Pence urges Americans to unite on Inauguration Day, says he's 'disappointed' in Lewis' comments

Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday called for congressional Democrats, and all Americans, to unite under incoming President Donald Trump, and said he was “disappointed” in Rep. John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency and urged him to reconsider his Inauguration Day boycott.
“Donald Trump won this election fair and square,” Pence told “Fox News Sunday.” “The American people know that.”
Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights icon, said in an interview airing Sunday on NBC that he didn’t see Trump as a “legitimate president,” amid evidence Russia tried to hurt the candidacy of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“While I have great respect for John Lewis and for his contributions, particularly to the civil rights movement, I was deeply disappointed to see someone of his stature question the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s presidency and to hear him say he was not attending the inauguration," Pence said. "I hope he reconsiders.”
Lewis joins a handful of congressional Democrats who say they won’t attend Inauguration Day on Friday, when Trump, a Republican, becomes the country’s 45^th president.
"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said in his interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."
On Saturday, Trump retaliated against Lewis for the remarks.
“Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart,” Trump tweeted.
Trump, in a follow-up tweet Saturday, said Lewis should spend more time helping his "crime invested" district, instead of "falsely complaining about the election results."
"All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad." Trump concluded.
Pence argued Sunday that Trump “has the right to defend himself.”
He also said that Lewis -- who was severely beaten in the historic, 1960’s “Bloody Sunday” civil rights protest -- acted irresponsibly in using that stature to attack Trump.
“It was an act of irresponsibility,” Pence said. “It’s just deeply disappointing to me, and I hope [Lewis] reconsiders.”

Jennifer Holliday backs out of inauguration, apologizes to LGBT people

To her it's all about MONEY!

Tony-award winning singer Jennifer Holliday has decided not to sing at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration – caving in to significant pressure from gay and lesbian fans who were outraged by her decision to put patriotism over politics.
“I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgment, for being uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak for my fans,” Holliday wrote in a letter provided to The Wrap.
The apology came one day after she defended her participation in an interview with The New York Times.
“We’ve become such a polarized country – we’re not listening to what the Obamas have said,” she told the newspaper. “They told us to move forward with hope – they didn’t tell us to stop participating.”
 Holliday went on to say she was singing for the people – the nation.
“I voted for Mrs. Clinton, and they knew that. But if someone wants me to sing a national anthem or something, we think about America, and we go,” she said.
It wasn’t long before Holliday learned that the Trump Administration appreciates tolerance and diversity more than militant members of the LGBT community.
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“It brought a lot of threats from people already saying I’ll never work again,” she told the newspaper. “If that’s what America has come to, where we all hate and bully people, there’s no more freedom of speech.”
Welcome to my world, Holliday – the world of the gun-toting, Bible-clinging, Deplorable Americans.
“I know everybody hates me now, but that shows we are all just hateful people now — we don’t even want to work together,” she said.
And on Saturday the militant gay and lesbian community got what they wanted – nothing short of complete allegiance to their cause.
“Please know that I HEAR YOU and I feel your pain,” she wrote in her apology letter to the lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, gender neutral, asexual, questioning, non-binary, gender fluid crowd. “The LGBT Community was mostly responsible for birthing my career and I am deeply indebted to you.”

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In other words, Holliday regrets putting patriotism ahead of the personal feelings of the gay and lesbian community.
I am somewhat sympathetic to her plight. I believe this was the first time, she had been bullied by a bunch of vulgar, militant social justice warriors. It can be unnerving for first-timers.
Hell hath no fury like a lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, asexual, gender neutral, questioning, non-binary, gender fluid fan scorned.
Regardless, this ugly episode is a reminder  that we pledge allegiance to the American flag – not the Rainbow Flag.

Democrats, celebrities and Republicans defend Democratic Rep. Lewis after Trump's tweets

Sure they'll defend him because they know what side of the bread the butter is on :-)

A growing number of Democrats, Hollywood celebrities and some Republicans came to the defense of civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis amid fallout from Donald Trump's comments earlier on Saturday.
Trump said that Lewis, who has argued the president-elect won't be a legitimate leader, should focus more on fixing his Georgia district.
“Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart,” Trump tweeted.
The response on Twitter was swift. GOP Sen. Ben Sassse of Nebraska tweeted that "John Lewis and his "talk" have changed the world."
Lewis, a leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960s who was beaten by state troopers during the "Bloody Sunday" march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama, says in an NBC's "Meet the Press" to air Sunday that he does not consider Trump a "legitimate president," and blamed the Russians for helping the Republican win the White House. "You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president," Lewis said.
Trump, in followup tweet Saturday, said Lewis should spend more time helping his "crime invested" district, instead of "falsely complaining about the election results."
"All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad." Trump concluded.
Lewsi has said he will skip next week's inauguration of Trump at the Capitol, joining several other Democrats who have decided to boycott the historic event.
"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said.
The Lewis-Trump fued escalted on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
U.S. Intelligence agencies have said Russia meddled in the election to help Trump win. After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race. However, he also emphasized that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines."
Lewis explained his decision to stay away from the inauguration as "you cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right."
He said it will be the first inauguration he has missed in three decades, a time that includes Democrats and Republicans taking the oath of office.
Other Democratic lawmakers who have announced plans to skip the inauguration include Reps. Barbara Lee of California, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. They cite an array of reasons, but have one at least one thing in common. All represent heavily Democratic districts.

Paul says he finished drafting bill to replace ObamaCare

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul vowed Saturday night that he would reveal a bill to replace ObamaCare next week.
Paul, a Republican, tweeted a photo of the first page of the bill he titled the “Obamacare Replacement Act.” He added: “Done drafting the bill & will be discussing on CNN Sunday AM and all week next week!”
Last week, Paul was the lone Republican to vote against the budget which would repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act after expressing his displeasure because it endorsed huge budget deficits. He wasn’t the only one to have expressed anxiety over dismantling the law without a replacement to show voters.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she wants at least to see "a detailed framework" of a GOP alternative health care plan before voting on repeal. She said Republicans would risk "people falling through the cracks or causing turmoil in insurance markets" if lawmakers voided Obama's statute without a replacement in hand.

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Congressional Republicans took the first step Friday to dismantling President Barack Obama’s trademark healthcare law. The Senate voted 51-48 for a budget that eased the way for action on subsequent repeal-legislation as early as next month. The House voted 227-198 in favor of the move on Friday.
The budget "gives us the tools we need for a step-by-step approach to fix these problems and put Americans back in control of their health care," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said after the vote.
Congressional Republicans have made annulling Obama's law and replacing it a top goal for the past seven years. GOP rifts and an Obama veto prevented them from achieving anything other than holding scores of votes that served as political messaging.
President-elect Donald Trump also made targeting Obama's statute a primary target during his campaign. At his news conference Wednesday, Trump — who's supplied few details of what he wants — said his emerging plan will be "far less expensive and far better" than the statute.
Many Republicans have insisted on learning how their party will re-craft the nation's $3 trillion-a-year health care system before voting to void existing programs.
There are internal GOP chasms over Republican leaders' plans to use their bill to halt federal payments to Planned Parenthood and pare Medicaid coverage. There are also disagreements over how to pay for the GOP replacement, with many Republicans leery of Ryan's proposal to tax part of the value of some health insurance provided by employers.

China hits back at Trump, says one-China policy is 'non-negotiable'

China said Sunday that its one-China policy is “non-negotiable” after President-elect Donald Trump suggested that he might use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two sides.
China Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated in a statement that the “government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China.”
"That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change,” Lu added.
Since recognizing Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory — a status quo that Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election.
Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that “everything is under negotiation, including ‘one China.’” The interview is the latest indication Trump that he will shake up the U.S.-China relationship, particularly on Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.
China had already been rattled over Trump’s call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect had publicly spoken to Taiwan’s leader in nearly four decades.
Trump then said in a television interview that he didn't feel "bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade."
After attacking China repeatedly during his campaign, Trump has continued to disparage China on his Twitter account over its military build-up in disputed areas of the South China Sea, allegedly manipulating its currency to put American companies at a disadvantage, and not doing enough to curb North Korea's nuclear program.
He has also announced that a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro, a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book titled "Death By China."

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Trump told the Journal that he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he takes office, though he repeated his contention that China is manipulating the yuan.
So far, Beijing has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan and to push for positive cooperation between the two sides, though state-run media have run several strongly worded editorials attacking Trump.