POTUS pardons ex-Army lieutenant convicted of killing suspected Al Qaeda terrorist in 2009

iOTW Report  "FOX: President Trump has pardoned a former Army lieutenant who was convicted in 2009 of killing an Iraqi prisoner suspected of being an Al Qaeda terrorist, the White House announced Monday evening.

"White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders cited “broad support” for Michael Behenna, of Edmond, Okla., “from the military, Oklahoma elected officials, and the public” — including 37 generals and admirals, along with a former Pentagon inspector general — as the reason for Trump’s clemency grant. Sanders also said Behenna had been a “model prisoner” while serving his sentence.

“ 'In light of these facts, Mr. Behenna is entirely deserving of this Grant of Executive Clemency,” Sanders concluded.

"A military court originally sentenced Behenna to 25 years for unpremeditated murder in a combat zone. However, the Army’s highest appellate court noted concern about how the trial court had handled Behenna’s claim of self-defense, Sanders said. The Army Clemency and Parole Board reduced his sentence to 15 years and paroled him in 2014, as soon as he was eligible.

"Behenna acknowledged during his 2008 trial that instead of taking prisoner Ali Mansur home as he was ordered, he took the man to a railroad culvert, stripped him, and then questioned him at gunpoint about a roadside bombing that had killed two members of Behenna’s platoon.   more

If the Clinton's were an investment for you, it's too late to sell

Rich Terrell

‘An Evening With The Clintons’ Tour Ends, Ticket Prices Plummet To $2.00  . . . "The tour dates were scheduled in Clinton-friendly cities yet the struggle to put warm bodies in seats was real. Still, audience reaction has been mixed. Just last month in New York City, a tour stop brought Haitian protesters and a man in a front-row seat yelling out, “Bill, this is boring!” Ouch! That night at the Beacon Theatre, the moderator was Clinton loyalist and political consultant Paul Begala.

"Friday night’s date at Seattle’s WaMu Theater brought out the true blue Clinton supporters. The stop in Seattle, a liberal haven in the great Northwest, included actor Bradley Whitford as the moderator. Does that name sound familiar? Whitford played the role of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in The West Wing. Whitford plays the role of a political activist in real life. This week he will co-host a fundraiser in Los Angeles for Mayor Pete’s presidential campaign. Ticket prices in Seattle were deeply discounted." . . .

Hillary's solid supporters never tire of hearing her say this. . . . "What she's been telling candidates who went to her: "You can run the best campaign, you can even become the nominee, and you can have the election stolen from you.' "

. . . "More than two years after her loss to Donald Trump, she is still unable to accept the fact that she isn’t the leader of the free world. The Democrats have moved on and are now in the process of determining who will run for president in 2020. The Clinton era is over. Finally."

‘Still too much’: Clintons’ speaking tour prices slashed, available for less than $14

. . . "Tickets can be purchased for less than $14. Saturday evening’s show in Los Angeles saw prices drop as low as $6, while tickets for Friday’s event in Seattle could be picked up for $20. It’s a far cry from when Hillary used to reportedly command $275,000 to make speeches to Wall Street firms." . . .

She must miss the good old days when she was treated like royalty (2014)

" . . ."a presidential suite" for her and "up to three (3) adjoining or contiguous single rooms" for her staff."The Democratic presidential front-runner's "standard travel expenses" also included a chartered airplane, which should be "Gulfstream 450 or larger jet," according to the paper's information request concerning her UNLV appearance this October."Clinton's speaking agency further expected "all ground transportation" to be covered, as well as "all phone charges/cell phones and meals during their stay." "Clinton, a former secretary of state, senator, and first lady, is well-known for her speaking engagements, which are said to command fees north of $200,000. Her staff has previously touted that she donates the money to the Clinton Foundation and that she also gives free speeches." . . .

Don Surber: "The gay mayor is boring"

First, there was the skateboarding, um, oh...I forget. The main reason Democrats love a candidate is that they adore him? 

Mayor Pete's adoration hook is that he has promoted a non-existing hoax dispute against Vice President Pence, leaving the VP wondering where did THAT come from? TD

Don Surber  "South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is gay and running for president. His surname is pronounced Boot-edge-edge and he is gay and running for president. He has a husband because he is gay and running for president.

"Did I mention he is gay and running for president?

"Because he is gay. And he is running for president.

"I tried to find where he stands on the issues. I went to his campaign web site.

"There is no issues area. He posted no positions on anything. He is all about his bio. He is a military veteran. He is mayor of a mid-sized city. And oh, did I mention he is gay and running for president?" . . .
"What does he want to debate President Donald John Trump on?

Immigration?
The wall?
Tax policy?
Foreign policy?
Tariffs?
Nukes in North Korea?
Health care?

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"He told Deutsch, "And if somebody wants to raise the question of which one of us has a more traditional attitude on marriage, we can have that fight."

"Why have that fight? Because he is gay and running for president."

Why Progressive Anti-Semitism — and Why Now?

Victor Davis Hanson

Jew-hatred has a natural home on the multicultural Left, and ‘woke’ culture demands that leftists hate anything Trump supports — especially Israel.

"The New York Times International Edition recently published an anti-Semitic cartoon of a dachshund with the face of Benjamin Netanyahu. The composite animal was leading a hunched Donald Trump who had on dark sunglasses, as if blind, and a yarmulke.

"Almost immediately, everyone pointed out that the theme of doglike Jews pulling along their clueless befuddled blinded “Aryan” masters was a favorite in Hitler’s Germany. The theme, style, and imagery of the cartoon might have trumped what was often published in Der Stürmer, the Nazi megaphone of propagandist Julius Streicher. The latter was hanged after the Nuremberg Trials for two decades of fomenting the Jew hatred that helped lead to the Holocaust.

"Stranger still, at first the New York Times merely explained how the sick cartoon got published in its international edition, but without an apology for its publication. Its subsequent second-try mea culpa was rendered a pathetic joke when, a few days later, the paper published yet another incoherent anti-Semitic cartoon of a Benjamin Netanyahu, this time as some sort of blind Moses with selfie stick in one hand and a stone tablet with the Star of David in the other, as he descends from Mount Sinai.

"It has been noted that the Times has had a long history of anti-Semitism, dating to before World War II, and, after that, of serial anti-Israel venom. Certainly, if the cartoon had similarly portrayed any other ethnic or religious group (except heterosexual white Christians), the Times would immediately have fired anyone remotely involved in running such trash. Was it any surprise that the Times recently referenced Jesus as a Palestinian rather than Jewish?" . . .

CNN cutting staff by as many as 300 jobs

Most likely, few if any prominent on-camera personalities will be taking buyouts or will get pink slips. It will be more anonymous staffers suffering the damage. While CNN has actively driven away its viewers, the network still has continuing revenue from cable and satellite providers that helps cushion the decline in advertising revenue that will inevitably follow its ratings crash.

Thomas Lifson  "Maybe President Trump ought to use the adjective “failing” in front of CNN instead of the New York Times. In point of fact, Trump hatred has been good for the Gray Lady, with digital subscriptions up substantially (over $700 million in revenue last year) as the paper became the premier source of anti-Trump fulminations.  

"But with CNN, the story is very different. The network that pioneered cable news long ago lost its dominant position to Fox News, and since Donald Trump became president has bet its future on the Russia Hoax – and lost. Bigtime. FromThe Hill:

CNN's prime-time ratings dropped a whopping 26 percent in April compared to last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.

MSNBC's ratings were down 14 percent in April 2019 compared to April 2018, while Fox News's ratings overall were flat.

The sharp decrease for CNN marked its lowest-rated month in total viewers since October 2015.

"Most humiliatingly, CNN now is a distant third place in the ratings among cable news providers:

In prime time, Fox News finished first with an average of 2.4 million viewers. In April 2018, the network also averaged 2.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

MSNBC was second with an average of 1.66 million viewers, down from 1.93 million in April 2018.

CNN was third with 767,000 average primetime viewers, down from 1.04 million in April 2018.

"A plan unveiled yesterday shows that CNN is cutting costs and downsizing its staff. Paula Blyard reports at PJ Media:" . . .

 An example of hard-hitting reportage seen at CNN as done by Dan Lothian's penetrating question of Barack Obama as he speaks nonsense to power:

CNN to Obama: Are GOP candidates “uninformed, out of touch, or irresponsible”

Then Mr. Obama gives us his signature, That's not who we are speech.

VDH: The Fright of James Comey

In the meantime, expect James Comey to continue his frenetic pace on TV, radio, and in op-eds attacking William Barr and Donald Trump in deathly fear that his illegal behavior may finally have a legal accounting.

Victor Davis Hanson  "In a recent op-ed, fired FBI Director James Comey was back again preaching to the nation about the dangers of Donald Trump and his capacity to corrupt any top-ranking federal official of lower character than Comey’s own.

"Comey seems to have become utterly unhinged by Donald Trump, especially when the president, in his thick Queens accent, scoffs in the vernacular—quite accurately, given the transgressions of the FBI hierarchy—about “crooked cops.” What an affront to Comey’s complexity, his subtlety, his sophistication, his feigned Hamlet-like self-doubt—at least as now expressed in his latest incarnation asTwitter’s Kahlil Gibran.

"One can say a number of things about the timing of Comey’s latest sermon and his characteristic projection of his own sins on to others.

"First, Comey’s unprofessionalism was home-grown and certainly did not need any help from President Trump. His schizophrenic behavior both as a prosecutor and investigator in the Hillary Clinton email matter was marked by exempting Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin from indictment, despite their lying to his own federal officials about their knowledge of a private Clinton email server. Comey wrote his summation of the Clinton email investigation before he had even interviewed the former secretary of state. He was hardly independent from a recused Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the Clinton email investigation. As her rubbery courier he bent to her directives on all key decisions that led to de facto exoneration of likely next president Hillary Clinton.

"Second, Attorney General William Barr is soon to receive a number of criminal referrals from Congress, inspectors general, and perhaps other prosecutors. He won’t allow collusion hysteria to cause him to recuse himself in the manner in which Jeff Sessions sidelined himself and elevated Rod Rosenstein." . . .

The Democrats Are Humanitarian Frauds on the Border

Rachael Bovard

"The evidence that Democrats are now an unapologetically open borders party is piling up, and Republicans need to start calling them on it.

"From opposing expanded detention facilities, actively blocking legislation to fix family separation policies, and even voting against legislation that would prohibit illegal immigrants from voting, it’s becoming abundantly clear what Democrats want out of U.S. immigration policy: open borders, new voters, and a system that never actually gets fixed, so they can use it as a cudgel against Republicans.

"Consider that just days after the family separation policy erupted, Republicans brought bills to the floor to fix the 1997 Flores settlement—the governing legal agreement which doesn’t allow children to be detained longer than 20 days. In practice, this means that individuals or families who show up with a minor are either separated from that minor and detained for processing, or the entire family unit is simply released into the interior of the country while awaiting a court date.

"Republicans brought legislation to the floor of the Senate which would vitiate the Flores settlement and allow family units here illegally to be detained and processed together. But Democrats, after howling about the cruelty of the Trump administration’s strict reading of the current separation law, then turned around and repeatedly blocked Republican efforts to fix it.

"The move was transparently cynical. Democrats were “unwilling to have the votes that it takes to make sure family units stay together,” observed U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.), “because the drama of tearing families apart looks so much better on TV.' ” . . .

Also from Rachael Bovard: Democrats’ Sanctuary Hypocrisy Shines Through

. . . "But this should not be a surprise, given that lip service is a Democratic specialty. Look no further than their response to a suggestion by the Trump administration to release detained immigrants into “sanctuary cities”—cities who intentionally disregard federal immigration enforcement law." . . .

Oh, Beto, we hardly knew ye

"Beto’s campaign, sparse and directionless as it is, has been an experiment in what happens when an overgrown child runs for president. What he stands for, what he’s fighting for, what the entire point is of an unemployed flash-in-the-pan former congressman vying for the White House, are questions that remain up in the air."

Taylor Lewis  "The once wunderkind from El Paso has lost his shine of late, and is now being eclipsed polling-wise by a Midwestern mayor whose sexual predilection scratches off one of the Democrats’ diversity boxes. Perhaps O’Rourke’s gringoish nickname is no longer fooling liberal voters; after all, his baptismal name of “Robert Francis” is the kind of icky Anglo-Irish stuff that is de trop in the diversity party.

"Or, in a crowd of divas and inflated egos with legs, maybe Beto O’Rourke’s assumed qualities no longer stand out. Anyone can give a speech while practicing a manic form of port de bras. Even at a spry 77 years of age, Bernie Sanders has mastered the art of stern finger-pointing and raising his arms barely above his torso.

"Maybe Beto supporters once held out hope the rapid flapping of his arms would somehow help him take flight, like a bird after rooting for scraps at the hustings.

"It might even be the case that Beto’s schtick, callow and self-possessed as it was, has just worn thin. Existential crisis in the form of a road trip? Please. The Beat era has long passed. So, why’s the former Texas congressman acting like Ike Eisenhower is still in the White House?

"Beto’s one-man kitchen-sink drama has lost purchase among the Democrat faithful, particularly women. How do I know? The barometer for insipid progressive opinion: “The View.”

"The prating ladies of the daytime cable gabfest have lost interest in the Democrats’ former Sirius in a powder-blue button-up. What they object to isn’t Beto’s desperate attempt to compensate for his dearth of substantive policies by releasing pie-in-the-sky proposals for ridding America of Sunoco stations by 2050. What they take umbrage with is Beto’s knack for leaving his wife and kids and driving aimlessly around the country, visiting rustic locals and munching on flapjacks at way station diners.

“No woman could ever lose running for Senate, then go on a Jack Kerouac road trip, abandoning his wife and kids, finding himself,” Meghan McCain vented. Whoopi Goldberg, nobody’s idea of a culturally conservative mother, concurred: “If you have children as a woman… you can go… [but] nobody will understand.”

Goldberg then imitated Beto with all the theatricality of an Elizabethan actress. “Men are always…’ Oh, I’ve got to find myself.’” Lord, what fools these mortals be, indeed." . . .

"American society"; "the wisdom of the American voter", all made manifest in cheers of youthful girls as the candidate skateboards onto his campaign stage."

Beyonce And Jay Z Want Michelle Obama For President 2020, Beyonce Cries With Blue Ivy Over Donald Trump Win

Inquisitr, 2016  . . . “They are both convinced that she would be the ultimate candidate, and have spoken to the first lady about the possibility of this many times. With [Donald] Trump winning, Beyonce will continue to encourage Michelle to run for president in 2020.”

"Beyonce and Jay Z desperately want Michelle Obama to run for president in 2020 after learning about Donald Trump’s win, according to The USA News Online." . . .

2016: The outgoing First Lady has consistently held higher approval ratings than her husband throughout his administration – and her supporters want her to be the next Obama in the Oval Office

But nowadays...Don’t rule out Michelle Obama as Democrats’ Hail Mary Pass to prevent a Bernie apocalypse  "Michelle Obama has repeatedly said she doesn’t want to run for president, and she will not run for president.

"I believe her. But her husband once made a declaration that he would not run for president, until he did.

"We have been on Michelle-for-President-watch longer than just about anyone else:

• Get Ready for Michelle Obama 2020 (September 10, 2017)
• Michelle Obama 2020. Yes She Can. But will she run? (January 29, 2018)
• Michelle Obama 2020 coming into focus with Memoirs release just after 2018 midterms (February 25, 2018)
• Michelle Obama may be best Dem hope for 2020, but says she doesn’t want the job (April 7, 2018)
• Rasmussen Poll: Michelle Obama would beat Trump (November 19, 2018)
• Michelle Obama’s Grammys Buzz – A reminder of the mediocrity of Democrat presidential candidates (February 11, 2019)
• With Bread Line Bernie rising, expect Michelle-mentum (February 21, 2019)

"The logic of Michelle as Hail Mary Pass is as clear as it ever was. At least to me.

"The Democratic field is expanding, with Joe Biden set to announce tomorrow, if someone remembers to wake him up.

"And therein lies the problem. It’s Bernie’s nomination to lose. He may lose, but there’s no obvious person, other than Biden perhaps, who can stop him.

"I don’t believe that establishment and non-lunatic Democrats will allow a Bernie nomination. Bernie as nominee would be extraordinarily risky to Democrats. He’s not only a socialist, he wants the Boston Marathon Bomber to be able to vote from prison!

"Is there any doubt for whom, as between Trump and Bernie, the Boston Marathon Bomber would vote? Republican attack ad makers never had it so easy?". . .

Venezuelan socialism victims send message to American socialists

Townhall

Campus Reform  "Amid a historic uprising in Venezuela, where opposition leader Juan Guaidó is attempting to overthrow socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, some Venezuelan expatriates here in the United States have a dire warning for American socialists: don't do it.

While President Donald Trump has stated that America "will never be a socialist country," a number of 2020 Democrat presidential candidates are pushing what they call Democratic Socliast policies. And, as Campus Reform has repeatedly m.reported, the popularity of socialism has been on the rise, especially among college students. 

"According to Gallup, the majority of Democrats view socialism more favorably than Capitalism.

"People who support socialism had ever heard from people who’ve suffered under it, Campus Reform's Cabot Phillips headed to a Venezuelan Freedom rally in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. It soon became abundantly clear that the Venezuelans in attendance were horrified by the idea of bringing socialism to the United States. Asking them, “What is your message to those who want socialism here,” the attendees were in agreement: don’t do it. “You do not ever want anything close to socialism,” one attendee said, while another added, “people are eating from trash cans in the streets, so how has socialism helped?”Another attendee, whose family is still in Venezuela, said, “No Venezuelan can like socialism, because we’ve seen it put in place very well.”

The free speech stories this week you may have missed

https://legalinsurrection.com/

Campus Reform  "It was quite a week when it comes to free speech on college campuses. Campus Reform covered six incidents in five states where conservative individuals or groups faced censorship or disruption while exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech. 

"The multiple incidents occurred as two Oklahoma's governor signed into law a campus free speech bill, and the Texas legislature inched closer to sending a campus free speech bill to its governor's desk. If Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs a campus free speech bill into law, which he has said he will, the Lone Star State would become the 13th state to have passed campus free speech legislation. Fifteen other states have introduced, but not passed, campus free speech legislation. 

"Here's a map and brief roundup of the stories you may have missed: " . . .

Read entire article here.

Missouri lawmaker faces calls to resign after posting ‘I hope Trump is assassinated’ on Facebook

Flex Mag  "A Missouri lawmaker is under mounting pressure to resign after she said on social media she hopes President Trump is assassinated, following his response to violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
"Democratic state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal went on her personal Facebook page Thursday morning to vent two days after the president blamed “both sides” for the brutality.
“I put up a statement saying, ‘I really hate Trump. He’s causing trauma and nightmares.’ That was my original post,” she told the Kansas City Star. The Facebook post received many responses, Chappelle-Nadal said, and to one she replied, “I hope Trump is assassinated!” 
“ 'There are people who are afraid of white supremacists,” she added. “There are people who are having nightmares. There are people who are afraid of going out in the streets. It’s worse than even Ferguson.”
"Though the senator quickly deleted the comment, an image of the statement swept social media, catching the attention of the Secret Service and prompting calls for her to step down.
"The Secret Service said it is “looking into the comments,” adding that all threats made against the president, vice president and other protected people are investigated, whether the threats are direct, implied or made in [anger?].
"Chappelle-Nadal later explained that she didn’t actually wish harm to come to Trump but wrote it out of frustration."

Missouri lawmaker faces calls to resign after posting ‘I hope Trump is assassinated’ on Facebook  . . . "Meanwhile, the Missouri House on Wednesday opted to open an ethics review of Republican State Rep. Warren Love, who is white, for an August Facebook post in which he called for those responsible for defacing a Confederate monument in Springfield, Missouri, to be “hung from a tall tree with a long rope.”

"After that post, the Missouri Democratic Party called for Love’s resignation, saying his words brought to mind the lynchings of black people. Love said his words were “cowboy slang” and not a call for lynchings. He soon apologized “to all who this post offended.'”.