President Trump Supports the American Flag while He Begins the Trump-Bannon 2018 Election Strategy

A QUESTION FOR BLACK AMERICANS : It took the creation of the Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln and a Civil War to get you up off your knees and into your rightful position as US citizens with rights and privileges. WHY do you want to be back on your knees for the dubious goals of Progressive Democrats who wanted you to stay on your knees in the first place??? • • • THE REAL NEWS TODAY IS THAT THE PROGDEMS HAVE GOT IT ALL WRONG ONCE AGAIN ON THE NFL, ALABAMA AND TRUMP. The Washington Examiner reports that the first poll of NFL fans following last weekend's moves by 200 players to take a protest knee during the playing of the National Anthem reveals that most Americans want the pro's to stand and they are also turning off the games as a result of politics. The Remington Research Group survey found that 64% want players to stand for the National Anthem. Of the 51% who have watched less football this season, 69% cite player protests as the reason. And 60% believe that players should find another place to protest the Flag, President Trump, race, and other issues. Titus Bond, director of Remington Research Group, said : "Americans are very clear on this issue: they do not support political protests during the National Anthem. On top of that, due to the protests, Americans are watching less football and that trend will continue as long as the protests do." • Big Dog Strategies also did a poll of the western New York fans of the first place Buffalo Bills and found they agree with Trump and want their team to just play ball and not politics. According to the new poll taken after the Bills beat the Denver Broncos 26-16, 71% are against player protests during the National Anthem; nearly half are watching less football mainly because of political protests; more voters agree with Trump's ‘You're Fired' statements than disagree; 82% want less politics during sporting events; and, 55% want tailback LeSean McCoy punished for stretching during Sunday's playing of the National Anthem. The survey from Big Dog Strategies, in partnership with the Remington Research Group, said western New York voters are also less likely to tune into future Buffalo Bills games by nearly a 2-1 margin over the political fallout. The findings in the typical blue-collar football town are bad for the NFL. Christopher Grant of Big Dog Strategies said : "Voters are clear on one thing -- they do not support protests during the National Anthem and they believe there is a more appropriate place for players to protest. The NFL and the Buffalo Bills have a serious problem. Because of these protests, voters are watching less football than previous years, and they are less likely to watch Buffalo Bills games. In a region where professional football is king, the crown is clearly under siege." • And, Blabber Buzz reports that, in an unusual move, DirecTV is letting at least some customers cancel subscriptions to its Sunday Ticket package of NFL games and obtain refunds if they cite players’ National Anthem protests as the reason, customer service representatives said Tuesday. This is a break with Sunday Ticket’s regular policy that doesn’t allow refunds once the season is under way. But the representatives said they are making exceptions this season -- which began in September -- in response to the protests, in which players kneel or link arms during the National Anthem. Spokesmen for DirecTV's parent AT&T Inc. and the National Football League declined to comment. The shift is the latest twist in a controversy that has put President Donald Trump on the side of the American Flag and against players who take a knee during the Anthem, saying they should be fired. The President has called on people to walk out of stadiums when players are kneeling. • • • A PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT CONGRESSWOMAN 'TAKES A KNEE.' The New American published an article by Bob Adelmann that revealed that Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents the liberal 18th Congressional District in central Houston, took a knee on the House floor on Monday. She claimed she was protesting the President’s calling for the firing of NFL players who refused to stand during the playing of the National Anthem. She claimed she was in “solidarity” with them, and called the President’s comments “racist.” Adelmann wrote : "Lee does that. A lot. To Lee, who is Black, nearly everything that anyone does is racist, or can be twisted into making it sound racist. Lee has made a fool of herself ever since she was elected to the House in 1994..." What the President said at a political rally on Friday that gave Lee the knee-taking opportunity was : “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out. He’s fired. He’s fired!’ ” Lee’s response was : "There is no basis in the First Amendment that says you cannot kneel on the National Anthem or in front of the flag. That is racism. You cannot deny it, you cannot run from it. I kneel in front of the Flag and on this floor. I kneel in honor of the First Amendment. I kneel because the Flag is a symbol for freedom. I kneel because I’m going to stand against racism. I kneel because I will stand with these young men, and I’ll stand with our soldiers. And I’ll stand with America, because I kneel." • Yes, Congresswoman Lee is guaranteed the right to free speech by the First Amendment, but the First Amendment is also part of the Constitution which Lee has taken the oath to support and defend every year since 1994 when she was first elected to Congress. That means the Lee has spoken this solemn oath 12 times : "I, Sheila Jackson Lee, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." But, says Adelmann : "Twelve times Lee has taken this oath yet has voted against the Constitution for 24 years, as reflected in her Freedom Index score of 24 out of 100." • Adelmann went on to discuss Representative John Lewis of Georgia, an icon of the civil rights movement, who Adelmann calls "another black radical with an almost identical voting record." Lewis tweeted : “There is nothing wrong with kneeling down to stand up against injustice. It’s protected by the Constitution.” Lewis’ Freedom Index score is 26 out of 100. • An explanation of Representatives Lee's and Lewis's opposition to Trump's comments came from the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, Representative Cedric Richmond of Louisiana. Richmond’s Freedom Index score, says Adelmann : "is even worse than either Lee’s or Lewis’s, at 22 out of 100. Lee is taking a knee, and Lewis is supporting her kneebending, said Richmond, 'to protest police officers who kill unarmed African Americans -- men and women, adults and children, parents and grandparents -- with impunity. They are taking knees to protest a justice system that says that being Black is enough reason for a police officer to fear for his or her life.” [NOTE : you can try to figure that mix-up out, dear readers, I give up.] • • • STEVE BANNON DRAWS FIRST BLOOD IN ALABAMA. On Monday, before the Alabama Republican primary, Steve Bannon told a rally that the Republican establishment faces a "day of reckoning. For Mitch McConnell and Ward Baker and Karl Rove and Steven Law -- all the instruments that tried to destroy Judge Moore and his family -- your day of reckoning is coming.” Politico reported that Bannon made the remarks at a rally for former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who faced off on Tuesday against Senator Luther Strange in the GOP Senate primary runoff. Bannon was referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, former senior advisor to President George W. Bush Karl Rove, former National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Ward Baker, and Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law. Bannon added ominously : "But more important, for the donors who put up the [campaign] money and the corporatists that put up the money, your day of reckoning is coming, too.” • In a move that most conservatives cannot fathom, President Trump campaigned for Strange last Friday night in Huntsville, Alabama. The choice of Strange seemed to put the President at odds with one of his former top advisors, as well as with his base of supporters. Trump endorsed Strange in August before the Republican primary, a move that united him with Senate Republican leadership. • Republican candidates Roy Moore and Luther Strange battled down to the wire before Tuesday's primary run-off election, but former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore led in all polls throughout the runoff campaign and was consistently projected to soundly defeat Senator Luther Strange. While Trump and Vice President Pence were campaigning for Strange, Trump's friend and former lead strategist Steve Bannon, as well as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and conservative members of the House of Representatives Feeedom Caucus, were on the campaign trail for Moore. • Moore got 55% of the vote to Strange’s 45%. Strange, who was appointed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat earlier this year, is the first Senator to lose a primary since Indiana Republican Richard Lugar was defeated in 2012. Moore’s victory comes despite the efforts of top Republicans in Washington, who threw their weight behind Strange, an "insider" who could be counted on to vote with McConnell and the GOP Swamp Creatures. Trump endorsed Strange in August and appeared with him in Alabama last week, while a super PAC aligned with McConnell spent millions of dollars on pro-Strange advertising. But, Strange finished behind Moore in the August primary and qualified for the runoff. Moore had been elected statewide twice and has a committed conservative following, partly because of his decisions while on the Supreme Court, where he defied federal orders on same-sex marriage and the display of a statue of the Ten Commandments and built up a history of controversial comments on race and religion. While the McConnell-aligned super PAC Senate Leadership Fund attacked Moore visiously, Strange cited Trump at every chance, especially in a debate the week before the primary runoff. Trump touted Strange on Twitter in addition to appearing with him in Huntsville on Friday. • But Strange couldn't close the gap and Trump was privately telling conservative activists this weekend that he expected Strange to lose. The President also emphasized that he would campaign “like hell” for Moore if he became the nominee. Trump congratulated Moore in a brief phone call late Tuesday night and said he was looking forward to working with him, according to a source cited by Politico. The source said that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who endorsed Moore and appeared at his rally, helped arrange the conversation. • Moore criticized McConnell during the primary, but the Republican Senate Majority Leader said in a congratulatory statement that he will support Moore in the special election : "He ran a spirited campaign centered around a dissatisfaction with the progress made in Washington. I share that frustration and believe that enacting the agenda the American people voted for last November requires us all to work together. We look forward to Judge Moore’s help enacting that agenda when he arrives. Senate Republicans will be as committed to keeping Alabama’s Senate seat in Republican hands with Roy Moore as we were with Luther Strange." The Senate Leadership Fund also promised to back Moore in the general election : “While we were honored to have fought hard for Big Luther, Judge Roy Moore won this nomination fair and square and he has our support, as it is vital that we keep this seat in Republican hands,” SLF president Steven Law said in a statement. • • • WHAT HAPPENED IN ALABAMA? Steve Bannon did indeed draw frist blood against the GOP establishment. Alabama media report that Moore’s primary victory was buoyed anti-establishment Republicans who have been trying for years to defeat another incumbent in a primary. In the final weeks of the runoff, Moore got Bannon's endoresment because he saw a victory in Alabama as the beginning of a wave of primary challenges to Republican Senators around the country. Bannon argued that other Republicans in Nevada, Arizona, and Mississippi are vulnerable to a challenge in a similar way to Strange, even though Strange was appointed to the Senate and the others had previously won primaries. • Initially, groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, which endorsed Strange, and Republican Senators close to McConnell also framed the Strange-Moore primary as part of a running battle between wings of the GOP -- and a chance to stamp out any party disloyalty. But, as Strange continued trailing in polls and the primary drew closer, other Republicans began arguing that a Moore win would be unique to Alabama, pointing to Strange’s appointment to the Senate seat by former Governor Robert Bentley, who would later step down because of a sex scandal. • Moore will now face Democrat Doug Jones in a December special election. Jones, a former US attorney, won his primary outright in August, and some Democrats hope that he could be competitive against Moore, despite Alabama’s strongly Republican electorate. Former Vice President Joe Biden is slated to campaign for Jones in Alabama next week, and the Democratic opposition research group American Bridge, led by a Hillary operative, released a report on Moore highlighting "a history of making racist statements" and Moore's suggestion that the 9/11 terrorist attacks “was God’s punishment for legitimizing sodomy and abortion." It will be a nasty general election, with the ProgDems doing all they can to grab the Alabama Senate seat. But, Moore is now the heavy favorite in December's general election against Democrat Jones. The winner of that race will complete the Senate term started by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and be up for re-election in 2020. • • • JUDGE MOORE. When a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pumped millions of dollars into the race on behalf of Strange, it was a move that likely played into Moore’s pitch as the anti-establishment candidate. Moore's message was straightforward : "Mitch McConnell needs to be replaced and your vote tomorrow may determine that," Moore said Monday at a Fairhope rally attended by Bannon, Brexit leader Nigel Farage, and "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson. At the rally Monday night, Moore repeated the conservative Christian themes he has used his entire public career. He also lashed out at attack ads run against him in the race, including one suggesting he was weak on gun rights. "I believe in the Second Amendment," Moore said, pulling a handgun from his pocket. Moore, known in Alabama as the "Ten Commandments Judge," has a political history. Moore first received national attention in the 1990s as a county judge when he hung a wooden Ten Commandments plaque on the wall of his courtroom. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against him. Benefiting from his popularity after that episode, Moore then ran and won a race for chief justice of the state Supreme Court in 2000. But, he was ousted after refusing to remove a 5,280-pound granite Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state judicial building. Then, in 2012, Moore resurrected his political career when he was elected chief justice again. But during his second tenure -- in 2016 -- Moore was suspended as chief justice after he directed probate judges not to issue marriage certificates to gay couples. • New York Times columnist David Leonhardt called Roy Moore "a proud bigot....If you think I’m being too harsh in describing him that way, read his own words. He has argued that homosexuality should be illegal, Moslems should be barred from serving in Congress, 9/11 may have been divine retribution and Barack Obama wasn’t born here." That is an outline of what to expectform the Progressive camp that supports Jones in the general election campaign. As Leonhardt put it : "Moore is even Trumpier than Trump." • • • IS THERE A TRUMP-BANNON STRATEGY FOR 2018? I think there is, and it is clear that Moore is part of that strategy. Here is an example of the Alabama GOP vote split ---- In a Montgomery suburb, 76-year-old Air Force retiree John Lauer said Trump's endorsement swayed him to vote for Strange on Tuesday :"I voted for Strange. I'm a Trump voter. Either one is going to basically do the Trump agenda, but since Trump came out for Luther, I voted for Luther." Merlene Bohannon, 74, a widow with three grown children, said she had planned to vote for Strange until seeing Bannon stump for Moore on Fox News on Monday night : "Steve Bannon and God spoke to me, and this morning when I went in I voted for Moore." • That is evidence of a win-win at play for Bannon and Trump, and they must know it and will use it to pound establishment and #NeverTrump GOP Swamp Creatures running for re-election in 2018. • Bannon told the Monday rally crowd that Alabama can show the world "that this populist, nationalist, conservative movement is on the rise."BUT, the real Bannon message was this : "A vote for Roy Moore is a vote for Donald J. Trump." • Why would Trump campaign for a losing candidate, especially in a deeply conservative state that he won by almost 30 points over Democrat Hillary Clinton last November. I think the answer is that Trump could afford to lose in Alabama because the Moore win is not a deep political wound for him. And he chose to lose in order to give a HUGE black eye to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was the biggest loser on Tuesday night. McConnell stood four-square behind Strange, and a super PAC associated with McConnell spent millions of dollars to try to sink Moore. But, to grassroots conservatives, McConnell’s support is more of a millstone than an asset. Back in July, only 30% of Republican voters approved of his job performance, according to a poll from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling firm. His standing has been weakened even further with the Senate GOP’s failure to pass legislation gutting Obamacare. And, now McConnell has the loss of his Alabama candidate on his GOP resumé, and the firebrand conservative Moore will owe nothing to McConnell, and could cause him trouble when he is elected to the Senate. No Republican candidate says "Mitch McConnell needs to be replaced" unless he means it -- Majority Leader McConnell is still all-powerful in the Senate and can destroy Moore's career there, if he so chooses. But, if the Trump-Bannon tandem is breathing down McConnell's neck, Mitch will have his work cut out for him to just survive the threat of a vote of no-confidence or a back room nudge to leave his leadership position before he is pushed out. • Moore’s victory was as big a victory for Bannon and Breitbart as it was a loss for McConnell and the establishment. Bannon was clear in proclaiming Moore as the anti-establishment conservative taking on the entrenched powers in Washington. At a rally for Moore on Sunday, Bannon described McConnell and his allies as “corrupt and incompetent.” Introducing a victorious Moore on Tuesday night, Bannon heralded a “revolution” spearheaded by populists who “do not have to raise money from the elites, the crony capitalists, from the fat cats in Washington, DC, New York City and Silicon Valley.” Breitbart headlines blared that the GOP establishment had been “brought to [its] knees.” • And, if you think that Bannon is not striking fear into establishment GOP members of Congress who will need to run for re-election in 2018, just consider Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, who was on Bannon's hit list. Even before the polls closed in Alabama, Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced that he would retire when his current term ends next year rather than run for a third term in 2108. Corker crossed swords with Trump last month when he criticized the President for a lack of “stability” and “competence” amid the uproar over Trump's response to racially charged violence in Charlottesville. It looks for all the world as if Corker timed his announcement in order to avoid accusations that he was running scared of a primary challenge in his own state. And, there are other Senators who are feeling the Trump-Bannon heat. Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi all face threats from primary challengers able to attract support from Bannon and allied groups. • • • DEAR READERS, there is no doubt that President Trump and Steve Bannon hold establishment GOP Swamp Creatures in contempt. Not only have these Creatures done nothing to advance conservative ideals or to protect the Constitution from the attacks of Progressive Democrats, they have hung President Trump, their titular leader, out to dry while they timidly permit the minority Democrats to win battle after battle in the Senate, as it they were still the majority party. And, there is the glaring proof that McConnell greatly underestimated Trump when he chose to call him inexperienced in the ways of legislative leadership. And, Bannon has never tolerated the Swamp GOPers, calling them what they are -- elite insiders who care more for their careers and bank accounts than they do for America. Between them, President Trump and Steve Bannon can muster the money, the candidates and the votes to end the reign of the puny GOP Republicans In Name Only who are destroying not only the Republican Party but collaborating in the Progressive Democrat destruction of the Republic. • That is the Trump-Bannon strategy. And, they are together in their plan because they are conservatives, both of them. Political analysts like to belittle Trump for being a pragmatic non-conservative non-Republican. He is certainly a pragmatist but he is also a conservative. His instinctive reactions to situations are always conservative -- North Korea, Iran, Merkel, Brexit, Obamacare, tax reform, immigration, border control, climate change, states rights, the Supreme Court -- name the topic and Trump will react as the conservative that he is. And, it is for that reason that he is so dangerous for Swamp Creatures. When Donald Trump tells an audience that America should be governed for the benefit of Americans, he means it. That sounds revolutionary because of generations of both Republican and Democrat Congresses that ignored Americans and ruled for themselves and for their lobbyists and contributors. It was precisely against these Republicans and Democrats that America voted in 2016. America voted against professional bureaucrats, against spreading American wealth around to enemies, against being pushed around while paying for NATO and the UN, against forgetting the Constitution. Several generations of conservatives tried to redirect the Republican Party toward their original Right ideology, without success. Trump, the conservative, in his first ideological speech at the United Nations General Assembly reminded everyone of Reagan, Churchill, and Thatcher. His words, “The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented but that socialism has been faithfully implemented” will enter history textbooks. As the words of Reagan : “Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it, and Hell where they already have it.” As the words of Thatcher : “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” As the words of Churchill : “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” • The Republican Party establishment is trying to corral and "de- conservatize" Trump. It will fail. Trump sees clearly the need to return to the constitutional foundations of the Republic. President Trump's low approval ratings do not reflect his rapid-fire accomplishments, including a huge influx of new jobs, the lowest unemployment rate in almost two decades and the new proliferation of American business across the globe. It's time for a major conservative party in America, perhaps a remade GOP, perhaps a new party, but in any event, a proud, activist party that supports America and low taxes and a limited federal government -- and a Republic governed by "We the People." • If that is the goal of the Trump-Bannon strategy for 2018, we should all be behind them with everything we can muster.