Donald Trump: Allow those into US who ‘want to love our country’
President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to allow into the United States people who “want to love our country,” defending his immigration and refugee restrictions as he made his first visit to the headquarters Monday for U.S. Central Command. Trump reaffirmed his support for NATO before military leaders and troops and laced his speech with references to homeland security amid a court battle over his travel ban on people from seven majority-Muslim countries. He did not directly mention the case now before a federal appeals court after a lower court temporarily suspended the ban. “We need strong programs” so that “people that love us and want to love our country and will end up loving our country are allowed in” and those who “want to destroy us and destroy our country” are kept out, Trump said. “Freedom, security and justice will prevail,” Trump added. “We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism and we will not allow it to take root in our country. We’re not going to allow it.” Trump touched upon various other alliances in his remarks, noting, “we strongly support NATO.” Trump’s comments follow his conversation Sunday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. A White House statement said the two “discussed how to encourage all NATO allies to meet their defense spending commitments,” as well as the crisis in Ukraine and security challenges facing NATO countries. Trump once dismissed the trans-Atlantic military alliance as “obsolete,” and he would decide whether to protect NATO countries against Russian aggression based on whether those countries “have fulfilled their obligations to us.” Earlier, Trump sat down for lunch with a room full of troops in fatigues from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as senior members of his White House staff. Trump made small talk with some of the soldiers, discussing everything from football to military careers. “Gonna make it a career?” Trump asked one person. “C’mon, you have to stay,” he urged another. Trump also hailed Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady, saying he “cemented his place” in football history after his fifth Super Bowl win Sunday. Trump, who is also commander in chief of the U.S. military, stopped at the base on the way back to Washington after his first weekend away from the White House. Trump spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, with first lady Melania Trump, who had not appeared in public since shortly after her husband took office. At MacDill, the president is to be briefed by CENTCOM and SOCOM leaders, join troops for lunch and deliver a speech. Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, were expected to attend the meetings. Trump met with Florida Gov. Rick Scott before the flight to Washington. CENTCOM oversaw a recent raid by U.S. special operations forces on an al-Qaida compound in Yemen, the first military operation authorized by Trump. A Navy SEAL, Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, of Peoria, Illinois, was killed, making him the first known U.S. combat casualty under Trump. Three other U.S. service members were wounded in the operation. More than half a dozen suspected militants and more than a dozen civilians were also killed, including the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric and U.S. citizen who was targeted and killed in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike. Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware last week to be present when Owens’ remains were returned to his family. During his weekly address last Friday, Trump paid tribute to Owens as a “brave and selfless patriot.” “We will never forget him. We will never ever forget those who serve. Believe me,” Trump said. Trump also talked in the address about his responsibility to keep the American people safe, and mentioned the executive order he signed late last month suspending the U.S. refugee program as well as travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries. The executive order has been met with challenges in federal court and protests around the country. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama State Rep. Jack Williams announces he will not seek re-election
Vestavia Hills-Republican, State Rep Jack Williams announced he will not not seek re-election at the end of his term Monday morning. Williams, 59, has been a member of the Alabama House of Representatives since 2004, representing House District 47, which is composed of much of the City of Vestavia Hills and the City of Hoover. “I’ve been in Montgomery for the last 12 years and have two more years to go at the end of my term and there are some other things that I have an interest in doing that doesn’t include anything in Montgomery,” Williams told Alabama Today. “I will refocus my attention then.” The former Chairman of the Greater Birmingham Young Republicans, Williams has also served as President of the National Republican County Officials. He currently serves as the Chairman on the Alabama House Commerce and Small Business Committee. Williams made the formal announcement of his decision Monday morning in the foyer of his church in Vestavia Hills — an apt location following all of the prayers that went into his decision. “I’m grateful for the voters in District 47 and for the confidence they’ve shown in me the last three to four elections,” he told Alabama Today after the announcement. “I wanted to make announcement now, in time to give folks a chance to consider running. There are a lot of folks capable in the District.” Williams said he had privately made the decision years ago, but wanted to be sure of his choice before he formally announced it. “I probably decided a couple of years ago I wasn’t going to run again for the legislature, but didn’t want to make a decision in the heat of an election season,” Williams explained. ” But as the months have gone by, I’ve prayed about and thought about it and I’m even more confident this is the right thing for both myself and the District.”
Birmingham man wants Anne Frank story shared through national monument
The man who spearheaded the planting of a tree in honor of Anne Frank in a Birmingham park doesn’t want it to be forgotten once tours of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument begin. Al.com reports the horse chestnut tree, like the one mentioned in “The Diary of Anne Frank,” was planted in 2010 in Kelly Ingram Park. A plaque near the tree states that it was dedicated to “victims of intolerance and discrimination.” Anne Frank died at age 15 in a Nazi concentration camp. Joel Rotenstreich of the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center said Frank’s story has connections with the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. He said all five girls were killed because of hate, intolerance, bigotry and prejudice. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Is it tough being a kid? Try being a president’s kid
If it’s tough being a kid, try being a “first kid” — the child of an American president. Just ask President Bill Clinton‘s daughter, Chelsea. Or President George W. Bush‘s twins, Jenna and Barbara. And now, President Donald Trump‘s youngest child, Barron, is finding out. Ten-year-old Barron was the target of a poorly received joke tweeted by a “Saturday Night Live” writer on Jan. 20 as the new first family reveled in Inauguration Day events. Separately in Chicago, comedian Shannon Noll played the title character in “Barron Trump: Up Past Bedtime,” which had a recent run at a theater in Hyde Park. Both instances have revived age-old questions about the sometimes less-than-kid-glove treatment of presidential kids. “I think the children are off-limits,” said Lisa Caputo, who was White House press secretary when “Saturday Night Live” made fun of then-13-year-old Chelsea Clinton. “They didn’t run for public office, they don’t hold an official role.” “SNL” cast member Mike Meyers sent the Clintons a letter of apology after the incident. The teenage Chelsea Clinton also was mocked by talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who called her a dog. Katie Rich, the “SNL” writer who tweeted about Barron, was suspended indefinitely. After deleting the tweet and deactivating her Twitter account, she reactivated the account, saying she wanted to “sincerely apologize” for the “insensitive” tweet and that she deeply regretted her actions. “It was inexcusable & I’m so sorry,” Rich said. Fellow comedians have risen to her defense, but Noll told the Chicago Reader that she has been the subject of a social media backlash, including death threats, as well as homophobic, transphobic, anti-Semitic and racist comments directed at her. The theater has also been harassed. All presidents and first ladies seek a life outside the spotlight for minor children who live in the 132-room mansion, except when they themselves put their kids in the spotlight. Days after the incident involving Rich, the White House appealed for respect for Barron’s privacy. “It is a longstanding tradition that the children of presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight,” the White House press office said in a brief statement. “The White House fully expects this tradition to continue.” That same week, Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News that it was “a disgrace” for NBC “to attack my 10-year-old son.” Trump also suggested the dustup may have bothered Barron, who has only been seen publicly during big moments of the past year, such as the night Trump addressed the Republican National Convention and election night. He continues to live full-time in New York City with his mother, first lady Melania Trump. “It’s not an easy thing for him. Believe me,” Trump said of his son. In contrast, Trump’s adult children, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany, are sharing the limelight with their famous father. Don Jr. and Eric are running the family business, and Ivanka could end up joining the administration. All three Trump children sat in on meetings their father conducted before and after he took office. Doug Wead, who wrote a book about the children of presidents, said it’s the “ultimate hurt” when the offspring become the vehicle for the ire that some grownups wish they could direct toward the president. He said kids become targets because they’re seen as weak. “Barron can’t fight back,” Wead said. Anita McBride, who worked for three Republican presidents and was first lady Laura Bush‘s chief of staff, said President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, did a good job shielding their daughters from most public scrutiny. Bush’s daughters were college-bound when he was elected in 2000, so they didn’t live in the White House. But their underage drinking made headlines. “Why in a matter of 24 hours should it be different for this child?” McBride said of Barron. And Chelsea Clinton said on Twitter that “Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does — to be a kid.” But she also added that standing up for kids means opposing Trump policies that hurt them. The supportive tweet from the former first daughter — who is good friends with Barron’s sister Ivanka — shed light on the exclusive club of “first children,” who seem to be looking out for one another. Jenna and Barbara Bush recently applauded Malia and Sasha Obama for surviving the “unbelievable pressure of the White House” and enduring “harsh criticism of your parents by people” who don’t know them. “Take all that you have seen, the people you have met, the lessons you have learned, and let that help guide you in making positive change. We have no doubt you will,” they encouraged the Obama girls in a letter. The Bush sisters also wrote a letter to the Obama girls when they moved into the White House in 2009 at ages 10 and 7. Wead said few tears should be shed over the fact that these children sometimes get rough treatment from the public. As children of privilege, they are steps ahead of so many of their peers. “Two of them became presidents themselves,” Wead said, referring to George W. Bush, son of President George H.W. Bush, and John Quincy Adams, son of President John Adams. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick adheres closely to Constitution
Judge Neil Gorsuch recalls being blinded by tears in the middle of a ski run after someone rang his cellphone with news of the unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The reaction illustrates not only the depth of Gorsuch’s admiration for his mentor but also how thoroughly he has modeled his conservative constitutionalist views after Scalia. “I immediately lost what breath I had,” Gorsuch, who sits on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said in a speech last April. “And I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears.” One year later, the 49-year-old Colorado native is President Donald Trump‘s pick to replace Scalia as the Republican leader heeded calls by many conservatives to find someone as near to a Scalia philosophical clone as possible. Like Scalia, Gorsuch believes judges must focus primarily on the text of the 230-year-old Constitution and resolve legal disputes by following the Founding Fathers’ intentions. Gorsuch has said that if judges factor in personal beliefs, societal changes or calculations about maximizing social welfare, they risk becoming “little more than politicians with robes.” Gorsuch, who once went fly-fishing with Scalia, said Scalia helped remind Americans about the roles of judges and lawmakers. In a speech last year at Case Western Reserve University, Gorsuch said that message was that “legislators may appeal to their own moral convictions and to claims about social utility to reshape law. … But that judges should do none of these things in a democratic society.” Scalia, who died last February, was a leading proponent of originalism, an approach that seeks to resolve constitutional disputes by focusing on the document’s text, its historical context and the framers’ intentions. Originalism often is viewed as a conservative philosophy, but adherents can often hold strong civil libertarian views. Scalia, for example, held that flag burning was protected speech. Scalia frequently complained that the concept of originalism was misunderstood. He explained that an emphasis on text and historical context is flexible enough to be applied to modern phenomena like radio and the internet. And he said originalism left open avenues for change, including through constitutional amendments and legislation. “You want to create new rights and/or destroy old ones?” Scalia asked in a 1996 speech. “A legislature and the electoral franchise are all that you need. The only reason you need a constitution is because there are some things which you don’t want a majority to be able to change.” Originalism’s critics say judges should treat the Constitution as a living, breathing document that’s able to encompass society’s evolving values. An example of this approach is the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that says constitutional rights to due process and equal protection supports a right to same-sex marriage. In his dissent, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the Constitution “had nothing to do with” that ruling by the court majority. In his 2016 speech, Gorsuch also quoted Scalia as saying that, to be a good judge, “you have to resign yourself to the fact that you’re not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you’re probably doing something wrong.” Despite his adherence to a conservative legal philosophy, Gorsuch has also warned against rigidity. When asked at his 2006 confirmation hearings for the appeals court about the kind of judge he considers unacceptable, Gorsuch answered: “Someone who is not willing to listen with an open mind to the arguments of counsel, to his colleagues, and to precedent.” But Gorsuch’s tendency to harken back to the framers is reflected in his sharp criticism of the Chevron doctrine, which holds that judges should defer to federal departments and agencies to fill in the blanks of certain laws, including on immigration and the environment. The framers, Gorsuch wrote last year, intended for lawmakers to make the laws, executives to execute them and judges to decipher their meaning. “A government of diffused powers, they knew, is a government less capable of invading the liberties of the people,” he wrote. Gorsuch incorporated wariness of executive power in a dissent after the full 10th Circuit declined to rehear a three-judge panel’s ruling that a sex offender should comply with detailed rules about registering as a sex offender. Those rules were set not by Congress, but by the U.S. attorney general. “If the separation of powers means anything, it must mean that the prosecutor isn’t allowed to define the crimes he gets to enforce,” Gorsuch wrote in 2015. If political leaders differ with judges over existing law, Gorsuch wrote, politicians always had a clear constitutional remedy: “It’s called legislation. … Admittedly, the legislative process can be an arduous one. But that’s no bug in the constitutional design: It is the very point of the design.” Originalists such as Gorsuch also apply their philosophy to resolve disagreements over laws crafted by Congress or state legislatures, focusing on the text and intention of the lawmakers. In a 2012 dissent in an appeal of a federal law that bans felons from possessing guns, Gorsuch wrote: “When the current statute’s language is clear, it must be enforced just as Congress wrote it. … Congress could have written the law differently than it did, and it is always free to rewrite the law when it wishes. But in our legal order it is the role of the courts to apply the law as it is written, not some different law Congress might have written in the past or might write in the future.” Gorsuch has argued that liberals are too quick to file lawsuits as a way to force change, even though there’s “no doubt that constitutional lawsuits have secured critical civil-rights victories,” including desegregation. He said that reliance can end up hardening divisions. “In the legislative arena, especially when the country is closely divided, compromises tend to be the rule of the day,” he wrote in the National Review in 2005. “But when judges rule
