Columnist.
There was less violence in Charlotte, North Carolina, last night. But, sadly, there was more evidence that eight years of left-wing ideology from the Obama Justice Department has affected law enforcement all the way down to individual cities. We saw it in Baltimore, where police were ordered to stand down. You may recall that the mayor said she "gave those who wished to destroy, space to do that." In city after city, there have been few arrests and little interest in going after the professional agitators. Reports indicate that most people arrested in Charlotte have out of state IDs.
There was another night of rioting in Charlotte, North Carolina. This time the city's business district was targeted. Apparently the mob heard the demand of Nation of Islam leader B. J. Murphy for an economic boycott of the city. Here are some observations after a second day of anarchy in Charlotte. First, where is President Obama? For nearly eight years, he has commented on virtually everything from pop culture and sports. But when Charlotte is being trashed by rioters, the president can't seem to find a camera or microphone. Ninety-three percent of black Americans voted for him. Presumably he has some influence. He is a constitutional law lecturer. This is an excellent time for him to remind the rioters that everybody — not just accused Muslim extremists, but even police officers — has a right to due process.
We learned a lot this week about what makes Hillary Clinton tick. Just like Barack Obama, the man she served for four years, Clinton sees it as her obligation to stoke the fires of racial tension while going out of her way to downplay Islamic terrorism. Saturday night a bomb went off in a Manhattan neighborhood. The day before, a black man was shot by a white policewoman. Reacting to the bombing event, Clinton was muted. Some said she seemed sedated or "zombie-like." Hillary said, "We have to let this investigation unfold." She also attacked Donald Trump for making rash statements about a bomb, adding, "I'll have more to say about it when we actually know some facts." In contrast, Clinton went on the "Steve Harvey Morning Show" [Tuesday] to offer her thoughts about last week's police shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here Hillary was not so restrained. There were no calls to let this investigation unfold.
In the past 24 hours, we have learned a lot more about New York City bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami. His ex-wife says he hates America, the military and homosexuals. He has a criminal record, including a domestic dispute. His father says he called the FBI to warn his son was radicalized. He made multiple trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. On one trip, he married a new wife. She left the United States days ago and is currently being held in the United Arab Emirates. Remember the wife of the Orlando shooter? She disappeared too. One of his brothers posted this on Facebook: "I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life." That's a quote from Khalid al-Walid, one of Muhammad's generals. Yet with all these markers the FBI did not have Ahmad Khan Rahami on a watch list.
The Islamic State was quick to claim credit for this weekend's carnage in St. Cloud and New York. After the bombing in Manhattan, Islamists celebrated on social media. And while local authorities struggled to understand the motivation of St. Cloud slasher Dahir Adan, ISIS hailed him as "a soldier of the Islamic State." Below are some updates to our earlier report. Dahir Adan was brought down by Jason Falconer, a former police chief and off-duty officer. Falconer is also an NRA Certified Instructor and owner of Tactical Advantage shooting range. Once again, a good guy with a gun stopped the bad guy. Were it not for Mr. Falconer's courage and expertise, the carnage at the St. Cloud mall could have been far worse.
The country breathed a sigh of relief that nothing happened on the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. But this weekend, Islamic supremacists living among us unleashed attacks while our politicians ran for cover. At this moment, after a weekend of pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs, New York City is on the highest level of alert since the 9/11 attacks. The attacker in St. Cloud, Minnesota, who went on a stabbing rampage in a mall, is dead. Dahir Adan came here when he was just three years old. He had lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. Adan was a junior at St. Cloud State University. A family friend identified Adan as "the most assimilated kid in the neighborhood." Yet he was capable of attacking nine people at a mall after making sure that none of his victims were Muslims.
Desperate to figure out which way the political winds are blowing, pollsters are peppering voters with lots of questions. Here's are a few from the latest Quinnipiac poll that jumped out at me. Asked whether they thought Hillary Clinton was honest, 65% of voters said "No." Only 32% said "Yes." That's a whopping 33-point honesty deficit. In a follow-up question, 55% of voters said that Clinton "was not honest enough to be president." (This would seem to be a disqualifying issue. I don't understand how anyone could vote for a candidate they believe is lying to them.) Asked which candidate they thought was more transparent, 37% of voters said Hillary, while 54% said Trump. That's a 17-point transparency gap.
Donald Trump clearly connected with Republican primary voters in a way that the professional consultants, Washington insiders and political class struggled to comprehend. Now he is connecting with average Americans and his success is sending Democrats into shock. During a speech [Wednesday] in Canton, Ohio, Trump hit Hillary Clinton hard for her "basket of deplorables" comment and for her globalist instincts. He again promised to campaign for every vote in any community, and he blasted the Democrats' neglect of our inner cities. Trump vowed to create jobs by rebuilding our cities, making America great again and uniting us once again.
Gov. Mike Pence was on CNN Monday discussing Hillary Clinton's comment that half of Trump's supporters are a "basket of deplorables." During the interview, Wolf Blitzer asked Pence about David Duke. The governor responded: "I'm not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke's name. Donald Trump has denounced David Duke repeatedly. We don't want his support and we don't want the support of people who think like him." (Duke hasn't been in the news for years. But all of a sudden he is useful to big media and Hillary Clinton, so he is getting lots of press.) Given Pence's clear rejection of Duke and the campaign's past condemnations, a reasonable person would say, "No news, move on." But the interview was a setup. Blitzer and the Clinton News Network wanted a "gotcha moment."
Yesterday I mentioned that Hillary's weekend health scare was leading to some whispers among Democrats about the possibility of finding a new nominee. It didn't take long before those whispers became audible. Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler yesterday called for Plan B. Stressing the urgency of the situation, Fowler said, "I think the plan should be developed by 6 o'clock this afternoon. . . It's something you would be a fool not to prepare for." Fowler added that Clinton had better get some rest "because if she gets back out there too soon, it might happen again."
There were huge news events over the weekend. Let's start with the most deplorable. While speaking Friday evening at an "LGBT For Hillary Gala," which featured a performance by Barbara Streisand, Clinton said this about conservatives supporting Donald Trump: "You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. . . The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it. . . some of those folks, they are irredeemable." Calling millions of conservatives "deplorable" and "irredeemable" — that is deplorable!
There are a lot of issues making headlines this morning. North Korea tested perhaps its largest nuclear weapon to date. New polling shows the presidential race is tightening in key states. More football players are refusing to stand for the National Anthem. Many fans are considering boycotting the NFL. Iran may have been paid tens of billions of dollars, not just $1.7 billion. A parasite has been named after Barack Obama. These are important issues — well, all but one. But today I want to put the headlines aside to remember 9/11 and to reflect on what is the most important issue of all — the war the West is fighting to defend Judeo-Christian civilization against radical Islamic supremacism.
[Wednesday] night, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton appeared separately but on the same stage at a forum devoted to foreign policy and military issues. The forum was moderated by NBC's Matt Lauer. Judging from the furious left-wing reactions to Lauer's performance, it seems safe to say that Donald Trump carried the night. Hillary Clinton went first and immediately got into a heated exchange with Lauer over her handling of classified information as secretary of state. In fact, more than a third of her time was spent discussing this issue.
An increasing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill are impressed with Donald Trump's performance and confident in his ability to run a competitive campaign. I know Senator Lindsey Graham is not a "fan favorite" among our daily readers. Sen. Graham was also among the most vocal Trump critics in the primaries. But the South Carolina senator appears to be changing his tune.
Late Friday, at the beginning of the Labor Day weekend, the FBI released some of the notes that agents took during their Fourth of July weekend interview with Hillary Clinton. Do you see the pattern here? Fourth of July. . . Labor Day. . . I can't wait until Thanksgiving! In recent weeks, lots of people in Washington have been quick to assure us that Director James Comey is an honorable man who would never let politics get in the way of the FBI doing its job. But a Friday night document dump on Labor Day weekend raises serious questions about whether politics has infected his office.
Donald Trump had a good week and Hillary Clinton had a bad one. That's not just my opinion. The polls confirm it. Survey after survey this week found Trump closing the gap with Clinton. For example: A Fox News poll found Clinton leading Trump by just two points — 41% to 39%. Earlier this month, Clinton led Trump by nine points in the same poll. The latest Rasmussen poll has Trump leading by one point — 40% to 39% for Clinton. Last week, Rasmussen had Clinton leading 42% to 38%. In addition, there is positive movement in key states too. A series of polls by Emerson College found Hillary leading Trump by five points in Michigan (45% to 40%), three points in Pennsylvania (46% to 43%) and the candidates were tied at 43% in Ohio. In Wisconsin, a Marquette University poll found Trump just three points behind Hillary. Earlier this month, the same poll had him down 15 points! And in Virginia, where Trump trailed by as much as 19 points earlier this month, a new Hampton University poll finds Clinton leading by only two points — 43% to 41%.
Donald Trump had a great day [Wednesday]! His energy is unbelievable. He is making Hillary look like a terrible, low-energy candidate who can barely handle a full day. First, Trump flew to Mexico, at the invitation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. They held a joint press conference that was carried live by every news channel. What the American people saw was a calm Donald Trump looking very presidential. It was an extremely effective counterpunch to the only line Hillary has — that Trump lacks the temperament to be president of the United States. Right now, Donald Trump is being vastly outspent on TV. But that visual yesterday was priceless.
The election that virtually every analyst and talking head has been telling us was over now appears to be a dead heat. Just last week, a Reuters poll had Donald Trump losing to Hillary Clinton by double digits — 45% to 33%. Before I continue, let me remind you of a little history. A few months ago, Reuters' polls regularly showed Trump leading Clinton by a few points. Suddenly, Reuters announced that its polling methodology was flawed. Translation: Reuters wasn't getting the results it wanted. So in a blatant attempt to get a different outcome, Reuters changed how it was conducting the poll. Pat Caddell, a Democrat pollster, blasted Reuters' move as "the most outrageous thing" he had seen in his profession. Caddell added, "This comes as close as I have ever seen to cooking the results. . . if this was accounting, they would put them in jail."
He's at it again. Dirty Harry Reid, the Senate Democrat Leader, is trying to manipulate the election by smearing the Republican nominee. Here's the latest: [Monday], Reid sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey demanding an investigation into Russian interference in the political campaign. According to Reid, there is a "direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump's campaign." Reid alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "tampering with this election." There is a reason Reid is called "Dirty Harry." You may recall that he did something very similar in August of 2012.
The latest hero of the left is San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He is making headlines, but not for his talent. In fact, his career is fading. Kaepernick has a long record of tweeting anti-American sentiments like this one: "Folks always want to make it seem like White Supremacy is whiteness gone wild. No. It's a standard [American] practice." Evidently that wasn't getting him enough attention so he's now refusing to stand for the National Anthem. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he said, adding, "There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." Irony hangs heavy in the air. In 2014, Kaepernick signed a multi-year contract for $126 million. All he has to do is look down the bench at his next game and he will see multiple black Americans who are millionaires.
