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AACONS Tag

I am stunned as I write this. A sitting member of Congress, Rep. Steve Scalise, was shot this morning, based purely upon his political beliefs. The shooter, James Hodgkinson, posted many anti-Trump rants on his social media feeds. And, it is reported that before unloading approximately 50 shots at a congressional baseball game, he asked if the group was comprised of Democrats or Republicans.

On January 20, 2017, at 11:51 am ET, Donald Trump delivered his first speech as American president. With several former presidents -- including the first Black president, Barack Obama -- reportedly squirming uncomfortably behind him, President Trump spoke to the thousands gathered in attendance with these words, delivered the most pro-African American inaugural address in recent history:
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.

Kimberley Strassel is a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. Since 2007 she has written the "Potomac Watch" column and has worked for the Wall Street Journal in Brussels, London, and New York. An Oregon native, Ms. Strassel is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in Virginia with her three children. Her new book is entitled, “The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech.” Kim R. Holmes is a Distinguished Fellow and former Vice President of The Heritage Foundation, who oversaw the think tank’s defense and foreign policy team for more than two decades. Holmes also served as a U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for international organization affairs during most of the first term of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2004. His new book is entitled, “The Closing of the Liberal Mind: How Groupthink and Intolerance Define the Left."

Eric Bolling is a Fox News Channel personality and co-host of the highly rated show The Five and his own weekend program Cashin' In. He frequently appears on other Fox programs, including as substitute host for Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor. His new book is entitled, Wake Up America: The Nine Virtues That Made Our Nation Great - And Why We Need Them More Than Ever. Phil Kerpen is the president of American Commitment and a leading free-market policy analyst and advocate in Washington. Prior to joining American Commitment, he was the principal policy and legislative strategist at Americans for Prosperity, and has worked at the Free Enterprise Fund, the Club for Growth, and the Cato Institute. Mr. Kerpen is also a nationally syndicated columnist, chairman of the Internet Freedom Coalition, and author of the 2011 book, Democracy Denied.

Allen West served as an US Representative representing Florida's 22nd and 18th District. He is a 22 year veteran of the military where he earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as well as a Bronze Star and a Meritorious Service Medal. He is a Fox News contributor, founder of AllenBWest.com, the author of the bestseller Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin’s Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom. LTC West currently serves as Executive Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board for the National Center for Policy Analysis.

ILYA SOMIN is Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law. He is a regular contributor for the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy blog and is the author or co-author of several books, including The Grasping Hand: "Kelo v. City of New London” and the Limits of Eminent Domain. Professor Somin has recently released a second edition of his 2013 book, Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter, which he will discuss with us today. WILLIAM S. KING is an independent scholar and commercial driver specializing in the transport of oversized industrial materials. He is the author of the award-winning To Raise Up a Nation: John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and the Making of a Free Country. His new book is titled Till the Dark Angel Comes: Abolitionism and the Road to the Second American Revolution.

Juan Williams is a top political analyst for Fox News Channel, co-host of the daily news show “The Five,” and a columnist for The Hill. His written work includes such critically acclaimed bestselling books as Eyes on the Prize, Enough, and Thurgood Marshall. And his latest book is entitled We the People: The Modern-Day Figures Who Have Reshaped and Affirmed the Founding Fathers' Vision of America. Demetrius Minor is a former White House intern, and radio and television talk show personality, and the founder of demetriuspeaks.com. He is also a graduate of Georgia Military College and a member of the National Advisory Council of Project 21, a black leadership network. His first book is entitled, Preservation and Purpose: The Making of a Young Millennial.

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, an adjust scholar at the Cato Institute, and a blogger for EconLog. He is the author of Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids and The Myth of the Rational Voter. George Gilder is the author of 18 books including the classic Wealth and Poverty which lead him to be called President Reagan’s most quoted living author. He is a founding fellow of the Discovery Institute and a senior fellow at the American Principles Project. His latest book is entitled, The Scandal of Money: Why Wall Street Recovers But the Economy Never Does.

Ed Morrissey is the senior editor and correspondent for HotAir.com, and has weekly columns at TheWeek.com and TheFiscalTimes.com. His new book is entitled, Going Red: The Two Million Voters Who Will Elect the Next President - And How Conservatives Can Win Them. Peter Kuo is a Republican candidate to represent California’s 17th Congressional District in the US Congress. He is an insurance agent who started his own Farmers Insurance Agency in 1994. And he is the founder of the True 3D marketing company. He is married and the father of three children.

Dana Perino is a Fox News Contributor and co-host of one of the most popular shows on cable television, The Five. Perino was the first Republican woman to serve as the White House Press Secretary, and served for over seven years in the administration of George W. Bush, including at the Department of Justice after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. She has recently released the paperback edition of her bestselling book, And The Good News Is: Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side. Dr. Sebastian L.v. Gorka is an American expert on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism and teachesirregular warfare. He is Breitbart's National Security Editor, founding member of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs and member of the Strategic Advisers Group of the Atlantic Council of the United States. His new book is entitled, Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War.

Allen West is the CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis. Previously, he served as an US Representative representing Florida's 22nd and 18th District. He is a 22 year veteran of the military where he earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as well as a Bronze Star and a Meritorious Service Medal. He is a Fox News contributor, founder of AllenBWest.com, and the author of the bestseller, Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin’s Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom. Dr. Barry Latzer is the Emeritus Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the author of many books on the death penalty and state constitutional criminal procedure. His latest book is entitled, The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America.

Gerard Robinson is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he works on education policy issues including choice in public and private schools, implementation of K–12 standards, innovation in for-profit educational institutions, and the role of community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in adult advancement. Karen Branan is a veteran journalist who has written for newspapers, magazines, the stage, and television for almost fifty years. her work has appreared inLife, Mother Jones, Ms., Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and on PBS, CBS, ABC, CBC, BBC, and CNN. Her recent book is entitled, The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth.

John Yoo is a Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a former advisor in the Justice Department as well as a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas. His books include Crisis and Command, War by Other Means, The Powers of War and Peace, and Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare. His most recent project is co-editing, Liberty's Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State. Peter Ferrara is director of policy for the Carleson Center for Public Policy and senior fellow for entitlement and budget policy with the Heartland Institute. He served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan and as associate deputy attorney general under President George H. W. Bush. He writes a weekly column at Spectator.org and also writes for townhall.com and Forbes.com. He lives in McLean, Virginia, and Easton, Pennsylvania.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review." Dan Bongino served in the Secret Service during the administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. He is also a former candidate for both the House and the Senate, and currently hosts a radio show on WMAL, and ConservativeReview.com. His first book, Life Inside the Bubble, was a New York Timesbestseller. And his latest book is titled “The Fight: A Secret Service Agent's Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine.”

Allen West served as an US Representative representing Florida's 22nd and 18th District. He is a 22 year veteran of the military where he earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as well as a Bronze Star and a Meritorious Service Medal. He is a Fox News contributor, founder of AllenBWest.com, the author of the bestseller Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin’s Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom, and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis. Robert S. Levine is Professor of English and a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. His past works include Dislocating Race and Nation; Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, and the Politics of Representative Identity; and Conspiracy and Romance: Studies in Brockden Brown, Cooper, Hawthorne, and Melville. His latest work is entitled, The Lives of Frederick Douglass.

Michelle Malkin is a premier political blogger as well as syndicated columnist; bestselling author, the founder of HotAir.com, Twitchy.com, and MichelleMalkin.com. Her new book, co-authored with John Miano is, Sold Out: How High-Tech Billionaires & Bipartisan Beltway Crapweasels Are Screwing America's Best & Brightest Workers. Kevin D. Williamson writes for National Review, and his work has appeared in publications including Politico and the New York Post. He is the author of The End Is Near and It’s Going To Be Awesome, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism, and the Broadsides The Dependency Agenda and What Doomed Detroit. His latest book is entitled, The Case Against Trump.

Steve Forbes is CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine, and the chairmanForbes Media, which encompasses Forbes, ForbesLife, Forbes.com, Investopedia.com, the RealClear sites and a host of other properties. His latest book, written with Elizabeth Ames, is titled Reviving America: How Repealing Obamacare, Replacing the Tax Code and Reforming The Fed will Restore Hope and Prosperity. A.F. Branco is one of today’s most widely followed editorial cartoonists whose work has been cited by some of our nation’s most prominent Conservative figures. His work is published regularly on a number of conservative websites including Legal Insurrection and his new book is titled Comically Incorrect: A Collection of the Politically-Incorrect Comics.