In CA, billions for high speed rail and illegal aliens, nothing for Oroville Dam

Rick Moran   "The massive evacuation of the area surrounding California's Oroville Dam would not have been necessary if state officials had heeded the warnings of experts a decade ago.

But defenders of Governor Brown claim that fixing the emergency spillway that is now threatening to collapse and cause catastrophic flooding was never a priority and the massive rainfall that has led to the crisis could not have been forseen.

  

"That may be true. But it is also a fact that the state spent billions for the $100 billion high speed rail system and billions more were spent on caring for illegal aliens. A tiny fraction of that spending - $200 million - could have been used to shore up the dam and avoid what could be the most serious flooding in modern California history.

"Washington Times:

In 2005, advocacy groups led by Friends of the River urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to order the state to reinforce the dam’s earthen walls with concrete, citing the erosion risk, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
The agency rejected the request on the recommendation of the state Department of Water Resources and local water agencies, which would have been on the hook for improvements that could have cost as much as $100 million.

NYT TV critic cautions SNL on Trump-hating skits

Thomas Lifson  "Make no mistake: Mike Hale, TV critic of the New York Times, despises Donald Trump.  But even he sees the problem with Saturday Night Live's relentless attacks on the Trump administration.  In a Sunday edition article titled "Review: 'S.N.L.' Targets Trump Again, With a Hint of Exhaustion," he outlines his concerns that mere weeks into the Trump presidency, the hatred may be entering counterproductive territory with last Saturday's show.
. . . "Leftists are outraged at Trump, but there is no evidence that the country as a whole is outraged.  Pussy hats and riots are not attracting new adherents.  A majority supports the visa pause for terror hotspot countries, while the left fulminates.  And the longing for Trump to be impeached, to be assassinated, or to die in office – not to mention a military coup as hypothesized by a former Obama administration official in a "serious" journal – reveals full-blown Trump Derangement Syndrome."

“Saturday Night Live” and the Limits of Trump Mockery

. . . "There was, on Saturday and into Sunday morning, a feeling that this all couldn’t go on much longer. It’s not that the performers and writers are running out of ideas—Melissa McCarthy’s Spicer impression was still wildly funny (this time in high heels!), and a recorded sketch in which the White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway (McKinnon, brilliant again) and the CNN host Jake Tapper (Beck Bennett, with an unkind hairline) are trapped in a “Fatal Attraction”-style relationship of violent attraction and revulsion was a risky, frankly terrifying bit of comedy that also dramatized Trumpism’s sickening allure." . . .

#FakeNews: Muslim Athlete Detained Under Travel Ban Actually Detained Under Obama’s Ban, Not Trump’s

RedState  . . . "Ibtihaj Muhammad became a media star during the summer Olympics when she became the first female Muslim-American to medal in the Olympics for the United States. The New Jersey. . .  made headlines last year when she became the first female Muslim-American to win an Olympic medal for the United States.

"Winning international attention for wearing a hijab during competition, Muhammad’s bronze came as a member of the winning U.S. team in the Women’s Team Sabre competition.
"Muhammad was recently back in the headlines when the drooling mainstream media highlighted her story of being detained at an airport because of Trump’s recent “travel ban”. There’s only one problem…it was Obama’s “ban” that caught her in the red tape, not Trump."
. . .
"She either doesn’t say or doesn’t know. Without any further verification, the hysterical press used her story to push the narrative that Trump’s very narrow (and now halted) travel measures were affecting scores of innocent Americans.

"Of course, the details of the story are irrelevant. A narrative must be pushed, journalism be damned."

General Flynn still on rocky ground

Trump is 'evaluating' adviser Flynn, avoids show of support

"President Donald Trump is evaluating U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn over his Russian contacts, Trump's spokesman said on Monday, pointedly declining to make a public show of support for his embattled aide. security adviser Michael Flynn over his Russian contacts, Trump's spokesman said on Monday, pointedly declining to make a public show of support for his embattled aide." . . .

Michael Flynn talked sanctions with Russia before Trump took office: Reports
"National Security Adviser Michael Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador before President Trump took office, according to new reports that prompted the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to call for Mr. Flynn’s immediate firing.

"Mr. Flynn denied he had discussed the sanctions with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to The Washington Post on Wednesday before a spokesman said Thursday that while Mr. Flynn had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he “couldn’t be certain” that the topic never came up.

"The Post said its report relied on “nine current and former officials” who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the calls.

"Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday that he hadn’t seen the report, but that he’d “look into that.”

"Former President Barack Obama’s administration slapped new sanctions on Russian officials in December in response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election." . . .

Mike Flynn Is Not Worried About His Job  . . . "So, honestly, who really knows what Trump will do? Flynn, for his part, believes he is safe. The rumor mill is churning out this and that. We’ll just have to see what Trump’s temperament is on the day a decision is made." . . .

"Hillary Clinton Is Running Again; Here's the Proof"

Politico  "Hillary Clinton will run for president. Again.

"No inside information informs this prediction. No argument is advanced as to whether her run is a good or a bad idea—there are many ways to make a case either way. Instead this is just a statement of simple facts (if facts mean anything anymore, that is). And the facts are clear that the former secretary of state is doing everything she needs to do to run for the White House one more time. If she finds a path to do so, she will take it. And I can prove it.

"Consider. Since Clinton’s shock-the-world, hysteria-inducing defeat last November, the Clinton Global Initiative has dramatically scaled back its operations. The CGI—the most scandal-plagued arm of the Clinton Foundation—was a ground zero of grief for the Clinton campaign. Labeled a slush fund for political operations, paid for by foreign governments, it was an endless and easy target of complaints about conflicts of interest and graft. Yet despite pleas to do so by various supporters throughout the 2016 campaign, the Clintons time and again refused to shut it down or shrink its mandate until Bill Clinton made the announcement just weeks before Election Day. Which raises the question: What advantage, other than a political one, is there to actually going through with it now?"  . . .

Updated: American silliness: Sarah Silverman

American Thinker

Lunatic Sarah Silverman Mistakes Utility Marks For Swastikas…

Silverman inspired some fun responses:

Liberal leftists write our material for us, don't they?

MLK Jr's Niece: Elizabeth Warren Played the Race Card Against Sessions

Cortney O'Brien

. . . "King, however, saw right through Warren's crusade. In an appearance on Fox News' "Your World With Neil Cavuto," she shamed the Massachusetts senator for daring to invoke her family's name to bring down a decent man.


“ 'So it’s almost like a bait and switch, stir up their emotions, use the name King — and my name is Alveda King — stir up people’s emotions [and] play the race card, which she was attempting to do,” King said.

"King, who knows her aunt much better than Warren, mused that she would have given Sessions credit for the efforts he made in regards to civil rights. Perhaps most notably, Sessions helped secure the death penalty for a KKK leader in Alabama. 

“ 'Aunt Coretta was a very reasonable women and she, with integrity, would have noted that he had done some great work in fighting against discrimination,” she explained." . . .

Separation: Lefty Woman Ends 22-Year Marriage Because Her Husband Voted For Trump

Still wish they all could be California girls?

Townhall

. . . "The retired California prison guard, a self-described "Democrat leaning toward socialist," was stunned when her husband casually mentioned during a lunch with friends last year that he planned to vote for Trump – a revelation she described as a "deal breaker."

" 'It totally undid me that he could vote for Trump," said McCormick, 73, who had not thought of leaving the conservative Republican before but felt "betrayed" by his support for Trump.

" 'I felt like I had been fooling myself," she said. "It opened up areas between us I had not faced before. I realized how far I had gone in my life to accept things I would have never accepted when I was younger."  […]

"Liberals", wake up to what you have become!

Dems Made Their Bed with Leftists, Now They Must Lie in It

. . . "The Democrats will have to find a lot of political courage and resolve if they want to try a course correction.  The radicals are professional bullies.  They believe in what they call “direct action,” that is, coercive violence.  They demand no compromise.  They are awash with money.  They are professionally trained, ten thousand alone by Obama’s Organizing for America foundation.   The radical agenda, now the Democratic Party’s agenda, is ideologically driven to destroy all normalcy in our government.

"We see Democrat leadership and the media settling in for permanent demonization of America’s heartland, endless lies about Trump, more divisiveness.  It’s easy to say this will become tiresome and lose impact, but that is not inevitable.  Lies repeated often enough create their own reality, as President Bush learned.  President Trump is correct in countering every one of them, and creating the counter narrative that Democrats are hopelessly dishonest." . . .  Read more.

The Handmaidens of Hatred    . . . "Hatred of Americas founding principles was pushed early on by Howard Zinn, the loony Marxist who now controls the narrative of our history books.  His writings were filled with partial truths, half-truths, and outright lies about American history.  He cleverly inserted himself into the lexicon of hate in the attempt to help the global communist revolution come to America.  He has become the most widely read historian today – and has taught an entire generation, and an entire party, to hate their own country." . . .More

On the right, we need to stay strong, stay united, and stay resolute in the face of this hatred.  More than ever, we need the silent minority of Democrats to stand up and be counted.  They need to take back their party from the extremist, angry, violent, and intolerant left.  They need to talk those who have accepted anger as okay off the ledge.  They need to reclaim the American side of the party back, like Scoop Jackson, Hubert Humphrey, and John Kennedy.

The Earl of Taint

The Claws Out For Ivanka Trump Show Liberal Love For Women Is A Sham

The Federalist

If any liberal celebrity or politician tweeted or accomplished the same things, they’d be praised. But not Ivanka

"Women can be vicious. Just ask men. Better yet, ask other women. If they’re honest, they’ll tell you. Women can be harsh to their own kind, especially liberal women. That’s what makes feminist campaigns like the “Women’s March” a bit of a joke. It’s not about women sticking up for one another. It’s about liberal women advancing their own liberal agenda, and if you’re not on board, you’re attacked, viciously.

"Just look at how Ivanka Trump is being treated. After she posted an adorable photo with her son, comedian Ilana Glazer of “Broad City” unfurled her claws.

. . .
"Isn’t this what we were told repeatedly about Hillary Clinton? It didn’t matter what Bill did. Hillary was her own woman. She didn’t have to answer for her husband’s shortcomings and immoral behavior, particularly toward women. Yet this is what we get about Ivanka: “While she is not her dad, she is complicit in his actions, especially considering her husband is her dad’s advisor.”

"Complicit in his actions? Which illegal or immoral actions is she involved in, exactly? Unlike Hillary, who actually took active steps to silence her husband’s accusers of sexual assault and rape, Ivanka has done nothing even remotely similar. She has supported her dad’s candidacy, and she continues to support him, but she is not actively “complicit” in anything. Women are independent of men, right?" . . .

The Ninth Circuit Court and the Democrat Party; we don't know you any more.

The Ninth Circuit’s Power Grab    . . . "According to the three-judge panel, even illegal aliens, to say nothing of aliens holding non-immigrant visas or permanent-resident status, have due-process rights against government actions to protect Americans from foreign threats. Therefore, the president and Congress (i.e., the branches of government constitutionally responsible for national security) may not take such actions unless and until the judiciary (the branch with no such responsibility) has approved those actions.

"That aliens are not citizens and have no constitutional right to come to the United States is apparently superseded by their newfangled “right” to be welcomed into the United States courts. And even if they are not here already, even if they remain in the far reaches of the globe, this alien “right” may be asserted by state governments. The states’ interest in having foreign students and scholars at their public universities, we are told, outweighs the public’s interest in excluding aliens who may be terrorists, law-breakers, public charges, or hostile to our Constitution and culture.

"The unanimous ruling is the type of lunacy with which the Ninth Circuit has become synonymous. It is also the inevitable result of a turn-of-the-century judicial power grab in the realm of national security." . . .

Also here:

Government May Protect Our Unalienable Rights — It Doesn’t Grant Them
. . . "In a 29-page opinion, the three judge panel held in a 3–0 vote that politics and judicial activism override the rule of law. Yet liberals everywhere are celebrating this decision as a win for “constitutional rights.”
"What rights do they think they’re talking about exactly?" . . .

http://legalinsurrection.com/

Over 100 Inauguration Day Protesters Indicted For Rioting

Legal Insurrection

Face fine up to $25,000 and maximum 10 years in prison

"Protesters at President Trump’s inauguration became violent, setting fires, vandalizing property, and antagonizing—even injuring—law enforcement officers.  The indictments of 146 additional rioters were handed down this week.

"The total of those indicted on felony rioting charges is now 209.  A total of 230 persons were arrested in conjunction with the rioting, and twelve of those cases have been dismissed.

NBC reports:

A grand jury has indicted more than 100 Inauguration Day protesters on rioting charges in Washington, D.C. In total, 209 people have now been indicted.
The indictment, handed up D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday, charged 146 additional protesters with felony rioting — meaning they face a fine of up to $25,000 and a maximum of 10 years in prison.
. . . . [F]our businesses were vandalized and sustained “significant damage,” demonstrators lighted a limousine on fire, and six police office suffered minor injuries after protesters set fires and threw rocks, bricks, trash cans and other small objects, according to Acting Police Chief Peter Newsham.

"DC police have requested that Facebook turn over social media information on the violent rioters.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia issued the subpoena to Facebook on Jan. 27, according to CityLab, a week after the official swearing-in ceremony.