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July 2018

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Can the Center Hold? It Must Solve Immigration First By Alexander Stern

By on July 24th, 2018

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2018/07/23/can_the_center_hold_it_must_solve_immigration_first_110723.html

The country seems perpetually stuck in 2016. Pundits and authors continue rehashing what “really” happened in the election. Our president — as he demonstrated once again in Helsinki last week — remains preoccupied with electoral math. The Justice Department continues to grind away on the campaign, emerging every few weeks to send the media into a frenzy. And Republicans are still deciding whether, how, and how much to separate themselves from Trump.

The Democrats seem to be stuck even further back — in 2016 primary season — with their establishment wing trying to beat back a populist surge to its left. Bernie’s latest bounce back took the form of a surprising win by fellow New Yorker and self-described socialist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, over one-time Speaker hopeful Joe Crowley. Meanwhile, long-time senator Diane Feinstein lost the support of California’s Democratic Party to Kevin de Léon, the challenger to her left, despite crushing him in the primary. Even presidential hopefuls looking ahead to the 2020 primary season have darted left, likely in fear of being outflanked.

In other words, moderate Democrats face in 2018 much the same challenge Hillary Clinton faced in 2016, with populist storms surging on both sides. The difference is that today’s Democrats can learn from Clinton’s mistakes.

New Democracy, an initiative led by the Progressive Policy Institute’s Will Marshall, seeks to do just that. For New Democracy’s recent debut at the Washington Court Hotel, center-left politicians and policy experts exchanged ideas on a new Democratic platform. Speakers included Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu, and William Galston, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who was domestic policy adviser to Bill Clinton. Galston’s talk focused on what he argued is a sine qua non for the center-left’s agenda: sensible immigration policy.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

FISA Applications Confirm: The FBI Relied on the Unverified Steele Dossier By Andrew C. McCarthy

By on July 24th, 2018

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/07/carter-page-fisa-applications-fbi-steele-dossier/

A salacious Clinton-campaign product was the driving force behind the Trump–Russia investigation.

On a sleepy summer Saturday, after months of stonewalling, the FBI dumped 412 pages of documents related to the Carter Page FISA surveillance warrants — the applications, the certifications, and the warrants themselves. Now that we can see it all in black and white — mostly black, as they are heavily redacted — it is crystal clear that the Steele dossier, an unverified Clinton-campaign product, was the driving force behind the Trump–Russia investigation.

Based on the dossier, the FBI told the FISA court it believed that Carter Page, who had been identified by the Trump campaign as an adviser, was coordinating with the Russian government in an espionage conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.

This sensational allegation came from Christopher Steele, the former British spy. The FISA court was not told that the Clinton campaign was behind Steele’s work. Nor did the FBI and Justice Department inform the court that Steele’s allegations had never been verified. To the contrary, each FISA application — the original one in October 2016, and the three renewals at 90-day intervals — is labeled “VERIFIED APPLICATION” (bold caps in original). And each one makes this breathtaking representation:

The FBI has reviewed this verified application for accuracy in accordance with its April 5, 2001 procedures, which include sending a copy of the draft to the appropriate field office(s).

In reality, the applications were never verified for accuracy.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

It’s Oakland in Muellerville By Roger Kimball

By on July 24th, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/its-oakland-in-muellerville/

I liked what the great Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch had to say about the heavily redacted 400-page DOJ document dump regarding the FISA warrant to spy on Carter Page. It is, he said, a “self-licking ice cream cone.” The image is appropriately surreal.

But the more I think about it, the more I think it is only partially applicable to the whole RussiaGate melodrama we’ve been witnessing for the last year and a half.

Wikipedia defines this autogleipsimous activity as “a self-perpetuating system that has no purpose other than to sustain itself.”

The Mueller investigation and its attendant pseudo-pods in the media and “intelligence community” are indeed self-perpetuating.

But they exhibit a purpose that goes far beyond their own self-perpetuation.

No, in this safari, big game is the object, the end, the purpose, to wit: the destruction of the president of the United States.

That is the true purpose of this charade: not the truth about “Russian meddling,” not alleged wrong doing by Paul Manafort in 2005, not a lack of candor under FBI questioning by George Papadopoulos (who?) or Michael Flynn. The one true purpose (in addition to the welcome subsidiary effect of helping out the ratings of the MSM) is to hobble Donald Trump, a prelude to removing him from office.

There have been hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of words expended on trying the explain the “Russia collusion” narrative. It’s hard to get a handle on because its prime elements keep, er, “evolving.”

Absent any new revelations, I’d say that commentators like Kimberley Strassel and Lee Smith have it right. The whole show started with John Brennan, Barack Obama’s CIA director and Gus Hall-voting Trump hater. It was Brennan, operating on an erroneous tip, who cobbled together rudiments of the Trump-Russia narrative. He couldn’t get anyone to act on his story at first, but he then went to Harry Reid, former Senate majority leader, who lit a fire under James Comey, the disgraced former director of the FBI. CONTINUE AT SITE

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Still Missing: One Arab Altalena… by Gerald A. Honigman

By on July 24th, 2018

It’s been quite some time since I thought about this tragedy. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent comments brought it back onto my brain’s front burner…

YNet News reported on July 8, 2018 that seventy years after theAltalena Affair, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated “not only were the Etzel (Irgun) fallen not traitors, they were patriots of the first degree and acted in the benefit of the State of Israel, with immense effort and great sacrifice.”

The June 1948 confrontation was a nightmare which saw some twenty precious Jewish soldiers lost in patriot-on-patriot fighting for the heart and soul of the newly resurrected Jewish State.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s backtrack a bit…

Even though he’s been out of the picture since 2004, polluting the soil from Jerusalem sprinkled onto his coffin in Ramallah, nothing has really changed regarding the two peoples struggling over rights to this land.

The problem has always extended beyond Yasir Arafat himself. He was simply carrying yet another local banner for a wider, age-old Arabism which–as I like to remind readers–rejects the rights of any (i.e., not just Jews) of the scores of millions of non-Arab peoples who were conquered in a region Arabs call purely Arab patrimonyand the Dar ul-Islam… among other things, the Arab-Israeli conflict in a nutshell.

To expand on this important point (especially for those who specialize in singling Israel), Arabs have treated all would-be national competitors similarly–with, admittedly, a bit more disdain for Jews. The latter were subjected to additional vilification in the Qur’an and other religious teachings of Islam for rejecting, from the very beginning, Muhammad’s religio-political claims–despite his overtures to the Jews (like praying towards Jerusalem) in the date palm oasis founded by them in Medina to which he fled from enemies in Mecca (the Hijra)… Geez, now why does that sound somewhat familiar? Ponder that a bit.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

How Far Will the Left Go? by Victor Davis Hanson

By on July 24th, 2018

There was no honeymoon for the unlikely winner of the 2016 election. Progressives have in succession tried to sue to overturn Trump’s victory using several different approaches. First on the bogus claim of fraudulent voting machines. Then they sought to subvert the Electoral College by bullying electors into renouncing their respective states’ votes.

Massive protests and boycotts marked the inauguration. Then there were articles of impeachment introduced in the House. Some sued to remove Trump on a warped interpretation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Others brought in psychiatrists to testify that Trump was ill, disabled, or insane and should be removed in accordance with the 25th Amendment. The former FBI director, CIA director, and director of the Office of National Intelligence have variously smeared the president as a coward, a traitor, and a Russian mole.

The Mueller Investigation

We are about 430 days into Robert Mueller’s investigation; the special prosecutor whose team of lawyers and investigators has in a large part been made up either of Clinton donors, clear Clinton partisans, lawyers who have in the past represented Clinton interests or employees, or partisans already removed for expressing clear Trump hatred. The media grew ecstatic over its creation, dubbing it an “all-star” or “dream” team, as leaks assured the public that next week, next month, or “soon” there would be a sensational indictment proving that Trump colluded with the Russians to win the presidency.

We have gone through the psychodramas surrounding Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Carter Page and a host of others. Any second, any minute they would be indicted for collusion in throwing an election, or they would soon flip and end the Trump presidency.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

One, Two, Three Strikes, You’re Out! by Linda Goudsmit

By on July 24th, 2018

The world is currently divided between those who seek internationalized one world global governance and those who demand national sovereignty. Western countries are bifurcated internally along the same political lines. In the United States two political teams have emerged who are in a tournament that will determine the future of America.

The International Team composed of leftist Democrat players and Republicans In Name Only (RINO) are challenging the National Team pennant holders for the championship title. The International Team is following their general manager Obama toward socialism – the prerequisite for internationalized global governance called Globalism.

The National Team composed of American patriots who support individualism, national sovereignty, the Constitution, and the rule of law have elected their MVP President Donald Trump to fend off the collectivist challengers and take America to the championship games to preserve their national title. What does it all mean?

The geopolitical landscape is changing and the draft is underway. The International Team has chosen the UN flag as its banner, identity politics, the European Union, open borders, the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamism, anarchy, and activist judges to play on their team.

The National Team has chosen to fly the American flag, the Constitution, the rule of law, protected borders, legal immigration, and traditional secular American norms that do not recognize the authority of Islamic Sharia law to play on their team.

The two teams have opposing playbooks. The International Team relies on Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and the colluding globalist mainstream media to create cognitive dissonance and disorient the National Team. Alinsky’s playbook instructs the team on how to target MVP player President Trump and focus on taking him out of the game by any means to win the World Series. The International Team is playing offense.

The National Team is playing defense and relies on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and President Trump’s direct communication with the fans to win the game.

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ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Why Iran Supports Palestinian Terror Groups by Khaled Abu Toameh

By on July 19th, 2018

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12729/iran-palestinian-terrorism

The Iranian general did not offer to build the Palestinians a hospital or a school. Nor did he offer to provide financial aid to create projects that would give jobs to unemployed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. His message to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: Iran will give you as much money and weapons as you need as long as you are committed to the jihad (holy war) against Israel and the “big Satan,” the US.

The same Hamas that is telling UN representatives that it wants to improve the living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is the one that is reaching out its hand to Iran to receive funds and weapons.

Now, someone needs to step in and stop Iran from setting foot in the Gaza Strip and using the Palestinians as cannon fodder in Tehran’s campaign against the US and Israel. How might someone do that? It is not so complicated. Any international aid to the Gaza Strip must be conditioned on ending Iran’s destructive effort to recruit Palestinians groups as its soldiers. It is that simple.

While the United Nations, Israel and the US are proposing plans to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Iran is pledging to continue its financial and military aid to Palestinian terror groups.

Iran’s meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians is not new. The Iranians have long been providing Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups with money and weapons. Were it not for Iran’s support, the two groups, which do not recognize Israel’s right to exist, would not have been able to remain in power in the coastal enclave.

Iran’s support for the Palestinian terror groups has a twofold goal: first, to undermine the Palestinian Authority, which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, and which Tehran sees as a pawn in the hands of the US and Israel; and second, to advance Iran’s goal of destroying Israel.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Entity by Tom Quiggin

By on July 19th, 2018

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12730/muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-entity

It can be said that Hamas has more than mere “ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, its own documents point out that the Muslim Brotherhood has been intrinsically tied to Hamas and the entire Palestinian situation since as early as 1948.

Rather than “helping our enemies attract more recruits,” targeting the Muslim Brotherhood would weaken those organizations.

The greater point about the Muslim Brotherhood is that in its quest for domination, it is either violent or not yet violent. For this reason it should be designated as a terrorist entity.

The Congressional Subcommittee on National Security held a hearing on July 11 in Washington, DC “[t]o examine the threat of Muslim Brotherhood to the United States and its interests and how to effectively counter it.”

According to the background information provided by the Subcommittee,

“The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical Islamist organization that has generated a network of affiliates in over 70 countries. The Brotherhood has been designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries including Eygpt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The United States has designated multiple Muslim Brotherhood affiliates as terrorist organizations, including Hamas.”

Among those testifying before the Subcommitte were: Zuhdi Jasser, president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Hillel Fradkin, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and the Honorable Daniel Benjamin, Norman E. McCulloch Jr. director from the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth University.

Perhaps the most startling testimony was that of Benjamin, who served as Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. State Department under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In his remarks to the Subcommittee, Ambassador Benjamin, whose stated position was that the Muslim Brotherhood should not be designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization, advanced the belief that while Hamas has ties to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, it would be a mistake at this point to say that the group is an affiliate of the organization.

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MEDIA Comments turned off

Facebook, Google, Twitter Don’t Know—or Don’t Care—if China Tried to Meddle in 2016 Election By Paula Bolyard

By on July 19th, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/trending/facebook-google-twitter-refuse-to-say-if-china-or-n-korea-tried-to-meddle-in-2016-election/

In a heated House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday investigating charges of anti-conservative bias by Facebook, Google, and Twitter, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) queried representatives of those platforms about whether they have found any evidence that countries other than Russia — namely China and N. Korea — had attempted to interfere in U.S. elections in 2016. The individuals representing the Big Three social media platforms couldn’t — or wouldn’t — say.

Gohmert asked, “You have been asked specifically about Russian use of your platforms. But did you ever find any indication of use of your platform utilized by the Chinese, North Korea, or any other foreign country, intelligence, or agency of that country?”

Monika Bickert, head of global policy management at Facebook, attempted to evade the question. “I would note, congressman, that we are not in N. Korea or China,” she said, adding that Facebook has a “robust” security team.

Gohmert tried asking his question again. “We have foreign governments, intelligence agencies in this country. It seems to me you were each a little bit vague about ‘Oh yes, we found hundreds,’ or whatever, I’m asking specifically: were any of those other countries besides Russia that were using your platform inappropriately? It should be a yes or no.”

“I don’t have the details,” Bickert replied. “I know we definitely work to detect and repel attacks — ”

“I know that,” Gohmert interrupted, “but were any of them foreign entities other than Russia?”

“I can certainly follow up with you on that,” she said.

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HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Antifa Suspect in South Dakota Found with ‘Concerning’ Amount of Weapons and Bomb-Making Materials By Debra Heine

By on July 19th, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/trending/antifa-suspect-in-south-dakota-found-with-concerning-amount-of-weapons-and-bomb-making-materials/

Sioux Falls Police arrested an apparent antifa radical on Tuesday after finding a “concerning” number of illegal firearms and bomb-making materials in his apartment while serving a search warrant in connection with three area burglaries. Police also found antifa-related items during their search, including an antifa jacket and an anti-police manifesto. Authorities reportedly evacuated the surrounding area and called the Sioux Falls Police bomb squad.

“The amount of explosives found was significant and concerning,” Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead said.

Mark Einerwold, 43, was arrested “on multiple burglary charges and for the sale or transportation of a destructive device,” KDLT News reported.

Authorities say they found multiple explosive devices as well as aluminum nitrate and aluminum powder, which authorities say have no use other than for an explosive device.

Authorities also seized multiple firearms and a homemade firearm silencer from the residence.

Einerwold said he was $350,000 in debt and had no assets in his application for a court-appointed attorney.

In court, prosecutors said that police found a pistol, sawed-off shotgun and a silencer in a backpack in Einerwold’s home. In addition, police reportedly found a “manifesto” that issued threats toward law enforcement and the government. CONTINUE AT SITE

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