Rep. Dan Crenshaw rips Antifa demonstrators, blasts Portland protests as ‘sad showing’

In a Twitter message Saturday, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw declared Saturday’s protests in Portland, Ore., “a sad showing,” and said the city’s Antifa activists paled in comparison to the demonstrators fighting for democracy in Hong Kong.
“In Hong Kong,” the Republican congressman from Texas wrote, “antifascists wave American flags, demand freedom and actually fight fascists.
“In Portland,” he continued, “ ‘antifascists’ burn American flags, demand violence in the name of socialism.”
Crenshaw, 35, is in his first term in the U.S. House after being elected las November. The former U.S. Navy SEAL served in Afghanistan and is the recipient of two Bronze Stars for heroic service and a Purple Heart after being wounded in combat.
On Saturday, demonstrators from both left-wing and right-wing groups converged in Portland, Ore., the scene of numerous violent confrontations in the past.
As of Saturday evening, the city’s mayor was declaring the day’s events “largely peaceful,” with 13 arrests and a small number of minor injuries reported.
Members of the Proud Boys and other conservative groups have argued that Antifa protesters have instigated violence at their events, but have often escaped prosecution because many of their members keep their faces covered during attacks.
In July, the city’s police chief called for new laws against wearing masks during such protests.
“We cannot allow people to continue to use the guide of free speech to commit a crime,” Chief Danielle Outlaw said.
On Saturday, President Trump threatened to push for Antifa to be declared a terror organization.
As a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Crenshaw frequently speaks out on matters of security and terrorism.
In July, Crenshaw accused Democratic U.S. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., of using the U.S.-Mexico border crisis as a stage for criticizing President Trump rather than for proposing solutions to the nation’s immigration problem.
"What they really want is more commissions … more investigations they can point to, to call the president evil," Crenshaw said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” "That's what they want."
In June, Crenshaw went after Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, accusing her of “literally repeating the lies of the Iranian regime” after she asserted that President Trump was trying to provoke a conflict with Iran.

Joe Biden heaps praise on GOP during Massachusetts fundraiser

Democratic 2020 presidential frontrunner Joe Biden praised Republicans as “decent people” at a Massachusetts fundraiser Saturday while touting his ability to work across the aisle, according to a report.
“There’s an awful lot of really good Republicans out there,” the former vice president told the audience, according to The Hill. “I get in trouble for saying that with Democrats, but the truth of the matter is, every time we ever got in trouble with our administration, remember who got sent up to Capitol Hill to fix it? Me. Because they know I respect the other team.”
He said congressional Republicans ran because they “care about things,” but are afraid to be at odds with President Trump.
"They're intimidated right now,” he told the audience, The Hill reported.
Biden took heat last fall when The New York Times published a story that said he “stunned Democrats and elated Republicans” three weeks before the midterms by lauding Republican House candidate Fred Upton, R-Mich.
He has also frustrated Democrats in the past by praising former Vice President Dick Cheney and calling Vice President Mike Pence “a decent guy.”
While Biden -- considered to be the most moderate of the top-ranked candidates -- is largely running on his ability to work with Republicans, more liberal candidates like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris are focused on promoting progressive plans like Medicare-for-All and the Green New Deal.

Tlaib hits back at Bill Maher for comments on BDS, compares Israel to apartheid South Africa

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., suggested Saturday that viewers boycott comedian Bill Maher’s HBO talk show after he devoted a segment of Friday's program to bashing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, calling it a “bulls--- purity test.”
"Maybe folks should boycott his show," said Tlaib, who went on to compare criticism of the BDS movement to the controversy surrounding boycotts of South Africa's apartheid regime in the 1970s and 1980s.
"I am tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom," the lawmaker continued. "This is exactly how they tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the apartheid in S. Africa. It didn't work then and it won't now."
Maher’s segment came one day after the Israeli government said it would deny entry to Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for their support of the BDS movement following an appeal from President Trump.
Maher opined that Omar’s past comments, in which she seemed to suggest that “Jews control the world, control the money,” might have played a part in “why they don’t get a hero’s welcome.”
Tlaib's tweet came in response to a post by Intercept columnist Mehdi Hasan, who criticized “Liberal” Maher for “railing against BDS, Palestinians and Omar/Tlaib with an all-white panel featuring no Palestinians, no Arabs, no Muslims, no people of colour.”
On Friday, the Israeli government said Tlaib could visit her relatives in the West Bank, including her 99-year-old grandma, on humanitarian grounds. But then the Interior Ministry released a letter purportedly signed by Tlaib in which she promised not to advocate boycotts during her visit. That appears to have lead to her decision to cancel the visit.
"Visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me would break my grandmother's heart," she said in a statement. "Silencing me with treatment to make me feel less-than is not what she wants for me — it would kill a piece of me that always stands up against racism and injustice."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wolfsohn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bill Maher Cartoons

Maher doubles down on call for recession to oust Trump; says it would be 'very worth' it

Idiot

"Real Time" host Bill Maher doubled down Friday on his desire for the U.S. economy to fall into recession in hopes of blocking a second term for President Trump -- telling his panel of guests any hardship that results would be "very worth" it.
"I've been saying for about two years that I hope we have a recession and people get mad at me," said Maher, a multimillionaire who would likely be well insulated from a financial downturn.
“I’m just saying we can survive a recession," he continued. "We've had 47 of them. We've had one every time there's a Republican president! They don’t last forever, You know what lasts forever? Wiping out species!”
The HBO star then pointed to a U.N. report warning how many species of plants and animals are at the risk of extinction and went on to blast the Trump administration for rolling back regulations from the Nixon-era Endangered Species Act "like any evil villain would do."
"So yes, a recession would be very worth getting rid of Donald Trump and these kinds of policies," Maher reiterated. "A recession would definitely knock him out of office."
Earlier this month, Maher revived his argument in favor of a recession and last week found an ally in NBC News correspondent Richard Engel during a panel discussion.

Joe Biden confuses Burlington, Iowa, with Burlington, Vt., in latest gaffe

Gaffe-prone Democratic 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden reportedly added another factual blunder to his list Friday.
During a campaign fundraiser in his home state of Delaware, the former vice president was referencing a speech he had made to a group of 275 people, in which he accused  President Trump of "fueling a literal carnage” in the country through his rhetoric.
But Biden mistakenly recalled the location of the speech as Burlington, Vt., instead of Burlington, Iowa, according to The Washington Examiner. Whether Biden had Democratic rival Bernie Sanders -- a former mayor of Burlington, Vt. -- on his mind was not immediately known.
The mistake was the latest in a series of gaffes the 76-year-old Biden has made that have caused concern among some Democrats that's he's too old and prompted President Trump to say he isn’t “playing with a full deck.”
Last week in Iowa, Biden said “poor kids” are just as smart as “white kids,” and last weekend he mistakenly said he met with survivors of the February 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting while vice president -- even though he had left office more than a year before the attack.
He has also confused former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for Theresa May twice since May.
Biden’s press secretary told CNN the focus on Biden's blunders is a “press narrative, not a voter narrative."
The candidate himself, however, appears to take his verbal slip-ups in stride.
“I am a gaffe machine, but, my God, what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can’t tell the truth," according to The Washington Post.
Some Biden allies have suggested limiting his appearances due to the mistakes, the Examiner reported.

Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson arrested on eve of Portland, Ore., protests

Patriot Prayer founder and rally organizer Joey Gibson speaks to his followers at a rally in Portland, Ore., Aug. 4, 2018. (Associated Press)

Idiot

The leader of a conservative group was arrested Friday in Portland, Ore., one day before planned protests involving supporters of the far-left Antifa movement and supporters of several conservative groups.
Joey Gibson, leader of Portland-based Patriot Prayer, turned himself in to authorities in connection with an arrest warrant for rioting, stemming from a violent clash in the city on May 1, according to the Associated Press. He was later released after posting bail, with further legal action pending.
In a video posted on Facebook, Gibson accused police of targeting conservative groups for arrests but not members of Antifa, even though masked Antifa supporters have been seen on videos engaging in violence during past protests.
Gibson asserted that authorities were trying to intimidate conservatives who planned to protest Saturday.
“They want you to not show up in Portland, they want to put fear in your hearts,” Gibson said.

“They want you to not show up in Portland, they want to put fear in your hearts.”
— Joey Gibson, Patriot Prayer

He also asked conservative protesters to refrain from violence Saturday.
"Force them to arrest you for being peaceful," he said.

"Force them to arrest you for being peaceful."
— Joey Gibson, Patriot Prayer

Gibson, 35, was not connected to the events planned for Saturday but had organized Portland rallies that turned violent in 2017 and 2018, the report said.
Separately, a conservative group called the Oath Keepers has decided it will not participate Saturday, saying it did not believe organizers had done enough to discourage white supremacists from showing up.
Portland authorities have been taking steps intended to minimize the chances that Saturday’s demonstrations repeat the violence of past events. Personnel from more than two-dozen law enforcement agencies – representing local, state and federal government – are involved in trying to maintain order during the demonstrations, the AP reported.
“I'm confident that from a law enforcement perspective, we're going to have all the tools and the resources and personnel we need,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Friday on Fox News’ “Outnumbered Overtime.”
The mayor, a Democrat, has drawn criticism over the city’s handling of past protests.
In June, conservative writer Andy Ngo was hospitalized after being attacked by Antifa supporters at a Portland demonstration.
On Friday, Ngo told “Fox & Friends” that he feared Saturday’s event “has the potential to be a powder keg.”
Precautions being taken in Portland for Saturday include plans by many downtown businesses to close for the day, as well as the planned closure of the Hawthorne Bridge, which connects eastern Portland to the downtown area, across the Willamette River, OregonLive reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Matthew Brodsky: Tlaib, Omar don’t deserve sympathy for being barred from Israel – They deserve condemnation

Idiot

Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s decision Friday to refuse to visit her grandmother on the West Bank unless she could use the trip to campaign for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement proves that the goal of her trip was to generate anti-Israel propaganda.
Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri tweeted that he granted the Michigan Democratic congresswoman permission to visit “her 90 year old grandmother” as a “gesture of goodwill on a humanitarian basis.”
But when Tlaib retracted her pledge to refrain from promoting the BDS movement while visiting her grandmother, Deri said on Twitter: “Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother.”
President Trump – who had urged Israel not to permit Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to visit the Jewish state this weekend – agreed with Deri.
The president tweeted: “Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!”
It’s important to understand that BDS is not just anti-Israel – it is anti-Semitic. It seeks to cut off the only Jewish state in the world from all international trade, diplomatic and military relations, cultural and academic programs, tourism and all other ties with every nation on Earth. If fully implemented, BDS would destroy Israel’s economy and lead to the collapse of the Jewish state – a goal the founders of BDS proudly embrace.
Israel has been getting plenty of criticism for barring the entry of Tlaib and Omar, including from many individuals and groups who are normally strong supporters. Few of these people are defending Tlaib and Omar for their repeated anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments, but instead have expressed concern that Israel looks bad for refusing entry to members of the U.S. Congress.
After all, a democratic nation should never bar elected representatives of a close ally from visiting, critics of the Israeli decision argue. What kind of nation would take such an action?
Well, one nation that did the exact same thing in 2012 was the United States of America, in an action by the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama. The U.S. government refused to give a visa to a member of the Israeli Knesset (the nation’s parliament), because it said the political party he belonged to was a “terrorist organization.”
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin protested the exclusion of Knesset Member Michael Ben Ari, a member of the National Union Party.
"National Union," Rivlin wrote in his letter of protest to the U.S.,"is a completely legitimate faction of the Israeli parliament, and Ben Ari an elected representative of the State of Israel, a close American ally. To impugn him as belonging to a terrorist organization and bar him from visiting the country is unacceptable.”
So much for the “unprecedented” action Israel is being criticized for in barring Tlaib and Omar from entering. Every nation on Earth has the sovereign right to determine who can and cannot enter – including Israel.
Barring Tlaib and Omar from entering Israel was a tough call, but I believe Israel made the right decision.
Importantly, Tlaib and Omar turned down an invitation to be part of a bipartisan group of 72 U.S. House members who visited Israel last week. There is no indication that Israel would have barred the pair from being part of that large group of U.S. lawmakers.
The Democratic House members on the trip met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas – who has strongly denounced President Trump for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and for other actions – refused to meet with the Republican House members, just as he refuses to negotiate peace with the Israelis.
Instead of joining their colleagues, Tlaib and Omar chose to work with a blatantly anti-Semitic group called Miftah to set up a trip that would have avoided any meetings with Israeli government officials and turned into a hate-filled media circus attacking Israel and the Jewish people.
Miftah, which would have been the tour guide for Tlaib and Omar, has published an article that said Jews celebrate Passover by killing Christian children and using their blood to bake matzoh (unleavened bread). This is an ancient anti-Semitic lie that has been used for 2,000 years to justify the murder of Jews, and was heavily promoted by the Nazis, who slaughtered 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
In 2006, Miftah published an article that praised female suicide bombers. The group has also expressed support for naming public squares after Palestinian terrorists who murder innocent Jewish civilians in Israel.

Instead of joining their colleagues, Tlaib and Omar chose to work with a blatantly anti-Semitic group called Miftah to set up a trip that would have avoided any meetings with Israeli government officials and turned into a hate-filled media circus attacking Israel and the Jewish people.

Miftah refuses to recognize the existence of Israel and opposes joint Arab-Israeli peace programs. The group also denies the existence of the ancient Jewish temples in Jerusalem, an absurd claim that rejects historical reality and undermines a central pillar of Islam as much as it undercuts Judaism and Christianity.
If that weren’t enough, Miftah also posted a neo-Nazi article that compares Jews to poison and derides “Jewish media control” as an evil that must be combated. To be clear, this isn’t just anti-Israel; it is basic anti-Semitism.
Likewise, the BDS movement, which Tlaib and Omar actively support, isn’t about registering dissatisfaction with Israeli policies. It is about applying a double-standard to Israel.
BDS is designed to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state and replace it with a Palestinian state – something the BDS movement’s co-founder proudly proclaimed in 2013.
BDS does not simply object to Israel’s administration of land it captured after Arab armies invaded the Jewish state in 1967 in an effort to destroy it. BDS opposes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state within its pre-1967 borders, according to the movement’s official documents. Instead, the BDS lobby calls for a series of steps that would dismantle the Jewish state.
It is no wonder, then, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided not to allow Tlaib and Omar into Israel on a Miftah-orchestrated anti-Israel trip.
Netanyahu explained that while Israel is open to critics and criticism, “Israeli law prohibits the entry into Israel of those who call for and work to impose boycotts on Israel, as do other democracies that prohibit the entry of people who seek to harm the country.”
Given the long track record of anti-Israel comments by Tlaib and Omar, there was plenty of reason for Israel to be skeptical about the purpose of their trip. The red flags dramatically increased as their supposed arrival date approached.
Because the Israelis were kept in the dark about the plans by the two congresswomen, Israel was compelled to prepare for the uncomfortable possibility that the two would try to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City – the complex where the two Jewish temples once stood and where the Islamic holy sites of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque are located.
Such a visit would stir controversy after weekend riots erupted on the Temple Mount and could have sparked a new outbreak of potentially deadly violence by Palestinians.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu appear to realize that the bipartisan pro-Israel congressional consensus that existed in the past is vanishing. That is a sad reality for Israel and American Jews.
While House Democratic leaders may believe the trend in their own chamber is reversible, they nevertheless rushed to defend Tlaib and Omar when the two were barred from entering Israel, instead demonizing Netanyahu. This is unfortunate.
The fact is that anti-Semitism (cloaked as opposition to Israel since the creation of the modern Jewish state) in one of the oldest and vilest forms of prejudice around, and has been used to justify mass murder on a nightmarish scale.
Just as all men and women of good conscience must denounce racism and other forms of prejudice against particular groups, we must denounce the evil of anti-Semitism. Reps. Tlaib and Omar do not deserve our sympathy or support after being barred from entering Israel. They only deserve our condemnation for their actions promoting hatred of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.