Month: January 2019

One of America’s newest Muslim congresswomen is under fire for apparent anti-Israel remarks, but CNN doesn’t seem to be very interested in pressing her to explain them.

Back in 2012, Ilhan Omar posted a controversial tweet which called on Allah and appeared to call the Jewish nation “evil.” That’s an eye-opening statement from anyone, but particularly so now that Omar has been sworn in to Congress from her state of Minnesota.

“Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel,” she posted in a tweet that has not been deleted.

To their slight credit, that post didn’t escape CNN, which brought it up to her on Thursday.

Rep. Omar’s comments on Israel begin at 7:47 in this video.

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“You wrote Israel has ‘hypnotized the world,’” commented journalist Poppy Harlow. “I wonder what your message is this morning to Jewish-Americans who find that deeply offensive.”

Omar’s response was to passive-aggressively scold CNN for asking the question, while simultaneously standing by her inflammatory remarks.

“That’s really a regrettable way of expressing that (question),” the representative shot back.

She feigned cluelessness about how ranting about “the evil doings of Israel” might be a problem with Israeli or Jewish people.

“I don’t know how my comments would be offensive to Jewish-Americans,” Omar declared. “My comments precisely are addressing what was happening during the Gaza War.”

But then she doubled-down on the same kind of rhetoric by using the term “Israeli regime” to refer to America’s closest ally and friend in the Middle East.

CNN could have followed up and pressed Omar on her inflammatory language — after all, calling a fellow democracy a “regime” is bizarre for an official representative of the United States government. But the network just shrugged it off, quickly moving to a different topic.

There are two items of note here. First is how quickly left-leaning networks change the subject once a liberal puts their foot in their mouth. There’s a clear double standard here: Imagine for just a second if President Trump tweeted about “the evil doings of Mexico” or any other friendly country, for that matter.

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It would be national news, with CNN, MSNBC, and all the rest holding roundtable discussions about just how racist the president was.

Yet when a liberal lawmaker not only makes that comment about a U.S. ally but seems to defend it on national television, there’s no pressure. They simply accept her vague explanation as gold and move on.

The final point is about Omar herself. It’s very telling that the freshman congresswoman seemed absolutely stunned that anybody might have a problem with her anti-Israel statement or dare call her out on it.

Like fellow newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Minnesota representative seems to expect a free pass on accountability, perhaps because she is a minority.

But as the left has been telling us for decades, a person’s gender or religion shouldn’t change how they’re treated — and that’s exactly why media outlets need to hold America’s representatives’ feet to the fire when they say something ridiculous, not go easy on them.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Confused Democrat lawmakers were left sitting idle on a military bus near the Capitol after President Donald Trump postponed their seven-day foreign trip as the partial government shutdown continues.

Photos shared to social media purport to show Democrats on a U.S. Air Force bus traveling to the airport when they received word that their access to a military plane had been blocked:

Fox is told CapHill security officials got an emergency call from the Pentagon canceling the overseas trip due to shutdown. No one here knows if the trip is going to happen or not. Lots of confusion pic.twitter.com/eFCqsaNcGe

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 17, 2019

House Members sitting on an Air Force bus b/t the Longworth and Rayburn House Office Buildings waiting to see if they are still going overseas after Trump cancelled the trip. pic.twitter.com/e5IgidRPZu

— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) January 17, 2019

USAF bus back on Capitol plaza. Mbrs getting off bus & going back into Capitol pic.twitter.com/k9luYw5YyC

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 17, 2019

The bus went around the block and back to the Capitol where members eventually got off. pic.twitter.com/Os3LTTmG8h

— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) January 17, 2019

Bus leaving Capitol grounds. A few people still on board. Unknown who pic.twitter.com/zT4Ng1oZ6J

— Emily Goodin (@Emilylgoodin) January 17, 2019

One video shows House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) exiting the bus in front of the Capitol building:

Members including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff getting off the bus in front of the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/G6JMtVCg8h

— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) January 17, 2019

Bus for lawmakers on Pelosi’s codel is circling Capitol Hill, awaiting some definitive answers. pic.twitter.com/bpSpPeCZOk

— Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) January 17, 2019

House Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats planned to depart around 3:00 p.m. Eastern Thursday for her overseas trip, according to the White House.

Drew Hamill, the speaker’s chief of staff, issued the following statement in response to the cancelation:

 “The CODEL to Afghanistan included a required stop in Brussels for pilot rest. In Brussels, the delegation was scheduled to meet with top NATO commanders, U.S. military leaders and key allies–to affirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to the NATO alliance. This weekend visit to Afghanistan did not include a stop in Egypt. The purpose of the trip was to express appreciation and thanks to our men and women in uniform for their service and dedication, and to obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines. The President traveled to Iraq during the Trump Shutdown as did a Republican CODEL led by Rep. Zeldin.”

In a letter to Pelosi on Thursday, President Trump wrote that due to the shutdown, a trip to Egypt, Brussels, and Afghanistan would be delayed, declaring, “In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I’m sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”

“I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the strong border security movement to end the shutdown,” the president continued.

Pelosi is welcome to fly on a commercial aircraft to make the trip, he told the House speaker.

Read the full letter below:

 

While the shutdown drags on, on Thursday, the State Department instructed all U.S. diplomats in Washington and elsewhere to return to work next week with pay, saying it had found money for their salaries, at least temporarily, despite the ongoing government shutdown.

In a notice to staff posted online and sent to employees, the department said it had found money to pay most of its employees, beginning Sunday or Monday, for their next pay period. They will not be paid for time worked since the shutdown began in December until the situation is resolved, said the notice, which was signed by Deputy Under Secretary for Management William Todd.

President Trump declined to address the stalemate over the speech Thursday during a visit to the Pentagon, simply promising that the nation will have “powerful, strong border security,” including $5.7 billion in funding to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Barack Obama’s infamous “you didn’t build that” line defined his presidency. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio may have just one-upped him with an alarming message to residents: You don’t own that.

During a Thursday speech called the “state of the city” address, the liberal mayor unveiled a new plan that threatens to seize privately-owned property and hand it over to “community nonprofits” if the owners don’t do what the city government says.

The executive order is being billed as a way to punish bad landlords, but it seems to be only a few steps away from outright socialism.

The mayor “announced he wants to take action against landlords who try to force tenants out by making the property unliveable,” Fox News reported. “He said that in the event the government intervenes, the buildings would then be controlled by a ‘community nonprofit.’”

In basic terms, if the city decides that a building owned by a landlord isn’t being managed the way bureaucrats want, the government will impose a series of sanctions all the way up to taking the privately-owned property by force.

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“If the fines and the penalties don’t cut it, we will seize their buildings and we will put them in the hands of a community nonprofit that will treat tenants with the respect they deserve,” de Blasio declared, according to The New York Daily News.

There are some big problems with this plan. Who determines which properties are acceptable, and what prevents the city from constantly changing the definition to seize whatever it wants?

“My first reaction was: Is this communist Cuba?” state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis said.

“I can say that as a daughter of Cuban refugees who fled Castro’s Cuba in 1959, this is what happened to her family, she had her home taken, my grandfather had his gas station taken.

“This is extreme even for Mayor de Blasio, because we know that he has socialist leanings, but this is straight communism and I think it’s very scary to America-loving, democracy-loving people,” Malliotakis added.

There’s also the reality of unintended consequences. While de Blasio is acting as if threatening landlords unless they pour money into building improvements will benefit residents, it’s almost guaranteed that this will raise the cost of living in the already-expensive city.

The New York metro area is already in the top five most expensive places to live, according to USA Today. Average monthly housing costs for a family of four are close to $1,800 — and that’s before considering any other expenses like food or transportation.

As with constantly-rising minimum wage proposals, the left never stops to think about the downstream consequences of their actions.

Just as raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour would require that the money come from somewhere — with expenses inevitably passed on to employees or end customers — the same would happen by forcing building owners to make expensive improvements or lose their own property.

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De Blasio hasn’t even tried to hide the fact that he wants government bureaucrats to control … well, just about everything.

“I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be,” he said during an interview with New York Magazine.

The liberal mayor is openly bragging about his socialism.

“I think there’s a socialistic impulse, which I hear every day, in every kind of community, that they would like things to be planned in accordance to their needs,” de Blasio continued.

“Look, if I had my druthers, the city government would determine every single plot of land, how development would proceed,” he said. “And there would be very stringent requirements around income levels and rents.”

“That’s a world I’d love to see,” he declared, before endorsing “a very, very powerful government.”

What is going on with the left’s flirtation with communist thinking? First Bernie Sanders, then Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and now de Blasio. Maybe it’s time they booked a one-way ticket to Venezuela so they can see just how well their Marxist views work in the real world.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

The Washington Examiner on Wednesday reported that some ranchers near the southern border in New Mexico say they have discovered Islamic prayer rugs on their property in recent months.

A female rancher, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from criminal cartels, told the Examiner, “There’s a lot of people coming in not just from Mexico.”

“People, the general public, just don’t get the terrorist threats of that,” she added. “That’s what’s really scary. You don’t know what’s coming across. We’ve found prayer rugs out here. It’s unreal. It’s not just Mexican nationals that are coming across.”

The rancher lives in the remote southwestern corner of the state near a tiny town called Animas. The nearest municipality of any size in Hidalgo County is Lordsburg, the county seat where a U.S. Border Patrol station is located, some 95 miles north of the border.

With no local police department in Animas, local residents rely on the County Sheriff’s Office and Border Patrol agents for their law enforcement needs, but given the fact that so few law enforcement resources are available in the area, many residents — including the rancher — have armed themselves and rely on friends and neighbors for support in times of need.

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The rancher explained during a tour of her property that she works with the Border Patrol agents who she can trust and shares information with them when she can.

“I’ve talked to several agents that I trust. There’s not a lot that I do trust, but the ones I do trust, I talk to them,” the rancher said. “What Border Patrol classifies as OTMs (other than Mexicans) has really increased in the last couple years, but drastically within the last six months. Chinese, Germans, Russians, a lot of Middle Easterners. Those Czechoslovakians they caught over on our neighbor’s just last summer.”

Watch as this armed rancher shows the reporter how illegal migrants had used a building on her property repeatedly as a waypoint rest stop on their illicit journey northward, and further described the dangers she has faced in the past on her own property.

Another area rancher, identified as Billy Darnell, told the Examiner that one of his neighbors had caught 18 women and children from the Philippines on their property at one point in 2018. The Border Patrol had been notified and the group had been taken into custody.

To be sure, government statistics reveal only a handful of known or suspected terrorists were apprehended on the border during the first half of 2018, but obviously, that number doesn’t account for how many slipped through without being apprehended, which has been estimated by some to number in the thousands.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Fox News, “We’ve talked about the thousands — the thousands of terror watch list individuals who traveled through our hemisphere last year.”

She added, “To pretend there’s not a danger on an unsecured border, on an open border, is just ridiculous. It belies common sense.”

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agency declined to provide comment on this report from the Examiner, but the discovery of Islamic prayer rugs in the border region would seem to belie the left’s dismissal of the potential terrorist threat in the area, and raises concerns among those who adamantly insist something be done to better secure the border from such threats.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

The media and the left — who can tell the difference? — often push a narrative that all Hispanics are united against President Trump, but a DACA recipient just set the record straight.

Hilario Yanez was able to stay in the United States by taking part in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was created in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama. You’d think that might make Yanez a “poster child” for opposing President Donald Trump … but he has a very different message.

“I came here when I was a year old. And my mom brought me here through no fault of my own. I couldn’t make my own decision. I grew up undocumented. I grew up homeless,” Yanez said Tuesday during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

Check it out here:

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Yet Yanez isn’t pinning his future on liberalism.

“It was my conservative values that made me who I am today, and as a result, I’m a first generation college graduate and I have an incredible job as well,” he explained.

Then he dropped a bombshell:

Counter to the frequent narrative, a surprising number of DACA participants stand with Donald Trump on the border security issue.

“Look, I agree with the president and I talk to hundreds and thousands of dreamers,” Yanez said.”I think we’re all in agreement that safety is, should be, our number one priority. I think the president has every right to do that,” he said, referring to border security plans like the southern wall.

“I think when he became president, his first mission and priority was to protect the American people and … the dreamer community, you know, many of them, hundreds and thousands that I speak to, … agree that the president is doing the right thing.”

When asked what he would say to Democrat leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he had a very clear message.

“Well, what I would say is that, you know, ‘enough is enough,’” he said.

“I think it’s time for us to not come together as Democrats and Republicans, but as Americans.

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“We need to put the American people first, and we also need to put certainty for the dreamers, once and for all.”

Yanez pointed out that immigration and border reform wasn’t a conservative or liberal-only issue.

“I think if anyone is against a compromise or against a deal, then they don’t want to see the president succeed or America succeed,” Yanez said.

“And then, also, they don’t want to bring certainty for the dreamers as well.”

If liberals truly care about child immigrants who were brought into the U.S. when they were too young to have a say, they must include them when talking about border security.

Yanez has a strong, if unexpected, argument.

Unrestricted immigration is not sustainable and brings many problems — and the Hispanic community is hurt by the porous border’s impact on crime, poverty, and unemployment, too.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

WASHINGTON, DC — North Korea remains at the top of a list of 50 countries where at least 245 million Christians are facing “extreme persecution” this year, up 14 percent from 215 million at the beginning of 2018, the World Wide Watch List (WWL) released on Wednesday by Open Doors, a group that monitors the mistreatment of Christ followers, revealed.

At the Heritage Foundation, David Curry, the president and CEO of Open Doors, unveiled the 2019 WWL that ranks the top 50 “most dangerous” countries to follow Jesus, noting that women are especially targeted. 

“The Open Doors World Watch List which you will see today is the most comprehensive grassroots study of what is happening around the world to restrict religious freedom, particularly for Christians,” he explained, adding “The data proves conclusively that Christian women are the most exploited group on the face of the earth.”

Curry highlighted several trends that are currently fueling the mistreatment of Christians, including the rise of authoritarianism and spread of radical Islam, particularly into sub-Saharan Africa. 

“Radical Islam is the driver behind eight of the top 10 on the World Watch List this year, four of which are from Africa,” the Open Doors chief proclaimed.

“Africa is now a major epicenter of violence against Christians,” he observed.

Last year, worldwide persecution resulted in 4,136 deaths, 1,266 attacks on worshipping centers, and the detention 2,625 individuals, the report revealed. The number of deaths increased by about 35 percent from 3,066 at the beginning of 2018.

“Christians were killed for faith-related reasons. On average, that’s 11 Christians killed every day for their faith,” Open Doors noted. 

Overall, one in 9 Christians across the world suffered from “high levels of persecution,” the organization added.

North Korea remained at the top of the list for the 18th year in a row. 

Curry noted: 

North Korea is number one on the World Watch List again and number one in the use of authoritarian tactics. It’s illegal to own a bible. The very suggestion that you’re a Christian can get you arrested with neighborhood watches again using old school communist tactics to control people. The use of authoritarian methods is a major trend on this year’s World Watch List and it’s a worrisome trend. We believe that churches must be sacred from authoritarian tactics.

This year, Open Doors listed 11 countries where Christians are experiencing “extreme persecution”: North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, India, and Syria. 

“For the first time since the start of the World Watch List, India has entered the top 10,” Open Doors pointed out. 

Open Doors’ report thus argues that India is a worse place to practice Christianity than China, where persecution against followers of Jesus has intensified under Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who has vowed to “Sinicize” the country’s religions or make them more Chinese by instilling core communist values. 

“China jumped 16 spots, from 43 to 27,” the monitor group reported. 

Referring to both India and China, the Open Doors report said:

Each of these countries is home to more than a billion people, so these trends are distressing. Hindu nationalists in India continue to attack Christians with what seems like no consequences, and in China, the increased power of the government and the rule of Xi Jinping continue to make open worship difficult in some parts of the country.

Open Doors described the persecution of Christians in China as the worst it has been for more than a decade, with at least 50 million people facing some form of repression this year as the Xi administration tightens its grip over religious worship, the Guardian found.

The watchdog group, alluding to the estimated 65 million Christians in India, reported:  

Christians have been targeted by Hindu nationalist extremists more each year. Since the current ruling party took power in 2014, attacks have increased, and Hindu radicals believe they can attack Christians with no consequences. The view of the nationalists is that to be Indian is to be Hindu, so any other faith— including Christianity—is viewed as non-Indian. Additionally, in some regions of the country, converts to Christianity from Hinduism experience extreme persecution, discrimination and violence.

Hindu nationalist groups in India are reportedly affiliated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Curry pointed out: 

The BJP party, which is the ruling party, Prime Minister Modi’s party has created a radical Hindu agenda within India that seeks to push out the Christian faith and anything other than the Hindu faith. They’re not hiding it. It’s not a secret. It’s their agenda and they have created an environment where people have impunity to attack churches — hundreds of churches have been attacked. 

He went on to urge “influential business people in America of Indian descent…to speak out about the discrimination against Christians in India.”

“We believe the international community is beginning to wake up to this discrimination within India … because this is a massive human rights violation and Indian needs to be held to account if they want to be part of the international business community,” Curry added. 

The Open Doors chief also urged the United States and other Western nations to defend and promote religious freedom. 

Curry told reporters:

People around the world are losing their freedom to choose their faith and we have to pay attention. Religious freedom is the key to what it means to be free. It is the key to what it means to be human and we believe at Open Doors that everyone should have the right to choose their own faith or if they want to have no faith at all. The United States and the Western world can lead in defending and promoting religious freedom.

Open Doors released its WWL assessment one day after the United States government marked 2019’s Religious Freedom Day on Tuesday.

There goes that talking point.

Eventual good news for federal employees: the president has signed the shutdown back pay bill. pic.twitter.com/LERL5s5JDG

— Tamara Keith (@tamarakeithNPR) January 16, 2019

Pelosi doesn’t care about who she hurts, she’s trying to shut down the SOTU because she’s afraid Trump can use it to argue for the wall. She never even contacted the Secret Service or the DHS.

Via Daily Caller:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter Wednesday to the White House asking for a postponement of the annual State of the Union address until after the government shutdown has ended. Pelosi cited security concerns over the speech due to “hamstrung” security agencies.

Pelosi wrote:

The U.S. Secret Service was designated as the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising, and implementing security for National Special Security Events. However, both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] have not been funded for 26 days now — with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs. Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th.

However, multiple DHS officials and Secret Service veterans have said that Pelosi is not being truthful in her remarks and weaponizing the Secret Service for political reasons.

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino tells The Daily Caller that Pelosi owes the Secret Service an apology and that the shutdown has nothing to do with agency readiness.

Keep reading…