Wow. You have to watch this video to see how history was just encapsulated.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in meet at the village of Panmunjom, the historic site where the Korean War armistice was signed in 1953 for the start of talks between the two countries.
Their unified meeting is the third inter-Korean summit, but this meeting is the first time a leader from the communist North has entered the democratic South. South Korea then holds a welcoming ceremony for the North Korean leader that includes full military honors and a military guard review.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un writes: “new history starts now; age of peace, from the starting point of history” on guest visitor book at Peace House.
WHITE HOUSE – On the occasion of Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-ins historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, we wish the Korean people well. We are hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula.
The United States appreciates the close coordination with our ally, the Republic of Korea, and looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation for the planned meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm CIA chief Mike Pompeo as President Trump’s next secretary of state. Secretary Pompeo was confirmed on a 57-42 vote. All Republicans present voted to confirm Pompeo. Seven Democrats voted yes.
After the vote, Pompeo was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in the West Conference Room of the Supreme Court:
I am pleased with the Senate’s confirmation of Mike Pompeo to serve as our country’s top diplomat. Having a patriot of Mike’s immense talent, energy, and intellect leading the Department of State will be an incredible asset for our country at this critical time in history. He will always put the interests of America first. He has my trust. He has my support. Today, he has my congratulations on becoming America’s 70th Secretary of State.
An interesting discussion this morning on CNBC with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow beings to highlight the principal purpose of his forte’.
President Trump is the first U.S. president who came to the table of economic policy with a plan of action that is uniquely his own. POTUS doesn’t need “advisers” to frame possible policy, he already has the program mapped out; POTUS needs ‘advisers” who are not actually “advisers” per se’ but rather a sales-force to explain and advance his program agenda to the world markets as the policies are implemented….
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…Because this is such a substantial shift from historic reference, President Trump’s unique position of actually creating the economic policy must be emphasized and continually repeated. It’s not Kudlow creating the policy; these are President Trump’s policies. The granular details are carried out by U.S.T.R Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Ross, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin.
Trade explainer Peter Navarro and Economic explainer Larry Kudlow are people specifically enlisted by President Trump to explain Main Street action (policy) and Main Street consequence (outcomes) to Wall Street markets.
It’s easier to understand the importance of Navarro and Kudlow when you remind yourself MAGAnomic policy is operating in a space between two historic economic engines. As Trump de-emphasizes multinational interests, and re-emphasizes domestic Main Street interests, a generation of financial and economic media have no frame of reference.
MAGAnomics operates in the space between two entirely divergent economic engines.
Go through the archives and you’ll note a strategy unfolding that few, including us, could fully conceptualize when it first appeared. Way back when candidate Trump first began to put his economic plans into platform outlines the subtle signature was there, but few were paying attention.
In order to reverse three decades of middle-class economic erosion, there were indicators that Trump’s strategy was a radical change in approach. In essence the strategy was to split the economic policy into two areas and sequence the policy: highly-consumable goods (first) and durable goods (second).
Both product sectors have historically been viewed and approached by economic policy makers using a single financial strategy. That singular approach gave rise to Wall Street benefiting and Main Street suffering. Investment-class gained; middle-class suffered.
Trump outlined an approach –albeit vaguely– that was multidimensional.
His policy would first target multinational corporations, using the U.S. Treasury (Mnuchin) to weaken their grip and influence; simultaneously, he would use energy policy to drive down domestic prices in highly-consumable products (fuel, food, energy sector). These sectors are not measured in fed inflation indexes; however, if lowered, these facets of consumer spending can also increase the amount of disposable income available for workers.
In essence, expand the economy by lowering the aggregate cost of living for the middle-class who live paycheck-to-paycheck. Use monetary policy, fiscal policy and trade policy to entice domestic investment and create jobs; and ultimately put upward pressure on wages.
When the tax cut and reform package passed in December 2017, phase-one cemented and a new phase immediately began. Phase II, 2018.
The second aspect, or second phase of Trump economic policy, is geared toward ‘durable goods’. That’s where the trade imbalance plays a larger role in the strategy.
As the economy expands, Americans can now afford rises in the prices of durable goods. However, as with all manufacturing systems -geared toward retaining market share inside a consumer economy (ie. the U.S. market)- the foreign creators will first seek to retain competitive pricing structure by making efficiencies within their own business models.
When foreign manufacturers entering a phase of cost-cutting analysis (note what happened when Trump left Asia after visit) you immediately hit them with stronger forecasted trade rules on their products.
The financial analysis and five-year-plans, being conducted by the manufacturers, then has to contain the possibility of new rules. That’s where Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer come in:
On Oct. 5, 2017 the ITC [International Trade Commission] voted unanimously in favor of Whirlpool, which brought a complaint forward accusing Samsung and LG Electronics, its South Korean competitors, of flooding U.S. markets with cheap washing machines and pricing out domestic manufacturers. While the ITC didn’t say material harm was coming from South Korea in particular, Whirlpool alleged the country’s manufacturers shifted production into other countries (Thailand and Vietnam) in order to avoid U.S. anti-dumping tariffs imposed in previous years.
The ITC’s recommendations will be sent to President Donald Trump, who will have two months to make a final decision.
This second phase is where the two economic engines: Wall Street and Main Street; begin to come into parity again. The FED (monetary policy) does measure the cost of durable goods in their inflation index. Rises in durable goods are recorded in inflation indexes and monetary policy (interest rates) is influenced accordingly.
Trump’s phase-one befuddled the FED who were perplexed over inflation being virtually non existent. Most of the reason for this disconnect has been the downward price pressure on (non-measured) highly-consumable goods; and static prices on (measured) durable goods. The FED could see the economy expanding, but they cannot, or at least couldn’t until now, reconcile the lack of inflation.
Wages are growing, albeit modestly at first – but now gaining speed, as a result of economic expansion and increased employment. This wage growth, in combination with keeping downward pressure on high-consumable prices, allows Trump to begin a series of aggressive trade policies that will slowly raise durable good prices.
The trade policy, tightly executed by Trump, Mnuchin, Ross and Lighthizer, will put increased pressure on manufacturers to make products in the U.S. In turn this puts further demand on U.S. workers; which, in turn, drives up the wages – to afford the prices of durable goods as they increase. This action/consequence is not accidental, it is planned.
Simultaneously, it must be remembered that every dollar removed from imports actually increases the GDP. The value of all imported goods is deducted from the combined value of all goods and services we produce. If we drop $1 billion in imports on Washing Machines, and simultaneously manufacture $1 billion on Washing Machines in the U.S., the U.S. GDP gains $2 billion in value. The U.S. economy actually expands by more than $2 billion because the attached manufacturing wages are also inside the U.S.
This multi-prong approach is one of the reasons why it still doesn’t seem to be part of the strategy to keep the U.S. inside NAFTA as it currently is constructed. Perhaps, just perhaps, the NAFTA exercise is more optical than actual. Perhaps, it’s more about the outside world seeing the U.S. trade position as executed, than actually negotiating. Regardless of motive we shall soon find out.
President Donald Trump called-in to ‘Fox & Friends’ morning show for a wide-ranging interview on numerous subjects. Topics included: the Iranian nuclear agreement; Ronny Jackson’s withdrawal decision; Michael Cohen and possible North Korea summit.
Additionally, President Trump shared his disappointment with the Justice Department; noted James Comey’s book was likely a big mistake; and also thanked Kanye West for his support.
Earlier today President Trump hosted the Wounded Warrior Project at the White House:
[Transcript] East Room – 11:00 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Please. Thank you very much. I’m thrilled to kick off the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride, and to be in the presence of — really, to be with you folks is such an honor. I know some of you. We’ve been dealing together for more than a year. I’ve watched you get better and stronger, and you’re stronger than all of us. So I want to thank you all for being here. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
So on stage with me are Wounded Warriors from the Air Force, the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps. We salute you, we thank you, and we will forever be grateful for the sacrifices you made for all of us. Really incredible sacrifices. A nation is sustained through the service and sacrifice of patriots. Each of you is part of the long, unbroken chain of courageous Americans who have answered the call in every generation, defending our families, our freedoms, and our great American flag, which we love. Right? (Applause.)
You are the backbone of our liberty. You are the protectors of our community. And you are the proud and beating heart of our magnificent nation.
I want to welcome the many members of Congress who are with us and joined us today to cheer on these incredible, brave warriors, and give special recognition to members of my Cabinet who are with us. Secretary Zinke. Where’s Ryan? Ryan, stand up. (Applause.) Sit down. (Laughs.) Thank you, Ryan. (Applause.) Secretary DeVos. Betsy, thank you. (Applause.) And Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie, who is doing a great job over at the VA. I can tell you that. Thank you. (Applause.)
And a great friend of mine, and a woman who — I’m getting reports from everybody, who’s doing well. Who’s doing — I always ask “Who’s doing the best?” And always right near the top or at the top is Linda McMahon. Thank you, Linda. Great job you’re doing. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
And, Bill, Senator, please stand up, and Congress — Bill, stand up. Please. A lot of good congressmen. My friends. There’s a brave one. (Applause.) These guys — and they fight for you. They fight for you. You fought for them; they fight for you. That I can tell you. Especially this group. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody.
We also want to thank our really amazing — these are amazing people — the military spouses and families. Could the families and spouses please stand up? Incredible people. Incredible people. (Applause.) Their love and dedication and support is really the foundation of our military might. We give them a lot of credit. Right?
So I especially want to thank Mike Linnington and everyone at the Wounded Warrior Project. Thank you, Mike. And Mike has done an incredible job. Mike spent 35 years leading soldiers as an infantry soldier, reaching the rank of lieutenant general. And I know Mike agrees that there is no more important job than supporting the warriors who have fought and bled to keep us free. So I want to thank you very much. We all want to thank you. (Applause.)
That’s why we are fighting to reform the VA. And that is why we signed VA accountability legislation into law. I want to thank you folks, because that’s been — they’ve been trying to get that through for over 30 years. Accountability. We want accountability. They don’t treat our vets good, we want them out. And that’s what we can do now. We couldn’t do it before.
That was a tough one to get through, but we got it through. And now we’re going for choice. And we’re going to get choice. And that’s another one that I’ve wanted right from the beginning. And we’ll get that done too.
So I’m so happy with accountability. It’s been worked on so long. We have people that were terrible working there and they’re gone. And before we couldn’t do anything about them. But we’re very happy and we’re going to have the finest choice program that you’ve ever seen. In fact, we turned down one program because we truly didn’t think it was good enough. Is that right? We could have gotten it passed, and I said, “Nope, not good enough. We’re going to go for the real deal.”
So we’re going to have choice. There’s no more waiting on lines for 12 weeks, and you can’t get the doctors, you can’t get what you need. So we’re going to have choice. It’s going to be a really good one and these folks are going to be responsible for it. So I want to thank you all.
This month marks the fourth anniversary of the Phoenix VA scandal. Horrible scandal. And we must make sure that this kind of tragedy never ever happens again. We must always protect those who protect us. The heroes in this room today come from every background and every single walk of life. But they are united by the sacred bonds of duty and loyalty that hold us together as one nation, under God. Your devotion, your endurance, and your unbreakable will are all a great inspiration to every single American.
Each of you has endured life-changing injuries. Each of you has conquered adversity with resolve — never giving in, never giving up, and never ever backing down. Have you ever given in, anybody here? I don’t think so. (Laughter.) This is not a stage of those that gave in. Is that right? Would you say — do we have any giver-iners? I don’t think so. (Applause.)
They don’t know what that word — those words — mean. They don’t know. They are winners.
As the nation and all nations watch you ride today, they will see the fighting warrior spirit that thrives in your souls. And by the way, our military — recent budget — General Mattis asking — $700 billion — never happened before. And next year — we don’t’ even talk about it — already approved $716 billion. So that’s really something. That’s what we had to get. That was number one on our list even though we had to approve a couple of things that we weren’t so happy with because of some folks that are not friendly to our military. $700 billion, and $716 million, and $6 million for opioid.
We’re going to fight that opioid situation harder than anyone has fought it before. We’ve already begun. But $6 billion for opioid and stopping that scourge, and also for working with those that have unfortunately met with the opioids in a very bad fashion. So we’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, and now we have the money. So thank you all, fellas. That’s great. (Applause.)
With that, we will be able to see you through — that brave example, that out nation can defeat any hardship, meet any challenge, beat any setback, and rise from our trials stronger and more determined by far, by far, than ever before. Our military will be stronger, more powerful than at any time ever before. Better equipment — we make the greatest equipment in the world.
It also means jobs. By the way, far secondarily, jobs. Jobs are a benefit, but that’s far secondarily.
One warrior with us today is someone I first met years ago. His name is Dan Nevins and his incredible story embodies the long journey of recovery and triumph that each of you represent so beautifully. Each of you just represent it beyond what anybody can do. It’s incredible.
Dan served as an Infantry squad leader of Task Force Tacoma in Iraq, in 2004. While on a combat mission, his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Dan was severely injured, ultimately losing both legs. Through countless surgeries, Dan refused to give in. He is a fighter and he is a champion. (Applause.)
And the Wounded Warrior Project was there to help Dan along his difficult journey, where he’s had such tremendous success. Dan is now a nationally-recognized motivational speaker, and works to serve other veterans and their families.
I also know from personal experience that Dan is a great golfer. (Laughter.) How do you think that makes me feel? (Laughter.) He’s a great — he really is, he’s a really good golfer. Right? (Applause.)
So, Dan, I want to thank you for everything. You’re really an inspiration — everything you’ve done and will continue to do for our beloved nation. We love this nation. We’re in your debt, and we are in the eternal debt of every single person on this stage — the Wounded Warriors. These are our most incredible people, our most incredible people.
As you set out on your Soldier Ride, all of America will be cheering you on and watching. And all of America will be celebrating your strength, and your tenacity, and your unwavering love of your country. My pledge to you, our noble warriors, is that my administration will support you, and your loved ones, and your amazing families every single day, now and always. We’re never going to forget. That is our sacred commitment.
As Dan comes to the podium, I want to again thank you all for honoring us with your presence today. Thank you all, and thank you all for the help, everybody. It’s a tremendous help. This group, in particular, has been of great help.
May God bless you. May God bless our Wounded Warriors. May God bless our military. And may God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
STAFF SERGEANT NEVINS: Thank you, Mr. President. You know, I actually remember the first time meeting you, Mr. President. It happened to be at one of your golf properties, and you were hosting a charitable fundraising tournament for Wounded Warrior Project.
And I remember coming up to the par 3, and you were stationed there greeting all your guests and saying thank you, and being a gracious host. And I stepped up and just felt all this pressure. I have to hit a good golf shot.
And I stepped up to the tee, I hit a beautiful shot. And I was, like, just remembering the reality of the situation. (Laughter.) It nestled maybe two feet from the pin. And I was so excited I just — under all the pressure of you watching, I just nailed it. (Laughter.) And then everybody else went, and then it was your turn. And you hit your golf shot, and it landed on the green well away from mine. (Laughter and applause.) Wait, it gets better. But then the ball released and starting rolling right past mine and almost in the hole. (Laughter.) So great. It was a great shot. Like, really a great shot is a great shot. And it was an honor to be on the tee box with you then.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
STAFF SERGEANT NEVINS: And it’s even a greater honor to share the stage with you now as you graciously host Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride and these amazing warriors who’ve served the cause of freedom with distinction.
And it really — it’s truly a privilege for me to be here to celebrate 15 years of Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that has done so much for me and countless other warriors and families through the lifesaving programs and services that they provide every single day.
You know, Soldier Ride, what we’re here for, this event is very near and dear to my heart, as it is for thousands of warriors who’ve graced the roads and bike paths across this great nation from right here in our nation’s capital, and from sea to shining sea. This event has been changing and saving lives since its creation.
You see, as you heard, I’m a Wounded Warrior. And my life was changed forever 13 years ago when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath my vehicle and shattered life as I knew it. As a result of the blast, I lost my good friend, Sergeant First Class Mike Ottolini. I ultimately lost both legs below the knee, and I live with the effects of a traumatic brain injury. And if it weren’t for the quick action of my brothers on the battlefield and my brothers and sisters in the military medical community, I would not be standing here today. I’m so very grateful for all the love, support, and help I received in my transition from the battlefield back to civilian life.
And I’m certainly grateful for how Wounded Warrior Project intervened and showed up for me. From my first day at Walter Reed to how they show up for me right now, these are the ones that helped me learn that disability didn’t define me, but that I get to define what the rest of my life was going to be like. And they helped me learn that anything is possible when I put in the work.
And I vividly remember my first Soldier Ride in 2006. And I was a recent amputee and I was wrestling with the visible and invisible wounds of war. And I thought that I couldn’t. And then, through their motivation, I put in the work. And I finished the almost-400 miles with a new understanding with what was possible for my life, and what was possible for everything that laid out as a journey defining my new normal.
Wounded Warrior Project has been helping our nation’s finest in the journey to healing since 2003, when they delivered backpacks filled with comfort items to our Wounded Warriors in military hospitals in Germany and across the nation. Today, they deliver over a dozen life-changing and lifesaving programs that deal with mental health, physical health and wellness, economic empowerment, and engagement with each other as warriors, with our families, and our communities when we return home.
They’ve invested more than $1.1 billion into these life-saving programs and services. They ensure and they are ensuring that we have the most successful, well-adjusted generation of Wounded Warriors in our nation’s history. And I couldn’t be more proud to stand on this stage and represent this organization here today. And this is a message to the amazing Wounded Warrior Project team, to the volunteers and the technicians that make the impossible happen on each and every single Soldier Ride: You are all my heroes, and I love you. (Applause.)
And to the warriors here today, thank you for everything you’ve done, and for who you are and everything you continue to do, and how you continue to serve and be an example of the very best our nation has to offer.
Mr. President, it’s been an absolute honor to be here with you today. And on behalf of myself, the warriors and our families, and Wounded Warrior Project, thank you for hosting us so graciously and for continuing to champion the men and women that have proudly defended this great nation.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Dan.
STAFF SERGEANT NEVINS: Thank you. (Applause.)
And now I have the distinct honor to introduce the lead of Wounded Warrior Project — the team that is Wounded Warrior Project. An outstanding man and a great friend, Lieutenant General Mike Linnington. (Applause.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL LINNINGTON: Thank you. Thank you, Dan. Dan is what really is the epitome of success in our warrior population. His service, his sacrifices, his inspiration, and most importantly, his commitment to his fellow warriors — brothers and sisters in arms that earned our great thanks and deserve our very best efforts to assist in their continued recovery and rehabilitation.
Mr. President, thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL LINNINGTON: On behalf of our Wounded Warriors, and their families, and their caregivers, our Wounded Warrior Project team, and all our amazing partners, thank you for graciously hosting us as we celebrate and honor these brave Americans and the families and caregivers that love and support them.
These men and women are truly exceptional, strong, capable, and successful. As the President said, “their strength and resilience in the face of insurmountable odds is an inspiration to all Americans and a reminder — a stark reminder of our responsibilities to assist in their journeys of recovery.” And that’s exactly why we’re here at the White House today.
What a great honor it is to do what we do to provide support, healing, and hope to our Wounded Warriors who have made our very freedoms we enjoy as Americans a reality. Mr. President, thank you for your leadership, and taking the time to honor and empower our nation’s finest, and the work you have done and will continue to do on behalf of our military and our veteran’s community. Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mike.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL LINNINGTON: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I thought while we were here — first of all, hello, Elizabeth Dole. Hi. How you are sweetheart? Thank you very much for being here. Such a great, great husband and a great family. We appreciate it and all you do. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
And I thought I could just bring up to the stage for a second our great representatives who have — Bill, everybody, Brian — if you could just come up for a second. I think you certainly deserve to be on this stage. You’ve really worked so hard to get all of this done and we appreciate it. Come here.
REPRESENTATIVE PETERSON: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Go on up. Thank you much. Thank you. You ran for office, nobody’s going to beat him. I’ll tell you. Right? (Laughter.) Nobody.
REPRESENTATIVE MAST: That’s right. Yes sir.
THE PRESIDENT: How about saying a word on behalf of —
SENATOR CASSIDY: I have the privilege to speak on behalf of Congress. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: It’s not easy.
REPRESENTATIVE ISSA: Don’t screw it up.
THE PRESIDENT: Not easy. (Laughter.)
SENATOR CASSIDY: We have at least two men of combat here and maybe more. I don’t know your story. Oh, hey, Ted. (Laughter.) I didn’t recognize Ted since he became a skinhead. (Laughter.)
And it’s hard to speak for Congress — not because we’re different, not because we’re Congress, but because when you’re in the presence of folks such as these, no word is adequate to express our appreciation, our humility between our fellow Americans who sacrificed so much, and for their families who sacrifice so much to truly bless us all.
From the founding of our nation until now it has been those such as these who have made this country the greatest — the greatest in the world.
And I will close by saying this: First, Mr. President, it was an incredible state visit that you just hosted for President Macron. And President Macron, as he spoke to Congress, emphasized that of all the challenges facing our world, without U.S. leadership, none of our — it is not possible to have the success that we need.
I would add to that — as I think both President Trump and President Macron would — at some point, U.S. leadership becomes the U.S. military enforcing values on those who would seek to destroy us. As long as we have those such as these protecting our values, we will win. And more importantly, so will the cause of freedom, the cause of equality, the cause of — the cause of the average man and woman being able to achieve his or her dreams. On behalf of that average man and woman, I once more thank you all. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, fellas. We’re with you always. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
Sign at a protest outside Trump Tower in New York City, February 8, 2018. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
When legal bloodhounds and baying critics fail to take out Trump, what’s next? The Resistance wants Trump’s head — on the chopping block.On the domestic and foreign fronts, the Trump administration has prompted economic growth and restored U.S. deterrence. Polls show increased consumer confidence, and in some, Trump himself has gained ground. Yet good news is bad news to the Resistance and its strange continued efforts to stop an elected president in a way it failed to do in the 2016 election.
Indeed, the aim of the so-called Resistance to Donald J. Trump is ending Trump’s presidency by any means necessary before the 2020 election. Or, barring that, it seeks to so delegitimize him that he becomes presidentially impotent. It has been only 16 months since Trump took office and, in the spirit of revolutionary fervor, almost everything has been tried to derail him. Now we are entering uncharted territory — at a time when otherwise the country is improving and the legal exposure of Trump’s opponents increases daily.
First came the failed lawsuits after the election alleging voting-machine tampering. Then there was the doomed celebrity effort to convince some state electors not to follow their constitutional duty and to deny Trump the presidency — a gambit that, had it worked, would have wrecked the Constitution. Then came the pathetic congressional boycott of the inauguration and the shrill nationwide protests against the president.
Anti- and Never-Trump op-ed writers have long ago run out of superlatives. Trump is the worst, most, biggest — fill in the blank — in the history of the presidency, in the history of the world, worse even than Mao, Mussolini, Stalin, or Hitler.
Next was the sad effort to introduce articles of impeachment. After that came weird attempts to cite Trump for violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution. That puerile con was followed by plans to declare him deranged and mentally unfit so that he could be removed under the 25th Amendment. From time to time, Obama holdovers in the DOJ, National Security Council, and FBI sought to leak information, or they refused to carry out presidential orders.
As the Resistance goes from one ploy to the next, it ignores its string of failed prior efforts, forgetting everything and learning nothing. State nullification is no longer neo-Confederate but an any-means-necessary progressive tool. Suing the government weekly is proof of revolutionary fides, not a waste of California’s taxpayer dollars.
Anti- and Never-Trump op-ed writers have long ago run out of superlatives. Trump is the worst, most, biggest — fill in the blank — in the history of the presidency, in the history of the world, worse even than Mao, Mussolini, Stalin, or Hitler. So if Trump is a Hitler who gassed 6 million or a Stalin who starved 20 million, then logically Trump deserves what exactly?
The book industry is doing its part. Mythographer Michael Wolff’s hearsay Fire and Fury suggested that Trump was a dangerous child despised as much by his friends as by his enemies. As FBI director, James Comey leaked confidential memos, lied to Congress, misled a FISA court, admitted that he based his handling of the Clinton-email investigation on the assumption she’d win the presidency, misinformed the president about the status of his investigation. And the now-former director book-tours the country slamming Trump hourly on the assumption that he would certainly not be former, if only his prior obsequious efforts to appease Trump had saved his job. Comey is building perjury cases against himself daily with each new disclosure that belie past sworn testimonies, but that is apparently less scary to him than simply ignoring Trump.
Robert Mueller and his “dream team” were long ago supposed to have discovered proof of Trump’s collusion with Russia. A year later, they have found nothing much to do with this mandate. Then the alternative scent was obstruction of justice. Then the chase took another detour to follow some sort of fraud or racketeering. Now the FBI is reduced to raiding Trump’s lawyer in an effort to root out the real story on Stormy Daniels. One wonders what might have happened had Michael Cohen panicked and destroyed 30,000 emails before Mueller seized his computers. No matter, Mueller’s legal army presses on, even as it leaves its own wounded on the battlefield, as resignations, reassignments, and retirements for improper conduct decimate the Obama-era FBI and DOJ hierarchies.
Trump has left the intelligence community unhinged. John Brennan (“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. . . . America will triumph over you”) and James Clapper (who called Trump a veritable traitor working for Putin) have both admitted to lying under oath to Congress in the past, and with their present invective, they have discredited the very notion of a Washington intelligence elite. At some point, Mueller’s zealotry will remind federal attorneys that equality under the law demands indictments of those with far greater legal exposure, regardless of the exalted status of Comey, Andrew McCabe, and — in the matter of lying under oath, leaking classified materials, and destroying evidence — John Brennan, James Clapper and Hillary Clinton.
In addition, a media, found to be more than 90 percent negative in its coverage of the Trump administration, sought to delegitimize the president. Journalists declare that disinterested reporting is impossible in the age of Trump — and therefore believe that Stormy Daniels or James Comey’s Dudley Do-Right’s memos are a pathway to accomplish what they are beginning to concede Robert Mueller cannot.
Everything from the NFL to late-night comedy shows have become Trump-hating venues. Almost every sort of smear from scatology to homophobia has been voiced by celebrities to turn Trump into a president deserving such abuse — and worse. Late-night television host Steven Colbert was reduced to incoherent and repellant venom: “You talk like a sign-language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*** holster.” Actor Robert De Niro has become deranged and dreams of pounding on Trump’s face. But then so does former vice president Joe Biden, who on two occasions boasted that Trump is the sort of guy that a younger he-man Biden used to take outside the gym to give a whippin’ to.
Each cycle of hysteria demands another, as the race to the bottom has descended into which celebrity or politician can discover the most provocative — or crude — Trump expletive. “S***” and “f***” are now the ordinary vocabulary of angry Democratic politicos and officeholders. Are we reaching a point in the so-far-failed Resistance where little is left except abject violence in the manner of the Roman or French Revolution? The problem for Trump’s pop-culture foes is not whether to imagine or advocate killing the president. That’s a given. They just need to agree on the means of doing so: decapitation (Kathy Griffin), incineration (David Crosby), stabbing (the Shakespeare in the Park troupe), shooting (Snoop Dogg), explosives (Madonna), old-fashioned, Lincoln-style assassination (Johnny Depp), death by elevator (Kamala Harris), hanging (a CSU professor), or simple generic assassination (a Missouri state legislator).
The Resistance and rabid anti-Trumpers have lost confidence in the constitutional framework of elections, and they’ve flouted the tradition by which the opposition allows the in-power party to present its case to the court of public opinion.
Now the Democratic party — whose presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, hired Christopher Steele to find dirt on Trump with the aid of Russian sources to warp the 2016 election — is suing President Trump, alleging collusion with the Russians. If Clinton were called as a witness, what would she say under cross-examination — that she did not hire Steele, that he never purchased Russian dirt, or that there was no collusion effort to enlist foreign nationals such as British subject Christopher Steele and Russian propagandists to warp an American election?
Insidiously and incrementally, we are in the process of normalizing violence against the elected president of the United States. If all this fails to delegitimize Trump, fails to destroy his health, or fails to lead to a 2018 midterm Democratic sweep and subsequent impeachment, expect even greater threats of violence. The Resistance and rabid anti-Trumpers have lost confidence in the constitutional framework of elections, and they’ve flouted the tradition by which the opposition allows the in-power party to present its case to the court of public opinion.
Instead, like the French revolutionaries’ Committee on Public Safety, the unhinged anti-Trumpists assume that they have lost public opinion, given their venom and crudity, and are growing desperate as every legal and paralegal means of removing Trump is nearing exhaustion. Robert Mueller is the last chance, a sort of Watergate or Abu Ghraib that could gin up enough furor to drive down Trump’s poll favorability to the twenties and thereby reduce his person to a demonic force deserving of whatever it gets.
After the prior era of hysteria, between 2005 and 2008, when books and docudramas staged the imagined assassination of George W. Bush, and celebrities like Michael Moore and activists such as Cindy Sheehan reduced Bush to the status of a war criminal, the Left in 2009 demanded a return to normal political discourse and comportment, with the election of Barack Obama. A newly contrite and apologetic America was abruptly worth believing in again. In 2009, the CIA and FBI suddenly were reinvented as hallowed agents of change.
Bush careerists, including Clapper and Brennan, were now damning the very counterterrorism practices that they once helped put in place, while offering Obama-like politically correct sermons on the benign nature of Islamism. Surveillance and jailing were appropriate punishments for suspected Obama apostates (ask James Rosen or Nkoula Basseley Nakoula). The IRS was weaponized for use against Obama’s ideological opponents. Suggestions that the president was unfit or worse became near treasonous. Unity was the new patriotism. The assumption was that Obama had ushered in a half-century of progressive norms, not that he so alienated the country that he birthed Donald Trump.
The danger to the country this time around is that the Left has so destroyed the old protocols of the opposition party that it will be hard to resurrect them when progressives return to power.
We are entering revolutionary times. The law is no longer equally applied. The media are the ministry of truth. The Democratic party is a revolutionary force. And it is all getting scary.
The more Mueller searches for hypothetical lawbreaking, the more he ignores the actual lawbreakers.
The country is about to witness an investigatory train wreck.
In one direction, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation train is looking for any conceivable thing that President Donald Trump’s campaign team might have done wrong in 2016.
The oncoming train is slower but also larger. It involves congressional investigations, Department of Justice referrals, and inspector general’s reports — mostly focused on improper or illegal FBI and DOJ behavior during the 2016 election.
Why are the two now about to collide?
By charging former national-security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI, Mueller emphasized that even the appearance of false testimony is felonious behavior.
If that is so, then the DOJ will probably have to charge former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe with perjury or related offenses. A report from the Office of the Inspector General indicates that McCabe lied at least four times to federal investigators.
Former FBI director James Comey may also have lied to Congress when he testified that he had not written his report on the Hillary Clinton email scandal before interviewing Clinton. Former director of national intelligence James Clapper and former CIA director John Brennan lied under oath to Congress on matters related to surveillance.
Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin probably lied when they told FBI investigators they had no idea that their then-boss, Hillary Clinton, was using an illegal private email server. Both had communicated with Clinton about it.
Mueller is said to be investigating whether Trump obstructed justice by requesting that Comey go easy on Flynn.
If so, then the DOJ will have to look at Comey himself and DOJ officials who obstructed a federal court. On at least four occasions, they were not honest about the deeply flawed Christopher Steele dossier being the source of information used in applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Comey also has said that he predicated the nature of the Clinton email investigation on his assumptions about her chances of winning the presidency — another investigatory abuse.
The Mueller team is reportedly still looking into the possibility of election-cycle collusion with Russia by Trump officials.
That track will require Mueller’s DOJ counterparts to look carefully at the Clinton campaign, which paid opposition researcher Steele, a British subject, for dirt on Trump that was produced through collusion with Russian sources.
Mueller is also said to be investigating whether Trump or his advisers broke laws concerning the release of confidential government information.
If so, the DOJ may have to indict Comey. He confessed to passing along confidential FBI memos to a friend for the expressed purpose of leaking their contents to the press.
High-ranking Obama administration officials may also be subject to indictments, given that they may have requested the “unmasking” of American citizens whose communications were intercepted during the surveillance of foreign parties and then leaked the names of those citizens to the press.
Mueller’s team apparently has assumed that Michael Cohen’s status as Trump’s attorney offers no protections under normal attorney-client privilege protocols.
If that is true, the DOJ will have to investigate why the FBI allowed Clinton aide Cheryl Mills to pose as Clinton’s attorney and thereby be shielded from providing testimony on what she knew about the email scandal involving her “client.”
Investigators have swarmed Cohen’s offices and residence, supposedly in fear that he might destroy pertinent records.
The FBI should probably then reopen the investigation into the Clinton email scandal, given that Clinton destroyed more than 30,000 emails as well as computer hard drives that had been requested by federal investigators.
What is going on?
Mueller has searched far and wide for wrongdoing but so far has found little. Meanwhile, there is plenty of other wrongdoing already found, but no one seems to be looking at it.
Flynn, Cohen, and other Trump aides are considered small enough fry to go after. Clinton, Comey, McCabe, and others seem big enough fry to leave alone.
No one thought Hillary Clinton would blow the election. Top Obama officials at the FBI, DOJ, intelligence agencies, and National Security Council believed in 2015 and 2016 that they could ignore laws with impunity because a protective Clinton administration would soon be in power.
Politics have infected these investigations. Trump was seen as a threat to the status quo, and FBI and DOJ lawbreakers were seen as custodians of it.
The more Mueller searches for hypothetical lawbreaking, the more he is inadvertently underscoring that actual lawbreakers must be subject to the same standard of justice. Ironically, Mueller’s investigation has reminded America that it is past time to call Comey, McCabe, and a host of Obama-era DOJ and FBI officials to account.
For over a year, we have had two standards of legality when there can only be one.
Noted in this interview is discussion that a new batch of text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI lawyer Lisa Page have been sent by the DOJ to the State Department. Understanding the public and congressional release process, this would indicate the DoS needs to sign-off on potential classified information within the texts.
Often, amid our frustration, we forget there’s an actual process for releasing information; it’s not simply a matter of current DOJ or FBI officials trying to block the release. I will bet a donut the next batch of Page/Strzok messages outline some connective tissue to DoS.
FBI Director James Comey appears on CNN tonight and digs himself deeper into legal jeopardy. Remember as you watch this answer, on March 20th, 2017, while still officially FBI Director, Comey testified to congress a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign began in July 2016.
In an effort to attempt to obfuscate his current legal and professional malfeasance in leaking information, via his leaks to the media, Comey insists he did nothing wrong. However, Comey also states that it would be a violation to leak “information about an ongoing investigation.”
As Comey describes his leaking of his notes from a conversation with President-elect Trump, he conveniently avoids the contradicting fact that President Trump was a person within the investigation the FBI was conducting. WATCH:
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Comey states that “leaking” is releasing the “content within an investigation.” If Anderson Cooper would have been faster on his feet, he would have asked Comey: how is it OK for him to distribute evidence, and leak the substance of an internal document, that is part of an ongoing investigation?
Andrew Breitbart famously said: “politics is downstream from pop culture“. Boy, do I wish Andrew were alive today to see President Trump, Kanye West and even Kim Kardashian-West fold the political universe onto itself and create a new MAGA reality.
Even the mere possibility of removing the currency and value within identity politics is driving the far-left absolutely bananas. The activist ‘democrats’ are beyond apoplectic. This Winningis funny stuff.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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