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MAY 6,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

WELL, IT'S CREATIVE – FROM FOX:    Multiple rural Illinois counties have passed resolutions establishing a so-called “sanctuary” for gun owners in a bid to thwart the state legislature’s efforts to enact stricter gun control.  At least five counties declared themselves sanctuary counties for gun rights, co-opting a word that most conservatives associate with the liberal policy of ignoring federal immigration laws.  The resolutions aim to send a message to the Democratic-controlled Legislature in the state that if it passes the proposed gun bills, such as increasing the minimum age for owning a gun or a bump stock ban, the counties will instruct their employees to ignore the new laws.  “It’s a buzzword, a word that really gets attention. With all these sanctuary cities, we just decided to turn it around to protect our Second Amendment rights,” said David Campbell, vice chairman of the Effingham County Board.  No matter how you feel about this, and I'm opposed to illegal sanctuaries, at least these people are showing life and action – not just accepting things in silence, the way conservatives too often do. 

GOOD MOVE – FROM THE HILL:   An anti-Semitic Republican Senate candidate in California was booted from the state's GOP convention Saturday while reportedly dragging and kicking an Israeli flag, according to the Los Angeles Times.  KTLA 5 reports that Patrick Little was seen being escorted out of the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina after he tried to register as a VIP at the convention. Republican officials reportedly recognized Little's name and alerted security to his presence.  Cynthia Bryant, the executive director of the California Republican Party, told KTLA that Little was not welcome at the annual convention.  “There’s no room for that kind of hate speech that that man uses," Bryant said.  It seems to me that, when confronted with real hatred, the Republican Party does a far better job of rejecting it than do the Democrats.  The Democrats just nominated for Congress, from the Charlottesville, Virginia, area no less, someone with a history of anti-Semitic writings.  A backlash is already building, but let's see if the Dems do anything about it.  They usually don't.  Republicans actually provided the votes to pass the Voting Rights Act in the early 1960s, but were never given any credit for it by the fashionable commentators and "historians."

HUGE CRISIS IN EDUCATION – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  The 92-year-old George Washington University mascot known as the “Colonial” should be removed, a student petition says, because it is “offensive.”  The signatories want the Colonial replaced with … a hippo.  “The use of ‘Colonials,’ no matter how innocent the intention, is received as extremely offensive by not only students of the University, but the nation and world at large,” the petition reads. “The historically, negatively-charged figure of Colonials has too deep a connection to colonization and glorifies the act of systemic oppression.”  Other suggested replacements for the Colonial are the “Riverhorses” and the “Revolutionaries.”  If the petition gets 500 signatures, the Student Association will have to respond, according to The Hatchet. It currently is just two signatures shy of that figure.  Former Hatchet reporter Andrew Hesbacher, along with Rachel Yakobashvili and Emma Krasnopoler started the campaign after being warned at a study abroad orientation not to wear anything with “Colonial” on it outside of Europe.  “Citizens of those countries would be offended by the history of the word,” they were told.  And now we find out that another group of students is starting a campaign to change the name of the university itself.  Out with George Washington.  How about Maxine Waters University?  Has a ring.

May 6, 2018       Permalink

EVEN SEATTLE IS LEARNING – AT 12:53 P.M. ET:  Seattle has been reported brain dead on many occasions.  Several decades ago it found its new position as San Francisco lite, a Mecca for liberals perhaps looking for lower prices in the north country.  But now, the tofu is coming home to roast.  From the Seattle Times:   

Reaction to a proposed Seattle business tax for housing and homeless services jolted elected officials this week as flare-ups of opposition revealed deep frustration with the city’s handling of its homelessness crisis.

If Seattle City Council members were surprised by the reaction — including a raucous town-hall meeting in Ballard and an unexpected protest by construction workers — the response of many residents and business owners seemed to be, what took you so long?

Project Homeless is a Seattle Times initiative that explores the causes of homelessness, explains what the Seattle region is doing about it and spotlights potential solutions. It is funded by the The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Campion Foundation, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Raikes Foundation, Schultz Family Foundation, Seattle Foundation, Seattle Mariners, and Starbucks. Seattle Times editors and reporters operate independently of our funders and maintain editorial control over Project Homeless content.

“They’re hearing the whole story now,” said Erin Goodman, executive director of the Sodo Business Improvement Alliance, which is holding its own town hall on the tax Friday morning. “They have been listening to a very small subset for a long time and have not been listening to their actual constituents.”

Does this sound just a bit familiar?  It's a perfect description of the modern Democratic Party.

Amazon announced Wednesday morning that it was pausing construction of a new downtown tower until the council votes on the $75 million-a-year tax on large companies.

Hours later, residents shouted down the four council members who sponsored the tax legislation at a 90-minute town hall at Ballard’s Trinity United Methodist Church.

Many residents expressed general empathy for people experiencing homelessness, but lashed out at the city council — especially council member Mike O’Brien, who represents Ballard — for lax financial management and failure to address the consequences of widespread, unauthorized tent camps.

O’Brien declined to comment on the meeting Thursday.

Bruce Miller, a Seattle resident since 1971, said he traditionally supported tax levies, but no longer will. “I feel like city government doesn’t understand and respect taxpayer dollars, and doesn’t take responsibility for them,” said Miller, to applause.

COMMENT:  Ah, the sound of people waking up to reality.  There are now revolts breaking out in California as well.  Revolts against social policies in San Francisco, which have resulted in a dangerous, depressing city.  Revolts against sanctuary-city declarations. 

Eventually, people find out, despite the best efforts of certain "news" organizations to hide the truth from them.  Will there be election-day surprises because of these growing revolts?  I have no idea, but I don't think this year will be the kind of cakewalk the Democrats were expecting.

May 6, 2018       Permalink

A REPRIEVE? – AT 12:21 P.M. ET:  With the Mueller investigation dragging on, apparently endlessly, there is informed speculation about what the special counsel will do during the upcoming midterm election campaign.  From Newsmax: 

Although the investigation into the 2016 president election is technically boundless, FBI special counsel Robert Mueller's probe will have to conclude soon or go dark to avoid an appearance of trying to sway elections in the 2018 midterms, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"I think it is the obligation of every reasonable prosecutor to minimize the duration of that cloud or cause lightning to strike as quickly as possible," former federal prosecutor out of New York Preet Bharara, who was fired by President Donald Trump for refusing to resign, told the Journal.

There are some written Justice Department memos aligned to that effect, written by former President Barack Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder, but nothing that would concretely force Mueller to resolve his investigation on the last presidential election or keep him from speaking out on the status of it, as James Comey infamously did twice in 2016.

There aren't any rules around how we act in the run-up to an election . . . there's a norm, you avoid any action in the run-up to an election that might have an impact, if you can," James Comey told Axios, the Journal reported.

Comey, though, is "sure" Mueller would "operate with that norm in mind" and not do anything to damage Republicans or aid Democrats' hopes to retake control of Congress in the November midterm elections.

COMMENT:  Well, we'll see.  There's the old practice of leaking to favored journalists, with the source well hidden.  I expect to see some of that.

We really must rethink this whole business of the special counsel.  It really does interfere with the process of government, and imposes a layer of pressure on freely elected officials.  There must be a better way to resolve questions about presidential behavior, or the behavior of other high governmental officials.  Government by investigation is so Middle Ages.

May 6,  2018     Permalink

MAY 5,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

McCAIN ON PALIN – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Arizona GOP Senator John McCain said Saturday he’s sorry he chose then-Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate in the presidential race he lost to Barack Obama.  He told the New York Times that if he could do it over he would have picked former Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.  Lieberman told The Times that he hadn’t known McCain felt that way. “It touched me greatly,” he said.  I've always had a high regard for Sarah's spunk and determination, but she clearly wasn't ready for a national campaign in 2008, and failed to grow much after that.  She needed better guidance than she got.  It's sad.  Lost potential.

AT LEAST WE KNOW WHERE HE STANDS – FROM FOX:  Controversial filmmaker and vocal Trump critic Michael Moore, took to Twitter Saturday to extend enthusiastic  birthday wishes to Karl Marx, the German philosopher, economist, historian, journalist and revolutionary who published “The Communist Manifesto” in 1848.  Moore, famous for films that have advocated universal health care and put capitalism in the crosshairs, tweeted an endearing message seeming to praise Marx and, in a series of tweets to follow, defended his name against those who attempted to “distort” it.  There's no distortion, except on the left.  Marx's ideas have resulted in murder and dictatorship.  His solution to the defects in capitalism would simply result in a new form of slavery.  Too bad Moore and those like him have never contemplated that.

REBUILDING OUR DEFENSE – FROM WAPO:   The U.S. Navy has reactivated a fleet responsible for overseeing the East Coast and North Atlantic - an escalation of the Pentagon's focus on a resurgent Russia and its expanding military presence.  2nd Fleet, deactivated in 2011 to preserve funds for new ships, will resume operations in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 1, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told reporters Friday.  "This is a dynamic response to the dynamic security environment," Richardson said onboard the carrier George H.W. Bush. "So as we've seen this great power competition emerge, the Atlantic Ocean is as dynamic a theater as any and particular the North Atlantic, so as we consider high-end naval warfare, fighting in the Atlantic, that will be the 2nd Fleet's responsibility."  Rebuilding our depleted defense was one of Trump's major campaign promises, and he's doing it.

May 5,  2018     Permalink

THE DISGRACE – AT 5:38 P.M. ET:  It has been revealed that former Secretary of State John Kerry has been secretly meeting with Iranian officials and other international types in an effort to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.  From Fox:   

Former Secretary of State John Kerry is under fire over a report claiming that he has been engaged in “shadow diplomacy” with officials from Iran and Europe as part of a final attempt to save the seemingly doomed 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The Boston Globe reported Friday that Kerry sat down twice with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in recent months to strategize in a bid to save the deal, as part of what the Globe described as “an aggressive yet stealthy” mission to put pressure on the Trump administration to keep the deal in some form.

Trump faces a May 12 deadline to review the deal, and Kerry has been ramping up his meetings ahead of that deadline. He reportedly met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier -- who was foreign minister of Germany when the deal was negotiated. He has also met with French President Emmanuel Macron twice and spoken by phone with European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini. 

The Globe reported that Kerry was quiet in his campaign as he believes that a high-profile defense of the deal by prominent Democrats would only make Trump more likely to pull the U.S. out of the deal.

Kerry’s reported actions immediately sparked criticism and raised claims that such dealings with Iranian and European officials could violate the Logan Act -- which prohibits private citizens from negotiating on behalf of the U.S. government without authorization

While no one has ever been successfully prosecuted under the law, the Logan Act was raised last year over former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s negotiations at the United Nations over a resolution with Israel during the Trump transition.

“John Kerry helped craft a flaccid deal that granted the terror regime in Tehran vast monetary and geopolitical concessions, even as it put them on the glide path to nuclear weapons by its own terms,” Sohrab Ahmari, senior writer at  Commentary magazine, told Fox News. “The biggest public service he can render now is to go away.”

COMMENT:  Utterly outrageous behavior by John Kerry, a man with only a casual connection to American democracy.

It is now also reported, but not yet confirmed, that Kerry has been in contact with the Palestinian Authority, urging its leaders not to give in to President Trump and offering to help the Palestinians write a peace proposal.  If the story is true, Kerry may well be in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.  But verification is required.

This can turn out to be a major story.   The Obama crowd is at it again, and America will be the loser.

May 5, 2018       Permalink

A GREAT START – AT 1:13 P.M. ET:  Richard Grenell, whose confirmation as ambassador to Germany was held up by the Democrats for months, has now made his initial statement after taking his post in Berlin.   He has impeccable foreign-policy credentials, and Germany is one of the most critical nations in international diplomacy.

But if the Germans thought they were getting a marshmallow in striped pants, someone who'd toe the international line and kind of wink at President Trump, they were wrong.  Grenell is all-in on Trump's confrontation with Iran.  German industrialists, who do a land-office business with Tehran, will not love him.  From the Jerusalem Post:   

Richard Grenell, the newly confirmed US ambassador to Germany, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News on Thursday that German companies should stop trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran because Tehran sponsors terrorism.

When asked by Fox News' Martha MacCallum on her show "The Story with Martha MacCallum" about the Iran nuclear deal, Grenell, a seasoned foreign policy expert, said Iran is a "state-sponsor of terrorism, they spend billions of dollars to spread terrorism around the world. Why would a country want to do business with them? So I think it is going to be incumbent on me to explain to German businesses that they do not want to do business inside of Iran. It is just not right."

Grenell said that "there is room for German companies to stop doing business inside of Iran. We can't have that. You look at what Iran does. Their human rights records."

The European Union extended its human rights sanctions on Iran last month but declined to impose new penalties on the regime for widespread repression of civil liberties, according to human rights groups.

Grenell slammed Iran for destabilizing Syria. Iran is the main financial sponsor of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

COMMENT:  That is very tough stuff, a direct slam at Germany's trade policies.  This is not a guy who'll be rolled.

He also is unlikely to get what we want.  Germany's trade with Iran is the main reason the German government supports the nuclear deal with Tehran.  But Grenell can start the process of making it clear that Germany's greatest protector, the United States, is very displeased, and it may have some effect.  It certainly is sending the message to the entire world that there's a new mood in Washington.

May 5, 2018       Permalink

WE'RE BACK – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  Remember when Space Cadet Barack Obama declared that the mission of NASA was "Muslim Outreach"?  Ah yes, I remember it well.

The Trump administration does not see things the same way.  From CNN: 

(CNN) Mars is about to get its first thorough checkup ever after NASA on Saturday morning launched Insight from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

It is the first NASA mission launched to another planet from the West Coast. NASA's previous interplanetary missions were launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

If it all goes as planned, after a six-month journey, the 790-pound (358-kilogram) probe will land on November 26, joining five other NASA spacecraft operating on and above Mars.

The mission's principal investigator, Bruce Banerdt, told CNN he thinks InSight will fill the last gaping hole in NASA's exploration of Mars.

"We have mapped the surface of the entire planet in terms of visible features, topography, gravity and magnetic fields," he said.

"We have studied the atmosphere, both globally and at the surface. We have roved around the surface at four different places, studying the geology and piecing together the history of the surface. But until now, the vast regions of the planet deeper than a few miles, or so, (have) been almost completely unknown to us."

He added, "InSight will change that with a single stroke."

InSight will help scientists draw the first detailed map of the interior of Mars, and Banerdt said it's hard to overstate how much science that map will create.

COMMENT:  Another step closer to a manned Mars mission.  Part of making America great again is making America dream again.   And it seems that NASA is dreamin'. 

The shot was fired from California.  I'm surprised the local leftists didn't try to stop it on grounds that it represents white supremacist plans to colonize Martian peoples.

May 5,  2018     Permalink