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On Wednesdays broadcast of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, MSNBC weekend host Al Sharpton said President Donald Trump was attempting to disassemble America by attacking the Federal Bureau of Investigation for investigating him.

Discussing a Senate impeachment trial, Sharpton said, If the citizens start emailing and putting pressure on their senators to go by the evidence and not the party, we dont know what could happen. We dont know what may come out of the trial.

He continued, When you have a president who last night went to Pennsylvania and called the FBI scum for investigating him and Russia when there was a clear report by the inspector general that there was a basis for investigation, were looking at the total upheaval of government. Who would have ever thought that a president of the United States would undermine and use such language against their own FBI agents?

He added, We are looking at someone who wants to totally disassemble the way this country has been built and established and establish it on a premise that is not fair and equal for all.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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Al Sharpton: Trump Is Attempting to Totally Disassemble America - Breitbart

Anna Deavere Smiths brilliance, love for her fellowman and her portrayal of the racial tensions that arose in 1991when 7-year old Gavin Cato died under the wheel of a car in the Grand Rebbes motorcade in Crown Heightsare so richly demonstrated and profoundly felt by the audience during Fires In The Mirror, playing at the Signature Theatre. Smiths intensely conceived and written work is one of the most beautiful examples of journalism come to life. She personally interviewed dozens of people after Cato was killed, from both sides of the divide: the West Indian community, which lost this young life, and the Jewish community, which as a consequence of Catos death, lost the life of Yankel Rosenbaum.

Through Smith's candid, vivid, enthralling capturing of the heart, emotions and trauma that had been suffered by everyone due to the child's death, the audience is able to see this tragedy from many perspectives. Smith also interviewed community activists including Rev. Al Sharpton, Angela Davis and Sonnie Carson, people who wanted to stand for the family and this travesty that had occurred in the Black community of Crown Heights. It is riveting to hear from the 24 characters depicted here.

When Fires In The Mirror was originally performed I was fortunate enough to see Smith perform it herself, but I must say she has passed the torch on to an actor who plays her baby to perfection. Michael Benjamin Washington is a theatrical tour-de-force as he effortless transitions from character to character. He has the audience from the moment the play opens, when he plays an anonymous Lubavitcher Woman and shares her concerns for what this event meant to her and her community. Washingtons performance helped the audience not to see a Black man standing there, but to see a young Black Haitian girl, George C. Wolfe, Minister Conrad Mohammed, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Rabbi Joseph Spielman; Richard Green, Norman Rosenbaum, Henry Rice and several others. Some of these names may not sound familiar to you, but they were all affected by that faithful day in August 1991. Catos killing sparked confrontations with police, rioting, and looting of Jewish businesses, and the audience gets to look at these scenarios from all sides. Washington navigated through Smith's complex, human-nature and character defining words with grace and ease. And it was so justified to let Catos father, Carmel Cato, have the final word. I have never been so moved to hear a father speak of the senseless devastation that has befallen him and his family. For this tragedy to happen to his baby boy was never something he could have been prepared for and it just broke his heart, and the hearts of those of us who heard this father's words; a flood of tears spilled down Washingtons cheeks and chin, it seemed to be a never-ending flow.

This play is heart-wrenching, powerful, thought-provoking and moving to experience. It will leave you stunned after you sit for 1 hour and 45 minutes straight. I must say I was so touched by this production and the passionate performance of Washington, as others around me shouted BRAVO, I simply couldnt speak, all I could do was stand and clap as loudly as I could.

But, I can speak now, BRAVO, BRAVO! Job Well DONE! This magnificent piece of theatrical genius is only playing through Dec. 22 at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center located at 480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. Please make plans to visit the Signature Theatre and experience Smiths powerful work, which has fantastic direction by Saheem Ali, marvelous scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado; wonderful costume design by Dede M. Ayite, interesting lighting design by Alan C. Edwards and delightful sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman.

for more info, visit http://www.signaturetheatre.org.

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Anna Deavere Smith's genius at play in Signature Theatre's 'Fires In the Mirror' - Amsterdam News

Some of the biggest names in film, television and music gathered for the annualUrban One Honorsawards show at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on December 5.Hosted by Urban One Founder and ChairwomanCathy Hughesand actorChris Tucker, the prestigious event celebrated the 40-year legacy of Radio One and will premiere onJan. 20, 2020, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Among this years honorees were veteran music executiveSylvia Rhone(Lifetime Achievement Honor); Grammy Award-winning recording artist and producerMissy Elliott(Music Innovation Honor); Academy Award-winning actorJamie Foxx(Entertainment Icon Honor); Grammy Award-winning artistChance the Rapper(Represent Change Honor); and, actor/dancer and star of Pose Ryan Jamaal Swain(Represent Pride Honor). Special recognition went to music executive legendClarence The Black Godfather Avant(Represent Opportunity); civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton(Represent Leadership); and Emmy Award-winning actorBilly Porter(Represent Excellence).

Highlights from the evening included:

Dont miss the exciting Urban One Honors show, airing on TV One on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 20, 2020, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

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Star-Studded Annual Urban One Honors Show to Air in January on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - EBONY

The past 24 hours provided a clear and painful picture of the momentous challenges American Jews face these days.

The day began with news that President Trump had issued an executive order designed, the White House said, to fight anti-Semitism. Reporting on the order, The New York Timesstressedthat it will effectively interpret Judaism as a race or nationality, not just a religion, and that it could be used to stifle free speech and legitimate opposition to Israels policies toward Palestinians in the name of fighting anti-Semitism.Leftist NGOsechoedthe same talking point, and a phalanx of pundits took to Twitter to decry the order as anti-Semitic because, allegedly, it somehow paved the road to defining Jews as something less than fully American.From the Hollywood actress whothundered, You, stupid crook president do not get to decide this so your white nationalist pals get to stick me in a concentration camp, to the law professor whoblasted the order for deeming Jews to be some nationality other than Americans, our bien-pensants were whipping everyone into a wild frenzy, portraying the president as an unhinged anti-Semite and a clear and present danger to the Jews.

And then something else happened.

As Twitter was aflame with vitriol directed at the president, gunmen shot up a kosher market in Jersey City, New Jersey, killing threeincluding two Jews. Those of us rushing to report on the attack were initially reassured by a host of sources, official and unofficial alike, that there was no larger story here: The shooting, we were told, was randomnot a hate crime specifically targeting Jews. The early reports in the press echoed these sentiments, with most not even mentioning the fact that the crime scene was a kosher establishment.

It didnt take long for the truth to come out. The shooting, we now know, was a premeditated attack, and one of the suspects was ablack nationalistwho had a long and proven track record of posting anti-Semitic screeds online.

And then we learned something else. We learned that, unbelievably, it turned out that at the exact moment that Jews were being murdered for being Jewish, a bunch of blue checkmark assholes were inaccurately and outrageously railing against the president for doing nothing else but protecting Jews.

When Trumps executive order was finally made public, it turned out that far from somehow defining Jews as this, that, or the other, as our self-appointed moral and intellectual superiors falsely and hysterically claimed, it did little but extend the same protections afforded to minorities under our existing civil rights laws to Jews as well.Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000det seq., prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance, it reads. While Title VI does not cover discrimination based on religion, individuals who face discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin do not lose protection under Title VI for also being a member of a group that shares common religious practices. Discrimination against Jews may give rise to a Title VI violation when the discrimination is based on an individuals race, color, or national origin.

This is in no way, as the Times implied and many on the left have tweeted, an attack on free speech on campus or anyplace else. It is, in fact, nothing more than an extension of the Obama White Houses own legal guidance about the treatment of Jews and Sikhs under existing U.S. civil rights law. You may challenge the wisdom of designating groups of people as a protected classas some on the right do, arguing that protections ought to be granted to individuals, not collectivesbut as long as our laws exist the way they do, and as long as Jews remain Americas most targeted minority, affording them the same legal protection enjoyed by other minorities isnt just right, its a moral and physical imperative.

But none of this matters to the social media addicts in charge of public discourse.To our intelligentsia, no explanation is feasible unless it underscores the evil intentions of Trump, their sworn enemy.

Even in a political climate rich with petulant outbursts and virtue-signaling, the reaction to Trumps executive order sets a dangerous precedent. Portraying measures clearly designed to combat anti-Semitism and protect Jews from harm as being in of themselves somehow anti-Semitic is not only an affront to logic and morality, but also a reckless move when violence against Jews is on the rise.

If you want to see this muddled logic carried to its extreme and ugly end, just look at what New Yorks mayor, Bill de Blasio, said in a press conference after the Jersey City shooting. The attack, he said, tragically confirms that a growing pattern of violent anti-Semitism has now turned into a crisis for our nation. And now this threat has reached the doorstep of New York City.

Thedoorstep? The threat has beenfar inside the mayors own house for years. But acknowledging that would mean fessing up to his own calculated inactionand finally explaining exactly why hes allowed targets to be put on Jewish backs.

The mayors laughable campaign for president is one likely reason for his inaction in the face of all this violence, and for his belief that threat has only now reached his citys limits. Another may be the fact that the majority of the hundreds of hate crimes against Jews in New York were perpetrated by African Americans and Hispanics, not by enraged white nationalists, who are frequent targets of the mayors rhetoric but have been found responsible for exactly zero hate crimes in the city of New York.

Jews make up about 2% of the American population, yet were the victims of a whopping 57.8% of all religious bias crimes last year, according to the FBI. Rather than vocally and unequivocally demanding that their Jewish constituents be protected, the politicians representing those targetedfrom de Blasio to New York Sen. Chuck Schumerhave been largely silent on this issue, while at the same time loudly and vigorously accusing the right of racism. Videos like this one, shot at the scene shortly after the Jersey City attack and featuring local neighbors blaming the Jews for Jews being murdered, are not likely to make any politician on the left take action, especially not someone like de Blasio, who has for years beenkissing the ringof Al Sharpton, an anti-Semite best remembered for inciting an actual pogrom against the Jews of Brooklyn.

Enough.

What American Jews need right now is clear and concrete action that protects them from anyone who wishes them harm. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that yesterday New Yorks senator and mayor took no such steps. The president did.

Liel Leibovitz is a senior writer for Tablet Magazine and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.

Excerpt from:
The Real Dangers to Jews - Tablet Magazine

Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the Conservative partys manifesto launch in Telford, England, November 24, 2019. (Phil Noble/Reuters)

Making the click-through worthwhile: The United Kingdom votes today, and makes a key decision about its future; Eric Holder warns us about the dangers of an attorney general who sees himself as a presidents wingman; a blunt, direct assessment about anti-Semitism in American life and why so many people only want to see part of the problem; and a question about an odd and grim fact of life in the National Football League.

How Will Brexit End?

Earlier this week, when we taped The Editors podcast*, I was the relative optimist of the group. While I havent followed todays British election obsessively, the people of the United Kingdom appear exhausted by the endless delays and haggling over Brexit, and I think a sufficient majority wants it to get resolved so that the country can move on to other issues.

The polling looks good for the Conservative party:

The Ipsos MORI survey for the Evening Standard puts Boris Johnson on course to make history with the biggest Conservative vote share since Maggie Thatchers first victory in 1979. The headline estimates of voting are Conservative 44 percent (unchanged from a week ago), Labour 33 percent (up one point) and the Liberal Democrats 12 percent (down one point). If voters do as they say, it would imply a solid Tory majority and vindicate Mr Johnsons decision to gamble all on a Brexit election.

Keep in mind, polling in British elections usually is off enough to provide at least one big surprise. And this years final poll comes with a glaring caveat: However, Ipsos MORIs researchers found that nearly one in four people who have picked a party they intend to support admitted they may still change their mind, adding an unusually high element of uncertainty.

But heres the good news for Conservatives: The Conservative vote share looked firmest, with 83 percent of supporters saying they had definitely decided. For Labour, 74 percent said they were definite.

John OSullivan declares, Those who want Brexit should vote Tory. A majority Tory government is alone capable of delivering it. Will it be an imperfect Brexit? Maybe but its an essential first step to a full one.

Daniel Hannan sees the choice as stark: Boris and Brexit or Corbyn and Communism?

The stakes for the Conservatives and pro-Brexit forces may be win big or go home. There are 650 seats in the U.K. Parliament, meaning to win a majority and control of the government, a party needs 326. The YouGov poll estimates that Conservatives could win anywhere from 367 seats to 311. Ordinarily, in parliamentary systems, the party that gets the largest share of the vote but falls short of a majority starts assembling a coalition with other parties where there are at least some areas of policy agreement. But under this scenario, Boris Johnson may not have many willing partners.

Daniel Johnson, who founded Standpoint and whos now created the website The Article, warns that falling even a little bit short could set up the dominoes for a disastrous scenario:

Even if he still leads the largest party, as seems almost certain, Boris Johnson will be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Either he sticks to his pledge to get Brexit done, in which case the combined Opposition parties would probably defeat him in a vote of confidence, or he agrees to put his deal to a second referendum, thereby disappointing all those Leave voters who had just backed him in the election. Such an unpalatable choice risks reopening divisions within the Tories. The spectacle of Boris Johnson clinging to office while ditching his main policy would surely alienate the public.

It is much more likely that a hung Parliament would result in a minority Labour or a caretaker government. Either way, it is hard to see how Jeremy Corbyn would not be Prime Minister.

I dont think the allies of Great Britain are really psychologically prepared for life with Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn. He makes Bernie Sanders look like a sensible moderate, and hes essentially on the other side of the traditional Western alliance. The Washington Post editorial board summarized:

Mr. Corbyn espouses a foreign policy whose guiding principle is to oppose the United States and Israel by all means. It has led him to label asfriendssuch disparate political forces as Hamas, Hezbollah and the populist government of Venezuela and toaccept fundingfrom organizations designated by the U.S. government as terrorist groups. Mr.Corbynendorsed the Iraqi insurgents who fought U.S. troopsandequatedthe Islamic States overrunning of Iraqi cities with the 2004 U.S. offensive in Fallujah. He said thatWashington, rather than Moscow, is to blame for the civil war in Ukraine. In an interview with Irans state television channel, he called the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Ladena tragedy.

After the recent London Bridge terror attack, Corbyn blamed the war in Iraq and British military interventions. He is the embodiment of Jeanne Kirkpatricks they always blame America first, distilled essence of everything I detest in foreign policy, a reflexive scapegoating of Western countries as the root of all evil that excuses the worlds most bloodthirsty terrorists. Corbyn is the arrogant, empathetically-defective contrarian who insists the civilian victims of the worlds worst violence really had it coming because of some foreign policy decision from decades ago. You wouldnt trust this man to operate heavy machinery, nevermind the government of our closest ally.

*The other guys are up in New York and Im here at National Review Northern Virginia Bureau in Authenticity Woods. Everyone in our house traipses through my home office, and about five minutes in, my wifes boots make an auditory cameo that turns our podcast into an old-style radio drama. I dont understand how my voice can sound like Im on a phone inside a tin can but her footsteps come through crystal-clear.

Eric Holder: I Cant Stand a Political Attorney General Whos Loyal to the President

Eric Holder, the former attorney general who was found in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and who declared in an interview, Im still the Presidents wing-man, so Im there with my boy, declares in todays Washington Post that Attorney General William Barr is too partisan and blindly loyal to the president to continue serving in his position: The American people deserve an attorney general who serves their interests, leads the Justice Department with integrity and can be entrusted to pursue the facts and the law, even and especially when they are politically inconvenient and inconsistent with the personal interests of the president who appointed him.

Holder began his tenure by calling America a nation of cowards when it came to race, shortly after the country had elected the first African-American president. Under Holder, the Justice Department seized of Associated Press phone records resulting from an AP article in May 2012, characterized Fox News reporter James Rosen as a co-conspirator in an investigation of a leak of classified information.

We Love to Denounce Hate When It Is Politically Convenient

Earlier this week, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to withhold federal money from schools that fail to counter discrimination against Jews.Somehow the New York Times initially reported it as the administration changing Judaism from a religious category to a national identity, and somehow suggesting that Jews werent really American.

In Tablet, Liel Liebowitz offers a bracing, blunt, forceful rebuke to everyone who saw the executivev order as a menace to Americas Jews, but found nothing worth discussing in Jersey City this week:

Jews make up about 2 percent of the American population, yet were the victims of a whopping 57.8 percent of all religious bias crimes last year,according to the FBI. Rather than vocally and unequivocally demanding that their Jewish constituents be protected, the politicians representing those targetedfrom de Blasio to New York Sen. Chuck Schumerhave been largely silent on this issue, while at the same time loudly and vigorously accusing the right of racism. Videos likethis one, shot at the scene shortly after the Jersey City attack and featuring local neighbors blaming the Jews for Jews being murdered, are not likely to make any politician on the left take action, especially not someone like de Blasio, who has for years beenkissing the ringof Al Sharpton, an anti-Semite best remembered for inciting an actual pogrom against the Jews of Brooklyn.

Enough.

What American Jews need right now is clear and concrete action that protects them from anyone who wishes them harm. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that yesterday New Yorks senator and mayor took no such steps. The president did.

In related news, I notice Louis Farrakhan hasnt tweeted since July. But his account and tweets are still up there, with statements like, Jews want to silence my voice, and The FBI has been the worst enemy of Black advancement. The Jews have control over those agencies of government, and The Satanic Jews that control everything and mostly everybody: If they are your enemy, then you must be somebody. I guess Twitter just doesnt have much of a problem with comments like that.

To hell with the hateful and anti-Semitic on the Left, and to hell with the hateful and anti-Semitic on the Right. Really, hell is big enough for all of them.

ADDENDUM: You hear it from a lot of losing coaches with disappointing seasons: Injuries really hurt our chances this year, we just had really bad luck.

What are the odds that one head coach in the National Football League would have either the team with the most injuries or one of the teams with the most injuries . . . four years in a row? What are the odds that he could achieve this ignoble status after changing franchises? Can it be merely astonishingly bad luck for four consecutive years, or does it point to some sort of systemic problem in how the coach is doing his job? If youre a Jet fan, these are the sorts of things you look at instead of playoff scenarios.

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Today, the United Kingdom Decides Its Future - National Review