11/13/24 - The News

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

We are disgusted': Howell doesn't want to stand for hate, but the hits keep coming

November 13, 2024 0

 That's the response of multiple organizations in response to a white supremacist gathering outside Howell's American Legion Post 141 on Saturday, Nov. 9, during a performance of "The Diary of Anne Frank."



In specific, the quote is from the American Defamation League (Michigan), which wrote a statement Monday on X, formerly Twitter.

More:'We were hiding with Nazis outside': White supremacists protest play in Howell

“We are disgusted by the far-right extremists who praised Hitler and waved Nazi flags outside of an American Legion hosting the play ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ and we stand with American Legion 141 and @HowellTownship who know that hate doesn't belong in their community.”

According to video posted to social media by the American Legion, a group of five demonstrators holding Nazi flags and American flags with white supremacist symbols gathered outside the organization where the show was produced by Fowlerville Community Theatre.

A member of the American Legion told WLNS the play was intended to be educational amid reports of rising antisemitism. The organization went live on Facebook on Saturday, filming the demonstrators being confronted by deputies from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.

One demonstrator can be heard telling deputies they're protecting their right to free speech.

Another four demonstrators were seen waving Nazi flags in Fowlerville at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Grand Street. It's unclear whether the protests shared members, as their faces were covered.

The Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also spoke out against the demonstration.

“We condemn this display of neo-Nazi hate and join all those speaking out against the rising bigotry and societal division we are witnessing nationwide,” said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid. “All such attempts to promote racism, antisemitism or any other form of bigotry must be repudiated by local, state and national religious and political leaders.”

A protest against police brutality and racism held in Howell on Thursday, June 4, 2020.

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.    

WLNS also quoted Jason Woolford, recently elected to represent the area in the Michigan House of Representatives, and Howell Mayor Robert Ellis — both of whom are frustrated by Howell's continued reputation as a safe space for white supremacists.

“I’ll say to those that are using our community and, in most cases don’t even live here, to promote a message of hate, quit coming here,” Woolford said.

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What to Know About Trump’s Pick for Defense Secretary

November 13, 2024 0

 President-elect Donald Trump moved to build out his national security team Tuesday, announcing he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.



In a flurry of announcements, Trump said he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East. Trump also said he would nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security and named Bill McGinley, his Cabinet secretary in his first administration, as his White House counsel.

Trump is rolling out a steady stream of appointees and nominees for his upcoming administration, working thus far at a faster pace and without as much drama as his first transition following his 2016 victory. His selection of Hegseth, who lacks senior military or national security experience, was sure to draw questions about his qualifications to lead the department.

Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year, and has been outspoken about rooting out what he has called “woke-ness” in the military.

The book, according to its promo, combines “his own war experiences, tales of outrage, and an incisive look at how the chain of command got so kinked,” and bills itself as “the key to saving our warriors — and winning future wars.”

While the Pentagon is considered a key coveted post in any administration, the defense secretary was a tumultuous post during Trump’s first term. Five men held the job during his four years only to resign, be fired or serve briefly as a stopgap. Just two of them were actually confirmed by the Senate.

Trump’s relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they weren’t prepared to explain or defend. Many of the generals who worked in his first administration — both on active duty and retired — have slammed him as unfit to serve in the Oval Office and he has condemned them in return.

Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012.

He also championed the case of four former Blackwater contractors convicted in a 2007 shooting rampage in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. They were pardoned by Trump in one of his final acts in office.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”

Hegseth has “an excellent background as a junior officer but does not have the senior national security experience that secretaries need,” said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think Trump was tired of fighting with his secretaries of defense and picked one who would be loyal to him.” Cancian said the lack of experience might make it more difficult for Hegseth to get through Senate confirmation.

Noem is a well-known conservative and former member of Congress who used her two terms leading a state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. She was considered a potential presidential contender herself, but declined to challenge Trump. She instead launched an overt pitch to be selected vice president but lost that nod when Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate.

If confirmed, Noem would head an agency that is at the center of Trump’s sweeping immigration plans and his campaign vow to carry out mass deportations of immigrants in the United States illegally. There are an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally.

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Elizabeth Warren gets sarcastic after Trump taps Musk, Ramaswamy for DOGE

November 13, 2024 0

 After President-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to root out government waste, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized Trump's decision, suggesting he had tapped two people to execute the job of one person.



"The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person," Warren said in a post on X, sarcastically adding, "Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient." 

Musk and Ramaswamy "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement.

Trump noted that the team, nicknamed "DOGE," "will provide advice and guidance from outside of government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before."

Musk has invited the public to share their thoughts about what should and should not be slashed.

"All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining," he tweeted.

Ramaswamy dropped his bid for the GOP presidential nomination and endorsed Trump back in January.

"DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & and abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reform & they deserve to be part of fixing it," he tweeted.

A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our servicemembers. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected," she declared in a post on X.

Hegseth is an author and Army veteran who earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman's Badge, according to his website.

His last day with Fox was Tuesday.

Trump said in a statement that Hegseth "will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy."


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