The New York Times Blasts Trump; Excuses Obama for Carnage in Syria

Legal Insurrection

The Times can’t acknowledge that it championed the policies that brought such destruction to Syria

. . . "Enabling Assad Enabler, Iran

"In an editorial taken (I think) from Obama’s rhetoric, the Times praised An Iran Nuclear Deal That Reduces the Chance of War. Now if you’re Syrian, or are aware of what’s gone in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon since July 2015, you know that the deal by releasing billions of dollars to Iran, intensified wars already going on.

"But the Times saw no bad in this deal either.

As described by Mr. Obama and other officials, the deal seems sound and clearly in the interest of the United States, the other nations that drafted it and the state of Israel. In return for a phased lifting of international economic sanctions, Iran will reduce by 98 percent its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, which can be processed further into bomb-grade fuel, and reduce the number of operating centrifuges used to enrich that fuel by two-thirds, to 5,060. These limits mean that if Iran ever decides to violate the agreement and make a dash for a nuclear bomb, it will take a year to produce the weapons-grade fuel needed for a single bomb, compared with a couple of months now.

. . .

Guess Whose House Wasn't Raided by the FBI

Yet there are no raids of the offices of the Clinton Foundation.  Mueller is not interested in justice or in fighting Russian meddling in our elections.  He is on a mission to get Donald Trump, the truth and the evidence be damned.

Daniel John Sobieski  . . . "Can't find any collusion between Trump and Russia?  Hey, why not look for collusion between Cohen and professional whore and porn star Stormy Daniels?  Was she paid to go away with campaign funds?  Even so, that's an FEC violation punishable by a fine and something that does not require a SWAT team.

"It certainly does not compare with money funneled by Team Hillary and the DNC though a law firm to Fusion GPS and British foreign agent Christopher Steele to put together a fake dossier on Trump using Russian sources.  But where were the raids on the offices of the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, and Fusion GPS?

"This is the FBI of Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, and Peter Strzok, whose mission was to keep Hillary Clinton out of prison and Donald Trump out of the White House.  They never raided the home and office of Cheryl Mills, did they?  They never raided Hillary's house or seized the acid-washed server, did they?  But Michael Cohen is a threat to our democracy warranting brute force?  Why wasn't Michel Cohen offered the immunity deal given to Cheryl Mills and other Clinton cronies?" . . .

"Let us get this straight.  Clinton's attorney (Cheryl Mills) gets immunity and is allowed to decide which of Hillary's emails to delete and which to hand over, but Michael Cohen has his office raided because he might be hiding something?  If they were worried Cohen might be destroying evidence, then what about the 33,000 emails destroyed by Team Hillary?  Michael Flynn was convicted of false statements to investigators, but Andy McCabe, who, according to Rep. Jim Jordan, lied four times to investigators, walks?

Maybe The United States Is Heading For A “Divorce”

Jazz Shaw

“This is almost entirely a cultural divide. You can easily pick out the issues of the day and see how the various state legislatures have divided into two camps, lined up across from each other in a (thus far) strictly verbal war. Gun rights, abortion, illegal immigration and border security… the list goes on. So what happens if the differences are so intractable that no common ground seems possible and the losers of a series of increasingly closely divided elections simply refuse to continue being governed by the winners?”

. . .
Now, from The Federalist: It’s Time For The United States To Divorce Before Things Get Dangerous 
. . . "We are a nation hopelessly divided. We are more divided now than we have ever been in our history. And before you start screaming at me about the Civil War, keep in mind that bloody conflict was fought over one major issue. In those days, take ten families from New York and ten families from Alabama, put them all in a room, and you’d find they mostly had the same values (and bad accents).

Now, fast-forward to today and do that same thing. Those families have virtually nothing in common. We as a nation have polarized and separated from each other." . . .

Debate.org discussed this during the Obama Administration:  Is America headed for another civil war?  88% say yes; 12% say no.

ANALYSIS: The FBI Raid Means Michael Cohen Should Be Really, Really Scared He’s Next

Rich Terrell

Rachel Stockman  "The news Monday afternoon that the FBI raided President Donald Trump‘s attorney’s office strongly suggests that Michael Cohen should be very, very concerned that he may be next to face criminal charges or is at the very least in serious legal jeopardy.  For one, this appears to be a part of an entirely separate investigation looking into Trump’s world that is different from the Russia probe. The New York Times cites Cohen’s attorney who claims this raid was part of a referral from Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe. However, even Cohen’s attorney  Stephen Ryan admits the New York action is, in part, a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller. (Emphasis ours).

"This looks to be part of an ongoing probe in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District— meaning the investigation was likely already ongoing, or had been based on another tip. It also appears to go much further than allegations surrounding Cohen’s payment to Stormy Daniels.

“ 'This kind of coordination in multiple searches, in conjunction with news reports that investigators had been looking into Cohen’s business dealings, leads me to believe there is more here than campaign finance violations, but that is impossible to know without seeing the search warrant affidavit, which remains sealed,” explained Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor with the Southern District." . . .

EXCLUSIVE: Obama aide reveals how the groupie president fawned over celebs, . . .

UK Daily Mail       "Like the Kennedys, the Obamas often rubbed elbows with celebrities who loved to visit what came to be known as 'Hollywood East' during the president's eight-year term.

    

 "Bruce Springsteen, George Clooney, and Leonardo DiCaprio were among many stars who came to the White House to hang out with the 'cool' president.

When Pope Francis came to Washington and the White House in September 2015, and zipped across the South Lawn in a black Fiat, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Michael Jordan also graced the president's home.   

     

"The White House was a celebrity hot spot during his eight years in office. 

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld came to do a segment of his show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, with Obama and the two drove on White House grounds in a 'killer' 1963 Corvette Stingray in silver blue. It won the show an Academy Award nomination and smashed all viewership records. 

    

 "Seinfeld told Obama he was the coolest guy ever to hold this office.

    

 "Writer Pat Cunnane signed on as a White House press staffer in February 2011 and stepped inside the presidential bubble of the world's biggest superstar. 

     

"With the frequently visiting stars, Cunnane coined the phrase, 'Got that sun in your eyes,' which means '"behaving different due to proximity to someone or something deemed cool," something that happened more than I could have imagined', he writes in his upcoming book, West Winging It: An Un-presidential Memoir, published by Gallery Books." . . .Read more

Here he is with an ordinary schlub like the rest of us:

Rod Rosenstein signed off on FBI raid of Michael Cohen's office: Report

Democrats, did Mr. Trump ever flee an accident, leaving his companion to die alone and slowly?  The Tunnel Dweller.

Washington Examiner  "Rod Rosenstein signed off on FBI raid of Michael Cohen's office:  decision to raid Michael Cohen’s office in New York, according to a report. Sources told the New York Times that Rosenstein’s involvement in the decision to raid the office of Cohen, President Trump’s longtime attorney, led the president to vent about whether he should fire the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

"During the raid, agents were reportedly searching for documents related to payments made to two women who claim to have had extramarital affairs with Trump more than a decade ago. The New York Times reported that FBI agents were also looking for information about American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, which paid one of the women $150,000. 

"The woman who received the money from American Media Inc. is Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model who said she had a yearlong affair with Trump in 2006.

"The search warrant also sought information regarding Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. Daniels said she had a sexual encounter with Trump after they met in 2006. She received $130,000 from Cohen as part of a confidentiality agreement she signed just before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about the affair." . . .

The raid on Trump's lawyer: The pretext

Thomas Lifson

This is starting to smell of a fishing expedition, and maybe a set-up, reminiscent of the famous dictum of Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's head of the secret police: "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."  

Lavrentiy Beria.

"John Hinderaker of Powerline explains why this is a Deep State operation in its face:

It is blindingly obvious that this whole story, and the leak thereof, is a political attack on President Trump by the Democratic Party.  There is only one serious question: Didn't President Trump appoint the current Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray?  And the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions?  Yes, he did.  So why is DOJ making war on the president?

The answer is that Trump and his appointees do not control the departments they ostensibly run.  Liberals tell us that at DOJ, it is critically important that political appointees not interfere with the "career professionals" who do all the work.  I say, [b‑‑‑‑‑‑‑].  The "career professionals" are just Democratic Party lifers who have risen to the top of the bureaucracy, often by avoiding any actual, risky work.  I'm not talking about FBI agents on the street, or the majority of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.  (U.S. Attorneys, of course, are political appointees.)  I'm talking about career bureaucrats like James Comey, Bob Mueller, Andy McCabe, and so on.

President Trump's appointees absolutely should "interfere" with these Democratic Party operatives.  They should order them to direct their efforts toward legitimate law enforcement ends, not toward Democratic Party activism.  Those who refuse should be fired.

We are witnessing, as Scott says, "a political death struggle with the authorities operating under [President Trump's] nominal control."  President Trump and his loyal appointees need to assert the powers that the voters have given them. . .

Also by Mr. Lifson: POTUS's quick response to news of raid on his lawyer shows self-control  . . . "You can judge for yourself by watching the two-and-a-half-minute video below of President Trump responding to the news of the raid on his lawyer, Michael Cohen, but I saw a man deeply angered but fully in control of himself.  Given his tendency to shoot from the hip and employ colorful language, many people have worried about the wisdom of his speaking with Special Counsel Mueller.  Those concerns probably now can be set aside, as the likelihood of cooperation is gone down to near zero.  Attorney Cohen cooperated fully with the special counsel inquiry, and it got him a no-knock raid on his office, his home, and the hotel room where he was staying with his family while the apartment was being renovated." . . .

The raid on Trump’s lawyer: Why? And why now?

Thomas Lifson  . . . "Update: President Trump was negotiating conditions for his interview with the special counsel that were restrictive as to what could be asked.  Perhaps Mueller determined that it was unlikely to be productive.  This raid now virtually precludes such an interview being agreed to.  This will enable Mueller to seek a grand jury subpoena, which would lead to free questioning of the president with no counsel present.  Trump can be expected to decline to honor such a subpoena, which would set off a constitutional crisis and help along the impeachment movement. 
. . . 

"There is an election in four-plus months, in which control of the House of Representatives and the Senate is at stake.  Even if the evidence developed out of the raid is thrown out of court in any resulting prosecution, that is irrelevant.  What is important is the ammunition to be developed and leaked to pet media outlets that can be used to sway voters to elect an impeachment Congress.

"My strong suspicion is that, having failed to find anything related to his mandate, Robert Mueller is baiting the president to fire him.  By stepping over the line and fishing for evidence in confidential and privileged attorney-client relations, he is misbehaving, but doing so through a cut-out, the U.S. attorney in New York.  He wants the firestorm that would result to push control of Congress into Democrat hands."

https://earloftaint.com/

Here's some of that diversity you like, leftists: Black Florida Lawmaker Thanks God For Slavery

Progressive Secular Humanist

Given the nature of this blog, you shouldn't be surprised at the mockery she gets  in here over her statement. "Imaginary god", they say.

"The stupid, it burns: Florida State Rep. Kimberly Daniels thanks God for slavery, claiming “if it wasn’t for slavery, I might be somewhere in Africa worshipping a tree.”

"Rep. Daniels, the sponsor of a bill recently passed by the Florida House that would force every public school to post “In God We Trust” signs, is a dangerous religious extremist that dreams of a Christian theocracy.

"During her closing speech on the “In God We Trust” bill, Rep. Daniels cited the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida:

Daniels said that God is the “light” and “our schools need light in them like never before.”

She added that gun issues need to be addressed, but the “real thing that needs to be addressed are issues of the heart.” . . .

Californication: Victor Davis Hanson on his home state, California

Victor Davis Hanson . . . "is an American classicist, military historian, columnist, and farmer. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for National Review, The Washington Times and other media outlets. He is a professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno, and is currently the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in classics and military history at Stanford University's Hoover Institution." . . . From Wikipedia

July, 2016: Will California Ever Thrive Again?
. . . "Grass-roots voter pushbacks are seen as pointless. Progressive state and federal courts have overturned a multitude of reform measures of the last 20 years that had passed with ample majorities 
"In impoverished central California towns such as Mendota, where thousands of acres were idled due to water cutoffs, once-busy farmworkers live in shacks. But even in opulent San Francisco, the sidewalks full of homeless people do not look much different. What caused the California paradise to squander its rich natural inheritance?"  . . .

Aug 2017: Is California Cracking Up?
. . . "The strapped middle class continues to flee bad schools, high taxes, rampant crime and poor state services. About one-third of the nation's welfare recipients reside in California. Approximately one-fifth of the state lives below the poverty line. More than a quarter of Californians were not born in the United States." . . .

2017: Silicon Valley Billionaires Are the New Robber Barons
. . . "No one has grasped that reality better than the new billionaire barons of the West Coast. As long as they appeared cool, as they long as they gave lavishly to left-wing candidates, and as long as they mouthed liberal platitudes on global warming, gay marriage, abortion and identity politics, they earned exemption from progressive scorn. 
"The result was that they outsourced, offshored, monopolized, censored and made billions -- without much fear of media muckraking, trust-busting politicians, unionizing activists or diversity lawsuits. " . . .

From 2010: Two Californias
Abandoned farms, Third World living conditions, pervasive public assistance -- welcome to the once-thriving Central Valley.
. . . "Do diversity concerns, as in lack of diversity, work both ways? Over a hundred-mile stretch, when I stopped in San Joaquin for a bottled water, or drove through Orange Cove, or got gas in Parlier, or went to a corner market in southwestern Selma, my home town, I was the only non-Hispanic — there were no Asians, no blacks, no other whites. We may speak of the richness of “diversity,” but those who cherish that ideal simply have no idea that there are now countless inland communities that have become near-apartheid societies, where Spanish is the first language, the schools are not at all diverse, and the federal and state governments are either the main employers or at least the chief sources of income — whether through emergency rooms, rural health clinics, public schools, or social-service offices. An observer from Mars might conclude that our elites and masses have given up on the ideal of integration and assimilation, perhaps in the wake of the arrival of 11 to 15 million illegal aliens." . . . Hat tip to Robert Hope of Sacramento.

Christmas Lessons From California From Dec, 2017 
. . . "Over some 50 consecutive months of drought, California did not start work on a single major reservoir -- though many had long ago been planned and designed. 

"Instead, given the lack of water storage capacity, and due to environmental diversions, tens of millions of acre-feet of precious runoff water last year were simply let out to the ocean. 

"This year, the state may want all of that water back." . . .

Saul In a Day's Work

This column is a follow-up to Prof. Adams's previous one titled, "Abortion and the Christian Case for Choice. In this one, Adams wrote, "Dr. Willie Parker slowly and methodically dismembers babies for a living. Because he claims to do these evil acts in the name of Christian compassion, there are a lot of people who will never again be able to take Christianity seriously." . . . 

Mike Adams 

. . . "Once again, your eyes are not deceiving you. It’s all right there in his book. Softly and tenderly, Willie hears that Jesus is calling him into the abortion clinic." . .

"I just finished reading Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice by Willie Parker. He is probably the most efficient killer of innocent human beings currently roaming the streets of America. Despite this, he claims to support ObamaCare, in part out of a desire to make contraception more available and thus prevent “untold numbers of abortions.” This is difficult to fathom coming from a man who profits so richly from the abortion industry. On some days, he performs abortions on 50 pregnant women. He refers to those days as “procedure days.” He refers to the procedures as “abortion care.”

"Why does Willie Parker abort so prolifically? He claims it isn’t for money. He says it is a calling from God. In his own words, Parker tells us “I believe that as an abortion doctor I am doing God’s work. I am protecting women’s rights, their human right to decide their futures for themselves, and to live their lives as they see fit. Today, as I write this, access to safe and compassionate abortion care is under unprecedented threat, most often from people who call themselves Christians.”

"Your eyes are not deceiving you. You did not just read a misquotation. Willie Parker actually thinks that killing dozens of innocent human beings in a single workday is “doing God’s work.” To make matters worse, he actually thinks that if you stand in the way of his killing of the unborn then you are not a real Christian. You are merely an imposter. " . . .

On other fronts:

I doubt online petitions work, but just to give this cause a few more eyeballs, here:

Colbert is another I'd like to see shunned, but I doubt any of them care at all. Their boycotters are all bitter, gun-clinging deplorables for whom they have utmost contempt; they are loved by Hollywood celebrities and their sycophantic audiences who applaud their every opinion. The Tunnel Dweller

Jimmy Kimmel Boycott has Over 150,000 Signatures — All Started When Kimmel Mocked FLOTUS  . . . "A petition to boycott the entertainer’s show has been signed by over 150,000 people after he decided to mock First Lady Melania Trump’s accent during one segment of his show.

"Kimmel received serious(?) backlash for mocking FLOTUS’ Slovenian accent, by showing a video of her at the White House Easter Egg Hunt reading a book to children." . . .

. . . "The whole tiff came to an apology from Kimmel, but not for his attack on FLOTUS and only if he cause offense to the gay community.

“ 'By lampooning Sean Hannity’s deference to the President, I most certainly did not intend to belittle or upset members of the gay community and to those who took offense, I apologize,” he said in a statement." Emphasis added, TD

Hat tip for this to Regis Giles at Hollywood Conservatives for Trump

• Kimmel's sponsors and their contact info
• Here Is A List Of 20 Sponsors To BOYCOTT & Hit Jimmy Kimmel Where It Hurts

Kimmel, Hannity dial back feud

. . . Hannity said for him the fracas [was]never about Kimmel, but about the media's bias against the president and his family and what should be out of bounds.
" 'Now, attacking the first lady for her accent while reading to kids is just one small example but it's a line in the sand for me," Hannity said. "It's obvious that Melania, Barron, they are not political in their roles.' " . . .

As for Colbert...

“The only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*ck holster,” Colbert said during Monday’s broadcast, at the end of a blistering monologue in which he also called the president a “presi-dunce” and a “prick-tator.” The comment elicited a louder than usual reaction from the studio audience.

Sean Hannity

✔@seanhannity

I will NOT support #FireColbert. I am vs ALL BOYCOTTS. He is a horrible human being, but if u don't like him change the channel.

 Sean said he considers boycotts a leftist tactic to shut down speech.