Art of the Deal, Palestine Version Trump’s unconventional diplomacy is on display in Israel and the Balkans.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/art-of-the-deal-palestine-version-11580255641?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

From the press coverage of the Trump Administration’s Mideast peace efforts led by Jared Kushner, you’d have thought the White House was going to dismiss Palestinian statehood and ask for no concessions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet the plan described Tuesday at the White House is far more thoughtful. Its thrust is a high-profile endorsement of the two-state solution, and the political implications for Mr. Netanyahu are not yet clear.

This is a pro-Israel plan by historical standards. It envisions Palestinians controlling much less territory than they would under the 1967 borders, including as much as 80% of the West Bank. It would not require the evacuation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and it demands that Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza, be disarmed. Israel would control the Jordan River valley that it says is vital to security on its eastern border.

Yet far from bowing to the demands of Israel’s settlers, the plan provides for a four-year settlement freeze on construction in the West Bank, and settler groups are criticizing it. More important, the plan gives a political boost to the two-state solution that Mr. Netanyahu’s base has been abandoning. It also anticipates a high-speed rail link between Gaza and the West Bank that is sure to raise objections from Israeli security hawks.

The press is describing the plan as a “gift” to Mr. Netanyahu ahead of the next Israeli election in March, but parts of it may put the Prime Minister on defense against the rightward elements of his coalition.

DONALD TRUMP-AN UNSEEN CHRISTIAN DR. SHELDON ROTH

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/trump-an-unseen-christian-234772/

Did you know that President Donald J. Trump is Christian, believes in God, and has deep faith? Well, if you only read or watch mainstream media, you might not.  

Mainstream media would have you believe that unwavering support of Trump by evangelical Christians rests on politics: antiabortion, appointment of conservative judges, pro-Israel, the right to bear arms, a pledge “to safeguard students and teachers’ First Amendment rights to pray in our schools,” protection of religious free speech on campuses, or seasonal tidings of joy – “Merry Christmas.” This list does not inspire spiritual faith. Politics and religion may share aims, but at the same time, they are worlds apart. Politics cannot penetrate the meaning of Trump’s impassioned call in a Miami church: “In America we don’t worship government, we worship God!”

A Christian Charisma

Trump joins evangelicals through faith. Sustained faith cannot be faked, it is based on experience, a spiritual fact. Trump’s charisma in a church is not that of a visiting political potentate; he is energized by authentic Christian fire. What other major politician could speak for over an hour in an evangelical church with unscripted spontaneity, secure in Christian belief, moving in-and-out of conversation with congregants or pulling them to the pulpit as witnesses? Like his “I am one of you” rapport with blue collar workers based on long close contact in the construction world, when in the presence of evangelicals Trump is moved by a similar lived Christian experience that radiates from his pores.

IG Report Proves Obama Administration Spied On Trump Campaign Big Time By Margot Cleveland

https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/28/ig-report-proves-obama-administration-spied-on-trump-campaign-big-time/

The IG report established that the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign, and the spying was much worse than previously thought.

Last week, President Trump triggered the left when he tweeted a Photoshopped picture that portrayed former President Barack Obama perched midair outside Trump Tower, binoculars and listening device in hand.

The liberal outlet Vox condemned the president for his “increasingly bad tweets,” before declaring “there’s no evidence the Obama administration spied on Trump.” Vox then regurgitated the false narrative that, while the FBI did surveil former Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page, “that didn’t happen until after Page left the campaign.”

For years, conservatives tried to correct the record, noting that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) order gave the government access to Page’s past emails and other electronic communications with members of the Trump campaign, but the mainstream media ignored this reality. That the liberal and legacy press continue to push this narrative now, following the release of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on FISA abuse, is beyond baffling, because the IG report established that the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign, and the spying was much worse than previously thought.

Spying on Carter Page Was Spying on the Trump Campaign

Unfunny CNN Panel Ridicules Trump Supporters As ‘Credulous Boomer Rubes’ By Tristan Justice

https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/28/unfunny-cnn-panel-ridicules-trump-supporters-as-credulous-boomer-rubes/

A CNN panel from Saturday night has gone viral this week, showing two guests appearing on air with anchor Don Lemon, mocking Trump supporters during the network’s impeachment coverage.

The discussion features New York Times columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali with ex-GOP strategist Never Trumper Rick Wilson making fun of those who might ever vote for President Donald Trump.

Wilson kicked things off by first insulting the president’s intelligence before characterizing Trump’s supporters as ignorant:

Trump couldn’t find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter “U” and a picture of an actual physical crane next to it. He knows that this is an administration defined by ignorance of the world, and so that’s partly him playing to their base and playing to their audience — the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump.

Wilson and Ali then continued with a fake accents to mock those who put Trump into office as unsophisticated backwoods hicks.

“Donald Trump’s the smart one, and y’all — y’all elitists are dumb,” Wilson said.

“You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling!” Ali chimed in.

“Your math and your readin’!” Wilson responded as the three men laughed hysterically at the belittlement of those alienated by media elites such as themselves.

The Line for Trump Rally on Jersey Shore Is Insane. 100,000 Seeking Tickets. By Victoria Taft

https://pjmedia.com/trending/the-line-for-trump-rally-on-jersey-shore-is-insane-100000-seeking-tickets/

Ryan Fournier ✔ @RyanAFournier

There are literally thousands of people waiting in line for a Trump rally that doesn’t start until tomorrow evening…In 30 degree weather…In the state of New Jersey… OUTSTANDING!

RT

When There Is No Normal By Victor Davis Hanson

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/when-there-is-no-normal-radicals-eventually-need-what-theyve-gleefully-destroyed/

History lesson: Radicals eventually will need the norms and safeguards they’ve gleefully destroyed.

O ne of the ancient and modern critiques of democracy is that radicals destroy norms for short-term political gain, norms that they themselves often later seek as refuge.

Schadenfreude, irony, paradox, and karma are various descriptions of what happens to revolutionaries, and unfortunately the innocent, who suffer their collateral damage when radicals of any stripe use any means necessary to achieve supposedly exalted ends.

Three of the most moving — and terrifying — passages in Greek literature involve such ironic payback. In the third book of Thucydides’ history, the historian relates a murderous civil war (stasis) between oligarchs and democrats on the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu). He laments how morals and laws are destroyed in a cycle of madness, all to achieve short-term gain while depriving both parties of sanctuary when the tide one day turns against them.

When extremism becomes normal, there is no prior normal. In his fifth book, Thucydides describes the destruction of the small island city-state of Melos, in a riveting dialogue between the Athenian invaders and the Melian defenders. After concluding his account with the Athenians’ destruction of Melos, Thucydides immediately, in books six and seven, describes the Athenian catastrophe on Sicily, in which the invading and soon-to-be-trapped Athenians play a similar role to that of the doomed Melians, and the victorious Sicilians are no more magnanimous to the defeated than were the once-victorious Athenians.

KELLY LOEFFLER OR DOUG COLLINS FOR SENATE GEORGIA

Loeffler was appointed and confirmed after Senator Sen. Johnny Isakson retired due to illness. If you wish to know more about her please check out her website at:

https://www.loeffler.senate.gov/

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) will launch a bid against appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) in the coming days, according to multiple reports, setting up a party showdown that threatens to split Republicans across the state.

https://nypost.com/2020/01/28/trump-ally-doug-collins-to-launch-primary-challenge-for-senate-seat-in-georgia/

GOP senator: Romney trying to ‘appease the left’ with impeachment witnesses By Jordain Carney

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/480118-gop-senator-romney-trying-to-appease-the-left-with-impeachment-witnesses

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) on Monday lashed out at fellow GOP Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) over his apparent openness to call witnesses as part of President Trump’s impeachment trial.

Loeffler — who was just sworn into the Senate earlier this month after being appointed to succeed Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who was popular among members on both sides of the aisle — tweeted that it was “time to move on” from the impeachment effort. 

“Sadly, my colleague [Romney] wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame. The circus is over,” Loeffler tweeted.

Officials for Romney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Loeffler, in her tweet, didn’t specify what comment from Romney had sparked the public call out of her colleague, but it comes after Romney reiterated his interest in hearing from former national security adviser John Bolton on Monday, though he specified that he would make a final decision after opening arguments and questions from senators.

“It’s pretty fair to say John Bolton has relevant testimony,” Romney said. “I think it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton.”

Impeachment: A Runaway House NY Sun – Editorial Board

www.nysun.com/editorials/impeachment-a-runaway-house/90989/

Judge Kenneth Starr’s speech today in defense of President Trump will go down in history as one of the great pleadings ever delivered before the Senate. He called on the solons to rebuff the charges of a “runaway house.” He called for an end to the era of eager impeachment. Generations from now, law professors will teach it to their students. It will endure as a masterpiece of constitutional law and wisdom.

We confess that we were skeptical when news hit the wires that Judge Starr would appear on the President’s behalf. The judge, after all, had been the independent counsel who pursued President Clinton to a failed impeachment. We had long opposed the very idea of an independent counsel as an affront to a central construct of our liberty, separated powers. He had ignored the warnings of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Yet today, Judge Starr dealt with all that in an honest and courageous way. He began with a point on which we had failed to reflect. The Constitution may, as it does, require that the senators, when sitting as a court of impeachment, be placed under oath. The oath is to do impartial justice. The Constitution, though, fails to require such an oath of the House, even when it is enacting articles of impeachment.

“Huawei, Fortinbras and Xi Jinping” David Goldman

https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/huawei-fortinbras-and-xi-jinping/

TS Eliot’s summary judgment on Shakespeare’s Hamlet – “So far from being Shakespeare’s masterpiece, the play is most certainly an artistic failure” – brands the Nobel laureate as a ninny. Eliot propounded a cramped, Aristotelian, pettifogging, aestheticizing view of art, and crouched tight-jawed and squinty-eyed before Shakespeare’s sprawling genius. Hamlet is both a tragedy – a national tragedy as well as a personal one – and a sprawling comic romp. It is a tragicomedy in the mold of the first great dramatic work of the modern period, de Rojas’ 1499 play Celestina.

Hamlet is also a play for our times, an object lesson for the United States and a solemn warning to us all. 

Here is the plot of Hamlet in a nutshell: The soldiers who meet the Ghost of Hamlet’s murdered father on the ramparts of Elsinore Castle were not posted there by accident: As they explain in the play’s opening lines, the King of Norway, young Fortinbras, will invade Denmark soon, and they are set as lookouts. The Ghost comes along and distracts them and young Hamlet, and the dramatis personae engage in various machinations until, at the end, all of them lay dead on the stage. Just as Hamlet expires, who should enter but Fortinbras, who asks: “Who’s in charge here? Uh, everybody’s dead. I guess I am.”

Shakespeare’s audience doubtless rolled in the aisles. Fortinbras, the play’s shadow protagonist, typically is cut from modern productions (for example, the 1948 Laurence Olivier film version), which makes the rest of the action meaningless. Such is the atrophy of the modern sense of humor.