‘Three Californias’ plan would give Dems more seats

The Hill  "A proposal to split the nation’s most populous state into three smaller states would give Democrats a huge boost in the perpetual battle for control of the United States Senate — likely dooming the plan even before voters have a chance to weigh in.

"California voters will vote this November on the ballot measure, backed by tech billionaire and venture capitalist Tim Draper. If the measure passes, Congress would have a year to allow the state to split up into three separate states — one centered around Los Angeles, another in Northern California that includes the Bay Area and Sacramento, and a third in Southern California that would include the Central Valley and San Diego.

"Democrats have easily won California’s electoral votes in recent years. George H.W. Bush was the last Republican to win the state at the presidential level, and Republicans haven’t won a Senate seat in California since Pete Wilson won reelection in 1988.

"But if Democrats are leery of splitting California’s 55 electoral votes, recent election results show the three new states all would have voted for Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012." . . .

The U.S. Announces Its Intent To Leave The United Nation’s Human Rights Council

The last time the U.S. exited the Council was under former-President George W. Bush, although it was later reversed by the Obama administration. 

Infidel Bloggers

"The U.S. is pulling its membership from the United Nation’s Human Rights Council, and cites alleged discrimination against Israel, one of America’s allies. 

"The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, announced the decision this week following previous disputes with the organization over what she calls, “chronic anti-Israel bias,” according to new reports. 

"Most recently, the Ambassador was one of the few representatives opposing a measure which requested an official investigation into allegations accusing Israel of excessive force. 

"In December, Haley chastised members of the group for voting in favor of a proposed measure which would have condemned President Trump, regarding his move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 

“ 'The United States will remember in which it was singled-out for attack in the General Assembly, for the very act of expressing our right as a sovereign nation,” she said last year, regarding the President’s relocation of the U.S. embassy. " . . .

Rick Moran: US to finally withdraw from wildly misnamed UN Human Rights Council  . . . "There is no "reform" of an organization that counts Cuba, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and China among its membership.  These nations routinely violate the human rights of their citizens, making a mockery of the very idea that they should be able to sit in judgment on Israel, the U.S., and other Western democracies.

"Indeed, the real joke is that most major media take their pronouncements and resolutions seriously. 

"The HRC is nothing more than a platform for anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and anti-American political posturing.  Not only should the U.S. withdraw from the HRC, but Congress should make sure that not one penny of American tax dollars goes to support it."

Liberty in North Korea Leads People to Freedom

National Review

A North Korean farmer pushes his bike along the North Korean-Chinese border near Dadong, 2009. 

. . . "In my reading, Liberty in North Korea (LiNK)* kept coming up among refugees who made it out, and they credited the organization with ushering them to safety from the North Korean border in China to safety in the West. I decided to open a GoFundMe and just see if I could rescue one refugee with my Twitter followers. We were able to raise the $2500 in a week or so. That was five years ago, and since then I’ve done a dozen or more fundraisers tied to the news cycle or holidays and have raised probably $100,000 on Twitter alone — enough to rescue over 30 refugees. [See here for the latest.]

"Lopez: What’s Liberty in North Korea all about? How has it helped people? What have you learned from it?

"Mandel: Liberty in North Korea has teams on the ground in China, right over the border from North Korea. When refugees are able to make it over, they are at risk of repatriation to gulags or human trafficking. LiNK helps these refugees make the 3,000 mile journey through China and Southeast Asia into South Korea, where they enjoy immediate citizenship." . . .

. . . Mandel: The situation is dire and has been for decades. There are concentration camps the size of Los Angeles in operation; people are born into them and they die in them. We can see them on Google Earth; there’s no ignoring their plight. By helping refugees get out and telling their stories, we are destabilizing the regime externally, and the more refugees who get out and see the outside world as it is, the more they send word back to their families still trapped inside. " . . .

*

Don't you love it when Ms. Pelosi speaks in public?

American Thinker

Sen. Lindsey Graham Tells CNN: If You Don't Like Me Working With Trump 'I Don't Give a S**t'

Townhall  "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) defended his work with President Trump on certain issues on CNN Friday despite his past criticisms of the president. As CNN’s Kate Bolduan continued to press him on the topic, Graham said he’s worked with Obama in the past and there was a double standard about his work with Trump. He then expressed himself in rather strong terminology saying on live television that he doesn’t “give a s**t” if people don’t like him working with Trump.

"Boulduan reminded Graham that he went from hating Trump to working with him and that Trump “comes out and hits you again on whatever he decided to on a given day.”

 “ 'Do you trust him now?” she asked.

"After Graham repeatedly said he did, Bouldan told Graham, “people say this is like two-faced. Where’s the Lindsey Graham of standing up to Donald Trump?”

“Let me just tell you about the critics,” Graham replied. “When I worked with President Obama–– and I did on occasion––I was a hero. Now when I work with President Trump, I’m two-faced. I know how the game’s played and I don’t give a damn.”

“ 'I’m going to do what’s best for the country,” he continued, “I like the President, I want to help him, I hope he’s successful, he’s been a friend to me and he says some things I don’t agree with. So if you don’t like me working with President Trump to make the world a better place, I don’t give a s**t.' ”  . . .