The crackdown on free speech continues in the United Kingdom as officials use recent rioting to justify a roundup of citizens who they view as “pushing harmful and hateful beliefs.” The government is ramping up arrests of those with “extremist ideologies” in the latest wave of arrests. The crackdown includes those accused of misogynist views.In my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss how difficult it is to get a free people to give up freedoms. They have to be afraid, very afraid. For that reason, governments tend to attack free speech during periods of public anger or fear.
That pattern is playing out, yet again, in the United Kingdom. The recent anti-immigration riots have given officials a renewed opportunity to use anti-free speech laws to target those with opposing views.
For years, I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom and the steady stream of arrests.A man was convicted for sending a tweet while drunk referring to dead soldiers. Another was arrested for an anti-police t-shirt. Another was arrested for calling the Irish boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend a “leprechaun.” Yet another was arrested for singing “Kung Fu Fighting.” A teenager was arrested for protesting outside of a Scientology center with a sign calling the religion a “cult.”Last year, Nicholas Brock, 52, was convicted of a thought crime in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The neo-Nazi was given a four-year sentence for what the court called his “toxic ideology” based on the contents of the home he shared with his mother in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
While most of us find Brock’s views repellent and hateful, they were confined to his head and his room. Yet, Judge Peter Lodder QC dismissed free speech or free thought concerns with a truly Orwellian statement: “I do not sentence you for your political views, but the extremity of those views informs the assessment of dangerousness.”
Lodder lambasted Brock for holding Nazi and other hateful values:
“[i]t is clear that you are a right-wing extremist, your enthusiasm for this repulsive and toxic ideology is demonstrated by the graphic and racist iconography which you have studied and appeared to share with others…”
Even though Lodder agreed that the defendant was older, had limited mobility, and “there was no evidence of disseminating to others,” he still sent him to prison for holding extremist views.
After the sentencing Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), warned others that he was going to prison because he “showed a clear right-wing ideology with the evidence seized from his possessions during the investigation….We are committed to tackling all forms of toxic ideology which has the potential to threaten public safety and security.”
“Toxic ideology” also appears to be the target of Ireland’s proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) law. It covers the possession of material deemed hateful. The law is a free speech nightmare. The law makes it a crime to possess “harmful material” as well as “condoning, denying or grossly trivialising genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace.” The law expressly states the intent to combat “forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law.”
The Brock case proved, as feared, a harbinger of what was to come. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has vowed to crack down on people “pushing harmful and hateful beliefs.” That includes what she calls extreme misogyny.
Cooper said that the problem revealed by the recent protests was “gaps in the current system” and stressed that “it’s not OK any more to ignore the massive growing threat caused by online hatred towards women and for us to ignore it because we’re worried about the line, rather than making sure the line is in the right place as we would do with any other extremist ideology.”
She added: “For too long governments have failed to address the rise in extremism, both online and on our streets, and we’ve seen the number of young people radicalised online grow. Hateful incitement of all kinds fractures and frays the very fabric of our communities and our democracy.”
For free speech advocates, it is chilling to hear UK officials state that they have been too lax on free speech in the past and must now take censorship and arrests more aggressively.
The United Kingdom has a myriad of laws criminalizing speech with vague terms allowing for arbitrary enforcement. For example, Public Order Act 1986 prohibits any expressions of racial hatred, defined as hatred against a group of persons by reason of the group’s color, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins.
Section 18 of the Act specifically includes any speech that is “threatening, abusive, or insulting.” An arrest does not have to be based on a showing of intent to “stir up racial hatred,” but can merely be based on a charge that “having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.”
For those Americans who have remained silent during as this anti-free speech movement grows, you need only to look to the United Kingdom to see what this movement means for our “indispensable right.” That wave has now reached our shores and it will require each one of us to defend a right that defines us all.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).
OT, but great news! Teaching real skills for real jobs that actually contribute to society without the burden of expensive college indoctrination.
Vo-Tech Education Is Taking Off, and It’s Not Your Dad’s Shop Class Anymore
https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/08/22/vo-tech_education_is_taking_off_and_its_not_your_dads_shop_class_anymore_1052992.html
Looks good. There are many mature, self aware and intelligent youth. The others just scream louder.
Upstate, you’re usually off topic so nothing new.
My fellows citizens have admonished me for something I have said more than the government ever has.
“My fellow citizens have admonished me…”
Yes, indeed. On blog comment sections everywhere one can post seemingly rational thoughts and vicious replies will bite back. People regard these sites as a safe place to vent, but it could be a fool’s paradise.
I personally would like to see comment sections continue. Grown-ups can handle them. How long before the anti-free-speech madness from the UK infects socia media stateside?
We all know the answer. Censorship has been around for years, especially on American college campuses. The progressive movement is FUBAR.
See below as DennMcImcrier takes his Trump obsession to new levels.
Please comment as to what you think Dennis the Demented Draft Dodger will do when he wakes up and Trump is President once more.
No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.
–Mark Twain–
“Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.”
-H. L. Mencken
Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.
-H. L. Mencken
Jonathan: Well, the DNC if over and the Harris/Walz campaign is off and running toward the finish line. And how is
DJT responding to the palpable energy during the last four days among the Dems? He’s whining and complaining.
DJT is still obsessed that Joe Biden is not the nominee. He posted this: “They’ve taken the presidency away from this guy. This was a coup”. DJT now spends sleepless nights living in the past. Will he wake up and face reality before it’s too late? Probably not.
Meanwhile, DJT is using his faltering campaign to make money. CNN is reporting today that DJT is making money by endorsing anyone who will spend money at his properties. After DJT endorsed Bernie Moreno for the Ohio GOP Senate candidacy, the owner of car dealerships spent $96,000 at Mar-a-Lago. Other DJT candidates did the same.
CNN also found that DJT’s campaign in 2024 has spent nearly $3.2 million at Trump properties. That means the money Mr. and Mrs. Magadonian have donated is going right into DJT’s pocket. For DJT his campaign if a profit center. As CNN pointed out: “…since Trump famously descended his golden escalator in 2015, every congressional candidate whose campaign has reported spending money at his businesses has been a Republican, the FEC data shows”. In other words, in order to get DJT’s endorsement every GOP candidate must spend campaign money at DJT’s properties.
For DJT everything is transactional. If he gets back into the Oval Office everything will be for sale. Ambassadorships and other plum jobs will be for sale to the highest bidders. “Bribery” you say? Of course, but with the SC “immunity” decision in his back pocket DJT knows he could not be prosecuted!
‘Dennis’, you’re the one who sounds ‘obsessed’ here.
“After DJT endorsed Bernie Moreno for the Ohio GOP Senate candidacy, the owner of car dealerships spent $96,000 at Mar-a-Lago. Other DJT candidates did the same.”
Who were those “other DJT candidates,” Dennis. Please name each one. (We know it will take some time as you scrub the Inet)
still waiting….
CNN also said a lot about a fabricated Russia Hoax and you still consider them a reliable source of News Dennis????? That speaks volumes about you Dennis
Are Muslims importing their tyrannical tendencies into Europe?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the Europeans have ever needed any help in that regard.
If a communist death is any death that happens under a communist system, then is a capitalist death
any death that happens under a capitalist system (everyone in the obituaries)?
Has anyone ever died in factories owned by capitalists?
Has anyone ever died on farms owned by capitalists?
“Has anyone ever died in factories owned by capitalists?”
Brought to you by: The Kamala Harris for President campaign.
“You do not hear about the UK censorship drive because it exists largely in Prof Turley’s imagination.”
That is patently false. (And rather obviously so.)
Over the last 20 years, there have been countless cases of individuals arrested, fined, jailed *in Britain* — precisely on the censorial grounds mentioned by JT. (Look them up yourself.)
The romp to censorship *in Britain* is so acute that there has been widespread reporting of it by the likes of: The Times Literary Supplement, the NYT, Amnesty International, the Orwell Foundation. (Look them up yourself.)
Willful blindness and “my country, right or wrong” are never a good look.
When capitalism lets business managers act like prison guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment, treating customers and employees with contempt, how is that a good thing? Is it because businesses want a monopoly on being cruel and unfair, and they are jealous whenever the government is?
Dan Bongino, former Secret Service agent, now radio and media show host of his own weekly broadcast, recently stated he believes these harsh and restrictive anti-free speech laws in England and Ireland would possibly if not likely get him arrested if he visited those areas.
Frightening and alarming to think people with viewpoints will be imprisoned —- It seems the list of countries it’s now ‘safe’ to visit
is shrinking. If this anti-free speech movement doesn’t reverse, tourism might be impacted.
Briton is being run by the Chinese communists.
It is clear it’s another left wing attack on the right and center and the normal people.
We will hear an uproar once the left gets caught in their own partisan traps.
Then they will backpeddle and demand it stops, and suddenly they will be for nazis marching in skokie again, well, at lesat their lips will be, but of course it will be a lie. They will scream punch a nazi as usual in a millisecond.
When we finally have all the talking heads not condemning every part of speech and ideology they claim to find abhorrent, thus immunizing themselves from attack and scoring their political hate minutes, we will have made progress.
Instead we find everyone left right and center declaring whom they do not associate with in terms of what so and so said, and how they utterly condemn the speakage and thoughts and belief. As demands change for the sheep like compliance the elite change their denouncement tunes, always making certain they are within the desired envelope and one true heart with the propaganda narrative.
So don’t expect any of this to end any time soon. They all genuflect at the altar of demonic power and condemn fellow citizens with a fever you know never comes from the heart or even the head, it’s just the wrote expectation so their cowardly yappers don’t get shadow banned outright banned, excommunicated from the Party, etc.
NONE of them can say it’s okay for so and so to believe x y or z, but I believe otherwise. NONE of them are human enough, kind enough, honest enough, or brave enough.
Those who are, are banned, excommunicated, and otherwise shoved to the edge and kept out of the guarded towers of lies.
joe biden is a serialized murdering war monger who has done nothing but fan the flames of war over and over again
same with the libturd brits
Why don’t you say it to his face?
Jonathan: During his speech at the DNC Joe Biden indicated he is tirelessly working for a solution to the Gaza crisis–stopping the violence, releasing the hostages and implementing a cease fire. DJT doesn’t want that because that would be a feather in the cap of the outgoing President and, indirectly, a benefit for Kamala Harris.
On Monday, PBS’s Judy Woodruff reported that DJT and Israel’s Netanyahu had a phone conversation in which DJT allegedly urged Bibi not to agree to a cease while Biden was still in office. Woodruff has now walked back her claim that she says was based on an earlier Axios report. Both DJT and Netanyahu have denied they had such a conversation. DJT has said he did tell Bibi “I did encourage him to get this over with fast” referring to Bibi’s genocidal war in Gaza that has already taken 40,000 Palestinian lives–most women and children.
The Q is whether DJT would urge Netanyahu to refuse to a cease fire because he was afraid it might affect his chances of getting reelected? We already know DJT told Senate Republicans to tank the bipartisan immigration bill because he didn’t want Biden to get credit for that solution to the border crisis. So if DJT was willing to do that why would he not sacrifice the lives of Palestinians if he thought it would benefit him politically?
The other Q is, if true that DJT tried to keep Netanyahu from agreeing to a cease fire, would that cause DJT any further legal problems? The Logan Act, 18USC953, says it’s illegal for a private citizen to intervene to undermine government positions in negotiations with foreign governments. Could DJT face other legal problems when he loses in November?
That was refuted and she had to issue an apology.
“KAMALA HARRIS LIES TO THE PEOPLE
It was the speech of her life and it was all about Trump.
I will admit I didn’t watch the DNC. I couldn’t bear it. I did catch Kamala Harris giving the speech of her life.
I thought it was a pretty good speech at the beginning. The warm and friendly Kamala Harris is the one I like best. But then she did what every Democrat does: She lied. She looked us right in the face, and she lied.
She said, “Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes,” and she said, “He sent an armed mob to the Capitol.”
No, he did not, Madame Vice President. No, he did not. He had a rally in Washington, DC, with his supporters. Desperate were they at what happened during the 2020 election? I wasn’t there that day, but I, too, was horrified by what I saw the Democrats do, so much so that I left the party and registered as an independent.
Donald Trump said, “March peacefully and patriotically.” A riot broke out at the Capitol, with hundreds of FBI informants embedded in the operation. Nancy Pelosi herself declined to send the National Guard even though General Mark Milley kept warning of a “Reichstag Fire.”
No, he did not send an “armed mob” to the Capitol. They weren’t armed. And Trump did not send them.
The suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop alone was enough proof that the FBI tampered with the election. But that was only the beginning of what they did. Trump’s supporters had every right to protest. Do the people want a president who leads a protest against an election? Probably not. But that is for them to decide, not her.
If Trump is so bad, the Democrats should not have to lie. But that’s all they did was lie. They have an entire propaganda press that helps them spread those lies.
He wants a Federal abortion ban. No, he does not.
He said there would be a “bloodbath” if he lost. No, he did not.
He said he would be a dictator from day one. No, he did not.
He said there were “fine people on both sides,” No, he did not.
Kamala Harris told us that January 6th was like Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Why did she say that? Because they were about to weaponize the Justice Department and begin arresting and jailing American citizens. She feels justified in how they’ve used the Justice Department and the courts to persecute her political enemy. How far will that go if she is elected?
Kamala Harris pledged that the riots and protests in 2020 would go on and on. She visited Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, rather than the police who were injured or the businesses that were destroyed. She did not care about any police officer throughout the Summer of 2020.
Her running mate, Tim Walz, stood by and allowed his own city of Minneapolis to burn. He refused to send in the National Guard. The Democrats do not care about keeping America safe. They only care when the wrong people riot and protest. Then, all of a sudden, they want to throw them all in jail.
I would never have voted for Harris anyway. But her speech reminded me why I am no longer a Democrat and why I am doing everything I can to vote them out of power. They’re not only liars. They’re dangerous. They are the real threats to our Democracy.
These weren’t the only lies Kamala Harris told. But it was the one that made me the most angry. She says she will be a president for all of America. Her speech proved just the opposite.” ~Sacha Stone
Tom: Well, I DID watch VP Harris’s speech, and it wasn’t all about Trump at all–it was about her vision for an optimistic future for America under her leadership. She also introduced herself to the American people. Trump DID try to steal votes–11,780 of them in Georgia alone, not counting the fake electors who falsified Electoral College documents. The insurrection, driven by the Big lie and intended to prevent Biden’s victory from being certified, was planned in advance–meetings at the Willard Hotel, a reconnaissance mission the night before by the Proud Boys–testified to by an embedded British journalist. This was not a rally that somehow turned into a riot at all–and what was there to “protest”? Trump LOST. Multiple recounts and audits proved it. Trump supporters beat Capitol Police officers, broke into the Capitol and did millions of dollars in damage. Some WERE armed, and the only reason they went there was to stop the peaceful transfer of power. And, Trump threw in the “peacefully” comment for cover–he watched the carnage unfold for MORE THAN 3 HOURS AND DID NOTHING TO STOP IT, despite being begged by members of his family and his administration. It wasn’t until it was clear that Pelosi and Pence were safe and that Pence wasn’t leaving the Capitol until the votes were certified that he called off the insurrection. There were not “hundreds” of FBI embedded in the ranks of the insurrectionists, either. That’s a lie.
Nobody except MAGAs cares about the Hunter Biden laptop, and that had nothing to do with the election–and, Tom, did it occur to you that when you say the alleged suppression of the “Hunter Biden” story could have changed the outcome of the election that this is counter to your argument that Trump won anyway? Project 2025 is the Trump playbook, As Coach Walz says, when they draw up a playbook, they intend to use it. The playbook calls for:
-a total abortion ban;
-unitary executive government–all agencies and government operations under the direct control of the President; civil servants must do whatever they are told or be fired.
-From “PolitiFact” dateline 12/7/2023: “During a recent town hall, Fox News’ Sean Hannity gave former President Donald Trump the chance to rebut the idea — floated by some Republicans — that if reelected, he would be a dictator. Instead of a straightforward denial, Trump said he would be a dictator only on “Day 1″ of his tenure.”
-Trump DID say there were “fine people on both sides” at Charlottesville, and then later said he condemned Neo Nazis, which were one of the “2 sides”.
No one has “weaponized” the DOJ or FBI–but that is something Trump promises to do–e.g.: “I am your retribution”. Retribution–for what? He LOST. Gov. Walz DID send in the National Guard. Trump called to congratulate him for doing this, and then later on, lied and claimed that he, Trump, sent in the Guard.
“You would think a VP running for President would tout her success as VP.
Why hasn’t Kamala talked about anything she’s done while in office the last 4 years?”
Because Biden’s staff almost completely marginalized her, and she managed to fvtz up the few responsibilities she was actually given (yes, I know the question was rhetorical)
Dennis, Amazing – you can turn your party and your own stupid lying error of conspiracy theories and false accusastions into an attack on Trump.
No there is no such Querstion regarding Trump.
Netanyahu is not accepting a cease fire – short of Hamas completely capitulating.
That is not some secret.
That is NOT Trump trying to use him to screw over Harris/Biden.
Netanyahu has been pretty clear on this. He also has the support of the Israeli people on this (though he will likely be removed from office the moment this is all over).
Netanyahu and Israel have been clear from the begining – this ends with the surrender or destructuion of Hamas.
I would note that Netanyahu has agreed to numerous “cease fire” deals. Some of which turned into reality.
But he will not agree to anything that is more than temporary.
The problem with most recent negotiations is that Hamas beleives they can get a permanent cease fire and survive this.
Anyone with half a brain knows this.
Netanyahu has resisted pressure from Biden on this for 9 months. Are you really stupid enough to think he needs Trump to give him some spine ? Further Do you really think that Netanyahu Trusts either Biden or even worse Harris ?
Netanyahu will do anything in his power to get Trump elected – not because he is budy budy with Trump – but because Biden and Harris are existential threats to Israel.
This whole story was more left wing lunacy from the start.
Why is it that you left wing nuts find it so easy to beleive stupid conspiracy theories that make absolutely no sense ?
It is not like this is the first time – or the 20th time you have been caught with your pants down arround your ankles.
Dennis we have no idea what the casualty figures in Gaza are – reporters are not allowed to report anything without the blessing of Hamas – and Hamas makes Democrats look truthful.
But lets says those numbers are correct – they are a tiny fraction of those that the US inflicted on Afghanistan and Iraq over 9/11.
But this is even clearer – Hamas is the government of Gaza. They can end this anytime they want – surrender and release the hostages.
I would further note – several hostages have been liberated – they were being kept by purportedly innocent Palestinian families.
When you start usinjg your own people as human sheild. When you use them as jailers for hostages you kindnapped after murdering their freinds and family – YOU bear the moral culpability for what happens to your citizens AND your citizens share that moral culpability – not merely for supporting you but for actively engaging.
Dennis this logan act nonsense comes up every couple of years throughout my life.
The logan act is an unconstitutional violation of the first amendment,.
If it was not – Hunter Biden would have hundreds of Logan act violation charges.
Was Sen. Menedez charged with violating the Logan act ?
Dennis Rodman went to North Korea to try to get a hostage released – did he violate the Logan Act ?
Tucker Carlson interviewed Putin and discussed hostage releases – Are you going to prosecute him ?
Never mind, I shouldn’t have asked.
Left wing nuts like you will prosecute anyone not on the left for anything you can make up.
And you will ignore it when your own do the same thing.
The DNC is not over and it appears the honeymoon is over.
While what little I saw of the DNC was not a complete disaster – there was lots of protests and some violence, but not the 1968 rios that democrats feared – of course they had massive help from the city of Chicago parking protestors in another state.
The constant lying was annoying – but that is common place in political conventions – especially democrat ones.
I nearly choked listening top Obama commenting accusing Trump of a cult of personality.
Pot meet Kettle.
But despite everything the DNC convention was a flop It was probably OK for the left wing nut faithful.
But there appears to be no Convention Bump – in fact Harris’s numbers have been declining through the convention.
The convention was a flop- because whatever it did for the party faithful – it did nothing for on the fence voters.
The betting odds have flipped again. Rassmussen appears to have been correct and Harris peaked over a weak ago.
The only question is how far down is she now ?
There is atleast one poll that has Virginia back in play – that is likely an outlier – FOR NOW.
RFK Jr.s running mate all but endorsed Trump earlier this week – no matter what she excoriated democrats for Election lawfare.
Jill Stein amplified her claim.
Purportedly RFK Jr. is going to endorse Trump tomorow in AZ. Betting odds have that at 80%.
Is that going to happen ? I do not know. Will it change the outcome of the election – Probably not.
RFK Jr. support tanked after Biden dropped out – proof that atleast half his support was disenchanted democrats.
And those came home to democrats.
If RFK Jr. drops out tomorow – whether he endorses Trump or not, The majority of RFK jr.s remaining voters will likely shift to Trump.
If they were going to Harris – they already left.
This was likely to happen anyway as the election approached. It is just likely to happen sooner.
Happening sooner does have ONE big impact. It changes a reversal of momentum into a likely snowball.
One thing that was clear from the Democratic convention is that democrats are completely out of touch.
Not Just Harris but the entire convention was behaving as if they were running against a failed incumbent.
Yet THEY are the failed incumbent.
Nor do I think the attempts at bubbling joy (with the undercurrent of political back stabbing) played well with americans.
Republicans could have a celebratory convention – they ARE actually challenging a failed incumbent and likely to win.
And people see that as celebrating the good of the country.
Joyously celebrating 4 years of Harris I do not think went over well with voters.
The convention tried to Channel Obama’s “hope” campaign – while that was effective at the time and an economic fluke put him in the WH,
the “hopey Changey” thing did not age well. Further Harris is NOT the candidate of Hope. It is not just that offering people price controls is abysmally bad economic policy, it is that telling people that you feel their pain when you CAUSED their pain is not a cause for joy.
I am clearly not an expert on how other people think – I can not understand how those on the left can beleive such brain dead stupidity.
But it is not me saying that this convention did not work – it is the polls. I am just trying to guess why.
Rasmussen has no credibility. Period. Most reliable polls consistently show Harris ahead of Trump, especially in swing states. And, Harris is not advocating for “price controls” for food–she will address “price gouging”–those seling food products who are making record profits. That’s not the same as “price controls”. The price of poultry and eggs is high because of a bird flu that required destruction of thousands of birds. And, the inflation we have been experiencing is due in part to Trump’s failures–his tariffs, his mishandling of COVID and the economic downturn he caused by his lack of skill as a leader. The Republican Party has abdicated its values to fall under the Cult of Trump, a convicted criminal, leader of an insurrection that was driven by a lie because he lacks the moral integrity to accept the fact that he lost, and his vow to get into office to seek “retribution” and revenge against his perceived enemies. That is not what the majority of the American people want. Trump also killed the border security bill to give him an argument to use to advance his campaign. So, he really doesn’t care about how much Fentanyl or how many migrants or even criminals get in because if the bipartisan bill had gone through, there would be more resources to deal with the crisis. It’s always all about him. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is engineering the dragging on of the peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas to deny Biden a diplomatic victory–it’s exactly the kind of behind-the-scenes “everything for me” sort of shenanigans Trump is famous for. Meanwhile the Palestinian people are dying of starvation and thirst. Trump doesn’t care that Ashli Babbitt died believing his Big Lie. There’s a special place in hell reserved ust for Trump.
RFK’s mental health went off the rails a long time ago–he’s clearly nuts, and even his own family wants no part of his politics. So what if he endorses Trump? That doesn’t mean that his supporters will vote for Trump. And, I don’t know where you get the “likely to win” nonsense–reliable polls prove otherwise.
Harris’ own internal pollling shows that they are still behind.
Thats what happens when all you are (Harris) is the spokesperson for the Trump campaign.
Dennis – the “bipartisan immigration bill” was pointless.
Democrats are NOW claiming that border crossings are down substantially – which I beleive they are – though not to Trump levels.
What that proves is that this administration could have reduced the crossings had they wanted to.
No Republicans were not going to agree to new immigration law – when they had a president that was not enforcing the current law.
You do not seem to understand. One of the reasons that getting anything bipartisan done is impossible is that no one compromises with people who do not do what they promise. Republicans have compormised with democrats over immigration since the 80’s
Democrats have never done what they agreed to.
The Senate was not going to pass an immigration bill – no matter what Trump said,
And the house would not have passed it had Democrats managed to get it through the Senate.
And neither the house nor the Senate needed Trump to tell them this was a Turkey and a fig leaf.
Regardless, there is little hope for much bipartisan legislation until republicans beleive that Democrats will keep their side of any compromise.
That is unlikely any time soon.
“ Regardless, there is little hope for much bipartisan legislation until republicans beleive that Democrats will keep their side of any compromise.”
It was republicans who reneged on the deal. Because Trump told them no. A compromise means not getting everything you want. Democrats were willing to give up certain demands and republicans were willing to give up some of theirs. What they couldn’t stomach was giving Biden credit for the deal. Instead of passing a solution they chose politics instead. Republicans are at fault. They wanted reforms and they got most of what they wanted. Now they complain Biden and the democrats are not doing anything about the border. Republicans had an opportunity to do something about it and they balked at the last moment because it would rob them of a political talking point. That’s how petty republicans are.
Gee, Georgie, I thought the reasons the Republicans reneged on the deal was because it gave Border patrol no authority to do anything until illegal immigration EXCEEDED 5,000 PER DAY for three days in a row. Start counting all over again if there is a gap of one day. And more, the bill was giving $ Billions, with a B, to non-government private NGOs to help the immigrants assimilate here. Which story is true, yours or mine?
immigrants. not illegal immigrants
p.s. and you and Gigi and Dennis and Fish need to stay away from that “like” button. At least, wait a while, so people know you at least read the comment before you liked it. Even better, make sure you really like it before you like it.
Six Democrats voted against it.
I reject your reality and substitute my own Spasyic Idiot Svelaz-George
Republicans passed a border bill. HR2
Still sitting on Chucks desk.
Thats how petty democrats are.
Six dems voted against it.
It had no chance at cloture EVER. Get on grip on yourself dude.
Why did Biden wait 3-1/2 years to do something?
Idiot
The Q should be why Judy Woodruff would blatantly lie about a DJT telephone call, rather than take the time to verify a bogus Axios report. Maybe he wanted the immigration bill to fail because he thought it would lead to a pathway to citizenship for 20mil+ illegals? The other Q could be, why would Biden support a ceasefire agreement for Gaza while they’re still holding American hostages? Another Q might be, why push for a cease fire for Gaza, but not for the Ukraine? Ah, the Logan Act again. It’s like the siren’s song for libtards. I wonder if John Kerry or, perhaps Hunter, might also be on the hook for this too. if it wasn’t for that pesky 1st Amendment. Just another Q.
Professor Turley mentions misogyny in the article. One person’s misogyny is another person’s religion.
Words hurt people or can. Death to America is taken at its meaning. From the river to the sea is Jewish genocide. That’s taken at its words, too. Both seem to meet with approval by the speech monitors.
In the bigger picture it is apparent that the 3rd world cannot achieve dominance without the destruction of 1st world nations. It’s evident isn’t it?
* side note for readers– there are many Georges commenting.
Feelings do matter.
Show us on this doll where DJT touched you.
He who lives in glass houses should use windex.
I’m so glad we have free speech in the U.S. Idiots are free to make fun of special needs kids, mock someones military service, call people juvenile names that most 4 year olds quit using. Yep good ole JD and trump are free to use free speech to show what utter A holes they are.
I’m glad of it too – for you. It allows you to spew your special brand of stupid.
Ann Coulter on Thursday morning shared via X a photo of Gus sobbing, writing “Talk about weird…”
Who makes fun of special needs kids? Ann Coulter for one,
Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp replied: “The level of ghoulishness, soullessness, and moral bankruptcy required to not just mock a CHILD…but a child with special needs…for LOVING his dad…is utterly incomprehensible.”
What about a father who cynically and soullessly markets his special needs child for votes?
“Loving dad”, or a father cynically and soullessly exploiting his handicapped child for political gain?
Tom: so, what would you have Walz do–hide his son, exclude him from attending the convention with the rest of the family? What message would that send? What kind of cruel SOB would do that? In MAGAverse, Democrats can’t do anything right. Until these posts, I wasn’t aware of his diagnosis. Ann Coulter is a clueless POS who thinks we all want to see her upper arms and armpits. Notice that NO ONE has called out for Trump to admit that Barron is somewhere on the spectrum. His expressionless face and detachment from his surroundings are clues, but Trump can’t admit to anything involving impairment–even to the point of not wanting injured military members to appear in his presence. Children of politicians are supposed to be off-limits.
Gigi: “Trump can’t admit to anything involving impairment–even to the point of not wanting injured military members to appear in his presence”
Lin: here’s a photo of Trump not wanting injured military in his presence. But wait! THere’s MORE
Indeed, here’s a story about how media ignored a story about Trump visiting Walter Reed to place a medal on a bedridden hero.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/president-trump-walter-reed-media/
But Wait! THere’s More!
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/08/22/extraordinary-sacrifice-trump-awards-medal-honor-fallen-airman.html
I’m only allowed to post two, dear gigi, but I can add this: in 2018, Trump received a Wounded Warriors Project award for his support.
yours truly, lin
Lin,
Well said and I could almost hear the late night, infomercial like voice when you wrote, “But Wait! THere’s More!”
But Wait! I cited actual witnesses–not still photos.
Precisely, Gigi. As a supposed lawyer, the best you can come up with is two anti-Trump persons who self-characterized Trump’s words, as they told to anti-Trump journalists, who authored the stories for printing in independently-rated left-wing publications, Newsweek and Business Insider (look up their bias ratings)?
I would suppose that Trump likely said something about the juxtaposition, akin to holding a daughter’s
graduation party at the funeral home where her father was laid out in another room. As we know, Trump is not known for his proper verbal prudence or verbal discretion, but a hearsay-biased representation by two Trump-haters is equally repellent.
And then you quote George Conway???????????????
Please don’t bring our profession down like this.
I do not want to drag this nonsense off topic and take up any more space, thanks anyway.
Actual, authenticated still photos of him pinning medals on wounded soldiers? Oh, the shame of it!
Favor us, gigi.
Lin: here are two for you–citations from Gen. Mark Milley and General John Kelly:
From “Newsweek”. dateline 9/21/2023:
“A new profile of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley offers another look into the former president’s attitude toward those who have fought and served for the U.S. The article, published by The Atlantic, says that Trump did not want wounded veterans at official events because “no one wants to see that.”
“There is no nice way to put it. P01135809 is pure scum,” conservative attorney and vocal Trump critic George Conway said on X, formerly Twitter. P01135809 was Trump’s inmate number when he was booked at Fulton County Jail last month.
The anecdote included in the story describes how Trump reacted to the severely wounded Army captain whom Milley selected to sing God Bless America at his 2019 welcome ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Luis Avila, who served five combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, was left almost completely paralyzed by the detonation of an improvised explosive device in 2011.
Former President Donald Trump at the Jackson County Fairgrounds on September 20, 2023, in Maquoketa, Iowa. A new profile of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley offers another look into the former president’s attitude… More SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
Avila’s bio on the Gary Sinise Foundation’s website says that he had his leg amputated after the attack and suffered two strokes, two heart attacks and brain damage as a result of his injuries.
“It rained that day, and the ground was soft; at one point Avila’s wheelchair threatened to topple over. Milley’s wife, Hollyanne, ran to help Avila, as did Vice President Mike Pence,” wrote Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
“After Avila’s performance, Trump walked over to congratulate him, but then said to Milley, within earshot of several witnesses, ‘Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded.’ Never let Avila appear in public again, Trump told Milley.””
* * *
From “Business Insider”, dateline 8/10/2022:
“A shocked John Kelly — one of Donald Trump’s former White House chiefs of staff — once had to tell Trump that wounded veterans “are the heroes” after the former president said he didn’t want them featured in a military parade because he feared they’d make him look bad.
According to an excerpt from an upcoming book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,” Trump — after attending the 2017 Bastille Day parade in Paris — told Kelly that he did not want any injured veterans at a 2018 military parade.
“Look, I don’t want any wounded guys in the parade,” Trump said, according to the book. “This doesn’t look good for me.”
He noted that at the Bastille Day parade, there were several wounded veterans, many of whom were in wheelchairs after losing limbs in battle.
According to the book excerpt, Kelly — a retired Marine Corps general — could not believe what Trump had asked.
“Those are the heroes,” he told Trump, the book reads. “In our society, there’s only one group of people who are more heroic than they are — and they are buried over in Arlington.”
John Kelly lashes out over Trump saying a civilian award is better than the Medal of Honor: ‘No equivalency of any kind’
Kelly’s son, Robert, was a lieutenant killed in action in Afghanistan and is among the veterans buried at Arlington, according to the book.
“I don’t want them. It doesn’t look good for me,” Trump said again. ”
Trump is a self-absorbed pig who called our miliary members “suckers and losers”.
Just give up your gig, gig-i. I am a veteran, independent, and I like Trump. Why? Because Trump wears it all outside. It is like it is, and you can judge him by the bottom line. I loved his bottom line. As opposed to all the behind the door shenanigans of biden and obama and their minions who want to stay in power. I betcha they say some mighty bad stuff, but they would never let the public hear them. That’s the diff.
Big deal. The kid has ADHD. Ten percent of the US population has ADHD.
All right, I’m stupid. But how about JD and trump that use names most people haven’t heard since leaving kindergarten? Or good old Ann Coulter as shown by what she posted this morning about Gus Walz?
Is a death that happens on a communist farm worse than a death that happens on a capitalist farm?
When I was young, I was such an anglophile and was shocked by dystopian books set in England, such as Fahrenheit 451. Never could there be the totalitarian regimes Orwell warned us about. What a difference 50 years make.
The books you’ve read became part of your soul. You carry them around like heavy weights. Read something else.
Yes, never read anything that might make you think critically about your situation, or about the credentials of those claiming the right to be your masters. That’s the universal mantra of totalitarians in every time and place.
Yes, never read anything that could cause you to think critically about your situation, or to question the credentials of those who claim the right to be your masters. That is the mantra of totalitarians in every time and place.
It’s actually set in an unnamed city not far from Chicago. But great book. I listened to it on tape in my car while traveling with my teenage son last year. Even though he prefers action books a la Tom Clancy, he was legit mesmerized by the story and the writing. And I loved it too. The history speech by the fire chief was brilliant even if he was the bad guy.
Yes, in early youth Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was commonly read. It caused an empathy for adulterers. Perhaps adulterers need empathy. Your free to love whomever you love.
Today it’s normal to be child attracted and polyamory is a religion for some. They too need understanding and acceptance. They’re people , too.
Personally The Emperors New Clothes suffices.
I find it ironic how historically speaking, Marxists, Socialists, Bolsheviks, Communists, and Fascists, while passionately denouncing any relationship to each other, all seem to fall prey to the same temperament of emotionally driven hate filled thought processes, and when empowered, seemingly feel duty bound to conduct political exercises of partisan and/or repressive governmental authority. All the while accusing any critics of the same wrongful think that they themselves are conducting. Being an offshoot cousin of the Marxists, never-the-less the WWII German and Italian Fascists vehemently denied any such a relationship and always maintained their moral superiority to the Marxist Socialists, and in particular the Bolsheviks, or Communists.
“Joseph Goebbels: On National-Socialism, Bolshevism & Democracy”
(September 10, 1938)
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/joseph-goebbels-on-national-socialism-bolshevism-and-democracy
Adolph Hitler’s NSDAP, or National Socialist German Workers’ Party, spoke to their socialist roots as the pillar of their political essence and utilized it as a mainstay of their public propaganda while proclaiming that theirs was a, new and enlightened form of Socialism. National Socialism.
“Were the Nazis Really Socialists? It Depends on How You Define Socialism”
FFE – (Foundation for Economic Education, April 19, 2019)
https://fee.org/articles/were-the-nazis-really-socialists-it-depends-on-how-you-define-socialism/
And of course anyone who disagreed with that particular point of view or mistakenly criticized it, was arrested as a traitor for spreading dangerous lies, (misinformation) and hateful ideas, (disinformation ), and generally faced a rather short life expectancy if not some creative form of public execution.
Despots always want to claim theirs is the new and enlightened form of control. For your own good of course. Or the oft used, “for the better good”. Then there is; “to keep us all safe”.
That’s always a good one as it tends to trigger the public fear factor. The more popular phrase trending today in Canada, and the U.S., is, “to save Democracy”.
“Obama/Harris 2024!”
“Make America A Third Word Banana Republic S—hole Country Again!”
FREEDOM
Government exists, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to provide maximal freedom to individuals while government is severely limited and restricted to merely facilitating that maximal freedom of individuals through the provision of security and infrastructure only.
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution.
Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto.
The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.
“…SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY…”
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Kama La La Harris just allowed into America 17 million illegal alien invaders of someone else’s posterity.
Was that unconstitutional, unpreambular, or both?
_______________________________________________________
Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Is a “natural born citizen” “our posterity” or someone else’s?