The removal plan was initially said to be merely part of Johnson’s attempt to make “updates to some areas in and around City Hall,” according to Mayoral spokesman Ronnie Reese, the Chicago Tribune reported.
There was no indication the statue was to be removed because of the connection George Washington had to slavery. However, former mayor Lori Lightfoot had included George Washington in her plans to tear down “problematic” statuary throughout the Windy City.
Lightfoot had raised a commission she called the Chicago Monuments Project that recommended that George Washington be included on the list of 41 historical figures whose monuments should be torn down because they were no longer woke enough for city officials.
For instance, the commission recommended in 2022 that the elimination of the Arrigo Park statue to Christopher Columbus should be made permanent. Lightfoot temporarily removed the Columbus statue in 2020 claiming that it was divisive. At the time, she said it was only temporary, but she never did return it to its rightful place. By 2022, the commission approved of the removal and recommended that it never be returned.
#1
There is a tremendous amount of animosity amongst the U.S.'s black population and the US's founding fathers. George Washington owned over 300 slaves. Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 slaves. Even though hundreds of thousands of white people died in the civil war which resulted in the abolishment of slavery, the first few decades of US history was a very painful one for black America.
Posted by: Whavick Scourge of the Apes9857 ||
07/18/2024 2:43 Comments ||
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#2
And lets hide the fact that blacks owned black slaves as well.
There seems to be a large portion of the population today, regardless of race, who like being taken care of by the state rather than assume responsibility for their own lives and have no problem with their 'leaders' taking the labor and productivity of others to make sure they get the basics for food and shelter.
#3
The founders were human. They were not perfect. Slavery could have been banned in the US Constitution but for one delegate from Delaware and the South Carolina delegation. And this was in the days before King Cotton.
#5
If it wasn't for the slave trade, there would be no "black America." They'd be dying of malaria in some African ditch, were they not lucky enough to be a product of the long gone slave trade.
[JustThenews] Despite broad support, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state didn't need increased oversight on how tax dollars are spent on homelessness.
Newsom vetoed an unopposed bill that would have required the state to evaluate the money it gives to cities and counties for homelessness programs, saying it would create “unnecessary ongoing workload” and that other actions already to increase oversight render the bill “redundant.” Earlier this year, a state audit found the state was not adequately tracking the outcomes for much of its recent $24 billion in homelessness spending.
“This was a bipartisan bill with no opposition. Clearly the Legislature agreed on the need to rein in Newsom’s wasteful spending on ineffective homelessness programs,” said bill author State Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, in a statement. “I’m glad we were able to get some safeguards written into the budget, but the state can’t keep cutting corners on accountability when dishing out billions of taxpayer dollars and seeing the problem get worse.”
The Department of Housing and Community Development is currently required to submit an annual report to the legislature and governor on its Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program. Patterson’s bill, AB 2570, would have required HCD include an evaluation of HHAP in this annual report.
“I believe that by requiring a status update and review of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program in the Department of Housing and Community Development annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature, we will be able to shed light on the flaws in our plan of action in addressing the overwhelming homelessness issue in our state,” argued Patterson in a State Senate floor analysis of the bill, which passed without any opposing votes and no submitted arguments against it.
Newsom, on the other hand, argued he and the legislature have already taken sufficient action to enhance accountability and transparency on state homelessness spending. Earlier this year, a state audit found “the State lacks current information on the ongoing costs and outcomes of its homelessness programs” because it has “not consistently tracked and evaluated the State’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”
“Earlier this year, I directed California's Housing Accountability Unit to increase its oversight and enforcement of existing housing laws to address homelessness. Additionally, the recently adopted 2024 Budget includes statutory language that requires more frequent reporting by HHAP grantees on their expenditures, corrective action plans for grantees not meeting specified performance measures, and maintenance of compliant Housing Elements prior to receiving additional HHAP funding,” wrote Newsom in his veto letter. “This bill is redundant to these efforts and creates an unnecessary ongoing workload for the Department without providing additional accountability or transparency to taxpayers.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, California lawmakers haven't used their power to override a governor's veto with a two-thirds vote of each house since 1980, suggesting Newsom's veto is the final word on the matter.
[RedState] In a leaked Zoom call with moderate House Democrats on Sunday, President Joesph Biden once again used his dead son, Beau Biden, this time, to insult and denigrate the military and combat service of Colorado Congressman Jason Crow (D). Biden was unhinged as he told Crow to "tell me who did something that you’ve never done with your Bronze Star like my son!" President Biden was attempting to convey the message that he was fit and able to continue on with his campaign and snapped at Crow when he politely expressed his concerns to the president.
Instead of addressing Crow's and other moderate Democrats' concerns, Biden snapped at Crow and went on a full-blown assault, which ended with an attack on his Army and combat service and comparing it with his son Beau's service. Biden specifically ridiculed Crow's Bronze Star in a pathetic and out-of-bounds attack, which the campaign did not deny or dispute.
[I]t's Biden's shot about Crow's Bronze Star that stands out the most. It's not debatable that the president was mocking and belittling the representative's service in an attempt to claim that he's accomplished more than Crow. Biden randomly bringing up his deceased son is not at all surprising and is a familiar tick. In this case, though, the president was trying to dismiss Crow's multiple combat tours by falsely suggesting Beau Biden had done more with his Bronze Star despite being in a non-combat role.
From there, the president began screaming that he didn't "want to hear that crap" in response to Crow's gentle criticisms.
Beau Biden served in the Delaware Army National Guard as a JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer and served approximately one year in Iraq, assigned to the 261st Signal Brigade. He served from 2003-2009, obtaining the rank of Major before he died. During his time in Iraq, Beau Biden did not see combat, nor did he lead troops in any combat mission. His role as a JAG officer was an advisory role to American forces, usually when it came to rules of engagement during certain operations and other legal issues that came up. During/for his time in the National Guard, Biden was awarded two medals of note: a Bronze Star medal and a Legion of Merit, with the latter being awarded posthumously.
Representative Jason Crow, however, has a slightly different military background. Crow joined the Army in 2002, obtaining the rank of Captain before leaving the service in 2006. Crow served one tour in Iraq during the initial invasion in 2003, where he served as a platoon commander in the 82nd Airborne Division. Crow was awarded the Bronze Star with the "V" device for valor for actions during the Battle of Samawah. He then transferred over to the 75th Ranger Regiment, where he deployed to Afghanistan twice and was attached to the Joint Special Operations Task Force on the Pakistani border.
President Joe Biden told Crow that his service in combat didn't mean anything close to Beau's non-combat Iraq experience five years after the invasion. Putting aside that minor detail, what Biden did was tell an actual combat veteran that the Bronze Star he received for actions taken in the heat of battle didn't matter or did not amount to much of anything compared to Beau's. As a combat veteran myself, this is both infuriating and disgraceful. But for more reasons than you think.
[JustTheNews] Several major whistleblower groups are fighting the Justice Department’s efforts in federal court to permanently hide why it spied on congressional investigators by obtaining their phone records during a leaks investigation years ago.
The whistleblower group, Empower Oversight, whose founder Jason Foster was one of the investigators whose phone records were taken when he was still in a top Senate staffer, had asked a federal judge to unseal the underlying documents that allowed DOJ to acquire the records in 2017.
But the government responded recently by saying the records should be permanently sealed and kept from public disclosure, according to a new filing from Empower Oversight.
“Rather than cooperate with Empower Oversight to find a way that these records may be released with appropriate redactions, DOJ’s response to Empower Oversight’s motion was to insist on continued (and permanent) secrecy—nearly seven years after the underlying events,” the new filing said.
“The only conceivable purpose of this secrecy is to obscure key facts from Congress and the public, thereby undermining the typical presumption of good faith to which DOJ would otherwise be entitled,” it added. “Indeed, DOJ’s demand for total secrecy raises serious suspicions that DOJ opposed Empower Oversight’s request merely to continue concealing its previous disregard for the separation of powers and for the whistleblower protection policy implications of its subpoenas.”
Just the News first reported last year that multiple congressional investigators, Democrat and Republican, were notified years after the fact that their phone records were seized by subpoena in 2017.
The investigators included Kash Patel, lead investigator for the House Intelligence Committee, and Foster, a top investigator for the Senate Judiciary Committee, both of whom were investigating Justice Department and FBI abuses during the discredited Russia collusion investigation.
The revelation outraged numerous members of Congress, who argued that the subpoenas had violated the Constitution‘s separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch. Several lawmakers demanded answers from DOJ, including Sen. Ted Cruz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Republicans.
To date, the Justice Department has not publicly offered its rationale for why it’s subpoenaed the phone records either to Congress or the courts.
In a rare move, several other whistleblower groups, including the Government Accountability Project, joined Empower Oversight, filing an amicus brief demanding that the court unseal the documents showing why prosecutors intruded on congressional investigators privacy.
“For many whistleblowers, whether they can communicate confidentially is the key whether to challenge abuses of power,” GAP legal director Tom Devine said. “Secret subpoenas of congressional offices are a clear and present danger both to whistleblowers and Congress as a constitutional check and balance.
“If this decision stands, no congressional office can honestly reassure confidential whistleblowers that they have not become part of a Justice Department dossier."
Joining GAP in the amicus was Whistleblowers of America (WOA) and FBI Whistleblower Michael German – who since leaving the FBI has worked with, “members of Congress and their staffs, to assist other FBI employees seeking to report abuse, and to craft stronger protections for all national security whistleblowers.”
[NY Post] Special counsel Jack Smith is appealing a bombshell ruling from a Florida judge Monday tossing out the case accusing Donald Trump of hoarding confidential documents.
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon — who was appointed by the former president — dismissed the entire case against the 78-year-old on the grounds that Smith’s appointment to the prosecution violated the Constitution.
Smith — who is also overseeing the Washington, DC, case accusing Trump of 2020 election interference —filed a notice of appeal Wednesday of Cannon’s decision to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement urged the Justice Department to “drop these politically motivated, election interference efforts against President Trump immediately.”
“Let us come together to END the weaponization of our justice system and Make America Great Again!” Cheung added, referencing the “hush money” conviction, two earlier civil judgments and the ongoing criminal charges hanging over the 45th president.
Those latter indictments include Smith’s stalled federal case against Trump for making “knowingly false” claims about voter fraud after the 2020 election that culminated in a mob of his supporters breaching the US Capitol building and delaying the certification of votes on Jan. 6, 2021.
Cannon ruled that Congress needed to approve Smith’s appointment by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, as well as the funds that his office had spent prosecuting the Republican presidential nominee.
The decision came roughly two weeks after Trump scored a win with a US Supreme Court ruling that found he benefits from absolute presidential immunity for “official acts.”
That ruling did specify what were considered “official acts” in the two federal cases against him.
But in a concurring decision, Justice Clarence Thomas paved the way for Cannon’s ruling, saying he thought the special counsel’s appointment may be unconstitutional.
Former Trump attorney Jim Trusty told The Post that former Attorney General Ed Meese submitted an amicus brief late last year that also put pressure on the judge to consider whether Smith’s appointment by current AG Garland violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
The brief pointed out that Congress has yet to pass legislation recognizing the creation of the special counsel role after the elimination of an earlier law designating independent counsels for the Justice Department.
“Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift or Jeff Bezos,’’ Meese and his brief co-authors said of Smith’s appointment.
Cannon in her ruling had also pointed out that prosecutors in Smith’s office billed the DOJ at least $24 million in bringing the unprecedented indictment against Trump last year for allegedly retaining sensitive national defense material at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Still, Democrats in Congress slammed Cannon’s ruling as “misguided” and argued on “dubious constitutional grounds,” while Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe went as far as to accuse the Florida judge of writing “her job application to be the first appointee to the Supreme Court in Trump’s possible second term when Justice Alito or Justice Thomas retires.”
But Republicans celebrated the decision, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) calling it “good news for America and for the rule of law.”
The Post has reached out to Trump’s attorneys and Smith’s prosecutorial team for comment.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/18/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
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#2
However, if as found by the judge that Smith's appointment is unconstitutional, then he has no 'standing'. The one who claimed to have made the appointment has to appeal. Play that card.
[Red State] Joe Biden might have gotten a little grace period immediately after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump from the Democrats trying to push him to step aside from the 2024 race.
We reported earlier about the move made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), talking one-on-one with Biden to persuade him to get out, while Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) also went on record saying Biden should quit the race.
A Pelosi source said that what Schiff said was supposedly "news" to her. Politico reporter Rachel Bade had a great response to that effort to deflect by Pelosi's team.
#9
Mega-donors? But the Democrats are the party of the working man, the little guy. It is the Republicans who are the party of the fat cats, like hillbillies, farmers, and other rural undesirables.
#14
Who wants the job? Kamala and Hillary? I think the Democrat Party would be happy to have either of them be buried in a landslide and disappear from public life.
#16
I'm assuming Gavin knows its a loss this year and will stay out. I could be wrong but he's young and I would think the field in 2028 would be better.
#14
But he said if you get the vaccine you won't get covid.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/18/2024 9:44 Comments ||
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#15
OK, my conspiracy, and just that. The dems always project. They say Trump cheats, all the while they are cheating. They were tacitly calling for Trumps death, and when the shooter missed, they lamented his aim. As they call for his death it came to me. Biden will get sick. It will get worse. He will die right before the convention. Kamala will step up. She will get someone like George Clooney or another Hollywood elite to run with her. They will run on the sympathy vote and while Kamala cant sing unity, the VP candidate can. Its their only way out of this... For the record, I dont agree with the hurting or killing of any American... So dont get this wrong.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/18/2024 13:21 Comments ||
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#16
/\ A valid theory. Not of the conspriatorial type.
The Trump campaign is declining to schedule a vice presidential debate prior to the Democrat Convention.
“To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate.” pic.twitter.com/ObB30br9Q6
#9
Getting Biden to leave is not the problem. The problem is who to replace him with. The Dem bench is not deep.
As Vice Prez and a Vagino-American of Color, Kamala is an obvious choice, but ... let's just say she has a lot of negatives. Anyone else, like Newsome or Whitmer face the prospect of losing to Trump and being branded as a loser for any future run. Maybe the Dems can find some second string governor who will enjoy a little time in the spotlight. Or they can just punt and let the Biden Story play out.
#10
If they're talking about people like Harris, Newsom and Whitmer they're toast. Harris has that cackle and listening to her voice is unbearable. Dippity Do won't say where all that money for the homeless went. Whitmer might actually be uglier than Hillary, looking at her face is about as bad as listening to Harris. They might be better off with Schifferbrains himself.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/18/2024 12:43 Comments ||
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#11
I'm still hoping for a Stacy Abrams-Beto O'Rourke ticket for the Dems.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
07/18/2024 20:38 Comments ||
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#12
As for bringing up a pitcher from AAA, George Clooney is a choice.
Please, oh no, don't throw Clooney into the face of a pitcher!
[BBC] Robert F Kennedy Jr has apologised after a video was leaked of a private phone call in which Donald Trump is heard apparently trying to coax the independent presidential candidate to support him.
“I would love you to do something,” Trump can be heard saying in the clip. “And I think it’ll be so good for you and so big for you. And we’re going to win.”
Mr Kennedy then says: “Yeah.”
Trump and Mr Kennedy, a longshot third-party candidate, are political rivals who have occasionally criticised each other during the campaign.
The footage is said to have been recorded on Sunday, a day before the pair met in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republican convention is taking place, stoking speculation that Mr Kennedy might be about to exit the race and endorse Trump.
But Kennedy spokeswoman Stefanie Spear said on Monday that he was not dropping out.
Robert F Kennedy Jr posted on X on Tuesday: “When President Trump called me I was taping with an in-house videographer.
“I should have ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately. I am mortified that this was posted. I apologise to the president.”
It was Kennedy’s son, Robert F Kennedy III, who posted the footage online early on Tuesday.
The younger Kennedy said in the post on X, formerly Twitter, that he wanted to expose Trump’s “real opinion” on immunisations, but he swiftly deleted the clip. So, it wasn't a mistake.
[BREITBART] House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has subpoenaed United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify before the committee over the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania last week.
“The Oversight Committee is investigating the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump. The Oversight Committee is subpoenaing you, Director of Secret Service, to appear for a public hearing on July 22, 2024, titled ‘Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump,'” Comer wrote to Cheatle in a letter:
The assassination attempt of the former President and current Republican nominee for president represents a total failure of the agency’s core mission and demands Congressional oversight. Despite allowing you to speak with the media, both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Secret Service have failed to provide assurances regarding your appearance at the Oversight Committee’s scheduled hearing, thereby necessitating the attached subpoena.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[JustThenews] Despite broad support, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state didn't need increased oversight on how tax dollars are spent on homelessness.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
[BREITBART] House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman 
