Miscellaneous news, good and, well, not so good; Jan 31

Obama taught Joe all he knows about red lines.

Trump 'Victim's' Cringeworthy Laugh Over Legal Victory Shows How Unserious She Really Was – PJ Media

E. Jean Carroll, who was awarded a $83.3 million settlement from a New York jury against Donald Trump, is making big plans on what she'll do with the money. If you believe in equal justice, it will be one of the most cringeworthy things you'll ever see. Even MSNBC host Rachel Maddow thought it was just a bit off-putting. It was almost as cringe as when Carroll told a stunned Anderson Cooper on CNN about how rape was "sexy."

 "Carroll also accused former CBS Chief Les Moonves of rape, but she didn't bring a lawsuit against him because she said, "he'd just deny it." In this latest case brought by Carroll, she accused Trump of defaming her when he denied the attack."

Tsunami of Illegals Sent to Sanctuary Cities Will Continue Until Biden Closes Border – RedState

"Posting on the X platform, Abbott made the perfectly reasonable case that Texas border towns should not foot the bill for Biden's open border policy and will, therefore, continue to send illegal arrivals to so-called "sanctuary cities" such as New York and Chicago until Biden takes decisive action." . . .

Secret Obama Memo Could Impact Jack Smith's Classified Documents Case Against Trump by Cristina Laila   . . ."Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment against former President Trump, claims “Trump was not authorized to possess or retain…classified documents.” But Obama’s PITC memo may have created a reasonable belief in President Trump that he, in fact, had such authority. Additionally, if the records Trump allegedly destroyed are still preserved within the EOP or the U.S. Department of Defense as part of PITC-created information systems, then other claims in the indictment may be baseless.  

"These explosive findings are consistent with America First Legal’s whitepaper contending that the President of the United States has absolute authority over presidential papers. Neither Congress nor the federal courts may lawfully abrogate or limit this authority."

A Troubled, Perhaps Desperate Clyburn, Reminds Young Black Voters if They Don't Vote Biden "They Ain't Black" - The Last Refuge

. . ."Making matters worse for Clyburn, and by extension Obama, and by extension Biden, many of the younger black voters are aligned with the non-pretending Donald Trump; the guy who actually has delivered on things that are important to them. It’s harder to hate the white guy when the results from the white guy reflect the absence of anything about racial division."

Don’t Mock the Los Angeles Times’ Loss - The American Spectator   . . ."Journalism experienced one of its darkest days last week when the Los Angeles Times laid off 115 of my fellow left-wing activists, roughly 20 percent of the entire staff. Already the reverberations are being felt in Hollywood, where crucial journalistic pieces have been scuttled, including one examining why it’s insensitive for Holocaust films to exclude black, brown, and transgender Jews from being murdered by Nazis.

"Don’t believe me? That’s the problem with modern-day journalism. Nobody believes us any more, for reasons I’ve yet to define. The late Rush Limbaugh once said that journalism is the only business where the customer is always wrong. And it’s the only thing Rush ever got correct.

"Our customers, by and large, are uneducated and racist and need to be told what to think. When they complain about consequential stories like “White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color,” they merely grunt their own ignorance because we all know that only white people drive in Los Angeles and, unlike the minority population, do not breath air." . . .

The Babylon Bee took note of this chance for some parody:

Laid-Off LA Times Reporter Sits On Street Corner With Sign Reading 'Will Call You Racist For Food' | Babylon Bee

. . ." 'I spent years at the Times accusing people of being racist for wanting to solve issues like homelessness, immigration, inflation, diabetes, obesity, male-pattern baldness, rat infestations; you name it!" Gonzalez said. "I'd be happy to call anyone you want racist in exchange for a vegan burger or an ethically sourced soy oat milk caramel mocha frappuccino.' "

Obamas favorite dictatorship. Iran

 

Iran Threatens to Strike Back – HotAir   . . ."So what else can they do as a “response?” They would probably just continue shooting more things down and launching attacks against our military outposts and/or against Israel. But they’re doing that already, so it’s not that much of an increased threat. If there is any way to get Iran to back down, it will likely require a serious show of force that the Mullahs will be unable to ignore. That’s why I suggested taking out Salami and a couple hundred of his IRGC footsoldiers. He shouldn’t be that hard to find. If that doesn’t work we could drop some bunker busters on their nuclear facilities or take out a few of their naval vessels." . . .

Biden beware: US must fully consider response to soldiers’ deaths – or risk Iran escalation | Middle East and north Africa | The Guardian

. . ."Wesley Clark, a retired general who was once Nato’s supreme commander in Europe, wrote on X: “The US should stop saying, ‘We don’t want to escalate.’ This invites them to attack us. Stop calling our strikes ‘retaliation’. This is reactive. Take out their capabilities and strike hard at the source: Iran.”

"Biden will now be sensitive to accusations of weakness on the world stage as his fight for re-election – almost certainly against Donald Trump – begins in earnest. But airstrikes in Iran would be a huge step. There may well have been US covert military operations in Iran since the Islamic revolution of 1979, but never an overt strike. Trump came the closest, ordering strikes on Iran with missiles and warplanes in June 2019 in retaliation for the downing of a US drone, but he rescinded the launch order with 10 minutes to go. He said he changed his mind because of the estimated civilian casualties and the consequent risk of an all-out US-Iran war." . . .

Biden needs to 'wake up' on Iran, regional conflict is already here: Jack Keane (msn.com)     Video with Gen. Jack Keane

THE FALL OF ROME, UPDATED; Ann Coulter

 Ann Coulter 

"You want open borders? Go back to the laissez-faire country of the 1940s. Great idea, Ann! Except it’ll never happen because of all the third-worlders already living and voting here. The only thing that works, ever would work and ever will work is mass deportations and a gigantic wall." AC

The Week

"Third-worlders killed three Americans in Jordan over the weekend, and our political establishment is ready to start World War III. Which is more of a national security threat: terrorists 6,000 miles away, or our wide-open border?

"People have different ways of evaluating threats, but the most basic test is: Which one kills more U.S. citizens?

"Americans killed by Islamic terrorists in Islamic lands so far this year: 3.

"Americans killed by third-worlders who entered our country illegally so far this year: 150.

"I’m not even counting the 100,000 Americans who die annually of fentanyl and meth delivered by Mexican drug cartels. That’s 270 deaths a day right there.

"But overdose deaths, I’m told, can’t be blamed on Mexico because Americans voluntarily took the drugs. I note that this is the only circumstance in which we’re allowed to blame the addict. In every other context, it’s not the druggie’s fault. It’s a “disease”! Just hand us your checkbook so we can fund the addict’s lifestyle and endless stints in rehab.

"So we’ll ignore those dead Americans, just like open-borders enthusiasts do." . . .

Watch: Migrants Brutally Attack NYC Cops, Get Freed from Jail without Bail

Wanted in midtown for assaulting an NYPD officer.
.
It was reported to police that on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at approximately 2030 hours, officers attempted to disperse a disorderly group in front of 220 West 42 Street when a physical altercation ensued. When officers… pic.twitter.com/PrTDkqmoJt

— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) January 30, 2024

Meanwhile: Pro-Lifers Found Guilty, Face 11 Years in Prison for Peaceful Protest   

 “The Biden Department of Justice’s pattern of arresting and prosecuting peaceful pro-life advocates is disturbing,” Crampton added, noting criticism of the FBI’s alleged targeting of pro-life activists, despite the flood of attacks on pro-life centers and churches by pro-abortion activists following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

Joe Biden's Stupid Plan to Avenge Fallen US Troops: Tell Iran We're Coming, Then Provide the Target List

"Biden was also the only member of Barack Obama’s inner circle to vote against going after Osama bin Laden when the CIA finally found him because he didn’t trust the SEALs."

Andrew Malcolm – RedState "This president of the United States has done so many stupid things in his endless presidency, often intentionally. The incidents glide by day after day like flotsam on a swollen river, and no one does anything but shake their head.

"Joe Biden has done it again. But this time, he’s put even more of our valiant military volunteers' lives at risk.

"Over the weekend, Iran-backed militants managed to slip an armed drone past the alert system at a U.S. Army base in Jordan. The explosion killed three members of the military and wounded more than three dozen others.

" 'I don’t know precisely how you measure pressure in the D.C. Swamp, likely by the decibel level of publicly squawking to media. This time, it was mostly Republicans calling on Biden to take some form of retaliation other than his standard silence. Biden's weakness in foreign affairs is a major theme of the campaign.

"Biden, you may recall, was not forced to seek the presidency. He volunteered to become commander-in-chief, though he had no military experience, like his two immediate predecessors.

"Biden is well-known among Washington-types for his oft-stated disdain for and distrust of the military. He's also well-known for being 81 and acting even older.

"You might remember how moved he was at the solemn return of the military bodies from the homicide bombing at the Kabul airport during the botched Afghan troop exit, checking his watch at least three times as the bodies were unloaded.

"That whole exit chaos was caused by Biden ignoring military advice to leave some troops there to oversee an orderly evacuation. Biden didn’t. The evacuation turned into days of deadly panic and chaos, which Biden continues to call “an extraordinary success.” . . .

Obama, on the other hand, was not stupid like Biden; he was sinister and vindictive. We all assume Joe has handlers; is this how they handle him? TD

More Bad News for Harvard As Its Finances Take Another Massive Hit

  RedState

"In October, meanwhile, shipping and chemicals magnate Idan Ofer and his wife Batia -- worth an estimated $14 billion -- resigned from their positions on the executive board of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government over their anger about the antisemitic student groups on campus supporting the Hamas attack."

"Harvard University's finances may be about to take another significant hit. 

"The Harvard Crimson reported on Tuesday that billionaire hedge fund manager and megadonor Kenneth C. Griffin would be pausing his donations to the university. 

"Griffin, who donated $300 million to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, announced his decision during his keynote address Managed Funds Association in Miami on Tuesday. 

“I’d like that to change and I have made that clear to members of the corporate board,” he said. “But until Harvard makes it very clear that they’re going to resume their role as educating young American men and women to be leaders, to be problem solvers, to take on difficult issues, I’m not interested in supporting the institution.”

"The 55-year-old added that he was tired of "whiny snowflakes" promoting their far-left progressive ideology through various methods like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. 

“Will America’s elite university get back to their roots of educating American children – young adults – to be the future leaders of our country or are they going to maintain being lost in the wilderness of microaggressions, a DEI agenda that seems to have no real endgame, and just being loss in the wilderness?” Griffin asked.

. . ."Griffin's announcement comes several weeks after the university's far-left president, Claudine Gay, reluctantly announced her resignation after giving Congressional testimony in which she refused to condemn calls by Harvard students for genocide as well as a growing body of evidence that she was a serial plagiarizer. "

Predictably and sickeningly, Gay "blamed it on "personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus" rather than her personal failures." TD

UNRWA: ‘Not just a few bad apples’; American youth becoming 'bad apples'

 UN workers in Gaza kidnapped Israeli woman and gave weapons to Hamas (msn.com)

"The dossier also said some 10 per cent of all of the agency’s 13,000 members of staff in Gaza had ties to Islamist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to a separate report by the Wall Street Journal.

"A senior Israeli government official told The Wall Street Journal: “UNRWA’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the Oct 7 massacre.

“ 'The institution as a whole is a haven for Hamas’ radical ideology.”

"Three of those monitored by Israeli intelligence officers received text messages ordering them to report to muster points on Oct 7, the New York Times reported. 

"Another UNRWA employee was ordered to bring rocket-propelled grenades stored inside his home, according to the documents reviewed by the newspaper.

"The majority of the implicated UN workers were teachers at UNRWA schools.

"Israeli intelligence reportedly tracked the movement of six of the men inside Israel on the day of the attack via their phones. Others were wiretapped and allegedly heard discussing their involvement in the attack during a series of calls." . . .

Why do so many young Americans hate Israel? - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

The article offers reasons but I have to blame poor education in our schools and media. TD

"Israel is not to blame if many young people choose to base their views on misleading Instagram photos, biased college professors, and radical ideologies that falsely paint Israel as a “white supremacist” state.

"Nor is ignorance among the younger generation about foreign affairs a new problem in America. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was bothered by it, too. In the 1930s, polls found 63% of college students favored unilateral American disarmament and many thousands of them signed a public pledge declaring, “We will not support the US government in any war it may conduct.' ”

Douglas Murray interviews Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

"EXCLUSIVE: My favorite British journalist and my favorite Israeli Prime Minister"   "The only condition for evil to exist is for good men and women to do nothing " Edmund Burke.

BLR says: True Grit best describes Benjamin Netanyahu our leader Trump would benefit greatly his council how to deal with the coming war we will inherit from Biden’s weak leadership .

Comedian Tells Joe Rogan He's No Longer on the Left, Reveals What Made Him Say, 'I Can't Do It Anymore' (Language advisory)

Take it up with the man in charge

. . ."according to GB News, veteran British comedian John Cleese, well known for his work on “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and “Fawlty Towers,” referred to the new “woke” ideology as “totalitarianism.' ”

 The Gateway Pundit | by Rachel M. Emmanuel  "Stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster Bobby Lee, known for his appearances on shows like “MADtv” and films like “A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas,” is not exactly what one would call a “family values conservative.”

"But during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” with podcaster Joe Rogan, Lee admitted that he’s now in what he considers the “middle” politically.

"During the show, Rogan praised  “regular people” from Boston and admitted that he used to be a part of the “blue bubble” and was “one hundred percent a left-leaning person who lived in Los Angeles” and who never voted Republican, especially with any social issues although he said he was a little more conservative when it came to financial issues."

Joe Rogan says California has gone full communist & Bobby Lee said he’s in the middle now pic.twitter.com/K166zKKvfW

— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) January 29, 2024

“But California went nuts, man. It’s gone like full communist. It’s out of its f***g mind,” Rogan said, going on to specifically criticize its “insane” approach to law enforcement, including no-cash bail and lax theft prosecution policies that have damaged once-great cities like San Francisco." . . .

The ghosts of 9/11 still haunt us

James Poplar - American Thinker

It was Winston Churchill who stated with steely-eyed determination, in the face of Nazi Germany in the dark days prior to World War II, that “appeasement is feeding the crocodile and hoping he eats you last.” 

"As a 9/11 Pentagon “survivor” who lost twenty-seven “shipmates” on that fateful day, I view the current situation in Iran and our yet to be determined response with deep skepticism.

"Prior to 9/11 and the highest loss of American lives since Pearl Harbor, our intelligence establishment had the exact location of Osama bin Laden pinpointed several times, to the point that we could have taken him out by a number of means.  The only thing lacking was the political will and resolve by the National Command Authority (NCA) to give the green light to execute the mission.  The trigger was not pulled, as there was always “hope” that he could be dealt with under more favorable conditions.

"Fast-forward some twenty years, and we continue to appease our adversary in the Middle East: Iran.  The current administration’s intransigence and hand-wringing have only exacerbated a volatile situation, and now we have needlessly lost the lives of three more American service members.  As with Osama bin Laden, we may “hope” Iran’s proxies are reined in, but as I learned as a young military officer, “hope is never a strategy.”

"In my office I have a photograph signed by the twenty-seven of my former office mates who were lost in the Pentagon on 9/11.  When I see their faces staring back at me each day, I can only wonder: if a previous administration had taken the risk and acted decisively, would they still be here with their families and loved ones, and not standing the watch for perpetuity in the Pentagon Navy Command Center?" . . .

Our political system cannot seem to breed good leaders. If we get an effective leadership it seems to be merely the luck of the draw. TD

Assessing Donald J. Trump

"We could give Trump credit for the Abraham Accords and for putting a leash on Iran; Shia and Sunni terrorists saw team Biden as at first weak, and now as a lame duck. Islamists helped to unravel most of what Trump achieved. Indeed, America is now fighting two proxy wars with no ends in sight." GMD

Assessing Donald J. Trump - American Thinker   . . ."Likewise, the Trump drama exposed the toxic threats to democracy posed by unofficial and largely partisan collusion between the feds and Silicon Valley to manage news, narratives, and elections. Indeed, before Trump, we never knew how many big sisters worked with Big Brother.

And speaking of sisters, add one last credit to the Trump ledger.

"D.J. Trump may have created a sure lane for the next vice-president, or president, to be a conservative woman. Not because sex matters, but because there is such a plethora of worthy ladies-in-waiting on the common sense, conservative side of the American bench these days. 

"And finally in 2024, for voters, the “wisdom of crowds” will finally get a bona fide and much needed acid test. And here we give Joe Robinette the last word. Democracy is indeed “on the ballot” in 2024. So good luck with that too."

Poll Reveals Brutal Gaza Reality

 Noah Beck - American Thinker 

Even the UN has been teaching hate to Gaza's children. So which political entity has the popularity, authority, and morality to educate for coexistence and to ensure that all aid money rebuilds Gaza as Singapore instead of Somalia?

The neighbors drop in for a visit.

"In the 18 years since Israel withdrew its military and civilians from the Gaza Strip, Hamas has fired approximately 30,000 rockets and mortars at Israel: about 12,000 from 2007 until 2019, another 4,360 during eleven days of war in 2021 and, over 12,000 in the current war, which has displaced over 150,000 Israelis. Since Israel’s 2005 Disengagement, Hamas has also attempted to invade aerially, navally, and through tunnels, and executed a range of other assaults, including airborne arson attacks and ecoterrorism, shootings, abductions, and the brutal massacre of about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, leading to the fourth major Israel-Gaza war in 14 years.

"Thus, by now it should be clear that mainstream policy thinking on Gaza has failed. Ignoring hard facts to nurture illusions about Gazans coexisting peacefully alongside Israelis condemns everyone to perpetual war." . . .

"Hamas' disastrous governance has been obvious for decades, but shocking new examples regularly emerge. Hamas diverted billions in international aid for military purposes, like building an underground city of terror (including this 50-meter-deep tunnel large enough for use by vehicles). Even more evidence has surfaced, from Gaza hospital director Ahmed Kahlot, that Hamas uses hospitals and ambulances for military purposes." . . .

At the Time, Biden's Actions Post-Drone Attack Left This Fox News Host Aghast

Matt Vespa (townhall.com)

This White House is unserious, with a dementia-ridden president and a cabinet that is fraught with incompetence. No wonder why people are dying under Biden’s leadership.

"President Joe Biden is taking his sweet time responding to the brazen drone attack launched by Iran-backed militias against American forces in Jordan on January 27. The attack on a US base left three Americans dead and another 25 wounded. Katie wrote about it over the weekend. The Biden White House released a statement following the attack. It took days to contact the families of the fallen—a detail that shocked Fox News host Harris Faulkner (via Daily Caller):

A one-way attack drone crashed into the Jordanian base Saturday night and killed three service members and injured 25 others. Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq carried out the attack, sparking a major escalation in the Middle East, according to The White House. 

Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich said Biden has yet to contact the families of Sgt. William Rivers, Specialist Kennedy Sanders and Specialist Breonna Moffett. 

“Also, Harris, watching for news that the president has contacted the families of these fallen soldiers or that he plans to attend their dignified transfer at Dover. Neither of those questions [did] the White House have any answers on yesterday,” Heinrich told Faulker Tuesday. 

“It’s been three days,” Faulkner said. 

“Yeah,” Heinrich replied. 

“That’s a lot,” Faulkner replied. “Well, we’ll thank them. We’ll thank those families and those patriots we’ve lost and all those men and women in harm’s way in the Middle East. We’ll say thank you and tell them that we love them.” 

"Now, Biden did speak with the families on Tuesday. Still, that development was muddied by this administration’s waffled response to the attack, where pussyfooting is going to get more Americans killed (via WHNT):" . . .

Gold Star parents of soldier killed in drone strike required to fill out ‘paperwork’ to get a condolences call from Slow Joe Biden - American Thinker   . . ."Oneida mentioned that the family expects a call from President Biden, and they have already been in contact with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and various lawmakers. She said they have to complete paperwork before they can speak to the president.

"I’m sorry, did she say “paperwork”? It’s been days, and he still hasn’t called? And he’ll only call when the grieving families fill out the correct forms? If this weren’t the Biden regime, I’d think this were satire—a government agency requiring paperwork to get a ‘condolences’ call.

"Again, what does this man even do all day? Eat ice cream cones, take beach naps, and wear hardhats backwards for photo ops? His schedule cannot be that busy." . . .