Fighting socialism

John Scotto  "As wrong and warped as most leftists' views seem today, the reality is that most people on the left fight relentlessly for their cause.  Can the majority of conservatives look themselves in the mirror and honestly say they fight for their beliefs and principles to the same degree as the left does?

darkangelpolitics

"Our U.S. Constitution is the rock of America, the foundation for maintaining our way of life.  It is the main cog within the engine of freedom.  Freedom is fragile and needs to be cared for.  It can be sustained only through vigilance.  A secure U.S. border, a respect for law enforcement, and a belief in a strong U.S. military are some of the key conservative principles that keep all of us safe and free.  Individual liberty, limited government, lower taxes, and personal responsibility are among the many fundamental concepts we as conservatives need to continue to promote when confronting leftists.

"When conservatives are able to clearly communicate their logic-based beliefs and principles to others, conservatism inevitably wins.  It is imperative that we highlight the huge differences between conservatism and socialism.  When we are able to illustrate these differences, most people begin rejecting socialism.

"Individualism and critical thinking are integral parts within a free society, as opposed to collectivism and group thought, the two main components of socialism, which stagnate a society.  Diversity of thought is an important concept for people who value a free society.  Education and the encouragement of diversity of thought within our schools " produce critical thinkers and entrepreneurs.  The use of leftist indoctrination within our public school system ultimately creates a society inhabited by human drones, most of whom find contentment in becoming the parasites of society." . . .

Not a joke: The New York Times has an advice column about how to 'cure' white skin privilege

Rich Terrell

Monica Showalter  . . . "You can't make this stuff up:

Dear Sugars,

I’m riddled with shame. White shame. This isn’t helpful to me or to anyone, especially people of color. I feel like there is no “me” outside of my white/upper middle class/cisgender identity. I feel like my literal existence hurts people, like I’m always taking up space that should belong to someone else.

I consider myself an ally. I research proper etiquette, read writers of color, vote in a way that will not harm P.O.C. (and other vulnerable people). I engage in conversations about privilege with other white people. I take courses that will further educate me. I donated to Black Lives Matter. Yet I fear that nothing is enough. Part of my fear comes from the fact that privilege is invisible to itself. What if I’m doing or saying insensitive things without realizing it?

Another part of it is that I’m currently immersed in the whitest environment I’ve ever been in.

"Apparently, this is real, and not some joke put on by rightwing satirists. No satirist could make up something this bizarre in its minute self-loathing and expect to be believed.

"The panel of lefty columnists answer her with stereotypical soothingness -- there, there, dear -- and advise her to pick up the torch for social justice warrior-hood - to relieve herself of her white skin privilege affliction. Only by becoming a SJW will she be redeemed." . . .

Antifa is the future of the Democrats

The rationalization for this is America is evil. Colleges have indoctrinated millions of Americans into believing this.

Don Surber  "Let's get something straight: Antifa is the fascist arm of the Democratic Party. If you want to know where the party is headed, look where its youths are. Antifa speaks for all Democrats when it chants, “No border, no wall, no USA at all!”

"Think not? People in the 1970s blew off the Weather Underground as radicals who had nothing to do with the party.

"But whom did Democrats nominate in 2008? And who was his political mentor? And who was his religious mentor? And who was the communist he put in charge of the CIA?

"This was no accident or coincidence. Democrats have plotted this for 50 years, going back to Teddy the Drunk Kennedy's first immigration reform, which he reformed again 31 years later, which 32 years later, they want to reform as open borders -- which was their goal all along.

"Democrats want to rule with no opposition. You don't get that without being a third world nation and you don't get a third world nation without importing millions of third world people.
. . . 

My message is simply do not blow off Antifa as kooks. Learn from the Weather Underground electing a protegee as president. These people think they can wait us out.

Man Hates White Cops, Smashes A Police Cruiser Window With A Brick, Arrested For A Hate Crime

His Facebook page shows a lot of selfies giving the middle finger.

Strzok and Page: Not an Olympics skating pair.

Scorned FBI Lover Lisa Page Torched Cheating FBI Partner Peter Strzok; “Lisa is on a Warpath”  

"In the end, Peter Strzok’s FBI lover Lisa Page “sold out” the FBI executive and divulged many improprieties he was involved in along with other FBI brass, according to FBI insiders.
"Strzok was fired today from the FBI.
"FBI insiders said Page, his former lover, was “instrumental in getting him terminated.”
"“Lisa is on a warpath,” one former colleague said. “She is not done either.”
"Fired FBI leaders Andrew McCabe, James Comey and other current FBI leaders like Bill Priestap could be on deck, according to officials familiar with Page’s congressional testimony in hearings and private sessions with her attorney.
"Strzok, FBI sources said, is the target of several investigations.

"And more could be on the horizon, according to Congressional investigators who spoke to True Pundit’s Thomas Paine.

"Lisa Page is angry, according to her associates inside FBI HQ in D.C.

“ 'Remember you guys (True Pundit) had the story where McCabe was going to burn down the FBI?” one agent said. “You may want to rewrite it for Lisa Page. I think she could bring it all down on their heads.”

"That’s the word on the street. Page is angry and willing to testify against everyone linked to losing her FBI career.

"If her House testimony is any indication, that spells trouble for the Deep-State Sanhedrin. After Page testified, True Pundit reported China had hacked Hillary Clinton’s emails when she was Secretary of State." . . .

GoFundMe Page Raises $250,000 for Peter Strzok After Firing From FBI
. . . "The "Friends Of Special Agent Peter Strzok" quickly garnered more than $250,000 and counting for Strzok, who was let go by the bureau on Friday.
"Strzok played an integral part in both the Hillary Clinton email investigation and what would later become the special counsel's Russia probe.
"He was subpoenaed to testify before House lawmakers in July over anti-Trump texts he sent to Lisa Page, his former co-worker and lover, using his FBI phone." . . .

In Peter Strzok, Trump-haters have picked a truly repulsive martyr to their cause

. . . "There's more, and if you can take it, you can read about what a swell fellow he is, though it doesn't explain his super-power to detect Trump-supporters by smell." . . .

What's not to like about this guy? (pictured, right)

Trump delivers on coal

Don Surber

They said it couldn't be done, but Donald John Trump did it anyway.

"That is the story of his life. He brought back Manhattan. He built the Central Park skating rink. He wrote a best-seller. He had a hit TV show. He married a model. He married a model. He married a model.

"Since then he won the presidency and saved the coal industry. The only time in his campaign when he wore headgear that was not of his own making was when he donned a coal miner's helmet in Charleston, West Virginia.

"The New York Times scoffed. In February, it ran an editorial, "Trump’s Deceptive Energy Policy."

"The Times said, "Mr. Trump’s false narrative on coal is particularly cruel, since it offers empty promises to Appalachian coal miners who are suffering grievous job losses and myriad health and economic ills. It’s true that the last two Democratic presidents — Bill Clinton and Mr. Obama — cracked down on power plant emissions like soot and mercury with rules that imposed real costs on producers; and Mr. Obama’s Clean Power Plan, aimed at cutting the carbon emissions that fuel global warming, would have pressured the industry more.

" 'But these regulations did not kill coal-fired plants, and rolling them back, as Mr. Trump is doing, will not stop the unforgiving forces of the market, chiefly the switch to cheaper natural gas, and renewables’ increasing competitiveness. These are the forces that have been largely responsible for the decline in mining jobs and the closing, or conversion to natural gas, of hundreds of coal-fired plants.' " . . .

Omarosa: After selecting people like Kelly and Mattis, how did Trump make this choice?

Under normal circumstances, an honest press would refuse to go along with this travesty. They would leave this kind of self-promotion to the scandal sheets. Unfortunately, hating Trump is one of those addictions that you just can't put down.   Silvio Canto, Jr.

Rich Terrell

Tuning Omarosa Out  "The latest episode of Fire and Fury is on your TV screens.  

"Unlike the book, you won't have to pay $30 for this version.  In fact, you can see for free for the next six weeks on MSNBC.  The episodes include audio tapes recorded secretly in the White House.  

"Among other things, Omarosa reminds us that Trump has mental problems!  No kidding!  I bet that he walks at night and checks with Richard Nixon before he tweets!  

"Can these people come up with something new other than racism or mental illness?  Who made them psychiatrists, anyway?

"This is not going to work, for a couple of reasons:

"First, I'm convinced that people have tuned this daily anti-Trump garbage out.  In other words, the only people who care about this already hate Trump.  Wonder how many Democrats running in competitive elections will invite Omarosa to their next rally?

"Second, and here I agree with Eliana Johnson, picking a fight with highly respected Chief of Staff John Kelly was not smart:  . . ." 

Naturally, Trump lashes out at her  . . . "Trump is right that it’s not presidential to take on the likes of Omarosa. It’s also not presidential to give her a high-level job." . . .

. . . "Lindsey Graham nailed it when he said of Trump, in response to the charge that the president is racist:

It is not the color of your skin [that determines how Trump reacts to you; it is not the content of your character. It is what you say about him.

"That’s a good defense to the racism charge, but it’s a sad commentary on the man and, to some degree, his presidency." (Emphasis added by TD) 

WH: Omarosa Defending Trump's Character 'Wasn't Paying Her Bills'  . . . "Gidley is also suspicious of Manigault's change of heart and whether it had anything to do with fame and fortune. She once touted Trump as a friend to the black community and defended his character at every turn, but that apparently "wasn't paying his bills," Gidley mused. Now, she calls him a "racist." Her new book, full of details critical of the Trump White House, is sure to sell more than a few copies, he suggested." . . .

Dana Perino: Omarosa's book will be forgotten -- her despicable behavior will not
. . . "And with that, I was able to move beyond that book. I forgave and moved on with my work. That, President Bush said, is what working in the White House is about. It isn’t about the self but it is the people of this nation. They deserve the best work ethic White House employees can muster.
"Omarosa chose not to do that. Her book will be forgotten. Her breach of confidence and ghastly disloyalty - to the country - will not be." . . .

Hell hath no fury . . . "President Trump had moved up, but he hadn’t adequately moved on from some of the people around him that were stunting his growth as our president.

"Omarosa should have never been a part of Trump’s staff. It was clear from the beginning she was out for herself. Kudos to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly for recognizing that as quickly as he did. When the president invites someone to be a part of his staff, they must realize they have a duty to serve the American people by serving the president and helping him fulfill the agenda that elevated him to the highest office in the land." . . .

Movie Review: Death of a Nation

Legal Insurrection

"The film’s reviews on Rotten Tomatoes show there is vast difference in the opinions from professional critics (an amazing 0%) as opposed to the audience that actually watched it (91%).

"The disparity is so obviously based on politics that PJ Media’s Roger Simon actually requested a real movie review of that film. I thought I would oblige, having fled the California heat and wildfires for the blessed relief of air-conditioning.

"As a political documentary, I enjoyed elements of Death of a Nation immensely. D’Souza shines when he discusses history, featuring old clips and re-enactments to make his point. I found the material related to Nazi Germany engrossing. Perhaps the most moving was the story of Sophie Scholl, a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group who was convicted of treason and beheaded."

"I couldn’t help but think that Scholl offers a stark contrast to today’s social justice warriors on campus and Antifa." . . .

In comparison, I give Death of a Nation 3.5 out of 5 stars. It is worth seeing if you enjoy this type of film, but the books would be better for understanding the themes and sharing D’Souza’s ideas with others.

The situational “Jim Acosta: Roaring Lion to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Purring Kitty to Raul Castro.”

Power Line Blog  "Decades ago, after Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn took up residence in the United States, he noted that some of the same journalists he now observed behaving so rudely toward government officials in America had acted like pussycats when they were assigned to the Soviet Union. His comment, though very likely true, may have been a bit harsh.
"The fact that a journalist isn’t prepared to risk his freedom in a foreign country shouldn’t estop him from being tough on officials in their own free country. On the other hand, a journalist who is hyper-aggressive with officials at home shouldn’t grovel before foreign ones. Stay out of jail, yes. Suck up, no. Defer, not unless the alternatives are too dangerous.
"Solzhenitsyn’s comment came to mind when I read this piece about Jim Acosta by Humberto Fontova. He writes:

If CNN’s Jim Acosta spoke to the mass-murdering Stalinist dictator Raul Castro with half the insolence he sputters at White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders who could blame him?

After all, Jim Acosta’s father fled Stalinist Cuba as an 11 year- old, while Raul Castro destroyed his homeland and shattered his family, same as the Castros — through mass-executions, mass-jailings, mass larceny and exile–shattered practically every family in Cuba.

But no. While addressing the mass-murdering Cuban dictator Jim Acosta’s nervous brownnosing outdid both Eddie Haskell upon his every greeting of June Cleaver and The Scarecrow’s upon meeting the Wizard of Oz.

"Here is the exchange between Acosta and Castro to which Fontova refers:

Jim Acosta: Gracias, President Castro. Thank you, President Castro, for your hospitality here in Havana. I wanted to know, please sir, if you have Cuban political prisoners and why you don’t release them.

Raul Castro: Well, give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately. Just mention the list. What political prisoners? Give me a name or names or when — after this meeting is over, you can give me a list of political prisoners, and if we have those political prisoners, they will be released before tonight ends.

"If he had received this answer from Sarah Sanders or President Trump, Acosta would have insisted on following up, yelling out his questions if necessary — e.g., “Are you seriously denying that your government holds political prisoner[s]?” . . .

. . . Instead, according to Fontova, Acosta murmured another “thank you” and sat down.  . . .

Media ignore Trump’s British support on NATO

The fact that you have heard nothing about this from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, or the rest of the elite American media tells you how phony is the version of reality they are presenting to Americans. It also is yet another example of the media’s bias.  . . .

The Hill  

"Since President Donald Trump left the NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday and travelled to the United Kingdom to visit Prime Minister Theresa May and other British officials, the elite media have been desperately trying to cast this important overseas trip in a bad light.

"They want you to believe that all NATO member states (along with their entire populations) hate our president, and that even our closest allies are upset and scandalized by his demand that all NATO members pay their fair shares for our common defense.

"The elite media – at least in the U.S. – are so committed to this narrative that they are ignoring evidence that contradicts it.

"For instance, on Wednesday, nine former senior officers of the British military took out a half-page advertisement in the Times of London, agreeing with President Trump’s position on NATO and urging Prime Minister May to heed his advice. It was accompanied by a story, written by the Times of London’s defense editor, describing the fact that the UK was “set to fail Trump’s funding test.' "

White House Mulls Legal Options Over Omarosa’s Secret Taping In Situation Room

Daily Wire

"White House lawyers are examining legal options for punishing Omarosa Manigault Newman for releasing secretly taped recordings with Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly inside the secure Situation Room.

“The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room shows a blatant disregard for our national security — and then to brag about it on national television further proves the lack of character and integrity of this disgruntled former White House employee,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Sunday.

"Former Trump spokesman Sean Spicer also said Newman could face legal problems for the secret taping in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, known as a SCIF.

"It's an unbelievable violation of protocol and the law," Spicer said. "You can lose your security clearance for bringing your device into SCIF — to bring it in is a violation but to willfully record it — you're entering a whole other realm.' " . . .

Voters More Likely to Credit Trump for Economy Over Obama

Rasmussen "With the unemployment rate still among 18-year lows and the Dow Jones Industrial Average still among all-time highs, voters are slowly giving President Trump more credit than President Obama for the improving economy, though there remains a stark partisan divide. Voters agree, though, that impeaching Trump would be a detriment to the nation’s economy.

"A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the improving economy is due more to Trump than Obama, while 40% think it is more the result of the policies Obama put in place before he left office. (To see survey question wording, click here.) " . . . 

The Facts About the Individual Mandate Repeal and the Increase in Premiums

Finally, millions of uninsured people no longer will face the threat of IRS tax penalties. For theoreticians who support the mandate, this may be bad news. Those at risk of tax penalties for making rational economic decisions not to buy costly policies they don’t want will take a different view.

Galen Institute

"It turns out sabotage might be overrated.

"A new study by the Center for American Progress argues Congress’s repeal of the individual mandate and a proposed Trump administration rule that would expand the sale and renewal of short-term policies will have a devastating effect on 2019 premiums.

"These acts of “sabotage” mean 40-year-old non-smokers will pay an average of $970 more in premiums in 2019, beyond the increases that would have occurred in their absence, according to the study.  The study then attempts to estimate rate increases by congressional district.  An earlier CAP study estimated statewide premium effects.

"Since rate increases have not yet been announced in most states, CAP estimates premiums will rise by an average of 16.4 percent in those states because of these two policies, on top of an underlying trend of 7 percent, for a total average 2019 premium increase of 23.4 percent.

"But a comparison of the CAP “sabotage” estimates with preliminary 2019 rate filings in cities in 17 states compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests CAP vastly overestimated the effects of these policy changes on premiums. In 13 of the 17 cities, total requested premium increases are less than the statewide increases CAP attributes to these policies. The table below compares the Kaiser data on the 17 cities with the statewide premium effects CAP ascribes to these two policies.

. . . 

For example, CAP predicts that repeal of the mandate and rules changes on short-term plans will increase average 2019 premiums in Colorado by 18.3 percent. But according to a Kaiser analysis of preliminary rate filings, premiums in Denver will rise by just 6 percent. That pattern held for all but four of the cities included in the Kaiser analysis.