McCain Takes Swipe at President for Vietnam Deferment

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By Scott Neuman. In a week that saw two of President Trump’s predecessors issue thinly veiled warnings about where the country is heading under Trump’s leadership, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain fired off what appeared to be a long-delayed riposte to the man who once mocked his war record.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on C-SPAN, McCain spoke on the 50th anniversary of his being shot down over North Vietnam — an event that led to his capture by communist forces and a 5 1/2-year stay in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison.

“One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest-income level of America, and the highest-income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur,” McCain said, in an apparent reference to the diagnosis that allowed Trump to be medically disqualified for service in 1968.

(Read more from “McCain Takes Swipe at President for Vietnam Deferment” HERE)

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McCain and Trump Still Fighting Vietnam War

By Kate Maltby. John McCain may be battling, as he has described it, a “very poor prognosis” of brain cancer, but he’s still a fighter . . .

On the surface, it’s a bad day for Trump to be accused by a war hero of short-changing the military. Even as the Vietnam War continues to haunt American politics, Trump is under attack for his attitude to today’s servicemen. Every voter in America may by now have heard the assertions by Myeshia Johnson, the pregnant widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, that Donald Trump seemed insensitive to her husband’s sacrifice in a telephone call and couldn’t remember Sgt. Johnson’s name until reminded by his notes. (Trump disputes this account.)

It follows a torrid week in which Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson made similar claims about the call, which took place on speakerphone in a car while Wilson was accompanying the family to meet Sgt. Johnson’s body. Sgt Johnson’s aunt, who raised him with her husband, has also backed up Congresswoman Wilson’s claims. As more Gold Star families line up to accuse Trump of ignoring them, he is not currently winning any prizes for sensitivity to military sacrifice. (Read more from “McCain and Trump Still Fighting Vietnam War” HERE)

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Civilians Massacred in Syria Town Taken From ISIS

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The Islamic State militants came into the Syrian town with a hit list. By the time they left three weeks later, more than 70 civilians had been killed — shot or beheaded, their bodies dumped in farms and ditches.

The apparent revenge killings in the town of Qaryatayn underscore the ability of the extremists to inflict heavy losses even when they’re in retreat — and portend more violence as they fight to hang on to their last strongholds in Syria.

News of the gruesome slayings began to emerge late Sunday, after IS militants were driven out by advancing government troops.

Terrified residents said they watched the slaughter from their windows or in the streets.

One former resident said his surviving family members walked for miles to find cell phone coverage so they could tell him of the deaths of his uncle, two cousins and a fourth relative. Another uncle remains missing. (Read more from “Civilians Massacred in Syria Town Taken From ISIS” HERE)

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Parents Fight to Name Their Baby ‘Jihad’

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France is known for its overly strict policing of baby names, but in the case of a couple trying to call their son ‘Jihad’, French authorities might have a point.

A French couple from the south west have been reported to authorities for calling their baby ‘Jihad’.

The couple, who come from the Toulouse suburb of Léguevin, tried to name their son ‘Jihad’ when he was born in August but the local town hall immediately alerted the public prosecutor to their controversial choice of name.

Given the choice of name and the fact France has been on heightened alert after a series of terror attacks by homegrown jihadists, the prosecutor may well decide to refer the case to the family court.

Judges may eventually decide to ban the parents from calling him Jihad. (Read more from “Parents Fight to Name Their Baby ‘Jihad'” HERE)

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Steve Bannon Delivers Blistering Attack on Former President George W. Bush

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Steve Bannon delivered a withering attack on George W. Bush Friday night, bluntly questioning the former President’s intelligence and his grasp of the concepts that he outlined in a speech that he gave New York this week.

“There has not been a more destructive presidency than George Bush’s,” Bannon said during his dinnertime address at the convention banquet of the California Republican Party. He said Bush had “embarrassed himself” with a “high falutin” speech.

“It was clear he didn’t understand anything he was talking about,” Bannon said.

“He has no earthly idea of whether he’s coming or going,” Bannon said, implying that Bush had mindlessly given a speech written for him by a speechwriter, “just like it was when he was President of the United States.” (Read more from “Steve Bannon Delivers Blistering Attack on Former President George W. Bush” HERE)

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What Do China and North Korea Think About One Another? It’s Not Good

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By Ryan Pickrell. Chinese and North Korean forces once fought side by side on the battlefield, but ties have since frayed, possibly beyond repair.

China has a complicated relationship with North Korea, which simultaneously serves as both a strategic asset and a liability. However, it has become more the latter than the former in recent years. North Korea’s frequent provocations frustrate Beijing, and China’s decisions to pressure North Korea in concert with the U.S. greatly angers Pyongyang. China and North Korea’s top leaders absolutely despise one another, according to individuals close to the respective governments.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping took power five years ago, he presented a grand vision for China known as the “Chinese Dream,” an ambitious plan to restore China’s great power status and make the country a responsible and respected global leader. Since North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un took control following the death of his father, the young ruler has advanced the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs at an accelerated rate, creating instability on China’s doorstep with frequent tests, drills, and intentionally aggressive and hostile provocations.

The only time former U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus has ever heard the professional Chinese president use “undiplomatic language” was when he was talking about Kim, Baucus revealed to the British Broadcasting Network. (Read more from “What Do China and North Korea Think About One Another? It’s Not Good” HERE)

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Japan PM Shinzo Abe Promises to Deal With North Korea Threat

By BBC. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised to “deal firmly” with North Korea after exit polls suggested he won a clear victory in Sunday’s election.

Mr Abe had called an early election for an increased mandate to deal with “crises” facing Japan, including the threat from Pyongyang.

Local media report Mr Abe’s ruling coalition has retained its two-thirds majority in parliament . . .

The prime minister has previously called for the existence of the country’s armed forces to be formalised, a controversial move which he says is needed to strengthen Japan’s defence but which critics say is a step towards re-militarisation. (Read more from “Japan PM Shinzo Abe Promises to Deal With North Korea Threat” HERE)

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YouTube Deletes Original Video of Maxine Waters Promise to ‘Go and Take out Trump’ – Watch It Here

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By Kyle Olson. YouTube has deleted the original video of Waters’s appearance. Another version has been embedded here and will be visible until it is removed, too.

It’s been only four months since Rep. Steve Scalise was shot by a Bernie Sanders fan, but did one of his colleagues advocate violence against the president of the United States?

The one-note impeachment minstrel Maxine Waters promised a group that benefits “homeless LGBTQ youth” that she will “take out” the president — and the liberal audience wildly applauded.

Appearing recently at the Ali Forney Center gala in New York City, it only took Waters 27 seconds before she slammed Trump.

“Wow, what a moving evening this is,” Waters began on October 13 in a clip posted Friday.

“I’m sitting here listening, watching, absorbing, thinking about Ali even though I never met him. And with this kind of inspiration, I will go and take out Trump tonight,” she said as the crowd roared in approval and Waters pumped her fist. (Read more from “YouTube Deletes Maxine Waters Promise to ‘Go and Take out Trump'” HERE)

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Maxine Waters: Trump’s White House ‘Transforms Everyone Into Liars’

By Brandon Carter. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) ripped President Trump and members of his administration on Saturday, saying “the filth wreaking from” Trump’s White House affects “even the most honorable people.”

“What is it about the Trump White House that transforms everyone into liars?” Waters wrote in a series of tweets. “Even the most honorable people are not immune to being overtaken by the filth wreaking from the Trump White House day after day.”

Waters blasted Trump for calling Rep. Frederica Wilson “wacky” after Trump continued to attack the Florida Democrat on Saturday morning, saying she is “killing the Democratic Party.”

(Read more from “Maxine Waters: Trump’s White House ‘Transforms Everyone Into Liars'” HERE)

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US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert

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The U.S. Air Force is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready alert, a status not seen since the Cold War ended in 1991.

That means the long-dormant concrete pads at the ends of this base’s 11,000-foot runway — dubbed the “Christmas tree” for their angular markings — could once again find several B-52s parked on them, laden with nuclear weapons and set to take off at a moment’s notice.

“This is yet one more step in ensuring that we’re prepared,” Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview during his six-day tour of Barksdale and other U.S. Air Force bases that support the nuclear mission. “I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward.”

Goldfein and other senior defense officials stressed that the alert order had not been given, but that preparations were under way in anticipation that it might come. That decision would be made by Gen. John Hyten, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, or Gen. Lori Robinson, the head of U.S. Northern Command. STRATCOM is in charge of the military’s nuclear forces and NORTHCOM is in charge of defending North America.

Putting the B-52s back on alert is just one of many decisions facing the Air Force as the U.S. military responds to a changing geopolitical environment that includes North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear arsenal, President Trump’s confrontational approach to Pyongyang, and Russia’s increasingly potent and active armed forces. (Read more from “US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert” HERE)

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Trump to Allow Release of Classified JFK Assassination Docs

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President Trump announced on Twitter that he will allow the release of thousands of classified documents about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy after years of delays.

The unexpected move means the trove of never-before-seen documents are set to be released by the National Archives by Oct. 26.

“The President believes that these documents should be made available in the interests of full transparency unless agencies provide a compelling and clear national security or law enforcement justification otherwise,” a White House official said Saturday afternoon.

The National Archives has until Thursday to disclose the remaining files related to Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. The trove is expected to include more than 3,000 documents that have never been released to the public and more than 30,000 that have been previously released but with redactions.

Congress mandated in 1992 that all assassination documents be released within 25 years, but Mr. Trump has the power to block them on the grounds that making them public would harm intelligence or military operations, law enforcement or foreign relations. (Read more from “Trump to Allow Release of Classified JFK Assassination Docs” HERE)

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Bannon: ‘We’re Putting Together a Grass-Roots Army’

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Steve Bannon, the chief executive officer of the Donald Trump presidential campaign, told California Republicans the future of the nation is in their hands by putting together a grass-roots political army based on “big bold ideas” like stopping illegal immigration.

“And we’re putting together a grass-roots army,” he said Friday. “A grass-roots army that is going to go door to door. That shows that we don’t need to raise hundreds and millions of dollars. The future of the state is in your hands and I mean that.”

The opposition, Bannon said, “has overplayed their hand. And they’ve given the Republicans and the conservatives the one weapon they need to destroy them.”

Bannon said the coalition necessary for future victories includes “populists and nationalists and evangelical Christians and conservatives and establishment Republicans. We had to put our differences aside in order to win.”

“If you have the wisdom, the strength, the tenacity to hold that coalition together, we will govern for 50 to 75 years,” Bannon said. “And it’s not going to be easy.” (Read more from “Bannon: ‘We’re Putting Together a Grass-Roots Army'” HERE)

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Harvard Professor Sues to Change Presidential Election System

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As Democratic leaders such as Hillary Clinton call for elimination of the Electoral College, a Harvard professor who launched a brief, dark-horse Democratic presidential bid last year, is preparing to file a lawsuit challenging the way the nation elects its presidents.

Lawrence Lessig’s suit doesn’t propose getting rid of the Electoral College, which would require a constitutional amendment, but he contends the winner-take-all system used by 48 states in awarding electors unfairly focuses the presidential races on a handful of battlegrounds.

The professor – who tried to persuade 20 Trump electors to break rank and vote for Clinton a week before the Electoral College vote last December – wants to implement a system in which electors cast ballots based on a proportion of the popular vote a candidate receives.

“With a winner-take-all, most of America is ignored,” Lessig said, according to FoxNews.com, contending the system violates the 14th Amendment’s one-man-one-vote principle.

Currently, all but two states award all electors to the winner of the state’s popular vote. Lessig said 24 people have volunteered to be plaintiffs in his lawsuit. The Constitution doesn’t dictate how electors are awarded, and Maine and Nebraska award electors according to the vote in each congressional district. (Read more from “Harvard Professor Sues to Change Presidential Election System” HERE)

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