Columnist.
An important point that has been lost in all the controversy over Khizr Khan's DNC speech and Donald Trump's response to it is that Khan's main point was shockingly wrong. He suggested that Trump's proposal to temporarily halt Muslim immigration is unconstitutional. He even brandished a pocket copy of the Constitution to punctate his point and accused Trump of never having read it. It was an amazing moment. Khan's suggestion that it is unconstitutional to limit immigration based on religion may be taken for granted by the left and most journalists, but it's incorrect. The response often heard last week in the wake of the speech was that the Constitution says religious tests are not permissible. The religious tests provision appears in Article VI of the Constitution. It states that no officeholder or government employee can be required to adhere to a particular religion.
Results of a new poll conducted by Breitbart News/ Gravis Marketing on American attitudes toward immigration will be a shock to many political and media elites. Some highlights: By nearly a 6-to-1 margin U.S. voters want immigration of all kinds decreased. By a 25-to-1 margin voters want unemployed American workers to be given the preference for a job opening over a worker brought in from a foreign country. A whopping 61% of voters believe that any politician who would rather import foreign workers to take jobs rather than give them to current U.S. residents, is unfit to hold office.
Just when it seems that tensions might be relaxing a bit, there comes the heartbreaking news of another police shooting. Late [Thursday] night, two San Diego officers, members of the gang suppression unit, were shot during a routine traffic stop. Sadly, one of these courageous men has since died. We know from the news — Dallas, Baton Rouge and now San Diego — that the men and women who protect us on the thin blue line have become targets. Their job was always a difficult one, but now those who hunt criminals are being hunted. What was once unthinkable — killing a cop — has seemingly become a sport.
The ancient evil of anti-Semitism is on the rise. And for all the talk of tolerance and diversity, one of the most dangerous places for a Jew today is on an American university campus. A new study that monitored activity at more than 100 American colleges and universities since 2015, found a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic events in the first half of this year.
From the attack in Nice to the beheading of a priest in Normandy, ISIS is on the march. Democrats may not want to talk about it, but I will. This is a conversation we ***MUST*** have. Before we move on and forget what happened to Father Jacques Hamel, here are some of the latest details. There is a mosque just a block away from the church were Father Hamel was murdered. Ironically, the mosque sits on land that was donated by the Catholic Church. According to French reports, the community around the mosque is "known to be an anchor of the jihadist network," and the mosque has produced several terrorists. In addition, the church where Father Hamel was murdered was found to be on an ISIS hit list.
Not far from the Normandy beaches where Allied forced began the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe, Islamofascists loyal to ISIS stormed a church this morning. They forced Father Jacques Hamel, an 86 year-old priest, to his knees, beheaded him and filmed the attack. A nun also suffered life-threatening wounds before French police shot and killed the jihadists. One of the attackers had been previously convicted of terrorism charges and was supposed to be under electronic surveillance. News of this disgusting attack is being met with widespread revulsion in France, throughout Europe and here in the U.S. It is important to remember that this is not an isolated event.
A big debate erupted in the media over the weekend. Many talking heads feel our political discourse is "too dark." They say the rhetoric is exaggerating America's problems. My initial reaction is that many of the talking heads who live and work in the cloistered environments of Manhattan and Washington, D.C., aren't actually experiencing the problems average Americans are confronting. Anyone who tells you that things are okay is whistling past the graveyard. Most Americans know that. As I noted last week, a recent Gallup survey found that just 17% of Americans are satisfied with the state of the country. And with good reason.
[Thursday] night, Donald J. Trump formally accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States. In doing so, he becomes the first major party nominee without elected political experience since General Dwight Eisenhower won the Republican nomination in 1952. To be clear, American Values does not endorse or oppose candidates political office. But given the historic nature of this election, I want to offer a few observations on the Republican nominee's address [Thursday] night.
For months, I have been warning that the left in America is increasingly defined by its hostility toward Israel and anti-Semitism. Here's the latest example. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement recently presented the mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed, with a list of demands. The first demand called for "a complete overhaul of Atlanta Police Department's (APD) training institutions, and instead utilize models based on de-escalation rather than militarized tactics that aid or perpetuate mass incarceration." That's not terribly surprising from a group that is expressing concerns about the alleged use of excessive force. But then the group stated: "We demand a termination to APD's involvement in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program, that trains our officers in Apartheid Israel."
Earlier this week, Lt. Brian Rice, the highest ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, was acquitted of all charges. You may recall that Gray's death triggered days of rioting in Baltimore last year. Lt. Rice is the third officer to be vindicated, while a fourth case resulted in a hung jury. Recently, we've shared some stories about black police officers, even in this charged atmosphere, doing the right thing and resisting the race baiting of radical, extremist groups. Another hero who is not getting enough attention is Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams, who has presided over the Freddie Gray cases.
Europe has suffered another jihadist attack. [Monday], Muhammad Riyad, a 17-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, attacked 18 people with a knife and an ax. Fortunately, no one on the train was killed. But five people were critically injured and two are reportedly "clinging to life." German police shot and killed Riyad. An ISIS flag was found at his home, and the Islamic supremacist group has released a suicide video of Riyad vowing to "slaughter infidels." Nevertheless, a spokesman for German authorities said, "We are searching for a motive." We have heard our own president and top officials say similar things after terrorist attacks in this country. After the attack in Nice, French authorities were struggling for a motive too.
France has once again been struck by radical Islamic supremacists. A jihadist drove a semi through a crowd in Nice, in southern France, during Bastille Day fireworks celebrations. At least 84 people were killed, including 10 children. More than 50 children were hurt and are being treated in hospitals. Many are in critical condition. The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, reportedly fired on fleeing pedestrians and shot at police from the cab of his truck. He was eventually shot and killed. I wonder how many people have been murdered this year by thugs whose first names were Mohamed.
Did you see the ESPY awards [Wednesday] night on ESPN? I was so impressed by that tribute to the men and women who serve and protect us. When they lit the stage in blue in honor of our police. . . Oh, wait, that didn't happen. Instead, four athletes came out and offered a few remarks about the state of race relations in America. One recited the following names: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile as examples of "our reality." Really? Seven people are representative of all of black America?
President Obama's speech at [Tuesday's] memorial service for the five slain Dallas police officers had a number of good moments, as you would hope and expect of any president. Naturally, he praised their service. But it wasn't long before his remarks took a sharp left turn. Obama again lectured the country about racism and ran through a check-list of the left's political agenda. But my point isn't about what the president said, it's about what he failed to do. This president likes to spike the football. While presidents traditionally have tried to be bridge builders and respectful of their opposition, Obama has not been reticent when it comes to bragging about his accomplishments or even demeaning his opponents.
Progressives and socialists constantly come to conclusions about the motives of whole groups of people with virtually no proof to justify their views. For example, when working class Christians did not rally to Obama's banner in 2008, he said it was because they were bitter and clung to their guns and Bibles. If a professor has a run-in with the police, as happened early on in his administration, without little knowledge of the facts, Obama concluded that the police acted stupidly. After the tragic confrontations in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, the facts of which are still largely unknown, leftists everywhere concluded that racism motivated the police officers to shoot Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
The horrific murderous rampage in Dallas did not lead any of the radical race baiters to pause their incendiary attacks on the thin blue line that keeps Americans of all races as safe and secure as possible. There were ambushes of police in Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee that appear to be motivated by hatred of police. In addition, Black Lives Matter demonstrations in several cities were marked by violence carried out by radical protestors. The worst violence took place in Minneapolis, where more than 20 police officers were injured and more than 100 protestors were arrested.
Little is known about the three suspects in custody, and Dallas officials said [Friday] afternoon that they are still looking for more people involved. But we are learning more about the dead shooter, Micah X. Johnson.
Here are a few highlights from Comey's testimony [Thursday] morning: Former Secretary of State Clinton may be facing perjury charges. Chairman Jason Chaffetz asked Comey if Clinton lied to Congress. Comey answered, "Not to my knowledge. I don't think there's been a referral from Congress." Chaffetz replied, "You'll have one in the next few hours."
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended [Tuesday]. The death toll from radical Islam's jihad against Western Civilization stands at nearly 350 people killed in just the past month alone. While Iraqis suffered the worst losses, the carnage was not limited to the Middle East. According to NBC News, Islamic supremacists struck in eight countries spanning the globe from the United States to Bangladesh. Here's a summary of the Ramadan atrocities, courtesy of the "religion of peace."
As you may know by now, Director Comey stated [Tuesday] morning that the FBI was recommending that Hillary Clinton face no charges for her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. That is no doubt a big relief to Mrs. Clinton. While she dodged a legal bullet, Director Comey said that Clinton and her colleagues were "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information." He also stated that it was possible hostile actors gained access to some of that information because Clinton used multiple mobile devices even while traveling "in the territory of sophisticated adversaries."
