WH: Obama Not “Meddling” In Clinton Email Investigation By Saying She’s Innocent

"Not a smidgen of influence – you hear me Loretta?"
Merely a "security review"

https://earloftaint.com/

Branco Cartoon – Ready for Hillary

Who on earth would choose Hillary over any Republican?

Tony Branco at Legal Insurrection

AFTERBURNER: Bernie Sanders And The Politics Of Envy

"Bill Whittle paid a visit to a high school full of leftist Bernie Sanders fans, and after an hour he thinks he managed to give many of them at least something to think about."

The Hayride

"Bill Whittle paid a visit to a high school full of leftist Bernie Sanders fans, and after an hour he thinks he managed to give many of them at least something to think about.

"And mainly, the subject of that thought is envy – which is the renewable fuel socialism runs on."

"Jesus Lunches" — free lunch and talking about Jesus, in the city park next to the high school.

Althouse  . . . "A city park is a traditional speech forum where free-speech rights are at their strongest. And what's wrong with "incentivizing participation" with free food? It sounds like nothing more than objecting to the message. These are private citizens, not government employees, and they're speaking on a subject of their choice with their own point of view. That's plain old freedom of speech. You can't discriminate against it because the religious message is making some people uncomfortable or because you're reminded of things like prayer in the classroom that would present a problem under the Establishment Clause." . . .

TOLERANCE TURNED ON ITS HEAD

"Shoulda done it long ago."

American Spectator "Sexual lefties don’t have policy merits on their side. But they’re clearly winning the communications battle, using their usual tactics of distorting and demonizing reasonable, traditional positions on public policy, and simply assuming the moral high ground.

"Evidence for this is the considerable public opposition to religious freedom laws, such as those that have lately created kerfuffles in North Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi. These laws do not, as the left cynically asserts, inconvenience gays or other of the left’s constituencies. But their absence does allow the left to do great damage to the First Amendment, and to traditional Christian believers with deep and sincere religious objections to parts of the left’s brave new sexual agenda." . . .

"But the sexual left doesn’t want to accommodate those whom they viscerally dislike. Sexual politics is flowing their way just now, and they wish to rub traditionalists’ noses in it. The animus against religious freedom laws in The Movement is not motivated by a desire for fairness and respect, but by plain meanness."

Emphasis added, TD 

Clintonism, RIP

Charles Krauthammer  . . . "Other pillars of her husband’s internationalism were already toppled, pre-2016, by the Obama presidency, often with her active collaboration. At the core of Bill Clinton’s foreign policy lay the notion of America as the “indispensable nation.” It is today quite dispensable, indeed a nation in retreat—from (Hillary’s) reset with Russia to the Iranian nuclear negotiations (which Hillary initiated with secret meetings in Oman in 2012) to the disastrous evacuation of Iraq in 2011.
"As has happened with another of Bill’s major achievements: welfare reform. President Obama has essentially dismantled its work requirements (with Bill Clinton’s acquiescence, a sign of things to come). No need for Hillary to repudiate her husband’s legacy. It has been done for her.

"How far has the party moved left? Under Bill Clinton, it gave up on gun control after stinging defeats in the 1994 midterms. Today, Hillary Clinton delights in attacking Sanders for being soft on gun control. Malleable she is. And she sure knows her party." . . .

Forget Russia and Iran! Global warming is our biggest threat!

Taking Down the Stop Sign  . . ."America sheltered behind Red Lines during the Cold War, put in place by a generation who knew at first hand the high price of removing them. Yet in a generation since the fall of the Berlin Wall that lesson has been forgotten even in those who style themselves as intellectuals. President Obama's willingness to negotiate every "Red Line", which he regards as smart diplomacy, as proof of his intellectual superiority and confirmation of his status as the only adult in the room, is in fact nothing but an ignorant repetition of every error in the last hundred years; the action of a man who seems to have forgotten, indeed never having bothered to learn the lessons his nation's history has to offer.

"Captain Rick Hoffman correctly observes that the USS Cook provocation by itself is not worth a fight.  It's the one that comes after, and the one after that, and after that which you really have to worry about.  And they will come. For the challenges either stop somewhere or continue until they can't go on any more." 

You started it! Russia claims its fighter jets only buzzed US Navy warship because it was ‘in proximity’ of nearby Baltic base . . .

A rising Russia’s fighters buzz U.S. ship as Obama declares ISIS decline   "But that’s not all of the international provocations that go unanswered. North Korea and Iran continue ICBM tests despite promises and sanctions. China continues militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea. Iran continues shipping arms to terrorists, has fired near U.S. ships and boasts of accelerated development of its nuclear program, despite a nuclear deal with Obama."

On to more ominous things:
Obama: "No greater threat" than climate change

When he was first elected, these were the expectations in 2009:
President 'has four years to save Earth'  "Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken withinObama's first administration, he added." . . .

Al Sharpton Tells Megyn Kelly To ‘Calm Down’ After She Questions His Race Baiting Actions In Ferguson…

Weasel Zippers

Mediaite  "Megyn Kelly scored a pretty big interview today, speaking with MSNBC host Reverend Al Sharpton about #BlackLivesMatter and why he hasn’t apologized for his role in ginning up outrage over Ferguson.

The interview started out lighter, with Sharpton talking about the black vote and President Obama and Donald Trump, but Kelly pivoted to the issue of race relations and “more controversial aspects” of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, such as “pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon” chants.

Sharpton said he doesn’t condone that kind of rhetoric.

Kelly asked him briefly about Baltimore before going in hard on Ferguson. She asked him, “Do you feel bad about what you said?”

Sharpton seemed a bit confused as to what she meant, affirming that he “stated what I believed” and expressed the sincere outrage of many. Kelly pointed out that the DOJ report found no reaso

Video of the Day: This Is How to Confront Campus Crybabies

NRO  "Perhaps campus administrators are starting to learn their lesson. From Ohio State University comes the video of the day — an “actual grownup” (to borrow Ed Driscoll’s words) ordering campus protesters to end their unlawful “occupation” of the university’s administration building:

. . . "I never thought I’d say this, but I’m proud of the Big 10 and ashamed of the SEC. Cowardly Missouri continues to pay the price for last year’s craven capitulation. The university has actually closed two dormitories because of enrollment declines and is battling through a $32 million budget shortfall." . . . 

Trump channels inner spoiled brat over delegate count

NJ.com   Via Lucianne   "Donald Trump will be happy to learn that the rules in New Jersey are simple: If he wins the primary here, he gets all the delegates.

It gets more complicated in other states. Some give extra weight to party regulars, some to voters willing to endure a caucus process, and some have complex hybrids.

"One thing is beyond dispute: The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that state parties can draft their own rules. They are like private clubs. The Constitution says nothing about how they should run their internal affairs.

"The Donald apparently didn't know that. And now he's banging a spoon on his high chair, whining that he's been robbed.

" 'The system is rigged," he said on Monday. "It's crooked."

"New Jersey's rules strike us as more fair. But if other states want to give added weight to party regulars, or to those willing to caucus process, or to sitting members of Congress, that's their business." . . .

Boycotts, Bathrooms, and the Boss

Curiously, Disney didn't seem to have a problem distributing The Force Awakens, which was filmed in the United Arab Emirates, a nation that actually murders people for engaging in homosexual behavior.  (To be fair, I'm not sure where they come down on transgendered bathroom use.)

Mark Griswold  "This past Sunday, Bruce Springsteen was scheduled to play a concert in Greensboro, N.C.  He canceled the concert, citing opposition to the recently passed H.B. 2, the "bathroom bill," which he labeled discriminatory against the transgender community.  Three weeks ago, Disney and several other companies, state governments, and individuals threatened to boycott the state of Georgia if Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill with similar legislation.  He folded to the pressure and vetoed that bill.  In 2010, a similar boycott of the state of Arizona was launched in opposition to S.B. 1070, a bill that strengthened immigration laws.

"Never mind that the people boycotting these states haven't read or don't understand what's in these bills.  If they did, they might stop hyperventilating and calling everyone they disagree with a bigot." . . .

Obama's love affair with Iran hasn't worked out so well

IRAN CONTINUES NEEDLING U.S. OVER NAVY BOAT SEIZURE
"It is likely that we have not heard the last from the Iranians on this humiliating saga. In fact, Razmjou said that the IRG will publish a book about the incident. The Iranian bombast stands in marked contrast to the Pentagon’s demurred, almost docile stance. The reasons for the Pentagon’s silence are not hard to fathom. Something happened in the Arabian Gulf on January 12 that if revealed, would likely cause considerable embarrassment to the Obama administration."

The next non-Democrat President will be loathed whan he or she tries to clean up Obama's mess 
. . . "The Iran deal would be laughable if it were not so tragic. What Obama calls the Iranian violation of the “spirit” of the agreement— from shooting missiles near carriers and hijacking and humiliating Navy seamen, to unleashing cyber war on the U.S. and issuing daily promises of war against the U.S. and Israel—is a precursor of more to come in the next 10 months. If Iran is not to become a nuclear power, the next president will have to re-impose sanctions and reassemble a coalition to prevent its nuclearization. That effort too will be difficult, and it will outrage many and be caricatured as saber-rattling." . . .
 ". . . History in the short term adores appeasers. They pontificate and pose as sober and judicious humanitarians who will do anything to avoid confrontation on their watch, even as they light the fuse of Armageddon for their successors. The restorers of deterrence are always smeared as war-mongers—and only praised as Churchillian largely when they are dead. So it will be for the next president if he or she chooses to stop the decline and restore the American-led postwar order."


Obama Foreign Policy Under Fire From His Former Defense Secretaries

. . . "As we have repeatedly reported, both Obama and the press regularly try to bolster President Obama’s legacy at the expense of the truth. The truth is that President Obama’s signature legacies, such as his deals with Iran and Cuba, involved reaching out to totalitarian regimes, and making deals that were terrible for the U.S., but great for Cuba and Iran.

"In fact, there is no signed deal with Iran, and the Iranian regime has repeatedly made clear that they have no intention of abiding by what the Obama administration claims are the terms of the deal. Iran has shown complete contempt for Obama and the U.S. since collecting more than $100 billion of previously frozen funds. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to the U.S., Yousef al Otaiba arguedthat “Since the nuclear deal, however, Iran has only doubled down on its posturing and provocations. In October, November and again in early March, Iran conducted ballistic-missile tests in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.” He added that “It is now clear that one year since the framework for the deal was agreed upon, Iran sees it as an opportunity to increase hostilities in the region., " . . .