Karma, precedent and the nuclear option

Charles Krauthammer  "For euphemism, dissimulation and outright hypocrisy, there is nothing quite as entertaining as the periodic Senate dust-ups over Supreme Court appointments and the filibuster. The arguments for and against the filibuster are so well-known to both parties as to be practically memorized. Both nonetheless argue their case with great shows of passion and conviction. Then shamelessly switch sides — and scripts — depending on the ideology of the nominee.

"Everyone appeals to high principle, when everyone knows these fights are about raw power. When Democrat Harry Reid had the majority in the Senate and Barack Obama in the White House, he abolished the filibuster in 2013 for sub-Supreme Court judicial appointments in order to pack three liberal judges onto the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Bad karma, bad precedent, he was warned. Republicans would one day be in charge. That day is here and Republicans have just stopped a Democratic filibuster of Neil Gorsuch by extending the Reid Rule to the Supreme Court." 

To be sure, there are reasoned arguments to be offered on both sides of the filibuster question. It is true that the need for a supermajority does encourage compromise and coalition building. But given the contemporary state of hyperpolarization — the liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats of 40 years ago are long gone — the supermajority requirement today merely guarantees inaction, which, in turn, amplifies the current popular disgust with politics in general and Congress in particular. In my view, that makes paring back the vastly overused filibuster, on balance, a good thing. . .

Obama Wrote America Is A ‘Racist Society’ In An Unreleased Manuscript

Daily Caller  . . . "Weinstein appeared on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday, and Carlson read out from a portion of the unreleased manuscript that focused on race.

“ 'Racism against African Americans continues to exist throughout American society, [which is] an admittedly racist culture,” Obama and Fischer wrote. “Precisely because America is a racist society we cannot realistically expect white America to make special concessions toward blacks over the long haul. The greatest testimony to the force of racist ideology in American culture is that it infects not only the mind of whites, but the minds of blacks as well.”

"Garrow told Weinstein that if Republican opposition researchers had obtained the manuscript in 2008, it could have derailed Obama’s candidacy."   Full article.

Prager U.: Is America Racist?    Presented by Larry Elder  "Is it -- as President Barack Obama said -- "part of our DNA"? Author and talk-show host Larry Elder examines America's legacy of racism, whether it's one we can ever escape, and in the process offers a different way of looking at things like Ferguson, crime, police and racial profiling."

Fake News Leader CNN Rushes to Susan Rice’s Defense

Jammie Wearing Fools   "If you had any doubt left CNN is in the tank for the Democrats, consider Monday’s coverage of the Susan Rice bombshell.  The pathetic cable TV leaders in fake news first ignored the story, then rushed to Rice’s aid, led by … wait for it … a former Obama administration employee.  

Jim Sciutto‏Verified account @jimsciutto  Apr 3MoreReplying to @jimsciutto @TheLeadCNN
Point 1: Unmasking is not leaking. The information is revealed only the official requesting it.

Jim Sciutto‏Verified account @jimsciutto  Apr 3MorePoint 2: The NSA must approve each unmasking request and is, one fmr. sr. intel official told me, "notoriously conservative" in doing so.

Media praised the ‘nuclear option’ when Democrats did it

Washington Times

"The mainstream media were all for the “nuclear option” when it was Democrats doing the nuking.

"The press showered praise upon the Senate for removing the filibuster for lower-court judicial nominees and executive appointments in 2013 in the effort spearheaded by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow assured her viewers at the time that “judges can be blocked on an up-or-down vote, a majority vote, like always.

“ 'But they cannot be blocked anymore by just a minority of votes,” Ms. Maddow said, reported the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters. “Republicans cannot force that anymore.”

"MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes similarly hailed the 2013 development as “an affirmative win for democracy,” while his colleague Al Sharpton said “Democrats took the bold step of changing Senate rules, scaling back the filibuster that Republicans have unfairly used to block the president’s nominees.”

"CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill said Republicans should have taken the Senate back if the party wanted to preserve the filibuster." . . .

Trump vs Assad and Putin; what next?

UK Daily Mail: Putin calls US airstrikes an 'illegal act of aggression' and suspends deal to avoid mid-air clashes with American fighter jets over Syria  
We'll soon see if the Russian Communist Party still holds the same authority over the Western left as Stalin once did. TD

. . . "The Russian President warned of grave damage to relations between Washington and Moscow after 60 
"Tomahawk missiles were fired at al-Shayrat airbase near Homs.

"Syrian Army officials described the attack as an act of 'blatant aggression', saying it had made the US 'a partner' of ISIS, the ex-Nusra Front and other 'terrorist organisations'. 

"The US insists the base was used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces to launch a deadly chemical attack that killed 80 on Tuesday.

"America used a special military-to-military hotline to warn Russia it was launching an airstrike on a Syrian air base about 30 minutes in advance - but the Trump administration did not ask Moscow for permission. It is likely Russia alerted the Syrians about the incoming strikes but this has not been confirmed." . . .  Full article

Syria: After the Airstrikes    The U.S. needs to play a very long game.

Expect the Russians to take note of anti-Trump protesters here in the US and advise Assad that America is incapable of any sort of a protracted conflict. The left here will be the enemy's best ally, as always. TD

. . . "The strike was notable for its rapidity – about 72 hours after the Assad chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians — and for the swift reversal it represented in what had been the administration’s tolerant attitude toward the Assad regime. 
"If it is a one-off, this strike is the very definition of a symbolic pinprick. It was launched with highly precise weapons against the airfield from which the Syrian chemical attack emanated. According to reports, we apprised Russian personnel at the base beforehand, meaning the Syrians effectively had advance warning as well. 
"We are skeptical of the wisdom of this approach. It may be that the strike is enough to deter Assad from future chemical attacks, but it also could have unwelcome unintended consequences. If Assad decides to defy us, we will be forced into further action against his regime without any idea of what would replace it." . . .   Read more

US punishes Syria for gas attack with missile barrage  . . . "Congressional reaction to the strike was generally supportive, but some members – including Senator Rand Paul – warned the administration to work with Congress if the strike represented a significant change in American policy." . . .

. . . "Since President Obama reneged on his "red line" threat four years ago, there have been dozens of gas attacks on civilians using chlorine – a gas that has commercial and industrial applications but is prohibited by international law from being used as a weapon.  In this specific attack, medical observers have evidence that the deadly nerve agent sarin was also used.  That may be the "red line" Trump spoke of in his statement.

"I think there's a good chance that the attack was a specific response to a specific incident and does not represent a sea change in American military policy in Syria."  Rick Moran.

Unpacking the Latest Chemical Attack in Syria  . . . "We're in for long haul against radical Islam, and it's going to get nasty, because it already is nasty.

"Leaders puff and posture.  It's not always what it seems.  No doubt, repugnance for President Trump is a good first response.

"But I hope "America First" isn't just a slogan, because it's the only America that we've got, and the rest of the world just plain isn't."

Arutz Sheva; "Obama spied on Trump – and you read it here first"

Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Trump campaign staffers were unmasked in intelligence surveillance reports but not for being opponents. Perish the thought. This is the United States of America, where every person, regardless of race, color or creed, is spied upon equally.  (Comedian Argus Hamilton)

Israel National News  "Normally it’s impolite to say you were first with a story or an opinion, unless, as in this instance, you were right and the rest of the world was wrong. On top of that, being so wrong when everyone else was so right, you’d be making a fool of yourself to proceed. So they said.

"But proceed we did…and on March 21 we wrote and published on these pages the view that President Trump was correct to allege that the Obama Administration had been spying on him during the election process. People scoffed, at me and at Trump. I’ll say this. Trump is President and I am a grasshopper, but on this we’re equal: we operate on instinct.

"So on instinct more than a week ago I wrote: “The odds are still against him – but betting against Trump is still not recommended as a smart bet.”

"Trump’s bet (and mine) turns out to be on the money. Today we learn that Susan Rice allegedly abused US Intelligence to gain information about him and his transition team. Rice served as Obama’s national security adviser and she denies that anything like that happened after saying that it did. 

"So it goes round and round with that slippery crowd. They try telling us that the snooping was not directed against Trump EXACTLY…or PERSONALLY.

"No, they say, it happened imprecisely and coincidentally and incidentally…anything but the truth and as if it makes a damn bit of difference.

"The fact is – Donald Trump was spied on, end of story…though not quite. Was Obama behind this?

"They’ll say no way. I say absolutely. If that’s another bet, I’ll take it. Just like the first one that was published here as – “Comey repels Trump’s spy charges. But nobody believed Hemingway either.” The Democrats and their news media darlings scoffed – as did a House Intelligence Committee and FBI Director James Comey himself." . . .

New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva. His books, including “The Bathsheba Deadline,” are available from Amazon and other retailers. Engelhard wrote the international bestseller “Indecent Proposal” and the award-winning Montreal memoir “Escape from Mount Moriah.” His latest is “News Anchor Sweetheart.” He is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. Website: www.jackengelhard.com

The Target boycott cost more than anyone expected — and the CEO was blindsided

Yahoo Finance

"Target triggered a nationwide boycott last year with a single blog post — and it turns out the message was as big of a shock to the company's CEO as it was to some shoppers.

"The blog post, published in April 2016, publicized a policy that said transgender customers were welcome to use the bathroom or fitting room that matched their gender identity.

" 'Everyone deserves to feel like they belong," the post said. "And you'll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target."

"Target CEO Brian Cornell never approved the post and found out about it only after it was published, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"He later told colleagues that he wouldn't have approved the decision to "flaunt" the policy and that the backlash was "self-inflicted," The Journal reported.

"The boycott cost the company millions in lost sales and added expenses. Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the blog post, and the company was forced to spend $20 million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to give critics of the policy more privacy.

"Critics of the policy said it opened the door for sexual predators to victimize women and children inside the retailer's bathrooms, and more than 1.4 million people signed a pledge to stop shopping at Target unless it reversed the policy." . . .

U.S. Officials Can’t Confirm Obama-Era Counter-Terror Efforts Ever Succeeded

Washington Free Beacon  "Federal authorities have no way to measure whether years-long efforts to combat violent extremists have proven effective, according to a new government oversight report that is prompting calls for the Trump administration to scrap Obama-era efforts to downplay the threat of radical Islamic terrorists in its counter-terrorism operations.

"A years-long investigation by federal oversight officials has determined the U.S. government has failed to establish any method to determine if the Obama administration's Countering Violent Extremism plan, or CVE, has had any tangible impact on the U.S. fight to prevent terror attacks.

"The CVE program, a creation of the Obama administration, has long come under criticism by national security experts and lawmakers for its intentional efforts to downplay the threat of Islamic radicals and instead focus on activities by far-right extremists and others. President Donald Trump has criticized these omissions and vowed to revamp counter-terror efforts so they name and target Islamic terrorists.

"While the federal CVE program has suffered from disarray for some time, federal investigators have concluded that, since its inception, authorities across the government have failed to establish "a process by which to evaluate the effectiveness of the collective CVE effort," according to the report.

" 'The CVE Task Force was established in part to evaluate and assess CVE efforts across the federal government, but has not established a process for doing so," the report found.

"At this point, CVE programs have not been implemented to combat the rise of extremism is U.S. prisons and cannot produce evidence that authorities are learning from past attacks, according to the report.

" 'The federal government does not have a cohesive strategy or process for assessing the overall CVE effort," the report concludes.

"Federal investigators with the Government Accountability Office were "not able to determine if the United States is better off today than it was in 2011 as a result of these tasks," according to the report, which confirms criticism of the program made by lawmakers and others over the years. "This is because no cohesive strategy with measurable outcomes has been established to guide the multi-agency CVE effort."

"As the CVE program continues to suffer from an inability to gauge its effectiveness, the number of terrorism plots in the United States has only increased. The Trump administration in the past several months have either arrested or convicted a growing number of individuals tied to Islamic terrorists and extremists fighting in Syria.

"One senior congressional source familiar with the matter told the Washington Free Beacon that the latest report is damning and confirms the fears of many. The Obama administration's efforts to equate Islamic extremists with domestic groups have been wholly ineffective, the source said." . . .

Adam Kredo is senior writer for the Washington Free Beacon. Formerly an award-winning political reporter for the Washington Jewish Week, where he frequently broke national news, Kredo’s work has been featured in outlets such as the Jerusalem Post, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and Politico, among others.