General Mattis on Obama

Consider the lineup of Democrat candidates today; which of them do you see as standing up to America's enemies? Below are excerpts only and the full story is at the links provided.

Mattis: Obama Failed to Respond to Iran Bomb Plot on U.S. Soil Because of Nuclear Deal  "After the surprise resignation of Secretary of Defense James Mattis last December, Democrats were quick to politicize the news, and have certainly been hoping ever since that Mattis would provide them with new information they could use to attack Donald Trump. He does have a memoir coming out, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, but it looks like it’s Barack Obama and Joe Biden who get the bulk of the criticism.
"Prior be being Secretary of Defense under Trump, Mattis served as commander of U.S. Central Command under Obama and Biden. Mattis had predicted that Iran would continue to provoke the United States. Mattis’s warning went ignored, and when Iran committed an act of war on American soil, he was not told about it, and the United States never responded to it. 
. . .
"Mattis writes, “Had the bomb gone off, those in the restaurant and on the street would have been ripped apart, blood rushing down sewer drains. It would have been the worst attack on us since 9/11. I sensed that only Iran’s impression of America’s impotence could have led them to risk such an act within a couple of miles of the White House, Absent one fundamental mistake — the terrorists had engaged an undercover DEA agent in an attempt to smuggle the bomb — the Iranians would have pulled off this devastating attack. Had that bomb exploded, it would have changed history.” 
"In response to the plot, Mattis believed a forceful reaction was necessary. “I believed we had to respond forcefully. My military options would raise the cost for this attack beyond anything the mullahs and the Qods generals could pay.” But, Obama wasn’t interested. “We treated an act of war as a law enforcement violation, jailing the low-level courier.”
"Why didn’t Obama want a forceful response to the act of war by Iran? His secret nuclear deal."
. . . 

“In my view, we had to hold Iran to account and strike back when attacked. But there was a reason for the administration’s restraint. The administration was secretly negotiating with Iran, although I was not privy to the details at the time.”

"Those negotiations would lead to the Iran nuclear deal, signed in 2015. Mattis is critical of the agreement, which President Trump withdrew from last year. “In my military judgment, America had undertaken a poorly calculated, long-shot gamble. At the same time, the administration was lecturing our Arab friends that they had to accommodate Iran as if it were a moderate neighbor in the region and not an enemy committed to their destruction,” Mattis writes. “As long as its leaders consider Iran less a nation-state than a revolutionary cause, Iran will remain a terrorist threat potentially more dangerous than Al Qaeda or ISIS.” . . .

Irena Sendler, the Polish Oskar Schindler is credited with saving 2,500 Polish Jews from the Holocaust.

Snopes takes issue only with the Nobel Nomination  There recently was a death of a 98 year old lady named Irena.

"During WWII, Iliana, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto.

"She had an ulterior motive…

"She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews.

"Iliana smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried, and she carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids).

"She also had a dog in the back, that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in, and out of the ghetto.

"The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

"During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.

"She was caught, and the Nazi’s broke both her legs, and arms, and beat her severely.

"Iliana kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out, and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.

"After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it, and reunited the family.

"Most of course had been gassed.

"Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes, or adopted." . . .

Her web site: Life in a Jar: the Irena Sendler Project. More on Irena here.

The story of the jars

. . . After the war she dug up the jars and used the notes to track down the 2,500 children she placed with adoptive families and to reunite them with relatives scattered across Europe. But most lost their families during the Holocaust in Nazi death camps. The children had known her only by her code name Jolanta. But years later, after she was honored for her wartime work, her picture appeared in a newspaper. "A man, a painter, telephoned me," said Sendler, "`I remember your face,' he said. `It was you who took me out of the ghetto.' I had many calls like that!"

In 2007, she was nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. At a special session in Poland's upper house of Parliament, President Lech Kaczynski announced the unanimous resolution to honor Irena Sendler for rescuing "the most defenseless victims of the Nazi ideology: the Jewish children." He referred to her as a "great heroine who can be justly named for the Nobel Peace Prize. She deserves great respect from our whole nation."
During the ceremony Elzbieta Ficowska, who was just six months old when she was saved by Irena Sendler, read out a letter on her behalf: “Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on this Earth, and not a title to glory,” Irena Sendler said in the letter, “Over a half-century has passed since the hell of the Holocaust, but its spectre still hangs over the world and doesn’t allow us to forget.”

In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.

Regarding the Nobel Prize, Snopes comments:

"Irena Sendler is often claimed to have been a candidate to receive the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, but that honor was not awarded to her. It’s not possible to state categorically that she was “nominated” for the award, since information about Nobel Prize “nominations, investigations, and opinions is kept secret for fifty years.” (Since 1974 the statutes of the Nobel Foundation have stated that “work produced by a person since deceased shall not be considered for an award,” so she presumably could not be subsequently honored.)"

However, her life timeline claims Irena was nominated for the Nobel:

• January 2007– Irena is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2007– Mandatory Holocaust education begins in Polish schools.
• August 2007– Lowell Milken Center opens, with Irena exhibit
• 2007– Irena does not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, but receives much acclaim.

Hat tip to Robert Hope, Sacramento.

CNN Keeps Pro-Trump Latino Off Air While Far Left Opinions From Donna Brazile, Shep Smith and Juan Williams All Over FOX News

100PercentFedUp  "The 2020 presidential election is only 14 months away, and the leftist media appears to be to ramping up their efforts to make only anti-Trump messaging available to their audiences. CNN, in particular, appears to be sending a message to guests who partake in their panel discussions—if you support President Trump, or even hint that you agree with anything he says or does…you’re no longer welcome on the low-ratings cable news network.
"Meanwhile, the new FOX News can’t seem to get enough opinions from Trump-hating hosts like Shep Smith, Neil Cavuto, Juan Williams and debate cheating queen, Donna Brazile.
"Less than two years ago, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson trashed the former interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile for giving Hillary Clinton the debate questions while she was employed by CNN. Now, Brazile is a regular host on FOX News, where she regularly spews anti-Trump on “The Five” as a guest co-host."

. . . 

People who work at CNN allegedly told Cortes that the network did not want to have him on air anymore because they could not have a Latino Trump supporter on television pushing back against the network’s attempts to paint the president as a racist.

"Three weeks ago, Cortes hosted a Prager University video where he debunked the lie that Trump was praising White Nationalists in the aftermath of the Charlottesville riots. So far, the video has already been viewed almost 3 million times." 

Surviving crew member thought phone charging station might have sparked boat fire

Roy Hauser, who designed the Conception and commissioned its construction in 1981, suggested another. He said he thought, based in part on footage he viewed of the wood-hulled boat being ravaged by fire, that the blaze started in the bunk area and spread so rapidly that the 34 people there could not get out.

LA Times  "One of the crew members aboard the dive boat Conception hadn’t been asleep long when a noise jolted him awake.
"He swung open the door of the wheelhouse — the top level of the 75-foot boat, located just above the galley — and was greeted by flames.
"As the fire raged in the predawn hours of Labor Day, the vessel’s captain made a frantic mayday call to the Coast Guard. Then he and four crew members jumped from the wheelhouse and climbed into a dinghy to get help from the Grape Escape, a fishing boat anchored nearby off Santa Cruz Island.
"Once aboard, the crew member who had been jolted awake shook as he recounted the horrific story to Grape Escape owner Shirley Hansen. His theory, Hansen said, was that the fire started in the galley, where cellphones and cameras had been plugged in to charge overnight.
" 'The impression I got was that the fire was already too big to do anything,” Hansen said in an interview Wednesday.
"The cause of the fire, which killed 34 people, is now the subject of an intensive investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal and county agencies. Investigators are trying to determine where and how it started." . . .

2014: How dangerous are phone chargers?

For example, if a product is charged on a flammable surface, that increases the chance of a fire spreading.

 Is it possible for a charger to catch fire when it is plugged into the wall but not charging anything?

The majority of electronics stay plugged in all the time. Jimmy Carter was ranting about this in the 70's. They do not cause a lot of fires spontaneously. The number isn't zero, but neither is the number of people struck by lightning.

A Calgary man found out first-hand how charging cell phones and other devices can pose a fire hazard.   . . .

• Locate your battery recharging station in a safe area, such as a tabletop clear of any other objects – never near anything flammable. Be careful not to overload any power bars or outlets.
• Whenever possible, recharge batteries while you are present in the home. Have a working smoke detector in the room where the batteries are being recharged, and make sure a fire extinguisher is nearby if needed.
• Shut off battery-powered devices, such as laptops and tablet computers, when they are not in use
• Do not leave laptops, tablets, cellphones or similar devices unattended on couches or beds, or in other areas where they may overheat and come into contact with potentially flammable materials. Ensure good air circulation around devices at all times.

10 tips to keep your phone from overheating

5 tips on how to stop your phone from overheating:

1. Avoid direct sunlight to your phone. The easiest way to prevent overheating is to keep your phone out of the sun. Your phone catches light and heat from the sun and retains it, getting hotter the longer it remains in sunlight and heat.
2. Turn off unused apps on your phone. Open, unused apps running in the background cause your phone to work harder, which in turn causes it to heat up. The solution is super simple – on an iPhone, for example, all you have to do is press your home button twice and swipe the apps away. Bonus: this will also increase your phone’s battery life.
3. Avoid turning your screen brightness up. Just the same as running background apps, turning your brightness up will force your battery to work harder and create more heat. Instead, look for an anti-glare cover for your device. This low cost solution can help you see your screen in the sun.
4. Turn your phone to airplane mode. Airplane mode allows you to continue to use basic functions on your phone, but turns off other non-essentials that can take a toll on your battery.
5. Take your case off. If your phone is overheating, your case isn’t helping. Taking the case off will allow the phone’s heat vents to do their job fully without being blocked, allowing your phone to cool down quicker.

Nadler's ship has sailed

Rich Terrell

Moment Of Sanity: The View Trashes Hollywood Actress’ Call To Put Trump Donors On An Enemies List

Matt Vespa

"For once, there was sanity on The View. And it was Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, who make up the core of the liberal wing of the ladies’ table, that were trashing Will and Grace star Debra Messing’s call to pretty much create an enemies’ list that named all the folks who donate to Donald Trump’s re-election effort. Of course, these clowns will say they don’t want violence to befall the people that they doxx, but no one is that dense. Okay—maybe in Hollywood, that’s the case—but there is not doubt that given the rise of left-wing extremism in the country that’s going underreported—cough* Antifa cough*–these folks will be harassed. And yes, there is a chance those targeted could end up being inflicted with bodily harm. Liberal America is insane.
"Goldberg and Behar were apt to point this out and to note that this is America, you can vote for Republicans without fear. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) created a firestorm in early August when he publicly disclosed the names of those who donated to Trump in his district. Some of those people had donated to him, which makes this move even more idiotic. Castro said he didn’t doxx anyone and does not wish violence or harassment to follow, but that’s exactly what happened because this is the real world, Juli—you insufferable moron. If The View gets it, so can you, congressman (via Newsbusters):
. . . 

But make no mistake, this is what the Left is going to do next year. They’re coming after us. We don’t vote with them, so we’re trash. Who cares what the Left thinks? Who cares what the liberal media thinks? If you support Trump, just don’t forget to vote on Election Day. Remind your friends, your neighbors, and your like-minded patriots to vote on Election Day. Also, don’t be queasy if attacked, fight back. And fight back with brutal fervor. 

Whoopi Goldberg Blasts Eric McCormack, Debra Messing For Hollywood Blacklist
"Neither "Will & Grace" star Debra Messing nor Eric McCormack are getting a lot of love from their Hollywood colleagues for openly promoting the blacklisting of conservatives working in the industry." . . .

Are Key Republican Leaders in D.C. Being Blackmailed?

“ . . .So now the Democrats are able to intimidate people into quitting elective office because they might be heckled at a restaurant or worse? There may be something to it. If we’re talking about people that haven’t been willing to fight for what they believe in, that could be a partial explanation." Rush Limbaugh

Trump alone stood up to this

2015; Wayne Allyn Root  "Are key Republican leaders in D.C. from the Senate, House and Supreme Court being blackmailed? Tell me you haven’t thought the exact same thing?" . . .
"Because what’s happening just isn’t normal. Please tell me how it’s possible that President Obama and his socialist cabal suffered the most massive and historic defeat in modern political history only 9 months ago- and since then they’ve gotten everything they’ve ever wanted handed to them on a silver platter. Does that make sense to you?
. . . "They are watching everything we do, everything we say, text, email, take out of our bank accounts. They know if we spit on the street. They know if we are having a fight with our spouse. They know what tax deductions we take. They know what stocks we own. Why is all that important? Because if you only use that information against the key members of one party, you control the country."

• Ask Dennis Hasert.
• Ask General David Petreus- they knew he was having an affair. Now he has a criminal record.
• Ask former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. He’s going to prison for stuff so minor, it almost makes you laugh. It’s almost as minor as taking your own money out of your own bank account.

We knew back then in 2015 that Democrats were capable of this. We saw it again when they congratulated themselves on destroying the life and family of Judge Kavanaugh and are open about continuing to persecute this good and decent man. Where will we ever find worthy and courageous people to go against the more and more radical left? (Kavanaugh-focused protests planned for next month)

Sept 4th, 2019: Why Are So Many House Republicans Retiring? From Rush Limbaugh: . . . "But yet another Republican’s retiring. Retiring! Why? Now, people will say, “Well, Rush, I’ll tell you what it is. The truth be known: There’s a bunch of Republicans that just can’t stand Trump.” That’s not what it is. That’s what they want you to think. That’s not what it is. You know what I think’s going on? I think — and don’t doubt me on that. I can’t prove this ’cause this is just a supposition. But I think based on how I have seen Democrats and their operatives act, I think — and that given that nobody, no human being is clean and pure as the wind-driven snow.

"We’ve all got something in our closets. We’ve all done something that we don’t want people to know about. I think the Democrats are finding dirt, and they’re going to these Republicans, and they’re saying, “Do you want people to know about this? We are glad to publicize this about you.” “Oh, no, no. No, no! Please don’t.” “Well, okay. Then you gotta retire.” Now, I can’t prove it, but some of this stuff — and some of it may be legitimate. I mean, people retiring after ten years, they may think it’s enough. It’s five terms.

"But it’s a lot of power to be giving up. But it just seems to be that these retirements are predominantly Republican, and it’s all happening under the radar. You hear about another retirement here, retirement there. They never add up in your mind. They’re all indiscriminate, little isolated stories — and what’s odd? Nothing’s odd about somebody retiring from Congress. But it seems there’s an exorbitant number of Republicans doing so, and I just have my suspicions about it. That’s all." . . .

. . . "But do not doubt me when I say that no human being is free of embarrassments that have accumulated over the course of his or her lifetime. I wouldn’t doubt some of these Democrats digging this stuff up… Look at the tweets that people write as teenagers that are coming back and destroying them five and six years later — which, by the way, I predicted. When I knew this was gonna happen… Remember the name Krystal Ball with a K? Some thought she was attractive. She was running for Congress, and she got elected, and some tweets came out.

"She posed nude when she 14 or 15. She was outraged. “How dare you!” I said, “What do you expect to happen? You put a picture of yourself nude on Facebook or MySpace or, you know, My Butt, whatever it is. Somebody’s gonna find that stuff.” I think some of that is going on, and it’s being used to… Dare I say the word “blackmail”? But threaten members. Now, as I say, the Republicans can do this, too, and they may be doing it in certain places. I don’t know." . . .

Rep. Bill Flores becomes 15th House Republican to announce plans to exit chamber

Beto the beta male apologizes for being, well, Robert Francis O'Rourke

At least Obama mainly apologized for his country; O'Rourke seems sorry for having been on this planet. Can he also be sorry for his Irish privilege? TD

‘Morning Joe’ to Beto O’Rourke: ‘Do Not Apologize for Being White’ and for...and for...and for...

“Beto stop apologizing. Do not apologize for being in Vanity Fair. Do not apologize for having a very rich father-in-law, own it. Do not apologize for taking Republican positions in the past,” Scarborough said. “Do not apologize for being white, do not apologize for being privileged.”  “Or for being a man,” co-host Mika Brzezinski added."  . . . "When he has made news, it has often been in response to activists who have demanded various forms of apology or contrition for “privileges” they accuse him of having for one reason or another." . . .

Beto O’Rourke Apologizes for His College-Newspaper Theater Review   Still, O’Rourke apologized, offering Politico this statement: “I am ashamed of what I wrote and I apologize. There is no excuse for making disrespectful and demeaning comments about women,” he said.

“Beto O’Rourke apologized Friday night for writings the former Texas representative made as a teenager describing fantasies about running over children with a vehicle,” reports the Daily Caller.  OK, now that was needed.

Too bland? I'm sorry.

Beto Complains About His ‘Privilege,’ Agrees Vanity Fair Cover was ‘Elitist’  . . . "White. Male. Privilege. Is anyone else sick of white males having to apologize for their race and sex?

"Give me a break. He expects this to relaunch his campaign? Because we all want a sad little man as the leader of this country." . . .

“Beto, whatever his name is, he’s apologized for being born,” Bloomberg said to laughter from the audience.  . . . “ 'It’s just not going to happen on a national level for somebody like me, starting where I am, unless I was willing to change all my views and go on what CNN called ‘an apology tour,’” he said, referencing some of his would-be opponents. “Joe Biden went out and apologized for being male, over 50, white.  . . .

Beto O'Rourke apologized to the staff of his Texas Senate campaign for being a 'giant a**hole' during the competitive, high-pressure 2018 contest  . . . "He apologized for [his] quote - which was criticized for being condescending and reeking of male privilege. "But he had to apologize again a short time later for telling a crowd in Iowa his wife is 'is raising, sometimes with my help,' their three kids." . . .

Nevertheless, Beto pivoted quickly from joking to groveling, appearing on a podcast to self-flagellate about his “white male privilege” and to apologize:  . . . "The real privilege Beto O’Rourke benefits from right now isn’t that of being white, or male, or having a supportive spouse. It’s the privilege he enjoys as a liberal media darling, lavished with attention befitting a celebrity (and spared, during his Texas senate race against Ted Cruz, from unpleasant stories about his youth by news outlets that were happy to bury bad news for him)." . . .  His "leftist privilege" as it were. TD

Beto O'Rourke: I have enjoyed white privilege

. . . "The real privilege Beto O’Rourke benefits from right now isn’t that of being white, or male, or having a supportive spouse. It’s the privilege he enjoys as a liberal media darling, lavished with attention befitting a celebrity (and spared, during his Texas senate race against Ted Cruz, from unpleasant stories about his youth by news outlets that were happy to bury bad news for him)." . . .

Ex-Trump strategist calls Beto O'Rourke a beta male  . . . " 'I describe O'Rourke as a 'beta' because that term is for guy who is immature. And from hiding from police after getting busted for a DUI, refusing to admit it years later, to cursing like a misfit teenager at public events to desperately seeking substance-free celebrity on social media, O'Rourke cements his 'beta' status," Braynard said. " . . .

From the Beto grooveyard:

Dramatic new before and after aerial photos show how parts of the Bahamas were obliterated by 185mph hurricane

Daily Mail  "Dramatic new before and after aerial photos show how parts of the Bahamas have been obliterated by winds of up to 185mph during deadly Hurricane Dorian.

"The shocking images depict the waste laid to the small keys that make up the Abaco Islands, north of Nassau, as ships were blown into harbors, thousands of houses were destroyed and seawater surged on to land.

"One image shows sailing vessels hundreds of meters on shore after being forced to run aground during the vicious hurricane which hit the area on Tuesday.

"Another pictures what was an area made up of scorched earth and narrow trees around Marsh Harbour Airport, now lying waterlogged and closely resembling a mangrove.

"Hurricane Dorian's center is moving parallel to Florida's northeastern coast as its outer bands threaten the Sunshine State with torrential rains and tropical storm-force winds.

"It has left at least seven dead in the Bahamas, where the prime minister said terrified residents had endured 'days of horror' at the hands of the monster storm." . . .

We Don't Trust You

Ann Coulter

It's not the underlying issue in any of these examples that's the problem -- it's the flouting of the democratic process. I'm not saying: We trusted you and got a bad result. I am saying: We trusted you, but you abandoned the Constitution and the law to get the result that you could not win honestly.

     "Like all Americans, I've been deeply moved and horrified by the recent spate of mass shootings. Surely, I thought, there must be some commonsense gun regulations that could put an end to the carnage -- red-flag laws, longer waiting periods, age limits, something!
     "Leaving aside the usual suspects, who are rushing to the microphones to demand the immediate confiscation of all guns, liberals are appealing to us to come together in good faith and formulate a plan to keep guns out of the hands of these monsters, using fair process and common sense.
     "The only problem is that no one on their side believes in good faith, fair process or common sense. Here's the reality: We don't trust the other side, nor should we.
Americans used to be able to rely on two bulwarks to protect us from stupidity:

1) Legal process -- The genius of our founders was to strictly limit the power of capricious, and often armed, government officials and to create a government of laws that made major changes difficult, but not impossible." . . .2) Common sense -- We also used to be able to assume that a basic reasonableness undergirded our society, flowing across generational lines, political divides, racial differences and policy disputes. Until the 1970s, for example, federal courts mostly enforced actual legal and constitutional rights on the books. The other branches of government tended to perform their roles in good faith -- or at least not in obvious bad faith.

     "Whether you were a Taft Republican or a JFK Democrat, you believed that we had a border, that people here illegally would be processed according to law, that there were two sexes, that free speech was a hallmark of our nation, and that a kid could dress up as a cowboy or Indian for Halloween without being branded a "racist."
. . . 
. . . "Surely, we can count on the next generation to believe in free speech down to the marrow of their bones. They clearly understand that college campuses, whatever else they are, must always be bastions of open inquiry and far-reaching debate. They obviously recognize the wisdom and majesty of the Constitution's Electoral College.

Nope! None of that is true.

"Actress Debra Messing is collecting names of Trump supporters for a new Hollywood blacklist. Armed and masked left-wing brown-shirts patrol the streets of Portland, Oregon, beating up suspected Trump supporters. I tweet, "It's a nice day," and 2,000 people respond that they hope I will die." . . .

The Brains Behind AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Royal Diadem Magazine . . . "Rather than Ocasio-Cortez actually running for a position in government because she desired to affect change, she is a paid “actor” who auditioned with the group Justice Democrats after her brother nominated her. Ocasio-Cortez was chosen by this outside political action committee out of more than 10,000 nominations to be the new mouthpiece to do the PAC’s bidding. You can view the video here, made before the exit of Saikat Chakrabarti:

Saikat Chakrabarti, and the organization Justice Democrats has some interesting history:

Comment to this post: They tapped a personality, just like they did with Barack Obama. Did anyone really think Obama was promoted in 2008 because of his accomplishments? That is too silly to even consider. They put him in a suit and propped him up because he's a charismatic black guy who would further their agenda to destroy America, and it's literally that simple.

The Wizards Behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Oz  
. . . "The words socialist and progressive are, of course, just euphemisms for communism, so rather than just continue to make sport of Ocasio-Cortez, which is admittedly fun, we need to peel back the onion and see just who is behind this fresh crop of outsiders infiltrating the nation’s Capitol. The men behind the curtain in Ocasio-Cortez’s Oz are Cenk Uygur, of the Young Turks, Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff, and Zack Exley, a board member of the Charlotte-based PAC Brand New Congress." . . .

AOC's Chief of Staff Saikat ChakrabartiIs Out. Is Pelosi to Blame?  "Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) right before the August recess. On Friday, one week later, AOC's office announced that her chief of staff and early patron, Saikat Chakrabarti, is leaving for a liberal nonprofit focused on the Green New Deal. Chakrabarti had made many high-profile flubs recently, but his worst offense involved a scathing attack on moderate Democrats. It is highly probable that Pelosi asked AOC to oust Chakrabarti in exchange for something AOC wanted." . . .

Saikat Chakrabarti, the brain behind Ocasio-Cortez to leave office  . . . "Chakrabarti has also been at the center of legal controversy. In April, he and Ocasio-Cortez were named in a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing them of overseeing a "shadowy web" of political action committees (PACs) that allowed them to raise more cash than they could have legally. The complaint also alleged that a limited liability company (LLC) was created to avoid federal expenditure requirements by offering Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic candidates political consulting services at a price so low that the company apparently shut down before the election was even over." . . .

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff, Comms Director Depart  . . . "After the rebuke, Pelosi’s allies within the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) moved simultaneously to defend the Speaker and attack the freshman congresswoman. A number of the CBC’s members, including Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), directed their anger at both Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff.

“ 'It shows you how ignorant and little history [Chakrabarti] knows, how ignorant he is to American history. How dare he,” Clay told The Hill.

"The Missouri Democrat extended his criticism to Justice Democrats, the group started by Chakrabart to support left-leaning primary challenges to establishment Democrats.

“I find it juvenile, their tactics, I find their ignorance to be beyond belief about American history and about who are really segregationists,” Clay said. “And so how dare they try to play the race card at this point, it shows you the weakness of their arguments.”

"Other moderates appeared to echo the sentiment, with some even anonymously calling for Chakrabarti’s ouster." . . .

 Allie Beth Stuckey on Backlash Over Video Spoofing Ocasio-Cortez.  

AOC would be a laugh riot if not for those behind her election. TD

A Perfect Distillation of Beto O’Rourke

National Review

"To make bastard use of the Lionel Trilling phrase, Beto O’Rourke’s bid for the White House has been but a series of “irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas.”

"O’Rourke’s campaign has wandered about the political wilderness in pursuit of some transcendent “moment,” one that might elevate it above that which it most plainly is: an ego trip for Robert Francis O’Rourke, who will not be the Democratic nominee, and never, in truth, was anything more than an heir to the Jon Ossoff–mania that so exercised a certain sort of MSNBC viewer. The Blue Wave has come and gone, but Beto O’Rourke has not.

"Beto went on CNN on Sunday desperate for a viral moment, one that might energize his campaign. It came while discussing the spate of mass shootings, when O’Rourke casually dropped the F-bomb mid-sentence, delivered with a certitude that captured the very essence of his candidacy — a caricature of authenticity. The vulgarity is shorthand meant to show that Beto is really serious, serious in a way you might not divine from his profligate use of a skateboard or insistence that the public watch him at the dentist. If you’re unconvinced, consider that in the immediate aftermath of the CNN interview, O’Rourke’s website started selling— what else? – profanity-laden t-shirts in honor of the episode.

"He is so serious.

15

"O’Rourke uses profanity as shorthand for seriousness. He skateboards as a crude stand-in for verve. His tabletop jeremiads beg for an energy from the audience that he does not and will never inspire. Clunky Spanish sentences delivered without a hint of affect are recited as though it they were genuine outreach. His trite bumper stickers are pathetic simulacra of the thoughtful, if misguided, policy solutions offered by some of his peers.

"The flashes of emotion and patented stop-start cadence belie O’Rourke’s capacity to pursue that most elusive — and demanding! — task: to traffic in the realm of ideas rather than mimetic innuendo. The CNN F-bomb is not merely a distillation of the O’Rourke campaign. It is the O’Rourke campaign: glorified performance art, laden with that most noxious pretense that voters will fall for it. Thus far, to their credit, they haven’t." . . .