8/26/17, "Why Trump should fire Gary Cohn," Paul Mirengoff, Powerline
"Gary Cohn is President Trump’s National Economic Council Director. In an interview with the Financial Times, Cohn criticized Trump’s comments about the violence in Charlottesville, stating that “citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK.”
True. But Trump did not equate the two sets of people. He said that more than one side was to blame for the violence in Charlottesville.
This statement is true. Even a New York Times reporter who witnesses the violence acknowledged the role of the “hard left” in the violence.
It’s bad enough when a presidential adviser goes on the record to rip the president for something he said. When an adviser rips the president for a statement he did not make, that adviser should be sacked.
Moreover, it is Cohn who made an improper equation. He equated the antifa thugs who committed violence in Charlottesville with those who “stand up for equality and freedom.”
Antifa isn’t about standing up for equality and freedom. It’s about imposing a far left vision through violence and anarchy.
These thugs and their sympathizers were not standing up for freedom when they rioted in Berkeley in an attempt to shut down the free speech rights, or when they caused the cancellation of a parade Portland, Oregon by threatening violence against Republican participants, or when they smashed windows and assaulted police officers in Washington, D.C. the day of Trump’s inauguration.
Antifa is the antithesis of a group that stands up for freedom. It seeks to deny freedom to its political opponents, including mainstream ones such as Oregon Republicans. Even the radically leftist Southern Poverty Law Center has criticized them.
Yet, the clueless investment banker from Goldman Sachs, equates them with freedom fighters. Has he worked out why they wear masks?
Cohn’s urge to engage in virtue signaling overcame not only his sense of loyalty to the president but his regard for the truth. It has not overcome his eagerness to participate in the Trump administration, but should put an end to Trump’s willingness to have him continue that participation."
"UPDATE: John’s [Hinderaker] latest post is on point. Cohn’s inability or unwillingness to perceive the current threat to freedom posed by left-wing bullies should disqualify him from further service in the Trump administration."
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Added, linked above:
8/26/17, "Far-Left Bullies Suppress Civil Rights In California," John Hinderaker, Powerline
"The “heckler’s veto” is not recognized in American law, but it is increasingly becoming a fact of life in American cities. The hecklers are always from the far left, and they generally come armed. This is a scandal of major proportions, but is rarely recognized as such.
The Associated Press ["San Francisco claims victory after right-wing group shut out"] reports on a blatant violation of civil rights:
"A planned right-wing rally in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge that was downgraded to a news conference at a small park fizzled further on Saturday, after San Francisco police swarmed the park and city workers erected a fence around it.
An organizer for the group Patriot Prayer later spoke in suburban Pacifica with a handful of supporters, after civic leaders and police in San Francisco repeatedly voiced concerns that they would draw angry counter-protesters and spark violence in the area known as the cradle of the free speech movement."
Rather than defending Patriot Prayer’s First Amendment rights, local authorities slandered the group in order to justify their own inaction:
"Earlier in the week, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee raised concerns that Patriot Prayer would attract hate speech and potential violence. U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Democrat who represents San Francisco, called the planned rally a “white supremacist” event."
“White supremacist” has become a catch-all epithet for anyone the Democrats don’t like.
Patriot Prayer has a vague, pro-unity message that has nothing to do with race. Apparently its critics’ theory is that it is secretly white supremacist. But it is hard to find any support for that speculation:
"Organizer Joey Gibson denied his group was looking for trouble. He said members had received anonymous threats on social media and feared civic leaders and law enforcement would fail to protect them.
“My hope is to be able to talk to normal citizens without all the extremists,” Gibson, who identifies as Japanese American, said at the news conference.
Other speakers included African Americans, a Latino and a Samoan American. Several said they support Donald Trump and want to join with moderates to promote understanding and free speech."
Of course, even if they were white supremacists–whatever that means–they would have a right to hold a rally, and would be entitled to the same police protection as any other group, just like Black Lives Matter.
So what happened? A vicious mob of antifa fascists swarmed the area while police stood by, threatening the “right wing” rally.
"The pivots by the group didn’t deter more than 1,000 left-wing counter-protesters from descending on Alamo Square park, where they suspected right-wing supporters still might show up.
“San Francisco as a whole, we are a liberal city and this is not a place for hate or any sort of bigotry of any kind,” Bianca Harris said. “I think it’s a really powerful message that we’re sending to people who come here to try to spew messages of hate that it’s just not welcome in this city.”"
Does hunting down your political enemies with baseball bats an ax handles count as "hate"?
Of course not!
"Members of the [Patriot Prayer] group ended the news conference abruptly when they heard members of an anti-fascist movement were headed to Pacifica."
The Associated Press describes an armed mob seeking to beat up people with whom they disagree politically as “anti-fascist”–with a straight face! What a time we live in.
So what happened next? Gibson and his group intended to take their message to Berkeley, but that didn’t happen either:
"When Gibson canceled the Golden Gate rally on Friday, he said his followers would instead attend an anti-Marxist rally on Sunday in nearby Berkeley. But a short time later, the organizer of that rally called it off.
Organizer Amber Cummings said in a lengthy statement issued via Facebook that she had “grave concerns for the safety of the people attending my event.”
Cummings said the event was planned “to speak out against the political violence happening to people who do not agree” with left-wing ideology, and that the meaning was being lost as rhetoric around the rally escalated.
The left-wing group By Any Means Necessary, which has been involved in violent confrontations, had vowed to shut down the Berkeley rally."
So those who oppose the far left–surely a majority, even in California–are not allowed to assemble. This is an intolerable (not to mention illegal) situation. It can’t be allowed to continue."
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Comment: I appreciate Powerline's always informative work. Mr. Hinderaker says "white supremacist" is a catch all term for anyone Democrats don't like. If he wants this to end, blaming democrats isn't going to do it. The Republican Establishment has used the racism issue against its own voters for many decades. At minimum, they've done nothing to stop its widespread use in the media. Nelson Rockefeller in 1963-64 (a "Rockefeller Republican") used his national microphone to bitterly warn the country that the GOP was being taken over by racists (he used terms like John Birchers). In 2009 began 24/7 coverage of the allegedly "racist" Tea Party. Tea Party audiences were always said be "overwhelmingly white." The TP was no threat to democrats, but for a short time was a big threat to the Deep State GOP. The GOP was thrilled the IRS was holding up conservative groups seeking non-profit status, making them spend enormous amounts of time giving detailed information, then never approving them. At minimum, they did nothing to help right of center groups. When Obama was re-elected in 2012 the GOP was thrilled because it meant the TP was nearing its end. In 2014 in the Mississippi GOP primary and runoff, the GOP E campaign against the TP Republican was entirely that the TP and its candidate were racist. (Articles about this posted below). The GOP E went into black Democrat neighborhoods and paid Democrats to vote in the open GOP primary for the Deep State GOP candidate. The GOP Establishment candidate won because of Democrat votes. In 2015, Trump arrived, and the racism card was immediately dealt. Unless right of center Americans have a political party behind them, this 24/7 racism campaign will continue. The Deep State GOP isn't going to be that party. They've made it clear they'd rather see the country burn to the ground than let Trump voters have what they voted for. The GOP is only slightly better than the democrats, but it's all that's left. Right now, the GOP is thrilled with all the violence. In fact, they've floated a "unity" (ultra Deep State globalist) ticket of John Kasich and Hickenlooper.
Three articles about the 2014 the Mississippi Open GOP primary and runoff which was finally won by soliciting and even buying Democrat votes: 538.com, Codevilla and NY Times
1. 538.com, 6/25/2014
June 25, 2014, "It looks like African-Americans really did help Thad Cochran Win," 538.com, Harry Enten. With "some forty thousand votes."
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2. Angelo Codevilla, 6/30/2014
Establishment Republicans said buying black Democrat votes in Mississippi was “minority outreach:" "The (Wall St.) Journal’s Jason Riley endorsed it cynically as “minority outreach:”"
6/30/2014, "The Ruling Class Went Down to Mississippi," Angelo M. Codevilla, Liberty Law site
In the Mississippi primary, Republican establishmentarians from around the country solicited votes from Democrats to defeat the insurgent challenge to Senator Thad Cochran. Their arguments were the same ones used by the bipartisan ruling class that has ruled America for a generation:
The role of government is to generate benefits for its clients,
and those who object are bad people.
They paid many Democrat voters (nearly all black) so called “walking around money” for their votes, and have refused in many counties to let McDaniel aides examine the voter roles to see whether these voters were eligible to cast ballots.
The retail corruption is much less remarkable than the acquiescence therein of the establishment’s leadership – such as Karl Rove and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page. This is very remarkable. Rove’s super-PAC, “Conservative Victory Project,” which played a leading role in recruiting Democrats for Cochran exists explicitly to defeat insurgent Republicans everywhere.
The Journal’s editorial page, whose editorials and featured columnists mobilized opinion against the Mississippi insurgency, had done the same throughout this and previous years’ primaries. Rove’s post election commentary glossed over the vote-buying as if it had not happened, while the Journal’s Jason Riley endorsed it cynically as “minority outreach.”
To Republican and independent voters who are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, the conflict between the pretenses and the actions of such as Rove and of the Journal added insult to injury. The Journal, for example, never loses an opportunity to declare itself the mortal enemy of “crony capitalism” as it decries the direction in which America has been headed, while the word “conservative” as part of the title of Rove’s super-PAC intentionally evokes the complex of sentiments of voters angry at the ruling class’s characterization of them as, well, the litany: “racist, greedy, stupid,” etc.
Indeed, the Republican Party’s very identity, the one, sole, argument it makes to persuade voters to vote Republican rather than Democrat,
is that it will take the country
in a direction different from the one in which it has been going.
But, in the Mississippi primary, the Republican Establishment’s campaign was by and for crony capitalism, and employed the classic themes by which the ruling class has beaten down the rest of America.
To Mississippians white and black, the establishment’s message was: All this Tea Party talk about dangerous deficits and the need to cut spending is a threat to responsible officials’ capacity to bring you the jobs and federal assistance on which your prosperity depends. Orchestrating that message was Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi, former national chairman of the Republican Party,
and arguably Washington’s biggest lobbyist.
Day to day operations were run by Stuart Stevens, formerly chief strategist in Mitt Romney’s 2012 national campaign, along with Henry and Austin Barbour, Haley’s nephews. There could be few better personifications of crony capitalism.
To the blacks, who, according to The New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight.com provided some forty thousand votes, the message was:
"Don’t be intimidated by the Tea Party. . . . Mississippi cannot and will not return to the bygone era of intimidating black Mississippians from voting. We must rise up on Tuesday and have our voices heard on who will represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate. VOTE THAD COCHRAN."
The Times reported the effect: Roger Smith, a black Democrat who said he was being paid to organize for Mr. Cochran, said, ‘I don’t know too much about [Cochran’s opponent] McDaniel other than what McDaniel is saying:
that he’s Tea Party, he’s against Obama, he don’t like black people.”
In short, those who oppose the way things are done in America are racists.
You ought to hate them as they hate you.
Why do such things? Cui bono? Clearly such behavior by the Republican establishment has nothing to do with the role it claims for itself of opposition to the direction on which America has been taken in recent decades, never mind with anything “conservative.”
It has everything to do with maintaining its status, and that of its clients, within the ruling class.
The Mississippi primary confirmed yet again that, if America is to go in a direction other than the one of which some three fourths of American disapprove, it is compelled to do so with a vehicle other than the Republican Party."
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"Angelo M. Codevilla professor emeritus of international relations at Boston University. He served as a U.S. Senate Staff member dealing with oversight of the intelligence services. His new book Peace Among Ourselves and With All Nations was published by Hoover Institution Press." Photo above from Liberty Law site.
(Ed. note: In 2016 Codevilla was not a Trump supporter).
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3. NY Times article, 6/24/2014:
From NY Times article, a Black Mississippi Democrat says he was paid to organize for the Republican Establishment candidate in Mississippi's 2014 open Republican primary. Money from around the country poured in to help the Establishment candidate defeat the grassroots candidate. Liberal billionaire Mike Bloomberg gave as much as $500,000 to support the GOP Establishment candidate over the grassroots Republican:
6/24/2014, "Cochran Holds Off Tea Party Challenger in Mississippi," NY Times, Jonathan Weisman, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
"Roger Smith, a black Democrat who said he was being paid to organize for Mr. Cochran, said, “I don’t know too much about McDaniel other than what McDaniel’s saying: that he’s Tea Party, he’s against Obama, he don’t like black people.”
“You’re going to get one of the white guys in there,” he said. “You got to make a choice.”...
With an unusual assist from African-American voters and other Democrats...Senator Thad Cochran on Tuesday beat back a spirited challenge from State Senator Chris McDaniel, triumphing in a Republican runoff and defeating the Tea Party in the state where the movement’s hopes were bright....
Mr. McDaniel, speaking in Hattiesburg, was angry, and he did not hesitate to say so. “There is something a bit strange, there is something a bit unusual about a Republican primary that’s decided by liberal Democrats,” he said."...
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