Devin Nunes Devastates Schiff, Democrats With Fiery Opening Statement

Katie Pavlich  "During the first public impeachment inquiry hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes did not hold anything back and slammed Democrats for damaging the country. He also went after the media and again called on Hunter Biden to testify about allegations of corruption in Ukraine. "  . . .

"Nunes also called out Schiff for refusing to bring relevant Republican witnesses, including the "whistleblower" who kicked off the impeachment inquiry process, to testify. "
"You can watch his entire opening statement below." 

It Looks Like the Star Witnesses in Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Effort Just Torched the Democrats' Narrative . . . "This so-called whistleblower is a reported CIA agent, a registered Democrat, and has worked with a 2020 Democratic candidate. His complaint was viewed by Adam Schiff’s staff before it was filed. The first phase of this impeachment process was being carried out in secret. Democrats didn’t want open hearings. Open hearings are what exposed the collusion narrative as a hoax. They tried to keep this in the bunker for as long as they could, only giving Republicans on the committee brief summaries based on hours of testimony that could only be read with a Democratic staffer present. Schiff even directed witnesses to ignore GOP questions when this process was shrouded in secrecy (via Fox News):" . . .

Man Who Slashed ‘Baby Trump’ Balloon: ‘First Time’ Liberals ‘Mad About Chopping Up A Baby’

Daily Wire  "It’s safe to say that the Alabama “baby Trump” balloon-popper is not sorry for his actions.

"Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, the man who was charged with slashing liberals’ anti-Trump balloon at a Tuscaloosa protest last weekend, went on the “Rick & Bubba Show” Monday to defend his actions.
. . . 
“I see this stuff going on out west and up north and all other places,” he continued. “I get so mad about people not taking a stand.”
In Hutchinson’s view, taking a stand and popping the balloon was necessary, and even a moral good.". . .
“ 'I walked by and said ‘Lock this up,'” Hutchinson said, noting that protesters were yelling the co-opted pro-Trump “lock her up” chant about twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

  WZDX News

"Hutchinson also yelled “Trump 2020” as he was being arrested, he told the radio hosts." 
Full article.

Ten Reasons Impeachment Is Illegitimate

Victor Davis Hanson
We are witnessing constitutional government dissipating before our very eyes.

"There are at least ten reasons why the Democratic impeachment “inquiry” is a euphemism for an ongoing coup attempt.

"1) Impeachment 24/7. The impeachment “inquiry,” supposedly prompted by the president’s Ukrainian call, is simply the most recent in a long series of “coups” that sought to overturn the 2016 election and thus preclude a 2020 reelection bid. The pattern gives away the game.

"Usually the serial futile attempts to abort the Trump presidency — with the exception of the Mueller Dream-Team debacle — were each characterized by about a month of media-driven hysteria. We remember the voting-machines-fraud hoax, the initial 2017 impeachment effort, the attempt to warp the Electoral College voting, the Logan Act, the emoluments clause, the 25th Amendment, the McCabe-Rosenstein faux coup, and various Michael Avenatti–Stormy Daniels–Michael Cohen psychodramas.

"Ukraine then is not unique, but simply another mini-coup attempt that follows the last failed coup and that will presage another coup to take its place when it too fails to remove Trump." . . .

An outline on the content of the rest of this article: "There are at least ten reasons why the Democratic impeachment “inquiry” is a euphemism for an ongoing coup attempt.

2) Whistleblowers Who Are Not Whistleblowers.

3) First-term impeachment.

4) No Special Counsel Finding. 

5) No Bipartisanship. 

6) Impeachment without High Crimes or Misdemeanors. 

7) Thought Crimes? 

8) Different Standards of Justice.

9) The Schiff Factor.

10) Precedent. 

Bill Taylor: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Heavy  "Bill Taylor, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and the top diplomat for the United States there, is a career foreign service officer and Vietnam War veteran with experience in the Middle East. Specifically, he’s known now as the chargé d’affaires to Ukraine.

'Taylor, who is married to a religious scholar, is Tipper Gore’s first cousin. You can read more about the latter link here. Taylor’s mother Nancy Aitcheson Taylor and Tipper’s father John Kenneth Aitcheson Jr. were siblings.
"Taylor’s text message to Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the EU and a wealthy GOP donor and hotelier, is now the focal point of controversy over President Donald Trump and Ukraine. “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor wrote to Sondland on September 9, 2019 at 12:47 a.m. You can see the full text exchanges released by the House here.
" 'You can read Taylor’s statement to House lawmakers here. In it, he stated that there was an informal channel of communication with Ukraine that included President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. He claimed that Trump linked security assistance for Ukraine to the Ukrainian president’s willingness to publicly state that an investigation would be conducted into Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election interference.
"Sondland responded to Taylor at 5:19:35 a.m. on September 9, 2019, writing, “Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text If you still have concerns I recommend you give Lisa Kenna or S a call to discuss them directly. Thanks.” Sondland is now backing out of a closed-door House meeting; his lawyer says this was at the direction of the State Department." . . .

CNN President Jeff Zucker CONFRONTED by Project Veritas in ATL airport

Project Veritas   "CNN President Jeff Zucker refuses to answer questions on #ExposeCNN when confronted by Project Veritas reporter Eric Spracklen today in the Atlanta airport. No comment on Preisdent Trump’s threat to sue the network for bias and his employees allegations of sexual misconduct by Steve Brusk." . . .

Gabbard’s Campaign Demands Hillary Retract Her ‘Russian Asset' Comments

How's this for a Russian asset?

Beth Baumann  "Lawyers for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s presidential campaign on Monday sent a letter to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanding Clinton retract her previous comments suggesting Gabbard is a “Russian asset.” 
"The letter accuses Clinton of defamation, saying she knew her statements about Gabbard were blatantly false, Fox News reported. 
“ 'In making the statement, you knew it was false. Congresswoman Gabbard is not a Russian asset and is not being groomed by Russia,” the letter said. “Besides your statement, no law enforcement or intelligence agencies have claimed, much less presented any evidence, that Congresswoman Gabbard is a Russian asset. This fabricated story is so facially improbable that it is actionable as defamation.”

"Last month, Clinton said Russia was actively grooming one of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, although she didn't come out and directly say Gabbard's name.
“ 'I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. "She’s the favorite of the Russians," Clinton said during an interview on the Campaign HQ podcast. "They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. And, that’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset. Yeah, she’s a Russian asset. I mean, totally.”
"When Clinton's spokesperson was asked, point blank, if the statement was about Gabbard, the response inferred it was. “If the nesting doll fits,” the spokesperson said at the time." . . .

Hillary Clinton Asked To Leave Costco After Repeatedly Accusing Sample Lady Of Being A Russian Asset

They fear Roe may be overturned if Trump chooses another Supreme Court Justice. That may be what the current impeachment absurdity is all about. Planned Parenthood performs about 350k abortions a year. It is their bread and butter along with selling the body parts and organs of the aborted fetuses. They are not about to let anything interfere with their gravy train. Patricia McCarthy

Andrew Thomas blogs at Dark Angel Politics

Is impeachment all about the SCOTUS?  "The Democrats continue to embarrass themselves in their effort to remove President Trump from office. Adam Schiff, the face of their crusade, is an incompetent fool who never learned the first rule of holes.  He keeps digging.  He interrogates his chosen witnesses in secret, refuses to let the Republicans ask certain questions;  he orders the witnesses not to answer questions he does not like.   

For the public hearings he is allowing the Republicans no witnesses and ordered them not to even bring up the so-called whistleblower.  To do so would of course implicate Schiff himself and his underhanded, illegal manipulation of the process to jump-start this nonsensical inquiry over a phone call during which there was nothing inappropriate said by President Trump or President Zelensky.  Schiff knows this of course but assumes the rest of us are ignorant boobs incapable of noticing his abject misdirection, lunacy and malignity.  

"It is a safe bet that many of his Democrat colleagues in the House are disgusted by his tactics but are too spineless to object.  If they are not offended by what Schiff is doing, they all need to go for that would mean they all hope to ignore or at least abrogate the Constitution."

Nervous Nancy’s two alternatives  So, barring any major “smoking guns” from here on out (or anything else severely changing the landscape of these impeachment proceedings), Nancy Pelosi will have quite a decision on her hands.  She knows that any impeachment, to have any kind of historical validity, must have . . . broad, bipartisan support.  Here are the Speaker’s choices:" . . .

Donkey Hotey

. . . "With the vote tentatively scheduled to give America a Christmas present it will not soon forget, we will see just how Nervous Nancy chooses to “ring in the holidays.' ”

Hillary Clinton: I’m Facing ‘Enormous Pressure’ to Enter 2020 Race — I Want to ‘Retire’ Trump

Only fools believe anything this woman says.
Breitbart  "On Tuesday, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told BBC Radio 5 Live she was under “enormous pressure” to consider a 2020 White House run.

"When asked about her future in politics, Clinton said, “I feel a sense of responsibility partly because you know my name was on the ballot, I got more votes, but ended up losing to the current incumbent in the White House who I think is really undermining our democracy in very fundamental ways. And I want to retire him.”

"When asked if she is absolutely ruling out a 2020 run, Clinton said, “I, as I say never, never, never say never. I will certainly tell you. I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it. But as of this moment, sitting here in this studio talking to you, that is absolutely not in my plans.”

Thomas Lifson: Tulsi Gabbard campaign accuses Hillary Clinton of 'defamation'

. . . "Gabbard has a political future that could last decades, and she knows that the stain of the implication she is a "Russian asset" will never go away.  She is proud of her National Guard service overseas in combat zones.  And honor is a concept that means more in our armed services than in practically any other realm of modern life.  Gabbard's regard for her personal honor may be incomprehensible to many in modern America.

Gabbard and her organization must realize that Hillary Clinton does not handle apologies well.  In fact, I cannot recall a single actual apology from her in the nearly three decades I have followed her.  The closest I can recall is her referring to "shoulda, coulda, woulda" with regard to some mistake she made.  

The language her campaign is using in a letter to Clinton suggests an eye toward proving "actual malice," the legal standard that must be met for a public figure to succeed in a lawsuit.  Foreknowledge of the falseness of a claim along with animus toward the object of defamation must be proven.  Via Fox News:" . . .

Babylon Bee: Hillary Clinton Says She Is Being Urged To Run By Many, Many, Many Voices In Her Head  . . . "'I'm under enormous pressure from many, many, many voices in my head to think about it," she said. She went on, elaborating on all the voices that echo inside her head all day long. "There's Bob---he's nice. And Carl, he's a swell guy, very supportive. Then there's this voice that sounds like Christopher Walken. He's kind of a jerk sometimes, but even he's on board with me running again."
"Pressed for a solid figure, she said there's "at least a few thousand" of these voices that want her to run, and she promised to think about it in order to appease the voices. Clinton also said the voices have told her she's done a great job as president in her first term and they "can't wait" to see how much she can accomplish for the country should she be elected a second time." . . .

Breaking: Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Lawsuit To Proceed, Major Blow To Gun Manufacturers

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in March that Remington can be sued because of the way the AR-15-style Bushmaster rifle was marketed. The families’ lawsuit contends that Remington glorified the gun in advertising aimed at young people, including in violent video games.The Sandy Hook killer, Adam Lanza, was 20 when he shot and killed his mother at home, then went to the Newtown school and gunned down first-graders and educators. Lanza then killed himself.

Young Conservative  "Tuesday, The Supreme Court refused to protect a major firearms manufacturer from possible liability in the horrific Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. The terrible event left 26 students and teachers dead in Newtown, Connecticut.
"The justices’ newly found decision will allow the lawsuit filed by parents of Sandy Hook Elementary victims to move forward with the allegation of Remington Arms Co. marketing the rifle used in the mass shooting.

"The lawsuit will continue at the state law." . . .

After this mass murder I posted the following in the Tunnel Wall:
"Nothing has hit me as hard as the Sandy Hook children's massacre after which I wrote this:"
"Seeking an effective argument FOR gun control (Posted here after the terrible Sandy Hook massacre) " 

The Tunnel Wall; Tuesday, December 18, 2012 Here, two respected writers discuss the case against taking away individual firearms from Americans. Yes, it is true that if guns did not exist everywhere in this nation those little children in Sandy Hook would be living right now and I only wish that were the case. But it is not and there are violent people out there in their thousands and they are armed; willing and lusting to watch innocent people die in bunches by their hands. How, exactly do you gun-control advocates plan to remove those weapons from their blood-thirsty hands?I will honestly look for a reasoned argument FOR gun control that contains effective means for keeping us safe from those who carry weapons illegally and are willing to do us harm. Cartoons showing crazed, wild-eyed gun owners don't wash.As yet, I have seen only politically correct, emotional responses to the issue that have no value other than simply making a politician look as if they are doing something. TD

Later in 2018 I posted this in the Tunnel Wall:

"Let's talk about gun control, shall we? "

After Sandy Hook, I hated guns and my emotions cried for them to all disappear; the image of terrified children being, well, you all know. But we know, too, that peaceful people and shop owners - the Korean store owners during the LA riots protecting their businesses comes to mind - will be the first to lose their protection. Those with children serving as policemen would dread the thought of them entering dangerous areas of cities like Chicago to try taking those guns away.This nation has a myriad of evil people with guns who have no qualms about killing others because of the color of their skin or their clothes, their politics, their shoes, or, well, just because it's a certain day of the week.I cannot help but blame the liberal left (redundant, perhaps) for creating a society  where we need weapons to protect ourselves and knowing now they want to take away that protection.Tell me again why the coach / security guard in the school at Parkland had no gun. The Tunnel Dweller

The Schiff witch trials

"Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime"; "Lavrentiy Beria, the most ruthless and longest-serving secret police chief in Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia and Eastern Europe, bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent."

Andrew Thomas blogs at Dark Angel Politics

Schiff is running an autocratic, inexplicable "inquiry" reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial.

Schiff is like Scent of a Woman's Trask: mean, without respect for any individual in his way.  He is like the tormentors of Josef K. in Kafka's book; he has no compassion, no concern for due process.  Like Trask the hardened headmaster, Schiff is a truly terrible example of what a member of Congress should be.  He is, as we have come to see, malevolent, on a mission to sabotage the Trump presidency by any means available to him, even if immoral and unconstitutional.  He is the worst sort of human being: a man without a conscience.  The question of the day is, why are the Republicans standing still for this? 

Victor Davis Hanson: Ten Reasons Why Impeachment Is Illegitimate

We are witnessing constitutional government dissipating before our very eyes.

 "There are at least ten reasons why the Democratic impeachment “inquiry” is a euphemism for an ongoing coup attempt.

"1) Impeachment 24/7. The impeachment “inquiry,” supposedly prompted by the president’s Ukrainian call, is simply the most recent in a long series of “coups” that sought to overturn the 2016 election and thus preclude a 2020 reelection bid. The pattern gives away the game." . . .

. . . "All of these efforts reflect a desperate effort both to reverse the 2016 election and to preclude a 2020 reelection effort, and, barring that, to drive down the Trump polls to the point of making him delegitimized. A week after Trump was elected, the Wall Street Journal reported that intelligence agencies were withholding information from their president. “Anonymous,” in a September 5, 2018, New York Times op-ed, bragged of an ongoing “resistance” of high-ranking government officials seeking to stonewall Trump. As soon as Trump was inaugurated, Washington lawyer and former Obama official Rosa Brooks was publicly raising the possibility of a military coup to remove him. Retired admiral William McRaven recently called for Trump to be gone — “the sooner, the better.' ” . . .

Tulsi vs Clinton

GABBARD V. CLINTON, CONTINUED  "Earlier today, a lawyer representing Tulsi Gabbard wrote to Hillary Clinton accusing her of defaming Gabbard by calling her a Russian asset and demanding a retraction:

A letter from the Gabbard campaign’s legal counsel insisted that Gabbard is not a Russian asset, and that Clinton knew the statement was untrue when she said it.

"It is almost impossible for a public official like Tulsi Gabbard to win a defamation case under existing law, but Clinton’s claim was so ridiculous that Tulsi might have a shot." . . .

Confronted with blowback over her deranged accusation, Clinton tried to back off by claiming that she meant Tulsi was a Republican, not a Russian, asset. That wasn’t what she said, of course, and the Gabbard campaign is having none of it: . . .

Emphasis mine in order to show how a "congenital liar" responds to faux pas like this. TD 

‘Go back to California’: Wave of newcomers fuels backlash in Boise

California bashing is a cyclical sport with a long history in the heart of Idaho’s Treasure Valley. Growth spurts have more than doubled Boise’s population since the 1980 census. Four months before federal counters hit the streets here that year, a Washington Post headline crowed, “To Most Idahoans, A Plague of Locusts Is Californians.”

Boise mayoral candidate Wayne Richey.

LA Times  BOISE, Idaho — This city sure knows how to roll up the welcome mat — that is, if you happen to move here from California.
'Just consider last week’s mayoral election. It was the most competitive race in recent memory, a referendum on growth in the rapidly expanding capital of Idaho. And candidate Wayne Richey ran on a very simple platform: Stop the California invasion.
'His basic plan to fulfill that campaign promise? “Trash the place.”
'Richey figured that would be the best way to keep deep-pocketed Golden Staters from moving to his leafy hometown. He blames them for pushing home prices and rents up so high that Boiseans can’t afford to live here on the meager wages most Idaho jobs pay."  . . .