Oregon governor considers releasing 400 prisoners as coronavirus precaution: report

Democrat Governor

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is considering commuting the sentences of as many as 400 prisoners in the state’s detention centers as a coronavirus precaution, according to reports.
The move would come as police in the state’s largest city, Portland, have their hands full with nightly riots and destruction for three straight months – with protests in other cities as well.
The prisoners eyed for early release would include those who are within two months of the end of their sentences – as well as about a dozen inmates deemed “medically vulnerable” to the virus, OregonLive.com reported.
“Given what we now know about the disease and its pervasiveness in our communities, it is appropriate to review for potential release individuals who face significant health challenges should they contract COVID-19,” Brown wrote to Colette Peters, administrator of the state’s prison system, according to OregonLive.com.
Those inmates declared an “unacceptable safety, security or compliance risk to the community” would not be eligible, the governor wrote.
The governor previously commuted the sentences of 57 inmates, according to the report.
Those being considered for release must have exhibited good behavior over the past 12 months and cannot have been incarcerated for crimes against other people, Brown added in her letter to the state Department of Corrections.
Brown, 60, a Democrat who has been Oregon’s governor since February 2015, requested a list of names of eligible inmates be delivered to her office by Sept. 18, the news outlet reported.
So far, Oregon has seen three prison inmates die from the coronavirus from among 634 confirmed cases. More than 500 inmates have recovered, OregonLive.com reported.
Corrections workers have accounted for 177 cases of the virus, the report said.

CNN's Joe Lockhart attacks Sandmann as 'snot nose entitled kid' after network's defamation suit

Stupid Democrat

CNN political analyst Joe Lockhart attacked former Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann after his network settled a $250 million defamation lawsuit earlier this year.
On Tuesday evening, CNN awkwardly aired Sandmann's speech as part of the second night of the Republican National Convention, where he said his life "changed forever in that one moment" because the "full war machine in the mainstream media revved up into attack mode" while botching its coverage of the 2019 viral confrontation with a Native American elder that had portrayed the Kentucky teen as the aggressor.
However, one of Sandmann's loudest critics came from the network that he settled with.
"I'm watching tonight because it's important. But i [sic] don't have to watch this snot nose entitled kid from Kentucky," Lockhart tweeted.

Critics blasted the CNN commentator, suggesting his tweet attacking the Covington teen lacked any self-awareness.
"It seems like CNN still hasn't learned their lesson about smearing and slandering an innocent teen," NewsBusters news analyst Nicholas Fondacaro reacted.
"Your bosses at CNN defamed this kid. The entitled snot nose idiots were from CNN ... not the other way around," National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker told the former Clinton press secretary.
"Joe Lockhart enjoys picking on an 18-year-old who has a far greater net worth than he does. After CNN tried to destroy Nick Sandmann, he sued and they were forced to settled [sic]. Maybe Joe had to take a pay cut for the settlement," radio host Jason Rantz tweeted.
"It’s rare to watch someone fall into an obvious trap in real time, but it happens," Daily Wire editor Emily Zanotti wrote.
"Yeah, I guess he is entitled....to the money your clown network has to pay out for defaming him," Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross said.
Lockhart wasn't the only CNNer who spoke out against Sandmann on Tuesday. CNN opinion writer Jeff Yang addressed Sandmann directly.
"Hey @N1ckSandmann, I watched your speech tonight at the #RNCConvention2020 with an open mind, thinking I might hear something that would convince me of your position that you were an innocent victim of a cruel media. I was disappointed, but not surprised, to hear otherwise," Yang began a Twitter thread.
Yang slammed Sandmann for not extending a "branch of peace" to Nathan Phillip, the Native American elder from the confrontation.
"You said you didn’t see the incident as something beneficial—rather, that it was destructive and horrific. But your speech tonight was a clear embrace of a role as a political symbol and conservative icon; a career move. It was your choice. I hope you end up satisfied with it," the CNN writer concluded.
Sandmann responded to Yang, telling the CNN writer "I can’t say I’m too surprised."
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
This follows claims made by Sandmann's attorney Lin Wood that CNN's media correspondent Brian Stelter breached the network's confidentiality agreement after retweeting a critic who suggested Sandmann was "undoubtedly paid nuisance value settlement & nothing more."
"This retweet by @brianstelter may have cost him his job at @CNN. It is called breach of confidentiality agreement. Brian Stelter is a liar. I know how to deal with liars," Wood tweeted with a screenshot of Stelter's retweet.
CNN analyst Asha Rangappa appeared to agree with the assertion, writing "I’d guess $25K to go away."
Speaking in front of The Lincoln Memorial, where the confrontation took place, Sandmann told his side of the story on Tuesday night.
"Looking back now, how could I have possibly imagined that the simple act of putting on that red hat would unleash hate from the left and make myself the target of network and cable news networks nationwide?" he wondered. "While the media portrayed me as an aggressor with a relentless smirk on my face, in reality, the video confirms I was standing with my hands behind my back and an awkward smile on my face that hid two thoughts: One, don't do anything that could further agitate the man banging the drum at my face. And two, I was trying to follow a family friend's advice never to do anything to embarrass your family, your school, or your community."
Sandmann accused the media of "advancing their anti-Christian, anti-conservative, anti-Donald Trump narrative" that if that meant ruining "the reputation and future of a teenager from Covington, Kentucky, well so be it."
He explained that he was "being canceled" and said similar treatment is being dished out to people across the country who "refuse to be silenced by the far left," with the media "a willing participant."
"But I would not be canceled," Sandmann declared. "I fought back hard to expose the media for what they did to me and I won a personal victory. While much more needs to be done, I look forward to the day that the media returns to providing balanced, responsible, and accountable news coverage."
At the end of the video, Sandmann expressed his support for President Trump and put on the iconic MAGA hat.

Bette Midler accused of xenophobic tweets mocking Melania Trump: 'She still can’t speak English'

Stupid Democrat

Actress Bette Midler faced intense backlash for mocking First Lady Melania Trump's accent.
The first lady closed the second night of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday from the Rose Garden at the White House, where she expressed her gratitude as an American and her support for President Trump's reelection.
However, her message was apparently not received by the award-winning performer.
"Oh, God. She still can’t speak English," Midler tweeted during the speech.
She wrote in another tweet "#beBest is back! A UGE bore! She can speak several words in a few languages. Get that illegal alien off the stage!"
Midler also told the first lady, "You are one lucky Slovenian! And after all that surgery, you hit a kind of horrible jackpot, chained to [a] colossal idiot."

Critics blasted the "Hocus Pocus" star, accusing her of xenophobia.
"Xenophobe who speaks one language mocks immigrant who can speak five," radio host Dana Loesch reacted.
"The party of diversity mocks an American for her accent..." actor James Woods tweeted.
"Called it. The same people who call Trump a racist," conservative podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey wrote.
"Who knew xenophobia was the wind beneath your wings!" Fox Business host Kennedy quipped.
Other critics of the president also attacked the first lady.
"Seriously, f--- this b----," comedian Kathy Griffin tweeted.
"Makes me want to vomit," CNN political analyst and Playboy White House correspondent Brian Karem replied to Griffin.
Former NBA player Rex Chapman also compared Melania Trump's dress to Adolf Hitler.
Last weekend, Melania Trump was attacked as a "foreigner" by former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald over her newly-renovated Rose Garden.
“It is a destruction of our history, something no other First Lady would have had the gall to do,” Eichenwald tweeted. “This is the first time I have been furious that @FLOTUS is a foreigner. She has no right to wreck our history.”
Eichenwald later deleted the tweet and issued an apology.

Melania Trump urges end to unrest, calls on country to ‘come together’ in convention address

First lady Melania Trump took center stage on the second night of the Republican National Convention, calling on Americans to “stop the violence” amid nationwide protests over racial inequality.
The first lady also expressed her “deepest sympathy” for those suffering or who’ve lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. And she made the case for her husband’s re-election, emphasizing that President Trump “loves this country and he knows how to get things done.”
Speaking from the recently renovated White House Rose Garden, with President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence in attendance, the first lady turned to the nation’s racial unrest roughly half way through her nearly half hour long address.
“Like all of you, I have reflected on the racial unrest in our country. It is a harsh reality that we are not proud of parts of our history,” Trump acknowledged. ”I encourage people to focus on our future while still learning from our past. We must remember that today that we are all one community comprised of many races, religions, and ethnicities.”
And in a tone very different than that of her husband, the first lady called “on the citizens of this country to take a moment, pause, and look at things from all perspectives. I urge people to come together in a civil manner so we can work and live up to standard American ideas. I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice and never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin. Instead of tearing things down, lets reflect on our mistakes.”
Near the top of her speech, the first lady delivered sympathetic remarks to those suffering among the coronavirus pandemic.
“My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one and my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering. I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know you’re not alone,” she said.
The first lady also expressd her gratitude and compassion those front-line workers in the battle against the outbreak.
Her sympathetic message came after a more than 2-hour program where there was little mention of the coronavirus, which has taken the lives of nearly 180,000 people across the nation.
In her speech, which was not vetted by the president's aides ahead of time, the first lady also spotlighted the severity of the crisis.
"I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically," she acknowledged. "The invisible enemy, COVID-19, swept across our beautiful country and impacted all of us."
But she also defended the president, who’s performance combating the coronavirus has been heavily criticized by Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the first lady emphasized that “my husband’s administration will not stop fighting until there’s an effective treatment or vaccine available to everyone. Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible epidemic.”
The first lady also attempted to put a softer edge on a president know for his blunt and often harsh language.
“We all know Donald Trump makes no secrets of about how he feels about things,” she acknowledged. “Totally honesty is what our citizens deserve from our president. Whether you like it or not,  you always know what he’s thinking.”
But she stressed that “Donald wants to keep your family safe. He wants to help your family succeed. He wants nothing more than for this country to prosper and he doesn’t waste time playing politics.”
And the first lady argued that another 4 years of her husband as president is “what is best for our country.”
The Slovenian-born former fashion model and businesswoman who became a U.S. citizen in 2006 highlighted her personal story.
The first first lady who’s native language isn’t English spotlighted that becoming an American ”is still one of the proudest moments in my life because with hard work and determination, I was able to achieve my own American dream.”
And she emphasized that “as an immigrant and a very independent woman, I understand what a privilege it is to live here and to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities we have.”
The first lady - in her uplifting speech - reflected on her work with children and her "Be Best" initiative -  a public awareness campaign focusing on well-being for youth and advocacy against cyberbullying and opioid use. And she laid out her second-term agenda as first lady should her husband be re-elected.
She also emphasized that women's voices must be heard and praised her husband for building "an administration with an unprecedented number of women in leadership roles."
The president's reelection team is hoping that the first lady's popularity will help her husband overcome one of his major weaknesses - his standing with female voters.
The most recent Fox News national poll – conducted earlier this month – indicated Biden with a 12 point lead over the president among female voters.
Trump’s the star of every night of the convention – but on Wednesday evening, the spotlight will also shine on Vice President Mike Pence, who will give his formal nomination acceptance speech.
Pence's mission will be to showcase the administration's record and make the case for another 4 years of the Trump presidency.
Also speaking Wednesday is another politician and fervent Trump supporter who like Pence may have national aspirations in the next White House race: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa – one of the few Republican incumbents facing a challenging re-election this year who’s addressing the convention – also has a slot on the third evening of the confab. So do conservative favorites Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Elise Stefanik of New York, and Lee Zeldin of New York, who one of Trump’s was staunchest defenders during the impeachment investigation and trial.
Among the other speakers in the convention’s Wednesday spotlight will be Second Lady Karen Pence, outgoing Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and the president’s daughter-in-law and senior campaign adviser Lara Trump.

Democrats Without God Cartoons

C-SPAN caller says he’s changing vote to Republican after RNC

A caller--who identified himself as a lifelong Democrat-- told C-SPAN late Monday that he will be supporting Republicans this year after being inspired on the opening night of the Republican National Convention, citing the “heartfelt way" participants "came across to the American people.”
The caller, who identified himself only as Rick, from Lorain, Ohio, told the station that he decided-- in part-- to change his vote because of the way Republicans embraced the word “God.”
“The people on the Democratic side, at their convention — acted like they were pushing God right out of it. And that had a lot to do with changing my mind,” he said.
The official meeting of RNC delegates Monday emphasized the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance after a committee and a caucus meeting omitted the words from the pledge during the Democratic National Convention.
"Two Democrat Caucus Meetings removed 'UNDER GOD' from the Pledge of Allegiance. It sounded not only strange, but terrible. That’s where they’re coming from!" President Trump tweeted Sunday.
Mediaite, which first reported on the C-SPAN caller, pointed out that Trump lost Lorain County by fewer than 200 votes to Hillary Clinton in 2016, despite ultimately winning the state.
Some of the key speakers on  Monday night included Sen. Tim Scott,  Nikki Haley and Kim Klacik.
Scott warned that if a Biden-Harris ticket is successful, they will “turn our country into a socialist utopia.”
In a swipe at cancel culture, he added: “Do we want a society that breeds success, or a culture that cancels everything it even slightly disagrees with?”
Fox News' Tyler Oslon and Brooke Singman contributed to this report

Cuban-born Maximo Alvarez warns against socialism in emotional RNC speech

Florida businessman Maximo Alvarez warned against the “empty promises” of socialism during an impassioned speech at the Republican National Convention on Monday.
Alvarez, the founder of Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, fled Cuba with his parents at the age of 13 as Fidel Castro and his communist regime took control of the island. Speaking in support of President Trump, an emotional Alvarez alleged that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is “mostly concerned about power” and would allow socialist policies to take hold in America.
“I’ve seen movements like this before. I’ve seen ideas like this before. I am here to tell you – we cannot let them take over our country,” Alvarez said. “I heard the promises of Fidel Castro. And I can never forget all those who grew up around me, who looked like me, who suffered and starved and died because they believed those empty promises. They swallowed the communist poison pill.”
Alvarez argued that policies favored by prominent Democrats, such as free health care, and calls to defund the police are “false promises” that “sound familiar” based on his experiences in Cuba. The Trump administration has accused Biden and running mate Kamala Harris of embracing far-left policies in their platform.
Officials in several Democrat-run cities have pushed to cut funding for local police forces in recent months amid nationwide protests against systemic racism. Biden has repeatedly denied that he plans to defund police departments, stating instead that he intends to crack down on misconduct and provide support for better practices.
In his speech, Alvarez said recent violence in cities around the country stirred memories of his homeland.
“The country I was born in is gone, totally destroyed,” Alvarez said. “When I watch the news in Seattle and Chicago and Portland, when I see history being rewritten, when I hear the promises—I hear echoes of a former life I never wanted to hear again. I see shadows I thought I had outrun.”

Alvarez said he is “grateful” that he was “able to build my American dream through hard work and determination.”
“President Trump is fighting the forces of anarchy and communism. And now he will continue to do just that. And what about his opponent and the rest of the DC swamp?  I have no doubt they will hand the country over to those dangerous forces,” Alvarez said.

Donald Trump Jr. warns of ‘silenced majority’ as RNC speakers say freedom, safety on the line in November

President Trump’s oldest son praised his father as “the man who represents a bright and beautiful future for all” and tore into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as the “Loch Ness Monster of the Swamp” during the opening night of the Republican National Convention.
Giving one of the major concluding addresses on Monday night, Donald Trump Jr. also charged that "the other party is attacking the very principles on which our nation was founded.”
“Joe Biden and the radical left are also now coming for our freedom of speech and want to bully us into submission.  If they get their way, it will no longer be the ‘silent majority, it will be the ‘silenced majority,’” he warned.
Coming off a week during which Democrats used their quadrennial confab to hammer the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and warn that another four years of Trump in the White House would threaten the nation’s democratic foundations, the president's son and other speakers returned fire, railing against socialism, cancel culture, and warning of chaos if Biden is elected.
And Trump used part of his speech to praise his father’s record combating the coronavirus, pushing back against repeated charges from Biden and other Democrats that the president had initially downplayed the severity of the crisis and then botched the federal response to the pandemic.
“As the virus began to spread, the president acted quickly and ensured ventilators got to hospitals that needed them most. He delivered PPE to our brave frontline workers. And he rallied the mighty American private sector, to tackle this new challenge,” the younger Trump emphasized. “There is more work to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
And pointing to an economy that was nearly flattened by the coronavirus, Trump – who has become a top Republican fundraiser and his father’s most-requested campaign surrogate as he excites the party’s populist base -- spotlighted that “job gains are outpacing what the so-called experts expected.”
Taking aim at the former vice president – who continues to lead the president in national polling and in many of the key general election battleground states – Trump charged that “Biden’s radical leftwing policies would stop our economic recovery cold. He’s already talking about shutting the country down -- again. It’s madness.”
Referencing the national unrest this spring and summer sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota who died while in police custody, the younger Trump stressed that “we must put an end to racism, and we must ensure that any police officer who abuses their power is held accountable. What happened to George Floyd is a disgrace. And if you know a police officer, you know they agree with that, too.”
But pushing back by calls by some activists to defund police departments, Trump argued that “we cannot lose sight of the fact that our police are American heroes. They deserve our deepest appreciation. Because no matter what the Democrats say, you and I both know when we dial 911, we don’t want it going to voicemail. So “defunding” the police is not an option.”
“Anarchists have been flooding our streets and Democrat mayors are ordering the police to stand down,” Trump argued. “Small businesses across America—many of them minority owned—are being torched by mobs. The Democrat mayors pretend it’s not happening. They actually called it ‘a summer of love.’”
Following Monday night's speakers, Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield fired back.
“If you tuned into the Republican convention tonight looking for some indication from President Trump that he has a strategy to contain the coronavirus, you’re still waiting," she emphasized. "What you heard tonight was a parade of dark and divisive fear-mongering designed to distract from the fact that Donald Trump does not have an affirmative case to make to the American people about why he should be re-elected."
Trump’s warning about personal freedoms being on the line in November’s general election were echoed throughout the evening by other speakers, including some everyday Americans who were featured on the first night of the convention.
Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who made headlines this summer as they aimed their firearms at a group of protesters advocating police reforms who were walking along their neighborhood’s private streets, warned that “no matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America.”
Mark McCloskey has maintained that he was scared for his life and brandished a weapon to protect his home and wife, and the White House has defended the couple's actions on multiple occasions, as they face felony charges. He charged that “the radicals are not content just marching in the streets. They want to walk the halls of Congress. They want power. This is Joe Biden’s party. These are the people who will be in charge of your future and future of your children.”
Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also warned about a Democratic Party that’s pushing polices that were “unthinkable a decade ago.” And she claimed that Biden cares “more about countries like China and Iran than the United States of America."
The president made two brief recorded appearances in the prime time programming – hosting at the White House six Americans held hostage in Iran, Syria, and Venezuela who were freed during his presidency, and a discussion with frontline workers in the battle against the coronavirus.
Trump – who’s not expected to stray far from the spotlight during the 4-day confab -- didn’t wait until the Republican convention’s kick off prime time session to stoke the flames.
Earlier Monday, the president – speaking to Republican Party officials and delegates gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina to formally re-nominate Trump and Vice President Mike Pence – used his nearly hour long speech to raise doubts about the integrity of November’s general election. And he peppered his defiant and incendiary comments with blasts against efforts to increase voting my mail during the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that the Democrats are “using COVID to steal our election.”
The president, who took to the stage amid chants of “four more years” from his supporters, immediately began stirring the pot by saying “if you want to really drive them crazy, you say 12 more years.”
While the first evening of the convention spotlighted the president’s oldest son, it shift to first lady Melania Trump on Tuesday. She’s scheduled to give the crowning address. Earlier in the evening, two of the president’s children, Eric and Tiffany, have speaking slots.
Also speaking during the second day of the confab – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky – both of whom may have national aspirations in 2024. Pompeo’s expected to deliver his address from an “undisclosed location” in Israel, as American’s top diplomat is on a Mideast peace swing. Despite assurances from the State Department that Pompeo will be speaking in his personal capacity, he and Republican Party officials are facing a chorus of criticism that the secretary of state’s breaking decades of precedence in not using the office for partisan purposes.
Nicholas Sandmann, the Trump supporter and MAGA cap wearing teen from Covington, Kentucky will also be in the convention spotlight. Sandmann made national headlines last year after being falsely accused of harassing a Native American demonstrator as he and fellow classmates protested against abortion rights at the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital.
And the governor and lt. governor of two general election battleground states crucial to a Trump victory in November also get speaking slots on Tuesday. They are Gov. Kim Keynolds of Iowa and Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez.