Pardons for Memorial Day?

NY Sun

"So much hogwash has been written about the President’s pardon power that it’s hard to know where to start. One place, though, would be the New York Times’ editorial on President Trump’s use of pardons in military cases. It ran last week under a headline suggesting Mr. Trump’s general approach to pardons “may be lawful, but it is in no way normal.” In other words — blam! — before the Times even gets down to business it runs off the rails.

"That’s because there is no “normal” way to pardon. If the Framers had wanted to specify norms for using the pardon, they were perfectly capable of doing so. They did that for, say, treason.  . . ."

. . . " The American Civil Liberties Union is quoted as saying that the pardon represented “a presidential endorsement of murder.” That’s no more true than is the idea that the ACLU’s famous defense of the brownshirts who marched in Skokie was an endorsement of the Nazis. It turns out that there are doubts about the court-martial of Mr. Behenna. The ex-GI argued that he feared the prisoner was going for his gun; Mr. Trump may simply believe him — or nurse doubts." . . .

Did It Start With Israel?

Power 

PowerLine  "On Friday, PJ Media headlined: “Report: Declassified Docs Will Show That Samantha Power’s 2016 Unmasking Efforts Were Related to Israel.”

Government documents that will soon be made public will reveal stunning information about former U.N. ambassador Samantha Power’s voluminous unmasking efforts in 2016, according to multiple sources.

On Thursday, President Trump gave Attorney General William Barr the authority to declassify documents from multiple agencies related to surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016.
***
As PJ Media reported in September of 2017, Power was unmasking people at a “freakishly rapid rate.”

The former U.S. ambassador moved at such a rapid pace that she ended up “averaging more than one request for every working day in 2016,” multiple sources told Fox News at the time. And she continued to seek identifying information about Americans caught up in incidental surveillance right up to President Trump’s inauguration.

"This is really extraordinary. Power was not an intelligence official, she was the U.N. Ambassador. Why was she unmasking anyone, let alone making hundreds of such requests? And why would she keep up this feverish pace right up to the moment she departed the White House?" . . .

Cartoons by Henry

Hillary Clinton Talks About Herself 106 Times During High School Graduation Speech…

She out-Obama'd the king of the first-person pronoun, Barack - "I. Me. Mine" - Obama.

Weasel Zippers  From the American Mirror   "Most graduation speeches are filled with optimistic anecdotes and bits of advice for young people ready to take on the world.
"At the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts commencement on Saturday, it was all about Hillary Clinton, because, after all, she had the microphone.
"During the roughly 28-minute address, Hillary talked about herself 106 times, or once every 16 seconds." . . .

Trump tweets video of Pelosi stammering through press conference

The American Mirror  "Now even President Trump is wondering what is wrong with Nancy Pelosi.

"The president tweeted a video montage of the House Speaker “stammering” through a press conference on Thursday." . . .

FAA Investigating Religious Discrimination Allegations Against Airports That Excluded Chick-Fil-A

Legal Insurrection  "Back in 2012, the SJW contingent of the perpetually outraged set their sights on Chick-Fil-A, and Legal Insurrection was proud to take part in Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day by publishing numerous reader photos.

"For the left, it’s not enough to simply not buy the product (and woe betide anyone who does), they want to destroy the entire chain, put thousands of people out of work, berate innocent drive-thru workers, and then declare triumph on the smoldering ashes of an American business.

"Apparently, President Trump’s FAA has no intention of letting the unhinged, anti-Christian attacks on Chick-Fil-A go unchecked." . . .

Flanders Fields and the significance of poppy sales

In Flanders Fields "I created this video in remembrance of those who served in the Great War, which ended 100 years ago on November 11, 1918. "In Flanders Fields" is a poem written in 1915 by John McCrae, a Canadian physician and soldier. I set the poem to music and added some lyrics that I hope honor the spirit of the original. The video uses mostly public domain and Creative Commons images.".

How the Poppy Came to Symbolize World War I  . . . "But why poppies? The answer is half biology, half history. The common or “corn” poppy, also known as Papaver rhoeas, grows throughout the United States, Asia, Africa and Europe and is native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds need light to grow, so when they're buried in the earth, they can lay dormant for 80 years or even longer by some accounts, without blooming. Once soil is disturbed and the seeds come to light, poppies nobody knew existed can then bloom." 

"During World War I, this beautiful phenomenon took place in a Europe decimated by the first truly modern war. In Belgium, which was home to part of the Western Front in its Flanders provinces, the soil was torn up by miles of trenches and pocked by bombs and artillery fire. The Battles of Ypres, which took part in a portion of Flanders known as Flanders Fields, were particularly deadly and took a toll on the physical environment, too. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, many of them British, breathed their last on soil laid bare and churned up by the mechanics of war." . . .  Full article..

AMERICANS ARE IN THE MIDST OF A DANGEROUSLY UNCIVIL CIVIL WAR

“The Nazi cartoons are back.” “It’s 1932 all over again.” “Never again shall Arabs control Jerusalem.” “Tlaib and Omar are intentionally mainstreaming anti-Semitic memes just as Hitler did in the lead up to World War 2.” Why are Jews still voting for the Democratic Party?” “Omar should kiss the ground here, the country that rescued her. She wants Sharia law, go back to where it is, don’t bring it here.” “Why are Jews hiding when their people are being demonized?” “The progressives are lost. The Anti-Semitism is out of control, it is a serious situation.” “Such blatant evil cannot be denied and it must be faced.”

A Jewish lawyer is marched barefoot through the streets of Munich by the SS.

Phyllis Chesler  at the Israel Day parade. "There must have been at least 100 of them, perhaps more. There they stood, long bearded and in black frock coats and hats, literally howling at those of us who had gathered to demand that Speaker of the Ho"I have never seen so many members of the Neturai Karta out in such force, not even use, Nancy Pelosi, remove Minnesota, Somali-American Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"And then it hit me.
"They, marginalized and rejected by the vast majority of the haredi world that also finds them repugnant, have quite possibly—probably—been mobilized by their paymaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to drown out our words. This is not a complete coincidence since American warships are now in the Persian Gulf.
"I congratulated the large number of pro-Israel and pro-America supporters, a crowd estimated at between 500-700, who had come to the corner of 7th Avenue and 48th Street where the buses never stop, nor do the fire engines, ambulances, and passing crowds.
"And then it also hit me.
"Men dressed just like the Neturai Karta are no longer totally safe in America, they are being increasingly targeted for ugly, street-corner “beat-downs,” hateful verbal screams from cars: “Allahu Akbar. Do you know Hitler? We love Hitler.” American synagogues on Shabbat have begun to require the same military-like presence that has long existed outside European synagogues." . . .

 A favorite scene from Saving Private Ryan:

Time for CNN to turn to food shows?

Sylvio Canto Jr  "We learned again that The Food Network is outdrawing CNN.  This is from Tammy Bruce:

. . . Throughout all of cable TV, during the week of April 1, Fox News grabbed the most primetime viewers with 2.3 million, MSNBC came in second with 1.6 million, and way below them, way below number one and number two, way below HGTV, the Food Network, Investigative Discovery, and the Hallmark Channel, sits the far-left CNN in 15th place, with only 745,000 primetime viewers.  . . .

. . .  "CNN problems are easy to understand:

"First, they became obsessed with the Mueller Report and invested in a negative conclusion about President Trump.  As my old journalism professor once said, "don't write the headline before you research the story."  Clearly, the people at CNN thought they were on "the right side of history" and bet against President Trump.

"Second, they forgot to do news.  It was 24/7 Trump panels rather than broadcasting news reports.  It's supposed to be a news network, but nothing in the programming supports that.

"So what happens now?  My guess is that ownership will read these ratings and make changes.  In the short run, the owners may roll back the anti-Trump nonsense.  In the long run, CNN may have a makeover and go food all day and all night.

"Last, but not least, it's sad that CNN has done this to itself.  The country needs vibrant news networks that report the news as objectively as possible.  I hope CNN returns to news and drops the panels." . . .

Well, they can do a twofer with "Kamala's Kitchen"

Posted by Thomas Lifson

Another Democrat posts a transparently phony photo, gets hilariously busted

What virtue-signaling looks like:

Lifson  "Yet another high-profile Democrat in Congress has been busted for posting a photo on Twitter that is such an obvious fraud that even a child could figure it out.

"How is it possible that think that they can get away with taking a new item out of box, then take a photo, and claim that it represents their true self, their customary signal of personal virtue , when the deep folds of the cloth off the (obviously) brand new item are visible to the naked eye?

"This tweet from Rep. Eric Swalwell was immediately spotted as a phony:"

(Typos corrected by my computer. TD)

Eric Swalwell tweeted: "I fly these flags 365 days a year."

. . . "The first two comments say it all:

Educated Hillbilly was the first:

You should have ironed it when you took it out of the wrapper.

Followed by Brian Crumpton:

"But then he wouldn’t be able to return it

. . .  

File under American silliness: AOC Comes Out Swinging In Rant Against Racist Cauliflower

The Federalist Papers  "New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is running out of things to be outraged about and has now moved to vegetables.

"In video rant the 29-year-old said that planting the popular vegetable, grown in Mexico, is a “colonial approach” that oppresses minorities." . . .

Remember when leftists said the sun is racist?  . . . 'But AOC’s constant use of the Race Card and attacks on white people is reminiscent of the idiotic race-baiting of leftists in August 2017, when they insisted that the sun was racist. Why? Because the main path of the great Solar Eclipse of 2017 passed mostly through states that voted for President Trump." . . .

“Veggie Tales” Now Racist According To SJWs Because Of Course It Is  "If it exists, it’s racist. That’s the kind of misery the social justice-obsessed have to live in constantly, as they are unable to enjoy the simple things due to their crusade to rid the world of everything they don’t like. One of those things is the kid’s cartoon “Veggie Tales,” which is apparently racist now according to some students at Cal State San Marcos. During a “Whiteness Forum” that looks critically at the problem of whiteness, students were encouraged to find racism in things we enjoy in order to train their critical eye. One group of students said the NFL was racist since the players were black but the coaches were white. Another group said that Veggie Tales is racist because the good guys are white, and the bad vegetables are ethnic." . . .

Remember "gravitas"? Now the latest meme among anti-Trump media: "Pelosi gets under Trump's skin".

Free Beacon: "Talking Point Alert: Pelosi Gets Under Trump’s Skin"
. . . "The press loved the acidic exchanges—Pelosi later said she would pray for Trump—and the "skin" talking point took hold quickly. On CNN and MSNBC alone, the Washington Free Beacon counted at least 19 examples of a variation of the phrase being used in just 24 hours." . . .

2007: Rush discusses how the press copies each other on memes. Remember "gravitas"?  . . . "I want to play this montage of ‘gravitas’ I was talking about last hour. This goes back to the year 2000. It’s one of the all-time great montages, this happened within a day of President Bush selecting Dick Cheney to be his vice presidential running mate. You’re going to hear Al Hunt, Juan Williams, Claire Shipman, Steve Roberts, Vic Fazio, Jeff Greenfield, Jonathan Alter, former Senator Bob Kerrey, Margaret Carlson, Mike McCurry, Sam Donaldson, Eleanor Clift, Walter Isaacson, Mark Shields, Judy Woodruff, and Sam Donaldson — and none of these are repeated.

HUNT: He is a man who meets all George W.’s weaknesses: lack of foreign policy exerience, lack of gravitas. I think now when Gore is trying to make the case of lack of gravitas against George W. …WILLIAMS: Now we look and we see the son, who is seeking some gravitas, to say to people that he is an intelligent man…SHIPMAN: There is a lot [of] talk they are looking at older candidates, candidates with gravitas.  . . .

Press memes: Thomas Sowell had fun with the Rush Limbaugh treatment of it.. Back in 2000.

RUSH LIMBAUGH has been having some fun lately, playing back recordings of politicians and media people, who have been repeating the word "gravitas" like parrots, day after day. Before Dick Cheney was announced as Governor George W. Bush's choice for vice presidential candidate, practically nobody used the word. Now everybody and his brother seems to be using it. The political spin is that Governor Bush lacks "gravitas" -- weight -- and that Dick Cheney was picked in an effort to supply what the governor lacks. In other words, the fact that Bush picked somebody solid for his running mate has been turned into something negative by the spinmeisters. The fact that media liberals echo the very same word, again and again, shows their partisan loyalties -- and their lack of originality. . . .

If You Believe Pelosi and Schumer, I Want to Sell You a Bridge

David Limbaugh

"Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the rest of the congressional Democratic cabal have treated President Trump abominably, and it's getting old. Do they assume Americans have endless patience for their ongoing investigation charade?

"Consider the latest brouhaha between Trump and the Democratic leaders. They were scheduled to meet at the White House on a $2 trillion infrastructure plan when Pelosi decided to poison the punch bowl.

"Ahead of the meeting, Pelosi and five investigative committee leaders spoke with other Democrats who had called for an impeachment inquiry. Afterward, she made an unsolicited public statement.

" 'We do believe it's important to follow the facts," she told reporters. "We believe that no one is above the law, including the president of the United States, and we believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up."

"And she feigns outrage that Trump cut the meeting short?" . . .