Arutz Sheva; "Obama spied on Trump – and you read it here first"

Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Trump campaign staffers were unmasked in intelligence surveillance reports but not for being opponents. Perish the thought. This is the United States of America, where every person, regardless of race, color or creed, is spied upon equally.  (Comedian Argus Hamilton)

Israel National News  "Normally it’s impolite to say you were first with a story or an opinion, unless, as in this instance, you were right and the rest of the world was wrong. On top of that, being so wrong when everyone else was so right, you’d be making a fool of yourself to proceed. So they said.

"But proceed we did…and on March 21 we wrote and published on these pages the view that President Trump was correct to allege that the Obama Administration had been spying on him during the election process. People scoffed, at me and at Trump. I’ll say this. Trump is President and I am a grasshopper, but on this we’re equal: we operate on instinct.

"So on instinct more than a week ago I wrote: “The odds are still against him – but betting against Trump is still not recommended as a smart bet.”

"Trump’s bet (and mine) turns out to be on the money. Today we learn that Susan Rice allegedly abused US Intelligence to gain information about him and his transition team. Rice served as Obama’s national security adviser and she denies that anything like that happened after saying that it did. 

"So it goes round and round with that slippery crowd. They try telling us that the snooping was not directed against Trump EXACTLY…or PERSONALLY.

"No, they say, it happened imprecisely and coincidentally and incidentally…anything but the truth and as if it makes a damn bit of difference.

"The fact is – Donald Trump was spied on, end of story…though not quite. Was Obama behind this?

"They’ll say no way. I say absolutely. If that’s another bet, I’ll take it. Just like the first one that was published here as – “Comey repels Trump’s spy charges. But nobody believed Hemingway either.” The Democrats and their news media darlings scoffed – as did a House Intelligence Committee and FBI Director James Comey himself." . . .

New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva. His books, including “The Bathsheba Deadline,” are available from Amazon and other retailers. Engelhard wrote the international bestseller “Indecent Proposal” and the award-winning Montreal memoir “Escape from Mount Moriah.” His latest is “News Anchor Sweetheart.” He is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. Website: www.jackengelhard.com

The Target boycott cost more than anyone expected — and the CEO was blindsided

Yahoo Finance

"Target triggered a nationwide boycott last year with a single blog post — and it turns out the message was as big of a shock to the company's CEO as it was to some shoppers.

"The blog post, published in April 2016, publicized a policy that said transgender customers were welcome to use the bathroom or fitting room that matched their gender identity.

" 'Everyone deserves to feel like they belong," the post said. "And you'll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target."

"Target CEO Brian Cornell never approved the post and found out about it only after it was published, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"He later told colleagues that he wouldn't have approved the decision to "flaunt" the policy and that the backlash was "self-inflicted," The Journal reported.

"The boycott cost the company millions in lost sales and added expenses. Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the blog post, and the company was forced to spend $20 million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to give critics of the policy more privacy.

"Critics of the policy said it opened the door for sexual predators to victimize women and children inside the retailer's bathrooms, and more than 1.4 million people signed a pledge to stop shopping at Target unless it reversed the policy." . . .

U.S. Officials Can’t Confirm Obama-Era Counter-Terror Efforts Ever Succeeded

Washington Free Beacon  "Federal authorities have no way to measure whether years-long efforts to combat violent extremists have proven effective, according to a new government oversight report that is prompting calls for the Trump administration to scrap Obama-era efforts to downplay the threat of radical Islamic terrorists in its counter-terrorism operations.

"A years-long investigation by federal oversight officials has determined the U.S. government has failed to establish any method to determine if the Obama administration's Countering Violent Extremism plan, or CVE, has had any tangible impact on the U.S. fight to prevent terror attacks.

"The CVE program, a creation of the Obama administration, has long come under criticism by national security experts and lawmakers for its intentional efforts to downplay the threat of Islamic radicals and instead focus on activities by far-right extremists and others. President Donald Trump has criticized these omissions and vowed to revamp counter-terror efforts so they name and target Islamic terrorists.

"While the federal CVE program has suffered from disarray for some time, federal investigators have concluded that, since its inception, authorities across the government have failed to establish "a process by which to evaluate the effectiveness of the collective CVE effort," according to the report.

" 'The CVE Task Force was established in part to evaluate and assess CVE efforts across the federal government, but has not established a process for doing so," the report found.

"At this point, CVE programs have not been implemented to combat the rise of extremism is U.S. prisons and cannot produce evidence that authorities are learning from past attacks, according to the report.

" 'The federal government does not have a cohesive strategy or process for assessing the overall CVE effort," the report concludes.

"Federal investigators with the Government Accountability Office were "not able to determine if the United States is better off today than it was in 2011 as a result of these tasks," according to the report, which confirms criticism of the program made by lawmakers and others over the years. "This is because no cohesive strategy with measurable outcomes has been established to guide the multi-agency CVE effort."

"As the CVE program continues to suffer from an inability to gauge its effectiveness, the number of terrorism plots in the United States has only increased. The Trump administration in the past several months have either arrested or convicted a growing number of individuals tied to Islamic terrorists and extremists fighting in Syria.

"One senior congressional source familiar with the matter told the Washington Free Beacon that the latest report is damning and confirms the fears of many. The Obama administration's efforts to equate Islamic extremists with domestic groups have been wholly ineffective, the source said." . . .

Adam Kredo is senior writer for the Washington Free Beacon. Formerly an award-winning political reporter for the Washington Jewish Week, where he frequently broke national news, Kredo’s work has been featured in outlets such as the Jerusalem Post, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and Politico, among others. 

MSM SILENT: Ben Carson Finds $500 BILLION in Fraud-Mismanagement in HUD Audit

Daily Wire

The Gateway Pundit  "The mainstream media has neglected to report on a BIG find by Dr. Ben Carson. The Trump cabinet is a winning cabinet.

"Dr. Carson dug into the agencies records in a sweeping audit wherein he found substantial bookkeeping “errors”, which only prove either the incompetence or the corrupt nature of the previous administration led by former-president, Barack Obama.

"The HUD report found [$516.4 billion] in fraud and mismanagement in the government agency.

What We Found

The total amounts of errors corrected in HUD’s notes and consolidated financial statements were $516.4 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. There were several other unresolved audit matters, which restricted our ability to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to express an opinion. These unresolved audit matters relate to (1) the Office of General Counsel’s refusal to sign the management representation letter, (2) HUD’s improper use of cumulative and first-in, first-out budgetary accounting methods of disbursing community planning and development program funds, (3) the $4.2 billion in nonpooled loan assets from Ginnie Mae’s stand-alone financial statements that we could not audit due to inadequate support, (4) the improper accounting for certain HUD assets and liabilities, and (5) material differences between HUD’s subledger and general ledger accounts. This audit report contains 11 material weaknesses, 7 significant deficiencies, and 5 instances of noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations.

"We took a screenshot of the .pdf file that outlines the findings by Dr. Carson and his team:

"So far the Trump administration has had opposition from the left and the mainstream media. This is just another example of the terrible reporting you can find from their mouthpieces.

H/T Daily Wire

Hitler's Britain; WWII Documentary

If Hitler had conquered Great Britain.

Youtube  "London, Spring 1941. Columns of Wehrmacht soldiers make their way along the Mall, swastikas hang from Buckingham Palace and Junkers scream low overhead - a potent symbol of Nazi victory. The Germans have conquered the capital. Churchill and his government have gone into hiding... It's a chilling picture: What would the Nazis have done if they had conquered Britain?"

The Gorsuch Confirmation Approaches; Democrats Are Out of Obstruction Strategies.

Joseph Klein

"President Trump's nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court is heading for a final showdown Friday, in what is emerging as likely the most high-stakes partisan battle yet during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

"On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the selection by a party-line vote of 11-9, and sent the nomination to the full Senate floor for final action. The Democrats have decided to launch a filibuster in an effort to block the Gorsuch nomination from receiving an up-or-down vote. Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared Sunday, "We call it the 60 vote standard,” to ensure that “you get a mainstream justice.” Of course, there is no such “standard.” Justices who received less than 60 votes in the past were still confirmed. And the fact that Judge Gorsuch voted 99 percent of the time with the other judges on his federal appeals court means nothing to the ideologues who oppose him. For the Left, “mainstream” means only a judge's willingness to bend the Constitution to suit the progressives’ social justice agenda.

"The Democrats appear to have lined up enough votes to make their filibuster stick, placing them on a collision clause with the Republican majority. If the Democrats do not budge, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is on course to lead his party majority to adopt the so-called “nuclear option” and change the Senate rules, eliminating the 60 vote filibuster barrier for Supreme Court nominations. A simple majority can then proceed on an up-or-down vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch. In addition to the 52 Republicans voting in favor, 3 Democrats so far have also indicated their intention to vote for Judge Gorsuch - Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. A fourth Democrat, Michael Bennet of Colorado, said he would not vote to support the filibuster." . . .

The History of Democrat Deceit on Judicial Filibusters  . . . "That up or down vote will happen after Democrats filibustered the nomination by getting 45 Democrats to vote against closing debate.

"Republicans then exercised what usually is referred to as the Nuclear Option, but really should be called the Harry Reid Option, to eliminate the need for 60 votes to close debate. It should be called the Harry Reid Option because in 2013 Democrats used that procedure to eliminate the 60-vote requirement for all nominations, judicial or otherwise, other than the Supreme Court.

"Keeping the Supreme Court out of the Harry Reid Option was not a principled move by Democrats. There were no openings on the Supreme Court in 2013, so there was no need to apply the Harry Reid Rule to Supreme Court nominations. But in the run up to the 2016 presidential election, both Reid and Democrat VP nominee Tim Kaine promised to use the Harry Reid Rule for Supreme Court nominations if Hillary won and Democrats retook the Senate." . . .

When Republicans stop apologizing, then they can start winning.

"In 1992, Congresswoman Maxine Waters called President George H.W. Bush a “mean-spirited man who has no care or concern about what happens to the African-American community in this country."

"This was part of a National Press Club rant in which the fright wig from California also announced, “I believe George Bush is a racist.”

"Waters tepidly backed Bill Clinton even though he, like “most whites in America are not good enough on the race question.”

"Vice President Dan Quayle demanded an apology. No apology was forthcoming. "Dan Quayle doesn't know me," Waters told a cheering audience. "My mother couldn't make me do that."

"Maxine Waters doesn’t apologize to anyone. But Republicans apologize to her.

"When Bill O’Reilly joked about her wearing a James Brown wig, he was intimidated into apologizing. “Unfortunately, I also made a jest about her hair, which was dumb. I apologize.”

"Meanwhile Maxine went right on hurling insults and threats at the President of the United States. "I'm out to get him. I'm gonna see him out of office."

"So much for that." . . .

Hilarious: Artists Prank Malibu With “Official Sanctuary City” Signs

Weasel Zippers

"Friends of Sabo. Nice job and right on point.

Via Daily Mail:

The elite enclave of Malibu, California appears to have been the target of a ring-wing prank.

Official-looking signs were set up at the city limits on Tuesday, boasting about the town’s new status as an ‘OFFICIAL SANCTUARY CITY’. But drivers who looked closer saw that not all was as it seemed.

Both signs had taglines criticizing the picture-perfect veneer of the wealth Los Angeles suburb.

‘Cheap nannies and gardeners make Malibu great! (Boyle Heights not so much)’ one sign read, referring to a predominately Latino neighborhood in LA. The other stated: ‘Because our beach community needs cheap labor, dude.’

Keep reading…

Latest Obama-Rice Scandal Comes into Focus

Gulag Bound

"What started out last year as an investigation by the Obama administration into Russian interference in our presidential elections has turned into the latest scandal involving both former President Barack Obama and his national security adviser, Susan Rice. The media are in full panic mode, attempting to keep the focus of the investigation on President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, while trying to shield Obama and Rice from the consequences of their actions.

"What has become clear during the past week is that the focus of the investigation should clearly be shifting from alleged collusion between President Trump’s associates and the Russian government, in order to influence the election—for which no evidence has emerged—to the role of the Obama administration in surveilling, incidental or otherwise, unmasking and leaking information about the Trump campaign and transition teams, for which all sorts of evidence has emerged.

"The question for the Republicans, who control every congressional committee as well as the executive branch, is whether or not they have the fortitude and integrity to ignore the pressure from the corrupt, liberal media and to expand or re-direct the investigation wherever the new evidence compels them to go.

"The latest development is the unmasking of former national security adviser Susan Rice. Rice was outed this week as someone who requested the unmasking of people associated with Trump’s campaign and transition team." . . .

Why do the Democrats only believe in unmasking the good guys?

“I know nothing.” - Susan Riceequivocating,“Sure I did it, but not for political purposes. And I didn’t leak anything.” – Susan Riceand dissembling,“I voted against it (unmasking) before I voted for it.” – Susan RiceOr why, when caught, they always blame their enemies for their own transgressions: “The accusation against Susan Rice by the Breitbart crowd and by people in this building that I think are tossing around slanderous accusations without evidence.” – Rep. Schiff

Why Susan Rice’s Role In The Obama Spying Story Is A Big Deal  "Susan Rice was one Obama official who requested the unmasking of Trump associates' information that was widely disseminated. Here's why that's significant."

Thinking About Pence and Bill O'

Jewish World Review  "Last week, we spent six or seven days gawping at Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, for their supposedly bizarre or retro marriage rules. Pence, as even villagers in Bora Bora doubtless know by now, does not attend one­on­one dinners with women other than Karen, and he does not drink alcohol in social settings when Karen is not with him. 

"Progressives were by turns confused and disgusted. They assumed that this conveyed a primitive view of relations between men and women. Does he imagine that all women are sirens, some wondered, prone to turn an innocent dinner into an opportunity for sexual adventure? What a caveman view! Or was he so vain as to think himself an Adonis whom women would be unable to resist? Besides, this private rule between spouses represents a setback for women in the workplace. Don't most deals take place over dinner? Wouldn't women be the losers if all men had such rules? 

"Conservatives had a bracing time with rebuttal. Mike Pence's lieutenant governor was a woman! Avoiding "occasions of sin" isn't primitive; it's actually kind of elevated. Each couple may draw the line in a different place, but drawing lines around marriage is a very healthy impulse, not a weird one. In typically pithy fashion, Jonah Goldberg noted: "Elites say we have no right to judge adultery, but we have every right to judge couples who take steps to avoid it." 

"My own take on the Pence brouhaha is that feminists who demand respect for women should never disdain the honor that good men show their wives by their constancy. Extremism in defense of fidelity is no vice. " . . .

Democrats block Gorsuch consideration, paving way for Senate rules change

WaPo

"Democrats successfully blocked Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court from advancing in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, sparking what is expected to be a bitter clash with Republicans over how the chamber confirms high court nominees.

"Gorsuch failed to earn the 60 votes needed to end debate on his nomination. In response, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed he will change Senate rules in order to confirm Gorsuch and all future Supreme Court nominees with a simple majority vote.

"A final confirmation vote on Gorsuch is not scheduled until Friday, when 52 Republicans and at least three Democrats — from states won by Trump in last year’s election — are expected to vote to have him replace the late Antonin Scalia on the high court." . . .

WATCH LIVE: Senate Cloture Vote and Nuclear Option on Neil Gorsuch nomination

From Israel: A Senate showdown is at hand over President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, and it could change the Senate and the court for years to come

“Democrats would filibuster Ruth Bader Ginsburg if President Donald Trump nominated her,” McConnell said, naming one of the more liberal sitting justices. “There is simply no principled reason to oppose this exceptional, exceptional Supreme Court nominee.” 

Legal Insurrection

"The Senate is scheduled to vote to end debate (“cloture”) on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

"Under current rules, 60 votes would be needed to end debate. Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, have promised to filibuster, i.e., vote against ending debate. Based on prior statements by Senators, Democrats should have at least 41 votes against ending debate, thereby preventing the nomination unless Republicans change the Senate rules to allow cloture by a simple majority of 51 votes (the Nuclear Option).

"Senate rules can be changed by a simple majority vote, so Republicans have the power to go nuclear. Changing the Senate rules on judicial cloture votes was first implemented by Democrats in 2013 for all positions below the Supreme Court.

"Watch Live below as the Senate votes.