Betsy DeVos Gets Standing Ovation for Commencement Speech Despite Protests

Legal Insurrection

“The warm welcome was in stark contrast to the disapproving crowds DeVos encountered last year”

 

"No one gave Obama’s education secretary a second thought but DeVos has been an object of the left’s hatred of Trump. She recently got a great reception for a commencement speech, however.

"The College Fix reports:

Despite protest, Betsy DeVos grad speech draws standing ovation from students

There’s this famous story about how Barbara Bush in 1990 won over her critics through her commencement speech at Wellesley College. Initially, many students had protested her as speaker. But in the end, the First Lady wowed the grads with her words of wisdom, earning their respect and praise.

That’s similar to what just happened with U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.*

Last month, some Ave Maria University alumni called on their alma mater to rescind its invitation to DeVos to speak at the commencement ceremony, suggesting “Mrs. DeVos’s policies are callous and unjust towards marginalized persons,” the Naples Daily News reports.

Well, whatever negative vibes those objections might have projected onto the graduating seniors was nullified by DeVos’ words of wisdom to grads a few days ago, during which she called on the students to embrace their new lives with the heart of a servant.

Citing Mother Teresa, Pope Saint John Paul II and Jesus Christ as examples, the education secretary brought the students to their feet with cheers and applause, earning the embattled leader a standing ovation, according to several news reports." . . .

Officials Admit Parkland Shooter Took Part in Controversial Broward Discipline Program

Legal Insurrection

More egg on the face of Broward officials.

"Nikolas Cruz, who murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, took part in a controversial Broward discipline program despite reassurances that he had “no connection” to it.

The PROMISE program allows students to attend an alternative school “to avoid getting involved with the criminal justice system” if they “commit certain misdemeanors.” The program has a list of 13 misdemeanors that qualify.

"From WJCT:

Two sources with knowledge of Cruz’s discipline records told WLRN he was referred to the so-called PROMISE Program for a three-day stint after committing vandalism at Westglades Middle School in 2013.

When asked for a response, a spokeswoman for Superintendent Robert Runcie stated on Friday that district administrators were aggressively analyzing Cruz’s records. Then Tracy Clark said on Sunday afternoon the district had “confirmed” Cruz’s referral to PROMISE after he vandalized a bathroom at the middle school on Nov. 25, 2013.

However, it’s unclear if Cruz ever attended the program.

"Cruz attended the “Pine Ridge Education center in Fort Lauderdale – an alternative school facility where PROMISE is housed – for an intake interview the day after the vandalism incident. Clark said it looks like Cruz did not complete “the recommended three-day assignment/placement” and refused to “speculate” why.

"One of the injured survivors of the shooting “is planning a lawsuit that will argue the program led school leaders to demonstrate a lax attitude toward discipline.”

"The superintendent and officials keep defending the program:" . . .

(All emphases in the original.)

9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (D-Pakistan) seeks to help Democrats opposing Trump CIA nominee

No, the Democrats are not above using this guy; they value him more than they do our current president. And when KSM appeared before Democrats on several committees, he assured them that he never once practiced waterboarding

Washington Times  "The man who masterminded the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks opposes the nomination of Gina Haspel to head the CIA.

"Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is backing the Senate intelligence panel’s Democrats prior to Wednesday’s hearing on whether to confirm the longtime CIA agent to lead the organization.

"According to The New York Times and other news outlets, Mohammed asked a military judge at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to share six paragraphs he had written about Ms. Haspel with the Senate panel.

"Ms. Haspel oversaw a black-site prison in Thailand where two al-Qaeda terrorists, one of them under her watch, were waterboarded and subjected to other harsh interrogation techniques that opponents call torture.

"It is not known whether Ms. Haspel played any personal role in Mohammed’s interrogation. After his 2003 capture in Pakistan, he was held and interrogated at secret CIA facilities in Afghanistan and Poland." . . .

Lest we all forget: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Did Personally Kill Daniel Pearl
"With my blessed right hand…“ – The hand of Al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (D-Pakistan) in Daniel Pearl Execution Video."

The Tenured Enemy in Our Midst

Mike Adams

Clearly, the FBI needs to turn its attention away from the Russians. The real collusion is between American universities and the tenured terrorists they harbor.

"In 2007, I sat down for a brief interview with an FBI agent. While we sat in a coffee shop in Wilmington, North Carolina, I outlined the case against Professor Julio Pino of Kent State University. My accusations were serious but irrefutable: Julio Pino was an Islamic jihadist who was actively conspiring with other terrorists seeking to murder American troops and innocent civilians. The FBI eventually got Pino. Unfortunately, it took them eleven years during which Ohio taxpayers were forced to pay the salary of a man who was openly planning to wage war on his own country." . . .
. . . "The university fired Pino following his recent guilty plea in federal court. But that was only because they had no other choice. It wasn’t because they disapproved of Pino. After all, he was given a faculty excellence award in 2003 after he wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper, urging children to become suicide bombers and kill innocent Jews." . . .

The Iran deal and America's credibility

John Kerry Will Fix The Middle East… By Becoming President?
. . . "He reportedly told Abbas pal, Hussein Agha, that, “he could broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace process” that was far superior to Trump’s plan. Really? I may need to check my calendar to be positive, but didn’t Kerry already have four full years to work out a deal between Israel and the Palestinians? Nothing seemed to come of that except for vastly deteriorated relations between Israel and the United States, with Hamas still actively digging tunnels and firing missiles at our ally." . . . 

American Military News: US withdrawing from ‘defective’ Iran nuclear deal and imposing ‘highest level’ economic sanctions, Trump announces  “ 'The United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump said, calling the deal “defective at its core” and a “disastrous deal” that gave the Iranian “regime of great terror” billions of dollars.

“ '[…] America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail [and we] won’t allow American cities to be threatened with destruction,” he said, later saying that the withdrawal will help keep Americans safe.

“ 'The Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror. No action taken by the regime has been more dangerous than its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them,” the President said.". . .

Weekly Standard: Trump Withdraws From ‘Defective’ Iran Deal  . . . "The Treasury Department said that sanctions will be subject to either 90- or 180-day wind-down periods, allowing foreign companies to withdraw their business, and will then come into effect. Trump described the penalties as “the highest level of economic sanctions.' ” . . .

Can America's Credibility Survive the Death of the Iran Nuclear Deal?  . . . "Meanwhile, those Iranians who negotiated in good faith, and agreed to place severe limits on their nuclear program, will be accused by JCPOA opponents within Iran that they were fools for naively believing U.S. assurances." . . .

McCain wants to be Wellstone II

Don Surber  "Paul Wellstone was the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants who wrestled his way through college. Literally. He was the undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference wrestling champion in his weight class. He went on to teach political science. Then he ran for and won a Senate seat and served 12 years.

"But he is best known for his disastrous funeral, which Democrats turned into an embarrassing campaign rally. His name is now synonymous with inappropriate politicization of apolitical events.

"Senator John McCain decided to hold Wellstone II as his funeral.

"He invited George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- his rivals who schlonged him for the presidency -- but has banned President Trump from attending.

"Showing all the loyalty of jackrabbit, on McCain's way out, he has denounced his running mate Sarah Palin, proving once and for all he and his staff sabotaged her. What man does that to a woman? Or for that matter, another man.

"But that is McCain.

"In arranging his funeral as a display of Never Trumpism -- and I hope the tirades are loud and mean (I want these people to expose their hate and anger) -- McCain has shown he learned nothing from Wellstone's experience." . . .

"The funeral - memorial service for Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone turns into a Democrat political rally."

And of course they lost.

Did America dodge a bullet over Hillary Clinton's failing health?

Since Hillary has always lied to the public about such matters, yet her health problems were obvious, it very likely was a factor in why she lost the 2016 election. And if it wasn't obvious to everyone back then, it's certainly obvious now. One more instance of Hillary Clinton lying to us to conceal a potential crisis. Obviously, America dodged a bullet from that alone by not electing her.

Monica Showalter "Hillary Clinton was spotted in public in New York, wearing what appeared to be a back brace, sticking out from her clothing despite her being covered up by a heavy coat and scarf in 80-degree weather.

"The Daily Mail has an excellent set of papparazzi photos here.

"So much for her phyician's "excellent" bill of health, something that should raise question's about the value of such reports, or else her medic's credibility. And it says a lot about Hillary Clinton herself that she continually lies about her increasingly obvious chronic health problems.

"We've known for years that she's had health problems. She had a fall and a concussion in 2012, with blurry double vision, requiring her to wear glasses, which seemed to be a factor in her resignation as Secretary of State.

"Out on the campaign trail, there were suspiciously long bathroom breaks, which made her late for her television appearances at at least one presidential candidate's debate, quite a noticible attention-getter. Always, always, there were excuses - that the bathroom was too far away, that the whole bathroom needed to be cleared out for Hillary, so that Hillary could "go," that women always take longer than men to do their business in the bathroom. If any of that were true, it would have been worked out before the debate. It wasn't, and Hillary tried to laugh it off." . . .

What happened in John McCain's life?

The Devil and John McCain  . . . "On the way to vainglorious heliocentricity, John McCain as a U.S. senator was unconvincing as a selfless statesman, an indefatigable advocate of his own press clippings.  In his thirty years in the U.S. Senate, John McCain accomplished nothing, neither for his constituents nor for the nation.  Yet he dreams of odes and eulogies, delivered by rivals and friends alike, for whom he could rarely muster a kind word, let alone a graceful final gesture.

"McCain gleefully bargained away, or more aptly auctioned off, his respected if not sympathetic heroic image – a man of inestimable courage and endurance under unimaginable circumstances.  He morphed into an opportunistic sunshine patriot, malignantly self-centered, whose reward was fleeting adoration by media liberals using McCain to attack their antagonists when convenient.

"John McCain could be trusted for a sound bite trashing presidents of his own party and voting against the interest of everyday Americans when it mattered, but little else.  His passing will be mourned, customarily so.  Whatever demons having possessed John McCain's better instincts will mercifully search for a different host.  Even Daniel Webster wouldn't be able to rescue McCain's ignoble political reputation."

McCain’s exit

"It is not too late for Senator McCain to go out graciously."

"I admire Sen. John McCain for his bravery, patriotism, and his public service.  Further, I can understand why he would have animosity toward President Trump, in light of then-candidate Trump's untoward comments about McCain's war record. 

"Having said that, I am disturbed by Sen. McCain's continued attacks on our president, including his recent request that President Trump not attend his funeral.

"First, McCain should know better than to play into the Left and their media enabler's game, whereby just about every Republican is attacked as a racist. Indeed, civil rights icon John Lewis alleged that McCain’s 2008 general election rallies were similar to those held by George Wallace.  A McCain campaign video was compared to “an over-the-top parody of fascist campaign propaganda from a movie, and sounds like Triumph of the Will.” The Obama campaign claimed that McCain was playing racial politics for daring to suggest that Obama was preemptively accusing him and the GOP generally of racism.  Obama himself stated that Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.' ” . . .

 " . . .McCain pulled his punches by hardly attacking Obama's connections to racists like Jeremiah Wright and terrorists like Bill Ayers. (One also has to wonder about the McCain campaign's weak oppo research, which failed to uncover the recently surfaced 2005 photo of a smiling Sen. Obama with Louis Farrakhan.)  McCain’s defeat subjected the country to eight years of failed progressive policies by Obama, who divided the public with his focus on redistribution and identity politics.

Michelle Obama Puts Women in Their Place

The truth is Obama and Clinton are doing a disservice to the very cause they claim to support. You can’t be for female empowerment and then chastise women when they empower themselves to make a choice that you don’t like.

Lewis Morris

"Michelle Obama took American women to task at the recent United States of Women Summit in Los Angeles. Was it for failing to think for themselves? Was it for not standing up for their rights? No, it was for declining to mindlessly and unanimously line up as a gender to support and elect Hillary Clinton in 2016.

“In light of this last election, I’m concerned about us as women and how we think,” the former first lady told the friendly, lefty crowd. “What is going on in our heads where we let that happen, you know?”

"Obama expressed amazement that a plurality of all American women (and 52% of white women) voted for Donald Trump, even though Clinton was supposedly the Most Qualified Candidate™ in the history of the republic — and a woman to boot*. According to the twisted, identity-based Democrat worldview, that alone should have been enough for every woman in the country to pull the lever for Hillary.

"The reasons for Clinton’s loss have been explained in rich detail, so there is no reason to go over all that again here. What is curious, though, is that a year and a half removed from her well-deserved defeat at the polls, people are still pushing the narrative that women voters are to blame for her loss." . . .

*I thought sexism was evil. TD

Kim Jong Un Has Secret Meeting With Xi Jinping In China; Says He’s Committed To Denuclearization

Yeshiva World

"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a northern Chinese port city and pledged his continuing commitment to denuclearization ahead of his expected summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media said Tuesday.

"The meeting Monday and Tuesday in Dalian is the second between Xi and Kim in recent weeks, following Kim’s March visit to Beijing — his first since taking power six years ago.

"In comments carried Tuesday night by Chinese state media, neither leader was quoted as directly referring to either the planned Trump meeting or Kim’s summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in late last month.

"However, state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying China “supports North Korea to stick to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and supports North Korea and the U.S. in solving the peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation.' ” . . .

The Lowest Rated Show On Fox News Beats the Highest Rated Show on CNN

iOTW Report  "The least-watched prime time program on Fox News drew more viewers than its most-watched counterpart on CNN.

What became of Murdock's "leftist" heirs who took over Fox News?

“ 'Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream” drew an average of 1.5 million viewers in the month of April, according to Nielsen ratings reported by the Conservative Tribune. CNN’s most-watched show, “Anderson Cooper 360,” had an average audience of 1.1 million and placed a distant 24th among cable programs."

From the comments to this article:

"I wonder how much of cnn ratings are just tv’s left on in waiting rooms."

"More beauty tips from Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, yeah, that’s the ticket! Gotta get us more Stormy…"

"waiting rooms and airport lounge captive audiences ?"

"Solution? Double down – again – on asinine, vitriolic, anti-US fake news; and high school level material."

Mossad to Khamenei and Iran: 'Kilroy was here'

Peter Skurkiss

Secondly, Israel figuratively writing Kilroy was here on the bedroom door just might hasten the regime change that the Iranian people and the world have been praying for.  What's that, you say?  A second Nobel Peace Prize for Donald Trump?

"It was quite a revelation in late April when Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed the world that Iran had intensified its efforts to hide evidence of its nuclear weapons program after signing the deal in 2015. The proof for this came from documents and computer discs seized by Mossad agents from a secret warehouse in Tehran.

Europe and Iranian apologists in the U.S. say Bibi didn't present anything new.  Translation: We knew that the Iranians were lying, but we pretended not to see.  Indeed, according to Rob Malley, a former senior official in Obama's National Security Council and a member of the team negotiating with Iran, the agreement was made possible only by letting Iran lie about the past while promising to be honest in the future.

"According to the British newspaper the Telegraph:

The documents include official letters, spreadsheets, blueprints, photographs, videos and more, all attesting to the Iranian regime's clandestine plans to build nuclear weapons. One document proclaimed an ominous mission statement for the covert programme: to 'design, produce and test fire warheads, each with ten kiloton TNT yield for integration on a missle.'

. . .