Planned Parenthood Cartoons ( Bringing Down America )

Herman Cain: Trump's critics can't make 'racism' claim stick

Critics and the liberal media can’t make a claim of racism stick against President Trump, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Wednesday on “Hannity.”

Speaking amid the controversy surrounding Trump's comments about the racially-charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend, Cain said attempts from the president's opponents to change the narrative have failed.

“They couldn’t make ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ stick. They couldn’t make ‘refugees, refugees, refugees,’ stick. So, now the desperate attempt is ‘racism, racism, racism,’” Cain said.
“But here’s what they don’t understand: the American people are not stupid. Those people that are supporting Donald Trump because of the results he is getting and he is trying to get are not going to persuade Trump supporters to move over to the dark side. They have not just crossed the line, they’ve gone over the cliff. And the only people that are going over the cliff with them are those people that are just as deceived and deranged as they are. That’s what this is all about,” Cain said. “It’s their desperate attempt to try and get people to follow them off the cliff.”
TRUMP 'ENTIRELY CORRECT'' TO BLAME BOTH SIDES FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE VIOLENCE, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
Those attempts, Cain said, derive from what he's called “TDS” – Trump Derangement Syndrome.
“They are never going to get over it,” he said. “They are still stuck in ‘Hillary should have won.’ She should not have won because she was not the best candidate. They’re stuck in Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Cain added: “It’s sad, it’s unfortunate and it doesn’t help this country. But that’s what they are trying to do, is to destroy and divide this nation with all of this racist rhetoric that they are continuing to put out there.”
Despite the rhetoric surrounding recent events, Cain said, the American people “are not stupid.”
“They see past this,” he stated. “The only ones that are following this racist rhetoric and this racist indication of what they think defines America are the people who are already predisposed to their position. Here’s what they don’t understand: Violence does not define America. Violence does not define who we are. They don’t understand that. The liberal media believes that if they say it often enough, over and over and over, that more people are going to fall into their camp but that simply is not happening.”

Oregon abortion law funds procedures for illegal immigrants (Bringing Down America)

Oregon has passed the nation’s most progressive abortion bill, requiring state insurers to provide free abortions for all, including illegal immigrants.

Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, signed the historic health bill Tuesday, after the Legislature approved it in July. It would require Oregon insurance companies to cover reproductive procedures, all on the taxpayers' dime.

The $10.2 million bill takes effect immediately, allocating $500,000 for abortions for the estimated 22,873 women eligible under the Oregon health pan, the Washington Times reported. This will include abortions for immigrants who are otherwise ineligible under the state’s Medicaid program.
Opponents argued that the bill will force people who morally object to abortions to assume some of the costs. They also predicted that lawsuits will quickly follow, arguing that the new law violates the Weldon Amendment, a 2004 congressional provision that prohibits Health and Human Services funds for states that discriminate against health care providers that refuse to cover abortions, the Washington Times further reported.
Providence Health Care, a nonprofit Catholic health care provider that is also the only insurer operating in Oregon that does not cover abortions, will have its expenses reimbursed by the state.
Two other states, California and New York, also require state insurers to cover abortion.

Pres. Trump Disbands 2 Economic Advisory Councils

U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions about his responses to the violence, injuries and deaths at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville as he talks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., August 15, 2017. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

President Trump is pulling the plug on two of his economic advisory councils.
In a tweet Wednesday, the president said quote, “rather than putting pressure on the business people of the Manufacturing Council and Strategy and Policy Forum, I am ending both.”
This comes after several executives have stepped down from the president’s Manufacturing Council, which is separate from the Economic Advisory Panels.
President Trump blasted the CEO’s Tuesday, saying he has many others that can take their place.

Baltimore Removes 4 Confederate Statues, N.Y. Church Set to Remove Another

Workers remove a monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland early Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, after it was taken down in Baltimore. Local news outlets reported that workers hauled several monuments away, days after a white nationalist rally in Virginia turned deadly. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

 Bringing Down America.

Days after the deadly unrest in Virginia, confederate monuments in the city of Baltimore are removed overnight.
On Monday the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to remove the statues immediately, and crews began taking them down late Tuesday.
The city’s mayor says by 5:30 a.m. local time all four of Baltimore’s confederate statues had been removed.
Local reports say the statues removed in Baltimore include the Roger B. Taney Monument, and monuments honoring Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson.
Meanwhile, another General Robert E. Lee plaque at a New York church in Brooklyn is set to be removed.
Officials for Saint Johns Episcopal Church in Fort Hamilton say custodians will take down the 105-year-old plaque sometime Wednesday.
It marks where the general planted a maple tree in the early 1840s while stationed there.
He was among many military men who allegedly worshipped at Saint Johns, and gathered in a nearby structure that predates the current building.
The issue was brought up by protesters demanding the streets General Lee Avenue and Stonewall Jackson Drive be renamed.

ALT-LEFT CARTOONS

Laura Ingraham: Politics to blame for 'newfound outrage' over Confederate statues

Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham said Tuesday that politics are clearly at the root of the string of protests surrounding the removal of Confederate statues.

On Saturday, one person was killed and more than a dozen others injured after a rally protesting the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. Clashes between protesters and counter-protesters sparked a national outcry. Both sides of the political spectrum chimed in.

But it was politics, Ingraham said on “Hannity”, which caused the “newfound outrage” behind the removal of the statues.
“I understand that there’s this newfound outrage and level of offense that’s reached this fever pitch about these statues,” Ingraham said. “I think a lot of people have driven by these statues probably for decades and never thought twice about them. But now they’ve become a political symbol. And, if it’s a symbol that represents the racist past – or any vestige of a racist past of the south – then they’re going to be able to say, ‘well, then that has to go, too.’”
TRUMP DECRIES 'ALT-LEFT' IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: 'DO THEY HAVE ANY SEMBLANCE OF GUILT?'
What comes next after the protests, Ingraham says, is unknown. “I don’t know how far they want to take it,” she said. “I said this morning, maybe they’ll take it to certain books that they think are offensive or certain speakers on college campuses who are offensive. It’s a symbol and people can do what they want with symbols. They can vote to get rid of all of them then I think we have to ask the question: What next? How are we going to heal as a nation, condemn that which is evil and then come together as a country?”
Addressing the controversial remarks President Donald Trump gave on Tuesday afternoon -- in which he doubled down on his claim that “both sides” were responsible for the violence -- Ingraham said the left was hoping for more from the president.
“But there are some people out there that are just never going to be satisfied with what he (Trump) says,” Ingraham argued. “No matter what he says, in response to any crisis, they’re going to ridicule him, or satirize him or say he’s dumb or say he doesn’t really care or he’s an egomaniac or… you know, pick your poison. He’s not trying to satisfy them at this point.”

Trump 'entirely correct' to blame both sides for Charlottesville violence, White House says

The White House told allies Tuesday that President Trump was “entirely correct” to blame “both sides” for the protest violence in Charlottesville, fighting back at critics of his response, Fox News has learned.

A memo of talking points obtained by Fox News stated that during his remarks in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, the president was “entirely correct – both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility.”

The memo also stated that Trump “with no ambiguity” condemned the hate groups that descended upon Charlottesville for the “Unite the Right” rally, and added the president has been “a voice for unity and calm,” and that he’s “taking swift action to hold violent hate groups accountable.”
TRUMP DECRIES 'ALT-LEFT' IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: 'DO THEY HAVE ANY SEMBLANCE OF GUILT?'
It ended by saying both leaders and the media “should join the president in trying to unite and heal our country rather than incite more division.” The memo was distributed to allies of the White House in an effort to try to get conservatives on board to defend Trump.
While speaking to the media Tuesday during what were supposed to be brief remarks without questions from the press, Trump declared that “there is blame on both sides” for the deadly violence that took place on Saturday. He also said “there are two sides to a story.”
Placing blame “on many sides” was Trump’s initial response to Saturday’s events, but two days later, the president specifically condemned the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
ANN COULTER CHEERS TRUMP: 'TODAY WE GOT OUR LEADER BACK'
After Trump’s reiteration Tuesday that both protesters on the far left and far right were to blame, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke tweeted, “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth.”
White House officials apparently were caught off guard by his remarks Tuesday. Trump had signed off on a plan to not answer questions from journalists during an event touting infrastructure policies, according to a White House official speaking to The Associated Press. Once behind the lectern and facing the cameras, Trump overruled the decision.
Trump's advisers had hoped Tuesday’s remarks might quell a crush of criticism from Republicans, Democrats and business leaders. But the president's retorts Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that cleanup effort and renewed questions about why he seemed to struggle to unequivocally condemn white nationalists.
LAWMAKERS, NATIONAL FIGURES REACT TO TRUMP'S CHARLOTTEVILLE COMMENTS
Members of his own Republican Party have pressured him to be more vigorous in criticizing bigoted groups, and business leaders have begun abandoning a White House jobs panel in response to his comments.
When asked to explain his Saturday comments about Charlottesville, Trump looked down at his notes and again read a section of his initial statement that denounced bigotry but did not single out white supremacists. He then tucked the paper back into his jacket pocket.
Fox News' Ed Henry and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tillerson raps some U.S. allies for religious freedom violations, slams IS

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivers remarks on the 2016 International Religious Freedom Annual report at the State Department in Washington, U.S. August 15, 2017.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did not uphold principles of religious freedom in 2016, while Islamic State has carried out “genocide” against religious minorities, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.
Tillerson made the comments at the State Department while introducing the agency’s annual report on religious freedom, required by a 1998 act of Congress. The report is the first to be released during the Trump administration and covers 2016.
Saudi Arabia, Tillerson said, ought to “embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens.” He cited criminal penalties for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the Saudi state’s interpretation of Islam, as well as attacks and discrimination targeting Shi’ite Muslims.
The kingdom follows the strict Sunni Muslim Wahhabi school of Islam.
The report said Saudi Arabia has used counter-terrorism laws to target atheists and Shi’ite Muslims. The United States and Saudi Arabia have long been close partners in counter-terrorism efforts and the kingdom was the first stop on U.S. President Donald Trump’s maiden international visit.
Tillerson singled out another Gulf Arab state, Bahrain, saying it “must stop discriminating against the Shia communities.”
Bahrain’s foreign ministry said Tillerson’s remarks were “inappropriate” and showed “a deep misunderstanding of the facts.” It called on the State Department to discuss such matters directly with the kingdom before making statements.
“The history of the Kingdom of Bahrain is characterized by coexistence and religious harmony,” the ministry said in a statement. It said Bahrainis of different sects, including Shi’ites, served as government officials, judges, diplomats and other professions.
Tillerson said that in Turkey, a NATO ally, “authorities continued to limit the human rights of members of some religious minority groups.” American pastor Andrew Brunson has been jailed in Turkey since October on charges of being part of a terrorist organization, according to news reports.
Tillerson said religious freedom is “under attack” in Pakistan, citing the marginalization of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect which Pakistan considers non-Muslim.
Tillerson said Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group that has controlled parts of Iraq and Syria, “is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled.”
Tillerson said Iran targeted religious minorities including Baha’is and Christians, and in 2016 executed 20 people on charges including “waging war against God.” He also called out China and Sudan in his remarks.
The Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs, Tillerson said, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. And in Sudan, the government arrests and intimidates clergy and blocks the construction of churches while tearing down existing ones, he said.
Tillerson’s decision to introduce the report contrasted with how he handled the State Department’s annual human rights report in March. He declined to unveil it in person, breaking with precedent, and drew criticism he was not giving rights issues adequate attention.
The report did not address Trump’s attempt this year to temporarily suspend refugee admissions and his decision to impose a lower cap on the number of those admissions. The report states that resettlement is a “vital tool for providing refugees protection.”
Many refugees admitted to the United States in 2016 were fleeing religious intolerance and persecution, it said.

Critics Blame Left-Leaning Antifa for Violence

Trump supporter thrown to the ground and beaten by Antifa members at Berkeley March 4 Trump.

OAN Newsroom

A group of self-described anti-fascists are sharing the blame for fueling the recent violence in Charlottesville.
Critics are blasting the left-leaning group — better known as Antifa — for its role in promoting violence, and slamming the mainstream media for ignoring it.
Antifa uses militant tactics against others who they deem as “fascists” in order to advance it’s agenda.
They claim to be battling far-right authoritarianism, but many argue they’re escalating violence instead.
On Saturday, President Trump said the violence could be attributed to many sides.
Critics hope they will be held accountable for their role in the weekend violence.