Thomas Gallatin:  Evidently within the Washington Beltway the identity of the anti-Trump “whistleblower” — the hack who submitted a complaint over President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine — has been an open secret for some time. However, due to House Democrat demands that the whistleblower remain anonymous in order to “protect” him from Trump, the mainstream media has dutifully complied. And House Republicans’ hands have largely been tied by Rep. scumbag-Adam Schiff (D-CA), who has forbidden public comments on the specifics of the closed-door hearings.

Thanks to reporting from RealClearInvestigations, however, the secret is out: The anonymous “whistleblower” is likely a 33-year-old government official named Eric Ciaramella. When the Washington Examiner sought to verify the “whistleblower’s” identity with House Republicans, none were willing to give a straightforward confirmation, but several did offer tacit approval.

Tellingly, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) stated, “Well, as far as that particular person, regardless of whether or not he’s a whistleblower, he apparently worked for [former CIA Director scumbag/commie-John] Brennan. He worked for H.R. McMaster. He worked for [loose lips liar-Joe] Biden. He was tasked to the National Security Council on Ukraine.” Gohmert then added, “And, gee, sounds like he’s got bigger problems than being a whistleblower, regardless of whether he is or not.”

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) suggested that reporters should ask scumbag-Schiff. “I can’t tell you what happens in the depositions,” he said, “but I can tell you there’s one person in one’s group of staff members who know who the whistleblower is and that is scumbag-Adam Schiff, and so you need to ask him whether this guy is the real deal.” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) echoed Meadows, stating, “Hey, you need to ask scumbag-Adam Schiff. Don’t ask me.” And Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) made it clear that while many Republicans strongly suspect that Ciaramella is the whistleblower, only scumbag-Schiff can confirm it.

With the revelation that Ciaramella is most likely the “whistleblower,” the evidence of this being another deep-state coup attempt is strengthened. Ciaramella, says RealClearInvestigations, is “a registered Democrat held over from the scumbag/liar-nObama White House, previously worked with former Vice President loose lips liar-Joe Biden and former CIA Director scumbag/commie-John Brennan, [and is] a vocal critic of Trump who helped initiate the Russia ‘collusion’ investigation of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.” He also worked with a DNC “operative who dug up dirt on the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.”

Ciaramella worked in the Trump White House until June 2017, when he left and returned to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, after “he was accused of working against Trump and leaking against Trump,” a former NSC official claimed. Another NCS official said that Ciaramella “didn’t exactly hide his passion with respect to what he thought was the right thing to do with Ukraine and Russia, and his views were at odds with the president’s policies.”

Furthermore, scumbag-Schiff is more deeply tied to the plot than was previously known. Indeed, RealClearInvestigations reports, “Earlier this year, scumbag-Schiff recruited two of Ciaramella’s closest allies at the NSC — both whom were also scumbag/liar-nObama holdovers — to join his committee staff. He hired one, Sean Misko, in August — the same month the whistleblower complaint was filed.” Is it any wonder Democrats have been so adamant over keeping the identity of the “whistleblower” secret?

Again, House Democrats, led by Speaker liar-Nancy Pelosi (CA) and scumbag-Schiff, have orchestrated this impeachment charade in a secretive manner in order to control the political narrative surrounding it. Their vote to approve a resolution this morning does little to change that.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66472?mailing_id=4623&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4623&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

Vote harvesting gives party activists, campaign consultants, and other political guns for hire the ability to manipulate election outcomes either through coercion of voters or outright ballot theft and forgery. Yet, in places such as California and the District of Columbia, vote harvesting is perfectly legal.

Vote harvesting occurs when third parties — campaign workers, for example — collect absentee ballots from voters and deliver them to election officials.

Most people had never heard that term until the 2018 elections. In North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, the Republican candidate was accused of illegal vote harvesting and, ultimately, the state election board overturned the election.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, concerns about vote harvesting were raised in California after unexpected losses by Republicans in several congressional races. Concerns were especially acute in Orange County, where the registrar of voters reported that individuals were dropping off hundreds of absentee ballots each.

All states allow an individual to vote with an absentee ballot, often referred to as a mail-in ballot. The completed ballots are usually mailed back to local election officials, although voters can personally deliver their ballots, too.

Nine states also allow a member of the voter’s family to hand-deliver the voted ballot; another 13 states don’t specify whether someone other than the voter can hand-deliver the ballot on the voter’s behalf.

The vote-harvesting issue arises in the District and the 27 states that allow anyone to pick up an absentee ballot from a voter and deliver it to election officials. The contrast between these two approaches can be seen in North Carolina and California.

North Carolina allows “a voter’s near relative or the voter’s verifiable legal guardian” to return an absentee ballot. California had a similar law that allowed a relative or household member to return an absentee ballot. The law was amended in 2016, effective in the 2018 election, and now allows a voter to “designate any person to return the ballot.”

Allowing individuals other than the voter or his immediate family to handle absentee ballots is a recipe for mischief and wrongdoing.

Neither voters nor election officials can verify that the secrecy of the ballot was not compromised, or that the ballot submitted in the voter’s name by a third party accurately reflects the voter’s choices and was not fraudulently changed by the vote harvester. And there is no guarantee that vote harvesters won’t simply discard the ballots of voters whose political preferences for candidates of the opposition party are known.

It also gives campaign and political party intermediaries the ability to influence voters while they are casting a ballot out of election officials’ sight and without any supervision by them.

Thus, there is no one present to ensure that voters are not being coerced, intimidated, threatened, or paid for their vote.

The Heritage Foundation’s election fraud database contains cases illustrating this problem. They include the conviction in 2017 of the former mayor of Eatonville, Florida, for coercing absentee voters to cast ballots for him — ballots that won him the election.

Then there is the former mayor of Martin, Kentucky, who (along with her husband and son) was convicted in 2014 for threatening and intimidating poor and disabled citizens into casting absentee ballots for her, including ballots that the mayor had filled out.

Obviously, there needs to be a way for individuals who cannot vote in person on Election Day due to illness or some other valid reason to cast a vote, and absentee ballots are the easiest way to make that possible. But the rules governing absentee ballots should not make them susceptible to theft, forgery, or coercion.

That is exactly what states are doing when they allow vote harvesting. Giving third parties who have a stake in the outcome of an election unsupervised access to voters and their absentee ballots is not wise.

Indeed, it is a proven threat to the integrity of our elections.   

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/66426?mailing_id=4620&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4620&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

JOB GROWTH PREVAILS: October job creation comes in at 128,000, easily topping estimates even with GM auto strike (CNBC)

RAISING THE STAKES: dinky/liar-Warren reveals $52 trillion Medicare for All plan, absurdly claims no middle tax increase necessary (National Review)

Impeachment Charade

COUNTERING THE NARRATIVE: Latest impeachment witness contradicts Alexander Vindman’s claim that key details were left out of Ukraine call transcript (National Review)

PRIMER: Four keys to understanding a Trump impeachment trial in the Senate (The Daily Signal)

Government & Politics

WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN: Katie Hill’s farewell speech: I’m the victim here, America (Hot Air)

“I HAVE BEEN TREATED VERY BADLY”: Trump makes Florida his primary residence, but says New York will “have a special place in my heart” (Fox News)

National Security

PLAYING WITH FIRE: Trump admin again gives Iran green light to conduct sensitive nuclear work (The Washington Free Beacon)

NUCLEAR OVERTURES: North Korea launches missile test, prompting escalation fears (U.S. News & World Report)

AID BLOCKED: U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon (Reuters)

Culture

“THIS CASE NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED”:  Kentucky Supreme Court sides with Christian T-shirt maker in free-speech case (The Daily Signal)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: The shameless hypocrisy of cities suing for climate-change “damages” (Issues & Insights)

POLICY: States can use funny math on Medicaid expansion economic claims (The Heartland Institute)

HUMOR: scumbag/liar-nObama canceled after activists dig up old presidential campaign where he opposed gay marriage (The Babylon Bee)  

Let me begin today’s report by expressing a sentiment you did not hear from any Democrat this weekend: “Thank you, Mr. President!”

Late Saturday night, the president tweeted, “Something very big has just happened.” Many were on the edge of our seats here in Washington. Then reports began breaking that 100 courageous U.S. special forces took down Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. The operation was named after murdered American aide worker Kayla Mueller. (More on that below.)

For several months now, while progressives and socialists in Congress have been plotting to take down the duly elected president, the president of the United States was planning his operation to take down the vicious serial rapist and murderer who led the Islamic State in recent years. What a contrast in competing priorities!

But, of course, no Trump victory can be applauded or allowed to stand without attempts to sabotage it. Several times over the past 24 hours, the left showed how deep its sickness goes. Here are some examples.

Trump Didn’t Notify Us

There were complaints by some on the left that Speaker liar-Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democrat Leader Chuck scumbag-Schumer, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman scumbag-Adam Schiff were not notified in advance of the operation. There has never been any obligation for the president to tell congressional leaders about sensitive military operations before they take place. This is a completely made-up assertion. 

Newt Gingrich blasted liar-Pelosi’s whining, saying:

I was speaker of the House just like liar-Nancy Pelosi… The idea that politicians need to be briefed on a military operation while young men and women are risking their lives is just stupid. liar-Nancy Pelosi ought to know better… No politician has a right to know information that could get young men and women killed during the operational phase.

Trump’s Rhetoric Was Wrong

Several critics complained that Trump’s description of the raid was inappropriate. scumbag/liar-nObama’s deputy CIA director, Michael Morrell, said, “You don’t want a locker room kind of feel to this. That was the one thing we worked really hard on after the bin Laden raid — don’t make those kinds of statements, because it does inspire other people.”

Morrell is wrong. Numerous experts have noted that among his jihadi followers, a legend was emerging that Baghdadi was “immortal.” No matter how many times we thought we had him, he always managed to escape and survive. His image was larger than life. 

The president was right to expose Baghdadi as a coward, who died running from dogs and crying in a tunnel. He was right to tell the world that this man was so evil that he murdered three of his own children in the process.

Trump Didn’t Respect Islam

As misguided as Morrell’s remarks were, I was infuriated by retired Admiral James Winnefeld, who said:

This fight is all about religious freedom. It’s about respect for other religions, and if you look back to the bin Laden raid … we treated his body with respect that is due under Islam and this was a little bit tough.

This is the mindset that prevailed for eight years under Barack scumbag/liar-nObama. We were constantly told that people like Osama bin laden and Baghdadi do not represent Islam. “They are not representatives of the religion of peace,” progressives insist. “The terrorists are trying to hijack the religion of peace.”

Well, you can’t have it both ways. If they are not really Muslims, then we are under no obligation to give them Islamic burials. 

But this is the bizarre mindset of the left, where too many elites are more interested in appeasing CAIR and the editorial pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post than they are in ensuring America’s victory in the existential crisis presented by these barbarians.

Payback for Mueller

To the progressives worried about how Baghdadi’s body was treated, where were they when Kayla Mueller, a 26 year-old Christian aide worker, was kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria, and repeatedly raped and abused by Baghdadi and his men? Her body apparently didn’t matter. By the way, through it all, Kayla refused to convert to Islam as her captors demanded. 

Kayla’s parents thanked President Trump for his resolve. Her mother, Marsha, suggested that if scumbag/liar-nObama “had been as decisive as Trump” Kayla might be alive today.

“A Scholar Dies”

If you needed another example of the left’s bizarre mindset, you got it with this Washington Post headline: “Austere Religious Scholar At Helm Of Islamic State Dies At 48.”

Really? Well, if Baghdadi was a religious scholar, then I suppose he did represent Islam when he was cutting off the heads of infidels, raping infidel women, and setting infidels on fire. 

Needless to say, the social-media backlash against the Post’s nonsense was brutal. Some suggested it would be like referring to Adolf Hitler as “a local painter” or “renowned orator.” It would be laughable if it wasn’t so disturbing. 

Baghdadi didn’t die at 48. He was taken out by the U.S. military for his war crimes. I suppose we should be thankful that the Post headline didn’t read: “Renowned Religious Scholar And Dedicated Father Dies During Home Invasion.”

Whoever wrote the Washington Post headline is either an Islamist sympathizer or someone who so hates America that they should have no place anywhere near the operation of the newspaper of the nation’s capital.

In other low points for the press, NBC on Sunday attacked Trump for taking a “victory lap.” Of course, NBC is only interested in political leaders doing apology tours for America. CNN also cut short its coverage of the president’s press conference. This from the network that complains Trump doesn’t do enough press conferences!

scumbag-Clapper’s Claptrap

scumbag/liar-nObama’s Director of National Intelligence scumbag-James Clapper warned that the murder of Baghdadi could “galvanize ISIS.” I can see why scumbag-Clapper’s concerned. 

If ISIS is galvanized, it might start committing genocide against Middle East Christians. It might start raping infidel women. It might start blowing up mosques, churches, synagogues, and historical monuments. 

Oh, wait. That’s what they already do. 

What on Earth is scumbag-Clapper talking about?!

Bad Timing Award

The progressives at “Saturday Night Live” were getting cheers from their progressive audience for mocking Donald Trump by suggesting that he is soft on ISIS. Unbeknownst to them, the pathetic skit ran about the same time that U.S. special forces were getting orders from Trump to take out Baghdadi. Whoops!  ~The Patriot Post 

 https://patriotpost.us/opinion/66398?mailing_id=4616&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4616&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body 

As we noted back then, Mueller’s report was notable for what wasn’t there: Proof of collusion with Russia. This was after the FBI’s counterintelligence powers had been turned on the presidential campaign of the party not in power. It would have been one thing had the Mueller probe or the FBI discovered smoking-gun evidence of wrongdoing, but that was not the case. Mueller came up empty on the most salacious and serious charges.

With that failure, America had to deal with the fact that under the administration of Barack scumbag/liar-nObama, the FBI was essentially spying on Americans who did not share scumbag/liar-nObama’s political views. Americans deserve answers as to why that spying occurred. What was the evidence that led to the FBI deciding that surveillance of the Trump campaign was warranted? These become more important given allegations centering on the case of former DIA Director Michael Flynn, President Trump’s first national security advisor — with Lisa Page and Peter Strzok in the thick of this case.

This wasn’t an isolated incident, either. Before, during, and after the 2016 election, there also were other cases of questionable, if not abusive, uses of governmental power against opponents of the Left: There was the IRS targeting of the Tea Party, the John Doe investigations in Wisconsin, efforts to turn RICO on opponents of Democrats’ environmental policies, scumbag-Andrew Cuomo’s abuses against the NRA, and Joaquin Castro doxed Trump donors in his district. If twice is a coincidence, six times is a definite pattern of behavior.

Incidentally, many leftists will cite Georgia gubernatorial loser worthless-Stacey Abrams as the victim of a nefarious abuse of power at the hands of now-Gov. Brian Kemp, albeit without any evidence of wrongdoing. When it comes to scumba-Cuomo, who openly declared that his intention was to take out the primary political opposition to his anti-Second Amendment agenda, they have no criticism at all. Imagine if a Republican governor were to execute a similar strategy against Planned Parenthood — can anyone seriously say that the same people who either ignore or justify the actions of Castro, scumbag-Cuomo, and liar-Lois Lerner would feel the same about that governor? They would not only demand an end to any such effort, they would demand accountability, as well they should.

The First Amendment is very clear — Americans have the right to speak out. They have the right to peaceably assemble. They have the right to petition for the redress of grievances. Freedom of the press is protected. But the First Amendment becomes a dead letter if politicians can exploit the power of government to retaliate against people who do nothing more than speak out on an issue. When the power of the government is turned on political opponents of the government, the American people at a minimum deserve an explanation as to why that happened. That explanation should either include irrefutable evidence of extremely serious wrongdoing, or it should detail just exactly who screwed up, and what went wrong, as well as what will be done to ensure similar screw-ups don’t happen again.

The problem is that going back a number of years, cases of questionable or flat-out abusive actions by government under Democrats have not seen that sort of accountability. liar-Lerner, who ran the IRS targeting of the Tea Party, retired with a six-figure pension. Those behind the John Doe investigations saw no repercussions, either. scumbag-Cuomo and Castro continue in office. Spygate has seen some firings, but Americans need to see stronger steps to ensure that the misuse of power is deterred.

We at The Patriot Post have said it before, but it must be said again: America can survive honest mistakes in the exercise of governmental power, but it cannot survive double standards. Accountability for Spygate is desperately needed to ensure that a double standard is not entrenched.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66397?mailing_id=4616&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4616&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

Johnson was referring to Chicago’s “sanctuary city” policy, which he fully embraces. But he erroneously and intentionally conflates legal immigrants, who can actually become “new Americans,” with illegal aliens, who are by definition law-breaking non-Americans. The irony is stupefying — the city’s top law-enforcement officer, whose primary role is to serve and protect the citizens of the city, is blatantly promoting lawlessness. With attitudes like this, is it any wonder that Democrat-run Chicago is notorious for its high crime rate?

Johnson’s virtue signal was so offensive that even Chicago’s own members of the Fraternal Order of Police voiced their opposition with a vote of “no confidence,” while FOP President Kevin Graham issued a statement deriding Johnson’s self-serving false narrative. “[Donald Trump] is the president of the United States,” he said. “There are plenty of times I’ve sat listening to speeches that I didn’t care for, and I certainly didn’t walk out on them.” Graham also noted how ATF agents have been a big help to “prosecute [violations of] our gun laws because our local prosecutor hasn’t done the job.” That federal help has “driven down the crime,” he said. “Last month we took a thousand [illegal] guns off the street. Last month alone.”

As for Trump’s speech, he loudly condemned Chicago’s feckless Democrat leaders over their refusal to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “Chicago is, unfortunately, the worst sanctuary city in America. Chicago protects criminals at a level few could even imagine. Last year, in Cook County alone, ICE asked local law-enforcement people to ‘…Please detain 1,162 people. Please.’ But in each case, the detainer was denied.” Trump then took aim at Johnson: “People like Johnson put criminals and illegal aliens before the citizens of Chicago. … And, frankly, those values, to me, are a disgrace. I will never put the needs of illegal criminals before … the needs of law-abiding citizens.”

Finally, Trump added, “So when Eddie Johnson, and many other people from lots of other regions and areas, support sanctuary cities, it’s really, in my opinion, a betrayal of their oath to the shield, and a violation of his duty to serve and to protect the courageous police officers of Chicago.” Trump is correct. While Johnson’s virtue signal is cheered by anti-Trump leftists and open-border advocates, everyday Americans are rejoicing in the fact that the president is honestly calling out the corruption and hypocrisy in the Windy City.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66412?mailing_id=4616&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4616&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

RULES APPROVED: Democrats push impeachment rules package through House (Associated Press)

COLLUSION: Anti-trump “whistleblower” worked with DNC operative who sought dirt on Trump from Ukrainian officials (The Federalist)

Government & Politics

BOLTON SUMMONED: Former national security advisor John Bolton summoned to testify in House impeachment inquiry (Associated Press)

“WEAPONIZED IMPEACHMENT”: liar-Nancy Pelosi targeted in ethics complaint filed by 40 conservative groups (Fox News)

MYSTERY SOLVED: “The co-chairman of a Turkish-American advocacy group with close ties to Ankara contributed $1,500 last month to the campaign for Rep. worthless-Ilhan Omar, who is under fire this week over votes she cast supporting Turkish government positions.” (The Daily Caller)

NO MORE ADS: Twitter bans political ads ahead of 2020 election (Associated Press)

Business & Economy

GROWTH… U.S. GDP rose a better-than-expected 1.9% in the third quarter as consumers continued to spend (CNBC)

…ALBEIT WITH TROUBLING SIGNS: Fed cuts rates again to boost a slowing economy (NPR)

Heartland

SHOT DOWN: Pennsylvania judge throws out Pittsburgh gun-control measures (The Washington Free Beacon)

MIND-BOGGLING: Police blew up an innocent man’s house in search of an armed shoplifter. Too bad, court rules. (The Washington Post)

Other Notables

RAID TAPE: U.S. releases Baghdadi raid video, warns of likely retribution attack (Reuters)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: The Supreme Court should end DACA (National Review)

POLICY: How micro-school networks expand learning options (Foundation for Economic Education)

HUMOR: commie-Ocasio-Cortez applauds California for using natural light from wildfires instead of electric lighting from fossil fuels (Genesius Times)  

Most immediately, liar-Pelosi and her fellow Democrats had a very bad weekend, and she desperately wanted to redirect the Leftmedia’s attention to help her party. Between President Donald Trump overseeing the U.S. military’s mission to send Islamic State terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to meet his Maker and Democrat Rep. Katie Hill’s disgraceful exit from Congress, Democrats needed a “reset” button.

(On the latter, make no mistake: liar-Pelosi shoved Hill under the bus when Hill’s sordid #MeToo affairs with subordinates became undeniable. And like any good feminist, Hill blames everyone but herself.)

From a bigger perspective, liar-Pelosi has been working a long-game impeachment strategy ever since retaking the House in November 2018. It has two prongs: One, ensure that what she hopes are Trump’s last two years in office are shrouded under the cloud of impeachment. Two, put Republican senators up for reelection in 2020 on the hot seat in hopes of Democrats retaking the upper chamber.

We’ve covered that first prong ad nauseam. Impeachment is Democrats’ coup d'état 2.0 after the utter failure of Robert Mueller’s investigation. Trump warned in his State of the Union about “ridiculous partisan investigations.” But that’s all Democrats have to offer — in this case a ridiculous partisan impeachment over the fact that Trump (foolishly) mentioned loose lips liar-Joe Biden in a phone call with a foreign leader. Closed-door testimony from various White House officials seemingly has given Democrats a toehold on this point. Ukrainian-born Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a national security adviser who listened to the call, is testifying as we go to press … and not in Trump’s favor.

The second prong is more interesting. If Democrats really had a case for impeachment, they’d let the process play out in the open. Instead, they’ve carefully controlled the media narrative by cloaking it in secrecy, only now rushing to finish up before the end of 2019. Why? So they can force the Senate to vote on removing the president and thus hang that vote around the necks of Senate Republicans up for reelection in 2020. We’re still more than a year from Election Day, but flipping the Senate seems unlikely at this juncture, even though Republicans are defending 23 seats to Democrats’ 12. Dems need to move the needle.

The official text of the impeachment resolution hasn’t been released, but it will bear watching whether it comports with precedents set under Richard Nixon and scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton. liar-Pelosi doesn’t instill us with confidence. She argues that a vote will happen not because it’s necessary but because of Republican complaints about an unfair process and because of Trump’s “obstruction.”

As for Republicans and the president, the best argument now is to insist that Trump’s language in his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not an improper, corrupt, or politically motivated quid pro quo — i.e., an impeachable offense — but rather the norm for American foreign aid and policy.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66413?mailing_id=4616&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4616&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

According to The Washington Post, “Under House ethics rules adopted last year in response to high-profile sexual harassment claims involving members of Congress, it is against the official code of conduct for members to ‘engage in a sexual relationship with any employee’ who works for the member.” Thus, Hill’s #MeToo violations triggered an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, and she must have known she was toast.

Ultimately, however, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Hill felt free to behave in such an immoral manner following the Left’s success in officially redefining marriage itself. While leftists do not have a monopoly on the denigration of marriage, they have made a mockery of the God-given foundational societal institution through their self-described prideful debauchery.

Well, as Scripture warns, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Hill’s mockery of marriage has now brought her short political career to an abrupt end. In her resignation announcement, Hill stated, “It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country.” We hope Hill will use this experience to do some deep soul searching to reevaluate her views on marriage, sexuality, and truth. But we’re not holding our breath.

There is a warning in this to our nation at large. The more Americans sow or embrace and celebrate deviancy and immorality, the more certain it will be that we will reap greater national corruption both culturally and governmentally, costing us many of the blessings of Liberty. Let Hill serve as a sobering reminder that no matter what political party you belong to, there is One who judges all equally without prejudice or preference, to whom we all must ultimately answer.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66391?mailing_id=4614&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4614&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body 

News broke Thursday night that sent Deep State operatives rushing for the Maalox. The New York Times reported that the Barr/Durham investigation into the origins of the Russia collusion hoax has changed from a formal review into a criminal probe.

We noted earlier this week there were persistent reports indicating that people at the CIA have lawyered up. Now we know why.

Other reports suggested that Durham “found something” that led him to request additional resources for his investigation, and that former CIA Director scumbag/commie-John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence scumbag-James Clapper were now under scrutiny.

There is also an intriguing report from Fox News that may fill in some details. As you may recall, Barr and Durham traveled to Italy recently. While there, Italian officials played for them a taped deposition made by the mysterious Professor Joseph Mifsud.

No one knows for sure exactly how Mifsud fits into all of this, but one of his associates was an undercover U.S. agent. In the deposition, however, Misfud reportedly told authorities that his life was in danger and he needed police protection. It has also been reported that Durham possesses two cell phones that belonged to Misfud.

And Thursday night’s New York Times story included this odd line: “Mr. Durham has also asked whether C.I.A. officials might have somehow tricked the F.B.I. into opening the Russia investigation.”

On Fox & Friends yesterday, Geraldo Rivera made this stunning claim:

Did Barack scumbag/liar-nObama know that the intelligence agencies were seeking to delegitimize his successor? At what point did he know? What did he authorize? What role did he play? …

I predict in the next week or two, you’re gonna see a run on criminal defense attorneys in Washington, DC, by people further up the food chain in the previous administration.

Rivera also suggested that what is really fueling the Democrats’ flailing impeachment charade (see next item) is the fear that Barr and Durham are actually getting close to exposing the Deep State/Democrat corruption that attempted to rig the 2016 election and take down the duly elected president.

Stay tuned, my friends. We will keep you posted!

Stop This Charade!

As we told you yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have introduced a resolution calling on the House of Representatives to respect precedent and due process by ending this current impeachment charade. I am pleased to report that the resolution, S. Res. 378, has 43 co-sponsors.

Frankly, every senator should be able to support this resolution. Every senator, regardless of party, should be outraged by this hyper-partisan sham process.

Impeachment is one of the most profound responsibilities of Congress. It literally threatens to overturn an election, invalidating the votes of tens of millions of Americans. It is absolutely imperative that transparency be paramount in any impeachment effort.

scumbag-Adam Schiff’s Star Chamber process, where the president cannot confront his accusers, is unacceptable. The Graham-McConnell resolution makes it clear that this travesty should not continue.

The kangaroo court being deployed by House Democrats is offensive to the notion of justice. This is not a pursuit of the truth but a pursuit of smears.

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, a self-described “liberal Democrat” who defended scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton against impeachment and who voted for Hillary Clinton, is now accusing House Democrats of “seeking to weaponize the Constitution for partisan purposes” in this outrageous impeachment charade.

The rule of law depends upon due process — on the legal safeguards that protects everyone, including the president of the United States. The inmates at Guantanamo Bay prison have been afforded more due-process rights than this partisan witch hunt has offered President Trump.

ACTION ITEM: Call your senators now at 202-224-3121. Politely, but firmly, urge them to co-sponsor the Graham-McConnell resolution and to call for a quick vote and passage to send a clear message to the House leadership that it must respect precedent, due process, and the will of the American voters.

Abbott Intervenes

A disturbing divorce and child custody battle has been making headlines this week. Initially I hesitated to comment because it’s hard to know all the facts in a messy divorce. But this has ramifications far beyond divorce law.

The case involves twin boys, one of whom allegedly claims to be transgender. The mother wants to begin the process of medically transitioning her son while the father objects. Monday, a Dallas jury decided in the mother’s favor.

Wednesday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted, “FYI the matter of 7 year old James Younger is being looked into by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.” And Thursday the judge in the case ruled that Jeff Younger, James’s father, will have some say in his son’s future development.

I am glad the governor is seeking a review and I think this issue deserves more public debate. Every parent knows that children go through phases in life. Some kids say they want to be a dinosaur when they grow up. How do you “affirm” that?

But attempting to change a child’s gender is life-altering and comes with serious medical issues. There is virtually no evidence to support gender reassignment. Suicide rates are not reduced by these drastic procedures. And many young people come to regret it later in life.

I do not believe that gender reassignment is the best option for adults. But I recognize society’s libertarian impulses to allow adults to make their own choices.

Children, however, do not have the capacity to fully comprehend such choices and the severe consequences that come with them.

Rather than embracing this radical concept that defies basic science (our gender is genetically determined, not assigned at birth), it would be wise for society to hit the pause button and fully debate the ramifications of what this means for children.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/66372?mailing_id=4614&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4614&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

DISARRAY: House Democrats release text of impeachment resolution but walk back formal vote (Washington Examiner)

TESTIMONY DETAILS: National security official tells Congress he tried to add edits to White House memo about Trump Ukraine call (NBC News)

Government & Politics

TEMPORARY HIATUS: DC Circuit halts disclosure of Mueller grand-jury materials to consider an emergency appeal (The Daily Caller)

SWAMP LEAKAGE: State Department launches investigation into “deep state” targeting Trump’s top Iran official (The Washington Free Beacon)

SILENCE SPEAKS VOLUMES: House passes Armenian genocide measure — no thanks to worthless-Ilhan Omar  (CNSNews.com)

HYPOCRISY: Elizabeth dinky/liar-Warren pledges to crack down on school choice, despite sending her own son to elite private school (The Daily Caller)

Business & Environment

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? The NCAA will allow athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness in a major shift for the organization (CNBC)

THE LAST STRAW: China dumped 27% more trash into the ocean in 2018 (New York Post)

Culture

MORE TO THE STORY? Forensic investigator: Jeffrey Epstein’s autopsy more consistent with homicide (National Review)

BABY, IT’S WOKE OUTSIDE: John Legend and Kelly Clarkson remake “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” after critics said it promoted date rape (CBS News)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: The needless trauma of active-shooter drills (National Review)

POLICY: Baghdadi is dead. But we’re no closer to victory in the “forever war.” (American Enterprise Institute)

HUMOR: Texas luring jobs away from California with promises of electricity (The Babylon Bee)  

~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/66445?mailing_id=4620&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4620&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body    

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“He was vicious and violent, and he died in a vicious and violent way, as a coward, running and crying,” President Donald Trump declared in a White House speech. “Baghdadi’s demise demonstrates America’s relentless pursuit of terrorist leaders, and our commitment to the enduring and total defeat of ISIS.”

This win substantially answers criticism of his recent decision regarding troop movements in Syria. The Middle East is a chessboard.

The operation that killed al-Baghdadi was named for Kayla Mueller, the American medical-relief worker who was captured by ISIS in 2013 and then spent two years being tortured and raped by al-Baghdadi himself before she was murdered in 2015.

The reason Trump said he did not give any advance notice to the House Intel Committee? “scumbag-Adam Schiff is the biggest leaker in Washington,” he said. “You know that, I know that, we all know that.”

Importantly, The Wall Street Journal notes, “The raid also shows the importance of intelligence gathered from prisoners. Iraqi officials say their interrogation of captured ISIS fighters in recent months provided news about Baghdadi’s location. The American left has tried to discredit interrogation since the Iraq war, but it remains crucial to preventing future attacks and killing terror leaders.”

“Baghdadi’s death is significant,” says Thomas Joscelyn, an analyst on Islamic terrorism. “He was the supposed caliph, to whom thousands of followers around the globe pledged their allegiance. [But now the] caliphate controls little to no ground, and the self-declared caliph is dead.”

That’s true, but as the termination of Osama bin Laden proved, however weakened, the Islamic State threat will endure for years as part of the larger asymmetric threat from Jihadistan.

Finally, a footnote on the pathetic Trump Derangement Syndrome of the hacks at The Washington Post: The paper originally ran the story under a title referring to al-Baghdadi as the “Islamic State’s ‘terrorist-in-chief.’” That was changed to refer to him as an “austere religious scholar” before blowback led to another change to “extremist leader.” (No wonder Trump ordered the entire federal government to terminate subscriptions to the Post last week.) Kristine Coratti Kelly, VP of communications for the Post, said, “Regarding our al-Baghdadi obituary, the headline should never have read that way and we changed it quickly.”

Well, that’s a relief.

The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh offered the best takeaway: “By calling a terrorist leader an austere (read: strict) scholar of Islam, didn’t the Post essentially imply that terrorism is fundamentally consistent with the precepts of the religion?” Moreover, just remember: The Washington Post is published in the same swamp full of people who loudly booed the president at Game 5 of the World Series last night — just hours after he announced a major triumph for the country.

Drain the swamp.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/66388?mailing_id=4614&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4614&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

President Trump says he wants to get our troops out of the “blood-stained sand” of the Middle East.

Most sane Americans would agree with that goal and hope he’s successful.

Unfortunately, the people in charge of our foreign policy are not sane, as they proved after Trump yanked a few dozen U.S. soldiers out of Northern Syria.

Trump’s sensible decision to let the Turks, Syrians and Russians figure out how to police their own backyards without our help brought him strong criticism from every political side.

Democrats and the liberal media’s pundits railed against it, but so what? They’re automatically against anything Trump does.

The president also got heavy bipartisan grief for allegedly betraying the Kurds, our trusted and state-less allies who lost 11,000 of their soldiers while helping us and Syrian democratic rebel forces defeat Isis.

Retired military leaders — many of the same ones who’ve been mismanaging our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11 — and the neoconservative hawks in the Republican Party blasted Trump.

They said what he did was a naïve, stupid, irresponsible move that will empower Russia and make other countries distrust America’s word and its will.

As usual, the professional interventionists in Washington whom Democrat congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard calls “warmongers” are predicting that many terrible things will happen in Syria without American soldiers present to keep the peace.

Isis supposedly will regain its strength. The Kurds living in northern Syria — the ones Turkey considers terrorists — will suffer greatly.

Plus, our troop withdrawal will supposedly spark new fighting between the countries, kingdoms, ethnic groups, religious sects, political factions, tribes and street gangs that have been slaughtering each other in the Middle East for at least 3,000 years.

It’s hard to take this week’s hysteria about Trump’s decision seriously, especially when it comes from the Democrats and the liberal media who watched quietly as Barrack scumbag/liar-nObama and his team made bloody messes of Libya and Syria and mismanaged our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for eight years.

It’s been clear for many decades that America will never fix what’s wrong with the Middle East.

About 20 years ago I asked Col. David Hackworth, one of the country’s most decorated soldiers and an expert on warfare and the structure of the U.S. military, “When will there be peace in the Middle East?”

“When they’re all dead,” was his answer.

What did he think America’s policy should be in the Middle East?

We should arm everyone to the teeth, build a 100-foot wall around the region, go away and wait till everyone there kills each other.

“Hack,” who died in 2005, was not kidding.

Based on ancient and modern history, it was easy for him to predict what the Middle East would look like today — a perpetual war zone ruled by brutal dictators and Muslim extremists and crawling with lunatic terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and Isis.

Trump claims pulling U.S. soldiers from Syria and letting the Russians sort things out between the Kurds and the Turks will bring peace in the long run.

He obviously has no idea what will actually happen. But no one else in Washington does, either.

Our military doesn’t know. Our state department doesn’t know. Lindsay Graham doesn’t know. Neither do dinkt/liar-Liz, loose lips liar-Joe and commie-Bernie and their anonymous foreign policy experts.

So far, the blood and treasure America has spent trying to bring peace, democracy and prosperity to the political chaos and religious madness of the Middle East has been tragically wasted.

Col. Hackworth believed fighting and making war is part of the Middle East’s DNA and America can do nothing with our military or economic power to change that.

President Trump seems to believe that too.

In any case, whatever he has done or not done correctly in a small corner of Syria won’t matter in the long run. The Middle East will be a bloody and uncivilized part of the world for another hundred years, at least.  

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/66347?mailing_id=4608&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4608&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

After dozens of House Republicans demanded access to a secure facility in the Capitol on Wednesday where House Intelligence Committee Chairman scumbag-Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was preparing to depose a Pentagon official, Democrats expressed outrage at the breach of protocol. “They’re doing this because this is what the guilty do,” said Rep. scumbag-Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. “Innocent people cooperate with investigations. Innocent people follow the rules of the House.”

Well, people engaged in impartial investigations aimed at finding the truth don’t violate every precedent and standard of due process set during previous presidential impeachments.

Contrast today’s partisan inquiry with the Nixon impeachment. As American Enterprise Institute President Robert Doar has pointed out, the Nixon inquiry was a model of bipartisan cooperation. The Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Peter Rodino (N.J.), assembled a unified staff (including Doar’s father, John, a Republican whom Rodino appointed as special counsel). The full House voted on authorizing the inquiry. The minority was given joint subpoena power. The president’s counsel was allowed to be present during depositions, given access to all of the documents and materials presented to the committee, allowed to cross-examine witnesses, and even permitted to call witnesses of his own. Most important, the committee did not leak or release selective documents cherry-picked to make the president look bad.

The same was true during the scumbag/liar-Clinton impeachment inquiry. As former House speaker Newt Gingrich explained in a recent interview, Republicans “adopted every single rule that Rodino had used in 1973.” Yet today, Rodino’s party is systematically undermining every principle of fairness and due process he put in place in 1973.

Take this week’s testimony by acting ambassador William Taylor, who alleged that President Trump made U.S. aid contingent on “investigations.” He was deposed inside a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) in the Capitol, a room that is designed to protect the government’s most highly classified information. Cellphones are not permitted inside a SCIF. Yet somehow what appear to be cellphone photos of his prepared statement were leaked to the news media.

But the full transcript of his deposition — including his answers to questions from Republicans challenging his accusations — remains under lock and key in that SCIF. The president’s counsel is not allowed to see it, much less be present at the deposition to cross-examine the witness. So, Democrats are leaking derogatory information about the president, while restricting public access to potentially exculpatory information, all while denying him the right to see or challenge testimony against him.

Moreover, they are abusing the system to do it. One of the charges Democrats have leveled against Trump is that the White House improperly put the transcript of his call with the Ukrainian president on a special server used to protect highly classified information. Yet Democrats are doing the very same thing, conducting impeachment depositions inside a SCIF, improperly using a classified system to restrict access to nonclassified information not just to the public but to members of Congress. Talk about hypocrisy.

Let’s be clear: There is nothing wrong with holding hearings behind closed doors as long as there is due process. But secrecy and fairness go hand in hand. One without the other is corrupt.

The partisan nature of the Democrats’ inquiry will backfire in a number of ways. For one thing, it allows Republicans to make the case to the American people that the process is unfair. If the facts are on the Democrats’ side, they have nothing to fear from transparency and due process. Second, their partisan behavior has given the president justification to refuse to cooperate with the investigation, just as President Dwight Eisenhower refused to cooperate with the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. And finally, it has made it easier for congressional Republicans to rally around the president. Right now, Republicans are more torn about Trump’s Syria policy than they are about his impeachment inquiry. By failing to show even a modicum of fairness, Democrats have turned impeachment into a game of shirts vs. skins.

The Democrats’ conduct shows that they are not serious, and that the entire impeachment inquiry is a blatantly political exercise. Given the Constitution’s requirement of a supermajority in the Senate to remove the president, it is impossible for one party to remove the president of another party from office without buy-in from the other side. Yet Democrats are making no effort to win over Republicans, much less make a vote against impeachment difficult. And that means they’ll have a hard time getting buy-in from the American people.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/66343?mailing_id=4608&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4608&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body