The Front Page Cover
~ Featuring ~
The Consent of the Governed
by Judge Andrew Napolitano
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Abdullah’s Arsenal – Enough
High Power Weapons To Equip A Small Army
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ The type of force that Ramadan Abdullah was looking to arm was likely not the typical militia we Americans have come to trust as our citizens’ line of defense against the overreaching menace of an authoritarian government... He’s likely putting weapons in the hands of people who plan to kill American citizens. WBNG Kirkwood, New York reported: Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell, New York State Police, SIU and Johnson City Police Chief Brent Dodge on Wednesday announced details of a major weapons bust in Broome County, resulting in the arrest of one man and the seizure of numerous weapons. “They did a great job of asking him very specific questions about the ammunition he had stolen and what weapons that may go to. He gave them some answers that were inconsistent with their in-depth knowledge of weapons which set off further red flags for them,” said Johnson City Police Chief Brent Dodge...http://rickwells.us/abdullahs-arsenal-enough-high-power-weapons-equip-small-army/
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ICE Director on Illegals Being
Afraid of Deportation: GOOD!
{fixthisnation.com} ~ Damn, it is refreshing to see our government officials talking sense when it comes to illegal immigration... The media, the Democrats, and the liar-nObama administration were – and are – so far outside the realm of sanity on this issue that it’s almost shocking when you hear the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement telling Congress that if illegal immigrants are afraid of being deported…that’s a GOOD thing. That’s how it’s SUPPOSED to be. Of course, it will probably be only a matter of time before La Raza and Univision are calling for Thomas Homan to resign in disgrace. After all, the man in charge of deporting illegal immigrants should be ashamed of himself for even holding such a job, not taking pride in it. “If you’re in this country illegally and you committed a crime by being in this country, you should be uncomfortable, you should look over your shoulder. You need to be worried.”... http://www.fixthisnation.com/conservative-breaking-news/ice-director-illegals-afraid-deportation-good/
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The Disconnect in the Search for Russia-Gate
by Roger Aronoff
{aim.org} ~ It appears that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has realized that the investigation he has been chosen to oversee is a dead end... As a result, he is moving past investigating the possibility of collusion during last year’s presidential election between President Donald Trump and/or his associates and people with ties to the Russian government. Now, according to reports in The Washington Post and New York Times, Mueller is investigating whether Trump engaged in obstruction of justice through his interactions with former FBI Director James Comey. I predicted this exact development last month. The disconnect between the actual facts and the vast Russian collusion conspiracy theory with no foundation is quite astonishing. The January 2017 report of three agencies—the CIA, the FBI and the NSA—plus the DNI, headed by James Clapper, claimed that there was “high confidence” among them that Russia meddled in our presidential election last year, with the purpose of helping to elect Donald Trump as president. Then why didn’t the liar-nObama administration do something more to stop it?... http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-disconnect-in-the-search-for-russia-gate/?utm_source=AIM+-+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Email%20Jun-15-2017&utm_medium=email
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GOP Coward Sanford Blames
Trump For Left’s Aggression, Attacks
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ Congressman Mark Sanford, a sanctimonious Republican who is infamous for going missing, AWOL from the state for six days... while he was the state’s governor so that he could engage in an extra-marital rendezvous with an Argentine journalist, went on Morning Joe Thursday. He was there to participate in a team sport much of DC likes even better than baseball, never ending Trump bashing. He pretends he’s doing it in a “civilized way,” because after yesterday, they have a new found concern for their safety. They want to present an appearance of civility when they viciously attack the President. But Trump’s got it coming, according to Sanford, who blames him, with a qualifier of “not totally” for the “demons that have been unleashed.” This turncoat remembers once when President Trump, as a candidate, said he wished he could beat the crap out of an agitator. So he naturally blames Trump for creating the environment in which a Republican was shot because of more hateful acts by yet another of the same Bernie Sanders and liar-Clinton supporters Trump had to kick out at every rally he held... http://rickwells.us/gop-coward-sanford-blames-trump-lefts-aggression-attacks/
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Trump Delegates Full Authority
To Mattis For Afghan War Troop Levels
by Randy Desoto
{westernjournalism.com} ~ President Donald Trump has reportedly delegated full authority to Defense Secretary James Mattis to determine the appropriate troop levels to win the war in Afghanistan... An official told Reuters that no immediate decision had been made on troop level increases, as the current number stands at about 8,400. While testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Mattis promised that the Pentagon would complete its strategic plan for Afghanistan by mid-July... http://www.westernjournalism.com/trump-delegates-full-authority-mattis-afghan-war-troop-levels/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=conservativevideos&utm_campaign
=dailypm&utm_content=libertyalliance
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by Judge Andrew Napolitano
{townhall.com} ~ Last week, when former FBI Director James Comey gave his long-awaited public testimony about his apparently rough-and-tumble relationship with President Donald Trump, he painted a bleak picture. The essence of Comey's testimony was that the president asked him to drop an investigation of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn -- Trump's former national security adviser -- and then asked him to do so in return for keeping his job as FBI director and then fired him for not obeying his order.
On the other hand, Comey confirmed that the president personally, as of the time of Comey's firing, was not the target of any FBI criminal investigation. It was not clear from the Comey testimony whether this exoneration was referring to salacious allegations made by a former British intelligence agent of highly inappropriate and fiercely denied personal behavior a few years ago in a Moscow hotel room or whether the exoneration was with respect to widely reported allegations that the 2016 Trump campaign may have helped Russian intelligence agents in their efforts to manipulate the outcome of the presidential election.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt the president is now a target of a federal investigation with respect to his dealings with the then-FBI director. So, how could the tables have turned so quickly on the president, and who turned them? Here is the back story.
Prior to the Watergate era of the mid-1970s, the generally accepted theory of management of the executive branch of government was known as the unitary executive. This theory informs that the president is the chief executive officer of the federal government and is the sole head of the executive branch. He is also the only person in the executive branch who is accountable to the voters, as he, and he alone along with the vice president, who is largely a figurehead, has been elected by the voters.
As such, this unitary executive theory informs, everyone in the executive branch of the federal government works at the pleasure of the president. Were this not the case, then vast areas of governance could occur and vast governmental resources could be spent by people who are unaccountable to the voters. And when the government is unaccountable to the voters, it lacks their consent. The consent of the governed is the linchpin and bedrock of popular government in America.
There are, of course, today vast areas of government that are not responsive to the people and that lack the consent of the governed. The administrative agencies that write, interpret and enforce their own regulations and the deep state -- the secret parts of the financial, intelligence and law enforcement entities of the government that never change, operate below the radar screen and have budgets that never see the light of day -- defy the notion that the consent of the governed is the sole legitimate basis for government in America.
Yet the FBI is not in the administrative state or the deep state. It is front and center as the premier law enforcement agency of the United States government. It is far from perfect, and its leaders are as fallible as the rest of us, but we have hired the folks who work there to enforce the federal laws that implicate our freedoms and our safety. And we have hired the president to exercise his discretion as to which laws shall be enforced and against whom.
Thus, under this theory, the president is constitutionally, legally, morally and ethically free to direct any person in the executive branch as to how he wants that person to perform his or her job. And the recipient of such direction is free to resign if the direction appears unlawful. That is at least the theory of the unitary executive.
After the Watergate era, Congress altered the public policy of the country to reflect the independence of the Department of Justice, including the FBI. It did so in reaction to Nixonian abuses. Thus, the post-Watergate theory of the DOJ's role articulates that federal law enforcement is independent from the president.
The Comey testimony revealed serious efforts to reject the public policy of independence and return to the unitary executive. Comey revealed a DOJ under former Attorney General Loretta Lynch in lockstep with the liar-nObama White House and determined to exonerate liar-Hillary Clinton in the espionage investigation concerning her emails, no matter the evidence. He also revealed his own view that President Trump's orders and quid pro quo offer with respect to Flynn were unlawful.
Where does this leave us today?
Today we have a White House under siege. The new DOJ criminal investigation that the president is no doubt the subject of will attempt to discover whether he corruptly attempted to interfere with the work of an independent FBI and whether he attempted to bribe its then-director. The White House is also the subject of five congressional investigations involving the Russians and the 2016 election, the firing of Director Comey, and the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions from much of this. And the investigation of liar-Clinton is back from the grave for a third time to determine whether she was exonerated because of a lack of evidence, a lack of will or an liar-nObama political imperative.
These are perilous times for men and women of goodwill and intellectual honesty who are charged with enforcing our laws and running the government. The government should not be terrifying. But it must be fair and transparent. And it must always enjoy the consent of the governed. For without that consent, it is illegitimate.
The Consent of the Governed
{townhall.com} ~ Last week, when former FBI Director James Comey gave his long-awaited public testimony about his apparently rough-and-tumble relationship with President Donald Trump, he painted a bleak picture. The essence of Comey's testimony was that the president asked him to drop an investigation of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn -- Trump's former national security adviser -- and then asked him to do so in return for keeping his job as FBI director and then fired him for not obeying his order.
On the other hand, Comey confirmed that the president personally, as of the time of Comey's firing, was not the target of any FBI criminal investigation. It was not clear from the Comey testimony whether this exoneration was referring to salacious allegations made by a former British intelligence agent of highly inappropriate and fiercely denied personal behavior a few years ago in a Moscow hotel room or whether the exoneration was with respect to widely reported allegations that the 2016 Trump campaign may have helped Russian intelligence agents in their efforts to manipulate the outcome of the presidential election.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt the president is now a target of a federal investigation with respect to his dealings with the then-FBI director. So, how could the tables have turned so quickly on the president, and who turned them? Here is the back story.
Prior to the Watergate era of the mid-1970s, the generally accepted theory of management of the executive branch of government was known as the unitary executive. This theory informs that the president is the chief executive officer of the federal government and is the sole head of the executive branch. He is also the only person in the executive branch who is accountable to the voters, as he, and he alone along with the vice president, who is largely a figurehead, has been elected by the voters.
As such, this unitary executive theory informs, everyone in the executive branch of the federal government works at the pleasure of the president. Were this not the case, then vast areas of governance could occur and vast governmental resources could be spent by people who are unaccountable to the voters. And when the government is unaccountable to the voters, it lacks their consent. The consent of the governed is the linchpin and bedrock of popular government in America.
There are, of course, today vast areas of government that are not responsive to the people and that lack the consent of the governed. The administrative agencies that write, interpret and enforce their own regulations and the deep state -- the secret parts of the financial, intelligence and law enforcement entities of the government that never change, operate below the radar screen and have budgets that never see the light of day -- defy the notion that the consent of the governed is the sole legitimate basis for government in America.
Yet the FBI is not in the administrative state or the deep state. It is front and center as the premier law enforcement agency of the United States government. It is far from perfect, and its leaders are as fallible as the rest of us, but we have hired the folks who work there to enforce the federal laws that implicate our freedoms and our safety. And we have hired the president to exercise his discretion as to which laws shall be enforced and against whom.
Thus, under this theory, the president is constitutionally, legally, morally and ethically free to direct any person in the executive branch as to how he wants that person to perform his or her job. And the recipient of such direction is free to resign if the direction appears unlawful. That is at least the theory of the unitary executive.
After the Watergate era, Congress altered the public policy of the country to reflect the independence of the Department of Justice, including the FBI. It did so in reaction to Nixonian abuses. Thus, the post-Watergate theory of the DOJ's role articulates that federal law enforcement is independent from the president.
The Comey testimony revealed serious efforts to reject the public policy of independence and return to the unitary executive. Comey revealed a DOJ under former Attorney General Loretta Lynch in lockstep with the liar-nObama White House and determined to exonerate liar-Hillary Clinton in the espionage investigation concerning her emails, no matter the evidence. He also revealed his own view that President Trump's orders and quid pro quo offer with respect to Flynn were unlawful.
Where does this leave us today?
Today we have a White House under siege. The new DOJ criminal investigation that the president is no doubt the subject of will attempt to discover whether he corruptly attempted to interfere with the work of an independent FBI and whether he attempted to bribe its then-director. The White House is also the subject of five congressional investigations involving the Russians and the 2016 election, the firing of Director Comey, and the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions from much of this. And the investigation of liar-Clinton is back from the grave for a third time to determine whether she was exonerated because of a lack of evidence, a lack of will or an liar-nObama political imperative.
These are perilous times for men and women of goodwill and intellectual honesty who are charged with enforcing our laws and running the government. The government should not be terrifying. But it must be fair and transparent. And it must always enjoy the consent of the governed. For without that consent, it is illegitimate.
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