Conservative Cartoons

Skirmishes break out in Hong Kong mall amid counter rallies

HONG KONG (AP) — Skirmishes broke out Saturday between supporters of the ongoing protests for democratic reforms in Hong Kong and supporters of the central government at a shopping mall in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.

Hundreds of pro-Beijing demonstrators sang the Chinese national anthem, waved red flags and chanted slogans at Amoy Plaza in the densely packed Kowloon district. Opposing protesters quickly gathered there, sparking tensions as the two camps heckled each other.

The situation turned chaotic with groups of people trading blows and some using umbrellas to hit their opponents. Police later moved in to defuse the situation, with several people detained.

The clashes amid the mid-autumn festival holiday came after several nights of peaceful rallies that featured mass singing at shopping malls by supporters of the months-long pro-democracy protests.

Thousands of people also carried lanterns with pro-democracy messages in public areas and formed illuminated human chains on two of the city’s peaks on Friday night to mark the major Chinese festival.

Protesters have refused to yield despite the government’s promise to withdraw an extradition bill that triggered the protests. They have widened their demands to include direct elections for their leaders and police accountability.

Many saw the extradition bill, which would have allowed some Hong Kong suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial, as an example of Hong Kong’s autonomy eroding since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Shops shuttered at Amoy Plaza after the brawls. The atmosphere remained tense as pro-democracy protesters slammed police, some who were seen hitting detainees with batons to subdue them. Local media showed minor scuffles continuing outside the mall as people left.

In the northwestern suburb of Tin Shui Wai, several hundred people marched on the street, carrying pro-democracy posters and waving American flags, in defiance of a police ban on a rally in the area. Riot police intercepted them and prevented them from marching to a park.

Some 200 high school students also staged a sit-in Friday at a downtown public square. Many students have formed human chains outside their schools as classes resumed two weeks ago after the summer break.

“Many students feel angry and unhappy. Today’s gathering is a platform for us to vent our frustrations,” said Lia Ng, 14.

More than 1,300 people have been arrested since the protests began in early June. Clashes have become more violent in recent weeks, with riot police firing tear gas as protesters vandalized subway stations, set fires and blocked traffic.

The unrest has further battered Hong Kong’s economy, which was already reeling from the U.S.-China trade war. It is also seen as an embarrassment to China’s ruling Communist Party ahead of Oct. 1 National Day celebrations.

At a netizens news conference earlier Saturday, activists warned that violence could escalate if the government continues to turn a deaf ear to citizens’ demands. They wore face masks to shield their identity for fear of reprisals from the government.

One of the activists said it was “natural behavior that people escalate their ways” if peaceful means failed to elicit any response.

Police have banned a major rally planned in central Hong Kong on Sunday, but protesters have vowed to turn up anyway. Some others are also planning to march to the British Consulate.

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Associated Press videojournalists Raf Wober and Phoebe Lai contributed to this report.

DOJ opposes House panel's request for more Mueller probe materials as it pursues impeachment

The Justice Department told a judge Friday that the House Judiciary Committee shouldn't be granted access to unreleased material from the former special counsel's Russia investigation as it weighs whether to move forward with impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
The committee had filed a petition in federal court for lawmakers to obtain the grand jury material to determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump for his knowledge of any potential "criminal acts" by him or his associates related to conspiring with Russia.
The department argued lawmakers have "come nowhere close to demonstrating a particularized need" for the information.

"What may come of this investigation — if anything — remains unknown and unpredictable," the court filing read.

"What may come of this investigation — if anything — remains unknown and unpredictable."
— Justice Department court filing

A redacted version of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report was released to the public in April. A less-redacted version, where only grand jury information was blacked out, was then given to certain lawmakers, including the committee's chairman and ranking member.
The committee asserted its need of the full, unredacted version of Mueller's report as well as transcripts of the grand jury testimony, and filed a lawsuit under Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., in July. The Justice Department argued the blacked-out information in the report comprised a "tiny percentage of the document," and that the committee hadn't provided a sufficient explanation as to how the material would help their investigation of Trump.
The DOJ also argued an impeachment proceeding carried out in Congress wouldn't be considered a "judicial proceeding" under law, in which case the information could have been disclosed.
The department went on to argue that several investigations stemming from Mueller's probe remained open, thus there is a "continuing need for secrecy" about grand jury proceedings.
It's not clear what new information the committee is seeking in the grand jury transcripts. Many witnesses connected to the Trump administration appeared for voluntary questioning before Mueller's team rather than the grand jury.
The House Judiciary Committee approved ground rules for impeachment hearings Thursday, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi maintained her cautious approach.
"If we have to go there, we'll go there," she said. "But we can't go there until we have all the facts."
Nadler promised an "aggressive" fall schedule for impeachment investigations, starting with a public session next week with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

California lawmakers splashed with 'what appeared to be blood' during anti-vaxxing protest at Statehouse

A protester was taken into custody at the California Statehouse in Sacramento on Friday evening after she allegedly threw a feminine hygiene device containing "what appeared to be blood" onto the floor of the state Senate from a public viewing area, splashing the liquid onto lawmakers working below.
The Senate chamber was evacuated and lawmakers finished their work in a committee room on the final day of the legislative session.
The woman, who was not identified, was detained on charges including assault, vandalism and disrupting "the orderly conduct of official business" at the Statehouse, the California Highway Patrol said in a news release.

In this photo provided by state Senator Steven Glazer, red dots are splattered on papers on Glazer's Senate desk, after a woman threw a container with red liquid from the public gallery of the Senate chambers during a legislative session, in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. (Senator Steven Glazer via AP)

The disruption occurred as a group of protesters — many holding signs promoting “Medical Freedom” -- were permitted into the Senate chambers to overlook state Senate proceedings from the upstairs balcony. They had been demonstrating against a recently signed state measure intended to crack down on fraudulent medical exemptions for vaccinations.
Around 5:15 p.m., a woman in the group leaned over the railing and hurled the unidentified red liquid onto the unsuspecting lawmakers. Someone reportedly called out: “That’s for the dead babies.”
The Senate called a quick recess and law enforcement evacuated the chambers. A video posted to social media shows a woman, who walked out of the gallery into the hallway, saying, “My menstrual blood is all over the Senate floor… a representation of the blood of the dead babies,” before she is then handcuffed.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, posted on Twitter after the ordeal.
“A few minutes ago, the anti-vaxxer stalkers – who’ve engaged in a harassment campaign all week – dropped a red substance onto the Senate floor from the elevated public gallery, dousing several of my colleagues,” Wiener wrote. “These anti-vaxxers are engaging in criminal behavior. They’ve now repeatedly assaulted senators and are engaging in harassing and intimidating behavior every single day, as we try to do the people’s work. They’re a cancer on the body politic and are attacking democracy.”
The incident comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed controversial legislation into law this week that places restrictions on medical vaccine exemptions for children. State Sen. Richard Pan, a Democrat representing Sacramento, authored the bill. He was shoved by a protester last week outside the Capitol.
“This incident was incited by the violent rhetoric perpetuated by leaders of the antivaxx movement,” Pan said in a statement to FOX 40 Sacramento. “As their rhetoric escalates, their incidents of violence does as well. This is an attack on the democratic process and an assault on all Californians and it must be met with strong condemnation by everyone.”

A California Highway Patrol Officer photographs a desk on the Senate floor after a red liquid was thrown from the Senate Gallery during the Senate session at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. (Associated Press)

Senate Bill 276 and SB 714 intend to increase oversight on California’s vaccine medical exemption system, according to the Sacramento Bee. Doctors in the state will be required to submit a form to the state Department of Public Health every time they issue a medical exemption. Public health officials will be alerted when doctors issue more than five exemptions a year and review each exemption case to evaluate if fraud is being committed. The system will also flag schools that fall below a 95 percent vaccination rate.
Supporters argue the new legislation would protect children who are too sick or young to be vaccinated from being exposed to preventable diseases while at school, according to the Bee. Those in opposition to the new law say vaccines are not universally safe and that the measure would infringe on the patient-doctor relationship.

State Senator Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, right, leaves the Senate Chambers after a red substance was thrown from the Senate Gallery during the Senate session at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Protesters camped outside the governor’s office this week as others in opposition to the legislation crowded hallways in Sacramento’s Capitol building and attempted to disrupt hearings and floor sessions, the Los Angeles Times reported. The group responsible for organizing the rally outside the Capitol denounced the woman’s behavior Friday.
“We strongly denounce this, it goes far beyond crossing a line,” Jonathan Lockwood, executive director of Conscience Coalition, told the Sacramento Bee.

Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins said in a statement: “California’s legislative process, as well as our doors, should remain open to all who wish to observe or speak out on a variety of issues, but we cannot allow anyone to endanger others. The behavior that occurred in the Senate Chamber is unacceptable and has been dealt with by Capitol law enforcement. We will continue to do the people’s important business.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Feinstein to host fundraiser for Biden, in another apparent snub of fellow Californian Kamala Harris

BFFs in D.C.? Apparently not U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California.
According to reports, Feinstein, the senior senator from the Golden State, will throw a fundraiser next month for Democratic 2020 presidential frontrunner Joe Biden -- and not for Harris, another White House contender whose poll numbers suggest she could probably use some high-profile help.
Feinstein and husband Richard Blum will co-host the Biden event Oct. 3 in San Francisco, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by CNBC. Feinstein first gave her backing to Biden in January, months before the former vice president made his campaign official in April.
“My candidate would be Joe Biden,” Feinstein told CNBC back then. “I watched him as vice president. I’ve seen him operate. I’ve seen him perform and I think he brings a level of experience and seniority, which I think is really important.”
The early evening reception will be the first that Feinstein hosts for Biden in the 2020 election, CNBC reported. Her husband has already participated in several fundraising events for Biden, who campaigned for Feinstein in 2018, when she was re-elected by a landslide.
Feinstein has repeatedly faced questions about why she prefers Biden -- who was her Senate colleague for nearly two decades -- over Harris, her home state’s junior senator.
Harris and Biden famously butted heads during Democratic presidential debate earlier this year when Harris challenged Biden’s stance decades ago on the issue of desegregation school busing when he was a U.S. senator from Delaware.
“She’s brand-new here,” Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times about Harris in January when asked if she would support a Harris run for the White House. “It takes a little bit of time to get to know somebody.”
She also told the Washington Examiner in May when Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee he made her the “first woman” to serve on the panel.
“I love Kamala, I appreciate her,” Feinstein said, “but that’s what I’m going to do. I feel very loyal to him."
Ticket prices begin at $1,000 and cap out at $2,800 per person for the October event. Several other hosts will join Feinstein and Blum on the stage, including Denise Bauer, a former ambassador to Belgium, the emailed invitation said. Feinstein and Blum are not listed as hosts for a fundraising lunch to be held in nearby Palo Alto, Calif., earlier that day.
Harris, who previously served as California's attorney general -- and was district attorney of San Francisco, where Feinstein was once the mayor -- was elected to the Senate in 2016. In 2004, Feinstein said she would not have endorsed Harris for San Francisco district attorney if she had known Harris wouldn’t seek the death penalty for a gang member who killed a police officer, the Washington Examiner reported.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

Jerrold Nadler Idiot Democrat Cartoons

House Judiciary Committee passes impeachment rules to expand scope of inquiry

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., leads his panel to approve guidelines for impeachment investigation hearings on President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Some call this process an impeachment inquiry, some call it an impeachment investigation — there’s no legal difference between these terms and I no longer care to argue about their nomenclature.”

— Rep. Jerry Nadler, (D) Chairman – Judiciary Committee

The House Judiciary Committee has approved an apparent impeachment inquiry into President Trump. On Thursday, the panel passed a resolution in a 24-to-17 vote.
The resolution gave the committee power to deem meetings as impeachment hearings,which provides them the ability to question witnesses after members conclude hearings among other procedural functions.
Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler tried to clarify the confusion surrounding the intentions of the meeting and claimed terminology regarding impeachment inquiry is insignificant.
Ranking member Doug Collins blasted Nadler, saying he intended to use the pointless meeting to appeal to Democrat colleagues and to fool the general public into believing there is progress with an impeachment inquiry.
Collins also had this to say:

“I’ve wanted for a long time to be able to say this: welcome to fantasy island because we’re here…it may all look good. The unfortunate part is when the screen goes down, you just see a simple procedure issue…that doesn’t deal with impeachment, that doesn’t do anything else. It just simply gives another press release for whatever were doing now.”

The first committee hearing that will utilize the resolution is set for September 17th. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been called to testify.

Debate descends into melee over health care, Obama, socialism as Dems struggle to show unity

Idiots

Long-simmering policy disputes between Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and a slew of other candidates exploded into the open during Thursday night's Democratic primary debate, as the candidates -- often with raised voices -- laid bare their fundamental disagreements on "Medicare-for-all," immigration and more.
Intermittent efforts by some candidates to show unity and keep the heat on President Trump repeatedly failed, with most striving instead to score an aggressive debate "moment" onstage in Houston.
Amid the melee, Pete Buttigieg offered an exit ramp from the feuding as he criticized the Democrats for "scoring points against each other" -- prompting Julian Castro to interject, "That's called an election!"
"Yeah, but a house divided cannot stand," Amy Klobuchar retorted, to no avail.
The economy, which has performed well by virtually all major metrics in the past year, went largely undiscussed during the raucous three-hour debate. And, even as House Democrats made a push towards potentially impeaching the president this week, that topic conspicuously did not come up either.

Setting the tone

The brouhaha at the ABC News-hosted debate began from the outset, when Biden set the tone by going after Warren directly.
"I know the senator says she's for Bernie," Biden said. "Well, I'm for Barack."
"For a socialist, you've got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do," Biden shot back at Sanders shortly afterward, after the U.S. senator from Vermont suggested corporations would return the money they currently make on high insurance premiums if his sweeping plan were implemented.
Sanders responded by referring to cancer treatment, leading Biden to sharply reply, "I know a lot about cancer — it's personal to me." Brain cancer killed Biden's son Beau four years ago.
The clashes settled any questions about whether the top-tier candidates – meeting onstage for the first time, with the addition of Warren – would hold back. To the contrary, Biden was clearly mindful that Warren has been surging in recent weeks and was ready to fight to hold his frontrunner status, while several candidates continued to pile on Biden as they have at past debates.

Heated clashes

But the most heated clashes of the night came between Biden and fellow Obama administration member Castro, who tangled at length in direct and seemingly personal terms.
"I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama, and you're not," Castro said, referring to the millions of Americans who lack health coverage -- leading Biden to respond, "That'll be a surprise to him."
Castro hammered Biden for claiming that individuals would not be required to buy into his health care plan in order to receive coverage.
"You just said two minutes ago they would have to buy in. Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?" Castro asked. Some commentators said Castro's jab was an improper, thinly veiled reference to Biden's age.
However, Biden did not say during the debate that individuals would have to buy in. Instead, Biden said that individuals would automatically be enrolled if they lost their jobs.
"Anyone who can't afford it gets automatically enrolled in the Medicare-type option we have," Biden had said. "If you lose the job from your insurance company, from your employer, you automatically can buy into this."
Biden responded correctly, as the crowd roared in support of Castro, that he had said that people would be "automatically enrolled" under his plan.
Later on, during a discussion on immigration, Castro hit Biden for distancing himself from Barack Obama's record when it suited him, only to emphasize his tenure as vice president when it was beneficial.
"He wants to take credit for Obama's work, but not have to answer any questions!" Castro charged.
"I stand with Barack Obama all eight years — good, bad and indifferent," Biden said. "I did not say, 'I did not stand with him.'"
Biden, meanwhile, drilled Warren and Sanders for refusing to directly answer whether taxes would go up under their preferred Medicare-for-all proposal.
"The only question here in terms of difference is where to send the bill," Warren eventually offered.
She added: "We all owe a huge debt to President Obama, who fundamentally transformed health care in America, and committed this country to health care for every human being. And now the question is, how best can we improve on it?"
Warren maintained that she had "never actually never met anybody who likes their health insurance company ... what they want is access to health care."
Sanders, his voice rising, repeated a familiar line in defense of his "Medicare-for-all" plan against supposed distortions by his opponents, saying, "I wrote the damn bill."
"Maybe you have run into people who love their premiums," Sanders barked. "I haven't."

Idiots

"While Bernie wrote the bill, I read the bill," Klobuchar snapped back later, to applause. Klobuchar, who does not support Medicare-for-all, maintained that millions would lose their private coverage.
Sen. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, insisted she had "always" supported Sanders' health care plan, even as she has publicly waffled as to what would happen to private insurance plans if she were elected. She has said all private health care plans would be eliminated, as Sanders prefers, only to quickly walk back that idea.

Protesters interrupt

Tensions were evident both on and off the stage. Toward the end of the debate, a group of protesters interrupted Biden for nearly a minute -- just before he began speaking about personal tragedies in his life, including the death of his first wife and daughter in 1972.
Biden also repeated the inaccurate claim that children were not kept in cages under the Obama administration. The most widely circulated photo of children in cages in immigration detention centers, though falsely attributed to the Trump era, was in fact taken during Obama's presidency.

"Nobody should be in jail for a non-violent crime."
— Joe Biden, during the debate

The former vice president also seemingly made a bungled and anachronistic appeal to technology, urging attendees, "Play the radio. Make sure the television, excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the phone..."
That response came after a question about what Americans can do to help roll back the legacy of slavery. Biden was suggesting that children need to "hear words" outside of the school environment to improve their vocabulary. Then, when a moderator tried to cut off his lengthy answer, Biden fired back, "No, I'm gonna go like the rest of them do -- twice over."
In another head-turning moment, during a discussion on criminal justice reform, Biden suggested that nonviolent crimes should never result in prison time.
"Nobody should be in jail for a non-violent crime," Biden said. "When we were in the White House, we  released 36,000 people from the federal prison system."

Bizarre moment

But before all the battles got underway, the debate immediately brought about a bizarre moment early on, when longshot candidate Andrew Yang revealed he would randomly give 10 families that registered on his website $1,000 per month -- what he called a "freedom dividend."
The plan prompted a sustained moment of silence from Buttigieg, who took several seconds to begin his own opening statement once Yang finished, and eventually said, "That's original, I'll give it that."
Some suggested the plan might even violate campaign-finance laws.
Yang has advanced a plan to give every American at least $1,000 per month if elected -- via taxpayer funds.
For the other candidates, the evening offered an opportunity for an electric moment and a potential momentum boost. Harris' sustained attack on Biden's decades-old opposition to federally required busing during the June primary debate gained her the nation's attention, even as critics said she had mischaracterized the former senator's position.
Harris' numbers have fallen since that moment, and big-money donors reportedly said this week they would abandon her candidacy if she didn't have a strong performance on Thursday.
"Kamala will take on Donald Trump directly," Harris press secretary Ian Sams promised.
In her opening statement, Harris did just that. She dubiously claimed that the only reason Trump has not been indicted is that Justice Department guidelines prohibit the indictment of a sitting president -- a proposition former Special Counsel Robert Mueller has explicitly denied.
For his part, Trump's campaign was visible during the debate in Houston -- overhead. His campaign was using a plane to fly a banner that reads “Socialism will kill Houston’s economy."
O'Rourke, meanwhile, continued to refocus his campaign on pushing unprecedented gun-control measures -- including mandatory buybacks of legal firearms. O'Rourke, when he was running for the Senate in Texas just last year, explicitly said that he opposed confiscating legally purchased AR-15s.
In his opening statement, O'Rourke urged Americans to be "bigger" than petty politics -- just after he stated that the recent mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, was inspired by the president. In his manifesto, the shooter explicitly said Trump had not done so.
O'Rourke doubled down on his mandatory gun-buyback program later on: "We have a white supremacist in the White House, and he poses a mortal threat to people of color all across this country." He said "hell yes" when asked if guns needed to be confiscated.
O'Rourke added: "When we see that being used against children. ... Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore."
His campaign, in a riff on Warren's virtual slogan, later tweeted, "Beto has a ban for that," next to a photo of a gun.
After the debate, a Texas state representative tweeted, "My AR is ready for you Robert Francis," using O'Rourke's birth name. Twitter quickly took down the post from Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain.
O'Rourke responded on Twitter: "This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn't own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else."
Other candidates onstage largely agreed although they stopped short of endorsing O'Rourke's gun confiscation plan.
"A few weeks ago, a shooter drove ten hours, inspired by this president, to kill people who look like me," Castro said. "White supremacy is a growing threat to this country, and we have to root it out."
For her part, Harris implicitly blamed Trump for the violence.
"Well, look," Harris said. "Obviously he didn't pull the trigger, but he's certainly been tweeting out the ammunition."
Harris then took aim at Biden, and advanced her plan to unilaterally take executive action on guns if necessary, bypassing Congress.
"Hey Joe — instead of saying, 'No we can't,' let's say, 'Yes we can," Harris said, referring mockingly to Obama's campaign slogan.
"Let's be constitutional," Biden responded.
Concerning climate change, Warren sounded an apocalyptic note, saying flatly that "every living thing" could die. She noted that experts have warned that there is little time left to avert catastrophe. United Nations scientists have claimed the world has 10 years to get global warming under control since at least 1989.
On trade, the candidates largely agreed that China was acting improperly -- "they steal our intellectual property," Harris said -- but all asserted that Trump's approach of ever-increasing tariffs was reckless.