Saturday, June 27, 2015

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Confederacy purge builds steam, while last century's worst villains spared


All symbols of the Confederacy are rapidly disappearing from stores, websites and the public square in the wake of last week's racially charged shooting in a Charleston, S.C., church, but the purge of some allegedly hateful icons has spared memorabilia linked to some of history's most infamous mass murderers, some critics are charging.
Amazon.com has now banned all Confederate battle flag items from being sold on its site, but the massive e-commerce site continues to allow the sale of dozens of apparel items featuring communist mass murderers such as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Che Guevara, prompting some to accuse the site and others banning Confederate imagery of hypocrisy.

“If Amazon is removing the Confederate flag from its offerings, the logical and principled decision is to stop selling any promotional material, including T-shirts, of Che Guevara or any mass killer."
- Maria Werlau, Free Society Project.
“If Amazon is removing the Confederate flag from its offerings, the logical and principled decision is to stop selling any promotional material, including T-shirts, of Che Guevara or any mass killer,” said Maria Werlau, executive director of the Free Society Project. “It is very painful particularly to the loved ones of Guevara's victims as well as offensive to the Cuban people who continue to suffer repression and abhorrent human rights' abuses by the system he helped create and direct.”
Although Guevara is a popular image on T-shirts, he executed many non-communists in Cuba. At one point he admitted in a speech to communist officials: "We executed many people by firing squad without knowing if they were fully guilty. At times, the Revolution cannot stop to conduct much investigation; it has the obligation to triumph."
Others also take offense to items that idolize communists.
“It's an insult to the more than 100 million people who have been killed… at the hands of communist governments,” Marion Smith, executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, told FoxNews.com.

Amazon.com did not respond to a request for comment. Other sites have been accused of similar hypocrisy. Apple Computer has now banned all apps that show a Confederate flag, regardless of the context, but continues to allow dozens of apps that involve the Soviet Union. One Apple app called “15 Soviet” promises in its description to inform users of “the history of one of the greatest states of the century – the USSR.”
There are also public displays of communist leaders on private property around the country. Seattle is home to a 16-foot bronze statue of Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union. In New York City, a large statue of Lenin looks out over the city from atop a luxury apartment complex.
Smith said such statues are also offensive.

"If it was a statue of Hitler, it wouldn't be there. It's just another example of the double standard in this country," he said. 
Some defend the statues, saying they are art and not necessarily supportive of communism.
“[The statue] is very controversial and it is that thought provoking spirit that is most enjoyed by [people who live here],” Jessica Vets, executive director of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, where the statue is located, told FoxNews.com.

“History is less likely to repeat itself with thought-provoking dialog and historical facts,” she added.
In terms of historical facts, how bad were Lenin and the others? Lenin’s brutality is especially clear in an order of his from 1918, in which he directed his subordinates to kill middle-class farmers (derisively called “kulaks”) who opposed communist reforms.
“You need to hang… at least 100 notorious kulaks, the rich, and the bloodsuckers… This needs to be accomplished in such a way that people for hundreds of miles around will see, tremble, know and scream out: let's choke and strangle those blood-sucking kulaks,” he said to his subordinates. 
But Lenin was considered a moderate compared to Joseph Stalin, who ruled shortly after him. Nobody knows how many Stalin killed, but estimates range between 20 and 30 million. One of the worst atrocities happened when Stalin’s government took all the food from parts of Ukraine, letting some 7 million of its citizens starve to death even while the country continued to export food to other parts of the world.
But communist atrocities aside, some say removing the Confederate flag is still a step in the right direction and that it is wrong to make a comparison with communism.
“Amazon is a public company and they want to respond to the public, and public opinion is against the confederate flag,” Nomiki Konst, executive director of The Accountability Project, told FoxNews.com. She also noted that the U.S. generally has not been directly at war with communist countries.
“We didn’t have a real war against communism, but a very large proportion of our population was killed under the Confederate flag," she said. "When the majority of Americans feel personally affected – the companies are being very smart about this.”
Although communism largely died along with the Soviet Union, a 2011 Rasmussen poll found that 11percent of Americans say they think communism works better than the U.S. system. In comparison, a 2011 Pew poll found that only 9 percent of Americans said seeing the Confederate flag made them feel positively. 
Some say the different treatment shows hypocrisy.
“This is further evidence of the liberal crusade against American history,” Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center told FoxNews.com.
“Apple and other liberal tech firms are undermining the traditional support of free speech on the Internet. And the reason they haven't deleted communist items is they don't see those as bad,” he said.

BC distances itself from Donald Trump; Miss USA co-host quits over immigration comments


NBC released a statement distancing itself from GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump over his comments on Mexican immigrants.
"Donald Trump's opinions do not represent those of NBC, and we do not agree with his positions on a number of issues, including his recent comments on immigration," NBC said in a statement.
Miss USA co-host Roselyn Sanchez cited Trump's comments about immigrants as her reason for severing ties with the show.
"Since I heard Trump's speech, as a Latina I felt a lump in my stomach. 'It's got to be a joke,' I thought," the star of the Lifetime series "Devious Maids" told The Associated Press.
Trump's fledgling GOP presidential bid quickly led to business fallout for him, with Univision saying it will drop the Miss USA pageant from its UniMas network and cut all ties with Trump.
The company said Thursday it was canceling its Spanish-language coverage of the pageant July 12. It also has severed its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which produces the Miss USA pageant, because of what it called "insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants" by Trump, a part owner of Miss Universe.
NBC remained silent about its scheduled coverage of the pageant, which has aired on the network since 2003. Trump is featured on another NBC program, "Celebrity Apprentice."
During his presidential campaign kickoff speech last week, Trump portrayed immigrants from Mexico as "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people." He also called for building a wall along the southern border of the U.S. The remarks drew condemnation from the Mexican government as "biased and absurd."
In an interview Thursday, Trump said his criticism was directed against U.S. policymakers, not the Mexican people or government, adding that Univision would be defaulting on its contract if it doesn't air the pageant and he would take legal action.
On Friday, a representative for Trump sent FOX411 a letter the mogul sent Univision president Randy Falco. The letter began, "Please be advised that under no circumstances is any officer or representative of Univision allowed to use Trump National Doral, Miami -- its golf courses or any of its facilities."
He added, " Also, it's too bad you didn't have the courage to call me yourself instead of delegating the task to Beau."
Trump concluded the letter with, "Please congratulate your Mexican Government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States. However, inform them that should I become President, those days are over. We are bringing jobs back to the U.S. Also, a border will be immediately created, not the laughingstock that currently exists."
"At Univision, we see firsthand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country," said the New York-based Univision Communications Inc.
Trump said Univision is submitting to pressure from Mexican leaders to punish him for positions he voices as a candidate on the campaign trail.
"They don't want me saying that Mexico is killing the United States in trade and killing the United States at the border," Trump said. "Univision is totally laying down for the Mexican government. ... They want to silence Donald Trump. And Donald Trump can't be silenced. ... I have great respect for Mexico and I love the Mexican people, but my loyalty is to the United States."
Univision declined to comment on Trump's remarks. It also has the rights to air the Miss Universe pageant.
In an interview scheduled to air Sunday on Telemundo's "Enfoque con José Díaz-Balart," Trump said that "many bad people are coming in" from Mexico and elsewhere.
"You're going to have terrorists coming through the southern border. There's no question about it," he said.
The host challenged Trump, contending there has been no act of terrorism committed by someone crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
"You don't know that," Trump replied, adding later: "See what happens tomorrow. See what happens in two weeks from now. ... I'm not even talking about terrorists from this region. I'm talking about from the Middle East they can come in. The border is totally open."
Also on Thursday, Chilean actor-producer Cristian de la Fuente, the show's other co-host, had strong words for Trump: "It's a shame that such an important institution as Miss USA is now in the hands of a clown."
Singer-songwriter Ricky Martin also took to Twitter to blast Trump.
"A lot of hatred and ignorance in his heart," he tweeted.
Miss California USA Natasha Martinez was asked about Trump's comments during an interview Thursday on Los Angeles TV station KCAL and said they were "a little bit tough to hear."
"But I know that this opportunity for me as Miss California-USA, and now competing for Miss USA, is a great bridge to kind of represent my community and let the world know that I am a proud Latino-American," she said.
This year's UniMas telecast would have been the first in a five-year contract that Trump said "has no termination rights." Univision's wholly owned Spanish-language UniMas network, founded in 2013, is available in 70 million U.S. homes.

Republicans weigh impeachment for IRS commissioner


House Republicans are considering launching impeachment proceedings against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen or other agency officials in connection with the destruction of emails potentially tied to the scandal over Tea Party targeting. 
National Review first reported that Republicans are looking at the possibility. A House oversight committee aide confirmed to FoxNews.com that the panel, led by Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, indeed is "looking into it." 
"We haven't come to any conclusions," the source said. 
Speaking with Fox News on Friday, oversight committee member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also appeared to acknowledge the discussions. Asked why lawmakers might consider impeachment articles, Jordan cited Koskinen's questionable committee testimony. 
"Every time Mr. Koskinen comes and testifies, we subsequently learn that something he said wasn't quite accurate," Jordan told Fox News. 
He did not elaborate on the impeachment option. But the development comes as Republicans, including Jordan, fume over the revelation that 422 backup tapes were destroyed shortly after officials discovered emails related to the Tea Party scandal had been lost. 
J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, revealed Thursday that up to 24,000 emails may never be recovered because the tapes were "magnetically erased" in March 2014. George said those tapes "likely contained" 2010 and 2011 emails to and from former IRS official Lois Lerner, a central figure in the controversy over conservative groups targeted for additional scrutiny as they sought nonprofit status. 
George said his office found no direct evidence the tapes were destroyed to hide information from Congress or law enforcement. But the destruction nevertheless defied a preservation order -- and Republicans complained that despite the destruction, Koskinen testified to Congress three weeks later that they would provide documents to Congress. 
"Three weeks before he said that ... they'd already destroyed 422 tapes," Jordan said Friday. "Those kind of actions are, I think, something that we have to look into very seriously, and that's what the committee's doing." 
FoxNews.com has reached out to the IRS for comment. 
Koskinen has served as commissioner since late 2013. He previously served in top positions at Freddie Mac and a range of private companies, and worked at one point in the White House Office of Management and Budget. 
Pursuing impeachment proceedings would be a step beyond contempt charges, which is the tool House Republicans tried to use against both Lerner and former Attorney General Eric Holder in past disputes. 
While impeachment is often thought of as a congressional weapon reserved for presidents, it can apply to "all civil officers of the United States," on the grounds of treason, bribery or other "high crimes and misdemeanors." 
National Review reported that Republicans are considering whether to base a case on alleged misdemeanors. 
One unnamed member of the House oversight panel told National Review that while some are "open to it," others may argue "that's not how we do things, it's not really been used lately.'" 
There was one case, more than a century ago, when articles of impeachment were brought against War Secretary William Belknap -- in 1876. 
He resigned amid the proceedings.

Obama delivers eulogy for pastor killed in South Carolina


President Obama delivered an impassioned eulogy Friday for the pastor killed along with eight other churchgoers last week in South Carolina, memorializing him as a "man of God who lived by faith" and conducted himself with kindness and grace. 
"What a good man," Obama said of state Sen. Clementa Pinckney. 
Capping a service filled with rousing gospel numbers, Obama spoke at length about Pinckney's character, but also race relations and gun violence. He included another appeal for gun regulations toward the end of his remarks, saying, "It would be a betrayal of everything Reverend Pinckney stood for ... if we allow ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again." 
Obama ended by singing "Amazing Grace," and was joined by the thousands in attendance. 
Pinckney, a state senator and pastor, was among the nine killed at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. In Charleston for the service, Obama recalled a man dedicated to both the faith and his community, who "was full of empathy and full of feeling and able to walk in somebody else's shoes and look in their eyes." 
"I did have the pleasure of knowing and meeting him in South Carolina both when we were both a little bit younger," Obama said. "The first thing I noticed was his gracious smile, his resonating baritone and deceptive sense of humor." 
He noted that Pinckney had come from a long line of preachers and "a family of protesters who fought to extend voting rights and for desegregation in the South. ... He set an example worthy of this position, wise beyond his years." 
Pinckney, 41, and eight others were gunned down during a prayer meeting at the church on the evening of June 17. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was arrested and charged in the murders and has allegedly confessed to the crime. Justice Department investigators are pursuing the murders as a hate crime. 
Friends and family who shared remarks ahead of Obama's remarks said Pinckney had a calling for the pulpit since an early age. Active in his community, he was first elected to the South Carolina General Assembly at the age of 23 and was later elected to the state Senate in 2000. He was appointed the pastor of the historic church, referred to as "Mother Emanuel," in 2010. He had been married since 1999 to wife Jennifer, whom he met in college, and leaves two daughters, Eliana and Malana. 
The deaths of  Pinckney and the eight others have resulted in a debate in Southern states over the Confederate battle flag. A number of stores began pulling Confederate flag merchandise from their shelves after Roof appeared with in photos holding it. South Carolina Gov. Nickki Haley has called for the removal of the flag from the Statehouse grounds, where it has been flying since 1962. 
Obama said that "for too long" the nation has been "blind to the pain the Confederate flag stirred ... it has always represented more than just ancestral pride. For many, black and white, that flag is reminder of systematic oppression and racial subjugation." He said removing it from the state capital wouldn't be an act of political correctness, or an insult to the valor of the soldiers who fought for the South, but a recognition that "slavery was wrong ... the imposition of Jim Crow [laws] after the Civil War, the resistance of civil rights for all people, was wrong." Taking down the flag, he added, "would be one step in an honest accounting of America's history ... a modest and meaningful balm for many unhealed wounds."
First lady Michelle Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, joined the president at the funeral, which took place at the College of Charleston. Several members of Congress were also scheduled to attend, along with Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. 
Obama has been called upon throughout his presidency to help soothe the pain of communities mourning gun-related tragedies.He issued a powerful call for national unity in Tucson, Arizona, after a 2011 shooting that severely injured then-Rep. Gabby Giffords. His voice was filled with emotion in 2012 when he spoke at a prayer vigil for the elementary school students and adults killed in Newtown, Connecticut. He's also addressed grief-stricken communities in Fort Hood, Texas and Aurora, Colorado, as well as his own current hometown of Washington. 
The morning after the Charleston shooting, Obama expressed his frustration with the frequency of such tragedies.   
"I've had to make statements like this too many times," he said. "Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times."

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