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Trump’s Strategy Is Turning Europe Against Iran by Ilan Berman

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

http://www.ilanberman.com/22924/trump-strategy-is-

It’s hardly a secret that European leaders dislike Donald Trump. Over the past two years, the U.S. President’s divisive personal style, and his confrontational rhetoric on everything from Europe’s deficient defense spending to bilateral trade, have severely strained trans-Atlantic relations. And yet, on at least one issue — Iran — European countries are slowly but surely drifting into alignment with the White House, even if they are doing so grudgingly.

On Sunday, the Iranian government announced plans to imminently breach the limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with the West. If it follows through on the threat, the Islamic Republic will begin enriching uranium this week beyond the 3.67 percent threshold outlined by the agreement — laying the groundwork for an eventual “sprint” to nuclear status, should the regime choose to do so. Moreover, according to Iranian officials, unless the U.S. and its allies scale down their pressure on the regime in the next two months, Iran will take further steps to fracture the atomic pact, and is “prepared to enrich uranium to any level and with any amount.”

The objective of Iran’s threats is clear. As Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute has eloquently outlined, Iran’s indications of nuclear breakout — and its increasingly bellicose behavior in the Persian Gulf — are intended to raise the specter of war with the United States, and prod increasingly nervous European nations to pressure the U.S. to back off its campaign of “maximum” economic and political pressure.

But Tehran’s maneuvers could actually have the opposite effect. European nations, already nervous over Iran’s recent recklessness in the Strait of Hormuz, are becoming more and more alarmed by what they view as an increasingly undependable partner in Tehran.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Jilted Again! The NeverTrump-Left Alliance Crumbles By Julie Kelly

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/07/11/jilted-again-the-nevertrump-left-alliance-crumbles/

The political misfits known as NeverTrumpers are begging for allies ahead of next year’s presidential election—and, as usual, they aren’t looking to the Right.

This collection of failed magazine editors, Iraq War propagandists, washed-up columnists, Russian collusion pimps, and losing campaign consultants have dogged Donald Trump and his supporters for three years. While some anti-Trump “conservatives” who contributed to National Review’s infamous “Against Trump” issue in early 2016 have become supporters of the president, others cannot let go—but their obstinance is less about principle and more about grift: Acting as the useful conservative idiot for the Washington Post or MSNBC has breathed new life into once stale careers and burned reputations.

Despite making repeated threats and floating the names of several potential candidates, they have failed to produce a legitimate primary challenger to Trump. (Bill Kristol, the de facto head of NeverTrump Inc., last year claimed he was building a “war machine” to take on Trump in 2020, making this yet another war Kristol waged from the sidelines and lost.)

NeverTrumpers also failed to help Democrats run Trump out of the Oval Office, whether it was by promoting the egregious special counsel investigation into imaginary Russian collusion or supporting any and all empty calls for impeachment. They have not produced a detailed policy agenda to offer an alternative to Trumpism, only bromides about vague “principles.”

Now, armed with the same unjustified hubris and political fecklessness that turned once-influential conservatives into a punchline, NeverTrumpers are warning Democrats that they need to find some imaginary center so they can join forces to Dump Trump in 2020.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Democrat Congressman Blasts AOC, Says Her ‘Ignorance Is Beyond Belief’ By Matt Margolis

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/democrat-congressman-blasts-aoc-says-her-ignorance-is-beyond-belief/

On Thursday, Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) blasted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for starting a civil war in her party over identity politics after suggesting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was singling out her and her “squad” of fellow freshman because of their race. “It was such a weak argument to say she was being picked on and that four women of color were being picked on by the speaker,” Clay told Fox News on Thursday. “It tells you the level of ignorance to American history on their part as to what we are as the Democratic Caucus.”

For what it’s worth, a poll from earlier this year found that nearly three-quarters of Democrats would vote for AOC for president if she were old enough.

Clay also took another swipe at Ocasio-Cortez and fellow freshman Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)., Rashida Tlaib, (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley, (D-Mass.) over their inexperience. “It’s going to take a process of maturing for those freshman members. They will have to learn to be effective legislators,” he said. “It shows their lack of sensitivity to racism. To fall back on that (trope) is a weak argument. It has no place in a civil discussion.”

I wonder how he feels about Democrats haphazardly calling every Republican by default racist?

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Impeaching Trump For Fighting Illegal Immigration by Thomas McArdle

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://issuesinsights.com/2019/07/12/impeaching

What if House Democrats drew up articles of impeachment charging President Trump not with obstruction of justice but with obstruction of those entering America illegally?

The ructions for months now over the continuous unauthorized entry of multitudes across the southern border, their often-dubious appeals for political asylum, and the shameful exploitation of children by those seeking to get into the country any way they can are being used to the full against Trump.

If Democrats can’t convince the country that he’s Nixon, maybe they can convince the country he’s the witch from “Hansel and Gretel,” catching little children he can fatten up, roast in the oven, and consume.

Although the House Judiciary Committee remains intent on re-pursuing ex-special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, to the extreme of even insisting that Mueller testify after he publicly stated at the end of May that the investigation is complete and his lengthy two-part report constitutes his testimony, it’s widely conceded, even among Trump haters, that there is nothing impeachable there.

So in tandem with its demands for documents and testimony regarding Russia, the panel has also sought numerous immigration documents from the administration. On Tuesday the committee authorized subpoenas for them in anticipation of Mueller’s appearances before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees next week. Administration officials have been yelled at in House hearings on children being separated from the illegal aliens accompanying them at the border. And earlier this month Democratic House members visited border facilities and raised an uproar regarding conditions there, with doubtful tales of Nazi-like concentration camps and guards telling migrants to drink from the toilet.

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Warner Video: Why Won’t Muslims Assimilate? What Islamic doctrine teaches about migration, domination and annihilation. The Glazov Gang

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274275/warner-video-why-wont-muslims-assimilate-frontpagemagcom

This new edition of the Glazov Gang presents the Dr. Bill Warner Moment with Dr. Bill Warner, the president of politicalislam.com.

Dr. Warner asks: Why Won’t Muslims Assimilate? and he unveils what Islamic doctrine teaches about migration, domination and annihilation.

Don’t miss it!

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

A Tale of Two Cities Both of which are London. Bruce Bawer

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274276/tale-two-cities-bruce-bawer

For the last couple of days, journalists and politicians all over London have been wringing their hands in despair over the disrespectful treatment accorded to a stellar Englishman. No, not Tommy Robinson. Kim Darroch. Sorry: Sir Kim Darroch. Yes, he’s a guy – Kim as in Kim Philby or Kim Jong Un, not Kim Novak. Since 2016, not that you or I would’ve known it, he’s been the UK Ambassador to the US. Before that he was Britain’s National Security Advisor, and before that he was his country’s Permanent Representative to the EU, an organization of which he is known to be exceedingly fond. In short, a career diplomat with predictable PC politics.

And the kind of faceless civil servant whom the public never notices until, as happened the other day, a scandal erupts around him. On July 5, the Mail on Sunday reported on leaked secret cables in which Darroch described the Trump White House as “dysfunctional,” “unpredictable,” “diplomatically clumsy and inept,” and torn by factional conflict, said that Trump himself had led a life “mired in scandal” and might well be indebted to “dodgy Russians,” and warned, after the President’s recent state visit to London, that Trump’s USA “is still the land of America First.”

On wonders: why keep some jerk on the payroll for this kind of stuff when you can get the same thing twenty-four hours a day on CNN or MSNBC? One also wonders: what kind of fatuity, or chutzpah, does it take for an envoy representing the worst prime minister and lamest government in modern British history to describe the most successful American president of our lifetimes as dysfunctional and inept? And one further wonders: did Darroch, while serving in Washington during the last days of the Obama administration, ever once express concern about Barack’s and Hillary’s numerous scandals and “dodgy” foreign connections?

POLITICS Comments turned off

The Qatar Supporter Advising Kamala Harris Harris has a much bigger problem than some Russian bots. Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274242/qatar-supporter-advising-kamala-harris-daniel-greenfield

The biggest split in foreign policy circles isn’t over Iran or Israel. Virtually all foreign policy professionals oppose Israel and support some sort of arrangement with Iran. The real split is over Qatar.

The tiny Islamist country is both a major state sponsor of terrorist groups, especially those aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, and has wormed its way deep into the political establishment in this country. Qatar’s dark side aligns it with Hamas, Iran and Al Qaeda on one side, and the Brookings Institute, the Washington Post, and D.C. lobbyists on the other. Its hackers target political opponents in the United States and feed the results to major media outlets. Al Jazeera, its propaganda outlet, spans the two worlds, that of the Islamists working to seize power and of Democrat activists in the United States.

Qatar enjoyed unprecedented access and influence in the Obama era. The Arab Spring brought many of its Brotherhood allies to power across the region before Saudi countercoups helped topple them. The struggle between Qatar, Turkey and Iran, and the Saudi-UAE coalition, has rippled through the media and the D.C. political establishment with flash points such as Yemen, Iran, and Jamal Khashoggi.

While the Senate, including much of the GOP, is Qatari territory, President Trump has been skeptical of the Islamic terror state. But the White House is up for grabs in 2020. Last month, Biden refunded a donation from a Qatari lobbyist. The Dem front runner though has been critical of Qatar (along with Turkey, the Saudis and the UAE) for funding Islamic terrorists and may not be a good bet.

Senator Kamala Harris, the politician breathing down Biden’s neck, is a very different story. One of her foreign policy advisors is Dana Shell Smith (pictured above), who had served as Obama’s ambassador to Qatar.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Pelosi’s House Discipline She gets hit with the race card for standing up to the young radicals.

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pelosis-house-discipline-11562886550

Having spent so long defaming conservatives as racists, progressives can’t stop turning the accusation on each other. Two weeks ago Democratic presidential contenders all but called Joe Biden a segregationist. This week Nancy Pelosi got a taste of her party’s poison.

The House Speaker has lately criticized some of the most extreme progressives in her caucus for cultivating their own celebrity status at the expense of the party. Mrs. Pelosi had four of her caucus’s freshmen especially in mind: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

The four—in addition to trumpeting socialist measures, flirting with anti-Semitism and using Twitter to criticize moderates in their own party—voted against last month’s emergency spending bill for the southern border. They did so even though three of them have compared what’s happening at the border to the Holocaust. Mrs. Pelosi told the New York Times that these Members “have their public whatever and their Twitter world. But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

That inspired a few testy remarks from the four. “The public ‘whatever’ is called public sentiment,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez explained in a tweet. Which in turn prompted a rebuke from the Speaker: “You got a complaint?” she reportedly said to Democratic colleagues in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. “You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.”

With that, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez decided to resort to her default defense. This “persistent singling out,” she told the Washington Post, has reached “a point where it was just outright disrespectful . . . the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Republic Is Collapsing: The Time to Act Is Now BY David Solway

Posted By on July 12th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/the-republic-is-collapsing-the-time-to-act-is-now/

Commenting on Rush Limbaugh’s passionate denunciation of the spirit of anti-American leftism that is destroying the country, Lloyd Marcus, who blogs at The Unhyphenated American, agrees that the time has come to say “No!” He concludes, with Limbaugh, “It is time that we take action to take back our country. It is time that we say no to anti-American traitors and anti-biblical cultural assassins.”

This is a sentiment that cannot honorably be refuted. The problem is trying to decide what saying “No!” actually means. Merely saying “No!” is obviously a futile gesture and will produce little to nothing in the way of results. The question is how to translate “No!” into action. Debate and discussion with any of the manifestations of the left is a non-starter since the left does not debate or discuss. It adheres to a rigid orthodoxy that will allow no reconsideration or reflection on the putative axioms it regards as sacred. It is, in essence, the contemporary version of Bolshevism. The left will lie, slander, cheat and commit violence to further its goals. Its mind is deadbolted shut.

How, then, to say “No!” such that it realistically leads to discernible and effective consequences? Rhetoric won’t do it. The expression of noble sentiment won’t do it. Hand-wringing won’t do it. Prayer may, or may not, be a powerful factor; Lincoln is reputed to have said: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” But one recalls the Frank Loesser song, “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” Remaining content with radio talk, podcasts, interviews, essays and articles that alert the public to the impending disaster, though not to be scanted, is only a necessary first step. Delivering an angry vote may stave off the brunt of the calamity for an interval, but will not significantly alter the dynamics. The answer is that a meaningful response requires material and demonstrable presidential action, as Lincoln knew in a time of national disintegration. Nothing less will do. Whether we like it or not, restitution now rests with Donald Trump.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Right From Wrong: Rage and responsibility in the nanny state By Ruthie Blum

Posted By on July 11th, 2019

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Right-From-Wrong-Rage-and-responsibility-in-the-nanny-state-595399

Mass demonstrations took place across Israel on Sunday night, following the indictment of 25-year-old Carmel Mauda on 18 counts of abuse and assault of infants and toddlers in her care. Until her arrest last month, Mauda had been running the “Baby Love” preschool, a private creche she co-owned with her father near the family home in Rosh Ha’ayin.

Luckily for police, who were tipped off about Mauda’s cruelty by aides she had fired, the daycare facility was equipped with surveillance cameras, oddly installed by the perpetrator herself. The shocking footage obtained by investigators provided the kind of irrefutable evidence that made it simple for them to extract a confession from the suspect, who initially denied any wrongdoing.

When confronted with one of the videos in which she is seen angrily flinging a baby, by his outstretched arms, into a crib, Mauda said, “That day, I was in a black funk.”

When questioned about another scene, showing her tying a toddler’s hands behind his back – a regular practice that she later admitted lasted from minutes to hours – she acknowledged having been “satanic.”