Dems Seek to One Up Trump with Attacks
Democratic lawmakers considering a presidential run in 2020 have been sharpening their attacks on President Trump as they compete over who can land the toughest blows. It’s an effort to rally a Democratic base which is at its wit’s end with Trump amid the controversy on family separations, the Supreme Court pick that some progressives fear could overturn the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and ongoing concerns about the president dismantling Obama-era policies.
In tweets and speeches during recent days, Democrats have attacked Trump.
On the fourth of July, Senator Kamala Harris from California tweeted: “The day before the Fourth of July last year, I attended a naturalization ceremony. It was a touching moment, and it is disgraceful that this Administration has been delaying 730,000 naturalization applications.”
In another tweet, Harris also wrote, “Years from now, people will ask us where we were in this moment. We don’t want the answer to be how we felt. We want the answer to be what we did.”
Other Democratic Senators, such as Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) also attacked Trump over the fourth of July holiday.
People Who Want to Ban/Restructure ICE
On Thursday night, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York spoke to CNN’s “Cuomo PrimeTime” and said, "I don't think ICE today is working as intended. I believe that it has become a deportation force, and I think you should separate the criminal justice from the immigration issues."
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts shared similar feelings in a Facebook post on Saturday when she wrote, "The President's deeply immoral actions have made it obvious that we need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom, starting by replacing ICE with something that reflects our values," a line that mirrored her statements in a speech at a protest in Boston.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told WNYC's Brian Lehrer, "ICE's time has come and gone."
Democratic Congressional Nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also joined in the “abolish ICE” movement by writing on her website, “As overseen by the Trump administration, ICE operates with virtually no accountability, ripping apart families and holding our friends and neighbors indefinitely in inhumane detention centers scattered across the United States. Alex believes that if we are to uphold civic justice, we must abolish ICE and see to it that our undocumented neighbors are treated with the dignity and respect owed to all people, regardless of citizenship status.”
Last week, 19 high-ranking ICE officials suggested ending the practice of deportation and instead focusing on investigating border crimes like drug smuggling and human trafficking. In a signed a letter to Homeland Security director Kirstjen Nielsen, they explained that ICE agents have been “perceived as targeting undocumented aliens, instead of the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate cross-border crimes impacting our communities and national security,” and that their work has been hindered because of it.
SCOTUS Decision on Monday
President Trump will announce his Supreme Court nominee on July 9th. President Trump has interviewed six candidates and is said to be done with all of the interview process. The following people are on Trump’s “short list”: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Thomas Hardiman, Joan Larsen, and Amul Thapar are the alleged finalists.
Some individuals have spoken out on Trump’s possible nomination. President Trump has spoken by phone with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) this week, according to three people briefed on the call. Rand Paul and his advisers had conveyed their concerns about Brett Kavanaugh to the White House in recent days, citing his decisions on health care. Since the Republican majority in the Senate is 51 to 49, losing just one GOP vote could jeopardize a nominee.
Other conservatives remain skeptical about Brett Kavanaugh, he has been lauded and criticized, with some Republicans seeing a reliable conservative and others seeing a political insider.
Brett Kavanaugh’s critics have pointed to a recent case involving a pregnant immigrant teenager in federal custody as reason to doubt his conservatism on the abortion front. He voted against the teenager, who was seeking immediate access to abortion services, and noted the government’s “permissible interest” in “favoring fetal life,” but he did not go as far as another D.C. Circuit judge, Karen Henderson, who said the undocumented teen had no constitutional right to an elective abortion.
Medical Convention Cancels on San Francisco Because Its Streets Are So Distressing
San Francisco has lost one of its major physician conferences over the homelessness situation. According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, a survey of past attendees of the unnamed medical conference cited feeling unsafe walking on San Francisco city streets, prompting the doctors group to seek a new venue for its semi-annual gathering. Their reported concerns: open drug use, threatening behavior, and mental illness on display.
One board member had been assaulted near Moscone Center last year. In recent years, conventions have hired uniformed off-duty police and private security officers to patrol around Moscone and the nearby hotels.
It’s the first time the city has lost a major convention due to visitor discomfort and concerns about safety, according to Joe D’Alessandro, president and chief executive of the San Francisco Travel Association, speaking to the Chronicle.
As a rule, major conventions book their visits at least five years in advance. So, when Joe D’Alessandro and members of the hospitality industry hadn’t heard from the doctors about re-upping, they flew to the organization’s Chicago headquarters for a face-to-face meeting with its executive board.
“They said that they are committed to this year and to 2023, but nothing in between or nothing thereafter,” D’Alessandro said. “After that, they told us they are planning to go elsewhere — I believe it’s Los Angeles.”
The five-day medical trade show helps the city generate $40 million from its 15,000 attendees. Tourism is San Francisco’s biggest industry, and the SFTA estimates the city had 25.5 million visitors in 2017. That’s an increase of 2.6 million people since 2013.
Students Say They’re Not Proud to Be American
A new Gallup poll recently showed a stark decrease in the number of Americans who considered themselves proud to be American. Wanting to see how college students would gauge their own levels of patriotism, Campus Reform went out to ask a simple question: are you proud to be American? Student after student made it clear: they were not.
Referring back to the Gallup poll, they asked their interviewees, “How proud are you to be an American—extremely proud, very proud, moderately proud, only a little proud, or not proud at all?”
47% said extremely proud, 25% said very proud, 16% were only moderately proud, 7% were only a little proud, and 3% were not at all proud.
Campus Reform asked college students at New York University, “are you proud to be American?”
Some of the answers were, “No! I’m not proud of America. I’m not proud of what we’ve done;” “Definitely not.” One student, addressing the concept of American Exceptionalism, said “I think we need to stop thinking we’re the best nation on Earth. It’s just egotistical and not accurate.” When asked which country is better than America, she responded, “probably some nice little socialist country in Europe.”One student went so far as to say that “patriotic views about America” are nothing more than “a tool to be used to get people to join the Army.”
Professor Asks Students to ‘Find Something’ to Celebrate on July 4th
A University of Northern Colorado professor told students that she hopes they can “find something to celebrate” on the fourth of July.
Kyle Nelson is the professor of Sociology 170-Social Problems course at the University of Northern Colorado. She sent out an email to all of her students in the course that read, “Happy 4th of July on Wednesday- despite all the social problems we are facing and despite a ton of ugliness in our nation’s past and present, I hope each of us can find something to celebrate or honor or at least reflect on over the holiday… KN”
Campus Reform obtained a copy of the post from one of Kyle Nelson’s students who was concerned by the professor’s words. The email was vague about the “ugliness” in which Kyle Nelson was referring to but her Twitter page offered some insights into the “social problems” that she fears may ruin the July 4th holiday.
Kyle Nelson is a self-described, “social justice advocate,” and has made several public posts addressing her disdain for President Trump and his policies on issues like immigration and gun control.
Mail Time!
- In my opinion, refusing to shop at a store because we disagree with their business practices is a good way to express our discontent. I'm not sure why you are opposed to boycotting, Bill. Doing nothing sends a different signal, right?
- Like you Bill, I AM PROUD to be an American. The left and people who HATE our President also, in my view, hate America. It is so sad to see so much hate just because they didn't like the results of the election. Do you agree that the left is the main cause of this divide?
- Bill, I just watched your July 4th message and I must say that it was very inspiring and uplifting. I really miss your show on Fox and wish there were more people like you on television. You are very articulate and just have a way of getting your message across to the American people. I have read all of your books, and I have enjoyed them thoroughly, I have learned very valuable historical information from reading them. Now I want to further expand on my knowledge of American history. Do you have any reading recommendations that would assist me with this? Thank you for all you do for traditionalists like myself. I hope you continue to keep us informed and up to date on real news.
Word of the Day: Mawkish |
