Category: US Politics

Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett held up a blank notepad when Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) asked her to show the public the notes she’s been using to answer the numerous questions spat at her during day two of the confirmation hearings. 

“Most of us have multiple notebooks and notes and books, things like that in front of us,” said Sen. Cornyn (video below). “Can you hold up what you’ve been referring to in answering our questions?”

Barrett held up a blank notepad.

“Is there anything on it?” asked Cornyn.

“The letterhead that says United States Senate,” the judge replied.

“That’s impressive,” said the senator.

Sen. Cornyn cleverly asks ACB to show her notepad. It’s empty pic.twitter.com/pvL4sWFgJ9

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) October 13, 2020

The moment received praise online from conservatives.

“Is there anything on your notes?”

“The letterhead that says U.S. Senate.”

Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t play ???? pic.twitter.com/JcyCUoTHnD

— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) October 13, 2020

When asked to hold up what she’s been using to help answer questions, Judge Amy Coney Barrett holds up a blank notepad.

Yes, she’s THAT smart. ? pic.twitter.com/lXnbsYSNAh

— Abigail Marone ?? (@abigailmarone) October 13, 2020

Legendary pic.twitter.com/ZLASdwNtHg

— Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) October 13, 2020

WATCH the moment, below:

No notes!! pic.twitter.com/xHnKDK01GQ

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 13, 2020

Early during Tuesday’s hearing, Barrett was asked about her views on Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case that would push the legalization of abortion back to the states if overturned.

Barrett argued that expressing a view on a precedent would signal to litigants “that I might tilt one way or another in a pending case,” as noted by The Daily Wire. 

“Do you agree with Justice Scalia’s view that Roe [v. Wade] was wrongly decided?” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) pressed.

“Senator, I do wanna be forthright and answer every question so far as I can. I think on that question, I’m gonna invoke Justice Elena Kagan’s description, which I think is perfectly put. When she was in her confirmation hearing, she said that she was not gonna grade precedent, give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. … It would be wrong and a violation of the canons for me to do that as a sitting judge.”

“If I express a view on a precedent one way or another, whether I say I love it or I hate it, it signals to litigants that I might tilt one way or another in a pending case,” reasoned Barrett.

A frustrated Feinstein pushed again, framing the question as of most importance for “half the population,” noting that it was “distressing not to get a straight answer.” However, she received the same answer from Barrett. 

Asked a third time, Barrett responded, “My answer is the same … It’s a contentious issue … but I can’t express views on cases, or pre-commit to approaching a case any particular way.”

The judge was also asked during the hearing about how she felt about being referred to as a “female Scalia.”

“I would say that Justice Scalia was a mentor. As I said when I accepted the president’s nomination that his philosophy is mine, too,” she responded, according to ABC News. “He was a very eloquent defender of originalism and it was also true of textualism, which is the way that I approach statutes and their interpretation and similarly to what I just said about originalism.”

“If I’m confirmed, you would not be getting Justice Scalia, you would be getting Justice Barrett,” emphasized the judge.

Related: Barrett Frustrates Feinstein With Response To Repeated Roe v. Wade Questions

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A black military veteran who owns a cafe in Portland, Oregon, told Fox News his vote for President Donald Trump is now "solidified" since Antifa rioters shot at his restaurant Sunday night during a "Day of Rage."

What happened?

John Jackson — who served in the Army and Marines and owns Heroes American Cafe — told the cable network his restaurant was deemed "unfriendly" to the Black Lives Matter movement and was subsequently targeted.

With that, two windows in his cafe’s downtown location were shot at and another window was struck with a blunt object — possibly a baseball bat, Jackson told Fox News.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

A Thursday tweet from @DublinPDX claimed Jackson’s cafe gives its profits "to their heroes… cops" and ripped businesses that support law enforcement, the cable network added.

"We’re trying to compile a list of all non-friendly businesses in PDX," a screenshot of another tweet read. "AKA any company that’s hanging blue lives garbage in their store or anything else that’s anti the BLM movement. Drop them below."

Jackson told KPTV-TV he received a threatening phone call last week saying he and his restaurant would be targeted.

He added to the station that prior to the attack he was sitting in front of one of soon-to-be-fired-at widows: "That’s where I sit and do work; I would’ve literally been shot."

But Fox News said Heroes was open Monday despite damage to the building — and that Jackson isn’t backing down.

"We’re not changing what we do because of things that are, to me, kind of terroristic in approach," he added to KPTV. "We’re just not yielding to any of that."

Jackson also noted to Fox News that his businesses support all heroes, which include police officers, military personnel, veterans, nurses, and firefighters.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"We’re for all heroes, and we don’t support zeroes," he added to the cable network. "So if you’re a bad cop, we don’t really have time for you. If you’re walking your beat, and you’re taking care of your people, or you’re saving lives, we love you."

How does the incident affect his vote?

Jackson told Fox News he voted for Trump in 2016 with some reservations — but given the attack on his restaurant, all doubts have been dismissed.

"This solidified my Trump vote," he added to cable network. "I’m done with this weakness, and we need some real strong leadership."

Statues toppled, businesses damaged during destructive night of rioting in downtown Portlandyoutu.be

via Conservative Review

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Why are Minneapolis residents terrified to leave their homes in recent months? For the same reason why someone brazenly shot and killed an anti-Antifa counterprotester in broad daylight in Denver on Saturday. There is no deterrent against violent criminals any more and therefore no protection for the average citizen.

"We have never seen anything like this."

"I’m scared to even drive after dark."

"I don’t feel safe walking around my neighborhood."

"Everybody feels the same way. We all want to move."

This is just some of the feedback that members of the Minneapolis city council received during a meeting of the Public Health and Safety Committee last Thursday, according to Alpha news. During a two-hour virtual hearing, numerous citizens spoke about their concern of understaffed and demoralized police and the role of the city’s politicians in emboldening criminals. With almost a quarter of the year left to go, there is already a 37.5% increase in homicides over the 12-month total of 2019.

The message has essentially been telegraphed that law and order is a racist concept, and so long as anyone acts violently in the name of "racial justice," it is forgiven or even encouraged. The black communities closest to the violence are paying for this a lot more than the gated communities of politicians.

Bill Rodriguez, a passionate citizen speaker at the meeting, summed up the consequences perfectly. "If we don’t act soon, here’s what’s going to happen: you’ll be presiding over the biggest exodus of businesses and families that this town has ever seen just as some of you are running for reelection next year."

But in city after city, we are seeing the opposite of law and order. The city officials are taking actions to discourage the police and encourage violent criminals, particularly those involved with BLM and ANTIFA. According to the Oregonian, out of 974 criminal cases stemming from the Portland riots over the past several months, 666 were dropped by Multnomah District Attorney Mike Schmidt. Moreover, only 7 out of the 39 arrests for assaulting police officers resulted in charges being filed. The outlet even found 18 individuals who were arrested three or more times throughout the rioting since May. Nearly all the charges have been dropped.

The Oregonian further found that even some of the cases that were initially listed as having criminal charges lodged against the defended were later dropped. "But court records show prosecutors have subsequently decided to drop all charges in at least 22 of these cases, some that have included allegations of riot, burglary and unlawful use of a weapon."

Is it any wonder why a suspect is seen on video in broad daylight shooting an anti-ANTIFA protester in Denver on Saturday? There is simply no deterrent against these people because they have a de facto green light from city politicians, prosecutors, and courts to rampage with impunity.

In Rochester, New York, a left-wing protester was caught on camera punching a policeman in the face. He was released the next day.

According to the New York Post, a similar incident just happened in Manhattan. Angel Rivera, 18, who allegedly head-butted an NYPD cop following three prior arrests for assaulting officers, was let back onto the streets on Saturday.

How much longer are we going to allow this one-sided war on citizens and cops alike to play out while the only people who are deterred are those who act in self-defense?

This dynamic is creating a death spiral of demoralizing police, vacancies in key policing positions, sparse police presence, weakening of deterrent, and emboldening of criminals. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that many city police departments are having trouble finding police chiefs. People simply don’t want the job. As a result, the death toll of violence due to BLM and ANTIFA will continue to mount.

Meanwhile, as violent criminals are released in cities like New York, often without posting any bail, New York officials are fining Jewish synagogues for opening their doors and exercising their First Amendment rights. So, while peaceful people in America’s major cities must quiver in fear of violent criminals, not only can they not count on their government to protect them, but they must fear its tyrannical hand as well. The very people who respect the police the most must now fear them, while those who assault the police go undeterred. Who ever said crime doesn’t pay and that violence is not the answer?

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In her opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday over the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) evoked the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, fearing that her legacy could be erased.

“By replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg with someone who will undo her legacy, President Trump is attempting to roll back America’s rights for decades to come,” said Harris as a children’s book bearing Ginsburg’s image loomed behind her. “Every American must understand that with this nomination, equal justice under law is at stake. Our voting rights are at stake. Workers’ rights are at stake. Consumer rights are at stake. The right to a safe and legal abortion is at stake. Holding corporations accountable is at stake. And there is so much more.”

Harris dismissed Barrett’s nomination as little more than a cheap power grab by the Trump administration to potentially kill the Affordable Care Act and asked the chairman to delay her nomination until after the election.

“So, Mr. Chairman, I do believe this hearing is a clear attempt  to jam through a supreme court nominee who will take healthcare away from millions of people during a deadly pandemic that has already killed more than 214,000 Americans,” concluded Harris. “I believe that we must listen to our constituents and protect their access to healthcare, and wait to confirm a new Supreme Court justice until after Americans decide what they want in the White House.”

Sen. Kamala Harris: "Every American must understand that with this nomination, equal justice under law is at stake" https://t.co/uScvfX9o80 pic.twitter.com/cRpV0h1fdu

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 12, 2020

Democrats have largely avoided criticizing Amy Coney Barrett’s faith, opting to leave that task to the media instead. As Harris demonstrated, the opening arguments on Monday’s hearing focused on Barrett’s apparent opposition to the Affordable Care Act. As Andrew McCarthy pointed out at National Review, however, Barrett has never once publicly criticized Obamacare as a work of policy.

“As a judge, Barrett has not ruled on Obamacare. As a scholar, she has taken the firm position that a judge’s important but modest role is to say what the law is, not to formulate public policy,” wrote McCarthy. “The best prediction of her position on legislation, therefore, is that its policy direction is for Congress to decide; the judge’s narrow role is to ensure that enacted law complies with constitutional requirements, regardless of its political or ideological bent.”

Despite Amy Coney Barrett having never said which way she would rule if Obamacare were once again taken up by the Supreme Court, Democrats have stressed that the former president’s signature work of healthcare reform now stands at risk.

“The president has promised to appoint justices who will vote to dismantle that law. As a candidate, he criticized the Supreme Court for upholding the law and said, ‘if I win the presidency, my judicial appointments will do the right thing, unlike Bush’s appointee John Roberts on ObamaCare,’” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in her opening statement Monday morning.

RELATED: WATCH: Biden Says Barrett’s Faith ‘Should Not’ Be Argued During Hearings

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Well-known rapper Jay-Z has paid the bail and citation fees for protesters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, who were arrested while demonstrating for justice in death of Alvin Cole, a 17-year-old black teenager shot and killed by police in February.

What are the details?

Jay-Z and Team ROC, the social justice arm of his organization ROC Nation, announced in a press release Friday that they posted bond and covered additional fees for the arrested individuals, who included Cole’s mother and his three sisters, according to CBS News.

Violent riots broke out in the city last week after Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced that no charges would be brought against Joseph Mensah, the black Wisconsin police officer involved in the Feb. 2 shooting.

On Thursday, the Wauwatosa Police Department announced that several protesters were arrested for being in violation of the city’s curfew.

In the press release Friday, Team ROC blasted the arrests and called on Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to appoint a special prosecutor.

"Our hearts break for the family of Alvin Cole and the Wauwatosa community," Team ROC director Dania Diaz said, according to WISN-TV. "Not only did the District Attorney’s Office fail to hold Officer Joseph Mensah accountable for killing Alvin, but the local police also arrested and injured Alvin’s mother Tracy and his sisters as they peacefully protested alongside Jacob Blake’s father. We will continue to stand with these families and support the peaceful protestors as we collectively fight for the legacies of Alvin Cole, Jay Anderson and Anthony Gonzales, who all died at the hands of Mensah."

Team ROC had been reportedly following the case for months and even paid for a full-page ad in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in July, which called for Mensah’s immediate prosecution and termination.

What else?

In a 14-page letter explaining his reasoning for not bringing charges, Chisolm said that evidence showed Cole fled from police carrying a stolen handgun, which he refused to turn over and at one point fired.

"He did not surrender the weapon and was fired upon by Officer Mensah causing his death," Chisholm wrote, according to the Associated Press. "[There] is sufficient evidence that Officer Mensah had an actual subjective belief that deadly force was necessary and that belief was objectively reasonable."

Mensah was reportedly the subject of an attack by Black Lives Matter protesters in August when a group of at least 50 individuals vandalized his girlfriend’s home and physically assaulted him.

In a post on Facebook following the incident, Mensah claimed that he and his girlfriend were "assaulted, punched, and ultimately shot at several times."

"A shotgun round missed me by inches," he added.

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Supporters of President Trump were recorded chanting, “Four more years,” while Democratic presidential nominee held a campaign event in Toledo, Ohio.

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A New Jersey public school teacher ordered a student to take down a flag supporting President Donald Trump that was hanging in his room — and was visible during an online class — or leave the virtual session, Jersey Shore Online reported.

What are the details?

Anthony Ribeiro, a Toms River High School North junior, got the Trump flag from his aunt last week as a birthday present, and the 17-year-old promptly hung the flag in his room, the outlet said.

Nothing was said about the flag during his first six classes Thursday, the outlet said — but there was still his final class of the day to get through: chemistry.

"I was the first in because I make sure I am on time, but he looked up at the screen, didn’t say anything, and as people came in, he took attendance, and then said, ‘Anthony take the flag down right now,’" Ribeiro recalled to the outlet. "My mic was muted because that is one of the requirements for meets this year and shook my head no, and he said [his] room wasn’t a place for politics and that was not acceptable and ‘if you aren’t going to take it down, you will have to get out of this class.’"

Double standard much?

Ribeiro added to Jersey Shore Online that his teacher brought up politics during the first week of school last month.

"The school set up a system with a period of 15 minutes between every other class where you would talk about mental health and talk about what was going on in the world, and [the teacher] decided to talk about global warming for most of the days, and he would bring politics into it," he recalled to the outlet. "In learning, you need to have politics in social studies or history, but teachers have to be down the middle when it comes to being a Democrat or Republican."

Ribeiro also told the outlet his teacher "said Republicans don’t believe in climate change or global warming, and Joe Biden and the Democrats are the people that will put light on what the science is to global warming. In one of his class periods [the teacher] said ‘that is why they have my vote this year in the election and hopefully in the future they will have yours.’ He said Republicans deny global warming is even a thing, which made it political."

He added to Jersey Shore Online that some of his fellow students found his teacher’s reaction hypocritical: "A couple people texted me … afterward and said it was crazy for him to say there was no politics in his room when he makes political remarks."

What did the student’s mother have to say?

Tara Jost, Ribeiro’s mother, told the outlet she didn’t take kindly to her son’s treatment and contacted the district superintendent and high school principal.

"This is in my own house," Jost noted to Jersey Shore Online, adding that there are no rules she’s aware of regarding room decorations.

She added to the outlet that Assistant Superintendent Cara DiMeo noted the teacher’s actions were improper and that the matter had been discussed with him.

"I said, ‘How dare he tell my son to leave his classroom because of something I have in my home?’ He’s a science teacher number one; number two, we’re Americans, and we all have the right in what we believe in, and he was talking politics the first week of class, which he has no right to do in telling them who to vote for," Jost told the outlet.

She also noted to Jersey Shore Online that if students wore Trump shirts to school during in-person education, they wouldn’t be asked to leave.

Then it happened again

The day after Ribeiro’s chemistry teacher told him to remove his Trump flag or leave his class, Ribeiro’s English teacher told him the same thing, the outlet said.

He agreed to abide by the order, but Jost told Jersey Shore Online she wishes he hadn’t.

More from the outlet:

Ribeiro said he was a year away from being able to vote and during the pandemic has become very active in following the news and learning more about the political world. He noted being well aware of how divided people are at the current time including division within families and friends who have differing viewpoints.

A district representative told Jersey Shore Online that officials can’t comment because it’s an internal matter.

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After an Idaho state government agency denied the great-grandparents of a 1-year-old girl the right to apply be her foster parents and eventually adopt her because of their religious views vis-a-vis sexuality, a United States District Judge reversed the decision, holding that the state regulations likely violated the Free Exercise Clause and thus ruling in […]

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