Trump administration dumps another pro-Palestinian shibboleth*

*Shibboleth:  . . . "One-hit wonders prove particularly distinctive. Much the same is true of alumni of a particular school, veterans of military service, and other groups. Discussing such memories is a common way of bonding. In-jokes can be a similar type of shared-experience shibboleth." . . .

Israel Rising

Thomas Lifson  "So far, there has been little reaction because the change came so quietly. But on Friday, the US State Department issued an important document that refused to conform to the previously mandatory language that paid lip service to political correctness’s Palestinian Division. The Times of Israel reports:

The US State Department released its annual report on human rights violations around the world on Friday, and there was at least one discernible difference from past reports: It no longer refers to the West Bank as “occupied.”

Whereas previous iterations of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices had a section on “Israel and the Occupied Territories,” this year’s document refers instead to “Israel, Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza.”

. . .
"War and conquest is how pretty much every nation established itself as sovereign over whatever territory it rules. But for reasons as old as the World’s Oldest Hate, Israel is held to a different standard. Except that now, the Trump administration is signaling that it no longer will follow the Israel-only rules, at least in choice of labels. Exactly as it is doing with another phony-baloney Israel-only shibboleth: that one can be born in one country, and yet be a refugee from another country

"I want all those people who think Trump is Hitler to explain how this could possibly happen  with Hitler in charge."

No Democrat would do this, certainly not Obama. Yet why do so many Jews vote Democrat?

Democratic lawsuit will cost them in November

More importantly, the lawsuit will show Americans just who the Democrats are. The party will regret this lawsuit by November, if not by the end of the day. Americans are tired of Hillary, Jim Shady Comey, CNN, and the constant attacks on President Trump.

Don Surber  "Democrats suffered their biggest presidential loss in 28 years on November 8, 2016, as people in 30 states rejected them and the woman they nominated.

"And for the first time since 1860, there was no peaceful transition of power.

"Barack Obama set President Trump up with that Fake Russian Dossier that the Democratic Party purchased. Replete with tall tales of pissing prostitutes, Democrats used this to stick a special counsel on Trump.

"For more than a year, Democrats have used their operatives embedded in government to thwart the Trump administration. They slowed the confirmation process to a crawl.

"Nothing has worked. The economy roars. North Korea cringes in fear. Chairman Xi -- who made Obama use the servants entrance -- dined with the Trumps in the Forbidden Palace, the first foreign dignitaries to do so.

"Facing the increasing prospect of being a rare opposition party that loses seats in the midterm, Democrats decided to sue to overturn the 2016 election.

" 'The Democratic Party on Friday sued President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Russian government and the Wikileaks group, claiming a broad conspiracy to help Trump win the 2016 election," CNBC reported.

"Oh, let the litigation begin.

"Discovery will bring joy.

"All the news CNN and others kept to themselves will become public." . . .

This Fall, California Voters Could Decide Whether To Split Their State In Three

NY Times map

The Federalist

Some 600,000 Californians have signed a petition that would allow a vote on whether to split the state into three.

"Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper has come up with a scheme to split California into three states, and he’s collected twice as many signatures as he needs to get the proposition on the ballot in November. Some 600,000 Californians have signed his petition, which would allow a vote on whether to split the state into North California, South California and California.
"Personally, I would have named the third part Coastal California. Here’s what Draper has in mind:

"He has done one thing correctly. He has roughly equalized population among the three regions in his proposal. The effect, however, would be to syphon all the conservatives off into one state — South California — and create two progressive states. In other words, progressives would get four U.S. senators and conservatives just two." 
. . . 
What Happens if CAL3 Passes?  
"CAL3 can be passed by a simple majority in November, if it is put on the ballot. If it passes, the state legislature will have to approve the request to divide the state and the governor will have to sign the bill. After that the request must be approved by the U.S. Congress. I personally doubt that either party in Washington, D.C., wants to take a chance on upsetting the balance of power. But it wouldn’t be the first time the idea has been tried. 

"There have been seven previous attempts to break up the state. The first, the Pico Act of 1859, would have split off all of the state from (roughly) San Luis Obispo south. The legislature approved it, the governor signed it, and it got a whopping 75 percent of the popular vote in southern California. But the U.S. Congress is also required to approve splitting a state, and in this case an inconvenient event called the Civil War distracted the Union Government from the relatively minor matter.

"But the Jefferson Rebellion is far more interesting, if only because there have been repeated attempts to form the state of Jefferson. In late 1941, a group of ranchers from southern Oregon and northern California declared that the two regions would be joined to form the state of Jefferson. Both groups felt they were largely ignored in the capitals of each state."
The article also discusses the problems with universities, transportation, etc.

. . . "There are 114 campuses in the California Community College System. I leave it to readers with way too much time on their hands to perform those calculations.In sum: CAL3 is a dream come true for politicians, consultants, lawyers, and accountants. There would also be plenty of work for surveyors and experts on geographic information systems. Each of these professions would find their services in high demand if this proposal passes and is approved by the Congress.

Joe Biden Is 2020 Democrat Frontrunner; Progressives Are Not Happy (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Biden: "The Clintons Will Try to Destroy Me"

Chozick writes that the Clinton campaign, which she covered from the beginning, had reacted furiously to the prospect of a Joe Biden run, as floated first in an August 2015 Maureen DowdTimes column and then in a reported story by Chozick. In the book, she writes that “Biden had confided (off the record) to the White House press corps that he wanted to run, but he added something like ‘You guys don’t understand these people. The Clintons will try to destroy me.  Via PolitiChicks

Legal Insurrection

Biden is “a deeply flawed candidate who’s out of step with the mood of his party”

"The 2020 presidential election is a good way off and the pivotal 2018 midterms are this year, but it’s never too early for the regressive left to start griping about the 2020 Democrat frontrunner.   Former Senator (D-DE) and former Vice President Joe Biden is the Democrat voters’ early pick to go up against President Trump.

"This is great news for President Trump, but the Democrat base is less than happy that yet another elderly cis gender white male with a penchant for groping women and girls is in the lead in this #MeToo moment.  His being a bit gaffe-prone is apparently not a concern, but his leading role in and continued defense of the 1994 Clinton crime bill contributes to the disgruntled murmurings from the Democrat base.

"Earlier this week, Politico reported:

"Joe Biden, who leads the Democratic 2020 presidential field in early polls, has all the markings of a front-runner. He possesses a sterling résumé, access to a donor base, name recognition and eight years of loyal service to a president who’s loved by the party base. There’s just one problem: He’s also a deeply flawed candidate who’s out of step with the mood of his party.

"As we’ve noted here at LI, the Democratic Party has lunged so far left that it’s all but unrecognizable to many Americans, including traditional Democrat voters.

This leftward lunge is likely to create problems for Biden, should he decide to run." . . .

Only a hard left liberal would have liked Biden in his debate with Paul Ryan

Vice President Joe Biden's smiles and laughter during the vice presidential debate made him look bullying and deranged.

. . . Last night, Vice President Biden's task was to turn in the performance Obama supposedly had failed to deliver the week before. Well, yes, as I say, if weird laughs, inappropriate smiles shot to Raddatz and moments of unhinged fury comprise your idea of the performance that Obama should have delivered, Uncle Joe brought it all home. But the fact is that between the president's much-maligned performance of debate no. 1 and the vice president's last night, Obama was clearly stronger. Whatever his inadequacies, he didn't look bullying or deranged, as Crazy Joe did.  . . .

Hillary Clinton a bigger whiner than anyone realized

Yet, yet, yet, there was some big 'they out there that wouldn't allow it to happen.

Monica Showalter  " 'They were never going to let me be president," former presidential candidateHillary Clinton declared on election night, according to a new book about her campaign.

"Clinton's sycophants struggled among themselves to figure out who would break the news to 'first woman president,' the book, "Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling," by New York Times staffer Amy Chozick, reports. Chozick had to travel with the woman for months as part of her traveling press corps, and knew all about what Hillary was like, up close.

"According to the Daily Beast, citing the book:

That’s when Robby [Mook,], drained and deflated, watching the results with his team in a room down the hall from Hillary’s suite, labored into the hallway of the Peninsula to break the news. Hillary didn’t seem all that surprised. ‘I knew it. I knew this would happen to me….’ Hillary said, now within a couple of inches of his face. ‘They were never going to let me be president.’”

"What a whiner. After denouncing half the country as 'deplorables,' failing to go to Wisconsin, refusing to answer any questions freely in press conferences, showing visible signs of failing health, there somehow is some some great 'they' out there, floating around, whose sole purpose was to prevent a woman president, or, more specifically, her.

"What it shows is that this woman is in far worse mental shape than anyone realized. Can you imagine what the news would be like if she were president? Can you imagine the whining we would have had to put up with had she won? No wonder she didn't win." . . .

From 'global warming' to 'climate change' to 'climate restoration'. (And remember your proper pronouns)

Thomas Lifson  "The increase in the atmospheric trace gas of CO2 has so far failed to deliver the catastrophic consequences predicted by the alarmists like Al Gore.  The headlines about "the end of snow" are now an embarrassment after a winter of abundant frozen precipitation.  At least a  decade ago, the fraudsters relabeled their purported peril "climate change," allowing any unusual weather to be blamed on mankind's use of fossil fuels.

"Now another rebranding is being proposed.  Michael Walsh noticed, at PJ Media:

"The Left, in the form of the think thank RAND, has gone full Luddite:

Text in the article, here replaced by this American Thinker 

cartoon from Logosandlettering.net

. . . "Of course, anyone even slightly familiar with the history of the Earth's climate knows there is no one climate to be restored.  We have had ice ages that covered much of the land on which Americans now live in glaciers.  Is that the climate we wish to be restored?

 . . .
" 'Climate restoration" is the "New Coke" of climate alarmism."

Chicken Fried Hate

Trevor Thomas  "As has been well documented, the left is hating on Chick-fil-A...again.  No one should be surprised by this, least of all Chick-fil-A.  Back in 2012, Chick-fil-A became a prime target of the left when its then-president and chief operating officer, Dan Cathy – son of founder Truett Cathy and now the chairman and CEO of Chick-fil-A – gave a benign interview to Baptist Press (the Cathys are longtime members of New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Ga.).

Cartoon added, TD

 . . . "And like it or not, part of this fight is political.  In spite of losing the electoral battle on marriage – in a landslide – the left fought on and eventually – as is so often the case in such things – got the court victory it lusted after.  Because leftists have made a god of government, the principal instrument for the left to spread its corrupt worldview is politics; thus, we must fight in the political realm.

"We are far past the moral crossroads Al Mohler referenced several years ago.  There is no room for compromise, and there is little to no opportunity for silence.  If high-profile Christian business-owners, athletes, entertainers, politicians, pundits, pastors, and so on won't boldly and loudly stand for the truth on something as fundamental as marriage and the family, what can they be trusted to stand for?  To whom much is given, much is required.

"Again, marriage is the oldest institution in the history of humanity – older than God's covenant with the nation of Israel, older than the Law, older than the church.  Marriage is one of the earliest truths revealed by God.  If anything is true, marriage as the union of one man and one woman is true.  On this, there can never be compromise, and there should never be silence."

I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military. The Military Is a Fighting Force, Not a Gender Clinic

Intellectual Takeout

I think he made the right decision—and as someone who lived as trans-female for several years, I should know.

 

"When I discovered Congress voted earlier this month to not block funding for transgender-related hormone therapies and sex change surgeries, I wondered if it considered how devastating this will be to the fitness, readiness, and morale of our combat-ready troops.

"In July, the House of Representatives voted down Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have banned the military from funding such treatments.

"Paying for transition-related surgeries for military service members and their families is beyond comprehensible.

"Perhaps they have forgotten that our military was forged to be the world’s strongest fighting force, not a government-funded, politically correct, medical sex change clinic for people with gender dysphoria.

"Gender dysphoria, the common diagnosis for one who feels at odds with his or her birth gender, develops from prolonged anxiety and depression. People are not born that way.

"The “proof” for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is having strongly held feelings—but feelings can and often do change over time.

"The military is expected to prepare its members in warfare: to kill, destroy, and break our enemies. The most important factors in preparing a strong military are not hormone therapy, surgical sex changes, or politically correct education." . . .

Eric Holder's past affiliations with radical leftist causes

Eric Holder’s Radical Past Involved ‘Armed’ Takeover of ROTC Building

Photo added

"Attorney General Eric Holder has always been known as an incompetent liberal ideologue that’s pushing a radical agenda at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Most of his pursuits at the DOJ have been of an activist nature, such as not charging the New Black Panther Party with voter intimidation and suing states that try to limit voter fraud. New evidence has been discovered that reveals Holder participated in an ‘armed’ takeover of a former Columbia University ROTC office.

"Eric Holder is a radical. He and his former law firm has defended terrorists; his primary objective is to be a liberal activist, while punishing those who are against him. The DOJ has been polluted under his tenure. But it doesn’t stop there.

"The Daily Caller dug up some frightening information about Holder’s past as a black radical in college. It’s clear that he had a similar experience to Barack Obama, growing up with disdain for America." . . .

Investor's Business Daily: Holder Cut Left-Wing Groups In On $17 Bil BofA Deal  "Extortion: Radical Democrat activist groups stand to collect millions from Attorney General Eric Holder's record $17 billion deal to settle alleged mortgage abuse charges against Bank of America.
"Buried in the fine print of the deal, which includes $7 billion in soft-dollar consumer relief, are a raft of political payoffs to Obama constituency groups. In effect, the government has ordered the nation's largest bank to create a massive slush fund for Democrat special interests." . . .

And on the Starbucks issue, Former Attorney General Eric ‘Fast and Furious’ Holder will also be working with Starbucks to train employees

Starbucks previously pledged to hire Muslim ‘refugees’ over American veterans sparking a boycott. Now they’re calling in Eric Holder and a far left hate group such as the ADL to train employees to be anti-white anti-bias. (Gateway Pundit) . . .

(This should be a money maker for Holder; Starbucks has become so silly that even black celebrities make fun of them)

The notion of Eric Holder as a presidential candidate in 2020 might seem rather laughable at first" . . .

Summary: Former attorney general Eric Holder is riddled with scandal from the Obama administration, but that won’t stop him from pushing a far-left agenda—and possibly even a presidential run in 2020. Holder has his fingers in the upcoming congressional redistricting pie, and if he has his way, he’ll replace what he considers to be fake Republican “gerrymandering” with real Democratic gerrymandering – with disastrous results.

I'd say California is the liberal standard and more regimes of Obamoids like Holder or Kamala Harris will have a good chance of making America California.

. . . “California is in so many ways a trendsetter, whether it is in pop culture or in politics,” Holder said in June about the state’s sanctuary state bill. “That’s why it was such an attractive possibility for me to go to California and work with the legislators there in crafting their response to the Trump administration—because I think what California does gives courage to other states and other public officials in other parts of the country who might be thinking about principled opposition.” (Washington Free Beacon, July 13, 2017)" . . .

Before It's News

Leftist Racialists Pounce on Starbucks. Leftists Eventually Eat Their Own

Gary Demar

Acceptible racism

"As soon as I heard about how two black men were arrested in a Starbucks because they would not leave, I made some predictions. First, there would be Leftist outrage. Second, there would be an overreaction by Starbucks. Third, the Left would not be satisfied.

"My fourth prediction is below."

According to press reports, the two men entered the Starbucks and asked for the key to the bathroom. But bathrooms at Starbucks are only for paying customers, and the two men hadn’t ordered anything yet. Having been denied access to the toilet, they took a seat at a table, claiming that they were waiting for a friend to arrive before they ordered. The manager then asked them to leave. After they refused, she called the cops, who arrested them for trespassing. (Reason)

. . .  "Since the story and the manufactured backlash hit, Starbucks is going to close its 8000 locations for half-a-day in May to hold racial sensitivity training. Instead of dealing with this single store, Starbucks overreacted like the Left overreached on the gun issue. Instead of dealing with the guilty, Starbucks pronounces judgment on every employee who works at a Starbucks and indicts the entire company.

None of this was enough for the Left. My fourth prediction was that Starbucks will become a haven for political racialists. And I might add, a haven for the homeless and people taking advantage of the situation. “Let’s go to Starbucks. They won’t throw us out. They CAN’T throw us out.”

 Comedian Reacts to Backlash After He Walks Into Starbucks Demanding Free Coffee as ‘Reparations’  
"After guilt tripping a Starbucks barista into giving him free coffee as “reparations,” a Black comedian trashed the coffee giant’s plan to close nearly 8,000 of its stores next month for employee diversity training.

"Bryan Sharpe, also known as “Hotep Jesus,” was interviewed by Fox News’ host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday, April 18, after footage of his hilarious trolling went viral on social media. When asked why he did what he did, Sharpe offered an unexpected response.

“ 'I am sick and tired of liberals using Black people and making us look like victims, making us look soft with their liberal dogma,” he said. “It’s disgusting.' ” . . .

“I heard y’all was racist, so I came to get my free coffee,” Sharpe says in the video. “Yeah, I heard you guys don’t like Black people … so I wanted to get my Starbucks reparations voucher.”
Surprisingly, Sharpe’s prank worked and he walked away with a large caramel coffee on the house. The comedian said he’s received backlash, however, for making light of racism with his impromptu prank. Still, Sharpe remained unapologetic about his antics.
“… I embrace the hate because it gets balanced out with love,” he told Ingraham. “All the people that hate, they’re just brainwashed by liberals. That’s all it is. They’re afraid to think for themselves.”

More here.. Personally I like this guy. He knows how to show real stupidity by emphasizing stupidity itself. And like the Parkland students have discovered, an angry expression is gold to the mainstream media.

Pompeo Deserves Confirmation

National Review Editors

"Mike Pompeo is qualified to be secretary of state. There is no doubt about that. He is competent — as director of the CIA, he has managed a complex organization deftly, winning the respect of intelligence professionals otherwise not favorably inclined to President Trump. He is experienced — in an administration with more than its share of neophytes, he has served in Washington, initially as a congressman, since 2011. He is highly credentialed — he graduated top of his class at West Point and went to Harvard Law School, where he edited the Harvard Law Review.

"So the fight over his confirmation isn’t about his abilities, but instead is a raw power play to deny President Trump a top cabinet official. The reasons that Democrats are coming up with to oppose him are transparently weak. New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, who supported his nomination as CIA director, says she can’t support him for secretary of state because he opposes gay marriage and is pro-life. By this standard, we’ll never have a secretary of state again who doesn’t have the endorsement of NARAL.

"Shaheen is on the foreign-relations committee, which for the first time ever won’t give a secretary of state nominee its blessing. Pompeo will probably get confirmed anyway, but he needs Democratic votes because Steve Bannon and Rand Paul have, in effect, conspired to make the Republican-controlled Senate incapable of governing. " . . .And Rand Paul continues to be the single most destructive Republican senator, embracing a suicidal purity on budgetary matters and insisting that national-security nominees meet his wholly unrealistic standard of U.S. appeasement and withdrawal in foreign affairs. Paul is, naturally, opposed to Pompeo. That the Kentucky senator routinely undermines his own party and Trump’s agenda yet still remains in the good graces of the president is one of the great mysteries of Washington." . . .  Emphasis added, TD

Some of Buster Keaton’s Most Amazing Stunts

Chonday.com  "Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname “The Great Stone Face. Keaton performed all of his stunts, he never refused a stunt, however dangerous; in fact, he frequently doubled for other actors when they needed to take a fall. That’s because he was a pro, who had learned to land soft and withstand a few knocks. Some stunts require agility, others an inner strength. The crowning glory of Steamboat Bill Jr, possibly Keaton’s greatest gag of all time, was a stunt as beautiful as it was potentially lethal but it required him simply to stand still. And he didn’t get a scratch on him. The celebrated moment in Steamboat Bill Jr when the facade of a house drops to the ground with a two-ton thwack, leaving Keaton serene amid the debris, relied on precise mathematics and nerves of steel. Keaton’s position on the ground had to line up exactly with an open window in the top of the house; thankfully for him, it did. More importantly, he had to be sturdy enough to trust the sums, and not flinch."