To Counter Trump, Vox Defends MS-13 as Nice Kids Who Ride Bikes, Work After-School Jobs

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Vox and ProPublica take aim at President Trump’s heightened concern for gangs in the United States in a recently published video, claiming his harsh characterizations of MS-13 are unfair.

The gang, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, numbers in the tens of thousands and is composed primarily of outlaws from El Salvador, Honduras, and other Central American countries. Trump’s hardline stance on crime and border security has made MS-13 a more widely recognized public menace. But instead of acknowledging the rising violent threat that MS-13 poses to the American people, progressive media outlets like Vox and ProPublica are casting the Trump Administration’s actions with regard to illegal immigration and law enforcement as irresponsible, dangerous, and factually unsound.

The video — candidly titled, “Why the street gang MS-13 is an American problem” — opens by framing MS-13 as a uniquely American issue. It’s true the gang was founded in the United States during the early 1980s, but the roots of MS-13 are distinctly un-American.

Let’s review: Beginning in 1979, El Salvador was gripped by a nasty and brutal civil war between the established military junta and a newly-formed coalition of Marxist insurgents. Around a million people were displaced by the 12-year conflict and many sought asylum in the United States. The refugees, mainly anti-government sympathizers who resented American intervention in the war, illegally crossed the border and settled in southern California, mostly in Los Angeles’ Pico-Union neighborhood. Unsurprisingly, the young men from these impoverished alien communities started street gangs for personal and financial security. By 1984, they called themselves “Mara Salvatrucha” as a designation of their ties to the Salvadoran rebels.

This context is wholly absent from Vox’s presentation. The video succinctly describes the origins of MS-13 as “a group of teenagers, hanging out, smoking pot, listening to rock music” who eventually became “juvenile delinquents involved in street crimes who were stuffed into American jails.” (Read more from “To Counter Trump, Vox Defends MS-13 as Nice Kids Who Ride Bikes, Work After-School Jobs” HERE)

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Ties to China Go Way Deeper Than an Alleged Office Spy

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. . .The story involves China and the senior U.S. senator from California, and former chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Democrat Dianne Feinstein. It was buried eight paragraphs into a recent Politico exposé on foreign efforts to infiltrate Silicon Valley, as a passing example of political espionage:

Former intelligence officials…[said] Chinese intelligence once recruited a staff member at a California office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the source reported back to China about local politics. (A spokesperson for Feinstein said the office doesn’t comment on personnel matters or investigations, but noted that no Feinstein staffer in California has ever had a security clearance.)

Later comes additional detail:

According to four former intelligence officials, in the 2000s, a staffer in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco field office was reporting back to the MSS [China’s Ministry of State Security, its intelligence and security apparatus]. While this person, who was a liaison to the local Chinese community, was fired, charges were never filed against him. (One former official reasoned this was because the staffer was providing political intelligence and not classified information—making prosecution far more difficult.) The suspected informant was ‘run’ by officials based at China’s San Francisco Consulate, said another former intelligence official. The spy’s handler ‘probably got an award back in China’ for his work, noted this former official, dryly.

This anecdote provides significantly more questions than answers. For starters: Who was the spy? For how long was the spy under surveillance? What information about “local politics” was the spy passing back to China? Just how close was the spy to the senator? Did law enforcement officials sweep vehicles and other areas for listening devices? Was there an investigation into whether others in the senator’s circle may have been coordinating with Beijing? (Read more from “Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Ties to China Go Way Deeper Than an Alleged Office Spy” HERE)

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Why Voters Rated This Governor the Worst in America

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Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin was recently decreed the worst governor in the entire nation in a Morning Consult poll. According to their survey, Fallin—who is leaving this November at the end of her two-term limit—came in at number 50 with a whopping 74 percent disapproval rating, beating Democrat Dan Malloy of Connecticut by 3 percentage points.

While this might simply be an interesting data point in the world of the 24/7 news cycle, the collective eye-rolls and heat of embarrassment rising from Oklahomans’ cheeks over our governor could create a tropical depression off the coast of Texas. Obviously one of the 50 governors has to come in last, but why Fallin?

In a word: everything. That includes a thorough lack of leadership by a self-ordained conservative on a raft of important conservative issues, an obvious disdain for transparency while advocating for open records laws, big spending on personal travel during budget shortfalls, and major policy failures. The conservatives who ushered her into office on the 2010 Tea Party train are so over Fallin, and they’re not the only ones, either. . .

Fallin has held major political offices in Oklahoma since 1990: Oklahoma House representative, lieutenant governor, then governor. Certainly, there are a litany of reasons liberals don’t care for Fallin, but these are an artifact of life in an historically red state. So let’s just stick to the big conservative blunders, especially since she was ostensibly elected as a conservative.

Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion: Fallin was for it before she was against it before she was for it before she wanted to hit the “pause button.” In 2012, Oklahomans shut down the state capitol switchboard numerous times to protest her decision to accept federal money and set up state Obamacare exchanges. (Read more from “Why Voters Rated This Governor the Worst in America” HERE)

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Hard-Liners Push Trump to Ramp up Pressure on North Koreans Over Slow Pace of Denuclearization Talks

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Two months have gone by since the Singapore summit with no serious steps toward denuclearization by North Korea, a reality that has left the Trump administration offering mixed messages on how it plans to proceed in negotiations amid growing concern that Washington is being played by Pyongyang. . .

“We’re not willing to wait for too long,” Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told reporters this week, echoing comments by National Security Adviser John R. Bolton, who complained that Pyongyang has “not taken effective steps” since broadly agreeing to the goal of denuclearization in Singapore.

But Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mr. Trump’s point man in the outreach to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, have sounded a much more hopeful tone at times. Mr. Pompeo has advocated for patience and stressed that he firmly believes in Pyongyang’s “commitment to denuclearize.”

“We still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters last weekend. He added that “there are lots of conversations taking place,” suggesting a breakthrough may be in the works even with signs pointing to the contrary.

The slow pace of U.S.-North Korean talks stands in contrast with increasingly frequent contacts between North Korea and the government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a longtime supporter of engagement with Pyongyang on the divided and heavily armed Korean Peninsula. (Read more from “Hard-Liners Push Trump to Ramp up Pressure on North Koreans Over Slow Pace of Denuclearization Talks” HERE)

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Judge Threatens to Hold Jeff Sessions in Contempt Over Asylum Deportation

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A frustrated federal judge lashed the Trump administration Thursday and threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt after being told the government had deported an asylum seeker despite clear assurances she wouldn’t be touched.

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the government had “spirited away” the woman and her child, sticking them on a place back to El Salvador early in the morning even though she was a plaintiff in a groundbreaking case aiming to overturn the administration’s new stricter asylum policy.

It was the latest black eye for the administration’s deportation machinery, which just weeks ago drew the ire of other judges after admitting hundreds of illegal immigrant parents were ousted from the country without their children during the chaos of the zero-tolerance border policy. . .

It was a wrong-footed start to yet another thorny legal battle for the administration, which was already arguing in court over its sanctuary city crackdown, its attempts to phase out the Obama-era DACA deportation amnesty, the border wall and cancelation of special protections for Haiti, El Salvador and Honduras.

This new battle is over the asylum policy Mr. Sessions announced in June, and the government lost the first round in court Thursday when Judge Sullivan ordered a stay of deportation for the plaintiffs — including the mother and daughter already deported — while he contemplates the bigger issues. (Read more from “Judge Threatens to Hold Jeff Sessions in Contempt Over Asylum Deportation” HERE)

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‘Prideful’ Vandal Who Destroyed Trump’s Star Gets Hit With Federal Charge, Possible Jail Time

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. . .Take, for example, Austin Clay. He garnered his 15 minutes of notoriety by taking a pickaxe to President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in July.

That interview was given in late July. Today, however, TMZ learned that Clay has been slapped with one count of felony vandalism for what he did to Trump’s star. . .

So just to recap, Clay committed a felony to try and send a message to Trump. In reality, his actions will have no literal impact or change on the Trump administration.

He did, however, get to hobnob with some leftists in Hollywood. But it all came at the expense of spending up to three years in jail.

I hope it was worth it, Clay. (Spoiler alert: If you’re convicted, it most certainly won’t be.) (Read more from “‘Prideful’ Vandal Who Destroyed Trump’s Star Gets Hit With Federal Charge, Possible Jail Time” HERE)

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Secret Recording Reveals Why Rosenstein Hasn’t Been Impeached – and When He Will Be

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By The Blaze. A recording of a fundraising event with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) reveals why Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein hasn’t yet been impeached despite so many Republicans calling for the action – and what they’re waiting for. . .

Nunes told the crowd at the fundraiser that he personally had called for Rosenstein’s impeachment, but that it had to be delayed in order to keep the Senate on track with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

“So if we actually vote to impeach, OK, what that does is that triggers the Senate then has to take it up,” Nunes explained to a questioner on the recording.“ . . .

In another portion of the tape Nunes said that the special counsel’s investigation was politically motivated, but admitted that some of the president’s tweets made him “cringe.”

“They know it’s ridiculous to go after the president for obstruction of justice,” Nunes said. “But if they tell a lie often enough and they put it out there and they say, ‘Oh, we’re looking at the tweets,’ cause you know you’ve got a mixed bag on the tweets, right? Like sometimes you love the president’s tweets, sometimes we cringe on the president’s tweets.” (Read more from “Secret Recording Reveals Why Rosenstein Hasn’t Been Impeached – and When He Will Be” HERE)

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Recording Reveals Nunes Saying Rosenstein Impeachment Would Complicate Kavanaugh Confirmation

By The Hill. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told supporters at a recent fundraiser that impeaching Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would pose a political dilemma because it would delay the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to audio obtained by MSNBC.

Nunes, who has been among the most vocal critics of Rosenstein and the Department of Justice (DOJ), reasoned to supporters that the impeachment process was “a bit complicated” because the Senate would have to deal with much of the fallout.

“Do you want them to drop everything and not confirm the Supreme Court justice, the new Supreme Court justice?” Nunes said in the recording, which was first obtained by and aired Wednesday night on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” . . .

Nunes’ explanation for the delay seems to differ from other conservative lawmakers, who backed off the impeachment proposal after meeting with party leadership and after retiring Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said he did not support the effort.

A group of conservative House lawmakers late last month introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein amid escalating tensions between the two sides. (Read more from “Recording Reveals Nunes Saying Rosenstein Impeachment Would Complicate Kavanaugh Confirmation” HERE)

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Voter Fraud? Twice as Many Ballots Cast as There Are Voters in Precinct

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Twice as many ballots as the number of registered voters were cast in a northeastern Georgia precinct during the state’s primary elections in May.

According to official numbers from the Georgia Secretary of State, 670 votes were cast in Habersham County’s Mud Creek precinct, where there were only 276 registered voters, says a report from McClatchy DC. Impossibly, this means the precinct saw a 243% voter turnout.

In a bizarre turn of events, the number of registered voters changed from 276 to 3,704 on the secretary of state’s website on Tuesday morning. . .

“The odd turnout figures last Friday were filed as part of a federal lawsuit against the state by election security activists that included a number of sworn statements and exhibits from activists and voters who experienced a series of bizarre and confusing issues at the state’s polling places,” reports McClatchy.

One voter, for example, claimed in a sworn statement that she and her husband were assigned differing polling locations despite registering to vote at the same address. In another instance, someone claimed their voting machine froze while attempting to cast their ballot. Others said they showed up at the correct polling place per the SOS website, only to be directed to a differing location. (Read more from “Voter Fraud? Twice as Many Ballots Cast as There Are Voters in Precinct” HERE)

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A Sanctuary City Released This Illegal Alien. It Turns out He Was a Child Rapist

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An illegal immigrant who the city of Philadelphia refused to turn over to federal immigration officers in 2014 is now serving a prison sentence for the rape of a child and unlawful sexual contact with a minor. Juan Ramon Vasquez has now pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the country after being deported, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Vasquez was initially deported after illegally immigrating to the U.S. from Honduras in 2009. Immigration and Customs Enforcement realized he was back in the U.S. illegally in 2014, in a Philadelphia prison, and asked the city to turn him over to federal custody. The city released him instead, and he went on to commit the crimes he is now back in prison for.

Philadelphia celebrated an 8-year battle with the federal government to officially label itself as a “sanctuary city” in June, making official its policy of refusing to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The city refuses to turn over illegal immigrants to ICE agents, unless the agency has a warrant signed by a judge.

(Read more from “A Sanctuary City Released This Illegal Alien. It Turns out He Was a Child Rapist” HERE)

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California History Teacher Harasses Students in NRA T-Shirts. Mom Fights Back

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Sacramento mother Charlene Craig says that a Lodi High School history teacher targeted a group of students, including her daughter, for wearing T-shirts advertising the National Rifle Association, CBS Sacramento reported Monday.

The shirt worn by Craig’s tenth-grade daughter did not display a gun, which is prohibited by school policy, but it elicited a lecture from her history teacher that “guns kill people.” Craig says the teacher also told her daughter “that she would be writing an essay if she disagreed with him.” Another student wearing the shirt was sent to the principal’s office for refusing to take off the shirt.

Craig called out the teacher for his behavior toward her daughter and the other students.

“I think he’s there to teach, I don’t think he’s there to discuss his personal beliefs,” Craig said. “I don’t think that makes it a safe learning environment,” she added.

The Lodi Unified School District issued a statement saying “the school administration reviewed the t-shirt in question and determined that it did not violate school dress code policy.” (Read more from “California History Teacher Harasses Students in NRA T-Shirts. Mom Fights Back” HERE)

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