Strzok-Page texts reveal 'coordinated' FBI leak strategy to harm Trump, GOP congressman claims

Fox News  "New documents provided to Congress raise “grave concerns” about an “apparent systemic culture of media leaking” among high-level FBI and Justice Department officials to release information damaging to President Trump, a top Republican congressman charged in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Monday. 

"In the letter, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., points in particular to two text message exchanges in April 2017 between now-fired FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page, in which the two discuss the bureau's "media leak strategy." 

""I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go," Strzok texted Page on April 10, 2017, according to Meadows, who cited newly produced documents from the Justice Department.

"Two days later, Strzok wrote, "Well done, Page," and told her that two negative articles about Page's "namesake" would soon come out. That was an apparent reference to Carter Page, the former Trump adviser whom the FBI surveilled for months after obtaining a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court." . . .

Full article and page 2 of the letter here.

Serena Williams’s Coach Was Caught Cheating. Now She’s Crying Sexism

The Federalist  "Serena Williams’s coach was cheating. They got caught. Now she’s crying sexism.

"A Rundown Of What Happened

"At the U.S. Open final on Saturday, Serena Williams’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, was caught cheating when he made hand signals to coach her as she played. The chair umpire gave Williams a code violation for her coach’s actions. Williams chewed out the umpire, insisting that she never cheats. The outburst, which was caught on camera, resulted in an additional game penalty against Williams."

. . . "If Williams’ account of what happened is the truth — that she and her coach did not discuss hand signals ahead of time and he was acting on his own — being punished for his actions makes him a liability on her team instead of an asset. But the fact remains: a member of her team admitted to cheating." . . .

Serena Williams: ‘I’m Here Fighting for Women’s Rights’

. . . "After the match, Williams said that her strong reaction was part of her fight for “women’s rights” and “women’s equality:' ” . . .
What about the rights of the woman who beat Williams?

. . . "Unfortunately for Williams and her fight for “women’s rights,” the tennis star’s coach, Patrick Mouratouglo, admitted that he was in fact giving Williams coaching. Meaning, that Ramos was entirely correct for penalizing Williams.

“ 'I’m honest, I was coaching,” Mouratoglou said after the game. “I don’t think she looked at me, so that’s why she didn’t even think I was.' ” . . .

A haunting glimpse into the Left’s morbid victimology hierarchy.  "Left-wingers say no criticism of tennis player Serena Williams should be allowed for her high-profile meltdown Saturday at the 2018 women's U.S. Open final because she is a double-minority – female and black – and should therefore be immune to criticism.

"National Organization for Women (NOW) President Toni Van Pelt launched into a fact-free rant." . . .

Naomi Osaka’s Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know  Look! Naomi is also a woman!

"Osaka Technically Represents the Country of Japan on the Court'   "Of playing Williams, Osaka has previously said that she hopes to emulate the famous tennis player. She said via USA Today, “I was really impressed by her and wanted to play like her when I was little. Well, I hope I’m starting to play like her now.”

Naomi Osaka says she 'feels for' crowd cheering on Serena  "Appearing on the Today show, Osaka, 20, was almost apologetic as she said softly that she 'knew' the court was rooting for her opponent and not her to win. She said she was confused when Williams started shouting at umpire Carlos Ramos after he issued her with a string of fines, and was unaware if the crowd was actually booing at her when they started jeering at Ramos."

Serena Williams is branded a 'shame to the sport' after the umpire fight This video shows some classy reaction by Williams

Serena Williams' outburst as Osaka wins the US Open on BBC World

More American silliness with Nike and Kaepernick

Image by Timothy Bishop

Too much nonsense, from Serena to Colin . . . "Can you imagine the MLB commissioner giving the Astros the World Series trophy and saying this is not the finish we were expecting?  Or the NFL commissioner doing the same after the Super Bowl?
"Colin blamed it on racism.  Serena blamed it on sexism.  It's always an "ism" these days.

"Let me get this straight.  A guy can't play, and this is a racist country.  A woman makes a fool of herself and calls it sexism.

"And then they wonder how Trump happened?  Or why people don't think ESPN is a sports network anymore?"

Kevin Sorbo's Facebook page

Actor Kevin Sorbo: ‘Nike Blew It’ with Colin Kaepernick Ad  "CNS News asked for further comment on the matter, and the Hercules actor replied saying Nike “blew it.”

“I laughed when I saw the hypocrisy in it. Nike blew it,” Sorbo said." 

"The day after the Nike ad featuring the former San Francisco 49er dropped, the sportswear giant lost three percent of its share price and several colleges and organizations have dropped the apparel company." . . .

Jim Carrey: I Bought Nikes as a ‘Salute to Colin Kaepernick’

Navy admiral burns Colin Kaepernick  And gets a standing "O" for it.

The return of Barack Obama who, unlike President Trump, is the darling of TV talk shows

The Thrill Is Gone: Only 750 Turn Out to See Former President Obama in Far-Left California

Obama's Benghazi Body Bags No Mere Conspiracy Theory

"The arrogance of the man who lied to the parents of the Benghazi dead in front of their sons' caskets as they were returned to the country they fought for is mind-boggling.  As he attempted to rewrite many chapters of his failed presidency in a speech at the University of Illinois, he called the accurate and documented reports of the criminal negligence of secretary of state Hillary Clinton and himself during the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on our Benghazi compound a mere "conspiracy theory."

"Conspiracy theories don't produce body bags, sir, but perhaps you don't remember that night all too well because you spent the time four brave Americans were being killed under your command in Libya readying up for a Las Vegas fundraiser." . . .

. . . 

"When Patricia Smith testified before Congress, most Democrats walked out of the room, turning their backs on the mother of one of those patriots abandoned by Obama and Hillary at Benghazi, refusing to hear her grief as she condemned what Obama now calls a mere "conspiracy theory":"

Is Obama running scared?

. . . His foreign policy record is another area of bad legacy going down the dispose-all. Weakness with Russia, North Korea, China, Cuba and Venezuela is being replaced by strength. And terrorists and religious lunatics from the Middle East are not only being called what they are, they're being checkmated as the U.S. finally stands up for its utterly reliable ally in Israel. More Obama legacy dismantled.  . . .

Branco Cartoon – No You Didn’t

Some dare call it sabotage: The effort to undermine the Trump administration

. . . "And shortly after the inauguration there was this big article in the WaPo with the headline “Resistance from within: Federal workers push back against Trump”:

Less than two weeks into Trump’s administration, federal workers are in regular consultation with recently departed Obama-era political appointees about what they can do to push back against the new president’s initiatives. Some federal employees have set up social media accounts to anonymously leak word of changes that Trump appointees are trying to make.

And a few government workers are pushing back more openly…

If Democrats get Trump, their next target will be Vice-President Pence

I know it, you know it, and now we all know it as if it wasn't obvious all along.

MAXINE MELTDOWN: ‘I say impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment!’
"Mad Maxine Waters is obsessed with President Trump.
"The California Congresswoman went after the president while accepting an award from the Stonewall Young Democrats on Saturday in Los Angeles.
"At one point in the 20-minute speech, she bragged about threatening Trump supporters."

. . . "Waters told the crowd she won’t stop with Trump.
“I had a conversation here today with someone asked, ‘Well, what about Pence? If you are able to impeach, Pence will be worse,'” she recollected.
“Well, I said, ‘Look, one at a time.’
“You knock one down, one at a time,” she said.
“You knock one down, and we’ll be ready for Pence. We’ll get him, too,” she vowed." . . .

Obama's Benghazi Body Bags No Mere Conspiracy Theory

Now retired, private citizen Hicks goes farther, telling Fox News Hillary Clinton broke laws while condemning four Americans to death at the hands of terrorists:

Daniel John Sobieski  "The arrogance of the man who lied to the parents of the Benghazi dead in front of their sons' caskets as they were returned to the country they fought for is mind-boggling.  As he attempted to rewrite many chapters of his failed presidency in a speech at the University of Illinois, he called the accurate and documented reports of the criminal negligence of secretary of state Hillary Clinton and himself during the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on our Benghazi compound a mere "conspiracy theory."

"Conspiracy theories don't produce body bags, sir, but perhaps you don't remember that night all too well because you spent the time four brave Americans were being killed under your command in Libya readying up for a Las Vegas fundraiser.

"Kris Paronto, former Army Ranger and CIA contractor who fought with his colleagues on the roof of the CIA annex in Benghazi, remembers that night andtweeted his response to the then-president's arrogant and dismissive ridicule of their sacrifice and your incompetence:

Benghazi is a conspiracy @BarackObama ?! How bout we do this,let's put your cowardly ass on the top of a roof with 6 of your buddies&shoot rpg's&Ak47's at you while terrorists lob 81mm mortars killing 2 of your buddies all while waiting for US support that you never sent

"Obama and Hillary had plenty of warnings that the security at Benghazi was woefully inadequate, that the compound was swimming in an ocean of terrorist training camps.  They ignored these warnings, and when the attack happened, they did nothing when a rescue mission could have been mounted.  Instead, stand-down orders were given to would-be rescuers, and following the attack, the infamous video lie was concocted and spread over the airwaves, with President Obama repeating it no fewer than six times in a speech before the United Nations." . . .

polination

Whining Serena Williams is tennis’s Hillary Clinton

American Spectator

Things didn’t turn out how she wanted — so she had a tantrum at the umpire. How classy!

"No one expected Naomi Osaka to win the US Open yesterday. Everyone favoured her opponent. The crowd was solidly with Serena Williams, as were the bookies. But the 20-year-old Japanese-Haitian, who became the first player representing Japan to win a Grand Slam, prevailed against all the odds. 

"Victory, however, was bittersweet.  The crowd booed her.  The announcers were in shock. ‘Perhaps it’s not the finish we were looking for today,’ said one prominent commentator, adding ‘This mama is a role model and respected by all.’ Muted kudos at best for Naomi.

"‘It’s not fair,’ wailed Hillary Williams, after the umpire issued a warning when her coach was caught signalling her from the stand. Under questioning after the game, the coach admitted that he had done so but said the penalty was hypocritical: ‘Everybody does it,’ he said." . . .

It all sounds so familiar to me.... Next , if the familiar pattern holds, comes here world excuse tour listing all the ways she lost because of others, like misogyny, um, nope...can't use that one. TD

Street artist Matt Sabo is taking on and taking down the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and Meryl Streep

The Weekly Standard

He’s not some middle-aged gangbanger, though he could pass for one: solidly built with his name tattooed on his knuckles and a branding-iron mark singed into his chest. He is Sabo, America’s preeminent right-wing guerrilla street artist.

Sabo relaxing at home with his favorite Obama Drone, Gwyneth Paltrow, 2014

. . . "The fashionable hypocrisy of the left drives Sabo bonkers, which explains the “F— Tibet” sign in his living room. It’s not that he doesn’t feel for the Dalai Lama’s oppressed people. But he’ll see some L.A. fashionista in a Mao shirt hauling a Free Tibet tote bag, “And I’m like, ‘You realize the reason Tibet needs to be freed is because of the f—ing Communists?’ These are the idiots I have to deal with.” No Third Way-ist, Sabo calls leftism a “mental disorder.” But whatever his stunt, he has been earning national headlines of late. Not too shabby for a lone street artist with a surly streak and a copy of Photoshop." . . .
. . . 

 . . . "But on his website, unsavoryagents.com, he beats you to the punch, freely admitting it in a short manifesto:

There was no place I could go where I wasn’t punched in the face by some sort of art defining who I was for being a Republican. Evil, Bigoted, Homophobic, Out of Touch, Rich, Greedy, on and on. And then I snapped. Why was the Left allowed to define me and where are the dissenting voices from the Right setting the record straight? Creatively speaking, no one. . . . My aim as an artist is to be as dirty, ground level, and mean as any Liberal artist out there, more so if I can. Use their tactics, their methods, appeal to their audience, the young, urban, street urchins with a message they never hear in a style they own. My name is SABO, I’m an UNSAVORY AGENT.

. . .  Below: Sabo art:

Lindsey Graham on Booker's 'Gotcha' Document: You Should Have 'Read the Damn Thing'

Rich Terrell

Cortney O'Brien  "Democratic senators put on quite a show Thursday at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing. Desperate for a "gotcha" moment that would disqualify the Trump nominee, the senators asked pointed questions and gave lectures about transparency. But, they embarrassed themselves in the process. 
"Sen. Cory Booker (NJ) got the loudest laugh. 
"Booker's theatrics came at the very beginning of the hearing. He interrupted Chairman Chuck Grassley's opening remarks to announce that he had broken Senate rules and released "committee confidential" documents about Kavanaugh's opinions on racial profiling. He even referred to himself as "Spartacus," as if he was some kind of martyr. 
"Well, two things. First, it turns out that those "confidential" documents he was talking about had already been cleared for release. Bill Burck, the former Bush administration lawyer overseeing the production of Kavanaugh's documents, said so in an email, adding he was surprised by Booker's histrionics. 
" 'Yes, we cleared the documents last night shortly after Senator Booker's staff asked us to," Burck said. "I was surprised to learn about Senator Booker's histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly." 
"So, his "sacrificial" heroics were all for show. Second, the document in question showed Kavanaugh was against racial profiling. So, just like that, both of his narratives were debunked.
"Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reacted to Booker's display Friday morning on Fox News by giving his colleague some friendly advice. 
"If you're gonna use a document to disqualify a nominee, read it," Graham suggested. "If you read the damn thing," he added, you'll see that Kavanaugh "was against racial profiling." Other Republican senators poked some fun at Booker Friday morning." . . .

In case it didn't occur to you that Booker's antics were to give him cred when running for President.
Cory Booker places staff in Iowa ahead of potential 2020 White House run

PragerU, Owen Benjamin Tackle the Death of Comedy

Personally, I’m more bullish on the future of comedy. The thought police and social justice mob has gotten so militant, more and more people are going to turn to the people making fun of them. People just want to have fun and laugh. Is that really so terrible?

Steven Crowder  "Most people reading this will agree identity politics is the leading cause of the death for comedy (see Vice Slams ‘Animal House’ for not Being ‘Woke’ Enough and Owen Benjamin on PC Culture Ruining Entertainment: Blame Obama). Or it will be the cause if people don’t lighten the f*** up.

"Our dude Owen Benjamin remembers the original intent of comedy. Hint: to make people laugh. He and PragerU just dropped this video about the death of comedy." . . .

Hat tip to Jeff Hayden; Plano, TX

How the Senate Lost Its Decorum

Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley was 13 words into his introductory remarks when he was interrupted by Harris. She wasn’t being rude. Well, let’s rephrase that: It wasn’t mere rudeness. Harris was less concerned with offending Grassley than in getting the jump on Booker.

Real Clear Politics "It was over so quickly that if you weren’t glued to C-SPAN you surely missed it, but a spontaneous moment of grace took place during the relentlessly partisan confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It came when Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, asked Kavanaugh how he’d like to be remembered at the end of his life.

"The question seemed to take the nominee by surprise. “A good dad,” Kavanaugh replied haltingly, “a good judge.” As he hesitated, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, prompted the witness: “A good husband.”

"As laughter rippled through the room, Graham quipped, “Thanks, Dianne, you helped him a lot.” Temporarily reprieved, Kavanaugh smiled and told Feinstein, “I owe you.”

"This brief respite was a reminder that those at that hearing -- senators on both sides of the aisle, political advocates on opposite ends of this political fight, even the loudmouth protesters and Capitol Police officers who kept arresting them -- live in one common country. It also offered Americans a brief glimpse into how the Senate once operated, even while grappling with issues of great national import.

"No longer. The Democrats’ stalling tactics, rudeness, grandstanding, demagoguery, and organized disruptions -- aided by demonstrators who shrieked intermittently at the nominee -- reminded Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn of “mob rule.” That’s probably too strong a phrase, but the Democrats’ guerrilla tactics raised questions that go to the heart of self-governance: Is this the new norm on Capitol Hill, and in U.S. politics generally? If so, can the two-party system still function? And how did the confirmation process come to this?" . . .

God Bless Judge Kavanaugh; (Senators Harris and Booker need even more help.)

Ben Stein’s Diary

"So. The hearings of the Democrats versus Trump. Any trick. Any sneering innuendo. Any vile trick will do to try to upset Judge Kavanaugh. My favorites are the idiotic sniping by our California Senator “Kamala” Harris. She’s trying to “trap” Judge K. into saying he either met or did not meet with some unnamed person about the Mueller inquiry into Russian witch craft. There’s no point to the questions and no point is ever dragged forth, except that Kamala Harris is a fool. Then there’s New Jersey’s Cory Booker, who wants to show that he’s even more of a fool than our Senator Harris. He’s got some public papers which he’s trying to show are secret and he’s Martin Luther King, Jr. by revealing papers that are already public. How stupid can you get, Senator? There’s no “there” there and you’re just a big dope.
. . . 
"Well, Kamala Harris never really got to any kind of point. Cory Booker came across as a bully and a fool. But that’s their right as Senators. Still, it’s sad that we as a people aren’t prostrate with gratitude that we have a man as brilliant and learned and fine as Judge Kavanaugh who will take this kind of nonsense day after day for a basically minimum wage job. It’s an act of pure altruism and patriotism as far as I can tell.

"God bless you, Judge. And God bless Mr. Trump for naming such a fine man to the Supreme Court. As far the actors trying out for President in 2020, Senator Harris and Senator Booker… good luck. But I think Americans see right through you." . . .
Keep reading...

RCP: How the Senate Lost Its Decorum  . . . No longer. The Democrats’ stalling tactics, rudeness, grandstanding, demagoguery, and organized disruptions -- aided by demonstrators who shrieked intermittently at the nominee -- reminded Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn of “mob rule.” That’s probably too strong a phrase, but the Democrats’ guerrilla tactics raised questions that go to the heart of self-governance: Is this the new norm on Capitol Hill, and in U.S. politics generally? If so, can the two-party system still function? And how did the confirmation process come to this?

"The answers to those all questions are varied – and certainly not the fault of only one political party. Here are four factors that have helped create legislative chaos:" . . .