prices from providers. The public plan did
not make it into the final legislation. Now, based on experience with the ACA
[Affordable care Act], I think Congress should revisit a public plan to compete alongside
61
private insurers in areas of the country where competition is limited.” [94882, 94883,
94884, 94892, 95102, 95375]
Medicare reduces costs, but does so at the expense of limiting care. Many senior citizens
cannot find adequate care because large numbers of physicians are unwilling to provide
services for the low compensation rates of Medicare. Insurance is useless if no doctor is
willing to accept it. Obama’s obsession with a “public option” is consistent with his longstanding desire to establish socialized, government-run health care. A “public option”
would have insurance rates set arbitrarily low in order to put private insurers out of
business. Over time, every private insurer would fail and “public option” would no longer
be an option, it would be the only option (except for the wealthy who can afford to pay
cash for the best medical care.) Of course, the public option would continually operate at
a loss, and those losses would be covered by higher taxes or by the price inflation caused
by printing money.
On Special Report, Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume observes that Obama
“has consistently chosen to see things through the eyes of an aggrieved black activist
rather than of a president of all the people. He has not failed to speak out whenever a
black is killed by a white police officer, but has said next to nothing about the continuing
slaughter of blacks by other blacks in the streets of Chicago, Baltimore, and other cities.”
[94888, 94890]
Outside the governor’s mansion in Atlanta, Georgia, protesters whine that a Chick-fil-A
restaurant delivered food to on-duty police officers but not to them. [94981, 95060]
On July 12 Obama heads to Dallas to attend a memorial for the five slain police officers.
(Obama is joined on Air Force One by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). What they discussed
aboard the flight is not known.) [94861, 95587, 95823]
In Indianapolis, March Eugene Ratney, an ex-convict on parole wearing a Black Lives
Matter t-shirt, fires 17 shots into the house and patrol car of a police officer. (No one is
injured and Ratney is arrested.) [94933, 94934, 94979]
Attorney General Loretta Lynch dodges and weaves in embarrassing testimony before the
House Judiciary Committee, in a stunning appearance in which she refuses to answer
even simple questions, saying she would not address “hypotheticals.” She repeatedly
evades questions with responses like, “I, as attorney general, am not able to provide any
further comment on the facts or the substance of the investigation.” (Lynch arguably
creates a new version of the Fifth Amendment. On The Kelly File, Marc Thiessen later
quips that Lynch’s responses were essentially, “I refuse to answer on the grounds that it
may incriminate Hillary Clinton.”) [94870, 94886, 94908, 94916, 94957, 94960, 94961,
94973, 94977]
62
An example of Lynch’s evasiveness is found in questioning by Congressman Jason
Chaffetz (R-UT). Chaffetz: “Does an individual need a security clearance to review or
have access to classified material?” Lynch: “Well, congressman, that issue would be
dependent upon the agency for whom they worked and the nature of the work that they
did with respect to—” Chaffetz: “Can you give me an example where you don’t need a
security clearance to view classified material?” Lynch: “No, I believe as I was going to
say, they would, but the type of clearance varies with every agency and the agency would
make that decision and determination.” Chaffetz: “Is it legal or illegal to share classified
information with somebody who doesn’t have a security clearance?” Lynch:
“Congressman, it depends on the facts of every situation. You’d have to determine how
that sharing occurred. You’d have to determine the means. You’d have to determine the
reason, the intent, um, certainly depending on how you view the statute it could go any
number of ways.” Chaffetz: “So you think there is a scenario in which you could share
classified information with somebody who doesn’t have the requisite security clearance?”
Lynch: “No, I would not draw that conclusion. I would say that I’m not able to answer it
as a hypothetical but there are a number of factors that would go into the decision and
one could have any number of results.” [94965]
Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) addresses Lynch: “There’s involuntary manslaughter.
There’s reckless homicide. There’s felony DUI, where you really didn’t mean to hurt
anybody. You really didn’t, but you did. This lack of specific intent is not a defense in
any of those cases. So I think the public would like to know how you determine [Hillary
Clinton] did not have intent to break the law and why you are applying a specific intent
requirement here when you don’t even do it in certain homicide cases?” Lynch replies,
“The reason why I am not going into the discussion I had in providing that level of
information, although the FBI director did choose to do so, is that the information the
team provides to me on this or any other case has to be given in a zone of confidentiality
so that they can be clear and sure that there is never a political overtone to decisions, nor
will I apply one in accepting their decisions.” [94958]
Another example of Lynch’s evasiveness and absolute refusal to admit that Hillary
Clinton may have broken the law is provided by Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA),
who asks, “I’ve got a question for you. [I am] Driving down the road, [the] speed limit
says 55 [mph], I’m doing 65. Have I broken the law?” Lynch: “You would have to ask
the Highway Patrol. He would likely write you a ticket.” Collins: “I went to a small law
school. We were taught the law! …Did you break the law or not—65 in a 55? My dad
was a state trooper…” Lynch: “As I said before, you would get a ticket for that.” Collins:
“So you broke the law!” Lynch: “You would be cited for that. That would be considered
an offense.” [94985]
Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) tells Lynch, “Here’s what I think. I think your actions
made it worse. I really do. I think a lot of people already think that there are two systems,
as many have talked about: one for we, the people, a different one, an entirely different
one for the politically connected. You’re a former secretary of state, former senator,
nominee for president, your husband meets with the—meets with you, five days before
63
the decision is announced. A different standard for those facts. And you proved it. You
demonstrated that it’s different by your actions because you said you’ve never done this
before, so you not only—you changed your internal practices. You changed the fact that
you’ve never announced beforehand that you’re going to follow recommendations before
you even have the recommendations.” [94913, 94914]
“You contribute—your actions contribute to this belief that the system is rigged and
that—you made a bad situation worse by saying ‘I’m going to do whatever they
recommend, even though I don’t know what the recommendations are.’ I don’t know
anyone who would conduct themselves that way when they are the ultimate decider. But
you said, ‘I’m going to wait, I’m going to do whatever they way, I’m not going to wait to
see what they’re recommending, I’m going to follow it.’ You showed that this case was
different. And the law is supposed to treat every single person the same. And your
announcement, by definition, made this thing entirely different. And then of course, what
was ultimately decided made it entirely different as well.” [94913, 94914]
To a disappointed crowd of his supporters, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorses
Hillary Clinton (while Clinton stand beside him, repeatedly bobbing her head up and
down—406 times according to TheHill.com) Clinton then screeches through her “free
stuff for everyone” speech, promising an increase in the minimum wage, extended Social
Security benefits, free college free (including books and school supplies), and paid family
leave—and addressing almost every other issue raised by her primary opponent. Clinton,
who turns even further to the political left in an effort to win over Sanders’ supporters,
even speaks against the Trans Pacific Partnership—which she has previously called “the
gold standard” of trade treaties. (Many Sanders supporters will be outraged by his
endorsement of Clinton and will consider it a betrayal of his principles. Whether they will
stay home on election day or vote for someone other than Clinton remains to be seen.)
[94869, 94904, 94906, 94911, 94953, 94954, 94955, 94978, 94989]
At the Dallas memorial event, Obama predictably talks about gun control and repeats one
of his specious claims: “We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a
teenager to by a Glock than to get his hands on a computer or a book.” Even worse than
that lie, Obama uses the occasion to blame cops for racism: “None of us are entirely
innocent… and this includes our police departments”—a totally inappropriate remark for
a memorial for five slain police officers. (DailyCaller.com notes that Obama “referred to
himself 45 times” during the speech—which suggests he wrote most of it.) [94879,
94891, 94903, 94905, 94924, 94925, 94938, 94961, 94964, 95026, 95171]
WhiteHouseDossier.com’s Keith Koffler writes, “Obama has already talked endlessly
about such things as police brutality and gun control. He should have just focused on the
cops… not promoted his agenda. …I get what [Obama] thought he was trying to do in
Dallas. He told himself that he was being evenhanded, saying the police have a point, and
the protestors have a point, and that we all must see each other’s views, join hands
together, etc. etc. But his words belied his true feelings. Here he is assuming, even though
64
these cases have not been adjudicated, that the two black men recently shot by police in
Louisiana and Minnesota were killed unjustly.” [94928]
“‘But even [for] those who dislike the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter,’ surely we should be
able to hear the pain of Alton Sterling’s family,’ he said. ‘We should—when we hear a
friend describe him by saying that ‘Whatever he cooked, he cooked enough for
everybody,’ that should sound familiar to us, that maybe he wasn’t so different than us,
so that we can, yes, insist that his life matters. Just as we should hear the students and
coworkers describe their affection for Philando Castile as a gentle soul—‘Mr. Rogers
with dreadlocks,’ they called him—and know that his life mattered to a whole lot of
people of all races, of all ages, and that we have to do what we can, without putting
officers’ lives at risk, but do better to prevent another life like his from being lost.’ If you
think [you] are evenhanded—and this is Obama’s job as the boss of the attorney general,
federal prosecutors, and the FBI—you not only don’t voice assumptions about [the] guilt
or innocence of the police officers involved in these case, you don’t make assumptions.
The officers in these cases have not [been] heard from. But the juries in the trials they
may face have heard [Obama].” [94928]
“Obama is about Obama and his agenda, the correctness of which cannot be challenged.
It’s self-evident to him that his ideas are right and will solve problems in America. He
doesn’t think he is sowing division, because he can’t imagine anyone could disagree with
him. He couldn’t for a moment put his views aside and place the feelings of the Dallas
police and a grieving nation first. And then Obama went on to lecture America: ‘That’s
what we must pray for, each of us: a new heart. Not a heart of stone, but a heart open to
the fears and hopes and challenges of our fellow citizens.’ I don’t need a new heart.
Today, my heart was with the slain police officers in Dallas. That’s where Obama’s
should have been too.” [94928]
That pedophile Alton Sterling may have often “cooked enough for everybody” is
irrelevant if he threatened people with a gun, resisted arrested, and reached for that gun
when taken to the ground by police officers. That Philando Castile may have been known
as “Mr. Rogers with dreadlocks” is irrelevant if he robbed a convenience store and then
reached for his gun when pulled over by a police officer. Obama essentially declared
police officers of wrongfully taking the lives of Sterling and Castile without knowing all
the facts, essentially making it impossible for the officers to receive fair trials (if they
even go to trial), and does so at a memorial service for five police officers who had
nothing to do with those incidents.
Koffler writes, “The principle reason African Americans are shot by police officers and
have bad experiences with law enforcement is that they commit a disproportionate
number of crimes. This is because they have been relegated to ghettoes by the very liberal
policies Obama supports. But that’s another argument for another day. What Obama
helped do, and continued to do in Dallas, is elevate a relatively rare occurrence—racist
cops killing blacks—into what threatens to become a national race war. You’ll hear no
tribute from him to the innocent victims of rampant black-on-black violence. That’s the
65
most profound cause for sadness. But instead of facing problems, it’s easier and more fun
to relive the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.” [94928]
George W. Bush also attends the service, and says, “Laura and I see members of law
enforcement every day, we count them as our friends. Their courage is our protection and
shield. We’re proud of the men we mourn and the community that has rallied to honor
them and support the wounded. The Mayor and the police department have been mighty
inspirations for the rest of the nation. …With their deaths, we have lost so much. We are
grief stricken, heartbroken and forever grateful. Each new day can bring new dangers, but
none of us were prepared, or could be prepared, for the ambush and shock of hatred and
malice. …To renew our unity we need to remember our values. We don’t want the unity
of grief, nor do we want the unity of fear. We want the unity of hope, dignity and high
purpose. …[To the children of those lost] Your loss is unfair, we cannot explain it, but
we can stand beside you and share your grief and we can hope God will comfort you with
a hope deeper than sorrow.” [94880, 94881]
Showing Obama how to make a significant point without insulting every white person in
sight, Bush says, “Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while
judging ourselves by our best intentions, and this has strained our bonds of understanding
and common purpose.” [94962]
While reasonable people are offended by Obama’s remarks at the memorial service,
leftist in the mainstream media are predictably thrilled by his criticism of white police
officers at a service for slain white police officers. Newsbusters.org notes ABC’s George
Stephanopoulos’ remarks: “Fighting through tears to remember lives lost, plead for unity,
and hope. It was a meditation on hope. [Obama] quoting the scriptures to try to call
Americans to perseverance and character and hope saying we cannot despair, the center
must hold. And [Obama] speaking to all sides in this fight.” Sunny Hostin: “I mean, he’s
such a gifted speaker. He has done this before. And this, I think, eulogy was very much
about bridging the divide. He was melding social issues and messages and trying to meld
communities. I think it’s striking that while he was eulogizing these five officers, he was
able to discuss black lives matter. He was also able to discuss protesters. He was able to
discuss the talk that African-American families have with their children to discuss the
difficult job that police officers have and how we need them in those communities. And
so I think he struck the right tone and a message that I think this nation really needs now
about bridging the gap.” ABC’s senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas: “[Obama
was] clearly in the role of preacher-in-chief today talking about what a raw moment this
is for the country. …[A] Difficult moment, [Obama] trying to thread the needle, George.”
[94967, 94970]
NBC’s Lester Holt: “A call for unity and walking sometimes a difficult line between
acknowledging the sacrifice of police officers and at the same time, acknowledging the
black lives matter movement. And several times mentioning the names of Philando
Castile and Alton Sterling, black men who had been shot by police last week.” CBS’
Scott Pelley: “[Obama] taking this opportunity to walk the middle ground, praising the
66
five officers, but also honoring the two men who were slain by police recently, the police
shootings that resulted in the Dallas protest to begin with. [Obama] addressed both sides
of this divide, criticizing them equally for ignoring the truths that can be found in the
middle, in the common ground.” (Pelley does not explain why Alton Sterling and
Philando Castile should be honored or why “both sides” should be criticized equally.)
[94967]
MSNBC’s Craig Melvin: “…Obama, once again, giving voice not just to our grief, but
also giving voice to the anxieties that a lot of folks had before last week and certainly in
light of what we have seen play out in this country over the past week. …Obama, doing
his best to speak to our angels…” CNN’s Douglas Brinkley: “Oh, this will be known as
‘This is the America I know’ speech. I heard echoes of Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Abraham Lincoln. It was elegantly written. It pulled on scripture at the right times. But he
tried to turn Dallas into a positive—meaning, the people of Dallas—the citizens, Police
Chief David Brown, Mayor Mike Rawlings. I think he wanted us to say, that’s the
American spirit—what we’ve seen in Dallas, not one or two fools and idiots—evil
makers that are going to try to ruin or derail American democracy.” [94968, 94969]
Fox News announces it is suspending its “contributor agreement” with Newt Gingrich
“effective immediately.” (Translation” “Gingrich may be Trump’s pick for vice
president, or at least a member of his cabinet.”) Meanwhile, Newsmax.com reports,
“Even if Donald Trump does not pick Newt Gingrich as his running mate, the former
U.S. House Speaker may still have a job in the billionaire's administration. Trump is
considering picking Gingrich for a top national security post should he be elected
president, according to two people familiar with the candidate’s thinking. …A nationalsecurity role in a potential Trump administration could be a good fit for Gingrich. He
holds a doctorate in European history and is known for his intellectual curiosity. In
Congress, he immersed himself in military affairs and intelligence issues, and in 2001 he
was named by then-President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the Pentagon’s
Defense Policy Board. Like Trump, Gingrich is a staunch critic of the U.S. nuclear deal
with Iran.” [94887, 94945]
In a July 4-10 NBC/Survey Monkey poll, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump
declines to 47-44. (Clinton led 48-43 in the previous poll.) Clinton’s
favorable/unfavorable rating falls moves to 38/60. [94909, 94910, 94912, 94917, 94921,
94966, 94971]
In a Monmouth University poll in Iowa. Trump leads Clinton 44/42. (Obama beat Mitt
Romney 52-46 in Iowa in 2012.) [94918, 94919, 94920, 94948, 94990]
In a Harper College survey in Colorado, Clinton leads Trump 45-38. (In 2012 Obama
beat Mitt Romney 51-46 in Colorado.) Strangely, Clinton’s favorable/unfavorable ratings
(38/57) are worse than Trump’s (40/54), yet she still leads him by 7 points. In a
Monmouth University poll in Colorado, Clinton leads Trump 48-35. [94941, 94942,
95025]
67
DCWhispers.com notes a 30-day survey of message boards, topical sites, social
networks, blogs, and comments by CulturIntel that “shows Donald Trump doing
historically well among both Black and Hispanic voters compared to prior Republican
presidential candidates. Presently, Trump enjoys 26% support among Black voters and
37% support among Hispanics.” [94926, 94927]
WashingtonTimes.com reports, “The State Department paid hundreds of thousands of
dollars in taxpayers grants to an Israeli group that used the money to build a campaign to
oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in last year’s Israeli parliamentary elections, a
congressional investigation concluded Tuesday. Some $350,000 was sent to OneVoice,
ostensibly to support the group’s efforts to back Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement
negotiations. But OneVoice used the money to build a voter database, train activists and
hire a political consulting firm with ties to …Obama’s campaign—all of which set the
stage for an anti-Netanyahu campaign, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations said in a bipartisan staff report. In one stunning finding, the subcommittee
said OneVoice even told the State Department’s top diplomat in Jerusalem of its plans in
an email, but the official, Consul General Michael Ratney, claims never to have seen
them. He said he regularly deleted emails with large attachments—a striking violation of
open-records laws for a department already reeling from former Secretary Hillary
Clinton’s handling of official government records.” [94923, 94935]
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) states, “The State Department ignored warnings signs and
funded a politically active group in a politically sensitive environment with inadequate
safeguards,’ said Sen. Rob Portman, chairman of the investigative subcommittee. ‘It is
completely unacceptable that U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to build a political
campaign infrastructure that was deployed—immediately after the grant ended—against
the leader of our closest ally in the Middle East. American resources should be used to
help our allies in the region, not undermine them.” [94923]
Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former deputy director of national
intelligence and then director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, tells DailyCaller.com
he never met Obama: “Here is the crux of my relationship with Obama. Here I am,
running one of the largest intelligence agencies in the world. He appoints me twice… I’m
also his senior intelligence officer. And I had almost five years in combat. I never met
with him once. He’s a kind of a funny guy when it comes to relationships. He’s very
aloof and very distant. I wasn’t on his screen at all. I wasn’t on his radar which is really
sad. It’s amazing.” [94961, 95047]
Of Donald Trump, Flynn says, “I have met him. We sat down and talked in his offices in
New York. The first time was quite a while ago. I’ve been in touch with him and his
inner circle since last September. He is very, very serious about the future of this county.
He is a great listener. I felt we had a great discussion about the world.” Flynn states that
the questions Trump asked “were very telling of his insight and his knowledge. …My
impression—and I have been around many good leaders in my career—and I found him
68
to be a very strong, dynamic leader. And I think that’s why he is so attractive to so many
people in this country right now. Trump has a bigger, longer-term vision for this country
than just sitting as a President for four years. He really does. And that’s what I was
impressed by.” [94961]
Of Hillary Clinton, Flynn says, “She is somebody that you get the impression that she’s
got some other hidden agenda. I always felt where there were interactions, there is some
other hidden agenda there that doesn’t necessarily have the best interest of the country.
Something else is going on. …[Clinton’s] Russian reset was a complete failure. That was
her sort of baby. She lacked the understanding of how Russia deals on the global stage
and how Russia deals with people, personalities and also on nation-on nation, and the
way they see us. She went into it with a level of arrogance and a lack of understanding.
That Russian reset actually could have turned into something that resulted in some sort of
mutual respect. But in fact under her leadership, it completely collapsed. …The public
corruption between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department may never be
discovered. Or it may be discovered well past the election. But it’s a very real issue.
…The fact she takes [even] one dollar from Saudi Arabia as any kind of a donation is a
disgrace. Any of these countries destroys women’s rights. And then she stands there and
claims that she’s for women.” Clinton “should give back every red penny that she gets
from those guys. Then she can talk about women’s rights.” [94961]
After 83-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg calls Donald Trump “a
faker” and says, “I can’t imagine what this place would be—I can’t imagine what the
country would be—with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it could be four
years. For the court, it could be—I don’t even want to contemplate that” (and threatens to
move to New Zealand), Trump responds, “I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United
States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly. I think it’s a
disgrace to the court, and I think she should apologize to the court. I couldn’t believe it
when I saw it. It’s so beneath the court for her to be making statements like that. It only
energizes my base even more. And I would hope that she would get off the court as soon
as possible.” Ginsburg is criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for her
comments. Even The New York Times calls for Ginsburg to “drop the political punditry
and the name-calling.” (Ginsburg later issues a Dick Durbin-style non-apology apology,
stating, “My recent remarks…were ill-advised and I regret making them.”) [94932,
94939, 94959, 94995, 94996, 95022, 95027, 95040, 95041, 95042, 95043]
NYPost.com reports, “In an unusual move, FBI agents working the Hillary Clinton email
case had to sign a special form reminding them not to blab about the probe to anyone
unless called to testify. Sources said they had never heard of the ‘Case Briefing
Acknowledgment’ form being used before, although all agents must initially sign
nondisclosure agreements to obtain security clearance. ‘This is very, very unusual. I’ve
never signed one, never circulated one to others,’ said one retired FBI chief. An FBI
agent currently on the job admitted, ‘I have never heard of such a form. Sounds strange.’
Meanwhile, FBI agents expressed their ‘disappointment’ over FBI Director James
Comey’s decision not to recommend charges against Clinton, sources close to the matter
69
told The Post. ‘FBI agents believe there was an inside deal put in place after the Loretta
Lynch/Bill Clinton tarmac meeting,’ said one source. Another source from the Justice
Department was ‘furious’ with Comey, saying he’s ‘managed to piss off right and left.’”
[94946, 94947, 94984, 94987, 95021]
WashingtonPost.com reports, “Even as it launches waves of terrorist attacks around the
globe, the Islamic State is quietly preparing its followers for the eventual collapse of the
caliphate it proclaimed with great fanfare two years ago. In public messages and in recent
actions in Syria, the group’s leaders are acknowledging the terrorist organization’s
declining fortunes on the battlefield while bracing for the possibility that its remaining
strongholds could fall. At the same time, the group is vowing to press on with its recent
campaign of violence, even if the terrorists themselves are driven underground. U.S.
counterterrorism experts believe the mass-casualty attacks in Istanbul and Baghdad in the
past month were largely a response to military reversals in Iraq and Syria. Such terrorist
acts are likely to continue and even intensify, at least initially, analysts say, as the group
evolves from a quasi-state with territorial holdings to a shadowy and diffuse network
with branches and cells on at least three continents.” [95001]
Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer writes, “Of particular concern to the West is that European
intelligence officials fear that the Islamic State has already begun a new phase of
planning in the West. A French senior security official who wished to remain anonymous
stated that ‘they will now expand to other tactics and start executing much more insidious
and covert ops, in big cities.’” [95002]
ChristianToday.com reports, “Thousands of refugees living in the so-called Calais
[France] ‘Jungle’ will soon lose their makeshift homes as the northern half of the camp is
set to be demolished. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart told journalists on Monday that the
remaining half of the camp would soon be dismantled, though no date has yet been given.
‘We can’t wait any longer, we need to know as soon as possible when and how the Jungle
will be torn down,’ she said. ‘It is absolutely urgent for this town, its people and its
businesses.’” [95201]
On July 13 Black Lives Matter demonstrators block Interstate 35W in Minneapolis
during morning rush hour. About a dozen protesters are arrested. The group’s demands
include “disarming, defunding, demilitarizing, and disbanding” the Minneapolis Police
Department. [94980, 94991, 95031, 95032]
Obama hosts a “conversation on community policing and criminal justice” with members
of law enforcement and Black Lives Matter activists—including the vile racist (and
recently arrested) DeRay McKesson. (According to TheAmericanMirror.com, McKesson
“lives in a home owned by philanthropists James and Robin Wood in Baltimore,
Maryland. The Woods have owned the home since 1996 and are wealthy donors to the
Baltimore chapter of George Soros’ Open Society Institute.”) [94930, 95016, 95039]
70
During the meeting, Obama is reportedly asked by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan
Patrick if police officers “really feel in their hearts like you’re doing everything you can
to protect their lives?” A peeved Obama replies, “Let me first of all say that I have been
unequivocal in condemning any rhetoric directed at police officers. You’d have to find
any message that did not include a very strong support for law enforcement in all my
utterances dating back to Ferguson. I’ll be happy to send it to you in case you missed it.”
Patrick replies, “Words matter. I would ask you to consider being careful when there is
an incident of not being too quick to condemn the police without due process and until
the facts are known. I know that's not your intention, but again, words have meaning.”
Obama: “I’m aware that my words matter deeply here. The data shows that there are
disparities in terms of how persons of color and whites are treated in the aggregate.”
(Obama does not answer the question: “Have you done everything you can to protect
their lives?” Merely condemning anti-police rhetoric is not sufficient. Further, that blacks
may be arrested more often than whites does not prove that police officers are racists; it
may only prove that blacks commit crimes at a higher rate than whites. From Obama’s
perspective, he perhaps might be happy if whites started committing more crimes in order
to “even out” the statistics.) [95090, 95111, 95120, 95175, 95183]
According to a survey by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, 76 percent of
police chiefs and sheriffs agree that “qualified, law-abiding armed citizens help law
enforcement reduce violent criminal activity”; 87.9 percent believe that “any vetted
citizen” should “be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense”; and 87.4 percent
“support nationwide recognition of state issued concealed weapon permits.” [94992]
At the daily press briefing, reporters note that the White House was lit in rainbow colors
to celebrate the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling and in pink for Breast Cancer
Awareness Month and ask if it will be it in blue lights in honor of the five police officers
gunned down in Dallas. Press secretary Josh Earnest responds, “I can tell you that’s not
something we plan to do at this point… [Obama] has chosen to acknowledge this loss and
pay tribute to these heroes in a variety of other ways, including: ordering flags lowered to
half-staff, traveling to Dallas to speak at the memorial service, and spending a substantial
amount of time after the service visiting with the families of those who were lost.”
[95038]
Delivering a speech in Springfield, Illinois, Hillary Clinton—who has apparently never
heard of Lois Lerner—warns, “Imagine if [Donald Trump] had not just Twitter and cable
news to go after his critics and opponents, but also the IRS, or for that matter our entire
military. Given what we have seen and heard, do any of us think he’d be restrained?”
(HotAir.com comments, “Did I hallucinate it or aren’t Hillary Clinton and her husband
notorious for holding vindictive grudges against people who cross them, to the point
where they actually have a written enemies’ list? Claire McCaskill was so terrified of
being on that list after she endorsed Obama early in 2008 that she turned around and
issued her Hillary 2016 endorsement in 2013. You cross Trump and you’ll get a nasty
tweet written about you. You cross Hillary and you’ve got a network of Washington
71
power players who won’t forget. Imagine electing a person as vindictive as that. Surely
she wouldn’t use federal agencies to settle scores, right?”) [95034]
Clinton does not mention that the ObamaCare exchange in Illinois has been taken over by
state regulators and will be liquidated. Land of Lincoln Health lost $90 million in 2015
and more than $17 million through the first five months of 2016. (With about 49,000
policyholders, a $90 million deficit represents a loss of $1,836 per customer.) [95035]
The Associated Press reports, “The nation’s health care tab this year is expected to
surpass $10,000 per person for the first time, the government said Wednesday. The new
peak means the Obama administration will pass the problem of high health care costs on
to its successor. …National health expenditures will hit $3.35 trillion this year, which
works out to $10,345 for every man, woman and child.” [95084, 95085]
Politico.com writes, “[I]f you’re looking for a quintessential Obamacare failure story, you
might… stick that pin directly in North Carolina. For the insurance companies doing
business in the state—the ones issuing policies to… 600,000 people—Obamacare has
turned into a financial sinkhole. UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest insurance
company, is pulling out of the Obamacare business in North Carolina next year. Blue
Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, which dominated the individual market with more
than a half-million customers, reported that losses on its Obamacare business in 2014 and
2015 topped $400 million. The insurer said that figure includes government payments
designed to shield insurers from big losses during the early years of Obamacare. The only
other current competitor, Aetna, wants to hike rates by nearly 25 percent next year.
…What’s happening in North Carolina is repeating itself in state after state across the
country and represents the most acute structural threat to [Obama’s] marquee
achievement…” [95287]
In a Quinnipiac poll in Florida, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 42-39. (Clinton led
47-39 on June 21.) In Ohio, Trump and Clinton are tied 41-41. (They were tied 40-40 on
June 21.) In Pennsylvania, Trump leads Clinton 43-41. (Clinton led 42-21 on June 21.)
Factoring in third-party candidates, Trump leads in Florida 41-36, with Libertarian Gary
Johnson at 7 percent and the Green Party’s Jill Stein at 4 percent. In Ohio, the numbers
are Trump 37, Clinton 36, Johnson 7, and Stein 6. In Pennsylvania, the numbers are
Trump 40, Clinton 34, Johnson 9, and Stein 3. At Towmhall.com Christine Rousselle
notes, “To win the presidency, a candidate effectively has to win two of the three states
listed above. While this is only one poll (and there are plenty of others out there who
have opposite of these results), this is an encouraging sign for the [Trump] campaign.”
[94948, 94949, 94950, 94963, 94972, 94983, 94986, 95103]
According to the Pew Research Center, “Evangelical voters are rallying strongly in favor
of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Indeed, the latest Pew Research
Center survey finds that despite the professed wariness toward Trump among many highprofile evangelical Christian leaders, evangelicals as a whole are, if anything, even more
strongly supportive of Trump than they were of Mitt Romney at a similar point in the
72
2012 campaign. …Now, fully 78% of white evangelical voters say they would vote for
Trump if the election were held today, including about a third who ‘strongly’ back his
campaign. [Romney had 71 percent support in mid-2012.] Meanwhile, religiously
unaffiliated voters—those who describe their religion as ‘atheist,’ ‘agnostic’ or ‘nothing
in particular’—are lining up behind Hillary Clinton over Trump, much as they supported
Barack Obama over Romney in 2012.” [95202, 95203]
CNN’s Brianna Keilar, reporting on Clinton’s event, says, “Remember, Hillary Clinton
has some vulnerabilities herself even as she calls for criminal justice reform, because of
her support in the 1990s for anti-crime legislation that ultimately helped contribute to this
era of mass incarceration [of minorities] that she now, uh, speaks out agai—” (Keilar is
cut off in mid-sentence, either because of technical problems or because she dared
criticize Clinton.) [95051, 95109]
David Cameron tenders his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II and Theresa May becomes
the next Prime Minister of Great Britain. [95011, 95012]
Former London mayor Boris Johnson is named Foreign Secretary. In 2007 Johnson wrote
of Hillary Clinton, “She’s got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare,
like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital” and is “a mixture between Cherie Blair [the
wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair] and Lady Macbeth, stamping her heel,
bawling out subordinates and frisbeeing ashtrays at her erring husband. …She represents,
on the face of it, everything I came into politics to oppose: not just a general desire to
raise taxes and nationalize things, but an all-round purse-lipped political correctness.”
Johnson has also been critical of Obama and Donald Trump. [95049]
Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer writes, “The worst outcome of Britain’s unexpected vote
to leave the European Union was the resignation of David Cameron as Prime Minister—
not because he was a great leader (he wasn’t), but because his successor is Theresa May,
who promises to surpass even her feckless predecessor and become the weakest, most
appeasement-minded Prime Minister since Neville Chamberlain. …As head of the UK
Home Office, May announced a review of Britain’s Sharia courts—then appointed
Muslims to oversee it, drawing protests from human rights activists concerned that her
review board would be too biased to note the courts’ violations of women’s rights. May
also disregarded warnings about security risks and scrapped an aerial surveillance
program that had been designed to stop migrants from sneaking into Britain. With May
heading the Home Office, the British government helped illegal immigrants quash
convictions for fraud and other crimes, so that they could stay in the country.” [95006]
The Daily Mail reports, “A new string of sexual assaults have hit another Swedish music
festival, where ‘dozens’ of accusations of assault—including rape, attempted rape, and
groping—have been made against ‘foreign men.’ Swedish police report that the rape
victim was under 18 and taken to the hospital. She was attacked while watching a band
perform at last week’s Peace & Love Festival, according to Swedish newspaper Dagens
Nyheter. Another Swedish newspaper, FriaTider, reports that police spokesman Stefan
73
Dangardt identified the attackers as ‘foreign men.’ Local authorities currently have three
suspects in custody. Swedish media have not identified them by name because they are
said to be underage. Thirty thousand people attended Peace & Love, which was promoted
as a multicultural festival encouraging inclusion and acceptance. The festival trumpeted a
‘U Can’t Touch This!’ initiative aimed at preventing sexual harassment and hired officers
to patrol the event.” [95071, 95072, 95073]
ClarionProject.org writes, “The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group
identified by the Justice Department as a Muslim Brotherhood entity and designated as
terrorists by the United Arab Emirates, boasts of having 325 meetings with members of
Congress or their staff over the last year. The group says it also enjoyed $3 million worth
free advertising through media appearances this year alone, resulting in 50 million views
of its work. …The White House’s director of community partnerships said in 2012 that
there had been ‘hundreds’ of meetings between U.S. government agencies and CAIR.”
[95074, 95075]
At FoxNews.com Catherine Herridge reports, “A former Gitmo detainee connected to
last month’s ISIS attack on the Istanbul airport that killed 45 and injured more than 230
others was officially added to the U.S. government’s list of designated terrorists
Wednesday. The State Department confirmed to Fox News that Ayrat Nasimovich
Vakhitov was at the Guantanamo detention camps from June 13, 2002 until his transfer to
Russia by the Bush administration in 2004.” [95076, 95077]
By a 50-37 margin, Florida voters believe Trump is more honest and trustworthy than
Clinton; 71 percent believe “the old ways don’t work and it’s time for radical change’; 55
percent believe “foreign trade agreements have hurt them personally”; and 80 percent
believe that public officials “don’t care much what people like me think.” (The numbers
are similar in Ohio and Pennsylvania.) [94950]
House conservatives file a measure to force a vote to impeach IRS Commissioner John
Koskinen. (House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has refused to initiate impeachment
proceedings.) [94988]
By a vote if 245-182, the House passes the Conscience Protection Act, which prohibits
THE government from discriminating against health-care providers who do not want to
perform or be involved with abortions. According to CNSNews.com the legislation
states, “[T]he Federal Government, and any State or local government that receives
Federal financial assistance, may not penalize, retaliate against, or otherwise discriminate
against a health care provider on the basis that the provider does not (1) perform, refer
for, pay for, or otherwise participate in abortion; 3 (2) provide or sponsor abortion
coverage; or (3) facilitate or make arrangements for any of the activities specified in this
subsection.” [95048]
74
Pamela Geller announces, “The renowned human rights organization the American
Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI)’s legal counsel, the American Freedom Law Center
(AFLC), is filing a federal lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia, challenging Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) under
the First Amendment. In a press release, the AFLC explained that ‘Section 230 provides
immunity from lawsuits to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, thereby permitting these
social media giants to engage in government-sanctioned censorship and discriminatory
business practices free from legal challenge.’ Pamela Geller, and Jihad Watch and its
director Robert Spencer, are bringing this suit.” [94997, 94998, 95003]
The AFLC states, “Geller and Spencer, along with the organizations they run, are often
subject to censorship and discrimination by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube because of
Geller’s and Spencer’s beliefs and views, which Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
consider expression that is offensive to Muslims. Such discrimination, which is largely
religion-based in that these California businesses are favoring adherents of Islam over
those who are not, is prohibited in many states, but particularly in California by the
state’s anti-discrimination law, which is broadly construed to prohibit all forms of
discrimination. However, because of the immunity granted by the federal government,
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are free to engage in their otherwise unlawful,
discriminatory practices.” [94997, 94998, 95003]
Geller states, “Every day I received emails from readers and members of my various
Facebook groups, asking for help after having been blocked for posting a story or
comment that might offend Muslims. This is America, not Saudi Arabia. Enough. I am
suing. For years I have documented the outrageous bias of Facebook’s speech policies.
Notoriously one-sided, those who oppose jihad terror, support Israel and stand against the
most brutal and extreme ideology on the face of the earth (sharia) have been
systematically blocked and banned. And to those of you who say, ‘Forget Facebook,
we’ll do without it,’ I say no. I am sick and tired of the suppression of our speech. We are
unable to engage in the public square. And yes, Facebook is the public square; it’s where
we connect. We have to fight for it. Shouting into the wilderness is not freedom of
speech. My Facebook page has close to 300,000 followers, and combined with my pages
(SIOA, SION, AFDI), the reach is another 100,000. It’s a critical connection.” [94997,
94998, 95003]
According to HollywoodReporter.com, a billboard promoting a movie sequel called
God’s Not Dead 2 is not being allowed outside the Republican National Convention by
Orange Barrel Media because it considers the film “way too incendiary.” But a proatheism billboard ad from the Freedom From Religion Foundation will be seen by
convention attendees. [95017, 95018]
On July 14 a national CBS/New York Times poll shows Hillary Clinton and Donald
Trump tied at 40 percent each; 67 percent of those polled say Clinton is neither honest
nor trustworthy. [95023, 95024, 95083]
75
In a July 12-13 national Rasmussen poll of likely voters, Trump leads Clinton 44-37; 13
percent (13%) favor some other candidate, and 6 percent are undecided. “Trump now has
the support of 80% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats. Clinton earns just 72% of the
Democratic vote and picks up five percent (5%) of Republicans. Among voters not
affiliated with either major party, Trump leads by 13 points, but 27% of these voters
either like another candidate or are undecided. Perhaps more troubling for Clinton is that
she now trails by 17 points among white voters after the murder last week of five white
policemen in Dallas which Trump has attributed to anti-police rhetoric by …Obama,
Clinton and others. This is a noticeably wider gap than we have seen previously, while
her support among black and other minority voters remains unchanged. …Clinton is now
the candidate with the bigger gender gap problem. She leads by eight points among
women voters, but Trump posts a 21-point lead among men.” [95030, 95198]
In Quinnipiac polls of several U.S. Senate races, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) leads
potential Democrat challengers Patrick Murphy (50-37) and Congressman Alan Grayson
(50-38). Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) leads 75-year-old former governor Ted Strickland
47-40. Senator Pat Toomey (R-OH) leads Democrat Katie McGinty 49-39. (The
Democrats are unlikely to win back control of the Senate if they cannot pick up any of
those three seats, although they may defeat Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Ron Johnson
(R-WI).) [95037, 95057, 95104]
At PJMedia.com Michael Walsh writes, “Curiously, these are the three states Trump
needs to flip in order to win the election. Rubio still deserves a lot of blame for having
needlessly put his senate seat in play by running his vanity presidential campaign. But if
the polls show him crushing his opponent, the chances of Trump taking Florida are very
good. More interesting, both Portman and Toomey are colorless, off-the-rack
Republicans essentially interchangeable with dozens of others—if they’re ahead, the
Democrats have a major problem.” [95052]
IndyStar.com claims it has confirmed that Donald Trump plans to announce Indiana
Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. But “Trump’s national campaign
spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said ‘a decision has not been made.’ A formal announcement
is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday in Manhattan. …In Pence, Trump has added a social
conservative who GOP strategists say will reassure rank-and-file Republicans that Trump
can be trusted to pursue their interests. Veteran political observers say Pence, a former
U.S. House member and chairman of the House Republican Conference, will provide a
disciplined counter to Trump’s improvisational campaign style. Pence also brings
fundraising power and credibility on a wide range of policy issues that are important to
conservatives.” (If Pence is Trump’s pick, this Timeline believes that former House
Speaker Newt Gingrich will eventually be chosen as Trump’s chief of staff if Hillary
Clinton is defeated in November.) [95007, 95008, 95009, 95019, 95050, 95053, 95055]
A skeptical Ann Coulter (who supports Newt Gingrich) writes at Facebook, “Report:
Trump about to make first mistake in VP pick, as predicted by Ann Coulter, July 6, 2016:
MY VP PREDICTION: TRUMP’S FIRST MISTAKE. I won’t believe it, until I hear it
76
from the Trump’s mouth. Pence is the combo-platter of disaster. He’s all in for corporate
America bringing in as many guest workers as they please to replace American workers,
tried to sell the monster amnesty as a ‘compromise bill.’ (How about this compromise:
We start with a wall…) He also somehow managed to tick off both sides in gay marriage
debate. After his state passed a law protecting Christians from having to participate in
gay marriages, all hell broke loose. Pence thought to himself: ‘I have [a] semi heading for
me. Should I just stand here? Yes, I think I’ll just stand here!’ First, he allowed himself to
be portrayed as a right-wing homophobic nut and then—just days later— he sold out to
the left-wing activists, anyway.” (Pence is a generally reliable conservative, but he does
support the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal. Unless one is seeking perfection,
however, Republicans should consider Pence a good choice.) [95013, 95015, 95054]
A list of Republican National Convention speakers is released:
Pastor Mark Burns
businessman Phil Ruffin
Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-MT)
Pat Smith (mother of Benghazi victim Sean Smith)
Benghazi survivor Mark Geist
Benghazi survivor John Tiegen
Congressman Mike McCaul (R-TX)
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke
Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI)
U.S. Senate candidate in Colorado Darryl Glenn
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Karen Vaughn (mother of a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan)
former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
Melania Trump
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Kathryn Gates-Skipper (the nations’ first female combat Marine)
Marcus Luttrell (former Navy SEAL)
Dana White, businessman
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey
businessman Andy Wist
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn
College Republican National Committee’s Alex Smith
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
77
Trump employee Kerry Woolard
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Dr. Ben Carson
RNC co-chair Sharon Day
professional golfer Natalie Gulbis
actress Kimberlin Brown
actor Antonio Sabato, Jr.
businessman Peter Thiel
former astronaut Eileen Collins
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)
former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
businesswoman Michelle Van Etten
Trump employee Lynne Patton
Eric Trump
businessman Harold Hamm
Congressman Chris Collins (R-NY)
motivational speaker Brock Mealer
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin
Pastor Darrell Scott
Lisa Shin, National Diversity Coalition for Trump
Florida Governor Rick Scott
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus
investor and CEO Tom Barrack
Ivanka Trump
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
evangelist Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
former Congressman Chris Cox (R-CA)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Tiffany Trump
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Donald Trump, Jr.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson
former Texas governor Rick Perry
actor Scott Baio
Kent Terry, brother of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry
Kelly Terry-Willis, sister of Brian Terry
78
Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and Jamiel Shaw (who lost family members to
illegal immigrant killers)
Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI)
former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani
military veteran and businessman Jason Beardsley
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)
author and radio talk show host Laura Ingraham
Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvarado, Jr.
former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
Callista Gingrich
Indiana Governor Mike Pence
[95009, 95010, 95246, 95271, 95272, 95275]
Meanwhile, prominent Republicans who do not plan on attending the Republican
National Convention (and who apparently would not mind a Hillary Clinton presidency)
include: George H. W. Bush. George Bush, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Ohio Governor John
Kasich, and Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lindsey Graham (RSC), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Rand Paul (R-KY). [95014]
Obama participates in an ABC-hosted townhall meeting to discuss race relations. (At
DailyCaller.com Tom Tillison calls that “akin to an arsonist holding a discussion on
forest fires.”) Obama predictably lectures, saying, “White folks have [assumptions about
blacks]; we all carry around assumptions about other people. …There’s a greater
presumption of danger [about black men] that arises from the social and cultural
perceptions that have been fed to folks for a long time. …If we’re honest about ourselves,
because of the history of our country and because of the images we see… blacks are
perceived as dangerous. …The murder in the African-American community is way out of
whack compared to the general population.” (The murder rate is higher in black
communities because blacks are killing blacks—not because of “cultural perceptions.”)
At the event, Erica Garner—whose father Eric Garner was killed in a controversial
encounter with New York City police in July 2014—raises a fuss because she is not
allowed to ask Obama a question. [94993, 95033, 95096, 95098, 95105]
At least five people faint from the heat while waiting in line to attend a Hillary Clinton
campaign event in Annandale, Virginia. [95046, 95257]
Addressing the 2016 League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National
Convention. Clinton pledges to introduce “comprehensive immigration reform”
legislation that includes a “path to citizenship” in her first 100 days in office. (Of course,
she can introduce anything she wants to introduce; getting Congress to approve it is
another issue altogether.) She also says, “We must do everything we can to keep families
already here together. So when the Supreme Court put DAPA [Obama’s Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals scheme] on hold, that affected 5 million immigrants and that was
79
devastating [sic]… But it’s important to note: the Court did not actually rule on the
substance of the case. DAPA is squarely within the president’s authority and I will keep
saying that and fighting for it. …We are not strangers. You are not intruders… And
together we must send a resounding message to Donald Trump in November. …I need
you [Hispanics] at my side, because this is your election. …I deeply regret the kind of
campaign the Republican nominee started with and is still running today. Next week in
Cleveland, [Republicans] will nominate someone who thinks Latino outreach is tweeting
a picture of a taco bowl.” [95062]
After Senate Democrats again block funding for Zika virus research, Republicans urge
Obama “to aggressively use funds already available to mount a strong defense against the
virus” and “note that the fiscal year 2016 appropriations bills allow the administration
access to additional funds.” [95087]
WashingtonExaminer.com reports, “The Interior Department issued new rules Thursday
that will make it harder for the oil and gas industry to drill offshore. The Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management issued a notice to all federal permit holders announcing it will be
changing the financial rules of the road. It will be requiring more upfront capital to cover
the risks posed by each oil and gas lessee not fulfilling its permit obligations and
decommissioning wells. Industry groups immediately gave their assessment: The new
measures are an unfair ‘mandate,’ especially for independent companies.” [95088]
Dan Naatz, the head of government affairs at the Independent Petroleum Association of
America, states, “The bureau’s new mandatory financial requirements will force each
lease owner to fully insure upfront all of its exploration wells, despite the fact that these
wells may never be drilled. This mandate unfairly places the burden on independent
offshore producers, removing operators’ flexibility and making it as difficult as possible
for these smaller, independent companies to remain in business. The new financial
requirements will double the cost of insurance premiums for offshore companies and will
tie up much-needed capital that would otherwise be available for development, American
jobs and revenues to states and the federal government.” (Such regulations are intended
to put small companies out of business and make it more difficult for new businesses to
be created. Over time, only a few large companies are left. The Democrats and socialists
then use the “too big to fail” argument as an excuse to nationalize entire industries. They
do not want many companies competing; they want one large company owned and
operated by federal bureaucrats.) [95088]
At the Republican National Convention, anti-Trump forces persuade only 12 members of
the 112-member Rules Committee to support a “conscience clause” that would have
allowed delegates to vote any way they choose. [95095, 95115]
In Landen, Ohio, police officer Katie Barnes is shot in the stomach by Mohammed
Abdou Laghaouias when she responds to a call reporting a family disturbance. Barnes
survives the attack, returns fire, and Laghaouias is later apprehended and charged with
attempted murder. [95277, 95278]
80
In Nice, France, a truck driver plows into a group of people celebrating Bastille Day. The
act is intentional, as the driver emerges from the truck shooting at innocent people. At
least 80 are killed and more than 50 are injured. Police exchange fire and kill the driver.
[95044, 95045, 95056, 95061, 95063, 95064, 95065, 95066, 95070, 95078, 95106,
95162, 95219]
Victims include an American named Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son Sean, and a
French tobacconist who was run over after pushing his pregnant wife out of the way to
save her. [95092, 95147]
The truck driver, who shouted “Allahu akbar” before he was shot, is later identified as
Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian-born Muslim living in Nice. (Some
40,000 Tunisians live in Nice.) According to Newsmax.com, “Bouhlel’s brother Jabeur
said he still doubted whether his sibling was the attacker. ‘Why would my brother do
something like this?’ he told Reuters, adding: ‘We’ve been calling him since yesterday
evening but he's not responding.’” (That is likely because dead people do not answer
telephone calls.) [95067, 95068, 95069, 95079, 95091, 95093, 95118, 95119, 95143,
95218, 95219]
According to Debka.com, “The windshield and apparently the side windows of the cab
were made of bulletproof glass. In other words, the driver carried out the attack while
sitting in the protected cab that he had built for himself. It was the first time for this
method to be used by terrorists. Damage to the windshield showed that at some, if not all,
of the bullets fired at the cab did not penetrate it. The fact that the windshield was not
broken, and the bullets left round holes without cracks, show that the windshield had
been replaced with bulletproof glass or a layer of bullet-resistant protective plastic.”
[95139, 95140]
According to the Daily Mail, Bouhlel “sent a series of chilling text messages just minutes
before his deadly attack on the Nice Riviera—delighting in his last minute preparations
for the atrocity. The revelation suggests drug-crazed Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was
not a ‘lone wolf’ and had at least one helper. The 31-year-old sent the message at
10.27pm on Thursday [July 14] saying: ‘Bring more weapons, bring five of them to C.’
An earlier message said: ‘It’s good. I have the equipment,’ French TV reported. …[H]is
brother has told how Bouhlel, 31, sent him a selfie where he was ‘laughing a lot’ in the
French seaside city just hours before he drove the lorry into crowds at around 40mph.”
[95220]
In addition, “Three relatives of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel are Islamic extremists who
were jailed in Tunisia. They are understood to be brothers and cousins of Bouhlel’s wife.
Police sources said two of them were arrested in 2008 for training with weapons in the
mountains. One said: ‘After release, one, who we think is extremely dangerous, went to
Syria, and we are checking if one was in Nice, but he definitely flew to Europe from
Tunisia. The third man usually lives here but we haven’t traced him.’” [95353, 95354]
81
In September 2014 ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani stated, “If you cannot
[detonate] a bomb or [fire] a bullet, arrange to meet alone with a French or an American
infidel and bash his skull in with a rock, slaughter him with a knife, run him over with
your car, throw him off a cliff, strangle him, or inject him with poison. Don’t stand by,
helpless and abject… If you are incapable of this, burn down his house, his car, his
business or his field. And if you are incapable even of this—then spit in his face. And if
you refuse [to do] this while your brothers are being bombed and killed and their lives
and property are under attack everywhere, then examine your faith. This is a serious
matter you face, for the Islamic faith is predicated upon the principle of al-wala wal-bara
[loyalty to Muslims and hostility towards infidels].” [95142]
A CBC News headline reads, “Children feared killed in Nice as truck attacks ‘family
event’”—as if the truck was driverless. The New York Times also avoids the jihadist
driver, with the headline, “Truck Attack on French Crowd; Scores Die.” CNN: “Truck
Rams Crowd; 84 dead in Nice,” and posts a photograph of a Muslim woman with her
hand to her head in grief—as if to suggest, “Don’t blame Muslims.”) [95151]
Because of the terrorist attack, Donald Trump announces the postponement of his July 15
news conference to announce his running mate. [95058, 95080]
MSNBC’s Brian Williams says, “We have just plowed over the normal hour airtime of
Chris Matthews tonight because of this confluence of breaking news and I wanted to go
to Chris while we still can and, Chris, hear from you about just what we’ve been
witnessing here.” (In covering a terrorist attack in which a truck driver runs over dozens
of people, Williams seems unaware that using the term “plowed over” is not a good idea.)
[95082, 95110]
Donald Trump tells On the Record’s Greta Van Susteren, “This has to be dealt with very
harshly. I’d be making it very, very hard for people to come into our country from
terrorist areas. I would be so extreme in terms of documentation. We [had] better get
awfully tough. I’m talking about our country, but I’m also talking about the rest of the
world. We’re trying to be nice. We’re trying to be so civil. The world is so weak, we need
to strengthen up.” [95086]
On CNN, Hillary Clinton says, “What is happening is terrorist groups are seeing that they
have opportunities inside France for homegrown terrorism and supporting terrorists. …It
is true that there’s been progress on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq—territory is being
taken back. Airstrikes have been consistent and relentless. It’s also clear that as a result of
these advances against ISIS and their main headquarters, their urgent desire to inflict
terrorists attacks elsewhere has led them to accelerate, reaching out directly and indirectly
through radicalization online. …We are at war with the terrorist groups and what they
represent. It’s a different kind of war, and we need to be smart about how we wage it and
win it.” [95094]
82
Clinton also telephones The O’Reilly Factor and tells host Bill O’Reilly, “It’s terrible that
France has faced too much tragedy and violence and we need to stand strongly with them.
…This is a war against these terrorist groups, these radical jihadist groups. …One of my
priorities is to launch an intelligence surge. We still do not have enough intelligence
cooperation between our agencies and those in other countries, including in Europe, and
we need to have a focal point… in NATO. …It is a dream of ISIS to pull American
ground troops into [a war]. We have been able to get the Iraqis, the Kurds and others to
do a much better job of fighting.” [95107]
On Hannity, Newt Gingrich says, “Let me be as blunt and as direct as I can be: Western
civilization is in a war. We should, frankly, test every person here who is of a Muslim
background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported. [Islamic] Sharia [law]
is incompatible with Western civilization. …Anybody who goes on a website favoring
ISIS, or al-Qaeda, or other terrorist groups, that should be a felony, and they should go to
jail. Any organization which hosts such a website should be engaged in a felony. It
should be closed down immediately.” [95089, 95100, 95108]
Obama issues a statement: “On behalf of the American people, I condemn in the
strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed
and wounded dozens of innocent civilians. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families
and other loved ones of those killed, and we wish a full recovery for the many wounded. I
have directed my team to be in touch with French officials, and we have offered any
assistance that they may need to investigate this attack and bring those responsible to
justice. We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they
respond to and recover from this attack. On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the
extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to
the entire world, and we know that the character of the French Republic will endure long
after this devastating and tragic loss of life.” [95149]
Pamela Geller reacts: “A ‘horrific terrorist attack’ from an enemy he refuses to identify.
And ‘we have offered any assistance that they may need to investigate this attack.’ Did
Pearl Harbor need to be ‘investigated’? Did the Battle of the Bulge need to be
‘investigated’? This is war. But Obama continues to pretend that it’s a series of isolated
criminal incidents.” [95150]
At JihadWatch.org Robert Spencer writes, “Question: did Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on
behalf of the American people, condemn in the strongest terms every German and
Japanese strike during World War II? …The answer is no, because there was no need to
offer such condemnations. The world was at war, and the world knew it was at war. The
fact was obvious, as was which side each combatant was on. Nor was there any need for
an investigation after each battle. Everyone knew what was going on, and why. The
reason why Obama offers these condemnations now after each jihad massacre is because
he treats each as if it were an isolated incident, not as if it were one more battle in a long
war.” [95078]
83
On July 15 Donald Trump tweets, “I am pleased to announce that I have chosen
Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow
at 11:00 A.M.” [95059, 95113, 95114]
Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell states, “Mike Pence is a home run choice
and by picking him Donald Trump gets an A-plus for his first presidential decision. Mike
is a fellow Midwesterner and a fellow rock-solid conservative, and will be a huge help on
both scores. Mike has been a successful governor and chief executive, he’s been a
successful legislator in Congress and commands deep respect across the board in the
Republican Party and across the aisle with the Democrats. He’ll be an exceptional asset
as Mr. Trump’s running mate, he’ll help unify the party as we take the battle to the
Democrats in the fall up and down the ballot.” [95081]
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser: “Mr. Trump’s selection of Gov.
Mike Pence as his Vice President is an affirmation of the pro-life commitments he has
made and will rally the pro-life grassroots. Gov. Pence is a proven pro-life champion both
during his time in Congress and as Governor of Indiana. It was Mike Pence who led the
effort to defund Planned Parenthood in Congress, and it was Gov. Pence who signed into
law a historic bill protecting unborn children from lethal discrimination in the womb.
Mike Pence is a pro-life trailblazer and Mr. Trump could not have made a better choice.”
[95081]
Hillary Clinton meets with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Colorado Governor John
Hickenlooper, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro—signaling
that they may be on her list of potential running mates. (The day before Clinton
campaigned with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA).) [95199]
In a national USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Daybreak poll, Donald Trump leads
Hillary Clinton 43-40. Trump leads among men (47-36), while Clinton leads among
women (41-34). Trump leads among voters 45 and older; Clinton leads among younger
voters. Trump leads among white; Clinton leads among blacks (77-3) and Hispanics (5130). [95097]
In July 5-11 NBC/Wall Street Journal polls, Clinton leads Trump 43-35 in Colorado, 4437 in Florida, 44-38 in North Carolina, and 44-35 in Virginia. [95099]
Remarkably, Obama says of the mass murder in Nice, “We cannot let ourselves be
divided by religion because that’s exactly what the terrorists want.” (That is, Obama
refuses to admit that Islam has anything to do with terrorism.) “…The divide is not
between races, ethnicities or religion. …[Islam is] a religion that teaches peace, justice
and compassion.” Even worse, he says, “We’re going to win this fight [against ISIS]
by… never giving up on diplomacy”—as if one can negotiate with crazed Islamist
savages. [95122, 95123, 95124, 95125, 95210]
84
The White House announces that the 2016 federal deficit will be $600 billion, an increase
of $162 billion from the previous fiscal year. [95112]
Apparently because they have nothing better to do, bureaucrats at the Department of
Energy release 159 pages of energy efficiency regulations for wine coolers.
FreeBeacon.com notes that the agency “estimated the rule would cost the average small
business $12,500 to test whether their equipment meets specifications.” [95185, 95186,
95270]
Politico.com reports, “Congress on Friday released a long-awaited section of a 2002
probe dealing with the alleged role of Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 attacks—a document that
laid out suspicions about potential connections between some of the hijackers and
individuals affiliated with the Saudi government, including at least two who may have
been spies. The so-called 28 pages, which have developed an almost mythical status in
some circles, describe numerous clues and indications that appear to suggest links
between a handful of Saudis in the United States and two of the hijackers. They also
detail concerns about Saudi-funded mosques preaching extremism; raise questions about
Saudi-linked money laundering that led to alleged support of terrorist groups; and even
delve into the phone book of an Al-Qaida operative.” [95116, 95178]
“…[T]he partially redacted material, contained within a massive report put together by a
special congressional investigative panel more than a decade ago, also makes clear that it
is merely a catalog of suspicions, and that it does not make definitive conclusions about
the Saudi role. In subsequent years, U.S. officials have repeatedly said they’ve found no
evidence that the Saudi government sponsored the 2001 attacks or that senior Saudi
officials were involved.” [95116, 95178, 95179]
The report’s (partially redacted) 28 pages essentially suggest that Omar al-Bayoumi, who
“may be a Saudi intelligence officer,” gave “substantial assistance to hijackers Khalid alMihdhar and Nawaf al-Hamzi after they arrived in San Diego in February 2000.” Pamela
Geller writes, “The notorious missing 28 pages on 9/11 are worse than I thought even
with Obama’s 150 redactions. Former President [George W.] Bush failed—
monumentally.” [95178, 95179]
According to InfoWars.com, page 24 of the reports notes, “Abdullah Bin Ladin has a
number of connections to terrorist organizations. He is the President and Director of the
World Arab Muslim Youth Association (WAMY) and the Institute of Islamic and Arabic
Science in America. Both organizations are local branches of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to the FBI, there is
reason to believe that WAMY is ‘closely associated with the funding and financing of
international terrorist activities and in the past has provided logistical support to
individuals wishing to… fight in the Afghan War.’ In 1998, the CIA published a paper
characterizing WAMY as a NGO that provides funding. logistical support and training
with possible connections to the Arab Afghans network, Hamas, Algerian extremists and
85
Philippine militants.” (Hillary Clinton’s close Muslim aide, Huma Abedin, has links to
the WAMY via the Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs.) [95134]
Also according to the 28 pages, “While in the United States, some of the September 11
hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who
may be connected to the Saudi Government. There is information, primarily from FBI
sources, that at least two of those individuals were alleged by some to be Saudi
intelligence officers.” [95170]
“The [REDACTED] memorandum dated July 2, 2002, incorrectly noted that [Omar] alBayoumi’s wife, while living in San Diego, was receiving $1200 a month from Princess
Haifa Bint Sultan, the wife of Prince Bandar, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States.
The FBI has now confirmed that only Osama Bassnan’s wife received money directly
from Prince Bandar’s wife, but that al-Bayoumi’s wife attempted to deposit three of the
checks from Prince Bandar’s wife, which were payable to Bassnan’s wife, into her
accounts.” [95170]
“When [American Airlines Flight 77 hijacker Nawaf] al-Hazmi and [fellow hijacker
Khalid] al-Mihdhar moved to San Diego, al-Bayoumi provided them with considerable
assistance. Before the hijackers moved in with the long-time FBI informant, they stayed
at el-Bayoumi’s apartment for several days until al-Bayoumi was able to find them an
apartment. Al-Bayoumi then co-signed their lease and may have paid their first month’s
rent and security deposit. After al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar moved into their own
apartment, al-Bayoumi threw a party to welcome them to the San Diego community. He
also tasked Modhar Abdullah, another individual from the Islamic Center of San Diego
(ICSD), to help them get acclaimed to the United States. Abdullah served as their
translator, helped them get drivers’ licenses, and assisted them in locating flight schools.”
[95170]
“According to an FBI agent in Phoenix, the FBI suspects Mohammed al-Qudhaeein of
being [REDACTED]. Al Qudhaeein was involved in a 1999 incident aboard an America
West flight, which the FBI’s Phoenix office now suspects may have been a ‘dry run’ to
test airline security. During the flight, al-Qudhaeein and his associate asked the flight
attendants a variety of suspicious questions. Al-Qudhaeein then attempted to enter the
cockpit on two occasions. Al-Qudhaeein and his associate were flying to Washington,
D.C. to attend a party at the Saudi Embassy, and both claimed their tickets were paid for
by the Saudi Embassy. During the course of the investigations, the FBI has discovered
that both al-Qudhaeein and the other individuals involved in this incident had connections
to terrorism.” [95170]
“Despite the clear national implications of the CIA memorandum [about hijacker links to
Saudi officials and members of the Royal Family], the FBI agent included the
memorandum in an individual case file and did not forward it to FBI Headquarters. FBI
Headquarters, therefore, was unaware of statements in the memorandum until the Joint
Inquiry brought the memorandum’s implications to the Bureau’s attention.” [95170]
86
At NYPost.com Paul Sperry writes, “Now we know why the missing 28 pages on 9/11
were kept under lock and key for 15 years: They show the hijackers got help across
America from Saudi diplomats and spies in the run-up to the attacks. Because of the
coverup, a Saudi terror support network may still be in place inside the United States.
…Though much is still redacted, they also show the Saudi government’s ties to the
hijackers and other al Qaeda suspects were so extensive that the FBI’s Washington field
office created a special squad to investigate the Saudi angle. …[F]or 15 years, 9/11
victims and their families have been denied by their own government critical evidence
they’ve sought to sue the Saudi government for responsibility in the death of their loved
ones.” [95180]
“It also means Washington has misled the American people about foreign sponsorship of
9/11. For 15 years, we’ve been told that al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors. We
were led to believe that 15 Saudi nationals who barely spoke English received no help
while in America; that they operated in isolation, like visitors from outer space. It was all
a monstrous lie. …FBI documents and a CIA memo… indicate that the hijackers had
contact with Shayk Fahad al-Thumairy, then a Saudi consular official in Los Angeles.
Records show the accredited Saudi diplomat had dozens of phone conversations and at
least one meeting with Bayoumi in advance of the hijackers’ arrival.” [95180]
“…A Saudi interior ministry official stayed at the same hotel in Herndon, Va., with
Hazmi and other Pentagon cell hijackers on the night before they hijacked the plane that
departed that fateful Sept. 11, 2001, morning from nearby Dulles airport. FBI agents felt
Saleh al-Hussayen lied about not meeting with or even knowing the hijackers, but when
they tried to re-interview him, it was too late—he had been spirited out of the country
along with dozens of other Saudi VIP suspects at Bandar’s request, and with the White
House’s permission. …The treachery may still be worse than we know. And it may be
ongoing. As the 28 pages warn: ‘Saudi government officials in the United States may
have other ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.’” [95180]
TheHill.com notes the winners and losers of the Republican National Committee’s week
of rule-making. The winners include Donald Trump, whose “fingerprints are all over the
party’s platform. Trump’s positions on immigration and trade—the cornerstones of his
insurgent campaign—have officially been codified into the GOP’s guiding policy
document. Republicans crafting the party’s platform stated their support for a wall that
spans the length of the U.S.-Mexico border and struck the only reference to the TransPacific Partnership.” In addition, “The RNC deftly beat back challenges from a handful
of rogue delegates over the course of a marathon 16-hour Rules Committee hearing on
Thursday [July 14]. Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Rules
Committee member and close ally of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), arrived in Cleveland with
a bevy of proposals aimed at stripping the RNC of its power over the presidential
nominating process. …In the end, all of the amendments aimed at weakening [RNC
chairman Reince] Priebus and the national party’s power structure failed spectacularly.”
[95117]
87
Losers include Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who sought to have rules changed for 2020 to
prevent Democrats and independents from voting in the GOP primaries. (The assumption
is that crossover votes helped Donald Trump far more than they helped Cruz.) The
“Never Trump” movement was also a loser, as it was unable to change the rules and
allow all delegate to vote their consciences (and against the wishes of the voters in their
states). In addition, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), “a Cruz ally and the highest ranking
elected official on the Rules Committee, lost every battle he waded into. He first stood to
speak on behalf of a rule that would strip the RNC of power to make changes to the
primary process in between conventions. The proposal went down hard. Then late
Thursday night Lee suddenly threw his weight behind the ‘Free the Delegates’
movement—even after it became clear their efforts would go down in flames.” [95117,
95172]
HeatSt.com reports, “A French government committee has heard testimony, suppressed
by the French government at the time and not published online until this week, that the
killers in the Bataclan appear to have tortured their victims on the second floor of the
club. The chief police witness in Parliament testified that on the night of the attacks, an
investigating officer, tears streaming down his face, rushed out of the Bataclan and
vomited in front of him just after seeing the disfigured bodies. …According to this
testimony, Wahhabist killers reportedly gouged out eyes, castrated victims, and shoved
their testicles in their mouths. They may also have disemboweled some poor souls.
Women were reportedly stabbed in the genitals—and the torture was, victims told police,
filmed for Daesh or Islamic State propaganda. For that reason, medics did not release the
bodies of torture victims to the families, investigators said.” (The political elites want
anger directed at guns, not the savagery of militant Islam—because they want to disarm
everyone.) [95131, 95132, 95133, 95144, 95159]
On a highway near Nice, France, police find a truck filled with explosives. [95135,
95136, 95137, 95160]
Asked if the Nice terrorist’s motives were linked to jihadism, French Interior Minister
Bernard Cazeneuve replies, “No.” (Running over dozens of people while shouting
“Allahu akbar” apparently is not a clue.) [95156, 95157, 95222]
King’s College London professor Peter Neumann says the city of Nice, “for anyone who
has been watching this or following this, has been, if you want, a jihadist breeding ground
for a number of years. We have seen dozens of people going from Nice to the Islamic
State area. The first recorded attempted attack in Europe happened nearby, in Cannes. It
is, I think, quite likely that the attackers actually were coming from within the vicinity
rather than abroad. …Having been to France many times since the first attacks in January
2015, the Charlie Hebdo attacks, it almost seems that the French people are in denial
about this. You can deploy as much security as you like, you can deploy as much [sic;
many] soldiers on the streets in France, but the ultimate root cause of this problem is
there is a vast French Muslim population in France that feels deeply alienated and that
88
has produced the phenomenon. We have seen more people go from France to the socalled Islamic State than from any other European country. If you go to the suburbs of
Paris, for example, and you have similar places it the south of France, they are feeling
almost like ungoverned territories.” [95145, 95146]
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says, “Times have changed, and France is going to
have to live with terrorism, and we must face this together and show our collective
sangfroid. France is a great country and a great democracy and we will not allow
ourselves to be destabilized. We want to bring the French nation together. The only
dignified response [to the attack in Nice] is for France to stick with the spirit of July 14, a
France that is united around its values.” (Such an absurd statement gives the jihadists
reason to continue. The French are facing nothing together if they are giving up the fight;
they are putting their heads in the sand, merely hoping that the next terrorist victim is
someone else. A “great country” does not abandon its own citizens to Islamic jihad, and it
most surely will be “destabilized” if it chooses to “live with terrorism.” Such attitudes
enabled Hitler to easily invade France in May 1940 and take over the country in less than
two months.) [95148, 95161]
France will have to “live with terrorism” because it did nothing about the problem when
it had the chance. It imported cheap Muslim labor, paying no attention to the fact that
Muslims have large families while the French reproductive rate is low. In addition, the
Muslim immigrants essentially refused to assimilate. They lived together in Muslim
neighborhoods, enforced Shari’ah law within them, and expected French nationals to
accommodate them with welfare payments. Anyone who spoke out against Muslims
taking over streets for daily prayers was called a racist or an Islamophobe. When actress
Bridget Bardot warned about the problems, she was not only ostracized, she was
prosecuted in court—at least four times since 2008. Blogger Don Surber writes, “If only
someone had told the French in advance that there was a group of people steadfast in
trying to kill them. Of course, in putting her through all this, the message sent to
everyone else was: Shut up. If you see something, keep it to yourself.” They did shut
up—and they are now paying the price. [95211]
In a Fox News interview, former CIA Director James Woolsey says the Obama
administration “cannot keep its mouth shut” on military matters. “Had they been in power
during World War II, they probably would have made speeches about how well we were
doing breaking the Japanese codes. I have no idea why they do this sort of thing, unless
they care more about the public relations than they do about winning the war. And that is
a very serious charge indeed. I’m not making it here, but it is certainly something that
you have to start thinking about, when you see everything getting disclosed. Military
operations require secrecy now. After the fact, they’re supposed to be—you ought to be
able to learn what happened, but during the lead-up and the execution of something, they
ought to keep their mouth shut in the White House.” [95255]
“…[Winston] Churchill once said that, in war, truth is so important, it must always be
protected by a bodyguard of lies. And Sun Tzu would have said the same thing, the
89
granddaddy strategist of them all, which is deceive, deceive, deceive if you want to win.
Now, if you care more about the public relations than about winning, you will tell
everybody what you`re going to do, and it will be very straightforward and they will say,
oh, isn`t that interesting, and then go on to something else. But the people who really
matter, the commanders and so forth on the other side, will say, ‘Ah, thank you very
much for telling me what you're going to do.’” [95255]
CNSNews.com reports, “New information obtained from the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) brings the grand total of known travel expenses of …Obama and his
family to $79,630,433.93, Judicial Watch reported Wednesday. Judicial Watch President
Tom Fitton called …Obama’s travel spending a ‘scandal’ and an ‘abuse of the office.’
‘Taxpayers should be incensed that the Secret Service’s resources [are] wasted to provide
security for endless golf excursions, political fundraisers, and luxury vacations,’ Fitton
said. …Obama’s luxury family vacation to Martha’s Vineyard last August cost taxpayers
$465,420.49, according to DHS records.” [95258]
In Turkey, the pro-democracy military reportedly takes control of the Islamist
government. The anti-democratic, Islamic fundamentalist President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is on vacation. (Erdogan reportedly just barely escapes assassination by fleeing
from the seaside resort of Marmaris in a small plane.) Erdogan has been steadily
abrogating human rights, dismantling democracy, and pushing Shari’ah rules on what had
been a somewhat secular nation. His efforts to push the nation more toward Islam finally
prompted opponents to act. [95101, 95121, 95127, 95128, 95129, 95138, 95152, 95153,
95155, 95158, 95641]
If the coup succeeds, Turkey may avoid being turned into a radical Islamist state. If the
coup fails, Erdogan has an excuse to go after his opponents, imprison or kill them, and
then step up his efforts to radicalize Turkey. (Some suggest that Erdogan staged the coup
in order to provide justification for taking even more power.) [95221, 95363, 95424,
95865]
Obama, saying he is on the side of democracy, predictably supports his friend Erdogan.
Obama neglects to mention that Erdogan was “democratically elected” only by outlawing
opposition parties and rigging the elections. (Obama also supported the wrong side in
Egypt in 2011, when he supported the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, a U.S. ally, in
favor of the radical Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi. The Egyptian military then
ousted Morsi.) [95126, 95166]
Hillary Clinton issues a statement: “I am following the fast-moving developments in
Turkey tonight with great concern. We should all urge calm and respect for laws,
institution, and basic human rights and freedoms—and upport for the democratically
elected civilian government. All parties should work to avoid further violence and
bloodshed, and the safety of American citizens and diplomatic missions must be
ensured.” (Like Obama, Clinton pretends Erdogan is a legitimate leader. Also, some
90
might argue that Clinton mentioning the safety of diplomatic missions is not a good
idea—unless she thinks everyone has forgotten about Benghazi.) [95165]
On Hannity, Indiana Governor Mike Pence calls the attempted military coup in Turkey
evidence of Hillary Clinton’s failed leadership: “Whether you look at Libya, whether you
look at the wider Arab world, the policies of this administration, the failed leadership of
Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, tells us that we cannot have four more years of the
kind of leadership that moves red lines in the sand, that spends most of its time
apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends. That’s the kind of leadership that
Hillary Clinton provided. We can’t have that in the Oval Office for four more years.
…To think that ISIS grew up, that [it] was conjured up in the vacuum that was created
when this administration under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had precipitously
withdrew from Iraq before we should have done. And the reality is that what’s unfurling
in Turkey today is likely one more installment of the anarchy that has taken over
countries across the broader Middle East.” [95163, 95164]
On The Tonight Show, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow discusses the terrorist attack in Nice,
France: “I mean, the main thing that everybody was thinking about initially was, was it
one person acting alone, and as far as we know at this point, we still think it was one
person acting alone, or at least they haven’t named other people. They also want to know
if he was either directed by or inspired by some terrorist group. They know of, at least
thus far in the investigation, they haven’t talked about any connections like that or any
signs that he was radicalized… His dad says he was a little nuts, uh, said [he] had some
mental health issues. So, I mean, honestly we don’t know much about the perpetrator.
Maybe that’s not important.” (Leftist Maddow would have a different opinion of the
situation had an anti-abortion Christian attacked Planned Parenthood office and killed 84
people. She might then believe it important to know something about the perpetrator.)
[95639, 95640]
On July 16 there are reports that the military coup in Turkey failed. At least 161 died in
the attempt. The Islamist government arrests thousands of soldiers and officers who
participated in the attempted coup, and fires more than 2,700 judges believed to oppose
the radical Islamist president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (The fact that Erdogan—who
called the failed coup “a gift from Allah”—immediately knew which judges he wanted to
remove indicates he has kept a long “enemies list” in his desk drawer. Erdogan’s
retaliation will be brutal. Many executions can be expected. Those who planned the coup
failed to heed the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “When you strike at a king, you must
kill him.”) [95130, 95138, 95154, 95167, 95169, 95173, 95182, 95194, 95221]
Erdogan demands the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in exile in
Pennsylvania who Erdogan blames for the coup attempt. Secretary of State John Kerry
says, “Public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup
attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations.” The Associated Press
reports, “Although he didn’t outline any threat, Erdogan’s emphasis on U.S.-Turkish
counterterrorism cooperation raised the prospect of a prolonged closure of the Incirlik air
91
base in southern Turkey if he didn’t get his way. The Pentagon said it was trying to get
permission to resume air operations from the base, while adjusting mission operations in
the meantime.” (Erdogan cuts off power to the air base, which forces the grounding of
planes used to attack ISIS.) [95174, 95189, 95504]
Pamela Geller writes, “Erdogan will now finally be able to purge everyone who opposes
his Islamic rule. It’s almost as if he wanted this. Some would have this man as a partner
in Europe. Members of the Constitutional Court named on arrest warrants. Western
leaders waited in line to condemn those who tried to save the secular Turkish State.
Insanity. Why would the West back a brutal Islamic dictator? Erdogan is a vicious
autocrat. He spent the last ten years trying to purge [Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk—the great
Muslim leader who dragged that country into the 20th century and created secular
Turkey, mandating separation of mosque and state. Ataturk’s reform led to the success of
modern Turkey.” [95181]
“The Turkish constitution mandates the army to keep secularism. They were actually
doing their job. But they failed. Erdogan had previously replaced senior military
leadership with devout Muslims like himself, so the coup was a last gasp at freedom. This
was a freedom movement from the ground up. My friend, an ex-Muslim in Turkey,
texted me, ‘Erdogan has taken power again. now, there is no tomorrow for secularism
and Ataturk.’ Redolent of the aftermath of the Stauffenberg attempted assassination of
Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair. A reign of terror now unfolds. Would our present leaders have
condemned those who sought to depose the Fuhrer? After all, he too was elected.
Erdogan [once] said: ‘Democracy is like a train: when you reach your destination, you
get off.’” (He has now gotten off that train. On July 21 Turkey’s parliament gives
Erdogan broad new powers that will allow the government to “partially or entirely”
suspend “the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms.”) [95181, 95512, 95513]
Donald Trump introduces running mate Mike Pence in New York City. Pence says, “We
cannot have 4 more years apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends” and
“Hillary Clinton must never become president of the United States of America.” [95168,
95190]
AutoNews.com reports, “Next month, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration [NHTSA] will more than double the fine it assesses automakers that fall
short of their annual corporate average fuel economy standards. …What’s more, NHTSA
confirmed to Automotive News that the steeper penalties will apply to 2015 model year
vehicles for which it has yet to issue compliance reports. That means automakers at risk
of missing their targets still don’t know how much more the increased fines may have
already cost them.” The penalty is being increased from $5.50 to $14.00 and is “applied
to each 0.1 mpg that an automaker falls short of its fuel economy target and then
multiplied by the number of vehicles from that fleet sold in a given model year.” [95223,
95224, 95398]
92
Current rules require that automakers’ vehicles average 35.5 mpg (miles per gallon). If
the cars average 36.5 mpg and the company sells 1 million vehicles, the fine is therefore
$14.00 times 10 times 1 million—or $140 million. (That $140 million would, of course,
be recouped through higher prices.) Obama has arbitrarily increased the required average
to 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year—without asking the automakers if that is even
possible while still providing customers with vehicles they want. Eric Peters writes,
“Unless—via unicorn farts, perhaps—a way is found to build cars that average 54.5 MPG
less than ten years hence, every company selling cars that don’t average 54.5 MPG will
be hit with triple the current ‘gas guzzler’ fines. It will mean the certain extinction of
most car types currently available, including mid-sized and larger sedans and especially
SUVs and larger crossover SUVs, most of which don’t even come within spitting
distance of the current 35.5 MPG fatwa.” [95223, 95224, 95398]
On July 17 a Milwaukee police officer is shot while sitting in his squad car. According to
MilwaukeePoliceNews.com, “[A] MPD Officer was seated in a squad car in the area
conducting [an] investigation when a suspect approached on foot and fired a gun several
times into the squad, striking the officer several times. …The officer that [sic; who] was
shot is a 31-year old male with 13 years experience. He was transported to a local
hospital for treatment of non-life threatening but serious injuries.” [95195, 95200]
A gunman ambushes police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killing three and
wounding three others. A police sniper kills the shooter: a black male named Gavin
Eugene Long, of Kansas City, Missouri. According to DailyCaller.com, “Videos on
Long’s [YouTube] account show that he was a former Nation of Islam member. He also
ranted against ‘crackers’ and made references to Alton Sterling, the black man killed by
police in Baton Rouge on July 5. Other information about Long shows that the Kansas
City native, who CBS reported was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2010, went
by the name Cosmo Ausar Setepenra. …Long also appears to have been in Dallas in the
days after Micah X. Johnson killed five police officers during protests there earlier this
month.” (One of the dead police officers, Montrell Jackson, is black. The two others are
Matthew Gerald, a rookie, and Brad Garafola, a 24-year veteran. Jackson wrote on
Facebook on July 8, “I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me.”)
[95184, 95187, 95188, 95212, 95213, 95214, 95215, 95217, 95225, 95228, 95229,
95231, 95232, 95243, 95244, 95376]
In an interview with Fox News, Cleveland Police Detective Steve Loomis asks, “How the
hell did we [police officers] ever become the bad guys in this country? I cannot imagine
how we got here—it’s the irresponsible reporting of the media, and it’s the irresponsible
statements of people that [sic; who] are [supposed to be] credible, like the president of the
United States, like celebrities. If you’re blessed with celebrity, if you’re blessed with
talent, then use that… celebrity for good, and not evil. …We have to come together on
this. Every corner of this country has to come together.” [95191, 95192, 95193, 95204,
95205, 95242]
93
Loomis continues, saying that Obama “validated a false narrative and the nonsense that
Black Lives Matter and the media are pressing out there to the public—validated with his
very divisive statements. And now we see an escalation. This has got to end. We need
some leadership in this country to come forward and put an end to this. I don’t care if it’s
clergy, I don’t care who it is, but somebody has got to step up and put an end to this
because it’s the false narrative and very influential people that are politicizing the false
narrative. [It is] Absolutely insane that we have a president of the United States and a
governor of Minnesota making the statements that they made less than one day after
those police involved shootings. [Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat,
suggested that Philando Castile would not have been killed had he been white.] And
those police involved shootings, make no mistake, are what absolutely has triggered this
rash of senseless murders of law enforcement officers across this country. It is
reprehensible. And [Obama] has blood on his hands and it will not be able to come
washed off [sic].” [95204, 95205, 96242]
Obama takes a break from golf to issue a statement: “I condemn, in the strongest sense of
the word, the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge. For the second time in two
weeks, police officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were doing their
job when they were killed in a cowardly and reprehensible assault. These are attacks on
public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop. I’ve
offered my full support, and the full support of the federal government, to Governor
Edwards, Mayor Holden, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Baton Rouge Police Department.
And make no mistake—justice will be done. We may not yet know the motives for this
attack, but I want to be clear: there is no justification for violence against law
enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They
right no wrongs. They advance no causes. The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in
Dallas—they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of our country,
with people who loved and needed them, and who need us now—all of us—to be at our
best. Today, on the Lord’s day, all of us stand united in prayer with the people of Baton
Rouge, with the police officers who’ve been wounded, and with the grieving families of
the fallen. May God bless them all.” [95196, 95197, 95237, 95238]
Hillary Clinton issues a statement: “Today’s devastating assault on police officers in
Baton Rouge is an assault on all of us. There is no justification for violence, for hate, for
attacks on men and women who put their lives on the line every day in service of our
families and communities. We must not turn our backs on each other. We must not be
indifferent to each other. We must all stand together to reject violence and strengthen our
communities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of the police
officers who were killed and injured today.” [95234, 95235]
Donald Trump states, “We grieve for the officers killed in Baton Rouge today. How
many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our
country? We demand law and order.” He tweets, “We are TRYING to fight ISIS, and
now our own people are killing our police. Our country is divided and out of control. The
world is watching.” [95235, 95236, 95239, 95240]
94
Secretary of State John Kerry tells CNN’s Jake Tapper, “They [ISIS fighters] are on the
run, and I believe what we’re seeing are the desperate actions of an entity that sees the
noose closing around them [sic; it].” Tapper: “With all due respect, sir, I’m not sure that
it looks that way to the public, that ISIS is on the run, and in just the last few weeks, uh,
we have seen…” Kerry: “Well, obviously—” Tapper: “…a series of ISIS-inspired
attacks; 49 killed in Orlando, 45 killed in Istanbul at the airport, more than 200 killed in
Baghdad, and 84 in Nice—this is just the last five weeks! I don’t think ISIS is on the
run—” Kerry: “Jake, look, Jake, Jake, it depends on where you mean ISIS. I, I don’t
know if this guy [in Nice] was actually ISIS, and nor do you, and we don’t know that the
guy in Orlando was fundamentally ISIST [sic; ISIS], nor even told what to do by ISIS. If
people are inspired, they’re inspired. But ISIL, which is, which is based in Iraq and Syria
is under huge pressure.” [95177, 95216, 95226, 95227]
Kerry also whines that Congress has shown “absolutely zero willingness” to send ground
troops to Syria to oust President Bashar al-Assad. (That is because Syria and Assad are
not a threat to the United States—and because the members of Congress are responding
to the wishes of their constituents, who want to stay out of a civil war.) [95256]
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is booed when he arrives at the site of the terrorist
attack in Nice. (A few days earlier, Valls said, “Times have changed, and France is going
to have to live with terrorism…”) [95148, 95161, 95260, 95327, 95364]
Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump falls to 47-43 in a July 11-14
ABC/Washington Post poll. (She led 51-39 in the previous poll.) Trump leads by points
among white voters; Clinton has the support of 89 percent of blacks and 74 percent of
Hispanics. (Obama captured 93 percent of the black vote in 2012, and 71 percent of the
Hispanic vote.) Clinton leads 56-32 among voters under age 30. (Obama beat Mitt
Romney 60-19 with that group in 2012.) While Clinton lost the support of many voters
since the previous poll, those losses were somewhat offset by her picking up most of the
young Bernie “free college for all” Sanders voters. [95207, 95208, 95209, 95233]
Clinton and Trump are tied 43-43 in a July 5-6 poll in Connecticut—a state Obama won
58-40 in 2012. (That Trump is doing better than Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton is
doing much worse than Obama should have the Clinton campaign very worried.) [95252,
95253, 95315]
According to WashingtonPost.com, lifelong Democrat Teresa Sikorski and her husband
Marty changed their party registration in order to vote for Donald Trump in the Ohio
primary. (Sikorski is the sister of former far-left Congressman Dennis Kucinich.) The
Post writes, “[T]he couple no longer sees the Democratic Party—or Washington, under
the influence of monied interests—looking out for ordinary people. The whole system,
they believe, should be kicked over. …‘I would never have in my life believed I would be
voting for a Republican,’ Sikorski said. But now she and her husband expect to do so up
95
and down the ballot, including in Ohio’s hard-fought Senate race between incumbent
Republican Rob Portman and former Democratic governor Ted Strickland.” [95251]
TheAmericanMirror.com reports, “A cornucopia of racialist groups thought they were
going to take a bold stand against Donald Trump and the police on Saturday. Except
when the leaders turned around, no one was following. Malik Z. Shabazz of the Black
Lawyers for Justice promised 10,000 people would turn out to protest Trump and law
enforcement near the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Shabazz
and about 50 other groups, including ‘the Black Lives Matter Movement, the New Black
Panther Party, American Indian Movement,’ according to a press release, were going to
appear at what organizers bill as a ‘massive outdoor rally and march.’ But… only about
100 people showed—and that might be a generous estimate.” [95269]
On July 18 a judge in Baltimore acquits police officer Brian Rice of involuntary
manslaughter and other charges in the police van death of Freddie Gray. (Prosecutor
Marilyn Mosby is now 0-4 in Freddie Gray cases.) [95261, 95264, 95265, 95311]
In Wurzburg, Germany, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee shouting “Allahu akbar” attacks
18 people as they tried to board a train; at least three of the victims have life-threatening
wounds. The attacker is shot and killed by police. (Gerd Landsberg, head of the
association of local councils, later tells the Rheinische Post the solution to the problem of
such violence is “to bring in classes on Islam in state schools or schools overseen by the
state.”) [95280, 95281, 95298, 95303, 95314, 95344, 95496, 95497, 95498]
Author and essayist Frederick William Dame later reports, “Deutschlandfunk Radio this
morning reported that the 17-year old Afghan was not Afghan but from Pakistan because
he spoke a Pakistani dialect on the video that he made declaring his support of ISIS.
Furthermore, German authorities, according to Deutschlandfunk are certain that he was
not 17 years old, but that he lied about his age to receive favored asylum treatment.”
[95345, 95346, 95347, 95348]
On Fox News, Donald Trump says, “I think we need strength. We also need somebody
that [sic; who] can be a cheerleader. He’s [Obama has] been a great divider in this
country. I think race relations now are as bad as they’ve ever been… statistically the
worst they’ve been in 18 years. …I can tell you they’re bad and they haven’t been this
bad in a long time.” [95267]
The four-day Republican National Convention begins in Cleveland, Ohio. The first day’s
theme: “Make America Safe Again.” (Day two’s theme: “Make America Work Again.”
Day three: Make America First Again.” Day four: “Make America One Again.”) [95230,
95245, 95246, 95259, 95276]
CNSNews.com reports, “Major media figures took notice of the Media Research Center’s
(MRC) ‘Don’t Believe the Liberal Media!’ campaign as they arrived in Cleveland, where
96
the Republican Party is holding its national convention this week. The MRC put up nine
‘Don’t Believe the Liberal Media!’ billboards and 100 sidewalk graphics in Cleveland.
The group is also planning to air thousands of 30-second TV and taxi ads highlighting
examples of liberal bias in the mainstream media’s coverage of the 2016 presidential
campaign.” [95254]
Obama presents the Medal of Honor to retired, 86-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Charles
Kettles, a helicopter pilot during the war in Vietnam. [95206, 95241, 95248, 95289]
Addressing the NAACP, Hillary Clinton says that blacks are killed by police “more than
any other group.” (Clinton is lying. As previously noted, according to The Washington
Post, 990 people were killed by police officers in the United States in 2015; 93 were
unarmed; 494 were white; 258 were black; 17 were Hispanic; 730 occurred while an
attack of some sort was in progress.) The pandering Clinton also says, “We will not rest
until we root out implicit bias and stop the killings of African-Americans”—as if every
police officer is a white racist eager to destroy his career by unjustifiably shooting an
unarmed black person. [94796, 94797, 95262, 95306]
In a July 14-16 Morning Consult poll, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 41-39. (The
poll’s D/R/I weighting is 37/29/34—which arguably slants the results toward Clinton,
especially when roughly 31 percent of Americans consider themselves Democrats, 28
percent Republicans, and 34 percent Independent.) According to the poll, “Trump leads
Clinton, 45 percent to 41 percent, among voters making more than $100,000 annually. He
also leads Clinton by 3 points, 44 percent to 41 percent, among voters who make between
$50,000 and $100,000. But Clinton has a larger lead over Trump among the less wealthy
and those down on their luck. She leads Trump, 43 percent to 37 percent, among people
making less than $50,000 annually and by 10 percentage points among people who are
unemployed, 44 percent to 34 percent.” (Clinton’s 43-37 lead in the less-than-$50,000
group is a whopping 17 points below Obama’s performance in 2012; Obama beat Mitt
Romney 60-38 in that demographic. If Clinton cannot attract poor people to the polls on
election day, she will not be using the Oval Office in 2017.) [95247, 95400, 95401]
In a Monmouth University poll, Trump leads Clinton 40-31 among independent voters.
Among all voters, Clinton leads 43-40. [95294]
WashingtonExaminer.com reports, “Democrats attending their party’s national
convention in Philadelphia next week may find their travel plans getting a bit
complicated. Workers at Philadelphia International Airport have voted to strike during
the convention and are holding a rally Tuesday [July 19] to demonstrate that they are
willing to walk off. That could be awkward for any out-of-town delegates who plan to
use the airport since the party strongly supports labor unions. …The protesters will be
calling for $15 an hour and collective bargaining rights.” [95295]
97
Thirteen Black Lives Matter protesters who block Interstate 95 in Virginia are arrested.
Protester Melinda Watkins says, “These white folks think they can rule the world… They
think they own the whole world, but they don’t. God owns this world.” Jameila Grant
says, “Yes. It is unfair that people are being stranded from going home, but it’s also
unfair that African American men are being killed on a daily basis by police officers. It’s
unacceptable.” [95499, 95500]
In an interview with PBS’ Charlies Rose, Hillary Clinton calls Donald Trump the “most
dangerous” person to ever run for president and says he has “'No self-discipline, no selfcontrol, no sense of history, no understanding of the limits of the kind of power that any
president should impose upon himself. He has shown none of that.” (Needless to say,
Clinton should be considered an expert on men who have “no self-control.”) [95308]
At the Republican National Convention, anti-Trump, pro-Ted Cruz delegates attempt to
force a vote to change convention rules—and fail when temporary chair Congressman
Steve Womack (R-AR) rules against the challenge on a voice vote. (If nothing else, the
temporary uproar will give the media ammunition to report stories of “Republican
disunity and disarray”—and gives the “Never-Trumpers” a chance to at least embarrass
and anger the candidate.) [95249, 95250, 95263, 95266, 95273, 95279, 95291, 95292,
95296, 95297, 95301]
Arguably, the most effective convention speakers of the evening are Milwaukee County
Sheriff David “Blue lives matter” Clarke; former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani;
Pat Smith (mother of Benghazi victim Sean Smith, who says, “I blame Hillary Clinton
personally for the death of my son—personally”); and Melania Trump—whose very
good, well-delivered speech is marred by a few lines that are quite similar to some in
Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech. [95271, 95272, 95275, 95282, 95285, 95286,
95288, 95290, 95293, 95299, 95300, 95302, 95304, 95305, 95307, 95313, 95382, 95394]
Mrs. Trump’s speech writer should be fired—especially if he or she is a “NeverTrumper” who infiltrated the campaign for the express purpose of sabotaging it. Leftist
media pundits quickly charge plagiarism—which might make some wonder how some
many people could so quickly recognize language from a speech delivered eight years
earlier. Of course, no one ever questions Obama for his many uses of the term “arc of the
moral universe,” for which he never credits Reverend Theodore Parker. Parker not only
coined that phrase, it was he who first wrote, “Of the people, for the people, and by the
people”—which Abraham Lincoln used without attribution. Of course, “Make America
Great Again” and “America First” are also hardly fresh phrases. (Senator Elizabeth
Warren (D-MA) has been accused of stealing recipes from other books for her 1984 cook
book, Pow Wow Chow.) [95309, 95310, 95312, 95323, 95326, 95329, 95332, 95333,
95334, 95335, 95384, 95407, 95442]
Further, Obama plagiarized from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on several
occasions in 2007; Michelle Obama lifted lines from Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals in
her 2008 convention speech, Hillary Clinton stole lines from primary opponent John
98
Edwards in 2008, and Vice President Joe Biden is famous for plagiarizing substantial
portions of a speech by British Labor Party leader Neal Kinnock during his failed
presidential run in 1987-1988. (MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough excuses Biden’s flagrant and
extensive plagiarism, calling it an “homage.” Obama’s 2008 plagiarism was excused by
ABC’s David Wright: “Politicians steal slogans more often than comedians steal jokes.”)
[95309, 95310, 95312, 95323, 95326, 95329, 95332, 95333, 95334, 95335, 95384,
95407, 95412]
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews complains, “I don’t understand why the Republicans would
choose to put this [speaker Pat Smith] on prime-time television when they have such
wonderful stories of American heroism to speak to the American people. I think it was
wrong. I don’t care what that woman up there, the mother, has felt. Her emotions are her
own. But for the country in choosing a leader, it’s wrong to have someone get up there
and tell a lie about Hillary Clinton. It’s not true. It’s logically not true. I think it’s wrong
that they ruined their evening with this.” (Most thinking Americans are more likely to
believe Clinton lied about Benghazi than the mother of one of the victims—whose claims
are consistent with those of Charles Woods, the father of Benghazi victim Tyrone
Woods. What bothers Matthews most, of course, is that Mrs. Smith’s speech was
effective. National Review’s Jim Geraghty notes that Democrat John Kerry’s 2004 used
five 9/11 widows in some of his presidential campaign appearances.) [95283, 95284,
95318, 95382]
Michelle Malkin later writes, “It seems like yesterday when Champion of Wimmin
[Women] Maureen Dowd, bemoaning the lack of sympathy for anti-war mom Cindy
Sheehan, declared in The New York Times that ‘the moral authority of parents who bury
children killed in Iraq is absolute.’ No ifs, ands or other hedging qualifiers. Absolutely
absolute. …Moms and widows deserved special consideration in the public square, the
argument went a decade ago. Their experience and their testimony warranted respect,
deference and the national spotlight. But then, as now, only a special class of victims is
entitled to cash in the Absolute Moral Authority card. Not all parents and spouses who
have lost loved ones can join the Club of the Unquestioned and Unassailable.” [95356]
“…Pat Smith shared her own tale of a political education born of grief after her diplomat
son, Sean Smith, died in the Benghazi terrorist attack. Hillary Clinton, she passionately
insisted, ‘deserves to be in stripes!’ GQ sports writer Nathaniel Friedman showed his
compassion for Smith’s loss and pain by tweeting, ‘I don’t care how many children Pat
Smith lost I would like to beat her to death.’ MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who had
helped make Cindy Sheehan a media star and urged her to run for Congress based on her
status as a grieving war mom, fumed that Pat Smith had ‘ruined’ the entire convention
with her heartfelt testimony.” [95356]
Malkin asks, “Will these horrified hand-wringers be as outspokenly offended next week
when the Democratic National Convention dedicates an entire evening to the so-called
Mothers of the Movement? Among the sainted moms of the Black Lives Matter
movement who will speak on Hillary Clinton’s behalf are Gwen Carr, mother of Eric
99
Garner; Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin; Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre
Hamilton; Lucia McBath, mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley McSpadden, mother of
Michael Brown; Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley, mother of Hadiya Pendleton; and Geneva
Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland. Each of these cases lumped under supposedly
unjustified gun violence and systemic racism is complicated and distinct. For starters,
Bland hanged herself when her friends and family wouldn’t bail her out of jail after she
had kicked a police officer. Two of the ‘children’ involved in police shootings (Brown
and Hamilton) had assaulted cops during their fatal encounters.” [95356, 95414]
“But drop all questions and doubts. ‘These mothers have worked tirelessly to raise
awareness around the issues that surround their children's deaths,’ the liberal Huffington
Post reports. Because these women endorse race-baiting, gun-grabbing narratives and
left-wing candidates, no one working in the mainstream media will ever challenge their
parental prerogative to participate in politics on behalf of their loved ones. Moms who
have lost their children to Democratic incompetence, corruption and open-borders
treachery are out of luck. The dealers of Absolute Moral Authority play with a loaded
deck.” [95356]
Media leftists, of course, shrieked that the Republicans were exploiting death when they
had Pat Smith, the mother of Benghazi victim Sean Smith, speak at their convention. In
the Chicago Tribune, Eric Zorn wrote, “dipping opponents’ hands in blood goes too far.”
Zorn will not say the same of the Democrats’ exploitation of the mothers of Trayvon
Martin and Michael Brown—even though Smith died in a heroic action, while Martin and
Brown were shot while committing crimes. [95695]
Reaction to the convention from the mainstream media is predictable. CBS’ Bob
Schieffer suggests Donald Trump will lose in a landslide in November, as did Barry
Goldwater in 1964. ABC’s Terry Moran calls it “a dark night” because of the focus in
Benghazi. (Translation: “How dare the Republicans criticize Obama and Hillary
Clinton.”) CBS’ Scott Pelley calls Trump “a long shot” and the party “deeply divided.”
(Pelly also brings up Goldwater.) NBC’s Tom Brokaw calls the convention’s message
“pretty divisive.” NBC’s Chuck Todd says, “Beating up Hillary, using Benghazi to beat
up Hillary is an easy way to do it. They’re doing a little Fast and Furious now. That’s
another thing. It’s sort of lowest common denominator stuff that just, sort of, everybody
will give you an applause line for [sic].” Chris Matthews calls criticism of Clinton “third
world rhetoric.” On MSNBC, a clueless Eugene Robinson says he “didn’t quite make the
connection as to why she [Pat Smith] holds her [Clinton] personally responsible for the
death [of her son Sean Smith].” Rachel Maddow says hearing Pat Smith “essentially
calling Hillary Clinton a murderer and saying she should be put in prison for it, that is—
that’s playing with a very specific kind of fire that almost is impossible for me to watch, I
have to say.” [95316, 95317, 95318]
MSNBC’s Joy Reid (who is black) says Melania Trumps’ speech was “the first of the
night that didn’t have this subtext… that brown people are dangerous. …There was a lot
of really angry rhetoric, a lot of talk about murder and death and tying it all back to
100
immigrants, tying it all back an illegal migration and there was a really hard-edged
theme. I mean, Rudy Giuliani screamed his entire speech. We had the audience made to
clear the police officers in the Freddy Gray case [sic].” NBC’s Matt Lauer expects Trump
to “make a pledge to speak to everyone involved in this convention and say, ‘Please tone
down the rhetoric.’” [95319, 95320, 95321, 95322]
The Washington Post’s James Hohmann calls Melania Trump’s speech “not very
effective” and complains, “She weirdly referred to her husband and the father of her child
as ‘Donald J. Trump.’” (For the record, there are many instances in which Michelle
Obama has referred to her husband in speeches as Barack Obama. There is nothing
unusual about that at all. Hohmann is desperately looking for something to criticize.)
Hohmann also mocks Trump and his wife for only kissing each other on the cheek after
the speech—an absurd criticism considering how much make-up people on stage wear for
the television cameras. Perhaps Hohmann believes Hillary and Bill Clinton will suddenly
rekindle their relationship in time for her speech during the Democrat National
Convention.) [95323]
The Post’s Karen Tumulty and Philip Rucker whine that several convention speakers
used the term “illegal aliens” rather than “undocumented immigrants.” Delusional CNN
contributor Sally Kohn dislikes the convention’s focus on Benghazi, claiming it was only
“a horrible, tragic accident. Saying it’s anything more is not only pure partisanship but
also untrue.” PBS’ Mara Liasson says, “I don’t know if [fellow panelist] Mark [Shields]
remembers a time when so much intense animus has been directed at the opposing
candidate.” (Liasson and Shields apparently do not recall any Democrat National
Conventions.) [95324, 95341]
The Clinton-defending Post also dares to “fact-check” some of the statements of the
speakers, and is none too pleased that Pat Smith blamed Clinton for the death of her son,
Sean Smith, or that Benghazi survivor John Tiegen told the audience, “We were ready to
go. But on three separate occasions, we were told to wait, and the chief of base told us to
stand down!” or that Mark Geist said, “Opportunities taken when we defied stand down
orders and opportunities squandered when Hillary Clinton failed to protect her people on
the ground. Had she done her job, we would not have had to compromise the annex.” The
Post claims there was no stand-down order, only “tactical disagreements.” [95325,
95362]
On July 19 Obama meets with Attorney General Lynch and FBI Director Comey, and
then with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. [95274]
The Daily Mail reports, “Fighters from a US-backed [that is, Obama-backed] Syrian
militant group have been filmed brutally beheading a child as young as 11. The video
captures Nour al-Din al-Zenki fighters in the back of a truck with a child they claim is an
al-Quds soldier supporting Assad’s Syrian forces. One of the fighters shouts ‘Allahu
Akbar’ meaning ‘God is great’ [sic; ‘Allah is greater’] after taking a small knife to the
101
boy’s throat and cutting off his head in the Palestinian refugee Handarat Camp in
Northern Aleppo.” [95350, 95351]
A woman and her three daughters vacationing in Garda-Colombe, France are attacked by
a knife-wielding Muslim, reportedly because they were “scantily dressed.” According to
the Daily Mail, “The mother, 46, and her daughters aged between eight and 14 were
targeted before the knifeman fled the scene, although he was later arrested by police.
…The youngest victim, who was eight years old, is currently in a critical condition in
hospital after suffering a punctured lung. The mother reportedly suffered an injury to her
sternum.” [95355]
Police in Paris arrest a taxi driver after two sticks of dynamite, detonators, and cables are
found at his home. An ISIS flag is found on his cell phone. [95425]
ISIS celebrates the attack in Nice, France by posting a gruesome beheading video on
YouTube. One person in the video says, “Look Francois Holland, these scene [the
beheading] will be soon with your citizens in the streets of Paris, Marseille, Nice and all
over France.” After the beheading, another says, “This is a message to France, for every
rocket that fell on our women and children. You will pay the price. With your
announcement of war against Islam you announced a war against Allah, and will be
defeated.” [95510]
In the Los Angeles Times, James Kirchick, noting the attempted military coup in Turkey,
writes that Donald Trump “is not only patently unfit to be president, but a danger to
America and the world. Voters must stop him before the military has to.” (Translation:
“If Trump is elected, we should demand a military coup.”) [95426, 95643, 95644]
Hillary Clinton convention delegate Deanna Vicites, a County Commissioner from
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, resigns after shooting her husband Vincent in the neck the
day before. According to TeaParty.org, Vicites, who will be replaced by an alternate
delegate, is being held in the Fayette County Prison on $250,000 bail. [95544, 95545,
95546]
DailySignal.com reports, “A firearms dealer in North Carolina said his bank asked him to
reveal ‘ridiculous and somewhat illegal’ information about his business and its customers
after the June 12 terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, and he believes a secretive Justice
Department program is to blame. Luke Lichterman, owner of Hunting and Defense in
Tryon, North Carolina, said his bank told him he couldn’t use its services without
completing an ‘addendum’ supplying details about his business. The Justice Department
launched Operation Choke Point in 2013 to fight fraud. The agency made it more
difficult for ‘high risk’ industries to gain access to the banking system, as a way to drive
fraudulent industries out of business. However, critics argue the Obama administration
also used Operation Choke Point to intentionally make business more difficult for
firearms sellers by categorizing them alongside illegal and fraudulent industries.” [95374]
102
Unable to ban guns, Operation Choke Point was developed by the Obama administration
to harass gun stores and attempt to put the put of business by making it next to impossible
for them to deal with banks. HomeTrust Bank’s “addendum” reads, in part, “After the
first/initial submission subsequent [quarterly] lists are to include all relevant parties since
the date of last report. Each list is to specify personal and business names and associated
FFL [federal firearms license] numbers and should indicate whether the individual/entity
is new or repeat. The list must identify all firearms and ammunitions transaction entities
regardless of whether HomeTrust Treasury Management ACH [automated clearinghouse]
origination services are used for the transaction.” In other words, the bank is demanding
that Lichterman continually provide a list of all customers and information on all of their
gun and ammunition purchases. The absurd demand is clearly intended to make it
impossible for Lichterman to stay in business, and is a massive violation of constitutional
rights. [95374]
Kansas City, Kansas Police Captain Dave Melton is shot and killed after he answers a
call following a drive-by shooting at a public housing complex and a police chase. Two
people are arrested. [95377, 95378, 95411]
In a fundraising email, Obama states, “[T]he Republicans are going to spend the week
talking about building a wall on the Mexican border and banning people based on their
religion. They’re going to talk about policies that stack the deck even further in favor of
millionaires and billionaires, while claiming to be in it for the little guy.” The
Republicans will “drag [Hillary Clinton’s] name through the mud, because that’s the only
way they’ll convince anyone to vote for their nominee. I know Hillary can take it. She
won’t back down from this fight.” [95395, 95396]
TheGatewayPundit.com reports that one of the speakers at the Democrat National
Convention will be Lesley McFadden—the mother of Ferguson, Missouri thug Michael
Brown, who was shot after an altercation with police office Darren Wilson. McFadden
and Brown’s step-father, Louis Head, incited a riot in Ferguson after a grand jury chose
not to indict Wilson. “Louis Head screamed: ‘Burn this b*tch down.’ And dozens of
Ferguson businesses were burnt to the ground. In October 2014 Michael Brown’s mother,
grandmother and auntie brawled on the corner of Canfield and West Florissant over the
rights to T-shirt sales. Brown’s mother Lezley McSpadden reportedly assaulted and
robbed grandmother Pearlie Gordon of $1,400.” McFadden once tweeted, “Woke up in a
GREAT MOOD this morning. 2 Cops got Shot in FERGUSON last night. You ant seen
sh** yet, wait till this SUMMER.” She wrote on Facebook, “If my FAM woulda got
JUSTICE in August maybe those two cops wouldn’t have got shot LAST Night…” and
“F*** THEM 2 COPS..DON’T GOT NO SYMPATHY FOR THEM OR THEY
FAMILIES…Aint no FUN when the Rabbit got the GUN.” [95468, 95469, 95470,
95471]
According to DemConvention.com, the second night of the Democrat convention (July
26) will feature Bill Clinton “and Mothers of the Movement. …Tuesday will feature the
103
roll call vote and how Hillary has spent her entire career working to make a difference for
children, families, and our country. The Mothers of the Movement participating include
Gwen Carr, Mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin; Maria
Hamilton, Mother of Dontre Hamilton; Lucia McBath, Mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley
McSpadden, Mother of Michael Brown; Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley, Mother of Hadiya
Pendleton; Geneva Reed-Veal, Mother of Sandra Bland.” (At least one illegal immigrant
will also speak at the Democrat convention.) [95472, 95612]
Eric Garner died resisting arrest in Staten Island, New York in July 2014. Trayvon Martin
was shot and killed in an act of self-defense by George Zimmerman in February 2012.
Dontre Hamilton was shot and killed by a police officer in April 2014 after taking the
officer’s baton and beating him over the head with it. Michael Brown, as noted, was shot
after assaulting police officer Darren Wilson—and after shop-lifting at a convenience
store. Jordan Davis was shot at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida in November 2012
after a dispute over loud music. His killer was sentenced to life in prison. Hadiya
Pendleton died in a drive-by shooting in Chicago in January 2013. Sandra Bland hanged
herself in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas in July 2015. Three of the people killed were
thugs, whose own actions contributed to their deaths. Why Hillary Clinton and the
Democrats want to give their mothers an opportunity to speak is not clear—but thousands
of police officers across the country will be outraged. (Some might re-label “Mothers of
the Movement” “Mothers of the Thugs.” Some might also ask why the Democrats only
invited mothers to speak; perhaps they could not find the fathers.)
The next day the Philadelphia Lodge #5 of the Fraternal Order of Police issues a
statement: “President John McNesby and the membership… are shocked and saddened
by the planned choice of speakers at the upcoming DNC in Philadelphia. The Fraternal
Order of Police is insulted and will not soon forget that the Democratic Party and Hillary
Clinton are excluding the widows, and other family members of police Officers killed in
the line of duty who were victims of explicit, and not implied, racism, and “being in duty
in blue.” It is sad that to win an election Mrs. Clinton must pander to the interests of
people who do not know all the facts, while the men and women they seek to destroy are
outside protecting the political institutions of this country. Mrs. Clinton you should be
ashamed of yourself if that is possible.” [95547, 95548, 95612, 95617, 95754]
At WashingtonExaminer.com Timothy P. Carney comments on the Melania Trump
plagiarism issue the leftist media eagerly embraced: “It’s fair to say Michelle Obama
wasn’t the first person to use those phrases. Michelle in 2008 begin her list of virtues
with the phrase ‘you work hard for what you want in life.’ You can find that exact
wording used in a 1995 Singapore newspaper article on a pig farmer’s daughter: ‘She was
taught early in life that there is no free lunch. ‘You work hard for what you want in life,’
was what her father told her.’ Michelle in 2008 used the words, ‘Your word is your bond,
and you do what you say you’re going to do.’ Those same exact words appeared in a
2007 article in the trade journal Law Enforcement Technology. The odds are pretty high
that the Obama campaign didn't plagiarize the Straits Times and Law Enforcement
Technology. The point is that these are trite platitudes, and if a thousand people use the
same platitude, some will use it identically.” [95335, 95388, 95399]
104
“What makes Melania’s speech so striking is that she used the same exact platitudes as
Michelle, in the same exact order, with only minuscule variation of the words. It’s way
too similar to be a coincidence. But the least charitable interpretation—that Melania and
her speechwriters simply lifted the lines knowingly from Obama—is almost too scummy
to believe. So if we judge rank theft and pure coincidence as too unlikely, what’s left?
Rank sloppiness. Most likely, scriptwriters compiled notes from past first-lady speeches,
and they really liked Michelle’s lines. Somewhere along the way, those words probably
slipped from the ‘here was a good line someone used’ pile to the ‘here’s a line we should
use’ pile. If that’s the case, a normal campaign would quickly admit it, apologize to
Michelle, fire or transfer the junior speechwriter and move on. This isn’t a normal
campaign.” [95335, 95388, 95399]
Ebony magazine’s Michael Harriot claims Melania Trump’s plagiarism is “just the latest
in a long line of instances where White folks have stolen Black people’s work.” (Harriot
also criticizes the speech as “platitude-laden,” which might make some wonder why it its
words were deserving of appropriating.) [95482]
At Philly.com, fashion writer Elizabeth Wellington takes leftist lunacy to its extremes,
claiming that Melania Trump’s white dress “could be another reminder that in the G.O.P.
white is always right. …Melania Trump was a not-so-subliminal billboard for what’s
looking like the Trumpian view of an ideal America. And if that’s the fashion statement
she intended to make, it’s a very scary one.” [95687]
Clinton campaign spokeswoman Karen Finney tells reporters that Hillary Clinton will
announce her vice presidential prick on Friday, July 22. (Virginia Senator Tim Kaine
may be her choice, although she is likely to win that state even without Kaine as her
running mate. Clinton could select Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is black, to shore
up the black vote—but that would allow Republican Governor Chris Christie to name a
temporary replacement Senator. Of course, if Clinton selects Kaine, his Senate seat
would eventually be filled by a special election, and the Republicans would have a better
chance of winning that Virginia election than one in New Jersey.) [95328, 95383]
Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 46-45 percent in a July 11-17 NBC/Survey Monkey
national poll of registered voters. [95336, 95337]
In an LA Times/USC poll, Trump leads Clinton 43-42. [95340]
In a Quinnipiac poll in New York, Clinton leads Trump 47-35. “New York City voters
back Clinton 63-20 percent, while upstate voters go to Trump 48-36 percent. Suburban
voters are divided, with 40 percent for Trump and 39 percent for Clinton. …There is a
yawning gender gap, with men tipping to Trump 44-40 percent, while women back
Clinton 54-28 percent.” [95402, 95403]
The Associated Press reports, “Iran’s foreign minister on Tuesday extolled the country’s
ability to bring its nuclear program back on track as limits on the landmark 15-year
105
accord between Tehran and world powers ease in the coming years. Mohammad Javad
Zarif said a document, submitted by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency and
outlining plans to expand Iran’s uranium enrichment program, is a ‘matter of pride.’
…Zarif’s remarks, carried by the semi-official Fars news agency, followed revelations
the day before of the confidential document—an add-on agreement to the nuclear deal
with world powers—that Iran gave the IAEA. The document, obtained by The Associated
Press in Vienna, outlines Tehran’s plans to expand its uranium enrichment program after
the first 10 years of the nuclear deal.” [95338, 95339, 95352, 95372]
“It’s the only text linked to last year’s deal between Iran and six world powers—the
United States, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany—that has not been made
public, although U.S. officials say members of Congress who expressed interest were
briefed on its substance. Zarif said the addendum to the nuclear deal will soon be made
public, but he did not elaborate.” [95338, 95339, 95352, 95372]
At NationalReview.com Fred Fleitz explains, “This agreement says that in January 2027,
Tehran will be allowed to replace the primitive 5,060 uranium centrifuges it is allowed to
operate while the nuclear agreement is in effect with more-advanced designs, even
though other restrictions on Iranian uranium enrichment remain in place for 15 years. I
believe this is a significant development because it represents another secret JCPOA side
deal that the Obama administration illegally withheld from Congress.” [95338, 95339,
95352, 95372]
Donald Trump becomes the Republican Party presidential nominee with the casting of
votes by the convention delegates. (Final counts are: Trump, 1,725; Ted Cruz, 475; John
Kasich, 120; Marco Rubio, 114; Ben Carson, 7; Jeb Bush, 3; Rand Paul, 2.) [95331,
95367, 95369, 95370]
Pamela Geller reports from Cleveland, “Two groups are going at it right in the middle of
the public square downtown near the Convention Center [the Quicken Loans Arena]… as
we speak. Approximately two to three hundred cops are trying to handle the mayhem.
According to one of the police on scene, the protesters are throwing bags of urine at the
cops and have started to attack people on the street. I am right down the block. This is
happening now. …Leftist thugs who want to disarm the law-abiding patriots took to the
streets armed and angry. Lots of itchy fingers in that crowd. It’s a tinderbox. Large
demonstrations shut down a barricaded downtown on the opening day of the Republican
National Convention Monday. Police were calm and cool and kept the crowd contained,
giving the crowd lots of leeway.” [95349, 95368]
Outside the convention, protesters complain about white supremacy, black
empowerment, police brutality, Jewish conspiracies, and hatred and fear of Donald
Trump. [95479, 95480, 95481]
106
In a low-key, boring address to the convention, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) calls
for party unity—and mentions the name Donald Trump only twice. “So much that you
and I care about, so many things we stand for, are in the balance in the coming election.
Whatever we lack going into this campaign, we should not lack for motivation. In the
plainest terms I know, it is all on the line.” (By “Whatever we lack” the not-so-subtle
Ryan means, “Trump is a lousy candidate and I would have preferred Jeb Bush, Scott
Walker, or Marco Rubio.”) [95390]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—no doubt hoping to be the nation’s next Attorney
General—lists Hillary Clinton’s failures during her tenure as Secretary of State. After
each accusation he asks whether Clinton is “guilty or not guilty”—and the audience
loudly responds, “Guilty!” Christie has a lot of ammunition—without even bothering to
list Clinton’s pre-2009 offenses. Media leftists express outrage that convention delegates
would chant, “Lock her up!”—but of course have had no problem with “climate change”
activists who have called for the imprisonment of anyone who dares challenge mancaused global warming theories. [95343, 95361, 95371, 95389, 95393, 95525]
The Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell later points out that CNN’s Jack Cafferty
once called for GOP strategist Karl Rove “to get measured for one of those extra-large
orange [prison] jumpsuits”; Rosie O’Donnell called for “war criminal” George W. Bush
to “be tried at The Hague”; Michael Moore wanted to see “a trial, in this country, where
Mr. [Dick] Cheney and Mr. Bush would be brought up on charges for causing the deaths
of so many people’; Senator Al Franken (D-MN) once said George H. W. Bush is guilty
of “treason”; Ed Schultz, then with MSNBC, said, “We ought to rip it [Dick Cheney’s
heart] out and kick it around and stuff it back in him!” [95525]
Ben Carson reminds the audience that Hillary Clinton’s college thesis was about socialist
activist Saul Alinsky, whose book Rules for Radicals was dedicated to “Lucifer” the
“original radical.” Carson says, “One of the most dangerous narratives being advanced by
some in our own party is the notion that however dreadful a Hillary Clinton
administration may be, the effects will be temporary or harmless—that we can hold our
collective breath for four more years. If we try that, we will be condemning the American
patient to a vegetative state, dependent on government life support, with no quality of
life.” [95381, 95385, 95408]
Carson’s remark prompts indignant cries of “How dare he!” from media leftists but, in
fact, he is correct. In the acknowledgment page of Rules for Radicals, Alinsky wrote,
“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical:
from all our legends, mythology, and history… the first radical known to man who
rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own
kingdom—Lucifer.” [95955]
Other speakers include Tiffany Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., who deliver well-received
and highly-praised addresses. Trump’s 22-year-old daughter with second wife Marla
Maples says, “Like my father, I never back down from challenges. So here I am, a little
107
new to the convention scene. …His desire for excellence is contagious. He’s always
helped me be the best version of myself.” Donald Jr. says, “For my father, the word
impossible is just the starting point.” [95359, 95360, 95366, 95380, 95386, 95387, 95391,
95392, 95397]
After Donald Trump, Jr.’s speech, there is almost immediate buzz about him having a
future in politics. Although he could conceivably run for the House or the Senate, he can
never legally serve as president or vice president because he is not a natural born
citizen—which requires birth on U.S. soil to two U.S. citizen parents. (Donald Trump’s
first wife, Ivana Trump, did not become a naturalized U.S. citizen until 1988—after
children Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric were born. Tiffany Trump is a natural born citizen
because her mother, Marla Maples, has always been a U.S. citizen. Barron Trump is not a
natural born citizen, as his mother, Melania Trump, did not become a U.S. citizen until
after his birth.) [95439]
Hillary Clinton defenders in the mainstream media are out in full force. ABC’s Terry
Moran confronts Chris Christie after his speech and asks, “Do you think that is a good
thing for American politics when political disagreements result in, basically, a crowd
becoming a mob, saying lock her up?” Christie replies, “Come on, this is such an
overstatement on your part. I think conventions are supposed to be fun. I think people are
having a good time tonight. But it’s based on her conduct. As I said, I didn’t make any
charges up there based on empty rhetoric. Every one of the things I said are based on fact
and her record.” MSNBC’s Steve Schmidt says, “I do think the ‘lock her up’ chant as it’s
received at home to that 32 percent of the electorate who will decide the outcome, it
seems a little banana republic to me. It’s something that you’re not use to hearing in this
country. We don’t lock up our political opponents.” (No one is calling for Clinton to be
locked up because of her politics; they want her prosecuted for breaking the law.)
[95404]
NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell asks Christie, “You incited this crowd to get on their feet, to talk
about her, to say ‘guilty’ over and over again. Do you think that is unifying the party in a
way that’s good for the country?” Christie responds, “Yes, yes I do. And I think you do,
too.” CBS’ Bob Schieffer complains, “I mean, she [Clinton] was accused of everything
from who’d-a-thought-it to the diphtheria epidemic or something. I mean, if there was
anything she was not accused of, I missed it and that is what was so unusual because…
American campaigns are usually won by the most optimistic candidate…” (The 79-yearold Schieffer has covered enough conventions to know that they always feature speakers
attacking the opponent. The optimism comes from the candidate’s speech on the final day
of the convention.) [95404, 95405]
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “…I was thinking tonight, and it’s this festival of hating
Hillary tonight, this brewing up of almost a witch-like ritual tonight, I kept thinking, wait
a minute, they already hate Hillary. So what’s the point? And does this get to the middle
of the road voters who say, you know, ‘I’m worried about my kids. I have all kinds of
issues. But none of them really relate to how much I hate Hillary.’ They relate to other
108
things. I know these people are all imperfect. I know Hillary has got this credibility
problem, but I only got a choice here. How does this make me like Trump anymore?”
National Journal’s Ron Fournier adds, “Right. Middle of the road voters don’t want to
hear an audience saying “’Send her to prison. Send her to prison.’” (Like Schieffer,
Matthews and Fournier ignore past conventions, which invariably spend time attacking
the opponent before closing with the candidate.) [95406]
The Washington Post’s James Hohmann writes, “It’s historically unusual, putting it
generously, to say that the leader of the opposition party should be jailed.” (Of course, it
is also historically unusual for the nominee of a major political party to expect to be
elected president after having acted against the interests of the nation’s security and
violating federal statutes.) Hohmann states, “The idea of locking up the other party’s
duly-selected nominee is in many ways antithetical to the principles of a free society.”
(Hohmann apparently believes a free society should ignore law-breaking if it is
perpetrated by political elites.) “The FBI director, whose background is as a Republican,
said earlier this month that no reasonable prosecutor would bring criminal charges against
Clinton, even if she was extremely careless.” (That is what James Comey said, but he was
roundly criticized for that claim—and more than a few prosecutors came forward to say
they would be able to convict Clinton.) [95409]
On July 20 the national debt tops $19,400,000,000,000 ($19.4 trillion)—or more than
$60,317 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States. [95474]
Obama meets with Secretary of State John Kerry and then attends a White House Summit
on Global Development. [95342]
First-term Congressman Mark Takai (D-HI) dies of pancreatic cancer. [95451]
DailyCaller.com reports, “A group of adventurers, sailors, pilots and climate scientists
that recently started a journey around the North Pole in an effort to show the lack of ice,
has been blocked from further travels by ice.” [95464]
FreeBeacon.com reports that the identities of some people who paid for speeches by Bill
and Hillary Clinton may never be known because “the actual paychecks came from
undisclosed third parties. …Government watchdogs say the practice is troubling from a
transparency perspective, because it obscures the actual source of Clinton’s hefty
payments. While the Free Beacon was able to track down information on the likely
funders of several of these speeches, at least 30 of them remain a mystery. …Federal
disclosure filings reviewed by the Free Beacon indicate that this lack of transparency was
routine. Hillary Clinton disclosed that 16 of her husband’s speeches, which brought in
nearly $4 million, were paid for by ‘World Management Limited’ or ‘World Celebrity
Event, Ltd.,’ Mallorca-based speaking bureaus run by a former celebrity promoter named
Onni Nordstrom. …[Yet] Clinton’s staggering speaking fees don’t show up in World
109
Celebrity Event, Ltd.’s annual financial reports…” (In other words, specific efforts were
made by the Clintons to hide the identity of people who paid for their speeches.) [95421]
Reuters writes, “If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald
Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by …Obama
and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump
ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday. Christie, who… leads Trump’s White House
transition team, said the campaign was drawing up a list of federal government
employees to fire if Trump defeats Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8
presidential election. …Trump’s transition advisers fear that Obama may convert these
appointees to civil servants, who have more job security than officials who have been
politically appointed. This would allow officials to keep their jobs in a new, possibly
Republican, administration, Christie said. ‘It’s called burrowing.’” [95492]
At NYTimes.com Farhad Manjoo writes, “When the technology investor [and PayPal cofounder] Peter Thiel takes the stage just before Donald J. Trump at the Republican
convention this week, he will become the most prominent public face of a species so
endangered it might as well be called extinct: the Silicon Valley Trump supporter. …A
bigger problem than Mr. Trump’s policy ideas [is] his tone. Though Silicon Valley has
well-known problems with diversity in its work force, people here pride themselves on a
kind of militant open-mindedness. It is the kind of place that will severely punish any
deviations from accepted schools of thought—see how Brendan Eich, the former chief
executive of Mozilla, was run out of his job after it became public that he had donated to
a campaign opposed to gay marriage.” (How Manjoo can write about “militant openmindedness” and “punish[ing] any deviations from accepted schools of thought” without
noting the inherently absurd contradiction is not clear.) [95518]
Democrats in and out of the media pounce on Donald Trump, Jr.’s convention speech,
accusing him of plagiarizing. Trump said, “Our schools used to be an elevator to the
middle class. Now they’re stalled on the ground floor. They’re like Soviet department
stores run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers…” The far-left Center for
American Progress notes an article by F. H. Buckley, who wrote, “'What should be an
elevator to the upper class is stalled on the ground floor… Our schools and universities
are like the old Soviet department stores whose mission was to serve the interests of the
sales clerks and not the customers.” Rush Limbaugh remarks, “[W]hy, two nights in a
row, oh my God, we couldn’t have this big an orgasm if we had sought it out. We’ve got
another blatant act of plagiarism! And they’re trying to alert everybody to it. There was
only one problem, and that is that Mr. F. H. Buckley of the American Conservative
helped Donald Trump Jr. write the speech. There was no plagiarism. F. H. Buckley is a
law professor at George Mason University who writes for the American Conservative.
He says, ‘Look, I’m a principal speechwriter for his speech. It’s not an issue.’” [95413]
Meredith McIver, an in-house staff writer in the Trump Organization, releases a
statement on Melania Trump’s convention speech. McIver (a registered Democrat)
accepts responsibility for working on Trump’s speech and inadvertently include lines
110
from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention address. She states, “Yesterday, I offered my
resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family, but they rejected it. Mr. Trump told me
that people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences. I
asked to put out this statement because I did not like seeing the way this way distracting
from Mr Trump’s historic campaign for president and Melania’s beautiful message and
presentation. I apologize for the confusion and hysteria my mistake has caused. Today,
more than ever, I am honored to work for such a great family. I personally admire the
way Mr. Trump has handled the situation and I am grateful for his understanding.”
[95357, 95358, 95365, 95410, 95450, 95466]
Donald Trump tweets, “The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of
Melania’s speech than the FBI spent on Hillary’s emails” and “[The] Good news is
Melania’s speech got more publicity than any in the history of politics especially if you
believe that all press is good press!” (Although speechwriter McIver definitely erred, trite
phrases like “You work hard for what you get in life” are hardly protected by copyrights.
The reality is that politicians have for decades used many of the same trite phrases, and if
Democrats spend too much time pounding on Melania Trump they will do nothing more
than prompt careful examinations of every word Hillary Clinton utters until election day.
Clinton’s “We are stronger together” is hardly an original phrase.) [95357, 95383]
Ann Coulter comments on the controversy: “No one wants to state the obvious because it
involves making fun of both Melania [Trump] and Michelle [Obama], but the fact is: It’s
impossible to ‘plagiarize’ meaningless twaddle. Obviously, Melania’s speechwriter didn’t
think up those words—and neither did Michelle’s. You can hear the same thing at any
third-rate college commencement, at Orientation Day at Excel academies, at motivational
speakers’ corporate events, and right now, in the greeting card aisle of your local Rite
Aid. Not even Hallmark cards could claim authorship because there were probably
caveman drawings with rainbows that said, ‘“You can achieve anything you set your
mind to!’ …[I]f I say: ‘The only limit to your achievement is your dreams!’ no one can
claim the rights to those words because they’re insipid nothings. No one invented ‘the
only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams,’ any more than I invented
‘Hey—how you doing?’ There’s nothing there! These are phrases designed to allow you
to make sounds while moving your mouth.” (This Timeline never again wants to hear a
politician to talk about “blood, sweat and tears” without specifically crediting Winston
Churchill.) [95415]
Ohio Governor John Kasich—apparently already planning his 2020 campaign—visits the
New Hampshire delegation at the convention and says, “I’ll be back.” [95448]
The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court rules that Texas photo ID laws for voting are
discriminatory—which opens the door for people to illegally vote using the name of a
registered voter who has died. [95419, 95453, 95586]
111
Outside the convention, one protester accidentally sets his pants on fire when trying to
burn an American flag. Other protesters mock the “Make America Great Again” theme,
chanting, “5, 6, 7, 8; America was never great!” [95493, 95495]
In a convention speech via satellite, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) strongly endorses
Donald Trump, saying, “It’s time to stop fighting each other.” Rubio notes that Hillary
Clinton “was a key figure in implementing Barack Obama’s shameful foreign policy
record of appeasing our enemies and betraying our allies, and diminishing our role in the
world. She turned her back on the fallen heroes in Benghazi” and “then lied about it.”
[95436, 95449]
Author and radio talk show host Laura Ingraham revs up the convention crowd with a
fiery, passionate speech that praises Donald Trump, and excoriates Hillary Clinton, the
media—and the losing Republican candidates who failed to honor their pledge to support
the party nominee. She states, “I want to say this very plainly. We should all, even all you
boys with wounded feelings and bruised egos [that is, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Jeb
Bush]—and we love you, we love you—but you must honor your pledge to support
Donald Trump now! Tonight.” (At the end of her speech, Ingraham waves to the crowd—
and some of her gestures are immediately pounced on as “Nazi salutes” by media leftists.
Of course, it does not take long for photos of Hillary Clinton and Obama making the
same gestures to be posted on Twitter.) [95427, 95441, 95461, 95462, 95487]
After an enthusiastic reception, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivers a disjointed speech full
of platitudes—interrupted at times by chants of “We want Trump!” and “Endorse
Trump!” Not only does the petulant Cruz not endorse Donald Trump, the consciencechallenged Senator arrogantly insults him by calling for people to “vote your
conscience… Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our
freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.” (Translation: “Vote for Republicans for
House and Senate seats, but split your ticket and do not vote for Trump.” Some might ask
if Cruz was following his conscience when he spread the rumor in Iowa that Ben Carson
had suspended his campaign.) The performance will be considered by many to be
despicable, and may give some people an understanding of why most of Cruz’s fellow
Senators cannot stand him. At the close of his speech, Cruz is booed by many in the
arena. (Cruz’s wife Heidi is escorted out of the arena as people jeer, “Goldman Sachs!”)
[95422, 95423, 95431, 95446, 95452, 95454, 95455, 95458, 95459, 95463, 95476,
95478, 95483, 95536, 95588]
Of course, the pompous Cruz not only expects Trump to lose in November, he is praying
for that to happen. Everyone who knows history understands that Cruz is trying to follow
in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan, whose 1976 speech at the convention that nominated
Gerald Ford left many delegates thinking, “Why did we nominate Ford over Reagan?”
Cruz wanted a Reagan moment; he failed. (Cruz thought he was channeling Reagan in
1976; he was more likely channeling Wile E. Coyote in 1956.) Some will argue that
Cruz’s performance was more similar to Nelson Rockefeller’s at the 1964 Republican
convention in San Francisco’s Cow Palace, when he refused to endorse and even fought
112
against candidate Barry Goldwater, expecting him to lose so that he could win the
nomination in 1968. Instead, the party turned against Rockefeller, and Richard M.
Nixon—who supported and campaigned for Goldwater—was rewarded with the
nomination and the presidency in 1968.
If Trump defeats Hillary Clinton and is a successful president, Cruz will not only not be
the GOP nominee in 2020, he may be defeated by a challenger in his 2018 U.S. Senate
primary in Texas. In fact, there are reports that GOP donors backstage called Cruz a
disgrace after his speech was over, claimed he had committed political suicide, and will
never have their support. If Trump is defeated in November, Mike Pence stands a better
chance of being the GOP candidate in 2020 than Ted Cruz—partly because Trump
supporters will blame Cruz. (Some are already actively seeking a candidate to challenge
Cruz in 2018.) [95562]
Donald Trump tweets, “Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn’t honor the pledge!
I saw his speech two hours early [sic; earlier] but let him speak anyway. No big deal!”
(Cruz is apparently unaware that his performance turned Trump into a sympathatic
victim. Trump got the best of Cruz by giving the senator enough rope to hang himself.)
[95423]
After his speech, Cruz sends out a fundraising email—clearly demonstrating he expects
Trump to lose to Clinton and that he will be the nominee in 2020. [95456, 95477]
Cruz’s prepared text suggested a speech of about nine minutes. He instead spoke for
about 23, disrupting he convention schedule and taking some of the spotlight away from
Mike Pence. [95456]
Eric Trump delivers an enthusiastic speech about his candidate father—a speech that will
be praised as much as his brother’s the night before.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate, delivers an excellent
speech that will certainly persuade some fence-sitters to vote for the Republican ticket.
(Pence has the Reagan moment Cruz failed to capture.) [95431, 95434, 95437, 95438,
95444, 95445, 95465, 95536]
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discusses national security and the dangers of
radical Islam, after first saying, “I think you misunderstood one paragraph that Ted Cruz,
who is a superb orator, said, and I just want to point it out to you. Ted Cruz said, ‘you can
vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution.’ In this election, there
is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution. So, to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if
you want to protect the Constitution of the United States, the only possible candidate this
fall is the Trump/Pence Republican ticket. That way we have a Republican ticket to
implement Republican principles in Washington.” (Cruz will not appreciate Gingrich’s
113
interpretation. Cruz likely mean, “Vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson or write in my
name.”) [95423, 95434, 95447, 95460]
IJR.com reports, “Texas Senator Ted Cruz was denied entry into billionaire GOP donor
Sheldon Adelson’s suite following his speech at the Republican National Convention
Wednesday night, Independent Journal Review has confirmed. A former U.S. Senator
inside the Adelson’s luxury box at the Quicken Loans arena told Independent Journal
Review that Cruz approached the suite after he finished his speech that fell short of
endorsing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Cruz was not welcome in the
suite ‘because he’s a piece of sh*t,’ the Senator said. Cruz was stopped at the door
because several attendees inside the suite were furious with his decision to not endorse
Trump. An aide to Adelson then confirmed that Cruz was turned away.” [95428, 95430]
SeattleTimes.com reports, “Washington state GOP chairman Susan Hutchison was
among the delegates angry that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz didn’t endorse Donald Trump in his
speech to the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. Hutchison ran into
Cruz, the former Trump rival for the Republican presidential nomination, near an elevator
at the Quicken Loans Arena. She said she told him his speech was ‘inexcusable’ and
called him a ‘traitor to the party.’” (Supporters of the allegedly “principled conservative”
Cruz warmly embraced Trump during the first few months of the primary campaigns,
saying, “I think he’s terrific. I think he’s brash. I think he speaks the truth.” Cruz thought
that he could “play nice” with Trump and win over his supporters after the other GOP
candidates took out Trump. Instead, Trump took out all 16 of his opponents, including
Cruz.) [95429, 95443, 95467]
Hillary Clinton tweets, “Vote your conscience.” (Whether the mainstream media will
accuse Clinton of plagiarism is not known.) [95440]
Before showing some anti-Clinton campaign items sold at the GOP convention,
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow warns viewers, “You may find it uncomfortable. And so, you
may not want to look at this stuff. But these are some of the pins that are being sold at the
venue.” (The campaign pins read, “Life’s a bitch; don’t vote for one” “Hillary for prison
2016” “Vote no to Monica’s ex-boyfriend’s wife in 2016” and “KFC Hillary special: 2
fat thighs, 2 small breasts, …left wing.”) Maddow complains, “We’ve also seen preprinted signs saying ‘Hillary Clinton for prison.’ We’ve seen calls from the stage that she
ought to be in stripes, that she ought to be locked up.” [95604]
On July 21 Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) doubles down, telling members of the Texas
delegation that if voting your conscience does not mean voting for Donald Trump then
the party deserves to lose in November. Some media leftists come to Cruz’s defense. New
York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweets, “And Ted Cruz – Ted Cruz! – emerges as
the only major Republican figure whose dignity is still intact.” (Krugman—and every
other media leftist—hates Cruz, and defends him only to promote GOP unrest. The media
would have preferred that Cruz, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, or Scott Walker been the party’s
114
nominee—because any one of them would be less of a challenge to Hillary Clinton than
Trump.) [95432, 95473, 95494, 95555]
Donald Trump, Jr. tells CNN, “I don’t care; we don’t need it [a Ted Cruz endorsement].”
[95433]
On the Today program, Andrea Mitchell says, “After today, Hillary Clinton gets her turn
planning a convention designed to prove that she is not the demon the Republicans have
been portraying all week. …Republicans spent more time this week trying to demonize
Hillary Clinton than praise Donald Trump.” Mitchell laughably adds, “Democrats say
they are going to try to strike a different tone next week.” [95484]
On Morning Joe, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski says, “Let’s [us Democrats] just have a
nice, peaceful convention [next week] that’s unified and doesn’t have things like ‘lock
her up’ and horrible, despicable things being shouted from the audience, like, let’s not get
ahead of ourselves [sic]. This has not been pretty, at all.” She adds, “I think she’ll
slaughter him.’ (That is, she believes Clinton will defeat Trump by a wide margin on
election day.) [95485]
At Lifezette.com I Spy Radio Show host Mark Anderson writes, “[H]erein lies the
brilliance of Trump. And make no mistake; this is brilliance way beyond any blind luck,
which his opponents like to claim to dismiss him. (If it is luck, then it is downright
mythical). Knowing what Cruz was about to do and say, Trump just—let him. It made
Ted look small and petty and Trump, who had graciously allowed him to speak, came off
looking the better man. Common decency alone is on Trump’s side here (and how ironic
is that?). If you can’t be gracious, stay home. No one is missing Jeb(!).Yes, Trump could
have stopped him, either that night or in the weeks leading up to it. But then his stopping
him would have been the story. Instead, Trump, being the type of leader he is, just let
Cruz talk and do what he wanted. (Romney, by contrast wanted total control and final
approval over what people said at the 2012 convention.) …[B]y giving Cruz free rein,
Trump brilliantly let America watch Cruz expose himself with one big (unspoken) ‘I told
you so.’ This is insight based on experience. Know yourself. Know your opponent. Know
your audience. And, ultimately, have faith in yourself and in people to make the right
decision.” [95457]
“It is the same trap Trump used throughout the campaign—the trap that Ted fell for each
and every time. Trump paints a picture of someone—and then hands them the brush.
Time and again, Trump called him ‘Lyin’ Ted.’ So what did Ted do in response? Go out
and ‘steal’ delegates. Every time Cruz thought he’d won, and bragged how clever he was,
he was actually losing—and reinforcing the image of Lyin’, Cheatin’ Ted Cruz. …At the
end of the night, Ted Cruz looked like a very small man indeed and Trump looked huge
by comparison. So many people I know who were strong Cruz supporters were left
utterly speechless at Cruz’s behavior, his gracelessness, and his inability to put country
first. One even said, ‘Cruz is no Reagan.’ And that right there was the unifying moment.
115
Cruz is now in the rear-view mirror and Hillary is firmly in the headlights. Watch out.”
[95457]
Pat Buchanan writes, “About Cruz, a prediction: He will not be the nominee in 2020. He
will never be the nominee. If Trump wins, Cruz is cooked. If Trump loses, his people will
not forget the Brutus who stuck the knife in his back.” [95490]
By allowing the smug Cruz to address the convention, Trump ensured a television ratings
boost. Millions of Americans watched the convention on television for the “Cruz
fireworks,” just to see what he would say. But in the process, many of those viewers also
heard Laura Ingraham, Erik Trump, Mike Pence, and Newt Gingrich.
On CNBC’s Squawk Box, author Ann Coulter says, “I’m beginning to understand why
Ted Cruz has been hated by everyone every place he’s ever been from kindergarten to the
United States Senate. And I must tell you the only way I’m making money this year is on
bar bets trying to get, you know, Donald Trump in the White House. And I would have
lost—I won all of them—if we had made a bet on who would endorse Donald Trump
first: Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz… [Marco] Rubio comes out and, tepid as it may be, he
does endorse Donald Trump. It’s Cruz who is a little bitch who can’t get over it.” [95554]
Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) tells the Indiana delegation at the convention, “I think what
people saw last night is what we have seen in the Senate. No matter how conservative
you are, you never can meet Ted’s standard. He only thinks of himself, he doesn’t think
about party. He’s a wrecking ball. He’s the most self-centered, narcissistic, pathological
liar I’ve ever seen—and you can quote me on that.” [95515]
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, addressing the New York delegation, says
the term “‘Crooked Hillary’ is certainly a description of their time in Little Rock. …The
biggest war on women that’s been conducted is by Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton, our predator
president, with his wife who enabled him, aided him, covered up for him, and headed the
bimbo squad. …This is someone who cares about the rights of women? [Do] You think
I’m stupid? You [Hillary Clinton] don’t care about feminism, you don’t even care about
your own dignity. All you care about is power, and you have a media that’s covered up
for you, and they should be ashamed of themselves. …That’s only one reason she
shouldn’t be president. The national security case against her is so strong that I’ve
convicted people based on ten percent [of the case against her]. Why wasn’t she
prosecuted? If Donald Trump becomes president, the statute of limitations will not have
run [out]… We can reopen the case. So she’s going to be running to try to prevent getting
an orange jumpsuit.” [95550, 95551]
At the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, black activist Cornel West tells
PJMedia.com, “When it comes to foreign policy, Hillary is of course much more of a
hawk than he [Donald Trump] is. There’s no doubt about it. So both of them, I think, are
very dangerous. It’s just that when you specify certain zones, she’s better in certain zones
116
and he’s better in certain zones—but he is still fascist, which is in the end very, very
frightening. Sister Hillary is much better in terms of social issues—keeping track of our
precious gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and bisexual and transgender folk. She’s
much better in terms of at least wanting to address some issues of racism. There’s no
doubt about that. In terms of economic issues, they are both tied to Wall Street. Trump’s
an independent money man but he still has a Wall Street mentality. It’s big money—big
banks.” [95605]
According to West, Trump is “in over his head. I don’t think it would be the end of the
world. No, no, you know, fascists have ruled and fascists have been overthrown so he’ll
come and go but it will leave such damage. Now, the possibility of just blowing up the
whole planet, I mean, that’s a possibility, but I mean [Hillary’s] attitude toward Russia,
her attitude toward China could lead to World War III, too. You just never know. All that
war rattling with NATO—it would be like Russian troops in Canada in Mexico. You can
image what the U.S. response would be if Russian troops were in Mexico and Canada—
that’s where NATO troops are right now, right on the border of Russia. She has actually
been very aggressive in terms of NATO troops being more intense in their activities, so
both candidates are dangerous. They’re not equivalent though. Neo-fascism is not the
same as neo-liberalism, but for poor and working people it’s still highly “dangerous.”
[95605]
21st Century Fox announces “that Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of Fox News
Channel and Fox Business Network, and Chairman of Fox Television Stations, has
resigned from his role effective immediately. Rupert Murdoch will assume the role of
Chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.” Ailes has
been under fire since Gretchen Carlson accused Ailes of sexual harassment. (Carlson’s
accusation of actions that allegedly happened years ago did not come until her contract
was not renewed—due to low ratings. For some people, sexual harassment can be
ignored as long as the paychecks keep coming—but that should not be construed as a
defense of Ailes.) [95519, 95543, 95574]
The White House announces $4.5 billion in loan guarantees for the creation of a
recharging infrastructure for electric cars almost no one is buying. (With the cost of
gasoline far lower than the cost of bottled water, it is not surprising that gasoline-powered
vehicles still make up the overwhelming majority of car sales.) [95521]
Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett tweets that “it’s important to stay safe in the heat,” and
refers to an Obama post in Facebook that notes, “Heat waves can be extremely
dangerous, even life-threatening.” (If Donald Trump wins the election in November,
Americans will have to figure out on their own in late January that cold weather means
coats and gloves are a good idea.) [95539, 95540]
Politico.com reports, “Humana will stop marketing Obamacare exchange plans in several
states next year and will exit many off-exchange individual markets as well, the company
announced today. The decision means the company will only offer individual plans in
117
156 counties in 11 states, down from 1,351 counties across 19 states this year. It had sold
plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges in 15 states this year. …The announcement,
made in the company’s second-quarter earnings filings, came shortly after the Justice
Department announced it had filed suit to block Aetna’s takeover of Humana.” (The
Obama administration also opposes Anthem’s merger with Cigna and has filed a lawsuit
to stop the acquisition.) [95834, 95835, 96451]
According to WashingtonExaminer.com, “The Democratic National Convention ordered
the state party of Vermont to replace two delegates—because they’re men. State Sen.
Tim Ashe and party insider Ken Dean [Bernie Sanders supporters] were ordered to be
replaced by the DNC so that the party could achieve a gender balance. Dean has filed a
formal complaint with the DNC’s credentials committee, according to the Associated
Press. Dean and Ashe were elected by the people of Vermont to serve as delegates on
June 11. Everything was fine until July 5, when the DNC ordered the state party to
replace the two men with women. This is not gender balance, it’s a false attempt by the
DNC to make the party appear more balanced than it is. The people wanted these two
men, who are both well-known and respected in the state, to go to the convention.
Instead, they will be replaced by two women for the sake of gender balance.” [95569,
95720]
In a University of New Hampshire poll, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by only two
points, 39-37, in the Granite State. “When other prominent candidates—Gary Johnson of
the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party—are included, the race is even
closer. Under that scenario, Trump and Clinton are tied at 37 percent each, with 10
percent supporting Johnson, 5 percent for Stein, 5 percent for someone else and 6 percent
undecided. …In the one-on-one matchup, Trump leads among independents, 40 percent
to 20 percent. In April, he led Clinton among independents, 33 percent to 31 percent.
Both candidates remain unpopular in New Hampshire.” (Obama defeated Mitt Romney
52-46 in New Hampshire in 2012.) [95529, 95530, 95531]
Obama’s Department of Justice files a lawsuit against Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania
for denying a zoning variance for a new mosque. [95522, 95523, 95524]
Obama greets the Kansas City Royals baseball team at the White House, and hosts a
delayed Eid al-Fitr reception (marking the end of Ramadan) for Muslim guests. Obama
says, “Muslim-Americans are as patriotic, as integrated, as American as any other
members of the American family. Whether your family’s been here for generations or
you're a new arrival, you’re an essential part of the fabric of our country. …And Muslim
Americans have enriched our lives every single day. You’re the doctors we trust with our
health, entrepreneurs who create jobs, artists who inspire us, activists for social justice
like the LGBT Muslims who are on the front lines in the fight for equality.” [95420,
95583]
CNSNews.com reports, “One year since the U.S. re-established diplomatic relations with
Cuba and four months since …Obama traveled to Havana, the two sides have yet to hold
118
a dialogue on human rights that was announced during the historic visit. …When Obama
visited Cuba last March, he said—alongside President Raul Castro at the Palace of the
Revolution—that the two sides had ‘agreed to hold our next U.S.-Cuba human rights
dialogue here in Havana later this year [2015].’” [95475]
TheGlobeandMail.com reports, “The truck driver who killed 84 people on a Nice
beachfront had accomplices and appears to have been plotting his attack for months, the
Paris prosecutor said Thursday, citing text messages, more than 1,000 phone calls and
video of the attack scene on the phone of one of five people facing terror charges.
Prosecutor Francois Molins said the five suspects in custody faced preliminary terrorism
charges for their alleged roles in helping 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in the
July 14 attack in the southern French city.” [95508, 95509, 95634]
Meanwhile, Le Figaro reports that France’s justice minister has ordered the destruction
of all video evidence of the July 14 attack in Nice. “The state agents of urban supervision
center of Nice are stunned. ‘This is the first time we are asked to destroy evidence, says a
source close to the investigation. The center of CCTV and the city of Nice could be
prosecuted for this and also the officers in charge of the device don’t have jurisdiction to
engage in such operations. ‘The request is all the more astonishing that since the last
Friday the SDAT [Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate] sent its servers to recover the 30,000
hours of CCTV related to the events. …Contacted by Le Figaro, the Paris prosecutor’s
office confirmed the information and said: ‘this was done in this case to prevent the
uncontrolled and unchecked dissemination of these images.’” (Whether the French
government will someday claim the attack never took place is not clear. That may depend
on how long it takes for Muslims to win major elections in France.) [95625, 95626,
95627]
Rush Limbaugh observes, “There are two overwhelming, inarguable results from this
[Ted Cruz non-endorsement]. Number one, we’re gonna [sic] have a ratings bonanza
tonight. And number two, we may be seeing the actual first threads of unity build behind
Donald Trump because of this. And it could well be that Trump has pulled off a masterful
move letting all this happen. I think that the argument that he may have done that is sort
of rubber-stamped by the fact that [Trump] walked in to that convention hall at the exact
moment that he knew Cruz was gonna [sic] be unloaded on by the audience. He walked
into that convention hall last night to his box at the exact moment that it was gonna [sic]
become, it did become clear to everybody that Cruz was not gonna [sic] endorse.”
[95486]
“…There is no other candidate that [sic; who] would allow that speech to be made.
There’s no other candidate [who] would allow that type of person, that situation, Cruz, to
even appear at the convention. But Trump did. …And I’m telling you, [there is] no way
that happens at a George Bush convention, a Bill Clinton convention, a Hillary Clinton
convention. …It would never happen. But it did happen last night. So now you’ve got all
these analysts trying to figure this out and proclaim the ultimate meaning, and the
conventional wisdom is that Cruz is toast, he has just ended his career. Dr. [Charles]
119
Krauthammer said it perhaps in the most creative way. Dr. Krauthammer said: ‘It was the
longest suicide note I have ever read.’ Is that not good? The longest suicide note I’ve ever
read.” [95486]
“…Because of that last night, look at all the unity now that is starting to occur for Trump.
Look at all the people, including some of the Never Trumpers now coming to Trump’s
defense. Maybe not coming to Trump’s defense, they are unifying with Trump against
Cruz. You have some Never Trumpers who are applauding Cruz, but it’s a minimal
number. He does have his supporters out there. And a lot of his supporters are in the
Drive-By Media. …Because what happened, the party ended up asserting itself last night,
the party that was previously in many sectors not all that warmed up to Trump. Some of
them still remained a little cool to Trump. Some of those people are now joining the call
to get behind the nominee. Cruz did that. Trump set the table and let it happen, knowing
full well what Cruz was going to say. …[Cruz’s] gamble is that Trump is gonna [sic] lose
and that he is going to be viewed in a couple of years as Winston Churchill.” [95486]
In a Suffolk University poll in Ohio, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are tied 44-44,
with 11 percent undecided. [95488]
In a national LA Times/USC poll, Trump and Clinton are tied, 43-43. [95589]
In a July 18-19 national Rasmussen poll, Trump leads Clinton 43-42. “Eleven percent
(11%) like some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.” [95609, 95610]
On the final evening of the Republican National Convention, Pastor Mark Burns delivers
a passionate, fervent speech. He is followed by NFL legend Fran Tarkenton, Maricopa
County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Oklahoma
Governor Mary Fallin, gay businessman Peter Thiel (“I am proud to be gay. I am proud
to be a Republican. But most of all, I am proud to be an American.”), and Republican
National Committee chairman Reince Priebus (“For Hillary Clinton, the Oval Office… is
just another cash cow.”) [95520, 95532, 95534, 95541, 95568, 95874]
Thiel also says, “When I was a kid, the great debate was about how to defeat the Soviet
Union. And we won. Now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use
which bathroom. This is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?” (At
Townhall.com, Rebecca Hagelin later writes, “Who cares about the bathroom debate?
You do, Mr. Thiel. And that stench America smells is your hypocrisy. What Mr. Thiel
did not tell the faithful gathered in Cleveland is that he is involved in targeting a
Republican governor in North Carolina who is up for reelection this fall. What he did not
reveal at the RNC and to the delegates from North Carolina is that his company, PayPal,
is boycotting their state. Why? It’s all about the bathroom debate. You know, the one Mr.
Thiel doesn’t care about. …PayPal is just fine continuing to operate offices in countries
like Saudi Arabia where the law allows homosexuals to be stoned to death. Let me be
clear: PayPal refuses do business in a state where boys are prohibited from using girls’
120
locker rooms, but has no problem making big bucks in Muslim countries that murder
people for their sexuality.”) [95679]
The convention ends with Ivanka Trump (wearing a $138 dress from her own clothing
line, sold at Macy’s) introducing her father, Donald Trump—who delivers his acceptance
speech: “Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your
nomination for the presidency of the United States. Together, we will lead our party back
to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace.
We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and
order. Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our
police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who
does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country. Americans watching this address
tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our
communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally; some have even been its
victims. I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our
nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be
restored.” [95491, 95503, 95505, 95514, 95516, 95517, 95533, 95549, 95552, 95553,
95564, 95565, 95613]
“The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any
government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead. It is finally time for a
straightforward assessment of the state of our nation. I will present the facts plainly and
honestly. We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore. So if you want to hear
the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths the Democrats are
holding their convention next week. But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We
will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.” [95491]
“These are the facts: Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being
reversed by this Administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement. Homicides last year
increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years.
In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60% in
nearby Baltimore. In the President’s hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been
the victims of shootings this year alone. And more than 3,600 have been killed in the
Chicago area since he took office. The number of police officers killed in the line of duty
has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year. Nearly 180,000 illegal
immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight
roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens. The number of new illegal immigrant families
who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015.
They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for
the impact on public safety or resources.” [95491]
“One such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There, he ended
the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21 years-old, and was
killed the day after graduating from college with a 4.0 Grade Point Average. Her killer
was then released a second time, and he is now a fugitive from the law. I’ve met Sarah’s
121
beautiful family. But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more
American life that wasn’t worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of
open borders.” [95491]
“What about our economy? Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited out
of your nightly news and your morning newspaper: Nearly Four in 10 African-American
children are living in poverty, while 58% of African American youth are not employed. 2
million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the President took his oath of office
less than eight years ago. Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.
Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. Our manufacturing
trade deficit has reached an all-time high – nearly $800 billion in a single year. The
budget is no better. President Obama has doubled our national debt to more than $19
trillion, and growing. Yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are
falling apart, our airports are in Third World condition, and forty-three million Americans
are on food stamps.” [95491]
“Now let us consider the state of affairs abroad. Not only have our citizens endured
domestic disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation after another.
We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian
captors at gunpoint. This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal, which gave back to
Iran $150 billion and gave us nothing—it will go down in history as one of the worst
deals ever made. Another humiliation came when president Obama drew a red line in
Syria—and the whole world knew it meant nothing. In Libya, our consulate—the symbol
of American prestige around the globe—was brought down in flames. America is far less
safe—and the world is far less stable—than when Obama made the decision to put
Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy.” [95491]
“I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets. Her bad instincts and her bad judgment—
something pointed out by Bernie Sanders—are what caused the disasters unfolding today.
Let’s review the record. In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map. Libya was
cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being
choked by sanctions. Syria was under control. After four years of Hillary Clinton, what
do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the world. Libya is in ruins, and our
Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt
was turned over to the radical Muslim brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control.
Iraq is in chaos.” [95491]
“Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee
crisis that now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after
trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever
been before. This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness.”
[95491]
“But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy. The problems we
face now—poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad—will last only as
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long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in
leadership is required to change these outcomes. Tonight, I will share with you my plan
of action for America. The most important difference between our plan and that of our
opponents, is that our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be
our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we
can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. This will all change
in 2017.” [95491]
“The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at
home—which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism.
There can be no prosperity without law and order. On the economy, I will outline reforms
to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild
America. A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight will be opposed by some
of our nation’s most powerful special interests. That is because these interests have
rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit. Big business, elite
media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they
know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because
they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the
strings.” [95491]
“That is why Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change. My message is
that things have to change—and they have to change right now. Every day I wake up
determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been
neglected, ignored, and abandoned. I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the
communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men
and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice. I AM
YOUR VOICE. I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our
politicians put their personal agendas before the national good. I have no patience for
injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail
their citizens.” [95491]
“When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage,
or the basic decency to enforce our laws—or worse still, has sold out to some corporate
lobbyist for cash—I am not able to look the other way. And when a Secretary of State
illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities
can’t see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces
no consequence—I know that corruption has reached a level like never before. When the
FBI Director says that the Secretary of State was ‘extremely careless’ and ‘negligent,’ in
handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what
she actually did. They were just used to save her from facing justice for her terrible
crimes.” [95491]
“In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such an egregious crime
and getting away with it—especially when others have paid so dearly. When that same
Secretary of State rakes in millions of dollars trading access and favors to special
123
interests and foreign powers I know the time for action has come. I have joined the
political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend
themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me [sic; better than I], which is why I
alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just
like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders—he never had a chance. But his supporters will
join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue: trade. Millions of Democrats
will join our movement because we are going to fix the system so it works for all
Americans. In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the
United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.” [95491]
“We will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought to Indiana. He
is a man of character and accomplishment. He is the right man for the job. The first task
for our new Administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism
and lawlessness that threatens their communities. America was shocked to its core when
our police officers in Dallas were brutally executed. In the days after Dallas, we have
seen continued threats and violence against our law enforcement officials. Law officers
have been shot or killed in recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas,
Michigan and Tennessee.” [95491]
“On Sunday, more police were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were
killed, and four were badly injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all
Americans. I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and
the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and
order our country. I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law
enforcement officials in the country to get the job done. In this race for the White House,
I am the Law and Order candidate. The irresponsible rhetoric of our President, who has
used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a
more dangerous environment for everyone.” [95491]
“This Administration has failed America’s inner cities. It’s failed them on education. It’s
failed them on jobs. It’s failed them on crime. It’s failed them at every level. When I am
President, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected
equally. Every action I take, I will ask myself: does this make life better for young
Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live
out their dreams as any other child America? To make life safe in America, we must also
address the growing threats we face from outside America: we are going to defeat the
barbarians of ISIS. Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men,
women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A
nation in mourning.” [95491]
“The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been over and
over— at the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston
Marathon, and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Only weeks ago, in
Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic
terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted our LGBT community. As your President, I will
124
do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and
oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to
hear you cheering for what I just said.” [95491]
“To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things. We must have the best
intelligence gathering operation in the world. We must abandon the failed policy of
nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and
Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS
and stamping out Islamic terror. This includes working with our greatest ally in the
region, the State of Israel. Lastly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any
nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting
mechanisms have been put in place.” [95491]
“My opponent has called for a radical 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees on top of
existing massive refugee flows coming into our country under President Obama. She
proposes this despite the fact that there’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find
out who they are or where they come from. I only want to admit individuals into our
country who will support our values and love our people. Anyone who endorses violence,
hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never will be. Decades of record
immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens,
especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an
immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.” [95491]
“On Monday, we heard from three parents whose children were killed by illegal
immigrants Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and Jamiel Shaw. They are just three
brave representatives of many thousands. Of all my travels in this country, nothing has
affected me more deeply than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who
have lost their children to violence spilling across our border. These families have no
special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protest on their behalf.
My opponent will never meet with them, or share in their pain. Instead, my opponent
wants Sanctuary Cities. But where was sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was Sanctuary
for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel? Where was sanctuary for all the other
Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have suffered so horribly?”
[95491]
“These wounded American families have been alone. But they are alone no longer.
Tonight, this candidate and this whole nation stand in their corner to support them, to
send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save countless more families
from suffering the same awful fate. We are going to build a great border wall to stop
illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from
pouring into our communities. I have been honored to receive the endorsement of
America’s Border Patrol Agents, and will work directly with them to protect the integrity
of our lawful immigration system. By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will
stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down.
125
Peace will be restored. By enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay their visas,
our laws will finally receive the respect they deserve.” [95491]
“Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been
denied— and every politician who has denied them—to listen very closely to the words I
am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office,
Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are
enforced. We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone. But my
greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens. My plan is the exact opposite
of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want
relief from uncontrolled immigration. Communities want relief. Yet Hillary Clinton is
proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness. Her plan will
overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it
harder for recent immigrants to escape from poverty.” [95491]
“I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that
protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat. It’s been a signature message of
my campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the
moment I take the oath of office. I have made billions of dollars in business making
deals—now I’m going to make our country rich again. I am going to turn our bad trade
agreements into great ones. America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs
since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and
Hillary Clinton. Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst
economic deals ever made by our country. Never again.” [95491]
“I am going to bring our jobs back to Ohio and to America—and I am not going to let
companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without
consequences. My opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade
agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported NAFTA, and she
supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization—another one of her
husband’s colossal mistakes. She supported the job killing trade deal with South Korea.
She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP will not only destroy our
manufacturing, but it will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments. I
pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or that diminishes our
freedom and independence. Instead, I will make individual deals with individual
countries.” [95491]
“No longer will we enter into these massive deals, with many countries, that are
thousands of pages long—and which no one from our country even reads or understands.
We are going to enforce all trade violations, including through the use of taxes and
tariffs, against any country that cheats. This includes stopping China’s outrageous theft of
intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating
currency manipulation. Our horrible trade agreements with China and many others, will
be totally renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better deal for
126
America—and we’ll walk away if we don’t get the deal that we want. We are going to
start building and making things again.” [95491]
“Next comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While Hillary
Clinton plans a massive tax increase, I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any
candidate who has declared for the presidential race this year—Democrat or Republican.
Middle-income Americans will experience profound relief, and taxes will be simplified
for everyone. America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes
will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Then we
are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest job-killers of them all.
Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end
it. We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy. This will
produce more than $20 trillion in job creating economic activity over the next four
decades.” [95491]
“My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and steel workers of our
country out of work—that will never happen when I am President. With these new
economic policies, trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country. This new wealth
will improve the quality of life for all Americans—We will build the roads, highways,
bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions
more jobs. We will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to
a safe school of their choice.” [95491]
“My opponent would rather protect education bureaucrats than serve American children.
We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own
doctor again. And we will fix TSA at the airports! We will completely rebuild our
depleted military, and the countries that we protect, at a massive loss, will be asked to
pay their fair share. We will take care of our great Veterans like they have never been
taken care of before. My opponent dismissed the VA scandal as being not widespread—
one more sign of how out of touch she really is. We are going to ask every Department
Head in government to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate
in my first 100 days. The politicians have talked about it; I’m going to do it. We are also
going to appoint justices to the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws
and our Constitution.” [95491]
“The replacement for Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views and principles. This
will be one of the most important issues decided by this election. My opponent wants to
essentially abolish the 2nd amendment. I, on the other hand, received the early and strong
endorsement of the National Rifle Association and will protect the right of all Americans
to keep their families safe. At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical
community who have been so good to me and so supportive. You have so much to
contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your
own pulpits. An amendment, pushed by [then-Senator] Lyndon Johnson, many years ago
[1954], threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly
127
advocate their political views. I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and
protect free speech for all Americans.” [95491, 95542]
“We can accomplish these great things, and so much else—all we need to do is start
believing in ourselves and in our country again. It is time to show the whole world that
America Is Back—bigger, and better and stronger than ever before. In this journey, I’m
so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my wonderful children, Don, Ivanka,
Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: you will always be my greatest source of pride and joy. My
Dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder
sometimes what he’d say if he were here to see this tonight. It’s because of him that I
learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working
people. He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters, and
electricians and I have a lot of that in me also.” [95491]
“Then there’s my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was
a truly great mother. She was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have
ever known, and a great judge of character. To my sisters Mary Anne and Elizabeth, my
brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always give you my love you are most
special to me. I have loved my life in business. But now, my sole and exclusive mission
is to go to work for our country – to go to work for all of you. It’s time to deliver a
victory for the American people. But to do that, we must break free from the petty
politics of the past.” [95491]
“America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of
censors, critics, and cynics. Remember: all of the people telling you that you can’t have
the country you want, are the same people telling you that I wouldn’t be standing here
tonight. No longer can we rely on those elites in media, and politics, who will say
anything to keep a rigged system in place. Instead, we must choose to Believe in
America. History is watching us now. It’s waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion,
and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and
strong.” [95491]
“My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: ‘I’m
With Her.’ I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads: ‘I’M WITH YOU—
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.’ I am your voice. So to every parent who dreams for their
child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m
With You, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you. To all Americans tonight, in all
our cities and towns, I make this promise: We Will Make America Strong Again. We
Will Make America Proud Again. We Will Make America Safe Again. And We Will
Make America Great Again. THANK YOU.” [95491]
Trump’s speech is interrupted when Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin unfurls a banner that
reads, “Build Bridges Not Walls!” and calls Trump a racist. After she is escorted out of
the arena, Trump asks, “How great are our police?” [95558]
128
Benjamin’s face is well known to those who follow politics closely, along with that of her
Code Pink co-founder, Jodie Evans. (How Marxist Benjamin manages to keep getting
into both Republican and Democrat political events is not clear.) As noted in Volume 1 of
this Timeline, Evans and Benjamin once met with Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad in New York City, and Benjamin delivered a letter from the terrorist group
Hamas to Obama. Evans, an Obama fundraiser, is a friend of aging leftist actress and Viet
Cong sympathizer Jane Fonda. Evans met with the Taliban on a trip to Afghanistan, and
later personally presented Obama with a package containing “…photos, quotes,
thousands of signatures [on a petition against more troops for Afghanistan], a copy of
Rethink Afghanistan and [a] 25-minute interview with Afghan MP Dr. Roshanak Wardak
from Wardak Province, who is adamant that the US should not send new troops and
rather, must leave.” Evans has publicly called for the kidnapping of former President
Bush, his wife Laura, and other members of his administration in “citizens’ arrests” for
war crimes related to the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Iraq War. She has been
seen in public with Obama more than once. In 2004 the Code Pink anti-war group
delivered $600,000 in cash and supplies to Iraq—not to American soldiers, but to the
terrorists who are fighting them in Fallujah. Evans later donated $2,300 to the Obama
presidential campaign. In a June 2008 interview Evans said Osama bin Laden had a
“valid argument” for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. [104, 215, 220, 355,
395, 6160, 6163, 6322, 6481, 6523, 6860, 6861, 6862, 6863, 6864, 6865, 7902, 7903,
7904, 7905, 10776, 10829, 10902, 10903, 10904, 11706, 11707, 11708, 11769, 21004,
36117, 36154, 36258]
The convention ends with little controversy (other than what was ginned up by the
media), and without the riots and massive protests that many had predicted (possibly
because Ohio allows open-carry of firearms and demonstrators were intimidated by
“Bikers for Trump”) and it is unlikely that many were disappointed that there were no
speeches by George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, John McCain, or Mitt Romney. Win or lose in
November, the Republican Party is now defined by Donald Trump, not the Bush family.
(Meanwhile, the Democrat Party is still defined by the Clintons.) [95645]
While Republicans and fed up Americans may have been aroused and excited by
Trump’s speech, Democrats and media leftists (who apparently all received the
“dystopia” talking point) predictably rip it to shreds:
Hillary Clinton lackey and campaign chairman John Podesta states, “Tonight, Donald
Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline. And his answer—more fear, more
division, more anger, more hate—was yet another reminder that he is temperamentally
unfit and totally unqualified to be President of the United States. He offered no real
solutions to help working families get ahead or to keep our country safe, just more
prejudice and paranoia. America is better than this. America is better than Donald Trump.
Next week in Philadelphia, Democrats will focus on issues, not anger. We’ll offer a
positive vision for the future based on lifting America up, not tearing Americans down.”
(Clinton and Podesta should be reminded that 7 out of 10 Americans believe the nation is
“on the wrong track.” That is, they believe the situation is “pretty dark.” Trump believes
129
Americans fear violence and terrorism and want law and order restored; Clinton
apparently believes almost everything is just fine and any problems can be solved with
more government hand-outs.) [95563]
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos remarks, “[Trump] painted a dark picture of where
America stands today. …And Martha Raddatz, [in] a pretty dark speech, labeled Hillary
Clinton the candidate of death, destruction terrorism and weakness and mass
lawlessness.” Raddatz: “Yeah. If Americans are not scared for their safety before tonight,
they are tonight.” NBC’s Chuck Todd: “You know… I thought it was an extraordinarily
dark speech. There are going to be many Americans who say he’s describing, ‘I don’t
recognize that America.’ There are going to be others that [sic; who] say, ‘That is what I
think I see’ or ‘that is what I think I feel.’ But, I tell you, it was dark.” [95578]
NBC’s Tom Brokaw: “People in this hall see him as a man on a white horse who will
lead them to some kind of sanctuary and then pull the drawbridge up behind them. Others
looking in are going to see someone they will only think as a demagogue of some kind.”
Nicolle Wallace: “[T]he Republican Party that I worked for for two decades died in this
room tonight. We are now represented as a party by a man who believes in protectionism,
isolationism and nativism.” CBS’ Scott Pelley: “It was a loud voice, more vengeful than
hopeful. More hyperbole than details.” CBS’ Charlie Rose: “Well, we heard the list of
grievances we've heard before. It was a long speech at one speed tied together by two
words, law and order. And ‘I can fix the system. I will make it better. I am your voice.
I’m the one,’ with little appeal to the better angels.” [95578]
CNN’s resident communist, Van Jones: “[W]hat Donald Trump did tonight is a disgrace.
That was a relentlessly, even for Donald Trump, who at least occasionally breaks up the
fear mongering with some jokes, some asides, some amusement, he had one funny line in
an hour and 15 minutes and the rest of it was a relentlessly dark speech. He was
describing some Mad Max America. …He says he’s going to reach out to AfricanAmericans and deal with their economic pain. It’s hard… to get a job if you’re in a
community that’s over-policed and you have a criminal record.” (Jones does not explain
why an abundance of police officers makes going to work a chore. Granted, it is difficult
to find a job if one has a criminal record. But the solution to that will not come from
Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton; it comes from not breaking the law in the first place.)
Jones continues: “I am actually—I’ve never felt this way in my life. I have read in history
being in moments [sic] where there’s some big authoritarian movement of some leader
that’s rising up. And I felt that way tonight and it was terrifying to me. This speech
divided the country. You’re either inspired by this or you’re terrified by it. I’m terrified
by it.” (Jones does not explain why he finds law and order and more jobs terrifying.)
[95579]
On MSNBC, Eugene Robinson says, “[I]t was an angry speech for angry people. [Trump]
painted this very grim dystopian picture of America, an America racked with crime and
violence even though crime rates are actually way down.” (Total crime rates may be
down nationwide, but that is irrelevant to people living in the inner cities, where murder
130
rates are up.) “…[H]e talks about African-Americans and killings of police officers. He
talks about illegal immigrants as being responsible for crime and… roaming free, right,
as people do, right? They roam. You know, and frankly, this was a message, at least to
my ears, to white America—be afraid. I will protect you.” [95590]
MSNBC’s Joy Reid: “[T]he speech was either kind of music to your ears and sort of
spoke to the really kinda of dour, sort of dystopian, sort of angry place that a lot of
Americans are in. There is a subset of Americans who [believe] it’s not new. For 30
years, that’s part of what conservative talk radio has done. It’s sort of nurtured this sense
of grievance, grievance against the culture, grievance against the left, grievance against
liberalism that is now grievance against the Obama America and so, the two Americas
are very different places. I thought the speech… was extremely dark. It was a future that
is a country that is full of crime and violence, a country where immigrants are scary and
where religion is under attack, and that is what Donald Trump’s speech spoke to.”
[95590]
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “[W]hat you see is a melding together of concern about
terrorism, which puts us all in the same boat. All Americans don’t like terrorism. All
Americans are fearful of it. But when you get back to the angle, the edge, it’s about big
cities with large minority populations. You go back to that old thing of bashing
Washington, D.C., the old [Mayor] Marion Barry days, bashing Baltimore and Chicago,
those city names evoke minorities.” Chuck Todd: “There is, you wonder, there’s some
coded language.” Matthews: “Yeah.” (To Matthews and Todd, talking about crime in the
cities is “code” for “be afraid of blacks.” Apparently they cannot comprehend that Trump
wants crime in all neighborhoods to be dramatically reduced—not just for the sake of
whites, but for the sake of blacks and Hispanics as well.) [95581]
CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla: “Did, did [the speech] remind you of Willie Horton? There
was [sic] some comparisons to that, taking about a specific case that resulted in the death
of a young American?” (Willie Horton was a criminal allowed weekend releases from
prison by then-Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts. After Horton committed a
murder, the George H. W. Bush campaign ran an ad about the murder.) John Harwood:
“Well, in particular, in the case that [Trump] cited, with Sarah Root, there was an
automobile accident. That was not a murder. So, again, he was manipulating emotions to
try to fire up his base. I’m not sure when the fact checkers get through with this speech
it’s going to fare very well.” (Harwood’s point is a distinction without a difference. Root
was killed by a drunk driving illegal immigrant whose blood alcohol limit was three
times above the legal limit. Harwood apparently believes Americans should not be
outraged by such deaths.) [95582]
Talking heads on CNN are less than happy with the results of its quick poll of people
who watched Trump’s speech on its own network: 57 percent had a positive reaction; 18
percent had a somewhat positive reaction; 24 percent said it had a negative effect. The
speech made 56 percent of the viewer more likely to vote for him; 73 percent believe
131
Trump’s proposed policies will move the country in the right direction. [95599, 95600,
95614, 95615]
Meghan McCain tweets, “The party I was part of is dead.” (She is no doubt unaware of
the identity of the people who killed it: George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, John
McCain, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan—and all the other
elites who believed “go along to get along” and “Democrat-lite” were the party’s
principle. Had they stood up for American workers and taxpayers rather than Wall Street,
the Chamber of Commerce, “nation building,” and a “New World Order,” they would
never have lost the White House.) [95596, 95597]
On July 22 Dustin Ulsterman writes on Facebook, “There were moments during Donald
Trump’s speech… I was both uncomfortable and enthralled. Not for what was said, but
that he said it. I cannot help but wonder if even he is not fully aware of the closets he is
now threatening to open wide for all the world to see. Mr. Trump has made some very
serious enemies. No politician of the modern era has been so willing to take on the status
quo, including the globalist regime that has permeated every facet of our social and
political discourse. He is now enemy #1 to those who have for so long worked to see
America fall.…”
At a meeting in which he thanks supporters and convention workers, Donald Trump says,
“I like Ted [Cruz], he’s fine. …[But] I don’t need his endorsement. If he gives it to me, I
will not accept it. …He should have done it [endorsed me]. He would have been in better
shape in four years. …He’s got intellect, but he didn’t use it.” [95507]
Former Bill Clinton political advisor Dick Morris says, “Last night was Donald Trump’s
triumph. I thought that speech was magnificent. …[Y]ou really got the sense, as he
spoke, that he’s gonna [sic] overcome every obstacle in his path, that this guy is intent on
making this work, and making it happen. …And I thought he was a magnificent
prosecutor in laying out all of Hillary’s sins, all of the problems, and how she basically
turned that marriage into a… racketeering organization, where Bill goes around
collecting bribes, puts them in Hillary’s bank account, and she does [takes] actions to
benefit the people who paid the speaking fees. Where are the smoking guns? Deleted!
And that was the whole point of having the secret email server, so nobody could catch
her in the bribery scheme that was her secretary of state tenure. [95502]
WashingtonExaminer.com writes, “We’ve argued before that Donald Trump is a poor
messenger for an important message. It’s a message that should be heeded not because
his policy prescriptions are the right ones—many would, we believe, be damaging if
implemented. It should be heeded, rather, because it captures real and justified concerns
shared by millions of Americans. On Thursday night, despite undisciplined ad libs that
sapped his convention speech of energy, Trump came closer than ever before to
becoming an effective messenger. Beneath his occasionally mangled delivery was the
voice of millions of people who feel left behind, vulnerable and dismayed by political
and cultural developments at home and abroad.” [95566]
132
“…But Trump is not wrong when he excoriates officials who pay too little attention to
the physical protection of Americans in their own country, and that includes protecting
them from convicted criminal immigrants. …His call to stanch the flow of immigrants
from countries known to foment terrorism will be regarded as beyond the pale only by
those who are reflexively hostile to him and his party. In this speech, he avoided the
toxicity, xenophobia and self-wounding commentary to which he has been prone during
the past year. Trump is no orator. He is unpracticed and unskilled delivering important
set-piece texts. But despite these shortcomings, we suspect that the message he delivered
Thursday while accepting the Republican presidential nomination will resonate with a
wider audience across America than he has reached before.” [95566]
Michael Barone writes, “Disruptive. That’s a good word to describe Donald Trump’s
presidential candidacy, and to describe the sometimes ramshackle Republican National
Convention his campaign more or less superintended in Cleveland this past week. Apple
disrupted the music industry, Uber disrupted the taxi cartels, Amazon disrupted the
megabookstores. Global competition has been disrupting American manufacturing for
decades. …Over history America has mostly been built by disruption. Certainly the
Loyalists in the American Revolution thought so. …The other 16 Republicans largely
represented a perhaps stale party consensus: Conservative on cultural issues, for tax cuts,
backing military interventions and free trade. Trump was different: perfunctory on
cultural issues, against the Iraq war, corrosively critical of trade agreements and illegal
immigration.” [95567]
“Trump’s victory in the Republican race owes much to $2 billion or so of free media
coverage and to his 16 rivals’ unwillingness to risk attacks that might recoil against them.
His dystopian picture of America and the world spinning out of control gained credibility
after terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, Orlando and Nice, and even more so
after recent mass murders of police officers. This was the centerpiece of his acceptance
speech in Cleveland. …For 20 years, American elections have looked like battles
between two roughly equal-sized armies in a culture war, with close results every election
year. It’s easy to predict how 40 states will vote, much harder to predict who will win.
Donald Trump may well disrupt these patterns too. Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes
seem within his range, as well as Ohio’s 16 and Florida’s 29—which together would
have made Mitt Romney president.” [95567]
“…Disorder and disarray work against the party in power. Terrorist attacks and police
shootings are not what Americans expected in the Obama years. Neither are examples of
government incompetence from VA hospitals to Benghazi. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel,
speaking minutes before Trump, described the ‘staggering decline’ of governmental
research and software. Maybe some disruption from a candidate who says he has ‘no
tolerance for government incompetence’ is in order.” [95567, 95568]
“Thursday night’s speech is likely to serve Trump better than his sophisticated critics
expect, for he managed mostly to avoid distractions and say what millions of voters want
133
to hear. It may be enough to turn what had been an ineffective, even counterproductive,
convention into a plus for his campaign. Hillary Clinton’s inner circle may be smirking
just a bit less today than they were on Thursday morning.” [95566]
Jazz Shaw writes at HotAir.com, “The [Trump acceptance] speech was not, in many
ways, what we’re used to hearing at a presidential convention, but is anyone truly
surprised? Nothing about Trump has been conventional politics as usual from the
moment he threw his hat in the ring. One could ably argue that this breaking of traditional
molds is the only reason he’s gotten as far as he has. There was an immediate backlash
from the press who seem perpetually put off their feed when Trump does anything other
than the accepted political shtick. David Corn described it as a parade of fear and
loathing.” [95573]
“As with all things in politics these days, I suppose we all brought our own expectations
to the table and took away what we wanted. Unlike David Corn, I didn’t hear a dark,
dystopian critique of America last night, but rather a frank assessment of the fact that
there are real problems in need of solutions. Sweeping aside all the wonky details of the
economy and the markets or the buzzwords which drive the political media, Trump
addressed the very real insecurities which many Americans experience today in a nation
where too many feel disconnected from the government behemoth in a system which
doesn’t seem to be working. That’s not gloom and doom… it’s reality, and I think the
message was one that many Americans were waiting to hear. But Trump didn’t just
condemn the status quo. He offered an option of security to people who frequently don’t
even recognize much of the country as the one they grew up with.” [95573]
“…Trump wasn’t signaling despair. He was promising to be the person who would do
something about it. The language may have been too vague or coarse for the usual media
mavens, but Trump closed with the tone which worried voters no doubt wanted to hear.
…When Trump look out from that stage and said, ‘I am your voice’ he was talking
directly to a large swath of the nation who feel as if they’ve had no voice in the direction
of the country for a long time now. If you were determined to hate Trump from the
beginning I’m sure none of that adds up to a hill of beans. If you were one of the faithful,
the speech was no doubt what you expected. But for the millions of Americans who
weren’t tuned in to the campaign at every turn and are perhaps just now beginning to pay
attention, this was a dose of tough medicine mixed with a positive note of assurance that
these are all problems which can be managed if we first admit that there is a problem to
be dealt with.” [95573]
At ConservativeHQ.com editor George Rasley writes, “Last night Donald Trump
punched the corrupt and selfish elite of this country right in the nose and the crowd at the
Republican National Convention and on social media across the globe gave him a
standing ovation. The establishment media and the globalist elites who own them, ahh,
not so much. …[T]he New York Times’ alleged Republican columnist David Brooks
pronounced the speech ‘dark’ and ‘dystopian’ and compared its central premises to the
‘the argument of nearly every demagogue since the dawn of time,’ including Senator Joe
134
McCarthy. …Donald Trump’s acceptance speech was the most profound indictment of
America’s ruling elite to be delivered since 1980… [F]ar from being dystopian, scary and
dark as David Brooks characterized it, we found it to be uplifting and optimistic. And the
optimism was not the kind whistling past the graveyard the Republican establishment
does when presented with the litany of problems Donald Trump reviewed—it was in
Trump’s recognition that the time to fix things is short and his unequivocal promise to do
so that optimism shone brightly.” [95577]
“But the key to Donald Trump’s campaign, and indeed a key to his entire political world
view, may be found in a few paragraphs of the speech he addressed to America’s working
men and women, and especially this: ‘My dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest
working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he’d say if he were here to see this
tonight. It’s because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of
work and the dignity of working people. He was a guy most comfortable in the company
of bricklayers, carpenters, and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. I love those
people.’ Ask yourself if Hillary Clinton has ever even met a bricklayer, carpenter or
electrician that was an actual working guy, not a highly paid union official? Not in a
million years. And that knowing and that connection between Donald Trump and
working America is key to Trump’s message and key to his strategy for victory in the
2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.” [95577]
“…The emotional appeal of Donald Trump’s message on the devastating effects of illegal
immigration on real Americans is something for which Hillary Clinton has no counter,
just as she has no counter to the emotional appeal of the law and order message when its
face is the wives and children of murdered police officers and the national security and
trust message when its face is Pat Smith. …As for us here at CHQ, we found in Donald
Trump’s acceptance speech the first glimmer of hope for the restoration of our country
and the real change we’ve been campaigning for: ‘My message is that things have to
change and they have to change right now. Every day I wake up determined to deliver a
better life for the people all across this nation that had been ignored, neglected and
abandoned.’ Last night Donald Trump showed us that he understands what needs to be
done, now it is up to us to build the conservative—populist coalition that can win this
election and then make sure, as conservatives did after they elected Ronald Reagan, that
Donald Trump fulfills the long list of promises he made last night.” [95577]
Rush Limbaugh comments on the leftist criticism of Trump’s speech as “dark”: “The
Democrat Party every day of my life has been saying that this country is bigoted, that this
country is unjust, that this country is immoral, that is country is homophobic, that this
country discriminates, that this country has evil corporations which do nothing but target
and kill their own customers, that this country is run by a bunch of evil bankers who are
themselves creating this wide gap in wealth and the income gap. Day in and day out!
…Most of my life, the Democrat Party has been pummeling me and anybody else who
listens—and their voters do—with just how rotten this country is. They wouldn’t know
how to be optimistic if they tried. Their version of optimism is what? ‘We’re going to
help you maintain your current economic circumstance. The Republicans want to make
135
you poorer. Well, we’re gonna make sure you don’t get any poorer. We’re gonna keep
you as poor as you are now, and you’re gonna like it.’” [95598]
“The Democrat Party doesn’t uplift. The Democrat Party doesn’t offer anything
optimistic. The Democrat Party punishes achievers. From schools to athletics to
extracurricular activity, who is it that slaps all these performance penalties on people?
Who is it that’s been passing out trophies to people that haven’t accomplished anything?
All you gotta do is show up! …Who is it that has been painting a picture of the United
States and life in this country as so bleak that the only hope any of us have is to rely on
whatever government can do for us? We are incapable of and incompetent at providing
for our families. The government must raise our children. You are incompetent! You
cannot make the right decisions with your own money.” [95598]
“You certainly can’t handle your own health care. You not probably gonna buy the right
car that we determine you should buy if we leave it totally up to you. And since you
won’t buy the junk and garbage that we are requiring you to buy, we’re gonna outlaw the
stuff that you want. Somebody explain to me how in the world the Democrat Party
escapes this characterization of dark, and filled with doom, and doom and gloom. They
defined how to do it!” [95598]
At NYTimes.com, Julia Preston whines that under a Trump presidency, “the American
dream would be primarily reserved for Americans.” (Preston is apparently unaware that
immigrants who become naturalized U.S. citizens are also Americans living the dream.
Illegal immigrants are not entitled to the dream because they entered the nation as lawbreakers, just as bank robbers are not entitled to their illegal withdrawals.) [95594,
95594]
At Lifezette.com Edmund Kozak writes, “The progressives in the mainstream media are
petrified—quaking at the thought of a president who will actually put the interests of
American people above those of left-wing ideologues and multinational corporations.
And now liberal talking heads have raised their hysterical hyperbole to soaring heights in
the wake of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech. …Liberal pundits throughout the
media—and some Republican ones too—are reacting as if Trump’s tone and message
were unprecedented in the history of Republican politics. But Trump’s words echo
directly Ronald Reagan’s 1980 convention address. ‘Never before in our history have
Americans been called upon to face three grave threats to our very existence, any one of
which could destroy us,’ Reagan warned. ‘We face a disintegrating economy, a weakened
defense, and an energy policy based on the sharing of scarcity,’ he said. ‘The major issue
of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic
Party leadership—in the White House and in Congress—for this unprecedented calamity
which has befallen us,’ Reagan continued, words that would have blended easily into
Trump’s speech.” [95611]
Reagan’s son Michael Reagan, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, changes his tune in
a Newsmax.tv interview. Reagan, impressed with Trump’s acceptance speech, says he
136
“basically hit all the buttons of all the problems that we face today in America. He also,
in doing that, hit all of the groups that all these government programs have in fact failed
to do anything for. If they [media pundits] consider that dark, it’s only dark because the
national media refuses to in fact go out and tell these groups of people the failures of
government in their lives, even though they promised them everything but the moon.
That’s why they probably think that what Donald Trump did last night was dark. What
Donald Trump needs to do now is convince people outside of Cleveland, outside of that
convention that he in fact can solve the problems he discussed in his speech.” [95841,
95842, 95954]
Obama holds a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. (The
timing is not accidental. Obama scheduled the event in order to give Nieto an opportunity
to criticize Donald Trump and his proposed border wall the day after his acceptance
speech.) Fox News’ Kevin Corke asks Obama if the polls showing that a strong majority
of Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction are an indictment of his
administration. A peeved Barack “it’s never my fault” Obama replies, “Over the last 20
to 30 years you’re going to be [sic; you would be] hard pressed to find a time when
Americans thought we were on the right track. It’s not that unusual.” [95674]
Obama says, “This idea that America is somehow on the verge of collapse, this vision of
violence and chaos everywhere doesn’t really jibe with the experience of most people. I
think it is important just to be absolutely clear here that some of the fears that were
expressed throughout the week just don’t jibe with the facts.” A delusional Obama adds,
“America is much less violent than it was 20 or 30 years ago. We’re not going to make
good decisions based on fears that don’t have a basis in fact, and that, I think, is
something that I hope all Americans pay attention to.” [95501, 95535, 95557, 95601,
95602]
Obama says crime rates are down. But while that is correct in general, Donald Trump
specifically referred in his speech to the murder rates in the inner cities (there was a 17
percent increase in homicides in America’s 50 largest cities in 2015), and the illegal
immigrant crime rates—which have been increasing. That fewer wallets and purses are
being stolen by pickpockets means little to the family of a person shot and killed by an
illegal immigrant.) Obama insists illegal immigration is down and implies it is not much
of a problem. (No reporter asks Obama what Trump should ask Hillary Clinton in their
first presidential debate: “If you oppose a border wall, do you support tearing down the
fences and walls that are already in place along portions if the border?”) [95501, 95535,
95557, 95601, 95602]
While Obama claims “America is much less violent than it was 20 or 30 years ago,”
Hillary Clinton’s campaign website declares, “We can—and must—end the epidemic of
gun violence.” “33,636 reasons we need to act on gun violence. The number of American
lives lost to gun violence is more than three times the rate as the next developed country.
We need to act.” [95683, 95684]
137
Not long after Obama suggests violence is not as widespread as Donald Trump says,
there are reports of shootings at a McDonald’s restaurant near a shopping mall in
Munich, Germany. Nine are killed and as many as 16 are injured. The gunman then kills
himself. [95506, 95526, 95527, 95603, 95623, 95624, 95670, 95703]
Based on unconfirmed rumors, Fox News’ Shepard Smith eagerly reports that the
gunman may be a “right-winger,” but Sky News claims the shooter is “a recent refugee
known to authorities as ‘Kassam Haid.’” (Smith and Sky News are both mistaken.) One
witness says she heard the killer yell, “Allahu akbar.” Other witnesses claim there were
additional gunmen. [95561, 95606, 95618, 95622]
FoxNews.com reports, “The suspect was identified as an 18-year-old German-Iranian
man, who was born and raised in Munich. Prosecutor Steinkraus Koch tells a news
conference the suspect had a book titled: ‘Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill.’
[Munich] Police Chief [Hubertus] Andre says that the suspect appeared to be ‘obsessed
with shooting rampages.’” [95607, 95621]
According to the Daily Mail, the Iranian-German killer’s name is Ali David Sonboly—
although more than a few media outlets (including the BBC) have conveniently omitted
the “Ali” and merely stated that his name is David Sonboly. His name may, in fact, be Ali
Daud Sonboly (or Sonbuli). He used a Glock 17 handgun, obtained illegally, in the
attack. (After criticism, the BBC later lists the killer’s full name.) [95628, 95629, 95630,
95631, 95636, 95656, 95657, 95658]
Police in Munich later arrest a 16-year-old Afghan friend of Sonboly, who may have
been an accomplice in the attack. [95700, 95706]
Pamela Geller writes, “Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse… Muslim refugees are
being hired to police the pools [in Germany] where Muslim refugees are sexually
attacking young boys and girls. …Every girl in Europe should carry a knife, mace, or
other kinds of protection. [Chancellor Angela] Merkel’s government is not going to
protect them. The Muslim invasion of Europe is Merkel’s catastrophic project.” [95632]
CNN.com’s lead page shows one story on the left: “Obama: Trump’s doom-and-gloom
doesn’t match reality,” and on the right: “Shooting spree at mall.” [95537]
Obama says, “Some of you were aware, uh, there were shootings in Germany, uh, we
don’t yet know what’s happening there, uh, obviously, our hearts go out ta [sic; to] those,
uh, who may have been injured, uh, it’s still an active situation, and, uh, Germany’s one
of our closest allies, uh, so we are gonna [sic] pledge all the support that they may need,
uh, in dealing with these circumstances. It’s a good reminder of something that I’ve said
over the last couple of weeks, which is, our way of life, our freedoms, our ability ta [sic]
go about our business every day, uh, raising our kids and seein’ ’em grow up and
graduate from high school, and now [smiling] about to leave their dad—I’m sorry, I, I,
138
I’m gettin’ a little too personal, getting a little too personal there, uh, uh, and that depends
on law enforcement.” (At least nine people are dead in another mass killing and the
despicable Obama thinks only about himself and laughs.) [95556, 95616]
The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein tweets, “Donald Trump doesn’t want to make
America great. He wants to make it afraid, because that's the only way he wins.”
Countermoonbat tweets, “I agree…Making people afraid is wrong” and notes a climate
change warning from Secretary of State John Kerry: “If they’re wrong: catastrophe. Life
as you know it on earth ends.” [95537, 95538]
At Original.Antiwar.com Justin Raimondo writes, “This election season is so much fun
because Donald Trump keeps enraging all the right people…” With his remarks about
NATO members not paying their fair share, “Trump has stumbled on the dirty little secret
of the post-World War II security architecture so beloved by our elites: for the privilege
of paying for their defense, and in effect militarily occupying our allies-cum-satellites, we
allow them to flood our markets with tariff-free goods, while they wall off their markets
with trade barriers and subsidies. As the Old Right economist and prophet of empire
Garet Garrett put it at the dawn of the cold war, it’s a peculiar sort of empire in which
‘everything goes out and nothing comes in.’…Trump continues to surprise us with his
common sense approach and his willingness to tell the truth, no matter how it grates
against the delicate sensibilities of the political class—a class so buried in its own conceit
that it has lost touch with the reality most ordinary Americans have no trouble seeing.
This is why Trump has come so far, so fast.” [95642, 95643]
“What really has the War Party bent out of shape is Trump’s refusal to go to war with
Russia over some minor border dispute between Russia and the Baltic states, which have
been palavering about alleged ‘Russian aggression’ for years now. [The New York Times’
David] Sanger channels their palaver by accusing the Russians of doing all sorts of
provocative things—never mentioning NATO’s unprecedented military ‘exercises’ right
on Russia’s border—and positing a scenario where Russia ‘comes over the border into
Estonia or Latvia, Lithuania, places that Americans don’t think about all that often, would
you come to their immediate military aid?’ When Trump fails to answer with an
unequivocal yes, Sanger presses the point: ‘They are NATO members, and we are treatyobligated.’ This isn’t true. Article 5 of the NATO treaty says if another NATO member is
attacked each member ‘shall take such action as it deems necessary.’” [95642, 95643]
“…It’s truly amazing how the neocons on the right and the Clintonistas on the left are
uniting in outrage against Trump’s refusal to start World War III with the Russians.
Jeffrey Goldberg has declared that ‘Hillary Clinton is running against Vladimir Putin,’
and Mrs. Clinton, for her part, has issued a statement that does everything but accuse
Trump of being a Manchurian candidate. Neocon Jamie Kirchick, in his bizarre piece for
the Los Angeles Times advocating a military coup against Trump should he be elected,
cites the Trump campaign’s successful effort to scotch a plank in the GOP platform
calling for arming the Ukrainian government with offensive weapons as a reason to oust
President Trump. Similarly, the Clinton statement attacks Trump for the same thing—as
139
if the American people want to start a military conflict in Europe for the sake of a corrupt
kleptocracy that came to power by overthrowing the elected President.” [95642, 95643]
“We haven’t seen a smear campaign like this since the frigid winter of the cold war,
when anyone who deviated from the ‘commies under the bed’ paranoia of that era was
denounced as a ‘subversive’ and hauled before a congressional inquisition. Both wings of
the War Party are united in their hatred for Trump’s ‘America First’ policy of minding
our own business and staying out of foreign wars. Yet Trump has turned the tables on the
War Party: it is they who are being put on the defensive by his relentless assault, and his
willingness to say what most normal people are thinking. His disregard for the pieties of
the Beltway, his contempt for the self-proclaimed ‘experts,’ and his ability to mobilize
the American people behind a foreign policy that puts them first, is the best thing that has
happened to this country in the modern era.” [95642, 95643]
HotAir.com reports on Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s expansion of the
state’s law on “assault weapons.” “There was already a ban on ‘assault rifles’ in the state
which everyone had grudgingly come to live with, but …Healey has just rewritten the
law on nothing more than her own whim. Supposedly, the previous definition of ‘assault
rifles’ was based on various cosmetic fixtures and attachments, none of which alter the
underlying functionality of the weapon system. These include items like flash suppressors
or a folding stock. Shops selling semiautomatic rifles without such features were allowed
to do business. But Healey’s new unilateral directive states that any rifle with the same,
‘internal operating systems that are essentially the same as illegal assault weapons, or
have key functional components that are interchangeable with those of banned weapons’
will now be banned as well. In case you didn’t catch the implication of that statement, it
means that essentially every semiautomatic rifle on the market is now banned.” (Not
surprisingly, Healey’s action prompts increased gun sales.) [95572, 95993]
“There is little to no functional difference between what liberals refer to as ‘assault rifles’
and any conventional semiautomatic hunting rifle. Yes, there are reasons to have flash
suppressors or different designs of stocks and barrel lengths depending on your needs, but
the underlying machinery of the weapons platform remains the same. Anti-gun rights
groups are forced to base their entire argument on these largely cosmetic distinctions. In
Massachusetts they based their original law on the importance of these ‘features’ when it
was written, but the Attorney General is now claiming that she has to replace the entire
law because those distinctions apparently have no meaning. Excuse me, Madam, but
that’s what we’ve been trying to tell you all along.” [95572]
In Vienna, Austria, Secretary of State John Kerry says, “[T]oday we can say that the tide
has turned. Our coalition and partners on the ground have driven Daesh [ISIS] out of
nearly 50 percent of the territory that it once controlled in Iraq and 20 percent of the
territory in Syria, where it’s obviously more complicated because we don’t have the same
forces on the ground. …We’re making progress, but we want to make more and we want
to do it faster. We also know that getting at it in its core areas is obviously a challenge
and we’re going to prepare carefully and we’re going to proceed relentlessly, but I’m
140
confident that we are going to succeed and we’re going to—what do I mean by that?
We’re going to deprive Daesh of its geographical base and we’re going to strike a heavy
blow against that organization in those two areas where it had most secured territory and
from which it was announcing its caliphate.” [95584]
Kerry also says, “As we were working together on the challenge of [ISIS] and terrorism,
it’s hard for some people to grasp it, but what we—you—are doing here right now is of
equal importance because it has the ability to literally save life on the planet itself. …The
use of hydrofluorocarbons is unfortunately growing. Already, the HFCs use in
refrigerators, air conditioners, and other items are emitting an entire gigaton of carbon
dioxide-equivalent pollution into the atmosphere annually. Now, if that sounds like a lot,
my friends, it’s because it is. It’s the equivalent to emissions from nearly 300 coal-fired
power plants every single year.” (Translation: “The threat to your life does not come
from ISIS; it comes from your air conditioner.” Sadly, Kerry likely believes the nonsense
he is spewing—while he flies around the world, riding in limousines and on yachts,
dramatically expanding his own “carbon footprint.”) [95637, 95638, 95662, 95667]
Kerry’s statement prompts an online petition calling for the removal of air conditioning
from State Department offices. [95832]
In Miami, three men (Gregory Hubbard, Dayne Christian, and Darren Jackson) are
charged with conspiring to join ISIS. [95702]
Obama vetoes legislation that would reduce the amount of retirement pensions paid to
former presidents. He claims, “It would impose onerous and unreasonable burdens on the
offices of former presidents, including by requiring the General Services Administration
to immediately terminate salaries and benefits of office employees and to remove
furnishings and equipment from offices.” (Many would argue that former presidents
should not receive any pension at all and should not be given taxpayer-funded staffs.
Every former president can earn a fortune giving speeches and sitting on boards of
directors—and should write their memoirs on their own dime.) [95717]
WikiLeaks posts 20,000 emails hacked from the Democrat National Committee. (One
email, from one3 DNC official to another, reads, “[Ken] Vogel gave me his story ahead
of time/before it goes to his editors as long as I didn’t share it. Let me know if you see
anything that’s missing and I’ll push back.” Vogel is a writer at Politico.com—who
previously worked for a George Soros-funded organization called the Center for Public
Integrity. He apparently seeks permission from the Democrats before posting his stories.)
[95559, 95560, 95570, 95873, 95910, 96105]
Another DNC email suggests attacking Bernie Sanders’ campaign over his religion (or
lack thereof): “It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to
ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish
heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my
141
peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an
atheist.” (The DNC is supposed to be impartial, of course, but from day one it has had its
thumb on the scale for Hillary Clinton. This email is further evidence for those who
believe the system is rigged in favor of the political elites.) [95575, 95779]
Yet another DNC email reads, “Any particularly good hit we want to dump today on
Tapper?” (That is, “Have we a hit piece we can give to the cooperative Jake Tapper at
CNN for him to repeat on the air?”) [95592]
A May 3, 2016 email from DNC communications director Luis Miranda touches on the
suggestion that Ted Cruz’s father Rafael Cruz appears in a 1963 photograph passing out
pamphlets with Lee Harvey Oswald. Miranda writes, “While I will note that Cruz’s father
was in fact a militant who fought the Batista regime (which Fidel Castro defeated) and it
would not be unusual for him to be caught up in the ugly web of Cuban militants with
questionable histories (just look at the cabinet in the basement, one of the Watergate
burglars was… Cuban) …with plenty of other examples including a guy who blew up a
plane and was basically given safe refuge in Texas… not to mention those who were
involved in the ugly Central American wars in the 80s… I think this is a fun hit.” [95806]
Hillary Clinton announces that Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), an establishment insider who
was once chairman of the Democrat National Committee, will be her running mate.
Kaine is as bland an individual as she (or her focus groups) could have chosen—which
may be what she wanted. Clinton is such a terrible campaigner that she likely did not
want a partner who could overshadow her on the campaign trail. Kaine is also moderate,
close to Wall Street, and sees “much to like” in the Trans Pacific Partnership treaty—
none of which will make supporters of Bernie Sanders happy. (Whether the Democrat
ticket will be known as “Kaine and Enabler” remains to be seen.) [95571, 95576, 95620,
95646]
Clinton may have made a mistake choosing Kaine. In 2012 Obama beat Mitt Romney 5147 in Virginia. Clinton does not need Kaine to help her win that state—which has huge
numbers of federal government employees who work in and around Washington, D.C.
Those employees tend to vote for the status quo and are not likely to rock their own boats
by voting for Donald Trump. Kaine is unlikely to help Clinton win any other states,
partly because few people have heard of him and partly because he is a boring selection.
Kaine was the “safe” choice. Many would suggest that a better pick would have been the
more liberal Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Ohio may be within Trump’s reach in
November (Obama won the state 51-48 in 2012) and Brown could possibly offset some
of the blue collar votes Romney did not win that Trump will win. On the other hand, if
Brown were to become vice president, Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican, would
select his successor until a special election could be held to fill Brown’s Senate seat.
[95648, 95649]
Others would suggest that Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) could have been a better choice,
as he is black and would help offset some of the losses expected from black voters who
142
stay home without Obama on the ballot. But New Jersey’s governor is also a Republican,
and Clinton would not want Chris Christie picking a replacement for Booker. Clinton is
playing it safe, making sure that her running mate selection does not cause the loss of a
Democrat Senate seat. But she runs the risk of losing the votes of Sanders supporters who
dislike her and who do not find Kaine sufficiently “progressive.”
While Clinton assumes Kaine will help her win the state of Virginia, she lost votes in that
state with a 4-3 State Supreme Court ruling striking down Governor Terry McAuliffe’s
executive order giving the right to vote to convicted felons in the state—most of whom
are Democrats. The shameless McAuliffe plans to get around the court’s decision by
issuing individual grants of clemency to all 206,000 felons. [95589, 95590, 95591,
95647, 95672]
The Democrats also believe that Kaine is an asset because he speaks Spanish. (Why that
matters is not clear, unless he plans on giving speeches in Spanish to audiences of illegal
immigrants who are not eligible to vote. In order to vote one must be a U.S. citizen, and
one must learn English in order to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Some Hispanic
voters will be upset that Clinton did no choose a “real” Latino running mate.) [95688]
Kaine may ruffle some Democrat feathers because he claims he is “personally opposed”
to abortion—yet has a pro-choice voting record has been pro-choice. (Matt Walsh writes,
“imagine if we applied [that line of thinking] to any other crime: ‘I’m not personally a fan
of burglary, but who am I to call the cops just because a man in a ski mask is breaking
into my neighbor’s house?’ ‘I’m morally opposed to armed robbery, but as far as I’m
concerned the issue is between the armed robber and the store clerk.’ ‘I admit I feel rather
squeamish about kidnapping, but that guy luring children into his van has made a very
difficult decision and I don’t think the government should get involved.’ ‘Personally, I
think rape is wrong, but I won’t tell a rapist what to do with his body—or the body of his
victim.’”) [95688, 95822]
In addition, according to TheBlaze.com, “As governor, Kaine accepted more than
$160,000 in gifts and paid travel, according to state reports. The gifts were legal under
the state’s permissive ethics rules, but his willingness to accept them could become an
issue during the presidential campaign.” [95688, 95822]
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus states, “After spending last
week pandering to grassroots Democrats with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton has chosen
someone who holds positions that she’s spent the entire primary trying to get to the left
of. Ultimately, this is a ticket that represents one thing: four more years like the last eight,
just with more corruption and scandal. A Clinton-Kaine administration will push our
country further down the path …Obama has led us on and that has made us less safe, less
prosperous, and less free. More taxes, more debt, more government and more leading
from behind on the global stage will not deliver the turnaround our country desperately
needs. Americans have had enough of the failed Democrat status quo. …Donald Trump
and Mike Pence offer a better path for our country that puts America first. A Trump143
Pence administration means more jobs with rising incomes, more security, more freedom,
and a conservative Supreme Court.” [95654]
In a July 18-22 Reuters/Ipsos national poll, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 41-38.
(Trump was behind Clinton by about 10 points in previous polls.) [95655]
In a national Gravis Marketing poll of registered voters conducted July 21-22, Trump
leads Clinton 51-49. [95663, 95664]
Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary, Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the
Democratic Party, opens in theaters across the country. (The film, shown in more than
1,200 theaters, quickly becomes the top-grossing documentary of 2016. At TakiMag.com
Gavin McInnes calls it, “quite possibly the greatest documentary of all time.”) [95416,
95417, 95585, 95659, 95945, 96046, 96131]
On July 23 Obama plays golf. [95764]
GotNews.com reports, “Facebook brought down the banhammer on outreach coordinator
for Dinesh D’Souza’s Hillary’s America on Saturday, two days before the Democratic
National Convention begins and Hillary is finally coronated. Journalist and producer
Jeremy Oliver works as an outreach coordinator for the documentary Hillary’s America
and posted links encouraging other group members to watch and review the film the night
it premiered. Shortly after that, Facebook imposed a ‘temporary restriction’ on his
posting permissions. While none of his posts have been removed from any groups, no one
can share them. Oliver can’t join new groups, post in groups he belongs to, or comment
on his posts…” (Facebook apparently wants no one to see D’Souza’s new documentary.)
[95675]
Women who have lost their children to the actions of illegal immigrants hold a press
conference outside the Janesville, Wisconsin home of House Speaker Paul Ryan—a
home that is protected by a huge wall. (Ryan flees in his limousine rather than be
presented with photos of Americans killed by illegal immigrants.) [95595, 95757]
In Kabul, Afghanistan, ISIS suicide bombers kill at least 80 and injure at least 230.
[95665, 95666, 95671]
FoxNews.com reports on the “new trove of leaked emails [that] seem to show that top
officials at the Democratic National Committee openly mocked and criticized Sen. Bernie
Sanders during the primary race against Hillary Clinton—a startling revelation that raises
questions about the Democratic Party’s impartiality and an issue that could play out
poorly at the party’s convention this week in Philadelphia. WikiLeaks posted close to
20,000 emails and 8,000 attachments Friday sent or received from top Democratic
officials that seem to suggest the committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz and other higher ups tried to tip the scales in Clinton’s favor. WikiLeaks dubbed
144
the document dump the ‘Hillary Leaks series.’ …The leaks, from January 2015 to May
2016, purportedly came the from [sic; from the] accounts of seven DNC officials and
feature conversations by staffers debating everything from how to deal with media
requests to syncing the party’s message with interest groups in Washington.” [95608,
95650, 95652, 95653]
“…A May 15, 2016 email, shows the DNC was in close contact with news websites on
articles related to the Democratic Party, Sanders and Clinton. A Real Clear Politics article
claimed that Sanders supporters are causing a lack of unity at the Democratic National
Convention. Wasserman Schultz took issue with the headline. ‘This headline needs to be
changed,’ she wrote. What followed was a back and forth between DNC officials to
pressure Real Clear Politics to change their story. The last email on the thread reads,
‘Done. Article has been updated.’” [95608]
The emails reveal countless example of the DNC working with the mainstream media to
spread its propaganda. This should be a monumental story—but probably will not be
because the media is not about to report on its own corruption. At DangerandPlay.com
Mike Cernovich lists some of the “scoops” from the leaked emails: “Chuck Todd of NBC
is bossed around by DNC Chair [Debbie] Wasserman [Schultz].” “Hillary has to pay
people to support her.” “Protests that the media cover are not real. The ‘protesters’ are a
bunch of interns.” “The Washington Post hosts joint fundraisers with the DNC.” “The
Democratic primary was rigged.” (Even before the release of the emails it was obvious
that media leftists are told what to report by the DNC. On many occasions, different
media outlets report the same pro-Democrat stories, often using the same language. It is
no coincidence that the Republican convention has been called “dark” and “dystopian” by
things of journalists and television talking heads—most of whom had never even heard
the word “dystopian” until they received the talking points memos. Similarly, one media
once described a Hillary Clinton policy as “robust”—because her campaign “suggested”
that word be used. It is not just Hillary who is “crooked,” it is also the vast majority of
allegedly objective journalists.) [95608, 95635]
May 12, 2016 DNC emails about television coverage of a protest read, “Tv [sic; TV]
coverage of [an anti-Trump] protest great. Shockingly good coverage despite abysmal
turnout. CNN and MSNBC using prominently” and “Yes, but going forward when our
allies screw up and don’t deliver bodies in time, we either send all our interns oy there or
we stay away from it… we don’t want to own a bad picture.” (In other words, the
Democrat National Committee coordinates protests and if there are not enough “bodies”
the DNC interns are sent in to make the crowds look bigger.) [95619, 95885]
A series of emails shows that prominent people in the DNC considered denying access to
a $50-per-peron fundraiser because Tennessee delegate Amanda Kruel, a supporter of
Bernie Sanders, had tweeted criticism of Debbie Wasserman Schultz. In the end, the
DNC allowed Kruel to attend, but expressed other concerns: “We need to make sure we
don’t have an incident with signs, posters, shouting matches. Not a good look, either.”
145
“We could collect phones at the door. That way they wouldn’t film and post any stunts
they try to pull.” [95714]
Another email reads, “Attached is a script for a new video we’d like to use to mop up
some more taco bowl engagement, and demonstrate the [sic; that] Trump actually isn’t
trying.” (“Taco bowl engagement” is apparently how the DNC views Hispanic outreach.)
[95736, 95779]
Even worse, two emails read, “I love you for finding this, no homo,” and “I love you too.
No homo. Phew.” (Some DNC officials are apparently not fond of homosexuals. Had
those emails been sent by Republicans, the mainstream media would not let the issue rest
until the people involved were fired. Instead, the issue will be ignored.) [95745]
Breitbart.com reports, “Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s newlyannounced running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, has a history of embracing
Islamists. He appointed a Hamas supporter to a state immigration commission; spoke at a
dinner honoring a Muslim Brotherhood terror suspect; and received donations from wellknown Islamist groups. In 2007, Kaine was the Governor of Virginia and, of all people,
chose Muslim American Society (MAS) President Esam Omeish to the state’s
Immigration Commission. A Muslim organization against Islamism criticized the
appointment and reckless lack of vetting. Federal prosecutors said in a 2008 court filing
that MAS was ‘founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.’ A
Chicago Tribune investigation in 2004 confirmed it, as well as MAS’ crafty use of
deceptive semantics to appear moderate. Convicted terrorist and admitted U.S. Muslim
Brotherhood member Abdurrahman Alamoudi testified in 2012, ‘Everyone knows that
MAS is the Muslim Brotherhood.’” [95651, 95772]
Omeish was “Vice President of Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, a radical mosque known for
its history of terror ties including having future Al-Qaeda operative Anwar Al-Awlaki as
its imam and being frequented by two of the 9/11 hijackers and the perpetrator of the Fort
Hood shooting. Omeish’s website says he remains a board member.” Omeish was also
“chairman of the board of Islamic American University, which had Hamas financier and
Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yousef Al-Qaradawi as chairman of its board until
at least 2006. Omeish was also chairman of the board for the Islamic Center of Passaic
County, a New Jersey mosque with heavy terrorist ties and an imam that the Department
of Homeland Security wants to deport for having links to Hamas.” [95651, 95772]
“In September 2011, Kaine spoke at a ‘Candidates Night’ dinner organized by the New
Dominion PAC that presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for Jamal Barzinji, who
the Global Muslim Brotherhood Watch describes as a ‘founding father of the U.S.
Muslim Brotherhood.’ He first came on to the FBI’s radar in 1987-1988 when an
informant inside the Brotherhood identified Barzinji and his associated groups as being
part of a network of Brotherhood fronts to ‘institute the Islamic Revolution in the United
States.’ The source said Barzinji and his colleagues were ‘organizing political support
which involves influencing both public opinion in the United States as well as the United
146
States Government’ using ‘political action front groups with no traceable ties.’” [95651,
95772]
“Barzinji had his home searched as part of a terrorism investigation in 2003. U.S.
Customs Service Senior Special Agent David Kane said in a sworn affidavit that Barzinji
and the network of entities he led were investigated because he ‘is not only closed
associated with PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] …but also with Hamas.’ Counterterrorism reporter Patrick Poole broke the story that Barzinji was nearly prosecuted but
the Obama Justice Department dropped plans for indictment. Barzinji played a major role
in nearly every Brotherhood front in the U.S. and was vice president of the International
Institute of Islamic Thought, which came under terrorism investigation also. Barzinji’s
group was so close to Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Sami Al-Arian that IIIT’s
President considered his group and Al-Arian’s to be essentially one entity.” (Despite
Barzinji’s links to terrorism, Kaine attended a dinner in his honor.) [95651, 95772]
Barzinji is also a trustee of the North American Islamic Trust, an unindicted coconspirator in the largest terror-financing case in U.S. history. Barzinji was one of the
supporters of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s proposed Ground Zero mosque. The Dar alHijrah Islamic Center was also the mosque attended by Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Malik
Hasan. According to Pamela Geller, Omeish “…is an Islamist tied to an al-Qaeda fund
raiser and the spiritual adviser to the 9/11 hijackers.” [3683, 3684, 14013, 33651, 95772]
According to Politico.com, Hillary Clinton’s process for vetting vice presidential
candidates including a demand that they turn over family member passwords for social
media accounts. They also “had to list every piece of property they’d ever owned, and
copies of every resume that they’d put out for the past 10 years. Every business partner.
Every gift they’d ever received, according to those familiar with the details of the vetting
process.” [95739, 95740]
Preparations for the Democrat National Convention include almost four miles of eightfoot “border fence” surrounding the entire facility. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) recently
remarked, “It’s interesting that the Democratic National Committee will have a wall
around their convention to keep unapproved people out while at the same time, their
presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, pushes for open borders policies that are even
more radical than …Obama’s. She would refuse to deport dangerous criminal aliens until
after they have been convicted of committing heinous crimes against Americans, close
detention centers, issue even more extreme executive orders than Obama, and increase
Syrian refugees five-fold. Her proposed policies make no sense, decimate the rule of law,
further reduce wages for poor Americans, and increase the risk of terrorism and criminal
behavior. Security is a necessity in this increasingly dangerous world. Clinton and the
DNC don’t hesitate to use walls and guns for protecting themselves and their elite
friends. I say it’s time to provide such protection to the at-risk people like Kate Steinle,
and Clinton not understanding this will lead to her defeat.” [95660, 95661, 95761]
147
Only a handful of people show up for a “Muslims Against ISIS” rally in Washington,
D.C. Imam Ali Siddiqui of the Islamic Center of Northern Virginia tells the “crowd,”
“It’s always been said that Muslims never speak, so this is a great opportunity for people
to hear that we’re speaking out against terrorism, against violence.” [95708, 95709,
95805]
At Shoebat.com Walid Shoebat writes, “The Munich massacre is a complete coverup.
The Munich shooter’s Facebook including his family background shows he is NOT
Iranian but a Syrian Islamist pro Turkey. They initially introduced his name as a western
name ‘David S.’ Then his name changed to Ali David Sonboly (which sounds western)
when his real name is Ali Daud Sonboly/Sunbuli which is an Arabic name (better
pronounced Sunbuli) and has an exclusively Arabic meaning: ‘from the wheat kernel.’
Sonboly is no Iranian. He is Syrian. His Facebook page showed that he is pro Turkey’s
Islamists. That, plus he had a record with the Interpol and was being watched. He is also
not a teenager as they show us, but an adult as videos showed.” [95737]
“…Ali Daud (not David) Sonboly, did not simply have a fetish for the red colored flag or
the crescent moon. His clan is of Turkish origin living in Syria. …The case for this clan’s
love of Turkey’s Erdogan is ironclad. Plus, he lived in the Turkish neighborhood and his
Facebook shows he was in Germany’s hauptschule college since 2011. He did not arrive
there just two years ago. Someone up there in Germany’s government is fibbing
advertising him as an Iranian which would make him a Shiite Muslim. This is done in
order to avoid repercussion. Imagine Germans finding out that Turks and Syrian refugees
who are entering Germany by the droves are the real culprit? For Germany, it was time to
sweep it all under a Persian rug.” [95737]
On July 24 a Syrian migrant hacks a pregnant woman to death in Reutlingen, Germany.
A passing motorist runs into the attacker to stop him from escaping. [95691, 95701,
95707, 95752]
At Townhall.com Helen Raleigh writes, “Ivanka Trump delivered a solid speech on
Thursday night. She was warm, articulate and poised. During the last 10 minutes of her
speech, however, she touched on the gender pay gap issue by citing the same popular yet
misleading statistics that Democrats have been using for years: ‘In 2014, women made 83
cents for every dollar made by a man. Single women without children earn 94 cents for
each dollar earned by a man, whereas married mothers made only 77 cents.’ These
statistics cited by Ivanka do not take many variables such as hours worked, type of
works, experiences, education etc. into account. Economist Mark Perry concluded that
the only way to arrive the ‘women made only 77 cents’ statistic is ‘by comparing raw,
aggregate, unadjusted full-time median salaries.’” In other words, “these numbers aren’t
comparing equal work performed side by side by men vs. women. Through study after
study, numerous economists have pointed out the fallacy in these numbers. Back in 2009,
a Department of Labor’s study determined that ‘the differences in raw wages may be
almost entirely the result of the individual choices being made by both male and female
workers.’” [95673]
148
Although media leftists were pleased by Ivanka Trump’s remarks, Raleigh is correct. As
this Timeline has pointed out more than once, it is absurd to make policy based on
nothing more than an average estimate of all women’s incomes versus an average
estimate of all men’s income. That the male CEO of a large corporation earns more than
a female accountant at the same corporation is not evidence of discrimination; it merely
demonstrates that the CEO is worth more to the business than the accountant. Similarly,
Mary Barra, the female CEO of General Motors is paid far more than her male assembly
line workers, but that is certainly not “proof” of gender discrimination. Lumping together
the wages and salaries of all women and comparing them to those of men proves nothing
because it does not take into account career choices. One does not become wealthy
becoming a kindergarten teacher, but many women choose that profession because their
days off and long summer vacations typically line up with those of their own children.
The proper question is not, “Does kindergarten teacher Sally earn less than John the
CEO?” The proper question is, “Does kindergarten teacher Sally earn the same as
kindergarten teach Mike, who has the same years of experience, the same educational
experience, and who works in the same school system?”
CNN.com reports that Democrat National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman
Schultz “will not have a major speaking role or preside over daily convention
proceedings this week, a decision reached by party officials Saturday after emails
surfaced raising questions about the committee’s impartiality during the Democratic
primary.” (Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH), former chairwoman of the
Congressional Black Caucus—who once said there is “an unwritten rule that black lives
hold no value; that you may kill black men in this country without consequences or
repercussions”—is named convention chair.) [95668, 95669, 95680, 95685, 95686,
96133]
“Wasserman Schultz reluctantly agreed to relinquish her speaking role at the convention
here, a sign of her politically fragile standing. But party leaders are now urging the
Florida congresswoman to vacate her position as head of the party entirely in the wake of
leaked emails suggesting the DNC favored Clinton during the primary and tried to take
down Bernie Sanders by questioning his religion.” [95668, 95669, 95680, 95685, 95686,
96133]
Later in the day Debbie Wasserman Schultz announces she will resign as chair of the
Democrat National Committee. She states, “Going forward, the best way for me to
accomplish those goals [of winning the presidency for Hillary Clinton] is to step down as
Party Chair at the end of this convention. As Party Chair, this week I will open and close
the Convention and I will address our delegates about the stakes involved in this election
not only for Democrats, but for all Americans. We have planned a great and unified
Convention this week and I hope and expect that the DNC team that has worked so hard
to get us to this point will have the strong support of all Democrats in making sure this is
the best convention we have ever had.” (The statement suggests Wasserman Schultz will
149
address the convention, but that seems unlikely—as doing so opens up the possibility if
her being booed by supporters of Bernie Sanders.) [95690, 95710]
According to Politico.com, Clinton operative and party hack Donna Brazile “is
considered the odds-on favorite” to replace Wasserman Schultz as head of the DNC.
Wasserman Schultz also faces a primary challenger, Tim Canova, for her Congressional
seat in Florida. “Canova [who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders in May] searched his
name in the WikiLeaks database and saw that he was mentioned in about 70 emails. He
said it appeared DNC staff was acting like an arm of Wasserman Schultz’s reelection
effort and might have violated campaign-finance laws.” (Brazile will not be welcomed by
Sanders supporters either; at least one of the hacked emails shows her disdain for the
Senator. In 1999, after being tapped to run Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, Brazile
said, “A black female in America is the most invisible object in the world” and she would
not let the “white boys” win.) [95690, 95692, 95744, 95798, 95799, 95872, 95905,
96083]
Brazile tells CNN, “This is a cautionary tale to everybody. Hello, goodbye, that’s it. Stop
emailing. Pick up the phone.” (Translation: “Corruption is acceptable; just don’t get
caught being corrupt.”) [95788, 95877]
Clearly Wasserman Schultz is not the only one within the Democrat National Committee
who is corrupt, but she was the one chosen to fall on the sword for Hillary Clinton—
knowing that virtually no one in the mainstream media will dare to suggest that Clinton
had anything to do with the party’s actions to rig the system against Bernie Sanders. “It’s
time to move on” will be the rallying cry after a few hours of superficial media reports.
Disgraced or not, Wasserman Schultz will not be going away; she will be campaigning
for Hillary Clinton. NPR.org reports, “In a statement, Hillary Clinton thanked her
‘longtime friend’ for her leadership. ‘There’s simply no one better at taking the fight to
the Republicans than Debbie.’ Clinton also announced that Wasserman Schultz will serve
as honorary chair of the campaign’s ‘50-state program to gain ground and elect
Democrats in every part of the country’ and that the two will campaign together both to
help elect Clinton to the White House and to help with Wasserman Schultz’s Senate [sic;
House] re-election campaign.” [95693, 95694, 95712, 95719]
Wasserman Schultz’s resignation as head of the DNC will also not make all of the party’s
problems go away. According to Observer.com, “On June 28, the Miami-based law firm
Beck & Lee filed a class action lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and
DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.” Among other things, the lawsuit charges fraud,
because the DNC broke legally binding neutrality agreements by working to ensure that
Hillary Clinton would be the nominee. The lawsuit also seeks retribution for donations to
the DNC made by Bernie Sanders supporters. [95697]
150
DailyCaller.com reports that the DNC information released by WikiLeaks includes
“spreadsheets and emails that appear to show party officials planning which donors and
prominent fundraisers to provide with appointments to federal boards and commissions.
The documents, which were circulated among top DNC officials in April, could raise
legal questions for the party, says Ken Boehm, the chairman of the National Legal and
Policy Center, a government watchdog group. ‘The disclosed DNC emails sure look like
the potential Clinton Administration has intertwined the appointments to federal
government boards and commissions with the political and fund raising operations of the
Democratic Party,’ Boehm told The Daily Caller. ‘That is unethical, if not illegal.’”
[95743, 95976]
On CNN, Hillary Clinton operative Robby Mook ignores the shameful content of the
20,000 DNC emails and claims (without any evidence) the hacking was done by the
Russians on behalf of Donald Trump. [95753]
On ABC’s This Week, uninformed Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN)—also
known as Keith Hakim—says, “We’re focused on getting’ rid of Donald Trump, making
sure that he is not the president of the United States… we do have the worst Republican
nominee since George Wallace.” (Segregationist Wallace sought the Democrat Party
presidential nomination for president in 1964, 1972, and 1976.) [95676, 95677, 95678,
95721]
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook again ignores the content of the leaked DNC
emails on ABC, blaming Russia and the Trump campaign for the hacking. He says, “It’s
troubling that some experts are now telling us that this was done by the Russians for the
purpose of helping Donald Trump. I think that what’s troubling is how he praised
Vladimir Putin. It’s troubling how last week he said NATO should not protect Eastern
Europe allies.” (Trump has called Putin a strong leader, which is arguably true and not
necessarily praise. Trump has also called for all NATO nations to pay their fair share of
the costs of that collective defense—which more than a few are not doing. To argue that
European nations should be defended by U.S. taxpayers even if they do not pay the costs
required by the NATO agreement is tantamount to arguing that an insurance company
should cover storm damage to a house even if the homeowner does not pay his
premiums.) [95711, 95753]
On Face the Nation, Obama claims Americans are “significantly more safe now” and
“trying to fan fears simply to score political points” is not in the nation’s best interests.
(Over the next four days, of course, speakers at the Democrat National Convention will
frighten millions of blacks and Hispanics by claiming they are in danger of being shot
and killed by racist white police officers.) Obama also says, “I feel as if I’m a better
president than I’ve ever been, [and] that the experience has made me sharper, clearer
about how to get stuff done.” [95681, 95747]
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweets, “I find it inconceivable that Republicans continue
to ignore the reality of climate change, which is the global crisis of our time.” [95682]
151
Sanders, who should be outraged over the content of the hacked DNC emails, appears on
Meet the Press and spends his time criticizing Donald Trump. How much he was
promised in return for supporting Hillary Clinton is not known, but no one should be
surprised if he is rewarded with a committee chairmanship if the Democrats win control
of the Senate in the November elections. More than likely, Sanders would chair the
Senate Budget Committee—where he would oversee an orgy of spending never before
seen in history. (If Clinton wins the election, no one should also be surprised if the
Sanders and Trump supporters continue to fight against the elites in their parties.)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange states that he has additional emails to release that
relate to Hillary Clinton—and that contain “enough evidence” to ensure her arrest. (Some
might speculate that the most damaging emails would relate to her trading favors for
donations to the Clinton Foundation. If that can be proven, she will not only not be
president, she will face charges of treason.) Assange also says “there is no proof
whatsoever” that Russia was responsible for the hacking of Democrat National
Committee emails. “We have not disclosed our source, and of course, this is a diversion
that’s being pushed by the Hillary Clinton campaign. That’s a meta-story. The real story
is what these emails contain and they show collusion.” [95775, 95776, 95836, 95844,
95850, 95855, 96357, 96358]
Abon’go Malik “Roy” Obama, half-brother of Barack Obama, announces he is voting for
Donald Trump. Malik Obama tells NYPost.com, “I like Donald Trump because he speaks
from the heart. ‘Make America Great Again’ is a great slogan. I would like to meet him.”
He is disappointed that Hillary Clinton was not indicted, and also annoyed that Clinton
and his half-brother acted to eliminate his friend, Muammar Gaddafi: “I still feel that
getting rid of Gaddafi didn’t make things any better in Libya. My brother and the
secretary of state disappointed me in that regard.” He also says, “I feel like a Republican
now because they don’t stand for same-sex marriage, and that appeals to me.” (Malik
Obama lives in Kenya, but once lived in the United States and reportedly became a
citizen. He can therefore vote for Trump via absentee ballot.) [95689, 95716, 95718]
Outside the site of the white-heterosexual-people-suck-themed Democrat convention in
Philadelphia (home of the Democrat Party’s favorite cop-killer Wesley Cook, aka Mumia
Abu-Jamal), supporters of Bernie Sanders march while chanting, “Hell no, DNC, we
won’t vote for Hillary!” (According to USAToday.com, “The city of Philadelphia is
projecting 35,000 to 50,000 demonstrators will gather at a half dozen sanctioned protest
sites near the Wells Fargo Center each day of the convention… A bulk of the permits
issued by the city are to groups that indicated they are inspired by the Vermont senator.”)
[95696, 96132]
Some protesters carry signs that read, “Liar, Liar, pants on fire” and “Handcuffs for
Hillary.”) [95733]
152
In Ansbach, Germany, Syrian migrant Mohammed Deleel injures 12 people when he
blows himself up after being denied access to a music festival. Deleel had been denied
asylum status more than one year earlier—but was allowed to stay in Germany anyway.
In a video found on his cell phone Deleel pledged allegiance to ISIS. Bavarian interior
minister Joachim Herrmann says, “We don’t know if this man planned on suicide or if he
had the intention of killing others.” Hermann also says those “seeking protection in
Germany must show full respect for the German legal system and the German
population.” [96598, 95699, 95704, 95705, 95706, 95802, 95803, 95804]
The politically correct BBC.com’s headline reads, “Syrian migrant dies in German
blast”—hiding the fact that he was responsible for the blast. The Reuters headline: Syrian
man denied asylum killed in German blast.” (Some may wonder if the BBC’s headline on
December 7, 1941 was “Japanese pilot killed in plane crash in Hawaii.”) [96012, 96013]
On 60 Minutes, CBS’ Scott Pelley asks Hillary Clinton if she has a nickname for Donald
Trump to counteract his “Crooked Hillary.” She replies, “I don’t call him anything. And
I’m not going to engage in that kind of insult-fest that he seems to thrive on. So whatever
he says about me, he’s perfectly free to use up his own air time and his own space to do.”
Interviewed alongside running mate Tim Kaine, Clinton also brazenly whines that she is
not treated fairly: “I often feel like there’s the Hillary standard and then there’s the
standard for everybody else.” (She does not see the irony in her statement.) [95713,
95750]
Laughably, Clinton claims she was not following the reports in the hacked DNC emails
and knew nothing about them. (Her statement appears only in the online version of the
program; it is not aired live.) [95749, 95833]
Of the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Clinton tells Pelley, “You know,
the ball was dropped—in security. And, you know, some of the decisions that were
made—probably should have been rethought. …It was not my ball to carry.”
(Translation: “It was all someone else’s fault, not mine.”) [95715, 95738, 95758]
On July 25, after DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) is booed by
Florida delegates at a breakfast meeting, it is announced that she will not even gavel the
convention to order. [95723, 95746, 95748, 95760]
Bernie Sanders addresses a group of his supporters—and generates boos when he
encourages them to vote for Hillary Clinton. [95722, 95724, 95725, 95800]
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) addresses the California delegation and is
drowned out by chants of “Bernie! Bernie!” and “Lock her up!” [95722]
153
WashingtonExaminer.com notes that “the bulk of the electricity coming into Philadelphia
this week will come from coal and natural gas”—despite the fact that Hillary Clinton has
called for an end to the coal industry and coal jobs. [95812]
Pat Darrow, president of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, announces, “On behalf of
our 50,000 members in Ohio, we are proud to endorse [Republican Senator] Rob Portman
[for reelection].” The United Mine Workers has also endorsed Portman. [95813]
Obama meets with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and then with Defense Secretary
Ashton Carter. [95742]
The FBI announces that it is “investigating a cyber intrusion involving the DNC and are
working to determine the nature and scope of the matter. A compromise of this nature is
something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold
accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.” Donald Trump tweets, “The new
joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have
been written (stupid), because Putin likes me.” [95755, 95762, 95797]
Democrats, who have argued that the unsecured email server in Hillary Clinton’s house
was not hacked, eagerly blame the Russians for hacking the secure DNC server. It is
laughable to suggest that Clinton’s private serve was never hacked. That its contents have
not yet been leaked is a matter of timing, not proof of its security. If someone wants to
destroy Clinton and destroy the chances of her winning the White House, it makes sense
to first let the Democrats award her the nomination. Damage done to her campaign in
September and October will be incredibly destructive because there will be no time for
the Democrat Party to replace her on the November 8 ballot.
In an interview with DemocracyNow.org, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the
“Hillary Clinton emails, they connect together with the cables that we have published of
Hillary Clinton, creating a rich picture of how Hillary Clinton performs in office, but,
more broadly, how the U.S. Department of State operates. So, for example, the
disastrous, absolutely disastrous intervention in Libya, the destruction of the [Muammar]
Gaddafi government, which led to the occupation of ISIS of large segments of that
country, weapons flows going over to Syria, being pushed by Hillary Clinton, into
jihadists within Syria, including ISIS, that’s there in those emails. There’s more than
1,700 emails in Hillary Clinton’s collection, that we have released, just about Libya
alone.” [96173]
At TheGatewayPundit.com Jim Hoft later adds, “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton knew
that the US was sending arms from Libya to Syria back in 2011, a year before the
Benghazi consulate attacks. Hillary Clinton denied she knew about the weapons
shipments during public testimony (under oath) in early 2013 after the Benghazi terrorist
attack. Senator Rand Paul [R-KY] questioned Hillary Clinton about this gun running
program back in January 2013 during her testimony on the Benghazi terrorist attack.”
154
(Clinton pleaded ignorance, telling Paul, “Well, Senator, you’ll have to addrect—direct
that question to, uh, the agency that, uh, ran the annex, and I will, I will see what
information is available, and, uh… I do not know. I don’t have any information on
that…” Clinton lied. She authorized the sale of arms to Qatar, which were then redirected
to rebels in Libya, for the purpose of ousting Muammar Gaddafi, and to al-Qaeda in
Syria, in an effort to oust Bashar al-Assad. Whether the weapons she transferred were
used to kill four Americans in Benghazi may never be known.) [96174, 96357, 96358]
Breitbart.com reports, “Just one day after the global premiere of Clinton Cash, Hans
Westberg, the embattled CEO and president of telecoms company Ericsson, stepped
down as the head of the Swedish wireless equipment maker. Though the telecom giant’s
announcement to remove Westberg is not confirmed as a direct result of the film’s online
popularity, the company’s timing is an odd coincidence. …Ericsson—on Westberg’s
watch—had come under heavy fire for selling telecom equipment to countries that were
considered state sponsors of terrorism by [Hillary Clinton’s] State Department. The
company had received a letter in late 2010 from the Securities and Exchange
Commission, warning it about the sells to oppressive governments.” [95906, 95907,
96110]
“…Meanwhile, Ericsson decided to pay Bill Clinton more money than he had ever been
paid for a single speech: $750,000. In the previous decade, Ericsson had never sponsored
a speaking engagement for either Hillary or Bill Clinton. During his November 12, 2011
speech at a telecom conference in Hong Kong, Bill Clinton spoke in general terms about
the positive role telecom plays in our lives. One week later, on November 19, the State
Department unveiled its new sanctions list for Iran. Telecom was not on the list. In an
interview last month on Fox Business network, [Clinton Cash author Peter] Schweizer
said that indeed, ‘seven days after [Bill Clinton] got paid, Hillary Clinton’s State
Department issued a statement that said we’re going to ask the company to police
themselves.’ In April 2012, …Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on
telecom sales to Iran and Syria. But those sanctions did not cover Ericsson’s work in
Iran.” [95906, 95907]
The Clinton campaign will not be helped by the free viewing of Clinton Cash at
Breitbart.com and YouTube.com. [95958, 96110]
In a national CBS News poll, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 44-43. [95767]
In a CNN/ORC poll, Trump leads Clinton 44-39. (Libertarian Gary Johnson has 9
percent; the Green Party’s Jill Stein has 3 percent. In a two-way matchup, Trump leads
48-45.) [95728, 95751, 95759, 95767, 95773]
In an LATimes/USC poll, Trump leads Clinton 45-41. [95767]
155
In a July 22-24 Morning Consult poll, Trump leads Clinton 44-40. (Clinton led 41-39 in
the July 14-16 poll.) Trump has 85 percent support among Republican voters—which is
greater than the support Mitt Romney had at the same point in 2010 (The poll’s D/R/I is
33/32/35—which is relatively close to reality.) [95728, 95729, 95751, 95773]
In a July 22-24 Rasmussen poll in Nevada, Trump leads Clinton 43-38. (In 2012 Obama
won Nevada 52-46 over Mitt Romney.) In the U.S. Senate race to fill the seat of the
retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Republican Joe Heck leads
Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto by 9 points. [95741, 95915, 95916]
Trump even takes the lead in the Real Clear Politics average of national polls, 44.1-43.9.
[95773, 95774]
Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com gives Trump a 57.5 percent chance of winning the
election; Clinton is at 42.5 percent. Trump would win 285 electoral votes to Clinton’s
252 based on current polling. On July 12, Clinton’s chances were at 77 percent. (The
site’s percentages are updated frequently, as new polls are completed.) [95730, 95735,
95777, 95794]
Some attribute Trump’s rising poll numbers to the “typical convention bounce,” but there
have essentially been no such bounces since the George W. Bush convention in 2004.
[95794]
During a campaign event in Roanoke, Virginia, Donald Trump says of Hillary Clinton,
“She’s low energy. She’ll go home, she’ll take a nap for four or five hours. …No naps for
Trump! No naps. We don’t have time. …We need strength. We need toughness. We need
smarts. We need warmth. We need compassion. We need everything. But we don’t need
someone who goes home and takes naps. We don’t need naps.” [95801]
CNSNews.com reports, “With ten weeks to go until the end of the fiscal year, the Obama
administration continues to admit Syrian refugees at an accelerated pace, and has now
exceeded two-thirds of …Obama’s target of 10,000 by September 30. …Of the 6,726
total Syrian refugee arrivals since the beginning of FY 2016, 6,625 (98.4 percent) were
Sunnis and 23 (0.3 percent) were Christians—including 15 described simply as
‘Christian,’ five Catholics, two Orthodox and one Greek Orthodox adherent.” [95765]
In an interview with the Spanish language network Telemundo, Clinton running mate
Tim Kaine says a Clinton administration would seek legislation granting amnesty to all
illegal immigrants within its first 100 days. [95807]
The Mexican newspaper El Mañana posts an editorial endorsing a border wall—along it
southeast borders with Guatemala and Belize. Breitbart.com notes, “One of the issues
mentioned in the editorial piece points not only to the hordes of Guatemalans,
Salvadorans and Hondurans that flock to Reynosa [at the border with Texas] in an effort
156
to get to the U.S., but also to the large number of Central Americans that are left in
Mexico after deportation. Once the illegal immigrants are deported to Mexico instead of
their country of origin, then Mexican officials simply leave them in Reynosa since the
government lacks the funding to send them home. …Many of these migrants when they
are unable to find an honest way of life turn to robberies, kidnappings, extortion, and in
the worst cases join the ranks of organized crime.” [96121]
Breitbart.com notes an April 26 email from The Washington Post’s White House Bureau
Chief Juliet Eilperin to DNC deputy communications director Mark Paustenbach:
“Subject: just FYI, the story is running on [page] A1 tomorrow Dear Mark, I think you all
will be totally fine with it. Thanks again for all your help. Best, Juliet.” (In other words,
an allegedly “objective” newspaper communicates closely with a political party to make
sure their stories are “acceptable” to the party elites.) [95756, 95873]
A May 2016 email from DNC Deputy Communications Director Eric Walker warns,
“Common Core is a political third rail that we should not be touching at all.”
(Translation: “The voters are with the Republicans on that issue.”) Common Core is not
mentioned in the Democrat Party platform. [95895]
Politico.com reports, “Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders are moving toward a challenge
of Sen. Tim Kaine’s selection as presumptive vice presidential nominee, accusing Hillary
Clinton of failing to roll back ‘some of the worst neo-liberal policies’ with her choice of
running mate. ‘There’s serious interest right now and exploration as we speak of a formal
challenge,’ Norman Solomon, a California delegate and national coordinator for the
Bernie Delegates Network, said at a news conference Monday. The network represents
about 1,250 of the 1,900 delegates that have pledged support for Sanders.” [95726,
95727]
The Democrat National Convention begins, with the gaveling-in done by Baltimore
Mayor Stephanie “space to destroy” Rawlings-Blake. (After she delivers a brief speech,
walks away from the lectern—forgetting to bang the gavel. She is then directed to turn
around and bang the gavel.) [95732, 95763, 95795, 96133]
The words to the pledge of allegiance are projected on the teleprompter. (Apparently not
all Democrats know the words.) [95734, 95934]
When convention chair Marcia Fudge mentions the Clinton-Kaine ticket, the arena erupts
in boos from Bernie Sanders supporters.
Illegal immigrant Astrid Silver addresses the convention. She says, “I know [Hillary
Clinton] will fight to keep our families together. I know she will.” (Clinton plans on
introducing amnesty legislation in her first 100 days if she is elected.) Silver says, “When
Donald Trump talked about deporting 11 million people, he’s talking about separating
157
families like mine.” (Of course, Silver’s family would not be separated if all family
members are deported together.) [95814, 95816, 95838]
Francisca Ortiz and Karla Ortiz, an illegal immigrant mother-daughter duo who ignored a
deportation order, also addresses the convention. Karla Ortiz says, “Even when I was
little, my parents were always crying, but I didn’t understand why. Soy Americana. Most
days, I’m scared [sic; frightened]. I’m scared [sic] that at any moment, my mom and my
dad will be forced to leave. And I wonder, what if I come home and find it empty. I want
my parents to see me do sciences experiments. And help me find my rare rocks in the
desert. I want to grow up to be a lawyer so I can help other families like us. I have hope.
Esperanza.” Francisca speaks to the convention in Spanish. [95846, 95849, 95889]
Dennis Michael Lynch notes 8 USC 1324, which calls for fines and imprisonment for
anyone who “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor,
or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of
transportation…” or who “in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to,
entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or
attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of
transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law…” In other words, the
Democrat National Convention violated federal law by bringing illegal immigrants to
Philadelphia, giving them hotel rooms, and chauffeuring them around to events. [95846,
95849, 95851]
Senator Al Franken (D-MN) encourages everyone to volunteer for Hillary Clinton, even
if they have children: “Let me tell you something, kids love it when their parents are not
home. They love it. And let me tell you something else, an eight-year-old kid knows how
to use a microwave oven. And let me tell you something else, an eight-year-old kid can
teach a four-year-old kid to use a microwave oven, it’s scientific fact. Don’t worry about
your kids, they will be fine. You have work to do.” [95781]
Franken, a former Saturday Night Live comedian and Bernie Sanders supporter, is joined
onstage by (alleged) comedian Sarah Silverman, a Hillary Clinton supporter. When
people in the audience start chanting, “Bernie! Bernie!”, Silverman scolds them (“Can I
just say, to the ‘Bernie or bust’ people, you’re being ridiculous!”) and tries
(unsuccessfully) to get them to shout “Unity! Unity!” (They are followed by aging Paul
Simon, who struggles to sing Bridge Over Troubled Water.) [95789, 95815, 95820]
Evening speakers at the convention include a shouting Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) (who
sweats up a storm, speaks with a fake blaccent, and makes it sound as though slavery has
just ended); Michelle Obama; Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) (who lives in a $4.5
million mansion yet complains that wealth is “not tricking down” to average Americans);
and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who receives an incredibly long, thunderous
welcome from the delegates—and then, giving a good impersonation of Karl Marx,
promises a multitude of freebies to the voters, [95817, 95848]
158
Michelle Obama reminds everyone (yet again) that the White House was built by slaves.
(“I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters,
two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White
House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and
daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.”)
Ignoring Benghazi, Michelle Obama tells the delegates, “But here’s the thing, what I
admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the
easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.” (Some might
argue that setting up a private email server to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests
falls under the “easy way out” category.) [95778, 95817, 95819, 95827, 95847]
Obama also says, “Don’t let anyone say the U.S. needs to be made great again—this is
the greatest country on Earth.” (Of course, she did not feel that way until 2008, when she
said her husband’s candidacy made her proud of her country for the first time in her life.)
[95787, 95790]
Taking a swipe at Donald Trump, Obama says one of her jobs was to teach her daughters
“to ignore those who challenge their father’s citizenship or faith.” (It was pressure from
Trump that forced Obama to release an obviously forged birth certificate in 2011.)
[95810, 95821, 95828]
Obama’s speech is the first time she has spoken publicly in support of Clinton. (In reality,
the Obama and the Clintons hate each other.) Some media pundits suggest Mrs. Obama
has a future in politics, but that is total nonsense. Her goal is to accumulate as much
wealth as possible, and she will be able to do that giving speeches after January 20, 2017.
Elizabeth Warren says, “Other than talking about a stupid wall, which will never get
built, did you hear any actual ideas [from the Republicans at their convention]?” (The
Democrat convention is protected by a four-mile long, eight-foot-high security fence. In
fact, the rostrum within the convention center is protected by a wall.) [95782, 95817,
95856]
Warren also says, “People get it: The system is rigged!” (Although she means the system
is rigged against the middle class, thousands of people in the arena equate the statement
with the Democrat National Committee’s actions against Bernie Sanders.) [95786,
95830]
Warren’s endorsement of Clinton prompts some to jeer, “We trusted you. We trusted
you.” [95811]
Bernie Sanders, apparently sans dictionary, says that electing Hillary Clinton will “end
the movement toward oligarchy in this country.” [95785]
159
Some note that none of the 60 or more speakers throughout the first day convention
proceedings mentioned ISIS. (Also unmentioned were the words “terror,” “Islam,”
“radical,” “Syria, “Iraq,” “Iran,” “Benghazi,” “emails,” “leaks,” or “servers.”) [95780,
95783, 95791, 95858, 95862]
More than a few journalists report that the Democrat convention is far less organized than
the Republican event, with transportation problems, dirty hotels, and delegates leaving
food and trash throughout the arena. (The same has been true of demonstrations at the
Washington Mall over the years, where Democrat groups leave mountain of trash for
others to pick up, while Tea Party groups treat the public areas with respect.) [95784,
95829, 95840]
Outside the convention one can find Soviet flags and Palestinian flags (Palestinian flags
are even spotted inside), but in the arena there are no American flags to be seen. (After
the media pointed out the absence of flags, several were trotted out.) [95793, 95808,
95825, 95826, 95862, 95864, 95894, 95936]
On July 26 two men yelling “Allahu akbar” slit the throat of a priest, Jacques Hamel, in
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France. One nun is also attacked and hospitalized. Police
shoot and kill the attackers, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS—one of whom, Adel
Kermiche, had been given an unsupervised release from prison after a previous
conviction for a terrorist act. According to FoxNews.com, “The church was reportedly on
a ‘hit list’ discovered at the residence of a would-be ISIS attacker in April 2015, The Sun
reported. Sid Ghlam was believed to be planning ‘imminent attacks’ in France when
investigators arrested him. Officials allegedly uncovered an arsenal of weapons and
found that Ghlam was talking with someone in Syria who had ordered him to strike
specific churches—including the one in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. One of Tuesday’s
attackers was on the radar of French police and had traveled to Turkey…” [95766, 95818,
95824, 95831, 95861, 95863]
It is later reported by the Daily Mail that Adel Kermiche and his accomplice, Abdelmalik
Petitjean, “were both on terrorist watchlists when they slit Father Jacques Hamel’s throat
in Normandy… Now it has emerged that Petitjean worked full time at Chambery airport,
which is used by more than 250,000 passengers a year including many from Britain, until
just three months ago. It comes as ISIS released a new video of the teenager calling on
fellow extremists to ‘destroy’ France and launch attacks on its allies. …Addressing
President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls directly, he says: ‘You
will suffer what our brothers and sisters are suffering. We are going to destroy your
country. Brothers go out with a knife, whatever is needed, attack them, kill them en
masse.’” (Why two Muslims on a terror watch list were allowed to work as baggage
handlers at an airport is not explained.) [96079, 96080, 96081, 96107]
National Security Council Spokesperson Ned Price responds, “The United States
condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific terrorist attack today at a Catholic
church in Normandy, France. We offer our condolences to the family and friends of the
160
murdered priest, Father Jacques Hamel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the other
victims of the attack as well as the parishioners and community members of SaintEtienne-du-Rouvray. France and the United States share a commitment to protecting
religious liberty for those of all faiths, and today’s violence will not shake that
commitment.” (Someone should remind Price that “religious liberty” does not include the
right to slice the throat of those who follow other religions.) “We commend French law
enforcement for their quick and decisive response and stand ready to assist the French
authorities in their investigation going forward.” (The French should not be commended;
they should be condemned for letting one of the two killers out of jail on unsupervised
parole.) [95913]
French President Francois Hollande states, “We are facing yet another trial, because this
threat is extremely high and still remains very high after all we’ve lived through over the
past few days and the past two years… We are faced with a group, Daesh [ISIS], that has
actually declared war, and we have to fight this war using all means possible. Of course
we have to respect the rule of law, because we are a democracy… What these terrorists
want to do is to divide us, and today after the death of this priest I am thinking of all the
Catholics of France and expressing my support. It’s not only Catholics who are involved,
all the French people are involved, and that’s why we must ensure cohesion. Nobody
should be able to break it. Today we must be aware that the terrorists will not give up as
long as we don’t stop them. That’s our will and that’s what we are doing tirelessly. The
French people must realize that they are threatened. They are not the only country—
Germany is also threatened—but their strength really is in cohesion.” [95914]
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich later comments, “The French government knew
that the priest was targeted. The French knew that the two guys who killed him were
dangerous, and they did nothing. …I am against waiting until we get killed before the
government decides to protect us.” [96190]
At a cybersecurity conference, FBI director James Comey warns, “At some point there’s
going to be a terrorist diaspora out of Syria like we’ve never seen before. We saw the
future of this threat in Brussels and Paris.” Future attacks may be on “an order of
magnitude greater.” [95961]
Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS), a member of the House Intelligence Committee,
tells WashingtonExaminer.com, “I think it’s almost certain that the 33,000 emails
Secretary Clinton destroyed …are in the possession of nation-state actors that intend to
do destruction to America. I think it’s incredibly likely. I think that’s what [FBI] Director
James Comey told us as well.” [96088]
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) states it “would not be the first time cyber-intrusions
linked to the Kremlin and its supporters have sought to influence the political process in
other countries. Given Donald Trump’s well known admiration for Putin and his
belittling of NATO, the Russians have both the means and the motive to engage in a hack
of the DNC and the dump of its emails prior to the Democratic convention. The reported
161
hack into the Democratic National Committee is the latest example of the vulnerability of
all institutions to malicious cyber-intrusions.” (Russia certainly does not need Trump for
motivation.) [96089]
Meanwhile, Twitter does it best to downplay the issue, deleting #DNCLeaks after it had
more than 250,000 tweets and was “trending.” (Twitter then allows #DNCLeak—without
the “s”—causing all the messages under the former label to disappear.) [96090]
FreeBeacon.com reports, “Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s views on Israel are being criticized
after Hillary Clinton named him to the Democratic ticket on Friday as her vice
presidential pick. Conservative Jewish organizations and other critics were quick to say
after the announcement that Kaine’s record on Israel while serving in Congress shows he
is not a strong supporter of the Jewish state, while many liberal groups and publications
touted his pro-Israel credentials. Kaine was one of nine Democratic senators to boycott
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in March 2015.” Kaine
“supported the Iran nuclear deal, saying in September 2015 that the agreement ‘achieved
a dramatic improvement over the status quo that will improve global security for at least
15 years, and likely longer.’ Kaine also worked with the Obama administration and other
Senate Democrats to keep the landmark arms control agreement from being brought to
the Senate floor.” [95768]
Bloomberg.com reports, “Democratic vice-presidential pick Tim Kaine has privately told
nominee Hillary Clinton he will support repeal of the Hyde Amendment, a 1976
provision that bans the use of federal dollars for abortion services, Clinton spokesman
Jesse Ferguson and Kaine spokeswoman Amy Dudley said Tuesday. The position is a
reversal for Kaine, who earlier this month told the Weekly Standard, a conservative
magazine, that he’s ‘traditionally been a supporter of the Hyde amendment.’” [95917]
Bernie Sanders tells reporters he will return to the Senate as an independent, not a
Democrat: “I was elected as an independent.” [95937, 95938, 95972]
In a July 19-21 Inside Sources/NH Journal poll, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton
47.9-38.5 percent; 13.6 percent are undecided. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-H) leads
Democrat challenger Maggie Hassan (the state’s governor) 49-41.4 percent. (Obama beat
Mitt Romney 52-46 in New Hampshire in 2012. The Democrats should be very worried
by Clinton’s weakness in New Hampshire. For Clinton to have less than 40 percent
support is stunning because she is a known public figure. The voters already know who
she is and what she represents.) [95769, 95770, 95770, 95857]
According to Gallup polling, 38 percent of Americans (an all-time low) view Hillary
Clinton favorably (down from 55 percent in 2014, and down from 41 percent in June
2016); 57 percent view Clinton unfavorably. Donald Trump’s favorable/unfavorable
ratings are an almost identical 36/59. [95853, 95854, 95925]
162
In a July 22-26 Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump leads Clinton 39-37. (In the July 1-5 poll,
Clinton led 46-33.) [94698, 94699, 95977, 95978]
Rush Limbaugh comments on the first day of the Democrat convention: “The theme of
the night last night: ‘You can’t do anything on your own; we can only do everything
together. You can’t do a thing on your own. You might get somewhere on your own, but
you can’t go far. You can go fast by yourself, you can go fast on your own, but you can’t
go all the way. You can only get there together.’ Brought the house down. ‘Yaaaay!’ I’m
sitting there saying, ‘This is gobbledygook.’ This is the kind of stuff that 17-year-old girls
used to find in calendars and post on the bedroom wall, and now it’s substance at the
Democrat National Convention.’” [95792]
An undercover video from Project Veritas shows Mary Bayer, a Hillary Clinton
campaign worker, saying, “You got [sic; have] to say you want ‘common sense gun
legislation.’ … [if] you say you want to ban guns altogether, that’s just going to piss
everybody off. You have to take that sort of moderate, ‘we just want to have common
sense legislation so our children are safe!’ You say shit like that, and then people will buy
into it.” (If Clinton is elected, she would then act to ban guns altogether.) [95809, 95845]
In Texas, District Judge Brock Thomas dismisses charges against the Center for Medical
Progress’ David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt—who released undercover video showing
Planned Parenthood executives engaging in discussions involving the sale of baby parts
from aborted fetuses. Daleiden states, “The dismissal of the bogus, politically motivated
charges… is a resounding vindication of the First Amendment rights of all citizen
journalists, and also a clear warning to any of Planned Parenthood’s political cronies who
would attack whistleblowers to protect Planned Parenthood from scrutiny.” [95852]
Forbes.com reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs (typically referred to as the
Veterans Administration) has spent “$20 million on high-end art over the last ten years—
with $16 million spent during the Obama years. …[A]t a healthcare facility dedicated to
serving blind veterans—the new Palo Alto Polytrauma and Blind Rehabilitation Center—
the agency wasted $670,000 on two sculptures no blind veteran can even see.” [95837]
According to documents obtained by Judicial Watch, Obama’s December 2015 trip to
Paris for a global warming summit cost the taxpayers $2,976,296.20. [95880]
DailyCaller.com reports, “IRS Commissioner John Koskinen referred congressional
charges of corrupt Clinton Foundation ‘pay-to-play’ activities to his tax agency’s exempt
operations office for investigation… The request to investigate the Bill, Hillary and
Chelsea Clinton Foundation on charges of ‘public corruption’ was made in a July 15
letter by 64 House Republicans to the IRS, FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
…The lawmakers charged the Clinton Foundation is a ‘lawless ‘pay-to-play’ enterprise
that has been operating under a cloak of philanthropy for years and should be
163
investigated.’” (It is assumed the investigation will not be completed until after
November 8.) [95892, 95893]
The once-respected George Will delves into conspiracy theories, saying, “Perhaps one
more reason why we’re not seeing [Donald Trump’s] tax returns—because he is deeply
involved in dealing with Russian oligarchs and others. Whether that’s good, bad or
indifferent, it’s probably the reasonable surmise.” (The claim is absurd. Even if Trump
were “dealing with Russian oligarchs,” which is an unlikely premise for which Will
provides no evidence, he would certainly not include in his tax filings any attempts to
take deductions for “bribes to foreigners.”) [95886]
Rush Limbaugh tells his radio listeners, “My idea for a short Trump speech, maybe an
intro to the speech that he’s gonna [sic] give to his improv at all of these appearances, is
just list who the Democrats are: Black Lives Matter, New Black Panthers, Occupy Wall
Street, stripping God from their party platform, transgender bathroom advocates, prodeath panels, baby butchers! A candidate who violated the Espionage Act thousands of
times, sexual predators, pedophiles, illegals, Sharia Muslims, Marxists. That’s the
Democrat Party today. …I mean, the Democrats used to have white, working-class males.
Trump owns them now. Another big labor union came out and endorsed Trump. They’re
losing the old faction of constituency groups and they’ve got a new group.” [95887]
The Indiana GOP selects Lieutenant Governor Eric Holcomb as their nominee for
governor, replacing Mike Pence on their state ticket. Holcomb’s opponent will be
Democrat John Gregg. [95843]
WashingtonExaminer.com reports, “Federal officials warned the Democratic National
Committee that its network had been breached months before the party attempted to
resolve the problem, according to a new report.” [95859]
The roll call of votes at the Democrat Convention goes without a hitch and Hillary
Clinton is officially nominated—marking the first time an individual who could not pass
a government security clearance becomes the nominee of a major political party. [95839]
Among the DNC speakers for day two: Cecile Richards, CEO of the nation’s number one
abortion mill, Planned Parenthood. (Hillary Clinton’s 1993 health care proposal called for
at least one abortion center in every county in the United States.) Ken Blackwell writes at
Townhall.com, “[N]ew polling shows that a majority of Americans actually agree with
Trump-Pence on this hot-button issue, while Clinton is pushing an abortion agenda
opposed by almost 80 percent of Americans.” (Few Americans, for example, support
partial-birth abortion, yet Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party believe it is acceptable
to abort on July 30 a baby whose due date is July 31.) [95860, 95875, 95876, 95912]
Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, says, “Hillary Clinton has the compassion and
understanding to support grieving mothers. She has the courage to lead the fight for
164
common sense gun legislation. She has a plan to [address the?] divide… that so often
exists between law enforcement and the communities they serve. This isn’t about being
politically correct. This is about saving our children.” [95902]
In a convention interview with PBS’ Judy Woodruff, House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA) says Hillary Clinton will counter Donald Trump’s lead among white men
“with an economic agenda to create jobs, good-paying jobs, increasing paychecks. The
economic agenda is what is really—it’s about the economy, you know that statement, it’s
not a cliché, it’s a fact. And I think that so many times, white non-college-educated white
males [sic] have voted Republican, they’ve voted against their own economic interests
because of guns, because of gays, and because of God, the three G’s, God being the
woman’s right to choose. That is softening. Some of these people will never be voting
Democratic anyway, but I believe that with the turnout we expect to have, we will draw
some of them in with our message, and enough other people to win the election.” [95970,
94998]
Conservative Tucker Carlson responds to Pelosi’s comment on The Kelly File: “She’s
pulled the mask off; they’re not pretending anymore. [Democrats] have contempt for the
core of the country, for the middle class, for rural America, and they’re now admitting
it.” Pelosi “basically told us everything we expected, which is they don’t like the core
population of the country, which is why they’re trying to replace it with immigrants,
which is why they’re constantly attacking the middle of the country as racist and
retrograde and medieval.” [95988]
Frail-looking former president Bill Clinton addresses the Democrat National Convention.
Clinton does his best to persuade listeners that his wife Hillary is a real person, rather
than a political animal. But many will argue that he failed, in a lengthy speech in which
he repeatedly talks about how she almost continually wrote reports that he claims
prompted legislation that helped the women, children, and the downtrodden of the nation.
His stretching of the truth is monumental, but it is unlikely that the mainstream media
will do much “fact-checking” of his claims. Regardless, all Clinton’s speech will likely
do is make Clinton fans feel better; it will not win over many voters. [95871, 95881,
95888, 95890, 95891, 95900, 95901, 95909]
Clinton tells the audience, “If you love this country, you’re working hard, you’re paying
taxes and you’re obeying the law and you’d like to become a citizen, you should choose
immigration reform over somebody that wants to send you back.” (Clinton should be
reminded that illegal immigrants who do not want to be “sent back” are not eligible to
“choose” anything or anyone. Whether he is encouraging illegals to violate federal law
and cast ballots on November 8 is not clear.) [96668, 96669]
Clinton repeatedly calls Hillary a “change maker” and claims she developed a program to
fight terrorism online and says defeating terrorism is a “mind game.” (Perhaps the
Clintons think World War II could have been solved with “Don’t be a Nazi!” and
“Hirohito is a meanie!” hashtags.)
165
The “Hillary is a change maker” theme is in response to one of Trump’s major points: he
is an outsider who will bring about much needed change to government. At
TheFederalist.com, Mollie Hemingway notes that Trump is clearly “living rent free”
inside the heads of Democrat party officials and the Clinton campaign. Trump is forcing
them to react to his messages, rather than craft their own. In the “year of the outsider,”
Hillary Clinton is obviously seen by most voters as one of the insiders. Her campaign
therefore had to shift gears and call her a “change maker”—and quickly printed
appropriate signs for delegates to wave every time Bill Clinton repeated those words.
[95957]
Hemingway also points out that the Clinton campaign’s “I’m with her” voter pledge had
to be expanded with “She’s with us”—in direct response to Trump’s pledge: ‘I’m with
you—the American people.’ Trump is even forcing Clinton policy changes. According to
the Detroit Free Press, “UAW President Dennis Williams reiterated Tuesday [July 26]
that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has promised him that she will try
to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to better protect
workers.” Hemingway: “[Clinton] Promised him she’d rewrite one of her husband’s
signature policy achievements.” Again, Trump is driving the issues, and Clinton is
responding—and responding is usually what the losing candidate does. [95957]
After about an hour describing his wife as the most wonderful, talented, and empathic
woman and mother in the world, Bill Clinton may have some people wondering why he
cheated on her more times than Obama has played golf. Others might wonder why
Hillary Rodham, if she was so brilliant and had such a tremendous future awaiting her,
would saddle herself with a country bumpkin with a wandering eye who can’t keep his
zipper up. (Rush Limbaugh later remarks, “Bill Clinton gave a masterful performance. As
J. R. Ewing said on Dallas: ‘The key is sincerity; once you can fake that, the rest is
easy.’”) [96000]
Townhall.com political editor Guy Benson later comments, “He did well, I think, but
didn’t alter the trajectory of the race. That’s not to say that Hillary won’t get a boost out
of Philadelphia; she very probably will, as Trump did after Cleveland. But that was not a
lightning strike address. It wasn’t even the best speech of the first half of the convention.
…Clinton painted a portrait of a technocratic workhorse (committees! task forces!) who
genuinely cares about people, and has channeled those sentiments into a lifetime of
tireless public service. That was the whole point of his at times meandering
reminiscences about their early life together. And putting a human face on a woman seen
by many as power-hungry and calculating is precisely why he devoted quite a lot of time
to describing Hillary as a mother. (I don’t think talking about Hillary’s water breaking
was simply tossed in casually). Along the same lines, [daughter] Chelsea [Clinton] will
undoubtedly lay the ‘grandma’ color on thick on Thursday night.” [95868]
“Was the speech welcomed rapturously in the hall? Yes. They love him here. Did it play
well on television? I bet it did. It helped her. Was it a game-changing performance that’s
166
likely to permanently alter people’s perceptions of Hillary Clinton? I doubt it. She is still
the same flawed, unlikable, dishonest, ethically-unfit candidate she was this morning.
And if rumors and vows are to be believed, more embarrassments and ethical imbroglios
may lie ahead for her. Bill Clinton hasn’t lost his touch as a marvelous political
communicator, but there’s only so much he could work with here. His effort was
admirable and solid nonetheless. But I suspect it didn’t deliver the memorable political
juice that his 2012 outing did.” [95868]
After Clinton’s speech, singer Alicia Keys performs. She first says, “Women are the
answer. We have the power to ensure this country gets on the right path. I dedicate this
song to the mothers of the movement, and to all the mothers who have lost their sons and
daughters to senseless violence. …Until we deal with gun violence in this country we
can’t claim home of the brave.” [95896]
On July 27 Morning Jolt’s Jim Geraghty comments on Bill Clinton’s speech: “[T]he first
thirty or so minutes felt like an interminable slog through the courtship and early years of
the Clinton marriage. It wasn’t a compelling sales pitch for the nominee; it felt like
Grandpa giving a long and meandering story about how he met Grandma at their
anniversary dinner, one that you know is going to end with a cringe-inducing punch-line
about her finally going all the way. Considering what we know about the Clinton
marriage, this was a potentially supremely awkward course for Bill to take. …He
conveniently skipped from 1997 to 1999, ignoring the year when his troubles and the
state of his marriage consumed a year of his presidency.” (To those who wonder what
keeps the Clinton marriage together, the answer is simple: a court can’t force one spouse
to testify against the other.)
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan shuts down or takes over still more television
stations and newspapers, bringing the total to as many as 130 since he survived a military
coup. According to WashingtonExaminer.com, “Besides the newspapers and TV stations,
23 radio stations, 15 magazines and three news agencies have been ordered closed…”
and “About 16,000 people have been detained by federal officials due to suspected links
to the coup attempt. Half of those were formally arrested and will face trial, Interior
Minister Efkan Ala said Wednesday.” [95923, 95943]
At PJMedia.com Patrick Poole reports on Hillary Clinton’s relationship with
Abdurahman Alamoudi—who now “sits in his cell in a federal prison in Ashland,
Kentucky. It's a long way down from being one of Hillary Clinton's favorite colleagues.
Alamoudi organized White House events during the Bill Clinton administration. Under
Hillary’s supervision, he held official positions: Alamoudi was strategically placed at the
White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department. That is, until he was arrested and
convicted in a bizarre Libyan intelligence/al-Qaeda assassination plot to kill the Saudi
crown prince. Later, he was identified by the Treasury Department as an Al-Qaeda
fundraiser who had operated inside the United States.” [96073]
167
“…It appears that no media outlet has ever asked Hillary Clinton about her relationship to
Alamoudi. Under the Clinton administration, Alamoudi was tasked with founding and
developing the Defense Department’s first-ever Muslim chaplain program. Alamoudi
himself handpicked the Pentagon’s Muslim chaplain corps. …[O]ne of those chaplain
trainers was al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki [the al-Qaeda recruiter who was killed in a
drone strike on September 30, 2011]. The State Department, during the Clinton
administration, appointed Alamoudi as a goodwill ambassador and sent him on six
official taxpayer-funded trips to the Middle East. Remarkably, after Alamoudi's 2003
arrest a federal agent testified in an affidavit about a recording of Alamoudi complaining
to an audience that the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania did not kill enough Americans. Years before he was helping Hillary Clinton
arrange official dinners at the White House, Alamoudi had already been known to the
FBI for al-Qaeda fundraising. Yet Alamoudi became a regular face at the White House.
Here, he is pictured with President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore…
Alamoudi’s donation to Hillary Clinton’s 2000 U.S. Senate campaign became an issue in
October 2000.” [96073]
The Media Research Center reports, “In the midst of an ever-climbing $19.3 trillion debt
and an economy growing at the pace of frozen molasses running up a hill, the federal
government just shelled out $250,000 to study whether people use more air conditioning
when it’s hot outside. The National Science Foundation just handed over a quarter of a
million bucks to Rutgers University to figure out if people turn the air conditioning up in
the summer, and whether this leads to higher energy consumption. Additionally, Rutgers
will attempt to solve this baffling quandary: if people use more air conditioning when it’s
hot outside, and if air conditioning drives up energy consumption, and if higher energy
consumption costs more, then do poor people struggle to deal with this problem more
thanrich people?” [95926]
NYPost.com reports, “Hillary Clinton’s campaign is pressuring TV stations across the
country to stop airing an anti-Clinton political ad sponsored by the pro-Trump super-PAC
Rebuilding America Now. …The ad claims Clinton went to India and talked up
outsourcing—and then received a donation from Indian politician Amar Singh of up to $5
million in 2008.” [95939, 95940, 96036]
The ad shows Clinton in New Delhi, India, telling an audience of businessmen, “I don’t
think you can, um, effectively restrict outsourcing. There, there is no way to, uh, legislate
against reality. So, I think that, uh, you know, the outsourcing will continue, um, but I
don’t think there’s any way to, you know, to legislate against outsourcing. I think that’s,
uh, you know, just a dead end.” The Indian moderator says, “That’s good news for a lot
of us! …Please join me to give her a standing ovation.” (The ad then lists some of the
many enormous payments Clinton has received for speeches.) [95939, 95940]
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman (a Bill Clinton appointee) orders the release of former
President Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin John Hinckley, Jr. released from a
psychiatric facility. Hinckley will be allowed to live with his mother in Williamsburg,
168
Virginia. (Hinckley was born in 1955. His mother is therefore probably in her 80s. How
she can be expected to control her son is not clear. Who will keep an eye on him after her
death is also not clear.) [95870, 95960, 95975]
In a July 26 USC Dornsife/LA Times poll, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 47-40.
(On July 20 Clinton led 43-42.) [95879, 95908]
Democrats engage in damage control after Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe says
Hillary Clinton will flip again on the issue of the Trans Pacific Partnership and approve it
if she is elected. Clinton flack John Podesta tweets, “Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got
this one flat wrong. Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full
stop.” (In 2012 Clinton said, “This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to
open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a
level playing field. And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the
world’s total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment.”)
[95882, 95883, 95884, 95899]
Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, says, “I warn Democrats [that]
Donald Trump is giving a message that is resonating with white blue collar workers who
worked in factory who worked on construction crews. We would be naive if we didn’t
understand that exists So this state is in play.” [95903]
John Podesta, former head of the far left Center for American Progress and Hillary
Clinton campaign chairman, tells The Atlantic that, if elected, Clinton would “do [sic]
comprehensive immigration reform in the first 100 days.” (Translation: “There will be
amnesty for all illegal immigrants.”) There would also be “a real focus on jobs, a focus
on infrastructure, a focus on making the right investments on the human capital side,
including… debt-free college” and “gun safety.” “We’ve got to build on what…Obama
has done. There are emissions reductions you could take [sic]. We put out a very robust
plan… to deploy a half billion solar cells within four years, to deploy enough renewable
energy to power every house in America within 10 years, to cut energy waste by a
third… to cut oil use in the transportation sector by a third. We think all of that can be
accomplished without a lot of help from Congress.” (Translation: “Clinton will out-do
Obama on illegal Executive Orders.”) [95969]
Wikileaks releases 29 voicemails hacked from DNC servers. [95952, 95963, 96007,
96010]
HotAir.com notes the presence of “All-Gender Restrooms” at the Democrat National
Convention. But those restrooms were not “permanently set up as a transgender bathroom
at all. The DNC simply mounted new signs over the traditional, existing bathroom signs.
And here’s the kicker, folks. All the ones I located thus far were put up over the women’s
rooms. Every lady I speak to who bothers to comment on the subject always complains
that the lines at public bathrooms in big venues are always terribly long for the ladies
169
while the guys skate right through. Why would you divert even more traffic to the ladies
room? That just seems rather War On Womenish, doesn’t it? Either way, once the DNC
clears out I’m guessing that this arena won’t have alternate bathroom designations
anymore.” (HotAir also notices a “Gluten Free Zone” sign adjacent to “a food stand with
some awfully ‘normal’ looking food, including hot salted pretzels, hot beef and cheese
sandwiches and plenty of other fare.”) [95904]
Outside the Democrat convention, an obnoxious woman leading a Black Lives Matters
demonstration addresses the crowd: “I need all white people to move to the back; the
black and browns to move to the front. …Take y’all rightful positions and get behind us.
So if you see any white folks, direct them to the back of the crowd. …White media, get to
the back. Black media, come to the front. …We’re not afraid to kick people out.” [95897,
95898, 95950, 95951]
Breitbart.com writes, “With the Clinton campaign’s newfound interest in Russian
espionage, it’s worth noting that it was John Podesta’s brother, Tony Podesta, who runs
the firm that pocketed $180,000 from Uranium One, the Russian government’s uranium
company to which then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton transferred 20% of U.S.
uranium. Russia-controlled UraniumOne retained the Podesta Group—run by the brother
of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chief, John Podesta—in 2012, 2014, and 2015, to lobby
Hillary Clinton’s State Department. The Podesta Group paid a total of $180,000
according to public records.” [95928, 96037]
Indiana Governor Mike Pence tweets, “The FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind
the hacking. If it is Russia and they are [sic; it is] interfering in our elections, I can assure
you both [political] parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious
consequences. That said, the Democrats singularly focusing on who might be behind it
and not addressing the basic fact that they’ve been exposed as a party who not only rigs
the government, but rigs elections while literally accepting cash for federal appointments
is outrageous. The American people now have absolute and further proof of the
corruption that exists about Hillary Clinton. It should disqualify her from office, if the
media did [would do] their job.” [95932]
The Baltimore Sun reports, “Prosecutors dropped all remaining charges against three
Baltimore police officers accused in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray in a downtown
courtroom on Wednesday morning, concluding one of the most high-profile criminal
cases in Baltimore history. The startling move was an apparent acknowledgement of the
unlikelihood of a conviction following the acquittals of three other officers on similar and
more serious charges by Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams, who was expected to preside
over the remaining trials as well. It also means the office of Baltimore State's Attorney
Marilyn J. Mosby will secure no convictions in the case after more than a year of dogged
fighting, against increasingly heavy odds, to hold someone criminally accountable in
Gray’s death.” (According to NBC, “Five of the six officers charged for the death of
Gray are suing Mosby…” They have “alleged defamation, false arrest, false
170
imprisonment, and violation of constitutional rights…”) [95867, 95869, 96059, 96060,
96084]
At a press conference in Florida, Donald Trump calls Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn
Mosby a “disgrace” who should “prosecute herself.” [95878, 95921]
Trump also says, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000
[Hillary Clinton] emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily
by our press. Let’s see if that happens.” Although Trump is clearly kidding and mocking
the media—of course Russia would not be “rewarded mightily” by the leftist, Clintonsupporting American media!—NBC’s Katy Kur takes him seriously and challenges him:
“Does that not give you pause?” Trump: “Be quiet. I know you want to, you know, save
her [Hillary Clinton].” After the press conference, Trump tweets, “If Russia or any other
country or person has Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they
should share them with the FBI!” [95911, 95918, 95966, 95997, 96063]
Media leftists too stupid to appreciate sarcasm go ballistic over Trump’s remarks, with
some even accusing the candidate of treason. Even former Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta, a supporter of Hillary Clinton, says, “You’ve got now a presidential candidate
who is, in fact, asking the Russians to engage in American politics. I just think that that’s
beyond the pale. I think that kind of statement only reflects the fact that he truly is not
qualified to be president of the United States.” (Trump is, of course, not encouraging
espionage against the United States; he is—like millions of others—merely assuming that
hacking already took place and wants to know what Clinton deleted.) [95918, 96047]
Whether most voters agree with Trump on the issue remains to be seen but, if nothing
else, he has pulled media attention away from the Democrat convention and back to the
Clinton email controversy—an issue they want to go away. Democrats and media leftists
can hardly complain if Russia indeed has Clinton’s 33,000 delete emails—after all, they
have been arguing for months that there is nothing in them but discussions of yoga and
Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. (The media outrage is, of course, absurd. If media leftists
believed Russia or China had any “dirt” on Trump, they would be pleading for its
release.)
On MSNBC, David Gregory says, “You know, I’ve run out of words to express my shock
in how, uh, completely beyond the pale that Donald Trump is as a potential leader of the
free world, the commander-in-chief of our country. This was truly beyond the pale. I
mean, he is encouraging Russia which, by all accounts, was behind a leak of our major—
uh, one of our major political parties—uh, to do more, to go beyond, to try to hack into,
uh, Hillary Clinton’s server to find missing emails, to kind of get in the middle of the
scandal. It’s as if, you know, eh, this is a child, eh, playing with matches who doesn’t
understand how badly he and the country can get burned. It’s a very serious thing.”
(Gregory, like Katy Kur, is too stupid to comprehend that Trump is playing the media for
fools. Gregory does not explain how the United States could “get burned” by the release
of emails about yoga and wedding plans. If there is nothing significant enough in the
171
emails to justify an indictment of Clinton, there should be no problem with their release.)
[95920]
Rush Limbaugh comments, “[W]hat Trump did today, I have never seen in my lifetime:
A Republican presidential nominee go out and do a 10-minute, 30-minute, much less
one-hour press conference and just refuting everything he’s heard at the Democrat
convention to date. He just blew it up. And, in addition to that, he answered questions
about this email business and the hack and the Russians and so forth. It just has the media
outraged. They can’t believe that Trump said some of the things that he said when he was
commenting before he took questions on the speech by Bill Clinton last night… Trump
said—and this is classic. This is a classic demonstration that he has a performer’s ego and
understands how to deploy it.” [95919]
“He said, ‘I kept waiting. There was a chapter in that story I recall and I wanted to hear
about it. I kept waiting for it and waiting for it; I never heard that chapter.’ He was
waiting for the media to ask, ‘What chapter, Mr. Trump? What chapter?’ And he wasn’t
gonna [sic] answer the question ever. That was the point. But he teased ’em. He titillated
’em. ‘I kept waiting to hear the one chapter. The speech was actually kind of boring,’
Trump said of Clinton’s speech. ‘It was actually kind of boring. I was waiting for the one
chapter that could have jazzed it up, but I didn’t hear that chapter.’ Well, everybody
knows what he’s referring to [Monica Lewinsky and Clinton’s impeachment].” [95919]
“…And you should have seen the explosion in the aftermath on cable networks of the
roundtable discussions, particularly on CNN. They could barely keep everybody on
camera. They were jumping out of their seats like they were jacks-in-the-box. ‘I can’t
believe what he just said! He just said that he hopes the Russians intercede in the
presidential election! That’s unbelievable! I can’t believe what I just saw!’ One
Clintonista, one Clintonista… One girl that [sic; one reporter who] was supporting
Clinton just went absolutely bonkers over that. They don’t know how to deal with this.
They’ve never... The Democrats and the media, they’ve never had to deal with anything
like this.” [95919]
“…And Trump was eating it up, and Trump had them eating out of the palm of his hand.
He got a question, a couple questions about gay marriage, and he finally told the infobabe
[paraphrased], ‘Be quiet. I’ve answered that question a zillion times and I’m not
answering it anymore. Next question.’ This—I’m telling you this is the Trump of late last
summer, last fall dealing with these people. The Trump today—not that he vanished, but
the Trump today is the Trump that got all that support, that had all that excited people,
that had all that momentum behind him. It was fun to watch, and it was right on. He was
clever, he was informed, and he was not stumped on a single question. And he knew how
to push their buttons. He was measured. He was funny, not—I mean, you watch it. It was
masterful when you see it. And I know that some of you are not Trump people, and you
might have a bit of resentment for this assessment. I’m just telling you, as a performance,
as a political event, it was primo.” [95919]
172
“…The New York Times has already tweeted the following: ‘Donald called on Russia to
hack Hillary Clinton’s email.’ The thing about it is Trump is putting ’em all on. He’s
laughing silently with all of this stuff, and they’re buying it! They have no sense of
humor, particularly when you’re laughing at them, when you’re mocking. They can’t—
they have no tolerance. The party of tolerance and compassion, the party of Jon Stewart
and all these mean-spirited media people, they can’t take one-tenth of it tossed back to
’em. And so here’s Trump basically mocking them. It’s the media that doesn’t care about
Hillary’s emails. It’s the FBI that didn’t care about Hillary’s emails. And Trump knows
that everybody knows that. Trump knows that everybody thinks that Hillary’s getting
away with committing a crime that nobody else could get away with. So Trump is saying,
‘Russia, I hope you can find these missing emails.’” [95919]
Ann Coulter tweets, “Trump is a genius. Half the country is saying, ‘what 30,000 Hillary
emails?’” [95927]
Green Party candidate Jill Stein tweets, “Democrats are now accusing Russia of
manipulating our presidential election… exactly what DNC was caught doing.” [95929]
Clinton campaign advisor Jake Sullivan walks right into Trump’s trap, issuing a
statement: “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively
encouraged a foreign power ro conduct espionage against his political opponent. That’s
not hyperbole, those are just the facts [sic; that is just the fact]. This has gone from being
a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.” [95931]
The Drudge Report tweets in response to the Clinton statement, “[Trump] Gets her
campaign to admit e-mails ‘national security issue’.…” [95930]
Morning Jolt’s Jim Geraghty tweets, “1) There was nothing secret in HRC’s 30K deleted
e-mails. 2) It’s a ‘national security issue’ if Russia gets them. Pick one, Hillary camp.”
(How long it will take for the Clinton campaign to realize it has been bested by Donald
Trump remains to be seen.) [95933]
Former CIA and NSA head Michael Hayden, in criticizing Trump, only makes it worse
for Hillary Clinton. He says, “If [Trump] is talking about the State Department e-mails on
her server, he is inviting a foreign intelligence service to steal sensitive American
government information. If he is talking about the allegedly private e-mails that she
destroyed, he is inviting a foreign intelligence service to violate the privacy of an
individual protected by the Fourth Amendment to the American Constitution.” (If Clinton
had “sensitive American government information” on her private server, she should have
been indicted; and Hayden should know better than to think foreign intelligence agencies
care about Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. If Clinton’s private emails were
hacked by Russia or China, that is the result of her actions—not Trump’s.) [95962]
173
On Special Report, Charles Krauthammer adds, “…I do think there was something about
[Trump’s] reference to Russia, which, whether planned or not, is extremely clever. I’m
not the first point out that it set a trap that the Clinton campaign fell right into. In that
statement that you [Bret Baier] showed from the Clinton campaign, it said, uh, you know,
you’re inviting a foreign, a foreign power to, uh, invade, you know, our national security.
Now, these are the emails that she deleted because they were supposedly private. These
are the ones that were supposedly not work-related. These are the ones where she
discusses her yoga lessons and [daughter’s] wedding planning.” [95935, 95941]
“So, if that’s what really [is] in the 30,000 deleted e-mails, then there’s no national
security to be involved at all. So, the Clinton campaign ends up admitting that perhaps
there really is work-related, if not classified stuff, on the emails which she deleted—
which I think would be the grounds for a charge of obstruction. …The fact is that it
leaves the Clinton campaign in a complete contradiction. If these are just private emails,
then there’s nothing to be concerned about. There’s no espionage, there is no danger to
national security… they will discover her yoga lesson schedule.” [95935, 95941]
What Trump did with his remarks about email hacking and Russia was the equivalent of
a chess move. He opened himself up to criticism (he sacrificed a pawn), but reenergized
the issue of the 33,000 emails deleted by Hillary Clinton (he put the opponent’s queen at
increased risk).
At the Democrat convention, delegates officially nominate Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) as
their vice presidential candidate. (Efforts by Bernie Sanders supporters to replace Kaine
with someone who is more of a socialist fail.) [95922]
Fox News. Shannon Bream tweets, “Crowd chanting ‘USA! USA!’ Delegate in front of
me stands up and yells, ‘Stop that! That’s a Trump chant!’” [95947]
The evening’s convention speakers (largely a parade of the political past) include New
York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Congressman Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Jesse Jackson,
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), California Governor Jerry Brown, former
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (who encounters boos and chants of “no more wars!”),
Jill Biden, Vice President Joe “literally” Biden, former New York City mayor Michael
Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton running mate Tim Kaine (who is greeted by a large banner
that reads, “Election Fraud #Wikileaks”) and whose speech is immediately called
“instantly forgettable”), and Obama. [95924, 95946, 95965, 95968, 95971, 95973, 95974,
95999]
After Panetta accuses Donald Trump of asking the Russians to “engage in hacking or
intelligence against the United States to affect our election,” Trump policy advisor
Stephen Miller comments, “It is alarming that Leon Panetta would, through his silence,
excuse Hillary Clinton’s enablement of foreign espionage with her illegal email scheme
and her corrupt decision to then destroy those emails and dissemble her ‘private’ server to
174
hide her crimes from the public and authorities. He better than most should know how
many lives she put at risk. At the same time, Panetta ignored Hillary Clinton’s rush to
war in the Middle East and her deadly and calamitous invasion of Libya which further
proves her a reckless risk too grave for any American family.” [95956]
Obama tells the delegates, guests (and paid seat fillers), “You know, there’s been a lot of
talk in this campaign about what America’s lost—people who tell us that our way of life
is being undermined by pernicious changes and dark forces beyond our control. They tell
voters there’s a ‘real America’ out there that must be restored. This isn’t an idea that
started with Donald Trump. It’s been peddled by politicians for a long time—probably
from the start of our Republic. And it’s got me thinking about the story I told you 12
years ago tonight, about my Kansas grandparents and the things they taught me when I
was growing up. They came from the heartland; their ancestors began settling there about
200 years ago. I don’t know if they had their birth certificates, but they were there.”
[95944, 95964, 95983, 96001, 96020, 96044]
In his address, Obama mentions Donald Trump six times and ISIS twice. He does not
mention Israel, Iraq, Libya, the TPP trade agreement, or the national debt. (According to
a count by Grabien.com, Obama mentions himself 119 times.) [95948, 95980, 95]
Stretching his exaggeration skills to the limit, Obama says, “I can say with confidence
there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as
president of the United States of America.” [95948, 95949]
Of Trump, Obama says, “America is already great. America is already strong. And I
promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump. He’s not
really a plans guy. Not really a facts guy, either. He calls himself a business guy, which is
true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved
success without leaving a trail of lawsuits, and unpaid workers, and people feeling like
they got cheated.” [95948]
“What we heard in Cleveland last week,” says Obama, “wasn’t particularly Republican—
and it sure wasn’t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a
country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world. There
were no serious solutions to pressing problems—just the fanning of resentment, and
blame, and anger, and hate. Ronald Reagan called America ‘a shining city on a hill.’
Donald Trump calls it ‘a divided crime scene’ that only he can fix.” (Obama’s criticism
may backfire. His problem is that many voters believe America has changed from a
shining city to a crime scene. Ridiculing the voters by suggesting their views are
mistaken is itself a mistake—especially when their views are not mistaken.) [96005]
Most media leftists predictably gush over Obama’s speech. MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell:
“His gift is unique. I don't think we’ve ever had a president, save Lincoln, who is as great
a speechwriter as this man.” (Who wrote Obama’s speech is not mentioned.) NBC’s
175
Lester Holt: “…Obama delivering a speech, a powerful arc embracing hope and
optimism, a passionate endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton and at times an artful
takedown of Donald Trump, a call for Americans to participate in democracy. There was
[sic; were] some familiar refrains there. ‘Yes, we can’ and ‘the audacity of hope’ there in
the final part of his speech this evening.” CBS’ Norah O’Donnell: “This was …Obama at
his best. The most powerful endorsement that Hillary Clinton could ask for tonight, the
strongest enunciation [sic; denunciation] of Donald Trump as a candidate, as a
businessman, his values. Barack Obama saying, American is already great.” [95984,
95985]
Gloria Borger on CNN: “I think he reached beyond the room. I mean, nobody can talk
about America like Barack Obama, aside from maybe Ronald Reagan.” MSNBC’s Brian
Williams: “It is tempting to say at this time we will not see his kind again.” MSNBC’s
Rachel Maddow: “There’s nothing [sic; nobody] else like him in American politics, there
never has been before.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “It was magnificent.” MSNBC’s Joy
Reid: “It was brilliant, probably one of the best speeches that he's ever given. Brilliantly
done.” [95986, 95987]
Leftist Amanda Marcotte complains at Salon.com that Obama’s convention speech in
support of Hillary Clinton “missed the mark.” “Tonight, in his speech supporting Hillary
Clinton, was the last big foreseeable speech of his career [sic]. Tonight, of all nights, he
should have really brought his mighty oratory skills to bear. Sadly, however, his speech
was a bit… meh. Not that it was bad, mind you. Obama hit a lot of high points, both
shading Clinton’s opponent, Donald Trump and highlighting how progressive and
successful the Democratic agenda was, an especially important topic with all the illinformed Bernie Sanders dead-enders in the audience who were convinced that Clinton is
basically a Republican. …[F]or some reason, Obama delivered a Bill Clinton-esque
performance, meandering around his own record, taking random digs at Donald Trump,
and hitting applause lines (YES WE CAN) almost at random.” [95942]
“…It’s hard to put a thesis statement into Barack Obama’s speech. He roamed around,
hat-tipping Black Lives Matter and Clinton’s hard work, but one never got the sense,
from him, of Clinton as a friend. …No real warmth was detected. …But that was a crowd
that was fully ready to be united and scream its head off at the chance of electing the first
female President, and, for some reason, Obama just fell a bit short of the task. As he
noted in the speech, being the leader of the free world is hard work—which is why we
should want Clinton in the job—so perhaps he didn’t have time to tell a better story. Still,
a shame. Most of us wanted to hear the real story of how these two former foes became
friends. Obama could have told that story in style, and made history while he did it. His
failure to do so is on him.” (Marcotte is apparently too blinded by her leftist ideology to
see reality: the Obamas and the Clintons hate each other.) [95942]
Obama’s speech paints a rosy picture of the nation with which a majority of Americans
disagree. (“I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your president, to
tell you I am even more optimistic about the future of America. How could I not be—
176
after all we’ve achieved together? …Thank you for this incredible journey—let’s keep it
going!”) WashingtonExaminer.com notes, “In the most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal
poll, 73 percent of registered voters said the country is on the wrong track, while just 18
percent said it is headed in the right direction. The 73 percent figure is the second-highest
in the president's nearly eight years in office. The poll was no outlier. These are the
wrong-track numbers for the last ten polls in the RealClearPolitics average of polls: 67,
70, 67, 71, 73, 69, 79, 68, 60 and 66.” [96004]
On July 28 German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, “The terrorists want to make us lose
sight of what is important to us, break down our cohesion and sense of community as
well as inhibiting our way of life, our openness and our willingness take in people who
are in need. They see hatred and fear between cultures and they see hatred and fear
between religions. We stand decisively against that” and will continue to “stick to our
principles” and “give shelter to those who deserve it.” (How many terrorist attacks by
“migrants” and “refugees” it will take for Merkel to stop their influx is not known.)
[96014, 96018]
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warns, “We must make it clear that
our problem is not in Mecca, but in Brussels. The obstacle for us is not Islam, but the
bureaucrats in Brussels. We would be able to deal with Islam if we were allowed to deal
with it in the way we think we should.” The European Union “is unable to protect its own
citizens, it is unable to protect its external borders. It is unable to keep the community
together, as Britain, the United Kingdom, has just left. What more is needed for one to
openly declare that Europe’s political leadership has failed? It is unable to achieve a
single one of its goals.” [96016, 96017, 96082, 96106]
Various media outlets report large numbers of Turks demonstrating at or near the U.S.
Air Force’s Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey. (The U.S. military maintains nuclear
weapons at Incirlik. It would be a monumental disaster if jihadists overran the base and
gained control of those weapons.) [96066, 96067, 96199]
The Department of Labor reports that claims for unemployment benefits rose to 266,000
in the prior week, up from 252,000 the week before. [96006]
The Census Bureau reports that homeownership has fallen to 62.9 percent, the lowest
level since records were first kept in 1965. [96008]
TheBlaze.com reports, “The U.S. Navy is expected to name one of its ships after gay
rights icon and San Francisco politician and pederast and statutory rapist Harvey Milk,
who became the first openly gay man to hold public office in California, according to a
new report. A July 14 notification, obtained by the U.S. Naval Institute’s news service,
indicated the Navy will name a Military Sealift Command fleet oiler after the activist.
The vessel, which will be constructed by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego,
177
California, will be officially titled USNS Harvey Milk.” (Whether Obama will name a
battleship after Rosie O’Donnell remains to be seen.) [96057, 96071, 96112]
Townhall.com political editor Guy Benson comments on Obama’s convention speech:
“…Obama’s tenure in office is nearly over, thankfully. Despite a gauzy introductory
video and some requisite boasting about his record, Obama’s two signature
‘accomplishments’—Obamacare and the Iran deal—are enduringly unpopular, failing,
and built on lies. The vast majority of Americans believe we’re on the wrong track as a
nation under his divisive leadership. [Obama’s] approval rating has benefited from
America’s historically-alienating and disliked major party nominees.” [95946]
“His tribute to Hillary Clinton, and his criticisms of Donald Trump, played very well in
an arena packed with adoring fans. Obama was in his element, giving a soaring speech,
the themes of which often diverged from his actions and tone on the job. He devoted
portions of the address to describing Trump as un-Republican and non-conservative,
fashioning passages to appeal to disaffected center-right voters. And of course he offered
a heavy dose of liberalism to the gathered partisans. He talks a good game on unity, and
he did so again tonight. Practicing what he preaches is not his strong suit. Bottom line:
Hillary’s favorable rating is horrendous. And as of this week, it’s identical to Trump’s.
She joined Obama on stage as the conclusion of what felt like his presidential valediction,
all smiles. It’s her moment. But she is not a talented, trusted, or beloved politician. If
she’s going to get a bounce [in the polls]—and she likely will—she can thank both
Obamas and her husband for it.” [95946]
On Fox & Friends, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani says, “This is the most
anti-police, anti-law enforcement convention I’ve ever seen in my whole life. There was
not a uniformed police officer allowed on the convention floor. I’m told that by four
high-ranking Philadelphia police officers, two of whom I’ve known for a very long time,
and then I walked the floor two nights—I couldn’t find a single uniformed police officer.
…Hillary Clinton didn’t want uniformed police officers on the convention floor.” [95981,
95982, 96038]
At Townhall.com Derek Hunter writes, “My takeaway from the Democratic National
Convention so far is that we’re a sexist, racist, homophobic country full of monsters
hunting young black men, sex traffickers, and greedy people… and those last two weren’t
a reference to Bill Clinton. The worst part is it’s ‘systemic,’ meaning it is part of the
fabric of our nation, according to these progressives. It’s part of the foundation upon
which this country was built, and if the foundation is rotten the whole house has to go… I
haven’t heard many good things about the United States so far. It’s mostly been
complaints. Name an ethnic group, and the Democrats have pandered to its grievance.
‘The system is rigged’ shouted U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after recounting her
rise from nothing to being a millionaire. Not too rigged obviously.” [95953]
“…The ‘Mothers of the Movement’ speeches were the most exploitive thing I’ve seen
this year. The speakers were mothers of people who either committed suicide (Sandra
178
Bland), were killed by someone they were attacking (Trayvon Martin), or killed by some
random guy (Jordan Davis), not the #BlackLivesMatter ‘victims’ of police they were
billed as. Nothing Hillary, or any politician, could do would have saved any of them.
Having Michael Brown’s mother up there was a direct slap in the face of police and the
concept of law and order. He ripped off a liquor store and attacked a cop, trying to take
away his gun for reasons we can only assume weren’t friendly. He was killed because of
his violence against an innocent man. You can argue he didn’t deserve to die, but his
actions earned it.” [95953]
Hunter calls the convention “a series of well-crafted lies. There are 800-pound gorillas all
around the Wells Fargo Arena—not least among them that a party that has declared open
war on large banks is holding its convention in Wells Fargo Arena. Denial ain’t just a
river in Egypt; it’s a plank in the Democratic Party platform. All we’ve ‘learned,’ if
anything, is Democrats deny reality, believe this country is awful but it’s none of
…Obama’s fault, and the system—which they designed, built, and implemented—is
rigged against you. But they’re going to fix it… this time.” [95953]
In a July 20-26 LATimes/USC poll, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 47-40.
HotAir.com notes, “It’s the only poll out there right now that includes data from Monday
and Tuesday [July 25-26] of this week, which means the extra-large lead it’s seeing for
Trump might be a sign that his bounce is still expanding. We’ll have to wait for other
surveys to confirm that. In the meantime, the (almost) seven-point advantage here is tied
for the biggest lead for Trump in any poll this year. Rasmussen, whose numbers have
skewed conspicuously pro-Trump, has also found a seven-point lead for him in the past.
The Times and Rasmussen have something in common: They both poll likely voters,
which should make their numbers a little closer to what we’d expect to actually see on
Election Day.” (Surveys of likely voters are more reliable than surveys of adults or
registered voters.) [95979]
On MSNBC, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) makes the absurd claim that by asking
Russia to release Hillary Clinton’s emails if its operatives hacked them, Donald Trump
violated the Logan Act. (According to Wikipedia.com, the 1799 Logan Act “is a United
States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign
governments having a dispute with the U.S. It was intended to prevent the undermining
of the government's position.” Trump is, of course, not “negotiating” with Russia by
asking for it to release Clinton’s emails. One could just as easily argue that Michelle
Obama was “negotiating” with the terrorist group Boko Haram by holding up a “Bring
Back Our Girls” sign.) [95989, 96045]
Democrat politicians and media leftists demonstrate their lack of consistency by claiming
that Russia is helping Trump getting elected with their hacking operation and, at the same
time, warning that a Trump presidency would result in World War III with Russia. (Why
the Russians would want to help get elected someone eager to launch nuclear-armed
missiles against them is not clear.)
179
The 16,500-member National Border Patrol Council issues a statement: “History will not
look kindly on …Obama’s border security policies and his conscientious efforts to
mislead the American people. Historians may refer to this period as the ‘Era of No
Consequences,’ which resulted in the increase of dangerous drugs like meth and heroin,
as well as criminal aliens flooding our communities. Obama’s efforts to deceive the
American public about border security, in order to pursue amnesty programs that were
eventually rejected by Congress and the American people will go down as this
Administration’s biggest—and deadliest—lie. …Secretary Clinton’s call for amnesty in
her first 100 days and expanding these dangerous policies demonstrates her deeply
alarming willingness to sell out the security of American families to advance her political
or financial interests. Her immigration plan is not only dangerous for all American
families, but previews an Administration that will once again defy the will of the voters
and Congress to implement a divisive, reckless, and partisan agenda.” [96002, 96003]
“Secretary Clinton calls immigration a family problem. However, the families she
ignored are all American. Her plan does nothing to protect those who are victimized
every day by our blind pursuit of open borders, and in fact subjects them to a greater
threat. No one, in either party, should run for office unless they are willing to put the
interests of American families above anything or anyone else. …We are already seeing a
massive influx of activity on our southern border. Secretary Clinton’s very candidacy,
and the amnesty she promises, is luring families into the U.S. and wrecking innocent
lives.” [96002, 96003]
“We would face an unprecedented crisis if she was [sic; is] elected and allowed to
implement her plan. Cartels and Islamic extremists would quickly manipulate this chaos
and further their plans to harm innocent American citizens. Clinton has pledged to close
detention centers, release immigrant family members and offer American citizenship,
Obamacare, education, and amnesty to all. She mysteriously chooses to ignore the
lessons from recent terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Paris, Belgium, Nice, Orlando
and London, as she pushes to drastically expand refugee admissions to citizens from
countries not friendly to the U.S. Clinton’s plan is another troubling example of her
eagerness to ignore the inconvenient truth that we live in dangerous times. She continues
to put the desires of social elites above the deafening choir of hard-working everyday
citizens who are demanding real border security. We can no longer afford to weaken
border security and hope for the best. Clinton’s Immigration Plan is dangerous, and may
win her fringe voter support at the risk of every family’s security.” [96002, 96003]
At Takimag.com Costin Vlad Alamariu writes, “The accusation that [Russian President
Vladimir] Putin has a connection to Trump, so widely repeated now by the corporate
media and the Democrats with whom they coordinate, is nothing new. It also came up in
the primaries. Republican political operatives and the neoconservative intelligentsia,
unable to understand the threat or accept the repudiation of their failed policies, claimed
that Trump’s rise was somehow aided by Russia, and that his online supporters were
‘Kremlin-funded trolls.’ This last charge is repeated even now. And Hillary Clinton
makes dark hints about ‘celebrations in the Kremlin’ if Trump were to win. His prudence
180
and restraint in wanting to avoid war with Russia are presented as ‘evidence’ that he is
‘Putin’s agent’ by the same reckless political and foreign-policy establishment that has
brought one humiliation after another to the United States over the past three decades.”
[95995]
“Trump was once blamed for praising Putin’s performance. But he was right. Pensions,
salaries, GDP, and the value of gold reserves in Russia have risen greatly since 1999—in
some cases tenfold or more. This was while both inflation and the debt-to-GDP ratio
declined by orders of magnitude. The rise in living standard under Putin is reflected in
longer life expectancy: It had dropped to a third-world level during the 1990s, to around
55–57, and has now risen back up to 70 by most measures.” [95995]
“…If Putin really is responsible for the DNC leaks, he has done a great service to
journalism and to America. The emails reveal what was widely known but previously
dismissed as a ‘conspiracy theory’: The American political system as it now exists is
rigged by party apparatchiks in thrall to corporate donors and lobbyists. These same few
financiers own most of the media outlets, which coordinate with the marionette political
class to promote an oligarch-approved narrative. The entire edifice of American
government and media of our time serves here the same purpose that the controlled
government and media of Russia served in the 1990s.” [95995]
“…Hillary Clinton, like Jeb Bush, is not running for president. With the exception of
Trump and maybe Sanders, all other candidates this year were running for the analogue
of Yeltsin’s position in the Russia of the ’90s. That is, a puppet who will give a rubber
stamp to a few oligarchs to extract as much wealth as possible in America’s hour of
decline and prepare for themselves a refuge abroad. Mass immigration, reckless wars,
and the various international trade deals proposed are the principal policies by which this
is to be done. ‘Diversity,’ ‘the global economy,’ and other such platitudes are the rhetoric
meant to hypnotize the people to their own dispossession. And the same international
vampires who raped Russia and who hate Putin for stopping their schemes are now
shaking with fear that an American can stop them at home.” [95995]
White House press secretary Josh Earnest—who has apparently never heard of Ronald
Reagan—tells reporters, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that …Obama is actually the
first president since President Eisenhower to win two national elections back-to-back,
earning a majority vote from the American people.” Reporter: “[I] Think you mean the
first Democrat.” Earnest: “Uh, the first one since Eisenhower, is actually the first
president, Democrat or Republican, to get more than 50 percent of the vote twice.”
Reporter: “Reagan did it twice, actually.” Earnest: “Reagan did not do it twice.” (In the
1980 election, Reagan won 50.7 percent of the vote. In 1984, Reagan won 58.8 percent of
the vote. Obama won 52.9 percent of the vote in 2008 and 51.1 percent in 2012.) [96033,
96034, 96035]
Convention attendees look forward to calls from speakers for a $15 per hour minimum
wage—while paying $4.50 for a 16-ounce bottle of water at concession stands. (They
181
complain about being gouged by Exxon-Mobil for $2.00 per gallon gasoline, while
shelling out $36.00 for a gallon of water.)
Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez, speaking at the Democrat convention, calls for a moment of
silence to honor slain police officers. (The moment of silence is rudely interrupted by
shouts of “Black Lives Matter!”) [95990, 95991, 96030, 96069]
Khizr Khan, whose son, Humayun Khan served in the U.S. military and was killed in Iraq
in 2004, addresses the convention. Khan says, “If it was up to Donald Trump, he never
would have been in America.” (The Kahn family emigrated from Pakistan in 1980).
“…Let me ask you [Mr. Trump], ‘Have you even read the United States Constitution? I
will gladly lend you my copy.” (Khan’s anger is misplaced. It was George W. Bush who
sent his son to war, not Trump, and Muslims who killed his son, not Trump. [96108,
96109, 96111]
It is correct that had there been a ban on Pakistani immigrants in 1980, Khan’s son “never
would have been in America.” He would also still be alive and living in Pakistan. But
Khan is wring about the U.S. Constitution. It does not prohibit the federal government
from banning immigration from certain countries or by certain groups of individuals. In
fact, federal law states, “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of
any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the
United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary,
suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or
impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.” [96108,
96109, 96111, 96214, 96215]
Khan also excoriates Trump, saying he never sacrificed anything. Not surprisingly, the
media repeats ad infinitum the “ultimate sacrifice” line. But the media, like Khan—and
most Americans—have a distorted view of the word sacrifice. Many would define the
word sacrifice as “something you give up, usually for the sake of a better cause.” But if
you have a choice between two items, causes, or tasks and choose the greater one, you
have not sacrificed anything. You have merely made a conscious decision to value one
option or action over the other.
If one has $100,000 in the bank and can spend it on either a child’s college education or
an exotic sports car, choosing the education does not mean one “sacrificed” the sports
car. It means that the education was considered a greater value than the vehicle. A
“sacrifice” would be to choose the lesser value over the greater value. It would be
irrational to choose a sports car over one’s child’s education. If one did, one would be
trading the child’s future for a car. That would be a sacrifice. Rational human beings do
not make sacrifices. They choose greater values over lesser values. That one cannot have
everything one wants does not cause sacrifices. It merely forces one to select the greatest
values on which to spend one’s time, energy, and money.
182
To argue that the death of a soldier represents the “ultimate sacrifice” is an error (at least
when the nation has a volunteer army and no forced conscription). One volunteers to
serve in the Armed Forces of the United States because one places the greatest value on
liberty. If living in freedom is a greater value than living under savage shari’ah law, then
dying in the cause of that liberty is not a sacrifice. It is simply the possible result of
fighting for that liberty. “Give me liberty or give me death” means exactly that. If liberty
is a greater value than slavery, then one must fight for liberty. To engage in that fight is
not a sacrifice. It is a rational action in support of one’s values.
This issue is where there is a great divide between Democrats and Republicans.
Republicans tend to consider liberty a far greater value than do Democrats. The latter
place a greater value on security, and will more eagerly exchange freedoms for “free
stuff.” (What should come to mind is Benjamin Franklin’s statement: “Those who would
give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty
nor Safety.”) Democrats and Republicans alike no doubt consider death on the battlefield
a sacrifice, but Democrats are more likely to consider those deaths stupid—because they
would sooner give up some liberties in exchange for safety. Republicans are more likely
to agree with Patrick Henry.
Khan is probably correct that Donald Trump has never made many sacrifices. But that is
actually a compliment, rather than a criticism. If Trump consistently chose greater values
over lesser values (as he seems to have done in the raising of responsible, productive
children), then he has acted rationally. Many would argue that Hillary Clinton made
many “sacrifices” because she chose a career in “public service.” That is nonsense.
Public service is not a sacrifice if that is what one wants to do with one’s life. (Choosing
public service when one would much rather do something else is a sacrifice—and it is
also as foolish as choosing a sports car over an education.)
Clinton chose the college and law school she attended and she chose her career path—
and her “public service” has resulted in a net worth of more than $100 million. If Clinton
sacrificed anything, it was her self-respect and dignity—by staying married to a serial
philanderer and rapist. She considered power and wealth a greater value than her own
psychological well-being. That was irrational; that was a sacrifice; and that may explain
why she seems perpetually overwhelmed by anger and paranoia.
The questions the voters must ask are these: “Which presidential candidate can be trusted
to make rational decisions in the Oval Office?” “Which presidential candidate has
demonstrated better judgment with regard to prioritizing values?” For all his faults,
Donald Trump seems to know how to recognize value and prioritize things in life: family,
personal allegiances, productivity, job creation, and building things. Hillary Clinton’s
number one priority seems to have always been the acquisition of power—at any cost.
In their personal lives, the decisions made by Trump and Clinton affected only
themselves, their families and friends. Irrational choices made by them over the years
may have hurt those families and friends, but few others. In their public lives, their
183
decisions affected far more people. In Trump’s case, his decisions had an impact on
employees. In Clinton’s case, her decisions had an impact on almost all Americans—as
well Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty. Now they both
seek to make decisions in our Oval Office. Their decisions may result in sacrifices made
by more than 315 million Americans.
Democrat politicians and media leftists quickly praise Kahn’s brief speech—completely
ignoring the fact that one week earlier they had excoriated the Republicans for having Pat
Smith, mother of Benghazi victim Sean Smith, speak at their convention. (To them,
featuring Mrs. Smith was “exploitation,” while using Khan was not.)
Retired General John Allen tells the delegates, “I also know that with [Hillary Clinton] as
our commander in chief, our international relations will not be reduced to a business
transaction. I also know that our armed forces will not become an instrument of torture,
and they will not be engaged in murder, or carry out other illegal activities.” [96076]
Media leftists are predictably thrilled by Allen’s endorsement of Clinton—and
predictably neglect to remind viewers that it was Allen who, later notes Jihad Watch,
“several years ago issu[ed] an embarrassing and groveling apology to ‘the noble people
of Afghanistan’ for an alleged desecration of the Qur’an by U.S. troops. General Allen
clearly had no idea how weak and pusillanimous his repeated apologies in this video
made him appear to many, if not most, of ‘the noble people of Afghanistan.’ He should
have known enough about Islamic culture to know that it respects strength and sees
apologizing and attempts at conciliation as weakness, only to be despised.” [29446,
29447, 29454, 29455, 29460, 29470, 29472, 29479, 29499, 29535, 29550, 29564, 29581,
96075]
FrontPageMag.com points out that Allen—who failed at his task of destroying ISIS—is
currently with the leftist Brookings Institution. “Allen showed up to address the
Brookings shindig in Doha, Qatar. This is no coincidence because Qatar is Brookings’
sugar daddy. …Qatar is also notable for worsening the Arab Spring by funneling money
and a lot more to Jihadist groups and aggressively advancing the agenda of Islamists.
Alongside Hillary Clinton. Connect the dots. It’s fun for the whole family.” [96078,
96342]
Nor does the media remind viewers that Allen was involved in the scandal with General
David Petraeus. While Petraeus was having an extra-marital affair with journalist Paula
Broadwell, Florida socialite Jill Kelley and Allen exchanged as many as 30,000 emails
during his time as head of Central Command in Tampa, Florida. Kelley visited the White
House just two days before the Petraeus affair scandal broke—and had two visits before
that. (Some readers might be tempted to believe that Obama and Clinton “have something
on Allen.”) [40212, 40249, 40252, 40286, 40300, 40301, 40351, 96099, 96342]
184
On The Kelly File, retired Lieutenant General Mike Flynn says, “I will tell you that I
cannot see how John Allen can support somebody who perpetually cannot tell the truth
and was actually described by the director of the FBI as not being able to tell the truth. So
I honestly don’t know how John Allen can look at himself in the mirror and say why he
supports Hillary Clinton. …General Allen, as a retired officer, was in charge of our
current strategy for well over a year, maybe closer to two years, and during that period of
time the rise of radical Islamism and ISIS, you know, it exponentially grew. …[F]rankly,
I honestly don't know how General Allen can look at himself in the mirror and say that he
supports an individual who placed our national security at high risk. …John Allen can
support—as an American, he can support whoever he wants, whatever his conscience
decides. But, I’m telling you, he was in charge of the strategy after he came out of
uniform and that strategy failed.” [96077]
Chelsea Clinton (wearing a $2,215 dress from the UK and, despite cosmetic surgery, still
looking more like her purported father Webster Hubbell than Bill Clinton) addresses the
Democrat convention in a lackluster speech only Hillary Clinton fans will like. Among
her lines: “There’s something else that my mother taught me—public service is about
service.” “That feeling of being valued and loved, that’s what my mom wants for every
child. It is the calling of her life.” (At Lifezette.com Garrett Murch asks, “While pundits
may be too polite to say it, how many Americans honestly believed that?”) [96015,
96064, 96256]
In the California delegation, some supporters of Bernie Sanders modify their
“HILLARY” signs to read “LIAR.” [96026]
Hillary Clinton delivers her platitude-filled acceptance speech as the convention comes to
a close. At the beginning if her address she speaks in low, measured, and boring tones. As
the speech progresses, she speaks more quickly, and more loudly—which, for her, does
not work because she has an unpleasant speaking voice that becomes more grating as the
volume increases. Even when saying something positive, she sounds—and looks—angry.
(Among those who find the speech boring are her husband, Bill Clinton, who is caught
dozing off by an ABC camera.) [95994, 96011, 96019, 96025, 96032, 96070, 96091]
Without attribution, Clinton quotes Alexis de Tocqueville: “America is great because
America is good.” (The phrase has been around for ages, and may or may not have
originated with de Tocqueville.) [96039]
Although Clinton does not have any coughing fits during her address, there are
innumerable instances of throat clearing. In addition, Clinton displays a strange head jerk
and expression when the balloons drop from the ceiling of the arena. The head jerk and
facial expression are remarkably similar to those seen at a campaign event earlier in the
year—which startled reporters, onlookers, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
(D-DC). (Some observers suspect Clinton suffers from seizures; some have suggested
mini-strokes; and others have suggested her occasional strange head jerks are the side
effects of drugs, such as the anti-psychotic medication Thorazine. Clinton reportedly
185
takes Coumadin to thin her blood—which might come as a surprise to those who believe
she has ice water in her veins.) [96050, 96051, 96052, 96053, 96095, 96096, 96097,
96100, 96101, 96145, 96146, 96370, 96371]
Clinton claims she turned down a lucrative job at a law firm in Washington, D.C. to work
with Marian Wright Edelman at the Children’s Defense Fund. (Ken Pittman points out at
WBSM.com, “While she did indeed work at the CDF in New Bedford in 1973, it seemed
more like Plan B than her passion, but this was her fate and it served her well. Hillary
Rodham actually went for the big bucks at that dreamy law firm in D.C. …but she failed
to pass her bar exams in the District of Columbia, instead eventually passed them in
Arkansas.” That is, Clinton did not turn down a high-paying job as an attorney; she failed
the bar exam and was not an attorney.) [96130]
During Clinton’s speech, former GOP candidate Carly Fiorina tweets: “I remember
landing under sniper fire.” “What difference, at this point, does it make?” “I never
received nor sent any material that was marked classified.” “We came out of the White
House not only dead-broke, but in debt.” “What I did was legally permitted.” “The
American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.”
“Hillary and I can agree on that last tweet. The American people are tired of liars, but it’s
the only thing Clinton has ever known.” “The Clinton Way: say whatever you have to
say, do whatever you have to do, and lie as long as you can get away with it.” [96022]
John Podhoretz tweets, “The most amazing thing about tonight is that Hillary is giving
this speech for free.” [96024]
Asked by The Washington Post when Clinton will ever get around to having a press
conference (she has not had one since December 4, 2015), Clinton campaign manager
Robby Mook responds, “We’re working on her schedule on a rolling basis, and we’ve
been really proud that she’s done quite a number of interviews. Thanks so much.” Clinton
pollster Joel Benenson tells ABC News, “We’ll have a press conference when we want to
have a press conference.” [96031, 96042, 96043]
On CNN, former Obama campaign guru David Axelrod says, “[I]f presidential races
were decathlons, giving a speech like this is not her strength, and she didn’t give a great
speech tonight. She did not give a great speech tonight, but she hit some ground that is
very, very valuable to her. I think the arguments against Trump, particularly the one… on
[him not being fit to be] commander-in-chief, the other one is going after [him] on [his] ‘I
alone can fix it’ [statement], which I think we heard [Obama] work that last night. I think
that’s a very damaging argument against him, and not just with Democrats or
Independents, but with conservatives and Republicans. I think on the economics, she
probably scored very, very well, because people were looking for real proposals [that is,
‘free stuff’] that they think might help them, not just ‘trust me, I can do it.’ I suspect she
scored well with that. Was it a great speech? No. Was it an effective speech in moving
the ball forward? I think yes.” [96049
186
On Hannity, Democrat pollster and Clinton pal Doug Schoen says, “If this election is a
referendum on the incumbent or Secretary Clinton, she will lose.” [95996]
The National Rifle Association responds to Clinton’s anti-gun agenda with a statement
from executive vice president Wayne LaPierre: “Mrs. Clinton, if you want to come after
the NRA—if you want a fight over the God-given rights of America’s 100 million gun
owners—if you want to turn this election into a bare-knuckled brawl for the survival of
our constitutional freedom… BRING. IT. ON.” (Although Clinton says in her speech,
“I’m not here to repeal the Second Amendment,” that comment is a red herring. No
president has the power to repeal a Constitutional Amendment. But Clinton—who once
said Australia’s ban on guns was “worth looking at”—would take every action she could
get away with to take guns away from citizens were elected.) [96027, 96028, 96056]
The New York Post’s late edition headline: “Hillary speaks to DNC, waives $200,000 fee;
It’s On Me!” [96029]
Arguably, Hillary Clinton was one of the weaker speakers at the convention. The
Democrat base was enthused more by Obama, his wife, Joe Biden, and Senator Cory
Booker (D-NJ). But none of them will be onstage with her at the debates with Donald
Trump. She will be on her own (and on her feet) for at least two hours; she will need to
avoid coughing fits; and she will need to do more than speak in platitudes. She will also
have to have an answer when Trump asks, “Who is going to pay for all those free college
educations?” (The debate schedule is: September 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead,
New York; October 9 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; and October 19 at
the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The vice presidential debate between Republican
Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine will be October 4 at Longwood University in
Farmville, Virginia. Two of the Clinton-Trump debates will be competing against NFL
games for viewers.) [96054, 96098]
The Democrat convention ends with not one reference to the Clinton Foundation—the
alleged charitable organization of which the Clintons are supposedly extremely proud.
(There are reports that only 15 percent of Foundation funds are actually disbursed to
charities, while 85 percent is spent on overhead—such as first class airfare for the Clinton
family and their pals who have jobs there.) [96171
On July 29 a federal appeals court strikes down North Carolina’s voter identification law.
According to Politico.com, “The ruling also invalidated changes the state made in 2013
to early voting, same-day registration, out-of-precinct voting, and preregistration.” (The
Clinton campaign has reportedly set up an online voter registration tool “in both English
and Spanish.” Of course, individuals who can only speak Spanish are not eligible to
vote—because an English proficiency test has to be passed in order to become a
naturalized U.S. citizen. There is not logic whatsoever to having voter information in
Spanish.) [96009, 96023, 96094]
187
Among other things, the appeals court does not like that North Carolina changed its early
voting rules. But the claim that such rules are discriminatory is absurd. There is no
constitutional right to vote in advance of an election, and states should have the ability to
expand or limit early voting periods as they see fit. Changing the period of early voting
does not discriminate against anyone because of race, gender, or religion. In fact, some
states have no early voting at all. Citizens of New York, for example, can only vote on
election day.
States without photo ID voting are an invitation to vote fraud. Political operatives scour
obituary columns to find individuals whose deaths are recent enough that their names
would still appear in the voter registration lists. Fraudsters then go to the polling place
and ask for a ballot, using the name of the deceased person. Where there is no photo ID
requirement, there is no way to prevent the fraud (unless the person volunteering at the
polling place happened to know the person who died). States that have no photo ID
requirement include California, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, Minnesota,
Iowa, Illinois, West Virginia—and most of the states in the northeast. [96189, 96244]
Vote fraud is also possible with college students and “snow birds” who maintain two
residences. A Chicago resident attending school in Colorado, for example, might vote in
person in Colorado and a second time with an absentee ballot from Illinois. A Minnesota
retiree who spends the winter at a condominium in Florida might vote in person in
Florida as well as via absentee ballot in Minnesota. In the current computer age, such
fraud can arguably be greatly reduced, but few states bother to implement strict
procedures to prevent the fraud—and Congress has shown little inclination to pass federal
legislation to require voter registration database comparisons. (In fact, some states resist
removing the names of dead people from their voter registration lists. There is, of course,
only one reason to keep dead people on the voter rolls: to facilitate fraud.)
TheCanary.co reports, “The City of Paris has struck a corporate partnership with French
industrial giant, Lafarge, recently accused of secretly sponsoring the Islamic State (Isis or
Daesh) for profit. Documents obtained by several journalistic investigations reveal that
Lafarge has paid taxes to the terror group to operate its cement plant in Syria, and even
bought Isis oil for years. …Lafarge also has close ties to Democrat presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton. …Clinton herself was a director of Lafarge [a Clinton Foundation donor]
in the early 1990s, and did legal work for the firm in the 1980s. During her connection to
Lafarge, the firm was implicated in facilitating a CIA-backed covert arms export network
to Saddam Hussein.” [96198, 96216, 96221]
According to the Bureau of Econmic Analysis, the U.S. economy grew at a dismal annual
rate of only 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016. First quarter growth was even less:
0.8 percent (revised downward from 1.1 percent). (With economic growth lower than the
inflation rate, the economy is actually shrinking. Millions of the new jobs Obama has
bragged about during his term in office have been part-time jobs. More Americans are
falling behind than getting ahead when inflation is factored in.) [96040, 96041, 96068]
188
Donald Trump tweets, “Crooked Hillary said that I ‘couldn’t handle the rough and tumble
of a political campaign.’ Really, I just beat 16 people and am beating her.” [96021]
WND.com reports, “If TV ratings are any indication, Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech
apparently didn’t interest Americans as much as it interested establishment media, which
lauded it as a historic moment. According to unofficial early figures, the Republicans
bested the Democrats on convention Day 4, with Donald Trump’s acceptance speech in
Cleveland July 21 drawing about 30.2 million viewers compared to Clinton’s 27.8
million Thursday night. The figures are from NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News Channel
and MSNBC. …Individually, CNN led convention coverage with an average 6.2 million
viewers. MSNBC followed with 4.9 million, NBC News 4.2 million, ABC News 3.6
million, CBS News 2.9 million and Fox News Channel 2.4 million.” (Television ratings
are not as indicative of viewership as they have been in the past, of course, because many
people watched the conventions on the Internet.) [96025, 96072]
At NYPost.com John Podhoretz writes that Hillary Clinton “pretty much stunk up the
joint. Her speech was a Jell-O mold of a sort my Aunt Millie used to make—blandly
gelatinous in flavor and texture with little pieces of boilerplate left-liberal policy
suspended in it like peach chunks from a three-week-old can. I can’t think of another one
of these events when the presidential candidate’s acceptance address ended up solidly in
the running for the more-than-dubious honor of being the worst speech of the convention.
…She spoke in her patented da-DA da-DA ta-TA cadence, which makes every sentence
sound like every other. What is more, she looked more angry than determined and
seemed in no way transformed into a larger or more impressive figure due to her historic
accomplishment at securing her party’s nomination and very possibly the presidency
itself.” [96048]
At ConservativeHQ.com George Rasley writes, “If you were a unionized government
employee, a “green energy” investor, a Silicon Valley tech mogul or the recipient of an
Obamaphone or other government handout Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech was a
much anticipated reassurance that nothing would change and that the vast wealth transfer
that over the past eight years has moved trillions of dollars from the private economy to
the public economy ‘would continue unabated.’” [96055]
“Likewise, if you were a [George] Soros-funded Far Left anti-police or open borders
activist, or a top executive pulling down six-figures at a ‘charity’ servicing illegal aliens
or ‘refugees’ from terrorist hotspots, Clinton’s speech made clear that your comfortable
quality of life is secure and that she would do nothing to end the war on police or secure
the border from the vast wave of unvetted legal immigrants and illegal aliens that threaten
our domestic tranquility and have devastated the quality of life and jeopardized public
safety in communities large and small across the country.” [96055]
“However, if you are an American whose family income has remained stagnant for two
decades there was nothing in Hillary Clinton’s speech for you, except a promise to keep
the flow of wage-depressing immigrants coming. And if you are one of the 92 million189
plus Americans who have dropped out of the workforce there was nothing for you except
a promise to make sure ‘President Obama and Vice President Biden get the credit they
deserve for saving us from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes.’ If there is any
credit to be had for an economy that has the lowest workforce participation in 40-years,
no one is trying to cheat Obama and Biden out of it.” [96055]
Reuters reports, “The computer network used by Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton’s campaign was hacked as part of a broad cyber attack on Democratic
political organizations, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The latest attack,
which was disclosed to Reuters on Friday, follows reports of two other hacks on the
Democratic National Committee, or DNC, and the party’s fundraising committee for
candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. A Clinton campaign spokesman said in
a statement late on Friday that an analytics data program maintained by the DNC and
used by the campaign and a number of other entities ‘was accessed as part of the DNC
hack.’” [96061, 96062]
BizPacReview.com adds, “For Democrat Hillary Clinton, protecting her backside appears
to command a higher premium than protesting her campaign emails. The Clinton
campaign was warned by the FBI that it was a target of a cyberattack last March, but
opted not to further cooperate with the bureau, according to Yahoo News, which added
the claim’s sure to raise questions about why the campaign didn’t take the matter more
seriously. The warning came just weeks before the Democratic National Committee
learned it had been penetrated by hackers, two sources familiar with the incident told
Yahoo News. But Team Hillary was reportedly not willing to assist a federal probe into
the matter.” [96093, 96104]
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “We have more
material related to the Hillary Clinton, uh, campaign. That is correct to say that.” [96122,
96123]
In a national USC-LATimes Daybreak poll conducted July 28, Donald Trump leads
Hillary Clinton 46.7-40.6 percent. [96065]
TheConservativeTreehouse.com reports that Reuters/Ipsos is changing its polling in an
effort to boost numbers for Hillary Clinton. When “neither/other” had been an option,
along with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Clinton had been in the lead and
“neither/other” was also a popular response. But as Trump’s support began to solidify,
more of the people surveyed have shifted from “neither/other” to Trump. Reuters/Ipsos is
now eliminating the “neither/other” response in order to force those surveyed into picking
Trump or Clinton—in the belief that Clinton will benefit from the change. [96086,
96087]
Former Jimmy Carter pollster Pat Caddell comments on the Reuters/Ipsos poll, telling
Breitbart.com, “This comes as close as I have ever seen to cooking the results. I suppose
190
you can get away with it in polling because there are no laws. But, if this was accounting,
they would put them in jail. The looks to me, are far as I can indicate, they have merely
decided to go back and revise their numbers in a formula that removes voters or allocates
them—I am not sure how they are doing this—proportionately. …What they have done is
unprecedented. They have now gone back and changed their results. …On July 25, they
originally reported: Trump 40.3 percent and Clinton 37.2 percent, which was a Trump
margin of 2.8. They have recalculated that now—which I have never heard of—they
changed that data, to be: Clinton 40.9 and Trump 38.4, which is a 2.5 margin for
Clinton.” [96138, 96178, 96302]
“Now look at July 26. On July 26 they had Trump at 41.5 percent and Hillary at 36.3.
That was a 5.2 Trump margin. Then, in the new calculation, they claim that Clinton was
41.1 percent, Trump was 37.5, and the margin was 3.6 for Clinton. Same poll. Two
different results. Recalculated, after you’ve announced the other results. What you get is
an 8.8 percentage point margin change, almost nine points swinging from one candidate,
based on some phony, some bizarre allocation theory that you claim you know where
these people are or you are just leaving them out. I actually believe they are allocating
them because they are claiming they are really Clinton voters and they are using
something to move them to Clinton.” (By removing the “neither/other” option,
Reuters/Ipsos forced people into making a choice they may not be ready to make. Its poll
results are therefore questionable.) [96138, 96178, 96302]
In The Telegraph, Ruth Sherlock writes, “Hillary Clinton will order a ‘full review’ of the
United States’ strategy on Syria as a ‘first key task’ of her presidency, resetting the policy
to emphasise the ‘murderous’ nature of the Assad regime, [a] foreign policy adviser with
her campaign has said. Jeremy Bash, who served as chief of staff for the Pentagon and
the Central Intelligence Agency, said Mrs Clinton would both escalate the fight against
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL/ISIS], and work to get Bashar al-Assad, the
Syrian president, ‘out of there.’ ‘A Clinton administration will not shrink from making
clear to the world exactly what the Assad regime is. It is a murderous regime that violates
human rights; that has violated international law; used chemical weapons against his own
people; has killed hundreds of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of
children.’” (Bash does not estimate the number of deaths that would be caused if Clinton
starts bombing Syria—and if Russia retaliates.) [96265, 96266]
On July 30 Obama’s daughter Malia, attending a Lollapalooza music festival in
Chicago’s Grant Park, sticks her tongue out and hikes up her dress to reveal her derriere
and red underwear. [96118, 96119, 96120, 96185, 96303, 96304]
TheConservativeTreehouse.com writes, “According to a recent Suffolk University Poll
Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead of 9 points in the battleground state of
Pennsylvania. According to an Axiom Strategies poll, Donald Trump is leading in
Pennsylvania by 23 points. Which poll is more accurate? The answer to that question
might be identified in the Clinton/Kaine rally held today…” Clinton’s Johnstown,
Pennsylvania event attracts what appears to be no more than a few dozen attendees; a
191
Trump event in Scranton, Pennsylvania on July 27 was attended by thousands. [96158,
96159, 96179, 96180]
Not only does the Johnstown event draw few supporters, a July 31 Clinton event in
Cleveland is canceled. The campaign blames “time constraints,” but not everyone
believes that excuse. TruthFeed.com writes, “Some, given the history of how the Clinton
campaign deliver misleading information, may speculate the Cleveland cancellations was
due to lack of interest, i.e. bad optics. Perhaps this is a possibility. However, there’s a
very solid argument to be made that Hillary Clinton is not physically healthy enough for
the rigors of general election campaigning. It is entirely possible the decision to use large
buses for travel is more attached [conducive] to her health condition. Time will tell.”
[96321, 96343]
Breitbart.com reports, “Swedish authorities have started paying Swedish youths to spend
time with migrants and ‘asylum seekers,’ in a desperate attempt to show that integration
and multiculturalism can work. …Around 50 Swedish-born youngsters, aged 14 to 15years-old, are being paid 50 Swedish Krona ($6/£4.50) an hour to mingle with the new,
mainly Muslim, arrivals. In the first week of the trial, in the town Svenljunga, about an
hour from Gothenburg, the teenagers are said to have learnt about democracy, equality,
and prosperity. …Sweden welcomed more than 190,000 migrants and ‘refugees’ last
year—more per capita than any other European nation. The vast majority were young
men, and the unemployment rate among foreign-born men aged 18-24 years sits 41 per
cent.” (Pamela Geller asks, “When they get raped, do they get a bonus? Or does that get
them fired, because they have made the Muslim migrants look bad?”) [96434, 96435]
On July 31, just days after a French priest was beheaded by Muslims, the politicallycorrect (or delusional) Pope Francis downplays the incident, saying, “I don’t like
speaking of Islamic violence because I come across violence every day when I leaf
through the newspapers here in Italy. You read about someone who’s killed his girlfriend
or his mother-in-law, and these are violent baptized Catholics. If I talk about ‘Islamic’
violence should I speak about ‘Catholic’ violence too? Not all Muslims are violent. There
is always a small group of extremists in practically every religion. We have them too.
And when extremism goes as far as to kill—you can kill with your tongue, the apostle
James says so, not me, and you can kill with a sword—it is not right to identify Islam
with violence.” [96193, 96202, 96204, 96369]
The New York Post publishes nude photographs of Melania Trump from her modeling
days (circa 1996). (Thankfully, the Post does not publish nude photos of Hillary Clinton,
Bill Clinton, or Donald Trump.) Twitter users quickly respond by positing nude photos of
Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, taken by his communist, pornography author
mentor—and likely father—Frank Marshall Davis. [96116, 96117, 96161, 96178, 96196,
96197]
On Face the Nation, RNC chairman Reince Priebus questions the presidential debate
schedule: “I don’t understand why we would have Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
192
debating each other—which is of interest to the entire country—why would we present
the next president of the U.S. on a Sunday night or a Monday night [in competition with
National Football League games]? Why wouldn’t we want to maximize the viewership so
that people can watch?” (The Presidential Debate Commission is chock full of
Democrats, and the Republicans on the commission generally oppose Trump. Members
include Mike McCurry (former Bill Clinton press secretary), 90-year-old Frank
Fahrenkopf (former Ronald Reagan press secretary), former president Jimmy Carter,
Democrat journalist Charles Gibson, Howard Buffet (son of Warren Buffett), the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Antonia Hernandez, former
Senator John Danforth (who opposes Trump), hedge fund manager John Griffen, leftist
newscaster Jim Lehrer, former Senator Olympia Snowe (a Trump opponent), the
Rockefeller Foundation’s Richard Parson (who opposes Trump), and Clinton crony Leon
Panetta.) [96157, 96496, 96537]
On ABC’s This Week, Donald Trump alarms war-eager neocons when he suggests the
rest of the world should accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea because many living in the
region prefer that. Trump says, “You know the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard,
would rather be with Russia than where they were [governed by the corrupt Ukraine], and
you have to look at that also.” [96124, 96128]
The Obama administration and the United Nations do not “accept” Russia’s actions in
Crimea and Ukraine, but that is arguably a moot point because no nation is going to do
anything about it. Trump is merely stating that it is absurd to make a fuss about Crimea
and Ukraine. He is correct. Those who believe the United States and NATO should go to
war against Russia over the issue should say so. Otherwise, they should keep quiet and
accept reality. Pat Buchanan later writes, “[Dwight D.] Eisenhower refused to intervene
to save the Hungarian rebels. [John F. Kennedy] refused to halt the building of the Berlin
Wall. [Lyndon Baines Johnson] did nothing to impede the Warsaw Pact’s crushing of the
Prague Spring. [Ronald] Reagan never considered moving militarily to halt the smashing
of Solidarity. Were all these presidents cringing isolationists? Rather, they were realists
who recognized that, though we prayed the captive nations would one day be free, we
were not going to risk a world war, or a nuclear war, to achieve it. Period.” [96262]
Trump also raises a fuss when he says of the wife of Khizr Khan, who stood next to him
at the Democrat convention and said nothing: “If you look at his wife [Ghazala Khan],
she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed
to have anything to say. You tell me.” (Trump promptly get roundly criticized for his
comment, but he may have a point. Mrs. Khan later tells CNN that husband was in charge
outside of the household and that she was in charge inside the household.) [96125, 96126,
96143, 96294]
Hillary Clinton comments, “Donald Trump is not a normal presidential candidate.
Somebody who attacks everybody has something missing. He attacked the distinguished
father of a soldier who sacrificed himself for his unit, Captain Khan. I think it is fair to
say he is temperamentally unfit and unqualified.” [96125]
193
On CNN’s State of the Union, Khizr Khan says Trump is “totally unfit for the leadership
of this beautiful country. The world is receiving us like we have never seen. They have
seen the blackness of his character, of his soul, that he is void of recognizing,
empathizing with people.” Laughably, Khan claims terrorists “have nothing to do with
Islam.” [96126, 96148]
At Shoebat.com Theodore Shoebat and Walid Shoebat write, “The Muslim who attacked
Donald Trump, Khizr Muazzam Khan, is a Muslim Brotherhood agent, working to bring
Muslims into the United States. After reading what we discovered so far, it becomes
obvious that Khan wanted to ‘trump’ Trump’s Muslim immigration. But not so fast.
Trump we have your back. Khizr Muazzam Khan graduated in Punjab University Law
College, as the New York Times confirms. and he specialized in International Trade Law
in Saudi Arabia. An interest lawyer for Islamic oil companies Khan wrote a paper, called
In Defense of OPEC to defend the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), an intergovernmental oil company consisting of mainly Islamic countries. Khan
is a promoter of Islamic Sharia Law. Khan is also co-founder of the Journal of
Contemporary Issues in Muslim Law (Islamic Sharia).” [96140, 96194]
“…Khan’s fascination with Islamic Sharia stems from his life in Saudi Arabia. During
the eighties Khan wrote a paper titled Juristic Classification of Islamic [Sharia] Law. In
it he elucidated on the system of Sharia law expressing his reverence for ‘The Sunnah
[the works of Muhammad] — authentic tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be
upon him).’” In his paper, Khan showed “his appreciation for an icon of the Muslim
Brotherhood: ‘The contribution to this article of S. Ramadan’s writing is greatly
acknowledged.’ S. Ramadan is Said Ramadan, head of the Islamic Center in Geneva and
a major icon of the Muslim Brotherhood. …Ramadan wrote a book called, Islamic Law:
Its Scope and Equity, and a version of it was published for the Malaysian Muslim Youth
Movement (a branch of WAMY)…” [96140, 96194]
“World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY) was created through the collaboration of
the Wahhabist and Muslim Brotherhood led by Said Ramadan who was the son-in-law of
Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood including Ahmad Bahefzallah,
the boss of Huma Abedin (Hillary Clinton’s aide) and her parents Mahmoud and Saleha
Abedin. It was also financed by the wealthy Abdullah Omar Naseef, another boss of the
Abedin family.” [96140, 96194]
“…According to a recent report, Khan moved from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates,
a hotbed for the Muslim Brotherhood. Khan currently runs a law firm in New York City
called KM Khan Law Office. According to the website, the law firm specializes in
‘immigration services.’ Most likely Khan was working to bring Muslims into the
country.” (Khan’s “areas of practice” include “EB5 Investments & Related Immigration
Services.” The EB5 visa is essentially a “green card for cash,” where two-year residence
for the applicant and family members is granted in exchange for business investments.)
“To understand the inception of Muslim immigration one must study the Muslim
194
Minority Affairs, a paradigm created by Saudi jurisprudence which sparked during the
times Khan lived in Saudi Arabia while collaborating with the Saudi kingdom. It is likely
that Khan is a Muslim plant working with the Hillary Clinton campaign, probably for the
interest of Muslim oil companies as well as Muslim immigration into the U.S. …Khizr
M. Khan used to work for Hogan & Hartson and Lovells, which has ties to the Clinton
Foundation.” [96140, 96176, 96194]
With regard to Khan’s son Humayun, who was killed in a bombing in Iraq, the Shoebats
note that there have been many “‘Muslim martyrs’ who joined the US military. Ali Abdul
Saoud Mohamed, for example, enlisted in the Special Forces of the US Army; he was a
double working for the US and Al-Qaeda. There is also the example of Hasan K Akbar, a
Muslim American soldier who murdered and injured fifteen soldiers. There was Bowe
Bergdahl, an American Muslim soldier who deserted his men to join the Taliban, a
desertion which led to six American being ambushed and killed while they were on the
search looking for him. And of course the example Nidal Malik Hassan, who murdered
fourteen Americans in cold blood in Fort Hood.” [96140]
Blogger Lame Cherry adds to the speculation, asking if Khizr Khan’s son, U.S. Army
Captain Humayun Khan, “was one of the first suicide bombers, who meant to assassinate
himself, and take as many US Soldiers with him. …For the facts, his son was an officer,
inspecting his soldiers, by a gate entrance where Iraqis were entering and where a car
packed with explosives detonated. Mr. Khan’s son did not step forward as if in some
ambush to save his people. Instead this officer exposed his people to death. After the
bombing of the Marines in Lebanon, there is absolutely no excuse for any officer to have
his people assembled at an entrance inspecting them. If he had survived, he should have
faced court martial.” [96141]
“Instead of making a martyr and hero out of Capt. Khan, an investigation into what
actually happened in Iraq [should take place]. The first waves of IEDs took place a year
before this Khan event, so there is absolutely no excuse for this officer not performing his
duty, as witnesses who were injured stated they were aware this vehicle was there. Why
was Capt. Khan not aware?” Lame Cherry speculate that Khan “was trying to commit
suicide and take as many of his American Soldiers with him [as he could]. …Let us all
start asking some questions and examining the evidence. You have a Muslim officer,
lining up his soldiers with other soldiers there, by the main gate of the base, with Iraqis
coming and a vehicle parked there, in a known situation where IEDs had been blowing up
for over a year in 2003 murdering Americans.” (The “official” report was that Khan held
his troops back to check a suspicious vehicle. What evidence Lame Cherry has to the
contrary is not known.) [96141, 96142, 96144]
While Clinton, her fellow Democrats, media leftists, and Republican elitists (like House
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)) fall
all over themselves defending Khizr Khan’s criticism of Donald Trump, it is Trump who
may have the last laugh. What he did with his comments was force his opponents into
defending Muslims—at a time when most voters are frightened to death of crazed
195
jihadists. The more Trump’s opponents insist Islam is “a religion of peace,” the more the
voters believe they are delusional, naive, or liars. [96156]
It is worth noting that Khizr Khan condemned Donald Trump, even though Trump had
nothing to do with sending his son into combat. Khan did not condemn Hillary Clinton,
who voted for the war in Iraq while serving in the U.S. Senate. Also worth noting is the
72-25 Senate vote in September 2007 condemning MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us”
excoriating General David Petraeus. The cowardly Obama, then serving in the Senate,
avoided voting on the measure. Then-Senator Clinton voted against it. Yet Khan and the
mainstream media portray Clinton and Obama as supportive of the troops and Trump as
unfit to command them. While Khan may claim that Trump knows nothing about the
U.S. Constitution, Khan seems to know little about the conflict that resulted in the death
of his son. [96186]
Hillary Clinton lies again about her email scandal, telling Fox News Sunday’s Chris
Wallace, “[FBI] Director [James] Comey said my answers were truthful and consistent
with what I told the American people.” (The Washington Post quickly gives Clinton’s
claim “four Pinocchios.” At HotAir.com Larry O’Connor observes, “…Clinton is either
in complete denial, or is totally protected from any kind of critical or damaging news. Or,
of course, she is just a pathological liar.”) [96113, 96134, 96154, 96162, 96163, 96165,
96167]
Remarkably—and shamelessly—Clinton blames her email scandal on 300 others with
whom she shared messages: “I relied on and had every reason to rely on the judgments of
the professionals with whom I worked. So in retrospect, maybe some people are saying,
‘Well, those—among those 300 people—they made the wrong call.’ At the time, there
was no reason, in my view, to doubt the professionalism and the determination by the
people who work every single day on behalf of our country.” [96217, 96165, 96191]
Of criticism about her untrustworthiness, Clinton says, “I think that it’s fair for
Americans to have questions. Every time I run for an office, though, oh my goodness, all
of these caricatures come out of nowhere. And people begin to undermine me because
when I left office as secretary of state, 66 percent of Americans approved of what I do
[sic; did].” [96127]
Clinton says “My heart goes out” to the mothers of Americans killed in Benghazi. (This
is the same Clinton who called Sean Smith’s mother Pat Smith a liar for her description
of their meeting.) She again insists she did not tell the grieving parents of the Benghazi
victims that the attack was caused by a response to a video. “I understand the grief and
the incredible sense of loss that can motivate that. As other members of families who’ve
lost loved ones have said, that’s not what they heard.” She condescendingly adds, “I
don’t hold any ill feeling for someone who, in that moment, may not fully recall
everything that was or wasn’t said.” (Translation: “Pat Smith is a liar.”) [96114, 96126,
96147, 96151, 96152, 96153, 96165]
196
Clinton tells Wallace she supports immigration reform that includes a pathway to
citizenship. (The United States already has such a system; it’s called “legal
immigration.”) She also says she will issue executive orders, as has Obama, to address
immigration issues if Congress does not give her the legislation she wants. [96115,
96192]
Clinton says, “We know that Russian intelligence services hacked into the DNC and we
know that they arranged for a lot of those emails to be released and we know that Donald
Trump has shown a very troubling willingness to back up Putin, to support Putin.”
(Clinton does not “know” that the Russians hacked into the DNC’s computers; she is
merely repeating the speculations of others. She does not “know” that they arranged for
the release of emails. In fact, the leaks may have come from disgruntled workers at the
NSA or the CIA who are furious with Clinton for using her reckless email server. Nor
does Trump “support” Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has merely said that Putin is
a stronger leader than is Obama—which is unquestionably true—and that he would strive
to get along with Putin and cooperate with him to destroy ISIS.) [96164]
Chris Wallace asks Clinton about her opinion of the Second Amendment’s right to bear
arms. She responds, “[T]hat right, like every other of our rights, our First Amendment
rights, every right that we have is open to and even subject to reasonable regulations.”
Wallace: “Are you saying you do not want to see the [District of Columbia v.] Heller
[U.S. Supreme Court] decision, the individual right to bear arms, overturned?” Clinton:
“No, I don’t, but here’s what I do want. And I want to be very clear about this: I want the
Congress to step up and do its job. I want to get out of the horrible cycle we’re in, where
we go and mourn dozens, hundreds, thousands of people killed by gun violence.
Everybody says, ‘Oh, let’s pray, let’s, you know, send our hearts and our feelings,’ and
then nothing happens. We’re better than this. The gun lobby intimidates elected officials.
The vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, support the kind of commonsense reforms that I’m proposing.” [96183]
Despite saying, “I want to be very clear,” Clinton is not particularly clear. The term
“common-sense reform” means nothing if details are not provided, and she provides no
details. PJMedia.com points out that Clinton, at a September 2015 fundraiser, said the
Supreme Court was “wrong on the Second Amendment.” (She thinks the decision was
wrong yet lies to Wallace and says she does not want to see Heller overturned.) [96184]
It is worth noting that under the category, “Ensure the Health and Safety of All
Americans,” the Democrat Party platform states, “There is insufficient research on
effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention [CDC] must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public
health issue.” (Translation: “If we Democrats cannot get the Supreme Court or Congress
to outlaw guns, we will regulate them out of existence via ObamaCare and the CDC.”)
[96187]
197
While Clinton tries to suggest that Trump has ties to Russia, Peter Schweizer writes in
The Wall Street Journal that after Clinton became Secretary of State in 2009 “dozens of
U.S. tech firms, including top Clinton Foundation donors like Google, Intel, and Cisco,
made major financial contributions to Skolkovo [Russia’s ‘Silicon Valley’], with Cisco
committing a cool $1 billion. By 2012 the vice president of the Skolkovo Foundation,
Conor Lenihan—who had previously partnered with the Clinton Foundation—recorded
that Skolkovo had assembled 28 Russian, American, and European ‘Key Partners.’ Of the
28 ‘partners,’ 17, or 60 percent, have made financial commitments to the Clinton
Foundation, totaling tens of millions of dollars, or sponsored speeches by Bill Clinton.”
[96188, 96203]
TheGatewayPundit.com’s Jim Hoft notes that in her acceptance speech on July 28,
Hillary Clinton “told the crowd about a poor suffering handicapped girl in a wheelchair in
New Bedford, Massachusetts who could not go to school because of her disability.
Hillary said she helped the girl get to school. …But it was ALL A LIE.” WBSM’s Ken
Pittman contacted John Markey, who was mayor of New Bedford at the time. Markey
states, “We had a budget for vans with drivers and provided services to students with
disabilities. It was Tremblay Bus. They would pick them up and drop them off at their
homes. …In fact, we had a local guy who was a paraplegic, injured in a diving accident
who came to my office many times to advocate for the disabled and I actually spent an
entire day in 1973 in a wheelchair to better understand the challenges they face every
day. Soon after that we were cutting out sidewalks for wheelchairs and doing things in
New Bedford before the laws [which Clinton claims she caused to be passed] ever
compelled us to.” [96129, 96130]
Hoft writes, “Hillary Clinton made up the whole story to sound like a selfless
humanitarian. In 1973 New Bedford was already giving handicapped kids rides to school.
Years later Hillary lied about handicapped accessibility in the town to sound more
charitable and loving to the American public. It was all a lie.” [96129, 96130]
Aaron Klein writes at Brietbart.com, “The National Security Agency (NSA) has ‘all’ of
Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails and the FBI could gain access to them if they so desired,
William Binney, a former highly placed NSA official, declared in a radio interview
broadcast on Sunday. Speaking as an analyst, Binney raised the possibility that the hack
of the Democratic National Committee’s server was done not by Russia but by a
disgruntled U.S. intelligence worker concerned about Clinton’s compromise of national
security secrets via her personal email use. Binney was an architect of the NSA’s
surveillance program. He became a famed whistleblower when he resigned on October
31, 2001, after spending more than 30 years with the agency.” [96139, 96195, 96200,
96201, 96277]
AnonymousConservative.com comments on what appears to be a “hole” or spot in the
middle of Hillary Clinton’s tongue in convention photographs: “I suspect that hole was a
spot created on her tongue by some sort of slow release tablet, slowly releasing a drug of
some sort. One of the problems Hillary’s handlers have is that given how high strung she
198
is, she likely needs medication to handle the stresses of public appearances. …What I am
thinking is they are giving her a slow release tab which she is sucking on, and whatever it
is reddens her mouth. …The drug could be a steroid designed to ease throat irritation and
inflammation to prevent coughing. That might also thin the epithelium and create
rawness over time. However, I have no doubt that her cognitive function is of more
concern to her handlers. For that she is probably getting anti-anxiety meds, as well as a
beta-blocker during the debate, which might itself open up blood vessels in the mouth
and produce redness as well.” [96145]
“Interestingly, antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs are both known to cause dry mouth,
as are beta-blockers, and Hillary has had a history of breaking into coughing fits due to
dryness of the mouth and throat. She may be in the phase where she is chasing after sideeffects for all the various medications she is taking, and producing more side-effects in
the process. When negotiating ground rules for the next debate, Trump should demand
that one aspect be a blood test for drugs that affect cognition, done right before entering
the stage for the debate, or after the debate. Trump could frame it as ‘We don’t want
somebody who can’t handle the stress of a debate without drugs in their system, running
the country.’ …If Hillary’s team objects, it is a story because why would she object? And
if they don’t object we will see Hillary either exposed for taking beta-blockers,
Clonazepam, and maybe other things, or she will have a full on epileptic seizure. Or
maybe Trump can use this demand to bargain to get other demands he wants in the
debate. Either way he wins.” [96145]
“Which brings us to Exaggerated Startle Reaction, which is what I think we were looking
at in Hillary’s ‘seizure video.’ More specifically, it was probably the subset of
Exaggerated Startle called Startle Epilepsy… I saw her walking after her convention
speech on the stage, through the balloons. I was watching carefully, because if you have
an amygdala-excitability issue, lots of falling confetti, a screaming crowd, balloons
bouncing around, and flashing lights are visual stimuli that plug straight into that
amygdala and exacerbate its agitation. I figured if she was going to display symptoms,
even heavily medicated, that would be the time. The cameraman cut in on her shoulders
and head to block a wider view, but you could clearly see that as she walked forward,
toward a child at the front of the stage, she was staring wide-eyed at the ground with a
touch of fear behind her fake smile, and her walk was more of a slow, super-careful
shuffle, with feet spread wide, as you or I might walk on greased ice, to prevent ourselves
from falling.” [96145]
“…It is worth noting, Hillary has had a history of falls, going back to 2005… And those
are only the falls we heard about in the news because she needed a hospital trip. She
could have been goosed, frozen up like a log, and keeled over fifty more times. Her staff
could say something suddenly and see a seizure per day for all we know. If it didn’t
require hospitalization, you can bet we’d never hear about it. …Something major is up
with Hillary. We will hear about it after the election, as campaign workers desperately
look to pass the blame for why their campaign for a ‘clearly superior candidate,’ as the
199
liberals will say, lost out to a political newcomer who was constantly making the mistake
of speaking honestly and saying what he thought.” [96145]
Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 46-42 in a July 26-27 poll conducted by RABA
Research in Virginia. The poll’s D/R/I is 42/40/18. (Obama defeated Mitt Romney 51-47
in Virginia in 2012.) [96150]
In a national Morning Consult poll conducted after the close of the Democrat convention,
Clinton leads Trump 43-40. (Trump led 44-40 in the prior poll.) [96155]
200