Presumptuous Politics

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Trump criticized for comments on Muslim mother of fallen US soldier

Muslim lawyer Khizr Khan

Donald Trump is taking issue with a speech at this week's Democratic National Convention by Muslim lawyer Khizr Khan, whose Army captain son was killed in action and who said on stage that Trump has “sacrificed nothing and no one" for America. But Democrats and advocates for veterans’ families say the Republican presidential nominee went too far in his response.
Khan made the comment during his tribute to his son, Humayun, who posthumously received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart after being killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2004.
As Khan spoke, his wife Ghazala, Humayun’s mother, stood silently by his side.
Trump, during an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” said: "She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me."
And Trump challenged Khizr Khan’s claims about having sacrificed nothing. "I've made a lot of sacrifices,” Trump said. “I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures."
Ghazala Khan has said she didn't speak because she's still overwhelmed by grief and can't even look at photos of her son without crying.

Trump’s comments sparked immediate outrage on social media -- both because they critiqued a mourning mother and because many considered them racist and anti-Muslim.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has previously raised concerns about Trump’s previous comments about Muslims.
On Saturday, Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said: "The speaker has made clear many times that he rejects this idea, and himself has talked about how Muslim Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country."
Hillary Clinton campaign spokeswoman Karen Finney tweeted: “Trump is truly shameless to attack the family of an American hero. Many thanks to the Khan family for your sacrifice, we stand with you.”
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, later said in a statement: "I was very moved to see Ghazala Khan stand bravely and with dignity in support of her son on Thursday night. ... This is a time for all Americans to stand with the Khans and with all the families whose children have died in service to our country."
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who served on active duty and is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, criticized Trump and Ryan Saturday.
“Slandering a mom and dad who lost their son in service of our country is a new low even for Donald Trump,” Lieu said “What is more surprising is that Speaker Paul Ryan continues to stand by Donald Trump … I call upon Speaker Ryan to do what his heart has been telling him all along and withdraw his endorsement of Donald Trump."
Karen Meredith, a member of Gold Star Families, a support group for families who lost loved ones in the Iraq War, said Humayun Khan’s parents “showed great courage” by standing up in front of the Democratic convention and that for Trump “to insult their culture by saying that is why she did not speak is offensive.”
“This is an attack on all Gold Star Families,” Meredith also said.
Trump's comments come a day after he attacked retired four-star general John Allen while holding a rally in front of military aircraft in Colorado. The Republican nominee also slammed a Colorado Springs fire marshal for capping attendance at his event.
Last week, during the Republican convention in Cleveland, Trump’s children repeatedly said their father had sacrificed to run for president, particularly in setting aside his successful business operations.

Clinton campaign scrambles to defend Rust Belt against Trump

With the general election campaign just hours old, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump began focusing their attention this weekend on America’s Rust Belt -- hoping their separate plans to restore prosperity to the all-important region will sway enough voters there to help them win in November.
Clinton, the Democratic nominee, started a three-day Pennsylvania-to-Ohio bus tour Friday with vice presidential nominee Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
“We’re going to create jobs in Pennsylvania and across America, especially in places that have been left behind,” Clinton said at a rally Saturday at a factory in Johnstown, part of Pennsylvania’s western, industrial region, home to a large conservative voting bloc that Trump needs.
“I believe with all of my heart that the economy should work for everyone, not just the top 1 percent. … We’re going to support steel workers,” continued Clinton, who also touted her campaign promise to, in her first 100 days in the White House, make the largest investment in jobs since World War II.
Clinton won the Democratic labor and blue-collar vote in her failed 2008 presidential primary bid. But those voters have been more difficult for her to reach in this election cycle.
Primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ populist message repeatedly tried to portray Clinton as less receptive to middle class needs. The Vermont senator in fact scored a major suprise win over Clinton in the Michigan primay.
Meanwhile, Trump, the Republican nominee, and running mate Mike Pence continued to argue that electing Clinton would continue the Obama administration's failed economic policies -- marked by stagnant wages and bad international trade deals that are sending manufacturing jobs oversea.
“The second-quarter numbers came out -- 1.2 percent growth in the American economy,” Pence, Indiana's governor, said Friday night at a rally in Lima, Ohio. “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result … People are restless for change.”
Most political analysts predict that the general election will again be decided by four so-called battleground states, among them Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Clinton and Trump are deadlocked in those states, according to two recent Quinnipiac University polls, though an NBC survey released July 13 shows Trump trailing by 9 percentage points.
“It will be interesting to see if Clinton can hold off Trump in the Rust Belt by going back to the blue-collar vote,” Caleb Burns, a Republican strategist and partner in the Washington law firm Wiley Rein, said earlier this week. “If she can, it will be extremely difficult for Trump to find a path to victory.”
To be sure, Trump already has a narrow path toward getting the requisite 270 electoral votes to take the White House.
Beyond winning the 13 states that GOP nominees have taken in the past six presidential races, Trump must also win some combination of battleground states -- including Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
No Republican has won Pennsylvania since 1988, and no Republican nominee has won the White House without winning Ohio.
“And this election will be no different,” Fox News contributor and senior Bush administration policy adviser Karl Rove recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal editorial pages. “If Mr. Trump’s appeal to blue-collar, white swing voters is real, he could paint Pennsylvania red. If so, he is likely to win the White House with 273 electoral votes.”
However, a loss in Pennsylvania would mean Trump would have to find wins in such Midwestern industrial states as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, all Democratic strongholds.
Clinton and Kaine continued their “Stronger Together” tour Saturday with a late-afternoon rally in Pittsburgh and an evening event in Youngstown, Ohio. Their tour concludes Sunday in Columbus.
At a rally in Colorado on Friday, the day after Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination in Philadelphia, Trump went after Clinton and Kaine on economic issues.
“We have to go over some numbers,” he said at a rally in Denver, a liberal stronghold. “Hillary was talking last night about how wonderful everything was. She didn’t talk about all of the unbelievable long-term unemployment, the fact house ownership is the lowest in 51 years.”
He also argued that Kaine is “not popular” in his home state of Virginia, considering that unemployment nearly doubled in his one term as governor and that his first move after getting elected to the post in 2005 was to increase taxes by $4 billion.

Koch brothers donor network to focus on Senate, not presidential race

The political donation network backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch will essentially sit out this year's presidential election and focus on keeping the Senate in Republican hands.
When Charles Koch addressed hundreds of the nation's most powerful polical donors at a weekend retreat in Colorado Springs Saturday, he lamented the choice in the race for the Oval Office between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
"We don't really, in some cases, don't really have good options," Koch said in describing the "current political situation."
Mark Holden, general counsel and senior vice president of Koch Industries, told the Associated Press that the Koch network won't spend anything to help Trump directly in 2016, even though it may evoke Clinton in attacks on Democratic congressional candidates.
None of the presidential candidates are aligned with the Koch network "from a values, and beliefs and policy perspective," Holden said, citing other determining factors such as "running a good campaign" and talking about key issues "in a positive productive way."

"Based on that, we're focused on the Senate," Holden said, noting that the Koch network has devoted around $42 million so far to television and digital advertising to benefit Republican Senate candidates.

Saturday was the first day of the three-day gathering for donors who promise to give at least $100,000 each year to the various groups backed by the Koch brothers' Freedom Partners -- a network of education, policy and political entities that aim to promote a smaller, less intrusive government.

At least three governors, four senators and four members of the House of Representatives are also scheduled to attend, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. Republican presidential candidates have been featured at past Koch gatherings -- but not this one.

Neither Trump nor any Trump representatives participated in the event, even though the White House contender campaigned in the same city the day before. It's unclear if Trump was invited.

"I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch," Trump tweeted on Saturday. "Much better for them to meet with the puppets of politics, they will do much better!"

Holden declined to say whether the Kochs sought a meeting with Trump.

The weekend's agenda for the estimated 400 donors gathered in Colorado Springs featured a series of policy discussions and appearances from several elected officials in addition to Ryan: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas. Rep Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado.

Speaking Saturday night, Gardner addressed the presidential contest indirectly, although he did not mention Trump's name.

"Forty years worth of Supreme Court justices are going to be determined this November," Gardner told donors, a reference to the next president's ability to fill at least one existing vacancy on the high court.

Yet Koch later told his guests that America's frustrated electorate is looking at the wrong place -- politicians -- for answers.

"And to me, the answers they're getting are frightening," he said without naming any politicians, "because by and large, these answers will make matters worse."

Charles and David Koch have hosted such gatherings of donors and politicians for years, but usually in private. The weekend's event includes a small number of reporters, including one from the Associated Press.

Koch has put the network's budget at roughly $750 million through the end of 2016.

A significant portion was supposed to be directed at electing a Republican to the White House. It will instead go to helping Republican Senate candidates in at least five states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and Florida, Holden said.

In some cases, the network may try to link Democratic Senate candidates to Clinton, he added, but there are no plans to go after her exclusively in paid advertising. The organization may invest in a handful of races for governor and House of Representatives as well.

And while the network will not be a Trump ally, it won't necessarily be a Trump adversary either.
"We have no intention to go after Donald Trump," Holden said.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Democratic National Convention Cartoons

Moment of silence for fallen cops marred by jeering at DNC convention


'Black Lives Matter' chant interrupts moment of silence

Do you really want these type of people to lead our country for another four years?

A hard-won moment of silence for fallen police officers Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention was marred by chants from the crowd of “black lives matter!” in an ugly moment that angered law enforcement representatives and underscored the anti-cop climate that has gripped the nation.
After the mothers of black men who had been killed in racially charged incidents were welcomed onto the stage earlier in the week, Philadelphia’s Fraternal Order of Police chapter pressed the DNC to honor fallen cops. Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez was invited to speak about the five cops killed in her city July 7, and said she and her fellow officers took the job to "serve and protect, not to hate and discriminate."
When Valdez asked the crowd to join her in a moment of silence for cops killed in the line of duty, jeers erupted from the crowd.
“Please help me to honor ALL of America's fallen officers with a moment of silence,” as the anti-police group’s namesake slogan echoed through the Wells Fargo Center.
Valdez ignored the jeers and introduced family members of fallen police officers, including the mother of Moses Walker, a 19-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department who was gunned down in 2012 hold a moment of silence.
"Moses didn't live long enough to give all of the gifts he had to give," Wayne Walker told the thousands of delegates. "While we're here, we must do the good we can. Absolutely we have to believe that we're stronger together."

Jennifer Loudon, widow of fallen Chicago police officer Thor Soderberg, also addressed the throng and drew cheers when she said police risk their lives to protect citizens. "I know that in light of recent events, some of us have lost faith," she said.
While many in the crowd appeared moved by the presentation, the jeers did not sit well with law enforcement advocates.
“The comments that were made at the convention last night speak for themselves and I think any intelligent person is going to recognize them for what they are,” said Rich Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations.
The Philadelphia chapter of Fraternal Order of Police had earlier blasted the DNC for hosting onstage the mothers of black men killed in racially charged incidents, including Michael Brown, who was killed in 2014 in a confrontation with a Ferguson, Mo., police officer who was later cleared by a Department of Justice investigation, and Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teen who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
The mothers of Eric Garner, who died while being arrested on Staten Island for selling cigarettes, and Sandra Bland, who hanged herself in a Waller County, Texas, jail after being pulled over for a traffic violation also addressed the convention Tuesday as a group called "Mothers of the Movement.”

The group aims to raise awareness about police brutality and gun violence.

Prior to Thursday night’s events, FOP Chapter President John McNesby praised the decision by the Clinton campaign and convention organizers to add family members of fallen officers to the speaking lineup.
"We want fairness to both sides," McNesby told the Philadelphia Daily News. "It seemed like we got the door slammed in our faces. I guess they listened, had a change of thought, change of heart."
McNesby did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the marred moment of silence. However, one retired Philadelphia police officer, who told FoxNews.com he has resumed carrying his gun in light of the growing anti-police climate, said he was disgusted.
“I don’t know what is wrong with people,” he said. “I just don’t understand it. They say they want unity, and then you get this.”
Even as the convention wound down, one San Diego police officer was killed and another wounded by a gunman stopped for a traffic violation. In addition to the five Dallas police officers killed July 7 by a sniper as they guarded Black Lives Matter protesters, three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were targeted and killed by a gunman on July 16.
Statistics show the number of police officers killed in the line of duty had been on a downward trajectory since 1970. But this year, cop deaths are up more than 50 percent, and the victims in Dallas, Baton Rouge and other cases were targeted for assassination rather than killed in the process of confronting dangerous criminals.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the number of officers fatally shot is already up 56 percent compared with last year.

Battle of the generals: Flynn blasts Allen for Clinton endorsement

A battle of the brass has broken out in the wake of the Republican and Democratic party conventions, as one of the top generals supporting Donald Trump lashes out at retired Marine Gen. John Allen who delivered a tough-as-nails endorsement of Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia Thursday night.
“I honestly don’t know how John Allen can look at himself in the mirror and say why he supports Hillary Clinton,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told "The Kelly File".
Both Flynn and Allen served in the Obama administration. But Flynn, who used to lead the
“I cannot see how John Allen can support somebody who perpetually cannot tell the truth,” he said.
The stinging criticism between senior retired military officers is unusual, even in a presidential campaign. But the tensions could build as each presidential candidate suggests the other would put national security at risk.
In Philadelphia, Allen, who previously led forces in Afghanistan, vouched for Clinton as the leader the country needs.
“We trust in her judgment. We believe in her vision for a united America, we believe in her vision of an America as a just and strong leader against the forces of hatred, the forces of chaos, and darkness,” he said. “I tell you without hesitation or reservation that Hillary Clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of commander-in-chief America needs.”
Allen walked on the Philadelphia stage as Democrats tried to put a sharper focus on security issues, after being accused of glossing over ISIS and other terror threats the first two nights of their convention. Trump commented on the close of the convention by saying Democrats were living in a “fantasy world.”
Defense Intelligence Agency, has since become an outspoken critic of the president’s anti-ISIS approach – while Allen helped shape that strategy as the president’s special envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition.
Flynn, who spoke at the Cleveland Republican convention last week on behalf of Trump, zeroed in on that portion of Allen’s resume in challenging his credibility.
“General Allen as a retired officer was in charge of our current strategy for well over a year … and during that period of time the rise of radical Islamism and ISIS, you know, it exponentially grew,” he said. “The strategy that John Allen was in charge of … it’s a failed strategy.”

Computer system used by Clinton campaign hacked, FBI investigating

Hillary (roger rabbit) Clinton

A computer system used by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was hacked, a spokesman for the Democratic nominee said Friday.
Nick Merrill said in a statement that the cyber breach was part of a larger hack attack on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that was made public earlier this week.
The violation concerned a DNC analytics data program used by the Clinton campaign and "a number of other entities," Merrill said. He added that security experts hired by the campaign had found "no evidence" that the campaign's own internal systems were compromised.
However, such third-party, connected systems represent appealing options for hackers searching for less-protected routes to attack an organization.
Soruces familiar with the incident confirmed to Fox News that the FBI is investigating the breach as well as another cyberattack on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
The investigation was first reported by Reuters, which said that the Justice Department's national security division was investigating whether the cyberattacks threatened the U.S.
An FBI statement did not mention the Clinton campaign specifically, but said it was aware of reporting "on cyber intrusions involving multiple political entities, and is working to determine the accuracy, nature and scope of these matters."
It is not clear what types of data the DNC service was analyzing, but partnerships with modern e-commerce companies can allow sophisticated tracking, categorization and identification of website visitors. This can help organizations tailor their online content, advertising and solicitations to be more effective.
The report that Clinton's campaign was hacked comes the same day that the cyberattack on the DCCC, which raises money for Democratic congressional candidates, was made public. Sources told Fox News Friday that the DCCC hack bears similarities to the breach of DNC files.
President Barack Obama has said Russia was almost certainly responsible for the DNC hack, an assertion with which cybersecurity experts have agreed.
Two private cybersecurity firms have said they found evidence pointing to Russian government involvement in the DNC hack when they analyzed the hackers' methods and efforts to distribute the stolen emails and other files. The hacker groups, identified as Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, used different but sophisticated techniques to break into the DNC and try to avoid detection. Most of the DNC emails appeared to have been stolen May 25.
The DNC breach led to the leak of 19,000 internal emails by WikiLeaks that appeared to show a pro-Clinton bias in the organization -- and, in turn, led to DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down ahead of this week's Democratic National Convention.
The hack of the DCCC’s web server allowed the hackers to create and redirect traffic to a fake donations page, made to look and feel authentic, sources said. From there, hackers were able to capture all data entered on the page. Sources said the objective behind the hack is not clear, though it could be to harvest data on Democratic donors and supporters.
Additionally, Fox News has obtained analysis of the DCCC hack from private sector cybersecurity firm FireEye that suggests the intrusion was carried out by a Russian-government aligned hacking group dubbed "Tsar Team (APT28)."
In its research, FireEye notes it previously confirmed that malware analyzed from the DNC hack was also consistent with "Tsar Team", which has been implicated by FireEye in numerous cyberattacks aimed at foreign targets on behalf of the Russian government in the past.
Computer hacking, emails and indications of Russian involvement have evolved into a political issue in the presidential campaign between Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

This week, Trump encouraged Russia to seek and release more than 30,000 other missing emails deleted by Clinton, the former secretary of state. Democrats accused him of trying to get a foreign adversary to conduct espionage that could affect this November's elections, but Trump later said he was merely being sarcastic.

Clinton deleted the emails from her private server, saying they were private, before handing other messages over to the State Department. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Clinton over her email practices, though FBI Director James Comey called her "extremely careless" in handling classified information.

The battle begins: Clinton, Trump barnstorm the battlegrounds post-convention

Clinton's 'risky strategy' to make 2016 race all about Trump

Hillary on Benghazi,
“What difference does it make?”

Video of Clinton talking about Benghazi.

The battle begins — and gaining an edge in the key battleground states appears to be the strategy for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as each fires an opening shot in the three-month fight to win the White House.
“As of tomorrow, we have 100 days to make our case to America,” Clinton told supporters in Philadelphia on Friday, after claiming the Democratic nomination for president.
Each campaign is hurtling out of the convention stretch drawing a stark contrast with the other, while putting in immediate face time in the swing states that will decide the November election.
On Friday, Clinton launched a bus tour with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine that will take them across the battleground state of Pennsylvania and next into Ohio, hitting themes like manufacturing, infrastructure and small business support. The tour will take them through Rust Belt hubs like Pittsburgh and Youngstown.
Along the way, the Clinton campaign is loudly accusing Trump and running mate Mike Pence of offering a gloom-and-doom vision, what Clinton on Thursday dubbed “midnight in America.”
But Trump counters that Democrats are offering a “fantasy world” that ignores the real problems. Campaign manager Paul Manafort charged that those problems have only been exacerbated by President Obama and Clinton’s leadership.
“Because she has no message, she has to try and confuse by making these kinds of attacks,” Manafort told Fox News on Friday. “If it’s midnight in America, it’s because of the seven-and-a-half years of the Obama-Clinton administration.”
Each, however, is claiming to be the country’s true change-maker. A new Trump ad says the billionaire businessman offers “change that makes America great again” – while Clinton-Kaine say he’s offering “empty promises.”