President Trump and Russia: no collusion

"Video: Even Democrats Are Now Agreeing: No Collusion 



Intelligence Committee Nears End to Russia Investigation, Still Hasn’t Discovered Evidence of Collusion . . . "Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina told CBS News late last week, “If we write a report based upon the facts that we have, then we don’t have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia.”
“We know we’re getting to the bottom of the barrel because there’re(sic) not new questions that we’re searching for answers to,” the Republican senator added.

“ 'What I’m telling you is that I’m going to present, as best we can, the facts to you and to the American people,” Burr said. “And you’ll have to draw your own conclusion as to whether you think that, by whatever definition, that’s collusion.”
"Intelligence Committee ranking member Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner disagrees with Burr’s characterization of the evidence the panel has unearthed, but declined to offer his own assessment regarding the issue of collusion, according to NBC News." . . .

Is Mueller taking orders from Russia?  . . . "The donkeys have one clear goal: make sure that every single day of President Trump's first term is under investigation.  They will use all the government resources they can, as well as their media connections, for this fruitless endeavor.  It is the only hope Democrats have of one of their own terrible candidates beating him in the next presidential election." Next target: President Trump's financial records.

Mainstream Media Can’t Quite Accept Senate Committee’s Verdict of ‘No Russian Collusion’ . . . "In the meantime, I suppose we must be patient with the Democrats. They’ve experienced a terrible shock. They will wait until Mueller issues his report. That’s the one that counts anyway."

This just in: No collusion . . . " I posted the declassified/redacted House Intelligence Committee Report on Russian Active Measures on Scribd when the committee closed out its investigation last year. It too found no evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. I found the report to be a worthy piece of work. With the Democrats now in control of the House, new chairman Adam Schiff is still digging and defaming. Byron York captures the big picture in his Examiner column “Resistance rattled by ‘no collusion’ talk.' " . . .   Brit Hume tweeted:

Buried deep in this very long story is the chairman of this much-praised investigation saying that the Senate intelligence committee has found nothing to suggest collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

Byron York: Resistance rattled by 'no collusion' talk . . . "Many House Democrats have been relying on Mueller to give them a roadmap and cover to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president. Now, they face the question of what to do if Mueller does not give them what they want.

"I'm watching you, Mr. president!"

"The answer could be that House Democrats will have to do the job by themselves. Frustrated by Republican control the last two years, followed, potentially, by the failure of both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Mueller investigation to provide proof of collusion, bound-and-determined House Democrats will have to rely on themselves to come up with grounds to impeach Trump. That is one reason why the talk in the House today is of new investigations that will go where Mueller could not, and finally uncover evidence of impeachable offenses. If the Senate and Mueller investigations reach a disappointing end, Democrats might have to go it alone."

AOC and the "Green New Deal" Democrats

Dems scream after Mitch McConnell schedules a vote on their own Green New Deal
"There's nothing quite like handing Democrats What They Want.

"So to accommodate them, wily old Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a vote on freshman socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her sidekick Sen. Ed Markey's much-vaunted "Green New Deal," just to help them out.

"But wait. The Senate lefties are not happy about it" . . .

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal Backpedaling Doesn’t Reverse Its Stupidity  . . . On February 7th, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released her Green New Deal. And people laughed — at the document, and at Democrats who praised it. While Ben Shapiro hailed it as “one of the stupidest [things] ever written” (here), Cory Booker imbecilically compared it to fighting Nazi’s in the 40’s (here).
"A few targeted American enemies of the directive? Planes and farts (here).
"Now, the “lost” representative (here) seems to be backpedaling." . . .

Cory Booker Continues His ‘Say Really Idiotic Things’ Series: Do This, or Destroy the Earth  "Whatever happened to the adultness of politics? Were there always elected national officials saying things this stupid? . . ."

Cory Booker Says The Earth ‘Can’t Sustain’ People Eating Meat. Liz Cheney Fires Off Meat-Eaters' Response In One Tweet.  . . . "Cheney tweeted, “Hey @CoryBooker I support PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals. @BeefUSA#WyomingBeefCountry.”

Leading to the following conclusion: The Dems Are Hilariously Bad Presidential Candidates . Requiring frighteningly silly voters which, terrifyingly, are out there in droves.
"These past few weeks have been a tonic and a delight for any Republicans depressed by the midterms. So far the Democratic presidential slate is a clown car that has spat out a gaggle of mountebanks*. The list includes a woman who previously and for many years claimed to be a “woman of color” but now has had to apologize after the world learned that “practically translucent” isn’t a color; T-Bone’s vegan buddy, who attacked meat eaters; a fake Latino who allowed himself to be trolled into going down to the border and railing against it; a “Senator Nice” who throws stuff at her terrorized staff and is rumored to make them shave her legs; and the She-Obama who just casually let slip that she wants to separate 150 million Americans from their private health insurance. Oh, and all of the above endorsed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s crazypants Green New Deal, a wishlist so bonkers even Nancy Pelosi mocked it.

"Hey, Dems, when a ranting 140-year-old socialist Larry David lookalike is the least nutty person around, you’ve got problems." . . .
*"Mountebanks often included various forms of light entertainment on stage in order to attract customers. Later, extended uses of "mountebank" referred to someone who falsely claims to have knowledge about a particular subject or a person who simply pretends to be something he or she is not in order to gain attention.
Also: "a person who mounted a bench, or platform, in a public place and sold quack medicines, usually attracting an audience by tricks, stories, etc.  . . . any charlatan, or quack." 

As Illustrated here: 

The Intersectional Road to Perdition

Victor Davis Hanson

Who is the greatest victim of them all? Leave it to the mob to pick the ‘winner.’

"From The Ox-Bow Incident to To Kill a Mockingbird, novelists warned of the American propensity to become mob-like and often lethally so. Our Puritan roots, when coupled to elements of Athenian-style democracy, can on occasion vary wildly between dangerous bias and equally mindless self-righteousness.

"Update those traditions within the modern bane of electronically charged instantaneous social media, identity politics, the decline of journalism, and vicarious virtue-signaling, and we increasingly suffer psychodramas like the Virginia fraternity mess, the Duke Lacrosse fiasco, the Kavanaugh hearings, and the Covington nightmare.

"In such cases, predictable constructs often set afire the new mob. “Vulnerable” women or minorities or both are juxtaposed against young white males who have the scent of traditionalism, conservatism, or “privilege.” I say “psychodramas,” because the point is never to assess guilt or innocence or to establish some set of objective standards by which to condemn or exempt the accused. No, the aim is to vent outrage — the quicker, the more venomous, and the more public, the more advantageous either in a careerist or psychological sense."

Another NeverTrump throws in the towel

American Thinker  "Will wonders never cease?  Erick Erickson, one of the original leaders of the NeverTrump movement and the one who initiated the NeverTrump hashtag, has come out saying he will vote for the Trump-Pence ticket in 2020.  Quoting Erickson:

I will vote for Donald Trump and Mike Pence.  And, to be clear, it will not be just because of what the other side offers, but also because of what the Trump-Pence team has done.  They've earned my vote.

"My, my, my. 

"Probably not many here care what Erickson has to offer.  I don't.  But look at his conversion as yet another straw in the wind pointing to a Donald Trump win in 2020.  Other straws blowing in the same direction are Trump's knockout State of the Union speech; his massive rally in El Paso; the Rasmussen poll showing that over 50 percent of likely voters approve of the president's performance; and, last but not least, the total lunacy that has captured the Democratic Party. 

"Regarding this last point, the Democrats are self-destructing.  What is particularly delicious about this is that their lapdog media are encouraging the party's suicide.  How?  By giving such prominence to an empty suit like Robert Francis O'Rourke (AKA Beto) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a truly certifiable loon.  No doubt the media think that by doing this, they are pushing the dial farther to the left.  They are dead wrong.  Rather, what we're seeing at play is a case of the ancient wisdom of Euripides, who is attributed with the insight, "Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first drive mad.' "

On CNN: Former Clinton Campaign Official Defends Omar By Blaming Republicans For Anti-Semitism

Weasel Zippers
"Too dumb to respond to?"

Bobby O'Rourke vs. Trump In El Paso: Who Actually Had The Bigger Crowd And Was It A Preview Of 2020?

Size matters. I'm sure he relishes watching them watching him. I would... but then I love me with all my heart. TD

IBT  "There's a strong possibility that political pundits will look back on Feb. 11, 2019, as a day that saw battle lines drawn in the Texas sand. 
"At one El Paso rally was President Donald Trump. At another rally — less than two miles away — was Robert "Beto" O'Rourke, who recently served as a three-term U.S. representative from El Paso.
"The two politicians could go head-to-head in 2020 but on Monday they were expressing their views on border security, amid fears that the week could conclude with another government shutdown.
...
. . . Donald Trump Jr. tweeted about the crowd at the El Paso rally, seemingly berating O'Rourke for his counter-protest efforts. Indeed, one NBC headline read: "Beto O’Rourke gets under Trump's skin in El Paso."
...
"Not only did President Trump repeatedly mention O’Rourke and his efforts, but numerous sources disputed the crowd number.
"The El Paso Fire Department’s capacity number for Trump's event was 6,500 and with a spokesman claiming that the total might have reached "10,000 with the people outside."
"As for O'Rourke, NBC News estimated that there were 7,000 and 8,000 people at his rally and march. Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg News reported that march and rally drew between 10,000 and 15,000 people." . . .

Rashida Tlaib wrote column for Louis Farrakhan publication in 2006

Video from Defiant America

Fox News

Could Michigan Congresswoman Rasheda Tlaib’s profane call for the president’s impeachment hurt the Democrat Party?

"Freshman Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib once wrote a column for the Final Call, an official publication of the Nation of Islam and its notorious leader Louis Farrakhan.

"Tlaib, a Palestinian American, has been facing criticism ever since her arrival in Congress and promise to impeach President Trump using profane language.

"She later came under bipartisan criticism from Jewish groups for appearing with radical anti-Israel activists during her swearing-in ceremony in Michigan, with some activists previously praising terror group Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorists, and saying that Israel has no right to exist.

"But it now has been unearthed that she was a guest contributor in 2006 to the publication that reprints Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic comments and offers their defense.

“ 'Lost in the often-vitriolic national quarrel over immigration reform is any examination of proposed measures that would result in excessive punishment, such as detention and deportation, for the most minor offenses,” Tlaib wrote in a 2006 post in the Final Call. “Concern for 'national security' has introduced unprecedented insecurity to living in the United States as a legal permanent resident.”

The column, which takes an issue with deportations for minor offenses, remains to be accessible online and was first pointed out by blogger Jeryl Bier on social media.A spokesperson for Tlaib told Fox News that the article was from 2006 and “was not an endorsement of Farrakhan or anyone for that matter,” adding that the congresswoman “has not had any direct contact with Farrakhan and condemns his anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ views.” . . .

LGBT Activists Teaching Judges To Yank Kids From Parents Who Won’t Transgender Them

Margot Cleveland at The Federalist

Documents obtained from Rhode Island Family Court must concern any person who questions whether it's a good idea to chemically and surgically mutilate children.

"On Thursday, the Health and Human Services committee of the South Dakota House killed a bill that would have protected the right of parents to refuse to consent to medical or psychological treatment for a child suffering from gender dysphoria if the treatment “would induce, confirm, or promote the child’s belief that the child’s sex or gender identity is different from the child’s sex presented at birth.” Proposed House Bill 1205 also provided that “no public authority or official of this state may take any adverse action against a parent for exercising this right.”

That such a simple affirmation of parental rights could not clear a committee in this solidly red state should terrify parents, as it lays bare transgender activists’ plan: use the government to force parents to affirm a false sex for their child, agree to hormone blockers, and accept a transition to their son or daughter’s preferred gender. If parents refuse? Removal of the child from the family, due to alleged medical neglect.

"We are already seeing the first two waves of this strategy, according to Dr. Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians.  The first wave began in 2016 in the divorce and child custody setting, Cretella explained." . . .

Margot Cleveland is a senior contributor to The Federalist. Cleveland served nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk to a federal appellate judge and is a former full-time faculty member and current adjunct instructor at the college of business at the University of Notre Dame. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.

Cory Booker: ‘This Planet Simply Can’t Sustain’ People Eating Meat

If Democrats run the government, every day we will wake up dreading to discover what they plan to do to us next. TD

Elizabeth Harrington

Democrat 2020 hopeful is vegan because eating eggs 'didn't align with my spirit'

Tony Branco cartoon added by TD

"While claiming he does not want to lecture Americans on their diets, Booker says Americans need to be nudged into fake cheese because the planet cannot sustain the "environmental impact" of the food industry.

" 'You see the planet earth moving towards what is the Standard American Diet," Booker said. "We've seen this massive increase in consumption of meat produced by the industrial animal agriculture industry."

" 'The tragic reality is this planet simply can't sustain billions of people consuming industrially produced animal agriculture because of environmental impact," he said. "It's just not possible."

"Booker says the "devastating impact" of greenhouse gases produced by the meat industry is "just not practical."

" 'The numbers just don't add up," he said. "We will destroy our planet unless we start figuring out a better way forward when it comes to our climate change and our environment."

"Booker, who said his vegan "journey" began in 1992 when he became a vegetarian after reading Gandhi's biography, wants to make the "existing model" of the food industry "obsolete."

" 'You never change things by fighting what exists in reality; to change something, you gotta build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete," he said. "That's the deal here. American consumers should not be told what to eat, but if you provide viable alternatives, in some cases, that taste even better—and if people have more information, if we consumers are informed about whatever it is—the dangers of the overuse of plastics all the way to the conditions in which animals that we are consuming are being treated."

"Booker argues all his nonvegan friends "love" vegan food like his favorites, "vegan pancakes" and "vegan stuffed French toast.' " . . .

AOC: The Perfect Graduate of Today's Biased Colleges

Roger L. Simon  "In the immediate sense, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be the best thing to happen to the Republican Party since Abraham Lincoln. Her Green New Deal is as much dead in the water as it is brain dead and constitutes a fabulous talking point for the GOP to run on in 2020.
"But there is a point of concern — and in the long run a more important one.
"AOC represents the natural outgrowth of our extraordinarily biased higher educational system." . . .
"As I wrote elsewhere, only 20 percent of colleges have even one Republican on the faculty. Imagine the indoctrination that is going on. Imagine how much more attention is paid to Marx (and Marcuse and Gramsci, etc.) than to Adam Smith or Edmund Burke, let alone Aristotle, Aquinas, or even James Madison.
"Do you think AOC has read one word of Friedrich Hayek? Do you think that she has even heard of him? What do you think she knows of history in general? We already know how informed she is about the Middle East.
"This is a new form of proud Know-Nothingism. We can't even say it will come back to haunt us because it already is doing just that. Reforming our educational system is the most important mission of our time. Presidents come and go. Even media grandees come and go — after a while (too long a while). But education remains, shaping our future. Change it or everyone sitting in Congress will be AOC. (No it doesn't stand for All-Out Communist. But wait long enough and it could.)"

2020 Presidential Candidates: Quantity High, Quality Not 

Michelle Obama’s Grammys Buzz – A reminder of the mediocrity of Democrat presidential candidates  . . . Think about who have declared so far: Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Amy from Minnesota, Kirsten Gillibrand — all second tier politicians who will pick up the anti-Trump vote just by being Democrats, but not much more. Tulsi Gabbard is a new face nationally, but has too much Assad baggage. Julian Castro is the guy who had less responsibility as Mayor of San Antonio than Sarah Palin had as the Mayor of Wasilla.

"Think about who might enter the race: Joe Biden and Bernie? A smoocher and a socialist. Great. Actually, not great. Beto could generate some excitement, but he seems to be using campaigning as emotional therapy, not good. Bloomberg wants to take away your Big Gulps — yeah, that should work.

"If I were a Democrat looking at the present and future field of candidates, I’d be in a complete panic even though the general election is over 20 months away. Wishing for a Trump collapse is not a mature electoral strategy.

"Which gets me to the non-candidate candidate who has been playing her cards just right to set herself up to save the Democrat Party without having to dirty her hands in this early electoral season scrum.

"You heard me right: Michelle Obama is the Democrat 2020 frontrunner, even if she doesn’t want to be: . . ."

 A "salvation candidate"!   They're no longer "With Her"...