VIDEO: Confronted At Iowa Fair, Biden Loses It!

Up close confrontation at the Iowa state fair:this man accuses ⁦@JoeBiden of misquoting ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ on white supremacists — and Biden tears into him. pic.twitter.com/2ycHT869jP

— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) August 8, 2019

Why Perception, NOT Reality, Must Guide Us Now!

No, you are not likely to be the next victim of a mass public shooting.
The chances of that actually happening are very, very, VERY low as has been backed up by facts and pointed out before on this website and via other sources.
And no, America is not overrun with mass killers or serial murderers or shooters who are intent on setting a new mass murder record.
It just isn't so!
BUT there is a perception which has gained foothold across the land that has people scared out of their wits. They simply don't believe that they're not in danger. They feel something is terribly, terribly wrong and that we've drifted into a very scary place. And they're worried, anxious and, yes -- afraid!
This perception is fed by the popular culture, mainstream media, social media and the whole range of anti-Trump activists including Democrats and their top leaders. And the notoriety that is given to mass shooters actually seems to encourage additional crimes of this nature. From NPR: "Research shows that these incidents usually occur in clusters and tend to be contagious. Intensive media coverage seems to drive the contagion, the researchers say."
Amidst all this, the rhetoric has heated up to megawatt intensity and in this regard there's sufficient blame to go around, including amongst Trumpsters and their fiery leader.
But here's the point: public  relations teaches us that in our media saturated world, perception is reality. People are pent up, they're fretful and fearful and frightened. And they want action. They want to see something -- almost anything -- done. And they want it done now.
In this atmosphere, it behooves conservatives to come to the table and help hasten action. Not because all this is our fault or because we've been weakened; it isn't and we haven't. We need to do this because it's in our best interest and the best interest of the country.
And also because the old arguments won't work anymore -- they simply won't work in this atmosphere. The president knows this and he needs our help.
That means we've got to stop bickering, especially among ourselves, and strike to best deal for red flag laws (and/or some other new restraints) that we can. And we've got to do it without delay.
Yes, we need to take the lead right now, get this behind us and move on so the country can feel better about itself and focus on the good news of the Trump era: a robust economy; a resurgent manufacturing sector; unprecedented job numbers; real salary growth and progress that everyone can share in.
If we continue to nitpick and drag our feet, we will lose an unparalleled opportunity.
And, we will lose out right to govern as well.
Then, the nation will really be in one helluva mess!

Powerful, Poignant Moments And Heartfelt Thanks!

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled today to Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, where they met with survivors, families, medical workers, and first responders affected by this weekend’s horrific acts of mass violence. In Dayton this morning, the two met with patients and staff members at Miami Valley Hospital. “They’ve been stopping between rooms to thank the hardworking medical staff,” Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham wrote. “Very powerful moments.”  Watch President Trump: “We love you Dayton, Ohio!” “You had God watching. I want you to know we’re with you all the way,” the President said. Later in the afternoon, he and the First Lady visited with first responders, hospital staff, and victims and their families at University Medical Center of El Paso. As always when tragedy strikes, our nation’s first responders put their own lives at risk to help save others. The men and women who answered the call in both Dayton and El Paso were no exception. On Monday, President Trump thanked those “who responded to these atrocities with the extraordinary grace and courage of American heroes.” Before departing Washington today, the President pledged to push Congress on finding bipartisan solutions to address mass violence. “We’re going to be meeting with members of Congress. I’ve already got meetings scheduled. And I have had plenty of talks over the last two days,” he said. Specific measures the President has mentioned include stronger background checks, early warning detection, and “red flag” protection orders. “I’ll be convincing some people to do things that they don’t want to do, and that means people in Congress,” President Trump said. 🎬 President Trump says he’ll work with Congress to prevent future tragedies.

First Lady honors Purple Heart Day

Today is Purple Heart Day, marking the occasion 237 years ago when Gen. George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit. Washington designed that original badge by fashioning royal purple cloth into the shape of a heart. In the early 1900s, Gen. Douglas MacArthur established the Purple Heart both to commemorate Washington and to revive his tradition of giving a badge to those service members who, in battle, gave an uncommon measure of devotion. “Melania joins me in honoring all of our country’s Purple Heart recipients, their loved ones, and our Gold Star Families for their immeasurable sacrifice,” President Trump wrote in his official message for today. “We are forever grateful.” See President Trump’s message on Purple Heart Day, 2019.

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet with survivors, families, hospital staff, and first responders at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio | August 7, 2019

Museum Of Art Reaches Unprecedented Milestone!

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has raised $455 million in support of It Starts Here: Campaign for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Leslie Anne Miller, Chair of the Board of Trustees (pictured, left), and Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, announced today. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has made a contribution to this civic effort and believe, as we do, that the museum is the cultural heart of a great city and one of the keys to its future. It is our collective responsibility to secure the resources this institution needs to fulfill its mission and to continue to serve the needs of our community,” said Rub.

This milestone marks a significant step toward achieving the museum’s ambitious goal of $525 million to advance its strategic priorities. It Starts Here is the largest fundraising effort ever undertaken by a cultural institution in Philadelphia and one of the most substantial museum capital campaigns currently in progress in this country. “We are thrilled to announce that we have made such great progress on our campaign, which will enhance our ability to address both the challenges and the opportunities facing the Philadelphia Museum of Art and, frankly, all arts institutions in the 21st century,” Miller said. “The continued success of this campaign is a direct result of Philadelphians’ commitment to our museum as a source of civic pride. Campaign donors understand that a great city cannot be great without a vibrant arts community. While there is still much work to be done over the next two years, a successful conclusion to our campaign is now within sight.”

It Starts Here is led by co-chairs and museum Trustees Barbara Aronson, David Haas, and Katherine Sachs, along with vice chair Bruce Toll. The campaign has surpassed the museum’s projections to date, and is scheduled to be completed in two years, with a major moment being the completion of the Core Project in fall 2020.

The philanthropic goals of It Starts Here have been informed by the museum’s strategic vision for the future, which is focused on:

• Attracting younger and more diverse audiences;
• Enhancing the visitor experience by making much-needed physical improvements to the museum;
• Activating the collection through gallery reinstallations and innovative programming; and
• Strengthening the museum’s commitment to civic engagement.

To date, the museum has achieved over 80% of the overall goals for each of the following funding priorities: $150 million for the museum’s endowment, which currently remains below many of its peer museums nationally, to strengthen the operating budget; $142 million to support strategic initiatives in technology, education, access and community engagement, audience development, and to fund ongoing operations; and $233 million to support capital improvements, most notably the Core Project.

“Our campaign and strategic plan are centered on one critical goal: empowering the museum to fulfill its promise as a great civic institution, one that reflects Philadelphia’s rich and diverse history and serves the city today as a vital cultural resource,” Rub said. “Today, the museum enjoys a visitorship that is younger and as diverse as our Philadelphia region, with a median age of 39 for adult visitors and the percentage of our audience who are first-time visitors continuing to rise. An investment in the campaign—and the transformative ideas that it supports—is an investment in the future of Philadelphia. We are deeply grateful to all of those who have supported it to date, and we encourage others to help as well since we still have a long way to go.”

It Starts Here has been generously supported by museum Trustees and other individuals including members of its Chairman’s Council and Associates groups, city, state, and federal governments, foundations, and corporations, locally, nationally, and internationally, including three extraordinary donors who have each contributed more than $25 million:

Marguerite and H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest

Marguerite and the late Gerry Lenfest’s giving to the It Starts Here campaign exceeds $33 million. Gerry Lenfest led the Board of Trustees from 2001 through 2010, overseeing a significant period of growth and planning that laid the groundwork for the museum’s current historic fundraising and renewal initiatives. The Lenfests’ giving is primarily designated for capital projects and building the museum’s endowment, specifically through The Lenfest Challenge, a matching gift initiative that ultimately established endowed funds for 29 staff positions named by 27 donors.

Gail Harrity, the museum’s President and Chief Operating Officer, said: “Gerry was drawn to the Philadelphia Museum of Art because of his passion for art and his recognition that the museum serves as an educational and economic driver for civic renewal and growth. Few individuals have given so graciously of their time and so freely of their resources, and fewer still have had such an enormous impact on the museum’s history. Gerry’s leadership contributed greatly to the museum’s efforts to strengthen its endowment and to renovate and expand its facilities, including the landmark main building of which we are so proud.”

Constance and Sankey Williams

Museum Trustee and Chair Emerita Constance Hess Williams and her husband Sankey have contributed more than $27 million to the It Starts Here campaign. The couple have also offered a challenge grant of an additional $25 million to support the construction of the museum’s future auditorium sooner than anticipated in the schedule for the implementation of its Facilities Master Plan.

Williams served as Board Chair from 2010 through 2016. The funds that she and her husband have contributed to the campaign are supporting the museum’s endowment, programming and operations, and capital projects, including a challenge gift (with David Haas) which, when matched by gifts from other board members, secured the funds necessary to break ground on the Core Project in March 2017. Through their participation in The Lenfest Challenge, they also established the endowment for the Constance Williams Curator of Education, School and Teacher Programs, a position currently held by Barbara Bassett.

“My work with the Philadelphia Museum of Art has been one of the great joys and honors of my life,” Williams said. “I am particularly proud of our ongoing work expanding educational programming so that the museum can better serve the youth of Philadelphia and expose more young people to the transformative power of art. The It Starts Here campaign is the key to ensuring these programs continue to grow and evolve with our city. This campaign matters.”

Robert L. McNeil, Jr.

The late Robert L. McNeil, Jr.’s contribution of more than $25 million to be used solely for the renovation and expansion of the museum’s galleries of American art has been utilized in part for this purpose during the It Starts Here campaign. This remarkable gift was made in addition to previous donations from McNeil to endow five curatorial positions in the American Art department and provide funding for acquisitions and the work of the department’s Center for American Art, as well as his gift to the collection of over 1,000 works of American paintings, prints, drawings, craft, and decorative arts including early American furniture, American silver, Presidential China, and art by the Peale family.

“The museum’s holdings of American art are among the greatest treasures of its collection,” said Vicki Le Vine, one of McNeil’s daughters and a museum Trustee. “My mother and father’s dedicated philanthropic engagement with the museum, and specifically its important work showcasing the creativity of American artists and artisans, particularly those from Philadelphia, is a tradition that I am proud to continue as a Trustee myself. It is up to us to ensure that the museum’s future is strong and secure.”

Donors of Gifts Totaling $10 Million or More

As of June 30, the end of the museum’s fiscal year, an additional six donors had contributed between $10 million and $25 million to the It Starts Here campaign. The Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation’s generous support has been directed to the museum’s endowment and capital improvements in the area of contemporary art, building on Mr. Dietrich’s bequest of more than fifty works of American art to enhance our collection, announced in 2016. Campaign co-chair Katherine Sachs and the late Keith L. Sachs, who served for many years as a Trustee of the museum and chair of several committees, supported capital projects and the endowment of the Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, now held by Carlos Basualdo, among other priorities. In 2013 they also made an extraordinary promised gift of over 100 works of contemporary art from their own collection. Campaign co-chair David Haas’s contributions have primarily supported the Core Project and technology, including for a new endowment, and programming and operational support. Chair of the Board of Trustees Leslie Anne Miller along with her husband Richard Worley have given generously to many top priorities—most significantly to capital projects, including the Core Project and auditorium, and to initiatives such as the new galleries of American art to 1840 opening in 2020, an area in which the couple collects. The City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have both invested in capital projects, specifically the Core Project, through It Starts Here. The City has been a key partner throughout the museum’s history, as it not only owns the museum’s facilities, including the main building, but also provides generous annual operating support. It is also investing in an $11.3 million energy savings initiative, announced in 2017 by the City’s Office of Sustainability, that contributes to the museum’s capital improvements.

In total, 397 donors, both first-time and longstanding, have contributed to It Starts Here at the level of $50,000 and above, a number that will continue to grow as additional gifts of all sizes come in.

Looking Ahead

The transformative impact of It Starts Here can already be felt. In October 2018, the museum inaugurated Stir and Café, the new Gehry-designed dining spaces which represent the first completed public areas of the architect’s plan for the landmark building. The museum’s educational programs for individuals, families, and students and educators in Philadelphia’s public schools and beyond are reaching a wider audience than ever before, with support from It Starts Here. When the Core Project is completed in 2020, the many benefits of the renewal and expansion of the main building called for in the Facilities Master Plan will be abundantly clear to all who visit. So, too, will the potential of the new initiatives, gallery reinstallations, and range of programmatic offerings made possible by the generosity of the donors to this ambitious campaign. Considered together, they are providing the resources to enable the Philadelphia Museum of Art to fulfill its mission as effectively in the future as it has since it was founded in 1876.

To learn more about the It Starts Here campaign, please visit philamuseum.org/ourfuture.

President, First Lady To Pay Important Visit Wednesday

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will travel tomorrow to Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, where mass shootings over the weekend claimed more than 30 lives and injured dozens more. “We are outraged and sickened by this monstrous evil, the cruelty, the hatred, the malice, the bloodshed, and the terror,” President Trump said yesterday at the White House. “Our hearts are shattered for every family whose parents, children, husbands, and wives were ripped from their arms and their lives.” The President also called for bipartisan action to confront gun violence, condemned the scourge of white supremacy, and thanked law enforcement in Ohio and Texas “who responded to these atrocities with the extraordinary grace and courage of American heroes.”   Watch: “We must honor the sacred memory of those we have lost.” Read: The President’s full remarks on the shootings in Texas and Ohio

America takes historic action to cut off the dictatorship in Venezuela  Nicolas Maduro and his cronies in Venezuela have illegitimately usurped power, abused human rights, arbitrarily arrested and detained Venezuelan citizens, curtailed the freedom of the press, and continually undermined Venezuela’s democratically elected National Assembly and its leader, Interim President Juan Guaido. Today, however, the Maduro dictatorship woke up to a new reality in Venezuela. With executive action yesterday, President Trump imposed a sweeping set of sanctions that blocks all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States. This historic move is the first action of its kind from the United States against a government in the Western Hemisphere in more than 30 years. President Trump will continue to cut off the financial resources of Maduro and his enablers, which include officials in Russia and China. The Trump Administration has issued 30 rounds of sanctions targeting approximately 200 individuals and entities, focused on corruption networks that steal from the suffering Venezuelan people. America stands with Venezuelans as they continue to fight for freedom, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in their country. President Trump maintains strong support for Interim President Guaido and the democratically elected National Assembly. While sanctioning Maduro strongly, the United States has taken careful measures to provide the Venezuelan people with access to humanitarian aid, including food and medicine. “All options are on the table,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. “The Maduro dictatorship must end for Venezuela to have a stable, democratic, and prosperous future—free from the horrors of socialism that have ravaged this once great country.” National Security Advisor John Bolton added that “with this E.O., all those individuals that continue to support Maduro must make a choice. Stick with a sinking dictatorship or move toward the right side of history!” President Trump is cutting off the resources of Maduro and his cronies. Press Secretary Grisham: Full statement on the President’s order

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks on the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio | August 5, 2019

WOW! Really Startling FACTS About Guns . . .

By Matt Rooney

from the Save Jersey Blog (reprinted with permission)

Let’s get this out of the way: when a gunman attacks a school or group of shoppers, and it happens several times over the course of several years, it’s a problem worth taking seriously. No doubt about it.

But when the extreme Left starts demanding major infringements of fundamental American liberties? Rational people understandably want to understand the problem, its nature and its scope a little better before acting as opposed to emotionally reacting. Not everyone wants to have a rational conversation. Not everyone is rational or has any interest in reason. Neil deGrasse Tyson found this out the hard way over the weekend when he factually tweeted thatmedical errors, the flu, car accidents and suicides kill more American every day than mass shootings and caught a ream of shit for having done so.

America’s favorite astrophysicist inspired me to take a closer look at gun violence-related facts and figures. Some of what I found will make your leftist friends’ heads hurt. Good. We can disagree on what to do next, but we can’t have a constructive conversation if half the room relies upon a biased and distorted set of “facts” to support their preordained conclusions.

Check this out:

1. Hammers, clubs kill significantly more Americans than rifles every year.

While it’s true that guns generally are the leading instrument of murder in the U.S., our liberal friends love to single out “assault” rifles as the single greatest threat to public safety. That’s B.S. In 2017, the FBI recorded 403 deaths by rifle in the United States compared to 1,591 by knives/sharp cutting instruments, 467 by blunt objects (like hammers or clubs), and 692 by human anatomy (like your fists or feet). The math just doesn’t support an epidemic.

2. Gun suicides remain a far bigger killer than mass shootings.

If you die by gun in the U.S.? Chances are you were your own (and only) victim. In 2016 alone, the United States saw 23,854 firearm-induced suicides according to the CDC. Compare that to the 273 who’ve died from mass shootings more than halfway through 2019. It’s not even close.

3. School shooting fatalities are actually way down.

Nothing is more gut-wrenching than hearing about children under attack in a place (school) where they’re supposed to learn and grow in relative safety. Thankfully? School shootings remain extremely rare and, according to one 2018 analysis, 4-times less deadly than in the early 1990s.

4. Lawnmowers kill more Americans than mass public shootings

As ever, the devil is in the definitions; everyone defines “mass shooting” differently, but if we’re talking about the big public shootings (like what we saw in Aurora, Parkland, and most recently in El Paso and Dayton) which drive the debate and monopolize television coverage for days? The average number of fatalities was around 30 per year from 1999 through 2013. In 2014? 100 Americans were killed in lawnmower-related accidents., slightly more than the total number of public mass shooting deaths in 2012 (the year of Sandy Hook). The annual average based on a 10-year period was 69. 

5. The current number of mass shootings committed by NRA members: zero.

Hate the NRA if you want; disagree with them if you feel so inclined. But its members aren’t the ones committing mass shootings.

6. Chicago gun homicides eclipse total national mass shooting deaths.

You’re still far safer visiting your community school, Wal-Mart, or movie theater than the Windy City or some of America’s most mismanaged liberal urban centers. Chicago is already passing the 300 mark for 2019 gun homicides. One recent study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found 50% of all U.S. murders taking place in just 2% of American counties.

7. The old “America has the most mass shootings” line is probably bullshit.

In fact? One researcher reports we’re more like #69 globally behind Switzerland and Finland. Unsurprising, the inflated #1 stat is arrived at by cherry-picking data. Click here for the full story. You’ve been sold a bill of goods; for example, the U.K.’s violent crimes rates exceed the U.S.’s violent crime rates notwithstanding our parent country’s draconian gun control regime.

8. Violent crime in the U.S. is trending down.

If you relied on the mainstream media for all of your information? You’d think gangs of white supremacists and crazed gunmen are overrunning our cities. The truth: violent crime and gun crime in particular have generally been on a DOWNWARD trend since the 1990s and, with the exception of cities like Chicago and Baltimore (run by corrupt leftists), our cities are generally much safer, too. For example? There were 1/6th as many non-deadly firearm crimes committed in 2011 as the nation saw back in 1993.

9. Illegal guns kill vastly > people than legal guns.

It’s a roughly 80/20 split.

10. More legal guns… less gun deaths?

For the period spanning 2007 and 2015, the U.S. murder rate fell by 16%. Violent crime fell 18%. The number of U.S. adults with concealed carry permit rose 190%. There’s hard data out there confirming that ‘good guys with guns’ remain the ultimate deterrent to and safeguard against bad guys with evil intentions.

Can He Make It Any More Clear Than This?

President Trump Urges Nation to Condemn White Supremacy and Find Bipartisan Solutions President Donald J. Trump called out the evil ideology of white supremacy yesterday and “urged the nation to condemn it with one voice in the wake of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas,” Kathryn Watson reports for CBS News. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America,” the President said from the White House. In addition to calling for bipartisan solutions to gun violence, President Trump “also directed the Justice Department to propose legislation, so that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty ‘quickly’ and ‘decisively,’” without years of delay. Click here to read more.

“The Trump administration imposed a total economic embargo against the government of Venezuela, a significant escalation of pressure against the regime of President Nicolás Maduro and countries including Russia and China that continue to support him,” Vivian Salama reports for The Wall Street Journal. This powerful sanction is “the first action of its kind against a government in the Western Hemisphere in more than 30 years. The move places Venezuela on a par with North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba, the only other countries currently under such stringent U.S. measures.”

The Treasury Department declared yesterday that it would designate China as a currency manipulator, following President Trump's announcement of new tariffs last week in response to China’s continuing broken promises on trade, Sean Higgins reports for the Washington Examiner. “The Chinese economy is crumbling,” White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said this morning.

“Every single baby born in America deserves proper medical care and attention. That’s just common sense. Yet we continue to learn of cases — far too many — where babies are born alive during an attempted abortion, denied that crucial medical care, and left to die,” write Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, in Fox News.

ALERT: The Growing Threat To US Catholic Schools!

Patrick Reilly, President of the Cardinal Newman Society, believes there is a growing threat against America's Catholic schools as the number of lawsuits attacking the identity of faith-based institutions is on the rise. He offers some ways for lay faithful to protect and support Catholic education.

Fitzherbert Picks Up Another Key Endorsement

Brian T. Fitzherbert, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s Second Congressional District, announced the endorsement of Linwood Mayor Richard L. DePamphilis, III.

“We need a real leader who is willing to fight for lower taxes, immigration reform and who has the courage of conviction to stand up for the people of New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District. We have seen Brian’s leadership ability first-hand as he has worked to help build the Republican Party in Atlantic County and across South Jersey. A principled conservative, Brian will be a leader that will fight for South Jersey in Washington, D.C. That is why I am happy to endorse Brian Fitzherbert for Congress,“ said Mayor DePamphilis.

“I am proud to receive the endorsement of Mayor DePamphilis and I thank him for his service as a Navy Veteran and his commitment to South Jersey as a public servant. Mayor DePamphilis is an inspiration to all Americans who seek to serve our country and communities. I am honored to have his support and look forward to working with him as we fight to win back the 2nd Congressional district,” Fitzherbert said.

New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District covers all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem Counties, as well as parts of Gloucester, Ocean, Burlington, and Camden Counties.

Please follow the campaign on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and visit the website at www.FitzherbertForCongress.com email at info@FitzherbertForCongress.com.

And So Now, It's Come To This . . . .