Headlines

Chicago mayor: ‘We’re never going to get everything we need from the federal government’

Biden maintains national lead over Trump ahead of convention in NBC News/WSJ poll

AOC refuses to condemn BLM activists who demanded whites turn over their homes

Left mock POTUS over brother Robert’s death

Trump officials blame media for questions of Harris’ eligibility

Forty percent of Covid-19 tests come back too late to be clinically meaningful, data show

South Dakota Gov Noem will not accept federal unemployment funds, says not needed due to state’s economic rebound

NSA O’Brien: ‘Possible’ Saudi-Israel deal next

U.S., South Korea to begin scaled-down drills amid virus spike

CDC says quarantine guidance does not imply immunity to coronavirus for six months

Mike Pompeo signs pact to redeploy U.S. troops from Germany to Poland

Disney unveils first bisexual lead character

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

McConnell shuts down the Pelosi agenda

Southwest, Delta, United airlines say they are experiencing systemwide outages

Pope criticizes building wall to keep migrants out ...

New Zealand gang leader: We will not give up our guns

Democrats fume as Trump cuts Central American aid

China’s economy is slowing down. But smaller cities may offer glimpses of hope

Congestion pricing approved for NYC; $11.50 to enter midtown ...

Twitter suspends account of pro-life movie ‘Unplanned’

House Oversight to vote on Barr, Ross subpoenas over census citizenship question

Mueller findings had little impact on how Americans view Trump: NBC News/WSJ poll

Photos show Chinese anti-satellite laser base ...

NSA whistleblower: Agency likely spied on entire Trump campaign

Auto-immune Disease

Auto-immune diseases -- arthritis, lupus, celiac, etc. -- are quite insidious and difficult to cure. When our body's defense mechanisms turn against our own tissue, there is a double whammy ... powerful agents inside our body that we need and want become malicious and thus confound the notion of what is good and what is bad. These fighters attack our normal bodily tissues and seriously jeopardize what they might do for our benefit?

There is an analogy to the current political turmoil in America. It seems obvious to this observer that the Russian collusion setup and Mueller follow through might be analogous to an auto-immune reaction on the national level. Back in 2016 some in the FBI, the CIA, the DOJ and maybe even the NSA went rogue. Obama agencies turned inward to fight different enemies in our own government ... represented by Donald Trump ... both before and after he was elected president.

In order to justify this anti-immune attack, these weaponized agencies likely colluded in concert with Hilliary's campaign and each other to construct a fabric of leaked lies and fake news ...all to take down Trump.

Just as an auto-immune disease is a threat to life and limb, Peter Strzok's "insurance policy," effectively a slow-motion coupe with Mueller in the vanguard, is a very serious threat to what we understand to be our democracy. When our powerful intelligence and justice agencies are turned against a legitimately-elected government, everyone should be afraid ... very afraid.

Danger!

It is becoming increasingly obvious that, as a result of  Trump's Helsinki presser and his walk-back of his  frank assessment of our intelligence agencies under Obama, that these same intelligence agencies are still to be feared and obeyed. (His walk-back was obviously a pragmatic lie.)

Yes, Trump should have been less honest in Helsinki because of the hegemony of  his FBI-CIA-NSA troika. Not that we can trust Russia on everything either, but the saddest of all  is that, like Putin, we can't trust Rosenstein and Mueller either. And the fact that Trump's AG, Jeff Sessions, won't clean house is also indicative of the manifest danger poised by even what is left of Obama's secret police. Sessions has obviously been de-balled in his oversight of the FBI ... and I also fear that Trump is now also on his way to becoming an eunuch.

If this troika now has Trumps looking over his shoulder, how are we ever going to rein in these arrogant agencies? And, if this overhaul can't be accomplished before the Dems again take control of things, all hope must be abandoned. This pact between the left and our intelligence troika might well destroy our democracy ... as they clearly came very close to doing during Obama's eight years. (Just found out today that , according to the DOJ/IG report, the FBI had set up the tarmack meeting between Bill Clinton and the-then AG Loretta Lynch ... right before Hillary was deposed. Wow!)

I hate to end with this thought ... but, if Trump is JFKed before leaving office, the investigation should begin with former CIA Director, John Brennan ... and/or maybe Hillaty's consiglieri Sid Brumenthal.

Headlines

[Jared] Kushner loses access to top-secret intelligence

Poll: More Americans blame government failures than guns in Florida shootings

Schiff has given 227 TV interviews -- in year!

Judge rejects lawsuit seeking to stop border wall ...

Mueller drops charges against Gates, court OKs spring break trip

Kevin Spacey's Foundation to close

Deems flip two more [state] seats, 39 since Trump elected ...

Rasmussen: Trump approval 7% higher than Obama at same time in presidency ...

Trump hasn't directed NSA chief to strike back at Russian hackers

Officials from four countries tried to figure out how to manipulate Jared Kushner

Consumer confidence [at] 17-year high ...

Heritage Foundation: 2/3 of [Trump] agenda already done, faster than Reagan ...

Counter Intelligence

It increasingly appears that President Obama had politicized our three major intelligence agencies -- the FBI, the CIA and the NSA  -- and these agencies were actively engaged in trying to defeat Donald Trump in his bid to be elected president ... and, once elected, to delegitimize his presidency. John Hinderaker of the Powerline blog has done a very effective job of proving this unnerving charge ... read: his arguments HERE. Take the time to study it. It's important.

These revelations sent chills up my spine as they should for any American who cares for the dignity and integrity of our government. Yes, politicians often cut corners to stay in power. But the scope and sheer magnitude of what has been occurring for the last 18 months goes well beyond political gamesmanship ... and into the realm of nasty criminality.

Our intelligence agencies have sometimes served us poorly in the past ...in that they have been diverted from their primary task of "intelligence" and into political dog fights. Once these agencies start behaving in public like partisan hacks ... like they did under B.H.O. (and to some degree under other presidents) ... then they have been compromised to the point of diminished effectiveness in their primary duties ... for which the U.S. is bound to have paid a price. These agencies should rarely be publically seen or heard ... and mever as political.

Let's face it, with all their resources, intrigue and subterfuge, they still couldn't even get Hillary elected ...

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

FBI agents in tears as news of Comey's firing spreads

Comey firing threatens Senate probe into Trump's Russia ties

Jim Comey started laughing when he saw that he'd been fired

Maddow tops cable news ...

LA declares public schools as 'sanctuaries' ...

Oregon on track to have no gender on drivers licenses ...

Mexico 2nd deadliest country, tops Afghan, Iraq ...

Kim plans 6th nuke test ...

Breaking: Grand Jury subpoenas served for associates of Michael Flynn

Comey made false claim about Huma at congressional hearing

Obama, Clapper misled public about extent of NSA unmasking

NGO: Cuba doubled political prisoners in one year

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

FCC to investigate [Stephen] Colbert. ...

Obamacare repeal votes upends 2018 House races

Trump says 'no' to a global 'cap and trade' plan

Uber under investigation for law-enforcement evading software

Emory University to pay for 100% of undocumented student's financial aid

350 Islamic State fighters returning to UK pose terrorist threat

France bans extremely thin models ...

Report: Obama sought NSA intel on thousands of Americans, including Trump campaign

Court says new Benghazi emails must be released

Trump suggests that financing for historically black colleges may be unconstitional

House Oversight Panel to investigate Iran [nuclear] deal

20 year-old stabbed to death in 20th London stabbing in two weeks

Lame Duck?

Sleepy Chuck Todd is calling Donald Trump a "lame duck" president and that he will be unable to react if a crisis erupts somewhere in the world. And Maxine Waters is daily calling for his impeachment. These rants are primarily based on Trump's tweet just about a month ago claiming that former President Obama was "wiretapping" him at Trump Tower. The media has been gleefully castigating Trump for this "outrageous" attack on our former president. As more and more evidence is leaking out to support Trump's charge, they are desperately trying to change the subject back to Russian intervention in last Fall's election.

But the tide is clearly turning. It is now becoming evident that there was NSA and possibly FBI surveillance on the Trump team for almost a year ... well before Trump even got the nomination ... and that the intercepts collected were disseminated in raw form, without the names of those intercepted masked out, to a very wide swath in the intelligence community. This later development was under the direct order of President Obama with the implicit understanding that much would be leaked to the media ... a felony carrying a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

So who ordered the operatives in Trump team to be surveilled ... in itself a political scandal of gigantic proportions and one smacking of a police state? And then who ordered that these collected transcripts be unmasked? And finally who leaked them to the media? Well we may now have an answer to the second question ... Former National Security Adviser, Susan Rice (of the Benghazi big lie fame) ... see: Bloomberg Article. This looks like a devious three-step process to destroy Trump where each party at each step can (try to) claim clean hands. Sinisterly clever.

This revelation is but another indication that Obama's White House hoodlums had been moving well beyond what the American people would and should tolerate ... using the power of a sitting government to crush its political opponents. And it feels very much like Alexander Butterworth's opening of the can of worms in the Watergate investigation ... the revelation about the Oval Office taping system. Therefore the last serious question is, How involved in this was the then president? Clearly his executive order disseminating this intelligence does suggest his approval of this skulduggery.

So, Mr. Sleepy Todd, how lame is Trump looking now? And Ms. Maxine Waters, perhaps you might have to swing your impeachment cannon around to your former president? I know he is out of office, but his history is yet to be written. Perhaps we can impeach even a former president?

Dropping the Mask

Evelyn Farkas, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under Obama until 2015 (specializing in  Russian affairs), has revealed that she was an impetus behind the dissemination of intelligence intercepts supposedly implicating the Trump campaign in coordinating with Russia before last fall's election. Here is a must read and watch video of Farkas and Democrat Senator Stabenow on the Morning Joe show a while back ... Powerline Blog Entry.

It is not too much of a stretch now to piece together what might be behind all the polemics that are taking place in Washington over the Trump-Russia connection. Let me offer my surmises:

- Probably back in the 1990s the Trump operation was in deep dodo because of being over extended with U.S. banks and desperately needing working capital, Trump turned to Russia and was rewarded with some hefty loans from Russian oligarchs (likely close to Putin).

- Since this reprieve allowed Trump to return to be a successful real estate investor ... along with many other popular ventures, these Russian backers were likely repaid in full with a handsome profit. However, these transactions would likely show up on Trump's tax returns around the turn of the century. This is one reason Trump refused to release his tax returns which would suggest a certain coziness with the Russians ... and possibly other embarrassments.

- When Trump was running for President, he felt that, as bad as Putin and company were, they could be a valuable ally in America's likely hot war with the radical Islamic forces around the world. This was because Russia had been having their share of problems with Muslims in places like Chechnya.

- However, Trump's previous business relationship with the Russian oligarchs presented a political problem for Trump ... a problem that the Democrats were all to happy to exploit ... belatedly. The NSA and likely the FBI were surveilling Trump's campaign people (maybe incidentally while tapping others) and had hard evidence of contacts ... probably mostly innocent. However, Trump was very sensitive to this possible PR snag and took pains to separate himself from anyone who could be so implicated -- Manafort, Flynn, Carter Page and a few others.

- Since the Democrats were confident of a Hillary win, they did not heavily exploit this information before the election ... possibly worried that their own Russian dealings might come to light. However, a Trump win threw them into a panicky smear mode and, with the urging of people like Farkas and Obama's last minute release of these Trump intercepts throughout the intelligence community, it was pretty clear that Trump's job as president would be made far more difficult ... and it has.

- But the real shocker is that much of these intercepts have been unmasked ... or the names of Trump associates and likely Trump himself have not been hidden in the text of these intercepts ... a serious felony ... and one that had to be expected with Obama's general release of these intercepts. The question is ... who did this? Or was it more than one Obama loyalist. In his questioning of FBI Director, James Comey, Representative  Trey Gowdy let it be known whom he suspected among Obama's reports: Brennan of the CIA, Clapper of the NSC, Sally Yates from Justice and/or Ben Rhodes of the White House.

So, is the Trump-Russia connection a "nothingburger" as Ted Cruz and others have implied? Unless some insidious connivings are revealed in these NSA intercepts (already repeatedly denied by Democrats), I am inclined to agree. Except of course for the unmasking of the Trump people in these intercepts ... which should land one or more Obama lackies in jail.

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Hawaii judge declines to narrow travel ban injunction

OpEd: Feds stealthy QE -- $267 billion of fresh liquidity injected since mid-January

[NKotea] 'If a single bullet is fired, we will nuke the USA'

NSA document: Surveillance on Trump, family ... more ...

Key Democrat officials now warning base not to expect evidence of Trump/Russia collusion

Gallup: Trump approval now 37% ...

Poll: Half of Canadians want illegals deported ...

Immigration judges dispatched to 12 U.S. cities to speed deportations

50 arrested on immigration charges during Detroit cockfighting bust ...

Gorsuch recommended to Justice Dept. that federal judges visit Gitmo

Musk preps first private moon landing ...

Three U.S. soldiers wounded in Afghan 'insider attack'

Is This You?

H. Lewis Amselem, in the  Diplomad 2.0 Blog, thinks liberals are nuts. (He calls them lefties or progs.)  To back up this charge he has penned a gem of a paragraph explaining himself;

As far as I can tell they are for children but also for killing unborn ones with no restriction, no apology, and no need for a fee. They are for LBGT and women's "rights," but ally themselves with Muslims who practice FGM, oppose abortion, treat women like cattle, and promote and engage in honor killings, and advocate death for LBGT people. They are for women's rights, but want men who think they are women to use women's washrooms. They are for free speech, but shut down anybody who disagrees with them, and, of course, ally themselves with Muslims who oppose freedom of speech and thought as part of their core dogma. They are against racism but try to stir up old racial animosities and conflicts that had long been resolved, buried, and forgotten. They are for poor working people, but oppose the tax and the regulatory structures that create jobs. They are for poor working people but favor unrestricted immigration that drives down wages, crowds out jobs, and absorbs the funds of public welfare schemes. They want free education for all, but oppose letting poor and middle class people have the right to choose their schools, unlike the rich people who do. They shout "Love Trumps Hate!" as they bash opponents with bricks and poles. They have spent decades denouncing the military, the CIA, the NSA, and the FBI as oppressors of the people, but now want those agencies to sabotage an elected president. The wealthy ones denounce gun ownership and walls but live behind protective shields of men with guns and walls around their exclusive properties. Hollywood stars who made millions living in the land of make-believe denounce non-existent Trumpian "brownshirts" and bravely proclaim their resistance! They are for the environment and prove it by flying to environmental rallies in their private jets. They, well . . . you can go on with this sad litany.

Is this you?

Afterward: Just read a poignant comment on this same blog entry -- "Trump's election did not create the Left's hatred, it revealed it."

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Judicial Watch planning to sue FBI, NSA, CIA for Flynn records

Probe into Flynn leaks zeroes in on Justice Dept ...

White House dismisses 6 over failed background checks

ICE raids lower under Trump?

NAACP leader balks at idea of Congressional White Caucus

Showdown: Ford not scrapping plans to build factories in Mexico ...

Despite Trump, Lockheed pushes plan to build F-16s in India

Police body cams have real-time face recognition ...

Tony Blair: 'Rise up' against Brexit

Muslim designer uses all-immigrant cast in NY Fashion Week show

Mexican presidential candidate holds anti-Trump rally in L.A.

Trump fumes over leaks from private meeting with Republicans

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites

After likening Trump to Hitler, journalist are upset they are not being called on

WSJ: Spies keeping intelligence from president ...

Top former intel official: Trump has to clean house at the CIA

Fear spreads across Paris as riots in suburbs spread into city ...

Congressman staffer knocked unconscious by anti-Trump protester

CA's Medicaid enrollment jumps 57% ...

FBI releases documents related to Trump's 1973 racial discrimination case

Vigil: The Deep State bumps off General Flynn. Who's the next target?

NYT reporter apologizes for calling Melania Trump 'a hooker'

Report: ESPN losing 10,000 subscribers a day over its political left turn

Ashton Kutcher blows kiss to McCain during hearing

Former NSA analyst claims intel community will go 'nuclear' against Trump

Leaking

Today's headlines from the national media are full of the leaked contents of President Trump's phone calls with the leaders of Australia and Mexico. The emphasis of these stories was the disagreements that occurred therein ... disputing the Obama agreement  about taking rejected immigrants from Australia ... and Mexico's inability to stop the illegal drug flows into the U.S. These revelations are of course interesting, but, to me, the real story is the fact that these leaks occurred at all ... see:  Pamela Geller Story.These calls are made on super secure lines which are supposedly un-hackable. Again this then suggests that someone in the intelligence community ... CIA or NSA ... is working against Trump ... a treasonous action. (Otherwise why was the Washington Post the recipient of these leaks)? The main-stream media did not highlight the possible source of these leaks ... just their embarrassing revelations. Interesting?!

Also there have been at least four leaks of the contents of a draft executive orders that were being prepared for Trump  ... see: Red State Story. This is serious but not as corrosive as the telephone call leaks ... because some of the draft leaks might have been intentional testings of their messages. But if these EO content leaks were meant to embarrass or hinder Trump's agenda then they are also dangerous to the administration's path forward ... and I suspect that these leaks will be remedied.

Justice Blinked

The Department of Justice blinked in its attempt to force Apple to open up the IPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist, Sayed Farook. The FBI now says that it has found a third party (NSA?) to open up this possible source of further intelligence and doesn't need the court to force Apple to comply ... see: Politico Story. This all sounds very fishy and halfway supports Apple's position that this FBI request was a red herring really meant to open up the IPhone to generic government access (not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that.)

This FBI vs. Apple issue is all about personal privacy. American people want to believe that our Constitution guarantees them an inviolate cocoon of privacy that our government cannot pierce no matter what national security issues involved. Clearly this may not be the case. However, in a related development, Edward Snowden, our traitor hero,  avers that the federal government is not the only risk to our personal security. He says that large technology companies such as Microsoft are equally guilty of the invasive collection of our personal information ... far more than we suspect ... see: Sputnik News Story. I agree with the rat-fink Snowden and would add at least Google, Apple and Facebook to his named snoop.

If you think that Big Brother government is the only risk to your little secrets, you are just another babe in the woods.

Blackmail?

In light of the revelation that the NSA has been intercepting phone calls made by those in Congress, a caller to a talk show yesterday put this fact together with much of the counter-intuitive behavior that has been exhibited in our legislature (recent omnibus budget vote) and in our court system (John Roberts' strange flip flop on Obamacare) ... maybe even within the administration. Could it be that our White House, through this or an equivalent process, has assembled many juicy pieces of scandalous data on many in our legislature and on our courts ... and are using this info to sway the opinions of these individuals?

Add to this the possibility that there might have been a few brave souls who didn't bow to such revelation threats and thus were made examples of  ... Senator Menendez? ... General Petraus? ... This coercive behavior essentially would duplicate what J. Edgar Hoover did when he ran the FBI.

Am I being politically incorrect again?

The Heavy Hand of Government

If you can't trust the government, then whom can you trust? Well, apparently NOAA's reputation as an impartial observer of global warming has once again taking a hit as it has been revealed that, over the last two years, it has been revising down older recorded temperature data from Maine in order to make it look like things have been warming up there ... and in the rest of the country ... when in fact they haven't. John Hinderaker of Powerline has just pointed this out in his recent blog posting ... see: Powerline Blog Entry for all the sordid details.

This fast and loose revisionism is about as smarmy as a supposed "scientific" government agency can possibly become. I realize that such malfeasance might get them in good with the current Democrat administration ... but, longer term, this can't be good. I suggest that this agency now is vying with the IRS, the State Department, HHS, the Secret Service, the EPA, the White House, the VA, the CDC, NSA, and the TSA for this year's Heavy Hand of Government medal ... an award which I just coined.

Perhaps we could have an annual ceremony for the winner ... with all the hoopla of Oscar Night? With Al Gore or Michael Moore as its Master of Ceremonies?

Homesick

That snively traitor and pop-hero, Edward Snowden, apparently is homesick and would like to return to the United States from his exile in Russia ... see: New York Times Story. He is currently negotiating through his Russian lawyer with the U.S. authorities as to the terms of his return.

Knowing what bad deal makers the Obama administration is, I would not doubt that he is holding out to get his old job back at the NSA.

Media Nazis

The Soup Nazi

I realize that the use of the term “Nazi” is a sure loser … unless of course you are Jerry Seinfeld. But I do believe that it is quite appropriate in this case. The Obama administration's FCC now wants to monitor news outlets (I assume this includes the Internet) to insure that they are following what Big Brother considers important media stories ,,, its term for these priorities is  Critical Information Needs (CINs) … see: PJ Media Story. Our Gestapo in Washington wants to make sure that its eight topics are getting adequate on-air coverage. 

So far these CIN topics are somewhat nebulous but one can assume that they will include: climate change, income inequality, women’s reproductive rights, voter suppression, homophobia, and food deserts … and won’t include the Benghazi killings, NSA’s snooping, IRS targeting of the Tea Party, true unemployment rates, Fast and Furious, the al-Qaeda resurgence, and excessive Presidential golfing.  Here are the questions that will be asked during these proposed First Amendment violations:

Station Owners, Managers or HR
• What is the news philosophy of the station?
• Who is your target audience?
• How do you define critical information that the community needs?
• How do you ensure the community gets this critical information?
• How much does community input influence news coverage decisions?
• What are the demographics of the news management staff (HR)?
• What are the demographics of the on air staff (HR)?
• What are the demographics of the news production staff (HR)?

Corporate, General Managers, News Directors, Editors, etc
• What is the news philosophy of the station?
• Who else in your market provides news?
• Who are your main competitors?
• How much news does your station (stations) air every day?
• Is the news produced in-house or is it provided by an outside source?
• Do you employ news people?
• How many reporters and editors do you employ?
• Do you have any reporters or editors assigned to topic “beats”? If so how many and what are the beats?
• Who decides which stories are covered?
• How much influence do reporters and anchors have in deciding which stories to cover?
• How much does community input influence news coverage decisions?
• How do you define critical information that the community needs?
• How do you ensure the community gets this critical information? 

On-Air Staff (Reporters, Anchors)
• What is the news philosophy of the station?
• How much news does your station air every day?
• Who decides which stories are covered?
• How much influence do you have in deciding which stories to cover?
• Have you ever suggested coverage of what you consider a story with critical information for your customers (viewers, listeners, readers) that was rejected by management?
o If so, can you give an example?
o What was the reason given for the decision?
o Why do you disagree?

So far my upstairs spare bedroom (where I write these blogs) has not been invaded by these jack-boots … but I do have an upturned wastepaper basket upon which they can sit and watch me compose my pap … if they are willing to show up at 3 AM ... and are not offended by flatus.

Afterward: Adweek Magazine reports that the FCC may be backing off this intrusion into our First Amendment rights ... see: Adweek Story.  Was this just a canard to piss us off and get our attention off of Obamacare, the Ukraine, etc.

After Afterward: The Wall Street Journal, through a FCC commissioner, has some interesting points to make about this cause celebre ... see: WSJ Story.