Presumptuous Politics

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Conservative student transfers out of BU because of death threats

Nicholas Fuentes, an 18-year-old student who attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend, said that he's received death threats for months over his conservative viewpoints -- enough for him to decide it's time to leave Boston University.

Fuentes said he made the decision to abandon his Political Science degree a month ago after being constantly threatened over his conservative views. He said no longer felt safe on campus, and will not return for the fall semester.

Still, despite the intensity of the backlash he's received, he has absolutely “no regrets” about taking part in the controversial white-nationalist movement.
“I went to represent this new strain of conservatives, of people in the right wing who are opposed to mass immigration and multiculturalism,” Fuentes told Fox News on Thursday. “For a long time, this existed on the fringes. I thought it was a political victory – we exposed the removal of Confederate statues, and this disenfranchised group of white males.”
A Boston University spokesman confirmed to Fox News that the student had indeed left the school earlier this week and that "the safety and security of our students is our highest priority."
While the ideology of the movement, he contended, used to be associated only with older men in America “like Pat Buchanan and Samuel Francis,” he believes a significant wave in the younger generation have been captivated by the ideology.
“We have basically been told our whole lives that white people are racist and evil and should be erased,” Fuentes explained. “We have basically been told that it is a crime to be born a white male.”

The student, who hails from a suburb of Chicago, is of Mexican lineage and contends that he and almost all other attendees did not go to the rally out of racist motivations, but rather most were like him and consider themselves to be “preservationists” staunchly against high levels of immigration.
“The picture the media keeps using is of one person with a Nazi flag, there were more one thousand there who didn’t have Nazi flags,” Fuentes said. “The vast majority of people there were regular, decent people. I didn’t meet a single violent person. Our side is just preservationist.”
CHARLOTTESVILLE WHITE NATI ONALIST RALLY BLAMED FOR 3 DEATHS, DOZENS OF INJURIES
Fuentes noted that the Charlottesville rally had been in the works for about three months, and that people joined the fray not only from all over the U.S., but from Canada and various countries in Europe. But after posting on social media about going to the event – which turned tragic after a driver rammed a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman – Fuentes’ own firestorm began.
“I suddenly got dozens of messages on Twitter and Facebook telling me to go and kill myself and that if they see me they will beat the sh-- out of me. Stuff of that nature,” he said. “At least 10 to 20 of them were death threats.”
Fuentes said Boston University had given him opportunities to express his political views -- and his support of Donald Trump -- leading up to the November presidential election last year.
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND A 'NEW GENERATION OF WHITE SUPREMACISTS'
“I made a short video presentation about my support for Trump before the election and that caused a major uproar. People wanted to organize a debate between myself and a big Hillary supporter,” Fuentes recalled. “We went to the Dean and they gave us an auditorium, a police officer for security detail, they really made it happen.”
He is now taking a semester off and then intends to start at Auburn University in Alabama in the spring.
“It was one of my first picks after high school,” Fuentes continued, adding that the “friendly territory” of the Deep South will enable him to express his opinions freely without jeopardizing his safety.
TRUMP 'ENTIRELY CORRECT' TO BLAME BOTH SIDES FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE VIOLENCE, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
In addition to studies, he hosts his own YouTube talk show modeled after Trump’s key campaign catchphrase “Make America Great Again,” and highlighted that he mostly has liberal-leaning friends – but the few who are conservative have experienced widespread backlash from their university peers across the country.
“Even worse than the threats I have received,” Fuentes surmised.
And even though he stands staunchly by his beliefs and makes no apology about making his mark in Charlottesville, he doesn’t plan on attending any such rallies in the near future.
“Everyone is a little shaken up,” Fuentes added. “The political climate has become so intense and so violent and toxic.”

Political Left Staff

Steve Bannon exits White House, says the presidency Trump campaigned for is 'over'

Steve Bannon is on his way out at the White House – but the fiery, anti-establishment conservative who helped Donald Trump win the presidency says he's getting ready to wage his populist campaign from the outside.

“If there’s any confusion out there, let me clear it up: I’m leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents -- on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America,” Bannon told Bloomberg on Friday.

Still, the outgoing White House chief strategist told The Weekly Standard the country would see a new kind of presidency without him there. “We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency. But that presidency is over. It’ll be something else. And there’ll be all kinds of fights, and there’ll be good days and bad days, but that presidency is over.”
Bannon returned to work late Friday at Breitbart News, the populist news site he once ran that rails against the political establishment in both parties.
He spent just over a year formally working for the president. On Friday, his job with Trump came to an end.
STEVE BANNON OUT AT THE WHITE HOUSE
“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”
Breitbart announced Friday that Bannon returned as executive chairman. He chaired its evening editorial meeting Friday, the site said.
“The populist-nationalist movement got a lot stronger today,” said Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow. “Breitbart gained an executive chairman with his finger on the pulse of the Trump agenda.”

Ben Shapiro, a former writer at Breitbart News, predicted Bannon will go back to the site and "declare himself the conscience of the nationalist populist movement that he helped build.”
"He's going to use that power to smash the president when he thinks the president is wrong," Shapiro told Fox News anchor Sandra Smith.
A source close to Bannon told Fox News there is “no way” the outgoing adviser will go to war against Trump himself. He will “100 percent have POTUS’ back,” the person said.
Another source close to Bannon, reached Friday, suggested Breitbart is gearing up for a fight now that its leader is no longer restrained by his job in the White House.
“Winter is here,” the person told Fox News.
Kurt Bardella, a former Breitbart staffer who now criticizes the outlet and President Trump, speculated Bannon would “continue to use his weapon of choice, Breitbart, to attack his adversaries inside the West Wing.”
Targets, Bardella said, could be Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn as well as congressional Republicans like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.
Bannon has also sparred with national security adviser H.R. McMaster and his deputy, Dina Powell.
“In many ways, I think Steve will feel liberated,” Bardella said.
He added, “Now, he will be able to operate openly and freely to inflict as much damage as he possibly can on the 'globalists' that remain in the Trump administration.”
Bannon submitted his resignation in writing on Aug. 7, Fox News learned.
Bannon told The Weekly Standard he spoke with the president and Chief of Staff John Kelly last week about resigning on Aug. 14, his one year mark working for Trump. But the events in Charlottesville last weekend delayed his departure.
“I’d always planned on spending one year.... I want to get back to Breitbart,” he said.
Bannon said he feels “jacked up” as he returns to the conservative news site.
“Now I’m free,” he said. “I’ve got my hands back on my weapons. Someone said, ‘it’s Bannon the Barbarian.’ I am definitely going to crush the opposition. There’s no doubt.”
He added, “I built a f---ing machine at Breitbart. And now I’m about to go back, knowing what I know, and we’re about to rev that machine up. And rev it up we will do.”
Earlier this week, Trump briefly addressed the speculation about Bannon's future during a wide-ranging Q&A with reporters at Trump Tower.
“I like Mr. Bannon, he’s a friend of mine,” Trump said, though downplaying his impact in the 2016 campaign. “I like him. He’s a good man.”
The president added, “We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon.”

PBS Poll Says Majority of Americans Favor Leaving Confederate Monuments in Place

Next the Abraham Lincoln Memorial,when and where will it stop?

Washington, D.C.- Emerald Robinson, Political Correspondent

In the wake of the violence in Charlottesville that began in response to a rally protesting the removal of a Confederate monument, a surprising new poll shows that only 27 percent of Americans support the removal of such monuments.

The PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll found that a large majority of Americans, at 62 percent, think that the statues should stay. This information comes in spite of calls to remove even more monuments are being made after the violent clash that left one 32-year-old counter-protestor dead. Al Sharpton said in a PBS interview that he thinks the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., should also be abandoned in light of Thomas Jefferson’s history as a slave owner. Also, included in recent lists is the iconic Mount Rushmore which Vice News’s Wilbert L. Cooper says the U.S. President’s represented there are “problematic” by today’s standards.

Horace Cooper of the group Project 21, which is an initiative of the National Center for Public Policy Research to promote the views of African-Americans, says that the majority represented in this poll includes a large number of African-American men and women who do not want the removal of Confederate monuments. According to Cooper, the monuments serve as a reminder of our history and also as a warning to future generations of the injustices that should never once again plague our nation.
President Trump has remained staunch in the face of criticism on his view regarding the movement to do away with Confederate Monuments saying, “This week it’s Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder if George Washington is next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You have to ask yourself, where does it stop really?”

Former IT Aide For Debbie Wasserman Schultz Indicted On 4 Charges

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Democrat) My question is when is Debbie going to be brought up on charges :-)

Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s former IT aide is indicted on four charges.
37-year-old Imran Awan and his wife are formally accused of charges including bank fraud, making false statements, and other allegations.
Awan was arrested at Virginia airport as he was trying to flee to Pakistan, and soon after his wife and daughters made a similar trip.
Wasserman Schultz has been criticized for keeping Awan on the payroll despite other lawmakers firing him back in July.
Wasserman blamed the “right-wing” media for drawing extra attention to her IT employee in what she believes was an effort to cover up possible Russia meddling tied to President Trump.
Government officials say possible security breaches from the former DNC head’s staff are very serious, and being closely looked into.

Imran Awan

Friday, August 18, 2017

Lindsey Graham Political Cartoons

Trump slams two GOP senators who criticized him on Charlottesville

President Trump fired back Thursday at Senate Republicans who have criticized his response to the Charlottesville violence, accusing Lindsey Graham of a “disgusting lie” for saying he drew a “moral equivalency” between white supremacists and counter-protesters -- while also tagging Jeff Flake as "toxic."

“Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacists … and people like Ms. Heyer. Such a disgusting lie. He just can't forget his election trouncing.The people of South Carolina will remember!” Trump tweeted.

The president’s reference to the election invoked Graham’s short-lived bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination which Trump ultimately won.
While numerous elected Republicans have criticized Trump for his response to the Charlottesville violence over the weekend, Graham, R-S.C., issued a particularly harsh condemnation on Wednesday.
He said: “Through his statements yesterday, President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms. Heyer. I, along with many others, do not endorse this moral equivalency.”
Graham responded on Thursday, telling Trump in a statement that “because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country ... please fix this."
Heather Heyer was the counter-protester killed in a car attack Saturday on the sidelines of the white nationalist rally in Virginia.
The president initially took heat for blaming “many sides” for the violence. He then specifically condemned white supremacists and neo-Nazis, only to return to defending his original statement on Tuesday.
In those remarks, Trump said both sides share blame and even suggested some “fine people” attended that rally.
The statements invited a new round of criticism from Republican lawmakers, and accelerated an exodus of business executives from two advisory councils – which Trump, in turn, disbanded as they were coming apart.
The president on Thursday also rapped Arizona Sen. Flake, a Republican who has stepped up his criticism of Trump in recent weeks and also sounded off about Charlottesville on Twitter.
“We can’t claim to be the party of Lincoln if we equivocate in condemning white supremacy,” Flake tweeted Wednesday.
Trump on Thursday touted Flake’s main primary challenger, former state Sen. Kelli Ward. “Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!” he wrote.
Trump hit back at another favorite target as well, the media: “The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!” he tweeted.

Jason Kessler, Charlottesville rally organizer, says he's in hiding

Jason Kessler, who organized the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., told Fox News late Thursday he's in hiding after getting a string of death threats.

Last Saturday, a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville, killing one woman and injuring some 19 other people. The next day, protesters chased Kessler from a press conference he was trying to hold.

The nationalist blogger maintains his group is not a collection of white supremacists, but rather a “civil rights group.” He said he graduated from the University of Virginia, voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and once attended an Occupy Wall Street rally in Charlottesville.
His grievances are rooted in what he calls the identity politics of today. “Some are the discriminatory policies of affirmative action, college admissions, history books being rewritten, blaming American whites for slavery,” when it was a worldwide institution.
“Every culture had slavery,” he said.
He also blamed the “existential crisis of immigration, mass immigration from third world countries.”
Kessler said he “never met” James Alex Fields Jr., the suspected driver in the deadly crash. As for the death of the woman, Heather Heyer, Kessler said: “no comment.”
In preparation for last Saturday’s rally, he met repeatedly with Charlottesville police and was assigned a police liaison. He says she went over the city’s safety plan with him, let him see it, but would not let him photograph it. He said that the captain “let slip” that in preparation for the rally, the city and police “did not use government servers because they did not want to get FOIA’d” — referring to the Freedom of Information Act.
He said he has received no calls, no visits from police or federal investigators since the event. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” Kessler said.
Kessler said the organization’s funding came from “donations to our PayPal account, before it was shut down.” Now, “we fund ourselves, because most of us have or used to have jobs, before this.”
He said that police had given the white nationalists a specific entry way to the park. But that as they arrived at the park at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, the road to that entrance was blocked by police. The caravan of shuttle busses that the nationalists had rented had to detour to the opposite side of the park, where most of the Antifa demonstrators were positioned.
That was the point at which tensions rose meteorically, he said. They had to pass through Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and other opponents at close range.
The body armor, clubs and helmets his people wore during the rally were strictly defensive, “for our own safety,” he said.

U.S. Takes Firm Stance During NAFTA Negotiations, New Zealand Possibly Signing Free Trade Deal

New Zealand’s Trade Minister Todd McClay speaks with media during the 3rd Intersessional Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kham

U.S. trade representatives are looking to make big changes to NAFTA.
American delegates laid down hard lines during the first day of formal negotiations, saying they would not settle for ‘cosmetic changes’ to the trade agreement.
In the past, President Trump has called the decades old trade agreement the worst deal in history.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand trade minister says there is a good chance of signing a free-trade deal with other nations despite the U.S. pulling out.
Todd McClay said the 11 remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership are committed to quickly completing the deal with only minor changes.
He announced the New Zealand government approved a mandate to push ahead with negotiations Thursday.
However, TTP partners say the deal could still face many hurdles as the New Zealand elections will be held next month.