1. Somehow, some way, the far left will claim this was Trump’s fault. The number of dead seems surprisingly high, as the main stream US media tends to downplay Islamic terror attacks.
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   Radical Islamic Terrorism Accounts for 91 Percent of European Terror Victims

   The newly released Black and White Book of Terrorism in Europe has revealed radical Islamic terrorists have accounted for 91 percent of the total terror victims since the year 2000.

   The book is an initiative of Spanish MEP Maité Pagazaurtundua, president of the Foundation for Victims of Terrorism, listing the 753 people killed in terror attacks in the European Union between 2000 and 2018, Le Figaro reports.

   The report also examines European victims of terror globally, revealing that a further 1,115 people including tourists and military personnel had also been victims of terrorism during the same period.

   Political terror casualties have been far lower, with far-left extremists and far-right extremists each murdering 13 people.

   Far-left extremism has been on the rise in several European countries in recent years, with the German domestic intelligence agency BfV warning that violent far-left extremist numbers rose from 7,100 to 9,000 between 2012 and 2017.

   The number of far-left extremist crimes also grew by a massive 88 percent during the same period.

   In terms of EU countries, Spain has seen the most terror-related deaths, with 268 victims, closely followed by France with 263.

   Elisabeth Pelsez, French interministerial delegate for terror victim support, said that the book was not just one of statistics but also one of remembrance for the victims of attacks.

   “Forgetfulness is the worst thing,” she said, going on to add, “let’s not forget the physically or psychically injured, about 10 to 20 people for one death.”

   https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/07/radical-islamic-terrorism-accounts-91-percent-european-terror-victims/

   • The Terrorism That Doesn’t Spark a Panic

     NOTE: While JethroBodine cherry picks data from Europe, in America the right-wing hate machine is killing people

     Americans should react to violence from religious and ethnic minorities with the same sense of proportion they reserve for far-right extremists.

     Trump regularly invokes violent crises perpetrated by scary foreigners. The announcement of his candidacy began with the declaration that Mexican immigrants are “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists” and called for a ban on Muslims coming to the United States after an isis-inspired attack in San Bernardino. In his border-wall address, he pointed to crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants, whose victims were bludgeoned to death, beheaded, or stabbed, to argue for the necessity of the wall. But there’s one spike in violence that the president rarely acknowledges or even mentions, and it’s THE RISE IN FAR-RIGHT TERROR THAT HAS ACCOMPANIED HIS ASCENSION TO THE WHITE HOUSE

     The Anti-Defamation League released a report finding that attackers with ties to right-wing extremist movements killed at least 50 people in 2018. That was close to the total number of Americans killed by domestic extremists, meaning that the far right had an almost absolute monopoly on lethal terrorism in the United States last year. That monopoly would be total if in one case the perpetrator had not “switched from white supremacist to radical Islamist beliefs prior to committing the murder”

     The number of fatalities is 35 percent higher than the previous year, and it marks the fourth-deadliest year for such attacks since 1970. In fact, according to the ADL, white supremacists are responsible for the majority of such attacks “almost every year.” The 2018 attacks include the one at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue by a man who blamed Jews for the migrant caravan, the mass shooting at a yoga studio by an “incel” obsessed with interracial dating, and the school massacre in Parkland, Florida, carried out by a student who wished that “all the Jews were dead”

     From 2009 through 2018, right-wing extremists accounted for 73 percent of such killings compared with 23 percent for Islamists. In other words, most terrorist attacks in the United States, and most deaths from terrorist attacks, are caused by white extremists

     When white extremists kill, politicians do not demand that they be racially profiled. They do not call for bans on white people coming to the United States. They do not insist that white people’s freedom of movement be restricted, their houses of worship be surveilled, their leaders be banned from holding public office, or their neighborhoods be “secured” and occupied by armed agents of the state. And they do not demand that taxpayers foot the bill for a massive, symbolic monument that will register America’s official disdain for white people in perpetuity

     And that’s how it should be. It would be immoral to collectively punish white people for the actions of a few extremists—and it would only raise the stature of those extremists, partially legitimize their grievances in the eyes of potential followers, and strengthen their ability to recruit future operatives for further attacks. But that’s not the reason none of those things happen. They don’t happen because, as America’s largest demographic group, white people have the political power and influence to prevent such proposals from even being contemplated. This is a form of political correctness so powerful that it shapes behavior without being mentioned or publicly acknowledged; it is simply the way things work

     By contrast, when religious or ethnic minorities commit such acts, they are seen not as individual extremists, but as representative of the groups to which they belong. As such, collective punishment is believed to be justified. This is, in a basic sense, how American bigotry works: White Christians are simply individuals, while everyone else is vulnerable to demonization by demagogues prepared to exploit the fear of those who are different in exchange for political power

     The correct response to the rise in right-wing terrorism is not a nationwide panic that mirrors those that accompany terrorist attacks by religious or ethnic minorities. It is to extend the same benefit of the doubt, the same proportionate, measured response with which Americans meet attacks from right-wing extremists, to attacks of all sorts

     It is to recognize that the constitutional rights of minorities are no less inviolable than the constitutional rights of white Americans, and that anyone who would run on a platform of disregarding those rights is not fit to hold public office

     http://bit.ly/2OBxgNb

     • Sooooo, it’s really white people doing something to someone, to paraphrase the Hon. Ilhan Omar

       Ilhan Omar, Harbinger of Democratic Decline?

       With political power comes rhetorical responsibility.

       https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/opinion/ilhan-omar-anti-semitic-israel.html

       • “With political power comes rhetorical responsibility.”

         BBbbwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaahhhhaaa!!!!

         I think it would have been in your best interest to leave that line out Joe.

         Jesus, you just can’t make this stuff up.

         But carry on Joe.

         The only thing I love more than you and shar pie is a painful bout of gout.

         Believe me, 100% and beyond….

     • Ron, you and your left wingers need to follow what is currently going on in Chicago and what is going to happen in Chicago in the coming months. It will be a preview of what is in store for this country should democrat communist ever get in power again. I know using democrat and communist in the same sentence is redundant. Democrats with the help of some republicans have worked extremely hard to try and bring Trump down and have in effect made themselves look stupid. Trump’s base has broadened to a greater degree than ever. Maxine Waters is now the face of the democrat party.

   • Far left extremism is growing here with Antifa rioters and violence against people for just wearing a MAGA ball cap.

     • pig73: Uh-huh, sure, keep lying to yourself and other

       Far Right Terrorism On The Rise

       Far-right extremist ideology is spreading and intensifying, with far-right terrorism on the rise. New research shows an uptick in incidents and deaths attributable to far-right extremist groups or individuals in North America and Western Europe. According to the 2018 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) between 2012 and 2017, there were 56 deaths and 73 incidents in North America related to far-right terrorism. This is compared to six deaths and 19 incidents in the decade between 2002 and 2012

       In 2017 alone, North America experienced 31 attacks from far-right terrorist groups or individuals and suffered 16 fatalities. Figures from the US Anti-Defamation League show a 57 per cent rise in anti-Semitic violence between 2016 and 2017. The past three years saw the most number of terror-related incidents perpetrated by far-right and white extremists since the turn of the century.

       In Western Europe for example, the GTI shows that there have been over 60 acts of terror perpetrated by far-right extremists in the past three years, 28 of which occurred in 2017 alone. The surge in far-right-related organizing, extremism and violence in the West follows the 2016 US presidential election and the electoral success of far-right political parties throughout much of Europe

       As far-right ideologies have moved deeper into the political mainstream, as seen for example in open and public displays such as the Unite the Right Rally in North Carolina in the USA, there has been a surge in a far-right terrorism and criminal activity. Common across the platforms of the far-right movement is fear-mongering around the deepening refugee and migrant crisis caused by wars and conflict particularly in Syria

       Far-right and white nationalist groups have also been utilizing digital and social platforms for their recruitment in a fashion similar to those used by other radical extremists. Online platforms have amplified far-right dissemination substantially throughout North America and Europe, with online Islamophobia and xenophobic sentiments found across 50 different far-right organizations. The online popularity of far-right extremist ideology over recent years has occurred alongside the uptick in far-right terror attacks

       A study of the social media accounts of over 450 radicalized extremists in the United States showed that 90 PER CENT of extremist profiles in 2016 were radicalized at least partially through digital means. The same dataset contends that of the 479 extremist user profiles examined, 49 experienced social media radicalization between 2005 and 2010, and 216 user profiles experienced radicalization between 2011-2016. In 2016, 413 extremists reported social media use, and the community of digitally radicalized extremists is only growing

       Social media has played a pivotal role in the distribution of content between far-right groups and individuals. Anti-Semitic gunman Robert Bowers killed 11 people in a Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2018, and while he had no criminal history prior to this attack, his online profile shows a history of anti-Semitic radicalization. The threats posed by far-right terrorism are on the rise in the western world, yet they fail to receive the same attention as radical Islamic terrorism by governments, counter-terrorism initiatives and media outlets in many Western countries

       These right-wing instances of terrorism and radicalization not only need to be monitored more closely, but also must be treated as national and international security threats just as any other ideological form of terror would

       http://bit.ly/2PiQxDc

2. The lunacy of Trump-Russian collusion ends up with unprovoked left wing violence on a Russian Orthodox Priest
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   Another Seattle Liberal Caught Beating Up Someone Over Politics

   Yet again we see that it is liberals who are the real danger to society, this time in Seattle as a Democrat yelling about how much he hates Donald Trump approached a priest and began beating him for no reason.

   Amy Clancy, of KIRO-TV in Seattle, recently reported that a priest was gassing up his car at a local gas station when a man came up to him and without warning began to beat the priest.

   Russian Orthodox Abbot Tryphon of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island in Seattle’s Puget Sound told police that he was minding his own business when the man came out of nowhere yelling about Trump and began punching the priest.

   “I have never been hit as hard,” the Russian Orthodox priest told KIRO. The at-large suspect “zeroed in on my cross, because when he started coming my direction, he had this look of anger.”…

   “You can see him swing and the priest went down to the ground,” Abbott said. “He was wearing all of his priest gear, including a cross.”

   Abbot noted that the attacker just got an insane look in his eyes when he saw the Christian cross.

   “He got this insane look and that’s when he punched me,” Abbot Tryphon said adding, “I think it was the whole attire.”

   Abbot Tryphon added that he is not much interested in politics and he has no idea why the attacker was ranting about Trump.

   https://godfatherpolitics.com/another-seattle-liberal-caught-beating-up-someone-over-politics/

   • The Far Right Doesn’t Want To Beat The Left, It Wants To Exterminate It

     Every right-wing authoritarian movement has one thing in common: a brutal clampdown on any persons or groups who promote equality.

     In mainstream American media, the political left is frequently portrayed as a nexus of intolerance and out-of-control partisanship. Writers like Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff write entire books warning that left-wing campus protest will undermine academia’s intellectual traditions of vigorous debate and fearless inquiry. Politically correct liberals, we are told, shut down campus speakers, recklessly identify their opponents as racist, and generally try to stifle debate. Their ideological inflexibility is a threat to the public sphere

     This general hand-wringing about the left tends to distract people from one of the central political phenomena of our time: a growing, rabid, conspiratorial anti-leftism on the right. That anti-leftism has been metastasizing for decades, and it has a growing body count. Yet the right’s hatred of and violence against people on the left is rarely treated as a trend by the media. Enforcing “political correctness” is characterized as an obsession of the left, not the right; President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media, for example, aren’t generally characterized as part of a larger movement of right-wing speech policing

     This blind spot about anti-left animus isn’t just a danger to the left. History shows that it’s a danger to the country, and to global democracy as a whole

     Like any political designation “the left” is a somewhat amorphous term, but broadly it refers to political movements that seek to achieve greater equality. That ideal is sometimes defined as being centrally about economic equality. But many modern left-wing movements are also focused, even primarily focused, on anti-racism, feminism, LGBTQ activism, and other efforts to defend and secure equal rights for marginalized people

     The rhetoric on the right over recent decades is disturbing. Right-wing pundits have joked about murdering people on the left for years. In the 1990s, talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh quipped “I tell people to not kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus—living fossils—so we will never forget what these people stood for” His words were echoed recently by the neo-Nazi Chris Cantwell who ranted in a Gab post that leftists should face “complete and total destruction” Memes and jokes about “free helicopter rides” for leftists like Bernie Sanders have become common on the right as well. This is a reference to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who murdered some of his left-wing opponents by throwing them from helicopters

     In 2015, another far-right figure echoed this animus even more crudely. “Had Dylann Roof reached political maturity he would have seen the word is not nigger, but liberal” wrote John Russell Houser. Shortly after he wrote those words in his journal he opened fire in a movie theater in Louisiana that was screening Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck. Conservative media had criticized the film for pushing immoral liberal values. That day Houser killed two people and injured nine

     We know that violent language and violent fantasies are often used to create a climate in which beatings and even murder are permissible. In his 2017 book, Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump, David Neiwert discusses Limbaugh and Howser, and notes that rhetoric like theirs reflects a politics of “eliminationism, whose goal is to excise whole segments of the population in the name of making it “healthy” When Nazis compared Jews to rats, they were dehumanizing a targeted population in order to prepare the country to accept the need to exterminate them.

     This same conflation as Hitler of ethnic “Others” and the political left was behind last October’s shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. The alleged shooter was enraged because he believed that billionaire Jewish leftists like Democratic donor and Holocaust survivor George Soros were funding illegal immigration into America. In a single gruesome incident, we can see how hatred of Jews, hatred of immigrants, and hatred of the left are part of the same toxic brew. In Pittsburgh, the result was the murder of 11 people—the worst anti-Semitic attack in US history

     The shooter’s anti-Semitism has been widely condemned. Yet his profound anti-leftism has barely been mentioned or discussed. In fact, the attack on the synagogue was used by some right-wing commentators as a specious occasion to attack the “Israel-hating left” and scoff at left-wing Jews who had expressed concern about a palpable rise in anti-Semitism since Trump began campaigning for president. Animus against leftists is so ingrained in American life that right-wingers have trouble condemning it even when it leads to murder

     Trump has consolidated power because people like Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are willing to use right-wing populism to keep Democrats from power and thwart left-wing policies like universal health care, gay rights, and abortion rights

     The far-right movement has spent decades telling itself exactly this: that anyone to the left of Dwight D. Eisenhower is a radical monster who hates America. When supposedly sober pundits blame the left for the rise of Trump, they are simply echoing and cosigning the far-right talking point that the political left is responsible for everything that’s ever gone wrong in the world

     It’s important to recognize, and understand, the place that anti-leftism plays in far-right organizing and in far-right violence. If you want to get on a soapbox to denounce left-wing protesters on campus, remember that Trump is trying to use government power to silence and persecute them. If you disagree with left-leaning Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Ilhan Omar, take a minute to acknowledge the preposterous deluge of right-wing hate and smears that have been directed their way since the 2018 elections. The vitriol is partly because they are women of color. But it’s also because they advocate for left-wing goals like higher taxes on the wealthy

     Americans of good will need to support those leftists when they are so targeted. If you can’t find it in yourself to stand for people on the left when they are under attack, you’re going to find yourself standing with Trump. And soon thereafter, you may find that you have nowhere to stand at all

     http://bit.ly/2XqlBnp

     • Is TDS real?
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       In sociological terms, the ‘medical gaze’ has been hitherto focused on President Trump, and to a lesser extent his ardent supporters.

       However, in recent months many have been questioning the direction of this ‘medical gaze.’ In fact, more and more people are suggesting that this ‘medical gaze’ should be reversed and refocused on President Trump’s most embittered and partisan opponents. Some have even suggested that these opponents are experiencing a specific mental condition, which has been labelled ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ (TDS)…..

       The wider public may be unaware that psychiatrists and social scientists spend considerable time and energy behind closed doors pondering over the existence and reality of mental conditions. This has led the APA to revise the DSM five times since 1952, considerably expanding the list of official mental disorders with each revision. As far as I am aware, few psychiatrists are currently arguing that DSM-6 should contain TDS as a mental disorder.

       That said, in its official definition of mental disorder, the DSM-5 states that “a mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior… mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities.”

       Many have argued that some people have been seriously disturbed and distressed by the policies, speech, behavior and tweets of President Trump, so much so that it has affected their cognitive, affective and behavioral functioning. Such people may need mental health support….

       https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-men/201901/is-trump-derangement-syndrome-real-mental-condition

3. Don’t look for this to be reported in the Courier and Press:
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   Jihadist Plotting Holy Week Attack in Spain Arrested

   Earlier this week Moroccan police arrested 23-year-old Zouhair El Bouhdidi, claiming the radical Islamist was plotting a terror attack in the Spanish city of Seville.

   El Bouhdidi, along with the rest of his immediate family, has been living in the Spanish city for the past 14 years and, according to police, had plotted to become a suicide bomber, Spanish news site El Espanol reports.

   Police say the 23-year-old had planned to use the homemade explosive TATP, commonly referred to as “Mother of Satan”, to carry out the suicide attack.

   TATP was also the explosive of choice for the Barcelona terrorists, who allegedly managed to produce 450 lbs of the chemical compound and plotted to bomb the Eiffel Tower in Paris with a truck bomb.

   Moroccan police were able to arrest El Bouhdidi after communicating with Spanish police with authorities believing the trip was meant as a farewell to his family members before he carried out the attack during the Easter Holy Week.

   https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/04/19/jihadist-plotting-holy-week-attack-in-spain-arrested/

   • Germany: Hundreds Of Open Warrants For Far-Right Suspects

     Hundreds of warrants seeking the arrest of suspects from the right-wing scene across Germany are still outstanding, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said Thursday

     “The federal and state security authorities are intensively dealing with people who belong to the political right-wing scene and are wanted as suspects or convicts of crimes with arrest warrants,” said BKA president Holger Muench

     There were 605 outstanding arrest warrants against 467 people had warrants out for their arrest near the end of 2018. In some cases, suspects have multiple warrants out for their arrest.

     12 arrest warrants have been issued for right-wing motivated violence. Another 98 warrants are out for politically motivated crimes. This includes the use of banned right-wing symbols and incitement

     German authorities are increasingly concerned over growing right-wing terrorism in the country. Since 2016, Germany has conducted an increasing number of nationwide raids targeting right-wing groups, including houses, apartments and other properties believed to be owned by members of such groups, targeting the so-called “Reich citizens’ movement,” known as the Reichsbürgers. As support for the far-right has increased over the last four years, German authorities are increasingly concerned over growing right-wing terrorism in the country. Lately, far-right groups have drawn up several “enemy lists” containing names and addresses of more than 25,000 people

     Intelligence services have for years been increasing surveillance of ultraright groups which are seen as a growing threat and capable of carrying out terrorist attacks similar to those that left 50 dead at two mosques in New Zealand. The far-right terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU), killed eight Turkish immigrants, one Greek citizen and a German police officer between 2000 and 2007, but the murders had long remained unresolved

     http://bit.ly/2VfvXsP

4. Never Trumper Mitt Romney with a new discovery that wins him the “Captain Obvious” award:

   Sen. Mitt Romney On Immigration: “The President Has Tapped Into Something Which The People Feel Very Deeply”

   https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/04/07/sen_mitt_romney_democrats_making_a_huge_error_by_making_immigration_a_partisan_issue.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=mixi&utm_campaign=realclearpolitics

   • In 2012 Mitt Romney and the right-wing all climbed on-board with Russia as our No. 1 geopolitical foe. Since 2016 and Trump right-wing pundits are pretty silent on the fact that Trump, and many rank-and-file Republicans, now themselves disagree with Romney. They enjoy pointing out the other team’s flips but mumble about their own team’s flops

     If it’s your view that Assange was evil for undermining the U.S. war effort or national security but noble for undermining the DNC or Hillary Clinton, your standards are entirely team-based. When Republicans are in power, Democrats fret over the deficit while Republicans insist it doesn’t matter. When Democrats are in power, Republicans pound the table over the deficit

     When Bill Clinton was in the hot the right-wing in Congress carried pitch forks and torches, invoking the argument that the president dishonored the office and should be impeached immediately. But with Trump and the Mueller Report his partisans made the arguments that he deserves the full legal protection available, and never mind the daily lying. Many of these players are eye-watering hypocrites precisely because they switched positions based upon the party affiliation of the president in peril. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the rules they were invoking were wrong. What’s wrong is the inconsistent and selective application of them

     Trump should face impeachment for just his attacks on Muslims and the religion of Islam, part of a long pattern of racism and bigotry against Muslims by Trump. That pattern includes “birtherism” (which always involved the implication that Barack Obama might be a Muslim) an effort to ban Muslims from entering America, threats to create a national Muslim registry and obvious lies that Muslims in the New York area celebrated as nearly 3,000 people were murdered on 9/11

     Republicans want America to remain a white-dominated country in which their authoritarian version of “Christianity” rules supreme. Predictably, this same research also demonstrates that Republicans, a group that is overwhelmingly white, believe that ethnic and racial diversity makes America weaker

     Trump is a coward who encourages and incites racists, bigots and hate-mongers to do his vile and violent bidding (while of course maintaining just enough deniability to claim innocence) and is a symbol and inspiration of “white power” racial hatred. He may not literally order such acts of violence, but he helps to write and execute the script of white identity politics that enables them

     After the travesty of Barrfy and the Mueller Report, one thing is abundantly clear: There is a crisis in moral leadership among America’s leaders. This crisis is most acute among Trump, Republicans and other conservatives

     Trump and his enablers’ thrive on greed, racism, violence, bigotry, misogyny, anti-intellectualism and other reactionary behavior and values. These things are by no means limited to public policy. Unlike what some commentators and observers claim to believe, politics and public policy are never separate from personal values. This is especially true in a moment of national and global crisis, when America’s democracy and the rule of law are under siege by a right-wing authoritarian movement whose headquarters is in the White House

     Trickle-down economics are a myth and a lie. Trickle-down immorality, from Trump and other right-wing opinion leaders is all too real. One cannot be a good person and continue to support Trump. His failings of morality, character and values are now fully his supporters’ failings as well. Ultimately, Trump and his supporters are knotted together in a malignant symbiosis, an affliction from which this country will not soon recover

     http://bit.ly/2VTt7Xu

5. Here’S The Most Crucial Paragraph From The Mueller Report

   Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report is a revealing and incisive document, explicating and detailing the extensive evidence uncovered in the investigation of a potential conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government as well as presidential attempts to obstruct justice

   And while many of these new details and the narrative they tie together are of incredible value, much of the outline of the behavior documented were already known. Trump and his campaign aides were interacting frequently with figures tied to the Russian government, gleefully accepted their help during the election, and tried (sometimes illegally and sometimes successfully) to cover it all up. As president, Trump engaged in a series of outrageous acts designed to stymie the probe, many of which could clearly be considered criminal obstruction of justice, but Mueller declined to make a prosecutorial judgment on this question.

   Instead, he clearly thinks it is up to Congress to decide whether to hold Trump accountable. In arguably the most crucial paragraph of the report, the Mueller team sets forth why potential charges for Trump’s obstruction would be legitimate under the Constitution and fall to lawmakers, at least for now:

   Under applicable Supreme Court precedent, the Constitution does not categorically and permanently immunize a President for obstructing justice through the use of his Article II powers. The separation-of-powers doctrine authorizes Congress to protect official proceedings, including those of courts and grand juries, from corrupt, obstructive acts regardless of their source. We also concluded that any inroad on presidential authority that would occur from prohibiting corrupt acts does not undermine the President’s ability to fulfill his constitutional mission. The term “corruptly” sets a demanding standard. It requires a concrete showing that a person acted with an intent to obtain an improper advantage for himself or someone else, inconsistent with official duty and the rights of others. A preclusion of “corrupt” official action does not diminish the President’s ability to exercise Article II powers. For example, the proper supervision of criminal law does not demand freedom for the President to act with a corrupt intention of shielding himself from criminal punishment, avoiding financial liability, or preventing personal embarrassment. To the contrary, a statute that prohibits official action undertaken for such corrupt purposes furthers, rather than hinders, the impartial and evenhanded administration of the law. It also aligns with the President’s constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws. Finally, we concluded that in the rare case in which a criminal investigation of the President’s conduct is justified, inquiries to determine whether the President acted for a corrupt motive should not impermissibly chill his performance of his constitutionally assigned duties. The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the President’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law

   This paragraph is so important because it lays out why the obstruction portion of the report matters. Attorney General Bill Barr has dismissed the obstruction charges, saying that because Mueller didn’t make a determination about whether Trump committed a crime, it was up to him as the head of the Justice Department to make that call

   Mueller disagrees. He thinks it’s up to Congress, and the constitutional check to make sure “no person is above the law”

   Before he became attorney general, Barr drafted a 19-page memo arguing that a president couldn’t obstruct justice using his constitutional powers. That memo is, in all likelihood, the reason he got the job he has now. And before the report was released, Barr said that he disagrees with Mueller’s theory of obstruction of justice

   But that’s the reason Mueller was appointed. A special counsel is needed when the traditional operations of the Justice Department are not sufficient to ensure the credibility of its actions in a particularly sensitive matter. Mueller has the credibility, and the paragraph above shows why

   http://bit.ly/2PhdE0W

6. Mueller Report Documents Links Between Trump Campaign And Russia, Steps To Thwart Probe

   Members of Trump’s campaign showed interest in benefiting from Russian government efforts to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor

   Investigators found that some of Trump’s aides engaged in contacts with people linked to the Russian regime and that they then “lied” to the special counsel and Congress about those interactions. “Those lies materially impaired the investigation of Russian election interference” the 448 page report stated. The Russians intervened because they hoped to benefit from a Trump presidency

   The report also detailed steps by the president and those around him to thwart the investigation that shadowed the first two years of his administration. Mueller’s office did not conclude that Trump’s actions were illegal, but also pointedly refused to clear him of wrongdoing stating “if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state”

   The startling portrait of the Trump campaign showed his operatives expressed interest in pursuing questionable contacts with Russians amid the heated 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton

   Those suspicious interactions were between Russian officials and Trump campaign associates, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, all of whom have been prosecuted by Mueller’s office. The campaign also showed interest in WikiLeaks’ release of damaging documents about Clinton is reveald in the report

   The report also cast doubt on whether investigators had obtained “a complete picture” of activities during the Trump campaign, saying some campaign associates offered inadmissible information and deleted “relevant communications” and some witnesses communicated using phone applications that don’t retain data

   Mueller ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support such a conspiracy, yet the report details such a range of interactions between Trump associates and Russia that even the special counsel’s exoneration may not be enough to dissolve the suspicion that has shadowed Trump administration since its first days

   The long-anticipated report culminated a remarkable inquiry into whether Trump aides collaborated with the Russian government efforts to sway the election in his favor. That investigation plumbed deeply into Trump’s campaign and his administration, and while prosecutors concluded that nothing they unearthed constitutes a crime, the accumulation of evidence the government is set to release could subject Trump to further scrutiny

   The report examined 10 instances of possible obstruction by Trump and whether they constituted criminal conduct. Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “disagreed” with some legal theories advanced by Mueller but declined to elaborate

   Barr instead defended the president, saying Trump faced “an unprecedented situation” and “The President was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency”

   Barr said the Justice Department gave Trump’s lawyers an advance look at Mueller’s report so the White House could decide whether to assert executive privilege

   Trump began Thursday morning with a pair of tweets denouncing the probe as a hoax perpetrated by Democrats and other critics. “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!” Trump said

   Mueller’s investigation did not establish that Trump or members of his campaign conspired with Russia’s efforts to sway the election. But investigators pointedly opted not to make a determination about whether Trump had sought to obstruct their work, saying they had gathered evidence “on both sides” of that question

   http://bit.ly/2Pi90Q8

7. Don’t look for JethroBodine to admit to this right-wing hatred and violence
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   Florida Man Arrested For Threatening To Murder Several Democrats

   Trump fans have enjoyed attacking left-leaning Americans. Last year Miami-area resident and Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc sent pipe bombs to prominent liberals across the nation and went to jail. Now another right-wing Trump supporter has been arrested for violent threats against lawmakers

   A man in Broward County, Florida was arrested Friday for threatening to kill two Democratic presidential candidates and the first and only two Muslim women in Congress

   Federal authorities announced Friday that a man named John Kless was arrested for leaving voicemails in the Washington offices of Reps. Eric Swalwell, Rashida Tlaib, and Corey Booker earlier this week threatening murder. In every voicemail, Kless spoke about his hatred for Rep. Ilhan Omar whom he said he wanted to “throw off the Empire State Building”

   “The day you come after our guns, motherf—-, is the day you’ll be dead” he said in a voicemail to Swalwell according to the complaint. The threats against Swalwell centered around his support for gun control policies, and with Booker profane threats on his race. He repeatedly called Booker the n-word and told Swalwell he would be on his “death bed, motherf—-, along with the rest of you Democrats”

   The message left for Tlaib was particularly egregious.

   “It was your Taliban bitch, the one who opened up her fucking towel head mouth about how “some people did it” You know what? She’s lucky she’s just getting death threats, bitch. So are you. Alright? You’re lucky they’re just threats. motherf—-. Cause the day when the bell tolls, whore, and this country comes to a war, there will be no more threats. Your life will be on the f—ing line”

   Kless added that the terror attack in Charlottesville in which a white supremacist drove a car into progressive protester Heather Heyer killed only “one f—ing person” and he then said Booker should tell his “colleague with the towel on her head to shut up about 9/11”

   Kless defended Trump in the voicemails and has left “profane/harassing” voicemails in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office

   http://bit.ly/2PiNBGG

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