Is the Media Polling a Fast One on Voters?

Polling has changed a lot in the last several years. And 16 days out from one of the most significant midterm elections in history, it’s important to know how.

If you’re like most Americans, you don’t know which headlines to believe. You can see two surveys on the same party the same day with dramatically different results. One second, Republicans have the advantage. The next, Democrats do. It’s exactly the kind of yo-yo polling that makes most voters throw up their hands in frustration. But, more often than not, it’s the liberal candidate or party that has the lead. Is that by design, former Bush writer Ned Ryun asks — or just a coincidence?

“Most people only see or hear the blaring top line of a poll: ‘Democrats leading in congressional generic ballot by 13 points!’ and assume that somehow those numbers are a legitimate and accurate presentation of political reality,” he writes. “But that’s not always so.” In a recent article for American Greatness, Nicholas Waddy points out that CNN’s generic ballot showed exactly that — but it made some outrageous assumptions to get there like, “women voting for Democrats vs. men by nearly double the historical trends, the over-65 vote swinging 26 points in Democrats favor from 2016 until now, and that somehow the white vote will drop 21 points for House Republicans in a two year time period. Those numbers,” Waddy insists, “are on the level of fraudulent.”

How is the media getting away with these predictions, especially, Ned points out, since they’re based on “the most historic changes in the voting demographics ever?” “Why not just report the numbers as accurately as possible? After 2016, that reason should be clear: It’s because gauging public sentiment emphatically is not the point of every public opinion poll.” The goal isn’t always to report public opinion — but to shape it.

“Opinion polling was born out of a struggle not to discover the public mind but to master it,” Christopher Hitchens wrote in Harpers in 1992. “It was a weapon in the early wards to thwart organized labor in the battle against Populism… Polls are deployed only when they might prove useful — that is, helpful to the powers that be in their question to maintain their position and influence. Indeed, the polling industry is a powerful ally of de-politicization and its counterpart which is consensus.”

To most conservatives, this isn’t news. Debunking polling comes as naturally as breathing to most values voters. We’ve all read the bleak headlines on marriage or life, only to trace those numbers back to the original question and realize it was phrased to elicit a certain response. As survey houses know better than anyone, how the issue is framed matters greatly.

Then, of course, there’s the social stigma. Some people are just reluctant to tell a stranger how they truly feel about a candidate, party, or issue. That’s why the natural marriage numbers always polled well under the final outcome on a ballot initiative. It’s also probably why an unconventional candidate like Donald Trump managed to win a historic victory.

If you’re wondering where the country truly stands, Ryun suggests focusing on polls with “likely voters.”

“And, don’t forget the phenomenon of the shy Trump voter; we now live in a country with radical leftists who are happy to chase Republicans out of restaurants, roundhouse kick pro-life women in the streets, and end friendships over simple political disagreements. In this environment, it’s no surprise that many Americans who support Trump’s policies and Republican candidates are hesitant to say so out loud.”

“The Left might be organizing in the streets, rending their garments and storming the Supreme Court, but that doesn’t mean Republican voters won’t show up when it counts in November. They know how important this election is, and I’m betting they’ll be there to quietly make a big statement.”

In the end, polls don’t decide elections — people do. So you do your part to protect your values, and join us in the effort to Pray, Vote, and Stand!


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.


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EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission.

Maryland Implies Judicial Watch Has Ties to Russian Agents in Shameful Effort to Hide Voter Rolls Mess

Maryland officials have resorted to desperate measures to avoid giving Judicial Watch voter registration records—as required by federal law—by suggesting Judicial Watch is connected to Russian government agents.

The absurd implication was made in a federal court document involving a lawsuit filed last summer as part of a national Election Integrity Project to clean up voter rolls. Maryland is one of 11 states with more registered voters than citizens of voting age, according to U.S. Census Bureau data examined as part of Judicial Watch’s ongoing investigation.

In notice-of-violation letters Judicial Watch warned it would sue the 11 states if the problems weren’t fixed. In Maryland’s case, there are more registered voters in Montgomery County, the state’s most populous, than citizens over the age of 18. Besides threatening legal action, Judicial Watch’s notice letter to election officials requested access to Montgomery County voter registration lists to evaluate efforts to ensure the accuracy of eligible voter rolls during the past two years.

Section 8(i) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) authorizes and entitles Judicial Watch to inspect and copy the requested voter lists. Maryland officials refuse to provide them, claiming that state law restricts the release of voter registration information to Maryland registered voters. The NVRA trumps any reservation the state may have and Judicial Watch is confident it will obtain the records.

Nevertheless, Judicial Watch had to sue in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to gain access to the voter registration lists under federal law, noting that Section 8(i) of the NVRA contains no requirement that only an individual person or a registered voter may request the documents that the statute describes.

Accordingly, Section 8(i) authorizes and entitles Judicial Watch to inspect and copy the requested voter lists. Maryland officials have chosen to dodge the law, refusing to provide the records and stonewalling with outlandish assertions during the pretrial discovery process. In a federal court document filed on behalf of State Administrator of Elections Linda H. Lamone, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh tries to associate Judicial Watch with Russian government agents.

Here is the excerpt straight from the interrogatory filed in court by Maryland’s attorney general: “Identify any Russian nationals or agents of the Russian government with whom you have communicated concerning this lawsuit, Judicial Watch’s request for a copy of the list of registered voters in Montgomery County, Maryland, the purposes for which you are seeking a copy of the list of registered voters in Montgomery County, Maryland, and/or any broader effort to obtain copies of similar lists from other jurisdictions of which Judicial Watch’s request for a copy of the list of registered voters in Montgomery County, Maryland, is a part.”

This shows that Maryland officials are using a baseless allegation to retaliate against an organization and its supporters because of their conservative political views, a violation of the First Amendment.

This week Judicial Watch responded to the plainly frivolous request as part of the pretrial process. There is not a shred of evidence or allegation in any pleading, document or even news report of any communications or associations between Judicial Watch and Russian nationals or agents of the Russian government.

Maryland officials knew that when they made the egregious request for documents they believed did not exist solely to associate Judicial Watch with an inflammatory, partisan fight making national headlines. This reflects negatively on Lamone and the Maryland State Board of Elections and both should be ashamed. “It’s completely outrageous,” said Robert Popper, director of Judicial Watch’s Election Integrity Project and a former deputy chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. “A government agency is taking Democratic talking points to beat someone up for suing them.”

Other states that Judicial Watch is forcing to clean up voter rolls include Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee. In California, Judicial Watch found more registered voters than voting-age citizens in 11 counties, including Imperial (102%), Lassen (102%), Los Angeles (112%), Monterey (104%), San Diego (138%), San Francisco (114%), San Mateo (111%), Santa Cruz (109%), Solano (111%), Stanislaus (102%), and Yolo (110%).

Under Section 8 of the NVRA, states are required to make a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from official lists due to “the death of the registrant” or “a change in the residence of the registrant,” and requires states to ensure noncitizens are not registered to vote. Many states don’t bother conducting reasonable voter registration list maintenance as mandated under the NVRA.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash.

FRAUD ALERT: Andrew Gillum’s Brother Voted in Florida While a Resident of Chicago, Illinois?

In a Breitbart article titled “Andrew Gillum’s Family Under Investigation; May Have Engaged in Voter Fraud” Steve Stewart reports:

Less than a year before gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum publicly denounced President Donald Trump’s efforts to investigate the threat of voter fraud, Gillum’s brother, Marcus Gillum, voted in the 2016 general election in Tallahassee, Florida while a resident of Chicago, Illinois.

According to Florida law, you must be a legal resident in Florida to vote in elections. Casting an illegal vote in Florida is a third-degree felony.

[ … ]

Leon County voting records show Marcus Gillum voted by absentee in the 2012 general election, absentee in the 2014 primary election, and early voted in the 2016 general election.

Read more.

It seems that Andrew Gillum has a long list of problematic issues including:

  1. Having a long history with hard-core socialist activists.
  2. Graduating from George Soros’ ‘School for Revolutionaries’ the Rockwood Leadership Institute.
  3. Under an FBI investigation for fraud.
  4. Having a running mate who is an anti-Semite.
  5. Being anti-First Amendment by demanding Florida TV stations pull GOP political ads about him.
  6. Being supported by billionaire Phillips who is a Maoist.

What will be the next October surprise for socialist candidate for Florida Governor Andrew Gillum?

RELATED VIDEO: GOP ad on violence against Republicans #JobsNotMobs.

EDITORS NOTE: The modified featured photo is by Steve Halama on Unsplash.

JUDICIAL WATCH VIDEO: 3.5 MILLION ‘Ghost Voters’ on Voter Rolls–‘That’s where you get fraud’

October 17, 2018- Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) to discuss election integrity and how dirty voter rolls can mean dirty elections.

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured photo is by Paul Dufour on Unsplash.

Your Vote Outweighs Their Millions: Make Your Voice Heard Nov. 6

My fellow NRA members, we stand at the edge of the precipice of one of the most important elections of our lives. That is the reality we face, and we face it just days from now.

All the freedoms we hold dear are at stake in this election. The enemies of our freedom are highly organized and abundantly funded, thanks to a group of super-rich political elites hell-bent on “buying” this election to serve their own agenda.

This self-serving cabal of billionaires and their pet politicians have conspired to permanently transform America into a socialist state.They tried their best to win the White House in 2016, and they’ve done everything possible to undo that election ever since.

Their goal is a clear and present danger! They plan to seize power in Washington by capturing the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Then they’ll crush the NRA, take the White House two years from now and repeal the Second Amendment. It is an all-out attack against us and our freedom, not with bombs and bullets, but with billions of dollars buying ballots.

You know their names: George Soros, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer—and their lap dog, N.Y.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He’s the genius who recently claimed, “We’re not going to make America great again; it was never that great.”

When he made that shocking assertion, I was at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France, with a group of NRA members, Freedom Alliance supporters and combat-wounded heroes from our current war against radical Islamist terror. We were stunned.

More stunning still: Not one of the anti-freedom cabal members distanced themselves from Cuomo’s pathetic rejection of American values. Apparently, acknowledging America’s greatness doesn’t serve their agenda.

That helps explain why Soros has pumped tens of millions into far-left political candidates and causes, why Bloomberg has vowed to spend $80 million in this election and why Steyer says he’s spending at least $110 million—all to plant Democrat-Socialists throughout our government and turn America into a gun-free socialist utopia.

Only the members of the NRA, and our country’s 100 million gun owners, stand in their way. We are the only patriots—proven by history—strong enough, tough enough and dedicated enough to defeat the big-spending liars the one and only way possible—with our votes!

On Nov. 6 every one of us must turn out and vote. And every one of us must get someone else out to vote, too. No one can sit this election out. The stakes are too high. Every vote is needed.

As law-abiding gun owners and Second Amendment advocates, you know the battlefield in this election. You helped win this fight two years ago, and you know our freedom cannot afford to let up this year.

Two years ago, NRA members helped elect one of the most openly pro-Second Amendment presidents in history. During the past two years, President Donald Trump has demonstrated his strong commitment to protecting our firearms freedom. He has fought back efforts to restrict our rights and nominated not one, but two, pro-freedom judges to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The president’s support for our freedom has driven our opponents and the so-called “mainstream” media nuts. They’ve protested, ranted and raved—and they’ve organized like never before to take over the U.S. House and Senate. If they win the House, they will spend the next two years trying to impeach the president and seize the White House in 2020.

“WE THE PEOPLE”—not wealthy oligarchs intent on ruling us and stripping away the freedoms we hold dear—are supposed to govern America.

The battle lines are clear and the fight is joined. Their last-minute smear against Judge Brett Kavanaugh in an attempt to block his confirmation is just one more indication of their tactics.

You, and I mean YOU, are the tip of the spear in this fight to preserve our liberties. You are admired, respected and trusted among your peers and colleagues. Use that credibility to encourage your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers—to spread the word and vote for candidates who support the Second Amendment on Nov. 6. A list of NRA-endorsed candidates can be found at nrapvf.org/grades.

Every vote by you and other Americans like you can make the difference in preserving our freedom and saving our nation.

Please stand with me in making that difference. Do everything you can to help us win this election battle. VOTE!

Semper Fidelis, Oliver North

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On the Street: We Went to a Trump Rally. Here Are the Stories No One Tells.

This week, The Daily Signal presents a special edition of “On the Street.” We traveled to Lebanon, Ohio, to attend a rally featuring President Donald Trump. While we were there, we talked with everyday Americans about the issues that matter and which of Trump’s accomplishments are most important to them.

“I like how he shows his faith,” one attendee told us. “I haven’t seen that in a leader in a very long time, but I love how he shows his faith and his love for God and his love for country.”

“He’s doing what he said he was going to do,” another supporter said. “Regardless, he’s trying to drain the swamp and that’s important. One thing he did, probably by getting elected, he showed us just how corrupt Washington was. I don’t think we knew that.”

We took our cameras “On the Street” to the Trump rally to find out this and more. Watch the whole video above.


The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

Governor Scott Extends & Enhances Midterm Election Ballots in areas affected by Hurricane Michael

Today, the Governor issued Executive Order 18-283 which gives Supervisors of Elections in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Liberty, and Washington counties the authority to extend and enhance voting options based on needs and challenges they have identified, including:

  • Locally-elected supervisors of elections in the impacted counties are now able to extend the amount of days of early voting, designate additional early voting locations and expedite the delivery and acceptance of vote-by-mail ballots. Each of these locally-elected supervisors of elections have reported significant obstacles created by Hurricane Michael preventing them from administering an election without these accommodations. These obstacles include, but are not limited to, damage to polling locations, extended telecommunications service disruptions, and large percentages of the counties’ population without power. Supervisors of Elections have not reported any damage to voting machines and all election-related equipment, including ballots, are secure.
  • The locally-elected Supervisors of Elections in the eight affected counties will be able to determine if additional early voting sites and days are necessary. The early voting period in the affected counties can begin as early as Monday, October 22, 2018, and can extend through election day November 6, 2018.
  •  The Executive Order extends the registration date for poll watchers to noon on October 26, 2018.
  • Executive Order 18-283 directs Secretary Detzner to coordinate with each supervisor of elections in Florida to ensure that Florida National Guard troops, first responders, law enforcement, volunteers, and utility power restoration workers engaged in the recovery efforts in the Panhandle and anyone who evacuated from the storm can cast a ballot.
  • The restriction on vote-by-mail ballots being forwarded to a different address has been waived. This will help displaced voters to cast a ballot. The Executive Order also waives provisions so voters in the affected counties can more easily obtain vote-by-mail ballots.

READ THE FULL EXECUTIVE ORDER BY CLICKING HERE.

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia issued the following statement today on Governor Rick Scott’s Executive Order to extend and enhance voting options in counties impacted by Hurricane Michael.

“We applaud Governor Scott’s Administration on an Executive Order that embraces a thoughtful, comprehensive and targeted solution.  It is of the upmost importance that while we are rebuilding communities in the Panhandle, we are also allowing sufficient access to the polls this election cycle. The RPOF commends Gov. Scott and his Administration for enhancing voting options during this trying time, and for enacting an order that empowers more local input,” said RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia.

RELATED ARTICLE: Texas Dems ask noncitizens to register to vote, send applications with citizenship box pre-checked

U.S. CO2 Emissions Plummet Under Trump While The Rest Of The World Emits More

  • U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.7 percent from 2016 levels, according to the EPA.
  • Emissions on a per-capita basis hit a 67-year low last year, federal data shows, and supporters are touting EPA’s data as proof Trump’s agenda is working.
  • EPA’s new data comes on news that, globally, greenhouse gas emissions are set to rise to historic highs by the end of the year, despite nearly 200 countries signing the Paris climate accord.

Greenhouse gas emissions continued to plummet during President Donald Trump’s first year in office, according to new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data.

Based on data from more than 8,000 large facilities, EPA found greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide, fell 2.7 percent from 2016 to 2017. Emissions from large power plants fell 4.5 percent from 2016 levels, according to EPA.

“Thanks to President Trump’s regulatory reform agenda, the economy is booming, energy production is surging, and we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions from major industrial sources,” EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the Energy Information Administration reported that per-capita greenhouse gas emissions hit a 67-year low during Trump’s first year in office.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration.

EPA’s new data follows news that, globally, greenhouse gas emissions are set to rise to historic highs by the end of the year, despite nearly 200 countries signing the Paris climate accord. Global greenhouse gas emissions also rose in 2017.

China is the main culprit behind rising emissions, but India and other developing countries contribute. However, recent reports have detailed how European countries aren’t on track to meet their own emissions reduction goals.

A recent report from the Climate Action Network Europe found that emissions cuts among most European Union members were “nowhere close enough” to meet the goals of the Paris accord. Trump pledged to withdraw from the Paris accord at the earliest possibility, in 2020.

On the flip side, the U.S. led the world in emissions cuts for the ninth time this century, according to the oil giant BP’s annual energy statistics. BP reported that European Union “emissions were also up (1.5%) with just Spain accounting for 44% of the increase.

German and French emissions increased 0.1 and 2 percent, respectively, last year, BP reported, while the “UK and Denmark reported the lowest carbon emissions in their history.”

Long held up as a poster child for fighting global warming, Germany is on track to miss its 2020 emissions targets. The government will likely instead push its goal of cutting CO2 emissions back to 2030.

Reactions after Bavaria state election in Berlin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leadership meeting in Berlin, Germany, October 15, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch.

Europe’s recent struggles with emissions cuts has emboldened supporters of Trump’s approach to emissions cuts, prioritizing private sector technology over government regulations.

“These achievements flow largely from technological breakthroughs in the private sector, not the heavy hand of government,” Wheeler said in a statement.

However, critics of the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda say actions today will cause emissions to increase in the future. Environmentalists and some states have sued to stop the administration rolling back Obama-era environmental regulations.

Democrats and environmentalists hope to use Trump’s rolling back of environmental regulations to drive voters to the polls in November.

“We know what everyone who wants to fight back must do: vote on November 6th. We know where the allegiances of Trump and his accomplices in Congress lie. Now it is up to us to make the change that is needed,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement.

Activists opposed to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project tie themselves to the White House fence during an environmental protest in Washington

Civil rights activist Julian Bond (top row, 3rd L), Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune (top row, 4th L), and activists opposed to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project tie themselves to the White House fence during an environmental protest in Washington, DC, United States on February 13, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo.

A major reason the U.S. has been able to cut emissions is the availability of low-priced natural gas. In the last decade, drillers have been able to use hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to unlock vast shale gas reserves.

Low-priced natural gas has replaced much U.S. coal-fired capacity in recent years, which has in turn lowered emissions. Additions of wind and solar energy have also played a smaller role in reducing emissions.

“The Trump Administration has proven that federal regulations are not necessary to drive CO2 reductions,” Wheeler said. “While many around the world are talking about reducing greenhouse gases, the U.S. continues to deliver, and today’s report is further evidence of our action-oriented approach.”

COLUMN BY

Michael Bastasch | Energy Editor.

Follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The Left’s Long History of Declaring Political Dissidents “Mentally Ill” [+Video]

“This growing tendency to label opponents ‘mentally ill’ scenario is incredibly concerning—but not without precedent.” – Nick Bieter


President Trump has had some pretty theatrical meetings during his tenure in the Oval Office, and his time with Kanye West was no exception. The event created loads of publicity and commentary from both the left and the right.

One of these commenters was Cenk Uygur, the well-known host of The Young Turks online news show, who made the following remark on Twitter:

I’m not trying to be glib or rub it in, but both Trump and Kanye clearly have mental issues. They need help. But what’s really sad is that about 40% of the country listen to them & think they make sense. They’re literally following people with mental health issues.

Uygur’s post highlights an increasing desire on the left to define their political opponents as mentally ill. This refrain, repeated by many in the mainstream media, suggests that Trump is showing signs of mental instability through his political statements and should be removed from office under the 25th Amendment.

But this refrain is no longer limited to Trump, for it has now been extended to those who express their agreement with the policies espoused by the president, including Kanye West.

Kanye West has mentioned his mental health struggles in the past, hinting that bipolar disorder might be the problem. However, he has never explicitly confirmed that diagnosis, discussing instead his experience with the antidepressant Lexapro and symptoms of depression and anxiety. These symptoms are felt by over 40 percent of our population, and more than one in six Americans are taking either anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications. With nearly 25 percent of the population experiencing medically documented symptoms shared by Kanye, it is easy to see how their symptoms and treatment for said symptoms could play into their political and personal beliefs.

This scenario is incredibly dangerous but not without precedent, as two former Soviet dissidents explain in the books Institute of Fools and History’s Carnival.

Beginning under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1970s, murdering political dissidents or sending them to gulags began to be viewed as too harsh for the new generation. Thus, a new system was devised for shutting down opposition and muzzling free expression. Utilizing the latest Soviet psychiatry under Dr. Andrei Snezhnevsky, the Soviets began legislating and tying political dissent to mental illness. They labeled the disease “Sluggish Schizophrenia,” which basically separated an individual’s public and private life for insufficient agreement with the Soviet model of living. People who did not like a certain individual or wanted a reward from the authorities would report that person, who would, in turn, be summoned for questioning. Individuals subjected to this treatment were not allowed any alternate diagnosis or appeal, and once diagnosed, would be sentenced to stay in a government-run mental institution.

In 1955, there were 116,000 psychiatric beds in the Soviet Union. By 1976, there were over 365,000 beds. The facilities were rarely different from prisons, with doctors performing horrible experiments that would cause both psychological and physical damage.

The psychological terror of even being considered mentally ill kept people in line, effectively snuffing out any opposition to the Soviet regime. Even after being released, the diagnosis deprived an individual of credibility and employability. Those who did land a job would soon be chased away by employers who feared they were attracting the wrong type of people.

Given this scenario, it’s not hard to see how today’s leaders could paint someone with common symptoms of depression or anxiety and then frame those symptoms as dissatisfaction with the government. In turn, the government would use that dissatisfaction as proof that an individual was unfit to criticize authorities, speak out, or even hold a job and start a family.

It’s a dangerous—but familiar—road when mental illness and political opinion-making are combined.

This article was reprinted from Intellectual Takeout.

COLUMN BY

Nick Bieter

Nick Bieter

Nick Bieter assists with the administration of Intellectual Takeout and is a contributor. He received a BA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota.

EDITORS NOTE:

Conservative Review: Trump already has the power to stop anyone at our border

Daniel Horowitz at Conservative Review lays it out for us.  President Trump already has all the power he needs to close our borders.

Presumably inspired by all the news about a now 4,000-strong migrant caravan heading toward Mexico with the apparent aim to assault our southern border (see my post yesterday), Horowitz says this (emphasis is mine):

President Trump has full constitutional power to stop the border invasion – even without Congress

Just as President Reagan is remembered for ending the Cold War, President Trump can be remembered as the one who ended the war on our sovereignty. Will he rise to the occasion?

trump wall thumbs up

Here’s the stone-cold truth about our border: We could construct a border wall as high as the stratosphere, and it won’t help much if we continue our self-destructing policies of allowing bogus asylees to come through our front door and legitimizing the opinions of sanctuary judges who “make denizens of aliens.”

President Trump publicly warned the governments of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala that if they don’t take steps to stop the latest caravan of bogus asylum invaders, he will cut off aid to the countries. While this is a good first step, it won’t deter the invasion unless we stop admitting the invaders and implementing catch-and-release under orders from illegitimate court rulings, as we did with the previous caravan and countless tens of thousands of others coming in with less pomp. And that would hold true even with a border wall. They just come to our points of entry, surrender themselves, get released into our communities, and never show up to their hearings until and unless they wind up committing crimes.

Moreover, the caravan is already in Guatemala and headed for Mexico. Thus, the Honduran diplomacy is moot at this point. And this is much bigger than one caravan. We must first dissect what is actually happening at our border.

This is nothing short of an invasion

Earlier this week, KTAR news in Phoenix, Arizona, sat down with ICE’s Phoenix field director, Henry Lucero. What he revealed should disturb all of us:

See the revelations here.

Then this…..

Thus, it all boils down to bogus asylum and catch-and-release. Either Trump ends those, or everything else is just talk. While Trump is right to ask Congress to step in, we’ve noted before that our statute is already clear that these people do not qualify as asylees and that the unaccompanied teenagers do not qualify as refugees.

With this background in mind, it’s easy to understand why Lindsey Grahmanesty’s idea of trading amnesty for a border wall is so counterintuitive. We only have this border invasion because of the magnet of amnesty, and the magnet of amnesty allows them to come to the entry points, demand asylum, sue for rights, and never get deported. A wall only helps a country that has a strong spirit but a weak frontier; it doesn’t help a weak political system that willingly commits national suicide.

Anyone who tells you that the president doesn’t have the authority to exclude anyone for any reason doesn’t deserve to live in a sovereign nation.

Sovereignty trumps everything. There is nothing in our statutes that forces the president to admit anyone he feels is a problem. In fact, as we’ve noted before, he has inherent executive powers from Article II, as well as delegated authority from Congress under existing law, to stop taking in immigrants at the border or through visas for as much time as he deems necessary.

There is much more here as Horowitz lays out the case.

Conservative Score Card

If you have never seen it, don’t miss Conservative Review’s Congressional score card and see how your representatives rank on issues you care about.  Go here.  You might find that an elected official you thought was conservative might not be voting that way once he or she got to Washington!

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EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Radek Homola on Unsplash.

Break Specialists: GOP Uses Recess to Move Judges [Video]

It’s no wonder Democrats were desperate to get out of Washington and onto the campaign trail. Of the 35 Senate seats on the ballot this year, Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) party is defending 26. So when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) agreed to recess two weeks early, he made sure to exact a price: 15 more judicial confirmations. Now, after tearing through those, McConnell is making it clear — he’s not close to finished.

The Brett Kavanaugh story may have had a happy ending, but the GOP is a long way from forgetting what liberals did to the Supreme Court justice. If anything, the bruising process only made the majority leader more determined. “He’s mad as a mama wasp,” Senator John Kennedy told Roll Call about McConnell. And he’s making Democrats regret it with another full slate of nominations.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), McConnell’s partner in the race to confirm the most judges in Senate history, interrupted the October recess to announce that he was holding Judiciary Committee hearings tomorrow – with or without his campaigning colleagues. After all, others have pointed out, the Senate was already scheduled to be in session until the end of the month. It was only after McConnell cut a deal on nominations that the Senate left for their home states.

The Majority Leader made Democrats an offer: “The Senate would adjourn until after the midterm elections, provided Democrats don’t force the full 30 hours of debate allowed for each nominee.” Anxious for his party to go home and defend their seats, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) agreed. The result? Fifteen more confirmations to benches from the 2nd, 3rd, and 9th Circuit Courts and 12 federal district judges — bringing the grand total of Senate-approved judicial nominees to a jaw-dropping 84 (including 53 trial judges, 29 appeals judges, and two Supreme Court justices). When Democrats started catching heat for taking such a lopsided deal, Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) insisted they had no choice. “If we stayed here for two or three weeks, we’d probably have done the same thing,” he told Politico.

Recess or no recess, Senator Grassley explained, there were important things on the calendar – and he doesn’t intend to move them just because Democrats are worried about the elections. “It’s unfair to the nominees, who have already flown to Washington D.C. and made travel arrangements for their families to further delay this hearing,” Grassley wrote to the committee’s top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). “And it’s unfair to the American people.” If liberals hadn’t been using “delay tactics,” he points out, the Senate wouldn’t be in this mess. “There are now 154 current and future judicial vacancies, 63 of which are classified as judicial emergencies,” he wrote to Feinstein. “The judiciary simply cannot afford further obstruction from your side.”

Naturally, the California Democrat (who happens to be in the fight of her campaign life) wrote an indignant letter back. “The Committee has never before held nominations hearings while the Senate is in recess before an election. The handful of nominations hearings that have been held during a recess have been with the minority’s consent, which is not the case here — in fact, we were not even consulted. In addition, three of us on the Democratic side represent the Ninth Circuit, and are unable to return to Washington for a day due to commitments in our states.”

That’s funny, Senator Grassley replied, since “…you consented to hearings scheduled for October 10, 17, and 24. You made this agreement after I accommodated your numerous requests for postponements and with full knowledge that it was possible the Senate would go into recess in October,” Grassley said. If the Left takes its constitutional duty as “seriously” as Feinstein says, they’ll be there. If not, Grassley will move ahead on a handful of stellar constitutionalists, including Allison Jones Rushing for the 4th Circuit Court and another full slate of district judgeships.

Regardless of what happens in November, McConnell has already been quite clear that he plans to start moving at break-neck speed to confirm as many of the president’s picks as possible until the end of the year. If that means keeping the Senate in session until Christmas, so be it. “I don’t think he’s bluffing,” Senator Kennedy said. Neither do Democrats.

The tag-team of McConnell and Grassley have been so successful that, as the majority leader tweeted before the weekend, “Nearly one out of every six circuit court of appeals judges has been appointed by @POTUS and confirmed by this Republican Senate.” If you’re wondering what’s at stake in this election, you’re looking at it.

For more on how this Senate is setting up the courts for generations of success, take some time to listen to Senate McConnell at VVS. It was one of the most compelling speeches of the whole event, and it’ll give you some interesting insight into the thinking of GOP leaders.


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.


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EDITORS NOTE: This column with photos and video is republished with permission.

Thomas More Law Center Thwarts Muslim Attempt To Silence Disturbing Truth About Islam

Chances are, if you speak boldly about the truth of Islam and Sharia Law you’re bound to run into resistance and conflict. Steve Amundson, the courageous and dedicated founder of the Counter Jihad Coalition (CJC) knows this all too well. He experienced a particularly disturbing incident recently that temporarily prevented him from setting up his booths and getting his message out.

The CJC exists to educate people on the truth about Islam. They do this by setting up tables at different venues, such as the shopping mall shown in the photo above, and pass out factual, truthful brochures. On a given day, they can give out as many as 1,000 brochures.

Although most people are grateful for the information on Islam, Amundson is always on high alert for potential backlash. This past July was no exception.

Amundson and his team, including a pastor, set up their booth at the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, California, on July 7. At one point, two men began snapping pictures of the booth, then getting on their phone.

Soon after, two Muslim women approached the booth and began cursing and causing a scene. Mall security was nearby and began speaking with the women. In the meantime, a white haired Muslim man walked over to the CJC booth and slid a backpack he was carrying under the CJC table. He then began speaking with the pastor from CJC.

After a short conversation, the Muslim man walked away from the pastor.

When Amundson found out that the man was an irate Muslim complaining about CJC’s activities, he became concerned for their safety and called security.

According to Amundson:

“I told security he left a backpack underneath our booth. The Muslim refused to take the backpack. We started to take cover behind cement pillars and told security to either call the bomb squad or have the guy pick up the backpack. He finally agreed to very carefully pick it up and security escorted him away. Security will not say at least right now if he was arrested, if the bomb squad was called or what. Was this a dry run or the real thing?”

Amundson’s subsequent application to place his table at the Mall was denied, citing security reasons.

That’s when Amundson reached out to the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC).

Thomas More Law Center attorneys wrote a letter to the Mall concerning its denial of CJC’s constitutional rights to free speech. A few weeks after the Mall acknowledged receipt of the letter, CJC was approved.

Amundson was so grateful to have his First Amendment rights restored, that he recently sent an email out to his large group of supporters and thanked TMLC directly, and kindly encouraged his friends to donate to us.

Your ongoing support of TMLC ensures we have the resources to provide immediate legal assistance, to individuals like Steve Amundson and the CJC team. Thank you for your continued support of the Thomas More Law Center.

Values Bus Gets Voters into Gear before November [+Video]

The Values Bus isn’t just catching other drivers’ attention — it’s catching the media’s! In Montana, where conservatives are in another tight race, the FRC Action team made stops in Billings, Bozeman, and Helena. Patrina Mosley, our Director of Life, Culture, and Women’s Advocacy was on hand, along with FRC’s Director of Church Ministries, Dr. Kenyn Cureton.

At the Yellowstone Christian College and a rally at the local Harley-Davidson in Billings, local news outlets were on hand to talk with the FRC Action team to talk about the motivation for a nationwide bus tour. “Helping people get out to vote,” Patrina told KULR8. “Putting voter guides in their hands, putting resource in their hands about religious freedom, about life and so [on]… [W]e’re helping people get out to vote saying, ‘Hey, we want you to do three things: We want you to pray, we want you to vote, we want you to stand. Pray for our country, pray for our leaders, and then vote.'”

Both crews, the east and west coast buses, have gotten a great response rolling through states. “This is an opportunity to say ‘Hey, we’ve seen what difference just one election has made in the last two years where we’re actually seeing religious liberty thriving,'” Patrina pointed out. “So, an election makes a difference. From the president on down to the senators on down to your House of Representatives and on down to the local level.”

To keep up with the Values Buses and where they’re headed in a state near you, click over to the website. And while you’re there, take the pledge to Pray, Vote, Stand!


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.


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Andrew Brunson’s first stop en route to the U.S. after being freed from house arrest in Turkey was Ramstein Air Base in Germany. There, the pastor from North Carolina was greeted by U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell and a folded American flag.

Fresh off of the airplane and with his wife Norine by his side, Brunson grabbed the flag and kissed it, as captured in a photo that Grenell shared on Twitter.

Before long the Brunsons were meeting President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, where the pastor dropped to one knee and prayed for the commander in chief,  Associated Press reported.

Brunson had been in jail or on house arrest in Turkey for more than two years before his release. He was arrested in October 2016 and accused of aiding terrorists through a small Christian church that he and his wife operated in the coastal city of Izmir.

The Brunsons had worked in Turkey for 23 years without incident until his  arrest.

Brunson was ultimately freed through high-pressure diplomatic negotiations overseen by Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump has said he believed in July that he had a solid deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to free the pastor,  who was said to be in poor health while in jail.

After Erdogan reneged on the deal, the Trump administration responded with a round of economic sanctions against the Turkish government.

Brunson’s court hearing Friday was his first since the sanctions took effect.

At the hearing, four government witnesses recanted their testimony that the pastor was aiding terrorist organizations.

In an apparent face-saving measure, the judge presiding over the case convicted  Brunson and slapped him with a three-year sentence. The judge also lifted a travel ban against the pastor, allowing him to leave Turkey.

After leaving Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Brunson landed Saturday aboard a military jet at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

“From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, that’s not bad,” Trump quipped at the White House meeting with Andrew and Norine Brunson, Associated Press reported.

When the president agreed to Brunson’s suggestion that he pray for him, the pastor got up from his chair next to Trump, kneeled, and put his left hand on the president’s right shoulder.

As Trump bowed his head, AP reported, Brunson asked God to “give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him. ”

“I ask that you give him wisdom in how to lead this country into righteousness,” the pastor prayed, adding:

I ask that you give him perseverance and endurance and courage to stand for truth. I ask that you to protect him from slander from enemies, from those who would undermine. I ask that you make him a great blessing to this country. Fill him with your wisdom and strength and perseverance. And we bless him. May he be a great blessing to our country. In Jesus’ name, we bless you. Amen.

COLUMN BY

Chuck Ross

Chuck Ross is a reporter for The Daily Caller News Foundation. Twitter: @ChuckRossDC.

RELATED ARTICLE: Hugh Fitzgerald: Pastor Brunson’s Deed of Derring-Do

EDITORS NOTE: This column with photos is republished with permission. The featured image is of Pastor Andrew Brunson praying for U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on October 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: Olivier Douliery/CNP/AdMedia.

American Values Are the Cure To Leftism

“Donald Trump isn’t the cause; he’s a symptom.”


Prominent leftists across the country parrot that statement often, but it’s most recently been championed by former President Barack Obama. A little over a month ago, Obama took the podium at the University of Illinois and echoed that exact sentiment to a crowd of sheep—that Trump is merely a symptom of the divide in our country, not the cause of it. The audience responded with mindless applause. Little did they know, Obama implicated himself, his party, and his ideology as the plague on our society.

Barack Obama


Obama’s assertion, then, begs the question: Who is the cause? And what exactly is Donald Trump a symptom of?

Radical leftists have long spent their days seeking control over individuals’ lives, pocket books, and freedoms, but since the turn of the 21st century, radical leftism in the United States has accelerated into the mainstream of the Democrat party and is looking to systematically dismantle the rights and values Americans have held since the colonists declared their independence.

Beginning in 2008, we experienced an Obama presidency that enabled leftism to sink into every facet of our lives. Political correctness and left-wing ideology infected governmental philosophy and the halls of Congress for generations previous. Radical rhetoric festered inside Washington, D.C., but rarely did it extend so far that it planted its roots so deeply into our daily lives.

White House


Gradually, we saw sporting events, the National Anthem, TV shows, and music take a downward turn toward the extreme left. Traditional values and American principles were scoffed at, and so-called “progressives” treated those who held said values with disdain, calling them bigots, xenophobes and homophobes. Leftists saw Heartland Americans—people found in Hillary’s basket of deplorables—as little more than ignorant rubes who clung to their god and their guns.

The left spread lethal lies and deadly rhetoric about law enforcement. They were disrespected as a whole, and children were raised to mistrust them, which gave rise to radical groups like Black Lives Matter and paved the way for a massacre of Dallas police officers.

Police Car


Trump is undoubtedly a symptom as well, but he’s not a symptom that indicates how far our country has fallen. Donald Trump is a symptom of our recovery. He’s a symptom that demonstrates America—the America the Founders envisioned—is beginning to wake up. He’s the sign that there is a cure to toxic liberalism.

NRA President LtCol Oliver North has found the cure.

The cure to the ills Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have inflicted upon our country is the Constitution. The cure is an American people who respect law and order, who cling to their god and their guns, who view America as the greatest country on the face of the earth.

Constitution


The cure is people like Mark Robinson, a law-abiding citizen who stood for the Second Amendment. This is a man who had never owned a firearm, never was never a member of the NRA, yet he saw a fundamental right being chipped away and refuse to be silent.

The cure to mob rule and the violent left is people like Stephen Willeford, who responsibly own and bear arms for the defense of themselves, their families and their communities.

The cure to extreme leftism and socialist policies is people like Roozbeh Farahanipour, who experienced extremist tyranny first-hand and led a student revolt against the Iranian government. It’s people like Roozbeh who know what authoritarianism looks like and have stared it in the face, willing to be tortured and imprisoned if it means protecting their rights.

The cure to governmental overreach is people like Lucretia Hughes, who recognize that our inalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are given by our Creator and that they cannot and must not be taken away from us.

After eight years of an America under the weather, we’ve found the cure.

We are the cure.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with all images is republished with permission.