Did golf save the United States?

comicallyincorrect

American Thinker  . . . "A couple of months before Donald Trump shellacked Hillary Clinton in the election, President Obama took some time away from his busy golf schedule to continue his global apology tour, in Laos, where he twice implied that Americans are lazy.  Interesting words coming from a president who has played more than three hundred games of golf during the course of his seven-year presidency.  Yes, I say seven years, because, during the nearly eight years since he took the oath of office, he has spent close to one entire year of his presidency whacking a little white ball around.

"In a sane world, the employer (American citizens) would clearly have terminated an employee (Obama) for such a lax attitude toward work.  But a gimmie is surely in order for this particular putz, as his golfing escapades may have actually turned out to be a good thing for the vast majority of Americans." . . .

As California confronts Trump, rural Republicans hunker down

Politico  "Frost settled on cattle ranches and pine groves in this conservative outpost of California, amid a more political chill over the state’s emergence as a national counterweight to Donald Trump.

"While the state’s dwindling number of conservatives had celebrated an unexpected victory in Trump’s election last month, they are now facing a harsh reality in which a backlash threatens to push their state further to the left. And it’s already underway — with super-majorities in both houses of the Legislature, Democrats this week began mustering a vigorous resistance to the president-elect, introducing measures to protect undocumented immigrants and promising similar movement on health care and the environment.

" 'They’re empowered now, and they’re mad,” said Mark Baird, who fixed an American flag to his barn on his ranch outside Fort Jones one recent morning. “It’s over. This is Stalinist Russia.”

"Following the election, Baird, a leader of a longstanding and improbable effort by several Northern California counties to secede from California, warned fellow property owners about water-related environmental policies he feared “are going to heat up” in the Spring. Meanwhile, Baird was preparing to sue the state over its dearth of lawmakers representing rural, sparsely populated counties." . . .

It Turns Out Donald Trump Isn’t The Racist Sexist Homophobe Liberals Say He Is

Downtrend  "Hillary Clinton and the liberal media painted a false portrait of Donald Trump during the election as a racist misogynist homophobe. None of that is based on facts or even anecdotal evidence, but the fragile liberal population has taken it as gospel. It’s so bad that liberals have crisis councilors to deal with Trump’s election and are committing acts of violence to denounce him. If they could take their heads out of their asses for a brief moment however, they might notice he is not quite the monster they believe him to be.

"First, and this is an important fact that the media chooses to ignore, is that Donald Trump is the only president in the history of America to enter office supporting gay marriage. Obama didn’t support it until after he took office and VP Joe Biden accidentally outed him. Bill Clinton never supported same-sex marriage his entire two terms." . . .

Unconfirmed by Trump Report: Rex Tillerson, “Paired” with John Bolton as his deputy Secretary of State

Legal Insurrection

"While this has yet to be confirmed by President-elect Trump or his team, NBC News is reporting that CEO Rex Tillerson will be nominated for Secretary of State with John Bolton serving as his second.

"NBC News continues:

Tillerson will be paired with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as his deputy secretary of state for day-to-day management of the department, one source added.

As secretary of state, Tillerson would be fourth in line to the presidency.

. . .

"McClatchy has more information about Tillerson.

Tillerson will face confirmation hearings in the Senate." . . .

If you blinked, you may have missed Julián Castro’s rising star

Legal Insurrection
"With Hillary loss, Castro has gone from the everywhere man to the nowhere man."

. . . "Now that Hillary has lost and Dems are in the wilderness, what is a once rising star to do?

"The Dallas News asks, From potential vice president to the political wilderness, what’s next for Julián Castro?:

Just a few short months ago, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro appeared to stand a decent chance of becoming the next vice president.

A few weeks ago, the San Antonio Democrat looked poised to assume another high-ranking executive role in a Hillary Clinton administration.
Now, as Democrats pick up the pieces from their nationwide losses on Election Day, Castro is preparing to be unemployed and seems destined to spend some time in the political wilderness.

. . . 

Unlike his brother, Secretary Castro has ruled out the possibility of challenging Sen. Ted Cruz in his 2018 re-election race. He hasn’t turned down the idea of running for governor, but many Democrats were disappointed Trump’s 9-point margin of victory in Texas wasn’t lower, which would have increased the odds of seeing more competitive statewide races.

The reckoning: Who was the absolute worst pundit of the election?

Thomas Lifson   "Is it schadenfreude season yet?  Surely, the epic failure of the pundit class deserves some commemoration.  There just has to be a reckoning for people who sold opinions that were completely off-base, out of touch, and hilariously arrogant.

"The controversy over Mitt Romney as a possible secretary of state for Donald Trump has boiled down to a few elements, perhaps the most prominent at the moment being the desire for an apology being expressed by a number of Trump loyalists.  But what about the pundits?  If they earn their living by providing expert analysis, haven’t they disgraced themselves?

"Now, I can understand a number of candidates having strong supporters.  George Will, who publicly wished for a 50-state Hillary Clinton victory, certainly deserves consideration.  But it is on the left that we find the most vitriol, or perhaps just the loudest vitriol, considering the depth of Will’s desire.

"One nominee worth considering is Bob Beckel.  The “Trump Fan Network” has compiled some of his most foolish statements." . . .

Here are two impartial journalists reporting on the Trump victory. Bear in mind Tim Kaine is Hillary's running mate and his son, I'm sure is highly partisan for his Dad's ticket. The son of Mike Pence is also a Marine at Camp Lejeune.

President Trump Will Retire the Race Card and Race Pimps

Kevin Jackson: The Blacksphere  "President-elect Trump has been called a racist. A lot. I predict that, along with making many other positive changes during his presidency, President-elect Trump will retire the race card.

"Take a look at these things the media has conveniently forgotten to mention:

"After Donald Trump’s divorce from Ivana, he dated a lovely black woman named Kara Young.

"The Left conveniently overlooks that fact, as the evidence of that relationship certainly negates the “fake news.”

"And when don’t they overlook facts?

"Well, as one black man said to me of Trump dating a black woman,

“ 'He just wanted to feel like a slave master, that’s why he dated that sista.”

"Nice try.

"As Conservative Read reports,

Recall, the anti-Trump corporate media has been whistling this same tune from the time that Trump was leading in the primaries. Photos of Trump rallies circulated in which scores of attendees were featured with arms lifted in air. This, the scandalously dishonest media wanted for us to conclude, proved that Trump—Trump, one of the most visible and famous men in the world, a man with a public record extending back three decades, a real estate mogul who had a long-running, top-rated NBC television show!—was the new Hitler and his supporters Brown Shirts.

The Persecution of Major Matthew Golsteyn by Obama’s Army

The Army states they had no choice after the Major confessed publicly that he did this; their hands were tied.

Independent Sentinel  

Maj. Golsteyn said:
“There’s hundreds of dudes that are caught all the time. We caught probably close to that number and released every one of them because there’s no point in it [to] just stop taking detainees. You know, I could have a guy that[‘s] standing, you know, a nice guy with a family standing against a wall pointing like, you know, just peeking out and like that guy cut off heads three weeks ago. He’s a Taliban tax collector, and this is what he’s doing, but I can’t do anything about that. With this guy in particular, with the IEDs as they were, he was a combatant and was going to go right back to continuing being a combatant. So by the letter of the law I’m wrong, but he never stopped being a combatant.”

"Deserter Bowe Bergdahl who left his post to join the Taliban is being hidden and protected by the US Army. Army Lieutenant Clint Lorance is in jail for nearly the next two decades for killing the enemy. Matthew Golsteyn was stripped of his Silver Star for killing a terrorist who was blowing up his men. After being punished, he is now being investigated again for talking about it on TV to Bret Baier though he said nothing new.

"The Washington Post reported in February of last year that “CPT. Mathew L. Golsteyn, a former member of the 3rd Special Forces Group and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military’s rules of engagement in combat for killing a known enemy fighter and bomb maker, according to officials familiar with the case.”

"Golsteyn was not charged with a crime, but Army Secretary John M. McHugh decided not only to deny Golsteyn the Distinguished Service Cross, but also to revoke his Silver Star which he earned for a different engagement. McHugh cited a provision in Army regulations that if facts become known that would have prevented the awarding of a medal, the award can be revoked.”

" 'Major Golsteyn was found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer because he violated prohibitive rules of engagement put in place by the administration. They treat the terrorists as if they were criminals and give constitutional rights to them as if these were court proceedings instead of war." . . .

Ellison bolts New York Times interview to avoid questions about his ties to the Nation of Islam

Jihad Watch  "Imagine what he might have done if they had planned to ask him about his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood — an organization that is far larger, more powerful and more dangerous than the Nation of Islam. Ellison has spoken at a convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Yet ISNA has actually admitted its ties to Hamas, which styles itself the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Justice Department actually classified ISNA among entities “who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood.”

"It gets worse. In 2008, Ellison accepted $13,350 from the Muslim American Society (MAS) to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Muslim American Society is a Muslim Brotherhood organization: “In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nation’s major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members.” That’s from the Chicago Tribune in 2004, in an article that is now carried on the Muslim Brotherhood’s English-language website, Ikhwanweb.

"Also, the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) raised large amounts of for Ellison’s first campaign, and he has spoken at numerous CAIR events. Yet CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case — so named by the Justice Department. CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups."  . . .

Carrier Plans to Automate Indiana Plant, Eliminating Many Jobs

The Resergent

"The Carrier deal in which Donald Trump negotiated with United Technologies to keep the company from moving jobs to Mexico continues to unravel. One of the terms of the deal was that Carrier would invest $16 million in its Indiana facility, but now it appears that much of that investment will involve automation that will ultimately cost many workers their jobs.

"Trump had claimed that the deal would save “over 1,100” jobs in Indiana. Union leaders and Carrier had previously said that only about 730 manufacturing jobs would stay in the US as a result of the deal. Now it appears that many of those jobs have been saved only temporarily.

"CNN Money reports that Greg Hayes, CEO of Carrier’s parent company, says that automating the plant is needed to keep it profitable. “We’re going to…automate to drive the cost down so that we can continue to be competitive,” Hayes said. “Is it as cheap as moving to Mexico with lower cost labor? No. But we will make that plant competitive just because we’ll make the capital investments there. But what that ultimately means is there will be fewer jobs.' ” . . .

Economics can be a hard master.

Israel Shows How to Stop Terrorists

"This is something American intelligence experts have been calling for since Obama became president – to capture instead of kill with drones.  Katz says the motto of the Border Guards is, "'We would rather snatch you than scratch you.' "

Elise Cooper   "Build a wall, secure the border, and vet Muslims to stop the infiltration of terrorists.  This is not Donald Trump speaking – it is what has actually been done in Israel.  Americans can take a page from Israel's Border Guard to protect themselves.

" 'American Thinker interviewed author Samuel M. Katz regarding his book The Ghost Warriors, about Israel's elite force of undercover operatives.  They are drawn from the nation's diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, united in their ability to walk among the enemy as no one else dared.  They are called Ya'mas and use many undercover tactics. 

" 'Katz wrote the book to emphasize how "Israelis learned about using counter-terrorism inside city, street, and neighborhoods.  The United States now realizes it is also something they will have to contend with, a struggle of civilizations.  The book covers a period of Israeli history and is relevant to Americans because both nations must battle terrorism on a daily basis.  It is a warrior's tale of a select group of individuals who accepted the challenge of going daily, nightly into enemy-controlled territory, usually in disguise.  The enemy wonders who to trust or where the Israelis are lurking.

"Part of the Border Guards' strategy is to inflict 'terror' on the terrorists.  They had to spend just as much time in watching their backs as planning terrorist attacks.  Part of the Border Guard's duties is to capture the extremists to ensure the flow of information continues."

School Orders Staffer to Remove “Charlie Brown” Christmas Poster

Todd Starnes  "One of the most poignant scenes in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is when Linus stands on a stage and recites a passage from the Holy Bible describing the Christmas story.

“ 'For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” Linus said.

"It really does sum up the true meaning – the true reason for the holiday season – the birth of our Lord.

"Dedra Shannon, a staffer at Patterson Middle School in Killeen, Texas, was so inspired by the scene she decided to use images to decorate the door to the nurse’s office

. . . "The decorations were installed on Dec. 5 and on Dec. 7 Ms. Shannon was confronted by the school’s principal.

“ 'She said, ‘please don’t hate me, but unfortunately you’re going to have to take your poster down,” Ms. Shannon said. “I’m disappointed. It is a slap in the face of Christianity.”

"The principal went on to explain that the poster violated the U.S. Constitution.

“ 'She said my poster is an issue of separation of church and state,” Ms. Shannon told me. 

“ 'She said the poster had to come down because it might offend kids from other religions or those who do not have a religion.”  . . . 

A sequel to this story.  . . . "But it turns out the principal may have inadvertently broken the 2013 “Merry Christmas” law. That law stipulates no school official in Texas can silence a Biblical reference to Christmas.

“ 'I am proud to have voted for the Merry Christmas law in 2013, when I was a member of the Legislature,” Paxton said. “We passed that law precisely because of this type of discrimination against people of faith.”

"Paxton minced no words in describing what happened in that hallway at Patterson Middle School.

. . . 

"The school board has a long history of standing up for religious liberty.

"Terry Delano, president of the school district’s board of trustees, told me they voted to change the name of “Winter Break” to “Christmas Break.” And last year they defied the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s demand to cease praying before meetings.

"The school district also ignored the Department of Education’s demand that they open all bathrooms to the opposite gender.

“ 'These strong stances for Christianity and morality often go unreported and unnoticed, but they represent important victories in a time when our culture seems to be rotting in a cesspool,” Mr. Delano wrote to me.

"It sounds as if the good people of Killeen are being well-served by the school board and I’m certain they will resolve this incident at the middle school – whether it was intentional or a misunderstanding.

"Either way, Attorney General Paxton dropped a great big yuletide truth bomb on the Killeen Independent School District: Don’t mess with Texas and don’t mess with Christmas. Otherwise, you might just find your tinsel in a twist." . . .