News
Trump hails ‘righteous cause of American self-government’
JAMESTOWN, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday marked the 400th anniversary of the rise of American democracy by celebrating four centuries of commitment to the “righteous cause” of self-government, in a Jamestown speech that was boycotted by black state legislators and bracketed by Trump’s comments in Washington continuing to disparage a black member of Congress and his majority-black district.
In his speech, Trump noted that 1619 also was the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in the colonies, saying, “We remember every sacred soul who suffered the horrors of slavery and the anguish of bondage.”
Trump said the United States has had many achievements in its history, but “none exceeds the triumph that we are here to celebrate today.”
“Self-government in Virginia did not just give us a state we love — in a very true sense it gave us the country we love, the United States of America,” he said.
Against the backdrop of Trump’s policy of detaining migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, he was briefly interrupted by a Muslim state lawmaker, Del. Ibraheem Samirah. Samirah, a Democrat, stood and held laminated signs that said “Deport Hate,” ″Reunite My Family” and “Go Back to Your Corrupted Home.” Samirah later told The Associated Press in an interview that he wanted to protest Trump’s policies and rhetoric. The audience chanted “Trump,” ″Trump,” ″Trump,” as Samirah was led out of the speech site, a tent on the lawn of a history museum near the site of the original Jamestown colony.
Republican House Speaker Kirk Cox said Samirah’s protest was “inconsistent with common decency and a violation of the rules of the House.”
As he departed the White House, Trump said the black Virginia legislators who announced a boycott of the event were going “against their own people.”
The Republican president claimed African Americans “love the job” he’s doing and are “happy as hell” with his recent comments criticizing a majority-black Baltimore-area district and its black Democratic congressman, Rep. Elijah Cummings. Trump’s attacks on Cummings closely followed closely the president’s attacks on four progressive Democratic female members of Congress.
African Americans continue to be overwhelmingly negative in their assessments of the president’s performance. According to Gallup polling, approval among black Americans has hovered around 1 in 10 over the course of Trump’s presidency, with 8% approving in June.
A last-minute announcement that the president would participate in the Jamestown commemoration of the first representative assembly in the Western Hemisphere injected tension into an event years in the making. Demonstrators gathered Tuesday morning near the site where Trump would speak to condemn him.
During an emotional ceremony at a Richmond site where a notorious slave jail once stood, members of Virginia’s legislative black caucus took turns criticizing Trump as he spoke about 60 miles away.
Del. Delores McQuinn refused to use Trump’s name and instead called him “the tenant in the White House.” She choked back tears as she said Trump’s criticism of minority members of Congress was also aimed at “every person of color in the United States of America.” She urged the crowd to “reclaim the soul and fabric of this country.”
The boycott followed days of comments by Trump beginning Saturday that referred to Cummings’ district as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” A caucus statement didn’t specifically mention Cummings but said Trump’s “repeated attacks on black legislators and comments about black communities made him ill-suited to honor and commemorate such a monumental period in history.”
Black Caucus chairman Del. Lamont Bagby told the AP that the group of about 20 lawmakers reached a unanimous decision to boycott the event more than a week ago, before Trump began to assail Cummings.
Not every black Virginia elected official stayed away from Trump’s appearance: Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax was on hand as Trump became the first president to address the Virginia Legislature.
Trump tweeted Tuesday before the flight to southern Virginia that “Word is the Democrats will make it as uncomfortable as possible, but that’s ok because today is not about them!” Speaking with reporters after he returned to the White House, Trump said the event “was fantastic” despite the one protester.
Trump used the speech to make an optimistic case for America’s future, saying “America always gets the job done.”
“That is why after 400 years of glorious American democracy, we have returned here to this place to declare to all the world that the United States of America and the great Commonwealth of Virginia are just getting started,” he said.
Caucus members also pledged to boycott the rest of a weeklong series of anniversary events.
At a ceremony early Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam sought to reach out to African Americans. A Democrat whose political career was almost destroyed this year by a blackface scandal, Northam noted that while the ideals of freedom and representative government flourished in Jamestown four centuries ago, a ship carrying African people who would be sold into slavery arrived in Virginia just weeks after that first assembly.
“So today, as we hold these commemorations of the first representative assembly in the free world, we have to remember who it included, and who it did not,” Northam said. “That’s the paradox of Virginia, of America, and of our representative democracy.”
Today’s Virginia General Assembly, considered the oldest continuously operating legislative body in North America, grew out of the assembly that first gathered in 1619.
___
Associated Press writer Kevin Freking in Washington and Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.
In less than a week, Turkey has managed to draw the ire of most of the world, including most on Capitol Hill, as they move to eradicate Kurds and Christians in eastern Syria. Their invasion, coordinated with attacks by their Syrian al Qaeda proxies, have already caused turmoil, killed hundreds, and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Now, President Trump appears ready to follow through on his threat to “cripple Turkey’s economy” through sanctions.
Dealing with @LindseyGrahamSC and many members of Congress, including Democrats, about imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey. Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2019
The President has been criticized by many in both political parties following the White House announcement that we are withdrawing troops from the border region. What followed was such a quick response in the form of an all out Turkish invasion that it’s clear they’ve been planning this for some time.
Our EIC took to Twitter to push the President towards following through with his threat against Turkey should they cross the line. As he noted, they have clearly crossed the line.
It's time to cripple Turkey's economy with harsh and unambiguous sanctions, @realdonaldtrump.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has heard the threats and has doubled down as a result.
Bringing al Qaeda in and facilitating the release of ISIS fighters and supporters crosses the line.
— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019
Bringing troops home is a great thing.
Leaving a vacuum in our wake for radical Islamic terrorists to rise once again under Erdogan's haphazard charge is a very bad thing.
As ISIS regroups and al Qaeda expands, Americans and our allies become less safe.
— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019
Historians can debate the efficacy of rapidly pulling back our limited number of troops from the Syrian-Turkish border. My focus is on the immediate future.
We must cripple Turkey's economy immediately.
They have crossed the line and the situation is getting much, much worse.
— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019
The tribalism in American politics must not be used to justify Erdogan's actions. If this happened under Obama, all conservatives would be outraged.
The proper course of action is for President Trump to cripple Turkey's economy as promised. If not, I'm very concerned about 2020.
— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019
Reports of civilian deaths are mounting. It isn’t just the Kurds that Turkey and al Qaeda are targeting. Syriac Christians are in the crosshairs as well. The intense fighting seems to be focused on clearing out entire cities to make room for the millions of refugees the Turks currently hold. Instead of just taking out military targets from the Kurds, who Turkey believes to be terrorists, the invaders are wiping out the entire populations in cities and villages near the border.
Senator Lindsey Graham chimed in. Graham has been a Trump supporter, but broke from the White House over the Syrian withdrawal. Now, he’s voicing hope and alignment with the President’s sanction plans.
Just spoke with President @realdonaldTrump.
I applaud his decision to work with Congress to stop Turkeys aggression in Syria through crippling economic sanctions.
This decision by President Trump will be a game changer — in all the wrong ways — for Turkey.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 13, 2019
Turkish President Erdogan clearly lied to President Trump. It’s time to send them a clear message in response. Our troops may be coming home, but we can stop this bloodbath through sanctions. Cripple their economy, Mr. President.
We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.
If you want to see the direction the national Democratic Party will go, just watch California. As the radical progressives of California go, so too will other progressive states follow. That should be terrifying to gun owners in any blue states as Governor Gavin Newsom signed a red flag gun law on Friday that is so over-the-top, even the leftists at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have come out against it.
This is just another reason efforts to force a recall election have been very successful so far.
The new law expands the previous red flag gun law by allowing teachers, co-workers, and employers to petition the court to remove someone’s firearms without due process. Previously, only law enforcement officers and immediate family members had the power to petition the court.
The ACLU called into question the constitutionality of the law, saying it’s attack on civil liberties by taking away someone’s property for up to five years without giving them a chance to defend themselves from the alleged future crimes they may have committed. They also noted the expansion puts too much power into the hands of people who may “lack the relationship or skills required to make an appropriate assessment.”
With red flag gun laws, a court order is issued after interested parties petition a judge with claims the gun owner may pose a threat to themselves or others. They’re very similar to current laws that allow for involuntary commitment, except the accused under red flag gun laws are not allowed to defend themselves before their property is confiscated.
California’s version will be the most obtuse in the nation once it takes effect January 1, 2020.
2nd Amendment rights groups are finding the ACLU as an unexpected partner if fighting this law. Most of the rights groups are right-leaning while the ACLU is notoriously progressive. But even they cannot abide by this law without a fight.
The expansion of the red flag gun laws in California were just one of a dozen gun control laws signed by Governor Newsom. It’s time for California voters to find their nearest recall petition location so we can get Newsom out ASAP.
We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.
SACRAMENTO – California Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) released the following statement upon learning that House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA 23rd District) will meet with the Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice next week to discuss suspending activities relating to the closure of Taft Correctional Institution (TCI). Along with Congressman McCarthy, Senator Grove recently sent a letter to the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) urging federal officials to reconsider the shutdown.
Taft correctional facility may not be closing in January
Congressman Kevin McCarthy released the following statement on the Taft Correctional Institution:
“I appreciate the Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to temporarily suspend activities related to the Bureau of Prisons’ rash decision to deactivate the Taft Correctional Institution. I am looking forward to meeting with the Attorney General next week to discuss why this deactivation action was taken in the first place.”
The facility is run by the Management & Training Corporation said they were shocked when the closure was previously announced.
TCI employs more than 340 individuals and provides $4.66 million in economic support to the local economy. The pending closure date will take place on January 30, 2020.
“I am thrilled to hear the joint effort led by Congressman McCarthy and our incredible community has helped to suspend the impending closure of the Taft Correctional Institution. This suspension reaffirms the serious ramifications that the closure would have on our local community.
“I look forward to receiving an explanation on the detrimental decision to shut down Taft Correctional Institution which would severely affect the livelihoods of employees and their families,” said Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove.
We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.
To save space, California plans to rewrite laws to tell people what IS legal
William Barr nails the secular upheaval of Judeo-Christian morals
President Trump working with Congress to sanction Turkey
Should Church be the mission field?
Stench of impeachment must stick to Democrats in 2020
Andrew Wilkow: Elizabeth Warren’s lack of real-world experience is why progressives love her
President Trump signs executive order to impose sanctions against Turkey
The next demand after ‘universal’ background checks: Governmental permission to defend yourself
Gavin Newsom recall petition: 600,000 signatures expected by end of October
Trump to farmers: ‘Buy more land and get bigger tractors’
William Barr nails the secular upheaval of Judeo-Christian morals
Ted Cruz blasts NBA for pandering to Communist China
Emerald Robinson on the rise of the surveillance state
Mark Meadows lays out the questions Adam Schiff needs to answer
Ted Cruz nails the 2020 Democrat agenda
-
Democrats3 days agoBeto, CNN, and a poor kid got steamrolled by transgender bully
-
Democrats3 days agoReminder: WaPo declared impeachment campaign started 19 minutes after President was sworn in
-
Democrats2 days agoGavin Newsom recall petition: 600,000 signatures expected by end of October
-
Democrats1 day agoThe next demand after ‘universal’ background checks: Governmental permission to defend yourself
-
Entertainment and Sports3 days agoNBA’s bad week just got the Steve Kerr treatment
-
Democrats15 hours agoAndrew Wilkow: Elizabeth Warren’s lack of real-world experience is why progressives love her
-
Democrats15 hours agoStench of impeachment must stick to Democrats in 2020
-
Media2 days agoProgressive anchor Shepard Smith steps down at Fox News