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In the hours after President Trumps wavering response to the neo-Nazi-fueled clashes last weekend that left one dead and 19 injured in Charlottesville, Sen. Cory Gardner assumed the role of moral conscience of the Republican Party.

Mr. President we must call evil by its name, the Colorado Republican tweeted within hours of Trumps assertion Saturday that many sides were to blame for the mayhem. Gardner reiterated those comments on the Sunday talk-show circuit, directly calling out Trumps equivocation on who had prompted the clashes.

But for the next six weeks, one of Gardners prime responsibilities will be to tout Trumps virtues to Alabama Republicans in an effort to help Sen. Luther Strange secure the nomination for a special election later this year.

Gardner is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the political arm of GOP leadership that is staunchly behind Strange. And Stranges path to victory, after finishing second in Tuesdays initial ballot, will rely heavily on reminding Alabama conservatives that they continue to support Trump and they should transfer that support to Trumps choice for senator Strange.

This is what Trump has done to congressional Republicans. Its almost the very definition of what Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), in his new book Conscience of a Conservative, labeled the Faustian bargain between Trump and the GOP.

At a moment when Republicans are horrified by Trumps moral equivalence on white supremacy, they also rely on him to continue endorsing and promoting their colleague, Strange, who was appointed interim senator after Jeff Sessions became Trumps attorney general.

To do otherwise might cede the nomination to Roy Moore, a controversial former judge who might put the seat, held by Republicans for more than 20 years, at risk of falling to the Democratic nominee in the general election.

[Sen. Luther Strange will face jurist Roy Moore in Alabamas Republican Senate runoff]

The NRSC and Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by close allies of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), went out of their way to praise Trump late Tuesday night after Strange and Moore advanced to the Sept. 26 runoff election.

President Trumps pick for Senate successfully advanced to the runoff election, and we are confident he will be elected to remain in the Senate come December, Gardner said in a statement.

We are proud to have strongly supported President Trumps number-one ally in this race, and we believe the Presidents support will be decisive as we head into the next phase of this campaign, Steven Law, president of Senate Leadership Fund, said in his statement.

Law was McConnells most senior adviser until 2001, when he became chief of staff to Elaine Chao, McConnells wife, who had just been confirmed as labor secretary. Law remained close to Chao and eventually won confirmation as deputy secretary in his own right, the No. 2 position in that department.

On Tuesday afternoon, at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Chao stood over the presidents left shoulder, ostensibly there to tout the still undefined infrastructure package Trump wants to promote. Shes now the presidents secretary of transportation.

Chao endured last weeks volley of angry comments from Trump toward her husband, as he blamed McConnell for the Senates failure to advance legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. On Tuesday, she stood to Trumps left and listened to the president describe the many good people in the Charlottesville marches which had been organized by white supremacists and included people carrying flags in honor of Hitlers Nazi regime.

Chaos family roots lie in the Shanghai region. Her father, a merchant marine fighting Maos rebels, fled to Taiwan as China fell to a communist regime that would slaughter millions. It was a brutal reign that in some ways echoed the Nazis in Germany.

She faced questions after Trump ended his comments Tuesday. I stand by my man both of them, Chao said, declining to criticize Trump.

McConnell waited until after 10 a.m. Wednesday to comment after Trumps Tuesday pronouncement that there were two sides to a story about Charlottesville, taking note the same groups now want to come to McConnells home states capital of Lexington.

Their message of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America, he said in a prepared statement.

In his book, Flake took barely veiled shots at McConnell for not building up a real conservative policy agenda in the early years of Barack Obamas presidency, instead publicly declaring that defeating Obama in 2012 was his top priority as GOP leader.

The corollary to this binary thinking being that his failure would be our success and the fortunes of the citizenry would presumably be sorted out in the meantime, Flake wrote.

Flake went on to mock GOP leaders who believed that, despite Trumps erratic behavior and sometimes repudiation of conservative principles, unified Republican control of Washington would lead to big victories such as tax cuts.

If this was our Faustian bargain, then it was not worth it, Flake wrote.

Now Republicans find themselves once again clashing with Trump on moral grounds, denouncing his position on white supremacists. This follows their critiques of Trump as a candidate when he attacked the war heroics of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), referred to Mexicans as rapists, engaged in a weeks-long feud with a Pakistani-American father whose son died on the battlefield in Iraq, called for a travel ban of all Muslims and was discovered to have bragged in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a 2005 conversation caught on a hot microphone.

But down in Alabama, one of the most conservative states in the nation and one with its own racially divisive history, Trump remains extraordinarily popular.

Among Alabama Republicans, Trumps favorability rating tops 85 percent, according to two GOP strategists following the Senate race there. And Trump has endorsed Strange, which the NRSC and McConnells super PAC plan to tout as the single biggest reason the states Republicans should rally around Strange.

These same Republicans say they will continue to denounce Trump every time he equivocates when they see moral clarity. The hope in the short term is to avoid the political and moral association with the presidents more troubling words and deeds.

My answer will never change on this issue, Gardner tweeted Tuesday, after wrapping up several town halls. We must all call evil by its name and never back down from denouncing hate and racism.

The risk in the long term, however, is having to face down what increasingly feels like an unanswerable question: Why they continue to repeat the cycle, again and again, without any real change from the president.

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In Alabama, Senate Republicans have tied themselves to Trump. At what cost? - Washington Post

The poll found that the share of Republicans expressing confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled to 34 percent from 17 percent in 2015. | Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

By MATTHEW NUSSBAUM

08/16/2017 02:00 PM EDT

Updated 08/16/2017 02:06 PM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin is enjoying rising popularity among Republicans according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.

The poll found that the share of Republicans expressing confidence in Putin doubled to 34 percent from 17 percent in 2015, when Donald Trump launched a campaign for the White House that was seen as friendly toward Moscow.

Story Continued Below

Though most Americans view Russia negatively, Moscow's overall popularity in the United States has risen since 2014, when it plummeted after the country annexed Crimea. Twenty-nine percent of Americans now have a favorable view, compared with 19 percent in 2014, the poll found.

But the partisan gap is stark, as congressional committees and federal investigators scrutinize Russias meddling in the 2016 election, including hacks of Democratic operatives email accounts. The investigations are eyeing any ties between Russia and Trumps campaign, though the president calls the probe a hoax.

Just 13 percent of Democrats have confidence in Putin, the poll found. And while 61 percent of Democrats consider Russia a major national security risk, only 36 percent of Republicans do, the poll of 1,505 adults conducted from Feb. 16 to March 15 found. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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The partisan gap is a recent development, said Margaret Vice, a senior researcher at Pew and the lead author on the report.

Weve seen quite a shift on the side of Republicans, with Republicans now being much more favorable toward Russia, Vice said, adding that the shift was "quite significant."

The ideological split exists in other countries as well, she said, with those on the right in Italy, Greece and Australia also holding warmer views toward Putin.

Those who place themselves on the right of the spectrum are much more likely to be confident in Putin as a leader, she said.

But Vice said the American right's recent warmth toward Putin still stood out.

"In most of the 13 countries in which ideology was asked in 2015 and 2017, the ideological split in views toward Russia and Putin have not changed significantly, outside of the U.S.," Vice said.

Still, Americans have an overwhelmingly negative view of the country, with just 14 percent saying Russia respects the personal freedoms of its people.

Russias popularity in the United States used to be substantially higher nearly half of Americans had a favorable view in 2010 but tumbled after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russian government forces continue to assist Ukrainian separatists. Putins government also has sided with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the civil war there, and it has tried, mostly through influence campaigns, to destabilize democracies from Europe to the United States.

Trump frequently praised Putin during the campaign, and the two spoke at length during a recent G-20 meeting in Hamburg. Improved relations with Russia were a centerpiece of Trump's foreign policy platform, but the revelations of election interference have all but eliminated the possibility of any rekindled friendship in the near future.

Trump recently begrudgingly signed new sanctions on the Russian regime after they were passed by veto-proof majorities in Congress.

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Poll: Republicans' confidence in Russia's Putin on the rise - Politico

On the eve of talksbetween the United States, Mexico and Canada to renegotiatetheNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Republican San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is encouragingpolicymakers to look at thesuccess story the pacthas created inhis city.

Free trade works, Faulconer told the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday evening. Weve grown our exports in San Diego by $5 billion since NAFTA. Mexico is our biggest export partner from San Diego.

As mayor of the states second-largest city and throughsheer attrition of Republicanofficeholders Faulconer is seen as a leading figure in Californias GOP. While once again declaring that he is not running for governor in 2018 as some have encouraged, Faulconer laid out his blueprint for the partys return to statewide relevance, which includes support for free trade policies.

President Donald Trump has called NAFTA the worst deal ever made, and argued that talks beginningWednesday should focus on reducing the trade deficit with Mexico, which he says has cost the United States manufacturing jobs.

Faulconer disagrees, and will travel to Washington, D.C. next month in an effort to convince lawmakers that NAFTA has been a job creator at the border.

Im going to tell that story of how free trade works, of how our relationship with Mexico is a strength, of how were creating those good quality jobs, he said. If we dont tell our story of success, nobody is going to tell it for us.

Most of Faulconers remarks on Tuesday night outlined his model of the New California Republican.

The mayor wants his party to takea big-tent approach that encourages inroads into minority communities, focuses on infrastructure development and government reform, and preaches a moderate stance onimmigration and the environment.

Faulconer said those principals have allowed him to win two elections in the Democratic-majority city of San Diego.

I campaigned in communities Republicans wrote off as lost, and Democrats took for granted, he added.

But Faulconerreiterated that he will not run for Governor in 2018, reasoning that theres a lot of unfinished business and I love the job.

He wasnt willing to throw his weightbehind the two Republicans already in the race, Assemblyman Travis Allen, and San Diego businessman John Cox. Instead, it sounded like Faulconer will take on the role of recruiter before next Junes primary.

Im sure were going to have a lot of great candidates come out, he said. Ill be extolling some of my fellow Republicans to jump in.

Guy Marzorati is a producer for The California Report andKQED's California Politics and Government Desk. Guy joined KQED in 2013. He grew up in New York and graduated from Santa Clara University. Email: GMarzorati@KQED.org

See the rest here:
San Diego Mayor Pushes NAFTA and 'New California Republicans' - KQED

The popularity of Democratic Socialism is rising, and more and more people are viewing it as a generous, compassionate alternative to cruelty of capitalism.

As The Week notes, membership in Democratic Socialists of America has more than tripled in the past year, and last weeks conference in Chicago was by far the largest ever. There are many reasons for this and the likability of Bernie Sanders, especially compared withthe likability of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, is certainly part of it.

But another part is the way that progressives routinely portray their economic platform as being morally superior. The holier-than-thou branding is everywhere; just think about how often progressives accuse economic conservatives of wanting to kill sick people, just because they believe that the free market can solve problems. The ultra-liberal are the generous ones, the ones who want to give you things like health care. The conservatives are the mean, old ogres who want to take those things away.

The popularity of the Democratic Socialists seems to suggest that these kinds of tactics are working, and I have just one question: Just how in the hell do so many people seem to believe that its generous to spend other peoples money?

Let me clear this up for the people who dont seem to understand: Progressive politicians are not people who are going to give you health care, because in order to give something, then it has to be yours to give awayin the first place. Think about it: If your boyfriend were to surprise you with dinner and a present, then youd probably be quite happy and thank him for giving you those things. But if you found out that your boyfriend had actually paid for those things using your credit card? Well, then youd probably think much less of it, and maybe youd remind him that the only way that that could count as giving would be if he were nineand you were his mother. People who advocate for progressive politicians are not advocating gratitude; theyre advocating for big government, plain and simple.

Believing in the ability of big government to solve problems doesnt make you any better than the people who believe in shrinking government to solve them; it just means that you have a different view of economics. And the politicians who promise to give you health care, welfare, and other benefits in exchange for votes arent really promising to give those things at all; theyre promising to take resources from others in order to fulfill their promises, without ever having to feel the pinch themselves.

Its going to be incredibly difficult to find solutions to these sorts of problems unless we all acknowledge that everyone is, in fact, looking for them. There isnt just one ideological group who wants people to be healthy and prosperous; literally anyone who is not a sociopath wants that. Its just that one group believes that the best way to do that is to take other peoples money and let the government distribute it. Democratic Socialism is not generosity, its a political view and one that has historically had outcomes more despicable than heartwarming.

READ MORE: Jeff Sessions Threatening Reporters is Not OK So, Were Whipping Water into Journalists Faces Now? Chicago Students Will Need Govt. Approval Before Graduating

Katherine Timpf is a National Review Online reporter.

See the article here:
What's So Generous about Spending Other People's Money? - National Review

Louis DeBroux Aug. 16, 2017

The awful violence this past weekend in Charlottesville is the inevitable culmination of the Lefts goal of achieving the complete eradication of opposing viewpoints. Whitewashing history (pardon the pun) and engaging in political violence are tools to that end.

As the Dallas Morning News observantly noted, History is not easily compartmentalized. It isnt simply right versus wrong, black versus white, or blue versus gray. But theres an entire crowd of folks who want to do just that because they believe it is all those things, and most egregiously, they believe there is an individual right for all to go through life unoffended.

Dr. Lee Cheek, senior fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, concurred, noting, The events in Charlottesville have no connection to understanding the political traditions of the American South, and everything to do with battles among professional ideologues without any attachment or knowledge of the historical situation.

Millions of Southerners are proud of their heritage for reasons that have nothing to do with slavery. They revere Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who stated in 1856, five years before the commencement of the War Between the States, Slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil in any country. Lee is heralded as a brilliant military strategist who served America faithfully in the Mexican War and as Superintendent of West Point. However, when called upon by President Abraham Lincoln to lead Union forces against the seceding South, he declined, incapable of bearing arms against his family, friends and home state. He accepted the commission as commander of Confederate forces in order to defend his beloved state of Virginia. Following the war, Lee worked tirelessly to convince his fellow Southerners to seek peace and reconciliation.

None of this matters to the Left, though. There is no understanding of the complexities of history, no appreciation for context. Slavery has existed throughout human history, regardless of color or nationality. In fact, there are more people enslaved worldwide today than ever before, including slavery practiced by Muslims. Mohammad owned slaves. One wonders if American progressives will now call for banning all things Islamic.

Indeed, how far will this go? Historical monuments of the Confederacy are being removed in Memphis, Lexington, Baltimore, New Orleans and elsewhere to appease angry leftists. These fascists even desecrated an Atlanta monument dedicated to unity and reconciliation.

Violent leftists have rioted in recent years in Brooklyn, Baltimore, Chicago, Ferguson, Charlotte, Berkeley, DC, Oakland and other cities, destroying businesses, setting cars on fire, and dragging people from their cars and beating them, declaring their right to do so because of past and current injustices such as hearing words they dont like.

As detestable as the KKK and white supremacists are, they have a right to speak and to peaceably assemble. Our First Amendment was written specifically to protect unpopular speech, and we show our own intolerance by silencing those with whom we disagree. The violence in Charlottesville would not likely have occurred had not the leftist agitators shown up looking to pick a fight, though the murderous Nazi thug is obviously responsible for his own actions.

So again we ask, how far does this go?

Do we eliminate all monuments to Democrat/progressive hero Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who opposed anti-lynching legislation, turned a blind eye to the Nazi eradication of Jews, and imprisoned 100,000 Japanese-Americans? What about progressive icon and racist Woodrow Wilson, who re-segregated the federal workforce?

Progressives have already declared war on Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, who owned slaves but sought to prohibit slavery in the newly formed nation. They now call for taking down the Jefferson Memorial.

Even Lincoln, author of the Emancipation Proclamation, is not immune to leftist hatred. The Lincoln Memorial was desecrated Tuesday. Is that because Lincoln, a staunch opponent of slavery, was willing to save it in order to preserve the Union, or because he also believed in the superiority of the white race?

If we truly want to rid our nation of its shameful history regarding racism, lets start by abolishing the racist Democrat Party. After all, it was the Democrats who waged war to preserve slavery, founded the KKK, enacted Jim Crow laws, and fought against Republican efforts to pass the Civil Rights Act.

Democrat President Andrew Jackson owned slaves and signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

It was Harry Truman who wrote to his wife, I think one man is just as good as another so long as hes not a ner or a Chinaman.

It was the Democrat Party that praised Senator and former KKK Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd until his death a few years ago, a man who filibustered the Civil Rights Act for 14 hours. It was Lyndon Johnson, a virulent racist but a political pragmatist, who told two Southern Democrat governors his signing of the Civil Rights Act would have those ners voting Democrat for 200 years. And its Johnsons Great Society that has yielded todays urban poverty plantations, where blacks slaughter other blacks without too much notice from the Leftmedia.

What about Bill Clinton, whining of the upstart Obama, A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags? Or the absolute devotion of Democrats to Planned Parenthood, founded by eugenicist Margaret Sanger for the express purpose of exterminating blacks through abortion and sterilization? According to Tuskegee University, the KKK lynched 3,446 blacks in 86 years. Planned Parenthood is a white supremacists dream, killing more blacks in two weeks than the KKK killed in a century. And the Democrat Party fights to ensure that $500 million a year in taxpayer funds is funneled to Planned Parenthood to kill all of those black babies.

Surely we could at least agree to remove the Seattle monument to Vladimir Lenin? Anyone? Anyone?

How far do we go? Are we willing to engage in violence and oppression of opposing viewpoints? If so, then Charlottesville will only be the beginning.

Footnote: Longtime friend of The Patriot Post, distinguished George Mason University professor Walter Williams, has issued erudite warnings about the consequences of historical ignorance here and here, including the removal of historic markers to Confederate generals and the rewriting American history.

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Progressives Use Violence to Whitewash History - Patriot Post