WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday abruptly withdrew one of President Donald Trump’s appellate court nominees when it became apparent he did not have enough support to pass.

The decision came just minutes before the confirmation vote and after senators voiced concerns about his college writings.

McConnell indicated that the administration would be withdrawing the nomination of Ryan Bounds, an assistant U.S. attorney in Oregon, to serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Republicans have been able to use their thin majority to push several of Trump’s nominees through despite overwhelming Democratic opposition. Arizona Sen. John McCain’s absence has given the GOP even less cushion, with Republicans holding a 50-49 voting edge.

That edge evaporated when Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said he needed more information about Bounds.

“After talking with the nominee last night and meeting with him today, I had unanswered questions that led to me being unable to support him,” Scott said.

A person familiar with Scott’s thinking said he had concerns about some of Bounds’ writings. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Scott was not detailing his concerns publicly.

Scott said he felt like he needed “more information,” and other Republicans joined him in asking for that. He said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was one of those senators.

The two senators from Bounds’ home state, Democrats Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, had objected to the nomination, saying the Trump administration hadn’t consulted them about it. They highlighted writings from Bounds’ years at Stanford University that they said revealed alarming views on race, workers’ rights and the gay community. They also complained that Bounds did not provide his Stanford Review opinion columns to a judicial selection committee in Oregon that makes recommendations for federal judges.

Bounds, 45, was asked about the writings during the confirmation hearing and in questionnaires submitted by senators, and he apologized. In one column titled “Lo! A Pestilence Stalks Us,” he appeared to mock LGBT students as being too sensitive when a group of intoxicated athletes vandalized a statue celebrating gay pride. In the same column, he seemed to mock Latino students for being too sensitive when they complained about the termination of a Latino administrator.

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Three decades isn’t temporary.

Via Star Tribune:

The Trump administration said it will extend temporary legal protections for Somalis who live in the United States, saving hundreds of people from the prospect of deportation back to the war-ravaged country.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Thursday announced an 18-month extension of temporary legal status for approximately 500 Somalis who now live and work in the United States, citing the ongoing armed conflict and “extraordinary and temporary conditions” in the country.

The decision to extend the designation saves many Somali families — including some who have lived and worked here for nearly three decades — from having to make an agonizing decision over whether to stay and risk deportation. Immigration advocates said that many families facing the loss of their protected status would have been forced to choose between staying in this country illegally, like the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, or returning to a homeland where armed conflict persists and large swaths of the nation are controlled by the Somali Islamic terror group Al-Shabaab.

Temporary protected status, known as TPS, was created by Congress to provide haven for immigrants who have fled countries wracked by violence, natural disasters and other forms of civil strife that prevent their safe return.

The extension permits current Somali TPS beneficiaries to re-register for TPS and remain in the United States with work authorization through March 17, 2020, according to an announcement from the Department of Homeland Security.

The protections were first extended to Somalia in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush in response to a clan-driven civil war that followed the collapse of the authoritarian Siad Barre regime. The designation has been extended 22 times since then, shielding many Somalis from deportation and enabling them to build families and businesses here.

In January of 2017, the Department of Homeland Security said Somalia had more than 1.1 million displaced residents as a result of ongoing armed conflict and a severe drought, as well as some of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. “Somalia continues to experience a complex protracted emergency that is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world,” the federal agency said last year in extending the designation.

A decision to end temporary protections for Somalis, advocates had warned, would have torn apart many families who have been living and working in the country legally for years. That’s because many TPS holders are married to legal immigrants and have children who are U.S. citizens.

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He sided with the agitators over the students.

Via Campus Reform:

Florida State University says it will relocate a statue of Francis Eppes, a grandson of Thomas Jefferson, even though the idea was rejected in a 2016 student referendum.

FSU President John Thrasher announced Tuesday that the school will remove the statue of Francis Eppes from Westcott Plaza in accordance with the recommendation of a panel he appointed last fall, The Tallahassee Democrat reports.

As Campus Reform has previously reported, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter at FSU had spearheaded a referendum in 2016 calling for the Eppes statue’s removal on the grounds that he was “especially racist” and “especially pro-slavery.”

Thrasher concedes in his letter to the school community that students rejected the proposal at the time, but says “the vote brought to light the concerns some people have about honoring Eppes,” prompting him to create an Advisory Panel on University Namings and Recognitions.

Thrasher accepted two of the recommendations forwarded to him Friday by the 15-member committee, saying that he will not only remove the Eppes statue, but will also seek legislative approval to erase former Florida Supreme Court Justice B.K. Robert’s name from the main building at the College of Law.

Despite acknowledging that “Eppes’ history as a slave owner” was the primary objection raised by students, Thrasher focuses primarily on Eppes’ role in the founding of FSU in his rationale for the decision, only mentioning slavery in the context of calling for a marker to provide context for the statue in its new location.

“The panel uncovered sufficient new evidence to dispute the claim that Eppes was the sole founder of FSU,” he asserts, saying, “It’s clear that Eppes had an important part to play in the early days of this institution’s history, but declaring him ‘the founder’ is overstating his role.”

While the statue will be moved to an unspecified location, however, Thrasher decided not to rename Eppes Hall, but rather to install a marker in or near the building “to provide biographical information about Eppes, including his slave ownership and role as justice of the peace, and to place his contribution to the founding of this institution in proper context.”

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Netflix has jumped the shark.

Via Breitbart:

Netflix announced Tuesday its plans to roll out a series based on a 12-year-old boy who discovers he has reincarnated as Jesus Christ.

“He can turn water into wine, make the crippled walk, and, perhaps, even raise the dead,” according to the network’s description of the show, which is based on a 2009 comic book series.

Mark Millar, the comic book creator of hits Kick-Ass and Kingsman, wrote the story that inspired the series as part of his Millarworld empire, which was purchased by Netflix in August 2017.

“As creator and re-inventor of some of the most memorable stories and characters in recent history, ranging from Marvel’s The Avengers to Millarworld’s Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Wanted and Reborn franchises, Mark is as close as you can get to a modern day Stan Lee,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos last August.

“We can’t wait to harness the creative power of Millarworld to Netflix and start a new era in global storytelling,” he said.[…]

“American Jesus” will be run as a multilingual (Spanish/English) series and will explore how a modern-day Jesus deals with “the destiny to lead the world in a conflict thousands of years in the making.”

The show’s IMDB page describes American Jesus as “an exploration of Christianity in every faction of American Life, from the bread line to the yoga studio, from the humble churches of snake handlers to the mega churches of the ex-urbs.”

“Populated by an array of religious and secular characters offering candid, often illuminating testimonials, American Jesus is a vivid mosaic of personalities and conflicting points of view that emerges as a portrait of an America yearning for solace and meaning in the modern world,” the site reveals.

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HT: Dian Cecht

Via Free Beacon:

The House passed a resolution Wednesday in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the law enforcement agency that some Democrats now want to abolish.

The measure praised ICE’s work countering the narcotics trade and combatting human trafficking, Fox News reported. It further argued that without ICE, more Americans would suffer from drug abuse.

In total, 133 Democrats voted present, 43 voted no on the resolution, and 18 voted yes.

For some reason I can’t help but doubt her sincerity.

She isn’t the first or last carpetbagger.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Carol Hafner is on the Democratic primary ballot for an Alaska U.S. House seat.

She doesn’t live in Alaska. In fact, she’s never been to the state. Hafner, who listed New Jersey and South Dakota addresses in her candidate filing, says she’s serious about running, though she doesn’t plan to campaign in person.

Democratic officials are questioning her authenticity and political affiliation.

Under the U.S. Constitution, to serve in Congress one must meet age and citizenship requirements and inhabit the state at the time elected. Generally, Alaska candidates in such races are from the state. But not always.

In 2014, a New York man, who has run in other states, challenged then-U.S. Sen. Mark Begich in Alaska’s Democratic primary and got crushed.

It happens elsewhere, too: In Wyoming, also in 2014, an Arizona man whose campaign consisted almost entirely of sock-puppet videos, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House — unopposed — but lost to incumbent Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis in the general election.

“You may have a right to run, doesn’t mean you’re going to be well-received, or it’s going to be an easy campaign for you,” said Jay Parmley, executive director of the state Democratic party. “If you’re not from somewhere, that’s a pretty tall order.”

Hafner faces long odds and has focused her attention online, where she boasts a comparable number of Twitter followers to those of the highest-profile candidates: Democrat Dimitri Shein and independent Alyse Galvin. Independents who want Democratic support can run in the party primary.

Shein and Galvin have been campaigning and participating in spirited debates ahead of the Aug. 21 primary. Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young faces little-known opponents in his primary.

Hafner listed on her candidacy filing a home and mailing address in New Jersey. She also listed an address at a mail-drop location in South Dakota popular with RVers and others with more transient lifestyles as her campaign contact on Alaska’s website listing of candidates. Public records show property and voter registration records for Hafner in New Jersey.

The New Jersey addresses match those used by Eric Hafner during a failed run as a Democrat in an Oregon U.S. House primary earlier this year, which caught the attention of Julie Olsen, an Anchorage Democratic party leader. She said she was worried that Eric Hafner had “hijacked” Carol Hafner’s identity and created an online persona to file for office. Olsen supports Shein.

Hafner, 64, said Eric Hafner is her son. She said he also ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for a U.S. House seat in Hawaii in 2016. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.

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Pathetic.

HT: Daily Caller

Fascists.

Lone wolf in training.

Via SF Gate:

A 23-year-old Oakland man accused of plotting Islamic State-inspired bomb attacks in San Francisco and the East Bay pleaded guilty Wednesday to several felony charges, despite claims by his attorneys that he has no affiliation with terrorists or terrorist organizations.

Amer Sinan Alhaggagi, a Berkeley High School graduate who lived in West Oakland, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, possession of device-making equipment, and fraud charges in Judge Charles Breyer’s federal courtroom in San Francisco.

The gallery overflowed with nearly 100 people, including relatives and members of the Bay Area’s Yemeni community, as Alhaggagi, wearing red jail-issued clothing and long dark hair that cascaded down his back, confidently answered the judge when saying he understood the charges against him.

The maximum sentence for all the charges adds up to 47 years, but Mary McNamara, Alhaggagi’s attorney, said her client “is a guy that is just being slammed by the system.”

He remains in Glenn E. Dyer jail in Oakland, where he’s being held without bail.

“This is really a case about what the appropriate sentence should be, and here is a young guy who is immature, said some stupid things online, and the FBI sent out their best people to try to get a sting operation going,” McNamara said, noting that she is asking that Alhaggagi serve just six to seven years.

McNamara submitted evidence in the case that she said will show Alhaggagi had no intention of committing any violent acts. She also plans to call an expert on radicalization during a November sentencing hearing to show that her client was not involved in terrorism.

Alhaggagi’s family released a statement after Wednesday’s hearing saying he was pleading guilty to “opening a handful of Twitter and Facebook accounts for ISIS sympathizers.”

“Amer is not a terrorist or a violent person, but a young man born and raised in California who said many foolish things on the Internet,” the statement says. “Amer did not commit or plan a violent act. When he was encouraged to take action by an undercover agent, he ran away.”

Alhaggagi allegedly told an undercover FBI agent that he wanted to kill 10,000 people in the Bay Area with bombs and rat-poison-laced cocaine that he planned to distribute at San Francisco nightclubs, according to court documents unsealed in July 2017.

He was arrested in November 2016 for ordering clothes online with a fake credit card, but was held in custody as federal authorities built their case against him.

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Al and Jesse never had to take sensitivity training for previous comments.

Via Daily Wire:

We all say and do dumb things as kids, and our interests and beliefs change drastically from the time we’re a teenager – even a teenager about to enter college – to our mid-to-late 20’s. But Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader is being punished now for things he tweeted as a teenager seven years ago.

Hader, now 24, was pitching in the All-Star Game Tuesday night when tweets he sent as a 17-year-old resurfaced and flooded the internet. His tweets contained homophobic and racist comments. The Daily Wire previously reported one message said “I hate gay people” and at least one other contained the N-word. When Hader left the game he was told the old tweets had been found and he quickly deleted them and locked his Twitter account. He then apologized.

“It’s something that happened when I was 17-years-old,” he said, “I was immature and obviously said some things that were inexcusable. That doesn’t reflect on who I am as a person today.”

On Wednesday morning, Major League Baseball released a statement condemning the tweets and issuing punishment for Hader, who hadn’t done anything wrong as a player.

“During last night’s game we became aware of Mr. Hader’s unacceptable social media comments in years past and have since been in communication with the Brewers regarding our shared concerns,” the MLB said. “After the game, Mr. Hader took the necessary step of expressing remorse for his highly offensive and hurtful language, which fails to represent the values of our game and our expectations for all those who are a part of it. The Office of the Commissioner will require sensitivity training for Mr. Hader and participation in MLB’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.”

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A visa is a privilege not a right.

Via TOI:

Palestinians are protesting US refusal to grant visas to six experts from the Palestinian Authority prime minister’s office to come to the United Nations to present a report on implementation of UN goals for 2030.

The Palestinian UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, told two reporters Wednesday that Israel “complicated the matter” by refusing to allow several of the experts to travel from Ramallah to Jerusalem, where the US Consulate is located, to check on their visas.

He said it violates the UN agreement with the United States as host country of the world organization, which requires the US to facilitate UN work and allow delegates to attend UN meetings.

Mansour said he plans to send a letter of protest to the General Assembly committee dealing with host country relations.

The US Mission said it was looking into the complaint. Israel’s UN Mission did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The high-level meeting is hearing what nearly 50 countries are doing to implement the UN goals to combat poverty, promote development and gender equality, and preserve the environment by 2030.

Since the experts couldn’t attend the meeting, Mansour said he and his team “were able to improvise” and presented the Palestinian report on Tuesday. He said it “received a long applause from the participants.”

He said it violates the UN agreement with the United States as host country of the world organization, which requires the US to facilitate UN work and allow delegates to attend UN meetings.

Mansour said he plans to send a letter of protest to the General Assembly committee dealing with host country relations.

The US Mission said it was looking into the complaint. Israel’s UN Mission did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The high-level meeting is hearing what nearly 50 countries are doing to implement the UN goals to combat poverty, promote development and gender equality, and preserve the environment by 2030.

Since the experts couldn’t attend the meeting, Mansour said he and his team “were able to improvise” and presented the Palestinian report on Tuesday. He said it “received a long applause from the participants.”

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Well, it’s better than the prior one. But having a better slogan doesn’t change they’re empty of ideas.

Via Daily Wire:

House Democrats have chosen their campaign slogan for 2018, and ironically, it seems to be derived from the most famous Republican of them all.

The slogan, “For the People,” could easily have been stripped by the last line of Abraham Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address, in which he concluded:

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

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Via Daily Wire:

In an interview with Democracy Now! ‘Democratic Socialist” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez encouraged fellow leftists to “mobilize” in pursuit of their ideology, and expand “Occupy” efforts to include protests at border crossings, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency offices, and airports across the country.

Ocasio-Cortez abandoned her campaign just days before the election to join a celebrity-driven protest at the United States’s southern border, calling on President Donald Trump to bring an end to a policy that separated children from illegal immigrant parents who made claims of asylum, days after Trump ended the policy by executive order.

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In addition to rebuilding the U.S. military, the U.S. energy industry, pulling out of the Iran Deal (Russia’s ally), calling out Germany for their energy deals compromising NATO, etc. And in every instance, Obama weakened the U.S. and made the decision that would be advantageous to Russia. One of these is not the actions of a puppet.

Via Daily Caller:

CNN’s Poppy Harlow compared President Trump’s tough actions on Russia to those of the Obama administration’s during a Wednesday episode of “CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow.”

“Would you concede that his administration’s actions against Russia — be it the sanctions, be it the selling of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine — are tough actions on Russia; arguably tougher actions on Russia, some would say, than the Obama administration’s?” Harlow asked Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.).

“We had to drag the White House kicking and screaming to impose sanctions on Russia … Of course, having a good relationship with a country is always in our interest.”

Just minutes later, CNN ran a graphic that listed all of President Trump’s staunch actions taken against the Kremlin.

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But just remember no one is arguing for open borders. Please ignore the DNC Vice Chair.

Via Daily Caller:

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), claimed on Wednesday that America’s national borders create “an injustice” by keeping Mexican workers from traveling to the United States to look for higher-paying jobs.

Ellison claimed in an interview with progressive activist Rabbi Michael Lerner that America’s “prosperity is based on the want that is experienced in other parts of the world” and complained that “people, regular people, cannot go back and forth across the border seeking out the highest wages.” (RELATED: Keith Ellison Wears T-Shirt Calling For Open Borders)

“We just have to say that the 12 million undocumented people in the United States are here because somebody wants them to be. But they want them here to do the work, but they don’t want them to get any rights. They don’t want to pay them fairly. They don’t want them to be able to bargain collectively. They don’t want them to be able to get occupational safety and standards. And that is what’s really going on,” Ellison said.

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Yet where is the investigation into that?

Via Daily Caller:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says the only person whom he and others “actually know colluded with the Russians” is former Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Rand was on Fox News Wednesday morning clarifying his stance on Russia’s election meddling and the intelligence community.

President Trump faced broad outrage over comments he made during the Helsinki, Finland, summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday. Trump was criticized for not being more forceful with the Russian leader and for not backing up U.S. intelligence findings of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump clarified his comments in a short statement at the White House on Tuesday.

When asked to explain the controversy, Rand said that the president thinks the Mueller investigation is “tainted” by partisan Democrats that also colluded with Russia.

“The president sees the Mueller investigation. He sees all these accusations from partisan Democrats, Hillary Clinton, saying ‘Oh, he colluded with the Russians,” Rand said. “The only people who we actually know colluded with the Russians were Hillary Clinton who paid a British agent who paid Russians for information for the dossier.”

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And people still want Trump more than her, despite non-stop media assault on him.

Via Daily Wire:

Rasmussen’s recent surveys of Likely U.S. Voters could almost be accused of going out of their way to give Hillary Clinton a bunch of unwelcome numbers. Not only do Likely Democratic Voters overwhelmingly want a “fresh face” to run for president in 2020, a plurality now believe that the once-popular Clinton did more harm than good to the party. And despite all the bad press directed at Donald Trump, among all likely voters, a plurality do not believe that the country would be better off if Hillary had won.

After learning that nearly three-quarters (73%) of likely Democratic voters don’t want anyone who already ran for president to run in 2020, Rasmussen asked specifically about Hillary’s impact on the Democratic Party. The numbers weren’t good.

While Clinton was widely popular among Democrats back in 2015, that popularity has plummeted. Now a plurality of Democrats believe Hillary has been bad for the party overall: “33% think she’s been good for their party, but 39% believe she’s been bad for it instead,” Rasmussen reports.

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Remember remember the 6th of November.

Via Daily Caller:

Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan, who introduced a bill to abolish Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), dodged the question on Tuesday when Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson asked whether illegal immigrants guilty of DUIs should be subject to deportation.

Carlson said, “Let’s talk about that. You introduced a bill to get rid of ICE — even people who are concerned about it — I get it. Abolishing ICE seems radical and crazy, as you know, which is why a lot of Democrats are embarrassed of this decision. What would you do about illegals who get busted for DUI? There’s no ICE — do they get to stay? What happens, specifically?”

Pocan deflected immediately, saying, “Here’s the problem: ICE was created after 9/11 for domestic terrorism and major crimes. Right now, it sits sometimes in the parking lot in Beloit, Wisconsin. That’s not going after domestic terrorism; it’s being misused by the president. But the bottom line is, what we should take up tomorrow is a measure to guarantee those kids are returned to those parents. Remember, the president made this decree without any thought whatsoever, I’ve been down to the border, I’ve been down to the detention facilities …”

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Some black-robed social justice warrior will have the measure removed from the ballot.

Via Fox News:

Oregon could start allowing its law enforcement officers to cooperate with federal immigration officials if voters choose to repeal its sanctuary status in November.

A measure to repeal the so-called sanctuary state status – which regulates how much local law enforcement officials can help federal immigration authorities – will be on the November ballot, The Oregonian reported.

Oregon has been a sanctuary state since 1987, making the law the oldest in the nation. It prohibits law enforcement agencies from using “agency monies, equipment or personnel for the purpose of detecting or apprehending persons whose only violation of law is” that they are in “violation of federal immigration laws.”

The Trump administration has been opposed to sanctuary cities and states, promising to crack down on them.

Andrea Williams, executive director of immigrant rights organization Causa Oregon, warned that if the sanctuary status is rescinded, police officers would begin to racially profile people in the state.[…]

ccording to The Oregonian, two groups were instrumental in garnering more than 97,000 signatures by July 6 to get the initiative on the November ballot: Oregonians for Immigration Reform and Stop Oregon Sanctuaries.

“All are eager to end Oregon’s sanctuary policy and see their state do its part to combat, not promote, illegal immigration by freeing our police and sheriffs to cooperate fully with federal immigration authorities to enforce U.S. immigration law,” Cynthia Kendall, Oregonians for Immigration Reform president, said in a statement to Fox News.

“Voters seldom get an opportunity to vote on immigration issues,” she previously told KOPB-FM. “We should get to decide do we want to repeal this or not. My guess, and our polling shows, yes we want to repeal that.”

Bob Dane, executive director of the right-leaning Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), praised the groups’ “herculean effort” to get IP 22 on the ballot.

“Oregon lawmakers have repeatedly demonstrated their contempt for concerns that Oregon citizens have about rampant illegal immigration,” Dane told Fox News.

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