“The Cold Civil War” is heating up with the fight between President Donald Trump and “The Squad” of Leftist minority congresswomen, particularly former refugee Ilhan Omar. The question in this political struggle is as fundamental as the one at the center of the more violent 19^th century conflict: The Republican base clearly believes the U.S. is a majority-white country rooted in the traditions of the Founding—the Historic American Nation. But Democrats (and some of the controlled opposition in Conservatism Inc.) think America belongs to the entire world—that it isn’t really a nation at all. This is an irrepressible conflict. and lines are clearly drawn between a GOP base that believes in the old America and Leftists who explicitly want to replace it.

President Trump’s base is to the right of the Commander-in-Chief himself. Thus the Main Stream Media smeared Trump’s tweets against Ilhan Omar and others a “racially charged attack,” but grassroots Republican support for the president actually increased afterward [Republican support for Trump after racially charged tweets: Reuters/Ipsos poll, by Chris Kahn, Reuters, July 16, 2019]. This is especially striking because most of Conservatism Inc. condemned him in hysterical terms [Donald Trump’s Tweets Were Malicious, and Republican Silence is Deafening, by David French, National Review, July 15, 2019]. At the most recent rally, it was the attendees who spontaneously chanting “send her back” in reference to Ilhan Omar [Trump blasts 4 congresswomen; crowd roars, ‘Send her back!’, by Deb Reichmann, AP, July 18, 2019]. Beltway Right types and the Main Stream Media condemned it in their typically scripted way. And back in the White House, Trump backed off—putting him the extraordinary position of disavowing his own voters [Trump disavows ‘send her back’ chant from his rally, Politico, July 18, 2019].

The Republican base clearly wants real action on immigration, including deportations and a wall. Yet little has materialized. There’s bluster, but no action. President Trump speaks loudly, but carries a small stick. If he’s just going to denounce people for repeating his own opinions, he’d be better off not saying anything at all. [Trump says not happy with backers’ ‘send her back’ chant, AP, July 18, 2019]

Even informed Americans simply don’t know about the totalitarian crackdown against free speech going on in their own country. Thus a reader who follows VDARE.com on Twitter just responded to our criticism of Yoram Hazony and David Brog’s manipulative exclusion of American immigration patriots from their just-concluded so-called “National Conservatism” Conference by asking: “How about creating your own event?”

Answer: Because our venues cancel due to threats from the Left.

We protect ourselves from institutional damage in these situations, thanks to our strong contracts. But it’s extremely harmful to the growth of patriotic immigration reform movement that its supporters can’t exercise their elementary rights to meet, share ideas, network and organize.

Which, of course, is why the Left keeps pressuring.

However, the ultimate question raised by VDARE FOUNDATION v CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS, JOHN SUTHERS is why a Republican Mayor in a Republican area (El Paso County, in which Colorado Springs is  located, voted 56%-34% for Trump in 2016) would join in the Leftist campaign against us, when we are essentially just defending Trump’s 2016 immigration agenda.

Which is exactly what John Suthers, the Mayor of Colorado Springs, did when he announced in 2017 that “the City of Colorado Springs will not provide any support or resources to this event, and does not condone hate speech in any fashion” i.e. he would not provide police protection, fire service protection, presumably not even emergency medical services, to our projected conference at Colorado Springs’ Cheyenne Mountain Lodge.

Shortly thereafter, Cheyenne Mountain Lodge cancelled our conference.

Of all the litigation that VDARE.com has been forced reluctantly to initiate, this is the case that our lawyers regard as the most straightforward. There is very extensive federal case law establishing the principle that local governments must respect the First Amendment rights of even unpopular groups.

For more details, see “PATRIOTS HAVE RIGHTS. THEY HAVE JUST NOT ORGANIZED TO DEFEND THEM—UNTIL NOW.” Peter Brimelow On VDARE.com’s First Amendment Civil Rights Suit Against CO Springs RINO Mayor John Suthers, which I posted on March 7, 2019.

But this has not prevented Suthers and the City of Colorado Springs’ lawyers from digging in their heels, as I reported on May 15: VDARE.com’s First Amendment Suit Against CO Springs Mayor John Suthers: An Update—And Thanks To Our Patriot Lawyer Readers!

Further developments.

• On May 24, our lawyers filed a response to the City’s Motion To Dismiss. [PDF]
• On June 7, the City of Colorado Springs replied to our response. [PDF]

Note that our lawyers filed as an exhibit the Colorado Springs Charter. [PDF] 

In contrast, the City of Colorado Springs filed as an Exhibit regulations giving the police chief power to implement regulations for the police department. [PDF]

(Again, I want to thank the patriot lawyer readers who have been writing to us about this case.)

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Tafoya is expected to rule on the motion to dismiss very soon.

Our lawyers believe this case will go to trial. Although they are confident, every single step is expensive—and Mayor Suthers’ bills are being paid by the unfortunate taxpayers of Colorado Springs.

Please help us (tax-deductibly) NOW! (You can earmark your donation).

We (and your posterity) will be most grateful.

Peter Brimelow [Email him] is the editor of VDARE.com. His best-selling book, Alien Nation: Common Sense About America’s Immigration Disaster, is now available in Kindle format.

See earlier, from 2013: Funny Thing—ACLU Didn’t Say Its Legalize-Marijuana Poster Boy Is Convicted Gang-Banger

Over the weekend, NBC News investigative reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell appeared on MSNBC's "Kasie DC" to tell the story of Bill Underwood, loving parent and prison mentor, who has already spent nearly 30 years in prison for a nonviolent drug crime.

Caldwell reported:

"William Underwood, now 65 years old, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a nonviolent drug-related crime. It was his first felony, but in the middle of the tough-on-crime era, the judge showed no leniency. With no hope of ever walking free again, Underwood has made the best of his time in prison, mentoring others and staying devoted to his children and grandchildren, as (his daughter) Ebony fights for his release."

Another black body in prison for mere possession of a joint!

Actually, no one is in prison anywhere for possession of a joint, except in the pea-brain fantasies of chubby college coeds everywhere. We don't have the prison space.

See also “East is East And West is West”: What The Hazony/Brog Heresy Hunt Says About July’s “National Conservative Conference”

[VDARE.com senior management was disinvited from the “National Conservatism” conference sponsored by the newly-founded Edmund Burke Society’s Yoram Hazony and David Brog, but the blogger ZMan snuck into what he pointedly calls “The Gatekeeper’s Ball” and has sent us this exclusive assessment. For his own reports, see here, here, and here].

In his talk at the “National Conservatism” conference just concluded in Washington D.C., Tucker Carlson joked about how after Trump’s improbable victory, he had to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about the world. If Trump could win the election, then maybe UFOs are real. He was exaggerating, but he was serious about re-evaluating his view of the world.

Carlson also made the point that official Washington continues to struggle with the reality that Donald Trump is President. It’s why Carlson was happy to come to the conference and talk, as it was the first sign that Washington is starting to come terms with what happened in 2016. He may not be on board with the Hazony-Brog project, but he was onboard with the discussion of what comes next.

Carlson is a level-headed guy, so when he talks about re-evaluating his politics in light of Trump, he is doing so within the bounds of reason. For people like Bill Kristol [Email him]and Max Boot, [Email him] the disconfirmation has driven them to madness. Not only have they lost their previous certainty about politics, they are now imagining all sorts of weird fantasies about You Know Who coming back from the grave.

That is an important starting point for understanding what’s going on with Yoram Hazony’s National Conservatism stuff. Some of the people getting involved in his project have been critics of Conservatism Inc. for a while, so they see this as an opportunity to do damage to the Conservative Industrial Complex. Instead of being outsiders, they will get to be insiders and set the agenda.