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Ironically, the more completely the sphere of autonomy is secured, the more comprehensive the state must become. Liberalism, so defined, requires liberation from all forms of associations and relationships, from family to church, from schools to village and community, that exerted control over behavior through informal and habituated expectations ad norms. Those controls were largely cultural, not politicallaw was less extensive and existed largely as a continuation of cultural norms, the informal expectations of behavior learned through family, church, and community. With the liberation of individuals from these associations, there is more need to regulate behavior through the imposition of positive law. At the same time, as the authority of social norms dissipates, they are increasingly felt to be residual, arbitrary, and oppressive, motivating calls for the state to actively work toward their eradication.

No words at least none this columnist is aware of better describe the far-left zealotry evident in this country, particularly over the last year. The destruction of historical statues, the dissolution and disrespect of family and family values, the insidious nature of vilifying the country at every turn all of it can be summed up by the loss of cultural norms traditionally undergirded by church, family and community.

The images and associations, in fact, are striking, including: Rioting and looting in major cities, socialists heavily involved in Bidens presidential campaign, Supreme Court nominees being vilified and condemned simply because the Constitution and traditional values couldegads! be supported by future Court decisions.

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COLUMN: Dems no longer the party of Clinton or Obama - Independent Tribune

WASHINGTON (AP) A voter initiative led by Michelle Obama is partnering with a similar group founded by NBA star LeBron James and other prominent Black athletes and entertainers to sponsor events in major U.S. cities starting next week to generate excitement about voting early for the Nov. 3 election.

Mrs. Obamas When We All Vote and James More Than A Vote are teaming to provide information, transportation, food, music, personal protective equipment and other support at early voting sites around the country Oct. 18-31.

Millions of Americans have already cast their ballot and with only 21 days until Election Day. Making your plan to vote early is critical, Mrs. Obama said Tuesday in a statement to The Associated Press. Its now up to us to do everything in our power to get our friends and family ready to vote early and safely together. We cant leave anyone behind.

The former first lady is also launching a challenge to encourage more people to vote before Nov. 3. Her group also announced more than $1 million in grants and supplies to local partner organizations to host their own activities.

Last week, Mrs. Obama repeated her endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a lengthy new video message that was sharply critical of Republican President Donald Trump.

In-person events are planned for Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Orlando, Florida; and Philadelphia. They will be held within walking distance of early voting sites and include free food from the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, DoorDash and other providers.

Music, celebrity appearances, personal protective equipment and support for voters rights from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law and the Election Protection coalition will also be provided. Lyft has agreed to provide discounted transportation.

When We All Vote also plans to host a virtual couch party on Oct. 23.

Other partners include BET, Comedy Central, Johnson & Johnson, MTV, the National Urban League, Radio One and United Way Worldwide.

All attendees and staff on the ground will be required to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

___

APs Advance Voting guide brings you the facts about voting early, by mail or absentee from each state: https://interactives.ap.org/advance-voting-2020/.

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Michelle Obama, LeBron James team to help boost early voting - The Associated Press

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Brian Glyn Williams, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

(THE CONVERSATION) One common claim by President Donald Trumps reelection campaign has been that his administration beat IS, or whats formally known as the Islamic State terrorist group.

It came up most recently in the vice presidential debate, when Mike Pence boasted, We destroyed the ISIS caliphate. You know when President Trump came into office, ISIS had captured an area of the Middle East the size of Pennsylvania. President Trump unleashed the American military, and our armed forces destroyed the ISIS caliphate and took down their leader al-Baghdadi without one American casualty.

Similar victory claims have been made by Trump himself dating back to October 2017 and include him saying Weve done more against ISIS in nine months than the previous administration has done during its whole administration by far, by far. Other statements in March 2018 and February 2019 include Trumps boast on terrorism, in Iraq and Syria, weve taken back almost 100%, in a very short period of time, of the land that they took. And it all took place since our election.

I am a scholar who tracks the Islamic State groupand its affiliates. I pay careful attention to where the group is active and holds territory as part of a University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth project I lead called MappingISIS.com.

Data I have collected including from official reports issued by the State Department, the Global Anti-ISIS Coalition, the Pentagon, IHS Conflict Monitor, a think tank that provides data on wars, and other think tanks show that the presidents claims are false: The Trump administration mostly finished the job, but the Obama administration launched the successful campaign against the Islamic State, and did roughly half the work the president is trying to claim credit for.

Using these sources, I have created a map that for the first time delineates territory liberated from the Islamic State under Obama and under Trump. The map makes clear that the Obama administration liberated approximately 50% of ISIS territory before handing the successful war effort off to Trump.

Taking territory

In 2014, the Obama administration launched a military campaign called Operation Inherent Resolve to use U.S. and allied troops and provide aid to other groups to fight the Islamic State group.

Military, government and outside analysts agree that the campaign was successful on all fronts before Trump took office in January 2017. For instance, the U.S. envoy to the international anti-ISIS coalition testified in June 2016 seven months before Trump became president that the Islamic State has lost 47% of its territory in Iraq, and 20% in Syria.

The 72-nation coalition stated by November 2016 Islamic State had lost 62% of its mid-2014 peak territory in Iraq, and 30% in Syria. And the British think tank IHS Markit reported that by the final months of Obamas presidency, Islamic State territory in Iraq had shrunk from 40% of the country to just 10%.

Pentagon and State Department maps further demonstrate that in the two and half years the war was fought under Obama, the Islamic State lost its only international border (with Turkey) and vast swaths of territory. They clearly show that approximately half of the Islamic States territory had been liberated by the time Obama left office.

For Iraq specifically, I have used Pentagon and State Department reports to create a map showing how much of the country the coalition liberated from the Islamic State under the Obama administration, including half of Mosul, the largest city that had been under the groups control.

Killing IS fighters

The Islamic State group also lost large numbers of fighters under Obama. In December 2016, a month before Obamas term ended, CNN reported that the Pentagon said it had killed 50,000 militants in airstrikes since 2014, leaving no more than 15,000 Islamic State fighters to defend their collapsing state. Just weeks after Obama left the White House, Gen. Raymond Thomas, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told a symposium in Maryland, We have killed over 60,000 [ISIS members].

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.]

In addition to losing territory and fighters under Obama, the Islamic State lost most of its oil-producing capacity in 2015, as a result of a massive bombing campaign known as Tidal Wave II, which drastically limited the groups ability to fund its operations.

Under Obama, the Islamic State also lost its backup headquarters city, the Libyan town of Sirte.

Trumps claims of conquering almost 100% [of the Islamic State] since our election are false. Objective history records that Obama launched and oversaw much of the victorious war that the current president claims for himself.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/who-really-defeated-the-islamic-state-obama-or-trump-148066.

Licenced as Creative Commons - attribution, no derivatives.

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Who really defeated the Islamic State Obama or Trump? - goskagit.com

Former President Barack Obama and Senator Kamala Harris of California offered their prayers for President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, on Friday evening, colliding with the timing of an emailed fund-raising appeal from the Trump campaign.

The subject line: Lyin Obama.

Lyin Obama and Phony Kamala Harris are calling up their Liberal MEGA DONORS to come and rescue Joe Bidens failing campaign, read the message. Theyre holding a COASTAL ELITE fund-raiser RIGHT NOW.

Just minutes earlier, Mr. Obama and Ms. Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, had opened their virtual fund-raiser by wishing the president and his wife a speedy recovery, with the former president urging all Americans to hope for the presidents recovery even in the middle of a contentious campaign.

The combative tone of the email came hours after the Biden campaign pulled down all its negative ads against the president, though some already in circulation could take time to stop airing.

The Trump campaign has said it has no plans to stop its attack ads against the Democratic nominee. Announcing an event on Thursday in Peoria, Ariz., to be headlined by Vice President Mike Pence, the campaign accused Mr. Biden of advocating for the far-lefts agenda and having turned his back on Arizonans.

During the online fund-raiser for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Mr. Obama told watchers: Even when were in the midst of big political battles with issues that have a lot at stake, that were all Americans and were all human beings, and we want to make sure everybody is healthy. Michelle and I want to make sure we acknowledge the president and the first lady at this difficult time.

Ms. Harris offered her deepest prayers, adding, Let it be a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant and take care of ourselves and take care of each other.

The two officials, who were joined by the actor Michael B. Jordan, also tried to assuage concerns and dispel misinformation about voting, particularly casting ballots by mail. Mr. Trump has spent weeks waging a disinformation campaign about the integrity of the American electoral system.

All three said they planned to cast their ballots by mail.

Im going to fill it out at my kitchen table and Im going to get over to the drop box and Im going to drop it off as early as I can, said Ms. Harris, who added she had the date to request her ballot circled on her calendar.

Mr. Obama, who rattled off the name of his polling place in Chicagos Hyde Park neighborhood, said he had cast mail-in ballots since winning the presidency, in part to avoid the crowds that slow down lines when he appears.

When I vote in person, theres a price, he said. It slows down a whole bunch of folks.

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Obama offers prayers for Trump, while the presidents campaign insults Obama in a fund-raising letter. - The New York Times

On June 26, 2020, the ObamaWatcher website published an article positing that 82% of mail-in ballots in the U.S. were printed by entities owned and operated by the Obama Foundation:

[N]early 82% of all American mail-in ballots are printed by Smoovy-G class 5 dot-matrix replicators All of which are owned and operated by the Obama Foundation.

The Obama Ballots, as some pundits are now calling them as the story has begun to go viral, are being produced in main distribution centers in Baggertits, Ohio, Queefgas Swamp, Florida, and Laniasnatch, Colorado. Ballots are printed by the millions per day, no doubt, with Democratic candidates names already checked off on them

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows: Everything on this website is fiction. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.

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Does the Obama Foundation Own 82% of Mail-In Ballot Printers? - Snopes.com