Posts on Tuesday, May 19, 2020
‘His Father’s Son’: Joe Biden’s Attack on
Don Jr. Backfires as Hunter’s Baggage
Retakes Center Stage replies
Don Jr. Backfires as Hunter’s Baggage
Retakes Center Stage replies
Joe Biden’s (D) attack on Donald Trump Jr. backfired tremendously Tuesday evening after the president’s eldest son resurrected the largely dismissed realities surrounding the corruption of the Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee and his son Hunter.“It’s sick,” Biden said in response to a meme posted by Donald Trump Jr., highlighting what many have considered the former vice president’s “creepy” behavior: (Snip) “He is his father’s son,” Biden added.Trump Jr. did not allow Biden’s quip to go unaddressed.
Two Senate committees are expanding their investigations into the Obama-era scandal that involved surveilling members of the Trump campaign, which Attorney General William Barr has said amounts to “spying,” saying that they have reason to believe that they are becoming increasingly concerned that the surveillance started before the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson and Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley wrote a letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell asking for the declassification of “additional information related to the unmasking
State Rep. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, joined House Democrats to release their proposal for holding a safe and accessible presidential election in November amid the worst global pandemic in more than a century. Highlights of the plan include mailing a ballot with prepaid return postage to every voter, extending the ballot postmark date to Election Day, enhancing safety for in-person voting and expanding voter registration, according to a news release. “If there is one important lesson to learn from this global pandemic, it’s that we need to modernize our electoral system,” Miller said. “As we learned by the elections in the Ohio primary,
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw exposed what he thinks is really behind the partisan divide in the nation over reopening efforts in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.The Texas Republican addressed the “psychology and morality” of the politics behind why Americans are so polarized over the country getting back to a sort of normal following the ravages of the pandemic in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal.(Photo) “The debate over reopening the economy has a peculiar characteristic: It breaks down almost entirely along political lines,” Crenshaw began the piece titled, “Why Does Reopening Polarize Us?”“Liberals emphasize the dangers of an open society,
A very interesting letter from Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson asking DNI Richard “Ric” Grenell to declassify and release all of the unmasking requests from January 2016 to January 2017.Results to be provided in tranches if needed.Within the letter (pdf here) the senators appear to be targeting specific dates for cross referencing with previously identified NSA database abuses. Some of their inquiry appears to be guided by ‘open source’ reporting on the issue.(Copy of Letter) This approach is very interesting because “unmasking” would be an outcome of creating some form of intelligence reporting.
The story below is the first in a series on America’s small businesses, their struggles under the shutdowns, and what they’re doing to survive. Names and locations below have been obscured to protect the people who spoke with us from government retaliation. Over two weeks, The Federalist is traveling the country to tell more stories like this one: THE NEVADA DESERT—Sonny moved to this little mining town to work the oil rigs in the ’90s, leaving the timber regions of northern Idaho Panhandle behind (snip)“My Uncle Frank had a trailer house down there that he’s living in and I showed up at his place,”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she did not expect President Trump to be upset that she called him "morbidly obese."On Monday night, Pelosi said that people in Trump's "weight class" should not be taking hydroxychloroquine, following the president's announcement that he was taking the drug to prevent the coronavirus. In response to her remarks, Trump called Pelosi a "sick woman" with "mental problems" during a press conference on Tuesday.In an interview on MSNBC, Pelosi defended her remarks but claimed she was surprised that Trump was unhappy with her characterization of him as "morbidly obese."
“The CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell” did not air in East Coast time zones on Tuesday because of a technical glitch in the Washington, D.C. bureau where the newscast originates. (Snip) The blackout came on the same night that “Evening News” was promoting O’Donnell’s sit-down interview with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg. CBS News directed East Coast viewers to a replay of “Evening News” on CBSN, which is a free ad-supported streaming service.
Fifty days of strict lockdowns followed by 30 days where measures are eased could be an effective strategy for reducing Covid-19 deaths while ensuring some level of economic protection, scientists claim. In an EU-backed study published on Wednesday, a cohort of researchers from nine countries simulated how various lockdown strategies would impact the spread of the coronavirus. There have been almost 5 million cases of Covid-19 confirmed globally, with over 300,000 deaths from the virus worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Many governments have imposed some form of lockdown to mitigate transmission of the virus. But policymakers
EXCLUSIVE: Thirty-seven Planned Parenthood affiliates applied for and received a total of $80 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" has learned--and now the federal government wants the money back, saying the affiliates should have known they weren't eligible for the coronavirus stimulus payouts. The Small Business Association (SBA) is reaching out to each involved Planned Parenthood affiliate explaining that affiliates of larger organizations with more than 500 employees aren't eligible for PPP distributions, Fox News is told. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PFFA) alone has had more than 600 employees.
Los Angeles - Norma McCorvey, the woman known as "Jane Roe" in the Landmark Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade ruling legalizing abortion said she was lying when she switched to support the anti-abortion movement, saying she had been paid to do so. In a new documentary, made before her death in 2017 and due to be broadcast on Friday, McCorvey makes what she calls a “deathbed confession.” “I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say,” she says on camera. “I did it well too. I am a good actress. Of course, I’m not acting now.”
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) wrote a letter to US Attorney General William Barr on Monday requesting he declassify the remaining portion of Susan Rice’s January 20, 2017 email to herself about the secret Oval Office meeting with the coup cabal.(Snip)Acting DNI Richard Grenell on Tuesday declassified the remaining portion of Susan Rice’s email.
CBS reporter Catherine Herridge obtained the declassified email and released it to the public (screenshot below).(Snip)It was previously known the junk Russia dossier and General Flynn’s calls to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were discussed in the secret meeting.
The newly declassified portion of the email once again implicates Barack Obama and Comey!
Flynn attorney files emergency appeal to shut
down Judge Sullivan's orders, boot him from case replies
down Judge Sullivan's orders, boot him from case replies
Michael Flynn's attorney Sidney Powell on Tuesday filed an emergency writ of mandamus to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking the immediate removal of Judge Emmet Sullivan from the case--and saying that under appellate precedent set by the "Fokker Services" case, Sullivan or his replacement must dismiss the prosecution, as the Justice Department has requested.(Snip)Powell also demanded the appellate court vacate Sullivan's order appointing an "amicus curiae," or "friend of the court," to argue in favor of preserving Flynn's guilty plea on one count of making false statements to the FBI during an unusual January 24, 2017 White House interview.
Joe DiMaggio is one baseball’s iconic figure: a superb player who crossed the line into popular celebrity culture — one of those transcendent athletes like Babe Ruth or Muhammed Ali who were larger than their sports. He had songs written about him (Les Brown’s “Jolting Joe DiMaggio”) was mentioned in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific (Bloody Mary’s skin was compared to the texture of his glove), was longed for by Simon and Garfunkel (“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio”) and married one of Hollywood’s most glamorous figures, Marilyn Monroe. He was also the first great Italian American hero in the nation’s history.
DiMaggio had a distinguished career,
Libya has been at war for most of the last decade, since the overthrow of Muammar Gadhafi in the 2011 Arab Spring. It has seen the rise and fall of ISIS and numerous factions come and go. Now it is in the middle of an expanding proxy war between Turkey and several other states in the region.
The US is asking its allies, including Israel, to sever ties with China in areas with security risks, a US official with knowledge of talks on the matter said on Tuesday.
The demand marks an escalation, since in previous public statements, US Ambassador David Friedman and State Department officials had focused on the establishment of a more robust review process for foreign investments that could pose risks, and a reduction of reliance on China for emergency equipment in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The journalists at CNN on Tuesday conducted a Democratic strategy session as hosts Alisyn Camerota, John Berman and liberal commentator Bakari Sellers worried that Donald Trump’s “simple message” on reopening the country might actually resonate with people. Camerota fretted, “Bakari, as you know, President Trump also doesn't really deal in details and so one of the things that he's good at is sort of the simple message, the slogan.”She described this message as “Everybody wants to go back to work. Let’s reopen.” The idea this might be successful was obviously concerning as Camerota wondered, “Republicans, Democrats, everybody wants their old normal. So is he winning in that way
An audio tape was released by Creative Destruction Media where Joe Biden is pressuring former Ukrainian President Poroshenko to fire former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.
The men discuss the firing of then Prosecutor Shokin for corrupt reasons, in order to prevent an investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and other criminal actions.
Victor Shokin was investigating Joe Biden’s son Hunter at the time.(Snip for Audio) Joe Biden was US Vice President under Obama.
Poroshenko eventually complied and fired Shokin.
The State of California is offering $500 each to illegal aliens as part of a $75 million coronavirus relief program — even as it asks federal taxpayers for help paying for its $54 billion deficit.The program, which launched on Monday, saw phone lines jammed as “undocumented immigrants,” who are ineligible for the federal aid provided thus far, called a state hotline.The New York Times reported: Within minutes after the phone lines opened, many people reported they could not get through, and by 10 a.m., an hour after it opened, many of the phone lines crashed. The $75 million cash assistance program, awarded on a first-come first-served basis,
The words from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday were meant to offer some hope for small business owners as he spoke of reopening industries within the state. For restaurant owners, it was what he failed to mention that evaporated any reason to hope. As restaurants continue to withstand revenue losses of more than 75% over the last two months amid the coronavirus pandemic, Monday’s plan revealed little new information to guide the industry forward. “I don’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer but there’s not enough cash, you can’t borrow enough money,” co-owner of Bay State Brewing Company
Pier 1 Imports is calling it quits. The bankrupt home-goods retailer has asked a court for permission to liquidate its remaining 540 stores once they reopen after coronavirus-driven lockdowns, ending a 58-year legacy of selling glassware, wicker furniture and other home decor. Pier 1 said it is in talks with several prospective buyers to sell its remaining assets, including its intellectual property and e-commerce business, during a court-supervised auction on July 15. The company has tapped Gordon Brothers to begin liquidating its locations this weekend across the US, according to court documents. “It is now clear that Pier 1’s future
On May 18, several filings hit the docket in the Michael Flynn case, but not the one conservatives anticipated since Judge Emmet Sullivan’s shocking announcement last week that he intended to seek input from amicus curiae on whether to grant the government’s motion to dismiss the criminal charge against Flynn.
Those on the right decrying Judge Sullivan’s judicial overreach anticipated the prosecuting U.S. attorney to promptly petition the D.C. Circuit Court for a writ directing Judge Sullivan to dismiss the case. Instead, conservatives caught a glimpse of the circus Judge Sullivan has invited into his courtroom.
A Las Vegas vagrant nicknamed “Cutty” cracked his pal’s skull using a “medieval looking” hatchet when he was asked to leave the man’s home, police said. Tali Jackson, 54, was arrested Sunday on charges including attempted murder with a deadly weapon in an April 30 attack that left his roommate “bleeding profusely from the head,” according to an arrest report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.(Snip) Once the victim was able to speak to police the following day, he said he let his friend “Cutty” and the man’s brother stay at his apartment because they were homeless.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made an appearance Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” and slammed the media for its “apoplectic” reporting on President Donald Trump announcing he is taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off COVID-19.The president told reporters Monday that he has been taking the anti-malaria drug for about a week and a half, and the media world imploded — even on Fox News, as host Neil Cavuto did his best Shepard Smith impersonation, warning everyone that they’re going to die.McEnany was asked why Trump decided to talk about taking hydroxychloroquine.
WASHINGTON —
The Senate intelligence committee has approved the nomination of Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence, sending the nomination to the Senate floor for confirmation.
Ratcliffe’s nomination was approved 8-7 in a closed committee hearing, with senators voting along party lines, according to a committee aide. The aide was granted anonymity to discuss the closed proceedings ahead of an official announcement.Republicans have praised Ratcliffe, who has been ardent defender of President Donald Trump, while Democrats have been skeptical that he would serve with the independence they say is crucial for the job.
In an “historic turning point,” the Trump administration has taken bold action to bring America’s pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the U.S. from China and India. “Seeking to secure the nation’s supply of critical medications, the Trump administration has signed a $354 million contract that would create the nation’s first strategic stockpile of key ingredients needed to make medicines,” NBC News reported. “The agreement was signed Monday with Phlow Corp., a generic drug maker based in Virginia.”White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, a staunch China hawk who is the mastermind behind President Donald Trump’s trade war with the communist nation,
HOUSTON - Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday outlined the next businesses that will be allowed to reopen in phases this month.Gov. Greg Abbott said bars across the state can reopen beginning on Friday. Bars were one of the last businesses in the state that had not been allowed to operate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bars can reopen at 25 percent capacity, with no restrictions on outdoor areas.Also on Friday, restaurants can operate at 50 percent instead of 25 percent capacity. “Texas is prepared to move into Phase 2 for the further opening of businesses,” Abbott said. Youth sports camps can reopen on May 31 along with
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Annie Glenn, the widow of astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, died Tuesday of complications from COVID-19. She was 100.Glenn died at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota, said Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.At the time of John Glenn’s death in 2016, the two had been married 73 years. She had moved out of the apartment they shared in Columbus in recent years and gone to live with her daughter, Lyn, according to Wilson.Annie Glenn was thrust into the spotlight in 1962, when her husband
In a passionate Facebook post, Sheriff James Mendrick of DuPage County, IL, broke his silence in the wake of the Chinese virus pandemic-induced lockdown rules that have businesses gasping to survive. “As Sheriff, I feel that my own 1st amendment constitutional right to free speech has been completely trampled on by a governor who has threatened my Offices’ reimbursement and grant funds as a tool to force me not to speak,” he wrote. “I just can’t do this anymore. (Snip) “I will not victimize lawful residents of DuPage County trying to put food on their children’s table.
An Oregon salon owner and mother who reopened her doors in defiance of a coronavirus-related state lockdown alleged that her son was paid a visit this month by Child Protective Services. Lindsey Graham, owner of the Glamour Salon in Salem, reopened her business on May 5 despite being deemed “nonessential” under Gov. Kate Brown’s executive orders in March.(Snip)
Ms. Graham told the Salem Statesman Journal that CPS officials interviewed her 6-year-old son without allowing her or her husband to be present. She said health agencies have also threatened to revoke her licenses. “I’m risking going to jail to do it,” she said.
When Governor Inslee’s order closed public schools in mid-March because of COVID-19, many parents went online for help. They discovered Washington state has an existing, well-established system of free, public, state-approved and fully accredited, online schools. These online schools have years of experience and expertise. Thousands of students have graduated from online public schools and gone on to college and to lead successful, productive lives. (snip) many parents rushed to enroll their children online. Yet state superintendent of schools Chris Reykdal has decided to cut off state funding for these families.
The following exclusive excerpt is from Matthew Whitaker’s new book, Above the Law: The Inside Story of How the Justice Department Tried to Subvert President Trump.
***
I had been Acting Attorney General for fifteen days at the time of that Thanksgiving Day press conference, and I had been presumed guilty—of bias against the Mueller investigation, of being a constitutional “nobody” (since acting cabinet heads don’t require Senate confirmation under the 1998 Federal Vacancies Reform Act), and because I had provided very little legal advice to a company that no longer existed and that later had fallen afoul of the law (for reasons completely unrelated to my advice).
Actress and singer Katharine McPhee has opened up about her and husband David Foster's great bond with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. McPhee, 38, said that her husband managed to reconnect with the royal couple after setting them up with their Canadian hideaway in British Columbia earlier this year and as a result, he and Harry now have a great relationship which can feel like family. 'My husband has a really, really beautiful relationship with Harry. They're so cute. They're like father and son,' McPhee told Access Hollywood. She explained how Foster, 70, helped set the former royals up with their Canadian hideaway
Barack and Michelle Obama's presidential and first lady portraits will not be unveiled and hung in the White House until Donald Trump is out of office, a Tuesday morning report revealed.The long-held tradition of current presidents attending the unveiling ceremony of the portraits of their predecessors and their wives during their first term will be skipped during this presidency due to the bitter feud between Trump and Obama, people familiar with the matter told NBC News.If Trump wins a second term in November, Obama may have to wait until 2025 to have his portrait revealed and displayed in the White House among every U.S. president before him.
President Donald Trump reacted with anger toward a Fox News anchor criticizing him Monday night, going on an anti-Fox retweet spree. “@FoxNews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before,” Trump said. “Looking for a new outlet!” (Tweet) This tweet came after the president retweeted several posts from conservatives attacking the network.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has finally unveiled his moniker for 2020 rival President Trump, saying he calls his general election opponent “President Tweety.”Biden revealed the nickname Monday while speaking to the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Victory Fund, remarking, “Trump is out there tweeting again this morning. I call him ‘President Tweety.'”The ex-VP made the comment when talking about what he thought the president should be focused on as opposed to spending his time on Twitter.Speaking about Trump’s vocal desire to reopen the country, Biden asked, “How are we supposed to do that if you’re sitting on the money small businesses need?
Former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick’s investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo included allegations that he made a staffer walk his dog. Sherman, Pompeo’s beloved five-year-old Labrador retriever, was one of the few residents of D.C. without a single scandal to his name. Now, as allegations surface regarding ousted Inspector General Steve Linick’s investigation into Secretary Pompeo’s conduct, Sherman has a black mark on his record as an otherwise Very Good Boy.The Washington Post, The New York Times, and NBC have reported on other accusations against Pompeo,
COVID-19 America has realigned itself into a two-part caste system, one made up of the essential hero, and the other comprised of the selfish, nonessential coward. Essential heroes, like those who work in grocery stores, hospitals, Walmarts, and deliver for Amazon, are deserving of our admiration and praise. They risk their lives every day so we can have food, medical care, Egyptian bath towels, and cute panda knickknacks. And by “risk their lives,” I mean that if they are under the age of 60 and do not have an underlying medical condition, they may get a dry cough, runny nose, body aches, and be in bed for
Former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) was forced to resign after the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into her private life. She was allegedly having an extra-marital affair with her Legislative Director, Graham Kelly, and a throuple relationship with a female campaign staffer.
Hill repeatedly said she was going through a divorce from her abusive husband but text messages show Hill, her husband, Kenny Heslep, and the female staffer had an ongoing relationship. The husband admitted in text messages to the campaign staffer that he and Hill abused her.
The case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn is rapidly moving from the dubious to the preposterous. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is being widely applauded for resisting the dismissal of a case that the Department of Justice insists cannot be ethically maintained.
Faced with no dispute between the parties, Sullivan decided to create a contested case by inviting in third parties to create a conflict and now is suggesting that he may substitute his own criminal charge rather than let Flynn walk free. In the past, I have publicly praised Sullivan. However, this is fast becoming a case of gross judicial overreach as the court appears to assume
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough speculated that President Trump is lying about taking hydroxychloroquine to help prevent contracting the coronavirus. The president has repeatedly touted the anti-malarial medication, which has not shown substantial evidence of preventing or treating COVID-19. However, some of the medical experts assisting in the White House's response have demurred on his praise of the drug, considering the lack of clear proof that it can help coronavirus patients. Trump announced on Monday he's been taking the medication for a couple of weeks, and the White House physician later said they decided the "potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks."
About a month into the pandemic, a friend of mine made the perfect observation about human nature during this crisis: We won’t all get infected by the coronavirus, but we’ve all been exposed. That, luckily, includes thousands of people who have been exposed as kind, generous and community minded. People like the newspaper deliveryman bringing people their groceries for free, or the pizzeria owner who took out a line of credit to keep paying his employees, or the teenager who is delivering hot meals to overworked funeral home directors.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that swimmers at city beaches flouting COVID-19 restrictions would be hauled out of the water by authorities enforcing compliance.
Speaking at a briefing on COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, de Blasio said that “anyone [who] tries to get in the water, they’ll be taken right out of the water.”Calling the outbreak “the worst health care crisis in the history of this nation,” the mayor said that while social distancing rules applied, there would be “no swimming, no lifeguards, no parties, no BBQs” on the city’s beaches.
Confident of their ability to defeat Trump with their radical, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-criminal, pro-socialist agenda, the left is badly overreaching. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proposed $3 trillion monstrosity stimulus is a joke. The trillions they pledged under the rubric of the COVID-19 disaster is trillions more added to our national debt. The stimulus will be money printed, distributed, and spent as if it is grown on trees. Irresponsible states such as California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois hope to use the virus to cheat the American taxpayers into rescuing them from their own profligacy.
California Governor, Gavin Newsom, is now warning of the potential for a third and fourth wave of the virus, stating that we must remain humble by what we still don’t know about it.
While there may be a lot that we don’t know about this sickening virus that was thrust upon the world by communist China, we do know that what is unfolding is unsustainable and unconstitutional. Our society is nearing a state of partial collapse due to protracted mitigation in blue states as the Constitution is trampled upon and set on fire.
Newsom, like Dr. Fauci, appears to view our lives through the singular lens of this virus.
Dan Bongino has come up with a knock-your-socks-off theory about why Flynn’s December 29, 2016, telephone call with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak didn’t need unmasking. He also offers a surprising twist on the charging papers against Flynn, something that may expose the DOJ's con on the court.
A lot of people noticed something interesting in the newly released list showing Obama-era people unmasking Flynn communications: No one unmasked Flynn’s call with Kislyak. There were no unmaskings between December 28 and January 4. The next unmasking,
On a day when we all remember Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond, RIP), out comes Nancy Pelosi with her sudden and newfound 'concerns' for President Trump's health: (snip for tweet) Which has about as much authencity as a botox-frozen forehead or a three-trillion-dollar bill. After all, haven't Democrats been fantasizing about killing him? And what's with the fat-shaming? Here's a bit of the flavor: (snip for tweet) A full celebrity cavalcade of death threats against Trump can be read here. And don't forget this one, from one Candi CdeBaca, who wanted to spread coronavirus at Trump rallies. Heck, don't forget Pelosi's own daughter, Christine, who openly cheered
It was the first truly warm sunny spring day in the Northern Virginia area, so I was thrilled to fire up the Triumph Bonneville for the 25-minute ride to work. There weren't many people out at 6:30 A.M., and I needed to focus on my riding skills, so I wasn't doing any sight-seeing. But by evening, with temperatures in the eighties and the sun still well up in the sky, there was time to take in the view of a beautiful spring afternoon with the population coming out of hiding.
A motorcycle, especially one with an upright sitting position,
CNN, in their dogged and unending quest to overturn the 2016 presidential election and drive President Trump from office, is in full-on campaign mode. Just as in the last presidential election cycle, opinion polls are a campaign staple of the media and the Democrat party. Polls are not being used as they should, to reflect public opinion, but instead to shape opinion, a form of political propaganda.
CNN commissioned a poll, the results of which were released last week, conducted by SSRS, “an independent research company.” A CNN poll doesn’t mean Brian Stelter and Jim Acosta, also known as dumb and dumber,
A friend, who thinks politically as we do here, phoned this morning after just hearing Barr's comments doubting that Obama or Biden would be criminally prosecuted. We both would love to see it, but consider how destructive the Dems' legal efforts to get Trump to testify so they could prosecute him have been for the past three years, and then imagine what could happen if the precedent were set to prosecute future presidents of either party. Such a spectacle would draw worldwide attention and obliterate everything else our country needed to be doing that would have more impact on our country's, and even the world's, future.
Over the weekend, former President Obama spoke at a virtual commencement graduation. Unfortunately, he used the opportunity to attack our "leadership on coronavirus response." It was totally inappropriate to bring your politics, perhaps bitterness, into a commencement speech.
It reminded me of former President George W Bush. He spoke at our #2 son's graduation ceremony from SMU Law School in 2015.
It was a great morning for our family and an opportunity to hear from President Bush. It was his first commencement since leaving office and second at SMU. He spoke at SMU as governor in 1999.
In the restaurant world, if the chefs run out of ingredients for a menu item, they inform the wait staff to “86 it” -- remove it from the menu. The shutdown in Vermont of essentially its entire restaurant industry will likely result in the “86ing” of 30% or more of its restaurants, never to reopen. COVID-19 has killed 53 people in Vermont… And also thousands of jobs.
Restaurants nationwide are shut down, but Vermont’s restaurant industry is particularly vulnerable. In 2018, Vermont boasted some 1,413 eating and drinking establishments, and restaurants generated $1.1 billion in estimated sales.
EXCLUSIVE: Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell on Friday announced that the U.S. intelligence community will lead new election security threat briefings for presidential candidates, their campaigns and major political parties ahead of the 2020 election, Fox News has learned.
A senior administration official told Fox News the newly-Senate confirmed director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center inside ODNI, Bill Evanina, will serve as the intelligence community’s leader of the “critical effort.”
The emerging Democratic strategy for defeating President Trump in November is to convince voters that he is the reincarnation of Herbert Hoover, whom the voters blamed for the Great Depression and turned out of office in 1932. Consequently, partisans such as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) compare Trump to Hoover and “news” outlets run articles with titles like “Trump Is Following in Herbert Hoover’s Footsteps.” This nonsense is based on two myths — that the Great Depression was caused by Hoover and that the economic downturn associated with COVID-19 will be blamed on Trump. Few historians believe the former and the voters aren’t foolish enough to believe the latter.
An exclusive Treasury Department whistleblower outline in the Ohio Star is almost an absolute match to our research {Go Deep} on how President Obama constructed the political surveillance network during his second term.
According to the article in mid-December 2015 the Treasury whistleblower started noticing data-search transactions with the Treasury Dept. for specific people that aligned with the 2016 GOP primary. The searches included Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump and his family as well as certain members of congress. (Snip)After initial data was extracted the results were then used to transfer more specific searches to the Treasury dept.
A favorite story involves a patient, on a couch, calmly recounting his deepest inner fears to a psychiatrist. Suddenly, the patient yells, “They’re all over me!” And frantically brushes the invisible insects off his body. The psychiatrist jumps up, too. “Well, don’t get them on me!” So much of our national life in 2020 seems affected by such invisible fears and often inexplicable reactions to them. [Snip] The primary
How We'll Live on the Moon
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Absolute silence.
The Lunarian stood in the eternal dark within the crater at the Moon’s south pole, and thought that silence was so characteristic—and soothing—and, yes, frightening—about the Moon. He was not a true Lunarian, of course. He had come from Earth and when his 90-day stint was over, he would return to Earth and try to readjust to its strong pull of gravity.
There was no motion anywhere, no sound of living things. There was light along the crater top, as perpetual as the dark at this portion of the crater floor. Farther along the gently rolling floor, in the direction of the opposite side of the crater, was sunlight, too.
Un-furloughing the Economy
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The shocking rate of U.S. unemployment—officially 14.7 percent but perhaps as high as 20 percent—suggests an economic depression, possibly as deep and severe as the Great Depression itself. The numbers represent millions of families living with grave economic uncertainty. But the current unemployment rate does not have the same meaning that it normally would. In previous recessions, almost every newly unemployed person represented a job that no longer existed. That’s not the case today.
A significant share of today’s unemployed are furloughed workers, or contract workers seeing less demand, or laid-off workers whose employers will rehire them once they can reopen.
In addition to livin,’ add “releasin’ Public Service Announcements” to the growing list of activities our beloved Matthew McConaughey just keeps doing.
Last week, the University of Texas’s Minister of Culture, who has been self-isolating in Austin with his family, put out his fourth PSA since lockdowns started going into effect around the state two months ago. It might even be his fifth, or maybe his twentieth: it depends on where you draw the line between official public service announcement and social media rambling—all of which I’m sure Matthew considers to be in service to his public.
McConaughey’s newest video is pretty formal, though. Titled “It’s About Us,” and made in partnership
Weary of more than two months of lockdowns, lost jobs, vanished income, and emotional distress, Americans are practicing a bit of Irish Democracy, shopping, dining out, gathering, and trying to carry on as before the pandemic arrived without approval from authorities. It was bound to happen.
As has been widely noted, we were initially told that we needed to shut down and shelter in place so that we would “flatten the curve” of infection growth to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed by people sick with COVID-19. That benchmark was met a little more than a month into
PBS’ airing tonight of a documentary biography of Supreme Court Justice Thomas provides me a chance to tell a story I’ve been wanting to publish for 29 years. It’s sort of a “shaggy dog story,” indeed the shaggiest dog with which I’ve ever been involved, and in the end the incidents recounted merely hinted at, but didn’t prove definitively, the conclusion I expected.
But oh, what a wild ride on a shaggy dog it was!
A look back now might provide an interesting, even fun, reminder of how shoe-leather journalism worked before the Internet put a world of information at our fingertips.
When then-law school professor Anita Hill levelled
The fate of the 2020 general election could hang on two congressional districts, one in Maine and the other tucked away in Nebraska.
Maine and Nebraska are the only two states in the country that split their Electoral College votes by congressional district while also rewarding the statewide victor, giving Democrats extra opportunities to pick up votes in otherwise Republican strongholds. And with the fall fight between President Trump and Joe Biden set to be a tight battle for the White House, every vote will matter on Nov. 3.
A common theme that has emerged from the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation is bureau officials’ use of media reports and leaks to advance aspects of the bureau’s probe of the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia.
In at least five instances, FBI officials capitalized on the so-called news hooks — also called news pegs, in journalistic jargon — as justification to open up new areas of the investigation.
James Comey, Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok all took advantage of media reports to push the investigation forward. And in one case, Comey orchestrated a leak of his own to spur the appointment of a special counsel.
Trump’s Baptism Scene
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While the Corleone family of Godfather fame was the embodiment of mob life and the acquisition of money, power and prestige through criminal activity, the Trump family––in stark contrast––embodies the nose-to-the-grindstone, upward-mobility glory of the American Dream
Nevertheless, when I think of the fanatical, maniacal and relentless persecution, accusations, vilification, and sabotage that President Trump has experienced for the past four years at the hands of crazed Democrats––both in and out of office––the infamously stunning Baptism Scene at the end of Godfather One comes immediately to mind.
Andrew Cuomo’s Reckless Choices
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Bill de Blasio made terrible decisions as mayor of New York City. But as more reporting emerges about the catastrophic decisions made by New York’s governor, it’s possible Andrew Cuomo deserves even more blame than de Blasio for what the coronavirus has done to the tri-state area and consequently the nation.
New York and New Jersey combined have suffered more COVID-19 deaths than any other country being tracked by researchers who run the Johns Hopkins crisis dashboard. Cuomo made three breathtakingly bad moves in March that in retrospect amounted to catastrophe. First, Cuomo failed to call for, and even actively discouraged, informal social-distancing measures
Background
General Michael Flynn was announced as Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor on November 17, 2016. Once he was appointed, he became an official member of the Trump transition team. This meant it was highly likely General Flynn would be engaged in conversations with foreign nationals about changes to be expected with the incoming administration and other matters. Some of these individuals may have been having their communications collected under FISA warrants. Flynn’s name should have been masked in the case that he was speaking to someone under surveillance. We know now it may not have been.
Last week, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell released the list
New York City is the center of the Wuhan epidemic in the United States, and in response to the virus, governors across the country have imposed shutdowns that might possibly be appropriate in New York, but are bonkers as applied to local conditions. Initially, most of us tried to be good sports. But as shutdowns lingered from weeks into months, and small businesses were destroyed by the hundreds of thousands for no apparent reason, the spirit of rebellion began to grow.
No doubt there were a number of places where rebellion flared today, but the one I know about is Albany, Minnesota, population 2,734, where a bar and restaurant owner
Obama on Incompetence
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In law school we learned about the great legal minds and their fields of unique genius: Corbin on Contracts, Prosser on Torts, Collier on Bankruptcy, and (in California) Witkin on Everything Else. In recent days, we are being treated to the ruminations of a new scholar: Obama on Incompetence.
Obama lately has been commenting publicly on the Trump administration. He mostly had stayed out of sight for months, as would any villain who had wreaked havoc on swaths of society, hoping the Democrats would nominate a strong candidate whom he could endorse. In the end, it was his boyfriend Biden, who had tweeted a year earlier
On the eve of the Nevada caucuses in February, Bernie Sanders and his supporters were feeling invincible.
“I've got news for the Democratic establishment,” he declared on Twitter on Feb. 21, the day before he went on to a landslide win in the Nevada caucuses. “They can't stop us.”
Since then, not only did the “establishment” stop Sanders — it stamped out the candidacies of a string of left-wing insurgents, leaving the progressive movement reeling and in a state of despair.
Three highly-touted liberal House candidates — Jessica Cisneros in Texas, Robert Emmons in Illinois, and Morgan Harper in Ohio — lost their primary races against more moderate members of Congress.
The University of Kentucky, which has won 24 national cheerleading titles in the last 35 years, fired all of its coaches on Monday following an investigation into allegations of hazing and nudity.
Head coach Jomo Thompson and assistants Ben Head, Spencer Clan and Kelsey LaCroix were let go after a three-month probe into the program revealed they failed to oversee off-campus events that included hazing, alcohol use and public nudity. “A commitment we make and renew every day at the University of Kentucky is that the success of our students is at the center of everything that we do. But for that sentiment to be more than words,
Former Vice President Joe Biden vowed Monday to stop the Keystone XL pipeline “for good” if elected president.
The pipeline, to carry oil from Canada’s tar sands into the United States, was blocked by President Barack Obama for years, even though it had passed an environmental review. The Obama administration stopped the project under pressure from radical environmentalists over concerns about climate change — though the alternative to the Keystone XL was simply that the oil would be exported from Canada to China, rather than to the U.S., and used there instead.
The Obama administration’s hostility to the pipeline complicated relations with Canada and led to a 2016 lawsuit by TransCanada,
The European Union and other countries on Monday called for an independent evaluation of the World Health Organization’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “to review experience gained and lessons learned.”
The resolution has the support of more than half of the WHO's member countries and will be discussed this week at the decision-making body of the U.N. health agency, being held virtually this year.
The proposal is intended to initiate “a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation” of the WHO’s efforts to coordinate the international response to COVID-19, including the functioning of international health law and its actions within the greater U.N. health system.
Attorney General William Barr has installed a new top deputy over the federal prosecutor's office for Washington, raising concerns that a key U.S. attorney's office handling multiple investigations of interest to President Donald Trump is becoming further politicized.
The arrival of Associate Deputy Attorney General Michael Sherwin - who won the conviction of a Chinese trespasser at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida in September - has triggered new accusations that Justice Department leaders are bypassing career prosecutors in the office and intervening in cases favoring the president's allies, current and former federal prosecutors in the office said.