Sanders: I Will Vote to Convict Trump Unless I Hear ‘Very Good Explanations’

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that unless he hears “some very good explanations,” he intends to vote to convict President Trump in the Senate.

Sanders said, “I’m going to listen to all the evidence. But this is what I will tell you, based on what I have seen right now, if I were a member of the House, I would certainly vote for impeachment. And unless I can hear some very good explanations, I intend to be voting for his impeachment in the Senate.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/12/05/sanders-i-will-vote-to-convict-trump-unless-i-hear-very-good-explanations/

French demonstrators & police CLASH as protests turn to riots (VIDEOS)

Riot police and demonstrators have clashed in France amid the ongoing general strike by labor unions against proposed pension reforms. Dozens have been arrested in Paris alone as over a million people marched across the country.

Footage from Paris shows protesters hurling objects at police, and riot-geared officers charging in response.

Huge crowds turned out on Thursday to protest against the proposal by President Emmanuel Macron’s government to reform the French pension system.

The CGT union said around 1.5 million people marched in support of the protest, while the interior ministry estimates spoke of 700,000. Either way, the protest easily dwarfed the weekly ‘Yellow Vests’ demonstrations that have been happening every Saturday for over a year now.

https://www.rt.com/news/475132-france-pension-protests-riot/

Germany: All EU Members Must Take in Migrants

The continuing debate over migration is, at its core, about European federalism and the degree to which the European Union will be allowed to usurp decision-making powers from its 28 member states.

If everything goes according to plan, the draft legislation would be adopted by the European Parliament in the second half of 2020 when Germany holds the presidency of the EU. It would then be ratified by the European Council, made up of the leaders of the EU member states.

"We fundamentally reject illegal migration. We also reject allowing smuggling gangs to decide who will live in Europe." — Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

"The V4's [Visegrád group: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia] position is clear. We are not willing to admit any illegal migrants into central Europe. The success and security of central Europe is thanks to our pursuit of a firm anti-migration policy, and this will endure…. Hungarians insist on our right to decide whom to allow into our country and with whom we wish to live." — Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15245/eu-migrants-relocation-quota

‘Hail Byrd!’ State employees in West Virginia suspended over photo of prison guard trainees giving NAZI SALUTE

Several state employees in West Virginia face suspension after a photo emerged showing dozens of corrections officers in training giving a Nazi salute in a class photo, prompting the state’s governor to threaten their termination.

A number of officials, including Governor Jim Justice, have already denounced the controversial photo, which depicts roughly 30 prison guard trainees displaying the Nazi salute, with the words “HAIL BYRD!” captioned at the top of the image, an apparent reference to the class’ instructor. The class was trained between October and November of this year.

“I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class #18 in the strongest possible terms,” Governor Justice said, adding that he had ordered an investigation into the incident, as well as the termination of all state employees involved.

This will not be tolerated on my watch – within the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation – or within any agency of state government.

The cabinet secretary for West Virginia's Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety (DMAPS), Jeff Sandy, who was tasked by the governor to investigate, also slammed the photo in a letter sent out to all corrections employees on Wednesday.

The photo “is distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive and completely inappropriate,” Sandy wrote. “It betrays the professionalism I have seen time and time again displayed and practiced by our brave correctional employees.”

While local news outlets had reported on the photo before it surfaced, based on Sandy’s letter alone, DMAPS published the image on Thursday in response to public records requests, though it blurred the officers’ faces, citing their right to privacy.

Democratic Delegate Mike Pushkin, one of the few Jewish members of West Virginia’s legislature, called the photo “disgusting” and insisted that the officers who appear in it should be barred from holding positions of power.

“At best, this is an extreme lack of judgement for people who have a lot of power over other people’s lives,” he told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “At worst, it’s just blatant anti-Semitism.” All copies of the photo were ordered destroyed by Division of Corrections commissioner Betsy Jividen in order to “keep its harm from spreading,” Sandy said.

https://www.rt.com/usa/475148-prison-guard-nazi-salute/