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CASE NOT CLOSED BY ANDREW McCARTHY

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

http://edition.washingtonexaminer.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=213c

Even if Mueller’s report is a dud, Washington will freak out. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report is said to be close to completion and ready for submission to the Justice Department.

There is even conjecture that it is already finished, but Mueller decided, or was perhaps persuaded by newly confirmed Attorney General William Barr, to delay submission until President Trump returns from the Southeast Asia talks with North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un.

In a perfect world, the final report would be a nonevent. Alas, that is not our world, so Mueller’s conclusion will be only the beginning of a free-forall, featuring Washington hypocrisy at its worst.

The special counsel has conducted a legal probe, but the Trump-Russia narrative has always been political, more about ramifications for 2020 than accountability for 2016.

In that imaginary, perfect world, the Mueller report would be a nonevent for three reasons.

First and foremost, the report should not tell us much that we do not already know. Of course, there are fascinating facts to be learned. What was the precise nature of “collusion” between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign? What exactly happened at the Trump Tower meeting between top campaign officials and a lawyer connected to the Putin regime — the meeting at which Donald Trump Jr. expected to receive information that might devastate Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, but that we’ve been led to believe was a dud? Did the president obstruct the Russia investigation by firing FBI Director James Comey? Did he obstruct justice by earlier leaning on Comey to drop the investigation of retired Gen. Michael Flynn, the national security adviser Trump had just fired for allegedly misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.? All interesting questions. But they’re not supposed to be answered publicly unless charges are filed.

The media-Democrat complex has been extremely supportive of Mueller in hopes that he would transcend what, in the end, is his modest role: that of prosecutor. Democrats prefer to see him as counsel to a congressional impeachment committee, on the hunt for high crimes and misdemeanors, unconstrained by the federal penal code.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

What’s Next After the North Korea Nuclear Summit Breakdown? by Charles Lipson

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/03/whats-next-after-the-north-korea-nuclear-summit-breakdown/
The Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit ended without any agreement, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.

Now that the Hanoi nuclear summit talks have ended in failure, the two crucial questions are (1) whether there will be a major escalation of tensions and (2) whether the North Koreans have made a fundamental decision to keep their nuclear program, despite the pressures.

Only Kim Jong-Un can answer the second question.

Pres. Trump himself clearly wants to avoid an escalation. His comments were firm but not harsh, giving Kim a chance to reconsider. He continued to stress the good personal relations between the two leaders, referred to his counterpart by his honorific title, “Chairman Kim,” and avoided diminutive nicknames like “Rocket Man.” That keeps the door open for negotiations, but Trump will not make any more goodwill payments like those that suckered his predecessors. Trump himself has already made one gesture by suspending joint US-South Korean military exercises. One important question now is whether Trump intends to resume those regular exercises.

For Kim, the main question is what it always was: Will he take costly, irreversible steps to begin dismantling his nuclear program? The summit failure shows he has not yet decided to do that, which is different from saying he has definitely decided to keep the weapons and rocket program. We already know North Korea is still building new facilities. We don’t know if the US will call them out on that, either publicly or through leaks.

To prevent an escalation, Kim must avoid any actions to show how “powerful” and independent he is, such as testing a missile. In making these decisions, Kim faces his usual problem: he cannot get good information about the risks and rewards because he is so isolated. Offer the Big Boss advice he doesn’t like and you die, as one of Kim’s aides did simply for falling asleep in a meeting.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

SYDNEY WILLIAMS-FEBRUARY 2019-THE MONTH THAT WAS

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

swtotd.blogspot.com

Despite the harmonious influence of Valentine’s Day, hate filled the days of February, as they have for the two years of Mr. Trump’s Presidency. “Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate will eventually destroy the hater,” wrote George Washington Carver, a thought we should all consider. President Trump is the focus of hate among smug elites whose sense of superior self-righteousness governs their behavior. Mr. Trump embodies all that coastal elites love to hate: He is white and male. He is not politically correct. He is coarse. His accent does not conform to an ivy league education. His words come out jumbled, even when using a teleprompter. In speech, he is in sharp contrast to the mellifluous tones of his predecessor. His orange hair, blue suits and red “power” ties compare poorly to the easy casualness of Mr. Obama. Not trained in politics nor encumbered with graciousness, Mr. Trump says what’s on his mind. He does not hide behind a veil of diplomacy or hew to pre-programmed messaging. All this is in contrast to politicians who say what is expected and who live in a world where style supersedes substance.

It was a month that offered clear distinctions for what voters might expect in November 2020. Mr. Trump is portrayed as being of the far-right, whereas his policies have been centrist: the economy is doing well, no wars have broken out overseas and his poll numbers have risen, though modestly. On the other side, Democrats have moved sharply to the left, with even former centrists like Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker, following, pied-piper like, the siren call of socialism expressed by Representative Anastasia Ocasio-Cortez, with her Green New Deal, and by Bernie Sanders, with his call for free public college and Medicare for all. And both, for their demagoguery of everything Trump. One is reminded of C.S. Lewis, whose posthumously published book God in the Dock: Essays on Theology included the lines: “Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive…those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” Think of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao.

…………………………………………………………….

It is C.S. Lewis’ quote that leads me to believe that the most significant news in the month was not the silly Green New Deal; it was not the passing of the budget and the avoidance of another government shut-down, nor the subsequent exercise of emergency powers to fund a barricade along the U.S.-Mexico border; it was not progress on the China-U.S. trade deal, nor the sit-down in Hanoi between President Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. It was not the withdrawal by the U.S. from the Nuclear Missile Treaty that Russia had already violated; nor was it the childish, ill-tempered behavior of the EU’s leadership towards Britain’s democratically-determined decision to leave the EU. It was not rising tensions in Kashmir. No. The most important news item of the month was the revelation that a small cabal of unelected senior law enforcement officials in Washington plotted to take the law into their own hands, to plan the removal of a duly elected President of the United States – a traitorous and unprecedented action.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Trump Lost Nothing in Hanoi By Brandon J. Weichert

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/02/28/trump

When Donald J. Trump took office in January 2017, the outgoing Obama Administration national security team cautioned Trump’s transition team that North Korea was a significant nuclear threat. Obama White House officials explained how North Korea’s leaders had built up their nascent nuclear arsenal. Since at least 2013, the Obama Administration knew about the rising threat of a potentially nuclear-armed North Korea and did nothing.

It was not a matter of ignorance; it was a matter of indifference on the part of former President Barack Obama and his national security team. Obama—the man who the media claimed was the smartest of all of America’s presidents—likely had no idea how to mitigate the North Korean threat and therefore didn’t even try.

How’s that for leadership?

Tag, You’re It, Donald Trump!
Two years into Trump’s presidency, the world seemed poised for nuclear war in a way that it hadn’t since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Yes, the combined forces of the United States, South Korea, Japan, and any other ally inevitably would have overcome North Korea’s military in combat. But, the cost would have been great—particularly to South Korea and the Americans stationed there.

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Where Is House Ethics Probe into Adam Schiff? By Julie Kelly

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/02/28/where-

During his grudge-airing, redemption-seeking spectacle on Wednesday, Michael Cohen admitted he was in cahoots with Democratic lawmakers prior to giving his congressional testimony.

“We spoke with Chairman [Elijah] Cummings and the [Democratic] Party,” Trump’s former lawyer confessed to Representative Jody Hice (R-Ga.). “We spoke with Chairman [Adam] Schiff and his people as well.”

Under further questioning by Rep. James Jordan (R-Ohio), Cohen acknowledged he “spoke to Mr. Schiff about topics that were going to be raised at the upcoming hearing.” Jordan clarified that rather than simply discuss the logistics of the hearing, Schiff coached the witness on “what [he was] going to talk about.”

It wasn’t the only attempt by Schiff to influence Cohen’s testimony: In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” last Sunday, the Southern California congressman signaled that he expected Cohen to disclose information about alleged crimes committed by the president, including money-laundering and obstruction of justice.

It all amounted to the latest ethical misstep by the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee; unfortunately, none of Schiff’s bad behavior has caught the attention either of the media or congressional watchdogs. Unlike his predecessor, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who was subjected to a fruitless, eight-month House Ethics Committee investigation in 2017, Schiff continues to escape scrutiny for lying to Congress, misleading the public about imaginary crimes related to Russian collusion, and now, witness-tampering.

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Prevaricator, Part Deux Democrats take impeachment show to closed set. Lloyd Billingsley

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273016/prevaricator-part-deux-lloyd-billingsley

On Thursday, prison-bound perjurer Michael Cohen testified before the House Intelligence Committee. Following the closed session, chairman Adam Schiff said lawmakers were able to “drill down in great detail” on issues they are investigating, but no great details emerged.

In open testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday Cohen revealed nothing about Russian collusion or blackmail, and said he had never been to the Czech Republic or to Prague, a key charge in the Democrats’ campaign against Trump. On other issues, it seemed clear that Democrats had prepped their star witness well.

Cohen said Donald Trump was a racist, a con man and a cheat. While parroting Democrat demonology, the corrupt attorney in effect warbled the latest cover of Dee Dee Warwick’s “You’re No Good.” With nothing on Russian collusion, Democrats were eager to produce a trailer for their upcoming impeachment thriller.

The Democrats’ rising star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, said that bartending had prepped her to grill Cohen. The democratic socialist held back on apocalyptic prophecies and asked questions such as, “Did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?” To which Cohen answered “Yes.” The intrepid AOC was easily upstaged by Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, 42, who was already on record that “we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker.”

Present at the hearing was Lynne Patton, an African American HUD official who supports Trump’s economic gains for black Americans. Tlaib accused North Carolina Republican Mark Meadows of using Patton “as a prop,” implying that no black American woman would choose to work for President Trump or render public support for the embattled president. That is hard to top, so the Oscar goes to Tlaib, who chose to be sworn in on a Quran, wearing a “traditional Palestinian gown,” and accompanied by the always understated Linda Sarsour, fellow supporter of the BDS movement.

HOMELAND SECURITY, IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Congress Orders “Shields Down” By Blocking Emergency Declaration Willfully ignoring threats to national security. Michael Cutler

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273000/congress-orders-shields-down-blocking-emergency-michael-cutler

It has been said that “Timing is everything.”

On February 26, 2019 the House of Representatives voted to block President Trump’s declaration of an emergency on the southern border. Nancy Pelosi and others claimed that the declaration was a violation of the Separation of Powers provisions of the Constitution.

It would appear that failures to secure our nation’s borders against the entry of massive numbers of illegal aliens is a clear violation of our Constitution.

Article IV, Section 4 states:

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”

Invasion is defined, part as:

An incursion by a large number of people or things into a place or sphere of activity: an unwelcome intrusion into another’s domain.

Furthermore, there would have been no need for any additional action by the administration if Congress had simply voted to fund the construction of a barrier to protect our nation from the illegal and un-inspected entry of people and contraband including narcotics and weapons, into the United States.

Congress failed to act responsibly and in accordance with the oaths of office that each member took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States by preventing invasion and domestic violence.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Virginia Democrats Elect Their First Islamist Anti-Semite How the Dems are mainstreaming the worst kinds of Jew-Hate. March 1, 2019 Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272969/virginia-democrats-elect-their-first-islamist-anti-daniel-greenfield

While Virginia Democrats were debating whether to oust Governor Northam for wearing blackface, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax over alleged rape and Attorney General Mark Herring for also wearing blackface, a much more blatant example of contemporary bigotry by a Virginia Democrat had come to light.

It received virtually no coverage by the media.

Ibraheem Samirah, running in a special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, had his social media history exposed. Aside from the usual rants about Israel, Samirah had posted that the Jews had stolen his grandfather’s land and “washed off as the Promised Land for Jews only (using the Torah and Zionist ideology, a 3000 yo religious book and a 100 yo Jew-only philosophy.)”

Samirah’s hatred for Israel wasn’t news. The Jordanian Muslim BDS activist had co-founded a chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (a misnamed pro-terrorist hate group that is neither peaceful nor Jewish), had served as a spokesman for Students for Justice in Palestine, a hate group whose chapters had been involved in numerous anti-Semitic incidents ranging from hate speech to acts of violence, and had spoken at an American Muslims for Palestine conference: an organization accused of supporting Hamas.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Nigeria’s Democracy Survives Saturday’s election was far from perfect, but it’s still good news. See note please

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nigerias-democracy-survives-11551400619

The question never asked: Are African nations that were British colonies better off since decolonization? How many years of tribal wars, corruption and chaos did it take for Nigeria to achieve this fragile state?…..rsk

There’s enough going wrong in Africa that it’s easy to miss the positive developments. Nigeria’s presidential election on Saturday is one of them, even if it was imperfect.

Voters decisively re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari with 56% of the vote, according to the country’s electoral commission. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar took home 41%. Mr. Abubakar, perhaps taking advantage of pre-election confusion, says he doesn’t accept the result. But this doesn’t square with the reality on the ground.

In 2015 Mr. Buhari became the first democratically elected Nigerian leader to take office in a peaceful transfer of power. But the former military dictator—he briefly ruled the country in the 1980s—seemed to be returning to his old ways. He suspended the Nigerian supreme court’s chief justice in January, and for years critics have complained that his anticorruption drive focuses on political opponents. After the election was delayed a week, it seemed Mr. Buhari might be seriously backsliding on Nigeria’s democratic progress.

Independent observers reported some irregularities and violence around the election, but both sides earned criticism. Critically, the shenanigans weren’t widespread enough to tip the result. The country has a long way to go from being a perfect democracy, but it still held an election in which the majority’s candidate won.

Success in Nigeria matters beyond its borders. With some 200 million people, it is easily Africa’s biggest democracy. Dashed hopes for democratic progress in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo were disappointing but all too typical. Serious regression in Nigeria would have been a disaster for democrats across the continent.

Neither choice in Saturday’s contest was inspiring, and Mr. Buhari’s statist economic policies hold back the oil-rich nation. The country could have benefited from the more market-oriented approach offered by Mr. Abubakar, who promised to privatize the state oil company, despite his baggage after decades in politics. But the Nigerian people made their decision, and it’s welcome news that they could control their own political destiny.

Participating in Nigeria’s democracy isn’t always easy. Voters often travel great distances and wait patiently in the sun for a chance to pull the lever. Even with turnout down, millions of Nigerians deserve credit for not losing faith in the process. Now the burden is on Mr. Buhari to live up to their expectations.

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Poland, Judaism and Historical Memory It’s a complicated story, and politicians too often attempt to simplify it. By Elisabeth Zerofsky

Posted By on March 1st, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/poland-judaism-and-historical-memory-11551397831

Call it the pangs of intimacy. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cultivates relationships with Central European heads of state, he has had some uncomfortable moments. A recent spat shows how quarrels over Judaism’s history in the region can complicate cooperation.

During a foreign-policy conference in Warsaw two weeks ago, an Israeli reporter asked Mr. Netanyahu to comment on the controversial “Polish death camps” bill. Signed into law in February 2018, the legislation made it a crime to claim “contrary to the facts” that the Polish nation was “responsible or co-responsible” for crimes committed by the Third Reich during its occupation of Poland. After critics objected in Israel and around the world, Warsaw downgraded the crime to a civil offense.