AGAIN: 'Hate Has No Place In America!'

On Saturday morning, a wicked person opened fire on innocent families shopping at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. Precious children were among the victims. The following day, another act of evil took place on a crowded street in Dayton, Ohio. These two horrible incidents left more than 80 people killed or wounded.  Earlier today, President Donald J. Trump addressed the nation from the White House:      The First Lady and I join all Americans in praying and grieving for the victims, their families, and the survivors. We will stand by their side forever. We will never forget. These barbaric slaughters are an assault upon our communities, an attack upon our nation, and a crime against all of humanity. We are outraged and sickened by this monstrous evil, the cruelty, the hatred, the malice, the bloodshed, and the terror. Our hearts are shattered for every family whose parents, children, husbands, and wives were ripped from their arms and their lives. America weeps for the fallen. We are a loving nation, and our children are entitled to grow up in a just, peaceful and loving society. Together, we lock arms to shoulder the grief. We ask God in Heaven to ease the anguish of those who suffer. And we vow to act with urgent resolve.   Hate, in any of its forms, has no place in the United States of America. In the two decades since Columbine, our nation has witnessed one mass shooting after another. It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of such violence. America can and will rise to the challenge. By taking action, “we will ensure that those who were attacked will not have died in vain,” President Trump said. He laid out those steps today:  First, Americans must come together in condemning racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated,” the President said.   Second, law enforcement must have all the tools it needs to investigate and disrupt any hate crimes or acts of domestic terrorism. President Trump has asked the FBI to identify any additional resources needed to confront these threats. Part of that effort includes fighting radicalization online.   Third, America must do a better job of identifying—and acting upon—early warning signs of violence. Today, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to partner with government agencies and the private sector, including social media companies, to develop tools to detect mass shooters before they act.   Fourth, we must stop the glorification of violence across society. It’s far too easy for troubled individuals to surround themselves with gruesome, grisly images on a daily basis. “Cultural change is hard, but each of us can choose to build a culture that celebrates the inherent worth and dignity of every human life,” the President said.   Fifth, our country must reform its mental health laws to better identify, treat, and—if necessary—confine individuals who may commit acts of violence.   Last but not least, we must ensure that those posing a great risk to public safety do not have access to firearms—and that, if they do, those firearms can be taken away through rapid due process. The President has called for “red flag laws,” also known as extreme risk protection orders, to keep weapons away from dangerous people.   These steps build upon important work that President Trump has already done to address the scourge of mass violence in America. Last year, Republicans and Democrats joined together to pass the STOP School Violence and Fix NICS Acts, providing grants to improve school safety and strengthening critical background checks for firearms. On the President’s orders, the Department of Justice also banned the sale of bump stocks. Today, President Trump also called upon DOJ to propose legislation that ensures anyone who commits hate crimes and mass murder will face the death penalty. “Now is the time to set destructive partisanship aside . . . and find the courage to answer hatred with unity, devotion, and love,” the President said. “Our future is in our control.” President Trump’s Proclamation honoring the victims in El Paso and Dayton.    Watch: “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy.”

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour

The United States flag flies at half-staff atop the White House in solemn respect for the victims of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio | August 4, 2019

Joe Biden's Weary, Rancid Road To Nowhere . . .

 Joe Biden is now so obviously reconstructed and heavily dotted with makeup and the vestiges of old hair plugs that he looks like the guy you always went out of your way to avoid -- your friendly neighborhood  undertaker.
He mumbles and stumbles along,  bungling like an old vaudevillian who doesn't realize that the curtain came down on his cheap and tawdry act years ago.
He totally flubbed his response to our nation's current twin horrors citing murders in "Ohio and Michigan" and then he went on to compare President Trump to the Ku Klux Klan.
Imagine the total folly and phoniness of this! Does Biden have no sense of history whatsoever?
It was his beloved party, the Democrats who embraced and helped to embolden the KKK for decades. And it was people like Biden who, as a senator revered and praised former Klan leader, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. In fact, Biden said Byrd actually "elevated the Senate." Of course, Biden is the same  guy  who recently boasted of working with racist segregationists while serving as a senator.
But now Biden would presume to lecture us on morality, tolerance and racial equality.
When President Trump today challenged the nation and its leaders to try to "speak with one voice" as we seek solutions and try to move away from the rancor and violence that has plagued us, Biden told  the president: "We won't truly speak with one voice against hatred until your voice is no longer in the White House." Did Biden think he was clever by tweeting this? Is that what he was aiming for during this crisis -- cleverness? Well, so much for working together, huh?
Joe Biden has become a sort of weary, tattered little two-reel drama in and of himself. He's like a very bad vintage black and white newsreel that sputters and crackles and groans on and on.

IF They Can Agree, Here's What Can Be Done . . .

The events of the last few days have been horrific.

But some good can come out of all this.

IF our so-called "leaders" in Washington can agree, there are sound steps that can be taken.

Here are some measures we've suggested before:

1) The assault weapons ban should probably be re-eneacted. There's no guarantee it will stem the tide of violence but there's no reason not to put it back into effect, either.
2) Background checks must be toughened.
3) Much tighter controls need to be put on gun ownership by persons with mental disorders. In the case of unstable or questionable persons who already possess guns, the idea of a gun ownership restraining order seems to have merit.
4) Hollywood and the popular culture and the media must be held accountable. The glorification of violence must be halted. This ain't no movie and it ain't no video game. This is serious now, understand?
5) The crisis of boys with absent fathers must be addressed. It's nothing less than a time bomb.
6) Social media must come to the table. They share some of the responsibility for this.
7) Respect must be restored for the sanctity of human life and that means that we must have the courage to address the abomination that is abortion on demand. Remember: in the end, everything is related to everything else.

Well, it seems we're in good company on all this because our friend Stu Bykofsky has made similar suggestions at his new blog, which we commend to you. Here are Stu's suggestions as excerpted from his fine column:
1- Instant background checks for every buyer of every firearm, including gun shows. In 2017, Pew Research reported 85% of Americans approved background checks — 88% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans.
2- Deny guns to mental patients and those accused of spousal abuse. Rights could be restored after successful treatment.
3- Deny guns to those on a terrorist watch list. If you can’t get on a plane, you can’t have a gun.
4- Age 21 to buy a rifle. Federal law already makes 21 the minimum age for a handgun.
5- One gun purchase a month. This is designed to slow the straw buyer.
6- Restrict magazines to holding only 10 bullets.

H/T: Stu Bykofsky

The Pledge: Job Opportunities For ALL!

“We want America to be the worst place in the world to commit a serious crime, but we also want America to be the best place in the world, once you’ve done your time, to get a second chance,” Vice President Mike Pence said in Jacksonville, Florida, last Friday. The Vice President joined Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump for a roundtable with Operation New Hope, which for 20 years has been bringing opportunities for a fresh start to people who made the wrong choices early in their lives. “The reality is that more than 50 percent of the people who leave prison are re-incarcerated within five years,” Vice President Pence said. But President Donald J. Trump’s historic criminal justice reform “now is creating new pathways for educational coursework, vocational training, faith-based programs in our federal prison system. And it’s been supported broadly by law enforcement across this country,” he added. In Florida and across America, the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders. That means more jobs are available to help former inmates adjust to life on the outside and become productive members of their communities. It also means more opportunities exist to help all working- and middle-class Americans thrive, regardless of background.  “Worker wages are growing much faster than previously reported,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote this week. Compensation rose 4.5 percent in 2017 and 5 percent last year. In June, wages and salaries grew at an annual rate of 5.5 percent—still an incredible 4.1 percent after accounting for inflation. “In sum, Americans are earning more and relying less on government,” the editors wrote. In Jacksonville, Vice President Pence and Ms. Trump toured Miller Electric, a company that embodies what this Trump Economy is all about. In total, Miller Electric has added more than 300 new jobs since early last year. It has also grown its apprenticeship program, which now totals more than 500 people across the country. American workers and students “of every age, income, and background should have the chance to pursue their dreams and succeed and thrive according to their abilities and their ambitions,” Vice President Pence told the company’s employees. When you look at those growing wages, “they’re actually rising at the fastest rate for hardworking, blue-collar Americans. The forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more.” The White House’s Pledge to America’s Workers is doubling down on that promise. The initiative launched last summer, aiming to expand workforce training and reskilling opportunities in the United States. Last week, as the Pledge celebrated its one-year anniversary, Ivanka Trump announced the tally: more than 12 million job training opportunities pledged thus far. The Wall Street Journal: “The 99% Get a Bigger Raise” Matthew Charles: Thanks to President Trump, “I got my second chance.”

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour

President Donald J. Trump speaks with reporters on the South Lawn prior to boarding Marine One to begin his trip to Cincinnati | August 1, 2019

Record Employment And Bigger Paychecks!

The 99% Get a Bigger Raise -The Wall Street Journal “Political discourse nowadays is enough to depress anyone, and the media don’t help by ignoring good economic news. But buck up, Americans: Worker wages are growing much faster than previously reported,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes. American workers’ paychecks rose 4.5 percent in 2017 and 5 percent in 2018.

Record 157,288,000 Employed in July -CNSNews “The number of people employed in the United States hit a record 157,288,000 in July, according to the employment report released [Friday] by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Terence Jeffrey reports. “That was up 283,000 from the 157,005,000 employed in June.” The unemployment rate also held firm in July at 3.7 percent—a near-half century low. Council of Economic Advisers: Economy adds jobs as wages continue to grow

Trump Commemorates 400th Anniversary of First American Assembly for Democracy at Jamestown -CBN News America celebrated a milestone this week: “400 years since the first meeting of a representative legislature in what would later become the United States of America,” Andrea Morris writes. “Speaking at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, President Trump commemorated the first meeting of the House of Burgesses in a small wooden church in nearby Jamestown, VA.”  Watch: President Trump visits spot where self-government took root in 1619

Trump Signs Bill Ensuring 9/11 Victims Fund Will Never Run Out of Money -NBC News “President Donald Trump on Monday signed a bill ensuring that a fund to compensate victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks never runs out of money,” Adam Edelman reports. “Addressing the numerous 9/11 first responders in attendance for the signing moments later, Trump said, ‘Over the last two decades, you have endured hardship with amazing grace and incredible grit.’”  President Trump: “We come together as one nation to support our September 11th heroes”

Trump Administration Announces Plan to Allow Imports of Prescription Drugs -Washington Examiner “The Trump administration announced plans to allow the importation of drugs from other countries, a major part of President Trump's agenda for lowering the cost of prescriptions,” Cassidy Morrison reports. “This is the next important step in the Administration’s work to end foreign freeloading,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said. 🎬 Secretary Azar: A pathway to get cheaper, FDA-approved foreign drugs

How America Needs to Follow Up On the First Step Act -New York Post “Twenty-two years. That’s how long I spent behind bars before the First Step Act was signed into law — and, just like that, I had a second chance,” writes Matthew Charles, one of the first inmates to benefit from President Trump’s historic criminal justice reform. The reality is that “bills like the First Step Act sat stalled in Congress for years, through control of both parties, before Trump stepped in,” Charles says.

Baltimore Murder Rate Worse than Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Driving Asylum Surge -Washington Examiner “The Baltimore murder rate is higher than the three Central American nations driving the border surge by migrants seeking to flee crime and murder back home,” Paul Bedard reports. Baltimore’s murder rate “was reported at 56 per 100,000. The city is on track for 340 murders. By comparison, said the Princeton Policy Advisors analysis, the murder rate in El Salvador was 50, in Guatemala it was 22 and Honduras was 38.”

Trump Support Grows Among Black Voters

The following is from Rasmussen Reports:

President Trump triggered a media firestorm when he criticized a longtime Democratic congressman’s job performance, saying his Baltimore district is “a rat and rodent infested mess” and “the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States.”

The president has since pointed out that many of the country’s major cities have similar problems, and nearly all have been run for years by Democrats. Democratic leaders responded by calling Trump a racist, but media interviews in Baltimore and elsewhere found black residents asking the same questions the president is asking.

Like most Republicans, Trump has struggled to attract black voters, but this week’s surveying for the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll has found a bump in black support for the president. Even with the +/-9 margin of error for the smaller sample, it’s a bump that has held up nearly all week.

Date	Black Approval 2019	Black approval 2018
Monday, July 29, 2019	25%	NA
Tuesday, July 30, 2019	34%	28%
Wednesday, July 31, 2019	34%	28%
Thursday, August 1, 2019	33%	25%
Friday, August 2, 2019	29%	29%
Full Week Numbers	32%	26%

It’s way too soon to say whether this is a temporary blip on the radar or whether Trump is on to something. We’ll be watching.

PHILLY NAKED Bike Ride Just 21 Days Away!

From the folks at Philly Naked Bike Ride:

When: August 24, 2019 Time: We Ride at 5 PM! We will be hosting Pre-ride Festivities and Bodypainting prior to the ride beginning at 2:30 PM. Body painting will close promptly at 4:30! Where: We have a new starting location, and we can't wait to tell you about it on August 23rd!

We've had many questions for info about an Afterparty... Last year was a special year because it was our 10th Ride. This year we are working with local establishments to offer great specials and fun hangouts post-ride! They know our vibe, and are down to continue the party spirit. We will be announcing our hosts on Social Media over the next couple of weeks and will include them in our final email before the ride,  so stay tuned! Please support our local Philly businesses!

Jewish Group: AOC Must Be 'Sanctioned, Condemned'

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein, ZOA Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq., released the following statement:

Openly advocating violence against innocent people, in this case against Jewish people, is a “red line” that no decent person – and certainly no member of Congress – should ever cross. Yet horrifyingly, adding to her long list of antisemitic, Israelophobic and anti-American outrages, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (“AOC”) has now obliterated that red line by declaring and promoting on the “Ebro in the Morning” radio show that Palestinian-Arabs “have no choice but to riot” against Jews in the Jewish State. 

 It is frightening and irresponsible that AOC is legitimizing and mainstreaming anti-Jewish violence, Jew hatred and Israel hatred. In an era when Jews have been murdered and shot and attacked in Pittsburgh, California, Florida and New York, this is a very dangerous development, (Audiotape is at “AOC Says Palestinians 'Have No Choice But To Riot' Against Israel,” Fox News, July 31, 2019.)

The Merriam-Webster definition of “riot” is “public violence” by groups of three or more persons assembled together acting with common intent. Moreover, AOC’s outrageous phrase says that it’s obligatory to perpetrate violence against Jews.

AOC must be sanctioned, condemned and removed from all her Congressional committees and even thrown out of Congress for advocating that there is “no choice but to riot” against Jews.

It is especially wrong for this Congresswoman AOC to continue serving on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties – when AOC is advocating to destroy Jews’ and Israelis’ basic civil right to live, without being subjected to Palestinian-Arab terrorist attacks and violence and even murder.

During the same radio interview, AOC also spewed and agreed with hateful and false anti-Jewish and anti-Israel blood libels, and employed these in her call for anti-Israeli riots. AOC “absolutely” agreed with the radio show host’s depiction of “white supremacist Jews,” and the host’s statements calling Israel “very, very unjust” and “very, very, criminal.” AOC then declared “I don't think that by marginalizing Palestinians, you create safety. “I believe that injustice is a threat to the safety of all people, because once you have a group that is marginalized and marginalized and marginalized — once someone doesn't have access to clean water, they have no choice but to riot, right?”

AOC’s false assertion that Palestinian-Arabs don’t have access to clean water – which AOC used to foment potentially deadly anti-Jewish riots, is reminiscent of the medieval blood libels that Jews poisoned the wells – which were used to foment deadly anti-Jewish pogroms.

In fact, Israel has far exceeded her obligations under the parties’ negotiated, signed water agreements (set forth in Oslo II). The problem is that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) fail to meet their water responsibilities in the areas that they govern – and sabotage Israel’s generous efforts to help provide water. Israel provides Palestinian-Arabs with clean water from joint aquifers in far larger quantities and at lower prices than Israeli Jews receive and have to pay. Also, Israeli farmers in Judea/Samaria mostly use treated wastewater and other non-potable water for agriculture – while Palestinian-Arab farmers refuse to use treated wastewater, build illegal wells that decimate the fragile water table, and squander potable water on agriculture. And despite the availability of funds for the PA to build approved wastewater treatment plants, the PA and Hamas have failed to meet their responsibilities to build the treatment plants. Billions of dollars of aid have been provided to the Palestinian-Arabs (including $11 billion of aid from the U.S. as of May 2018) – but they prefer to use the funds to build terror tunnels and pay terrorists.

For additional enlightening facts about the water situation – and about the PA’s and Hamas’ and terror-affiliated NGOs’ water libels, which AOC repeated, see “Myths vs. Facts: NGOs and the Destructive Water Campaign Against Israel,” NGO Monitor, Mar. 17, 2016.

AOC’s latest comments are moreover the second time AOC justified spilling Jewish blood in the space of a week. Last week, AOC contended that condemning anti-Jewish boycotts “forces” people to commit anti-Jewish violence, saying: “My concern with being overly punitive on nonviolent forms of protest is that it forces people into other channels and I would hate to be a part of, you know, paving that kind of path.” (See “Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Justified Violence Against Jews Twice in 7 Days,” by Daniel Greenfield, Jewish Press/FrontPage Mag., Aug. 1, 2019.)

Congress’ failure to take action against Cong. AOC is legitimizing and mainstreaming Jew hatred, anti-Jewish violence and Israelophobia and keeps encouraging her to become more and more dangerous. This should never be happening in the United States of America. Shame!

July Jobs Soar, Hit Record 157,288,000 . . .

“The number of people employed in the United States hit a record 157,288,000 in July, according to the employment report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Terence Jeffrey reports for CNSNews. “That was up 283,000 from the 157,005,000 employed in June.” The unemployment rate also held steady in July at 3.7 percent—a near-half century low.   Click here to read more. Council of Economic Advisers: Economy adds jobs as wages continue to grow

“The Labor Department reported Friday that payrolls increased 164,000” last month, Jeff Cox reports for CNBC. “Wages also continued to increase, with the 3.2% year-over-year gain topping expectations by one-tenth of a percentage point . . . Despite simmering worries of a manufacturing slowdown, jobs in the sector increased by 16,000.”

Yesterday, Kansas’ Laura Kelly became the first Democratic Governor to fully support the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), drawing attention to its importance for her state’s trade, exports, and overall economy. “We need Congress to act. Ratifying USMCA, as well as improving relations with our trading partners around the globe, will benefit our agriculture sector and the economy as a whole,” she said in a statement. More: 41 New York state legislators back USMCA as “a better deal for our country”

“President Donald Trump launched a new attack on global trade rules last week in an attempt to get members of the World Trade Organization to agree to sweeping changes that would stop Chinese abuses of the international trading system. China’s exploitation of these loopholes is destroying a structure that has been vital to export industries in South Carolina and the rest of the United States,” The Post and Courier editorial board writes.

“The Mexican government says the number of U.S.-bound illegal migrants traveling through its country has decreased by 39% since May, a result of its bolstered enforcement efforts,” Jason Hopkins reports for The Daily Signal. “Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, said Tuesday that the number of mostly Central American migrants traveling through the country to reach the U.S. dropped from 144,278 in May to 87,648 in June . . . Ebrard specifically credited Mexico’s recent crackdown on illegal immigration, brought on largely by pressure from the Trump administration.”

Watch President Trump's Rally Tonight LIVE!

More than 18,000 people are gathering in Cincinnati (with thousands more outside) for a YOOGE Trump rally. Here it is!