Iran, Trump, and Obama

President Trump Puts the Mullahs on Notice "When President Trump appointed former CIA director Michael Pompeo to replace Rex W. Tillerson as secretary of state and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton as his new national security adviser, many pundits predicted that the Trump administration was serious in dealing with rogue states. B oth Bolton and Pompeo had advocated that Iran and North Korea change their behavior, or regime change would be on the table.

"Many people believed that these appointments were a sign that President Trump is serious in dealing with dangerous actors.  Almost immediately, the Islamic Republic's lobbyists started their propaganda machine and scare tactics, as they have done so often in the past twenty years (that war was imminent and Iranians should oppose Trumps appointments).  As for the Iranian people, while cautious, they are hoping that this time around, an American administration is serious and will stand on the side of the oppressed Iranian people as former President Ronald Reagan did with the Polish solidarity movement and all the former Soviet satellite countries.condemning communism is credited as hastening the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and along with Pope John Paul II he was a strong 

Reagan's continued policy of vigorously promoting democracy and supporter of Wałęsa's campaign for presidency in 1990.

. . .
Barack Obama has emboldened Iran.  "Senior members of the administration are apologizing for Iran kidnapping 10 US Navy sailors after seizing two small US craft as they traveled a narrow waterway from Kuwait to Bahrain.

2009: Barack Obama's Top 10 Apologies: How the President Has Humiliated a Superpower  "On several occasions, President Obama has sought to apologize for the actions of his own country when addressing a foreign audience--including seven of the 10 apologies listed below. The President has already apologized for his country to nearly 3 billion people across Europe, the Muslim world, and the Americas.
"The Obama Administration's strategy of unconditional engagement with America's enemies combined with a relentless penchant for apology-making is a dangerous recipe for failure. The overall effect of this approach has been to weaken American power on the world stage rather than strengthen it." . . .Nile Gardiner and Morgan Lorraine Roach

Let's hope Obama atoned for our sin by siding with the ayatollahs against the Iranian people during the Green Revolution.

Well, maybe not:
The Iranians mocked Obama's "my military"

Rosenstein impeachment stunt is cheap kabuki theater

The Maven

"While the game plays out, real problems are not being solved.

"Led by leaders Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), along nine co-sponsors, members of the House Freedom Caucus announced that they are bringing articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Their reasoning, document production which they view as unacceptable conduct.

"The five articles say a variety of different accusations against Rosenstein. However, here are a few things to keep in mind." . . .
. . . 

"While the game plays out, real problems are not being solved. We have a national debt of over $19 trillion. Entitlement programs are going bankrupt and we have no long-term plan to stop cyber attacks. Instead of a public relations stunt, I would like Republican members of the House to focus on lower spending, smaller government, free trade policies, and a strong national defense. Sadly, it seems like those conservatives only exist when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office."

California city OKs jail time for defying plastic straw ban

Fox News  via  Moretti Underground "A California coastal city has become the latest municipality to ban plastic straws, enacting what is potentially the strictest plastic prohibition in the country.

"Santa Barbara earlier this month passed the ordinance authorizing hefty fines and even a possible jail sentence for violators who dole out plastic straws at restaurants, bars and other food establishments.

"According to the ordinance, violators on their first offense will be given a written warning notice. But the second time a purveyor of plastic straws defies the ban is when the heavy hand of the law could clamp down.

"In that case, the ordinance cites penalties from the city’s municipal code for a “fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment for a term not exceeding six (6) months.”

"In comparison, Seattle, which in the beginning of July became the first major city in the U.S. to ban plastic straws, only fines businesses $250 per offense.

"It’s unlikely the maximum penalties would be imposed in Santa Barbara, but Assistant City Attorney Scott Vincent told Reason.com that criminal charges would be pursued after repeat violations and if there were aggravating circumstances.

"The Santa Barbara ordinance, which goes into effect in 2019, was supported by all but one city council member and comes at a time of growing concern over the problems that plastics cause for marine life.

"Santa Barbara bore a “trifecta of responsibility,” said Councilmember Kristen Sneddon, the Santa Barbara Independent reported, noting the city’s location along the coast, affluent population and status as a tourist destination." . . .

A look at, um .... the bright side?

Townhall

Jewish World Review

LEAKED: Trump Sent Plane To Bring Home Otto Warmbier Without Asking North Korea's Permission

"When Otto was first taken, we were advised by the past administration to take a low profile while they worked to obtain his release," said Mr. Warmbier, per The Week. "We did so without result. Earlier this year, Cindy and I decided the time for strategic patience was over. … It is my understanding that [Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Y. Yun] and his team, at the direction of the president, aggressively pursued resolution of the situation."

Daily Wire  "When President Donald Trump learned of American college student and North Korean prisoner Otto Warmbier's dire medical condition, he immediately sent a plane to land in Pyongyang and bring home the 22-year-old without asking North Korea's permission first, says a report from GQ.

"In early June of 2017, Trump-appointed U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Joseph Yun learned that Warmbier was unconscious. "I was completely shocked," said Yun of learning the news. "I came back immediately, and I told Secretary Tillerson ... and we determined at the time that we needed to get him and the other prisoners out as soon as possible, and I should contact Pyongyang and say I wanted to come right away."


" 'When Trump learned of Otto's condition, he doubled down on the order for Yun to rush to Pyongyang and bring Otto home," says the report. "The North Koreans were unilaterally informed that an American plane would soon land in Pyongyang and that United States diplomats and doctors would get off."

"An anonymous State Department official said the president sounded like a "dad" when learning of the news. He was determined to retrieve Warmbier and bring him back to his parents as soon as humanly possible." . . .

Trump appears to blame Obama for not doing more to bring Otto Warmbier home sooner  TV talk shows will not be happy about that.
. . . "When asked if Obama had done enough to secure Warmbier's release during a June 16 press conference , Otto's father, Fred, echoed Trump's sentiments saying the results "speak for themselves.' " . . .
"Warmbier died at age 22"

Obama Left Him There, Trump Got Him Home

"Unbelievable. There is no greater threat to the innocent than the deranged logic of liberals. It often disguises itself as compassion, usually spoken in a thoughtful tone, lyrically elegant at every turn.
But deadly and destructive — and former President Obama was a master."

Democrat (and I assume Obama voters) SJW's gloated over Warmbier's fate. Are none of these Salon-reading, Republican haters capable of being sick of what they are revealed to be?

Warmbier was not the only one Obama turned his back on; he was quick to desert those who would stand up to America's enemies and cause him any discomfort. That supine president had no problem deserting oppressed people as long as he was the king of talk shows' and longed for their admiration. Young Neda died in the streets of Iran at the hand of the ayatollah's while Obama smiled at them. The Tunnel Dweller

Iranians are looking not to Barack Obama but Neda Agha-Soltan for inspiration in their power struggle with the regime

2009: Neda, the image of Iran

F.E. Warren AFB commander’s removal of Bible from POW/MIA table brings praise, protests

Weasel Zippers photo

 Air Force Times  "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a conservative Republican candidate for president in 2008 and 2016, called on President Trump to reverse Air Force officials' decision to remove a copy of the Bible from a display table meant to honor prisoners of war and service members missing in action.

“This is an issue I’d love to see the president interject himself into," Huckabee, the father of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said on Fox & Friends Saturday morning. “I’d love to see him say, as commander in chief of the military, ‘Put the Bible back on the table. Let’s not be stupid about this.'”

"In recent years, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation — an advocacy group that says it’s dedicated to upholding service members’ constitutional right of religious freedom — has repeatedly objected to the inclusion of Bibles within POW/MIA displays at military bases and VA hospitals and clinics. The issue arose again recently at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, near Cheyenne, Wyoming, which like many other bases had placed an POW/MIA table in its military dining facility. The tables date back to the Vietnam War.

"The Military Religious Freedom Foundation petitioned the base in May to remove the Bible and replace it with a generic “book of faith” respecting all religions, according to Mikey Weinstein, the group’s founder and president." . . .

Estimate your 2018 tax with this article from Heritage

Heritage
Tax Cuts in Every Congressional District in Every State
Kevin Dayaratna, PhD, Parker Sheppard, PhD, and Adam N. Michel

"What Would You Buy With $26,000?

"New research from Heritage shows that the average American household can expect that much in take-home pay over the next 10 years thanks to tax reform. Heritage also launched a new online tool that allows you to see how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will benefit the typical taxpayer in every congressional district. 

"Find your state and district" . . .

School banned T-shirt, now must pay kid $25,000

Now the Oregonian has reported that the school district agreed to pay Barnes $25,000, which will cover his legal fees.The school by the way is Liberty High School.

Don Surber  "I don't know how much Addison Barnes paid for his "Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co.'' T-shirt but it is the best investment in his young life.

"The 18-year-old wore it to school in Hillsboro, Oregon, on January 19." . . .

"Vice Principal Amanda Ryan-Fear freaked out and ordered him to cover the shirt. He did, but he later changed his mind. She suspended Barnes for 10 days for defiance.

"In May, he sued. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman found the school district couldn't justify its censorship.

"In court, attorney Peter Mersereau argued for the Hillsboro School District.

" 'This particular school district has a population that is one-third Hispanic. This is not Lake Oswego. This is not West Linn,'' Mersereau said.

"To which the judge said, "So First Amendment protections vary from high school to high school?'"

"The student's lawyers argued that the district allowed one of his teachers to display a sign in front of a classroom that reads, "Sanctuary City, Welcome Home.' " . . .

Hilarious Satirical Interview of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Triggers Liberals

The left dishes it out non-stop, but see how they handle being satirized. Too bad Allie will never be allowed to have her own late-night talk show. You go, girl! TD

Legal Insurrection  Video here.  "Who says conservatives can’t do comedy?
Allie Beth Stuckey of CRTV took the footage of the recent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez interview on Firing Line and spliced in her own questions. She also manipulated the responses from Cortez to hilarious results.

Legal Insurrection

"For years now, liberals have fawned over this sort of thing any time it was done by the Daily Show or other left leaning outlets. They don’t like it at all now that the darling of the left is the target.

"Adi Robertson writes at The Verge:

A million Facebook users watched a video that blurs the line between bad satire and ‘fake news’

A conservative news outlet spliced together a “satirical” interview with Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, published it on Facebook without noting it was satire, and racked up over a million views in less than 24 hours — many from people who appear convinced it’s real. The video is fake, and for the people who are taking it seriously, it’s news. But it’s not “fake news,” and it shows just how confounding talking about misinformation has gotten.

Yesterday, Conservative Review network CRTV posted a video that remixed out-of-context clips of a PBS Firing Line interview with Ocasio-Cortez, alternating them with staged questions from CRTV host Allie Stuckey. In the fake interview, Ocasio-Cortez sheepishly shakes her head when Stuckey asks if she understands anything about politics, and she appears to think Venezuela is in the Middle East. CRTV’s website describes the piece as a “satirical sit-down” with the candidate. But on Facebook, it just said that Stuckey had grilled Ocasio-Cortez about her “socialist agenda and knowledge of government… or lack thereof,” with a winking smile emoji at the end.

"If anyone could watch that and not know it was satire, that might reflect worse on Ocasio-Cortez than the folks at CRTV. Lots of journalism “professionals” were outraged over this. Here’s a sampling." . . .

This Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Video Made A Lot Of Progressives Forget How Satire Works

"A doctored interview of Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has gone viral on Facebook, where it racked up over a million views in the few hours since it was posted."

Ocasio-Cortez: Make socialism great again (Updated)

Me & my memes

American Thinker   "Politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deserves credit for spewing enough wishful thinking to fire up a crowd of equally delusional socialists.

"Facts do not get in the way of the novice Millennial demanding Medicare for all (yeah); picking up the college tab for everyone (double yeah); and, best of all, fulfilling the anarchists' dream of abolishing ICE (boo-hoo for taxpayers fearful of drug-traffickers and career criminals pouring over our porous borders).

"Her list reads like a wonderland of benefits for social justice warriors who are fiscally illiterate and clueless about the end results of socialism.  Still, they are not shy about trying to stick their fingers into someone else's heavily tax-burdened pocket.  No wonder Hillary Clinton had trouble firing up a crowd of liberals with such promises as "A Better Deal" or "Stronger Together."  Voters should feel some gratitude toward Hillary's team for dispensing with the slogan "Because It's Her Turn."

"All the passion Hillary lacked on the campaign trail can be found in the female Democratic newcomer, who was the surprise winner in New York's 14th Congressional District race.  She wasn't going to measure every word – like Hillary – and her campaign rhetoric on immigration was nothing short of hyperbolic stupidity: "We have to occupy all of it," she said, building up to the "it" of geographic terrain.  "We need to occupy every airport.  We need to occupy every border.  We need to occupy every ICE office," she said, referring to separating families illegally crossing over the border.  (She conveniently omits President Trump's order to stop the policy dating back to the Clinton administration.)" . . .

Update: Pants on Fire: Politifact confirms Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t know how unemployment rate works
"Ocasio-Cortez got just about everything wrong. Wrong facts. Wrong theory. Wrong conclusion. She has a bright future in the Democratic Party."

Why Hillary Won't Run...Again

And finally, I believe there's light at the end of the tunnel: while the Mueller fishing expedition drags on ad nauseam, the complexity and complicity of  lawbreaking by Hillary Clinton and her co-conspirators embedded at the FBI, DOJ, and CIA becomes more apparent as each day passes. . .

Anna L. Stark  "Third time's the charm, right?  Certainly not in Hillary's case.  While the media pundits and bookies speculate whether or not she'll run a third time for the White House, I'm fairly certain that Ms. Clinton is finished in politics.  She forfeited her best chance at occupying the Oval Office when she acquiesced to the upstart black man from Chicago – consigned to the sidelines, waiting her turn.  As a consolation prize, she served as Obama's secretary of state, which did nothing to enhance her résumé.  Far from it.  To her detriment, she also grossly misjudged a formidable opponent in 2016.  Should she decide to go all in, Hillary Clinton will have even larger obstacles to overcome in 2020: her failing health, a non-compliant DNC, and the knowledge that Donald Trump has gained access to intelligence agency reports and records.

"For starters, Hillary Clinton doesn't look good.  More importantly, the media optics since the election in 2016 haven't been kind.  She continues to stumble and fall.  As happened during the campaign, intrepid photographers caught her falling down a steep set of stairs in India.  At the beginning of summer, she appeared in public on several occasions smothered in heavy coats and voluminous scarves in an unconvincing attempt to conceal the back brace she was wearing.  It's anyone's guess why she was trussed up in metal.  Maybe she fell down...again.

"Hillary's most recent decision to wear the dining room tablecloth wasn't a smart fashion choice. " . . .

Earl of Taint

Do you believe this Hillary-told story? Dead broke and being shot at by snipers all the while she was doing this with Sir Edmund Hillary.

Don't Call Them Journalists: MSNBC's Katy Tur Gets Torched After Picking A Fight With The Daily Caller

Tur

Matt Vespa  "MSNBC’s Katy Tur, the vanguard of mainstream journalists everywhere, decided to take a stand for the news media. Take a stand for truth—and totally step on a rake in the process. She went after the Daily Caller, denigrating their reporting because, you know, she’s Ms. Perfect. The panel discussion revolved around the FISA warrant against Carter Page, former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign. Yes, she got torched on social media—and you bet the Daily Caller crew caught this as well—big league:
. . . 
"Tur and company thought fireworks was Israeli shelling, felt that California voters should just move to swing states, and falsely claimed that all 17 intelligence agencies agreed on the 2016 Russian election interference. Oh, and as for gun lexicon, laws, and facts—there’s no refuge there either. It’s just abject stupidity. For Dilinian, his Cohen phone tap story totally blew up in his face. Wait, there’s more: Tur didn’t know aboutthe “transmit to Vladimir” hot mic moment between then Presidents Obama and Medvedev in 2012, she thought the Constitution was written and ratified in 1776, and interviewed an ‘almost school shooter’and yes, pro-gun control overtures were made, and tried to goad a Democratic senator into saying that Trump is a terrorist. Also, let’s not forget this classic: Tur questioning whether she’s out of touch on the slew of bonuses working class Americans received thanks to the Trump tax cuts. Get a grip, lady. You have a side. You’re no better than us. In fact, your whole network is devoted to spewing endless liberal trash to keep Democratic blood pressures low. It’s time for MSDNC to admit this. " . . .

Joe Gabriel Simonson read off a great history of screw-ups from Tur and Dilanian. Twitchy captured this filleting of the MSNBC network and host. It was brutal, and they had the rundown of the butcher’s bill:

Another anonymously sourced story proves to be - yes: FALSE NEWS

MSNBC’s Katy Tur incorrectly blamed Donald Trump’s travel ban for the visa problems an all-female Afghan robotics team recently dealt with while trying to enter the U.S. for a competition.

. . . "The team had their visas denied twice before Trump intervened and granted them entry so that they could attend a national robotics competition.

"According to MSNBC anchor Katy Tur, however, the robotics team only had issues entering the country because of Trump’s travel ban." . . .