Rod Rosenstein signed off on FBI raid of Michael Cohen's office: Report

Democrats, did Mr. Trump ever flee an accident, leaving his companion to die alone and slowly?  The Tunnel Dweller.

Washington Examiner  "Rod Rosenstein signed off on FBI raid of Michael Cohen's office:  decision to raid Michael Cohen’s office in New York, according to a report. Sources told the New York Times that Rosenstein’s involvement in the decision to raid the office of Cohen, President Trump’s longtime attorney, led the president to vent about whether he should fire the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

"During the raid, agents were reportedly searching for documents related to payments made to two women who claim to have had extramarital affairs with Trump more than a decade ago. The New York Times reported that FBI agents were also looking for information about American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, which paid one of the women $150,000. 

"The woman who received the money from American Media Inc. is Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model who said she had a yearlong affair with Trump in 2006.

"The search warrant also sought information regarding Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. Daniels said she had a sexual encounter with Trump after they met in 2006. She received $130,000 from Cohen as part of a confidentiality agreement she signed just before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about the affair." . . .

The raid on Trump's lawyer: The pretext

Thomas Lifson

This is starting to smell of a fishing expedition, and maybe a set-up, reminiscent of the famous dictum of Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's head of the secret police: "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."  

Lavrentiy Beria.

"John Hinderaker of Powerline explains why this is a Deep State operation in its face:

It is blindingly obvious that this whole story, and the leak thereof, is a political attack on President Trump by the Democratic Party.  There is only one serious question: Didn't President Trump appoint the current Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray?  And the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions?  Yes, he did.  So why is DOJ making war on the president?

The answer is that Trump and his appointees do not control the departments they ostensibly run.  Liberals tell us that at DOJ, it is critically important that political appointees not interfere with the "career professionals" who do all the work.  I say, [b‑‑‑‑‑‑‑].  The "career professionals" are just Democratic Party lifers who have risen to the top of the bureaucracy, often by avoiding any actual, risky work.  I'm not talking about FBI agents on the street, or the majority of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.  (U.S. Attorneys, of course, are political appointees.)  I'm talking about career bureaucrats like James Comey, Bob Mueller, Andy McCabe, and so on.

President Trump's appointees absolutely should "interfere" with these Democratic Party operatives.  They should order them to direct their efforts toward legitimate law enforcement ends, not toward Democratic Party activism.  Those who refuse should be fired.

We are witnessing, as Scott says, "a political death struggle with the authorities operating under [President Trump's] nominal control."  President Trump and his loyal appointees need to assert the powers that the voters have given them. . .

Also by Mr. Lifson: POTUS's quick response to news of raid on his lawyer shows self-control  . . . "You can judge for yourself by watching the two-and-a-half-minute video below of President Trump responding to the news of the raid on his lawyer, Michael Cohen, but I saw a man deeply angered but fully in control of himself.  Given his tendency to shoot from the hip and employ colorful language, many people have worried about the wisdom of his speaking with Special Counsel Mueller.  Those concerns probably now can be set aside, as the likelihood of cooperation is gone down to near zero.  Attorney Cohen cooperated fully with the special counsel inquiry, and it got him a no-knock raid on his office, his home, and the hotel room where he was staying with his family while the apartment was being renovated." . . .

The raid on Trump’s lawyer: Why? And why now?

Thomas Lifson  . . . "Update: President Trump was negotiating conditions for his interview with the special counsel that were restrictive as to what could be asked.  Perhaps Mueller determined that it was unlikely to be productive.  This raid now virtually precludes such an interview being agreed to.  This will enable Mueller to seek a grand jury subpoena, which would lead to free questioning of the president with no counsel present.  Trump can be expected to decline to honor such a subpoena, which would set off a constitutional crisis and help along the impeachment movement. 
. . . 

"There is an election in four-plus months, in which control of the House of Representatives and the Senate is at stake.  Even if the evidence developed out of the raid is thrown out of court in any resulting prosecution, that is irrelevant.  What is important is the ammunition to be developed and leaked to pet media outlets that can be used to sway voters to elect an impeachment Congress.

"My strong suspicion is that, having failed to find anything related to his mandate, Robert Mueller is baiting the president to fire him.  By stepping over the line and fishing for evidence in confidential and privileged attorney-client relations, he is misbehaving, but doing so through a cut-out, the U.S. attorney in New York.  He wants the firestorm that would result to push control of Congress into Democrat hands."

https://earloftaint.com/

Here's some of that diversity you like, leftists: Black Florida Lawmaker Thanks God For Slavery

Progressive Secular Humanist

Given the nature of this blog, you shouldn't be surprised at the mockery she gets  in here over her statement. "Imaginary god", they say.

"The stupid, it burns: Florida State Rep. Kimberly Daniels thanks God for slavery, claiming “if it wasn’t for slavery, I might be somewhere in Africa worshipping a tree.”

"Rep. Daniels, the sponsor of a bill recently passed by the Florida House that would force every public school to post “In God We Trust” signs, is a dangerous religious extremist that dreams of a Christian theocracy.

"During her closing speech on the “In God We Trust” bill, Rep. Daniels cited the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida:

Daniels said that God is the “light” and “our schools need light in them like never before.”

She added that gun issues need to be addressed, but the “real thing that needs to be addressed are issues of the heart.” . . .

Californication: Victor Davis Hanson on his home state, California

Victor Davis Hanson . . . "is an American classicist, military historian, columnist, and farmer. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for National Review, The Washington Times and other media outlets. He is a professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno, and is currently the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in classics and military history at Stanford University's Hoover Institution." . . . From Wikipedia

July, 2016: Will California Ever Thrive Again?
. . . "Grass-roots voter pushbacks are seen as pointless. Progressive state and federal courts have overturned a multitude of reform measures of the last 20 years that had passed with ample majorities 
"In impoverished central California towns such as Mendota, where thousands of acres were idled due to water cutoffs, once-busy farmworkers live in shacks. But even in opulent San Francisco, the sidewalks full of homeless people do not look much different. What caused the California paradise to squander its rich natural inheritance?"  . . .

Aug 2017: Is California Cracking Up?
. . . "The strapped middle class continues to flee bad schools, high taxes, rampant crime and poor state services. About one-third of the nation's welfare recipients reside in California. Approximately one-fifth of the state lives below the poverty line. More than a quarter of Californians were not born in the United States." . . .

2017: Silicon Valley Billionaires Are the New Robber Barons
. . . "No one has grasped that reality better than the new billionaire barons of the West Coast. As long as they appeared cool, as they long as they gave lavishly to left-wing candidates, and as long as they mouthed liberal platitudes on global warming, gay marriage, abortion and identity politics, they earned exemption from progressive scorn. 
"The result was that they outsourced, offshored, monopolized, censored and made billions -- without much fear of media muckraking, trust-busting politicians, unionizing activists or diversity lawsuits. " . . .

From 2010: Two Californias
Abandoned farms, Third World living conditions, pervasive public assistance -- welcome to the once-thriving Central Valley.
. . . "Do diversity concerns, as in lack of diversity, work both ways? Over a hundred-mile stretch, when I stopped in San Joaquin for a bottled water, or drove through Orange Cove, or got gas in Parlier, or went to a corner market in southwestern Selma, my home town, I was the only non-Hispanic — there were no Asians, no blacks, no other whites. We may speak of the richness of “diversity,” but those who cherish that ideal simply have no idea that there are now countless inland communities that have become near-apartheid societies, where Spanish is the first language, the schools are not at all diverse, and the federal and state governments are either the main employers or at least the chief sources of income — whether through emergency rooms, rural health clinics, public schools, or social-service offices. An observer from Mars might conclude that our elites and masses have given up on the ideal of integration and assimilation, perhaps in the wake of the arrival of 11 to 15 million illegal aliens." . . . Hat tip to Robert Hope of Sacramento.

Christmas Lessons From California From Dec, 2017 
. . . "Over some 50 consecutive months of drought, California did not start work on a single major reservoir -- though many had long ago been planned and designed. 

"Instead, given the lack of water storage capacity, and due to environmental diversions, tens of millions of acre-feet of precious runoff water last year were simply let out to the ocean. 

"This year, the state may want all of that water back." . . .

Saul In a Day's Work

This column is a follow-up to Prof. Adams's previous one titled, "Abortion and the Christian Case for Choice. In this one, Adams wrote, "Dr. Willie Parker slowly and methodically dismembers babies for a living. Because he claims to do these evil acts in the name of Christian compassion, there are a lot of people who will never again be able to take Christianity seriously." . . . 

Mike Adams 

. . . "Once again, your eyes are not deceiving you. It’s all right there in his book. Softly and tenderly, Willie hears that Jesus is calling him into the abortion clinic." . .

"I just finished reading Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice by Willie Parker. He is probably the most efficient killer of innocent human beings currently roaming the streets of America. Despite this, he claims to support ObamaCare, in part out of a desire to make contraception more available and thus prevent “untold numbers of abortions.” This is difficult to fathom coming from a man who profits so richly from the abortion industry. On some days, he performs abortions on 50 pregnant women. He refers to those days as “procedure days.” He refers to the procedures as “abortion care.”

"Why does Willie Parker abort so prolifically? He claims it isn’t for money. He says it is a calling from God. In his own words, Parker tells us “I believe that as an abortion doctor I am doing God’s work. I am protecting women’s rights, their human right to decide their futures for themselves, and to live their lives as they see fit. Today, as I write this, access to safe and compassionate abortion care is under unprecedented threat, most often from people who call themselves Christians.”

"Your eyes are not deceiving you. You did not just read a misquotation. Willie Parker actually thinks that killing dozens of innocent human beings in a single workday is “doing God’s work.” To make matters worse, he actually thinks that if you stand in the way of his killing of the unborn then you are not a real Christian. You are merely an imposter. " . . .

On other fronts:

I doubt online petitions work, but just to give this cause a few more eyeballs, here:

Colbert is another I'd like to see shunned, but I doubt any of them care at all. Their boycotters are all bitter, gun-clinging deplorables for whom they have utmost contempt; they are loved by Hollywood celebrities and their sycophantic audiences who applaud their every opinion. The Tunnel Dweller

Jimmy Kimmel Boycott has Over 150,000 Signatures — All Started When Kimmel Mocked FLOTUS  . . . "A petition to boycott the entertainer’s show has been signed by over 150,000 people after he decided to mock First Lady Melania Trump’s accent during one segment of his show.

"Kimmel received serious(?) backlash for mocking FLOTUS’ Slovenian accent, by showing a video of her at the White House Easter Egg Hunt reading a book to children." . . .

. . . "The whole tiff came to an apology from Kimmel, but not for his attack on FLOTUS and only if he cause offense to the gay community.

“ 'By lampooning Sean Hannity’s deference to the President, I most certainly did not intend to belittle or upset members of the gay community and to those who took offense, I apologize,” he said in a statement." Emphasis added, TD

Hat tip for this to Regis Giles at Hollywood Conservatives for Trump

• Kimmel's sponsors and their contact info
• Here Is A List Of 20 Sponsors To BOYCOTT & Hit Jimmy Kimmel Where It Hurts

Kimmel, Hannity dial back feud

. . . Hannity said for him the fracas [was]never about Kimmel, but about the media's bias against the president and his family and what should be out of bounds.
" 'Now, attacking the first lady for her accent while reading to kids is just one small example but it's a line in the sand for me," Hannity said. "It's obvious that Melania, Barron, they are not political in their roles.' " . . .

As for Colbert...

“The only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*ck holster,” Colbert said during Monday’s broadcast, at the end of a blistering monologue in which he also called the president a “presi-dunce” and a “prick-tator.” The comment elicited a louder than usual reaction from the studio audience.

Sean Hannity

✔@seanhannity

I will NOT support #FireColbert. I am vs ALL BOYCOTTS. He is a horrible human being, but if u don't like him change the channel.

 Sean said he considers boycotts a leftist tactic to shut down speech.

SHE PERSISTED: Laura Ingraham Comes Back To Fox News Tonight, Even As Boycott Continues

#BREAKING: The Daily Wire has learned that Laura Ingraham will address the recent controversy over her tweet on tonight’s Ingraham Angle at 10PM ET.

Daily Caller  "Laura Ingraham will return to her 10pm Fox News Channel show tonight amid an anti-gun advertiser boycott campaign.

"Ingraham took last week off in what she insisted was a pre-planned vacation. Her Fox News show has faced an advertiser boycott after she sent a tweet mocking Parkland survivor and anti-gun activist David Hogg.

"Hogg then tweeted a list of her advertisers, and several ended up dropping her show. The boycott was heavily supported by the activist group Media Matters for America. (RELATED: David Hogg And Media Matters Team Up For Ingraham Boycott) . . .

Laura Ingraham to Address David Hogg-led Boycott  . . . "The Ingraham-Hogg feud has opened up a discourse on the limits of calling for boycotts. Ingraham’s tweet may have been rude, but it certainly shouldn’t have been a career-ender.

"The debate started by the tiff has created many strange bedfellows, with some liberals actually coming to Ingraham’s defense, including HBO host Bill Maher.

"It’ll be interesting to see what Ingraham has to say about the boycott tonight. Will you be tuning in?"

Former Obama Senior Intelligence Officials Back Haspel

Lauretta Brown

"A group of more than 50 senior intelligence officials wrote a letter Monday to the Senate Intelligence Committee Monday in support of Trump CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel. The group included eight former CIA directors or acting directors, three former directors of national intelligence, and two former secretaries of state.

"Those signing the letter included former CIA Directors John Brennan, Leon Panetta, Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet, and William Webster. James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence under Obama, also signed the letter as did former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz.

"The officials wrote that Haspel has the “qualifications to become CIA Director match or exceed those of most candidates put forward in the Agency’s 70-year history.”

" 'Those who have served alongside Ms. Haspel have only the utmost praise and respect for her. She has broad support from the CIA workforce," they emphasized. "Within the U.S. national security community and among our allies around the globe, admiration for her is unsurpassed.' " . . .

'Chappaquiddick’ Star: ‘Everybody Gave [Ted Kennedy] a Pass’

". . .A girl drowns and he abandons her and she drowned, and women still voted for Teddy Kennedy. Why? Because he voted for women’s rights.' ”

Christian Toto  "Jason Clarke got quite the education after accepting the lead role in Chappaquiddick.

"The movie, out April 6, follows the events surrounding the 1969 death of Mary Jo Kopechne. Sen. Ted Kennedy (Clarke) was driving Kopechne, a campaign worker for his late brother Robert F. Kennedy, home on the Massachusettes island of Chappaquiddick when he crashed his Oldsmobile through a fence, landing the car in a pond.

"Kennedy escaped the submerged car but Koechne remained trapped inside. The Senator waited 10 hours to call for help.

“ 'I was overcome, I’m frank to say, by a jumble of emotions: grief, fear, doubt, exhaustion, panic, confusion and shock,” he said at the time.

"The diver who pulled Kopechne’s body from the car said she didn’t drown instantly. A trapped pocket of air temporarily kept her alive, but no autopsy was performed on the body.

"Much of this proved new to Clarke, the Australian actor from Terminator: Genisys and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

"He’s since gotten up to speed on the issue."

Liberals Announce Plan to Crush Normal Americans in a New “Civil War” (Spoiler: It’s Not a Great Plan)

 They are correct when they say “[i]n this current period of American politics, at this juncture in our history, there’s no way that a bipartisan path provides the way forward.” Yep, true. They are also correct when they observe that, “America today does exhibit some of the core elements that move a society from what normally is the process of working out political differences toward the slippery slope of civil war.” Yep, also true, and it ought to scare the hell out of them.

Kurt Schlichter  "Tech titan Jack Dorsey of San Francisco-based social media platform Twitter applauded an article in something called Medium in which some other hipster CEO described how liberals intend to crush Normal Americans into serfdom in a bloodless “civil war.”
"Here it is.
"Ready?
"It will just sort of happen. Why? Because. Americans will simply decide to be like California because of reasons and phew, no more troublesome conservatives and Gaia is saved!
"So basically, wishing.
"Well, that’s a kind of war plan. Perhaps by unleashing the power of hoping so they can utterly subjugate the half of America that voted against Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit and drive the people who actually operate and defend this country into silent obedience.
"Or not.
"Now, I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, “Why do a bunch of San Francisco dorks think that 150 million Americans with 300 million guns are just going to give up their rights and their say in their own governance and submit to the commands of people who eat kale by choice?” That’s a fair question, and they have an answer.
"Because you just are." . . .

Three Ways Obama Caused the Syrian Disaster

"I am daily amazed at the naïveté of many of my liberal friends who believe the outrageous quality of this failure of the blood stained past president. This article spells it our and lays the blame where this ignorant lamebrain continues to brag about his great successes." From comments to this post 

These are the actions of Michelle Obama's "adult" administration.

Frontpage Magazine

"The Radical-in-Chief didn’t just support one monster. He backed two."

"Obama owns the disaster in Syria in a way that no one else does. Three of his policies intersected to cause the bloodshed, devastation and horrors there. 

1. The Iraq Withdrawal
2. The Arab Spring
3. The Iran Deal

"Obama’s Iraq withdrawal turned the country over to Iran and ISIS. The tensions between the Shiite puppet regime in Baghdad (which Obama insisted on backing) and the Sunni population created a cycle of violence that reduced the country to a bloody civil war between Shiite militias and Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"The collapse of the multicultural Iraqi army allowed Al Qaeda in Iraq to seize huge swathes of territory. And ISIS and Iran began carving up Iraq into their own ethnically cleansed dominions.

"Then his Arab Spring empowered the Muslim Brotherhood’s Sunni forces to seize power in countries around the region. Unlike Egypt and Tunisia, whose governments fell under White House pressure, and Libya, which Obama bombed and invaded, the Iranians and Russians didn’t cut their Syrian allies loose.

"Iraq’s civil war spread to Syria. Initially Obama backed the Sunni Brotherhood militias. These groups represented themselves as free, secular and democratic. They were actually nothing of the kind. But as Libya and Yemen turned into disasters, and the Syrian militias clamored for direct military intervention, Obama instead turned to Iran. The Sunni Islamists hadn’t worked out so he cut a deal with the Shiites.

"Obama’s new deal with Iran was sealed with a fortune in illegal foreign currency shipments flown in on unmarked cargo planes, a virtual blank check for Iran’s nuclear program, the collapse of sanctions and the withdrawal of support for the Sunni militias in Syria. And that gave Iran a free hand in Syria. 

"If you want to understand why Syria is a disaster area, these are the three reasons." . . .

How liberals conduct military operations:

Did Trump's announcement of withdrawal from Syria embolden Assad's gas attack?  McCain thinks so.

Former Obama National Security Council Spokesman Admits 'Trump Was Handed a Mess' in Syria
. . .  "But to make matters worse for Tommy Vietor, the "mess" that he refers to is what his former boss called one of his proudest moments. Specifically, President Obama was most proud that he chose not to intervene after saying that use of chemical weapons by Syria would be "crossing a red line.' " . . .