Donald Trump’s Vendetta Politics - WSJ

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-vendetta-politics-elaine-chao-transportation-secretary-mitch-mcconnell-11661969905?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

One reason Democrats are thrilled to keep Donald Trump at political center stage is because they know they can count on him to continue his revenge campaign against fellow Republicans. Even by that all-too familiar standard of behavior, the former President’s smears against his former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao are especially ugly.

Mr. Trump has been pursuing a vendetta against Mitch McConnell since the Senate GOP leader denounced the former President’s role in the events of Jan. 6. Mr. Trump calls him “a broken down hack politician,” despite Mr. McConnell’s role in keeping a Supreme Court seat open in 2016 for Mr. Trump to run on. The Court issue was crucial to Mr. Trump’s victory, and Mr. McConnell was indispensable in getting his judicial nominees through the Senate.

The money line is itself rich since Mr. Trump spends almost none of his own campaign stash helping other Republicans. But the political-action committee affiliated with Mr. McConnell is spending tens of millions to elect candidates Mr. Trump endorsed and who have been struggling in the polls.

Beyond the unfairness to Ms. Chao, all of this relates to Mr. Trump’s role in the GOP. Instead of focusing on President Biden, Mr. Trump cares above all about settling scores with members of his own party. His politics is always about himself, not a larger cause. His vendettas have already hurt Republican prospects in 2022 by blackballing good candidates and letting Democrats divert attention from Mr. Biden’s failures. No wonder Democrats are thrilled to have Mr. Trump around.

Tough on Crime

Antisemitism and White Supremacy

Karine Jean-Pierre Slams Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ron DeSantis over Rhetoric

 https://www.newsweek.com/karine-jean-pierre-slams-marjorie-taylor-greene-ron-desantis-over-rhetoric-1738766

Jean-Pierre concluded her roundup of Republican rhetoric by focusing on DeSantis. The Florida governor said last week that he was "sick of seeing" Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser and the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is retiring in December.

DeSantis responded to Fauci's retirement announcement by telling his cheering supporters that "someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac."

"Just last week, we had Governor Ron DeSantis, [who] suggested that Dr. Fauci should be physically assaulted," Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday. "And former President Trump has done the same many, many times."

No, Trump didn’t declassify everything; it’s barred by the Nixon tapes decision

 https://thehill.com/opinion/3622679-no-trump-didnt-declassify-everything-its-barred-by-the-nixon-tapes-decision/

Too many commentators have blithely accepted the underlying but false proposition that a president may declassify anything he wants simply by handing it to someone or taking it home. Even the New York Times erroneously stated that there is “no Supreme Court precedent” that would limit a president’s power to declassify any documents he chooses to release. The Times notes that, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president is the ultimate “classifying authority” and, it is inferred, he may declassify anything, anytime. These commentators merely take issue with Trump’s contention that he did so with the files that he spirited off to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump loses it on Truth Social over scathing op-ed in Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper

 https://www.salon.com/2022/08/31/loses-it-on-truth-social-over-scathing-op-ed-in-rupert-murdoch-owned-newspaper_partner/

"Attorney General Merrick Garland's raid on Mar-a-Lago has ex-President Donald Trump back in the news. That's a problem for Republicans, who need to move beyond him," argued the tabloid, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

"But if the focus is on Trump instead, enraged Democrats will unite, pause their internecine warring while independents will abstain or vote against the GOP," the NY Post wrote.

"The next 10 weeks will be decisive. Democrats and the media will want to keep it all about Trump — he's great for ratings and clicks, and they don't want to review Biden's horrific record anyway," the NY Post wrote. "Republicans, and their candidates, need to keep the focus firmly on the big picture. Namely: Biden and the Democrats are an ongoing disaster — and Donald Trump is no help in digging America out of it."

Donald Trump's Favorite Newspaper Turns on Him

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-favorite-newspaper-turns-him-mar-lago-fbi-1738411?amp=1

"Yes, Trump did much good in his four years: Notice how Democrats have opted not to repeal his tax cuts. But he lost in 2020 because too many Americans—especially moderates—had gotten sick of his self-indulgent behavior. Since then, his egomania has only grown," the newspaper said.

The Post said that Trump's "derangement" about the 2020 election "is why Dems control the Senate now, and his endorsements in this year's primaries have helped saddle Republicans with enough weak Senate candidates this year that retaking the chamber seems increasingly out of reach."

The editorial discussed Biden and the upcoming midterm elections before concluding that Trump would not be helpful to Republicans' chances.

"Republicans, and their candidates, need to keep the focus firmly on the big picture. Namely: Biden and the Democrats are an ongoing disaster—and Donald Trump is no help in digging America out of it," the newspaper said.

West Point is displaying a Ku Klux Klan plaque at entrance to Science building, Congressional Naming Commission finds

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/31/politics/west-point-kkk-plaque/index.html

West Point, the United States Military Academy, has a plaque with the name Ku Klux Klan written out and a hooded figure displayed at the entrance to Bartlett Hall, the science center on the military academy's campus, according to a new report from the Congressional Naming Commission.

The Commission, which was established by Congress to provide recommendations to the Department of Defense on renaming Confederate markers on US military installations, released their second of three final reports to Congress on Monday.

Trump Attorney's Eye-Popping Claim On Live TV Sounds Like A Confession

 https://news.yahoo.com/trump-attorneys-eye-popping-claim-074935027.html

An attorney for former President Donald Trump seemed to admit that the highly sensitive documents seized from Mar-a-Lago when the FBI executed a search warrant last month weren’t kept in the most secure of settings.

In fact, Alina Habba said on Fox News on Wednesday that the files were kept in an office where Trump “frequently” had guests.

Swastikas and other symbols of hate displayed at Ottawa protest aren’t just offensive—they’re dangerous, says Andrea Freedman, CEO of Ottawa’s Jewish Federation

 https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/swastikas-and-other-symbols-of-hate-displayed-at-ottawa-protest-arent-just-offensive-but-dangerous-says-andrea-freedman-ceo-of-ottawas-jewish-federation/

It is not hyperbole to say that right now our society stands at a precipice. What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. We the Jewish people have become a litmus test for how much hate a society will tolerate, and I am so sorry to say we have reached a breaking point, as evidenced by this weekend’s ugly events.

Confederate Statues Were Never Really About Preserving History

 https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/confederate-statues/

In recent weeks President Trump has railed against tearing down statues across the country — and has been particularly dogged in his defense of Confederate monuments. But his argument that they are benign symbols of America’s past is misleading. An overwhelming majority of Confederate memorials weren’t erected in the years directly following the Civil War. Instead, most were put up decades later. Nor were they built just to commemorate fallen generals and soldiers; they were installed as symbols of white supremacy during periods of U.S. history when Black Americans’ civil rights were aggressively under attack. In total, at least 830 such monuments were constructed across the U.S, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which maintains a comprehensive database of Confederate monuments and symbols.

Pride and prejudice? The Americans who fly the Confederate flag

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/06/pride-and-prejudice-the-americans-who-fly-the-confederate-flag

The post-war white south embraced the Confederate battle flag, making it their sentimental symbol of the “lost cause” of the war. By the time Mississippi embedded it into its new state flag in 1894, the flag was used to both honor the Confederate dead as well as a romanticized version of the war’s purpose.

About 93% of racial justice protests in the US have been peaceful, a new report finds

 https://myfox8.com/news/about-93-of-racial-justice-protests-in-the-us-have-been-peaceful-a-new-report-finds/

About 93% of racial justice protests in the US since the death of George Floyd have been peaceful and nondestructive, according to a new report.

The findings, released Thursday, contradict assumptions and claims by some that protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement are spawning violence and destruction of property.

The report was produced by the US Crisis Project, a joint effort by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) at Princeton University, which collects and analyzes real-time data on demonstrations and political violence in the US.

Donald Trump's Response to DOJ Filing Blasted as 'Full of Nonsense'

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-response-doj-filing-blasted-full-nonsense-1738784

Conservative jurist John Yoo told CNN that the response from Trump's lawyers seemed "confused" and seemed like an effort to "really kick the can down the road."

"The thing it's missing is any response to the photographs and to the allegation that 100 sets of classified documents are found, which is really a startling claim by the government that you would have thought Trump would have responded to it here," he said.

University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck reacted with a tweet, saying "If Trump declassified everything, why are his lawyers agreeing with DOJ that any Special Master should have a Top Secret/SCI security clearance??"