US Olympic Athlete Boycotts Opening Ceremony Over ‘Racist’ Coin Toss — Instantly Regrets It

Davis

Breaking News  . . . [Shani] "Davis wasn’t happy that he wasn’t chosen to carry the flag during the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
"He apparently lost a coin toss with another athlete.

"But rather than accepting the perfectly fair toss, Davis then pulled out his race card, claiming the real reason he wasn’t chosen was because he’s black.

From Pop Culture:Team USA speedskater Shani Davis opted out of the 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea after losing the coin toss for flag bearer.

A day earlier, Davis vented his frustration over a coin flip ruining his opportunity to carry the American flag during the Parade of Nations event. He took to Twitter to blast Team USA’s tie-breaker rule.

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/dsmTtNkhJs

Hamlin

Well immediately after throwing his little tantrum, the backlash came pouring in and Davis quickly realized he made a big mistake.

After feeling the wrath of the nation, Davis made his tweets private in an attempt to diffuse his situation.

"Basically, Davis was doing his best Kaepernick impression. Something happened that Davis didn’t like so he packed up his toys and went home.

From ABC News:

Luge veteran and four-time Olympian Erin Hamlin led Team USA into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium as the flag bearer today, marking the start of her final Olympic Games amid some initial backlash.

Luge veteran and four-time Olympian Erin Hamlin led Team USA into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium as the flag bearer today, marking the start of her final Olympic Games amid some initial backlash.

Hamlin, the first U.S. athlete to win an Olympic medal in singles luge, will not let that controversy mar the once-in-a-lifetime honor, she told ABC.

“I had nothing to do with the process,” Hamlin said before the opening ceremony. “I actually didn’t know any of the details, so I’m really not even paying too much attention to it.

"It was pretty gross of Davis to try and make this about race. Sadly, that seems to be par for the course these days. We are all Americans and that’s really the message that the Olympics is all about. Our differences don’t matter when we are all wearing that uniform.  However, Davis was unable to control his temper and injected race into the situation. That’s really unfortunate. We are better than that."

Sources: Chief of Staff John Kelly expressed to President Trump willingness to resign

ABC News "President Donald Trump, furious over the handling of domestic abuse allegations involving one of his closest aides, has spoken to confidantes about the possibility of replacing *embattled Chief of Staff John Kelly, sources close to the president tell ABC News." . . .

"Kelly has made clear to the president in the last 24 hours that he's willing to resign in light of the president's dissatisfaction over the West Wing's handling of the allegations against former Staff Secretary Rob Porter, according to sources who have spoken with Trump and Kelly." . . .

"While Kelly’s fate is in question, sources familiar with the matter said they did not believe his departure is imminent. Kelly was seen working in the West Wing on Friday, leading his daily senior staff meeting and joining Trump in the Oval Office during an afternoon photo op.

"General Kelly has not offered his resignation to the President," White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement. When asked if Kelly has expressed interest in offering his resignation, Gidley said "Not to my knowledge, no."

"Several Trump confidantes reached by ABC News said the president is considering multiple names as possible Kelly replacements, among those, top economic adviser Gary Cohn, Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney and Rep. Mark Meadows.
* Those words could mean anything. If faced with Kelly resigning, the President must consider who would replace him. To discuss it is not to desire firing him. TD

The First Female Navy SEAL Candidate And The Offensive Truth Of Nature

By Susan Wright at RedState

"According to the Navy, there were no special allowances made for the females. They were required to undergo the same physical challenges as their male counterparts, which makes sense, since the challenges in combat they would face would be the same."

. . .  If you want to compete in a role more suited to men, due to the biological certainties of bigger size, more musculature, then you have to prove you can keep up. Your teammates’ lives may be on the line one day, and war does not take a day off for bloating and irritability.

"The other female to enter was working towards becoming a special warfare combatant crewman. There’s no word on her progress yet, and if she makes it, good for her. If not, nobody should be surprised.

"I’m not opposed to women serving in the military. There are so many roles that women can fill, and do so exceedingly well. Combat is not that role. Women are wired differently. They have different needs and biological functions that would make prolonged combat roles untenable. And no, our troops’ lives should not be risked to prove a point about diversity.

"Kudos to both ladies for giving it a shot. It’s never a bad thing to face reality about our limitations." . . .

Train like a Navy SEAL

SEAL training: What Hell Week Taught Me about Pushing through Sleep Deprivation

The swamp things take aim at General Kelly. Trying to dismantle the Trump Administratiom?

The left must be resisted in this matter with General Kelly, but if the affair vis-a-vis Porter is true as it appears, then Porter must suffer consequences. TD

The swamp things take aim at General Kelly  "A minor personnel matter among the White House staff, and just like that, the swamp press is all over it with headlines like "Memo: Knives come out for Kelly," as The Hill reported, in what's that Beltway organ's top-read story.

General Kelly

"Seems one of President Trump's top aides, Rob Porter, turns out to have some kind of history of wife-beating, according to two angry ex-wives.

"In the past, just having two ex-wives would probably signal a problem, but we all knew what we were doing when we elected President Trump.  Sometimes, the personal picture is irrelevant.

"Apparently, Porter did a good job of getting information to President Trump and helping craft his dyno State of the Union address (to use an old Southern California surfer term).

"That was enough to make him a target, and amazingly, the left wants Trump's top lieutenant, Gen. John Kelly, to go down with him, too.  According to the same piece in The Hill:" . . .

"Porter had some personal problems, Kelly doesn't.  Can anyone say this move to oust Kelly along with Porter isn't about trying to weaken, chaotify, and ultimately take down President Trump?
The hypocrisy here is palpable."

. . .

The Memo: Knives come out for Kelly  "Sources close to the White House say chief of staff John Kelly has suffered a serious blow to his standing from the bungled resignation of staff secretary Rob Porter, who has been accused of domestic abuse. (See also: Porter denies the allegations)

"Kelly’s most vehement critics even suggest the episode could herald his demise within the administration. " . . .

"But Shah had a thankless task in trying to defend a White House, and a chief of staff, that had expressed total confidence in Porter amid allegations of domestic abuse by two ex-wives — only to cut him loose within hours. "

. . .

John Kelly And White House Counsel Knew For Months Of Aide’s Abusive Past (So Why Didn’t They Act?)  . . . "Some reports now are that White House communications director Hope Hicks crafted the initial White House response.

"Hicks and Porter are dating now, according to sources (and those pics of the two making out in the back of a cab), so it’s going to take Porter doing to her what he did to two wives and at least one girlfriend before she gets the message.

"Again, somebody go check on Hope Hicks. This is the second hateful, obnoxious member of the Trump team she’s been romantically linked to.

"Porter’s second wife, Jennie Willoughby appeared on CNN on Thursday evening with Anderson Cooper, and predicted that if Porter has not abused Hicks yet, he will, as he has done nothing to resolve his anger issues.

"Kelly was forced to issue a second statement on Wednesday evening, in light of the growing controversy:" . . .

Adam Schiff on the case (updated, because the new posts were too good not to place here)

"Goodman notes that Schiff’s office said Schiff suspected the call was “bogus” from the beginning and reported it to authorities afterward. But in a recording of the eight minute conversation, Goodman adds, Schiff appeared to take the call seriously and emails from the Democrat’s staff to the fake politician afterwards said he had found it “productive.' ”

Rich Terrell

Power Line  "The Daily Mail’s Alana Goodman reports on one piece of the investigative work ranking House Intelligence Committee member Adam Schiff has performed in search of the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia and posts the companion audio below. This is great stuff. I can’t wait for the customary press conference." . . .

. . . “There were pictures of naked Trump,” one of the pranksters told Schiff, explaining that they were obtained by Putin’s goddaughter."Schiff asks: “And the materials you can provide to the committee and to the FBI, would they corroborate this allegation? … So you have recordings… where they’re discussing the compromising material?”“Obviously we would welcome the chance to get copies of those recordings,” Schiff tells them. “So we will try to work with the FBI to try to figure out how we can take copies of those… I’ll be in touch with the FBI about this, and we’ll make arrangements with your staff. I think it would be best to provide these materials to both our committee and the FBI. We’ll make arrangements between my staff and yours on how to facilitate that.” . . .

More...

Update:  Adam Schiff Fooled by Russian Pranksters Claiming Putin Had Nude Photos of Trump  . . . "Another important thing that this story makes clear is that foreigners can apparently get direct access to the upper echelons of the Democratic Party power structure and influence their investigations disturbingly easily. If Democrats can’t even do a basic Google search to see who the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament actually is before clearing an imposter to speak to a top-level House member with access to classified information, then how can we trust them to competently investigate anything of significance?"

Update: "This is just too ironic… in fact, it’s hilarious."

"This was first dug up by The Atlantic, but they didn’t disclose how Schiff’s staff member went about pursuing the information after the call. Schiff’s office said the congressman suspected the call was ‘bogus’ from the beginning and reported it to authorities afterward. Really? Because it sure doesn’t look that way. "

So who is Rheanne Wirkkala?

Rheanne Wirkkala

Policy Director, Minority*, U.S. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Washington, District Of Columbia

Government Administration

Current	U.S. House of Representatives
Education	Yale University

*Minority = Democrats = Adam Schiff

"Guess Where That $1.7 Billion Obama Gave The Iranians? You Guessed It, Right To Terrorists"

Weasel Zippers

Washington Times  "The U.S. government has traced some of the $1.7 billion released to Iran by the Obama administration to Iranian-backed terrorists in the two years since the cash was transferred.

"According to knowledgeable sources, Iran has used the funds to pay its main proxy, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, along with the Quds Force, Iran’s main foreign intelligence and covert action arm and element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

"The U.S. money supplied to Iran as part of an arms settlement dating back to the 1970s also has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen. Iran has been supporting the Yemen rebels as part of a bid to encircle and eventually take control of Saudi Arabia.

"The intelligence tracing the American funds to Iranian-backed terrorists is likely to further fuel President Trump’s effort to undo the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s main foreign policy initiative codified in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran nuclear deal is called.

"Despite promises to reject the deal during the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump announced in January the U.S. would not pull out of the Iran nuclear accord for now. But the president criticized the transfer of money to Tehran and signaled that Washington is going after Iran’s funding of terrorism." . . .