Antifa College Cartoons

Colleges struggle over defending or curbing free speech

 When College Administrators start letting Antifa groups run the show the college should be shut down because this has nothing to do with education.

University of Missouri

Evergreen State College

Both the University of Missouri and Evergreen State College have been rocked by left-wing demonstrations, some of which administrators in both schools allowed. Now both have had to deal with falling enrollment and a decline in funds - and there are fears the situation could spread to other schools.

The defining issue is whether parents and donors see administrators as capable of containing clashes and responding firmly when protests get out of control, experts say.

Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a nonprofit that advocates for a variety of higher education issues, told Fox News that how a college handles freedom of expression matters greatly to prospective students, their parents and donors.
“When they look to what college to pick, parents and students are thinking of the largest investment their family is likely to make beyond the purchase of a home,” Pfeffer Merrill said. “Across the political spectrum, one of the most essential assets is [the opportunity] to be exposed to a wide range of views.”

Violence is coming from antifa group on campus. Now they control administrators and shut out competing ideas they disagree with or don’t like.

There is increasing concern, she said, “about a lack of openness to having a full conversation” amid a growing intolerance of views that are different or considered offensive.
“It’s senior leadership at the colleges that sets the tone,” she said.
At Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., last year left-wing students called for a day for whites to stay off campus. But a professor -- well known as a progressive -- publicly criticized the move. The response was threats and physical intimidation by students. Administrators decided to suspend classes for several days.
As at Missouri, the school administrators were assailed for allowing a group of overzealous students to call the shots.
Now Evergreen State has experienced a decline in enrollment that has resulted in a $2.1 million budget shortfall, forcing the liberal arts school to announce layoffs. The blow to the school’s enrollment and finances is seen as stemming, at least in part, from the showdown.

The general consensus was that [the enrollment decline] was because of the aftermath of what happened in November, 2015. There were students from both in the state and out of state that just did not apply, or those who did apply but decided not to attend.
- Mun Choi, new system president, University of Missouri

In 2015, the University of Missouri’s main campus, which is in Columbia, experienced escalating tensions over allegations of racism at the school – and protests became violent. Several administrators acceded to demonstrators’ demands that they resign.
School officials were widely criticized for not gaining control over the protests, which grew in size and tension, even resulting in some demonstrators lashing out at reporters who were trying to cover their message.
Since then, freshman enrollment has plunged by 35 percent, and donations to the athletic department have dropped 72 percent over the year before, according to published reports.
The University of Missouri had to temporarily close seven dormitories – renting them out for special events, such as homecoming games – and planned to cut 400 jobs.
“The general consensus was that [declining enrollment] was because of the aftermath of what happened in November 2015,” the New York Times quoted Mun Choi, the new system president, as saying. “There were students from both in the state and out of state that just did not apply, or those who did apply but decided not to attend.”
If left-wing groups continue making demands and administrators acquiesce to them, other schools may suffer the same fate as Missouri and Evergreen, according to one expert.
“I don’t think we have seen the full extent of the fallout at the University of Missouri,” Sterling Beard, editor of The Leadership Institute's Campus Reform, told Fox News. “Violence is coming from Antifa groups on campus. Now they control administrators and shut out competing ideas they disagree with or don’t like.”
Beard said Missouri’s protests spread to other colleges, but they did not spiral out of control.
“The lesson is that administrators have to treat their students like the adults that they are,” he said. “Nowadays they treat students with kid gloves.”
When students cross the line from expressing a view or demonstrating for a cause to disrupting education or making people feel unsafe on campus, it’s time for administrators to lay down boundaries, Beard said.
“They must not be afraid to expel students and lay down the law.”
One school that has resisted the kinds of demands Missouri and Evergreen gave in to is the University of Chicago.
In the summer of 2016 incoming freshmen at the University of Chicago received a welcome letter that made the institution’s commitment to the free and open expression of ideas clear:
“Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’ we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”

Trump slams 'rigged system' over claim Comey 'exonerated' Clinton before probe ended

President Trump on Friday slammed what he called a “rigged system” following reports that former FBI Director James Comey began drafting an “exoneration statement” for Hillary Clinton before interviewing her in connection with her private email use as secretary of state.  

“Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more. A rigged system!” Trump tweeted early Friday.

The president was referring to allegations made this week by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
In a news release Thursday, the senators said Comey began drafting the exoneration statement in April or May 2016, which was before the FBI interviewed 17 key witnesses, including Clinton herself and other top aides.
COMEY BEGAN DRAFTING 'EXONERATION STATEMENT' BEFORE INTERVIEWING KEY WITNESSES, SENATORS SAY
“Conclusion first, fact-gathering second—that’s no way to run an investigation,” they wrote in a letter this week to the FBI. “The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy.”
Grassley and Graham said they learned about the draft after reviewing transcripts of interviews with top Comey aides.
“According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton,” the senators said.
They added, “That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts.”
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, was investigated by the FBI for using a private email address and server to handle classified information while serving as secretary of state.
In July 2016, Comey famously called Clinton’s email arrangement “extremely careless” though he decided against recommending criminal charges.
The transcripts in question were from interviews conducted by the Office of Special Counsel, which interviewed James Rybicki, Comey’s chief of staff, and Trisha Anderson, the principal deputy general counsel of national security and cyberlaw, the senators said.
“It is unclear whether the FBI agents actually investigating the case were aware that Mr. Comey had already decided on the investigation’s outcome while their work was ongoing,” the senators wrote.
In the Wednesday letter to FBI Director Chris Wray, the two senators said they have requested all records relating to the drafting of the statement.
Comey was fired as FBI director by Trump in May amid tensions over the Russia investigation.

Obama Becomes Most Expensive Ex-President in U.S. History

OAN Newsroom

Barack Obama becomes the most expensive ex-president in U.S. history, costing taxpayers almost $1.2 million a year.
Obama’s official allowance for 2018 is the highest among the five living ex-presidents, exceeding George Bush’s budget by $100,000 and Bill Clinton’s by $200,000.
Despite claiming his presidency empowered the disadvantaged, Obama made a dent in Americans’ pockets with shared responsibility payments.
Now his office in D.C. is the most expensive of all other ex-presidents’ and will cost taxpayers $536,000.
His pension is also the highest at around $236,000.
Not only did Barack and Michelle Obama leave the White House as multi-millionaires, they also put a hefty price tag on on their public speaking services.
One speech from the former president could cost up to $400,000.

Russia Promises Tough Response Over Consulate Closures

Black smoke rises from the roof of the Consulate-General of Russia Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in San Francisco. The U.S. on Thursday ordered Russia to shut its San Francisco consulate and close offices in Washington and New York within 48 hours in response to Russia’s decision last month to cut U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia. Fireman were called to the consul, but were turned away after being told there was no problem. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

OAN Newroom

Russia promises a tough response to a U.S. order to shutdown Russian consulates in the U.S.
This comes after the White House gave Russia 48 hours Thursday to follow through with its request.
U.S. officials describe the move as retaliation to the Kremlin’s demand for the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia following new sanctions imposed by the White House.
Russian officials say they were surprised by the move, and claim the conflict between the two nations was started by the U.S.
The country’s foreign minister said Moscow will reply with firmness, but has not yet settled on how to retaliate.
“I’d like to mention that the closure of the consulate in San Francisco was accompanied by the request to clear it within two days, said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “We gave the Americans a month to bring the number of diplomatic personnel in accordance with the number of our personnel in the United States, but they kicked out our 35 people with families within two days and now they force us to close a consulate within two days.”
Lavrov said Russia’s decision to cut diplomatic ties came as a response to the U.S. expelling Russian diplomats last December.

College Protesters Cartoons

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke resigns

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, one of the highest-profile members of law enforcement to emerge as a vocal supporter of President Trump, resigned from his position on Thursday.

County Clerk George Christenson said that he received a resignation letter from Clarke but that no reason for the move was provided.

Clarke issued a "retirement statement" to local media hours after his resignation was announced. "After almost forty years serving the great people of Milwaukee County, I have chosen to retire to pursue other opportunities," Clarke wrote. "I will have news about my next steps in the very near future."
In June, Clarke announced that he had rescinded his acceptance of a post in the Office of Public Engagement for the Department of Homeland Security. However, the office had never confirmed that it offered him the job, in which he would have served as a liaison between DHS and state and local law enforcement.
Clarke, a tough-on-crime conservative Democrat, had built a following among conservatives with his provocative social media presence and for his support of President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. But he later was accused of plagiarism in his master’s thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School.
Clarke denied the report in which it was claimed that he failed to properly attribute his sources at least 47 times in his 2013 thesis, titled "Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible."
In an email to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Clarke wrote, "only someone with a political agenda would say this is plagiarism."
He also drew criticism for conditions in his jails. A mentally ill inmate allegedly died after being deprived of water as punishment, prosecutors said.
Some Wisconsin conservatives had encouraged Clarke to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, but he repeatedly rejected their overtures.
Clarke recently published a memoir, "Cop Under Fire."
There was no immediate word on a replacement.

Trump pushing for $6 billion in Harvey recovery funding

President Trump is requesting that nearly $6 billion be made available for the Harvey recovery process.

The administration urged Congress on Thursday to approve and provide $5.95 billion for the initial response and recovery efforts related to the devastating hurricane affecting parts of Texas and Louisiana, Axios reported.

A senior administration official told the website that White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will be calling Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill this week, asking them for their support on the funding plan.
The official added that the Trump administration believes the requested amount will be more than enough to support hurricane recovery efforts until year's end.
If approved by Congress, $5.5 billion would go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for its disaster relief operations and $450 million to the Small Business Administration to assist affected businesses.
To access the funding, the U.S. debt limit would have to be increased – a move that would aim at lowering the risk of default, Bloomberg Politics reported.
A separate official told the news site that the White House was looking to extend the limit long enough to move back the threat of default until Congress is able to draft a budget for the full federal fiscal year.
Trump has expressed his desire to move swiftly on recovery efforts and rebuild damaged areas in Houston and southeast Texas. Some Democrats have said that the area could need more than $150 billion in federal aid. The initial request is expected to be a down payment on a larger federal aid package, the Washington Post reported.
The news came on the same day that President Trump pledged $1 million of his personal money to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey in both Texas and Louisiana.
“The president is pledging a million dollars of personal money to help,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Thursday.
Sanders said the president asked that she “check with” reporters for “suggestions” on groups and organizations that would be “best and most effective in providing aid.”
The press secretary was asked whether Trump would pay the $1 million from his personal funds, or from the Trump Organization.
“I know the president said he was going to give — I don’t know the legal part of exactly that, but he said his personal money,” Sanders answered. “So I assume that comes directly from him.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed reporting to this story.
Perry Chiaramonte is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @perrych