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2016

Hillary’s ‘No Classified Markings’ Canard Actually Makes Things Worse By Andrew C. McCarthy

As our friend Guy Benson tallies things up in the Clinton email scandal, there were not only a whopping 2,079 emails containing classified information that were stored and transmitted on Hillary Clinton’s non-secure private server system. It turns out that she personally wrote 104 such emails – which, the Washington Post gingerly observes, “could complicate her efforts to argue that she never put government secrets at risk.” I’ll say. In fact, I have said: see my February 6 column describing the damage the former secretary of state has done to national security by exposing intelligence secrets, collection methods, and sources of information to hostile foreign intelligence services.

Let’s also keep in mind a fact that’s easy to forget since what’s before our eyes is so outrageous: For now, we are only talking about the Clinton emails that she deigned to turn over to the government. As Guy reminds us, there are another 32,000 emails that she attempted to delete. There have been reports indicating that the FBI has been able to recover at least some of these from the server. It is a shoe that has yet to drop.

Recall the state of play: Mrs. Clinton originally insisted no classified information was ever transmitted on her servers. When this became untenable, she changed her story to claim that she never personally sent or received classified emails – a claim that, even if true, would be of little legal relevance since she caused the creation of the private server system via which, because of the way she ran her office, the transmission of classified emails by her underlings was inevitable. But of course, we now know for sure that the claim is not true: Wholly apart from what she may have received, Clinton personally wrote and sent those aforementioned 104 emails containing classified information.

So the final evolution in this bogus defense is that there were “no classified markings” on emails stored or sent via the private server. Obviously, this is offered to intimate that she had no way of knowing she and her subordinates were handling classified information with criminal recklessness.

Trump outsourcing includes home goods, daughter’s clothing line Jon Ward

It isn’t just the ties.

Donald Trump has taken some grief for the fact that his signature neckties are made in China. But the scope of Trump-branded products made outside America is larger than has previously been reported — especially when that includes the clothing line named after Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, which is listed on the Trump Organization website as part of the Trump empire.

Thousands of items with the Trump name on them — furniture, shirts, shoes, salad bowls, even “Trump body soap,” and much of Ivanka’s growing jewelry and clothing line — have been made by companies, often paying Trump simply for the use of his name on their goods, that employ foreign workers.

Clothing and home goods are a small part of Trump’s fortune. His total income from licensed home goods was between $2.5 million and $13.1 million, according to his personal financial disclosure.

These Trump company business decisions are directly at odds with the central message of his presidential campaign: a promise to bring back jobs that have been sent abroad.

“I am going to bring jobs back to the United States like nobody else can,” Trump said in his closing statement at last week’s debate in Detroit, ahead of the Republican primary in Michigan on Tuesday.

“I’m going to bring jobs back from China. I’m going to bring jobs back from Mexico and from Japan,” Trump said during the Feb. 13 GOP debate in South Carolina.

In Detroit, Trump admitted he had his clothing line manufactured in China and Mexico. But he claimed that it is “impossible for clothing makers in this country to do clothing in this country.” Trump blamed the Chinese government’s devaluation of the yuan, which helps to make Chinese-made goods cheaper for American consumers than those made in the U.S.

Republicans In Chaos :Victor Davis Hanson

Well before Donald Trump entered the race, there were lots of warning signs that the Republican party was on the road to perdition.
After the marathon 20 debates of 2012, with the ten or so strange candidates who brawled and embarrassed themselves, there had to be some formula to avoid repeating that mob-like mess. Instead, in 2016 there were 17 candidates and 13 debates along with seven forums. There were supposed to be tweaks and repairs that were designed to avoid the clown-like cavalcade of four years ago, but they apparently only ensured a repetition.

Three of the most experienced candidates, at least in the art of executive governance — Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and Scott Walker — were among the first to get out. The most experienced government CEOs somehow (or logically?) performed poorly in the raucous debates and lacked the charisma or the money or at least the zealous followers of Cruz, Rubio, and Trump.

Or they had too much pride (or sense) — unlike Carson, Christie, Kasich, and Paul — to insist that they were viable candidates when fairly early on, by most measurements, they were not. How strange that those who would have been more credible candidates saw the writing on the wall and left the field — to those marginalized candidates who had no such qualms and ended up wasting months of their time and ours in splintering the vote, engaging in endless bickering on crowded stages, and ensuring that there were few occasions for any of them to distinguish himself. At some point, someone should confess that Democratic debates further Democratic causes far more than Republican debates help Republican causes.

The other veteran governor in the race, Jeb Bush, may have felt, at 63 years old and eight years after the end of his brother’s administration, that his presidential ambitions — born in the pre-Trump-announcement days — were now or never.

U.S. Tourist Killed, Dozen Israelis Wounded in Palestinian Attacks

A Palestinian terrorist stabbed and killed an American tourist and injured at least 10 others in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, marking the third Palestinian attack within hours of one another.

Israeli police said the terrorist started to stab civilians near the entrance to the Jaffa Port entrance – wounding multiple individuals – before escaping toward Tel Aviv and stabbing motorists idling in their vehicles on the road.

Four of the victims are in serious condition, including a pregnant woman.

The attack occurred about a mile from the Peres Center for Peace, coinciding with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s arrived at the facility to meet with former Israeli President Shimon Peres

“Terrorist acts against children, women, and innocent people are intolerable,” said Biden in a joint press conference with Peres.

Hours earlier, Palestinian terrorists stabbed and injured three Israelis in two separate, nearly simultaneous attacks.

In Petah Tikva, a Palestinian terrorist repeatedly stabbed a 40 year-old ultra-Orthodox Israeli man in a wine store. After fleeing the scene temporarily, the victim returned to the store, pulled the knife out of his own neck and mortally stabbed the terrorist.

Around the same time, a Palestinian terrorist shot two Border Police officers in the head outside Nablus Gate in eastern Jerusalem. The two police officers are in critical and serious condition. Israeli police chased down and neutralized the gun-wielding assailant.

State Dept. Condemns Murder of American But Never Mentions Israel or Arab Perpetrators Lori Lowenthal Marcus

State Dept. condemned three terrorist attacks Tuesday, but never mentioned they happened in Israel or that Arabs were the perpetrators.

The Assistant Secretary and State Department Spokesperson John Kirby issued a statement on Tuesday, March 8, condemning three terrorist attacks in Israel, in one of which an American tourist was killed.

The statement mentioned the American, Taylor Force, by name. Kirby named all three Israeli cities in which the terrorist attacks occurred, but neither mentioned that all three took place in Israel, nor that Palestinian Arabs were the perpetrators of each of the attacks.

The statement reads:

The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today’s outrageous terrorist attacks in Jaffa, Petah Tikvah, and Jerusalem, which tragically claimed the life of U.S. citizen Taylor Allen Force and left many others severely injured. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Taylor and all those affected by these senseless attacks, and we wish a speedy recovery for the injured. As we have said many times, there is absolutely no justification for terrorism. We continue to encourage all parties to take affirmative steps to reduce tensions and restore calm.

Republican statesmen must condemn Trump: Column Gabriel Schoenfeld and Aaron Friedberg

Former secretaries of state and defense need to derail ‘classic demagogue’ and calm U.S. allies.

America faces grave threats from abroad. But with Donald Trump close to becoming the Republican nominee and possibly our next president, the most pressing danger to our national security comes from within. More than 100 Republican foreign-policy experts (including both of us) have already weighed in with an open letter, about the perils a Trump presidency would bring. Missing from the names on the letter, and distressingly silent in the debate, however, have been almost all of America’s senior statesmen — especially those who previously served in Republican administrations.

To be sure, a few top leaders have begun to speak out. Without wading into the political debate, retired four-star general Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA, has pointed out that the United States military would be obligated to disobey unlawful orders to torture and kill of the sort that Trump has said he would issue as president. Former secretary of Defense William Cohen has warned that military officers would face Nuremberg-style tribunals if they carried out Trump’s promised plans.

But illegal military orders are, sadly, only part of a much larger menace. Trump is a classic demagogue: He stokes fears and kindles prejudice. His divisive, sometimes violent rhetoric and appeals to racism and xenophobia would destroy the domestic tranquility on which our democracy depends. Beyond the damage it would do at home, a Trump presidency would unravel the American-led international order that has kept us secure since the end of World War II, an order built on alliances, freedom of the seas, respect for international law, defense of human rights, opposition to aggression, free trade, and support for democracy and the rule of law. Trump either does not understand the importance of these principles, is unaware of them or he simply does not care.

Trump has expressed contempt for America’s closest allies, whom he dismisses as parasitic freeloaders, and admiration for the authoritarian regimes that are now hard at work trying to undercut American foreign policy in regions across the globe. He is on record praising Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and offered him a backhanded defense from allegations that he ordered the murder of journalists, explaining, “I think that our country does plenty of killing, too.” As for the Chinese Communist regime’s murderous 1989 crackdown on student protesters, “that shows you the power of strength,” Trump mused.

WHY A MUSLIM WOMAN BEHEADED A CHILD IN MOSCOW – ON THE GLAZOV GANG

This special edition of The Glazov Gang was joined by Robert Spencer, the Director of JihadWatch.org and the author of the new book The Complete Infidel’s Guide to ISIS.

Robert discussed Why a Muslim Woman Beheaded a Child in Moscow, focusing on how Gulchekhra Bobokulova has insisted that Allah made her do it. Did he?

Don’t miss it!

TERROR WAVE IN ISRAEL…..

AMERICAN MURDERED BY PALESTINIAN TERROR:

Taylor Force was murdered today by a Palestinian terrorist in Jaffa – just 1 mile from where VP Joe Biden was meeting with Israeli leaders.
Force was a US Army veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a graduate of West Point and an Eagle scout. Force was currently a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. He and his wife were visiting Israel with the school to learn about Israeli tech, His wife was also stabbed and is in critical condition.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones. We pray for the recovery of his wife.
Today, an American tourist was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist – only one mile away from where Vice President Joe Biden was meeting with Israeli leaders.

As Biden’s plane touched down, Israel was in the midst of a horrific terror wave across the country. In four separate attacks, 14 were wounded and one murdered – an America army vet traveling with his wife. An Israeli police officer is still fighting for his life after being shot in the head.

We mourn the loss of Taylor Force and echo the words of Vanderbilt’s chancellor where Force was a student: “This horrific act of violence has robbed our Vanderbilt family of a young hopeful life and all of the bright promise that he held for bettering our greater world,”

Force served America in Iraq and Afghanistan and graduated from West Point. He and his wife were visiting Israel with Vanderbilt to learn about Israeli tech, when he was brutally murdered near the beach in Jaffa. His wife was also stabbed and is in critical condition.

Hezbollah terrorist Nasrallah: Arab regimes have never done anything for the Palestinians

Hezbollah leaderNasrallah vehemently attacked Arab regimes for their decision to label Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, claiming that “the Lebanese resistance is the only one that regains Arab dignity and fights for the Palestinian people.”

Last week, the Gulf Cooperation Council voted to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization amid the Lebanese Shi’ite group’s involvement in various regional conflicts alongside Iran and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In a speech he delivered Sunday afternoon to commemorate the martyrdom of a senior Hezbollah commander, Ali Fayyad, Nasrallah mocked the contribution of Arab regimes to the struggle against Israel saying, “If we had waited for the Arabs and their armies, Israel would still be in our lands [South Lebanon].”

Responding to the GCC’s decision to label Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, Nasrallah delivered a belligerent message to Arab states, saying, “We do not need your weapons; leave us alone.”

“Arab regimes led by Saudi Arabia side with Israel against our struggle. They do so because the defense of Israel is the guarantee to their survival,” Hezbollah’s chief further stated.

Hezbollah’s chief criticized the “Arab indifference” toward Israel’s alleged assassination of Omar al-Nayef, a former Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist who died under mysterious circumstances in Sofia, Bulgaria, on February 26.

Nasrallah also provided details about the fighting in Syria, claiming that Hezbollah does not receive orders from Iran instructing it how to operate in the country.

The Irish election: More trouble for Israel in the Emerald Isle Herb Keinon

Even before last week’s election, the Irish government was considered among the most hostile in Europe to Israel, second only to Sweden.

It may take weeks to sort out the recent Irish election and crown a new government in Dublin, but one thing is already certain: Israel’s position in the Emerald Isle is about to go from bad to worse.

Though it is not clear whether the ruling Fine Gael will form a coalition together with its bitter political rival Fianna Fail, or whether Fine Gael will form a minority government, it is clear that pro-Israel candidates were roundly defeated across the board, while pro-Palestinian candidates enjoyed a good day Friday at the polls.

For instance, Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter, the sole Jewish MP who served from 2011 to 2014 as both justice and defense minister, and who has been the victim of anti-Semitic swipes for his willingness to speak up for Israel, was defeated.

As was Joanna Tuffy, a Labor Party parliamentarian who headed the small Irish-Israel parliamentary friendship caucus. In fact it is not clear whether there will even be such a group in the next parliament, as the three or four members of this group were either voted out or retired.

On the other hand, new MP Gino Kenny, from the Anti-Austerity Alliance, celebrated his election victory on Saturday by waving a Palestinian flag. (Imagine the reaction were a congressman from Oklahoma to celebrate his victory on election night by waving not the US flag, but rather the blue and white banner of Israel.) Another candidate who won, Independent John Halligan, launched his candidacy in January in the presence of Palestinian Authority Ambassador Ahmad Abdelrazek.