The trials of General Flynn

Flynn sentencing hearing devolved into a fiasco   "It was a bad day all around yesterday in Judge Emmet Sullivan's courtroom.  Bad for General Flynn, bad for Judge Sullivan, and bad for the prosecutors from Robert Mueller's Special Counsel's Office (SCO).

"The Washington Post exults that "Trump backers just had their anti-Mueller hopes and dreams dashed" in the wake of yesterday's sentencing hearing for General Michael Flynn.  Judge Emmet Sullivan not only failed to throw out the case against Flynn for lying to the FBI, but he threatened incarceration for the general, despite the recommendation of the SCO for no prison time. " . . .

Flynn's Fate  "The sentencing hearing before Judge Sullivan in the case of Michael Flynn was weird beyond belief yesterday. Judge Sullivan came across as a loose cannon, sounding off like a barroom loudmouth vaguely aware of the relevant facts but not too careful about them. Byron York provides a good summary. In its editorial today (accessible here via Outline), the Wall Street Journal tactfully characterizes the hearing as a “fiasco.”

Flynn is a bit player the Russia hoax production. He is a casualty of the FBI investigation leading to the Mueller Switch Project. A former head of the Defense Intelligence, he has pleaded guilty to lying about the substance of his post-election conversation with the Russian ambassador. He may well be guilty of that and more. Reading the McCabe memo filed by the Special Counsel with the court last Friday, however, we see that Flynn believed that his conversations were probably intercepted and known to the FBI.

"What we would like to know is whether Flynn lied to the FBI about these conversations. If so, why? If not, the judge won’t take his plea. Flynn is sticking with his guilty plea despite the issues he raised with it in his sentencing memo perhaps because he may be guilty and certainly because he wants the deal offered by the Special Counsel." . . .

Ocasio-Cortez Compares Trump To Clinton, Calls For Impeachment, Gets Roasted

The Federalist Papers  "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made a name for herself in her short career in politics.

"Granted the majority of that name has come by making herself look like a twit.
"And history is one of the subjects she continues to embarrass herself on.
"She did it again on Friday when she compared the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton to the impeachment Democrats want against President Donald Trump.
"She quoted Sen. Lindsey Graham’s speech on the Clinton impeachment to push for one for President Trump.
"But she failed to realizes why the two situations are not the same.

““You don’t need to have been convicted of a crime. Impeachment isn’t about punishment. It’s about cleansing the office.” – @LindseyGrahamSC

“ 'Sen. Graham himself established a standard that demands Trump’s impeachment,” she wrote as she shared a video from the liberal “Now This.' ” . . ,

Ann Coulter writes: "Gutless President In Wall-less Country"

Ian Macfarlane

Human Events:  "If you were elected president after decades of politicians doing nothing about the millions of illegals pouring into our country every year, committing crimes, dealing drugs, driving drunk, molesting children and killing Americans like Kate Steinle, and your central campaign promise — repeated every day — was to build a wall, wouldn’t you have spent the entirety of your transition period working on getting it done?

"Wouldn’t you have been building prototypes, developing relationships with key congressional allies and talking to military leaders about using the Seabees or the Army Corps of Engineers to build the wall?

"Wouldn’t you skip the inauguration and take the oath of office in San Diego so you could get started on supervising wall construction immediately after putting your hand on the Bible and being sworn in as the leader of the free world?

"You would if you meant it.

"Well, Donald Trump didn’t do that.

"OK, sure he could have taken the oath in D.C., gone to a few balls, then started the wall on day two of his presidency. But he didn’t do that either.

"Maybe I’m a literalist. A zealot. When people kept telling me to be patient — the wall is coming! — I nursed a private hope that I was wrong, and they were right.

"It is now crystal clear that one of two things is true: Either Trump never intended to build the wall and was scamming voters all along, or he has no idea how to get it done and zero interest in finding out." . . .

If a Green Beret Is a War Criminal, then So Is Obama

Barack Obama teams up with Major Golsteyn to keep the Taliban from killing more Americans. From 2009.

Daniel John Sobieski  "One would think that in war the duty of a soldier is to kill the enemy before he kills you or your fellow soldiers. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are different in that the enemy doesn’t usually obey the rules of war, like wearing uniforms and rank insignia, and there are no “front lines” per se, only improvised explosive devices and sniper fire from second-floor windows or civilians used as human shields.

"That is where Mathew Golsteyn found himself in 2010 when the Green Beret killed a Taliban bomb-maker who had killed two Marines, Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary and Lance Cpl. Raymon A. Johnson,  in a war where only one side obeys the rules and the other is trapped by rules of engagement that make no sense and an Obama administration treating the whole thing as a law enforcement matter:

. . . 

"So, no doubt, was Mathew Golsteyn’s decision not to wait till he was added to a “kill list” to kill the Taliban bomb-maker before he could kill more American soldiers. But why wasn’t he charged with murder in 2011 when he took a polygraph test for a job at the CIA and volunteered the information?"

. . . 

"Yet he was not charged with murder in 2011. Would it have jeopardized the reelection chances of President Obama in 2012 to have a Green Beret charged with murder while you are using drones to kill other bomb-makers from high altitude? So why charge him now? Has the military justice system become as corrupted by political correctness as the civilian version, and come to embrace the liberal notion that terrorists are not enemy combatants but merely civilians who need to be read their Miranda rights? 

"Few are rushing to Mathew Golsteyn’s defense as they did with  deserter Bowe Bergdahl, with Obama willingly trading terrorist Taliban leaders who slaughter Americans for such a traitor, and welcoming and consoling Bergdahl’s parents at the White House while he ignored Bergdahl’s desertion in the heat of battle in Afghanistan." . . .

A Taliban bomb-maker who was arrested metres from the gates of parliament armed with knives has been convicted of plotting to kill police and MPs.

2013; we gave Obama attaboys for doing this.. Sometimes Democrats do the right thing.

More posts from the Tunnel Wall here.

Clinton-Appointed Judge APOLOGIZES to Flynn for Treason Remark During Sentencing

Byron York: Judge's accusations mar Michael Flynn sentencing hearing

. . . Now the case will be on hold for at least a few months. But for a few moments, the craziness that can surround political debate over the Trump-Russia affair — hot tempers, unfounded charges, promiscuous accusations of treason — made its way into a federal courtroom. And Michael Flynn's future remains uncertain."  . . .

Big League Politics  "Judge Sullivan apologizes for his “treason” comments, noting that he was confused about the dates during which Flynn acted as a foreign agent.
“ 'I felt terrible about that,” he reportedly said. “I’m not suggesting he committed treason,” Sullivan adds, further apologizing for his remarks in the prior session.
"Flynn’s conduct as a foreign agent ended in mid-November of 2016, far before Trump took office.

Photo of General Flynn added by TD

"In another example of the thuggery that has become the American “justice system” the presiding Judge in Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing suggested from the bench that Flynn should be charged with treason.

“ 'You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the president!” said Judge Emmet Sullivan of United States District Court for the District of Columbia, according to Steven Portnoy of CBS Radio.

“ 'Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!” the Judge reportedly continued.

. . . 

"Townhall has reported that Sullivan said he cannot hide his “disgust” or “disdain” with Flynn’s alleged behavior.

"Does this sound like an impartial judge to anyone? The political right is steadily losing confidence in high level law enforcement and a judiciary that seem bent on destroying the lives of President Donald J. Trump and those who supported him – and rightfully so.

"This story is developing." .  . .

45 Democrats jostling to challenge Trump in 2020

Washington Examiner  "An unprecedented 45 Democrats are jockeying for the party's nomination to challenge President Trump in 2020 — shattering the record for the number of candidates aspiring to be commander in chief.

"A review of potential contenders by the Washington Examiner reveals that up to 45 candidates could mount a serious bid to become leader of the free world. While many will undoubtedly decide against formally entering the race, most Democratic strategists expect at least two dozen to do so.

"Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, co-chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, said recently that the 2020 presidential contest could draw up to 40 Democratic hopefuls. “Look, we’ll have between 30 and 40 great candidates running for president,” he told MSNBC. “Everyone recognizes how urgent this moment is in our country’s history.”

"To have more than 40 Democrats seeking to win the White House would be "historic," James Thurber, the director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, told the Washington Examiner.

"That number would be well over the 17 major Republicans who drew ire in 2016 for crowding the GOP primary field, ultimately to the benefit of Trump. And it would be more than six times as large as the "seven dwarfs," who were mocked for competing for the 1988 Democratic nomination, which went to then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Dukakis went on to lose to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.

"So who are the 45 contenders who could soon be vying to become the 46th president of the United States?" . . .

Democratic New York State Senator Tells Republican Aide To “Kill Herself”

How things would be if Alec Baldwin were a state senator somewhere. Most likely California or New York. TD

Weasel Zippers

"And he has a prior history of violent behavior, starting with punching a traffic agent in 2005, pushing an aide and breaking her glasses in 2006 and breaking the finger of a NY Post photographer in 2009.  Via Democrat and Chronicle:

ALBANY – A state senator pushing a bill that would require pistol-seekers to submit to a social-media search urged a Senate Republican aide to kill herself in a now-deleted Twitter post on Tuesday.

The verified Twitter account of Sen. Kevin Parker, D-Brooklyn, posted the violent demand Tuesday morning after the aide, Candice Giove, accused him of misusing a Senate-issue parking placard.

“Kill yourself!” Parker’s tweeted.

The tweet was originally posted at 11:25 a.m. It was deleted minutes later.

By 12:18 p.m., Parker tweeted an apology.

“I sincerely apologize,” Parker wrote. “I used a poor choice of words. Suicide is a serious thing and and should not be made light of.”

Keep reading…

Incoming Democratic Conference Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, called Sen. Parker’s tweet inappropriate.

Other these little incidents, the man is a credit to the New York Legislature

In January 2005, Parker was arrested after punching a traffic agent in the face during a dispute over a traffic citation that he had been issued. He was subsequently charged with third degree assault, a misdemeanor. The charges were dropped after he agreed to take anger management classes.^[2]

In 2008, an aide filed charges against Parker, claiming he pushed her during an argument and smashed her glasses.^[2]

Photo added by TD

On May 8, 2009, Parker was charged with felony criminal mischief for attacking a New York Post photographer and damaging the photographer's camera and car door. According to prosecutors, the photographer's finger was broken in the alleged attack.^[3] Parker was charged with a felony due to the value of damage to the camera and car door.^[4] As a result, he was stripped of his leadership position as majority whip and chair of the Energy Committee.^[5] Parker was convicted of a misdemeanor charge, criminal mischief, and on March 21, 2011 was sentenced to three years probation and a $1,000 fine.^[6] Had he been convicted of the felonies, he would have automatically lost his seat in the Senate, and the Senate had already expelled Hiram Monserrate for misdemeanor charges earlier in the year. The Senate Democrats expressed an unwillingness to expel Parker as they had Monserrate.^[7]

In February 2010, Parker was restrained by his colleagues during a profane tirade against Senator Diane

Democrats must have better 
people than these

Savino in which Parker referred to Savino as a "b****".^[8]

In April 2010, Parker launched into an outburst while colleague John DeFrancisco of Syracuse was questioning a black nominee for the New York State Power Authority.^[9] "Amid the nearly two-minute tirade, committee chairman Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) told Parker he would be removed from the hearing room if he didn't settle down."^[9]

Parker accused his colleagues of racism, and followed up in a radio interview by accusing his Republican "enemies" of being white supremacists.^[2] Following the tirade, Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) was quoted as saying that Parker "need[ed] help."^[9]

Hollywood: shaping our "skulls full of mush" from childhood on

Oscar's Political Dilemma: How Left Is Too Left?  "A day after Universal's Neil Armstrong biopic First Man opened to a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29, a political rocket came blasting out of the conservative netherworld to knock it from its orbit. That's when news spread that the movie had omitted a real-life scene: Armstrong planting the American flag on the moon.
"Right-wing outrage was immediate and helped ding the picture at the box office, where it failed to draw a crucial male demographic and earned a muted $44 million domestically." . . .

The best and worst of Hollywood political speeches

Alec Baldwin: Trump Is ‘Punishment’ for America’s ‘Slaughter of Native Americans, Slavery, Japanese Internment  . . . "Baldwin’s rant not only fails to mention that the United States has done a great deal to right these historical wrongs, he also doesn’t mention that most of these tragedies took place under Democrats.

"The Saturday Night Live star preceded this statement with another social media post, in which he called for all Americans to rally behind Trump’s eventual successor." . . .

“Every day I wake up, I still am horrified. I feel like I’m in some dream that Trump is president of the United States. I almost can’t even say it,” he told reporters after a Democratic Party fundraiser.

Mueller’s Collusion Hoax Collapses

Conrad Black  "The sudden death of the unutterable nonsense of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government, announced as it was in the hand-off to the Southern New York U.S. Attorney of the shabby fruit of Michael Cohen’s plea bargaining, has divided onlookers into three communities of opinion.

The true believers in the collusion canard are left slack-jawed, like the international Left after the announcement of the Nazi-Soviet Pact: an immense fervor of faith is instantly destroyed; it is the stillness of a sudden and immense evaporation.

"The professional Trump-haters, the Democratic Party assassination squads in the Congress and media, like disciplined soldiers, have swiveled with parade ground precision and resumed firing after a mere second to reload, at the equally fatuous nonsense about illegal campaign contributions. Disreputable, contemptible myth-makers and smear-jobbers though they are, they deserve credit for fanaticism, improvisation, and managing in unison to sound half plausible in the face of the crushing defeat they have suffered and the piffle and pottage they are left to moralize about.

"Third, and slowest to respond, so sudden has been the change of the whole Trump-hate narrative, are those who never wavered from the requirement of real evidence of something before they would endorse the drastic act of impeaching and removing the nation’s leader. Some feel betrayed and some vindicated, but sensing no need for instant response, unlike the Trump-haters who are scrambling to try to cooper up some credibility for continuing their assault on the president, the third group is preparing with only deliberate speed to counter-attack the assassins-by-impeachment with their full and now overpowering armament of facts and law.

"The Trump-haters can make a strong case that the president is an obnoxious public personality—that he is boastful, exaggerates constantly, sends out silly tweets with grade two typographical errors in them and gets into ill-tempered slanging matches with half the people with whom he comes into contact. To a great many, he is just refreshingly puncturing official self-importance." . . .

Not the first "No Wall" the Democrats did say

Stilton's Place

"With Christmas only a week away, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are cementing their names near the top of the Naughty List by threatening a government shutdown rather than allow funding for the border wall that President Trump is demanding.

"Their gambit carries more risk than usual, owing to the fact that Trump is entirely willing to see the government shut down and take credit for it.

"It's a bit unclear exactly what form such a shutdown would take, as Democrats are still smarting from the last time they pulled this stunt and became laughingstocks for punishing the public by closing national parks, monuments (including the Vietnam Memorial), and forbidding families from looking at Old Faithful or Mount Rushmore." . . .

Arizona Governor Appoints McCain’s Replacement

The Federalist Papers

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey just appointed Martha McSally to serve out John McCains term until the next election in 2020

After losing to Kyrsten Stinema in the November midterm election, McSally gets another shot.

. . . "McSally is a combat veteran of the U.S. Air Force, who also holds the distinction of being one of the highest ranking women to serve in the USAF. In her 20+ years of service (1988-2010) she rose to the level of colonel. She was also the first female commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron.

"In 2001, she sued the Department of Defense, in an attempt to challenge the policy that required U.S. and UK servicewomen to wear body covering, when traveling off base, while stationed in Saudi Arabia.

"She served as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd District, since 2015.

"She will serve out the remainder of McCain’s term, then face a special election in 2020, to determine if she will be staying on as Senator McSally." . . .

"USA Today has the story:

Republican Rep. Martha McSally will replace retiring Sen. Jon Kyl to fill for the next two years the Senate seat long held by the late Sen. John McCain.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to appoint McSally, announced in a statement Tuesday and effective next month, revives her political life less than two months after she narrowly lost the race for the state’s other Senate seat to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.  . . .

The Child Who Won the War Against Children

Rebecca McLaughlin  "It’s easy to sentimentalize the Christmas story. A newborn babe, angelic songs, a guiding star — the scene lights up our winter nights and warms our weary hearts. But when Herod orders the slaughter of all the male infants and toddlers within striking distance of Bethlehem, the tale suddenly becomes less family friendly. Indeed, in this moment, the Christmas dream becomes the stuff of nightmares.

"Our hearts revolt against infanticide. It strikes us as the most callous of crimes. But while the wholesale slaughter of baby boys would certainly have distressed first-century hearers, infanticide itself was broadly accepted.

“God was cradled in his mother’s arms, upending our ideas of power and telling a whole new story about babies.”

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"Abandoning infants — particularly baby girls — was common. Some historians estimate that the Greco-Roman world in the first and second century was as much as two-thirds male, due to maternal deaths in childbirth and selective infanticide (Christianity at the Crossroads, 36). Meanwhile, influential philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle had supported eugenics, the latter declaring, “Let there be a law that no deformed child shall live.” But even healthy baby boys were frequently abandoned. If someone else wanted them — to raise them as a slave, perhaps — it was finders keepers." . . .