Israel may bar Omar, Tlaib from entering country over support of BDS movement: reports

Israeli officials told the country's lawmakers Wednesday that U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., may be barred from entering Israel for a planned visit this weekend, according to reports.
The two freshman congresswomen support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), a pro-Palestinian advocacy organization, but Israeli law says those supporting boycotts of the country may be denied entry.
Waivers can be granted for diplomatic figures, however, Haaretz reported.
HOUSE OVERWHELMINGLY OKS RESOLUTION OPPOSING ISRAEL BOYCOTT IN RARE BIPARTISAN VOTE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing pressure from Democratic leaders and some U.S.-based Israel advocacy groups that are advising against barring the congresswomen, The Washington Post reported. He has not yet made a decision, according to Haaretz.
In July, Israel’s U.S. ambassador said the country would not bar U.S. lawmakers out of “respect” for Congress and Israel’s longtime “alliance” with the U.S.
President Trump was reportedly frustrated last week when Israel announced the congresswomen would be allowed in the country, The Post reported.
Israeli officials said an announcement about the lawmakers would be made Thursday.

Kamala Harris slammed for 'politicizing' Philadelphia standoff

Sen. Kamala Harris faced criticism Wednesday for promoting her campaign's gun control plan during an appearance on CNN that coincided with breaking news about the police standoff in Philadelphia in which six officers were shot.
“When will it stop?” the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate from California asked CNN’s Wolf Blitzer when he asked for her reaction to the initial reports of the shooting.
“And I stress initial reports,” Blitzer added.
As Harris related details of her plan, information about the ongoing standoff was still sketchy.
Social media was quick to deride the presidential candidate for “politicizing” the developing situation before most of the relevant facts were known.
“After only one (1) hour Kamala Harris started talking gun control to Wolf Blizer BEFORE the Philadelphia Police had the shooter in Philadelphia out yet or BEFORE all the cops were OUT of their respective hospital yet ! I know that Harris wants to be the President but hey wait,” one person wrote.
“Why in the world did you come out with your political statements on CNN during the standoff of police and a madman shooter in Philadelphia?? How stupid and irresponsible of you," another tweeted.
'You used this as a political tool while bullets were flying and two officers were trapped in the house. Just disgusting. I’m from Philadelphia, we see it real clearly," another criticized.
One Twitter user suggested her statements weren't worthy of a president.
“Before the facts come out you took the opportunity to pre-judge the shooter in Philadelphia ... You have no clue about the gun or individual. Definitely not Presidential."
"BEFORE IT'S EVEN RESOLVED YOUR POLITICIZING THE PHILADELPHIA SHOOTER," another wrote.
The shooter, identified as Maurice Hill, 36, who has an extensive history of gun-related convictions.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross told reporters two officers with the Narcotics Strike Force were serving a warrant when the shooter opened fire at the home.
All of the wounded officers were expected to recover.

Make History Go Away Cartoons

In 1976 speech, Biden said US criminal justice should focus on punishment not rehabilitation

In a 1976 speech in Idaho, then-Sen. Joe Biden said the U.S. criminal justice system should stress punishment rather than rehabilitation -- a direct contradiction to his current platform, which focuses on rehabilitation, according to a report.
“Why should we liberals, why should we Democrats, apologize for saying a criminal justice system has implicit in it the idea that a crime should be met with a punishment? What is wrong with that?” the senator from Delaware said at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Boise, Idaho, in audio reportedly obtained by the Washington Examiner.

“Why should we liberals, why should we Democrats, apologize for saying a criminal justice system has implicit in it the idea that a crime should be met with a punishment? What is wrong with that?”
— Joe Biden, in 1976 speech

In the speech, Biden also said that liberals claim convicts need to be rehabilitated but there’s a recognition that "We have not found a way to rehabilitate.”
He added if Democrats didn’t get tougher on criminals voters would start to support politicians like Alabama segregationist George Wallace, who was strict on crime.
“When we don’t respond,” he said, according to the Examiner, “we allow men like [Wallace] to run around the nation talking about ‘pointy-headed federal judges’ and about the fact that we need more severe penalties in the government for crime, and people begin to believe him.”
Biden also said that diversity strengthening America is “poppycock,” adding that people “fear differences.”
Biden has faced scrutiny from his 2020 presidential rivals over his support for the 1994 crime bill and other past positions over his decades-long career.

George Washington mural should be covered but preserved, SF school board decides

The San Francisco school board on Tuesday voted 4-3 to cover a controversial 1936 George Washington mural at a local high school that includes images of slavery and the killing of a Native American.
The 13-panel “Life of Washington” will be preserved but covered by panels that show "the heroism of people of color in America, how we have fought against, and continue to battle discrimination, racism, hatred, and poverty” a proposal suggested by the board president said.
NEWT GINGRICH: THE SPIRIT OF FASCISTIC BOOK BURNING HAS ENTERED THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

People fill the main entryway of George Washington High School to view the controversial 13-panel, 1,600-square foot mural, the "Life of Washington," during an open house for the public in San Francisco, Aug. 1, 2019. (Associated Press)

The board voted on the removal of the 1,600-square-foot mural at George Washington High School after critics called it racist and offensive.
Those in favor of keeping the mural said removing it was historic and artistic censorship.

FBI to assist in Portland as city braces for dueling Antifa, right-wing protests

Portland, Ore., is gearing up for a set of dueling rallies this weekend that is expected to bring an informal coalition of right-wing groups-- some of which have been decried as white nationalists and white supremacists-- and so-called anti-fascists, who have violently opposed these right-wing demonstrators.
Portland’s so-called “Antifa” members have issued an online call to followers to turn out to “defend Portland from a far-Right attack.”
Portland’s Rose City Antifa, the nation’s oldest active anti-fascist group, said violence against right-wing demonstrators is “exactly what should happen when the far-right attempts to invade our town.”
Portland leaders are planning a major law enforcement presence on the heels of similar rallies in June and last summer that turned violent, and the recent hate-driven shooting in El Paso, Texas. None of the city’s nearly 1,000 police officers will have the day off, and Portland will get help from the Oregon State Police and the FBI. Mayor Ted Wheeler has said he may ask Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, to call up the Oregon National Guard.
Experts who track right-wing militias and hate groups warn that the mix of people heading to Portland also came together for a Unite the Right rally in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, which ended when a participant rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring 19.
A 5K race scheduled for Saturday was moved to avoid any violence, and an Irish bar that’s a city institution canceled an amateur boxing event that expected 500 spectators. Other businesses plan to close on one of the last weekends of the city’s peak tourist season.
One rally is being organized by a member of the controversial Proud Boys. Others are expected to include members of the American Guard, the Three Percenters, the Oathkeepers and the Daily Stormers.
The violent attacks at the end of June left eight people injured, including conservative writer Andy Ngo, who works for the website Quillette. Ngo said he sustained a brain injury during the assault.
Video of the 30-second attack grabbed national attention and further turned the focus on Portland as a new battleground in a divisive America.
Joe Biggs, an organizer of Saturday’s rally, said the attack on Ngo made him decide to hold the event with the goal of getting Antifa declared a domestic terrorist organization. Biggs said those coming to Portland have been told not to bring weapons or start fights, but they will defend themselves if attacked.
Biggs toned down his online rhetoric after the El Paso shootings and urged followers coming to Portland to keep a cool head. He said he is not racist — he has a toddler daughter with his Guyanese wife — but wants to show the world the violent tactics of Antifa.
“That group of Antifa there in Portland needs to be exposed for who they are,” Biggs said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “And guess what? They should be scared.”
Last month, President Trump said he was considering declaring Antifa a terrorist organization, equating it with the MS-13 street gang. Trump's tweet came days after Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced non-binding legislation that would designate the group as a domestic terrorist organization.
Portland’s City Hall has been evacuated twice because of bomb threats after the June 29 skirmishes, and Wheeler, the mayor, has been pilloried by critics who incorrectly said he told police to stand down while anti-fascists went after right-wing demonstrators.
Police have noted the violence in June was limited to a small area of downtown Portland despite three different demonstrations that lasted more than five hours, with hundreds of people constantly on the move. They also made two arrests last week in a May Day assault on an Antifa member that became a rallying cry for the city’s far-left.

CNN's Don Lemon accused of assault in sexually charged encounter at New York bar

CNN anchor Don Lemon has been accused in a lawsuit of assaulting a man in 2018. The network defended its host, saying the accusation was made by man who previously had been hostile toward the network. (Scott Olson/Getty Images, File)

CNN primetime host Don Lemon was accused of a bizarre, sexually charged assault of a bartender in New York's tony Hamptons last year in a civil suit filed earlier this week.
Dustin Hice, of Florida, stated in the lawsuit that he was living in the Hamptons and working at The Old Stove Pub in Sagaponack during the summer of 2018. On July 15, after closing, Hice claimed he left with the owner and co-workers to party at another bar, Murf's Backstreet Tavern, in Sag Harbor, where they saw Lemon. Recognizing the newsman, Hice offered to buy him a vodka drink called a "lemon drop," according to the suit. Lemon declined the offer, Hice claimed, but later approached him inside the establishment.
"[Lemon] put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers into Plaintiff's mustache and under Plaintiff's nose," according to the lawsuit, filed Aug. 11 in Suffolk County Court, and first reported by Mediaite.

Lemon allegedly asked a crude question about Hice's sexual preference, leaving him "shocked and humiliated," according to the suit.
CNN denied Hice's account and said Hice seemed to bear animosity toward the cable news network.
"The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
"This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon.
"Don categorically denies these claims and this matter does not merit any further comment at this time."
"Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers in Plaintiff’s mustache and under Plaintiff’s nose," the suit allegedly stated.
In the suit, Hice also said Lemon was different from the "Me Too" advocate who he often saw on TV.
"When the cameras are turned off, however, Mr. Lemon’s actions are in stark and disturbing contrast to the public persona he attempts to convey," the suit reads.
Hice denied going after CNN on social media, telling the New York Post: "I have never ever ranted about anyone, especially a news station. … I am a private, religious man."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Made in India Cartoons