Posts on Saturday, May 16, 2020
Republican Sen. Mitt Romny (Utah) on Saturday denounced President Trump's firings of several inspector generals in various federal government offices as a "threat to accountable democracy."
"The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose. It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power," Romney tweeted
How does Watergate differ from Obamagate? Journalists led the charge to uncover the first. But now? Now journalists are leading the coverup of the second. Over there at Real Clear Investigations, J. Peder Zane has illustrated the media coverup exactly. A sample from Zane: “This week’s news that at least 39 Obama officials had unmasked Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s private conversations during the last month of their administration seemed a little shocking. Today, major media outlets are telling readers and viewers that the practice is “routine.” A CNN headline told readers, “Trump pushes 'Obamagate' conspiracy based on routine intel activity.”
Former President Bill Clinton delivered a politically charge commencement address on Saturday as part of CNN’s two-hour primetime special honoring the class of 2020.“I urge you to embrace the challenge. The world needs you. Your country needs you,” Clinton said, warning students across the country that the Chinese coronavirus pandemic has released them “into an uncertain future.” (Tweet/Video) “Even before the outbreak, you knew you were entering a world of growing inequalities, and divisive tribalism, with people pulling away from those who are different from them,” Bill Clinton said. “Seething resentments and a broken information system
Limbaugh asks VP Pence about blue states
with ‘political desire to inflict pain’ by not
opening replies
with ‘political desire to inflict pain’ by not
opening replies
In an interview with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, conservative talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh opined that it appears as though some governors of “blue states” are pushing back on reopening their economies to harm President Donald Trump.
Pence, who told the host that both he and the president had kept Limbaugh in their thoughts as he battles cancer, was there to discuss the administration’s progress on battling the coronavirus as well as plans to reopen the economy.
At one point during the interview, Limbaugh said, “I know you don’t want to get political in the midst of this national fight to defeat this thing,” before observing:
When Attorney General William Barr wanted to defend a decision that thousands of the Department of Justice alumni called indefensible, he knew just the reporter to turn to. Catherine Herridge has a long history on the justice beat. She also possesses one of the rarer attributes in TV journalism: a massive mainstream platform, serving now as CBS’s senior investigative correspondent. And she has reporting roots at the nation’s leading conservative media outlet, having made the jump late last year from Fox News, where she served for 20 years. So when Barr announced he would drop charges against former National Security
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Phyllis George, a former Miss America, television personality and ex-wife of Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. has died in Lexington after an illness. George, who had been hospitalized at the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler hospital, was 70. She died Thursday from complications from a blood disorder she had developed in her mid-30s but had managed for many years, Brown told The Courier Journal on Saturday. "Phyllis was a great asset to Kentucky," said Brown, who said he had maintained an amicable relationship with his ex-wife. He said he especially valued their four years as governor
US Rep wipes House floor with Dem
governor for decision to ‘extort the
counties and kill our elderly’ replies
governor for decision to ‘extort the
counties and kill our elderly’ replies
A Pennsylvania congressman slammed the state’s Democrat governor for what he called out as an attempt to “extort counties and kill our elderly.”U.S. Rep. Scott Perry called out Governor Tom Wolf on Friday for the alarming number of coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania’s nursing homes, apparently a result of a policy that allows infected patients to return to the facilities they reside in. (Video) Perry attacked Wolf for his withholding of funding to counties in the state while demanding more federal assistance as the elderly population in nursing homes have been decimated by the coronavirus outbreak.“People cannot exist on policies and promises,” Perry said Friday.
Having a hard time coping with quarantine during COVID-19?A cocktail is just what the doctor — and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy — have ordered.Murphy signed legislation on Friday making it legal to sell and deliver mixed drinks and cocktails during the COVID-19 state of emergency, NorthJersey.com reported Friday.Residents craving a dirty martini or Sex on the Beach — or maybe even a sidecar or Harvey Wallbanger — can now get them delivered to their homes.“New Jersey’s restaurant and hospitality industry, like so many other businesses, has suffered tremendous financial losses
The Cuomo brothers put their (faux) sibling rivalry on hold to share their appreciation for one another on live television this week.
While the brothers have jokingly bickered for viewers in the past, Wednesday night's episode of Chris Cuomo's show Cuomo Prime Time made it clear that the two have nothing but love for one another. Chris had his older brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the show to discuss recent developments in the coronavirus pandemic and his thoughts on reopening parts of the state, which at first led to a routine debate between the two. While Chris, 49
Barack Obama dissed President Trump’s coronavirus leadership, and ripped the Georgia men who shot Ahmaud Arbery, during a “virtual commencement” Saturday for the graduates of historically black colleges.“More than anything else, this pandemic has fully finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” the former president said in an online address aimed at the 27,000 graduating seniors of 78 schools.“A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge,” he added.It was a muted insult compared to the harsh language Obama used in a leaked phone call last
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state's unemployment office is halting payments for one to two days amid a rise in fraud attempts.
The state's Employment Security Department (ESD) Commissioner, Suzi LeVine, said ESD has seen a "significant rise" in reports of imposter fraud since the start of May and particularly in the past week. "This is where bad actors have stolen Washingtonians’ personal information from sources outside of the agency and are using it to apply for unemployment benefits," Levine wrote in a statement. Levine clarified that ESD has not had a breach of its system and no data has been
On Friday, Thomas Lifson wrote that last week's news about the Flynn unmaskings was just the beginning. He cited a post by retired naval officer J.E. Dyer, at Liberty Unyielding, for insights about what acting director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell was carrying in a sizable satchel he delivered to the Department of Justice on May 7, 2020. Anyone could see that the satchel contained substantially more information than the five pages revealing the myriad Obama officials who unmasked General Flynn's name.
Former Chief Asst. U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy has an article written today pointing to the primary issue about former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn: “The Real Story is When Flynn Was Not Unmasked” – READ HERE.
McCarthy has reviewed the documents; looked at the research; reviewed what the IG said was not happening; and came to the same conclusion as CTH. The Obama surveillance of Flynn did not include ‘unmasking’ because the collection was not incidental.
McCarthy points the media’s incurious compass needle toward the CIA, but don’t expect any DC media to follow it. The truth is adverse to MSM interests. There’s only one way for the Flynn-Kislyak
Despite Wednesday’s blockbuster news about the dozens of Obama-administration officials who “unmasked” then-incoming Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn, there remains a gaping hole in the story: Where is the record showing who unmasked Flynn in connection with his fateful conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak?
There isn’t one.
There is no such evidence in the unmasking list that acting national intelligence director Richard Grenell provided to Senators Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R., Wis.). I suspect that’s because General Flynn’s identity was not “masked” in the first place. Instead, his December 29 call with Kislyak was likely intercepted under an intelligence program not subject to the masking rules,
On what one can imagine was an otherwise ordinary day in late 1836, Eliza Davison answered a knock at the door of her father’s farmhouse in the countryside outside of Richford, New York.
On the stoop was a tall and handsome peddler wearing a chalkboard attached to his shirt that announced “I am deaf and dumb.” The conversation, silent on his part, that ensued is lost to history. Did he encourage the young red-haired woman to take a peak through his kaleidoscope, his usual M.O. with new customers? Did he enchant her with bizarre curiosities and potions that could solve any ill? Did he titillate the imagination
A tourist from New York has been arrested in Hawaii after he allegedly violated state regulations that require travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.Tarique Peters, 23, of the Bronx, arrived in Honolulu on Monday. He then posted photographs on Instagram photos showing himself sunbathing at the beach and carrying a surfboard, state officials said.“He allegedly left his hotel room the day he arrived and traveled many places using public transportation. Authorities became aware of his social media posts from citizens who saw posts of him — on the beach with a surfboard, sunbathing, and walking around Waikiki at night,”
In the history of expensive software mistakes, Mariner 1 was probably the most notorious. The unmanned spacecraft was destroyed seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral in 1962 . . . But nobody died and the only hits were to Nasa’s budget and pride. Imperial College’s modelling of non-pharmaceutical interventions for Covid-19 which helped persuade the UK and other countries to bring in draconian lockdowns . . . could go down in history as the most devastating software mistake of all time, in terms of economic costs and lives lost.
They Blinded Us With Science
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If post-Enlightenment modernity has a single credal axiom, it is that truth is limited to only what can be sensed with the senses, measured with our instruments, and generally expressed in mathematical language. Facts, in a word. All other claimants to “truth,” in this view, amount to subjective opinion at best and dark superstition at worst.
This way of knowing the world emerged roughly 400 years ago from within the natural sciences and soon came to color many people’s approach to life as a whole. The great premodern traditions at first balked, then spent the centuries that followed reacting against and/or accommodating the scientific outlook
Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell appears to be tiring of the partisan attacks from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as evidenced by his curt dismissal of the California Democrat’s latest political assault.Since Grenell was appointed to his temporary post in February by President Donald Trump — a lawful appointment that isn’t in question — Schiff has repeatedly complained about moves the DNI has made without the partisan Dem’s ‘approval.’For example, Schiff blasted Grenell last month after the acting DNI made several personnel changes, doing so “without consulting and seeking authorization from Congress in a manner that undermines critical intelligence functions.”
Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI), the Never Trump libertarian-leaning congressman who quit the Republican Party last year, announced Saturday that he will not run for president after recently launching an exploratory committee for the Libertarian Party’s White House nomination.“I’ve spent nearly three weeks assessing the race, appearing in media, talking to delegates and donors, watching the Libertarian Party’s convention plan unfold, and gathering feedback from family, friends, and other advisers,” Amash wrote on Twitter. “After much reflection, I’ve concluded that circumstances don’t lend themselves to my success
Nearly a quarter of the people reported as coronavirus deaths in state statistics don’t have the virus listed on their death certificates – at least not yet – the state Health Department said Friday, adding more uncertainty to how many people the virus has killed in Colorado.
The number of coronavirus deaths in state figures topped 1,000 earlier this week, and the number stood at 1,150 deaths as of Friday afternoon. But officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment revealed during a call with reporters
Activism in the cause of something you deeply believe in, when carried out by a private citizen, is a noble thing and a precious right of our Republic.
But when institutions, put in place to serve the public in a fair and impartial fashion step over the bias line, it harms the very foundation of liberty and justice on which all of our nation was founded.
I am going to deal with three.
The difference in efforts to protect seniors from the coronavirus pandemic between New York State Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Florida State Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is "very sad," Fox News contributor Deroy Murdock stated Saturday.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends Weekend" with host Pete Hegseth, Murdock explained that Cuomo's ineffectuality in protecting his most vulnerable population was mainly due to a poor order to state health officials. In late March, Cuomo announced that nursing homes were required to accept COVID-19 positive patients once they were discharged after becoming more medically stable. In addition, according to Murdock, those patients were not required to be tested following their release.
A company that operates three shuttered New Jersey malls is asking Gov. Phil Murphy and local officials to defer $25 million in real estate taxes it is expected to pay this year because of losses from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. Joseph Coradino of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is also asking for a 40% tax reduction next year, 30% the year after that and then a permanent cut of 20%. “The shopping center business, particularly enclosed malls, are under siege,” Coradino said in a letter on March 25. “Our tenants are currently closed and unable to generate revenue and in innumerable cases, are requesting
British leaders planned . . . a laissez-faire approach to the spread of the coronavirus. . . . . But . . . , a report from the Imperial College . . . led by . . . Neil Ferguson, shocked the Cabinet . . . into a complete reversal . . . . Report 9 . . . used computational models to predict that . . . Britain would suffer 500,000 [coronavirus] deaths . . . . [But the] code on which they based their predictions would not pass a cursory review by a Ph.D. committee in computational epidemiology.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to significantly shrink the footprint of California's prison system, partly because of massive budget cuts prompted by the pandemic but also because of philosophy. The revised budget he sent to state lawmakers this week envisions closing two state prisons in the coming years; cutting nearly one in five of the 43 inmate firefighter camps; and eventually closing all three state-run juvenile prisons. He's also seeking unspecified increases to sentencing credits that allow inmates to leave prison more quickly. And he proposes to shorten parole to a maximum of two years, down from five years for felonies, and let ex-felons earn their way off supervision
It’s amazing that, to this day, neither of Gen. Michael Flynn’s legal teams have been able to obtain the FBI’s 302 from the January 24, 2017 White House ambush interview.
(Snip)
Rep. Devin Nunes spoke to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo about the original report.He said Congress had been briefed on it by FBI sources who said, “’Look, there’s nothing to see here, Flynn wasn’t lying.’ So we knew this at the beginning of 2017, so you can imagine my astonishment when it began to leak out in the press that General Flynn was being busted for lying to the FBI. And that, that’s what(Snip)they were going to bust him on.”
Pelosi’s crazy $3T coronavirus spending bill may
have secret purpose – Don’t underestimate her replies
have secret purpose – Don’t underestimate her replies
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the $3 trillion coronavirus spending bill she and her allies had written--a bill passed by House Democrats Friday night with only a single Republican vote in support--my first reaction was that it would be dead on arrival in the Senate and that the move made no sense.(Snip)Pelosi is a survivor. She is tough. She is hardworking, and she has been through a lot of campaigns--and seen and executed a lot of maneuvers. Therefore, you must assume there is a sound strategic reason for Pelosi to bring forward a bill that is this radical, expensive, and controversial.
Gov. Jay Inslee retracts requirement
that diners provide contact info
when restaurants reopen replies
that diners provide contact info
when restaurants reopen replies
When dining rooms in Washington start to reopen in the coming months, restaurants will not be required to record customers’ contact information after all.
In a walk-back of a controversial component of the restaurant reopening guidance issued earlier this week, Gov. Jay Inslee’s office issued a statement on Friday evening “clarifying” that the state will not require customers to provide their contact information when they go out to eat.
Instead, businesses are asked to maintain a list of customers who voluntarily do so.
“We are asking visitors to voluntarily provide contact information in case of COVID-19 exposure. We only need information for one person per household.
As the walls close in on Obama's use of the FBI to spy on political opponents, the Washington Post has a simple solution for a press that aided and abetted him: If something looks bad "just don’t report that it does."
The full quote by columnist Greg Sargent is, "There is a legitimately difficult editorial challenge in figuring out how to scrutinize a mostly conventional politician who is running against a bottomlessly corrupt and dishonest opponent like Trump, as Brian Beutler has noted, without placing a similarly sized question mark over both of them.(Snip)
Just don't report.
President Donald John Trump finally fired Democrat henchman Steve Linick as inspector general at the State Department. Obama appointed him in 2013 and a Democrat Senate confirmed him. He apparently wiled away his time giving documents to House Democrats.
Politico made this politico out to be a martyr. Its story described him as a Justice Department veteran, which is true but he is also politically active. Having someone in your administration who is working to have you impeached and removed from office is unacceptable.
The story said, "Trump's move infuriated Democrats who say he's trying to circumvent oversight of his administration, undermining the ability of other branches to hold him accountable.
The Trump administration will shortly resume funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), but it will be at the same level as China, according to a Fox News report released Friday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”“This is a Fox News alert,” said Carlson, “The Trump administration is on the brink of resuming U.S. funding of the World Health Organization. Last month, the administration cut off U.S. funding at the president’s direction. That amounts to about $400 million a year.” (Video) Carlson read from a draft letter reportedly written by President Donald Trump and obtained by Fox News.
A clip unearthed by Media Research Center shows MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough joking about his dead intern to radio personality Don Imus in 2003.Florida intern Lori Klausutis died at age 28 from an apparent head injury back in 2001 when Scarborough worked as a Republican Florida congressman. Klausutis was found dead at her desk and had an undiagnosed heart condition. Her death was ruled accidental, but it has sparked many conspiracy theories.MRC’s unearthed clip is dated May 29, 2003 and appears to show Scarborough laughing along with Imus about killing the intern.
The federal agency that handles citizenship and other legal immigration applications is running out of money amid the coronavirus crisis, and warned Congress on Friday it needs a quick infusion of $1.2 billion in taxpayer money or else it will have to take “drastic actions” to keep the doors open.
Joseph Edlow, deputy director for policy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told employees in a memo Friday that they’ve already done some belt-tightening and are working on a new fee schedule that will bring in more money. But it won’t be enough and Congress will have to pony up.
New York's embattled governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced that an upstate barber who violated quarantine, caught COVID-19, and then spread it to others, is reason enough for More Lockdown. He said it with an impressive combination of coldness and glee, looking like some kind of hard-faced Caligula-like character.
Let them hate me so long as they fear me.
Here's the NBC YouTube:
Reporter: "...I mean, seriously, they have to pay for their food, they have to pay for their buildings, even, you know, month to month, and they're not getting any income..."
Cuomo: 'Yeah, how about the story about the hair stylist in Kingston" (A little twinkle comes to his eye,
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi essentially told members of Congress they don’t need to show up for work anymore and she will take care of voting for them.The California Democrat led members of the House to pass legislation on Friday that allows lawmakers to stay home and vote by proxy during the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented bill coincided with the approval of a massive $3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that has objecting Republicans reeling.(Video) Rep. Steve Scalise condemned the “power grab” as “unconstitutional” during a panel discussion on Fox News, warning House members who voted in favor of proxy voting that they will have to face their constituents
BI Agents Peter Strzok and Joe Pientka interviewed National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on January 24, 2017. According to documents presented in the court case, agent Peter Strzok did the questioning and agent Joe Pientka took most of the notes.
Following the interview agent Pientka then took his hand-written notes and generated an official FD-302; an FBI report of the interview itself. There has been a great deal of debate over the first draft, the original FD-302 (Snip)
On May 2, 2020, the DOJ, using new information gathered by U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, declassified and released a segment of James Comey testimony that was previously hidden.
There are several lessons we have learned from the CoViD-19 experience such as: the unreliability of predictive models; the danger of depending on foreign supply chains; over-reaction can be a deadly as under-reaction; and the need for better contingency planning.
There is one lesson we have not absorbed: to get timely, affordable care, Americans need the private sector, the free market, not the government-controlled health care.
When the CoViD crisis began, it was private companies, not government agencies, that quickly produced diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment, ventilators, and developed ideas for both curative medicines
In the wake of questions about where his family has been staying during the statewide stay-at-home order, Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday said he’s been protective of his wife and children’s privacy, out of fear for their safety.(Snip) Pritzker had refused to answer questions on the issue until Friday, when he said his wife and daughter had been in Florida before he issued the stay-at-home order. The governor said they sheltered in place there until recently, when they returned home. He said they’re now at a “working farm” the family owns in Wisconsin, taking care of the horses there.
Acting DNI Ric Grenell Announces
Organizational Changes to National
Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)… replies
Organizational Changes to National
Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)… replies
The Terror Threat Integration Center (TTIC) was created in 2003 by George W Bush and was first headed by John Brennan. In August 2004, and at the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, TTIC was incorporated into the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) by Executive Order (EO) 13354. [LINK]
Friday evening Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard “Ric” Grenell announces some modifications to the NCTC to streamline activity and avoid redundancy.
(Snip)Essentially behind the writing of the FISA court review (footnote 69), there appeared to be a clouding of intelligence distinctions between the CIA (foreign) and FBI (domestic), through the use of counterintelligence and the NCTC.
The Coronavirus Fifth Column
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As left-wing Democrat-controlled states continue to keep people in lockdown, it is becoming apparent that they are using the pandemic as a means to gain ultimate control of people's lives.In fact, leftists the world over are exploiting the pandemic in order to create their alleged utopias. Vanessa Vallejo, a Colombian activist and columnist explains that.... Whenever they come to power, communists work hard to create a clientele network that will vote for them and support them in the future. So instead of looking for real solutions to lift people out of poverty altogether, they offer them subsidies or useless jobs where citizens are dependent on politicians.
I have to admit, of all of President Trump’s press secretaries, Kayleigh McEnany is my favorite. She’s regularly demonstrated her ability to handle the media’s gotcha questions and throw them right back in their faces.
On Friday, she absolutely crushed it again when she was asked about the Strategic National Stockpile. Associated Press reporter Jill Colvin asked, “How come on January 2020, the stockpile was as low as it was on supplies like face masks and N95s?”
“It’s a really important question,” replied McEnany. “Perhaps I should redirect your question to President Obama who left the stockpile empty.”
McEnany went on to cite a USA Today fact-check
The reports during the past two days that President Trump has engaged the military in a project called Operation Warp Speed to fast track a Covid-19 vaccine – which is being compared to the World War Two Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon – feels like the final blow. (snip) President Trump’s promise of a vaccine yesterday implies words like mandate, monitoring, and immunity passports. Contact tracing and tens of thousands of new government workers to spy on and enforce compliance with that unproven strategy which came out of nowhere last month were bad enough. Now we have the next and possibly the final chapter
Andrew Cuomo in All His Ugliness
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Much of the nation these past few months has focused on New York state since it became the hotspot for the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. (snip) On Tuesday, Cuomo proposed a new law that aims to prevent corporations from receiving stimulus funds as a result of COVID-19. While he presents himself as a governor who will tackle all forms of injustice, especially in light of his continual hands-on approach during this crisis, Cuomo is anything but the knight in shining armor he is being portrayed as.
There's really nothing worse than neighbors ratting out neighbors. But that's what Democrats are urging citizens to do across the country. And more often than not innocent Americans are getting caught in the crosshairs.
Sheila Perez Smith tells the Todd Starnes Show that she was stunned when the police showed up at her home near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Smith's 7-year-old son had just completed a zoom class from the den of their home when she received an urgent email from her son's first grade teacher.
It just so happened that the little boy had recently been gifted a toy gun
The curve of Wuhan coronavirus cases across the country has flattened and cities are slowly coming out of stay-at-home orders. Businesses are opening back up and people are doing what they can to return to normalcy.
But the bad decisions made by politicians in the hardest-hit areas, specifically New York, should not go unnoticed as we start to pull away from the pandemic.
On March 2, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was encouraging residents to continue their regular behavior. He even gave them ideas about what to do in crowded areas. The virus had been in the country since the end of January and rapidly spreading.
Which part of United States v. Michael Flynn does Judge Emmet Sullivan not understand? There is no third party in the case title -- only the names of the accuser and the accused. There is no understudy prosecutor to be employed when one party says he’s innocent and the other admits they have no case. Game over. The defendant is a free man unless you are in Judge Sullivan’s court where the signpost up ahead says “The Twilight Zone.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced Friday that its top counterintelligence official would carry out all election security intelligence briefings to 2020 candidates and campaigns instead of the FBI or Department of Homeland Security.
The nation’s top spy office, which oversees all 17 spy agencies and is currently led by acting spy chief Richard Grenell, said that the intelligence community “will lead all intelligence-based threat briefings to candidates, campaigns, and political organizations under the U.S. government’s notification framework.” ODNI said William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center since 2014, will “serve as the IC’s leader to this critical effort.” The ODNI also announced reforms
Flexing unearned influence has exposed the thirst for control of their citizens.
In Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf caught a whiff of his constituents working up the desire to step out and start living their lives once again. The idea of citizens exerting their freedoms and basking in the normalcy of liberty was too much for him to stand. On Monday he sent out a tweet storm, delivering a series of firm commands of how he intends to clamp down on those who might dare get the idea of doing things.
Our Nevermind Media
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How lovely it is to have a high-profile job in our major media institutions. Let’s say you completely, hideously muck up a huge story. Let’s say you spend three years wildly misleading the public. Let’s say that, at the outset of the worst public-health crisis in a century, you mock people for being afraid and tell them to go about life as usual. When you’re proven wrong, you get to tell the next chapter of the story anyway. And if you feel like saying, “No fair noticing we were wrong!” you know other members of the mainstream-media cartel will rush to support you.
Media observers are today
In light of Judge Sullivan’s bizarre orders in the Flynn prosecution, there is talk about the possibility of filing a petition with the court of appeals seeking to have it pull the plug on the Flynn proceedings. However, I don’t think the D.C. Circuit would grant such a petition, and I question whether, at this stage, it should.
The problem is that Sullivan hasn’t ruled one way or the other on the government’s motion to dismiss the case against Gen. Flynn. Technically, all he has done is ask for briefing from outside parties on the question of whether he should grant the motion.
Sullivan shouldn’t have asked for outside help.
Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate. But that number is a dramatic overcount. Our metrics include deaths that have nothing to do with the virus. The problem is even worse as the Centers for Disease Control over counts even some of these cases and the government has created financial incentives for this misreporting. Relying on these flawed numbers is destroying businesses and jobs and costing lives.
“The case definition is very simplistic,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois Department of Public Health, explains.
So now it turns out that Joe Biden was in on the Obamagate dirty tricks scandal right up to his glazed, vacant eyeballs.
But actually, you will not be surprised to learn, Sleepy Joe appears somewhat … dazed and confused … about what exactly happened, and his connection to whatever it was that was done.
If Biden is eventually placed under oath and asked by the grand jury about the greatest political scandal in American history, you know what his answer will be.
“I don’t remember anything.”
And who would be able to dispute him?
This week, Biden did a podcast with someone from the failing far-left magazine Vanity Fair, and the host informed Joe
There’s a weird cognitive dissonance happening right now that is as revealing as it is alarming.
Just as we learn more details about all the ways Barack Obama and his henchmen weaponized powerful federal agencies to punish Donald Trump, Americans, oddly, are surrendering their own power to the same type of god-like government authorities under the guise of the common good.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive,” C.S. Lewis wrote. “It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point
We may be slow, we often say, but then again, too, we didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. So in respect of Judge Emmet Sullivan’s outrage over General Michael Flynn’s desire to withdraw his guilty plea, let us just say our eyes are dry. . . As if such pleading guilty to a crime one didn’t commit is all that unusual.
The fact is that it’s by no means rare for persons to plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit.
On Wednesday, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell released a list of sixteen Obama administration officials who sought to “unmask” the identity of Michael Flynn during the presidential transition. Some made a single request, others made multiple. But who of these officials leaked the classified details of the Flynn-Kislyak phone conversation, including Flynn’s name, to the media?
While requesting the unmasking of Flynn itself isn’t a crime if you have the proper security clearance, the unmasking of American citizens for political purposes is illegal, so the leaking of Flynn’s name to the media was indeed a criminal act.
There were dozens of Obama officials who made unmasking requests
The Bait-and-Switch Blues
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Years from now, when the American public’s memory of the Wuhan virus craze has crystallized into something coherent, it’s a good bet most of us will see the economic shutdown that was the governmental reaction as the dumbest, most wasteful, and most abusive error made on this continent since a government not of the people passed the Intolerable Acts of the early 1770s and was shortly thereafter dispatched from the 13 colonies.
Unfortunately, we will not have the benefit of throwing off an out-of-touch foreign government this time. The stupidity and abuse of the shutdowns comes from people we elected.
Those have been our mistakes.
Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate. But that number is a dramatic overcount. Our metrics include deaths that have nothing to do with the virus. The problem is even worse as the Centers for Disease Control over counts even some of these cases and the government has created financial incentives for this misreporting.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is happy to play rank politics with the federal coronavirus response. Exhibit A is the absurd $3 trillion “relief” bill she’s set for floor vote on Friday.
It’s the first emergency bill written by one party with zero input from the other. Some Dems say it’s just an “opening bid,” but why waste time crafting 1,800 pages of legislation full of poison pills for the opposition?
It seems Pelosi thinks virtue-signaling to her base is worth the trouble.
The bill is packed with junk that has nothing to do with the pandemic or the economic chaos the response to it has created.
GOP research group America Rising, which works to hold Democrats accountable, released a new video criticizing Joe Biden as a career politician. Indeed, as the GOP powerhouse group points out, the Democratic frontrunner is the ultimate swamp creature. Between 8 years as vice president, a 32-year tenure in the Senate, and two previous bids for the White House, Biden embodies the idea of a career politician perfectly. [Video]
The GOP group was also one of the first to call on Biden to release documents from his 32-year career in the Senate, which may contain additional information with respect to Tara Reade's allegations of sexual assault against Biden.
They say that if you live long enough, you’ll get to experience nearly everything, and so it has been for Joe Biden, who has lived to see history’s first Zoom presidential campaign. Unfortunately for him, it’s his.
Nobody looks good on Zoom—or FaceTime or Skype or any of the other online simulacra of human interaction that the lockdown has forced upon us. It diminishes all the distractions and intangibles that give life texture and zest, that make life seem rather pleasanter than it is. Did anyone fully understand just how unfunny late-night talk-show hosts are—take your pick; I pick Stephen Colbert—until the pandemic
A top political adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders is warning that “a significant portion” of the Vermont senator's supporters are “currently unsupportive” of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Jeff Weaver – who managed Sanders’ 2016 campaign and served as senior adviser on his now-suspended 2020 White House bid – cautioned, “The Bernie Sanders base makes up a sizeable group of voters that could have a profound impact in the outcome of the election.” Weaver raised the red flags in a four-page document issued by his newly formed "America’s Promise" super PAC that was first reported by NBC News and confirmed by Fox News.
After months of the pandemic lockdown, we have arrived at a decisive time. Communities around the country and around the globe are starting to take dramatic next steps as they try to move toward economic and social recovery. You cannot help but wonder how this time of isolation has changed us and how those changes will reshape the world that awaits us.
As an example, last week, I looked at the airline industry and recent announcements of what passengers can expect as the industry tries to lure travelers back into the fold. Not unexpectedly, they are banking on plane cleanliness as the draw.
President Trump on Friday night fired the State Department’s inspector general, saying in a letter to Congress that he no longer had confidence in the Obama administration appointee.
The president’s letter did not mention Steve Linick by name but said his removal would take effect in 30 days, The Associated Press reported.
Linick, a former assistant U.S. attorney in California and Virginia who has held the IG position since 2013, had overseen reports that were highly critical of the State Department's management policies since Trump took office.
It appears presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden and Obama-era National Security Adviser Susan Rice are two sleazy unmasking peas in a pod of potential illegalities.
On Thursday, a day after Biden and Rice were both outed as being among the Obama administration officials who’d sought to unmask then-incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in late 2016 and early 2017, word emerged that Rice is on Biden’s VP shortlist.
“You’re on the list of one of the people to be considered for Joe Biden’s vice president,” PBS host Margaret Hoover revealed to Rice during an interview with her.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden insisted in a virtual town hall that he is daily brought up to date about the coronavirus crisis.
The only problem: He can’t remember the name of the person who briefs him for more than an hour each day. [Video]
The former vice president had the memory lapse during another virtual event filled with now-expected technical glitches and awkward problems on Thursday.
Biden struggled to recall the name of the staffer as he hosted a virtual roundtable on the coronavirus pandemic from his home’s basement.
“Um, and uh, and I’m not, and I, I have a, I have a, uh, like all of you
There’s a lot of frustration in the country today. Frustration over a two-month-long lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, and frustration with the media for being more obsessed with destroying President Trump than providing reliable information during an unprecedented national emergency.
These frustrations came together Thursday during a Long Island reopening rally, as the protesters let a local reporter know how they feel as he made his way through the crowd, chanting “fake news is not essential.”
News 12 Long Island reporter Kevin Vesey was covering the protest, with an emphasis on social distancing, and was ripped by person after person for being “fake news.” He shared a video online,
Winston Churchill, the greatest half-American to ever live, is famously quoted as having said: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
The quote is exactly half-right. The best argument against democracy is actually a five-minute conversation with the average lawmaker.
Never clearer has this been than watching the U.S. Senate this week confront the deadly pandemic ravaging the world today. Senators might have taken up the fight sooner except that from Jan. 16 to Feb. 5 of this year — as the virus was marching across the globe and headed for America —
A Pakistani doctor, admitted to the United States through the H-1B visa program, wanted to attack Americans for the Islamic State (ISIS), federal agents say in a criminal complaint.
Muhammad Masood, a 28-year-old Pakistani national, first arrived in the U.S. in February 2018 after he was able to secure an H-1B visa — the visa program whereby more than 100,000 foreign workers are brought to the U.S. every year and are allowed to stay for up to six years. There are about 650,000 H-1B visa foreign workers in the U.S. at any given moment.
Masood worked as an H-1B visa holder “research coordinator” at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
A convicted felon who was freed from a Colorado prison over concerns of the Chinese coronavirus spreading has been arrested less than a month later for allegedly murdering a 21-year-old woman.
Cornelius Haney has been charged for the first-degree murder of Heather Perry, whose body was found in a Denver, Colorado alleyway, according to CBS Denver.
Haney allegedly murdered Perry less than a month after he was released from prison thanks to Gov. Jared Polis’s (D) executive order freeing some inmates from jails and prisons over fears of the coronavirus spreading in state and local detention facilities.
Haney had been serving a seven-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2016
At times, it’s hard for rational Americans to fathom the level of hatred and hostility directed at President Donald Trump, but with the November election growing large in the windshield, there are subtle signs that may help explain it. One of these signs is a video of a black man being interviewed about his support for the president. The man in the video was identified online as Stephen Davis — on his Instagram page, Davis says he is a “conservative Christian bodybuilding patriot.” “I believed everything the media told me, I believed. I drank the Kool-Aid, so to speak, and it got to the point where — you know,
Susan Rice wants to be Joe Biden's running mate. The question is whether the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee wants her on his ticket."I certainly would say yes," Rice told PBS late Thursday. "I know Joe Biden well. I've worked with him very closely. I know he'll be a great president of the United States. And from my vantage point, I'm committed to doing all I can to help him win and to help him govern."She added, "If that were the role in which he felt I could best serve, then I'm not going to say no."Rice, 55, was former President Barack Obama's national security adviser from 2013 to 2017,
The State Department’s Inspector General, Steve Linick, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, was fired Friday night. Ambassador Steven Akard, a former career foreign service officer, will replace him, according to Politico. As is required by law, President Donald Trump notified House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the move, which will take effect in 30 days, on Friday night in a letter: (Tweet) Top House Democrats, like House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), were out fairly quickly after the news suggesting that this move was unjustified:
On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” former CIA Director John Brennan stated that he welcomes the chance to talk with John Durham’s investigators and is willing to talk to them because he is confident he has nothing to hide and people have been deceived by people like President Trump and William Barr.Brennan said, “John Durham, who is a well-respected individual from the Department of Justice…is conducting this investigation, I guess this investigation, and looking at what happened during those last months of the Obama administration and the first year or two of the Trump administration. I’d like to think that John Durham and the other DOJ and FBI investigators
There are two arguable reasons as to why former Vice President Joe Biden remains the Democrat Party’s presumptive choice to run against President Donald Trump in November.One, Democratic operatives are salivating at the opportunity to use Biden’s apparently declining mental state to their advantage and rule from the shadows while he remains a ‘figurehead’ president.And two, the God-awful ‘mainstream media’ is continuing to help prop him up, as evidenced by nearly every single interview with him.
Thursday’s appearance on Lawrence O’Donnell’s MSNBC program is a case in point.Earlier in the week, Biden was asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America”
House Democrats passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday night despite Senate Republicans and President Trump declaring the so-called Heroes Act dead on arrival.Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California complained that the 1,800-page bill was “the largest bill in the history of Congress” — and that it was unfurled this week without a committee hearing.Democrats defended the bill, arguing that Republican foot-dragging forced them to move ahead with a unilateral proposal.“There is pain. There is suffering.
New York City—Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed new a new plan Friday aiming to keep all New Yorkers cool and safe this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic. The first goal of the mayor's "COVID-19 heat-wave plan" focuses on protecting the city's most vulnerable residents as they remain at home in the hotter months. To ensure this, de Blasio said the city will be providing and installing new air conditioners for all low-income seniors who need them. The city will purchase over 74,000 AC units, with 22,000 of those going to resident at NYCHA facilities, the mayor said.