Counterpoint: Krauthammer now sees Trump-Russia collusion

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Charles Krauthammer: Bungled collusion is still collusion  "The Russia scandal has entered a new phase and there’s no going back.

"For six months, the White House claimed that this scandal was nothing more than innuendo about Trump campaign collusion with Russia in meddling in the 2016 election. Innuendo for which no concrete evidence had been produced.

"Yes, there were several meetings with Russian officials, some only belatedly disclosed. But that is circumstantial evidence at best.

"Meetings tell you nothing unless you know what happened in them. We didn’t. Some of these were casual encounters in large groups like the famous July 2016 Kislyak-Sessions exchange of pleasantries at the Republican National Convention. Big deal.

"I was puzzled. Lots of cover-up, but where was the crime? Not even a third-rate burglary.

"For six months, smoke without fire. Yes, President Trump himself was acting very defensively, as if he were hiding something. But no one ever produced the something.

"My view was: Collusion? I just don’t see it. But I’m open to empirical evidence. Show me.

"The evidence is now shown. This is not hearsay, not fake news, not unsourced leaks. This is an email chain released by Donald Trump Jr. himself. A British go-between writes that there’s a Russian government effort to help Trump Sr. win the election, and as part of that effort he proposes a meeting with a “Russian government attorney” possessing damaging information on Hillary Clinton." . . .

Transgender Surgeries Would Cost Pentagon $1.3 Billion

Free Beacon  "Taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries would cost the Pentagon $1.3 billion over 10 years.

"President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that transgender individuals will not be eligible to serve in the military, with the White House citing cost and military readiness concerns.

"Internal data provided to the Washington Free Beacon from Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R., Mo.), a leading opponent of taxpayer-funded sex changes, show that even by using a conservative estimate, the costs associated with 0.7 percent of the military population is great.

"Hartzler's office provided a detailed calculation that shows estimates of the current number of transgender service members, and the number likely to seek a taxpayer-funded gender transition.

" 'The 10-year cost estimate is for surgery only and is adjusted for 3 percent inflation; it accounts for Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve members currently serving as well as new recruits over the same time period," the document states. "It uses the FY 18 DoD number for total number of military members and multiplies it by the percentage of military personnel assumed to be transgender as reported by the UCLA Williams Institute and the National Center for Transgender Equality."

"The 2014 Williams Institute study found there were 15,500 transgender individuals actively serving, or 0.7 percent of the military population. By adjusting the figure for the enlistment numbers of 2,130,000, there are currently 14,910 transgender service members.

"Thirty percent will likely seek surgeries, or 4,473 transgender troops. The average cost per surgery is $132,000, which is a combination of the average cost of male to female ($140,450) and female to male ($124,400) surgeries.

"The cost to taxpayers for these surgeries would be $590 million, and $770 million with a 3 percent inflation rate by 2027." . . .

Hillary Clinton’s upcoming book: Make way for the pity party

Washington Times  "Hillary Clinton, of “I Should’ve Won the White House!” fame, apparently isn’t content to deliver 10- and 20-second talking points from her national podium about the dang Russians who worked with President Donald Trump to give him that presidential title.

"She’s gotta write a book about it, too.

"That’s right. Clinton’s new book will reportedly double down on the Russian election interference angle — as well as one that rings in former FBI chief James Comey as a heavy factor in her loss, too.

"She just wants to get the story out, her friends privately say.

“ 'She really believes that’s why she lost, and she wants to explain why in no uncertain terms,” one of her political supporters told The Hill. “She wants the whole story out there from her own perspective. I think a lot of people are going to be really surprised by how much she reveals.”

"Well, probably not — not if the book focuses, as hinted, on the Russia-Trump election collusion message, or on the Comey’s a Traitor rhetoric, either. America already knows these lines. And they’re boring." . . .

Asset forfeiture? Let's start with Bernie Sanders

Jack Hellner  "The left-wing press is braying about seizing the assets of Jared Kushner, who's committed no crime, all because he forgot to disclose an asset on one of his many bureaucratic forms.  How about seizing the assets of socialist millionaire Bernie Sanders, whose wife committed fraud?

"Somehow the media avoid Bernie's family fraud like the plague.  Can anyone imagine if a Republican had this same offense?  Well, yes we can – we have seen what they are up to with Kushner.

"Why don't the Republicans recommend seizing assets from people who got some of their assets dishonestly, such as millionaire socialist Bernie Sanders, who got some of his assets because of his wife's high salary while she was committing fraud and while her university was receiving taxpayer funds, at least in the form of student loans and aid, or whatever it was?  There were all sorts of violations she either did or is being investigated for, and the pair of them profited handsomely, as their many real estate holdings show.

"How many houses do you need, Bernie?

"It's not just Bernie, by the way.  How about seizing the assets of Hillary Clinton, too, where a substantial amount of her wealth came from the spike in speaking fees for Bill Clinton from foreign countries, including Russia, seeking favors after Hillary became commander in chief (can you say "kickbacks"?)?

I"nstead, you are willing to seize assets from a relative of Trump who left information off a form.

"That's rich from the left."

Donald Trump, the (Un-)Masked Magician

Once again, Trump the (un-)masked magician has exposed another self-serving opportunist masquerading as a Boy Scout.

Michael Bertolone  "Back in the late 1990s, there was a popular TV show called Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, in which a masked magician showed the audience how some of the most famous stage magic tricks were done.  This horrified and outraged professional magicians everywhere, as it struck at the heart of their livelihood.  Donald Trump is doing the same thing to the entrenched Washington establishment, only without the mask, and with a much greater outcry and resistance from the lobbyists, politicians, and media hacks he is exposing on a daily basis. " 
. . . 
"In an interview with Tom Brokaw in 1980 (available on YouTube), a 33-year-old Donald Trump laid out a rational argument for wanting to purchase the World Trade Center.  This interview demonstrates that Trump is crazy like a fox and uses his current over-the-top persona as a tactic.  Here, he lays out a reasoned argument with a calm, rational demeanor in complete contrast to the mainstream media's portrayal of him as president." . . .

The Missing Weapon at Dunkirk

Steve Feinstein . . ."Desperate and panicked, France pleaded with Britain to send men and materiél to their aid.

"The British did so, in the form of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), consisting of several hundred thousand troops along with tanks and aircraft. It was a wasted effort, as the British could not buttress the listless and disorganized French forces against the brilliantly trained, highly motivated German army. Germany’s blitzkrieg tactics decimated the allied formations, inflicting severe losses and taking great swaths of French territory.

"Sometimes, what might seem to be a small decision at the time can have huge long-range consequences, with repercussions that last decades into the future, even to the point of altering the course of history. Such was the case in the battle for France in May of 1940. British Air Marshal Lord Hugh Dowding made the decision to not send any of Britain’s valuable Spitfire fighter aircraft to France for the fight against the Germans. The Spitfire was generally regarded as the best fighter plane in the world at the time (narrowly edging out Germany’s BF-109). Dowding correctly recognized that Britain would soon be in a one-on-one fight for survival against Germany and any hope Britain had of fighting off the German air force (the Luftwaffe) rested squarely on the shoulders of their small contingent of Spitfires." . . .

. . . At the very end of the movie Dunkirk, there is a dedication screen that reads, “Dedicated to all the individuals whose lives have been impacted by the events at Dunkirk.” It’s an intentionally subtle and brilliant statement by director Christopher Nolan, since everyone in the world since 1940 has been “impacted” by the events that took place there. Had the Germans won the war in Europe—and they were within a hairsbreadth of doing that at Dunkirk—the world would be a drastically different place today. Everyone’s lives would have been impacted. But Britain’s heroic Royal Air Force—led by those courageous pilots flying their Spitfires—didn’t let that happen."

Pretty White Australian Girls' Lives Matter

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, women of any race committed about 10 percent of all murders from 1980 to 2008, and black people committed a majority of all murders. Other than a small child, it's difficult to think of a demographic that poses less of a threat to a policeman in America than a 40-year-old white woman. 

Ann Coulter  . . . "As usually happens when Muslims attack, the press is consumed with worry about their mental state and well-being. 
"Sample Headlines: 
"Somalis on edge after Minneapolis cop named in fatal shooting -- The Daily Herald (Everett, Washington), July 18, 2017 
"Somalis in Minneapolis on defensive after police shooting -- St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota), July 21, 2017 
"Minneapolis shooting brings unwelcome attention to Somalis -- Associated Press, July 22, 2017 
"There are nearly 2 billion Muslims in the world, amounting to a quarter of the world's population, controlling 50 countries. The English-speaking world is about a fifth that size and constitutes a dwindling majority in about a half-dozen countries. But, somehow, no matter how the story is written, Muslims always get to play the victim, and Anglo-Saxons are cast as the aggressors. 
"That's why a Somali cop's fatal shooting of a pajama-clad Good Samaritan has

gone directly into the "Be Nice to Muslims!" file, rather than the "Why Are All These Somalis Here?" file. (Answer: Because of an earlier mistake with excessive Scandinavian immigration.) 
"I can't help noticing that it was precisely the "Be Nice to Muslims!" dictate that put this Somali nincompoop on the police force in the first place. 
"Among Noor's evident errors the night he killed Justine: 

"1) Shooting from the passenger seat, the bullet whizzing inches past his partner's face, through the driver's side window; "2) Not turning his bodycam on when responding to a 911 call; "3) Shooting to kill because he heard a loud noise; "4) Believing that white women in America pose a threat to a policeman. 

"A few of the Weather Underground ladies were accomplices to cop-killings, 40 years ago, but even they weren't lone white women cop-killers. " . . .