by Patriot Post Staff:  In October 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” This was a reiteration of his earlier assertion, “We are keeping out of the wars that are going on in Europe and in Asia. … Our opponents are seeking to frighten the country by telling people that the present administration is deliberately … drifting into war. You know better than that.”

          Roosevelt campaigned on neutrality in 1940. Roosevelt assured his constituents, “I give … to the people of this country this most solemn assurance: There is no secret treaty, no secret obligation, no secret commitment, no secret understanding in any shape or form, direct or indirect, with any other government, or any other nation in any part of the world, to involve this nation in any war.”
          Unfortunately, Germany’s Führer Adolf Hitler and Japan’s Prime Minister Hideki Tojo didn’t cooperate.
          On December 7, 1941, more than 350 Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,390 American servicemen and civilians and wounding 1,282. The attack sank or damaged eight battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers and one minelayer and destroyed 188 aircraft. It took four years and the full military-industrial capability of the United States to defeat Japan. There was no more devastating surprise attack on the United States until 9/11.
          After the attack, Roosevelt stated: “December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. … Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. … With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.”
          Historian Victor Davis Hanson writes, “After Pearl Harbor, the United States went into a rearmament frenzy the likes of which had never been seen in history. America produced more airplanes and ships than all World War II powers combined. The U.S. military grew to 12 million soldiers. American military leadership in the Pacific — led by Admirals William Halsey Jr., Chester Nimitz and Raymond Spruance, along with Generals Curtis LeMay and Douglas MacArthur — proved far more skilled than their Japanese counterparts. And the American soldier, sailor, airman and Marine, after a bruising learning experience in early 1942, proved every bit as ferocious as veteran Japanese fighters.”
          It is with honor and respect for those who died or suffered terrible injuries that Sunday morning that we should never again fall into the slumber that allowed such a tragedy as Pearl Harbor — or the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 — again.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52784

"The agent, Peter Strzok, is considered one of the most experienced and trusted F.B.I. counterintelligence investigators. He helped lead the investigation into whether liar-Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information on her private email account, and then played a major role in the investigation into links between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

 

But Mr. Strzok was reassigned this summer from Mr. Mueller’s investigation to the F.B.I.’s human resources department, where he has been stationed since. The people briefed on the case said the transfer followed the discovery of text messages in which Mr. Strzok and a colleague reacted to news events, like presidential debates, in ways that could appear critical of Mr. Trump.

 

A lawyer for Mr. Strzok declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said that “we are aware of the allegation and are taking any and all appropriate steps.”

 

Mr. Strzok’s reassignment shows that Mr. Mueller moved swiftly in the face of what could be perceived as bias by one of his agents amid a politically charged inquiry into Mr. Trump’s campaign and administration. But the existence of the text messages is likely to fuel claims by Mr. Trump that the F.B.I. has a bias against him and that he is a target of the “deep state” — a term used to describe the notion that government intelligence agencies secretly conspire together."

"Peter Strzok, as deputy head of counterintelligence at the FBI, was a key player in the investigation into liar-Clinton’s use of a private email server to do government work as secretary of state, as well as the probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.

 

During the liar-Clinton investigation, Strzok was involved in a romantic relationship with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who worked for Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

 

The extramarital affair was problematic, these people said, but of greater concern among senior law enforcement officials were text messages the two exchanged during the liar-Clinton investigation and campaign season, in which they expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor liar-Clinton."

by Thomas Gallatin:  News is out on illegal immigration statistics this year and it’s good. The number of illegal aliens caught crossing the border this year has dropped to a 45-year low, indicating a significant drop in the number of individuals attempting to cross illegally. At the same time, the number of illegal aliens arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the nation’s interior rose by 40%.

          Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke credited President Donald Trump’s policies, declaring, “We have clearly seen the successful results of the president’s commitment to supporting the front-line officers and agents of DHS as they enforce the law and secure our borders. We have an obligation to uphold the integrity of our immigration system, but we must do more to step up and close loopholes to protect the American worker, our economy and our communities.”
          Critics of Trump’s border wall responded to the news by suggesting that the decrease in illegal crossing indicated there is no need for a wall, calling it a waste of money. However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders noted that Trump remains committed to his campaign promise. “The need for the border wall and border security, as well as responsible immigration reform, still stands,” she asserted. “And we still need to look at all the ways that we can protect our national security. And we still feel strongly that [the wall] is one of them.”
          Tom Price, the acting director of ICE, pressed for more action against illegal immigration, highlighting the ongoing problem of “sanctuary” cities. “We need to confront and address misguided policies and loopholes that only serve as a pull factor for illegal immigration,” he said. “We must continue to target violent gangs like MS-13, and prevent them from rebuilding what we have begun to dismantle. Finally, we need to find a solution to the dangerous sanctuary city policies and the politicians who needlessly risk innocent lives to protect criminals who are illegally present in the United States.” Kate Steinle’s family knows about that.
          Overall, the news on the problem of illegal immigration is good, but there is clearly a long way to go for the government to get this decades-long issue under control.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52774

by Nate Jackson:  The FBI’s investigations into liar-Hillary Clinton’s private email server and Donald Trump’s alleged “collusion” with Russia were far from impartial. But we already knew that. What is new is the revelation that Peter Strzok, who was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s staff earlier this year, was basically a shill for the liar-Clinton campaign. For starters, he sent anti-Trump texts to his colleague/mistress during the investigations. His removal was reported in August; the texts were hidden until now, despite a House subpoena that should have unearthed them.

          Who is Strzok? The Wall Street Journal explains: This is all the more notable because Mr. Strzok was a chief lieutenant to former FBI Director James Comey and played a lead role investigating alleged coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Mr. Mueller then gave him a top role in his special-counsel probe. And before all this Mr. Strzok led the investigation into liar-Hillary Clinton’s emails and sat in on the interview she gave to the FBI shortly before Mr. Comey publicly exonerated her in violation of Justice Department practice.
          Oh, and the woman with whom he supposedly exchanged anti-Trump texts, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, worked for both Mr. Mueller and deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, who was accused of a conflict of interest in the liar-Clinton probe when it came out that liar-Clinton allies had donated to the political campaign of Mr. McCabe’s wife.
          But wait; there’s more. Strzok was one of two FBI agents who interviewed Michael Flynn on Jan. 24. That would be the same Flynn who’s now guilty of lying to the FBI. Strzok also interviewed liar-Clinton aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. They too lied to the FBI and … nothing happened.
          As if that weren’t enough, we’ve learned that Strzok was the one responsible for editing key language in a memo by James Comey. What Comey originally called liar-Clinton’s “grossly negligent” behavior — language specific to the statute liar-Clinton violated — Strzok revised to read “extremely careless.” That’s a clear pander to liar-Clinton, who admitted she was “careless” but denied anything worse. The watered-down language gave Comey the needed rationale for exonerating her — you know, shortly after liar-Bill Clinton met Loretta Lynch on that Phoenix tarmac.
          The investigation into Trump’s supposed collusion is turning into a probe about obstruction of justice. But, between the role of the fake liar-Clinton-funded dossier in getting the FBI’s investigative ball rolling in the first place and the increasingly obvious conflicts of interest and political preferences of lead investigators, it may be that the real obstruction occurred at the Bureau.
          In other news, Mueller has subpoenaed some of Trump’s bank records, perhaps crossing a line that Trump once painted red. This could get even more interesting quickly.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52747

by Todd Johnson:  With last week’s historic passage of new tax legislation in the Senate and yesterday’s motion in the House to go to tax conference, the Republican Party is well on its way to having a tax bill for President Donald Trump to sign before the end of this year.

          While the legislation will represent the first overhaul of the tax code in over 30 years, questions abound, from both the Right and the Left, as to whether it will actually work once implemented. More than a few tax experts are still trying to wrap their heads around the particulars, especially since chunks of the 479 page document were crossed out and replaced with hand-written amendments at the last minute.
          Perceptions aside, one of the major questions that hasn’t been answered by Republican lawmakers is how the lost revenue will be accounted for in future budgeting plans. While some, like Senate Majority Leader RINO-Mitch McConnell, think the cuts will spur the economy, conservative organizations like the Tax Foundation believe the bill will add $500 billion to the nation’s deficit. More concerning is that many of the tax cuts will expire in a few years, which means that Congress will have to vote on extending them. Needless to say that isn’t a guarantee.
          Which leads to our main concern. Throughout this whole process, in which the Senate vote came less than a month after the proposal was made and no hearings or testimony occurred, not one member of Congress even brought up defense spending reform.
          It’s easy to see why. Earlier this year, in separate bills, the Senate and the House voted to increase defense spending to around $700 billion, way over the “sequestration” spending caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act. Not many politicians want to be viewed as not supporting the troops so it’s not a surprise that proposed defense budgets continue to grow and grow and grow.
          Defense expenditures are one of the areas that the Constitution specifically addresses when it comes to spending. Any veteran and more than a few others should understand the importance of having a force ready to take on enemies around the world. However, the question is how much is enough?
          A cursory examination of the most recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) shows numerous opportunities where money can be saved. Out of the base budget, money could be saved by closing unneeded bases to cutting the officer corps in the Army and Navy to radically altering the procurement process for military weaponry. Changes in just these three areas alone would save the American taxpayer billions of dollars.
          It’s important to note that defense allocations are but one symptom of a disease that permeates all federal spending. The nation’s budget problems aren’t because of defense waste (which absolutely does exist) but our budget problems infect defense spending — i.e., cronyism, pet projects, etc.
          Most politicians love to push federal dollars to their states but that type of behavior is only exacerbating the national debt, which currently stands at $20.5 trillion dollars, or $170,000 per taxpayer. Only time will tell if our nation’s leaders decide to do the responsible thing or continue to spend the nation into oblivion — because the problem isn’t revenue; it’s spending.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52748

by Jordan Candler:  Republicans in the House and Senate are in the process of reconciling their respective tax reform bills, which means agitated Democrats are fomenting fear and trepidation. Nancy Pulosi introduced an outlandish rant against tax reform in October, when she hysterically asserted, “This tax bill is Armageddon.” With tax reform nearing completion, she is regurgitating this garbage-filled talking point, claiming again, “It is the end of the world. … This is Armageddon. This is a very big deal.”

          In a sense, this isn’t hyperbole for Democrats. Their power and political influence depends on the redistribution of wealth, so in a way this is the end of their world.
          In the real world, however, tens of millions of middle class Americans aren’t complaining about the extra money they’ll pocket if Republicans prevail. Democrats, however, are of the opinion that any boon to “the wealthy” — even if it’s disproportionately less — is more than enough reason to quash tax reform and therefore justifies their efforts to derail it. But the Democrats’ broader strategic angle is to protect their statist endeavors. To accomplish this, they routinely inflict discord by way of hyperbole.
          Columnist David Harsanyi hits on this in a new piece: “How did so many liberals convince themselves that tax reform (a rare cut that is, according to sometime-reliable Washington Post factcheckers, only the eighth largest in history) signals the implosion of American life? Everyone tends to dramatize the consequences of policy for effect, of course, but a Democratic Party drifting towards Bernie-ism is far more likely to perceive cuts in taxation as limiting state control and thus an attack on all decency and morality. Taxation is the finest tool of redistribution, so it’s understandable.”
          But it’s also not excusable. Hysteria, hyperbole and falsehoods are a proven way for malcontents to breed resentment. At which point those who feel resentment are vulnerable to exploitation, which Democrats pursue without even thinking twice. Pulosi’s vexation is no excuse for absurdly hyperbolic remarks chock full of lies. Until subjectivity and relativism are tossed aside, vitriol and the speedy trend toward tribal politics will worsen. A little homework on the part of every American would defuse the situation and render these tirades ineffective.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhTz0Erfwbg  
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52774

by Robin Smith:  Have you been hearing the breathless media complaints and the DC political apparatus gasp out the latest narrative that the “new normal” of Washington is chaos, dysfunction and distrust, all while blaming Donald Trump and his supporters?

          Just last weekend, Mike Murphy, GOP strategist and former Jeb Bush employee, trumpeted on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “We’re living through the first screwball presidency in American History!” As he argued on that the “careening” in DC of an out-of-control presidency has instilled fear, he tipped his hand.
          If you listened on, you heard from whence the concerns and pleadings he’s heard originate: the “professionals” who lost the November 2016 election. “The Republicans I’ve talked to privately, the professional pols, are terrified,” Murphy said. “They think there’s a chaos factor, to quote Jeb Bush who predicted all this.”
          So, it’s not just liar-Hillary Clinton and the angry Left who cannot accept failure and loss of the presidential election. Well, there’s a reason the average American abandoned the decorum and stale predictability of the quadrennial campaign to say, “You’re all fired!”
          Is there a new normal? If so, is it really bad or unwanted by the average American? Let’s follow a few pieces of evidence that prove, yes, there’s a new normal. However, it’s only bad to the elitist keepers of the status quo, who have been and are being repeatedly rejected despite their polished résumés.
          Is Donald Trump always right? No. Is President Trump at times a jerk? Yes. But is Trump right on policy that reflects the reasons he won — securing the southern border and reducing illegal immigration, cutting and reforming taxes, destroying the chokehold of red-tape around the necks of businesses large and small, appointing originalist judges up and down the federal court system, and halting the foreign policy and national security approach of leading from behind? Why, yes, he sure is.
          So, Trump’s big offense is that he has unsettled a great number of people by brutalizing the symbolic niceties of the Swamp creatures.
          His infamous Twitter account, with 44 million followers of @RealDonaldTrump and another 21.3 million followers of @POTUS, places President Donald Trump in direct contact with voters, protesters, the media, America’s allies and enemies, alike, and the public at large. So, last week, for example, when Trump “retweeted” videos showing Muslims in the United Kingdom engaged in violence and anti-social behavior that another Twitter user had shared and linked with comment, it became a global incident with the UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May. She responded defensively, condemning Trump for stoking “hatred and mistrust.”
          The average American, however, saw what Trump shared: Three videos capturing Muslims assaulting people, specifically a young man on crutches in one video, and smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary in another. Elitists within the professional political world lit the prairie fire declaring racism, bigotry and division, with no comment on the actual deeds shown in the videos.
          Meanwhile, following Thursday night’s shocking verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial in San Francisco — a sanctuary city that released the offending illegal immigrant who’d been charged previously with seven felonies and deported from the U.S. five different times before he caused the death of an innocent American — Trump spoke directly to America and said what most Americans were thinking.
          @RealDonaldTrump first posted, “A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration” the evening of the verdict. The next morning, Trump added, “His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!”
          The average American read and understood the exact sentiments of logic coming from the president. The only statements dripping of racism or prejudice were coming from the mouthpieces of the Left.
          There are at least two other recent evidences that Trump’s untraditional access to the public may create “chaos” for those protecting the Swamp homeostasis, but the average American hears what they’re already thinking. First is the case of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s aggressive moves to prosecute retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, who very briefly served as Trump’s national security advisor post-election and admittedly lied to the FBI for reasons still unknown to the public. As the investigation strains to unearth a single shred of evidence that candidate Donald Trump colluded with the Russians, Americans understand that those who lie to the FBI should be prosecuted. But what about the legal gymnastics performed by the FBI, Justice Department and Barack liar-nObama to minimize the mishandling of classified documents and documented lies of liar-Hillary Clinton for months?
          Again, the average American sees the injustice of one being protected for egregious criminal behavior while the other is publicly crucified for a process crime. As Trump put it, “liar-Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI and nothing happened to her. Flynn lied and they destroyed his life. I think it’s a shame.”
          Finally, the Alabama special election for U.S. Senate provides a clear demonstration that the average American, once again, sees through the bias and hit-jobs at the hands of the press.
          The March 2008 edition of the Digital Journal chronicles the timeline of Roy Moore’s alleged relationships with under-aged girls to be during the same time he was twice running as a Democrat for public office in Gadsden, Alabama. Yet after 38 years and multiple election cycles, these charges are just now surfacing with The Washington Post and radical leftist/feminist attorney Gloria Allred being the voices telling the folks of Alabama to vote for a pro-abortion, pro-illegal immigration, tax-and-spender because “suddenly,” their now-GOP candidate is an alleged pervert. Time will tell, but Alabamans appear ready to tell the coastal elites to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
          So, there is a new normal. While President Donald Trump talks directly to the American public and governs with a pretty conservative agenda, the professional politicians and media will continue to talk to each other in breathless indignation. The Swamp Creatures and the Deep State will ferociously fight for their existence and power believing themselves to be the normal. Yet the real new normal might be “power to the people.”  
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52742

by Political Editors:  Barack liar-nObama was recently in India, where he gave a speech promoting his foundation. With his typical passive-aggressive style, liar-nObama jabbed at Donald Trump over the decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accords, saying that there is a “pause in American leadership.” How clever. liar-nObama, dripping with self-righteous hubris, added, “I have trouble with a conversation with somebody that says the climate is not changing. You know, that becomes almost like a theological argument. It just has to do with somebody has decided [sic], ‘This is what I believe,’ as opposed to looking at evidence and facts and the process of reasoning that signifies things like the scientific revolution.”
          What is ironic about liar-nObama’s statement is how much of a self-indictment it is. One of liar-nObama’s favorite phrases is “the science is settled,” by which he means that he is unwilling to allow for any reasonable objections or opposing opinions because he has settled all the questions and has all the right answers, so no more debate. Which of course is the antithesis of the scientific method for doing, well, science. There’s also his “wrong side of history” trope, one of his most-used rhetorical tools designed to both belittle and quell any who would dare raise objection to his leftist agenda.
          liar-nObama has never been interested in any “facts” or a “process of reasoning” or even real science for that matter. Instead, his ways have always been those of the playground bully. In liar-nObama’s bigoted worldview there is no room for discourse or reasoned debate or even a genuine admission of misjudgment or mistake. No, for liar-nObama the dogma that man caused climate change is to be preached and imposed upon the masses; it is never, ever to be questioned.  ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/52730

by Thomas Gallatin:  In a 7-2 decision Monday, the Supreme Court stayed a block imposed by judges in Hawaii and Maryland against Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning travel from six majority-Muslim countries, as well as North Korea and Venezuela. In its ruling SCOTUS pressed both the Fourth and Ninth Circuit Courts to expedite their decisions on challenges that have been raised against Trump’s executive order. In the meantime, the travel ban will once again go into effect without restrictions. The ban is one thing; the judicial rebuke is another, which we’ll come back to.

          Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded to SCOTUS’ decision, stating, “[This is] a substantial victory for the safety and security of the American people. We are pleased to have defended this order and heartened that a clear majority Supreme Court has allowed the President’s lawful proclamation protecting our country’s national security to go into full effect. The Constitution gives the President the responsibility and power to protect this country from all threats foreign and domestic, and this order remains vital to accomplishing those goals.”
          Solicitor General Noel Francisco defended the legality of and need for Trump’s order, saying, “[It is a] comprehensive, worldwide review of the information shared by foreign governments that is used to screen aliens seeking entry to the United States. Based on that review, the Proclamation adopts tailored entry restrictions to address extensive findings that a handful of particular foreign governments have deficient information-sharing and identity-management practices, or other risk factors.”
          The specifics of the ban, however, are almost incidental. SCOTUS’ decision is a win for the Rule of Law that also serves as a rebuke against activist judges. The High Court rarely intervenes when appellate courts are still considering cases, but did so here because disdain for a president or his policies is not justification for judges to ignore the law.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52743

by Thomas Gallatin:  On Friday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged Michael Flynn, former national security advisor for Donald Trump, with lying to the FBI. The charge states that Flynn “willfully and knowingly” made “false, fictitious and fraudulent” statements to the agency while it was investigating Russian election meddling. David French of National Review points out that “the sharp-eyed reader will note that Flynn is being charged with lying to the FBI about activity that isn’t criminal.” Flynn has pleaded guilty to the charge and has now promised full cooperation with Mueller’s investigation.

          What does this mean? The mainstream media outlets are speculating that Flynn is prepared to testify that Trump directed him to “make contact with the Russians.” While the Democrats and their Leftmedia mouthpieces are wildly playing this up to be the smoking gun of Russian collusion they have long been clamoring about, it’s not even remotely that. The devil is in the details — or in this case the timing — if in fact Trump directed Flynn after the election and during the transition to contact the Russians. Thus, this has nothing to do with the fake collusion charges. Moreover, there was nothing illegal about Flynn’s contact with the Russians.
          Responding to the news of Flynn’s plea, the White House issued the following statement:
          Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former liar-nObama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI.
          The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel’s work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion.
          So, why has Flynn been the target of both the FBI and then the Mueller investigation? Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy  believes the answer to be threefold, hinging upon Barack liar-nObama’s desire to handicap Trump’s ability to reverse his policies both foreign and domestic. McCarthy writes that liar-nObama aimed to “(1) to punish Flynn, and derivatively the incoming Trump administration, for opposing liar-nObama’s anti-Israel legerdemain in the Security Council; (2) to promote the political narrative that Russia–Trump collusion had cheated liar-Clinton out of her rightful election victory; and (3) to tie this collusion narrative to sanctions relief, thereby making it politically impossible for Trump to roll back liar-nObama’s sanctions once he was sworn in — a boon for the Democrats’ collusion narrative since the sanctions stand as a reminder of Russia’s election meddling.”
          This latest news is reminiscent of the special counsel railroading of Scooter Libby. And this is once again a reminder that Mueller’s investigation is free to go almost anywhere. For Democrats and their cohorts in the mainstream media, the endgame is the removal of Trump, because his election victory amounted to a massive refutation by the American people of liar-nObama and his leftist policy agenda. Refusing to stand by and allow Trump to reverse their political achievements, Democrats have essentially opted for a resistance plan that seeks what McCarthy calls the “criminalization of politics.” Hence the call by Sen. Diane Fein-stein (D-CA) on Sunday for pursuing a case against Trump for obstruction of justice.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52705

by Arnold Ahlert:  “Don’t get in the elevator with him. … Every female in the press corps knew that, right? Don’t get in the elevator with him. Now people are saying it out loud. And I think that does make a difference.” —Cokie Roberts referring to Democrat Rep. John Conyers

          In the last few weeks, “everybody knew” has been the go-to term attached to the despicable behavior of low-lifes in Congress and the media. Behavior that people in positions of authority knew about and tolerated, as long as it accrued to their interests to do so. And those interests, as in a sickening fraternization between a media that has given up even the pretense of being a government watchdog and politicians so corrupt they established a fund to insulate themselves from accountability has reached critical mass.
          There is little doubt Cokie Roberts remains oblivious to how self-incriminating the above statement truly is. Roberts worked as a congressional correspondent for both ABC News and NPR for more than 20 years, primarily in the 1990s. Prior to that, she had a three year stint from 1981-1984 co-hosting “The Lawmakers,” a weekly public television program on Congress.
          During that entire time, a predatory Conyers served in Congress.   Media predators were equally protected — even after they were outed. Thus, last Wednesday’s MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” began the second hour of its broadcast with a clip of “heartbroken” Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb breaking the news that serial predator Matt Lauer had been axed from NBC. The duo claimed the details of why were unknown, but that didn’t stop Morning Joe’s panelists from asserting that Lauer was a man of “class” and “dignity,” with host Joe Scarborough wondering aloud “how do we sort through this moment?”
          How about finding out who’s lying, Joe? Despite initial assurances by Guthrie and Kotb that they were blindsided by the revelations about Lauer, Variety writer Ramin Setoodeh insists Lauer’s behavior “wasn’t even considered a secret,” and that it was “known by many employees at the TODAY Show, including some employees that have gone on television and said publicly ‘we had no idea.’”
          Why the cover-up? “Several women told Variety they complained to executives at the network about Lauer’s behavior, which fell on deaf ears given the lucrative advertising surrounding ‘Today,’” Setoodeh reveals.
          Advertising worth $30 million? Lauer’s attorneys are looking for that amount to buy out his remaining contract. NBC insists it won’t happen, but columnist Ed Morrissey wonders if such a payment might be worth it for NBC owner Comcast, if the corporation can keep a lid on what “everybody at NBC knew about Matt Lauer’s sexually inappropriate behavior” as a current “Today” staffer put it.
          The New York Post’s Maureen Callahan wonders why Guthrie would read Lauer’s self-serving apology on the air, acting as “body armor for a known predator who spent decades victimizing her female co-workers,” and why other “ostensibly smart, together, professional women” would “publicly agonize over deviant criminal behavior.” She asks, “What, really, is there to understand?”
          That they’re all part of the same elitist fraternity, Ms. Callahan. The one where “lesser” employees remain expendable, and the predators’ colleagues will protect them to the point of self-debasement. Colleagues like CBS co-anchor Gayle King, who was saddened by the revelations surrounding Charlie Rose. “What do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something so horrible?” she asked on air. “I’m really grappling with that.”
          Congressional elitists are also “grappling” with their own preposterous assertions they were unaware of Conyers’ behavior, despite a $27,000 payoff to one of his victims from the Office of Compliance. The OOC was set by Congress up to coordinate undisclosed payoffs to victims of congressional malfeasance that included sexual harassment claims.
          Taxpayer-subsidized payoffs. Former House Speaker Nancy Pulosi initially believed referring to Conyers as an “icon” would provide sufficient insulation. Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the third ranking member of the House Democrat Caucus, used the story of convicted child murderer Susan Smith, who had told authorities a black man kidnapped them, to suggest  Conyers’ white accusers were lying.
          Pulosi is now calling for Conyers’ resignation, following allegations by Marion Brown, Conyers’ deputy chief of staff from 2003 to 2014, who broke an OOC-required nondisclosure agreement to speak publicly. And keeping the race card in play, Congressional Black Caucus members are wondering  why a white Sen. Al Franken isn’t held to the same standard as Conyers.
          An excellent question, but it ignores the reality that the word “standard” is strictly a euphemism with no relationship to accountability. Thus, both men will be subjected to their respective chambers’ Ethics Committees before any action is undertaken — a nationally publicized photo of Franken’s touching a sleeping woman’s breasts notwithstanding.
          How effective are those committees? “Many accused politicians — Conyers, Franken — are still in place, their activities ‘to be investigated’ by this same Ethics Committee that has, in essence, investigated no one,” explains columnist Roger L. Simon, who adds “this protection racket … has been going on for years.”
          In the last 20 years, the OOC awarded to complainants 268 taxpayer-funded settlements totaling $17.2 million. Some undisclosed portion of those funds were used to settle sexual harassment complaints.
          And they remain undisclosed because of the aforementioned nondisclosure agreements. Agreements required just to begin a complaint process so arduous Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) believes it is set up to “protect the institution rather than the most vulnerable,” as she aptly put it.
          Worse, the OOC is not the only taxpayer-funded congressional protection fund. “Severance packages” (read: payoffs) can also be negotiated by the House Employment Counsel, such as the $48,395 taxpayer-funded payout by Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) to settle a “hostile workplace” complaint. Grijalva insists sexual harassment wasn’t part of the equation, but it is reported his accuser also signed a nondisclosure agreement.
          Peter Flaherty, president of the watchdog organization National Legal and Policy Center, illuminates the possibilities, stating, “Sexual harassment settlements are sometimes disguised as other transactions, like severance payments. These are very hard to unravel.”
          What’s not hard to unravel is the contemptible notion that the names of the transgressors remain undisclosed to the American taxpayers who paid their settlements. And unlike their counterparts in media who can be fired, creeps like Franken and Conyers can make half-hearted apologies and stick around.
          Moreover like any good fraternity, these insufferable elitists in both groups can rely on their numerous apologists to soften the blows. “Today, we are in mourning,” states former Charlie Rose assistant Kyle Godfrey-Ryan in a column attempting to reconcile her own failure to confront Rose’s misogyny.
          We, Ms. Godfrey-Ryan? Columnist Tina Trent exposes the hypocrisy: “When Cokie Roberts announced this week that the entire tribe of female Capitol Hill reporters knew better than to get into an elevator with Congressman John Conyers Jr., a Detroit Democrat, my first reaction was this: did they warn the cleaning staff?”
          Of course not. The “cleaning staff,” a.k.a. ordinary Americans, are not part of the media/political fraternity.
          Thus, like millions of their fellow outsiders, they must fend for themselves.  ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52714