Tuesday, February 14, 2017

On Mike Flynn being under the bus

WikiLeaks: Flynn leaving due to 'destabilization campaign' by Dems, media
"WikiLeaks on Tuesday blamed a “destabilization campaign” by the media and Democrats for national security adviser Michael Flynn's resignation." . . .

Thomas Lifson: CIA broke the law to take out its critic General Flynn  . . . "This last point is critical.  The entire "scandal" is based on innuendo.  Flynn tripped over his own feet by misinforming Vice President Pence on the nature of his call and allowing the veep to issue a too sweeping denial of any discussion.  If Flynn had said in his conversation with the Russian ambassador that we will discuss the sanctions after Trump takes office, he might well have told Pence that they did not discuss the sanctions.  And the CIA leakers could have used the appearance of the word "sanctions" in their transcript to brand Pence a liar.  We don't know, and for some reason, nobody is gaining access to the actual transcripts so that we may see the content.  Perhaps the congressional investigations to come will gain access.  But Flynn is now gone, and media memes have been firmly planted in the public mind." . . .

Ryan: When Trump Saw White House 'Being Misled' by Flynn, Resignation Requested


"House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters today that President Trump "was right to ask for" former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's resignation while GOP senators want more answers about his contacts with Russia.
"White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told the Today show this morning, though, that Flynn was the one to offer his resignation.
" 'He knew he had become a lightning rod and he made that decision," Conway said." . . .

Sally Yates' White House warning may have set Michael Flynn's resignation into motion  . . . "As for Yates, the Trump administration sacked her days after she met with the White House on Jan. 30 for ordering the Justice Department to not enforce the unscrupulous travel ban.
. . .
" 'Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration," a White House spokesman said." . . .

The Political Assassination of Michael Flynn  . . . "A better explanation here is that Flynn was just thrown under the bus. His tenure as national security adviser, the briefest in U.S. history, was rocky from the start. When Flynn was attacked in the media for his ties to Russia, he was not allowed by the White House to defend himself. Over the weekend, he was instructed not to speak to the press when he was in the fight for his political life. His staff was not even allowed to review the transcripts of his call to the Russian ambassador." . . .  

Trump after Flynn resignation: 'The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?'

CNN’s Henderson: Some Might View Flynn Resignation as the Press Having Scored Points Against the WH  The comical Don Lemon was part of this panel.

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


The urgency of the political satire on “Saturday Night Live,” including Alec Baldwin’s devastating portrayal of Donald Trump, relies on the White House’s regular and ridiculously wounded responses to the jokes.

. . . "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." . . .

Monday, February 13, 2017

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

Image result for Ibtihaj Muhammad pictures

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

National security adviser General Michael Flynn delivers a statement daily briefing at the White House in Washington U.S., February 1, 2017.  REUTERS/Carlos Barria

"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"

Image result for hillary clinton cartoons
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?"  . . .

Image result for hillary clinton cartoons

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

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

. . . "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

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

. . . "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/