The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook

. . . An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah's billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the White House's desire for a nuclear deal with Iran.

Politico  Part 1: A Global Threat Emerges  
"How Hezbollah turned to trafficking cocaine and laundering money through used cars to finance its expansion." 

"In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, even as it was funneling cocaine into the United States, according to a POLITICO investigation.

"The campaign, dubbed Project Cassandra, was launched in 2008 after the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military and political organization into an international crime syndicate that some investigators believed was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities.

"Over the next eight years, agents working out of a top-secret DEA facility in Chantilly, Virginia, used wiretaps, undercover operations and informants to map Hezbollah’s illicit networks, with the help of 30 U.S. and foreign security agencies.

"They followed cocaine shipments, some from Latin America to West Africa and on to Europe and the Middle East, and others through Venezuela and Mexico to the United States. They tracked the river of dirty cash as it was laundered by, among other tactics, buying American used cars and shipping them to Africa. And with the help of some key cooperating witnesses, the agents traced the conspiracy, they believed, to the innermost circle of Hezbollah and its state sponsors in Iran." . . .

Why I Quit Teaching/ Universities are morphing into Clown College . . .

Most of my colleagues were rote members of the left-liberal orthodoxy: pro-Islam, pro-unfettered immigration, pro-abortion, pro-feminist, anti-conservative, anti-Zionist, and anti-white.

Cartoon addded by TD

David Solway  . . . "Three reasons determined my course of action.  For one thing, administration had come to deal less with academic issues and more with rules of conduct and punitive codes of behavior, as if it were a policing body rather than an arm of the teaching profession.  Woe betide the (male) student accused of sexual assault or misconduct; the administration will convene an extra-judicial tribunal to punish or expel the accused, often with a low burden of proof.  It will find ways to shut down conservative speakers.  It will browbeat faculty and students to attend sensitivity training sessions on matters of race and gender.  It will strike task forces to deal with imaginary issues like campus rape culture and propose draconian measures to contain a raging fantasy.  The administration is now beset by two basic compulsions: to expand its reach at the expense of the academic community and to ensure compliance with the puritanical norms of the day.  I thought it prudent to take early retirement rather than wait for the guillotine to descend.

"For another, colleagues were increasingly buying into the politically correct mantras circulating in the cultural climate.  The dubious axioms of "social justice" and equality of outcome, the postmodern campaign against the Western tradition of learning, and the Marxist critique of capitalism now superseded the original purpose of the university to seek out truth, to pursue the impartial study of historical events and movements, and to remain faithful to the rigors of disciplined scholarship." . . . 

Thomas Lifson writes: Universities are morphing into Clown College before our eyes (content warning)  "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey shuttered their world-famous Clown College in 1997, twenty years before America’s largest circus closed for business this year, after almost a century and half of entertaining us. But, fortunately for connoisseurs of the absurd, America’s progressive academics have stepped into the breach, beclowning themselves with fields of study so deranged that they seem comic, at best. The endless search for new reasons to declare personal oppression has met the infantile fascination with private bodily functions, and the results are as absurd as any sideshow attraction." . . .

Reconstruction of USS Monitor Sailor Faces: Photos

Seeker

"March 6, 2012  -- This handsome face could look like someone you might notice on the street today, but this man died 150 years ago on the USS Monitor. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Navy and a forensics lab at Louisiana State University have been collaborating to try and recreate the faces of two men whose remains were recovered on the Union army ship that sunk on Dec. 31, 1862. This is the younger of the two men. He is estimated to be between 17 and 24 years old. He could be one of three people: William Eagan of Ireland; Jacob Nicklis of Buffalo, N.Y.; or Samuel Auge Lewis of West Chester, Pa. He was about 5 foot, 7 inches tall.

Full article.

The media are killing themselves with botched anti-Trump reporting

David Harsanyi  " ‘Our record as journalists in covering this Trump story and the Russian story is pretty good,” legendary reporter Carl Bernstein recently claimed. Pretty good? If there’s a major news story over the past 70 years that the American media have botched more often because of bias and wishful thinking, I’d love to hear about it.

SEE ALSO

Trump unloads on CNN, ABC over sloppy reporting

"Four big scoops recently run by major news organizations, written by top reporters and, presumably, churned through layers of scrupulous editing, turned out to be completely wrong.

"Reuters, Bloomberg and others reported that special counsel Robert Mueller’s office had subpoenaed President Trump’s records from Deutsche Bank. Trump’s attorney says it hadn’t.

"ABC reported that candidate Trump had directed Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the election. He didn’t (as far as we know). The New York Times ran a story claiming that K.T. McFarland, a former member of the Trump transition team, had acknowledged collusion. She hadn’t.

"Then, CNN topped off the week by falsely reporting that the Trump campaign had been offered access to hacked Democratic National Committee e-mails before they were published. It had not.

"Forget your routine bias. These were four bombshells disseminated to millions of Americans by breathless anchors, pundits and analysts, all of whom are feeding frenzied expectations about Trump-Russia collusion that have now been internalized by many as indisputable truths. All four pieces, incidentally, are useless without their central faulty claims. Yet there they sit. And these are only four of dozens of other stories that have fizzled over the year." . . .

Had enough about what's racist? Here's more! Also a Maxine Waters update.

Defining terms: "Firstly, racism is, “The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.” Secondly, racism is, “Discrimination or prejudice based on race.'”

Strap Yourself In For This: Being Hungry Is Racist

"Thankfully I am writing this article after I already had my lunch or else I might have been guilty of racism. Just when I thought the liberal redefinition of racism couldn’t get any more stupid, they now say being hungry is racist or maybe hunger causes racism. I’m not sure but I don’t think that distinction makes this any less ridiculous; the need to eat is being equated with the systematic oppression of minorities and that’s crazy no matter how you look at it." . . .

'Campus Craziness': Harvard grad says free speech 'racist'

7 Of The Most Ridiculous Cries Of Racism Ever Made   "Black Americans have been voting heavily Democratic for almost 50 years and it has been an utter and complete disaster for them. Never has any constituency in American politics been so loyal to a political party with so little to show for it. Yet, all the Left has to do is say, “Those Republicans are racist,” and it locks in 90% of the black vote. Until black Americans stop falling for the single most transparent ploy in all of politics and start basing their votes on who supports policies that will actually make their lives better, that’s not going to change." . . .

'Jingle all the way' and making racism totally meaningless  . . . "We have now reached a point where accusing someone of racism is meaningless.  It has become a joke!  I remember when it meant something.  Today, "racism" means that you oppose sanctuary cities, oppose President Obama's executive orders, or call for reforms in the public schools run by the teacher unions that support Democrats.  To say the least, it is also an opportunity for a college professor to get an invitation to MSNBC!" . . .  "Jingle Bells" is racist don't you know?

Things Black People Confuse as Racist  #1 on this list is "Being Confused as a Store Clerk". Which Michelle Obama had happen to her and she found it cute. But then later when speaking to a college class she said it was racist.


Hoop Earrings Are Racist If White Women Wear Them 
. . . "Describing itself as comprised of "women of color," the group wrote on a wall devoted to free speech: "White Girl, take off your hoops." The group says "black and brown folks" are exploited by the cultural appropriation when white women wear hoop earrings."
We have indeed become a silly people. TD

Profs say classroom 'civility' promotes 'white racial power'  . . . "This civility can reinforce white privilege, Rudick and Goslan argue, because “civility within higher education is a racialized, rather than universal, norm,” according to the field of “critical whiteness studies.' ” . . .

"The progressives at GQ felt that Colin Kaepernick was the most important citizen of the year, but his disrespect of the flag, nation and the men and woman who defend it is disgusting. His real reward should have been Ingrate of the Year."
However, considering all the above, who dares criticize this choice? TD

Tony Branco

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

. . . "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." . . .

I'm sure there is much more but this probably is already more than you wanted to read about. TD

Omarosa tripped White House alarms after being fired: report

The Hill   "Trump administration aide Omarosa Manigault Newman reportedly set off White House alarms in an attempt to gain access to the residence after learning that she had been fired from her job.

"According to a report from CBS News, Manigault Newman tried to enter the White House residence after chief of staff John Kelly told her that her employment in the administration would end in January.

"Manigault Newman, a former contestant on NBC's “The Apprentice,” has served as the director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison. 

"April Ryan, a journalist with American Urban Radio Networks, reported during an on-air appearance with CNN that "everything blew up" when Kelly attempted to discuss Manigault Newman's walk-in privileges and access to Trump.

"Ryan reported Manigault Newman saying that "all hell will break loose" if she lost walk-in privileges. Kelly, according to Ryan, said "OK, all hell is going to break loose."

"Kelly reportedly began restricting Manigault Newman's access in September.

The White House said Wednesday that Manigault Newman provided her 

"Resignation and that her last day of employment would be Jan. 20. The White House did not confirm that Manigault Newman was fired." . . .

Even the President's own family has been restricted in their access:   New reports surfaced Saturday claiming White House Chief of Staff General Kelly is trying to restrict Jared Kushner’s unfettered access to the President.  "The White House Chief of Staff isn’t just working to restrict Kushner’s access to President Trump.
"A new report by Axios is claiming General Kelly is shielding President Trump from any negative reports on his DACA stance. Staffers can no longer walk into the Oval Office and hand Trump a Breitbart article or a printout of tweets showing how angry his supporters are over amnesty.
"The only way staffers can meet with President Trump is through General Kelly which means they have to submit an official, documented, request to meet with him.

According to the POLITICO report, President Trump has been casually surveying people close to him about whether having his family members in the government is creating too much noise.

"Both Jared and Ivanka have reportedly taken kindly to the new rules set by John Kelly."   Emphasis added by TD

She claimed the WH "lack of diversity" made her lonely

IT’S AN INDUSTRY: Thanks to Lisa Bloom We Now Know Trump Accusers are Paid $750,000 by Dem Donors to Say Trump Abused Them

The Gateway Pundit

"Thanks to Lisa Bloom, spawn of Gloria Allred, we now know that Trump accusers are paid $750,000 by top Democrat donors to accuse the billionaire president of sexual abuse. With Democrats it’s all about power by any means necessary." . . .

"A well-known women’s rights lawyer sought to arrange compensation from donors and tabloid media outlets for women who made or considered making sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump during the final months of the 2016 election, according to documents and interviews.

California lawyer Lisa Bloom’s efforts included offering to sell alleged victims’ stories to TV outlets in return for a commission for herself, arranging a donor to pay off one Trump accuser’s mortgage and attempting to secure a six-figure payment for another woman who ultimately declined to come forward after being offered as much as $750,000, the clients told The Hill.

The women’s accounts were chronicled in contemporaneous contractual documents, emails and text messages reviewed by The Hill, including an exchange of texts between one woman and Bloom that suggested political action committees supporting Hillary Clinton were contacted during the effort.

'We're writing this to ram it down the public’s throat': OJ Simpson's former lawyer and investigator reveal plans for a bombshell book to 'explain why he was acquitted'

UK Daily Mail   "O.J. Simpson's former lawyer and an investigator who worked on his case have revealed plans for a book they say will finally put to rest the public's disbelief that he was acquitted of murder. 

"F.Lee Bailey was one of several lawyers who worked on Simpson's case in the 1990s. 

"He was brought on by the lead counsel Robert Shapiro after Simpson was charged with murdering his estranged wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. 

"Simpson was acquitted in 1995 but, since he was released from prison in Nevada earlier this year on separate charges, his old defense team say the public interest and scrutiny which they experienced during 'the trial of the century', has been revived.  

"Now 84, Bailey and Pat McKenna, the investigator who the defense hired, are shopping a book to publishers which they say will finally address what millions have been incredulous over for decades - how did OJ get off? " . . .

OJ and F. Lee Bailey at Simpson's murder trial

"'Never in my life have I been punished more for getting an acquittal. 

"'Lawyers and judges have remonstrated with me for prostituting my talents because, they say, I was the reason O.J. got acquitted,' he complained. 

"He said prosecutor Marcia Clarke was 'not the brightest lawyer I ever met' and that she and the LAPD put forward a 'BS' case. " . . . 

The Clinton Impeachment Is Finally Getting the Hollywood Treatment

It’s unclear whether three new creative treatments will be influenced by the sweeping cultural reckoning taking place over sexual misconduct. Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared at Acculturated. It is reprinted here with permission.

National Review  "American Crime Story show runner Ryan Murphy recently announced that he is planning a series on President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. The History Channel just gave the green light to a show on the same subject. And Amazon Studios is slated to do a film related to what has proven to be the biggest crisis to hit the American presidency in the last 45 years.

" Murphy’s take is based on CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin’s 2000 book, The Vast Conspiracy. The book appears to pin the blame for Clinton’s troubles not on Clinton for deciding to perjure himself, but on a network of scheming political opponents on the right. Upon its release, the New York Times called the book “highly partisan” and “willfully subjective.” The Times added that the author “ignores Clinton’s failure in his constitutional duty to uphold the rule of law.”

"However, in a Vox interview, Murphy framed the narrative of the time and of the show as “the birth of a certain movement. The alt-right movement in some ways—a movement that was so riled up against the Clintons.” This characterization seems to clear Bill Clinton of culpability for his actions while straining to tie recent events, such as the rise of the alt-right, with Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, which is absurd." . . .  Read more

When you even lose the super-liberal cartoonists, you have reached the bottom of the pit, to wit:

Attorney Lisa Bloom Paid Trump Accusers for Their Stories

The Political Insider "Just two days ago Bill O’Reilly dropped a bombshell during an appearance on Glenn Beck’s radio program.

"He told Beck that he has proof some of the women who have accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct were paid to do so. O’Reilly told Beck that his team of investigators discovered a tape where a lawyer offers a woman $200,000 to “accuse Donald Trump of untoward behavior.”

“ 'It exists. We have urged the person who has the tape to hand it over to the U.S. attorney, because my investigative team believes there are three separate crimes on the audio tape,” O’Reilly said.

"The former Fox host then answered if he’ll release the tape himself. Here’s what he said: “I may have to go to the U.S. attorney myself. I don’t want to have to do that and inject myself into the story, but I had my lawyer listen to the tape. … There are at least three crimes on the tape. So as a citizen, I may have to do this.”

"O’Reilly then said that the President is aware of the tape’s existence.

"Sound crazy? Well, just days later we’re learning for a fact that some accusers may have been bribed.

"According to The Hill" . . .

A well-known women’s rights lawyer sought to arrange compensation from donors and tabloid media outlets for women who made or considered making sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump during the final months of the 2016 presidential race, according to documents and interviews.California lawyer Lisa Bloom’s efforts included offering to sell alleged victims’ stories to TV outlets in return for a commission for herself, arranging a donor to pay off one Trump accuser’s mortgage and attempting to secure a six-figure payment for another woman who ultimately declined to come forward after being offered as much as $750,000, the clients told The Hill. . . .

 "The going rate on slander?"   Lisa Bloom asked donors for cash to pay Trump accusers  . . . "So maybe you’ve wondered, when you see one of these high-profile press conferences in which Gloria Allred or Lisa Bloom sits there with a client who makes an accusation: How is this woman affording to pay the lawyer? And furthermore, for what? Unless they’re suing the person being accused, what’s the legal question at stake?

"Now you have your answer: Sleazebag attorneys like Allred and Bloom represent these women in the hope they can help them sell their stories to the media in exchange for cash, in which case the sleazebag lawyer gets 33 percent. So before the accuser retains the attorney, it’s with the understanding that this is a money-making operation.

"Accusing famous men of sexual misbehavior is apparently big business for these two." . . .

Seriously? Ellen DeGeneres Turns to Hillary Clinton to Ask: Can Trump Last Four Years?

Newsbusters  (Video at the link) "Hillary Clinton’s seemingly endless book tour stopped by the Ellen DeGeneres show on Friday. Even for the liberal entertainer, the questions were over the top. DeGeneres turned to the woman who lost the 2016 election to wonder if Donald Trump can “last” four years as president. She also wistfully highlighted their 2016 plan to do a show from the Clinton White House. 

"DeGeneres derided, “You're just thinking, if this was a movie, people would go, ‘There is no way.’  And it just continues to go on. Do you think that he is really going to last four years?” Maybe Clinton might not be the most objective person to answer such a question? " . . .

The Strzok/Page texts and investigator objectivity

Legal Insurrection  "Can partisans be neutral?"

. . . "And yet the public’s trust in the integrity of such investigators rests on the idea that they can, and will, put aside such feelings entirely because most investigators are going to have political opinions and biases.

"If the Strzok/Page emails had just been about their feelings towards Clinton and Trump, it would be difficult to say for sure whether those feelings influenced that pair’s actions and decisions during the course of their respective investigations. But the texts also contain statements that indicate the possibility that one or both of them may have done something (or at least planned and discussed doing something) to act on their biases to prevent Trump’s election.

"For example, there’s plenty of speculation (see this, for example) on the meaning of the following text message sent from Strzok to Page: “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk.”

(Emphasis added by TD)

"What was the “path”? What was the “risk” they couldn’t take? Was Strzok just saying that Page had said Trump’s election was impossible and that he disagreed and thought it possible? Or was he saying there was something they were going to try to do to prevent the possibility of his election? We may never know." . . .