Russian chess master Garry Kasparov’s harsh critiques of Bernie Sanders and socialism

Perestroika Political Cartoon

Washington Post

. . . "When Bernie Sanders supporters hear the word "socialism," they think about higher taxes for the rich, campaign finance reform and a single-payer health-care system rivaling those found in Scandinavia.

"When Garry Kasparov, the legendary chess grandmaster from Russia, hears the same word, a very different thought comes to his mind.

" 'Socialism sounds great in speech soundbites and on Facebook, but please keep it there," he wrote in a Facebook post that went viral. "In practice, it corrodes not only the economy but the human spirit itself, and the ambition and achievement that made modern capitalism possible and brought billions of people out of poverty. Talking about Socialism is a huge luxury, a luxury that was paid for by the successes of capitalism.' " . . .

An environmental activist, Thomas DeSoto reacted strongly to this knowledgeable challenge to his presuppositions with this blast at the former Soviet native:  

"Gary Kasparov proves mindless and blind to the social issues of our times, like most conservative narcissistic self-serving fools who regress to a neanderthal thinking monster as they get older. "

Mr. Desoto brands Kasparov "conservative" to cancel out his credibility, rather than see him as a product of the communist, socialistic society that the former Soviet chess hero has rejected. 
Whom do we believe: Desoto, who is raised by liberal liberal academia, or Kasparov, who has lived in socialism his entire life? 
As with many, many urban American kids who see sports as their only way out of the ghetto, so Russian youth knew their economy offered no way up. Chess was one of the few ways to get ahead. TD

There’s an air of menace about this campaign

Charles Krauthammer  . . . "The political thuggery that shut down a Donald Trump rally in Chicago last week may just be a harbinger. It would be nice, therefore, if we could think straight about cause and effect.

The immediate conventional wisdom was to blame the disturbance on the “toxic climate” created by Trump. Nonsense. This was an act of deliberate sabotage created by a totalitarian left that specializes in the intimidation and silencing of political opponents.

"Its pedigree goes back to early 20th-century fascism and communism. Its more recent incarnation has been developed on college campuses, where for years leftists have been taunting, disrupting and ultimately shutting down and shutting out conservative speakers of every stripe — long before Donald Trump." . . .

Mr. Krauthammer, however, fears more that the Soros- funded violence:

"But there’s a second, quite separate form of thuggery threatening the 2016 campaign — a leading candidate who, with a wink and a nod (and sometimes less subtlety), is stoking anger and encouraging violence."

. . .  "What is so disturbing today is that suffusing our politics is not just an air of division but an air of menace. It’s being fueled on both sides: one side through organized anti-free-speech agitation using Bolshevik tactics; the other side by verbal encouragement and threats of varying degrees of subtlety.

"They may feed off each other but they are of independent origin. And both are repugnant, both dangerous and both deserving of the most unreserved condemnation." 

http://earloftaint.com/

Did the Clintons really steal items from the White House when they left?

Fact check on Clinton 2001 rumor:   "A conservative website called Radix News posted this graphic on its Facebook page:

" 'After leaving the White House, Hillary was forced to return an estimated $200,000 in White House china, furniture and artwork that she had stolen.' " . . .

In fact checking the above article, we came across this reminder of the Clinton character and their qualifications for the White House.

George Will remarked that Bill Clinton was “not the worst president we ever had, just the worst person who was ever president.” 

Gil Troy  "American Historian "The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s' ".

"I heard someone say that the Clintons had stolen items or "taken them on accident" after they left the white house in 2001. Are these allegations true, and if so, what did the list of items taken consist of?"

"One of the bizarre things about both Clintons is that they combine a grandeur and generosity with a smallness and pettiness that they cannot see because of their genuine good works and their Baby Boomer self-righteousness. The way they left the White House was simply shocking, especially after the intense scrutiny they endured -- and knew they were still under.  As he retired, President Clinton issued 176 pardons and sentence commutations. He pardoned his brother Roger Clinton as well as Marc Rich, the fugitive financier living in Switzerland charged with 51 counts of tax evasion. 
. . . 
"The Clintons also accepted $190,027 worth of gifts to help fill their two new houses, in Chappaqua and Georgetown, while taking some furniture which donors had deeded to the White House not to its temporary occupants. Clinton’s blurred boundaries between himself and his office, along with an odd match between the Clintons’ neediness and their supporters’ fawning, fed what the conservative Barbara Olson* called “this final frenzy.” Despite his pending $10 million book deal and her $8 million advance, despite six-figure post-presidential speaking fees looming, the Clintons felt “broke.” As much as $14 million in legal bills, for a couple who never had any significant assets, was daunting but for them manageable." . . .
*killed on 9-11 aboard Flight 77 when it hit the Pentagon.

Obama and Cuba

Can the GOP majority survive a Trump candidacy?

The Top Five Most Vulnerable GOP Senate Seats

. . . "Just as Democrats were exposed in 2014 and lost nine Senate seats and their majority, Republicans have 24 seats to defend in 2016 versus only 10 for Democrats. And this is a presidential year, when Democratic turnout is usually far stronger than for midterms. In 2008 and 2012, the last two presidential election years, Democrats picked up Senate seats (a net of 10), while Republicans had substantial gains from the last two midterms in 2010 and 2014 (a net of 15)." . . .

A Democrat majority will control selection of Justices and the investigation of Benghazi and the Clinton emails. The EPA head will have to reflect left-wing policies and no Obama executive orders will be cancelled. These are just for starters. TD

Will this be Republicans or Democrats?

Will the Military Answer Hillary's Call in 2016?

The potential Commander-in-Chief whose husband "loathed the military"

American Thinker  "When Barack Obama kicked off his first presidential campaign in 2008 as a junior first-term senator from Illinois, it became a political imperative for the greenhorn candidate to obtain the endorsements of retired – but still influential – senior military officers to apply a veneer of credibility to his objectively thin national security credentials.  Gaining those same endorsements could again be an engaging subplot to this year's election theater, particularly for the 2008 understudy, Hillary Clinton."
. . . 

"As the military's most senior leaders, these retired admirals and generals all presided over promotion boards for more junior officers to decide on their potential and suitability to serve in higher ranks.  Basic military promotion board thinking is to dispassionately evaluate an individual's potential to serve in a higher grade based on his record of capabilities, performance, and results.

"After similarly appraising Mrs. Clinton's track record on national security and diplomacy, accompanied by those unavoidable conversations over her integrity and honesty, will that group "promote" her in 2016?  Will members of that company of retired senior military leaders answer her call?  Given the military's performance-based ethos, coupled with the ideals and standards U.S. military members are held to account for, it seems increasingly likely that few among them would publicly offer up their names and professional reputations for her political fortunes."

Colonel Krisinger retired from the Air Force after 30 years of service.  He served two tours as a senior military adviser at the State Department.