(1) Gallup poll shows that ordinary Americans are not concerned about Russia - unlike the Elite (2) Dems new doctrine: Working Class are Deplorables. But they'll pay at election time - Steve Bannon (3) Democrats do a U-turn on Open Borders, fear becoming hostage to Far Left as elections approach (4) "Unmasking Antifa" Act Introduced In Congress: 15 Year Sentence For Masked Mayhem (5) Anti-Antifa bill would send Masked Demonstrators to Prison for 15 Years (6) Undaunted by criticism, Trump looks to next Putin meeting
(1) Gallup poll shows that ordinary Americans are not concerned about Russia - unlike the Elite Gallup Shows How Much Americans Really Care About The "Situation With Russia" by Tyler Durden Thu, 07/19/2018 - 06:00
While ever-hope-filled expectations among the left are for a 'blue wave' in the Mid-term elections, we suspect things may not turn out quite as planned given the last week's "crisis". Even before President Trump had set foot in Helsinki, the left and the media were banging the drums of war against "the thug" Putin and how he would trump Trump, and once the press conference furore was over, all hell broke loose as the left-leaning world attempted to out-signal one another's virtue as to the "treasonous", "surrender" that had occurred. So much so - in fact - that the internet became 'full' of "Trump" and "Treason" chatter - more so even than when he joked in July 2016 about Russia having Hillary's missing 30,000 emails. Once again - the "Russia, Russia, Russia" cries drowned out any sane discussion of the end of cold war 2.0. There's just one problem with the Democrats' unending focus on Russia and the media's constant collusion chatter: few Americans care, because - drumroll - they have real lives in the real economy to worry about. As the latest survey from Gallup shows: when asked what the most important problem facing the nation is, Russia did not even warrant a 1% - and worse still, it is declining in importance from there. Source: Gallup As David Sirota noted, "Gallup recently did a poll of what Americans say is the most important problem facing the country. One finding: the percentage of Americans saying “Situation with Russia” is the most important problem is literally too small to represent with a number. " So with all that energy expended on pinning the Russia collusion tail on Trump's campaign donkey, let alone former FBI Director Comey's insistence that 'anyone voting Republican is anti-American', we are reminded of the blinkered view of the world so many suffer from and what Steve Bannon said yesterday at CNBC's "Delivering Alpha" conference: The Democrats abandoned the American worker. The meddling was on the margin, and the Democrats need to accept this. The collusion - they haven't found one shred of evidence. The Democrats have yet to embrace why they lost...[they] have wanted a do-over since 2:30 am on Nov. 9 - and they've lied and they've bitched and in November they'll get their do-over...but on November 6, the deplorables will be plenty jacked up. But in November, voters will render their decision, and whatever they decide it'll be on Trump's platform of economic nationalism, which has boosted economic growth and created jobs. "It's an up or down vote, the economy, the tax cuts the whole package. I think the Fed's going to say in the second quarter it's at 4%...because of economic nationalism." So, will The Left find policies to run on that are not "socialism"? and are not "not Trump"?
(2) Dems new doctrine: Working Class are Deplorables. But they'll pay at election time - Steve Bannon https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-18/bannon-were-war-chinaand-we-will-win Bannon On "War With China", National Identity, & The Russian "Annoyance" by Tyler Durden Wed, 07/18/2018 - 20:00 Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon gave what was possibly his strongest live interview in recent memory (to be fair, he hasn't given many since leaving the White House) on Wednesday when he sat down with Michelle Caruso-Cabrera at CNBC's "Delivering Alpha" conference to discuss President Trump's geopolitical strategy, the controversy over his performance in Helsinki and the greater purpose of President Trump's trade war. Bannon, who looked clean-cut and unusually healthy, offered an articulate, coherent explanation of how President Trump is upending the unsustainable liberal world order and standing up to America's biggest foes with his actions, if not always his words. Meanwhile, Bannon convincingly portrayed Trump's political opponents as hysterics and prigs who are too focused on optics and parroting the "opposition party" media narrative. In what was perhaps his most salient claim, Bannon insisted that President Trump's trade war will be remembered not as the economy-wrecking disaster but with a triumph that will save the US economy. Unsurprisingly, Caruso-Cabrera opened the interview by asking Bannon for his take on President Trump's controversial performance in Helsinki, which drew condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike. "The opposition media missed the point...up until the last part, when he talked about the meddling and the collusion, [the press conference with Putin] was fine. I think the president has done a terrific job." If Trump appeared too willing to tolerate Russia's illegal meddling, he clearly took Putin to task over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe, which some would describe as the biggest threat to NATO's security, given Germany and much of Europe's dependence on Russia for energy. Russia's success in courting Europe as a customer and its alliance with Syria were too major failures of previous presidents, including Obama and Bush. Trump, Bannon said, has actually been harder on Russia than any other president since the 1980s. Bannon on Russian meddling from CNBC. American foreign policy for 50 to 60 years was to keep Russia out of the Middle East...all of these super patriots...where were they on their watch? Was his command presence as strong as it was in Singapore? No. But it was a different environment. Clearly, the problem isn't Trump - it's the mainstream media that focuses on "marginal optics" over the substance of the president's actions. The mainstream media jumps on the marginal optics - 'its treason' and 'he didn't support the intelligence community'. Let's talk about Clapper and all these super patriots. Now, the president sometimes conflates the meddling and the collusion. Certainly the meddling is wrong...but President Obama kind of stood down. Moving on to Trump's performance in Brussels earlier this month, Bannon argued that if Trump is being brusque with America's partners in NATO, it's only pursuance of an important goal: Transforming the other NATO members into true partners, rather than "protectorates." Bannon: Donald Trump is trying to save NATO, doesn't want protectorate from CNBC. I thought the visit to NATO and the UK could've taken place on Nov. 7. Donald Trump has done more than any other president to save NATO. That visit - if you take the whole totality of it. Look what he did with NATO. What he doesn't want is a protectorate. The problem we got ourselves in with this liberal rules-based order, it's a series of commercial relationships, capital markets and American security guarantees...we underwrite the entire thing. None of our allies kick into the till. And the Europeans are the worst. They can't sit there and tell me what a big threat Russia is when they can't kick in their 2%. Trump is a business guy he says it's got to be 2%, it's got to be now. Or, put another way: We're not an empire...we're looking for allies we're not looking for a protectorate. If President Trump gravitates toward authoritarian leaders, it's only because he likes "big personalities". Bannon on Putin from CNBC. "He likes strong personalities...they're strong leaders...I think he's attracted to Putin because they're strong leaders, they're nationalists. If you look at what he does, he leads from strength. The whole narrative surrounding Russia has been overblown, Bannon argued. Russia isn't America's greatest geopolitical adversary, as the US media would have you believe. Compared with China, Russia is an "annoyance." Bannon: We're at an economic war with China from CNBC. Russia is an annoyance. China is our great challenge. Russia's economy is the size of Texas or New York State? It's got lots of nuclear weapons...but in today's warfare...nuclear weapons are taking a less important role. Trump is trying to end the Cold War and the Korean War...and all he is getting is grief from the globalists. And that's a huge problem, because not only are we adversaries with China, we are at war with China, Bannon said. We're in a war with China. Ray Dalio tweeted the other day. There's three types of war: information war, economic war, and guns-up kinetic war. They've been at war with us for 25 years. Many people in this room have exacerbated the rise of China." Pushing back against the notion that Trump lacks grand foreign policy vision, Trump, like Reagan, is trying to build a foreign policy behind American assertiveness and optimism. Furthermore, the notion that China has advantages over the US in a trade war is laughable; the US can - and will - win, Bannon said. If they devalue their currency they're just going to flood more dollars out. That's what their own people think about their economy. We allowed them to take the South China Sea. Donald Trump is not going to back off this. Donald Trump is not going to blink. Victory is when they give us access to their markets. This trade war is going to end in victory and what you're going to see is a reorientation of the entire supply chain out of China. Bannon on the midterm elections from CNBC. Bannon is optimistic about the Republicans chances in November. The problem with the Democrats, Bannon said, is they still haven't come to terms with why they lost to Trump: They abandoned the American worker. The meddling was on the margin, and the Democrats need to accept this. The collusion - they haven't found one shred of evidence. The Democrats have yet to embrace why they lost...[they] have wanted a do-over since 2:30 am on Nov. 9 - and they've lied and they've bitched and in November they'll get their do-over...but on November 6, the deplorables will be plenty jacked up. But in November, voters will render their decision, and whatever they decide it'll be on Trump's platform of economic nationalism, which has boosted economic growth and created jobs. "It's an up or down vote, the economy, the tax cuts the whole package. I think the Fed's going to say in the second quarter it's at 4%...because of economic nationalism." [...] Watch the full interview below: Note that CNBC cut the live feed from the "Delivering Alpha" conference as Bannon was getting going, tying the opioid crisis to the globalists offshoring of jobs and China's economic war... "Tariffs are not just about economics... its about identity, self worth, and people understanding they have jobs." and bounced back to their studio guests from the establishment who immediately unleashed their talking points to tear down Bannon's awkward facts.
(3) Democrats do a U-turn on Open Borders, fear becoming hostage to Far Left as elections approach http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/07/16/dems-j16.html By Isaac Finn 16 July 2018 Democrats vow to vote against their own bill to abolish ICE On July 12, three liberal Democrats—Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Parmila Jayapal of Washington and Adriano Espaillat of New York—introduced a bill to formally abolish the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Within 48 hours, the bill was exposed as a cynical maneuver when Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy called the Democrats’ bluff by announcing that he would bring their legislation to a vote later this month. The response of the Democrats was to declare that they would vote “no” on their own bill. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which had previously refused to take a position on the bill, joined in declaring that its members would vote against the legislation. In a joint statement, the three lawmakers who had introduced the bill attempted to explain their about-face, writing, “We know Speaker [of the House Paul] Ryan is not serious about passing our ‘Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act,’ so Members of Congress advocacy groups and impacted communities will not engage in this political stunt.” Instead, they declared, they would use the House vote on the bill to “force an urgently needed and long-overdue conversation on the House floor.” [...] Bernie Sanders has also supported the attack on immigrants, stating in January, “I don’t think there’s anybody who disagrees that we need strong border security. If the president wants to work with us to make sure we have strong border security, let’s do that.” As one of the bill’s sponsors, New York Representative Adriano Espaillat, explained: “We want to enforce immigration laws, but with a heart.” Another of the sponsors, Mark Pocan, told a recent press conference that his aim was to refurbish the immigration and border apparatus to make it more effective. “Right now,” he said, “ICE is being misused by the president in a way that makes it unable to function as it needs to.” He stressed that he was opposed to open borders. Democratic Socialists of America member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who recently won an upset victory in the Democratic primary election for the US House seat in New York’s 14th Congressional District, made the call to abolish ICE a central part of her campaign. But in an interview with CNN the day after her victory, she began hedging on the demand, declaring, “We do need to make sure that our borders are secure.” A minority of Democrats saw the adoption of the popular slogan “abolish ICE” as a risk-free way to give themselves a “left” cover, particularly among Hispanic voters, while in practice continuing to enable Trump to wage his war against immigrants. They knew their anti-ICE bill would never pass the Republican-controlled House, let alone survive in the Senate and be signed into law by Trump. On the contrary, they assumed that the Republican leadership in the House would prevent the bill from coming to the floor for a vote. Nevertheless, the Democratic congressional leadership made it clear that it opposed even the toothless bill introduced by Pocan, Jayapal and Espaillat. When, to their horror, McCarthy announced that he would bring the bill up for a vote, the Democrats evidently panicked, terrified of casting a vote to abolish ICE and then being pilloried by the Republicans as proponents of open borders and accomplices of immigrant “gangs and rapists.” Moreover, the Democrats stand in mortal fear of a growth of social opposition to the policies of the ruling class and are determined to do whatever they can to prevent it. The last thing they want is to inadvertently spark mass protests around the demand to abolish ICE and the rest of the repressive anti-immigrant apparatus.
(4) "Unmasking Antifa" Act Introduced In Congress: 15 Year Sentence For Masked Mayhem by Tyler Durden Tue, 07/10/2018 - 19:25 Following a spate of violent attacks by masked members of Antifa, four GOP members of Congress are taking matters into their own hands. A measure introduced last month in the House would punish anyone wearing a mask who "injures, oppresses, threatens or intimidates" a person "in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege" with a fine and up to 15 years in prison. Introduced to the House Judiciary Committee by Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) and co-sponsored by Peter King (R-NY), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ). H.R. 6054, the "Unmasking Antifa Act of 2018" states: Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, while in disguise, including while wearing a mask, injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both. The bill also includes 2 years of jail time for "Destroying buildings or property" while wearing a mask or disguise. One of the more notable incidents of Antifa violence was an assault on a Trump supporter by Bay Area professor and anarchist, Eric Clanton, who was "unmasked" by users of popular internet forums and arrested and charged with four counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Clanton remains free on bail, while his trial has been postponed several times. Meanwhile, a large skirmish broke out at a Portland conservative rally between masked members of Antifa and conservatives - which led to a viral video of a Proud Boy known as "Rufio" knocking out an Antifa member. (Knockout at 7:35)
(5) Anti-Antifa bill would send Masked Demonstrators to Prison for 15 Years 11/07/2018 11:12 AM AEST | Updated 13/07/2018 2:26 AM AEST GOP Anti-Antifa Act Could Send Masked Demonstrators To Prison For 15 Years Convicted murderers can do less time. By Zach Carter Reps. Dan Donovan and Peter King of New York are among four Republicans sponsoring legislation that would punish any mask-wearing counterprotester who “injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates” a demonstrator with up to 15 years in prison. Anyone who doubts the speed with which paranoid authoritarianism is becoming the dominant worldview of today’s GOP should read the Unmasking Antifa Act, a short bill recently introduced in Congress by four House Republicans. The legislation would punish anyone who “injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates any person” engaged in a legally protected right or privilege while “wearing a mask” with up to 15 years in prison. The extreme vagueness of “oppresses” and “intimidates” raises concerns that anyone who simply shows up at a protest in a mask could be put away for a very long time if the bill becomes law. People should not go to prison for attending protests. That is why there is an amendment to the Constitution protecting the right to free assembly. And 15 years is an extraordinary sentence for behavior, no matter how threatening; convicted murderers often aren’t incarcerated that long. “Antifa” is shorthand for a diverse and diffuse array of anti-fascist and anti-racist activists. It isn’t a nationally coordinated or centrally organized movement. And various antifa chapters are a problem only for neo-Nazis. Antifa activists show up as counterprotesters at fascist events, like the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, where thousands of white nationalists, many armed, clashed with antifa members and other protesters. Antifa groups are distinguished from other organizations that do not like Nazis by their willingness to use violence against Nazis, but most people have little to fear from their local antifa chapter. In more than 30 years of antifa activity, there has been one confirmed fatality caused by an antifa group member — in 1993, when a Nazi in Portland, Oregon, was shot during a fight at a gas station. Far-right extremists, by contrast, were responsible for 670 fatalities, 3,053 injuries and 4,420 attacks in the United States from 1990 to 2012, according to a report from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The bill was introduced by Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.), a former prosecutor best known for helping Eric Garner’s killer stay out of prison. It is co-sponsored by fellow tough-guy New York Republican Rep. Peter King; Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), a conspiracy theorist who once suggested that George Soros might have orchestrated last year’s violence in Charlottesville through an elaborate false-flag operation; and Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), a favorite of the Club for Growth. Hundreds of bills are introduced in Congress each year that will go nowhere. They serve as ideological statements or efforts to placate campaign contributors. But even when these message bills, as they are known on Capitol Hill, never come up for a vote, they serve to demonstrate the priorities of their sponsors. And the ones behind the Unmasking Antifa Act are not entirely fringe cranks. King, a 25-year incumbent, is backed by billionaire centrist Michael Bloomberg, who recently held a fundraiser at his home for King. Decades ago, several states implemented anti-masking laws in an effort to go after members of Ku Klux Klan. These laws have been used more recently by local law enforcement to arrest counterprotesters at Nazi rallies.
(6) Undaunted by criticism, Trump looks to next Putin meeting JULY 19, 2018 / 11:39 PM Doina Chiacu, Andrew Osborn WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed forces within the United States on Thursday for marring what they called the success of their first summit, with Trump saying he looked forward to their second meeting The Republican president accused the media of distorting comments in which he gave credence to Putin’s denials of election interference despite the conclusions of the American intelligence community about Moscow’s conduct. “The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media,” Trump, who has faced criticism from lawmakers in both parties after the summit, wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyber attacks, trade, Ukraine, Middle East peace, North Korea and more,” Trump said. A day after he refused to blame Putin at the summit for the election meddling, Trump on Tuesday said he had misspoken and accused “some people” of hating the fact that he got along with Putin. American intelligence agencies last year announced their conclusion that Russia carried out a campaign of hacking and propaganda targeting the 2016 U.S. election in an attempt to sow discord, disparage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and aid Trump’s candidacy. Putin has denied any such meddling. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly reaffirmed their confidence in the findings after the Helsinki meeting. In Moscow, Putin said “powerful” U.S. forces were trying to sabotage what the summit had achieved, but said the two leaders had begun to improve U.S.-Russia ties anyway. “It was successful overall and led to some useful agreements. Of course, let’s see how events will develop further,” Putin said in remarks to Russian diplomats from around the world, without disclosing the nature of the agreements to which he referred. “We see that there are forces in the United States that are prepared to casually sacrifice Russian-U.S. relations, to sacrifice them for their ambitions in an internal political battle in the United States,” Putin said. Putin did not name names, but spoke of U.S. politicians who put their “narrow party interests” above the best interests of the United States and were powerful enough to be able to foist their questionable “stories” on millions of Americans. U.S. prosecutors have offered mounting evidence concerning Russian election meddling. Special Counsel Robert Mueller secured an indictment last Friday charging 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking Democratic computer networks in 2016 as part of a wide-ranging conspiracy involving sophisticated hacking and staged releases of documents. In another irritant in U.S.-Russian relations, a U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered Maria Butina, an accused Russian agent, jailed until her trial after American prosecutors argued she has ties to Russian intelligence and could flee the United States. Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington, Andrew Osborn and Olesya Astakhova in Moscow; Editing by Will Dunham -- Peter Myerswebsite: http://mailstar.net/index.html |
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