Team Obama’s Unmasking Dodge

Washington News Daily

"The media are mostly ignoring the news that 39 Obama officials sought to read the transcripts of Michael Flynn’s conversations with foreigners, but here and there they’ve asked a question. The unpersuasive answers suggest there’s more to learn.

"Take Joe Biden, who “unmasked” Flynn only a few days before leaving office as Vice President. Last week Biden told ABC that he knew “nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn.” George Stephanopoulos reminded Biden that he attended a Jan. 5, 2017 Oval Office meeting when the FBI’s Flynn investigation was discussed. Biden replied that he’d misheard the question and admitted he was “aware that there was, that they’d asked for, an investigation. But that’s all I know about it.”

"This was more straightforward than what Biden told MSNBC when he was asked about his “involvement in the investigation of Michael Flynn.” Biden replied: “I was never a part or had any knowledge of any criminal investigation into Flynn while I was in office.”

"Except at the time there was no criminal investigation into Flynn—as Biden knows. In 2016 The FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Flynn, and it was under that pretense that it conducted the interview in which it later claimed that Flynn lied. The lack of a criminal investigation is the primary reason the Justice Department moved this month to drop its prosecution. Biden still hasn’t explained why he personally unmasked Flynn.

"James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, defended his unmasking of Flynn as “perfectly legitimate.” Clapper told CNN that he had a professional duty to investigate the “numerous engagements by representatives of the Trump camp with Russians.” As he told Sirius XM’s “The Joe Madison Show”: “People would be derelict if they didn’t have enough curiosity to inquire what was going on.' ” . . .

TV Personality Explains Why WaPo’s Stacey Abrams Photo Fiasco Is Harmful for Both the Media and America

RedState  "My RedState colleague Nick Arama wrote Sunday about a ridiculous photo of failed 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams that appeared alongside an article published in Washington Post Magazine.

"The picture has to be seen to be believed:

·May 16
"Pandemonium ensues as she walks to the far left of the stage, like a runway supermodel, stops on a dime, poses, tilts her head slightly and smiles. Camera flashes explode. She next pivots and walks slowly to the center of the stage, freezes there and repeats the pose."

. . . "The accompanying article was, of course, a puff piece – like many mainstream media articles written about Abrams have been. Freelance writer Jeryl Bier tweeted out one of the more noteworthy snippets: . . ."

It is good to be a Democrat:  

CNN Reporter Who Ripped off Her Mask Has a New Talking Point, Immediately Undermines It

RedState  "CNN’s Kaitlan Collins is not too happy that a video of her removing her mask the moment she thought the cameras had turned off has gone viral (see Busted: CNN Reporter Who Chastised Trump for Non-Mask Usage Rips Off Mask the Moment She Thinks the Cameras Are Off). In fact, it’s gone so viral that President Trump and his sons have gotten in on sharing it.

"For background, here’s the original video." . . .

. . . "That’s a cute deflection, but it ignores the reality of her behavior. Collins is not just a bystander here. She has actively criticized the Trump administration for not wearing masks, even at outdoor briefings where people are socially distanced. She’s also written articles on the matter, again taking shots over non-mask usage by the President. If she’s going to be such a Karen about this matter, she can’t then be the person who rips their mask off when they think no one who will tell is looking. She wasn’t socially distancing when she removed her mask. She was doing the opposite, walking into the crowd of her colleagues after taking it off. That’s hypocrisy and deserves to be called out. . . .

Something about whose ox is being gored and the horse she rode in on, I suppose. I dunno.

The Left Is What It Once Loathed

"What is the Left, then? Mostly a Jacobin party that operates ad hoc, without principle, or consistency. "

Victor Davis Hanson

. . . "Indeed, the ACLU was outraged at what the committee revealed. [liberal Senator Frank] Church  was deified as a liberal hero uncovering government abuse. About the worst thing a government could do, liberals reminded us, was to spy on its own citizens. 
"Then we were also warned that the scandal was the result of the government, for over 30 years, targeting mostly liberals on grounds of trumped-up suspicions that they were sympathetic to Communism in general and the Soviet Union in particular. Yet in addition, the Left argued that the state had no business spying on any American at all, unless it had a certified warrant and ample criminal cause—or we found ourselves in a war with enemies at home among us.
"And now?  
"Russia is no longer a global Communist superpower rival. Yet the Obama Administration’s CIA, NSA, and FBI were every bit as obsessed with Vladimir Putin as had the old Right worried about Leonid Brezhnev—as if a contemporary kleptocratic thug lording over a failed and shrinking state posed the same existential dangers as a Communist dictator reigning over a huge postwar empire dedicated to destroying the free world. 
"Actually, at the behest of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the U.S. earlier had reached out to Putin in a naïve, flawed “reset” appeasement that failed. So, the Obama Administration’s about-face obsession with Putin the monster always was largely a convenient gambit of wanting to destroy the Trump campaign, transition, and presidency." . . .. . . "A free watchdog press? Again, hardly. According to early liberal monitoring of presidential news coverage, roughly 93 percent of the news has been anti-Trump. The media by its own admissions—remember the editorialization from those like Jorge Ramos, Jim Rutenberg, or Christiane Amanpour?—believes it cannot be disinterested, given the alleged existential threat Donald Trump supposedly poses to America." . . .

. . . "A free watchdog press? Again, hardly. According to early liberal monitoring of presidential news coverage, roughly 93 percent of the news has been anti-Trump. The media by its own admissions—remember the editorialization from those like Jorge Ramos, Jim Rutenberg, or Christiane Amanpour?—believes it cannot be disinterested, given the alleged existential threat Donald Trump supposedly poses to America.
"Race? The Left sanctions racial separatism, even to the extent of marking off racially exclusive spaces on campus or allowing students to veto roommates on the basis of their race.
"Feminism and Sexual Harassment and Assault? It depends. Statutes of limitations and he said/she said evidence are of no importance if it means stopping a conservative Supreme Court judge, but they most certainly do apply if they impair a Democratic presidential candidacy." . . .

Jacobin:  Dominican:  [French, from Jacobin Dominican; from the group's founding in the Dominican convent in Paris] : a member of an extremist or radical political group  especially : a member of such a group advocating egalitarian democracy and engaging in terrorist activities during the French Revolution of 1789

Rogue Judge Sullivan

There’s no end to the tormenting of Michael Flynn — but a writ of mandamus from the Justice Department should put a stop to it.

The American Spectator

This has gone on far too long, and at far too great a cost to Flynn and his family. The DoJ should slap Sullivan with a writ of mandamus to the D.C. Circuit immediately. There is no  reason for the toll of this injustice to continue to mount.

     "Emmet Sullivan, the U.S. District Court judge presiding over the Michael Flynn criminal trial, has delayed ruling on the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss all charges against Flynn in order to get a third party’s views.
     "Sullivan’s action is unconstitutional, cruel, and an enormous abuse of his judicial power.
     "A federal criminal case has only two parties, the defendant and the federal prosecutors, for very fundamental reasons. The enforcement of federal law is a function of only the executive branch under Article 2 of the Constitution. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure enable some interested parties to intervene to protect their interests in civil cases. There is no analogous provision in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, again, because the prosecutor stands for all the public and its interests.
     "Sullivan has appointed former U.S. district court judge John Gleeson to oppose the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss and, reportedly, to argue that Sullivan should hold Flynn guilty of perjury for falsely confessing to crimes he didn’t commit. That is unconstitutional under the controlling precedents because it violates the Separation of Powers doctrine of constitutional law which mandates that the power of one branch of government cannot be seized and used by another branch." . . .

Flynn sentencing hits sour note: Darcy cartoon

Hero worship of Obama contrasted with the man's character

Unmasking the Illegalities of the Obama Administration  . . . There is nothing new about Obama seeking private information in order to smear a political opponent.  It was well known that when he ran for the Senate in 2004, a California judge ruled that the divorce papers of his opponent, Republican Jack Ryan, be released.  Both Ryan and his wife argued that the disclosure of the closed records would be harmful to their son, and they both opposed public disclosure of the documents.  With the release of those documents, Ryan withdrew from the U.S. Senate election, and Obama sailed into the Senate without an opponent.  That scheme was not a new tactic for candidate Obama.  His opponent in the primary, Blair Hull, was also a divorced man with sealed records from 1998.  In the infamous Chicago, Illinois politics in 2004, an enterprising reporter "discovered" that Hull's wife had previously sought a protective order against her husband.  Obama "cruised to victory" in the primary — with the impossible odds of the same circumstances enabling him to win the general election against Ryan.  One analyst described Obama as "lucky with his enemies" — a man with a fortunate history of "hapless opponents.' " . . .

. . . "[acting director of National Intelligence Richard]Grenell has released the names of sixteen Obama officials who specifically targeted Michael Flynn by requesting that his name be "unmasked" on documents recounting his conversations with Kislyak.  In fact, during a two-month period after the 2016 election, Lee Smith, of the New York Post, reported that there were 49 requests to unmask General Flynn — a clear indication that Flynn was chosen because he was "one of Trump's 'most trusted advisers,'" thus his conversations could reveal Trump's plans.

Courage a prerequisite; Why conservatives find opposing Obama intimidating 

All Things Obama; 2008

Lindsey's Obamaphobia

President Obama must be called to testify, for it is he who gave the marching orders that started the whole corrupt Deep State coup. Close scrutiny of the intelligence community’s actions by Durham and Barr should send chills up Clapper’s spine and that of former CIA Director John Brennan’s as well 

Daniel John Sobieski  "Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who loves to bloviate on cable news and the talk shows, is the man who has launched a thousand excuses to not hold hearings on the Deep State attempt to overthrow duly elected President Donald J. Trump. Can’t muddy up the waters with all this stuff going on, Graham opined. He just might disturb someone else’s investigation.

"Running out of excuses and time, Graham has scheduled hearings in June, but with one very important proviso -- with all evidence pointing to Barack Hussein Obama as the architect and quarterback of the coup, particularly the Jan. 5 White House meeting that set up Lt. Gen Michael Flynn, Lindsey Graham wants Obama and links to him to be off limits. Lisa Page told FBI lover Peter Strzok, “POTUS wants to know everything we’re doing.” Graham wants to hear nothing about what Obama was doing, at least not from the unindicted co-conspirator himself.
"The fire Graham showed during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings has been extinguished, it seems. As Sen. John McCain’s best bud shrinks under the responsibility of actually chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee against hostile Democrats. President Trump has had enough of Sen. Milquetoast’s ambivalence and waffling:

“If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “He knew EVERYTHING.”

“Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it,” he continued. “No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!”  

. . . "No more Mr. Nice Guy, Lindsey. This fish rots from the head. Let Obama try to pull a Lois Lerner and invoke the Fifth Amendment. Exposing this criminal fraud would set a good precedent and go a long way toward Trump’s goal of assuring that this never happen[s] to another president." . . .
Daniel John Sobieski is a former editorial writer for Investor’s Business Daily and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.  

The writer asks Republicans to go against all this public worship. To stand against Obama will bring this press treatment:

Now this is adapting! 'Light and Love' - Sing Out @Home Virtual Choir

How people adapt these days

Young Professionals Choral Collective  "The Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC) of Cincinnati presents: Sing Out @Home - a remote virtual choir project that features over 75 performers and collaborators from across the YPCC community. Connecting people is at the heart of everything YPCC. This project was initiated in response to the COVID-19 crisis as a way to strengthen community connections beyond our homes. Find out more about YPCC's virtual choir project at https://www.ypccsing.org/virtual
"Thanks to support from a generous grant given by the David C. Herriman Fund at Greater Cincinnati Foundation, YPCC launched the Young Professional Composers Project in 2020. This project is designed to commission young professional composers to write original choral works and further engage these composers with YPCC and the Cincinnati community. Sing Out @Home features 'Light and Love,' composed by Jacob Stone and commissioned by YPCC. Find out more about the Young Professional Composers Project, 'Light and Love,' and composer Jacob Stone at https://www.ypccsing.org/composer. "The Young Professionals Choral Collective is an innovative choral ensemble that combines Cincinnati’s love of singing, socializing and culture for young professionals ages 21-45. The organizations singer roster is comprised of more than 1,000 young professionals who create and share high-quality music in an accessible, fun, and social way." . . .

General Flynn investigation 'has tarnished Obama's legacy'

MSN  via Sky News  "There is increasing evidence the flawed investigation into US "President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has "tarnished" the legacy of the Obama administration, according to American political analyst Michael Doran.
"General Flynn admitted making false statements when FBI agents interviewed him on January 24, 2017, about a series of phone calls he made with the Russian ambassador in 2016.
"He pleaded guilty and was due to be sentenced, but earlier this month the Justice Department dropped its criminal case against him.
"The Justice Department argued there was no justification to interview Mr Flynn at the time, so any lies he told were not "material" to the FBI and thus do not constitute a crime.
"Mr Doran told Sky News early indications show some FBI investigators may be facing indictments for their role in the scandal.
" 'The inability of the mainstream media to admit now there is considerable evidence that General Flynn was framed is amazing," he said. "I think there will be some indictments, and I think they will be coming soon.
" 'The prosecutor Attorney General Barr designated very quietly to go to work on this, all signs are there are going to be indictments."

Women's soccer player Rapinoe featured in FOX psa; why? To use Rapinoe's own words, "we can do better".

This has come to the forefront for me after watching a PSA on Fox News by Megan Rapinoe, making me wonder why her? Why hold her up as a spokesman after her reprehensible behavior toward the American flag and our president? I would think this to be too disrespectful even for CNN and MSNBC.  More here

From the June 2019 UK Daily Mail: 'It's important for us to celebrate together': US women's soccer team defends 'disgusting' celebrations during 13-0 World Cup thrashing of Thailand saying 'it's disrespectful if we don't show up and give our best' after leaving their opposition in tears
. . . 'They're the No. 1 team in the world and for me, I'm disgusted, honestly. 

'As a Canadian we would just never ever think of doing something like that ... For me it's disrespectful, it's disgraceful,' said Kyle on the Tuesday's TSN broadcast, according to the Globe and Mail.   
"Kyel responded to the death threats on Twitter."  . . .

Everyone’s new soccer hero Megan Rapinoe is actually kind of awful
As liberals stand in praise for Rapinoe, I'm taking a knee. TD

Kelley O’Hara should be the honored one!  . . . “I know dragging it on the ground and throwing it down like it’s a piece of paper isn’t part of that. It’s not hard to hand it off and celebrate. Your coaching staff or trainers are there to take it. Damn Amazing disrespect for a photo op,” he wrote, addressing Long, then adding a thank-you to O’Hara for picking up the flag." . . .   Watch it on video
. . . "The moment prompted a social media firestorm as users called out Long for the disrespectful act during a moment of American celebration.

Benghazi hero John “TIG” Tiegen pointed out that the blunder happened despite the fact that players were briefed on proper flag etiquette.
“I know dragging it on the ground and throwing it down like it’s a piece of paper isn’t part of that. It’s not hard to hand it off and celebrate. Your coaching staff or trainers are there to take it. Damn Amazing disrespect for a photo op,” he wrote, addressing Long, then adding a thank-you to O’Hara for picking up the flag" . . .

Less than two weeks ahead of the victory, Rapinoe was asked if she would visit the White House after a victory.“I’m not going to the fu*king White House,” Rapinoe responded at the time, as reported by Fox News. “No fu*king way will we be invited to the White House. [Trump] tries to avoid inviting a team that might decline. Or, like he did when the [Golden State] Warriors turned him down, he’ll claim they hadn’t been invited in the first place.”Rapinoe has previously described herself as a “walking protest” and has kneeled for the national anthem

. . . Soccer star Megan Rapinoe is making the U.S. Women's soccer team World Cup win all about herself while trashing America and our President. Rapinoe had the opportunity to use her platform for something productive, but instead she decided to take the Colin Kaepernick route. The DC's Stephanie Hamill minces no words when discussing Rapinoe's latest comments and actions."

Iran Harassed The US Navy Under Obama. Here's Why It Stopped Under Trump

Shortly after Trump's election, the incidents noticeably stopped despite Trump's open hostility towards Iran, compared to Obama's attempts to appease them

Task & Purpose  "Iran's navy made a point of harassing and humiliating U.S. Navy vessels in 2016 after then-President Barack Obama sealed the Iran nuclear deal, but the U.S. says Things have changed since August 2017.
"It seems like they've absolutely made a conscious decision to give us more space," Navy Cmdr. William Urban recently said. "That is definitely a change in their behavior."

"During Obama's presidency, Iran would charge Navy ships with fast attack craft, buzz fighter jets with drones, and even shine lasers at helicopters operating at sea.

"But the worst, most embarrassing incident occurred in January 2016, when Iran's navy seized two Navy riverine boats and the 10 sailors on board after the ship wandered into 

Iranian waters due to mechanical issues. They broadcast footage of the sailors, crying, in detention, on television across the country. Iran later announced plans to build a monument commemorating the event

"U.S. Navy riverine sailors detained by Iranian forces on Jan. 12, 2016 off Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf.Fars News Agency

"Later that year Iranian ships conducted "unsafe and unprofessional," and often taunting, maneuvers around Navy ships in the Persian Gulf five times in about a month.

"In September of that same year, Trump addressed Iran while on the campaign trail. "When they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our 

people that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water," Trump said." . . .

Navy commander surrendered to Iran to protect Obama's nuclear deal  . . . "The incident, which played out as President Obama was preparing his State of the Union address, proved deeply embarrassing to the U.S. military and roiled diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington as they were trying to implement key measures in the deal to curb Iran’s suspect nuclear programs.

"Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, said Thursday that the mishandling of the incident resulted from “the accumulation of a number of small problems” created by the U.S. sailors who strayed into Iranian waters all the way up to the senior commanders who led the Navy squadron and task force under which the unit served." . . .
"One sailor reportedly made “statements adverse to U.S. interests” during interrogation. As the Iranians videotaped their captives for later display on state television, another sailor encouraged the U.S. crew members to accept food offered to them.
"One unidentified sailor was said to have violated the code of conduct standards when he “acquiesced” in making an Iranian-scripted statement on camera in exchange for the crew’s release.
“It was a mistake that was our fault and we apologize for our mistake,” a U.S. sailor, identified as the commander of one of the patrol boats, said during the videotaped apology. “ 'It was a misunderstanding. We did not mean to go into Iranian territorial water. The Iranian behavior was fantastic while we were here. We thank you very much for your hospitality and your assistance.”

Democrats Drunk With Pandemic Power Could be Undercutting Themselves Come November

This governor, as we know, is hardly alone, as the petulant Pennsylvania tyrant is part of a widespread mob of Democratic governors who have been intoxicated by the sudden discovery of power they can impose on the citizenry.

Townhall  "Flexing unearned influence has exposed the thirst for control of their citizens.
"In Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf caught a whiff of his constituents working up the desire to step out and start living their lives once again. The idea of citizens exerting their freedoms and basking in the normalcy of liberty was too much for him to stand. On Monday he sent out a tweet storm, delivering a series of firm commands of how he intends to clamp down on those who might dare get the idea of doing things.
" 'Today I am announcing consequences for counties that do not abide by the law to remain closed,’’ said the Wolf cub in his opening salvo, the concept of federalism trickling down to the local level becoming an insult to him. He threatened to cut off non-compliant counties from federal relief aid if they dared defy his executive order and grant the voters the choice to decide for their own lives and livelihoods. He then extended his punitive promises further.
"He went on to threaten businesses that might open in defiance of his iron-fisted decree, telling them they could be cited, they might see their liability insurance threatened, and bars and restaurants might end up with their liquor licenses revoked. As threats go, Wolf could see this becoming a rather neutered one; if an establishment is facing foreclosure all together then running the risk of the governor’s tantrum-like wrath could be one worth taking." . . . 

Pandemic Panic Has Magnified The Worst Impulses Of The Power-Hungry Elite . . . 
"Media pundits, impervious to the suffering this crisis is causing Americans, persist in trying to use the pandemic to trap President Trump and instill panic. “How many deaths are acceptable, Mr. President?” “Why don’t you shut down the grocery stores, Mr. President?” The list goes on.  
"It’s time to stop pretending such folks have any interest in the public good. Let’s stop enabling them by taking their policy prescriptions at face value. Instead, I daresay we should confront them by questioning their motives and real goals. No matter how this pandemic ends, we owe it to ourselves and our posterity to put that mindset under a microscope and try to diagnose it." . . .

Astonishingly, they also want to ban hydroxychloroquine because it could prove to be an effective treatment for Wuhan virus symptoms as we wait for a vaccine. It’s an outlook that also hopes for a stock market crash, ruining the retirement plans of millions of Americans. Many of these folks also run cover for the totalitarian regime of communist China, which suppressed critical information about the outbreak in Wuhan, unleashing the virus on the world.