The Trump Cabinet: Bonfire of the agencies

"Pruitt has been deemed unfit to serve because he fails liberalism’s modern-day religious test: belief in anthropogenic climate change. They would love to turn his confirmation hearing into a Scopes monkey trial. Republicans should decline the invitation. It doesn’t matter whether the man believes the moon is made of green cheese. "

Charles Krauthammer

"Hypocrisy aside, it is true that, as head of Exxon Mobil, Tillerson made major deals with Russia, received Russia’s Order of Friendship and opposed U.S. sanctions. That’s troubling but not necessarily disqualifying. At the time, after all, Tillerson was acting as an agent of Exxon Mobil, whose interest it is to extract oil and make money.

"We don’t know. We shall soon find out. That’s what confirmation hearings are for.

"The left has been in equally high dudgeon that other Cabinet picks appear not to share the mission of the agency which they have been nominated to head. The horror! As if these agency missions are somehow divinely ordained. Why, they aren’t even constitutionally ordained. The Department of Education, for example, was created by President Carter in 1979 as a payoff to the teachers’ unions for their political support." . . .

"It doesn’t matter whether the man believes the moon is made of green cheese. The challenges to EPA actions are based not on meteorology or theology, but on the Constitution. The issue is that the EPA has egregiously exceeded its authority and acted as a rogue agency unilaterally creating rules unmoored from legislation."

Charles Krauthammer is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard, a weekly panelist on the PBS news program Inside Washington, and a nightly panelist on Fox News.

The wealthy Democrats who helped pump over $1 billion into Hillary Clinton’s losing effort want answers.

Politico  . . . "The call for a deep and detailed accounting of how Clinton lost a race that she and her donors were absolutely certain she’d win didn’t begin immediately after the election — there was too much shock over her defeat by Donald Trump, and overwhelming grief. Her initial conference call with top backers, which came just days after the outcome, focused primarily on FBI Director Jim Comey’s late campaign-season intervention. 

"But in the weeks since, the wealthy Democrats who helped pump over $1 billion into Clinton’s losing effort have been urging their local finance staffers, state party officials, and campaign aides to provide a more thorough explanation of what went wrong. With no dispassionate, centralized analysis of how Clinton failed so spectacularly, they insist, how can they be expected to keep contributing to the party? " . . .

"Classless First Lady Attacks TRUMP, Says Americans Have “Lost Hope' ”

The Gateway Pundit

"Eight years ago Michelle Obama famously told Democrat voters that for the first time in her life she was proud of her country.

“For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

. . .  "But this week, after eight years of her husband’s failed policies at home and abroad, Michelle Obama told Oprah that Americans have lost their hope."

"Actually the polls say Americans have more hope today than they have in years now that Trump has won the White House."

Photos reveal the grim mood at Hillary’s lavish event for rich and powerful donors last night

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Thomas Lifson  "The smoking ruins of shattered dreams still smells awful for Democrats.  While members of the pundit class melt down on TV, the donor class is demanding more introspection than its members have yet seen on the part of the candidacy that took their money and delivered bupkis.  So maybe an extravagant get-together at the Plaza Hotel wasn’t such a great idea.

"The irrepressible U.K. Daily Mail covered the event the way it ought to be covered, a journalistic feat that somehow eludes our best and brightest most of the time.  Here are a couple of  bullet-points summarizing the article with the pictures that tell the story.

·  Clinton was pictured looking glum as she arrived at the Plaza Hotel on Thursday

. . . 

·  Vogue editor Anna Wintour hid her face as she made her way into the party

Thinking about gun control

Obama Vows Retaliation For Suspected Russian Hacking - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/499434/obama-vows-retaliation-for-suspected-russian-hacking.html#sthash.yB16s3hl.dpuf

mtviewmirror

Yeshiva World News  "President Barack Obama is promising that the U.S. will retaliate against Russia for its suspected meddling in America’s election process, an accusation the Kremlin has vehemently denied.

"Amid calls on both sides of the political aisle on Capitol Hill for a full­bore congressional investigation, including assertions President Vladimir Putin was personally involved, Obama said in an interview that anytime a foreign government tries to interfere in U.S. elections, the nation must take action “and we will at a time and place of our own choosing.” “Some of it may be explicit and publicized, some of it may not be,” he told NPR News Thursday. “But Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it.”

 "White House officials said it was “fact” that Russian hacking helped Donald Trump’s campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Administration officials on Thursday also assailed Trump himself, saying he must have known of Russia’s interference. Obama was to hold a news conference at the White House on Friday afternoon.

"No proof was offered for any of the accusations. . . " .  .  .

Obama says US needs to respond to Russian cyberattacks -- 'and we will' . . .

Donald J. TrumpVerified account‏@realDonaldTrump

If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?

The Blood Of Aleppo Is On Obama’s Hands

Noisy Room

"It’s amazing how CNN’s talking heads can devote so much time to the “scandal” of Donald J. Trump’s sons participating in interviews of cabinet picks, but can’t connect the dots between the bloody tragedy in Aleppo and President Barack Obama’s pro-terrorist policy in the Middle East.

"During the day on Wednesday, we saw CNN repeatedly air gruesome film footage of the massacre of civilians in Aleppo by the Russians and their Iranian and Syrian puppets. Not once did any CNN talking head bother to point out that Obama’s policy of intervention, through support of terrorist groups in Syria who are losing the war, may have had a role in the unfolding massacre.

"In a scandal that makes the alleged Russian hacking of Democratic emails appear minor by comparison, a Democratic member of the U.S. House has taken to the House floor to say that Obama’s CIA has been aiding the Islamic terrorist groups ISIS and al-Qaeda for the purpose of overthrowing the Syrian regime.

"Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced legislation to curb the Obama administration’s pro-terrorist policy, calling it the Stop Arming Terrorists bill (H.R. 6405).

"A member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee, Gabbard served two tours of duty in the Middle East, and continues her service as a major in the Army National Guard." . . .

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Just Okay (All the Bad Guys Are White; Heroes All Minorities)

Debbie Schlussel  "I saw the new Star Wars prequel, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” yesterday morning, under heavy security and lock and key. But it ain’t all that. The movie–which debuts in theaters Friday (early screenings Thursday night)–was just okay. Plus, I couldn’t help but notice a stark casting decision: all the evil Empire leaders are old White men, and all the rebel leaders and heroes are minorities (including a whiny Muslim dude) and a perpetually-miserable chick.

"At some point, one would expect that people will get sick of Disney/Lucasfilm serving up what is essentially the same Star Wars movie plot over and over again with more and more politically-correct, watered-down characters. But apparently not yet, as this movie is expected to do blockbuster numbers at the box office. Still, the movie is exactly that: a watered-down rehash of the original Star Wars movie from 40 years ago, with flat, boring characters picked for their nationalities and non-White status only. 

Throwing the baby out with the bongwater

Ann Coulter  "The New York Times posted a glowing article about a group home in New Hampshire, Hope on Haven Hill, founded with the express mission of keeping babies united with mothers who: 

" '... had used opioids, mostly heroin and fentanyl. Many had been incarcerated. Few had families they could turn to for help, and the fathers of their babies were out of the picture.”

"Why would anyone do this? And why is the U.S. government giving these lunatics a half-million dollar grant to help them do it?

"As the Times explains, "Haven Hill's philosophy" is that babies should stay with their drug addict, single mothers, "alleviating the widespread fear among pregnant drug users that if they seek help, their children will be taken away.”

"Even accepting that, in modern America, single mothers and drug addicts are People Who May Not Be Criticized, this is insane. It ought to be insane even to readers of the Times, who might have noticed, next to the perky article on Haven Hill, the headline for a related article in the Times: Opioids May Interfere With Parenting Instincts, Study Finds.

"As the article explains, scientists found that the part of the brain that registers cute baby faces "as irresistible, kicking in our instinct to care for them" didn't light up in people dependent on opioids, as it does in normal brains.

"But forget that the mothers are heroin addicts -- as Haven Hill does. Just consider the lottery tickets these kids have won by being born to single mothers. As recounted in gory detail in Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America, study after study has shown that children brought up by single mothers are doomed." . . .

Tweets and theater entertain, but Congress is the main event

Charles Krauthammer  "The most amusing part of the Trump transition has been watching its effortless confounding of the media, often in fewer than 140 characters. One morning, after a Fox News report on lefty nuttiness at some obscure New England college — a flag-burning that led a more-contemptible-than-usual campus administration to take down the school’s own American flag — Donald Trump tweets that flag burners should go to jail or lose their citizenship.

"An epidemic of constitutional chin tugging and civil libertarian hair pulling immediately breaks out. By the time the media have exhausted their outrage over the looming abolition of free speech, judicial supremacy and affordable kale, Trump has moved on. The tempest had a shorter half-life than the one provoked in August 2015 by a Trump foray into birthright citizenship. 

"Trump so thoroughly owns the political stage today that the word “Clinton” seems positively quaint and Barack Obama, who happens to be president of the United States, is totally irrelevant. Obama gave a major national security address on Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s son got more attention." . . .

Why we shouldn't get foreign policy advice from Mr. Obama

Thomas Lifson: Despicable attempts to dodge Obama’s responsibility for Syria ‘red line’ default  "As the world watches the largest city in Syria destroyed and totals up hundreds of thousands of deaths in that country, Barack Obama and his toadies are desperate.  They know that his empty threat, the “red line” over use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, gave a green light to Russia to increase its support of Assad, gaining a precious naval base in the Mediterranean and thereby altering the balance of power in Middle East waters.  And unleashed even more war on Syrians." . . .

Obama’s Disastrous Syria Policy  "The fall of Aleppo demonstrates the grave costs of American inaction. At nearly every turn of the conflict in Syria, the Obama administration yielded the military and strategic initiative to America’s enemies." . . .

" . . .the reality is that some errors are irreversible. Russia and its allies have won victories in Syria that would be nearly impossible to roll back without courting a showdown among great powers."

 

The Republican electors find that Hate Trumps Love (Updated)

"He said he’s been getting death threats via email, snail mail, Twitter and Facebook.
“ 'Somebody threatened to put a bullet in the back of my mouth,” Banerian, 22, told The Post on Wednesday."

Electors are being harassed, threatened in bid to stop Trump  

"Electors around the country are being harassed with a barrage of emails, phone calls and letters — and even death threats — in an effort to block Donald Trump from being voted in as president by the Electoral College on Monday.

"The bullying is overwhelming Sharon Geise’s tech devices, but not her resolve to support Trump.

"The Mesa, Arizona, grandmother woke up Wednesday morning to more than 1,500 emails demanding she not carry out her legal duty to vote for the president-elect." . . .

Prof. Lawrence Lessig: Our attempt to steal the election is going well  "In Colorado, a judge ruled against Clinton electors who claimed a right to vote against how state law required them to vote. So Lessig’s theory, advanced by many people, that electors can vote however they want even in states where they are bound, has so far not found any judicial authority."

. . . "The “Hamilton Electors” movement, or whatever other name you want to give to Operation Flip the Electors, is nothing short of an attempt to rewrite the election rules after the fact. Like saying after a football game that the team with the most yardage should win even though it didn’t score the most points." . . .

Supposedly tolerant NYC is making the Trump kids’ lives ‘horrible’

. . . "Protesters in the city may chant, “Love trumps hate,” but that’s not stopping some from piling on Donald Trump’s family." . . .

Pa. releases Trump electors' contact info, GOP slams "unprecedented harassment"  "Republican Party officials say they believe the Pennsylvania Department of State willfully disregarded open records protections when it released the contact information of President-elect Donald Trump's electors, opening them up to harassment"

"These electors were never on the ballot, nor were they ever candidates," Sweeney said. "Nevertheless, Governor Tom Wolf's Department of State chose to break with precedent and release the phone numbers and home addresses of Pennsylvania's twenty electors."

The Myth of Hillary’s Popular Vote 'Victory'  "Many modern liberals are fascists at heart who can’t accept losing power; that’s why Bush wasn’t “their” president.

"Those liberals are currently bemoaning the fact that Hillary won the popular vote which, according to them, means she should really be president, though were the case reversed we all know they’d be extolling the virtues of the Electoral College.

"Driven by a lust for power liberals don’t get that everyone has to follow the rules; demanding the rules change when you lose so that you can win" . . . 

Celebrities urge electors to flip. Well, that's good enough for me.

Even the Washington Post said, Griping about the popular vote? Get over it.  . . . "Aiming for 270 electoral votes out of 538, both Clinton and Trump focused on 13 swing states; Trump won that contest-within-a-contest by 816,000 votes." . . .

Hat tip to Lucianne for much of the above research.

Update: Electoral college voters will NOT rebel against Trump they say - as they tell of desperate appeals from 'idiots' to oppose president-elect on Monday  . . . "Associated Press interviews with more than 330 electors from both parties found little appetite for a revolt.

"Whether they like Trump or not, and some plainly don't, scores of the Republicans chosen to cast votes in the state-capital meetings told AP they feel bound by history, duty, party loyalty or the law to rubber-stamp their state's results and make him president. 

"Appeals numbering in the tens of thousands - drowning inboxes, ringing cellphones, stuffing home and office mailboxes with actual handwritten letters - have not swayed them." . . .