Still No Collusion Evidence

Andrew C. McCarthy

"The latest ‘bombshell’ tells us more about media bias than about election meddling"

 "So here’s the latest big “collusion” story that has been, er, broken by the Wall Street Journal. 

"About ten days before he died in mid-May, an 81-year-old man who did not work for the Trump campaign told the Journal he had speculated that, but did not know whether, 33,000 of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails had been hacked from her homebrew server. 

"The now-deceased man, “a longtime Republican opposition researcher” named Peter W. Smith, had theorized that the e-mails must have been stolen, “likely by Russian hackers.” But he had no idea if this was actually so, and he himself certainly had nothing to do with stealing them. 

"Smith’s desire to obtain the hacked emails, if there were any, peaked around Labor Day 2016 — i.e., during the last weeks of the campaign. This was many months after the FBI had taken physical custody of Clinton’s homebrew server and other devices containing her e-mails. It was also two months after the Bureau’s then-director, James Comey, had told the country that the FBI had found no evidence that Clinton had been hacked . . . but that her carelessness about communications security, coupled with the proficiency of hackers in avoiding detection, meant her e-mails could well have been compromised throughout her years as secretary of state. 

"In other words, Peter W. Smith was one of about 320 million people in the United States who figured that Clinton’s e-mails had been hacked — by Russia, China, Iran, ISIS, the NSA, the latest iteration of “Guccifer,” and maybe even that nerdy kid down at Starbucks with “Feel the Bern” stickers on his laptop." . . . Read more

Watch: GOP Senator Torches Obama's Weakness On Russia

Matt Vespa at Townhall   . . . "By contrast, President Obama famously pressed the reset button a few weeks into his tenure, six months after Russia invaded Georgia. He mocked Mitt Romney for calling Russia our number one geopolitical foe. He asked Dmitry Medvedev in a hot mic moment to wait until after the election to discuss missile defenses because he would have more flexibility. Despite bipartisan support in the Congress, President Obama refused to send lethal weapons to Ukraine. He stood idly by as Russia returned to the Middle East for the first time in 40 years, and he stood idly by, as we’ve heard today, in the 2016 election." . . .

Trump vs. the media

President Trump is changing the norms that empower his media antagonists   Thomas Lifson defends Trumps tweets, but I cannot work up the same enthusiasm. I still support President Trump much more than I admire him (The use of triple personal pronouns in the foregoing is Obama-esque). TD

Pictured: CNN journalists.

. . . "President Trump understands that the current informal-but-very-real rules of the game have allowed Mika and Joe (and the rest of the media-political world as well) free rein to savage him and his family, while he is supposed to be a gentleman and just take it while they get support for attacking him." . . .

Why Trump’s Vengeful Tweeting Matters  . . . "It’s a sad symbol of our times that one feels compelled to actually make an argument why the president is wrong here. The pitiful reality is that there are people who feel like the man who sits in the seat once occupied by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan should use his bully pulpit for schoolyard insults and vicious personal attacks. But this is what we’re reduced to. So, here goes." . . .Read more.

So who is 'presidential'?  "For the last several years, if you disagreed with President Obama or the Democrat agenda on immigration, gay marriage, gender bathroom rights, climate change, higher taxes, more regulations, you could be called xenophobic, sexist, racist, homophobic, and stupid.
"Or to put it in brief form, as Hillary Clinton did, "irredeemable" and "deplorable."
"If you dared disagreed with anything in the climate change agenda, you were called "a denier," and the public was told that you shouldn't be listened to.
"Members of the Tea Party were compared to domestic terrorists." . . .

Who cares what Trump tweets to some media pinhead?  

"What matters to voters is that he is getting things done."

On Morning Joe, Deutsch Calls Pres. Trump “Physically Disgusting,” a “Pig”   "I’m taking the low ground here. "

The MSNBC show is a window on a tiresome and deluded chattering class.
Morning Joe hosts with Valerie Jarrett (Obama's alter-ego)

. . . "The nonsense never ends. The American people know perfectly well that Trump isn’t a saint. They don’t need the media to hold endless powwows on this subject. What’s more, they know that even with his flaws he is a hell of a lot more serious than the smug “sophisticates” always sniping at him."

From Law Nuze: Mika Shouldn’t Just Be Annoyed, She Should Sue The Heck Out of Trump  . . . "Yep, that’s what I said. Mika Brzezinski should consider suing Trump for defamation. After all, sometimes a well-timed civil lawsuit can have some pretty profound consequences. Just ask Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky.   Would I typically advocate litigating over two moronic hate tweets? Absolutely not. I have serious disdain for nuisance lawsuits and the unethical lawyers who make their parasitic living off them. But a successful defamation lawsuit to call out President Trump for his obnoxious twitterbuse of media figures would serve an important purpose, and I’m not the only one who thinks so." . . .

Part 3 of the Project Veritas attack on CNN

Althouse

And this is especially interesting right now, when everyone purports to be shocked that Donald Trump tweeted that Mika Brzezinski was "bleeding badly from a face-lift": Carr says that Kellyanne Conway "looks like she got hit with a shovel."

"This time the victim of secret filming is Jimmy Carr, who is said to be the Associate Producer for CNN’s "New Day." James O'Keefe tells us Carr is based in Brooklyn, and urges Paul Farhi — the WaPo writer who made much of the failure to say that the victim in Part 1 was based in Atlanta — to take note that he's naming the place." . . .

A word missing from CNN's frontpage: Russia

Ann Althouse   "The narrative has changed."

"I do see — look closely — "Van Jones: O'Keefe video is a hoax." The video is the one where we hear Van Jones say "That Russia thing is just a big nothing-burger." But the teaser on the front page doesn't give us a clue that the video had to do with Russia, and even when you click through, there's no mention of the substance of what we hear Jones say in the video, just the assertion: "CNN's Van Jones says the ambush video of him done by notorious provocateur James O'Keefe is a hoax." 

"And how is the video a hoax? I think Jones is misusing the word, because he does not deny that he is the man in the video or that there's some context that would change the meaning of his statement. He indicates that he could have said other things, but not that he did actually on that occasion say more and O'Keefe had it edited out. 

"ADDED: I'm just noticing that among the things CNN is trying to tease us with this morning is: "Prostitutes: Senate health care bill will devastate us." Prostitutes!

"ALSO: The Washington Post also has a front page that doesn't mention Russia but does — amazing! — have sex workers. Click to enlarge: 

Charles Krauthammer asks: "Why do they even play the game?"

"In sports, the pleasure of winning is less than the pain of losing."

Orange County Register

"In mathematics, when you’re convinced of some eternal truth but can’t quite prove it, you offer it as a hypothesis (with a portentous capital H) and invite the world, future generations if need be, to prove you right or wrong. Often, a cash prize is attached.

"In that spirit, but without the cash, I offer the Krauthammer Conjecture: In sports, the pleasure of winning is less than the pain of losing. By any Benthamite pleasure/pain calculation, the sum is less than zero. A net negative of suffering. Which makes you wonder why anybody plays at all.

"Winning is great. You get to hoot and holler, hoist the trophy, shower in champagne, ride the open parade car and boycott the White House victory ceremony (choose your cause).

"But, as most who have engaged in competitive sports know, there’s nothing to match the amplitude of emotion brought by losing. When the Cleveland Cavaliers lost the 2015 NBA Finals to Golden State, LeBron James sat motionless in the locker room, staring straight ahead, still wearing his game jersey, for 45 minutes after the final buzzer.

"Here was a guy immensely wealthy, widely admired, at the peak of his powers — yet stricken, inconsolable. So it was for Ralph Branca, who gave up Bobby Thomson’s shot heard ’round the world in 1951. So too for Royals shortstop Freddie Patek, a (literal) picture of dejection sitting alone in the dugout with his head down after his team lost the 1977 pennant to the New York Yankees." . . .

White Terrorist Privilege

"Let the record show that students are all on board with this new racism. Even candidates for leadership of the Student Government Association at my school have actively campaigned on promises of eradicating white privilege from the campus. For these kids (who are mostly white) such self-flagellation is more like a religious ritual than a well thought out position on “social justice.' ”

Mike Adams

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington employed a former domestic terrorist for several decades and no one seemed to care. Dr. James Reeves was a member of the Weather Underground domestic terror group back in the 1960s. By the end of the decade, Reeves was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, promotion of anarchy, assault with intent to commit murder, and receiving stolen goods. He was indicted on charges of stealing a rifle and firing it into the Cambridge Police headquarters near the campus of Harvard University. When a witness recanted, the charges relating to the attack on the police station were dropped. But there were other convictions awaiting the future educator who had declared war on his own country. 

"Perhaps most notably, future Professor Reeves was actually convicted of committing an assault at a public high school. The conviction resulted in a jail sentence of three months. He was eventually convicted on other charges and went to prison for two years. After his release from prison, he became a father and decided it was best to leave the domestic terrorist life behind. He decided to pursue a career in higher education. Where else could a domestic terrorist get a job? 

"There was already a crack in the foundation of higher education in the 1970s - the decade during which universities started to hire former terrorists like Jimmy Reeves and Bill Ayers. The fact that a criminal conviction for engaging in acts of violence in a public high school did not keep Reeves from becoming a professor speaks volumes. 

"To their credit, Reeves and his fellow Weathermen did leave their violent ways behind when they became professors. But they brought more important weapons into their new chosen battlefield. They brought explosive ideas that would take more time to detonate than the pipe bombs they had constructed in the past. Among the most dangerous of the ideas the Weathermen advanced was "white skin privilege." It was first made popular when the terror group announced its war against the United States of "Amerikkka.' " . . .

"Skulls full of mush". which rhymes with "Rush"

Maxine Waters, looking puny next to a giant

Any column defending Dr. Ben Carson from the attacks on him by Maxine Waters is obviously racist, so perhaps I should condemn myself in advance. TD

Maxine Waters Attacks Ben Carson at Town Hall, Wants to ‘Take Him Apart’

Does she mean like her constituents did Reginald Denny during the Rodney King riots?  
. . . "Waters also told the crowd that the next time Carson went before the House Financial Services Committee, she would "take him apart." Waters is the top Democrat on that committee." . . .

Maxine Waters, looking puny next to a giant  

Yet Carson came from an even poorer background than Waters and unlike her, didn't spend his time making mega-millions since. It was that very poverty that drew him to the medical profession and all the good things he could do to alleviate human suffering.

"If there's one person Rep. Maxine Waters shouldn't bring up so as to avoid unfavorable comparisons, it's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, who is also one of the nation's most distinguished neurosurgeons. Well,she has.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) went after Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson at a town hall on Saturday.

At the town hall in Gardena, Calif., Waters said that Carson should go back to his former profession of being a surgeon, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Waters also told the crowd that the next time Carson went before the House Financial Services Committee, she would "take him apart." Waters is the top Democrat on that committee.

"Waters is a crazy demagogue whose specialty is whipping up crowds and has a history of scandals, investigations, and corruption.

"Carson is not only one of the nation's most distinguished neurosurgeons, he's also excelling in his public service post, with billions in accounting errors rooted outon his watch within just the first few months of office. He's likeable, popular, and given the agency he heads, more than a little capable of working well across the ideological divide.

"She doesn't want to bring up someone like that to remind voters or the public of her own absence of any achievement." . . .

UPDATED: Anti-history Protesters are Destroying Tourism in Gettysburg, Museum Claims

Legal Insurrection

“What family wants to come here with threats of “anarchists burning flags”.”

 

"The anti-history crowd responsible for the eradication of Civil War statues and monuments around the country is destroying tourism in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

"Much of the original Gettysburg battlefield is preserved and maintained by the National Park Service. The Gettysburg History Museum, a separate entity, is also a well-frequented attraction. Or it was.

"And it’s the Museum that’s publicly lamenting the damage they claim is caused by extreme revisionists.

"On their public Facebook page, the Gettysburg History Museum said protesters are killing tourism:

"For their refusal to surrender fact to immature and insecure emotion, the museum, along with the battlefield will be subjected to militant anti-history protests planned by Antifa groups on the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. These Antifa groups plan to burn Confederate battle flags and desecrate graves.

Philly reports:

Officials in Gettysburg are bracing for protests this weekend coinciding with the 154th anniversary of the Civil War battle.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans and a group called Real 3% Risen have received special use permits for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday in a special section north of Meade’s Headquarters.

“We make accommodations for people who want to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said Katie Lawhon, a spokeswoman for Gettysburg National Military Park.

Officials also are aware of plans for other rallies that have been announced on social media but have not obtained permits, and there are unconfirmed reports that anarchists plan to burn Confederate flags during the anniversary of the battle.

Lawhon said the park is working with the U.S. Park Police, the Pennsylvania State Police, and local law enforcement to keep order during the weekend.

“Our goal is to ensure that public safety and visitor safety is number one and that park resources are preserved,” she said.

Besides the two permitted protests, Civil War reenactors from the Maryland Sons of Confederate Veterans also received a permit for a “site specific” march starting at 10 a.m. from the North Carolina Memorial to the Veterans Memorial, where they will hold a ceremony, Lawhon said. Another popular private reenactment festival is also scheduled about two miles from the park, she said." . . .

Some historical research updates: 

• The Battlefield
• President Obama's Historic Gettysburg Slight
• Obama diss: President snubs historic Gettysburg 150th anniversary ceremony
• The Myth of Little Round Top Part 1
• Gettysburg National Military Park: Then & Now, Part 2
• More Gettysburg links on witness trees
• Video links about the Battle of Gettysburg
• The Rebel Yell.  Hear it here. Never was so much American valor wasted on such a tragic cause that sowed its poisonous seeds that grew into the late 20th century. One desires to glory in the courage and sacrifice shown by these men, but not in those who gave America the Jim Crow laws, the laws consigning Americans to the backs of buses.Consider this my rebellion against 21st century PC culture. The Tunnel Dweller 

And below:

AntiFA to Burn Flag and Desecrate Graves in Gettysburg. Refuted as fake news by AntiFA

UPDATE: Gettysburg anniversary seeing few flare-ups, despite rumors of violence

 . . . "Antifa has strongly pushed back on those unsubstantiated claims and said they had no plans to be at Gettysburg but instead are focusing their efforts on a massive anti-Trump rally in Philadelphia.     "In an added twist, the Central PA Antifa claims the rumors of Gettysburg protests generated from a fake Facebook page called “Harrisburg Antifa” – which they told “The Evening Sun” is run by “alt-right trolls attempting to discredit Antifa, create confusion and attempt to stir violence.”“ 'No Antifa group has requested or been issued a permit,” Lawhon said. "Regardless, park security isn’t taking any chances following a heated face-off last year." . . .

It certainly isn't as if AntiFA is too classy to do that. TD

Protests planned at Gettysburg battlefield this weekend

"There are no plans to change any of the 1,300 monuments on the park grounds, she said."

Harrisburg100

 . . "A local group of self-proclaimed anti-fascism activists called “ANTIFA” are planning on holding a rally at Gettysburg National Battlefield on July 1st in protest of President Trump and asks it’s members to “Bring and Burn Confederate Flags”.  . .

. . ."The reasoning behind why this group picked the date and location for their rally is for the importance Gettysburg played in the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg started on July 1, 1863, when Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia met General George Meade’s Union Army of the Potomac. During the three-day battle, about 165,000 soldiers clashed in and around the small town of Gettysburg. When the Battle of Gettysburg was over on July 3, 1863, 51,000 soldiers were casualties (killed, wounded, captured or missing) in what remains the largest battle ever fought in North America. There are approximately 1,328 monuments, markers and memorials that stand in both the cemetery and battlefield to commemorate the Union and Confederate troops who fought there.

"In removing any monument or marker of history, to what purpose does that serve? History in every corner of the world while oftentimes ugly and heinous, still serves a purpose. It is a remembrance to learning from our past and not condemning ourselves to repeat it. To some, it is a heritage that we tell future generations of who they are, where they come from and our American history is not a stumbling block but a stepping stone to a better future." . . .

How many of these people were educated by the California school system?

One reaction to this news:

I wanted to share this link about a protest that is coming up on Gettysburg during the re-enactment, July 1st. This scum group wants to burn American & Confederate flags & urinate on Soldiers GRAVES!!! I am going with my Army veteran husband with our flags to demonstrate against them. Thru patriot friends on FB I have a lot of people coming. Please contact me if u would like to be a part of this. These are lefty Trump haters. We need to take a stand! 

CNN: a low point in journalism (UPDATED)

Thomas Lifson:  Mocking CNN at its low point  (Video at the link) "When I ponder the fate of my soul, I am given pause in celebrating the misfortunes of my antagonists, aka indulging in schadenfreude. But then, something comes along that is just irresistible, and I have to share it with our readers.  On Last night’s installment of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Mark Steyn and Tucker traded quips at the expense of CNN. Steyn’s characteristic riffs and flights of fancy are in full evidence.

"I only ask that readers make an informed decision before indulging in this video. I am not proud of enjoying this so much."  

Hannity takes on CNN and targets corruption in the investigations of President Trump  "Discussing her new book The Smear and the MSM's uniformly negative reporting on President Trump, Attkisson said: "One of the quotes I got from the smear operators [disinformation specialists] who I interviewed was 'Everything that you see [in the media] you should suspect has been put there for a reason – every image and every narrative. Someone wants you to see it and has spent a lot of money to bring you that.'"

And who can ever forget this hard-hitting interview of Obama by Dan Lothian? CNN to Obama: Are GOP candidates “uninformed, out of touch, or irresponsible?”   "Wow, you’d think Lothian would have been more subtle about his bias, especially since he is strictly functioning as a news reporter. I would have expected a question framed with “do you agree with…?” or simply “what are your thoughts about this?”. But he exposed himself as many others have, and now we know."  Video.  And Mr. Lothian still works at CNN.

The Obama years may go down as the worst display of journalism in U.S. history. Beginning with their sickening display of sycophancy toward whom I consider the worst president in history, domestically and internationally. TD

UPDATE:

Seattle Minimum Wage Hike Backfires Hurting Low Income Workers

Legal Insurrection  “increase led to steep declines in employment for low-wage workers”

"The progressive city of Seattle pushed its minimum wage up to $15 dollars an hour but a new study from economists at the University of Washington suggests the measure is hurting the very people it was intended to help.

"This is an issue the left often refuses to understand. If you force a higher wage than the market demands, employers are forced to adjust in ways that are less favorable.

"Ben Casselman and Kathryn Casteel report at FiveThirtyEight:

Seattle’s Minimum Wage Hike May Have Gone Too Far

As cities across the country pushed their minimum wages to untested heights in recent years, some economists began to ask: How high is too high?

Seattle, with its highest-in-the-country minimum wage, may have hit that limit.

In January 2016, Seattle’s minimum wage jumped from $11 an hour to $13 for large employers, the second big increase in less than a year. New research released Monday by a team of economists at the University of Washington suggests the wage hike may have come at a significant cost: The increase led to steep declines in employment for low-wage workers, and a drop in hours for those who kept their jobs. Crucially, the negative impact of lost jobs and hours more than offset the benefits of higher wages — on average, low-wage workers earned $125 per month less because of the higher wage, a small but significant decline.

“The goal of this policy was to deliver higher incomes to people who were struggling to make ends meet in the city,” said Jacob Vigdor, a University of Washington economist who was one of the study’s authors. “You’ve got to watch out because at some point you run the risk of harming the people you set out to help.” . . .

From Joe Newby:

"The $15 minimum wage has motivated McDonald’s toward an automated kiosk strategy, laying off up to 2500 minimum-wage workers. This has sent stocks soaring. This is what you get with liberalism."