Alt-Left Cartoons

Pres. Trump Vows to Give More Support to Hurricane-Ravaged Puerto Rico

President Donald Trump meets with Governor Ricardo Rossello of Puerto Rico in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Trump vowed to give more support to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
During a meeting with Governor Ricardo Rosello at the White House Thursday, the president said the situation was difficult, but there are tremendous assets on the island.
He said essential supplies have been delivered, including food and generators to assist those without power.
He also praised the military, FEMA, and first responders for their rescue and recovery efforts.
Rosello thanked the president for his quick response, and talked about the short and long term needs of the island going forward.

 

 

 

 

UC Santa Cruz College Republicans meeting disrupted by leftist protesters, three arrested

Protesters disrupted a College Republicans meeting at UC Santa Cruz.  (CampusReform)

Leftist protesters interrupted a College Republicans meeting Sunday night in the library at the University of California, Santa Cruz, calling members “fascists,” “racists” and “white supremacists” during a lengthy demonstration that ended in three arrests.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

Though the College Republicans initially offered to speak to the protesters, those demonstrating refused to leave and demanded instead the Republicans end their meeting. One person in attendance, a Democrat, stood up, however, and defended his right-leaning fellow students.
“I immediately stood up and confronted them,” Phil Leonard told Fox News. “I was the only one to stand up and confront them.”
The school’s director of news and media relations, Scott Hernandez-Jason, expressed disappointment in the episode.
“It’s unfortunate and disappointing that a few students disrupted their meeting and refused repeated requests to leave,” Hernandez-Jason told Fox News in an email. “UC Santa Cruz vigorously supports our students’ rights to peacefully and lawfully assemble.”
The demonstration came about when a far left activist found out the College Republicans were meeting on the ground floor of the library – in a small rectangular room with one entrance and bad cell service – and posted the details to a UCSC Facebook group with nearly 20,000 members, Leonard said.
“They put out a dog whistle for any crazy or deranged person to stop white supremacy,” Leonard said.
A core group of three protesters, joined by a few others, showed up, shouting chants such as “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!”
Leonard said one protester looked at him and told him: “Your existence is a disturbance to every marginalized person in this country.”
“You don’t know who you’re talking to,” he said he responded. “First of all, I’m a registered Democrat. I’ve never voted for a Republican in my life, and I’m here speaking for ideas which is what you’re supposed to do at a college.”
Leonard, a fourth-year politics major, said he started going to College Republican meetings last May when he was working on a piece for his moderate campus publication, City on a Phil, and he started bringing Democrat friends along with him. Leonard said the behavior particularly affected him because he’s Jewish, and he immediately connected the actions of the protesters – seeking to shut down free speech -- with the actions of the Nazis.
“That’s literally how fascists think,” he said. “This kid is literally a fascist.”
Soon, students studying in the library began to complain. A librarian entered and, at one point, asked the College Republicans to leave in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The group refused, however.
One protester bolted from the room and started running up and down the library stairs shouting about “Nazis” and “white supremacists.”
“I didn’t know who that nutty chick was, but her fliers were all over the school, so when I said her name, she flipped out,” Leonard said. “She flipped out even more when I told her I voted for her [for the Student Union Assembly election].”
When the librarian returned with her boss, the protesters accused her of being a white supremacist. The campus police were eventually called, but the demonstrators still refused to stop the disruption. A black officer showed up and the protesters responded by explaining racism and white supremacy to him, Leonard said.
“Almost all the people in the library, mostly liberal at this point, started getting upset with them, and laughing at them and telling them to leave,” Leonard said. “The whole school and the whole library turned against them.”
Despite attempts by the police to negotiate a peaceful conclusion, Leonard said the protesters insisted on being arrested.
They got their wish. The trio of students were arrested for disturbing the peace, failure to disperse, unlawful assembly and trespassing, Hernandez-Jason said.
Leonard posted video of the incident to the same UCSC Facebook page the protest organizer originally used to plan the demonstration. Other campus groups, many of them liberal, put out statements condemning the actions of the disrupters, Leonard said.
“If there was a social stigma against College Republicans, that stigma is gone now,” Leonard said. “Basically everything the protesters wanted, the exact opposite happened.”

What to know about Frederica Wilson, Florida Democrat who criticized Trump

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., sparked President Donald Trump’s public feud with a Gold Star family after she accused him of making an “insensitive” remark to the soldier’s widow.

Wilson said Trump told Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s pregnant widow that he “knew what he signed up for…but when it happens, it hurts anyway.” Johnson was killed earlier this month during an attack in Africa.

But Wilson has often voted against legislation that would help veterans and their families, according to a vote-tracking website.

What is the feud between Wilson and Trump?

Army Sgt. La David Johnson and three other service members died in an Oct. 4 attack in Niger. Islamic militants ambushed the soldiers.

U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson was among four special forces soldiers killed in Niger, West Africa on Oct. 4, 2017.  (Reuters/U.S. Army Special Operations Command handout)

Wilson said she was riding with Myeshia Johnson, the soldier's widow, as they went to Miami International Airport to meet his body when Trump called. The president said Johnson “knew what he signed up for … but when it happens, it hurts anyway,” Wilson said.
The congresswoman called the remark “so insensitive” during an interview with WPLG-TV.
The fallen soldier’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, told the Associated Press Wednesday that the congresswoman’s account was correct.
Trump denied Wilson’s claims in a tweet Wednesday.
“Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!” he tweeted.
FAMILIES OF FALLEN HAVE MIXED EXPERIENCES WITH TRUMP, IF ANY
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called Wilson’s criticism “appalling and disgusting” and accused her of “politicizing” the issue. She said the call wasn’t recorded but other White House officials, including chief of staff General John Kelly, were present during the call.
But Wilson hasn’t backed away from her claim and later said that Myeshia Johnson told her Trump “didn’t even remember his name.”
"I was stunned when I came to work, when I saw what a member of Congress was doing, listened in on a phone call from the president," Kelly said Wednesday.
"It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation…I thought at least that was sacred," he said.
A spokeswoman says Wilson had no comment on Kelly's remarks about her Thursday.

What has Wilson’s voting record on veteran’s issues been?

VoteSmart.org, a site that tracks voting records, shows that Wilson hasn’t supported several measures that would have helped veterans and their families – including financially.
Specifically, she opposed a measure that would have given the families of four soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan in 2013 death and burial benefits.
TRUMP SAYS DEM REP 'FABRICATED' ACCOUNT OF CALL TO SOLDIER'S WIDOW, HAS 'PROOF'
She has also opposed measures to reform the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., greets then-President Barack Obama after he arrived in Miami in 2012.  (Reuters/Larry Downing)

And Wilson has voted against measures multiple times that would ensure veterans and their families would still receive benefits despite government shutdowns.

What else do we know about Wilson’s political career?

A former elementary school principal, Wilson was elected to Congress in 2010. She previously served in the Florida State Senate from 2002-2010 and the State House of Representatives from 1998-2002.
Her House of Representatives website lists several issues of concern, including education, gun violence, health care, immigration and jobs.
When it comes to Social Security, Wilson says that she "will vote against any measure to privatize the program, cut benefits, or increase the eligibility age."
This year, Wilson voted against the Republican health care bill.
In February 2015, she sponsored a bill that was introduced on what would have been Trayvon Martin's 20th birthday. The bill called for the House to press "any State legislature to reject or repeal Stand Your Ground legislation."

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., has stood by her claim that President Donald Trump made insensitive remarks to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of a slain soldier.  (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

What about her personal life?

Her husband, Paul Wilson, died in 1988 after their three children were born, according to a Miami Herald profile.
In addition to her three children, Wilson also has five grandchildren, her House bio says.
She’s also spoken several times about her attire, specifically her penchant for wearing unique hats.
"It all started with my grandmother, whose name was Frederica also. She wore hats and gloves. I just wanted to be like her, so I started wearing hats. I just like to dress up, I guess, and I got that from her," Wilson told Roll Call in 2012.
“I’ve never counted, but I've been wearing them almost 30 years,” Wilson told Politifact in 2010. "It's almost like a fetish. ... I have hundreds.”

Trump: Media 'going crazy' with Wilson's 'total lie' about phone call

In a tweet late Thursday, President Donald Trump accuses a Florida congresswoman of lying in her account of a phone call between Trump and the widow of a U.S. service member recently killed in Africa.

The same tweet also asserts that news organizations have been “going crazy” with U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson’s version of the story.

“The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!”
The president’s tweet came hours after Chief of Staff John Kelly made an emotional speech at the White House, saying he was “stunned” to learn that Wilson had been listening in when the president spoke with Myeshia Johnson, widow of U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson -- one of four American soldiers killed in Niger nearly two weeks ago.
Wilson, a Democrat, was with Johnson's family when Trump called to offer condolences. The congresswoman said Trump had told the widow that "you know that this could happen when you signed up for it ... but it still hurts."
Johnson's aunt said Trump showed "disrespect" to the soldier's loved ones.
Wilson on Thursday said Trump disrespected Johnson’s widow with his comments during the phone call.
In comments to the White House press corps, Kelly defended Trump and said he was "stunned" by the criticism of Trump's condolence call to the sergeant's family. Kelly accused Wilson of "selfish behavior."
Kelly also told reporters that the president had expressed his condolences "in the best way that he could."
Wilson gave a cryptic response when Miami television station WSVN-TV caught up with her Thursday, repeating a phrase she said her mother told her when she was a child. Wilson said: "The dog can bark at the moon all night long but it doesn't become an issue until the moon barks back."

Kaepernick Cry Baby Cartoons

AG Sessions Testifies On Comey, Russia Probe

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

OAN Newsroom

Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying he stands by his recommendation to fire former FBI Director James Comey.
During Wednesday’s testimony, Sessions said he does not believe people fully understand the significance of the mistake Comey made during the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton.
Sessions was also grilled about the on-going Russia investigation, confirming he has not been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
He denied allegations that he met with Russian officials to discuss the president’s campaign.
Sessions also refused to answer questions regarding private conversations he has had with President Trump.
The attorney general said the DOJ will take appropriate actions to look into the Obama administration’s approval of a controversial 2010 uranium deal with a Russian firm.
This comes after reports the FBI knew as early as 2009 that a Russian nuclear firm was engaged in a racketeering scheme designed to expand Moscow’s atomic energy business on U.S. soil.
The Obama administration’s committee on foreign investments gave approval for the firm to buy Canadian mining company Uranium One, which controlled 20 percent of America’s uranium.
Members of that committee included Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton, whose husband collected millions of dollars from Russian officials interested in the deal.

Kaepernick fires back at Roger Goodell without opening his mouth

Former San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick reacted via Twitter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying he believes all players “should” stand for the national anthem after teams owners got together for their annual fall meeting.  (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Colin Kaepernick hasn’t said much publicly since he stopped being employed as an NFL quarterback.
The last tweet he wrote was on Oct. 10, and it was a shout-out to Eminem for name-dropping him in a long freestyle rap that was extremely critical of President Trump. He has remained active on Twitter though, specifically by re-tweeting several posts per day.
Many of the posts he shared on Wednesday were aimed at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who addressed the media at the league’s owners meetings in New York. Goodell spoke at length about the national anthem protests, a movement that Kaepernick started last season as a member of the 49ers, saying he wants — but is not mandating — all players to stand for the song, saying he aims to put the number of protesters “at zero.”
“Goodell and his avoidance of police killing unarmed black and brown people is an extension of the coopting/erasure of Kaepernick’s cause,” came a tweet from @LeftSentThis, endorsed by Kaepernick.
“White supremacy is thinking that ending black protest is a better goal than ending the murder of black lives,” wrote @samswey, in reply to Goodell’s goal of reducing the number of protesters, which Kaepernick also retweeted.

Media playing along as liberals weaponize Gold Star families in fight against GOP

As many Democrats weaponize Gold Star families against the GOP, mainstream media outlets now seem to be approaching the families of dead soldiers one by one in an attempt to find the next controversy surrounding President Trump.  

Earlier this week, Trump said former President Obama and past presidents didn’t always call the families of soldiers who died while serving the country during a Rose Garden press conference.

“The traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls,” Trump said. “I like to call when it’s appropriate.”

Khizr and Ghazala Khan spoke out against President Trump at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

These comments by Trump lit a fire under Democrats, both in the media and in Washington.
Gold Star widows and parents were all over the place on Wednesday, from CNN to The New York Times, mostly to criticize Trump. The Washington Post successfully found a Gold Star father who alleged that Trump didn’t come through on a $25,000 promise, while The Associated Press even tweeted a glorified classified ad with the hope of locating more Gold Star families willing to chat.
“Are you a member of a Gold Star family who’s had contact with the White House? Confidentially share your story here,” the AP tweeted.
A former Reuters contributor commented that the AP’s tweet “seems outside the scope” of journalism.
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., took it to a new level by criticizing what she claimed Trump recently said on a call to a fallen soldier's widow. Trump fired back, tweeting that the congresswoman “totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!”
The situation has received so much attention that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was forced to address it during Wednesday’s press briefing.
“I think it's appalling what the congresswoman has done and the way she's politicized this issue and the way that she's trying to make this about something that it isn't,” she said.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan speaks to the press after being denied access to the ranch of U.S. President George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas, in 2006.  (REUTERS/Jason Reed, File)

Sanders criticized the media and the way the situation has been handled, and that was before The Associated Press started soliciting grief-stricken families.
“I think it frankly is a disgrace of the media to try to portray an act of kindness like that and that gesture and to try to make it into something that it isn't,” Sanders said.
Back in 2005, Cindy Sheehan protested the Iraq war outside of President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch after her son, Spc. Casey Sheehan, died while serving in Iraq. She picked up a ton of media attention in the process, and Democrats must have taken notice.
Over a decade later, a different Gold Star family, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, were given an opportunity to speak at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Their son, Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in 2004 during the Iraq war. But the Pakistani-American Khans were there to trash then-candidate Trump as much as they were on hand to honor their son, according to some supporters of the president.
“Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” Khizr Khan said as he waived a copy of the Constitution.
The Khans were back in the news on Tuesday, mocking Trump in a statement to The Hill.
Trump's “selfish and divisive actions have undermined the dignity of the high office of the presidency,” they said in a statement.
The families of fallen soldiers now are used as political ammunition and, sadly, there seems to be no end in sight in the current media landscape.

Florida Democrat Wilson no friend of veterans, vote record shows

The Florida Democrat who criticized President Donald Trump this week for being "insensitive" toward the widow of a U.S. soldier slain in Africa might be facing similar criticism herself.

It turns out that U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson has frequently voted against measures intended to help veterans and their families, according to VoteSmart.org, a vote-tracking site whose founding board members included former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

The measures that Wilson opposed included a bill that could have ensured that families of four soldiers slain in Afghanistan in 2013 received death and burial benefits.
In fact, Wilson’s voting record on veterans issues may call into question the sincerity of her recent defense of U.S. service members and their families.
Despite Wilson's claim to be “committed to honoring our service members, not only with words but with deeds,” she has voted against most bills ensuring continued funding for veteran benefits, including payments to widows of fallen soldiers, the vote-tracking site shows.
She has also opposed measures designed to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In March 2013, Wilson opposed the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act,” which prevented a government shutdown and provided funds for the U.S. military and the VA.
The bill, which passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by the Obama administration, provided funding to the military and the VA until the next government shutdown showdown.

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., stands by her statement that President Donald Trump was "insensitive" toward the widow of a U.S. service member who was slain in Africa. Wilson is seen in Miami Gardens, Fla., Oct. 18, 2017.  (Associated Press)

Later in the year, Wilson again voted against a resolution aimed at ensuring benefits paid to the veterans and their families would not be affected by the government shutdown in October that year.
The motion was particularly important in the wake of reports that the families of four soldiers slain in Afghanistan in 2013 had been deprived of benefits due to the shutdown in Washington.
The families of slain soldiers were denied burial benefits and up to $100,000 to each family, among other benefits, the New York Times reported. Wilson voted against the resolution ensuring that the benefits reached the families.
Defense Department spokesman Carl Woog said the department did not have “the authority to pay death gratuities and other key benefits for the survivors of service members killed in action” due to the government shutdown.
The congresswoman also opposed numerous bills aimed at improving VA services provided the veterans and their families.
Wilson's office has not responded to a Fox News request for a comment.
The former elementary school principal, who first came to Congress in 2011, has been portrayed this week as a staunch defender of the military and military families after accusing the president of being “insensitive” toward Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four service members who were killed last week in the African nation of Niger.
According to Wilson, Trump told the grieving widow that her husband “knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens, it hurts anyway.” But Trump, in a response on Twitter, said Wilson had “totally fabricated what I said.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that Wilson’s attack on the president using the soldier’s widow was “appalling and disgusting.”
The congresswoman has stood by her account of the call.

hillary clinton and george soros cartoons

George Soros foundations now control $18 billion: reports

Investor George Soros has transferred about $18 billion, the majority of his estimated fortune, to his Open Society Foundations, making them the second largest philanthropic grant-making group in the United States, according to media reports on Tuesday.
The foundations already controlled billions of dollars, but Soros, 87, has in recent years increased the pace of transfers from his hedge fund-turned-family office, Soros Fund Management LLC, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported earlier on Tuesday, citing Open Society officials.
Representatives for Open Society did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Open Society works globally to “build vibrant and tolerant democracies” and has given away nearly $14 billion since inception in 1979, according to its website.
Hungarian-born Soros, who made a huge profit betting against an overvalued British pound in 1992, is a vocal supporter of liberal causes and was a large contributor to the fund-raising Super PAC group backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last year.
Soros early this year hired former UBS Group AG asset management executive Dawn Fitzpatrick to serve as the latest chief investment officer for New York-based Soros Fund Management, which also manages money for Open Society.
Only the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now larger than Open Society among U.S. grant-making groups, with an endowment of about $40 billion.
Soros is worth an estimated $23 billion, according to Forbes.

Anthony Weiner laptop had 2,800 gov't documents from Huma Abedin: Report

The FBI reportedly found 2,800 government documents on disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner's personal laptop computer that were related to his estranged wife's work as Hillary Clinton's deputy chief of staff during her tenure as secretary of state.

The conservative group Judicial Watch reported Tuesday that the State Department received the documents from the FBI after Judicial Watch sued the department when it failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The documents were sent to Weiner's computer by Huma Abedin, a revelation that came to light in the closing days of last year's presidential campaign.
"This is a disturbing development. Our experience with Abedin’s emails suggest these Weiner laptop documents will include classified and other sensitive materials," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. "When will the Justice Department do a serious investigation of Hillary Clinton’s and Huma Abedin’s obvious violations of law?"
Judicial Watch initially sued the State Department in May 2015, after it failed to respond to a request to produce all official emails sent or received by Abedin using a non-government address.
In a court filing, the State Department said it expected to review and produce the entire cache of 2,800 documents by the end of this year. However, the government filing also suggests that some of the material is "duplicative" of other records that have already been made public.
Last month, Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to sending sexually explicit texts across state lines to a 15-year-old girl. Similar indiscretions, first as a congressman and then as a candidate for New York City mayor, had scuppered Weiner's political career.
Abedin filed for divorce from Weiner earlier this year.

Gowdy wants Comey to testify again following Clinton email draft release

Following the FBI’s release of documents confirming that former FBI Director James Comey began drafting a letter on the Hillary Clinton email investigation months before completing several interviews, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. said Comey needs to testify before Congress again.

Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and a member of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committee, told Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” Tuesday night that “for a number of reasons” Comey should return to Capitol Hill and the committees needed to further examine the FBI memos before he did.

“Whenever somebody decides to charge someone, there are lots of layers of scrutiny. When you decide not to charge someone, there aren’t that many layers of scrutiny but there ought to be at least a couple,” Gowdy said. “The media should do it but also Congress should look at this decision not to charge and whether or not it was made before you interviewed two dozen witnesses, including the target of the investigation, yeah we need to talk to him again.”
COMEY INSISTED NO ‘SPECIAL’ RULES IN FBI CLINTON PROBE – WHIEL DRAFTING ‘EXONERATION STATEMENT’
According to Gowdy, the timeline of events and some of Comey’s decisions along the way did not appear to add up. He was referring to Comey’s statement during his June congressional testimony in which he said the tarmac meeting between former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton encouraged him to announce his findings in the email investigation.
“His ostensible reason for taking that decision away from the Department of Justice was that meeting on the tarmac but yet a month and a half earlier he is memorializing a decision he’s already made so the chronology does not add up,” Gowdy said. “His answers have been all over the map.”
Gowdy also told the Fox News anchor that he not only wants to talk to Comey, but also plans to speak to his former colleagues.
When asked whether Loretta Lynch, who is expected to be on Capitol Hill Friday concerning the Russia investigation, would be asked about Comey’s email draft, Gowdy said she would not.
COMEY DRAFTED LETTER ON CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION BEFORE COMPLETING INTERVIEWS, FBI CONFIRMS
But he said there were “lots of reasons” to talk to her as well, in that she could “corroborate or contradict Comey’s recollection” about their conversation regarding his decision to make the announcement.
Baier’s interview also touched on Gowdy’s investigation into Samantha Power, the former ambassador to the United Nations during the Obama administration, and her office’s request to unmask at least 260 individuals heard on surveillance recordings.
Gowdy said during questioning, Power testified that she had not personally made all of the requests, despite them being filed under her name. He said the committee had to find out whether someone else in the intelligence community was actually behind those requests.

Report: IRS refuses to give back $59G to vet after seizing his business cash

FILE: Exterior of the Internal Revenue Service's headquarters in Washington, D.C. A military veteran reportedly said the agency took about $60G from his business in an raid that yielded no charges.  (Reuters)

The Internal Revenue Service is reportedly refusing to give back more than $59,000 to U.S. military veteran after it seized his gas station’s cash during a raid that found no evidence of criminal activity.

Oh Suk Kwon, 73, a South Korea immigrant who came to the U.S. back in the 1970s and served four years as a fleet mechanic in the U.S. army, bought a gas station in Maryland in 2007 following decades of work at an electrical plant as an auto mechanic.

“When I came to the United States, I had to do something for the country,” he told the Washington Post. He later became a U.S. citizen.
Following an honorable discharge, he continued pursuing the American dream, telling the paper: “My whole life was work, work, work.”
But just several years after opening the gas station, IRS investigators seized all the station’s cash – more than $59,000 – leaving the Kwon family cash-strapped, even though no evidence of criminal wrongdoing was found by the government, the paper reported.
After the IRS investigation ended, the station went bankrupt, Kwon’s wife passed away, and the IRS changed its policy regarding seizures like this; but the agency is still refusing to hand back Kwon his money.
His problems with the IRS started in 2011 when investigators showed up at his doorstep accusing him making money deposits in increments of less than $10,000 – a practice known as “structuring."
Structuring is commonly used by terror groups in order to avoid scrutiny. The government requires banks to report all transactions larger than $10,000 under the 1970 Banking Secrecy Act.

"They did it for money, and they destroyed a good and honest man. It is shameful."

- Attorney Edward Griffin

“Of all the cases I have worked on, this one stands out for me,” Kwon’s attorney Edward Griffin told The Post. “I firmly believe that the government did wrong in choosing to prosecute Mr. Kwon and seize his assets. There was no good policy purpose for the prosecution. They did it for money, and they destroyed a good and honest man. It is shameful. Which is why I am still fighting for him.”
A spokesman for the IRS said Kwon pleaded guilty to the structuring charge. Kwon said he merely followed the advice given by a local bank, which suggested making smaller deposits to avoid paperwork.
He told the paper the guilty plea ruined his life. He said he also felt shame after the investigators spoke with his neighbors, forcing later to move out of the neighborhood.
“They saw me as Korean. As a veteran,” he told The Post. “They were surprised to see me as a criminal. I will never forget that.”
It remains unclear whether he will get his money back. His attorney petitioned the IRS and Department of Justice this summer, but the request to hand back the money was not granted, citing lack of “additional information.”

New York Times Cartoons

Trump slams 'failing' New York Times reporter for ignoring successes on trade, climate

President Trump on Sunday criticized a New York Times story stating that he has failed to fulfill campaign promises on undoing key Obama administration policies, calling the newspaper “failing” and pointing to early successes like exiting the international Paris climate accord and getting conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.

“The Failing @nytimes, in a story by Peter Baker, should have mentioned the rapid terminations by me of TPP & The Paris Accord & the fast ... approvals of The Keystone XL & Dakota Access pipelines” Trump said in a two-part tweet. “Also, look at the recent EPA cancelations & our great new Supreme Court Justice!”

In a story Sunday titled, “Promise the Moon? Easy for Trump. But Now Comes the Reckoning,” Baker points out that Trump, on his winning 2016 presidential campaign trail, called ObamaCare “outrageous” and the 2015 international Iran nuclear deal led by former President Barack Obama “one of the worst and one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
However, nearly nine months into his presidency, Trump has yet to dismantle either, though he took steps last week to address both with or without the help of his Republican-controlled Congress.
Beyond pointing out that he exited the Paris climate deal last month, Trump, in his tweets Sunday, touted the prompt approval of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, which were held up during Obama’s administration by lengthy environmental and approval processes.
Trump also pointed out that in March he ended U.S. involvement in the TPP, or the Trans Pacific Partnership, the 2016 international trade deal that he argued was unfair to the U.S.
And he pointed out recent efforts, under his orders, for the Environmental Protection Agency to roll back regulations on the domestic fossil fuel industry.
Baker is The Times’ chief White House correspondent and is billed as a straight-news reporter.
Last month, the newspaper published a Baker story titled, “A Divider, Not a Uniter, Trump Widens the Breach,” that reads like what could be considered an opinion piece.
Baker referred to  Trump as an “apostle of anger” and “deacon of divisiveness,” before noting that the president’s recent comments about athletes protesting the national anthem “distract from other matters, particularly Congress’ efforts on health care reform."
When reached by Fox News, Baker defended his comments as “analysis rather than opinion,” referring to it as “an observation” based on covering Trump for the past eight months.
The Times did not respond when Fox News asked if Baker is still considered a straight-news reporter.
The Baker article also details the groups that Trump has offended, including the media industry, the National Football League and Hollywood, among many others.
Baker previously had covered the White House for 15 years in the past, but moved out of the country in 2016 to serve as the paper’s Jerusalem bureau chief. Shortly after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton on Election Day, he was recalled to beef up the Times’ White House team during the Trump administration.
Trump has previously referred to the Times as “failing,” and many media watchdogs feel liberal bias is showing.

Hillary Clinton defends kneeling NFL players, says 'that's not against our anthem or flag'

Idiot

Hillary Clinton speaking in London on Sunday.  (Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival)

Hillary Clinton on Sunday defended NFL players who knelt during the national anthem, saying kneeling is a “reverent” position that is not against “our anthem or our flag.”

The former Democratic presidential candidate, who was at the Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival, urged Democrats to use the issue against President Trump.

Clinton was embarking on a foreign trip to promote her book “What Happened.”
She said people should resist “what are very clear dog-whistles” to the Trump base, pointing to the example of kneeling NFL players.
“That's what black athletes kneeling was all about,” she said in response to a question about ways to resist the White House. ”That's not against our anthem or our flag.”
“Actually, kneeling is a reverent position,” she continued. “It was to demonstrate in a peaceful way against racism and injustice in our criminal system.”
Clinton urged the Democratic Party to continue to “resist” the president, saying “I think it would be a grave error for Democrats to recede from those fights, so therefore we have to stand up, fight back, resist.”
Clinton went on to compare the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections to the September 11 terrorist attack.
“We have really well-respected security and intelligence veterans saying this was a kind of cyber 9/11 in the sense that it was a direct attack to American institutions,” she said. “That may sound dramatic but we know they tried to recruit into election systems, not just social media propaganda.”

North Korea diplomacy will continue 'until the first bomb drops,' Tillerson says

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an interview Sunday that the Trump administration will continue to pursue diplomacy with Pyongyang “until the first bomb drops.”

Tillerson did not specify whether the U.S. or North Korea would have to pull the trigger. He told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he wants the issue “solved diplomatically.”

“He’s (Trump) not seeking to go to war,” he said. “He has made it clear to me to continue my diplomatic efforts… until the first bomb drops.”
That statement comes despite President Trump's tweets a couple of weeks ago that his chief envoy was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with "Little Rocket Man," a mocking nickname Trump has given the nuclear-armed nation's leader Kim Jong Un.
"I think he does want to be clear with Kim Jong-un and that regime in North Korea that he has military preparations ready to go and he has those military options on the table. And we have spent substantial time actually perfecting those," Tillerson said.
Recent mixed messaging from the top of the U.S. government has raised concerns about the potential for miscalculation amid the increasingly bellicose exchange of words by Trump and the North Korean leader.
Trump told the U.N. General Assembly last month that if the U.S. is "forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea." Trump also tweeted that Korea's leadership "won't be around much longer" if it continued its provocations, a declaration that led the North's foreign minister to assert that Trump had "declared war on our country."
Tillerson acknowledged during a recent trip to Beijing that the Trump administration was keeping open direct channels of communications with North Korea and probing the North's willingness to talk. He provided no elaboration about those channels or the substance of any discussions.
Soon after, Trump took to Twitter, saying he had told "our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man ... Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump offered no further explanation, but he said all military options are on the table for dealing with North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
Analysts have speculated about whether the president and his top diplomat were playing "good cop, bad cop" with North Korea, and how China might interpret the confusing signals from Washington. Beijing is the North's main trading partner, and the U.S. is counting on China to enforce U.N. sanctions.
"Rest assured that the Chinese are not confused in any way what the American policy towards North Korea (is) or what our actions and efforts are directed at," Tillerson said.

Clinton Foundation to keep Harvey Weinstein's $250,000 donation

The Clinton Foundation will not return as much as $250,000 in donations from disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein following the accusations of sexual harassment and rape.

The foundation said Sunday that donations, ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, have already been spent on projects, The Daily Mail reported.

The move to keep the money was expected following tweets from the foundation’s spokesman Craig Minassian.
“Suggesting @ClintonFdn return funds from our 330,000+ donors ignores the fact that donations have been used to help people across the world,” Minassian wrote on Twitter.
The calls to return Weinstein’s money were prompted after multiple actresses have come forward and accused the Hollywood executive of sexual assault and rape, forcing numerous politicians and organization to grapple with the dilemma.
Dozens Democratic Party politicians – including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Sen. Al Franken, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Cory Booker – have pledged to donate their Weinstein’s contributions to charities focused on women’s rights.
Hillary Clinton echoed her former colleagues, saying she was “shocked and appalled” after the sexual harassment allegations were revealed about Weinstein, who hosted fundraisers for her in the past and donated more than $46,000 to her recent presidential campaign and other election efforts.
"What other people are saying, what my former colleagues are saying, is they're going to donate it to charity, and of course I will do that," she said on CNN. "I give 10% of my income to charity every year, this will be part of that. There's no – there's no doubt about it."

Hustler Larry Flynt Cartoons

Mississippi school district pulls 'To Kill a Mockingbird' because it 'makes people uncomfortable'

Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" was banned from a Mississippi school district.

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” was removed from a Mississippi school district lesson plan because the book’s language made some people feel uneasy.

Administrators at the Biloxi School District announced early this week they were pulling the novel from the 8th-grade curriculum, saying they received complaints that some of the book’s language “makes people uncomfortable.”

The Sun Herald reported that the book was pulled from the lesson plan because the novel contained “the N word.”
A message on the school's website says "To Kill A Mockingbird" teaches students that compassion and empathy don't depend upon race or education.
School board vice president Kenny Holloway says other books can teach the same lessons.

However, the book will still be available in Biloxi school libraries.
The novel, published in 1960, chronicled the adventures of Jean Louise Finch aka Scout and her brother Jeremy aka Jem and the racial inequality that existed in their small Alabama town. The book followed a court case their father, Atticus, was involved in.
In the story, Atticus defended Tom Robinson, a black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Despite strong evidence of Robinson’s innocence, he was found guilty of raping Ewell.
The book was adapted into a movie in 1962, starring Gregory Peck, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Atticus Finch.
The Sun Herald reported the novel was listed at No. 21 on the American Library Association’s most “banned or challenged books list in the last decade.”

Hustler founder Larry Flynt offers $10 million for dirt leading to Trump impeachment

Idiot

Hustler founder Larry Flynt is running a full-page ad in Sunday’s Washington Post offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the impeachment of President Trump.  (REUTERS/Fred Prouser)

Hustler founder Larry Flynt is running a full-page ad in Sunday’s Washington Post offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the impeachment of President Trump, Fox Business reports.

Anchor Liz Claman tweeted a photo of the ad, which reads: “Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine announce a cash offer of up to $10 million for information leading to the impeachment and removal from office of Donald J. Trump.”

In the ad, Flynt airs several grievances about Trump’s actions as president, including his firing of FBI director James Comey and his “gross nepotism and appointment of unqualified persons to high office.”
“Impeachment would be a messy, contentious affair, but the alternative – three more years of destabilizing dysfunction – is worse,” the ad reads. “Both good Democrats and good Republicans who put country over party did it before with Watergate. To succeed, impeachment requires unimpeachable evidence. That’s why I am making this offer.”
The porn producer notes in the ad that this “is not my first rodeo,” citing past rewards for information on Republicans like former Rep. Bob Livingston in 1999, who resigned from Congress after admitting to an extramarital affair, and Sen. David Vitter, who weathered a prostitution scandal in 2007.
“Sure I could use that $10 million to buy luxuries or further my businesses,” Flynt writes, “but what good would that do me in a world devastated by the most powerful moron in history?”