Many presidents have bashed business, but Trump's Amazon offensive is personal

Donald Trump isn't the first president to take on a business or industry he doesn't like.
As the New York Times reminds us, Barack Obama once went after Staples for not providing adequate health care for its workers and slammed Wall Street banks over bonuses.
Bill Clinton's administration pushed an antitrust suit to break up Microsoft.
Jack Kennedy assailed steel executives for raising prices by saying "my father always told me that all businessmen were sons of bitches."
And FDR railed against "malefactors of great wealth."
But Trump's attacks on Amazon are being treated very differently—and most of his predecessors didn’t name the offending CEOs.
At this point, of course, it's just words. The president hasn't actually proposed to change any policy that affects Amazon. But he's repeatedly complained about Amazon unfairly benefitting from low Postal Service rates, and that initially knocked $60 billion off the value of the company’s stock. (Many companies have continued to lose value as the markets slide with China retaliating for Trump's tariffs.)
What makes this different is that Trump's case against Amazon is so personal—and linked to, as he has told me and others, Jeff Bezos’ separate ownership of the Washington Post, a newspaper that the president is convinced has treated him unfairly. (The Post insists that Bezos has nothing to do with its news coverage.)
Amazon, for its part, has said nothing, has issued no statement challenging the president on the facts. It's a secretive company that rarely responds to journalists, and this in my view is a failure of corporate communications, even if it wants the story to die down.
The Times piece makes a larger argument about the president’s approach to corporate America: "Lately, Mr. Trump's antibusiness rants have become particularly menacing and caused the stocks of some companies to plunge."
The story notes that over the years he has attacked companies as varied as Verizon, Coke, Nordstrom, Sony and H&R Block, as well as media giants.
He has criticized the proposed merger between Time Warner (which includes CNN) and AT&T, which is under antitrust review by his administration.
The president has also gotten results. Even before taking office, he threatened to cancel Boeing's deal to build the next generation of Air Force One planes—though in the end he knocked down the price from $4 billion to $3.9 billion.
Clearly, having a career businessman as president brings both strengths and weaknesses. He's accustomed to using hardball negotiations, pointed threats and lawsuits to get his way.
But a president, unlike a real estate developer, can decimate a company's stock with a few words.
There's nothing wrong with Trump trying to get a better deal for the beleaguered Postal Service (though he names most of the board members that run the service). Yet that would affect every package shipper, not just Amazon—which, by the way, is incredibly popular with consumers even as the site (and many others) have hurt brick-and-mortar stores.
It's the perception that this is a personal feud—tied to the president's resentment of Bezos and the Post—that undercuts his case.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author "Media Madness: Donald Trump, The Press and the War Over the Truth." Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.

Most border-state governors back Trump's National Guard plan

Governors of several states have voiced support for President Donald Trump's decision Wednesday to deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, paving the way for the White House to implement its latest anti-illegal immigration policy.
The Republican governors of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico -- three states that border Mexico -- backed the president's move, which officials said could lead to troops on the ground as early as Wednesday night.
Arizona "welcomes the deployment of National Guard to the border," Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Trump's action "reinforces Texas' longstanding commitment to secure our southern border."
In New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez said she appreciates the White House efforts to involve states in the policy-making.
READ TRUMP'S MEMO SENDING NATIONAL GUARD TO THE BORDER

"As Commander of Oregon’s Guard, I’m deeply troubled by Trump’s plan to militarize our border."

Even California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has openly sparred with the White House over his state's pro-illegal immigration policies, signaled that his administration might cooperate.
“This request – as with others we’ve received from the Department of Homeland Security, including those for additional staffing in 2006 and 2010 – will be promptly reviewed to determine how best we can assist our federal partners,” California National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Keegan said in a statement issued on behalf of Brown’s office. “We look forward to more detail, including funding, duration and end state."
The Trump administration has not released many specifics of its plan, but a lawmaker told the AP that Congress expects approximately 300 to 1,200 troops to be deployed at a cost of at least $60 million.
States farther from the border mostly avoided immediately responding to the issue. North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's office did not respond to a request for comment from the News & Observer in Raleigh.
Oregon's governor, also a Democrat, was more direct, promising to defy any request from the White House to send its troops.
STEVE KURTZ: CAN TRUMP LEGALLY SEND TROOPS TO THE BORDER?
"If @realDonaldTrump asks me to deploy Oregon Guard troops to the Mexico border, I’ll say no," Gov. Kate Brown tweeted. "As Commander of Oregon’s Guard, I’m deeply troubled by Trump’s plan to militarize our border."
The Trump administration has not requested any troops from Oregon, Brown noted. Under federal law, the president can override a state governor and effectively conscript National Guard troops into federal service.
But the White House, which has said the nation is at a "point of crisis" due to illegal immigration, has not sent any signals it will take that step, nor are there indications it will need Oregon's help.
WHITE HOUSE CALLS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INFLOW 'UNNACCEPTABLE'
While U.S. military forces are barred by law from carrying out domestic law enforcement actions, including some border security duties, they are generally permitted to assist federal agents in various ways.
The Mexican foreign ministry said late Wednesday that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen promised that the troops "will not carry arms or carry out migration or customs control activities."
That was the general protocol for former President George W. Bush's deployment of National Guard troops to the border from 2006 to 2008, and former President Barack Obama's troop deployment, which began in 2010.

Voter Fraud Cartoons

Texas voter registration policy violates federal law, judge says

Texas' online driver's license registration system violates federal voting rights laws, a judge ruled in an order released Tuesday.  (AP)

Voter registration policies in Texas violate federal law, a U.S. District Court judge ruled in an order unveiled Tuesday, marking another voting-rights legal setback for the state's government.
Under the so-called "Motor Voter" provisions of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, voters who apply for or renew their driver's license must be provided an opportunity to register to vote as well.
But Texans who went online to update their driver's license information ran into roadblocks that in-person applicants did not, according to the Texas Civil Rights Project, which brought the suit against Texas in 2016.
For example, the plaintiffs alleged, users who clicked “I want to register to vote" while updating their driver's license information were directed to a form that they had to print and mail. They also received a notification stating that clicking "yes" did not complete the voter registration process.
WATCH: TUCKER DISCUSSES REPORTED WIDESPREAD VOTER FRAUD IN TEXAS
That allegedly confounded some plaintiffs and led to "widespread confusion," according to the lawsuit. The online process amounted to an illegal stumbling block, given that the in-person process was smoother, the plaintiffs charged.
The plaintiffs specifically alleged that the unequal treatment of in-person voters, as compared to online ones, violated both the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and federal law.

"For too long, the state of Texas has ignored federal voting rights laws."

“Everybody – all of our plaintiffs and many other people we have spoken to – once they get their driver’s license, they assume that their voter registration information has been updated, too,” Texas Civil Rights Project President Mimi Marziani told NPR. “And then they show up at the polls thinking they are going to be able to cast a ballot and they are not able to."
TEXAS VOTER ID LAW RULED LEGAL -- FOR NOW
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia said a written opinion explaining the reasoning behind his ruling will be released within 14 days.
Texas does not currently permit online voter registration, according to the Texas Tribune, and may be forced to as a result of the ruling.
“For too long, the state of Texas has ignored federal voting rights laws intended to ensure that all eligible voters have an opportunity to register to vote,” Beth Stevens, voting rights director at the Texas Civil Rights Project, told the Texas Tribune. “We look forward to seeing deep changes in [the Texas Department of Public Safety’s] voter registration practices in the coming months, affecting well over a million Texans every year.”
The ruling is the latest in a string of voting-rights cases involving Texas. The state has spent years fighting to preserve both its voter ID law -- which was among the strictest in the U.S. -- and voting maps that were both passed by GOP-controlled Legislature in 2011.

China announces additional tariffs on $50 billion of U.S. goods

China answered the White House’s tariffs announced on Tuesday with tariffs of its own on U.S. goods.

China will add tariffs covering 106 types of U.S. products. China matched the U.S. with 25% tariffs on products ranging from soybeans, and autos to chemical products.

The value of the tariffs are said to be $50 billion.

The finance ministry said that additional tariffs will be put on products such as whisky, cigars, tobacco as well as lubricants and plastic products.

China’s response is seen as retaliation for tariffs announced by the Trump administration late on Tuesday.

The U.S. is putting 25% tariffs on 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical products, also representing $50 billion.

The latest move followed China applying duties on $3 billion worth of U.S. fruits, nuts, pork and wine, which were in response to the original U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel announced by Trump last month.

Trump says the military will secure the southern border until wall can be built

President Trump on Tuesday said that the U.S. will secure the southern border with the military until a wall can be built, calling the move a “big step.”
Trump made the remarks during a meeting with Baltic leaders, where he said he had discussed the matter with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. A White House official revealed later Tuesday to Fox News that the plan considered by Trump would be a “substantial” mobilization of the National Guard.
“Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” he said. “That's a big step, we really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before.”
At a news conference later, he confirmed the plan, saying the border is unprotected by “our horrible, horrible and very unsafe laws.”
“We don't have laws, we have catch-and-release,” he said. “You catch and then you immediately release and people come back years later for a court case, except they virtually never come back.”
Trump did not offer specifics, but the move appears to be at least partly motivated by a caravan of over 1,000 Central American migrants heading toward the U.S. border. Buzzfeed, which first reported on the caravan, said that Mexican officials had not yet attempted to stop the flow.
In Tuesday's discussion, Trump and senior officials “also agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. She added that Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Chief of Staff John Kelly were among the other officials present.
Reports of the caravan angered Trump, who has sent out a number of tweets threatening to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and to cut foreign aid to countries such as Honduras, from where many of the migrants originate.

“The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our “Weak Laws” Border, had better be stopped before it gets there,” he tweeted Tuesday. “Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!”
At the press conference he said that NAFTA was an “embarrasing” deal and that he had told Mexican officials on Monday: “I hope you're going to tell that caravan not to get up to the border.” He added that he thinks the caravan was being broken up as a result.
The Pentagon was scrambling to come up with a response to Trump's statement on the military guarding the border. But according to a memo obtained by Fox News and discussions with officials, one area where the Pentagon could contribute immediately is the Air Force’s Barry Goldwater live-fire range, which shares a 35-mile border with Mexico in southern Arizona. 
The Defense Department is already offering some support to the border, including U.S. Navy ships patrolling waters to seize drugs as well as missions involving over 100 personnel from U.S. military’s northern command -- including eight planes and a drone -- to help border patrol.
In 2010, President Obama authorized 1,200 National Guard troops to increase security at the border, although Republican lawmakers questioned their role and whether they would in fact be “boots on the ground."

Trump has struggled to secure funding for his central campaign promise of a wall, which the administration and border officials say will cost approximately $20-25 billion. In the omnibus bill signed by Trump last month, $1.6 billion was included for technology and some replacement of existing border fencing -- although it excluded the prototypes Trump recently viewed in California.

Trump briefly considered vetoing the legislation both over its lack of funding for the wall and also the failure to include a fix for the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that granted protection for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children. He has since floated the idea of getting the Pentagon to fund the wall.
Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, said on Fox News Radio’s “The Todd Starnes Show” that it gives Border Patrol “certainty of apprehension.”
“The criminal smugglers, this is a multibillion dollar industry. They smuggle humans, they smuggle drugs,” he said. “This criminal enterprise, if we arrest the majority of people that cross the border illegally, we put a dent into their criminal enterprise, and if you put a dent into their criminal enterprise, then you can possibly stop them.”

Mueller claims Trump is not criminal target in his investigation, report says

Special counsel Robert Mueller told President Trump's attorneys last month that he does not consider Trump to be a criminal target in his investigation of Russian actions during the 2016 campaign, The Washington Post reported Tuesday night.
The paper, citing "three people familiar with the discussions," reported that Mueller made the comments while negotiating with Trump's attorneys about a potential interview with the president. The Post also reported -- citing "two people with knowledge of the conversations" -- that Mueller reiterated his need to interview Trump to determine whether the president intended to halt the Russia investigation while in office.
According to the Post, Trump has "privately expressed relief" at Mueller's description of his legal status, but some advisers have warned that the special counsel may be baiting the president into letting his guard down for any interview.
Mueller also has said he needs to interview Trump in order to complete a report he will present to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the investigation and who could decide to make Mueller's report public.
The report added that John Dowd resigned from Trump's legal team last month after the president ignored Dowd's advice to decline Mueller's request for an interview.
According to the Post, Trump's other attorneys -- Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow -- have told the president that refusing to sit down with Mueller would create an awkward situation since the president has repeatedly described the Russian investigation as a "witch hunt."

Mueller Probe Cartoons

Roger Stone's claim he 'dined with' WikiLeaks founder draws Special Counsel Mueller's scrutiny: report

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating an Aug. 2016 email by former Trump adviser and political consultant Roger Stone in which he purportedly claimed to have "dined with" the founder of WikiLeaks, according to a report.
The secretive organization released a trove of hacked communications prior to the 2016 presidential election, including Democratic National Committee emails that damaged then-candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Stone emailed fellow Trump aide Sam Nunberg on Aug. 4 that he “dined with Julian Assange last night,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
The next day, Stone tweeted: “Hillary lies about Russian Involvement in DNC hack -Julian Assange is a hero.”

"The idea that I would meet with Assange undetected is ridiculous on its face."

But Stone insists his emailed comment was nothing more than a flippant attempt to wrap up an unwanted conversation, and that despite his intimations, he has never had ties to WikiLeaks.
“I never dined with Assange,” Stone told The Journal. "There was no such meeting. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do. This was said in jest.”
DONALD TRUMP JR. RELEASES MESSAGES FROM WIKILEAKS FROM BEFORE 2016 ELECTION
Stone also provided The Journal with a screenshot of a booking for someone named "Roger" flying out of Los Angeles on a Delta flight heading to Miami the evening of Aug. 3, and airline confirmed that the screenshot matched a real flight -- but, citing consumer privacy rules, could not state definitively whether Stone was on board.
WikiLeaks has reportedly tweeted that Stone and Assange, who has called the Ecuadoran Embassy in London home since 2012, "never communicated."
Mueller's team reportedly asked about the email during grand jury testimony, and Nunberg told The Washington Post in March that investigators have asked about the email.
The Post has previously reported that two associates of Stone claim he told them he had made contact with Assange, and other outlets have found video apparently showing Stone referencing meetings with Assange.
“I wish him no ill will, but Sam [Nunberg] can manically and persistently call you,” Stone told the Post. “I said, ‘I think I will go to London for the weekend and meet with Julian Assange.’ It was a joke, a throwaway line to get him off the phone. The idea that I would meet with Assange undetected is ridiculous on its face.’ ’’
In February, Stone told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that the media and Democratic operatives were attempting to "re-inflate the deflated Russian collusion delusion" by using underhanded tactics to tie President Trump to the WikiLeaks hacks.

Air Force veteran sues after being pulled from ceremony mid-speech

A retired Air Force sergeant who was forcibly removed two years ago from a military retirement ceremony as he recited a traditional passage honoring the flag filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming he was ousted for mentioning the word "God."
Senior Master Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez was invited to speak at an April 3, 2016 ceremony by an outgoing fellow master sergeant from the 749th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Video of the event showed Rodriguez being physically removed by service members at Travis Air Force Base in California as he was delivering a flag-folding speech.
On Monday, two years after the incident, Rodriguez sued the U.S. Air Force, demanding an apology and admission of wrongdoing. In an interview with Fox News, he claimed his First Amendment rights were violated.
"This is about my constitutional right," Rodriguez said of the suit.
"I was removed from the speech because my script mentioned God. Air force officials did not want me to utter those words," he told Fox News. "There was no direct communication between the Air Force and myself to forbid me from making this speech."
The U.S. Air Force declined to comment Monday on pending litigation. In a statement released last year, officials said, "Evidence indicated Mr. Rodriguez was removed by members of the squadron because he attempted to participate in the ceremony even though his participation had been disapproved by the hosting squadron commander... When it became clear that Mr. Rodriguez intended to act inconsistent with the commander's restrictions he was removed by several squadron NCOs (noncommissioned officers). The inquiry found no evidence that the NCOs were motivated to impair Mr. Rodriguez's constitutional rights of freedom of speech or religion."
At the time of the event, a spokeswoman from the reserve told Fox News the confrontation stemmed from "an unplanned participation" at the event.

SMSgt Oscar Rodriguez.

"Rodriguez ignored numerous requests to respect the Air Force prescribed ceremony and unfortunately was forcibly removed," a Travis official said in a statement to Fox News following the incident.
Rodriguez claimed his recitation of an old version of the "Flag Folding Ceremony Air Force Script," which was later scrubbed because of religious references, prompted his ouster. Rodriguez delivered the speech at the request of Master Sgt. Chuck Roberson, who was retiring from the U.S. Air Force after 33 years of service.
"Let us pray that God will reflect with admiration the willingness of one nation in her attempts to rid the world of tyranny, oppression, and misery," part of the flag-folding speech reads. "It is this one nation under God that we call, with honor, the United States of America."
The speech closes with the words, "God bless our flag. God bless our troops. God bless America."
Even though the Air Force revised the script in 2006, Rodriguez claimed it was his right -- and Roberson's right -- to invoke the older version.
Lawyers representing Rodriguez said Monday that the dispute between the veteran and the Air Force was over his plans to recite a speech mentioning God. Rodriguez was known on the base to recite such passages, and Air Force officials tried to prevent him from doing so at the retirement ceremony, his attorneys claimed.
"[The U.S. Air Force] did not have the authority to ban him from the base and they did not have the authority to ban him from participating in the ceremony," said Hiram Sasser, general counsel for First Liberty Institute and one of the lead attorneys in the case. First Liberty identifies itself as a legal team "dedicated exclusively to protecting religious liberty for all Americans."

Rodriguez sued the U.S. Air Force, demanding an apology and admission of wrongdoing.  (FirstLiberty.org)

The complaint -- filed late Monday -- claimed officers at the base exchanged an email shortly after the incident. In that email, an officer -- whose name was redacted -- suggested filing assault charges against the men who removed Rodriguez from the ceremony, the lawsuit stated. Rodriguez's attorney said they believe that email bolsters their case.
According to a U.S. Air Force official, flag folding scripts that are religious in nature can be used for retirement ceremonies. "I can't speak to the specific incident," Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Fox News in 2016. "[But] Air Force personnel may use a flag folding ceremony script that is religious for retirement ceremonies."
Stefanek continued, "Since retirement ceremonies are personal in nature, the script preference for a flag folding ceremony is at the discretion of the individual being honored and represents the member's views, not those of the Air Force."
In a statement to Fox News, Roberson confirmed that it was his wish to have Rodriguez recite the speech at his retirement ceremony.
"I wanted the ceremony to reflect the American values I spent my career defending – respect for God, family, and country," Roberson said.
"I couldn’t believe what happened. I still can’t believe it. All I want now is for the Air Force to apologize for ruining this once in a lifetime moment but they refuse to do so," he said.

Trump Justice Department sets up quotas on immigration judges to speed up deportations

Trump administration officials said Monday they will impose quotas on federal immigration judges in an attempt to speed up deportations, Fox News has confirmed.
A Justice Department official speaking to Fox News cited enormous court backlogs. “These performance metrics... are designed to increase productivity and efficiency in the system without compromising due process.”
Meantime, President Trump lamented the sluggishness of the deportation process on Monday night.
“As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS,” Trump tweeted.
The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review says judges must complete 700 cases a year to earn a satisfactory grade. They currently are completing an average of 678 cases per year, according to the Justice official.
The new request averages to about three per day, and judges with high caseloads can appeal internally to waive the requirement.
Critics claim speed requirements undermine judges’ independence and will cause some cases to be decided too hastily.
The new standards, which take effect Oct. 1, include a host of other measures indicating how much time judges should spend on different types of cases and court motions. The Washington Post was first to report the plan.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversees the immigration courts, has called repeatedly for more speed as an increase in deportation arrests has pushed the court backlog above 650,000 cases.
Still, he had held off on numerical quotas until now.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince slams Obama's Iran nuclear deal, backs Israel's right to exist

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, said Israelis have a right to their 'own land' -- and compared Iran's Supreme Leader to Hitler -- in a wide-ranging interview this week.  (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia's crown prince affirmed Israel's right to exist and criticized former President Obama's Iran policy in an interview published Monday, pointedly bucking other leaders in the Arab world and signaling support for President Trump's Middle East agenda.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, told The Atlantic that both Israelis and Palestinians "have the right to have their own land" -- a surprising assertion given that many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
“I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," he said. "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.”
Prince Mohammed then took aim at Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
WATCH: WHO IS SAUDI ARABIA CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN?
“Hitler didn’t do what the supreme leader [of Iran] is trying to do," the crown prince told The Atlantic. "Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.

"He is the Hitler of the Middle East."

"He believes he owns the world. They are both evil guys. He is the Hitler of the Middle East. In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened."
Asked about the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran -- which President Trump has long lambasted -- the crown prince sided with the current White House.
NEW SAUDI LEADER SAYS WOMEN 'ABSOLUTELY' ARE EQUAL TO MEN
“President Obama believed that if he gave Iran opportunities to open up, it would change,” he said. “But with a regime based on this ideology, it will not open up soon. Sixty percent of the Iranian economy is controlled by the Revolutionary Guard. The economic benefits of the Iran nuclear deal are not going to the people.
“They took $150 billion after the deal — can you please name one housing project they built with this money? One park? One industrial zone? Can you name for me the highway that they built? I advise them — please show us something that you’re building a highway with $150 billion. For Saudi Arabia, there is a 0.1 percent chance that this deal would work to change the country. For President Obama it was 50 percent. But even if there’s a 50 percent chance that it would work, we can’t risk it. The other 50 percent is war. We have to go to a scenario where there is no war.”
Prince Mohammed pushed aside his cousin last year to become first in line to the Saudi throne, and he now controls a vast fortune, a well-heeled military and the future of a nation in the throes of sweeping economic and social change.
He is on a mission during his three-week U.S. visit to improve the perception of his nation in the eyes of Americans, who have viewed Saudi Arabia warily because of its conservative social mores, unequal treatment of women and, more recently, deadly military campaign in Yemen.

VA Cartoons

White House goes on attack over ex-VA head Shulkin's claim he was fired

The White House is hitting back at former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin for claiming that he was fired from his job and that he was only informed about it shortly before President Donald Trump tweeted about his replacement.
The Trump administration says he left his job willingly amid a bruising ethics scandal and mounting rebellion within the agency. The semantics of whether Shulkin resigned or was fired could be relevant to Trump's ability to name an acting secretary to temporarily fill his place.
On Sunday, chagrined by Shulkin's public statements blaming his ouster on unfair "political forces" in the Trump administration, the White House circulated a "talking points" memo to some veterans groups in a bid to discredit him.
Shulkin maintains that he never submitted a resignation letter.
"I came to run the Department of Veterans Affairs because I'm committed to veterans," Shulkin said. "And I would not resign because I'm committed to making sure this job was seen through to the very end."
HOWARD KURTZ: VA chief's firing portrayed as chaotic, but Trump had some good reasons
The semantics could be relevant to Trump's ability to name an acting VA secretary to temporarily fill Shulkin's place. Last week, Trump named Defense Department official Robert Wilkie to the acting position, bypassing Shulkin's deputy secretary, Tom Bowman. Bowman has come under criticism for being too moderate to push Trump's agenda.
Under federal law, a president has wide authority to temporarily fill a federal agency job if someone "dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office." There is no mention of a president having that authority if the person is fired. Still, it's unclear if courts would seek to draw a legal distinction between a firing and a forced resignation, if that is indeed what happened to Shulkin.
Shulkin, a former hospital executive, fired back in a New York Times op-ed that called the atmosphere in Washington "toxic, chaotic, disrespectful and subversive." He complained that he had "been falsely accused of things by people who wanted me out of the way ... It should not be this hard to serve your country."

Yes, Russia is a threat -- but America needs to play a shrewder game. Here's what that means

Several weeks ago, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found slumped over a park bench in the English town of Salisbury. It was determined they were victims of a nerve agent attack, which left both in critical condition. That nerve agent is alleged to have been manufactured and possessed illegally by Russia, and the UK immediately blamed Moscow for the attack.
If Russia were behind the attack, which is highly likely, it is possibly the country’s most significant intrusion into NATO territory since the radiation poisoning of another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, in 2006. As for potential Russian motives, it is speculated Skripal had been working with the UK’s foreign intelligence service, MI6.
The UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats and spies, and Russia, which denies the attack to the point of concocting conspiracy theories about why the chemical weapon originated in America or the UK, responded in turn by expelling 23 British diplomats and spies.
Meanwhile in America, the Trump administration just sanctioned Russian entities involved in cyber-attacks and “election interference.” And now, in the face of continued Russian intransigence over the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter, America is expelling 60 Russian diplomats and spies, and closing Russia’s Seattle consulate.
Senior Trump administration officials said that all of the Russians expelled were spies working under diplomatic cover, including at the United Nations. The administration believes there is an “unacceptably high” number of Russian intelligence operatives in the U.S. The officials also said that the Seattle consulate was a counter-intelligence concern because of its proximity to a U.S. Navy base.
This diplomatic row only serves to illustrate the trend of significantly deteriorating relations between Russia and the West.

Even if Russia is just a spoiler, they are a spoiler with a massive nuclear arsenal. We must respect the fact that this arsenal poses an existential threat to the United States. And a declining power, especially one with as many nukes as Russia has, can be dangerous.

America expelling so-called Russian diplomats is an appropriate response to Russia’s brazen attack on Skripal and his daughter. If Russia abuses its privilege of having operatives on our shores—diplomatic or otherwise—it should face the consequences. And in general, America should want to reduce the number of spies—even those under diplomatic cover—that Russia has on American soil.
But some hope that this is only the beginning of a more aggressive stance toward Russia. The question remains: Where would such an aggressive stance lead, and what would it accomplish for America?
America should certainly keep a close eye on Russia. Nominally, Russia’s nuclear arsenal is on par with America’s. And because of its massive geography, Russia borders many areas—including Europe and China—where America has troops, or has interests, military or economic.
Because of this, Russia policy needs to be both strategically sound and effective. It should be based on a sober assessment of narrowly defined U.S. interests: our security, prosperity, and our constitutional republic. We should cooperate with Russia where we can and confront them where we must.
Many U.S. politicians seem to forget the big picture, however. Policymakers need to regain sight of America’s interest, rather than pursue reactionary policies to oppose Russia everywhere, as if they’re the former Soviet Union. This requires less “standing up to Putin” than it does managing Russia’s inevitable decline.
Russia has less economic heft than Italy, faces decades of slow growth due to a declining population and a lack of structural reforms, and has an undiversified economy that is totally dependent on exporting fossil fuels.
Having about the same population as Japan, but being the largest country in the world in terms of land-mass, Russia is incredibly insecure. That’s why it spends over 5 percent of its GDP on its military, compared to over 3 percent in America. Russia’s military budget comes in at about $70 billion, where America’s is $700 billion. And that $70 billion amounts to over 25 percent of all the taxes the Kremlin collects from the meager Russian economy.
Yes, Russia can and does act to upset U.S. interests. That makes it a spoiler. But Russia is weak, whereas America is a superpower and global leader. Russia is not a competitor; it fails to stand anywhere near America’s military and diplomatic might. And Russia is light-years away from being a peer-competitor, as China could be, someday, decades from now.
This doesn’t mean Russia isn’t important. Even if Russia is just a spoiler, they are a spoiler with a massive nuclear arsenal. We must respect the fact that this arsenal poses an existential threat to the United States. And a declining power, especially one with as many nukes as Russia has, can be dangerous.
Peace through strength is in order, as is maintaining a tough line toward Putin. But managing Russia’s decline requires allowing Russia enough breathing room to go into the night quietly, and without a bang.
Policymakers must also maintain focus on fostering a resilient American economy, and an open American society where our people can flourish.
If policymakers spend us into oblivion—due to automatic spending on entitlements, as well as defense and non-defense discretionary spending—our national debt will harm our economy. After decades of stagnant real median wages and declining investment and productivity, some would argue that the national debt already does harm our economy. And quite obviously, our economy is the foundation of our national power (and our military power).
As Barry Posen argues, America must play a shrewder game. The long game. We don’t have to do something to win in the end. Closed and authoritarian societies that don’t share American interests grow brittle and ossified, and they eventually break. Confidence in our system, our people, and a laser-focus on our core national interests, will ensure America stays on top.
Willis L Krumholz is a fellow at Defense Priorities. He holds a JD and MBA degree from the University of St. Thomas, and works in the financial services industry.

Trump declares 'NO MORE' DACA deal after report of caravan with Central Americans heading to US

President Trump declared on Sunday the deal for the Obama-era DACA program was “NO MORE” and called for "tough" immigration reform after a report stated a caravan carrying more than 1,000 people from Central America is traveling through Mexico and to the United States in hopes of entering the states illegally or by asking for asylum.
Trump, who has vowed to end catch and release, tweeted Sunday morning that Republicans need to take the "nuclear option" when passing tougher immigration laws.
The president had given Congress six months to pass legislation enshrining the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which protects about 800,000 young immigrants brought to country illegally as children from deportation.
“Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. 'Caravans' coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!” the president tweeted.
The caravan the president was likely referring to was first reported by BuzzFeed News on Friday. Organized by Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan traveled through Mexico without authorization last week, according to the report. Officials in Mexico have not attempted to stop the migrants, about 80 percent of them from Honduras. The group’s intent is to provide those people a safe way to travel to the U.S.

Hundreds of Central Americans marching from the southern state of Mexico to the center and north of the country.  (Reuters)

National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) union chief Brandon Judd told “Fox & Friends” on Sunday that the migrants are riding on the benefit of catch and release, when illegal immigrants are detained in the U.S. and released while they await for their court hearings.
Trump also threatened to pull out of the free trade agreement with Mexico unless the country did more to stop the flow of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. The U.S., Canada and Mexico are currently renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement at Trump's insistence.
“Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!” he tweeted.
“These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!” he added.
Trump also spoke about DACA and Mexico before attending Easter services at Episcopal church near his home in Palm Beach, Fla.
"Mexico has got to help us at the border," Trump told reporters as he held his wife, Melania's, hand. "If they're not going to help us at the border, it's a very sad thing between our two countries."
Organizers believe about two-thirds of the people in the caravan are planning to enter the U.S. illegally or by asking for protection, according to BuzzFeed. The caravan does not give the migrants the guarantee they will enter the U.S. and uses any form of transportation necessary to make it to the border. Most of the people are reportedly fleeing poverty and political unrest from their home country.

Hundreds of Central Americans attend a mass before they begin a Via Crucis on Palm Sunday from the southern state of Mexico to the center and north of the country, demanding respect for their human rights, asylum and reports of violence in their countries in Tapachula, Mexico March 25, 2018.  (REUTERS/Jose Torres)

“First off, you have got a Mexican government entity that is assisting these individuals that are coming up to the United States,” Judd told “Fox & Friends.” “These individuals do not have passports or legal documents to be in Mexico, yet you got an agency that’s helping them get to our [U.S.] border.”
Judd said border patrol agents do not have the ability to stop the migrants at the border even if they only step one foot on U.S. soil.
“Once they [the migrants] enter the country, even if we [border patrol agents] are standing at the border with our hands out saying, ‘Don’t enter, don’t enter,’ all they have to do is cross one foot into the border and we have to take them into custody,” Judd said. “If they ask for asylum or say I fear to go back to my country, then we have to process them under ‘credible fear’ which allows them to be released into our country.”
It’s unclear when the hundreds of migrants will be arriving at the U.S. border. Some of those who are traveling with the caravan are planning to stay in Mexico. 

Google snubbed Easter with no doodle for 18th year in a row, Christians say

For the 18th year in a row, Google has no doodle to celebrate Easter, and Christians are angry on this holy day.

Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars editor-at-large, tweeted Sunday about Christianity’s most joyful day: ‏”So Google has a doodle for every obscure ‘woke’ person/event imaginable, but nothing for Easter? #EasterSunday”

They loathe Christians. Plain and simple. https://t.co/7wZPzOtycR

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 1, 2018

James Woods retweeted it, saying: “They loathe Christians. Plain and simple.”

What a gorgeous Christ-inspired Google doodle today! God Bless, Happy Easter! pic.twitter.com/ugAG7mxvah

— Yes Margaret? 🦖 (@MargaretsBelly) April 1, 2018

The search giant did find room to celebrate April Fool’s Day — by inserting a “Where’s Waldo?” game into Google Maps.

Happy Easter to everyone except Google today pic.twitter.com/bIIrMno1P4

— Angry GoT Jack (@JackPosobiec) April 1, 2018

Many took to Twitter with jokes about Google’s erasure of Easter, which celebrates Christianity’s core belief — that Jesus rose from the dead following crucifixion.
Lots of users sent snarky tweets showing the blank Google homepage of the day ignoring Easter.
In response, Google told Fox News it celebrated Easter in its own way with a tweet noting the holiday.

Happy Easter! Gather ‘round for this week’s particularly egg-cellent search trends → https://t.co/lhaCtmpPAd pic.twitter.com/FuagbR4NEl

— Google (@Google) March 30, 2018

The last time Google celebrated Easter was April 23, 2000, with two candy eggs for the o’s in Google.

Google celebrates many special occasions with a doodle, such as Valentine’s Day.

When contacted by Fox News, Google said, “We don’t have Doodles for religious holidays, in line with our current Doodle guidelines. Doodles may appear for some non-religious celebrations that have grown out of religious holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Holi’s Festival of Colors, Tu B’Av and the December holiday period, but we don’t include religious imagery or symbolism as part of these.”
Among the holidays the tech giant regularly celebrates with Google Doodles other than Easter Sunday, are Earth Day, Martin Luther King Day, Lunar New Year, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, as The Tennessee Star notes.

Easter 2018 Cartoons

Trump rips California governor for pardoning ex-cons facing deportation

18 hours ago

President Trump took aim at California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday for pardoning five ex-convicts facing deportation, asking if residents of the Golden State “really want” such policies for criminal immigrants.
The president referred to Brown as “Moonbeam,” a nickname he was given in the late 1970s during his first time as governor for proposing a California space academy and later adopting a plan to launch and orbit a satellite for emergency communications.
“Governor Jerry 'Moonbeam' Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews,” tweeted Trump.
The president’s remarks follow Brown’s pardon Friday of 56 convicted felons, two of whom were members of families that fled the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia four decades ago.
It was the Democrat governor’s third consecutive pardon round in which he intervened on behalf of immigrants who faced deportation because of criminal conditions.
The pardons don’t automatically stop deportation proceedings, but they eliminate the state convictions on which federal authorities based their deportation decisions on.
"The pardon does provide enormous benefit to immigrants facing deportation," said Anoop Prasad, an immigration staff attorney at Asian Law Caucus.
Trump’s remarks continued a war of words between him and Brown, who has accused the administration of “basically going to war” with California over immigration policy.
Brown last year signed sanctuary legislation limiting state and local cooperation with federal enforcement of immigration laws.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded with a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to invalidate three state laws protecting residents living in the country without documentation.
The pardons included Sokha Chhan and Phann Pheach, both of whom face deportation to Cambodia, a country ruled in the 1970s by the genocidal Khmer Rouge. Chhan was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence in 2002 and served 364 days in jail.
Pheach was convicted of possessing drugs and obstructing a police officer in 2005 and served six months in jail. His wife said he is in federal custody.
Also pardoned was Daniel Maher, who was convicted in 1995 of kidnapping, robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm and served five years in prison. Maher is facing deportation to China.
Chhan, Pheach and Maher hold permanent U.S. residency but had exhausted all legal avenues to fight deportation, making Brown's pardons for them their last hope to stay in the U.S., Prasad said.
"This is a life-changing, enormous event," he said.
Also pardoned while facing deportation were Daniel Mena and Francisco Acevedo Alaniz, but their home countries were not immediately known. Mena was convicted in 2003 of possessing illegal drugs. Alaniz served five months in prison for a 1997 auto theft conviction.
Brown on Friday also commuted the sentences of 14 others convicted of crimes.
The governor is a former Jesuit seminarian and traditionally issues pardons close to major Christian holidays. Easter falls on Sunday.