Eric McCormack backtracks, says he doesn't support 'blacklists' after calling to out Trump donors

"Will & Grace" star Eric McCormack is walking back his comments after he and his co-star Debra Messing were widely criticized after calling for Trump donors in Hollywood to be outed.
Last week, McCormack responded to a report about an upcoming fundraiser being held in Beverly Hills in honor of President Trump's reelection campaign by requesting a followup of all the attendees.
"Hey, @THR, kindly report on everyone attending this event," he wrote, "so the rest of us can be clear about who we don't want to work with. Thx," McCormack tweeted.
On Tuesday, however, McCormack attempted to clarify his stance, telling his followers on Instagram that he doesn't support "blacklists."
"I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way," McCormack began. "I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, as anyone who knows me would attest. I'd simply like to understand where Trump's major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record."
"I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed that I can morally and ethically stand by and to do that, transparency is essential."
Messing agreed with the sentiment, adding "I couldn't have said it better."
The Emmy-winning performers from the NBC comedy were blasted on Tuesday by "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg.
“In this country, people can vote for who they want to -- that is one of the great rights of this country,” she said on Tuesday. “You don’t have to like it but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for -- we don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff, but we don’t print out lists.”
She went on to urge Messing and McCormack to reconsider their tweets and “remember what the blacklist actually meant to people and don’t encourage anyone -- anyone to do it.”
In an apparent allusion to the McCarthy era, Goldberg said that “a lot of good people” had been accused of things and lost their “right to work.”
“Last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves,” Goldberg added.

Restaurant menu items named after 'The Wall' and 'Lock Her Up' spark controversy

A new restaurant in New Mexico has sparked controversy over menu items named after popular phrases used by President Trump.
Urban Taqueria, located in Albuquerque, is the talk of the town after some customers complained about the use of terms like “The Wall,” “The Immigrant” and “Lock Her Up” on its menu.
Critics say the terms are offensive to certain communities and perpetuate hate speech.
"The way things are right now. It's not good," customer Juan Hernandez told local TV station KOAT. "We need to have respect for others and have limits."
University of New Mexico professor Patricia Perea said “normalizing” the terms, which also include phrases like “Fake News,” is dangerous.
"It seems fun, it seems like you can make fun of this and maybe make it lighthearted, but you really can't, you're offending a whole community," Perea said. "It's normalizing the terms and potentially turning them into funny or humorous terms, and the more that you do that, the more likely people are to repeat them and perhaps forget the contexts in which they were said."
The restaurant’s owner Hanif Mohamed, who is an immigrant, said the terms on the menu are all in fun. If anything, he said, he hopes it sparks conversation.
"Ninety-nine percent of the people who walk in, more than 99 percent, don't seem to have an issue with it," Mohamed told the station. "The menu's not designed to insult people or hurt people, but it's just meant to keep the conversation going as to what's happening around us."
Not everyone, however, thinks the restaurant’s name choices for menu items are offensive.
"To me it's not offensive," said Christy Garcia. "I just think it's interesting that they decided to be so bold with the names."

California’s Newsom signs bill allowing citizen to refuse to help a police officer

Idiot

Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Democrat, on Tuesday signed a bill that no longer requires any "able-bodied person 18 years of age or older" in the state to help an officer who requested assistance during an arrest.
The Sacramento Bee reported that the old law, the California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872, was common in the country’s early days, but Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the old law a “vestige of a bygone era." The law had been employed to help catch runaway slaves, the report said.
The old law made it a misdemeanor that carried a fine of up to $1,000 for refusing to help a police officer who requested assistance during an arrest.
The report said Newsom did not issue a statement after signing the bill.
The California State Sheriff’s Association said in a statement that it is “unconvinced that this statute should be repealed.”

London Mayor Cartoons

VP Pence: UK-Irish border should remain open after Brexit

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UPDATED 2:00 PM PST – Mon. September 2, 2019

Vice President Mike Pence said he hopes the UK-Irish border will remain open after Brexit.

Ireland’s Minister of foreign affairs Simon Coveney, right, shakes hands with with US Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting, after he arrived at Shannon airport for the start of an official visit to Ireland, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

During his visit to Ireland Monday, Pence said, the U.S. would oppose a Brexit scenario that erodes the 1998 Belfast agreement. That accord is a peace deal, which ended a decades-long feud between Northern Irish unionists and Republicans.
Pence said Brexit should not threaten political stability on the Island of Ireland. “We understand these are complex issues. I’ll be in the UK meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in just a few days, Pence said during his meeting with Ireland’s Minister of foreign affairs Simon Coveney. “But I think the opportunity to better understand Ireland’s perspective and unique needs, particularly with regard to your northern border, will make us even better equipped to hopefully play a constructive role.”
Coveney said, the UK could reinstate border checks in Northern Ireland, despite British officials having repeatedly dismissed such allegations.

White House, DOJ working to expedite death penalty for mass shooters

The White House said Monday it has drafted legislation with the Justice Department that would expedite the death penalty for people found guilty of committing mass shootings, following Saturday's attack in West Texas that left seven dead, according to a pool report.
Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters aboard Air Force Two that the initiative was part of a larger White House gun control package that will be sent to Congress after lawmakers return from their August recess on Sept. 9.
Attorney General Bill Barr is involved in active discussions with the vice president's office, Short said, as the plane made its way to Ireland.
The issue could be contentious among Democrats seeking to unseat President Trump in 2020. Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke has sought to revive his struggling candidacy by calling for a mandatory buyback of what he called "assault weapons" -- but he also has insisted, in a recent policy shift, that capital punishment is categorically wrong.
Still, there has been little hesitation from the Trump administration on the issue. In August, Trump said he was “directing the Department of Justice to propose legislation ensuring that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty," adding that he wanted "capital punishment be delivered quickly, decisively, and without years of needless delay.”
Earlier this summer, Barr said the federal government will resume capital punishment and will move forward with plans to execute five inmates on death row for the first time in more than 15 years.
Short's remarks came as the Chicago Sun-Times reported that 35 people were shot, 7 of them killed, in Chicago over Labor Day weekend.
It also emerged Monday that the gunman in the West Texas rampage over the weekend had been "on a long spiral down" and was fired from his oil services job the morning he killed seven people, calling 911 both before and after the shooting began.
Investigators have not said how the gunman obtained the gun used in the shooting, but he previously had failed a federal background check for a firearm, said John Wester, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Officials did not elaborate on when the gunman failed the background check, or why.
Online court records showed the gunman was arrested in 2001 for a misdemeanor offense that would not have prevented him from legally purchasing firearms in Texas. Federal law defines nine categories that would legally prevent a person from owning a gun, which include being convicted of a felony, a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, being the subject of a restraining order or having an active warrant. Authorities have said Ator had no active warrants at the time of the shooting.
In a letter last month to President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., specifically pushed for the House-passed Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act. Some of the House-sponsored legislation would extend the time period for the FBI to conduct background checks on firearm purchases from three days to 10 days and establish new background-check procedures for private gun transfers.
Many Republicans said they hoped to take action to curb gun violence. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said his party has been interested in “common sense solutions to prevent this from happening in the future while at the same time protecting due process for anyone who is a law-abiding citizen.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures" that state officials including Gov. Greg Abbott got together as part of a domestic terrorism task force to address the issue.
Paxton said he would like Congress to do the same to try determining "what kind of practices would change this from happening or at least allow us to respond more quickly."
For his part, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said that so-called "red flag" warning legislation, as well as expanded background checks, would be "front and center" on the Senate floor when Congress comes back in session.
However, red flag laws might be unconstitutional, some conservatives have said, and states and local governments increasingly have sparred over the issue. More than a dozen states have enacted red flag laws. In March, Colorado's attorney general testified that county sheriffs vowing not to enforce the state's anti-gun "red flag" bill should "resign."
Red flag laws generally require friends or family to establish by a "preponderance of the evidence" -- a relatively lax legal standard essentially meaning that something is "more likely than not" -- that a person "poses a significant risk to self or others by having a firearm in his or her custody or control or by possessing, purchasing or receiving a firearm."
Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted Sunday morning, “Great job by Texas Law Enforcement and First Responders in handling the terrible shooting tragedy yesterday. Thank you also to the FBI, @GregAbbott_TX and all others. A very tough and sad situation!”
Late last month, the White House pushed back on claims by the National Rifle Association (NRA) that Trump had said privately that universal background checks were off the table. Trump has waffled publicly on whether new background checks were needed.
In the wake of two mass shootings last month, overwhelming and bipartisan majorities of voters said they favored background checks on gun buyers and taking guns from people who were a danger to themselves or others, according to a Fox News Poll.
Two-thirds also supported a ban on "assault weapons," although that majority was driven largely by Democrats, and the term remained poorly defined.
Still, asked to choose one or the other, voters said they would rather live in a country where gun ownership was legal than one where guns were banned.
The poll was conducted August 11-13, about a week after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer, Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

British Parliament, US Congress both set to return from ‘recess’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson prorogued Parliament.
This is the term of art the British use when Parliament is suspended for a period.
The prorogue was a defensive move by Johnson to keep efforts at bay to derail his plan to yank the United Kingdom out of the European Union without a formal agreement. A “hard Brexit,” if you will.
So, Johnson essentially halted the session so Members of Parliament couldn’t offer legislative alternatives to his Brexit maneuver – or even call a vote of no-confidence against him. This upended the current parliamentary session which has run since June of 2017. It’s the longest such parliamentary convocation in 400 years.
But, Parliament wasn’t dissolved. It’s been on a kind of extended recess for a while.

Sound familiar?
The U.S. House and Senate have been gone for a while, too. No proroguing on Capitol Hill though – unless it’s willful. Congress is instead on the customary “August recess,” – even though it’s now September. The respite started in late July for the House. Early August for the Senate. Congress often reconvenes right after Labor Day. But not this year. Few lawmakers will surface in Washington until September 9.
The House and Senate resisted calls to reconvene in August and early September, despite mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton - followed by the melee in Odessa and Midland, TX. The House decided against returning to Washington. Democrats decided instead to ramp up attention on what many Democrats described as “inaction” by the Senate on gun measures. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declined to summon senators back to Washington to work on firearms issues. McConnell knew it would be a challenge to advance anything on guns.
Much has been made about Johnson’s proroguing gambit in the United Kingdom. When leaders prorogue Parliament, it’s often suspended for a just few days. Not weeks. But even though there is no “prorogue” phenomenon in Congress, there are some similarities on Capitol Hill.
Congress has taken an August vacation for decades now. In 1963, the Senate met year-round, only breaking for weekends. But jet travel became easier, connecting lawmakers with the far-flung districts and states they represent. Media bolstered the importance of lawmakers returning regularly to home turf to conduct events, meet with constituents and “be seen.”
A Congressional “reorganization” in the 1970s recommended the establishment of the contemporary August recess, stretching from the end of July until just after Labor Day. Congress has stuck to the “August recess” concept for the most part. But it’s not unheard of for lawmakers to toil in Washington through the dog days of August. Such was the case with the 1994 crime bill (which barred assault weapons). Congress returned to Washington with a skeleton crew to approve emergency aid after Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005. McConnell gamely declared he was “cancelling” the August recess last year. But it turned out that senators were only in Washington for a few days.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) control the House schedule. They could always summon the House back to session if necessary. But frankly, the leaders know it’s important to protect their majority and get vulnerable freshman Democrats back to their districts during this time. The House would not break the recess unless there was a big emergency. After the shootings, Democrats scheduled a House Judiciary Committee meeting for this week this to prepare gun legislation for later in the month. But the panel called off the session due to the threat of Hurricane Dorian in Florida and along the eastern seaboard.
Pelosi & company really didn’t want the House to meet over the past five weeks. The Speaker sent out a memo imploring Democrats to “own August” by discussing health care and economic issues.
Perhaps more importantly, the vacation helped Democrats ignore questions about impeachment and the investigations of President Trump. While more than half of all Democrats now support impeachment or some sort of an impeachment “inquiry,” they are a far cry from having the votes to impeach the President. This reflects the Democrats “both ways” strategy. Democrats continue to apply pressure on Mr. Trump and probe the possibility of impeachment. That helps Democrats with their leftist base. It simultaneously inoculates Democrats who oppose impeachment. Meantime, Democrats investigate a slate of other alleged misdeeds involving the Trump Administration. The House’s summer interlude probably aided Pelosi and many other Democrats by not having to address impeachment on a daily basis.
Mitch McConnell is probably glad the Senate was on hiatus, too. McConnell’s public statements about the shootings indicate he’s skeptical there’s anything on which the House, Senate and President Trump can agree when with guns. The Senate may have a slate of nominations McConnell still wants to tackle. But the Kentucky Republican doesn’t have a lot of other legislative traffic teed up. So, many senators are also content the Senate hasn’t been in session much lately. There’s nothing worse than having lawmakers in Washington with little to do. That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot to do on big issues. However, there’s a reason why the legislative docket is thin: the sides lack agreement. There isn’t going to be a magical solution to disputes about infrastructure or health care. So, why try? That’s why the Senate is more than happy to be on leave for weeks.
The circus will come back to town next week. The House will brawl over investigations and impeachment. The sides must forge a deal to fund the government past September 30. There will be discussions about guns. The House will likely even pass a bill or two related to firearms. It’s unclear if anything would happen in the Senate. And in the background, negotiations continue on the new trade pact between the United States, Canada and Mexico. That measure is nowhere close to passage yet.
So no proroguing of the legislature here. But, for all intents and purposes, Congress was “suspended” for the past few weeks, much like in the United Kingdom. However, there is one major difference. When lawmakers in Washington return to work, they’ll start again without a speech by the Queen.

London mayor Sadiq Khan rips Trump for managing Hurricane Dorian emergency response while 'out on the golf course'

The mayor of London renewed his public feud with President Trump over the weekend by mocking the president for canceling a trip to Poland to commemorate the start of World War II only to deal with emergency response to Hurricane Dorian from the golf course.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who traveled to Poland over the weekend for a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, told Politico in an interview Sunday that Trump couldn’t attend because he was “clearly busy dealing with a hurricane out on the golf course.”
Khan, who is London’s first Muslim mayor, also slammed Trump for disseminating messages he perceives as racist on his Twitter page. Trump and Khan first butt heads in 2016 when Trump floated the idea of banning Muslims from certain countries from traveling to the U.S.

“These people have been inspired by mainstream politicians who subscribe to their point of view,” Khan told Politico. Trump “is a guy who amplifies racist tweets; amplifies the tweets of fascists; says things that are deeply objectionable. If I don’t stand up and call that out I think I’m doing a disservice to Londoners who chose me as their mayor.”
Trump announced Thursday in the White House rose garden that he was canceling his planned trip to Warsaw and instead would send Vice President Mike Pence so he could stay in the United States to monitor the strengthening Hurricane Dorian.
Trump on Saturday left the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland—where he and experts were monitoring the Category 4 hurricane. He traveled by helicopter to his private Virginia golf club for several hours. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump traveled with a FEMA official and that he was being briefed “every hour.”
Trump and Khan last traded jabs in June during the president’s visit to the United Kingdom. Trump labeled Khan a “stone cold loser” when he first arrived to London. Khan responded by telling BBC that the president's insults reminded him of "the sort of thing an 11-year-old would do."

At a London press conference with outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump also accused Khan of doing a poor job as mayor by failing to address crime and “a lot of problems” within his city. He criticized Khan and other left-wing activists for protesting his visit to the country amid Brexit negotiations.
"I don't think he should be criticizing a representative of the United States that can do so much good for the United Kingdom," Trump told reporters of Khan. "He's a negative force, not a positive force."

Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.