Looks like a Happy New Year for the Forces of Freedom

Clarice Feldman  "As I leave D.C. for a weekend in frosty New York City, thousands of people are taking to the streets of Iran to protest the corruption and mismanagement of the ruling mullahs. 

The White House is not following the last president's "bearing witness" to the pleas of the oppressed.  It has, instead, issued through the Department of State a release strongly supporting the protesters and asking "all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption."

"I have to believe that the protesters are heartened by President Trump's new view of the Middle East and our role in it and the change of rulers and outlook in Saudi Arabia.  While the prior U.S. administration sent pallets of cash to their oppressors, this president has stood firm.  And where once they might have feared Saudi intentions on their homeland, I think they see a new Saudi Arabia – desirous of bringing the region into the modern world, stamping out corruption and terrorism, and encouraging capital formation and investment as the collapse in oil revenue ends the days of easy living.  Lavish living based on little more than exploitation of oil, which the rise in U.S. production based on new energy policies makes the old Saudi way certain of diminishing returns.

. . . 

"Well, we'll see soon enough which view proves correct.  In the meantime, asScott Adams notes, the president has demolished the GOP and reconstituted it; the DNC lacks a leader and funds; the Clinton and Bush dynasties are over; the public has learned to distrust the media; the NFL ratings are down; the FBI leadership has lost all credibility, as have the pundits, nearly all of whom "were wrong about Trump's nomination, election, and successful (by Republican standards) first year"; federal government regulations are far fewer; Hollywood has alienated almost half its audience; North Korea's economy has gone from pathetic to even worse; ISIS has been largely defeated; and we bade adieu to the Paris Accord and the TPP.

"As for the economy, the stock market is up, employment is up, and the upper Midwest economy is growing its fastest in three years.

"I don't think any president in my memory has had such a consequential first year, and certainly none had the pathetic dossier and corrupt FBI and DOJ officials to contend with at the same time."

Trump fires back at Rouhani slam amid deadly Iran protests . . . " Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted that Iranians were “finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism.
“ 'Looks like they will not take it any longer,” Trump wrote. “The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!”
"Rouhani’s comments came hours after two protesters were killed at a rally.
"The deaths were the first of the demonstrations, which appear to be the largest to strike Iran since the protests that followed the country's disputed 2009 presidential election. Thousands of people have taken to the streets."

Iranian Women Protesting Versus American Feminazis Protesting

Weasel Zippers

"The Iranian woman who stood against the hijab and for the protests has reportedly been detained today."

VIDEO: Protesters In Iran Shout “Death To The Iranian Revolutionary Guard” Outside An IRGC Barracks…

Top Iranian Cleric Shows Support for Anti-Government Protestors  "But, he did not go so far as to support the anti-Islamic nature of these protests. It is hard to argue that these protests are purely economic driven as protestors chant “Death to Rouani” referring to the president and topple public displays of Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As noted byExpress U.K., Khamenei has previously attempted to cast blame on the United States and President Donald J. Trump for Iran’s economic problems." . . .

But President Trump and the United States State Department firmly support the people of Iran. Late last night, President Trump sent a tweet warning Iran that the “world is watching.”

Now there is a  tweet I can get behind! 

Iran's protests are powerful and real. Why are mainstream media outlets so hesitant to report on them?

Oh, wait! CNN had their usual approach viv-a-vis President Trump and Iran

Fox News   

"For all the squabbling that social media platforms are notorious for, their relevance to the media landscape plays an important role in times of protest.

"This was evident with Black Lives Matter, among other movements. It’s been evident for the past three days in Iran, where thousands have taken to streets and public squares calling for an end to the hardline conservative regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The question that needs to be asked right now is why traditional mainstream media outlets – grandstanding over their importance in this new, bold era of fact-checking and truth-telling – have largely ignored a blossoming revolution. 

"Despite a near blackout, these protests are not intended for domestic Iranian audiences only." . . .

How will the Obama Presidential Library wing look celebrating a nuclear deal with an oppressive Iranian regime that could possibly be deposed by security forces and the military joining with protesters, thirsty for democracy and a return to an Iran before the 1979 revolution?
More to the point, how will it look if the Trump administration, of all things, facilitates and encourages such change in Iran?
The prospect of this is not lost on the self-styled resistance and anti-Trump media, all too anxious to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Obama Library or hand a Nobel Prize to former Secretary of State John Kerry.
Overseeing the fall of an oppressive, hardline Iranian regime that sponsors terror all around the globe – followed by the rise of a democratic Iran not interested in aggression against its neighbors – would be a foreign policy victory for President Trump, one of the biggest for a president since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The problem of Nancy

Richard Rail  "She's kind of drifted off the front pages thanks to Harveygate, but Nancy Pelosi is a lingering problem for Democrats in 2018.  The old girl's lost it, but she refuses to go away.  They might get crazy Maxine Waters to talk to her, but Maxine's so race-paranoid and Nancy so feminist-suspicious that they might gang up on the party and take them to court.

"And win.

"But if they use Maxine to get rid of Nancy, what happens to the plan to use Nancy to get rid of Maxine?  And once both are gone, who will make bonehead comments and stupid allegations about Republicans when the Democrats have nothing to say – which is usually – but need to get some face time on the news lest America forget who they are again?

"And who will provide comic relief?

"Other Dems are too scared to ask Hillary's help in, er, getting rid of Nancy because Hillary might turn to Huma and the Muzzie Brotherhood, who don't always use the best of judgment and might blow away Democrat headquarters.  That would certainly solve the problem, since there would then be no one left to think there is a problem, but..."  . . . 

Nancy's past favorites:

Trump expresses support for Iranian protests as regime’s hard-liners counter opposition

Just as Obama should have been president enough to have stood for the Iranian people against the mullahs. We could now have been less one major world threat. But then Obama always respected our enemies than our allies. TD

Washington Times

"President Trump voiced support Saturday for Iranians protesting in the streets against their government, saying Tehran’s oppressive regime “cannot endure forever.”

“The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!”

"His comments echoed a speech that Mr. Trump gave to the United Nations last fall, in which he called on the Iranian people to return to their “proud roots as a center of civilization, culture and wealth.”

"The president, noting numerous reports of protests by Iranians angry with the regime’s corruption and “its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad,” said the government in Tehran “should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.”

"It’s unclear what effect Mr. Trump’s support would have. Iranians already are largely skeptical of him over his refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal. Mr. Trump’s insistence in an October speech on using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the Persian Gulf also has also riled the Iranian public.

"Iranian hard-liners rallied Saturday to support the country’s supreme leader and clerically overseen government as spontaneous protests sparked by anger over the country’s ailing economy roiled major cities in the Islamic Republic."

Iran HARD-LINERS Rally as New Protests CHALLENGE Government

. . . "Early on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted out his support for the protests.

“ 'Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad,” he wrote. “Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! (hashtag) IranProtests.”

"It’s unclear what effect Trump’s support would have. Iranians already are largely skeptical of him over his refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal. Trump’s insistence in an October speech on using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the Persian Gulf also has also riled the Iranian public." . . .

Vet Sets the Record Straight about Vietnam, After PBS, ken Burn’s Tries to Whitewash Communism

Youtube

Leno is Tired of Late-Night Shows Bashing Trump

Western Journalism  "Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno said he doesn’t support President Donald Trump, but believes the “constant negative Trump stuff” nightly has gone too far.

"Leno told Page Six he enjoys “bringing people together” rather than dividing them politically.

“ 'If [mocking the president] is a constant thing on a nightly basis, eventually you’re all doing the same joke,” Leno said.

"Despite wanting to see late-night hosts minimize their negative coverage of the president, he went on to tell a joke of his own.

 “I remember when House of Cards was a TV show. Now it’s a documentary. You look at the Underwoods. You go, ‘At least this isn’t as bad as the real thing,'” Leno said. Leno made similar comments earlier this week to The Hollywood Reporter. “I was lucky,” Leno said. “I did it at a time when Bush was dumb and Clinton was horny.” 

"Leno said things have gotten much darker now with coverage of the president.
“ 'But the constant negative Trump stuff on a nightly basis? I think it has a debilitating effect on people,” he said. “People are just, ‘Oh, gosh, I don’t wanna watch TV anymore. This is just the same thing every night.'”

"In May, he told The New York Times that “this constant pounding” against the president “does have a tendency to anesthetize your feelings.”

"When looking across the current late-night platform, Leno argued entire shows
are centered around Trump." . . .

Still trying to find the truth on this: "Bill Clinton fathered an illegitimate, mixed-race son named Danney Williams with an Arkansas prostitute in 1985."

Gonzo Overkill

 UNPROVEN
Snopes  "On 3 October 2016, five weeks before the U.S. presidential election, a decades-old tabloid story was resurrected by the Daily Mail revealing the supposed existence of a “love child” fathered by former president Bill Clinton with a black prostitute in 1985.

"Adorning the article were side-by-side photos comparing the facial features of Clinton and a 30-year-old mixed-race man named Danney Williams (or “Danney Williams-Clinton,” as he prefers to call himself on Facebook), who claims that he is that love child and all he wants to do is meet his real dad — but he may never get a chance to, because Bill Clinton’s wife Hillary, who is also (far from coincidentally) the current Democratic contender for the presidency, has “banished” him." . . . 

Noisy Room  "Judicial Watch today released Justice Department records showing that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe did not recuse himself from the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unsecure, non-government email server until Tuesday, November 1, 2016, one week prior to the presidential election. The Clinton email probe was codenamed “Midyear Exam.”

While working as Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office, McCabe controlled resources supporting the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. An October 2016 internal FBI memorandum labeled “Overview of Deputy Director McCabe’s Recusal Related To Dr. McCabe’s Campaign for Political Office,” details talking points about McCabe’s various potential conflicts of interest, including the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s illicit server, which officially began in July 2015:

While at [Washington Field Office] did Mr. McCabe provide assistance to the Clinton investigation?

"Related reading: Nunes blasts DOJ, FBI for ‘failure’ to produce records relating to anti-Trump dossier

After the referral was made, FBI Headquarters asked the Washington Field Office for personnel to conduct a special investigation. McCabe was serving as [Assistant Director] and provided personnel resources. However, he was not told what the investigation was about. In February 2016 McCabe became Deputy Director and began overseeing the Clinton investigation.

The Overview also shows if asked whether McCabe played any role in his wife’s campaign, the scripted response was: “No. Then-[Assistant Director] McCabe played no role, attended no events and did not participate in fundraising or support of any kind.” More here.

"Related reading: Russia never stopped its cyberattacks on the United States

"Wider context:

Why do heads seem to be rolling—or at least tilting—at the Department of Justice and FBI?

. . .  

Al Gore bilks people at Christmas – asking for ‘climate crisis’ money

Anthony Watts  "The true mark of a shyster is to take advantage of every opportunity to milk a person for money, and especially when emotions and sympathy run high. Christmas is one of those times. I give you exhibit A, Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project”. I got this in my inbox this morning." . . .

"Of course, when you click on that donate button, Al doubles down:"

"Yes, send money to Al Gore to “end the climate crisis”. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

"He has quite a payroll to support, just look at all the employees here

"Anybody stupid enough to fall for this, especially on Christmas, deserves everything they are going to get back from Mr. Gore, which as my inbox shows, is nothing but requests for more money. Just look at all the emails I’ve received in the last 30 days:" . . .

A wave of what color?

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "It's the last week of 2017, and people are already making predictions about 2018.  So let me give my early take on all this.

Let's start with Newt Gingrich, who predicted a "surprise" in 2018:

The great political surprise of 2018 will be the size of the Republican victory.

After members of the elite media have spent two years savaging President Trump, lying about Republican legislation, and reassuring themselves that Republican defeat was inevitable, the size of the GOP victory in 2018 will be an enormous shock.

"Newt goes on to mention our friend Barry Casselman, who has a good eye for political waves:

H[i]storically ... the party out of power makes gains in the first mid-term election after [it] lose[s] the White House.

This precedent has fueled recent media and Democratic Party strategists' anticipations of a 2018 "blue wave."

This tide in blue might still happen, but the genuine signs for it are not yet present. " . . .

Wellll, not so fast. Let's not set up that fireworks display on the river quite yet: 

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Predictions  . . . "The trouble with predictions is that if you are right, and you remind others of that, you end up looking like a jerk.  And if you are wrong, you will be reminded of that fact too often.

"Another issue with predictions: The professional pontificators making them are rarely held to account when wrong.  Instead, they remain working at places like the N.Y. Times, CNN, and MSNBC.

"No, you will not hear any predictions from me.  Instead, it's more fun to look back at those foolish enough to make them to see who was right and who was wrong."

. . . As we look back on the year that was, and forward to the year that will be, one thing we can count on is that dire predictions rarely come to pass.  Proclamations of pending greatness follow a similar pattern – although, judging from the above, it appears that greatness is leading at the moment." . . .

Guess who Marie Harf credits with the virtual defeat of ISIS?

Twitchy  "U.S. military officials on Tuesday revealed that ISIS has lost 98 percent of the territory it once held, and since President Trump took office, half of its so-called “caliphate” has been captured.

"You can thank the Obama administration for that, says Marie Harf, now a political commentator for Fox News. Here she is on “The Five” to explain.

Marie Harf: "The strategy that has led to a virtual defeat of ISIS in the caliphate...is largely a strategy that was laid out during the #Obama administration by military commanders." #TheFive http://fxn.ws/2C7LC1j 

Comment to this: 

 Laurie Williams‏ @OCNaNa2013 Dec 27MoreMarie what are you smoking? Obama would not let military commanders do their job. Even they said that.

But there is this point of view:

ISIS Has Lost 98% Of Its Territory Since Trump Replaced Obama

. . . "Liberals mocked then-candidate Trump’s promise to “smash ISIS” during the presidential debates in 2016, but they are now being forced to eat crow.

"The massive gains against ISIS come after years of weak tactics and ineffectiveness under President Obama, when critics say the Obama administration “micromanaged” the war and shunned a more intensive air strategy that could have ended the conflict much sooner.

“ 'The rules of engagement under the Obama administration were onerous. I mean what are we doing having individual target determination being conducted in the White House, which in some cases adds weeks and weeks,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the former head of U.S. Air Force intelligence. “The limitations that were put on actually resulted in greater civilian casualties.' ” . . .

ISIS convoys roamed undisturbed over the countryside under Obama