EPA chief dumps on Obama administration, marks 2nd anniversary of Animas River spill

Legal Insurrection

The “event happened and the Obama administration did not show up.”

"While the American press focused on a supposed Russia-Trump connection, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently reminded the country about a real domestic disaster caused by the Obama Administration: The Animas River Spill.

"Scott Pruitt visited the Animas River site last week, where over 3 million gallons of acidic, heavy-metal-laden waste water was accidentally released into the environment, and had some harsh words for Team Obama.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt marked the two-year anniversary of the Gold King Mine disaster in Colorado on Friday by pointing out how the Obama administration erred in causing the massive 3 million gallons toxic spill.

“We want to make sure things are done right,” Pruitt told local news ahead of touring the mine site. “If anyone else would have done what the EPA had done under Obama, with respect to this spill, they would have likely been put in jail.”

…The “event happened and the Obama administration did not show up,” Pruitt said. “Neither the president nor the vice president came to this site after it occurred. And Coloradans have said that they have felt left out.”

"Legal Insurrection readers may recall that the EPA decided that it did not have to pay damage claims totaling $1.2 billion from the 2015 disaster, claiming sovereign immunity.

Pruitt is re-evaluating the rejected claims.

“I’ve already sent out a letter to all the claimants who have filed claims asking them to resubmit,” . . .

Rebranded Hillary Clinton Sets Her Sights On The Pulpit

Shillady said that Clinton, a Methodist, has always been greatly influenced by her faith. “It’s been there all along,” Shillady said. “The general public didn’t necessarily want to accept the fact that she’s a Christian because there’s so many critics out there about the Clintons.”

Daily Caller

"Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is looking to become a spiritual leader after losing to President Donald Trump in 2016, according to reports from people in Clinton’s circle.

"Clinton wants to preach, according to her pastor Rev. Bill Shillady, who has written a book about the former secretary of state’s spiritual life, particularly during her years-long campaign for president.

"During a promotional photoshoot for “Strong for a Moment Like This: The Daily Devotions Of Hillary Rodham Clinton,” a year’s worth of devotions tailored for Clinton as she campaigned for president, Clinton told Shillady that she’d like spiritual leadership to be part of her career.

"Clinton asked Shillady not to write about her desire to be a pastor, however, because “it will make me seem much too pious,” Clinton told Shillady, according The Atlantic." . . .

Far-Left Serial Accuser Targets Eric Bolling

"Eric Bolling shared Cain’s passion. So did Bill O’Reilly and Charles Payne over at Fox Business. They all succumbed to the “feminazi” assault. They were all conservative dragons that had to be slayed."

Satire...just satire, satirical satire. TD

Daniel John Sobieski  "Fox news icon Bill O’Reilly, arguably the man who propelled Fox News into media dominance, was the first at Fox News to fold his tent under duress and slip away under the cloud of multiple charges of sexual harassment. He was the first Fox News conservative target of a liberal left that also targeted the likes of Herman Cain and even Donald Trump himself.

"One of his accusers was Caroline Heldman, a far-left professor at Occidental College whom some have dubbed a “feminazi” who in a tweet said after O’Reilly’s fall, “We can slay dragons”. As Yahoo News reported on her charges: . . .

. . . 

"Caroline Heldman is rapidly becoming the woman who cried “harassment”  She is a far-left ideologue who showed up at President Trump’s inauguration with a sign that read  “good people don’t vote for rapists”. She was a plaintiff in a sexual assault case filed with others against Occidental, Heldman’s school. She and the others were represented by Gloria Allred, the same far left feminist lawyer who led the campaign against former GOP candidate Herman Cain:. . . 

 . . .

"The likes of Gloria Allred, Caroline Helbman, and the rest didn’t care about their more credible and documented claims. As Investor’s Business Daily editorialized in 2011, righteous indignation and claims of victimhood are a one-way street for the liberal grievance industry:" . . .

Mom of pro-Trump child can't find a baker to make a pro-Trump cake

" 'Civil rights" have now become preeminent over freedom of religion.  That cornerstone freedom has been eroded by the belief that "social justice" is being denied protected groups because Christians object to the gay lifestyle and gay marriage. "

Rick Moran  "A 9 year old who wrote a letter of support to President Trump that was read by Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a press briefing last month said that his mother had to bake him a MAGA hat cake herself because she couldn't find a baker who would do it." . . .

. . . 

"An example of freedom of speech exercised by the bakers? There certainly aren't any national organizations fighting for Dyan's right to have a cake honoring his political hero. 

"This is unlike several bakers who have been sued by LGBT activists for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding." . . .

“Similarly here, cake shops declined Pickle’s order for conscience reasons,” Mr. Farris wrote in a blog post on Thursday. “Yet, no one on the Left is calling for legal action against the cake shops. And neither should anyone on the Right.”
“The fact is that these cake shops have freedom of speech,” he continued. “They have the right to decline to use their artistic talents to celebrate events or promote messages that violate their beliefs, even if it offends a nice little kid.”

" About the only difference between political objections to baking Trump cakes and a religious objection to baking gay marriage cakes is the Civil Rights Act. And it isn't so much the act itself, it's how the law is being interpreted and the declining importance in the eyes of the American legal system of religious freedom." . . .

Except perhaps when Sharia Law is demanded in a democracy?

McMaster: The Ultimate Holdover

Sadly, in view of McMaster's role leading tanks against the Iraqi Republican Guard in the greatest tank battle since WW2 during the Gulf War.

The American Spectator  "Why President Trump needs to fire his national security advisor."

"Many in the conservative media are urging President Trump to fire his national security advisor, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. McMaster should be fired forthwith, but the reasons being argued are subsidiary to the primary reasons McMaster has to go.

"The debate over McMaster has been framed in terms of his loyalty to Trump. Though loyalty to the president is important, McMaster’s ideology and bad judgment are what make him unfit for the position.

"For eight years the Obama administration relentlessly politicized everything it touched. Those dedicated to Obama’s ideology were embedded in every agency at every level.

"Obama’s failures are numerous and highly damaging to our national security. His State Department produced an awful arms agreement with the Russians, tried desperately to pressure Israel into an untenable peace agreement, and proudly signed Obama’s nuclear weapons deal with Iran.

"Obama’s Defense Department supported the massive spending cuts Obama engineered. Those cuts are the source of the readiness crisis we now face which, for example, leave about 70% of Marine Corps F-18s unfit to fly combat missions. Moreover, the Pentagon never took a stand against Obama’s Iran deal or his dangerous Russian strategic weapons deal.

"The Pentagon failed to alert American forces on the anniversaries of 9/11 (on one of which the Benghazi attacks occurred) and dedicated itself to fighting climate change and social experimentation such as admitting women to special forces and welcoming transgendered people. The army secretary ordered commanders to compromise readiness in favor of lactation needs of serving soldiers." . . .  Also this: McMaster Worked at Think Tank Backed by Soros-Funded Group that Helped Obama Sell Iran Nuclear Deal

American Populism Has Left the Left Behind

From Occupy Wall Street to President Trump — it squandered its huge opportunity.   "Ironically, the acting-up of Occupy Wall Street led to Donald Trump’s presidency. At a moment ripe for populist anger, the left, aided by mainstream media, turned it instead into an elitist temper tantrum. As a result, Middle Americans saw how little they resembled the left and went decisively in the opposite direction.

"The left has never had it easy in America. Prosperity aplenty rarely let leftist movements crawl far from the cradle. The Financial Crisis therefore held special promise. Its particulars seemed to be the seeds for which the left had so often longed.

. . . 

"Billed as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, it was even better political fodder. Unlike the Great Depression, which affected the entire population because it was based in the monetary system, the Financial Crisis seemed to have winners and losers cast by Frank Capra. There were bailouts to the malefactors — those “too big to fail” — while those on Main Street — “too small to save” — paid. For the left, the Financial Crisis offered unparalleled promise as It’s a Wonderful Crisis.

"On September 17, 2011, almost four years after the financial crisis began, the left responded. Occupy Wall Street seized Zuccotti Park in New York City… and the mainstream media. While Occupy Wall Street held the park for two months, it still has not relinquished its hold on mainstream media." . . .

"Google Fires Author of Divisive Memo on Gender Differences."

Althouse

"Bloomberg reports. 

Earlier on Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a note to employees that said portions of the memo “violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.”...  A Google representative, asked about the dismissal, referred to Pichai’s memo.

[James] Damore’s 10-page memorandum accused Google of silencing conservative political opinions and argued that biological differences play a role in the shortage of women in tech and leadership positions. It circulated widely inside the company and became public over the weekend, causing a furor that amplified the pressure on Google executives to take a more definitive stand.