The Frankenphiles have left the building

Rich Terrell

Franken’s Phony Finale: He casts his resignation as an act of gallantry, not an act of atonement.  . . . "The speech followed the usual pattern of lying pols: I didn’t do it, I’m only quitting because I am a distraction and can’t advance my party’s agenda “effectively anymore, and the other side is worse. Franklin bitterly remarked upon the “irony” of his resignation, presenting himself as an innocent man on the pyre while guilty men like Trump and Roy Moore walk free." . . .

In Franken's fall, sudden Senate pickup chance for GOP   . . . "Franken's exit gives Republicans an opening to expand their reach in an already favorable Senate map — two dozen Democratic senators are up for re-election next year, including 10 in states that President Donald Trump carried in 2016. That difficult math raises the question of whether Dayton will appoint a temporary placeholder or try to give a Democrat a running start for the 2018 campaign." . . .

What about Judge Roy Moore?

Slate: Roy Moore’s Story Is Unraveling   . . . "But the harder line comes at a cost: It’s demonstrably false. Moore knows these women, and they have evidence to prove it. If Moore is fully investigated by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, he’ll be exposed not just as a former predator, but as a current slanderer. 
. . . 
"Republican senators need Moore’s vote. If he wins, they’ll argue that voters exonerated him and that his offenses, even if true, are ancient history. His Christian supporters will add, as some already have, that God has forgiven him. “Many of the things that he allegedly did were decades ago,” says Orrin Hatch, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican. 

"But Moore’s lies about his accusers aren’t ancient. They’re happening right now. That makes him an unrepentant sinner. It also makes him fair game for the ethics committee, which doesn’t like to delve into senators’ pasts. Open an investigation. Subpoena the yearbook and the scrapbook. Summon the accusers and their witnesses. And judge Roy Moore."

Oh, by the way, Dylan Farrow asks: Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen?  . . . "It isn't just power that allows men accused of sexual abuse to keep their careers and their secrets. It is also our collective choice to see simple situations as complicated and obvious conclusions as a matter of "who can say"? The system worked for Harvey Weinstein for decades. It works for Woody Allen still."

If Roy Moore Wins?  "Senate Republicans will have decisions to make. First, they must decide what to say. Members who believe the most serious allegations against Moore and don’t think the passage of nearly 40 years matters should feel free to say Moore is unfit for the Senate and thus should resign.

"Once they say so, they will have done as much as Democrats did to John Conyers and Al Franken. And much more than they did to Bill Clinton.

"But if they declare Moore unfit, they should be prepared to explain why they consider Donald Trump fit for the presidency. The allegations of sexual assault against Trump were much more recent than those against Moore. In addition, Moore denies the allegations. Trump admitted to sexual assault in the Billy Bush tapes." . . .

Real Clear Politics poses the same question  . . . "Second, a Moore victory would be further proof of how little credibility the national media has outside of the political class. Many who are troubled and offended by Moore are also troubled and offended by the apparently partisan behavior of the Post. Why didn't the left leaning paper report Moore's problems before the Republican primary? If they had done so, Moore wouldn't be the GOP nominee and the Democrats wouldn't have a chance." . . .

. . . "I Wrote The Part Of That Yearbook Inscription Under Roy Moore’s Signature, Says Accuser"

. . . "It’s not *that* weird for someone to memorialize an inscription made by another by noting the circumstances, especially if that person was a figure of some importance like the assistant district attorney. (People did it on the backs of old snapshots, right?) But how the hell does Gloria Allred let her client go out there last month at a press conference, produce the yearbook as a smoking gun proving that she and Moore knew each other, and not acknowledge immediately that she added to the inscription? Did Allred not notice the discrepancy in the handwriting or did Nelson not think to bring it up? It’s not a minor addition, either. The location and especially the date are crucial to showing that Moore and Nelson were acquainted when she said they were. Turns out she wrote that part, though, not him. Was it contemporaneous with his signature or did she add it years afterward?" . . .

Legal Insurrection: "But insists the rest of the writing is Moore’s, including the signature." . . . "Gloria Allred repeatedly declined to make the yearbook available for forensic analysis, as I covered in If Roy Moore wins, thank Gloria Allred and Al Franken:" . . .

Judge Roy Moore Known as Disciplined, Honorable During His Time at West Point, Vietnam  . . . " 'That evening, if I didn’t know it before, I knew then that with Roy Moore I was in the company of a man of great self-control, discipline, honor, and integrity. While there were other actions by Roy that reinforced my belief in him, that was the most telling,” he said.

"Staele told the story in light of allegations that Moore just a few years later behaved inappropriately towards women, which he said were “obvious, politically motivated allegations.”

“What I saw, felt and knew about him in Vietnam stands in stark contrast to those allegations,” he said. “I sincerely doubt that Roy’s character had changed fundamentally and dramatically in a few short years later.”

“Roy was a soldier for whom I was willing to put my life on the line in Vietnam if the occasion ever arose. Fortunately, it did not,” he said. “I was prepared to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him then, and I am proud to stand by Roy now.' ”

Obama Compares Trump To Hitler…

Weasel Zippers

"Every U.S. president gets compared to Hitler. This is the first time a former one has done it.

"Via Chicago Business:

American democracy is fragile, and unless care is taken it could follow the path of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

Mixed in with many softer comments, that was the somewhat jaw-dropping bottom line of Barack Obama last night as, in a Q&A session before the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicagoan who used to be president dropped a bit of red meat to a hometown crowd that likely is a lot closer to him than the man whose name never was mentioned: President Donald Trump.

Obama’s comments came after a series of playful questions from moderator and Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobson—in the great Batman vs. Superman debate, for instance, we learned Obama sides with Batman—before she eventually asked him what he’s learned as a world citizen of sorts.

One thing he’s learned is that “things don’t happen internationally if we don’t put our shoulder to the wheel,” Obama said, speaking of the U.S. “No other country has the experience and bandwidth and ideals. . . .If the U.S. doesn’t do it, it’s not going to happen.”

Keep reading

Newly Press

Just to make sure you never forget who this lady is.

IDIOT Maxine Waters Goes On A RACIST Rant And Voters Call For Her IMPEACHMENT

. . . "In her twenty-seven years in politics, the California Congresswoman has only shilled for the Democrats and for targeted racism against whites. That may not be politically correct to say, but the evidence of Maxine’s bias goes back a long way.

She gave the Huffington Post an interview on the 25 year anniversary of the L.A. riots recently, and instead of doing the moral thing, she doubled down on her support for the thugs who turned the city into a war zone. One of those thugs, Damian Williams, is a favorite of Waters. Williams is infamous for bludgeoning truck driver Reginald Denny with a brick. Along with three other thugs, he fractured Denny’s skull in 97 different places. Denny was on life support and sustained severe brain damage as a result.

“Never forget that Maxine Waters embraced Damian Williams, the infamous thug who hurled a chunk of concrete at truck driver Reginald Denny and performed a victory dance over this innocent man’s battered body,” reports Independent. She then danced with notorious gang members when Williams was released from prison.

She’s [Maxine’s] earned a lifetime of left-wing adoration for whitewashing the deadly riots as a “rebellion,” excusing the week-long shooting, looting, and arson orgy as “a spontaneous reaction to a lot of injustice and a lot of alienation and frustration,” and coddling Crips and Bloods gang members . . . [Source: New York Post]

. . .
"Newly nicknamed “Auntie Maxine” by the liberals, in her interview with Huffington Post she went on a rant, glorifying violence. Waters claimed the L.A. riots were “a milestone in the history of black people demanding justice. These were people who had been basically forgotten. And because of Rodney King’s beating and the current emotion that was stirring in that, it was like people were saying, ‘We’re here. You can’t do this to us. Look what you’re doing, look how you’ve been.’”

"She continued, “So it was a defining moment in this country and I think a defining moment in the way that black people resisted.” Just to give you an idea of how horrendous the beating of Reginald Denny was, the video below captured it, but be warned, it contains graphic violence."

Rush Exposes DOJ Scandal the Mainstream Media Is Burying – ‘Bigger than Watergate’

Western Journal  "Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh believes the mainstream media is covering up one the the biggest stories in decades — a “deep state” coup attempt against President Donald Trump.

"On his radio show Wednesday, Limbaugh claimed that special counselor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election is “not a legitimate investigation.” Still, he said, most media outlets refuse to report what he called “the biggest story in generations,” even “bigger than Watergate.”

“ 'We’ve had a suggestion that we aired earlier from a former CIA analyst who says that, in his estimation, Trump should just pardon everybody and end this just because there’s no ‘there’ there. There’s no crime. There was no collusion. Everything that’s being done is a trap,” Limbaugh said.

“ 'This whole thing — it really is, folks,” he explained. “The Trump dossier was written to cause just this. They wrote a phony and false document that was designed to be used by co-conspirators at the CIA and the Obama administration as legitimate intelligence that was earth-shattering in its consequences and needs to be pursued.”

"The talk show host was referring to the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, an unverified document that made salacious claims about Trump.

"Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Convention paid for the research that led to the dossier, and the FBI reportedly used the dossier to justify investigating the connections between Trump and Russia." . . .

The Deep State Coup Against Trump Is a Bigger Story Than Watergate

Trump is bringing Mueller down

Trump was my last choice during the primary campaigns, but now he is our remedy to the leftist juggernaut overtaking America's culture and political system. TD

"Mueller should have wrapped this up by Thanksgiving. Instead, he is flogging that dead horse called the Russian dossier."

Don Surber  "Don't feud with Donald Trump. Too many have and wound up worse for wear. I gave 26 examples. No. 27 may be Robert Mueller, who has wasted the last seven months trying to frame President Trump.

"Mueller has nothing -- and is losing his reputation.

"Trump cannot fire Mueller. That would make him a martyr." . . .

. . . "Mueller's unwillingness to back down will cost him everything because he is up against an innocent man who happens to be president.

"Over the weekend, the results of Trump's investigation of Team Mueller surfaced. Mueller had to fire his top investigator because that investigator left a trail of anti-Trump emails, and was caught destroying evidence and altering statements in that Fake Investigation of Hillary's emails." . . .

John Conyers’s Son Was Arrested This Year, Accused of Stabbing His Girlfriend

NY Times

"John Conyers III, who was endorsed by his father on Tuesday to succeed him in the House, was arrested in February after his girlfriend suffered knife cuts during an argument. 

"Mr. Conyers, in an interview Wednesday, tried to head off a possibly disqualifying scandal just a day after his father resigned from Congress amid multiplying allegations of sexual harassment. As issues of sexual harassment and abuse roil Washington, any violent altercation against a woman could doom his effort to take the seat that his father held since 1965." . . .

His mother, Monica Conyers was not someone you want in a nation's leadership either:  

. . . "Conyers was given a pre-indictment letter and offered a plea deal in the case.[8] On June 26, 2009, Conyers was charged with conspiring to commit bribery and pleaded guilty.[10]"On June 26, 2009, Conyers pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe in the Synagro Sludge scandal.[11] Three days later, Conyers officially resigned from the Detroit City Council, effective July 6.[12] Her former chief of staff, Sam Riddle, faced prosecution as well; Riddle's trial has included wiretap recordings of conversations with and about Conyers, in which he describes her as "crazy."[13] Testimony given during Riddle's trial on February 4, 2010 indicated that Conyers often left a downtown Detroit restaurant without paying for the meal; the restaurant's owner estimated that Conyers owed him about $3,000.[14] On March 10, 2010, Conyers was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison.[15] During the sentencing hearing, Conyers requested to withdraw her guilty plea, which the judge denied.[16] She filed notice to appeal.[17]" . . .

Monica Memories  Why are Democrats not ashamed of so many of their fellow leftists?

Utah 'Monument' Was a Reward to a Clinton Donor

Daniel John Sobieski

"The shrinking in size of two national monuments in Utah by President Trump through executive order was a long overdue rebuke to federal land grabs that have enabled federal control of vast swaths of American land, particularly in the West. As the New York Times noted in 2016:" . . .
. . . 

"Phyllis Sorensen, head of the Utah chapter of the National Education Association, called Clinton's action "felonious assault," charging that "they are stealing from the schoolchildren of Utah." Stealing from children to reward Indonesian billionaire donors is a move typical of the Clintons.

"Before there was the pay-for-play Clinton Foundation, and the putting up of American national security for sale in the Uranium One deal with Russia, there was Bill Clinton creating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a monument to Bill and Hillary’s monumental corruption. "  

Then there is this:

Polar bears all over the place now, Native Alaskans say
. . . "So instead of starving, global warming is now causing bears to proliferate. We are supposed to be upset about it no matter what the truth is. It just goes to show that global warmers just can't get their stories straight. And they want to have their bears and starve them, too."

Report: Young People Say Being Called a “Snowflake” Damages Their Mental Health

Legal Insurrection

"Whether they like it or not, young people on the left have developed a reputation for being unable and unwilling to tolerate the views of others with whom they disagree. Speakers are routinely shouted down on college campuses and the views of conservatives are frequently described as dangerous.

The term “snowflake” was entirely self-earned. They built this. So it’s difficult to feel sympathy when they say they don’t like this description of them.

"Olivia Rugard of the Telegraph UK points to a recent study:

Don’t call us snowflakes – it damages our mental health, say young people

Being called a “snowflake” is damaging to mental health, young people say. Figures show that the majority of young people think the term is unfair – and even more think it could have a negative effect of its own.

The “snowflake generation” is a disparaging term now commonly used to refer to young people, who are perceived to be over-sensitive and intolerant of disagreement.

. . .
"Not all young people fit the description of a snowflake, obviously. A young man who worked at a gas station in my neighborhood recently enlisted in the Marines the day he turned 18. That’s not someone who needs a safe space.

"If Millennials and others truly want to shake the term loose, it’s not hard. It doesn’t even require enlisting in the armed forces. The choice is theirs."

Understanding Justice Kennedy in the Masterpiece Cake case.

Althouse  "I "live-blogged" my reading of it. You can read my 32-point post here." . . .

1. Empathy for the human beings on both sides of this controversy. Kennedy showed empathy for the gay people who face discrimination: If the cake-maker wins this case, he could put "put a sign in his window: we do not bake cakes for gay weddings," and that would be "an affront to the gay community." And there might be a movement to get all cake-makers to stop making cakes for same-sex weddings. But Kennedy also showed empathy for the cake-maker as he criticized the state for its lack of tolerance and respect for the cake-maker's religious beliefs. Kennedy seemed troubled not only about compelling the cake-maker to make cakes for same-sex weddings but also about requiring him to teach his employees that his religion is subordinate to the dictates of worldly government. Kennedy never seemed interested in the much-proffered answer that the the religious man could solve his own problem by getting out of the wedding-cake business. I'd say: Kennedy seems to care about the consequences to real people (whichever side wins).

2. Government hostility toward religious people. Not only did Kennedy chide the government's lawyer for the state's lack of tolerance and respect for religion (as noted in #1), he seemed willing to look into the subjective attitude of individual members of the 7-person commission that made the original decision that the cake-maker had illegally discriminated. One commissioner had said that using religion to justify discrimination is "despicable." . . . 

Fox Host Unveils Identity of Another Anti-Trump Member on Mueller’s Team

Western Journal  "A third member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has been revealed to have a strong anti-Trump bias, Fox News host Laura Ingraham said Tuesday.

"During an exclusive on Ingraham’s show “The Ingraham Angle,” it was revealed that Jeannie Rhee, the former deputy assistant attorney general for Obama’s Justice Department, is a member of Mueller’s legal team investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

"Ingraham revealed that prior to joining Mueller’s legal team, she had provided legal advice to the Obama administration.

"It has also been discovered that Rhee provided legal representation for the Clinton Foundation, according to The Daily Wire." . . .

Jerry Seinfeld Endorses Roy Moore?

Ann Coulter  "It’s hard to disprove accusations from 40 years ago — that’s why we have statutes of limitations — but, despite that, there are a surprising number of problems with the allegations against Moore.

"One accuser has been called a liar by her own stepson, who says he’s voting for Moore. Another neglected to mention that Moore sent her brother to prison.

"In defense of one of Moore’s accusers, Gloria Allred produced a yearbook allegedly signed by Moore, apparently in two different inks and giving his title as “D.A.” He was not the district attorney and didn’t sign his name that way. Allred refuses to produce the yearbook for handwriting analysis or to deny that it’s a forgery.

"Contrary to what you have heard one million times a day on TV, there aren’t “multiple accusers.” There are two, and that’s including the one with the fishy yearbook inscription whose stepson says she’s lying.

"The other “accusers” claim he dated them when they were 16 to 19 years old and Moore was in his early 30s — or younger than Jerry Seinfeld was (39) when he dated 17-year-old Shoshanna Lonstein.

"That would also make Moore 15 years younger than Bill Clinton when he had a 22-year-old intern performing oral sex on him in the Oval Office. Moore’s date “accusers” say he did nothing more than kiss them." . . .