“READERS FORUM” DECEMBER 7, 2017

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We hope that today’s “READERS FORUM” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way? 

WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: What are the chances of Mayor Winnecke being elected to a third term?

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14 COMMENTS

  1. Far-Right Extremists Are Quietly Murdering Police Officers

    Data Shows Dozens Of Officers Have Been Murdered By The Far-Right Over The Last Decade

    Two law enforcement officers gunned down in a sleepy Iowa town in November of 2016, ambushed and murdered by a right-wing lowlife known to police and had a record of far-right agitation, like waving a Confederate flag around at a high school football game or calling a man the N-word and threatening to kill him.

    The shootings that stunned the quiet Iowa suburb that November represents just two of the nearly three dozen law enforcement officers in the U.S. who have been killed by FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS in the last 10 years alone. Data shows that between 2007 and 2017, at least 33 officers were shot by individuals either actively involved with or affiliated with far-right extremism. These include white supremacists, sovereign citizens, and lone wolf attackers.

    The data shows that far-right extremists pose a consistent threat to law enforcement, particularly in more rural areas away from the national media spotlight.

    “People don’t understand that these law enforcement fatalities are perpetuated by people with violent ideology, who’ve had a lot of time to think, plan, and rehearse. Right-wing extremists think God’s on their side and police officers are evil representatives of the government” Daryl Johnson, a former senior Homeland Security analyst and current consultant on domestic terrorism

    Of the 23 separate attacks examined between 2007 and 2017, close to half (10 killings, or 44 percent) were carried out by white supremacists, with anti-government extremists responsible for six, and sovereign citizens three. Eleven officers were killed during police ambushes, nine when they were raiding a house or serving a warrant, and six during a shootout.

    “If you take the far-right murders of law enforcement and compare that like-for-like (with the total number of law enforcement officers killed) it’s a much more substantial minority” states Mark Pitcavage, an expert on right-wing extremism

    Look at the brutal slaying in the 2017 murder of Deputy Mason Moore in Montana. Moore attempted to pull over an SUV driven by Lloyd Barrus and his son, Marshall. The pair refused to stop and a high-speed pursuit ensued. After around six minutes, Moore was struck by gunfire. According to The Missoulian, the Barruses then made a U-turn and traveled back towards the stricken deputy to finish him off.

    Lloyd Barrus had a history of anti-government views and previously spent 15 years in prison for his role in another high-speed chase in 2000 where he helped bring down a California Highway Patrol helicopter.

    Pitcavage highlighted the Barrus case as an example of the way right-wing extremists can sometimes fly under the radar. He added that the shooting in Montana also highlights the dangers right-wing extremists pose to officers in more rural areas. There, officers are more likely to be alone and backup is often miles away, making them perfect targets for extremists with a hatred of law enforcement.

    “Far-right extremists have an attack-oriented mentality. They believe their beliefs are the true beliefs. They’ve prepared their entire lives for encounter with police, they have a plan on how to escape and how to agitate.”

    But these officer killings only represent the tip of the iceberg when it comes to documenting violent interactions between far-right extremists and the police. From 2009 to 2016, there are 60 documented incidents in which shootouts between right-wing extremists and law enforcement officers occurred.

    Since Trump’s election, there has been a well-documented spike in far-right activity, including a significant rise in hate crimes and white supremacist groups openly recruiting on college campuses. White nationalist groups have also shared bomb-making materials online and used leaked military documents to organize online campaigns. One neo-Nazi hate group in the U.S. was recently tied to five murders in eight months, while a January report by the SPLC tied the so-called “alt-right” to 43 deaths since 2014.

    “Whenever a group makes itself more organized it becomes more dangerous. When you have a disjointed movement, they get distracted. You’re going to have attacks but it’s not going be as sophisticated. The more organized and the more charismatic a group’s leaders are, it draws more people in.”

    Given the propensity for conspiracy theories and paranoia to fester among far-right groups, it’s unlikely that the motivating factors behind the attacks can ever be completely dashed out.

    https://thinkprogress.org/far-right-extremists-are-quietly-murdering-police-officers-eda32ddbd0b7/

    • ThinkProgress is a liberal political blog. This article is an attempt to associate violence with the election of President Trump.

  5. Leftists Turn on 40-Year Tradition, Demand 3 Wise Men Be Removed from Town’s Christmas Display

    “The three wise men and a star might be taken off a town’s Christmas display, all thanks to a group that claims the decorations violate the separation of church and state.

    According to WZZM-TV, the Newaygo Public School District in Newaygo County, Michigan, is facing a lawsuit if it doesn’t accede to the demands of the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists regarding its display…

    “Here it’s a tradition,” resident Stacie Johnson told WZZM.

    “You can see it coming from (neighboring town) White Cloud.”

    Johnson has helped organize an online petition that aims to “(s)how the group who are asking for the wisemen to be taken down that our community wants them there!”

    In less than a week, it got over the 3,000 signatures that was originally its goal — impressive, given that the population of Newaygo County is roughly 48,000 people and Newaygo itself only has a little over 2,000 residents.”

    https://www.westernjournal.com/ct/leftists-turn-40-year-tradition-demand-3-wise-men-removed-towns-christmas-display/

    • As usual, then the Constitutional law states something that right-wingers do not like, they start screaming about their rights.

  6. ** BREAKING NEWS ** Trump Named In Court Documents

    Trump has become an unindicted co-conspirator, analysts said following the release of a sentencing memo on Friday

    The sentencing documents for Cohen note both that Trump was directly involved in payments that were in violation of campaign finance laws. More importantly, it shows that, far from being unaware, Trump was the one initiating contact, asking Cohen to “gauge Russia’s interest”

    In Friday’s sentencing document Michael Cohen admitted not just that his efforts to make contacts for Trump in Russia extended months into the campaign, but that he had coordinated with Donald Trump and Trump instructed him to reach out to the Russian government. This wasn’t just Russia attempting to reach out to Trump. This is Cohen saying that Trump reached out to the Russian government

    When it comes to Russian involvement, the sentencing document notes that Cohen gave information related to Trump’s ongoing “Moscow project” to make a real estate deal, and also assisted the special counsel concerning other attempts from Russia to make contacts within the Trump campaign

    Among the details in the memo, which track with reporting on the Stormy Daniels hush-money payoff, is a description of criminal behavior that includes the president, identified as Individual-1 throughout

    (NOTE – These are FELONY charges against Trump)

    “During the campaign, Cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories – each from women who claimed to have had an affair with Individual-1 – so as to suppress the stories and thereby prevent them from influencing the election

    With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election

    Cohen coordinated his actions with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments

    In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1. As a result of Cohen’s actions, neither woman spoke to the press prior to the election”

    https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.505539/gov.uscourts.nysd.505539.15.0.pdf

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