RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/580391-durhams-latest-indictment-more-lines-drawn-to-clintons-campaign

“To my good friend … A Great Democrat.” Those words written to a Russian figure in Moscow, inside a copy of a Hillary Clinton autobiography, may be the defining line of special counsel John Durham’s investigation. The message reportedly was written by Charles Dolan, a close Clinton adviser and campaign regular whom news reports identify as the mysterious “PR-Executive 1” in the latest Durham indictment, this time of Igor Danchenko.

Danchenko, 43, was a key figure in the compilation of the infamous Steele dossier that led to the now discredited investigation of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential race. But Danchenko, a Russian emigre living in the U.S., seems unlikely to be the Durham investigation’s apex defendant. In fact, Durham describes him at points more like a shill than a spy, an “investigator” who was fed what to report by Clinton operatives such as Dolan.

Durham is known as a methodical, apolitical and unrelenting prosecutor. Thus far, his work seems to betray a belief that the FBI got played by the Clinton campaign to investigate the Trump team. The question is whether Durham really wants to indict just the figurative tail if he can get the whole dog — a question that now may weigh heavily on a number of Washington figures, just as it did following Durham’s indictment in September of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann.

Danchenko’s indictment on five counts of lying to the FBI serves two obvious purposes. First, these counts — with a possible five years in prison on each — are enough to concentrate the mind of any defendant about possibly flipping for the prosecution. Second, indicting Danchenko “hoists the wretch” for potential targets to see and consider that there but for the grace of God — and Durham — go they.

The background details of Durham’s three indictments so far have assembled an impressive list of “great Democrats” who contributed directly or indirectly to the creation of the Russia collusion scandal. Indeed, the collusion case increasingly is taking on a type of “Murder on the Orient Express” feel, in which all of the suspects may turn out to be culprits. While the statute of limitations may protect some, Durham has shown that he can use the crime of lying to federal investigators (18 U.S.C. 1001) as a handy alternative. Targets must admit to prior misconduct or face a new charge.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/11/04/ten-months-later/

Several storylines related to the events of January 6 have crumbled under closer scrutiny over the past 10 months: the “fire extinguisher” murder of Officer Brian Sicknick; the notion it was an “armed” insurrection and a grand “conspiracy” concocted by right-wing militias; claims that the building sustained $30 million in damages, and so on.

In the meantime, the Biden regime has attempted to cover up key aspects of that day, including the name of the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt, which was only recently revealed. Justice Department lawyers continue to resist the release of 14,000 hours of surveillance video and the U.S. Capitol Police refuse to publish an 800-page internal investigation on officer misconduct as well as internal communications before and after the Capitol breach.

But a deep dive by the Washington Post, published last weekend, raises new questions about the alleged “pipe bombs” discovered just before Congress met on January 6 to certify the results of the 2020 Electoral College vote. Like so many supporting scenes, the veracity of the pipe bomb tale is in doubt after the Post revealed eyebrow-raising details about those involved.

And starting with the justified premise that nothing about January 6, especially anything bolstered by official government agencies in the nation’s capital, should be accepted at face value—to wit, all claims should be met with deep skepticism—the pipe bombs appear to be more stagecraft with no connection whatsoever to Trump or his supporters.

On the eve of January 6, a shadowy figure caught on video allegedly planted two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee, both located close to the U.S. Capitol building. 

Security camera footage posted by the FBI shows a man in a gray hoodie, wearing a face mask and gloves, carrying a backpack in the same vicinity between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on January 5. (Video and photographs posted by the agency, however, do not show the suspect actually placing devices near the buildings.)

The bombs were made of “1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipes, a kitchen timer, and homemade black powder,” according to an FBI bulletin.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/11/what-to-make-of-durhams-latest-indictment/

For the next few days, expect the new Washington parlor game to be identifying the Democratic Party operative who was allegedly a source for Igor Danchenko’s dossier claims.

J ustice Department special counsel John Durham has indicted Igor Danchenko, the principal sub-source for the discredited “Steele dossier,” which was relied on by the FBI to obtain surveillance warrants in its investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign.

Durham alleges that Danchenko falsely denied to the FBI that some of the information he supplied for the dossier came from a long-time Democratic Party operative who is not identified by name in the indictment.

Moreover, Danchenko is also alleged to have falsely claimed that he had been told of a well-developed “conspiracy of cooperation” between the Trump campaign and Kremlin officials by a man identified in the indictment as president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

In Ball of Collusion, my 2019 book on the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, I summarized media reports fingering Sergey Millian, who founded this portentous-sounding but sketchy “Chamber.” I pointed out that Millian did not appear to have the kind of relationship with Donald Trump that he would know of such a “conspiracy of cooperation” if it were true, and that Steele himself had confided in friends that he worried Millian was an unreliable “big talker.”

If Durham’s allegations are borne out, it would mean that Millian was not talking at all — at least on this subject. Danchenko was making it up, according to the indictment.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/11/the_latest_durham_indictment_is_a_big_one.html

The Democrats’ nefarious Russia hoax, which sucked time, life, and political capital out of the Trump presidency, is really getting exposed. With the arrest of Igor Danchenko and the release of the indictment behind the arrest, we’re finally getting a chance to see that the Russia hoax was a fraud from beginning to end and that it reached the highest echelons of Hillary Clinton’s circles.

The Russia hoax, which the Dems unleashed in 2016 and that exploded on the scene with the “pee-pee tape” allegations when Buzzfeed published the Steele Dossier shortly before Trump’s inauguration, dominated much of Trump’s presidency. Trump’s supporters knew it was untrue but it was extremely difficult to unravel the details to prove the lie (although Dan Bongino’s daily podcast did a superb job).

Even getting a primer on the lies didn’t help identify the real culprits. We knew that the FBI, the Department of Justice, the State Department, and various specific individuals in the government were involved, especially because it gave them the means to spy on everyone close to Trump, but there was no single culprit behind it. This inchoate mass of accusations and wrongdoers meant that, even as Trump took extraordinary steps to improve America’s national security, national sovereignty, and the economy, the Democrats relentlessly smeared him as a traitor, beholden to Putin.

Even after Mueller reluctantly conceded that Trump had not, in fact, colluded with Russia, the Democrats kept up the attack. Only recently, I forget where, some MSNBC talking ahead again accused Trump of colluding with Russia. John Durham’s investigation, meanwhile, was so slow many of us (me included) decided it was as much a hoax as the Russia story. It certainly didn’t help Trump’s reelection efforts.

However, on Wednesday, the feds arrested Igor Danchenko and on Thursday, the indictment against him went public. Techno Fog has a good summary of the indictment.

https://pjmedia.com/columns/philip-carl-salzman/2021/11/04/the-intentional-destabilization-of-america-n1529909

The attacks on America are not accidental nor the result of ignorance and stupidity. No, the attacks are intentional and strategic. The goal is the transformation of America, which would be made possible by the destruction of America’s core institutions. This intention is stated explicitly by President Biden, who said in August 2021 that his “Build Back Better” bill would transform America. “Today, the House of Representatives has taken a significant step toward making a historic investment that’s going to transform America.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) described Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill as “transformative and cause for celebration.” In these remarks, Biden and Pelosi were repeating President Obama’s central promise in 2008 that “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), member of the progressive caucus in the House of Representatives, explains why America must be transformed: “As long as our economy and political systems prioritize profit without considering who is profiting, who is being shut out, we will perpetuate this inequality,” Omar, a Democrat, said. “So, we cannot stop at [the] criminal justice system. We must begin the work of dismantling the whole system of oppression wherever we find it.”

What would we say if a foreign country, for example, Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea, carried out the following actions:

Invaded through the American southern border with two million troops.
Stopped fuel production, ending American self-sufficiency, returning America to dependence on Middle Eastern and other countries that hate America, while facilitating Russian fuel domination in Europe.
Burnt and destroyed the downtown commercial sections of almost all American cities.
Defunded and disbanded the police, while releasing criminals from prison and refusing to incarcerate any criminals, leading to a major spike in violent crime. Then, if that were not sufficient, contrary to science, fire large numbers of unvaccinated police, firefighters, emergency medical workers, and hospital workers with natural immunity, the very people who were celebrated as heroes throughout 2020, but are now regarded as criminals.
Granted illegal aliens $450,000 each of taxpayer money for their suffering in not have been received by an honor guard upon their illegal entry.
Flooded the American economy with vast amounts of counterfeit money printed without anything behind it, leading to galloping inflation, a type of regressive tax punishing the poor and middle class. Then use the fake money to pay people to stay home and out of the workforce, leading to the greatest labor crisis in American history.
Claimed that the foundational documents of America, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are null and void, due to, you know, slavery. These are replaced by a regime in which male and white citizens are to be punished for, you know, slavery, and replaced by females and minorities of color (except for Asian Americans, who have disgraced themselves by being too successful).
Required schools to teach that white children are evil oppressors and children of color are forever victims, and likewise, that male children are brutal and toxic, and females are victims. But, schools will teach that there is a way out for toxic males and female victims by transitioning to trans females and trans males, which the schools facilitate secretly, without informing any parents.
Declared that children now belong to the government, and parents have no say in their education. Any parents who speak up about their children’s education are “domestic terrorists” and must be persecuted and suppressed by School Boards, the Department of “Justice,” and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Threatened the Supreme Court with either endorsing far-left agendas, or being canceled by court-packing with far-left justices. Declared the Court is no longer co-equal, but subservient to Congress and the Executive branches.
Abandoned American citizens, residents, and allies in giving up American’s strategic position in Afghanistan.

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/11/05/epic-fail-l-a-ports-are-more-clogged-now-than-before-bidens-supply-chain-fix/

President Joe Biden says he’s been addressing supply chain problems “since Day One,” but that’s consisted mainly of appointing task forces and holding summits. His latest bold “action” was to beg G-20 leaders to “help address global supply chain issues.”

The one concrete step Biden has taken was, he said, to get the Los Angeles ports to stay open 24/7, which he announced on Oct. 13. Biden said this has the “potential to be a gamechanger.” A White House fact sheet declared that it “will speed up shipments of goods throughout the country.”

Except, that’s not what’s happened.

In fact, things have gotten worse at those ports, not better, since Biden’s “game changer.”

On Oct. 10, three days before the president’s announcement, there were 60 container ships waiting offshore to get into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and 27 were at berths unloading or loading cargo, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California.

This Tuesday, there were 77 container ships waiting, while 25 were berthed.

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/joe-manchin-kyrsten-sinema-cassandras-senate/

Tuesday was a very bad night for the Democratic Party. They lost the Virginia governorship and House of Delegates, almost lost the New Jersey governorship, and lost several local school board seats in crucial electoral states such as Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Colorado.

Blue states that kept schools closed or mostly shuttered for the duration of the pandemic now play host to legions of angry, fed-up parents. Nationally, Joe Biden’s approval ratings are crashing harder than Hunter Biden after a stint at the Chateau Marmont, and his domestic agenda is stalled in Congress, thanks to two Democratic senators who clearly saw the writing on the wall and the red wave coming: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

“I’ve been saying this for many, many months, people have concerns, people are concerned,” Manchin told reporters on Wednesday. “You can read so much into all of that last night. I think it should be a call to all of us have to be more attentive to the people back home.”

After Biden surveyed the wreckage in Virginia, he urged his party to hit the gas pedal on passing the infrastructure and Build Back Better bills, suggesting that perhaps the failure to pass the acts affected the outcome of the Virginia governor’s race. This is a typical trick, one he learned from his old boss: if people don’t like the agenda, it must be because there isn’t enough of it.

But Manchin and Sinema are in the right here. They have navigated the negotiations patiently and deftly, perhaps aware of what happened to their party the last time an enormous unpopular package was rammed through Congress by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Obamacare was passed in 2010, but four years later the Democrats were still paying the price for its unpopularity. The 2014 midterm swing was the largest transfer of congressional power since World War Two. 2022 looks to not only be a repeat, but worse, even at local levels where the core of the Democratic Party power structure is in danger: teachers’ unions.

https://www.city-journal.org/the-dangers-of-nyc-vaccine-mandate?wallit_nosession=1

Thanks to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for city workers, New York faces the prospect of slower ambulance- and fire-response times, fewer cops on the street to battle rising crime rates, and accumulations of uncollected trash. It didn’t have to be this way.

The mandate, imposed two weeks ago, excludes the alternative option of undergoing regular Covid-19 testing, putting unvaccinated city workers without religious or medical exemptions on unpaid leave as of November 1. A last-minute surge in vaccinations brought the rate for city employees up to 90 percent, but significant numbers of the essential workers remain unvaccinated. As of November 1, vaccination rates were 84 percent for the police, 82 percent for the Department of Sanitation, and 80 percent for the Fire Department (which includes 75 percent of firefighters and 87 percent of EMTs).

Nine thousand city workers, including as many as 2,500 NYPD employees and 1,000 firefighters, are now on unpaid leave. Another 12,000 city workers, including 1,000 FDNY members and 6,500 NYPD officers, have applied for religious or medical exemptions. If, as expected, most of these exemptions are denied, thousands more essential workers could end up on leave.

Workable alternatives exist to this assault on essential services.

Applicants for exemptions to the vaccine mandate will be permitted to work and be tested weekly while their requests are being processed. If it is safe for exemption-seekers to continue working with weekly tests, then why not offer this same accommodation to any worker who continues to refuse vaccination? This is the same alternative provided for in President Biden’s proposed OSHA vaccine mandate.

Another option would be to exempt from the mandate anyone who can provide proof of natural immunity, resulting from prior Covid-19 infection and recovery. Prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 can be readily documented with a previous positive PCR test or antigen test, a positive antibody test, or a T-cell test.

By May 31, 2020, during the first of several Covid-19 waves in the city, 40.7 percent of EMS responders and 34.5 percent of firefighters had already been on medical leave for suspected or confirmed Covid-19. Now, more than a year and a half later, even higher numbers of essential workers have likely been infected.

The CDC has long suggested that previously infected people get vaccinated to strengthen their immunity. This would amount to a booster, in the same way that fully vaccinated people can improve their immunity with an additional shot. But the relevant question is: Does natural immunity without vaccination protect as well as full vaccination without booster?

Experts generally say that natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccines. While the evidence is mixed, it seems clear that both natural and vaccine-provided Covid-19 immunity provide effective protection.

A new CDC review shows that infection with SARS-CoV-2 and vaccination each result in a low risk of subsequent infection for six months or more. This finding holds true for both the Delta and pre-Delta variants. In addition, both prior infection and vaccination confer high levels of protection against symptomatic Covid-19 illness.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/11/03/trump-nearing-the-crossroads/

“Or will Trump redo 2016, bulldoze to the nomination, go for the jugular of the now hard-left Democratic Party, clobbering his way to a 2016-like Electoral College victory—or a defeat that others who copied his agendas might have avoided?”
The Left may not wish to admit it, but the fortunes of a once moribund Donald Trump of January 2021 have now largely recovered—even before the stunning gubernatorial victory of Republican Glenn Youngkin in Virginia. 

How and why? 

One, Joe Biden did not, as dishonestly advertised, prove to be good Ol’ “Lunch bucket” Joe. He was no moderate from Scranton. Instead, Biden has served as the clueless gun barrel through which hard-core leftists fired off the most unpopular agenda in memory. 

Open borders, huge deficits, the Afghanistan catastrophe, looming stagflation, empty shelves, bottlenecked ports, soaring energy prices, toxic critical race theory, the disastrous previews of the Green New Deal, a weaponized federal government, and the addled decline of Biden himself have done more than just collapse support for the president and his policies.  

More importantly, Biden’s string of catastrophes endangers the very stuff of life, from the ability to afford gas to finding goods on the shelves. 

Two, for 10 months, Donald Trump has been stripped of all his social network outlets. The progressive Silicon monopolies thought they had silenced the once omnipresent Trump. 

But their muzzles had unintended consequences. The less Trump was on social media, the more the public remembered his good policies rather than his controversial tweets. 

Three, Donald Trump was as responsible or not responsible for COVID-19 deaths as is Joe Biden. On Biden’s watch, more have died each day on average from the disease than during Trump’s tenure from the start of the pandemic. 

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/11/the_royal_marines_defeat_the_us_marines_at_the_battle_of_the_mojave_desert.html

The battle was a training exercising but the ramifications of the loss, which reveals the damage progressives have inflicted on the military, are extremely serious.

For many Americans, the Marines occupy an almost mythic place in their minds as an invincible force that runs to the guns and fights no matter what. That’s why it was so shocking to learn that, during a joint training exercise in the Mojave Desert, Britain’s Royal Marines inflicted such a shellacking on the Americans that the latter had to surrender halfway through the exercise. This is a direct result of the Pentagon having gone woke under Obama—something that Trump failed to undo—followed by Biden doubling down on Obama’s policies.

Marines used to be synonymous with dogged determination. Tripoli (1805), the Halls of Montezuma (1847), Belleau Wood (1918), Guadalcanal (1943), Iwo Jima (1945), Inchon (1950), Chosin Reservoir (1950), Khe Sanh (1968), Hue (1968), Fallujah (2004)—each of these names brings to us visions of Marines running to the gun, marching through the woods, slogging through the snow, fighting over volcanic islands, and never retreating, never stopping.

But the Marines have been in war non-stop since 2001 and that’s a long time for a fighting force. At a certain point, rather than experience building them up and strengthening them, non-stop war wears men down. They lose their edge and their fire.

The American military has had another force bearing down on it that may be an even greater enemy than Islamists the world over. That force has been wokeism. Beginning with Obama, the American left has been using the military as a social justice experiment. According to James Hasson, author of Stand Down:  How Social Justice Warriors Are Sabotaging America’s Military, Obama purged the officer class of old-timers and brought in progressive ideologues.

Under their aegis, Navy ships went green (when they were just meant to be mean) and bore the names of well-known leftists (gay-rights advocate and pederast Harvey Milk and socialist activist Cesar Chavez, who happened to hate illegal immigrants).