Monday, October 31, 2016

Before the Flood of Boredom

Watts Up With That

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"I watched the new Leonardo DiCaprio climate epic so you don’t have to. The following 5 minute summary will save you an hour and a half of your life which you will otherwise never get back."


"Quite apart from DiCaprio racking up an impressive number of air miles, in my opinion the video contained nothing new or exciting. The scariest moment was President Obama insisting that the Paris agreement is only the beginning of the pain, but we kind of knew that anyway.
"Dated content, tired rehashed conspiracies. The most likely prognosis is a rapid one way journey to the digital graveyard."

Clinton Adviser Neera Tanden’s Greatest Hits

Can we assume Tanden will never again appear as a panelist on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace?

Lifezette
"Courtesy of WikiLeaks, Hillary's most brutally honest aide sounds off uncensored"

"An article detailing the list of likely candidates for chief of staff in a potential Clinton White House, published by Politico Thursday, included a rather surprising choice — Neera Tanden.
. . . 
On Clinton's inability to apologize sincerely: "Everyone wants her to apologize. And she should. Apologies are like her Achilles heel. But she didn't seem like a b**** in the interview. And she said the word sorry. She will get to a full apology in a few interviws [sic]."
" 'I know this email thing isn't on the level. I'm fully aware of that. But her inability to just do a national interview and communicate genuine feelings of remorse and regret is now, I fear, becoming a character problem (more so than honesty).' "
. . . 
"On Larry Lessig: "I f***ing hate that guy. Like I'd like to kick the sh** out of him on Twitter...but I know that is dumb."
"On Hillary's scandalous history: "I have dealt w/ my fair share of Hillary scandals. I have had experience w/her going to a point where she is toying w/legal niceties to make sure every I is dotted, but actually secretly measuring if the velocity is moving up or down on the scandal. Have no idea if that's happening here.' "
"On Hillary Clinton's knack for politics: "God. Her instincts are suboptimal." . . .
"I mean it makes my life more difficult after telling every reporter I know she's actually progressive but that is really the smallest of issues. It worries me more that she doesn't seem to know what planet we are all living in at the moment."

Anthony Weiner in pictures

No, not those pictures.

Hacked email suggests Donna Brazile leaked question to Hillary Clinton campaign ahead of CNN primary debate

Business Insider

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. . . " 'One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash," Brazile emailed John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, and Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director.
"Brazile added: "Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint."
"That exact question was not asked the next night at the debate in Flint, Michigan. But Mikki Wade, a public-housing program manager who subsequently said in an interview that her son had developed a rash from the contaminated water, asked Clinton about the situation with the water in Flint.
" 'If elected president, what course will you take to regain my trust in government?" Wade asked.
"In October, another WikiLeaks email suggested that Brazile leaked a question to Clinton in advance of a CNN town-hall event in Ohio." . . .

Today in Hillaryworld

Comey Is Not the One Whose Unorthodox Actions Are Casting a Cloud over the Election  "July: Comey has exonerated me! October: Comey is undermining our republic!"
. . . "Mrs. Clinton has worn it like a badge of honor since July. Indeed, she has contorted it into a wholesale exoneration, which it most certainly was not. 
"Just to remind those whose memories seem so conveniently to fail, Comey is the FBI director, not a Justice Department prosecutor, much less the attorney general. The FBI is not supposed to exercise prosecutorial discretion. The FBI is not supposed to decide whether the subject of a criminal investigation gets indicted. "

Chicago Tribune Columnist Urges Democrats to Dump Clinton
Image: Chicago Tribune Columnist Urges Democrats to Dump Clinton"The FBI announcement that it is looking afresh at Hillary Clinton’s emails means that Democrats should tell their presidential nominee to step down and allow her running mate Sen. Tim Kaine to take her place, Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass writes." . . .



Hillary’s Two Official Favors To Morocco Resulted In $28 Million For Clinton Foundation  "Clinton and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lisa Jackson tried to shut down the Florida-based Mosaic Company in 2011, operator of America’s largest phosphate mining facility."

Against Hillary's Malevolent Matriarchy; "
What feminists can learn from Melania Trump."
"A "strong" liberal woman is one who hammers you about your obligation to fork-out for her Trojans and her Trivora. And if birth control fails our liberated libertine, then you're on the hook for her abortions and abortifacients. And don't dare doubt any of the intemperate charges leveled by this prototype liberal succubus against a man, any man. To doubt her is to harm her."

Hillary Declares War on Comey
Hillary Clinton Acceptance Speech"There have been numerous developments today in the reopening of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton, most notably the declaration of war by Clinton World on James Comey."

That depends on what the 
meaning of "re-open" is.


FLASHBACK: Harry Reid Says “No One Can Question Comey” Over Hillary’s Emails…

"Harry will discover the hard way what happens when those he's depended on to remain corrupt are no longer around to protect him. Then there's those who will eagerly give him up in a heartbeat to save their own miserable hides from prison."
Comment on this post.


Thomas Lifson: The presidential race has changed because The Awful Truth about the Clintons is sinking in  "I admit that my jaw dropped yesterday as I watched Doug Schoen announce that he is no longer able to support Hillary Clinton for president, as described on these pages by Jeannie DeAngelis.  Anyone who has watched national politics closely over the last quarter-century knows that Schoen is smart and principled and has deep connections with the Clintons.  That he would withdraw his support is a signal moment, in the literal sense, telling other principled Dems that the stink is just too much." . . .

IMPORTANT: If You Want To CHANGE Your Vote – Here’s WHERE & HOW You Can Do It

Clash Daily "You’ve cast your early ballot and are feeling buyer’s remorse… now what?
"Here’s what you can do.
"Let’s say you just learned that your candidate was not QUITE what you thought, and you want a do-over. Can you do that? The answer is … ‘maybe’.
"That will depend on where you live.
"Here is a report on who can and how:

Late posts on Hillary


Flashback: Bill Clinton cheered 11th hour indictment that doomed Bush re-election  "That's because 24 years ago, as former President George H.W. Bush was surging back against challenger Bill Clinton, a special prosecutor raised new charges against Bush in the Iran-Contra probe, prompting Clinton to claim he was running against a "culture of corruption.' "
Not much political impact so far

Chicago Tribune Columnist Urges Democrats to Dump Clinton
"Kass said that "during this presidential campaign, Americans were confronted with a two-tiered system of federal justice: one for standards for the Clintons and one for the peasants,” and that it is up to the people to keep her out of public office."

Former Attorney General Holder and Other Former DOJ Officials 

Pen Letter Criticizing Comey  "This is what Hillary was working on today. They of course leave out and media refuses to put in that Comey had an obligation to update his testimony to Congress. Hillary is coming dangerously close to another crime, that is attempting to obstruct an investigation and intimidate the investigator."

"Via ABC:" . . .
Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Commentaries on the Clinton-Huma-Weiner-Comey brouhaha

NRO: I Guess the Landslide Is Off . . . "I was clearly wrong again, underestimating again the appeal of Trump (and/or the repulsiveness of Clinton). I still think Clinton will win easily, but there’s no evidence of a landslide (winning by 10 percent or more) at this time." . . .


Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

David French: The FBI’s October Surprise Is Devastating for Hillary Clinton  . . . "Third, unless the FBI announces the investigation and clears her within the span of basically one work week (an action that would be deeply problematic on its own terms), Hillary’s closing argument to the American people is going to be that Donald Trump is so dangerous that it’s worth gambling your vote on a woman under current criminal investigation." . . .

Jonathan F. Keiler: Comey's Mess  . . . "Comey took it upon himself, stepping into a politically charged situation he could have avoided simply by doing his duty as a federal policeman.  Comey could have referred the case to Justice for Loretta Lynch to take the embarrassing step of refusing to empanel a grand jury, or simply resigned on principle if he was pressured to do otherwise.  Instead, he tried to have it both ways, trying to accommodate Clinton, Loretta Lynch, and the president by finding clever excuses to overlook Hillary's obvious criminality while excoriating her ethically." . . . Is Huma Abedin open to perjury charges?



Hillary’s bogus ‘unprecedented’ complaint about Comey  . . . "Hillary knows full well that special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh actually indicted Casper Weinberger four days prior to Bill Clinton's election in 1992. As with almost everything Hillary does, she lies.
"As for unprecedented: Never before have we had a presidential candidate who:
- As Secretary of State used a private server and broke the nation's security laws by trafficking classified documents on non-secure devices- Unilaterally decided which E mails to dump. Does anyone actually believe that the number she destroyed was only 33,000? 
- As Secretary of State approved the sale of uranium reserves to the Russians and diverted money from the Haitians to her friends and family. She has taken kickbacks throughout her adult life starting with the $100,000 for cattle futures almost 40 years ago. 
- When answering questions to the FBI and Judicial Watch her most favorite go-to answer was I do not recall. This has been her favorite answer throughout her adult life.  . . . 
- Had a White House, State Department, Justice Department and others who also violated security laws and therefore spent their time protecting the Presidential candidate instead of working for the American people. 
- Had subordinates, who like her, were willing to commit perjury to protect themselves and her.- Had an FBI director and Attorney General who essentially admit that she violated the law but decided that she might not understand the law so wouldn't charge her. That is mind-boggling. 
- Had a media that was so in the tank that they have never cared what she actually did or said. Can anyone imagine the reporting on WikiLeaks if it were her opponent’s secrets being revealed?
. . . "The media, Democrats and Hollywood knew who they were getting with Hillary, a law breaker, perjurer and serial liar, and they always looked the other way.  But now they are outraged that someone in Government might actually do their job because they want power, nothing else." . . .
Are the Democrats victims of their identity politics? . . . "Why didn't one Democrat stand up against Obamacare or call on Mrs. Clinton to put country over party?" . . .

Clinton’s State Department: A RICO Enterprise

Andrew C. McCarthy
"She appears to have used her official powers to do favors for major Clinton Foundation donors."
McCarthy
. . . "One thing, however, is already clear. Whatever the relevance of the new e-mails to the probe of Clinton’s classified-information transgressions and attempt to destroy thousands of emails, these offenses may pale in comparison with Hillary Clinton’s most audacious violations of law: Crimes that should still be under investigation; crimes that will, in fitting Watergate parlance, be a cancer on the presidency if she manages to win on November 8. 
. . . 
"Hillary and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, operated the Clinton Foundation. Ostensibly a charity, the foundation was a de facto fraud scheme to monetize Hillary’s power as secretary of state (among other aspects of the Clintons’ political influence). The scheme involved (a) the exchange of political favors, access, and influence for millions of dollars in donations; (b) the circumvention of campaign-finance laws that prohibit political donations by foreign sources; (c) a vehicle for Mrs. Clinton to shield her State Department e-mail communications from public and congressional scrutiny while she and her husband exploited the fundraising potential of her position; and (d) a means for Clinton insiders to receive private-sector compensation and explore lucrative employment opportunities while drawing taxpayer-funded government salaries." . . .

Also by Mr. McCarthy: James Comey’s Dereliction: Of course the Obama administration was not going to prosecute Hillary Clinton
" . . .defending Obama’s non-enforcement of immigration law, promoting the administration’s narrative that predatory banks (not lunatic government housing policies) caused the 2008 financial meltdown, sculpting indictments in conformance to Obama’s see-no-Islam conception of terrorism, etc. His is the most politicized Justice Department in American history." . . .

"This should be news to none of us. It certainly was not news to the FBI director. The president did not want Clinton indicted. The rest is just details."
 Political Cartoons by Steve Kelley


"Andrew C. McCarthy III is a columnist for National Review. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. A Republican, he is most notable for leading the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others." . . .

Resignation letters piling up from disaffected FBI agents, his wife urging him to admit he was wrong: Why Director Comey jumped at the chance to reopen Hillary investigation

When new emails that appeared to be related to Hillary's personal email server turned up in a computer used [her close aide] Huma Abedin and [Abedin's disgraced husband,] Anthony Weiner, Comey jumped at the excuse to reopen the investigationUK Daily Mail  "James Comey's decision to revive the investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server and her handling of classified material came after he could no longer resist mounting pressure by mutinous agents in the FBI, including some of his top deputies, according to a source close to the embattled FBI director.

" 'The atmosphere at the FBI has been toxic ever since Jim announced last July that he wouldn't recommend an indictment against Hillary,' said the source, a close friend who has known Comey for nearly two decades, shares family outings with him, and accompanies him to Catholic mass every week.


"Some people, including department heads, stopped talking to Jim, and even ignored his greetings when they passed him in the hall,' said the source. 'They felt that he betrayed them and brought disgrace on the bureau by letting Hillary off with a slap on the wrist.'

"According to the source, Comey fretted over the problem for months and discussed it at great length with his wife, Patrice. 

"He told his wife that he was depressed by the stack of resignation letters piling up on his desk from disaffected agents. The letters reminded him every day that morale in the FBI had hit rock bottom.
. . . 
" 'He talks about the damage that he's done to himself and the institution [of the FBI], and how he's been shunned by the men and women who he admires and work for him. It's taken a tremendous toll on him.

" 'It shattered his ego. He looks like he's aged 10 years in the past four months.'


"But Comey's decision to reopen the case was more than an effort to heal the wound he inflicted on the FBI. 
. . . 

'Lynch and Obama haven't contacted Jim directly,' said the source, 'but they've made it crystal clear through third parties that they disapprove of his effort to save face.'
Morale has soared in Hollywood, however:

Two Eminent Rabbis On The Election...

J O S H U A  P U N D I T

JOSHUAPUNDIT  "It's a foregone conclusion that a majority of the secular, non-religious Jewish vote will go to Mrs. Clinton for reasons I've explored already here. So I found the reactions of two well known and highly regarded Rabbis, both with secular educations as well as religious ones to be of interest.
. . . 
"Of course, I am disgusted by the stories that dominate the election campaign. I am disgusted as a law professor, an attorney, a father of daughters, and as a rabbi. Women making accusations that they have been sexually abused — Paula Corbin Jones who received an $850,000 settlement from Bill Clinton; Kathleen Willey who went to Bill Clinton in the White House, desperate for a job after her husband killed himself; Juanita Broaddrick, a Clinton volunteer who insists he raped her; the new list of women whose names I am only now learning who say that Donald Trump groped or kissed them against their will. The abused women whose reputations and lives were destroyed by Hillary Clinton, as she defended her husband’s public profile after each “bimbo eruption.” Hillary referred to victims as “looney tunes” and worse, her team including the likes of James Carville and Sidney Blumenthal characterized them as “trailer trash,” and Hillary most infamously ruined the life of 12-year-old Kathy Shelton, raped by a 41-year-old whom Hillary was required to defend. There was nothing wrong in Hillary defending—every accused criminal deserves a good defense. But Hillary destroyed the girl in the process and proceeded years later laughing about that case and regaling an interviewer with anecdotes of that tragedy.

"All of it disgusts me.
So I have decided that on November 8 I am not going to vote for Clinton or Trump. Instead, I am going to vote for the federal judiciary. Along the way, I also am going to vote for an authentic economic recovery that will include repatriating trillions of dollars back home, for a stronger American footprint in the world, for a border that will protect Mexico from free-flowing American weapons that feed their drug cartels and that will protect America from the influx of potential terrorists and murderous drugs that now easily can pour through our porous borders." . . .


Joe DiGenova: FBI agents refused orders to destroy laptops and they still exist

Thomas Lifson  . . . "If this is true, it indicates that a serious rebellion was underway in the FBI, with agents refusing a direct order.  Although I am no lawyer, I suppose they might have regarded the order as illegitimate, part of a conspiracy to destroy evidence. It is possible that Comey knew of this rebellion, and that this knowledge shaped his decision to write to Congressional leaders on the resumption of the investigation.

"Now that DiGenova has gone public, how long until the laptops are subpoenaed?
Update. Clarice Feldman has a theory as to how this information came to Joe DiGenova. She labels it speculation:
How would Joe know? The agents have a nondisclosure  agreement BUT Joe's a lawyer bound to preserve the confidences of his client so they could hire him, tell him, and no one could compel him to disclose his source.