The Trump-deranged WaPo isn’t exactly an honest broker here, as even it admits “many acts of domestic terrorism do not sort neatly across the ideological spectrum.” But it provided a handy excuse for other outlets to further the narrative about “far-right” terrorism or violence on a global scale, thanks to the recently released annual report called the Global Terrorism Index.
If one were to believe in media bias against a certain American president, the fact that news stories are stressing the minor amount of terror deemed to be “right-wing” at a time when global terrorism is down thanks to the demise of the Islamic State — well, that might be exhibit A.
Reading beyond the headlines and digging into the data, we see that the nations with terrorism problems tend to have two common factors: open warfare and what’s termed “political terror,” meaning, “extra-judicial killings, torture and imprisonment without trial.” Doesn’t sound like the West is a hotbed for terror given those criteria, does it? We also see that a significant portion of the data on terrorist attacks comes from a group called START, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, which describes itself as “a university-based research and education center comprised [sic] of an international network of scholars committed to the scientific study of the causes and human consequences of terrorism in the United States and around the world.”
But like its leftist media brethren, START has focused more on the perceived threat of “far-right” violence. One case in point: research during the scumbag/liar-nObama administration on the “militia/sovereign citizen movement.” A comparison of START projects labeled “left-wing terrorism” and “right-wing terrorism” found that, while there were a number of common projects, the large majority of those found with only one of the labels were deemed “right-wing terrorism.” As another example, they were quick to categorize the Pittsburgh synagogue assault as a right-wing crime, assuming the anti-Semitic attitude exhibited by the shooter was evidence of right-wing leanings despite his professed hatred of President Trump.
Granted, most of START’s right-wing studies occurred under the scumbag/liar-nObama administration, but there doesn’t seem to be a reciprocal push to study opposition resistance under the Trump administration.
This disparity of blaming only the Right for violence when it often takes two to tango has drawn comment on our pages before, but columnist David Harsanyi points out the biggest problem in the rote assignment of violence to the right wing:
To help bolster right-wing terrorist stats, for instance, we would have to perfunctorily include every anti-Semitic act. … Then there is the matter of inconsistently defining terrorism. If throwing a rock through the window of an Islamic center is an act of right-wing terrorism, why isn’t it an act of left-wing terrorism for anti-capitalists to throw rocks through the window of a business in Oregon? Surely, both fall under the description of terror, which the (Global Terrorism Database) defines as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor seeking to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation.” As far as I can tell, only one of these genres actually makes the cut for the GTD.
This is what happens when reporters work backward from a predetermined premise.
Let’s also consider some of the things that the Right stands for: the Rule of Law, the Second Amendment, and Judeo-Christian values. Somehow, these principles make conservatives the bad guys, the violent terrorists, and the Left’s favorite epithet: Nazis. Yes, there are certainly a wretched few who support Donald Trump while holding noxious views toward people who don’t look, love, or worship like them. But conflating the average conservative American with the so-called alt-right is the most vicious of slanders, especially when the standard-issue liberal is (correctly) given a pass for the violence of antifa, Black Lives Matter, or other anarchist, pro-communist groups.
It’s time to start telling the truth about the perpetrators of violence — regardless of their politics. ~The Patriot Post
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Of course, merely voting Republican won’t suddenly turn black neighborhoods around. These communities are plagued by factors too complex and deep-rooted for any politician to solve overnight. After all, many of the problems were caused by decades of Democrat leadership and the paralysis caused be ever-increasing government dependency.
The cycle is self-sustaining. But don’t dare discuss the culture. When liberal law professors Amy Wax of the University of Pennsylvania and Larry Alexander of the University of San Diego wrote an opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer lamenting the rejection of concepts such as two-parent homes and obedience to the law, they were denounced as white supremacists for suggesting that black Americans embrace a social and cultural structure created by whites.
One of the primary consequences of the social breakdown in the black community, or any community for that matter, is violence. A young black man growing up without the influence of good parents, without a basic education, and without an opportunity for viable employment is likelier to turn to crime and drugs — and likelier to help perpetuate the awful cycle of black-on-black violence.
In a UPI story entitled, “Study: Black males twice as likely to die, mainly from gun violence,” the news agency focuses on a report from the Centers for Disease Control. “Gun violence-related deaths were the biggest firearm-related reason for declining life expectancy for black males, with 16 out of 100,000 deaths attributed to it,” UPI says. “Black males face a total life expectancy loss of 4.14 years for any type of firearm-related death, according to the data. Life expectancy for black males begins to pick up again after age 20.”
That framing is far too passive, as if guns are targeting black men. But despite race-hustlers like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Marc Lamont Hill blaming racism for the plight of black communities, the facts show that young black men have little to fear … except from other young black men. In 2016, the FBI reported that 90% of murdered blacks were killed by other blacks.
Bindu Kalesan, a clinical epidemiologist at Boston University, believes we need more social programs to combat violence in inner cities.
Really? As recently as 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that we’ve already spent more than $22 trillion to fight poverty since the implementation of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” programs. That is, according to The Heritage Foundation, “three times the cost of all military wars in U.S. history since the American Revolution.”
Kalesan adds, “Victims of gun violence are victims not criminals. So increasing policing alone may not be the answer. Building social capital, education, reducing housing instability, etc. may also be answers. As of now, the focus on ameliorating firearm violence has been solely rooted in policies.”
Actually, black victims of other black victims — not “gun violence” — often are criminals. Violence among drug-dealing gang-bangers accounts for a lot of urban murders. And Kalesan isn’t going to see more capital, better education, improved housing, or any other positive change in Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, or Baltimore as long as the same Democrat politicians support the same failed leftist policies.
Simply pouring more money into black communities isn’t the answer, and neither is gun control. Prof. Jeremy Levitt writes in the Orlando Sentinel, “Further restrictions on black ownership of guns and racial conflict in the late 19th and early 20th centuries set the stage for the massacre and destruction of entire black communities.” That’s right — gun control started out as a racist proposition, and now Democrats are using violence among blacks to justify more gun control.
It’s no wonder that gun ownership among black Americans is rising, with the National African American Gun Association boasting more than 20,000 members. They, too, realize that self defense is an essential right.
The cycle of violence within these same communities will most certainly continue until black civic leaders reject the worn and tired approaches of the Democrat Party. Unfortunately, what took decades to create is going to take decades to fix.
Real solutions are on the table, including a president whose leadership has already resulted in greater economic opportunities for blacks. But until black Americans themselves realize that Democrats are using them as political pawns, their communities will, sadly, continue to suffer. ~The Patriot Post
On Friday, a spokesman for the Trump Organization refuted the story, stating, “We have tens of thousands of employees across our properties and have very strict hiring practices. If any employee submitted false documentation in an attempt to circumvent the law, they will be terminated immediately.”
Clearly, the Times is attempting to paint Trump as a massive hypocrite for allegedly employing illegals when one of his biggest policy agendas is stemming the tide of illegal immigration. Questions regarding the extent of his actual knowledge of the immigration status of thousands of workers employed by his business empire are sure to be brought up, but this affords an opportunity to explore an important point regarding the responsibility of the government versus employers.
Whose job is it to deal with illegal immigration? Answer: the federal government. The Washington Times reports that “just five of the 565 companies in President Trump’s business empire are signed up to use E-Verify” before questionably asserting it’s “the government’s best tool to weed illegal immigrants out of the workforce.” E-Verify may be the most useful tool for U.S. businesses to check on the immigration status of prospective employees — and we’d be glad if more used it — but the government’s best tool for weeding illegal aliens out of the workforce is deportation. Keeping illegal aliens out of the country is not the job of American businesses.
Blame for illegal aliens living and working in the country should not be leveled primarily at businesses but at politicians, particularly Democrats, who have long impeded the ability of U.S. border officials to more effectively do their jobs.
This week provides yet another example, as for the second time Trump offered a deal to Democrats on legal status for “Dreamers” in exchange for funding the border wall, only to once again be rejected by Rep. Nancy Pulosi (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck scumbag/clown-Schumer (D-NY).
Democrats and their Leftmedia cohorts don’t want to stop illegal border crossings, so why complain about American businesses employing illegal aliens? Where is the complaining from Democrats and the Left over the massive burden illegal immigration foists onto America’s welfare programs? It’s absent because Democrats believe illegals should be entitled to benefits and then vote for their benefactors. Trump may operate his business on the existing playing field, but he’s advocating and implementing policies that will correct some wrongs.
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/59911?mailing_id=3926&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.3926&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body Growth doesn’t come without growing pains, however. The presidential contrast comes to mind with this week’s economic news. Today’s job numbers were underwhelming, with only 155,000 jobs created in November. In context, though, the headline unemployment rate can’t go much lower than its current 3.7%, so a slowdown in job creation is to be expected. Still, there’s a bright side. As The Washington Post reports, “Heightened competition [for employees] seems to be driving up wages after years of lagging since the Great Recession.”
GDP is expected to exceed 3% growth for the year — something not seen in any of scumbag/liar-nObama’s eight years. According to economic analyst Mark Hamrick, “Most measures of the U.S. economy have been holding up quite nicely.”
That doesn’t mean all is well. The stock market has endured volatile swings lately as uncertainty about global trade and Trump’s tariffs rattle investors. Now, we’re not part of the investor class and we don’t read market tea leaves, but that too brings a contrast with scumbag/liar-nObama. He talked about being “for the little guy,” yet during his tenure only Wall Street “fat cats” made bank. The market soared on his watch — Wall Street did better than fine — while Main Street suffered an economic malaise brought about by higher taxes, onerous regulation, and income redistribution galore. Millions of Americans are invested for retirement, so what happens on Wall Street certainly does affect Main Street. But by contrast, Trump, who’s supposedly only “for the fat cats,” is overseeing an economy that truly is helping Main Street even if Wall Street has to sort through some uncertainty. ~The Patriot Post
According to Reuters, “The tax credits are capped by Congress at 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer, after which the subsidy phases out. … Experts say the White House cannot change the cap unilaterally.” In other words, subsidy repeal should have been addressed long before Republicans lose their majority in the House next month. Nevertheless, the Trump administration’s position is salient.
Investor’s Business Daily opines that the eradication of subsidies “would be a major victory on the road to energy freedom.” The editors add, “No doubt there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth within the Green Movement. How will electric cars survive without government’s guiding hand? The answer is, most won’t. Otherwise, the federal government wouldn’t need to subsidize them.”
At its core the government is aggrandizing certain products above others, which is antithetical to and a mockery of free enterprise. “Moreover,” Investor’s notes, “the dirty little secret of the electric-car industry is that electric cars are dirty, too, and not necessarily cleaner than regular cars. … A big reason for this is the electric cars’ batteries, the heart of the industry. Many of the batteries are built in high-pollution countries like China, Thailand, Germany and Poland, all of which depend heavily on coal for their energy. So the CO2 produced just in making the electric cars is far greater than for a regular, gasoline-powered car.”
Consider also the primary source from which these batteries are charged — fossil fuels. Or as Investor’s put it, “It’s like someone dumping their garbage on the lawn of a neighbor down the street, while defending their own yard as pristine.” And as far as slashing emissions? Economist Jonathan Lesser says, “The net reduction in carbon dioxide emissions between 2018 and 2050 would be only about one-half of 1 percent of total forecast U.S. energy-related carbon emissions.”
Finally, just like with state and local tax deductions, electric vehicle subsidies principally assist more wealthy individuals due to the bloated costs of EVs that make them unaffordable to most of the middle class. “Wind, solar and other ‘alternative’ energies are near-perfect examples of political cronyism at its worst,” Investor’s concludes. “They produce electricity at outrageously high cost. They aren’t necessarily cleaner or better for the environment than fossil fuels. And they require subsidies to privileged, politically connected groups to exist.”
For these reasons, Trump should pursue subsidy repeal, even if that means waiting until the next election. Now if only we could get him to see the similarities with King Corn… ~The Patriot Post
The report, produced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, notes that since 2007 the USPS has lost a net $69 billion, and if changes are not made to the current model, it’s expected to lose tens of billions more in the coming decade. The report asserts that the USPS is on an unsustainable financial path: “[Its] business model — including its governance, product pricing, cost allocation, and labor practices — was sustainable in an era where mail revenues and volumes grew alongside population and economic growth. However, as the USPS’s financial conduction continues to deteriorate, standalone proposals, such as forgiving the prefunding of post-employment benefits or renegotiating labor contracts, will be insufficient.”
In other words, the USPS is essentially operating as if it were still in the pre-Internet days, and, as a result, it has become financially unsustainable. The largest source of revenue for the USPS is the delivery of First-Class mail, which has declined in volume by 42% since 2007. That decline is, of course, due to a major communications shift to online technology. Meanwhile, even though the USPS’s package volume has increased to 40% of the overall market, that hasn’t been enough to make up the lost revenue from the steadily shrinking mail volume.
Prices need to rise to meet services rendered, the report asserts: “Although the USPS does have pricing flexibility within its package delivery segment, packages have not been priced with profitability in mind. The USPS should have the authority to charge market-based prices for both mail and package items that are not deemed ‘essential services.’” This is where Trump’s accusations against Amazon not paying fair market value to the USPS for its shipping services comes into play.
The Package Coalition — a group of online retailers of which Amazon is the largest member — responded to the report with concern that “by raising prices and depriving Americans of affordable delivery services, the Postal Task Force’s package delivery recommendations would harm consumers, large and small businesses, and especially rural communities.”
Finally, one of the task force’s recommendations that has already raised the most vehement opposition is the call to essentially gut the USPS’s labor union. The report notes that the “USPS’ dual-labor model — combining private sector collective bargaining law with government employee compensation law — creates unsustainable labor costs. USPS employee rights should be more closely aligned with other federal employee rights by eliminating collective bargaining over compensation.” The report adds, “USPS employees should not be afforded protections and rights not enjoyed by other federal employees.”
One thing is clear, Americans will end up paying more for mail service either with higher mailing and shipping costs or through a government bailout paid by taxpayers. ~The Patriot Post
Every American should forget everything they were taught or felt about integrity, honesty, guilt or innocence within the FBI and other divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice.
CLICK HERE for ten examples that prove the FBI is treasonously corrupt.
Trivializing Elections California Style
by Arnold Ahlert: Two years ago in California, an act known as AB-1921, amending Section 3017 of the Elections Code, was signed in to law by Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown. It legalized a process known as “ballot harvesting.” Republicans weren’t prepared for the change. Thus, all seven of California’s House districts won by scumbag/liar-Hillary Clinton but held by the GOP going into the 2018 election were won by Democrats, including District 21, where Democrat T. J. Cox ultimately defeated Republican incumbent David Valadao in the last uncalled race in the nation.
Prior to the change, voters unable to return their vote by mail ballot could designate a spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or person residing in the same household as the vote-by-mail voter to return it. The new law allows any third party — even a paid political campaign operative — to collect and return the ballots.
At the time, Democrats promoted the change as a public service, with the bill’s author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), insisting the old requirements “simply provide yet another obstacle for individuals attempting to vote.” Republicans disagreed, but in a state dominated by Democrats, the legislation passed on a mostly party line vote.
In the process, “Election Day” became an anachronism. “A stunning five million ballots, or more than 40 percent of the overall total, were counted after Nov. 6,” the VC Star reported Dec. 2. In the former GOP stronghold of Orange County, “The number of Election Day vote-by-mail dropoffs was unprecedented — over 250,000,” GOP Party Chairman Fred Whitaker stated in a note to supporters.
Such extended counting produced stunning results. GOP candidate Young Kim, who enjoyed a 14-point lead in polling prior to the election, had an 8,000 vote lead over her Democrat opponent, Gil Cisneros, on election night and the following day. Her victory seemed so assured that she even attended orientation events for freshmen members of Congress. But as the ballots continued to pour in her lead shrank and ultimately evaporated.
California’s results captured the attention of outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), arguably the foremost example of the adage “addition by subtraction” in a party still besieged by far too many milquetoast members. “The way the absentee-ballot program used to work, and the way it works now — it seems pretty loosey goose,” Ryan stated. “When you have candidates who win the absentee ballot vote and then lose three weeks later because of provisionals, that’s really bizarre. I just think that’s a very, very strange outcome.”
Yet staying true to form, Ryan insisted he didn’t see “anything nefarious” regarding the election’s outcome, adding he would not ask California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to investigate.
Even so, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla was incensed by Ryans comments. “It shouldn’t ‘defy logic’ that elections officials are meticulous in counting every eligible ballot,” said the man who won’t cooperate with voter fraud investigations, allow independent inspection of election results, or open up voter rolls. “California works to ensure every ballot is counted properly and every ballot is accounted for. In the most populous state in the nation — and the state with the largest number of registered voters — this takes time. In California, we believe in an inclusive and accessible democracy. We provide voters as many opportunities as possible to cast their ballots.”
Opportunities ripe for fraud. The state’s Motor Voter law registers to vote virtually everyone who interacts with the DMV. In September, the LA Times revealed 23,000 people had been incorrectly registered. In October, the paper added another 1,500 people to the total, including illegal residents, minors, and ineligible felons.
California also has a Conditional Voter Registration process that allows one to vote and cast a ballot on the same day — a provisional ballot process that allows voting by people who show up at the incorrect polling location or have changed their minds about voting by mail. The latter is thanks to a law that allows counties to send every voter a mail-in ballot, whether they requested one or not, and one that permits ballots to be accepted up to a week after Election Day, provided they are postmarked by then. And just 50 days before the election, Gov. Brown signed Senate Bill 759, requiring elections officials to notify every voter whose ballot was rejected because of a mismatched signature.
Furthermore, thousands of felons have also been enfranchised courtesy of California’s radical criminal-justice agenda, whereby numerous crimes were downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors. The state also allows felons to vote while still on parole, and has precipitated early prison releases that enable it as well.
A videotape of Democrat vote harvester “Lulu” captured by a Santa Clarita family’s Ring camera is clarifying. “Yeah, we’re offering this new service, but only to, like, people who are supporting the Democratic party,” Lulu tells the resident. “It’s a service; I’m just trying to pick up your ballot and show you how to do it if you don’t know.” When the woman asks how she’ll know that everything will be handled properly, Lulu decides to leave. “That’s okay,” she says before going.
Okay for whom? A watchdog group called Counted As Cast sounded the alarm before AB 1921 was passed, asserting it “would allow anybody to walk into an elections office and hand over truckloads of vote by mail envelopes with ballots inside, no questions asked, no verified records kept. It amounts to an open invitation to large-scale vote buying, voter coercion, ‘granny farming’, and automated forgery. AB 1921 solves no problem that a simple stamp can’t solve.”
Columnist Scott Morefield envisions other possibilities for rampant abuse, noting that “Lulus” working for the Democrat Party could go to a house with a MAGA flag planted in the yard, pretend to be a GOP ballot harvester, take the voter’s ballot and toss it in the trash. “Could she then go to someone’s home who had no intention of voting, then ‘convince’ them to vote Democrat and give their ballot to her or else their next social security check won’t be coming? Again, yes she could,” he adds. “Or maybe a union boss asks the folks under his charge to become permanent ‘vote-by-mail’ voters so, you know, he can keep them ‘informed’ on the issues. Or maybe a partisan nursing home administrator ‘helpfully’ collects the ballots of her residents only to shred those from all the guys wearing the Vietnam Veteran hats.”
Columnist Monica Showalter asserts that ballot harvesting puts “non-committed voters, or voters with no opinions, or low-information voters” on a par with committed and informed voters. She explains, “Now there’s no commitment needed, no effort — just that paper ballot sitting on the kitchen table and that helpful Democratic ‘service’ come to selectively harvest it for Democrats, leaving those Republican-registered ballots still there on the table.”
Republicans can fight back, but it’s beside the point. Election Day has become election month, and California isn’t the only state that has elevated convenience to the point of absurdity. It’s time Americans realized that nothing better accrues to the interests of a ruling class with visions of permanent power than trivializing one of the foremost responsibilities of good citizenship. Ballot harvesting is the essence of such trivialization. ~The Patriot Post
{tommclaughlin.blogspot.com} ~ Newspaper publisher Mark Guerringue sits in the left chair for this episode. We comment on the abruptly-changing news cycle... how stories are so compelling for a day and then fade to nothing the next day. We discuss the Khashoggi murder and Trump's expressed doubt that it was ordered by the Saudi Crown Prince in spite of his own CIA's declaration that it was. My position is that Trump wants to preserve his alliance with the Saudis against Iran and choosed to overlook the murder. Mark believes the US must stand against what the Saudis did more forcefully. We discuss midterm election results locally -- in Maine and New Hampshire. Dems swept out Republicans in both states. We both decry the new "ranked choice" voting system in Maine which took a victory away from Republican congressman Bruce Poloquin. We look at recently-published UN and NOAA scare reports on global warming. Mark is a true believer in human-caused climate change and I'm not. We go at it for a while. I bring up a Census report on immigrants both legal and illegal on welfare -- two out of three are on it and stay on it indefinitely. I contrast that with immigration prior to the 1965 "reform" when no immigrants could access welfare and were the responsibility of their sponsors. We close with reflections on George H.W. Bush. Mark relates a personal anecdote about contact with him during the 1980 campaign. https://tommclaughlin.blogspot.com/2018/12/left-right-december-5-2018.html
It is exactly this type of hyperbolic pontificating — which relies on dubious computer-simulated climate models that have never accurately predicted the future global climate — that causes so many logically minded individuals to simply roll their eyes at the absurdity. We have less than 10 years left to prevent catastrophe, the climate alarmists declare. Wait, wasn’t New York City supposed to be underwater due to completely melted polar ice caps by now? What are alarmists going to be telling us 10 years from now?
Of course, global warming is all the fault of mankind people, because of human activity leading to increased levels of carbon dioxide. Never mind the fact that carbon dioxide only accounts for 0.04% of earth’s atmospheric gasses and that water vapor is a bigger contributor to the planet’s climate. And don’t focus on the primary source of earth’s temperatures, the sun, because, well, human activity can’t be blamed for what’s happening on the surface of the sun. No, we’re supposed to ignore all these greater, vastly more significant factors that most directly contribute to global temperatures and instead blame human industry, made that much more efficient by capitalism. Destroying free-market capitalism is the real agenda.
Indeed, limiting human industrial freedom that capitalism unlocks is exactly what the Paris climate agreement aimed to accomplish. It’s a wealth-redistribution scheme covered in the veneer of “science” and concern for preventing “catastrophic climate change,” as if limiting capitalistic enterprise and promoting the politics of globalist socialism is the only solution to a “problem” that alarmists continue to get wrong.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency plans to roll back Barack scumbag/liar-nObama’s coal-killing environmental regulations. The EPA’s new proposed coal-plant-emissions standard would allow up to 1,900 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, which is up from scumbag/liar-nObama’s 1,400 limit. As Reuters notes, “That scumbag/liar-nObama rule would have forced new plants to install carbon capture equipment that is not yet commercially available.” Which is why scumbag/liar-nObama’s rule effectively killed coal-powered plants.
Despite all this fearmongering, it is the U.S. — not a signatory to the Paris agreement the rest of the world’s emitters — that is leading the world in reducing emissions. Keep that in mind the next time we’re told we’re not doing enough. ~The Patriot Post
{foxnews.com} ~ A minor change in California’s election laws may have had a major effect on last month’s midterm elections that saw Democrats steamroll their Republican rivals... and claim all but seven of the Golden State’s 53 House seats. Despite holding substantial leads on Election Day, many Republican candidates in California saw their advantage shrink, and then disappear, as late-arriving Democratic votes were counted in the weeks following the election. While no hard evidence is available, many observers point to the Democrats use of “ballot harvesting” as a key to their success in the elections. “Anecdotally there was a lot of evidence that ballot harvesting was going on,” Neal Kelley, the registrar for voters in Southern California’s Orange County, told Fox News. In Orange County – once seen as a Republican stronghold in the state– every House seat went to a Democrat after an unprecedented “250,000” vote-by-mail drop-offs were counted, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “People were carrying in stacks of 100 and 200 of them. We had had multiple people calling to ask if these people were allowed to do this,” Kelley said... https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ballot-harvesting-bounty-how-dems-used-election-law-change-to-rout-california-republicans
by David Limbaugh
{townhall.com} ~ It's sobering how much race dominates the public discourse today. But as long as we're discussing stereotypes, we should note that leftists and elites are the ones obsessed with race, not the flyover Neanderthals to whom they impute this evil. Give it a rest, eggheads.
Leftists can scarcely discuss any issue without injecting this toxicity. They imagine it everywhere -- the ubiquitous boogeyman that validates their perpetual vilification of conservatives. Note: I considered using "white men" instead of "conservatives" in the preceding sentence but realized it would be unwise because A) as a possessor and unwitting purveyor of white privilege, I'm not allowed to opine publicly on these matters and B) though race-baiting elites pretend white privilege is the culprit, neither women nor African-Americans are exempt from the taint if they are political conservatives.
Think about it. Liberals invoke race in discussions of immigration, voting, sports, education, taxes, health care, welfare and law enforcement. It is sick stuff. Consider a few examples.
--President Trump calls himself a nationalist, and liberals accuse him of speaking in code -- signaling to his supposedly alt-right base that he's a neo-Nazi. Sorry, but Trump doesn't speak in code. What you see is what you get, and to him and his grateful base, "nationalism" means patriotism. They appreciate an American president who's unapologetically bullish on America.
--Border enforcement hawks don't see immigration through a racial lens. That leftists believe or pretend to believe we do may indicate they are projecting their own prejudices onto us. For us, it's about the rule of law, our national sovereignty and our national identity, which is distinctly based on ideas grounded in liberty, not race. We are a melting pot, and a compelling reason to control our borders is to ensure that immigrants enter at an orderly pace and learn to assimilate into our culture rather than settle into Balkanized ethnic enclaves.
--Democrats constantly harp on alleged threats to "our democracy" -- which is odd, given their authoritarian proclivities, but again, they project. They see no inconsistency in advocating that immigrants here illegally be allowed to vote and railing against foreign interference in our elections. Here again, they invoke race. Republicans, they baselessly claim, suppress minority votes. If liberals truly cared about the integrity of "our democracy," they'd support voter identification measures, because reasonable people understand that you should have to prove you are who you claim to be before you can vote. How patronizing of Democrats to suggest that minorities are incapable of accomplishing this menial task as a condition for participating.
--With Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's victory in the Mississippi runoff election, Democratic Sen. lowlife-Kamala Harris may be removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee, because Republicans will be entitled to another committee seat and Harris is the least senior member. But -- you guessed it -- Democrats are saying it's not about her seniority but about her race.
--Speaking of Sen. Hyde-Smith, Democrats, in a desperate effort to elect Mike Espy, shamelessly smeared her as a racist based on certain lighthearted remarks she made. In the weeks between the midterm election and the runoff, Democrats ignored issues affecting the nation -- the economy and foreign policy, for example -- and framed the contest solely around whether Hyde-Smith is a dastardly racist. It didn't work.
--I just read a long essay in which the author critiqued the "Rocky" movie series in light of the latest installment, "Creed II," which he believes redeems the series from its racist themes. If I understand the piece -- and I readily admit I may not -- the series has provided white racists the vicarious enjoyment of seeing a "great white hope" defeating a superior black boxing champion. I've watched every "Rocky" movie, and race never entered my mind. Like most people, I rooted for Rocky because he was an underdog, not because his opponent, Apollo Creed, was a stand-in for Muhammad Ali, whom whites presumably loathed. Sorry again, but I was a Muhammad Ali superfan, beginning with his first fight against Sonny Liston. I rooted for him in every fight, irrespective of his opponent's race. As a Michael Jordan superfan, I rooted for him and the Bulls against Larry Bird and Bill Laimbeer. I doubt I'm much different from most white sports fans.
The left's cynical exploitation of race is wrongheaded, twisted, patronizing and incalculably destructive to society. One can pray that with improvement in economic conditions for minority communities as a direct result of conservative policies, minorities will eventually rebel against the political party that casts them as permanent victims and support the one that sees them as individuals with equal dignity, equal rights and equal aptitudes for success.
by Michelle Malkin
{cnsnews.com} ~ Impolite question, but it needs to be asked: Is there a Republican dead body that left-wing partisans won't use to bash Donald Trump?
This week's partisan corpse abusers callously exploited the passing of George H.W. Bush, America's 41st president, to get in their digs at the current commander in chief. Their vulgar level of incivility was inversely propositional to their sanctimonious calls for decency.
"The View's" Joy Behar rudely and crudely soiled the ABC show's tribute to the 94-year-old World War II hero and lifelong public servant. While Whoopi Goldberg and other panelists paid homage to Bush's character and love of family, Behar wielded an old Bush quote about federal Clean Air Act amendments to attack Trump on climate change. Her narcissistic pledge to become a "one-issue voter" on "pollution and the greenhouse effect" was interrupted when co-host Meghan McCain forcefully objected to the hijacking of their short-lived unity message.
Instead of apologizing for her ill-timed lapse into Trump Derangement Syndrome, Behar ripped into McCain while Goldberg cut to a commercial break. Not-so-joyful Joy reportedly shrieked in earshot of the audience: "Get this b—— under control" and told producers "If this s— doesn't stop, I'm quitting this damn show. I can't take this much more."
Neither can my ears. Can't we just all get along?
MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski displayed a similar lack of restraint, extolling the Bush's legacy of bipartisanship not for its own sake — but to carp about how "over the last two years deviancy has continued being defined down by this current president."
The Washington Post's lead article on Bush's passing bemoaned: "'Honorable, gracious and decent': In Death, Bush Becomes a Yardstick for President Trump." Yes, it's a virtue-signaling yardstick to wallop Trump with in hopes of beating him into Beltway media submission.
Over at CNN, correspondent Jamie Gangel derided Trump's somber visit to the U.S. Capitol to pay his respects as Bush 41's casket arrived at the rotunda to lie in state. Gangel trashed Trump's ceremonial salute to Bush as "theatrical" and rejected veteran Beltway commentator David Gergen's assessment that Trump deserved credit for his decorum.
"I'm concerned that we shouldn't give credit to someone for not kicking dirt on the grave of a person who just passed away," said Jeffery Engel, rebuking Gergen during an interview with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. Yes, that's the same Cooper who demonstrated his commitment to civil discourse by infamously mocking tea party conservatives by using a degrading slang term for an oral sex act — also in an interview with poor David Gergen.
Let's stop pretending and give the historical whitewash a rest. This isn't about celebrating "civility." It's about weaponizing "civility." The newfound fans of the Bush clan spent years demonizing them as bloodthirsty warmongers and dynastic oppressors. Bush the Younger was lambasted as a "chimp," beheaded in protest posters, and assassinated in off-Broadway plays. When liberals now praise the Bushes' "civility," what they are actually rewarding is the GOP establishment's capitulation to liberal principles of big government and elitist comity.
Because the Bush family refused to fight back vigorously against media smears, daily Hollywood abuse and partisan slime, they're considered paragons of virtue from whom Trump is lectured to "learn." According to swamp etiquette, it's uncouth to call out profane, deranged haters who have no qualms about letting their anti-Trump freak flags fly as decent Americans mourn.
"Civility" is in the eye of the bemoaner.
by Hans von Spakovsky
{investigativeproject.org} ~ NATO ally Turkey plans to oppose an American-sponsored draft resolution at the United Nations condemning Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terror factions... A vote on the resolution is scheduled for Thursday. It specifically condemns "Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk." It also demands that Palestinian terror factions stop using "airborne incendiary devices" against Israel. Turkey will vote against the resolution, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported Tuesday. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu promised Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that Turkey would do everything it could to stop its passage. Haniyeh lobbied the Turks to help Hamas thwart the American effort. Hamas called the resolution "aggression against the rights of the Palestinian cause" in a communiqué posted on its website and claimed it was an assault on "the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves." Çavuşoğlu vowed that his country would "remain alongside the right of Palestine and Palestinians, and that its position is constant on the Palestinian Cause." Turkey has become a key Hamas ally and protector. Çavuşoğlu condemned January's U.S. decision to classify Haniyeh as a specially designated global terrorist, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared last May that Hamas was not a terrorist organization... We alway knew where Turkey stood.
Cohen, Manafort Developments Don't Reveal Any Illegal Conduct or Collusion by Trump, His Campaign
by Hans von Spakovsky
Amid the media hysteria over Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and discussions between the lawyers representing Paul Manafort and President Donald Trump, it’s important to understand from a legal standpoint what this means — and what it does not.
We don’t know what other evidence special counsel dirty cop-Robert Mueller may have that hasn’t yet been disclosed. But the evidence disclosed to date — including in Cohen’s plea deal — still doesn’t reveal any illegal conduct by Trump or his campaign or any collusion with the Russian government to change the outcome of the 2016 election. There is nothing illegal or unethical about discussions and sharing of information between lawyers representing individuals who may be the focus of the same prosecutor.
Cohen pleaded guilty to one count of lying to Congress. What was he lying about? For the past 30 years, the Trump real estate organization has been trying to negotiate a deal to build a marquee property in Moscow. There is certainly nothing unusual or untoward about that.
The criminal information filed by the special counsel describes the false statements that Cohen now admits he made. Cohen originally told Congress that the negotiations he was involved in over that deal ended in January 2016 and that they did not involve Trump himself. He now admits that the negotiations didn’t end until June 2016 (the deal was never consummated), and that he did brief individuals within the Trump Organization, including Trump, about the negotiations.
Cohen also stated that he never planned to travel to Russia for the hotel deal, nor did he ask Trump to travel there. He also swore to Congress that he had reached out to the press secretary for the Russian president, but that he did “not recall” whether he received a response. These statements were also false, thus constituting a federal crime of lying to Congress.
No one should minimize the seriousness of lying under oath to Congress. During the guilty plea before the district court judge, Cohen said, “I made these statements to be consistent with Individual-1’s political messaging and to be loyal to Individual 1.”
So Cohen lied to be loyal to Trump (Individual 1 presumably). But it’s important to understand that the underlying conduct that Cohen was lying about — negotiating a real estate deal — is not illegal or unlawful in and of itself, whether you’re working to get something built in New York City or Moscow.
Furthermore, there is no federal law that tells individuals who own a business and run for federal office, whether it is the presidency or Congress, that they have to stop running their business, negotiating deals, or taking part in the other myriad details involved in being a business owner the moment they decide to run for office.
Yes, they have to avoid conflicts of interest, and cannot enrich themselves unlawfully once in office. But those laws kick in after someone is elected.
All of Cohen’s entreaties to get the real estate deal appear to have been perfectly legal, at least so far as we know.
If we assume that Cohen pleaded guilty this time because he really did lie to Congress, then the underlying conduct — talking to Russian officials about a possible real estate deal in Moscow and briefing individuals within the Trump Organization — is all lawful conduct. Does Cohen secretly have some other testimony that shows illegal activity? We don’t know, and there is nothing in the plea agreement that indicates one way or another.
We also don’t know what Cohen told dirty cop-Mueller during his seven proffer sessions that took place between August 2018 and Nov. 20, 2018, as noted in the plea agreement. We do know that Trump submitted his written responses to dirty cop-Mueller on Nov. 20, and the Cohen guilty plea took place after that, leading one to conclude that dirty cop-Mueller was waiting for the president’s written answers before unveiling Cohen’s latest guilty plea. Where this leads is difficult to tell.
By the way, it should be noted that Cohen faced a maximum of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000; the plea agreement with dirty cop-Mueller says that the special prosecutor is recommending no more than six months in prison and a maximum fine of only $9,500.
The media has also been full of stories claiming the special counsel is upset that the lawyers representing Manafort have apparently been briefing the lawyers representing Trump about their discussions with dirty cop-Mueller and implying that there is something nefarious in such sharing of information. There is nothing illegal or unethical about lawyers with different clients sharing such information.
The extensive, 17-page plea agreement that Manafort entered into with dirty cop-Mueller on Sept. 14 has no provision of any kind barring Manafort or his lawyers from briefing the president’s lawyers on their discussions with dirty cop-Mueller. There is an entire page and a half detailing the cooperation that Manafort has to provide to the special counsel, but nowhere does it say that Manafort is prohibited from sharing information about that cooperation.
In fact, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, says he has joint defense agreements with 32 potential witnesses in the special counsel’s investigation, including Manafort. Some legal experts say that agreement should have ended when Manafort pleaded guilty, but as long as Manafort’s lawyer is simply providing information to Giuliani and there is no effort to tamper with a witness or obstruct justice, there is no unlawful behavior in such sharing of information (although it is unusual).
Of course, Manafort, who was convicted for criminal violations of the law related to his consulting business that had nothing to do with his brief participation in the Trump campaign, has more serious problems.
On Nov. 26, dirty cop-Mueller filed a pleading with the federal court in the District of Columbia claiming that Manafort has breached his plea deal by “lying” to the FBI and the special counsel “on a variety of subject matters.” Those “subject matters” are not detailed in the filing; instead, the special counsel says he will outline what those “lies” are when he files a “detailed sentencing” report to the court.
So far, after a year and a half of the special counsel investigation, we’ve had multiple indictments of Russians for trying — with no coordination with any Americans — to use social media and the internet to encourage social unrest in America in 2016. We had various indictments for criminal activity unrelated to the Trump campaign and for lying to Congress and federal investigators over conduct that was itself lawful.
But we still have had no indictments that have revealed any evidence about the issue the special counsel was supposed to investigate — whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The latest developments with Cohen and Manafort add very little to answering that ultimate question. We’re still waiting. ~The Patriot Post
{americanthinker.com} ~ Perhaps the media and the various "experts" should reconsider salivating over the recent information stemming from the Michael Cohen plea agreement in light of the lawsuit filed by Jerome Corsi... According to Fox News, "Corsi filed a 'criminal and ethics complaint' against Special Counsel dirty cop-Robert Mueller's team, accusing investigators of trying to bully him into giving 'false testimony' against President Trump." If this is true, Michel Cohen's "admissions" will be rendered virtually meaningless, and dirty cop-Robert Mueller's investigation should be immediately terminated. As part of his plea agreement, Michael Cohen admitted to making false statements in a letter to Congress in 2017 regarding a 2016 Moscow building project that was being considered by the Trump administration. According to Cohen, the discussions regarding the deal continued until June 2016, as opposed to January 2016, as he previously stated in his letter. Many well respected legal scholars have opined that Cohen's admission has no bearing on President Trump and the Russia investigation. According to Alan Dershowitz, "special counsel dirty cop-Robert Mueller's probe is creating crimes rather than uncovering past ones," and the "devastating" report he will write will be based on people "who have lied." Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett agreed with Dershowitz. According to National Review'sAndrew McCarthy, dirty cop-Mueller is building a report as opposed to a legal case. Said McCarthy, "With respect to the president and 'collusion,' dirty cop-Mueller does not have a crime he is investigating. He is investigating in hopes of finding a crime, which is a day-and-night different thing." Together, these comments paint a picture of an investigation that is reeling and a prosecutor hoping to find something he can use against the president that would justify his interminable investigation. Despite the fact that dirty cop-Mueller's investigation appears to rely on the statements of people whose credibility is, at best, highly questionable, Corsi's recent lawsuit, if verifiable, adds an entirely new problem for dirty cop-Robert Mueller and his team. According to Fox News, and pursuant to Corsi's complaint, "they wanted him to demonstrate that he acted as a liaison between Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on one side and the Trump campaign on the other, regarding the release of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee." Furthermore, Corsi alleged that dirty cop-Robert Mueller's office is "knowingly and deceitfully threatening" to charge him with providing a false statement unless he provides "false testimony" against Trump and others... Statement, "2016 Moscow building project that was being considered by the Trump administration", was not president at the time.
Graham wrote not just of the murder but other issues: “The Saudi regime’s murder of Jamal Khashoggi, its reckless military campaign in Yemen, its blockade of Qatar, and its effort to remove Lebanon’s prime minister all show astounding arrogance entitlement, and disregard for international norms. If these actions make Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia a ‘source of stability’ in the Middle East, I’d hate to see what destabilizing behavior looks like.”
Moreover, Graham called Salman “a wrecking ball to U.S.-Saudi relations” and insisted, “The fear that the Saudis will stop cooperating with the U.S. on terrorism or Iran isn’t rational. Those threats pose as much of a danger to the Saudis as they do to America. Demanding better from allies isn’t downgrading the relationship; it’s a sign that Americans take our principles seriously and won’t be taken advantage of by anyone, friend or foe.”
Graham’s words are tough and true. But we also think the “rift” between GOP senators and the president is not as wide as the Leftmedia would have us believe. In fact, we’d argue this is a good cop, bad cop routine between Trump and his critics. Trump takes a backseat to no one when it comes to bashing people as it suits his purpose. He can also be just as effusively gracious when that is more likely to meet his goal.
As we’ve said from the beginning, Trump is using this incident for leverage with the Saudis. By presenting a “divided” front to the Saudis, Trump and the GOP are arguably more likely to get the desired results from the Saudis than if a united front presented an opportunity for a defensive House of Saud to circle the wagons. Remember: Trump’s strategy — and it’s the right one — is to keep the Saudis in our corner but get them to be better allies to truly serve U.S. interests.
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/59846?mailing_id=3918&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.3918&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body And fewer still seem to appreciate the irony of these protests because, despite the anger, the French are getting exactly what they voted for: socialism.
Last year the French elected socialist Emmanuel Macron in a 66-34 blowout over the nationalist Marine Le Pen, following that up months later by giving Macron’s La République en Marche! (LRM) party complete control of France’s government with 377 of the French National Assembly’s 577 seats.
Today Macron’s approval rating stands at an abysmal 26%, far below that of U.S. President Donald Trump. Yet Macron has repeatedly rebuked Trump for his pro-American “nationalism.” Trump’s nationalism certainly stands in stark contrast to the globalism of world leaders like Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel, who responded to criticism of migration and climate change policies by declaring, “Countries must give up their sovereignty … in an orderly fashion of course.”
The catalyst for the recent protests and riots — the worst in France since the 1968 uprising that led to the downfall of President Charles de Gaulle — was an increase in the gas tax. Why the tax? To force French citizens off of diesel and gas-powered cars and into electric cars so as to combat the ecofascist hobgoblin of “climate change,” which, we’re incessantly told, is a cataclysmic problem that supposedly justifies extreme policies.
For the French, who drive more diesel vehicles than any other European nation, this meant a tax hike that resulted in fuel prices of nearly $7 a gallon. This is extremely painful for the average French citizen struggling to get by in a sluggish French economy.
In an attempt to quell the anger driving the riots, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced this week that the government will suspend the tax for six months.
Of course, it’s an open secret that the war to end “climate change” is really a proxy war to destroy free-market capitalism and replace it with globalist socialism while curtailing individual rights.
In 2015, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of UNIPCC (the global governing body on climate change), declared that the real goal of the “global warming” agenda is not avoiding ecological disaster but destroying capitalism. Figueres said, “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”
If the goal was to reduce CO2 emissions, France and the world would emulate America, which has reduced CO2 output more than any other country in the last 30 years, and by a wide margin (a 14% reduction in U.S. emissions from 2005-2017 alone, versus a 21% increase for the rest of the world), despite rejecting both the Kyoto and Paris climate treaties.
But much like socialist Sen. commie-Bernie Sanders — who owns three houses and a high-end sports car — the French people want to enjoy the feeling of moral superiority of embracing socialism (who can be against equality for all?) without actually having to deal with the consequences of socialism, which is, and always has been, government oppression and widespread poverty.
Even as the French protest and riot over the increase in the gas tax, they reject proposals to cut spending in social services and welfare. As reported in The Washington Post, “A key priority for Macron’s administration has been to honor France’s European commitment to keep its budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product. Suspending the carbon tax will mean that billions of euros will have to be saved elsewhere, possibly in the form of spending cuts that could affect the social services that many yellow-vest protesters also cherish. … But Macron’s political opponents rejected out of hand the suggestion that social services might be cut in any way.”
The Washington Times further reports, “The demonstrations have unexpectedly morphed into a general expression of discontent over living conditions in France. … Specifically, many of the protesters want higher salaries and pensions, jobs, better services and tax cuts.” In other words, more generous wages and benefits at someone else’s expense.
The French do not seem to grasp cause and effect. France is already the second-most heavily taxed of all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and while Macron has implemented some pro-business policies, the economy continues to be bogged down by high taxes, burdensome regulations, and massive welfare costs, all of which drives France’s 8.9% unemployment rate (21.5% for youth) and sluggish, sub-2% GDP growth.
It’s not just France, though. These same types of violent protests have spread to Belgium and the Netherlands and continue to build throughout Europe. We saw this occur in Greece when austerity measures were implemented to stave off complete bankruptcy.
American socialists and global-warming hysterics — free to preach their secular gospel while living free of its consequences — take note. America’s commitment to individual rights and the free market have made it the undisputed global leader. Tamper at your own peril.
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/59847?mailing_id=3918&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.3918&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body{foxnews.com} ~ The House on Thursday approved a short-term spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown... punting the thorny debate over border wall funding and other issues until later in the month. The stopgap spending bill, which now heads to the Senate, would fund the government through Dec. 21. Congress had faced a Friday deadline to reach a budget agreement, but lawmakers decided to effectively delay that fight amid this week’s services for the late President George H.W. Bush. But the disagreements are far from resolved. Seven of the government spending bills remain unfinished. The most controversial is the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which would include border wall funding. Apart from the complications of needing bipartisan support in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, House Republicans right now do not have the votes to pass a bill with or without the $5 billion in wall funding sought by President Trump... Senate also approved the bill today. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-approves-stopgap-spending-bill-averting-partial-government-shut-down
Given the movement on Flynn and others in the Trump orb does indeed appear that dirty cop-Mueller is winding down his investigation. It’s also important to note that the only criminal charges directly related to the investigation into Russian election meddling were leveled against Russians — Russians with no ties to Donald Trump. The only charges brought against Americans and members of Trump’s campaign team are for lying during the investigation. In other words, there are as of yet no charges that directly support the Trump/Russia collusion narrative.
However, in dirty cop-Mueller’s heavily redacted Flynn sentencing recommendation, there is one possibly significant statement that some are speculating may implicate Trump. dirty cop-Mueller notes that Flynn’s cooperation was helpful in three probes, including a criminal one. Could the target of this probe for an unnamed crime be Trump? Time will tell, though that seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, there’s more news on the real Russia-collusion story that the mainstream media has intentionally downplayed and ignored. On Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray as well as the Justice Department’s internal watchdog, Michael Horowitz, demanding information and answers on a recent raid of a former FBI contractor’s home. That contractor is Dennis Nathan Cain, who claimed that he was under protected status as a whistleblower and that Horowitz was aware of this status. The FBI says it conducted the raid to recover stolen federal property. And what was that stolen federal property? Evidently it was documents related to former Secretary of State scumbag/liar-Hillary Clinton’s corrupt Uranium One deal with Russia.
Also on Monday, Grassley alleged that Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, the firm hired by scumbag/liar-Clinton to produce the infamous anti-Trump dossier, lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee in August 2017 when he answered that he “had no client after the election.” This answer runs counter to a report in April in which a former staffer for Sen. Dianne Fein-stein (D-CA), Daniel Jones, told the FBI that Fusion GPS was working with him to “continue exposing Russian interference” after the election. So clearly either Simpson or Jones is lying. Will this generate any charges?
In any case, it’s interesting once again to contrast the media’s treatment of scumbag/liar-Clinton’s scandals with Trump’s supposed ones. ~The Patriot Post
{investigativeproject.org} ~ The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched operation "Northern Shield" Tuesday to destroy Hizballah's cross-border attack tunnels that infiltrate into Israel from the Lebanese border... The IDF said that "a number of tunnels" were dug underneath Israeli territory and constituted a "flagrant and blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty." The military operation is primarily taking place on Israel's side of the northern border. "This morning the IDF began Operation Northern Shield, the goal of which is to uncover and neutralize terrorist tunnels from Lebanon", said Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Tuesday, adding, "Whoever tries to attack the State of Israel – will pay a heavy price." The operation comes amid rising tensions in the region, following reported Israeli airstrikes last week targeting enemy infrastructure in Syria. Hizballah released a video with Hebrew subtitles Friday that featured satellite images and specific locations of strategic areas in Israel, warning Israel: "Attack and you will regret it." But, on Monday, a senior Hizballah source told Reuters that neither Iranian or Hizballah positions were targeted last week....
I love sports. I always have. Growing up, I played every sport I could. Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson posters adorned the walls of my bedroom. Sports remains my passion, and for two decades has been my career. I love that sports allows us a break from daily worries, to lose ourselves in the game – where the rules are clear, where talent reigns supreme, and surprise is always possible.
And I love sports not only for my own selfish reasons, but for what it does for the nation. Sports brings together people of all backgrounds to “root, root, root for the home team.” No other form of entertainment does this. Sure, a movie might be great, but you don’t see Democrats and Republicans hugging and high-fiving after watching Tropic Thunder.
I’m not done. Sports are a living civics lesson. Think about it. Every team represents its community—a city, a college, a high school. It is, after all, the New York Yankees. The player who wears the team uniform represents that community...
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaETq--6Zqs
~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/59777?mailing_id=3912&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.3912&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=bodyChina, NAFTA, and the Trade Trump Card
by Lewis Morris: During the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce in the “trade war” between the two countries while negotiators attempt to iron out an agreement over tariffs, intellectual property theft, cybercrime, and other matters.
The move came as the U.S. was prepared to enter another level of escalation by raising tariffs on Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. In return, China will purchase a “very substantial” amount of U.S. agricultural, energy, and industrial products “immediately.” No one yet knows how immediately or how substantial China’s purchases will be, but business and political leaders were optimistic about the developments.
The Business Roundtable called on the White House to bring in other trading partners to create an international consensus in dealing with China.
This might be a good idea. China is not known for keeping its word when it comes to trade and protection issues, and it has flouted U.S. complaints about its shady trade practices before. However, if the EU and Japan backed the U.S. in these disputes, the Chinese might think twice about breaking the rules.
The National Retail Federation said it was a good thing that the administration decided to “give diplomacy a chance.” This was a sentiment echoed by the media and other business groups. What these organizations don’t admit is that Trump had to get tough with China for diplomacy to even be considered an option. Many previous presidents have paid lip service to getting tough with China, only to shrug and go back to business as usual once the TV cameras turn elsewhere.
Tariffs are not productive in the long run. In the end, they are just another tax that (American) consumers must pay for goods and services. However, Trump recognized that something had to be done about America’s trade imbalance with China, and he used the tools at his disposal to get Beijing to the bargaining table. By doing so, he was really returning fire in a trade war in which the U.S. had effectively unilaterally disarmed. Trump’s moves did enough to China’s economy to get Xi to agree to a truce.
The tariffs on China are not just about trade alone, which makes it a little easier to appreciate Trump’s actions. He’s using tariffs to put political as well as economic pressure on the Chinese. China has been setting itself up to become a hegemonic power in Asia, but it’s once superhuman economy has been showing strain and frustrating its plans.
Trump has exploited this, reminding the Chinese that the U.S. is still the premier power in the world. He has also encouraged the Chinese to lean on North Korea so that denuclearization efforts will bear fruit. China is the only friend Kim Jung-un has, and going through Beijing to get to Pyongyang increases the likelihood that Trump can get North Korea to give up its nuclear program.
The China tariff truce wasn’t the only good trade news Trump brought back from Argentina. Leaders of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Mexico’s legislature is expected to ratify the treaty right away. Canada promises to do so after the U.S. Congress passes the agreement.
House Republicans have been encouraged to pass the treaty before the Democrats take over in January, as it’s unclear what House Democrats will do with the deal. It’s not above sick-Nancy Pulosi to sink it for no other reason than stick it to Trump. Dems have declared that there are provisions in the trade deal that they do not like, but the changes in the new agreement are in line with what would ordinarily please Democrat constituents. But these aren’t ordinary times.
Meanwhile, Trump suggested that he would formally pull out of NAFTA, forcing Democrats to either take up the new agreement or go back to at least some pre-1994 trade rules in North America. That may be a bluff, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that sick-Pulosi wouldn’t call it.
Democrats have proven time and again that their hatred for Trump supersedes everything. They will do whatever they can to defeat his chances for reelection in 2020. Trashing a favorable trade deal would be just one more stepping stone toward that goal.
Despite his threat to scrap NAFTA early, Trump claims to be optimistic that he can work out the new trade agreement with Congress. We’ll see. ~The Patriot Post
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By Craig Andresen – Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
It’s that time of the year when visions of sugarplums start dancing in one’s head and our thoughts turn to the festive gatherings of families and friends.
Christmas…from the reason for the season, to jolly ol’ St. Nick…from the giving of gifts, to food, fun, laughter and decorating.
Christmas is a time for celebration unless, of course…
You’re a liberal.
With that in mind, allow me to provide, not so much as a set of rules, but more as a source of information…
The Liberal’s Guide to Christmas.
Here we go…
Thaler noted that “this conclusion is very surprising and I fought against it as hard as I could.” The study published in Human Evolution found that human diversity was unexpectedly minor compared to that of other animals. Stoeckle explained, “Culture, life experience, and other things can make people very different but in terms of basic biology, we’re like the birds.” He added, “One might have thought that, due to their high population numbers and wide geographic distribution, humans might have led to greater genetic diversity than other animal species. At least for mitochondrial DNA, humans turn out to be low to average in genetic diversity.”
However, both Stoeckle and Thaler are both quick to reiterate their commitment to Darwinian evolution and the rejection of a single Adam or Eve. Even so, this is yet another good reminder to hold the concept of “settled science” loosely. There is simply much more that we don’t know than what we do know. And isn’t it interesting that the Biblical story of a worldwide flood and pairs of animals saved from the destruction finds scientific support? It’s almost as if the Author knew what he was talking about… ~The Patriot Post
Lowry continues: In compelling Senate testimony, Yale law professor Akhil Amar explained the constitutional problems with the dirty cop-Mueller protection bill. One is that to be constitutional, the special counsel must be an inferior officer. Otherwise, he has to be confirmed by the Senate, which dirty cop-Mueller wasn’t. And if he’s an inferior officer, he can be fired. dirty cop-Mueller can’t be an inferior officer in some respects and a hypersuperior officer in others, enjoying protections from his ouster that even Cabinet officials don’t enjoy.
The other perplexing facet is that Democrats are conspiring to protect what still appears to be a nothingburger, at least in a legal sense. In fact, former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy says, “Special Counsel dirty cop-Mueller is building a report, not a case.” From his legal point of view, “No prosecutor builds a case the way dirty cop-Mueller is going about it. What prosecutor says, ‘Here’s our witness line-up: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen. And what is it that they have in common, ladies and gentlemen of the jury? Bingo! They’re all convicted liars.’”?
McCarthy adds: For a prosecutor, like any trial lawyer, what the jury thinks is at least as important as what the law says. If the most memorable thing the jury takes into the deliberation room is that no one should believe a word your witnesses say, you are not going to convict the lowliest grifter, much less the president of the United States of America. As a prosecutor, you build a case by having your cooperating accomplice witnesses plead guilty to the big scheme you are trying to pin on the main culprit. After all, what makes these witnesses accomplices, literally, is that they were participants in the main culprit’s crime. That’s the scheme you’re trying to prove. … In short, you build a case by first establishing the foundational criminal offense. Juries do not convict people because they like or trust the prosecution’s witnesses. They convict because they are persuaded that justice demands redress for a real crime.
McCarthy believes that dirty cop-Mueller “is not going to indict the president, which would precipitate a trial at some point. The convicted liars are not going to be jury-trial witnesses, so dirty cop-Mueller is not concerned about their lack of credibility. The report will detail disturbing — and thus politically damaging — connections between Trump associates and Kremlin cronies. But there will be no collusion crime, and thus no charges and no need for witnesses.”
Unfortunately, dirty cop-Mueller’s conclusion won’t quell the Left’s politicking. Far from it. ~The Patriot Post