October 31, 2018

I just realized that Trump means me. He wants to strip my U.S. citizenship.

My father was Canadian and lived in the U.S. on a green card from the time he arrived in his twenties until his death at 59.

I was born to an immigrant parent.

Trump means me.

I feel sick.

October 29, 2018

Terrifying abuse of power by this administration -- must read, must join ACLU today

[link:https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/detention/us-citizen-detained-without-charge-trump-administration-year?fbclid=IwAR3jZ1j6dFd0VnhO_lExgMv5alm9yo3BilDOoud2DN7YzDxfuqD5dvDhAsE|

An American illegally detained in Iraq by the U.S. military for more than a year has finally won his freedom.

On Sunday, after a long court battle, the Trump administration let our client go. Under a settlement agreement, he was released in a third country, where he will once again be a free man. Parts of the agreement are confidential, and he is officially remaining unidentified for his safety and privacy.

From the moment the American was imprisoned, his own government tried to deny him his constitutional rights. It kept his detention secret, denied his requests for a lawyer, and attempted to forcibly transfer him to a dangerous war zone.

Fortunately, the courts fulfilled their role and upheld his due process rights. What the Trump administration tried to do was unprecedented, and a series of historic court rulings forced the government to respect the Constitution at virtually every turn. The end result: Unwilling to justify our client’s detention to a court, the government had few choices but to set him free.

In September 2017, the American was fleeing violence in Syria, where he had traveled to research and document the ongoing conflict there. He was seized by Kurdish forces and handed over to the U.S. military, and the Trump administration labeled him an “enemy combatant” and held him without charges.

His story might have ended there, with him secretly detained indefinitely, if not for the reporting of The Daily Beast, which revealed his existence to the public.

Still, for four months, the government blocked the American’s access to a lawyer and the courts, despite his request for an attorney. The ACLU filed a habeas corpus lawsuit on his behalf in court in Washington, demanding that the government justify his detention and let him have an attorney. Over the Trump administration’s objections, we ultimately secured a court order enabling us to represent him.

Sunday’s release comes after months of continued litigation as we demanded that the government either charge or release our client. In response, the government claimed the power to imprison him indefinitely without charge, accusing him of being an ISIS fighter. Our client not only contested the allegations, but also maintained that the government had to prove its allegations in a trial if it wanted to continue holding him.

Instead of doing so, the government sought to transfer the American to the custody of a foreign country over his objection. In fact, the government said that it could spirit him away in the dead of night, without even informing the judge or his lawyers beforehand. But the district court rejected this assertion of unfettered government power over an American’s rights and blocked the government’s proposed transfer.

...permission to use more than 4 paragraphs obtained from the original source

October 29, 2018

Historic archival film 1939 -- When 20,000 Nazis Rallied in NYC -- chilling

[link:https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/542499/marshall-curry-nazi-rally-madison-square-garden-1939/|

In 1939, the German American Bund organized a rally of 20,000 Nazi supporters at Madison Square Garden in New York City. When Academy Award-nominated documentarian Marshall Curry stumbled upon footage of the event in historical archives, he was flabbergasted. Together with Field of Vision, he decided to present the footage as a cautionary tale to Americans. The short film, A Night at the Garden, premieres on The Atlantic today.


“The first thing that struck me was that an event like this could happen in the heart of New York City,” Curry told The Atlantic. “Watching it felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone where history has taken a different path. But it wasn’t science fiction – it was real, historical footage. It all felt eerily familiar, given today’s political situation.”

October 29, 2018

anyone know anything about this Brandon Straka and his #Walkaway Rally and entity?

[link:http://

|

Walkaway is Russian meddling. The right is using the concept of walking away to sucker minority groups and identity voters.

This particular guy has a video up of his 10/27 rally. The vid has 32,000+ views on you tube.

Here's what fr says about it. "The #Walkaway Movement begun by one man, Brandon Straka, has grown exponentially. This group is populated by Americans who have become fed up with the leftist/Marxist/Socialist/Communist side of things and who are now pro-America, pro-conservative, pro-right side of things. Many in the movement are African Americans and/or are gay like Brandon - and they have "seen the light" and are walking away from the Demonrats. This has taken a great deal of courage on their part since to walkaway often means losing one's friends and family."

Here's one speaker: ][link:|

Very worthwhile for Dems to know what's going on with this movement. They have some momentum.

October 28, 2018

ACLU guide to your rights when faced with voter intimidation.

[link:https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/what-do-when-faced-voter-intimidation?fbclid=IwAR1xz5WiYUOkmm26JiYWhExvdt_3ZTB5A52RzzPdbwBB0z3KJx6X3J-YwpE|

October 28, 2018

Intercept: Border Patrol Union Endorses Extremist Video Featuring White Nationalists

[link:https://theintercept.com/2018/10/23/border-patrol-union-killing-free-speech-video/|

The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents across the country, is featured in a new video that includes white nationalists and anti-Muslim extremists. The video, titled “Killing Free Speech,” was endorsed by the union and recently shown by agents at a private screening in San Diego. The video is also expected to be shown in Texas, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., according to union representative Terence Shigg, president of the San Diego chapter of the NBPC.

The nearly hour-and-half-long video refers to Democrats as “dark and evil” and features a bevy of American and European far-right, anti-Muslim white nationalists who make a correlation between gang rapes, Islam, and immigration. The documentary also features members of the Proud Boys, a hate group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center, that often aligns with white nationalists and are known for being misogynists and anti-Muslim. The Proud Boys participated in the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and in mid-October several members of the Proud Boys were arrested in New York City after a violent street confrontation with anti-fascists.

In a press release, the NBPC describes “Killing Free Speech” as a “powerful spotlight on the terrifying assault on liberty in America today. A country heading down the road toward Orwellian control of information by a small but powerful cabal.” The release also invites viewers of the video to “dissect the daily propaganda used by the mainstream media who will stop at nothing to mislead the public and discredit and demonize those who risk their lives protecting America’s borders.”

The director of the video, Michael Hansen, who calls himself “the Dane” in the video’s credits and online, is a Danish immigrant who has made one other video, “Killing Europe,” which argues that immigration has contributed to an epidemic of rape in Europe. A third video, in what is apparently a franchise, will be titled “Killing Canada.”

At the beginning of “Killing Free Speech,” Hansen, wearing an Iron Maiden shirt and driving down the road with a child’s car seat in the back of his modest sedan, warns that the same forces destroying Europe — immigrants, Islam, the anti-fascist group antifa, the media, and political correctness — now threaten the United States. “Their first target is free speech,” he says to the camera on his dashboard. It’s clearly a low-budget project.

October 26, 2018

So Director Wray would not say when the president was informed.

Usually, according to feds, the person at the podium would say "the president was informed immediately" --- but Wray did not answer that question.

Something to think about. Did they not trust him to keep quiet about the ID of the suspect? Or what?

October 26, 2018

Perp works as a road manager for Chippendales --- NBC

Or worked.

$200/day

October 26, 2018

Malcolm Nance raises possibility of other actors involved.

A conspiracy.

I hope to God that's not the case. But I spose it must be considered.

October 26, 2018

It's a good day to celebrate the FBI!

And the Postal Inspectors!

And the BATF!

And whoever else worked on this.

Wow.

Although this guy was made easier to find because of previous bomb threat arrest and criminal history.