A Postmortem of the 2018 Florida Primary

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The Florida primary was held last Tuesday (Aug 28, 2018), and the field of Republicans and Democrats have been whittled down to one per party.

The number of votes cast, and the delegates selected give us a glimpse as to what to expect November 6th, not just here in the Sunshine State, but around the country.

The candidates now include:

U.S. SENATE
Rick Scott (R)
Bill Nelson (D)

Comment: This will be a contest between an out-going GOP Governor who reduced unemployment and created jobs, versus a career politician (22 years in the House (11 terms), 18 years in the Senate (3 terms))who followed party lines. Because of his tenure and voting record, Nelson is vulnerable.

U.S. HOUSE, DISTRICT 12
Gus Bilirakis (R)
Chris Hunter (D)

Comment: Bilirakis is the incumbent, serving since 2007, and is a strong advocate for veterans. He faces a serious challenge in Hunter, a former federal prosecutor and FBI agent.

U.S. HOUSE, DISTRICT 13
George Buck (R)
Charlie Crist (D)

Comment: Former Governor and Republican Crist is the incumbent and ran unopposed as a Democrat. Newcomer Buck has an up-hill battle on his hands.

GOVERNOR
Ron DeSantis (R)
Andrew Gillum (D)

Comment: This will be the most visible race in the state and will set the tone for all others. Rep. DeSantis is pro-Trump (having been endorsed by the President), versus anti-Trump candidate Gillum. Gillum surprised a lot of people by defeating Gwen Graham in the primary. His experience primarily includes serving as Mayor of Tallahassee. He is a Progressive and endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Ashley Moody (R)
Sean Shaw (D)

Comment: Moody possesses an extensive legal career, including commercial litigation, Federal prosecutor, and Circuit Court judge. Shaw’s background is as the state’s Insurance Consumer Advocate. Hand’s down, Moody has more experience.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER
Matt Caldwell (R)
Nicole “Nikki” Fried (D)

Comment: Caldwell pulled off a bit of a surprise by defeating Denise Grimsley and Baxter Troutman. Caldwell is endorsed by Sen. Marco Rubio and the NRA. He is also an avid Constitutional Conservative. Fried is from Miami, an attorney, and helped expand access to medical marijuana. She claims, “Our politics and our government is broken.”

And from around the Pinellas County area, we have:

STATE SENATE, DISTRICT 16
Ed Hooper (R)
Amanda Hickman Murphy (D)

Comment: Murphy is a former member of the Florida House. She will be running against Hooper, a career politician who has generated a lot more campaign funds than his opponent.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 64
James Grant (R)
Jessica Harrington (D)

Comment: Harrington, a school teacher, will be running against incumbent Grant.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 65
Chris Sprowl (R)
Sally Laufer (D)

Comment: Former Assistant State Attorney and incumbent Sprowls faces Progressive newcomer Laufer.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 66
Nick DiCeglie (R)
Alex Heeren (D)

Comment: Heeren is another former teacher looking to support his community. He will face DiCeglia who is a business owner and GOP county head. Hard to read this one; could be a coin-toss.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 67
Christopher Latvala (R)
Dawn C. Douglas (D)

Comment: Douglas is a newcomer and another school teacher vying against incumbent Latvala. She may be without the financial resources to adequately fight.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 68
Ben Diamond (D)
Comment: Running unopposed, incumbent.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 69
Ray Blacklidge (R)
Jennifer Webb (D)

Comment: Blacklidge is a local attorney and businessman, as well as life-long Republican. Webb is active in her community.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 70
Wengay “Newt” Newton (D)

Comment: Running unopposed, incumbent.

NOTE: This list does not include candidates for County Commissioners, School Board, or Fire Commission.

For the complete list of candidates, including the Pinellas County School Board, click HERE.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

Although the election day data has not yet been posted, showing votes by counties and party, the final numbers are in in terms of Votes-by-Mail (absentee) and early voting. The data shown here is most illuminating.

Here we clearly see Republicans like to vote by absentee ballot (write-in), and Democrats prefer early-voting in person.

According to the Florida Department of State, Board of Elections, the number of registered Florida voters eligible to vote in the Primary included:

This means Democrats had the advantage going into the primary election, but allowed Republicans to cast more votes. This implies Democrats still do not like to vote in mid-term elections.

Over 2 million people voted in Florida prior to election day, an admirable number, but it pales in comparison to the 2016 presidential year figures which is typical.

There were 832,052 less early-votes in the Tampa Bay area than the 2016 election (1,326,728); in other words 62.8% less.

In Florida, 4,510,659 less early-votes in Florida than the 2016 election (6,511,678); in other words 69.3% less.

       REP    DEM    OTHRS
2016   39.5%  38.0%  19.5%
2018   45.7%  43.8%  10.4%

In other words, from a percentage perspective, Republicans were more active than 2016, and the Democrats did not keep pace. However, notice the “OTHRS” figure, representing independents; as this was a primary, the percentage is down; again, this is to be expected as the primary is a race for the parties. The Independents though are the real prize as that number will go up for the November 6th election.

SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT GOING INTO THE NOVEMBER ELECTION?

It appears the Republicans are cognizant of what is at stake in this election and are not taking anything for granted. If they lose, and the Congress falls into the hands of the Democrats, they fear their president will face impeachment. They are also deeply satisfied with the economic changes in the country since Mr. Trump entered the White House. As such, Florida Republicans are unified and determined. They are rallying around their President and are showing up in force to vote. At the state level, they fear a liberal agenda will force higher taxes and threaten the second amendment.

If you read the campaign pages of the Democrats, you’ll notice a common theme: “Florida is broken,” and, “We need to put the interests of the people above those of special interests.” The question is, will Independents buy it? The Democrats’ problem is they have yet to devise a compelling argument to vote for them, other than to resist President Trump. They also offer the enticement of more freebies, particularly college education, but the taxpayers know they will get stuck with the bill. In other words, the Democrats are stuck in a rut. And please, forget the mantra of Socialism; it will simply not fly down here where people have worked hard all their lives to retire.

What we are about to witness here in Florida, as well as elsewhere across the country, is an ugly brawl pitting the pro-Trump forces against the anti-Trumpers. The real fight is over the votes of the Independents. If they believe the country is better economically and in need of tougher laws on immigration, they will side with the GOP. If not, they will go with the Democrats.

Frankly, I see a “Red Tide” coming to Florida in November, certainly not blue. I would like to believe the other states will follow suit, but I will only comment on Florida herein.

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

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Socialism vs. Trump after Massive Turnout in Florida’s Tuesday Primary

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Florida is the largest swing state in the union and possibly the most demographically representative with transplants from the Northeast and Midwest, along with natives of the South. Plus it’s the third largest state after California and Texas, which are not as representative.

That makes the results of Tuesday’s primaries so intriguing to the tea-leaf reading set. In this case we can see some real actual trends, because it is not just one special election that both sides were trying to make into a national referendum — it’s a mini three-quarters of America.

One big takeaway: The establishment, “centrist” portions of both parties lost big time. The Democrats went all in on the surging socialism elements of the Party while Trump remains a monstrous force in the Republican Party. That looks like the war shaping up in November, as the Democratic base moves toward the surging Bernie Sanders-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Party and Republicans continue to move toward the strong America First Trump wing.

Second big takeaway: Everyone is jazzed up. The off-year Florida primary broke records across the state for any primary this century — with higher turnout even than in presidential election years. Importantly, the increase is in both parties. The Democratic turnout is up more than the Republican turnout, but in the red areas of Florida, there was a record number of people voting Tuesday.

This is relatively unheard of in off election years and what it portends for November is not so easy to determine. One would have to give an edge to Democrats for historic reasons and greater increase in turnout reasons. However, what we know for sure is that everything could change tomorrow. Mueller could issue his report and who knows what all else. What’s clear is that Trump is turning out Democrats, but anti-Trump hysteria and socialism is turning out Republicans.

Here are the themes from the demographically representative Florida primaries Tuesday:

Trump remains a very powerful force in the GOP

In the race between long-time presumed Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam, a favorite of the GOP establishment, and one-time longshot Congressman Ron DeSantis, a favorite of President Trump and the Trump wing of the GOP, DeSantis pulled off not just an upset but a landslide upset.

DeSantis was an early Trump supporter and spent a lot of time on Fox News defending the President and attacking his critics. This is something Trump likes and rewards. Going into the election process, DeSantis was not well-known outside of his Congressional district while Putnam had strong name recognition and a ground game that had been built over many years through the GOP. He’s conservative, but definitely seen as establishment.

Eight weeks ago, Putnam was polling with solid and consistent leads of 15 to 18 percent over DeSantis. After Trump endorsed DeSantis on Twitter and then went to Tampa for a DeSantis rally, the polling flipped by an astonishing 30 percentage points and DeSantis won the primary 56 percent to 36 percent. Not even close.

That’s the power of Trump in the GOP. We’ll find out in a few months the power of Trump in a general election.

Socialism ascends in Democratic Party with nomination of Andrew Gillum

Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, daughter of popular former Governor and Senator Bob Graham, was ahead in the polls going into the primary Tuesday. Wealthy candidates out of Miami spent about $70 million combined trying to pass her. But Gillum worked the grass roots, the black turnout, and the socialist/progressive wing and pulled off an upset that left the pollsters, pundits and media embarrassed. No one saw it — other than a little known but growing outfit of anti-Trumpsters called Change Research. They nailed it.

Graham was seen more as an establishment Democrat in the same way that Putnam was as a Republican. In fact, until Trump’s entry, it was widely believed this would be a race between those two. But the establishment in both parties is being rapidly neutered and that was obvious by Tuesday night.

Gillum spent the least of the five major candidates in his primary race and was barely seen on TV — important elements in a state with 21 million people with at least four major metro areas. He relied on a grassroots campaign, the support of the furthest left in the party and the socialism appeal of Sanders and Ocassio-Cortez to beat four other candidates, including Graham.

Gillum is young at 39, and was endorsed by socialist former Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He was the heavy favorite among Democrats who called themselves progressives. He was supported by California billionaire environmental extremist Tom Steyer. And President Trump wasted no time in going after him this morning as a “failed socialist,” tweeting out:

“Not only did Congressman Ron DeSantis easily win the Republican Primary, but his opponent in November is his biggest dream….a failed Socialist Mayor named Andrew Gillum who has allowed crime & many other problems to flourish in his city. This is not what Florida wants or needs!”

In addition to the socialism label, there are some threats moving forward with Gillum. The FBI is conducting an ongoing investigation of corruption among Tallahassee city officials (it is a long-time Democrat-run city) and no one — including Gillum — has been cleared of anything yet. Will the FBI pull a James Comey and act politically? Who can say in this environment. But that looms out there. Expect the DeSantis camp and allies to use it.

Final point. Gillum was not seen as a threat to win among any of the major candidates, and as such, he received virtually no attack ads and minimal scrutiny by the media and other candidates. That will not be the case in the next few months. (Except for the media part, of course.) A lot will come to light that has hitherto been hidden.

Flipping the Florida U.S. Senate seat just got harder

Everyone nationally is watching the races for Congress, and in this too, Tuesday’s results give the lay of the land.

The race between Gov. Rick Scott and long-time incumbent seat-warmer Sen. Bill Nelson was seen as a strong opportunity for Republicans to pick up a Senate seat and give them a cushion by flipping it to red. However, that goal just got tougher. Having Andrew Gillum, the first black gubernatorial candidate to win his party’s primary, at the top of the Florida ballot will likely ensure high black turnout from the Democratic Party as they can feel something historic to be excited about. It could be a similar dynamic for Florida as was in play in 2008 with Barack Obama.

Bill Nelson excited no black voter ever — well, no voter ever. He is a reliable Democratic vote whose 40 years in Washington have netted virtually no legacy beyond a warm D seat. Scott currently has a small lead in the contest. But Gillum’s presence will almost assuredly deliver votes to Nelson, next on the ballot, that he would not have otherwise received. Flipping the seat is now more difficult to pull off.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Revolutionary Act.

Christian Cake Baker Turns the Tables, Sues Colorado for Anti-Religious Bias

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Jack Phillips owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, and is himself a master baker. He’s in trouble with the state of Colorado for declining to create a custom cake for an event because doing so would violate his religious beliefs.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Phillips has already taken a similar case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor on June 4.

Here’s the background.

In 2012, Phillips declined the request by a same-sex couple marrying in Massachusetts that he create a custom cake for their reception in Colorado.

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in a ruling affirmed by the state courts, concluded that Phillips violated a state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in businesses and other places of public accommodation.

The case, as the Supreme Court would describe it, presented a conflict between the government’s authority to protect individuals against discrimination and “the right of all persons to exercise fundamental freedoms under the First Amendment.”

This conflict is recurring, in different settings, more and more often.

To understand this conflict properly requires focusing on the reason that Phillips declined to make this particular cake. He has no desire to discriminate against LGBTQ people; in fact, his shop welcomes everyone as customers, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Instead, he claimed only that being required to use his personal skills to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding forced him to have a role in that event in violation of his religious beliefs.

Advocates wanted the Supreme Court to announce a rule that would tip the scales in these cases. One side wanted the court to say that the Constitution guarantees a win for religious business owners. The other side wanted the justices to say that state anti-discrimination laws always prevail, even in these narrow circumstances.

Courts in general, and the Supreme Court in particular, often prefer not to push the legal envelope very far, especially when volatile issues are involved. Here, the Supreme Court decided in Phillips’ favor without establishing an across-the-board rule.

Instead of focusing on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s actual decision against Phillips, the high court focused on how the commission reached that decision.

There was clear—even shocking—evidence that commission members exhibited “clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs that motivated [Phillips’] objection,” the court said.

Overt statements by commissioners, as well as treating Phillips’ objection differently than similar objections in other cases, were “inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion.”

This was a significant decision for several reasons. First, it recognized that conflicts like this involve a person’s “sincere religious beliefs.” Second, it reaffirmed that the right of each individual to exercise religion is a fundamental constitutional right. Third, it exposed ugly, anti-religious bias by a government agency and held that the First Amendment guarantees freedom from such bias.

Since the Supreme Court did not settle this conflict once and for all with an all-encompassing rule, additional cases will help fill in the blanks and, hopefully, pave the way to more robust protection for the exercise of religion.

That includes Phillips’ new case.

In June 2017, a lawyer named Autumn Scardina asked Phillips to create a custom cake celebrating his transition from male to female. When Phillips declined, on the same grounds as he had before, Scardina filed a discrimination complaint.

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission found probable cause that Phillips had again violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws.

Rather than wait for the entire process to play out, however, Phillips took the initiative and filed a federal lawsuit.

Assisted by the Alliance Defending Freedom, Phillips’ lawsuit makes four legal claims. First, he alleges that the government violated his First Amendment right to exercise his religion by targeting, showing hostility toward, and discriminating against him based on his religious beliefs and practices.

That’s the most important issue, and it picks up where Phillips’ first case left off. While his first case involved specific acts of anti-religious hostility by individual persons, Phillips is alleging that the government is hostile to religion in a more general way.

Second, he alleges that the government violated his First Amendment right to free speech by forcing him to “create and disseminate expression that violates [his] religious beliefs.”

Third, he contends that the government violated his 14th Amendment right to due process by the “unfair and biased” way that it enforced the law against him.

And fourth, he argues that the government violated his 14th Amendment right to equal protection by treating his religiously motivated decision differently than those of others.

When Phillips declined to participate in an event that would violate his personal religious beliefs, he was not discriminating against the couple.

There is no reason that the Constitution’s protection for individuals who wish to live their faith and laws prohibiting discrimination against groups of people in the marketplace cannot coexist.

Those who regularly defend religious freedom know that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Each case that exposes government hostility toward religious belief and practice challenges us to take our individual rights more seriously.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Thomas Jipping

Thomas Jipping

Thomas Jipping is deputy director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

RELATED ARTICLE: Baker Hopes to Create ‘Without Fear of Punishment From Government’

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, who was targeted a second time by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, less than two months after his Supreme Court victory. (Photo: Douliery Olivier/ABACA/Newscom)

THC Found in Breast Milk Six Days After Marijuana Use

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Marijuana study raises concerns about THC in breast milk up to six days after use

A new study from researchers at the University of California, San Diego, finds THC is present in breast milk for up to six days after nursing mothers use marijuana. This is worrisome because THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, may harm the developing brain of newborns, potentially resulting in lifelong problems that otherwise would not occur.

The study involved 50 nursing mothers who were using pot and submitted breast milk samples to researchers. The researchers found that THC remained in breast milk for up to six days after marijuana use in 34 of 54 samples. Both THC and CBD were found in five samples.

The study also presents an overview of what is known about how marijuana affects unborn and newborn babies and why its findings are important.

“Given ethical concerns, there are no randomized controlled trials on the effect of marijuana use by pregnant and lactating women,” the researchers say. And the results of other kinds of studies must be viewed with caution given the presence of confounding factors. But enough about THC’s effect on the fetus and newborns is known from animal and epidemiological studies, they say, to counsel women against marijuana use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

A new American Academy of Pediatrics report encourages women not to use marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists gives similar advice.

Read USA Today story here. Read Pediatrics article here.

Inside the weird and wild crusade for clean pot

The marijuana industry is a vast, toxic, and largely unregulated market – can a corporate exec and a drug dealer make it any safer?

Reporters will do anything for a story. This one found herself barreling down a California freeway at 80 mph in a driving rain with a drug dealer named Ziggy at the wheel snorting cocaine.

Ziggy, pictured above, and his partner, described as a corporate executive, started a marijuana distribution business after California legalized the drug in 2016. Their goal? To ensure the pot they distributed to dispensaries was free of contaminants.

It didn’t end well. Today, the two business partners speak to each other through their lawyers. But their story of how contaminated California pot is turns out to be as hair-raising as the drive the reporter risked her life to get.

Figuring out what the rules should be to prevent impurities from contaminating pot is nearly impossible. There are no national standards like there are for food crops. “And unfortunately, pretty much all of the marijuana in the United States is drenched in harmful chemicals,” she writes. “But let’s just say that if you like pot, you have absolutely exposed yourself to chemicals that can damage your central nervous system, mess with your hormones and give you cancer. There are toxicants in our vape pens, in our fancy prepackaged edibles and in the soil and water near many marijuana farms.”

This story will interest anyone concerned about contaminated pot.

Read Rolling Stone article here.

Marijuana growers stare down costly, burgeoning regulations

Meanwhile, marijuana growers complain about tougher regulations states are enacting to protect individuals and the environment.

  • “Massachusetts put in place strict energy regulations earlier this year pertaining to cultivation lighting that growers ‘are figuring out how to comply with.’
  • “In Colorado, cultivators now face mandatory pesticide testing.
  • “In Oregon, growers must prove they have a legal source of water. Stricter water requirements are increasing in markets across the country.
  • “In Boulder, Colorado, marijuana facilities must report energy use and offset their consumption by installing a renewable-energy facility, participating in a verified solar garden or paying into a city fund.”

It’s difficult to take such complaints seriously when pot czars are investing millions of dollars in a marijuana industry predicted to make billions.

Read MJBizDaily story here.

Open Borders Bring a Higher Risk of Disease

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The Immigration and Nationality Act mandates that all immigrants and refugees undergo a medical screening examination to determine whether they have an inadmissible health condition.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has technical instructions for medical examination of prospective immigrants in their home countries before they are permitted to enter the U.S. They are screened for communicable and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis, polio, measles, mumps, and HIV. They are also tested for syphilis, gonorrhea, and other sexually transmitted diseases.

The CDC also has medical screening guidelines for refugees. These screenings are usually performed 30 to 90 days after refugees arrive in the United States.

But what about people who enter our country illegally? The CDC specifically cites the possibility of the cross-border movement of HIV, measles, pertussis, rubella, rabies, hepatitis A, influenza, tuberculosis, shigellosis, and syphilis.

Chris Cabrera, a Border Patrol agent in South Texas, warned: “What’s coming over into the U.S. could harm everyone. We are starting to see scabies, chickenpox, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, and different viruses.”

Some of the youngsters illegally entering our country are known to be carrying lice and suffering from various illnesses. Because there have been no medical examinations of undocumented immigrants, we have no idea how many are carrying infectious diseases that might endanger American children when these immigrants enter schools across our nation.

According to the CDC, in most industrialized countries, the number of cases of tuberculosis and the number of deaths caused by TB steadily declined during the 100 years prior to the mid-1980s. Since the 80s, immigrants have reversed this downward trend in countries that have had substantial levels of immigration from areas where the disease is prevalent.

In 2002, the CDC said:

“Today, the proportion of immigrants among persons reported as having TB exceeds 50 percent in several European countries, including Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. A similar proportion has been predicted for the United States.”

The number of active TB cases among American-born citizens declined from an estimated 17,725 in 1986 to 3,201 in 2015. That was an 80 percent drop. Data reported to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System show that the TB incidence among foreign-born people in the United States (15.1 cases per 100,000) is approximately 13 times the incidence among U.S.-born people (1.2 cases per 100,000).

Those statistics refer to immigrants who are legally in the U.S. There is no way for us to know the incidence of tuberculosis and other diseases carried by those who are in our country illegally and hence not subject to medical examination.

This public health issue is ignored by all those Americans championing sanctuary cities. The public health issue is also ignored by Americans clamoring for open borders, and that includes many of my libertarian friends.

By the way, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, when masses of European immigrants were trying to enter our country, those with dangerous diseases were turned back from Ellis Island. Americans hadn’t “progressed” to the point of thinking that anyone in the world has a legal right to live in America. Neither did they think that it was cruel or racist to take measures to prevent our fellow Americans from catching diseases from foreigners.

But aside from diseases, there is the greater threat of welcoming to our shores people who have utter contempt for Western values and want to import anti-Western values to our country, such as genital mutilation, honor killings, and the oppression of women.

Many libertarian types make the argument that we would benefit from open borders when it comes to both people and goods. That vision ignores the important fact that when we import, say, tomatoes from Mexico, as opposed to people, to the U.S., they are not going to demand that we supply them with welfare benefits.

The bottom line is that we Americans have a right to decide who enters our country and under what conditions. If we forgo that right, we cease to be a sovereign nation. But that may not be important to some Americans.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams is a columnist for The Daily Signal and a professor of economics at George Mason University. Twitter: .

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of a Border Patrol agent apprehends a man from Guatemala after he and others illegally crossed into the U.S. border from Mexico in Penitas, Texas, Aug. 15, 2018. (Photo: Adrees Latif/Reuters/Newscom)

Twitter Reverses Ruling After Backlash, Concedes It’s Against the Rules to Wish Death Upon Dana Loesch’s Children

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Twitter reversed course Monday and suspended a Twitter account that said National Rifle Association (NRA) spokeswoman Dana Loesch “has to have her children murdered.”

“The only way these people learn is if it affects them directly,” Twitter user Milan Legius wrote in a reply to Loesch on Sunday. “So if Dana Loesch has to have her children murdered before she’ll understand, I guess that’s what needs to happen.”

Twitter initially ruled on Sunday that after “carefully” reviewing the reported tweet, that it had “no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior.”

Following news coverage from media outlets including The Daily Caller News Foundation, Twitter “re-reviewed” the report on Monday and changed its ruling.

“We have re-reviewed the account you reported and have locked it because we found it to be in violation of the Twitter Rules,” Twitter wrote in an email to Dana’s husband Chris Loesch, who shared it with The DCNF.

“You may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people,” Twitter’s rules state.

“If the account owner complies with our requested actions and stated policies, the account will be unlocked,” Twitter wrote in the email to Loesch, who initially reported the threat against the couple’s children.

“I wish Twitter just treated all users consistently,” Dana told The DCNF. She is used to abuse on Twitter, where the replies to her tweets are often misogynistic.

Twitter did not immediately return a request for comment.

The NRA in general has become a popular target for the activist left, which often scapegoats the NRA for mass shootings its members didn’t commit.

Leftist activists have sought to silence the NRA by getting the nonprofit’s media arm banned from Amazon, Apple and Google’s streaming services. So far, the three have allowed NRATV to remain on their platforms.

Twitter’s reversal on Monday was similar to its reversal on suspending Turning Point USA communications director Candace Owens.

Twitter suspended Owens in April for imitating New York Times editorial board member Sarah Jeong’s anti-white tweets, but restored Owens’ account access following a backlash on social media.

The company attributed Owens’ suspension to an “error.”

COLUMN BY

 

 

 

PETER HASSON

Follow Peter Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson

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EDITORS NOTE: 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 for this original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

VIDEO: Anti-Trump Mass Shooter kills in another ‘Gun Free Zone’ in Florida

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David Katz, anti-Trump resistance member and mass murderer.

The Crime Prevention Research Center in an article titled “‘Mass shooting’ reported at Jacksonville Landing in Florida at another Gun-free zone” reports:

Another horrible tragedy in Florida in yet another gun-free zone where general citizens were banned from having guns for protection.

News 4 Jacksonville reports:

Sources say at least eleven people have been shot and four are dead after a shooting at the Jacksonville Landing Sunday afternoon.

Police urge everyone to stay away from the area because it is not safe.

Early reports say they were shot inside a game room at the Chicago Pizza and others may have been wounded in the gunfire. . . .

The Jacksonville Landing “Rules of Conduct” ban permitted concealed handguns on their grounds: “Possession of a weapon, even if legally carried (except by law enforcement officers) is absolutely prohibited on Landing property.”

Don’t expect the media to report this. Is there a chance that there will be a move towards getting rid of these gun-free zones.

Here is a list of mass public shootings that were stopped by concealed handgun permit holders.

Read more.

Gateway Pundit reports:

Killer David Katz was a member of the anti-Trump “resistance.”

He referred to Trump supporters as “Trumptards” on his Reddit page.

Read more.

David Katz, the man identified as the killer who committed suicide, illegally carried a gun into the Jacksonville Landings. Proving once again that criminals, like Katz, don’t obey the rules.

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Jacksonville Shooter Was Member of Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ – Referred to Trump Supporters at “Trumptards” – Murdered 4 People

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VIDEO: Republican Candidate in Florida has Family Ties to Middle East Terrorists

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Anti-Semitic, Anti-Israel, Anti-America First! Anti-Legal Immigration! Anti-U.S. Constitution! Anti-ICE/Law Enforcement! Pro-Palestinian, Pro-Sanctuary State, Pro-Illegal Immigrant First, and Pro-Anything Against President Trump – no matter what the cost!

AND… they run for office and avoid the critical questions of their ties, their past, and their allegiances!

Amira Dajani (a.k.a. Amy Fox) is exactly one of those candidates, running as a Republican for Florida State Attorney. She currently serves as a top assistant state attorney to outgoing State Attorney Stephen Russell.

In a column titled “Florida Republican State Attorney Candidate’s Father Tied To Palestinian Terrorists” Laura Loomer reports:

A Republican candidate for State’s Attorney in Fort Myers, Florida has family ties to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a known terrorist group that is responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Israelis.

Candidate Amira Fox, whose full name is Amira Dajani Fox and who often goes by “Amy” on the campaign trail, had an uncle who was was an Executive Committee member of the PLO.

In her father’s autobiography, a 10 year old book titled “From Palestine to America,” Taher Dajani, born in Jaffa, Israel vents his frustrations about the “Jewish Lobby” and the “Christian Right,” but most intriguingly discusses his brother Sidqi, who lived in Cairo, Egypt.

Read more.

Amira Dajani has VERY questionable family ties! Watch what happens when confronted by Laura Loomer:

RELATED ARTICLES:

Candidate Arrested After Exposing Opponent’s Ties To Terrorist Group – Central Florida Post

More Muslim Candidate Running for Political Office

Trump cuts $200 million in aid to genocidal “Palestinian” terrorists

University of Utah Instructor Ostracizes Concealed Carriers

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In an outrageous attempt to punish anyone exercising their Second Amendment rights, a University of Utah instructor tried to isolate concealed carry holders by forcing them into a tiny corner in the back of the classroom. The unnamed graduate teaching assistant told her students on the first day of class this week that anyone carrying a firearm would be forced to stand in a “3 x 3 taped square on the floor in the very back of the classroom.”

Despite the fact that Utah is one of ten states that allows for campus carry, the instructor claimed she had the right to “restrict elements of the Second Amendment” in the class, adding that bringing a gun to class is  “absurd, anti-social, and frightening behavior.”

The professor created a bizarre “Second Amendment Zone… that does not include a desk, because desks are reserved for students who respect the personal and psychological safety of their classmates and instructor.”

This absurdity did not sit well with at least one student. The 23-year old concealed carry permit holder, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, alerted a friend who then contacted Utah State Representative Karianne Lisonbee.  Rep. Lisonbee was on the phone immediately with officials at the University of Utah who took swift action against the instructor.

In a statement provided to the NRA, a University of Utah spokesman said the instructor was forced to redact the syllabus and apologize to students. Officials also removed the instructor from any teaching this semester.

The university said the class syllabus “violated both state law and university policy.

“I am very pleased with how it turned out,” said Lisonbee. “I am very pleased the university handled it so quickly.”

Before the instructor could remove her syllabus from her class website, the anonymous tipster grabbed a screenshot of it as evidence of her outrageous anti-gun bias.

Same People who Blame Gun Owners For Tragedies Say We Shouldn’t Talk About Mollie Tibbetts and Illegal Immigration

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“Where it concerns Mollie Tibbetts some have said ‘how dare you use and judge an entire group of people based on the actions of one.’ I’m sorry what was that. I couldn’t hear you over all the accusations of innocent law-abiding gun owners’… I’m going to talk about this case.” —Dana Loesch

RELATED ARTICLE: What These 6 University of Iowa Students Say About Mollie Tibbetts’ Death

DEMOCRATS’ ATTACK ON ICE AGENTS IS WORKING: Why more terrorism is inevitable.

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Open-Borders/Immigration Anarchist “journalists” and politicians howl virtually every time an ICE agent arrests an illegal alien, who is, in fact,  violating our immigration laws.

Their high-profile positions cover them while deceiving the American people – with their carefully crafted narratives designed to tug on the heartstrings of millions of trusting people.  But Americans are coming to understand how they have been lied to and manipulated.

This realization explains why Donald Trump is now President Trump.

However, die-hard globalist politicians, Democrats, in particular, refuse to acknowledge that President Trump won the election and they deny that he won by promising the American people secure borders and national sovereignty were behind his victory.

Rather than listening to American citizens to meet their demands and expectations about immigration, these globalists have publicly descended into madness, concocting a “Russian collusion” narrative to de-legitimize the election.  What’s worse,  these globalists demonize supporters of any commonsense immigration law enforcement.

The Democrats have now even openly invited attacks on American voters who want secure borders and ICE enforcement of fair immigration law.

Now, “leaders” of the Democratic Party are demanding the dismantling of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) altogether, launching vicious and vitriolic attacks on ICE agents equating them and their work with Nazi Storm Troopers and terrorists.  These public attacks imperil their safety and compromise the agents’ ability to carry out their lawful duties.  This has severe implications for national security and public safety in every American community – not merely in towns situated on the border.

ICE also conducts work-site investigations to uncover crooked employers who hire illegal aliens. Democrats decry these needed field operations, but they know damned well that the criminal exploitation of foreign workers is anything but compassionate or helpful to American or lawful immigrant workers.

This issue served as the underlying theme for my article, Sanctuary Cities Protect Crooked Employers, and Human Traffickers.

These field investigations punish unscrupulous employers in the same way that the IRS investigates businesses that defraud the federal government.

ICE’s goal is to detect and hold accountable employers who defraud their workers.  The operations also deter other violations of commonsense immigration laws that protect Americans’ jobs, wages and working conditions.

Arresting illegal alien employees frees up the jobs that they essentially stole from lawful immigrant and U.S. citizen workers.

Cuomo and his cohorts adamantly oppose such field investigation that protects national security and public safety and combat exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers while helping struggling Americans.

The outrageous accusation that ICE agents arrest “Law-abiding immigrants” creates the false narrative that ICE agents are acting illegally.  Only law-breakers get arrested.  Those who are “law-abiding” should have nothing to fear.

These dishonest politicians promise to “protect immigrants from ICE.”  Lawful immigrants do not need any protection from ICE.  The only aliens who should be fearful of immigration law enforcement are those aliens who violate our laws.

This is true for all law violators.  Legitimate customers of a bank do not need to fear the NYPD, but bank robbers most certainly should be afraid- very afraid.

Immigration anarchist refers to illegal aliens as undocumented immigrants.  By their reasoning bank, robbers should, perhaps, be referred to customers making “undocumented withdrawals!”

Illegal aliens are illegal because they either entered the United States without inspection or by committing visa fraud and the fraud was subsequently discovered.  Alternatively, they may have violated the terms of their admission after being lawfully admitted.  For temporary visitors (nonimmigrant aliens) immigration status violations subject them to deportation (removal).

Lawful immigrants and non-immigrant aliens all become subject to deportation if they commit serious crimes.

In each instance, these aliens violate our immigration laws, some of which are serious felonies such as the crime of Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S. Code § 1326).

This is most certainly does not qualify them to be described as “law abiding.”

Our immigration laws have nothing to do with race, religion or ethnicity.Title 8, United States Code, Section 1182 enumerates the categories of aliens who are to be excluded. Among these classes of aliens who are to be prevented from entering the United States are aliens who suffer from dangerous communicable diseases or extreme mental illness, are criminals, spies, terrorists or would otherwise endanger national security or public safety or take the jobs of Americans.

Among those spewing these lies are the “leaders” of the Democratic Party such as Nancy Pelosi, New York City’s mayor Bill de Blasio and New York State’s governor Andrew Cuomo who refers to ICE raids as “reckless” and is suing the Federal government to prevent ICE agents from carrying out their duties by making arrests in state buildings such as courthouses.

I recently addressed Pelosi’s lies and slanderous accusations of ICE agents in my article, The “Greatest Generation” vs Pelosi’s “Delusional Generation”

On April 25, 2018 the New York Daily News reported, Gov. Cuomo says ICE is ‘violating the law’ after recent raids by federal agents.  

Here is an excerpt from that report:

Cuomo in his letter said ICE agents also have gone to homes on Staten Island seeking one person but arresting others when that individual was not there.

Because they are in plainclothes, Cuomo said, many in the community believe them to be local law enforcement, with whom they are now afraid to deal.

Cuomo said he was assembling a “statewide” network of “rapid response teams,” including “legal counsel,” who could be quickly dispatched in a crisis situation.

“We should be able to get legal counsel there as quickly as possible,” he said.

Cuomo has since threatened that he would conduct investigations into ICE and seek, when possible, to criminally prosecute ICE agents.

He is now spending New York State’s money on the obstruction of immigration law enforcement activities while demanding that the federal government provide money for law enforcement and counter-terrorism efforts.

When I was an INS agent, my colleagues and I frequently arrested illegal aliens in courthouses.  This is one of the safest places to make such arrests because all individuals who enter the courthouse are searched for weapons.  Many criminals, including criminal aliens, routinely carry weapons.

It is far safer for all concerned – the alien, the agents and the general public – for these individuals to be unarmed when taken into custody.  Under the best circumstances, arrests are made without incident.  Courthouses provide the ideal environment for such incident-free arrests.

Perhaps Cuomo should read the 9/11 Commission Report and the 9/11 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel.

In fact, the latter report included this important paragraph:

Thus, abuse of the immigration system and a lack of interior immigration enforcement were unwittingly working together to support terrorist activity. It would remain largely unknown, since no agency of the United States government analyzed terrorist travel patterns until after 9/11. This lack of attention meant that critical opportunities to disrupt terrorist travel and, therefore, deadly terrorist operations were missed.

Most alien terrorists who have been arrested in the United States had no criminal histories but had violated our immigration laws either by their methods of entry into the United States and by violating immigration laws after entering the United States.

This is precisely how sleeper agents operate, seeking to keep the lowest possible profile until the day that they are called into action.

Laws are only significant when enforced.  Enforcement requires that those who violate the laws face adverse consequences for their actions to punish those who violate the laws and to deter others who might contemplate violating those laws.

The control of the language of the immigration debate has made honest discussions impossible.  Many refer to this alteration of language as being a matter of “Political Correctness” when nothing could be further from the truth.  The concept of political correctness (PC) was to not use language that insults or denigrates people.  This is not unreasonable.

However, when language is altered to achieve thought control, we have entered the realm of George Orwell and Newspeak and censorship.  This was, in fact, the prediction for my article, Language Wars: The Road to Tyranny Is Paved with Language Censorship.

This tactic was first applied in the immigration debate by Jimmy Carter: Originator of the Orwellian term “Undocumented Immigrant” when, under his “leadership,” INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) employees were mandated to substitute the term “undocumented immigrant” in place of the legally and factually accurate term “illegal alien.”

Over time all foreigners in the United States have come to be referred to as “Immigrants,” no matter how they entered the United States, not how many crimes they may have committed.

Consequently, today when anyone now so much as suggests that alien criminals or terrorists be denied entry into the United States, or be deported (removed) from the United States the journalists take out their smoking hot branding irons and label that advocate for fair but effective enforcement of our immigration laws “Anti-Immigrant.”  These are the same individuals who decry bullying tactics yet are the ones who most frequently resort to that disgusting and un-American strategy.

People who are convicted of crimes are frequently imprisoned to punish them and consequently to deter others from committing similar crimes.  People are also sentenced to imprisonment to take them off the street so that they can no longer pose a threat to the safety and lives of others.

Why then is it unpardonable that when aliens pose a threat to public safety that they not be removed from our country to protect potential future victims?

National security and public safety and the lives and livelihoods of Americans and lawful immigrants are secondary to the goals of anarchist politicians who oppose the effective but fair enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.  Those goals are all about their campaign contributions and their desire to maintain political power at any and all costs.

Those costs too high and Americans, and lawful immigrants pay those costs every day.

This betrayal of America and Americans by the immigration anarchists must be stopped.

Election Day is coming.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in FrontPage Magazine.

U.S. Creates Landlord Task Force to Strong Arm Property Owners into Renting to the Poor

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Citing a shortage of affordable housing in “higher opportunity neighborhoods,” the Trump administration is strong arming private landlords nationwide into renting to low-income tenants that get government vouchers. This week the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched a special Landlord Taskforce to coerce more property owners to accept the taxpayer-funded subsidies (Housing Choice Voucher—HCV) issued to millions of poor people around the country.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson created the special task force after studies conducted by leftist entities found that most landlords don’t accept the government vouchers, especially in nicer neighborhoods.

One of the studies was conducted by the Urban Institute, which is funded by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) along with a roster of other leftist supporters. It measured the prevalence and extent of voucher-related discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities and differences between low and high-poverty neighborhoods.

“Voucher holders who want to find housing in an opportunity area—perhaps close to high-quality schools, jobs, and transportation— face even more rejection,” the study reads. “We learned that even if landlords said they accepted vouchers, they may treat voucher holders differently during apartment showings—standing them up at higher rates than control testers.”

Researchers also determined that landlords were more likely to deny government voucher recipients in low poverty areas compared with high poverty areas. The Urban Institute suggests that the government create legal protections for voucher holders and recruit landlords to participate in the program, particularly in low poverty neighborhoods.

The other study, conducted by the Poverty and Inequality Research Lab at John Hopkins University, examined the role landlords play in shaping the residential experience of low and moderate income renters. It focused on Baltimore, Maryland, Dallas, Texas and Cleveland, Ohio and found that recipients of government housing vouchers encounter tremendous discrimination in the private sector because landlords associate significant stigma with the program.

“In theory, the HCV program has the potential to help families move to lower poverty neighborhoods and to access higher quality schools, but it has fallen short of this ideal in part because of a lack of landlords in low-poverty neighborhoods who will accept voucher tenants,” the study reads. Researchers claim that, unlike dozens of studies that examine economic, cultural and institutional mechanisms that trap poor families in low-quality housing and high-poverty neighborhoods, they focused on the role of landlords. The Poverty and Inequality Lab researchers suggest the government expand the pool of voucher landlords.

Trump’s HUD secretary is following the orders of these leftist groups. “These studies tell us that we have a lot of work to do to engage more landlords, so our Housing Choice Voucher Program can offer real choice to the families we serve,” Carson said in an agency statement announcing the new task force.

“We will be traveling the country to hear directly from landlords about how we can make this critical program more user friendly.” To push more private landlords to take the vouchers, HUD will conduct listening forums around the country to figure out ways to expand the program, specifically in “higher opportunity neighborhoods where landlord participation is lowest.”

The landlord engagement campaign will kick of on September 20 in Washington, D.C. before heading to Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oregon, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City. “After completing these landlord forums, the Landlord Task Force will provide policy recommendations to the Secretary on programmatic changes to increase landlord participation in the HCV Program,” according to the agency press release.

Even after the Trump administration took over, HUD has continued funding many of Barack Obama’s wasteful, socialist programs. Among them is a multi-million-dollar experiment that aims to transform slums into desirable middle-class neighborhoods. Earlier this year, the initiative, known as Choice Neighborhoods, got a $5 million infusion from the Trump administration.

Before that Trump’s HUD gave dozens of leftist groups that purport to fight housing discrimination $37 million. The biggest chunk—$999,962—went to NFHA, which had just attacked the president for terminating an Obama program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—DACA) that protects hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

DHS and FBI confirm Sen. Bill Nelson lied about Russians hacking Florida election systems

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott released the below statement following the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) response to the Florida Department of State’s request for information on Bill Nelson’s confusing and concerning claims of Russian interference in Florida’s election systems.

Governor Rick Scott said,

“Late last night, DHS and the FBI confirmed once again that Russians have not penetrated our elections systems like Bill Nelson claimed a few weeks ago to reporters. We take threats like this very seriously and have made major investments to fight these types of attacks. Floridians are voting, with more than one million ballots already cast in our primary election. It is irresponsible and reckless that Bill Nelson would attempt to undermine the voters’ confidence in their county elections systems by making confusing statements while campaigning and then walking away with absolutely no explanation. Even worse, he’s done so with no evidence, potentially revealing classified information, and with a constantly shifting explanation for his bizarre remarks. Bill Nelson has either been deeply confused or very dishonest – and an alarming possibility exists that he is both on this issue. Bill Nelson’s confusion has caused chaos and he should be transparent with the state, Florida voters and the hardworking election supervisors about his unfortunate decision to undermine voters’ confidence in our election systems.”

For the last two weeks, voters, reporters, election supervisors and government officials (state and federal) alike have struggled to understand the bizarre comments made by Bill Nelson regarding Russian intrusion into Florida’s election systems.

The more Bill Nelson talks, the more confused everyone becomes – which is probably why he went into hiding for days. But now that he’s popped his head back up to confuse everyone even more, it’s worth taking a look back at what he’s said on the subject.

  • July 2nd: A letter sent by Senators Rubio and Nelson warned that “Russian Government actors targeted our election infrastructure during the 2016 election…it is possible that additional activity occurred and has not yet been uncovered.”
  • August 7th: In a gaggle with Tallahassee reporters, Nelson said that “Russians are in Florida’s records.” When asked which records the Russians are accessing, Nelson replied “that’s classified.”
  • August 8th: Asked to clarify his bizarre remarks, Nelson told the Tampa Bay Times that this hack was occurring “right now” and that the Russians “are in the records and all they have to do…is go in and start eliminating registered voters.” He added that “they have already penetrated certain counties in the state and they now have free rein to move about” and said “this is no fooling time.
  • August 14th: After going underground for 6 days, Nelson popped up toconfuse everyone even more. Nelson backtracked, claiming that he didn’t actually say what he said a week earlier. “I referenced the letter. And so, the bottom line is you can sum it up like this. It would be foolish to think that the Russians are not continuing since they were in our election records in Florida in 2016.”
  • August 14th, Part 2: Later that day, Nelson backtracked even more. He told supporters that “what I said last week was exactly the letter – what the letter states.” Of course, what he said on July 7th and 8th is not at all what the letter stated.
  • August 15th: The next day, Nelson did two interviews where he claimed that “intelligence reports point out that the Russians are continuing their activity in the election records of Florida” and that “the Department of Homeland Security is not necessarily going to know that those records have been invaded.” He then told a reporter on Capitol Hill that he would no longer talk to reporters on this topic.
  • August 17th: Two days later, NBC published a story that states there is “a classified basis for Nelson’s assertion” but that “the extent and seriousness of the threat remains unclear, shrouded for reasons of national security.” Nelson claimed he was vindicated – his official office blasted out the story and RT’d from his official account. The story included claims that Nelson revealed classified information to reporters on August 7th and 8th.
  • August 18th: Literally the next day, Nelson called claims in the NBC story a lie, saying that the idea he revealed classified information is “ridiculous…It says that three classified sources confirmed. That’s not saying anything about me using classified information.” [NBC: “details…remain classified.”]
  • August 20th: Nelson goes on the Senate floor to talk about voting, but doesn’t mention, clarify or provide any evidence for his claims.

Meanwhile, the Florida Secretary of State, Florida County Election Supervisors, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee have no evidence that they’ve provided to back up any of Bill Nelson’s claims.

CHINA RATCHETS UP ITS U.S. SPYING PROGRAMS: American Universities and Financial Institutions are at Risk.

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Russian efforts to corrupt American politics captivates the media, but they pay scant attention to the aggressive actions of the Chinese.  This under-reporting is concerning,  given the concerted Chinese efforts go well beyond the hacking of U.S. computers – an illegal activity of great concern – but they also extend onto the campuses of our universities.

There are, however, occasional acts of real reporting on Chinese espionage. One example comes from, the usually liberal and globalist publication, Newsweek back on May 20, 2015,  A New Cold War, Yes. But It’s With China, Not Russia.

Another story worthy of mention is this from the Houston Chronicle reported on August 8, 2018, which reported: FBI warns Texas academic and medical leaders of ‘classified’ security threats.

The piece led off with this ominous excerpt:

In an unprecedented gathering, FBI officials warned top leaders of Texas academic and medical institutions Wednesday about security threats from foreign adversaries, the first step in a new initiative the bureau plans to replicate around the country.

Then went on to note:

The meeting reflects the bureau’s increasing concern, made in public comments and before congressional committees, about cybersecurity threats posed by adversaries such as China, Russia, and Iran. Following a 2017 report that found intellectual-property theft by China costs the U.S. as much as $600 billion annually, FBI Director Christopher Wray this June called China “the broadest, most significant” threat to the United States and said its espionage is active in all 50 states.

Then, on February 18, 2018, the Washington Post published an Op-Ed, Waking up to China’s infiltration of American colleges, which reported:

China’s massive foreign influence campaign in the United States takes a long view, sowing seeds in American institutions meant to blossom over years or even decades. That’s why the problem of Chinese financial infusions into U.S. higher education is so difficult to grasp and so crucial to combat.​

At last, the community of U.S. officials, lawmakers and academics focused on resisting Chinese efforts to subvert free societies is beginning to respond to Beijing’s presence on America’s campuses. One part of that is compelling public and private universities to reconsider hosting Confucius Institutes, the Chinese government-sponsored outposts of culture and language training.

I have also reported on America’s China problem in my article Educating America’s Adversaries, where I highlighted the ways foreign citizens were pumping America’s colleges full of  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students.  My article cited a 2017 DHS report that showed that 152,000 Chinese students had enrolled in the STEM courses of study (second only to the more than 173,000 students from India who had also enrolled in STEM courses of study).

The totalitarian Chinese government clearly seeks to retain control over their citizen/students as reported on March 7, 2018 in the Foreign Policy Magazine article, China’s Long Arm Reaches Into American Campuses and concisely articulated in the article’s subtitle, Beijing is stepping up efforts to inject party ideology into student life. Some Chinese students are crying foul.

This excerpt from this article lays out how the Chinese government can “reach into American campuses:

While many countries, including the United States, fund educational activities abroad, the Chinese government’s direct support for, and control over, student groups appears to be unique. Beijing’s influence over these groups is also beginning to raise questions and concerns among students on American campuses, who fear they will be accused of being agents of espionage. The growing ties are also concerning U.S. government officials, who are wary of China’s political and economic reach in the United States.

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently claimed that American universities are naive about the intelligence risk of Chinese “nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting,” and claimed that China poses a “whole-of-society threat.”​

Those comments have alarmed some Chinese students. Several Georgetown University student representatives wrote an open letter to the university president, asking the school to disavow Wray’s statements and calling the comments a “witch-hunt” and a “McCarthyist craze.” The article also cited FP’s recent reports revealing that the Georgetown CSSA has received Chinese government funding.

A recent Federalist Magazine article, It’s Not Sci-Fi: China Is Developing Tech That Can Mold U.S. Kids’ Minds included a truly disturbing subtitle, Chinese companies are buying up U.S. companies that store mammoth personal data on American children and adults.

On August 13, 2018, the Washington Free Beacon reported Mexican Radio to Beam Chinese Propaganda.  The article focused on the purchase of a powerful Mexican radio station located near Tijuana, Mexico by a Chinese-controlled media outlet that will begin bombarding Southern California with Chinese language propaganda.  The apparent intended target of this effort are Chinese Americans living in Southern California.

This disconcerting news report contained these revelations:

A large Spanish-language radio station in Mexico will soon begin broadcasting in Chinese in a deal critics say will bring Beijing propaganda to Chinese Americans throughout Southern California.​

A Federal Communications Commission filing on the sale of radio station XEWW AM 690 radio near Tijuana reveals the buyer has ties to Phoenix Satellite Television US, a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Phoenix TV.​

According to government sources, signs that Phoenix is involved in the purchase of the radio station prompted the Trump administration last week to begin an investigation into the national security implications of the sale.​

Phoenix TV has been identified by U.S. intelligence agencies as a major overseas outlet used to spread propaganda and promote the policies of the communist government in Beijing. The Hong Kong television station also has close ties to China’s intelligence service and military.

In my recent article, Fears About Chinese “Trade War” Are Late And Dumb, I discussed the nexus between immigration status and Chinese espionage in the United States.  With all of the focus on the harm done to the country by illegal immigration, we must not lose sight of how all aspects of the immigration crisis must be conducted to prevent the entry, by any means, of aliens into the United States, creates vulnerabilities that our adversaries will exploit.

On August 1, 2018, the Times Union reported, GE engineer charged with stealing turbine technology. That engineer, Xiaoqing Zheng, was identified as holding both U.S. and Chinese citizenship and is likely a naturalized U.S. citizen.

I have frequently noted that U.S. citizenship provides the “Keys to the Kingdom.”  When those “keys” are placed in the hands of “burglars,” our nation suffers.

Therefore it is encouraging that the Trump administration is trying to strengthen the naturalization process.  This change was the theme of my recent article, Trump Administration Opens Office To Find Naturalization Fraud, which I described as a “great first step but that much more needs to be done.”

This is not to say that the United States should not permit aliens to enter.  it is vital for America to have robust commerce and tourism-related industries for various reasons.

However, remember that shortly after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, our leaders continually warned us that to be successful, terrorists needed to only “get it right” once, while our law enforcement and intelligence agencies need to “get it right” 100% of the time.

The flow of aliens into the United States, by any means, provides our enemies with plenty of opportunities for that “one right chance” they desperately seek.  Similarly, every alien is granted lawful status, citizenship or any other immigration benefit also provides enemies with that “one right chance” to harm America.

Our leaders must scrutinize foreign nationals entering this country as a savvy shopkeeper would watch over his own property and customers.

Without those customers, he/she may go out of business. However, every customer may also be a shoplifter.  The last thing a shopkeeper wants is a customer who is intent on purchasing without paying for the merchandise.  This is called stealing.

Chinese espionage is so prevalent that some have sarcastically labeled the threat “Chinese Takeout.”

Meanwhile, inexplicably, China continues to enjoy the status of America’s “Most Favored Nation Trade Status.”

But President Trump is pushing back, in meaningful ways, against multi-faceted Chinese aggression against the United States. All American politicians need to quickly get on the same page – irrespective of their own political party affiliation.

RELATED ARTICLE: President Trump to De-fund Over 100 Chinese Communist Party ‘Confucius Institutes’ in America

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on FrontPage Magazine.

Massachusetts’ Taxpayers sue over anti-Semitic, pro-Islam public school lessons

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At last, some push back against what is a nationwide problem.

“Massachusetts Taxpayers Sue Over Anti-Semitic, Pro-Islam School Lessons,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, August 17, 2018:

A group of Massachusetts-based taxpayers are suing the school committee in the city of Newton, a wealthy, liberal enclave, over what they claim is the leadership’s ongoing promotion of anti-Semitic school materials and the promotion of Islamic religious beliefs, according to an announcement from the organization handling the lawsuit.

Education Without Indoctrination, a local community group driving the lawsuit, “claims multiple violations of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law stemming from the school committee’s handling of a burgeoning scandal over anti-Semitic lessons and the promotion of Islamic religious beliefs as objective facts in the public school district’s history classes,” according to a press release from the group.

The lawsuit stems from a controversy of Newton Public Schools use of what the group claims are “unvetted educational materials” produced by the Saudi Arabian oil company ARAMCO and the Qatari government, which has long been cited for its funding of terrorism.

“In teaching world history, Newton Public Schools (NPS) use unvetted educational materials funded by the Saudi oil company ARAMCO and the government of Qatar. As a result, Newton public school students are propagandized with materials that slander Israel and the Jewish people, and that falsify history to promote the Islamic religion in public schools,” the press release states.

“Just this past May, Newton North High School invited an anti-Semitic group to screen Palestinian propaganda films to its students,” it continues. “For this, NPS Superintendent David Fleishman earned a rebuke from the New England branch of the Anti-Defamation League and Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Council.”

Concerned parents have been stonewalled in their attempts to gain information from the school leadership about these activities, the group claims….