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One of the great gifts the British writer George Orwell gave us, in addition to his classics 1984 and Animal Farm, was a clear and uncompromising look at dangerous ideologies. In Orwell and the British Left, British writer Ian Williams recalls Orwells underlining of the old, true and unpalatable conclusion that a Communist and a Fascist are somewhat nearer to one another than either is to a democrat. Orwells well-observed conclusion nonetheless scandalized many on the left who rallied behind the Marxist phrase no enemies on the left.

Sadly, a quarter century after the fall of Communism, too many leftists are still ignoring Orwell and refusing to acknowledge the reality of left-wing brutality. In the wake of Charlottesville, eyewitnesses and reporters agreed that while the violence was instigated by neo-Nazis and white nationalists, it was countered with bloody counterattacks by left-wingers and black-shirted anarchists wearing masks. There was a clear asymmetric outcome to the violence: A white nationalist mowed down protestors with his car, killing a 32-year-old woman.

But that didnt mean there were no victims of left-wing violence. Antifa short for anti-fascist protestors came armed with pepper spray, bricks, and clubs. Antifa members believe that racist speech is violence and that they must counter it physically, not just oppose it with rhetoric or better ideas.

As the New York Daily News reported, among antifas victims were journalists:

Taylor Lorenz of The Hill was punched in the face by an antifa for recording a fight between the two groups; she tweeted that her assaulter told her not to snitch, media bitch. A videographer from Richmonds WTVR covering a counter-protest got a concussion from head blows with a stick.

In addition, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times tweeted from Charlottesville:

The hard left seemed as hate-filled as alt-right. I saw club-wielding antifa beating white nationalists being led out of the park.

Nor is Charlottesville the only place that antifa activists have crossed the line. Peter Beinart has a piece in this months Atlantic magazine noting that rioting by antifa forces forced University of California at Berkeley officials to cancel speeches by Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopolous earlier this year.

In April, threats by antifa supporters convinced the Portland, Ore., police department that they couldnt guarantee security for the annual Rose Festival parade. The parades sin? Allowing the local Republican party to have Trump supporters march under the GOP banner in the parade. The parade was canceled, to the delight of many in the hob-nailed boot Left that makes Portland, well, such a special place.

But most of this has been swiftly swept under the rug or underreported by liberals and much of the mainstream media. On Friday, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held its monthly meeting in Washington. A liberal member introduced a stirring denunciation of the Nazi, KKK and white-nationalist participants in the Charlottesville rally.

But then Commission member Gail Heriot introduced an amendment that would have added the following:

Though we support peaceful protest and note that most of the counter-demonstrators were peaceful, we condemn violence by anyone, including violence by so-called antifa demonstrators.

Heriot, an independent, was supported in her amendment by Peter Kirsanow, a Republican appointee and African American from Cleveland. But they received no other support from the five commission members appointed by Democrats. Chairwoman Catherine Lhamon complained that Heriots amendment would water down the main resolution, when all it did was make clear that the commission wished to condemn violence of any kind.

Karen Narasaki, another commission member, scoffed at Heriots reading of Stolbergs New York Times observation about the antifa activists in Charlottesville. As she voted against Heriots amendment, she noted, You cant believe everything you read in the media. Apparently, the paper of record for so many liberals is to be considered bird-cage lining material if it contradicts the left-wing narrative. Heriots amendment was voted down 62. The original resolution was approved unanimously, as recorded in the Statement on Charlottesville, Virginia, that the commissioners did adopt.

Its pathetic that the dogma of no enemies on the left so clouds the judgment of the commission set up to protect civil rights.

Some clear-minded experts on extremist violence harbor no such ideological blinkers. Oren Segal, the director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, categorically told CNN last week:

There is violence on the left. The anti-fascists engage with those they oppose through physical confrontation. And that is a problem. That is an extremists tactic. There is also bigotry on the left.

I would only add that if George Orwell were with us today, he would probably say that there is willful blindness on the left.

John Fund is NROs national-affairs correspondent.

View post:
The US Civil Rights Commission refuses to condemn antifa violence. - National Review

The MPP for Nipissing is questioning the Ontario Liberals math in their quarterly financial report. The report shows that during the first quarter, Ontarios real Gross Domestic Product grew one percent for this year, which is better than the rest of Canada and all the G-7 countries. However Vic Fedeli says something doesnt add up. Fedeli says the Conference Board of Canada says Ontario will see lower growth, the Financial Accountability Officer has concerns about the Liberals economic forecast and so does the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The Tory finance critic says considering the Liberals have been wrong numerous times in the past, he says with this latest go round, hes ignoring their claims and going with the outside experts. In the report, the Liberals also play up the fact they have balanced the budget which translate into better health care. They say because the budget is balanced, the annual interest the province pays on its total debt remains at $11.6 billion. However Fedeli says the Liberals balanced the budget by using the proceeds from the sale of Hydro One. He adds after the Hydro One money is used up well be back in a deficit and he adds even the FAO has expressed a similar concern. The Liberals also maintain Ontarios real GDP will increase 2.7 percent this year which is higher than the 2.4 percent they forecast earlier.

Read more from the original source:
Fedeli on Ontario Liberals' finance report - My West Nipissing Now

Democrats argued Trump was proposing an open-ended commitment with no exit strategy or ceiling on US troops there.

"Tonight, the President said he knew what he was getting into and had a plan to go forward. Clearly, he did not," House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement."The President's announcement is low on details but raises serious questions."

New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump's speech was "terribly lacking" in details, substance and "a vision of what success in Afghanistan looks like."

And Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and Marine Corps veteran, accused Trump of "repeating the mistakes of previous administrations."

"Tonight, the American people should have heard a detailed, realistic strategy with achievable objectives and measurable benchmarks," Gallego said. "Instead, we got only vague promises and wishful thinking."

In his speech Monday evening, Trump said the US would be victorious in Afghanistan while focusing on defeating the terrorists as opposed to nation-building. He declared his administration would not talk about troop levels in order to keep the enemy in the dark, a frequent refrain during his campaign.

Trump's proposal won praise from one of his biggest foreign policy critics in the Republican Party, Sen. John McCain.

"I believe the President is now moving us well beyond the prior administration's failed strategy of merely postponing defeat," McCain said in a statement. The Obama administration was frequently criticized by Republicans for putting timelines on troop withdrawals.

The Arizona Republican said the US now must keep up with sufficient resources in Afghanistan to succeed there, adding that Trump "must conduct himself as a wartime commander" and arguing the President should speak regularly to the American people about the war.

Ryan said he believed he had heard a new doctrine Monday from Trump of "principled realism."

Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, who was considered for a top administration post, also praised Trump's speech, saying in a statement that he supported the direction that was laid out, though he noted there were still unanswered questions about the capability of the Afghan government.

"While there are certainly substantial questions about whether Afghanistan has the capacity over time to provide stable governance to its people, this more focused plan provides the U.S. military with the flexibility it needs to help the Afghan military regain momentum," Corker said.

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Democrats: Trump has no Afghanistan strategy - CNN

This Fox News headline is typical of many in recent weeks: Democrat Fundraising Is Worst in a Decade. A less partisan authority, the Washington Posts David Weigel, had a parallel Twitter take:

Itd be apt to call this state of affairs the Democratic Partys Looming Fundraising Crisis, as another headline did, if Democratic Party meant the same thing as Democratic National Committee. But the DNC and RNC are by no means the principal, or even secondary, factors in midterm-election funding. A more comprehensive assessment in The Hill notes that the playing field is pretty much even if you look beyond the national committees:

The DNCs fundraising woes have not extended to party committees and candidates. On the House side, both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee each raised about $60 million in the first six months of 2017. The Republican grouphas a $12 million advantage in cash on hand.

Republican House candidates have narrowly outraised Democratic House candidates, $145.4 million to $142 million.

Comparing Senate candidates is more difficult, since many more Democratic incumbents than Republicans find themselves in difficult reelection fights. But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee outraised the National Republican Senatorial Campaign by a slim $700,000 margin.

You could apply that note about the broader turf that Senate Democrats must defend to House Republicans, given the huge 20102014 gains the GOP is defending alongside the historic midterm pattern of the party controlling the White House almost always losing seats, compounded by Trumps poor approval ratings. Similarly, the $36 million to $21 million fundraising advantage of the Republican Governors Association to its Democratic counterpart looks impressive, until you realize the GOP is defending nearly three times as many gubernatorial seats as its rival.

In the end, all these party accounts could be dwarfed by candidates, especially wealthy self-funders. The Illinois governors race could wind up costing an aggregate $300 million. And Democratic candidates for governor of California have out-raised the DGA.

There is a big wild card that is not being reflected in any of these numbers: independent groups that supplement and sometimes eclipse party and candidate expenditures. On the GOP side, that includes the powerful Koch donor network, which can be expected to overcome its lack of enthusiasm for Trump to defend GOP congressional power next year (though theres some talk of a big donor strike if Congress doesnt enact tax cuts or health-care legislation before the midterms). And small-dollar online donations to nonparty funding sources have made a big comeback on the Democratic side during the 2017 special congressional elections.

While the importance of the fundraising numbers for the RNC and DNC has been grossly exaggerated, they do matter, and the turmoil and turnover at the DNC have greatly undermined the organizations finances. For one thing, the DNC is struggling to connect with the nearly 3 million people who gave money to Bernie Sanderss 2016 campaign, which isnt surprising given the widespread belief in their ranks that the DNC helped rig the nominating process for Hillary Clinton last year. There is also an undercurrent of discontent with Democratic small-dollar-fundraising tactics, which tend to rely on negative messages that may not wear well over the long haul.

It is far too early, however, to concede a big Republican money advantage particularly if the GOP continues to stumble in keeping its promises to past donors, large and small. Another possible problem for the GOPs midterm effort is now coming into sight: Team Trumps preparations for 2020. Aside from creating an alternative magnet for donations (especially the massive small-dollar donations that Trump generated late in the 2016 campaign), the president might decide to triangulate against his ineffective congressional allies, which could hit the GOP in places even more sensitive than the wallet.

A high-speed train hit another train parked at the station in Upper Darby.

All ships will have a one-day operational pause this week after the USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker.

He thinks asking lawmakers to hold Trump accountable would amount to a partisan hack-fest.

To the extent that its bold, its dangerous; to the extent its new, its vague; to the extent that its a strategy, its Obamas.

He offered few details, saying, Americas enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out.

Luther Strange may need all the money and all the Trump love he can get to catch up with Roy Moore, whos winning over supporters of other candidates.

Sarah Jessica Parkers voice-over is a surprisingly good match for Trumps stoic facial expressions.

Still, House conservatives are threatening to let America default on its debt, unless Democrats agree to massive spending cuts.

Instagram is inundated, and even Donald Trump dons a pair of special glasses.

Trump seems to be the only one who dared to risk staring at the sun without eclipse glasses.

A vernacular translation of the the New York Times report on Rinat Akhmetshin.

New stories on the site recall Bannons threats to go nuclear on the First Daughter.

As Trumps approval rating in the Rust Belt dips, labor leaders work to help Democrats exploit an opening with working-class Trump voters.

More are being taken down every day.

While the DNC is struggling to keep up with the RNC in fundraising, other sources of campaign financing are more balanced, and its very early yet.

He was the last remaining at-large suspect in a terrorist cell.

Pulling down monuments is a start, but the real change happens in schools.

Last-minute tips for the astronomical event of the century.

A new book will profile Trumps mother, grandmother, and three wives.

Excerpt from:
Too Early for Democrats to Freak Out Over Fundraising 'Crisis' - New York Magazine

Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP

Democrats push new bill to change recall rules, save senator

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Democrats started a new legislative push Monday to change recall election rules in an effort to protect one of their own after a court put an earlier attempt to slow the recall process on hold.

A measure introduced Monday would help state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton, who is facing a recall attempt backed by Republicans over his support for a gas tax increase. If they succeed in replacing Newman with a Republican, Democrats would lose their supermajority that allows them to raise taxes without GOP votes.

Election officials in three counties reported Friday that they've verified enough signatures for the recall to proceed. State law gives Secretary of State Alex Padilla 10 days to certify them.

Republicans are pushing to hold a recall election shortly after the gas tax rises Nov. 1.

The Democratic bill would allow people to remove their name from a recall petition and require the state to estimate the costs of holding a special election. The new procedures were initially tucked into a state budget bill, SB96, in June, but the California Court of Appeal put them on hold last week because the bill touched on multiple unrelated subjects.

Democrats say people were tricked into signing the petition believing they were supporting a referendum on the gas tax. They say those people should have a chance to remove their name.

"It remains in the overwhelming public interest to safeguard the integrity of California's recall process and to ensure that recall petitions are not being signed under false and fraudulent pretenses," said Jonathan Underland, a spokesman for Senate Democrats.

The bill would draw out the recall process, potentially allowing it to coincide with the statewide primary in June when more Democrats are likely to participate.

The bill will get a hearing in the Senate and Assembly budget committees on Tuesday and Wednesday and could be considered by the full chambers on Thursday, before the deadline for Padilla to certify that recall organizers collected sufficient signatures.

"In light of the Court of Appeal's recent order staying the recall procedures in SB96, the secretary is consulting with his attorneys to determine what his current obligations are under the law and how to appropriately proceed," Padilla spokesman Jesse Melgar said.

California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte has urged Padilla, a Democrat, to act quickly.

Read more:
Democrats push new bill to change recall rules, save senator - SFGate