Tag Archives: James Comey

Mar 7 2018

Government Always Needs an Enemy & Will Always Respond the Same to a Given Set of Facts


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Mar 7, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT:

Hey Marty,
With regard to South Africa reclaiming farmers land.
Capetown is in severe drought conditions, the water there will be shut off to its 4 million residents on May 11, this is being referred to as “day zero”,
Rich and poor will then have to stand in line for their water rations.
Not surprising the government is diverting attention away from the actual problem and instead implementing a land reclamation policy on the farmers.
Thank you for helping us understand what is happening.
LBS
REPLY: What you are noticing is precisely how politics works. Wars are typically begun as a matter of distraction. You need an external enemy to keep the nation together and head-off political uprisings. Look at the Democrats. They always divide the people by blaming the rich and justifying class warfare while they load their own pockets with bribes, privileges, and all sorts of exemptions even for inside trading in stocks.
In the case of South Africa, the shortage of water is very real. The people will rise up against the politicians for their careless mismanagement of the situation. The smart way to head that crisis off is to blame the white farmers at the precise moment when you need to divert the masses from the shortage of water. You always have to create the enemy. Make no mistake about it, if the Democrats gained control of Congress and the White House when the budget goes into crisis, they would be confiscating property in the United States as well. Even during the American Revolution, they actually issued paper money BACKED BY the confiscation of property of anyone who supported the king.
Absolutely NOTHING that takes place is without some precedent. Politicians will respond always the same way given the same set of circumstances regardless of the century. Both the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284-305AD) and President Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) faced inflation and both revised the monetary system completely. Both also restored to wage and price controls.
Mar 7 2018

South Korea Claims DPRK Willing to Enter Denuclearization Talks With the U.S….


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 6, 2018 by

Very cautious optimism because Red Dragon has history of using the Panda Mask to cloud intents as a strategy.   North Korea is a proxy state to their enabler, China.  DPRK Kim Jong-un is little stompy-feet panda to the big panda/red dragon, Chairman Xi Jinping.

The one constant in an ever-changing universe is the gravity of China; it only goes one-way.  China allows and directs what is in China’s best interests.  Period.

Chinese Chairman-for-life Xi Jinping (all he represents) view smiling panda economics as modern intercontinental nuclear weapons.

Chairman Xi and President Trump have been deep inside a geopolitical smiling contest for over a year.  Xi and Trump are playing grandmaster level geopolitical economics.  Their most consequential moves are well beyond the horizon; far away from the gaze of the crowd; the media is oblivious to them.

•Japan (Shinzo Abe) has stated they have “great confidence” in President Trump’s Asian national security approach. •South Korea (President Moon Jae-in) stated they are “confident there will not be war again on the Korean peninsula“; •and they are willing to send a special envoy to North Korea to begin talks. •In addition, China quietly removed the 71-year-old veteran diplomat, Wu Dawei, from the position of negotiator toward the DPRK, and replaced him with 58-year-old Kong Xuanyou. Kong is a long time Chinese diplomat in charge of Asian affairs and he speaks Korean.

All of this was generally under-reported and took place months before President Trump arrived in Asia last year.  The U.S. media was busy pushing racism and Charlottesville narratives.  More importantly this quiet activity took place while President Trump directed US Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer to begin a section 301 trade investigation (Intellectual Property theft) into China.

President Trump was ramping up the economic pressure on Chinese President Xi Jinping; but more specifically Lighthizer’s action was targeting Beijing’s command and control economy along with the behavior of North Korea.

China -vs- U.S. moves have been taking place in Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cuba, Venezuela, India, Libya as well as Mexico, Canada and ASEAN nations.  When dragon puts a footprint in Mexico, eagle puts a footprint in Vietnam.   When eagle puts a print in India, dragon puts a print in Pakistan…. this has been going on for well over a year, well beyond the media horizon, and almost no-one’s paying attention.

Trump plays Arabella to the Panda mask, knowing the cultural dynamic means dragon cannot, and will not, show face.   Similarly dragon plays magnanimous panda to Eagle knowing only retracted claws can stroke panda fur.  ….And so it goes, and so it has been going…

Recently, Eagle-One raises economic stakes with Steel and Aluminum (global) tariff; simultaneous to NAFTA exit…. Red Dragon would suffer {{Check}} Red Dragon plays little Kim-happy-panda maneuver to Eagle-One…. Eagle could benefit {{Check}}

Or, another way:

Mr. Panda (Xi) asks how much is DPRK denuclearization worth to you Mr. Eagle (Trump)?

Is it worth re-upping NAFTA, keeping our back-door access in place, and minimizing Steel/Aluminum tariffs?

This is how the game is played with China.  Red Dragon does not negotiate on common terms.  If it is not in China’s interests, it is not done.  Period.  If you want to get rid of DPRK nuclear weapons, there must be a wonderful economic Panda benefit.

New York – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed a willingness to begin nuclear disarmament talks with the US — and halt nuclear and missile tests during negotiations, a South Korean official said Tuesday.

Kim also agreed to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a late April summit in the border village of Panmunjom, South Korean national security chief Chung Eui Yong said after discussions in Pyongyang.

“North Korea made clear its willingness to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and the fact there is no reason for it to have a nuclear program if military threats against the North are resolved and its regime is secure,” Chung said.

According to Chung, Kim agreed not to carry out nuclear or missile tests while talks with the international community were under way. The rogue regime has not carried out any such tests since November. (read more)

Here’s what  I can guarantee you.  The solution to DPRK nuclear weapons will not be in the vicinity of DPRK nuclear weapons.  The deal to denuclearize the Korean peninsular will be made from something far away from North Korea in a place of great value to China where President Trump has leverage and control.

This I can guarantee.

The question is: how effectively can Chairman Xi Jinping position the valuation of their economic target to make President Donald Trump view the deal as worth accepting to get rid of DPRK nukes?…..  Simultaneously, how much hurt is Trump willing to position, in order to have China accept less-than-optimal economic outcomes as the best alternative?

[…]  “Here in Seoul, architectural wonders like the Sixty-Three Building and the Lotte World Tower — very beautiful — grace the sky and house the workers of many growing industries.

Your citizens now help to feed the hungry, fight terrorism, and solve problems all over the world. And in a few months, you will host the world and you will do a magnificent job at the 23rd Olympic Winter Games. Good luck. (Applause.)

The Korean miracle extends exactly as far as the armies of free nations advanced in 1953 — 24 miles to the north. There, it stops; it all comes to an end. Dead stop. The flourishing ends, and the prison state of North Korea sadly begins.

Workers in North Korea labor grueling hours in unbearable conditions for almost no pay. Recently, the entire working population was ordered to work for 70 days straight, or else pay for a day of rest.

Families live in homes without plumbing, and fewer than half have electricity. Parents bribe teachers in hopes of saving their sons and daughters from forced labor. More than a million North Koreans died of famine in the 1990s, and more continue to die of hunger today.

Among children under the age of five, nearly 30 percent of afflicted — and are afflicted by stunted growth due to malnutrition. And yet, in 2012 and 2013, the regime spent an estimated $200 million — or almost half the money that it allocated to improve living standards for its people — to instead build even more monuments, towers, and statues to glorify its dictators.

What remains of the meager harvest of the North Korean economy is distributed according to perceived loyalty to a twisted regime. Far from valuing its people as equal citizens, this cruel dictatorship measures them, scores them, and ranks them based on the most arbitrary indications of their allegiance to the state.

Those who score the highest in loyalty may live in the capital city. Those who score the lowest starve. A small infraction by one citizen, such as accidently staining a picture of the tyrant printed in a discarded newspaper, can wreck the social credit rank of his entire family for many decades.

An estimated 100,000 North Koreans suffer in gulags, toiling in forced labor, and enduring torture, starvation, rape, and murder on a constant basis.

In one known instance, a 9-year-old boy was imprisoned for 10 years because his grandfather was accused of treason. In another, a student was beaten in school for forgetting a single detail about the life of Kim Jong-un.

Soldiers have kidnapped foreigners and forced them to work as language tutors for North Korean spies.

In the part of Korea that was a stronghold for Christianity before the war, Christians and other people of faith who are found praying or holding a religious book of any kind are now detained, tortured, and in many cases, even executed.

North Korean women are forced to abort babies that are considered ethnically inferior. And if these babies are born, the newborns are murdered.

One womans baby born to a Chinese father was taken away in a bucket. The guards said it did not deserve to live because it was impure.

So why would China feel an obligation to help North Korea?

The horror of life in North Korea is so complete that citizens pay bribes to government officials to have themselves exported aboard as slaves. They would rather be slaves than live in North Korea.

To attempt to flee is a crime punishable by death. One person who escaped remarked, “When I think about it now, I was not a human being. I was more like an animal. Only after leaving North Korea did I realize what life was supposed to be.”

And so, on this peninsula, we have watched the results of a tragic experiment in a laboratory of history. It is a tale of one people, but two Koreas. One Korea in which the people took control of their lives and their country, and chose a future of freedom and justice, of civilization, and incredible achievement. And another Korea in which leaders imprison their people under the banner of tyranny, fascism, and oppression. The result of this experiment are in, and they are totally conclusive.

When the Korean War began in 1950, the two Koreas were approximately equal in GDP per capita. But by the 1990s, South Koreas wealth had surpassed North Korea’s by more than 10 times. And today, the Souths economy is over 40 times larger. You started the same a short while ago, and now you’re 40 times larger. You’re doing something right.

Considering the misery wrought by the North Korean dictatorship, it is no surprise that it has been forced to take increasingly desperate measures to prevent its people from understanding this brutal contrast.

Because the regime fears the truth above all else, it forbids virtually all contact with the outside world. Not just my speech today, but even the most commonplace facts of South Korean life are forbidden knowledge to the North Korean people. Western and South Korean music is banned. Possession of foreign media is a crime punishable by death. Citizens spy on fellow citizens, their homes are subject to search at any time, and their every action is subject to surveillance. In place of a vibrant society, the people of North Korea are bombarded by state propaganda practically every waking hour of the day.

North Korea is a country ruled as a cult. At the center of this military cult is a deranged belief in the leaders destiny to rule as parent protector over a conquered Korean Peninsula and an enslaved Korean people.

The more successful South Korea becomes, the more decisively you discredit the dark fantasy at the heart of the Kim regime.

In this way, the very existence of a thriving South Korean republic threatens the very survival of the North Korean dictatorship.

This city and this assembly are living proof that a free and independent Korea not only can, but does stand strong, sovereign, and proud among the nations of the world. (Applause.)

Here, the strength of the nation does not come from the false glory of a tyrant. It comes from the true and powerful glory of a strong and great people — the people of the Republic of Korea — a Korean people who are free to live, to flourish, to worship, to love, to build, and to grow their own destiny.

In this Republic, the people have done what no dictator ever could — you took, with the help of the United States, responsibility for yourselves and ownership of your future. You had a dream — a Korean dream — and you built that dream into a great reality.

In so doing, you performed the miracle on the Hahn that we see all around us, from the stunning skyline of Seoul to the plains and peaks of this beautiful landscape. You have done it freely, you have done it happily, and you have done it in your own very beautiful way.

This reality — this wonderful place — your success is the greatest cause of anxiety, alarm, and even panic to the North Korean regime. That is why the Kim regime seeks conflict abroad — to distract from total failure that they suffer at home.

Since the so-called armistice, there have been hundreds of North Korean attacks on Americans and South Koreans. These attacks have included the capture and torture of the brave American soldiers of the USS Pueblo, repeated assaults on American helicopters, and the 1969 drowning [downing] of a U.S. surveillance plane that killed 31 American servicemen. The regime has made numerous lethal incursions in South Korea, attempted to assassinate senior leaders, attacked South Korean ships, and tortured Otto Warmbier, ultimately leading to that fine young man’s death.

All the while, the regime has pursued nuclear weapons with the deluded hope that it could blackmail its way to the ultimate objective. And that objective we are not going to let it have. We are not going to let it have. All of Korea is under that spell, divided in half. South Korea will never allow what’s going on in North Korea to continue to happen.

The North Korean regime has pursued its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in defiance of every assurance, agreement, and commitment it has made to the United States and its allies. It’s broken all of those commitments. After promising to freeze its plutonium program in 1994, it repeated [reaped] the benefits of the deal and then — and then immediately continued its illicit nuclear activities.

In 2005, after years of diplomacy, the dictatorship agreed to ultimately abandon its nuclear programs and return to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation. But it never did. And worse, it tested the very weapons it said it was going to give up. In 2009, the United States gave negotiations yet another chance, and offered North Korea the open hand of engagement. The regime responded by sinking a South Korean Navy ship, killing 46 Korean sailors. To this day, it continues to launch missiles over the sovereign territory of Japan and all other neighbors, test nuclear devices, and develop ICBMs to threaten the United States itself. The regime has interpreted Americas past restraint as weakness. This would be a fatal miscalculation. This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past.

Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries, but for all civilized nations, when I say to the North: Do not underestimate us, and do not try us. We will defend our common security, our shared prosperity, and our sacred liberty.

We did not choose to draw here, on this peninsula — (applause) — this magnificent peninsula — the thin line of civilization that runs around the world and down through time. But here it was drawn, and here it remains to this day. It is the line between peace and war, between decency and depravity, between law and tyranny, between hope and total despair. It is a line that has been drawn many times, in many places, throughout history. To hold that line is a choice free nations have always had to make. We have learned together the high cost of weakness and the high stakes of its defense.

America’s men and women in uniform have given their lives in the fight against Nazism, imperialism, Communism and terrorism.

America does not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will never run from it. History is filled with discarded regimes that have foolishly tested Americas resolve.

Anyone who doubts the strength or determination of the United States should look to our past, and you will doubt it no longer. We will not permit America or our allies to be blackmailed or attacked. We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction. We will not be intimidated. And we will not let the worst atrocities in history be repeated here, on this ground, we fought and died so hard to secure. (Applause.)

That is why I have come here, to the heart of a free and flourishing Korea, with a message for the peace-loving nations of the world: The time for excuses is over. Now is the time for strength. If you want peace, you must stand strong at all times. (Applause.) The world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens with nuclear devastation.

All responsible nations must join forces to isolate the brutal regime of North Korea — to deny it and any form — any form of it. You cannot support, you cannot supply, you cannot accept. We call on every nation, including China and Russia, to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions, downgrade diplomatic relations with the regime, and sever all ties of trade and technology.

[…] It is our responsibility and our duty to confront this danger together — because the longer we wait, the greater the danger grows, and the fewer the options become. (Applause.) And to those nations that choose to ignore this threat, or, worse still, to enable it, the weight of this crisis is on your conscience.

I also have come here to this peninsula to deliver a message directly to the leader of the North Korean dictatorship: The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in grave danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face.

North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned. It is a hell that no person deserves. Yet, despite every crime you have committed against God and man, you are ready to offer, and we will do that — we will offer a path to a much better future. It begins with an end to the aggression of your regime, a stop to your development of ballistic missiles, and complete, verifiable, and total denuclearization. (Applause.)

A sky-top view of this peninsula shows a nation of dazzling light in the South and a mass of impenetrable darkness in the North. We seek a future of light, prosperity, and peace. But we are only prepared to discuss this brighter path for North Korea if its leaders cease their threats and dismantle their nuclear program.

The sinister regime of North Korea is right about only one thing: The Korean people do have a glorious destiny, but they could not be more wrong about what that destiny looks like. The destiny of the Korean people is not to suffer in the bondage of oppression, but to thrive in the glory of freedom. (Applause.)

What South Koreans have achieved on this peninsula is more than a victory for your nation. It is a victory for every nation that believes in the human spirit. And it is our hope that, someday soon, all of your brothers and sisters of the North will be able to enjoy the fullest of life intended by God.

~ U.S. President Donald Trump (Nov 8, 2017)

This speech was delivered in Seoul, South Korea.  However, the most important audience was in Beijing China.

Mar 7 2018

Phase-2 MAGAnomic Policy – NEC Director Gary Cohn Departs Administration…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 6, 2018 by

There will obviously be another media cycle decrying crisis at the White House with the announcement that National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn is departing.

However, for those who follow the administration closely, this was a foregone conclusion; the MAGAnomic “America First” policy has a specifically timed exit ramp for just this purpose.

We have previously outlined the relationship between President Trump and Gary Cohn HERE – Along with what each of them brings to the perspectives of the other.  In addition, the larger Trump economic policy always held two distinct aspects:

  1. The financial aspects – taxes and monetary policy stability; or perhaps more succinctly the Wall Street aspect.
  2. The trade, jobs and manufacturing aspects – trade policy; or perhaps more succinctly the Main Street aspect.

The implementation of Trump’s economic policy involves those two elements: Taxes and Trade. Inside the Trump administration there are economic policy advocates who agree on the tax element, but disagree on the trade element. Economic adviser Gary Cohn is an example.

The Wall Street crowd align with Trump on taxes, but fundamentally split from him on trade. The combined Trump policy is part of the larger America-First initiative, but some within the economic team only agree with half of the aggregate policy. This is why there is a split.

As previously noted, with the tax reform proposals in place (the basis for domestic economic investment), the focus of Trump’s economic platform turns specifically to Main Street. This policy split is what makes President Trump so stunningly unique amid politicians. POTUS Trump splits from the traditional republican economic outlook on matters surrounding Main Street’s best interests.

Inside this dynamic, and the goal to restore a ‘balanced’ U.S. economy, is where the importance of Gary Cohn diminishes and the role of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross elevates. Secretary Ross is the person creating the fulcrum in the balanced economy reset.

POTUS Trump and Secretary Ross always knew they would need to jettison part of the administrations’ economic team once they accomplished, and moved past, tax reform.

Their focus now is laser targeted policy toward Main Street. Consider this ‘Phase-2’

We are now inside phase-2 of the total policy execution. Secretary Ross outlined how the ‘America First’ economic policy and phase-2 platform engages with the global community during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January.

The corporate media, even the financial media, never highlighted the severity expressed by Wilbur Ross at Davos – because the Main Street policy he was explaining is directly against their interests. During the Davos World Economic Forum, Ross conveyed to the larger multinational interests an explanation of the high-level shift in U.S. trade policy, and reinforced the Trump Doctrine of economic nationalism.

Secretary Ross told the panel: “The Chinese for quite a little while have been superb at free-trade rhetoric and even more superb at highly protectionist behavior. Every time the U.S. does anything to deal with a problem, we are called protectionist.”

“Protectionists” the opposition was predicted to shout by Ross in January. Well, cue the audio visual demonstrations over the past few days surrounding Steel and Aluminum tariffs.

Also at Davos in January, after three decades of President Trump outlining his trade views, secretary Ross accurately said President Donald Trump has a forceful leadership style that some people don’t like. “We don’t intend to abrogate leadership, but leadership is different from being a sucker and being a patsy. We would like to be the leader in making the world trade system more fair and more equitable to all participants” Ross said.

Secretary Ross also challenged the panelists, including World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo and Cargill Inc. CEO David MacLennan, to name a nation that’s less protectionist than the U.S. – – – He got no responses.

Not taking any guff, Secretary Ross then cited a study of more than 20 products that showed China had higher tariffs on all but two items on the list, and Europe all but four. The panel sat jaw-agape at Ross’s delivery of irrefutable facts to the audience. “Before we get into sticks and stones about free trade we ought to first talk about, is there really free trade or is it a unicorn in the garden,” said Ross. Again, no response from the panel.

Despite the tariffs Trump imposed in January on solar panels and washing machines; and despite the proposition of Steel and Aluminum tariffs, China is planning for a “bumper year” for new trade deals, according to China’s own Commerce Ministry.

For the past 30+ years, DC politicians have been selling out the U.S. economy to corporate interests, Wall Street and multinationals. President Trump is simply saying “no more”, and finally putting a stop to it. They hate him. He doesn’t care.

Mar 6 2018

Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Chairman Trey Gowdy Request DOJ Special Counsel…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 6, 2018 by

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte has direct oversight authority over the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Courts. Within this oversight, the House Judiciary Committee also has oversight over the FISA court. Additionally, in his current oversight role, Chairman Goodlatte has been working closely with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Today Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Representative Trey Gowdy pen a letter (full pdf below) to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting the appointment of a special counsel to investigate “conflicts of interest” and decisions “made and not made” by current and former Justice Department officials in 2016 and 2017, noting that “the public interest requires” the action.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Gowdy and Goodlatte spoke about the discovery of new information as their reasoning behind calling for a second independent counsel:

“What changed for me was the knowledge that there are two dozen witnesses that Michael Horowitz, the [DOJ] Inspector General, would not have access to,” Gowdy said. “When I counted up 24 witnesses that he would not be able to access were he to investigate it, yeah only one conclusion, that’s special counsel.”

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/373159802/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-fOqL7jg1coZs1VjTS7Vr

.

Mar 6 2018

Sketchy Sam, Take Six – Perhaps Drunk, Sketchy Sam Gives Erin Burnett The Goofiest Epic Interview…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 5, 2018 by

Sketchy Sam (Nunberg) shows up for his sixth media interview in four hours apparently suffering from a manic episode, drunk or medicated, and performing his Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz) routine.  CNN takes glorious advantage of Sketchy’s unstable disposition and allows himself to make a complete fool of himself.

.

….“And my wife is ah.. Morgan Fairchild, yeah, yeah.. that’s the ticket.”…

(more video below)

Mar 6 2018

Federal Judge Rules Trump DACA Program Elimination Appropriate and Authorized – Full Judicial Ruling…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 6, 2018 by

Federal judge Roger W Titus (Maryland) has ruled that President Trump acted appropriately and within his authority by announcing his intent to rescind the Obama-era executive order surrounding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). However, the Judge Titus order does not stop the previous blocks by activist judges currently working through the courts.

Eventually the state challenges to the recension of DACA will work through the appellate courts and arrive at the Supreme Court. It is likely SCOTUS will take the same position on DACA as they did on DAPA; overrule the state challenges and determine the program unconstitutional.

In the interim, President Trump had requested that congress take up the DACA issue as part of their responsibility to put forth an immigration reform bill. Democrats have abandoned legislative efforts to assist those impacted by DACA, and have instead chosen to make DACA a political issue for the 2018 mid-term election.

MARYLAND – […] Judge Roger W. Titus, a Bush appointee, ruled late Monday President Trump acted within his authority in his plan to rescind an executive order former President Barack Obama announced in 2012 as a way to protect illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors. Trump ended the order over a period of six months until Congress could legislatively solve the problem.

[…] While a major win for the Trump administration, the decision does not affect the current status of DACA. The program is still in place because other courts have handed down injunctions mandating the program continue while legal challenges to Trump’s decision to end the program continue. The administration originally set a March 5 deadline for the end of DACA.

Current recipients are able to apply for renewal while the cases are pending, but no new illegal immigrants who would otherwise be covered by the program can apply.

A Justice Department spokesman praised the judge’s decision.

“The Department of Justice has long maintained that DHS acted within its lawful authority in making the discretionary decision to wind down DACA in an orderly manner, and we welcome the good news today that the district court in Maryland strongly agrees,” DOJ spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement. (read more)

Here’s the ruling:

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/373075382/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-e7j9EChWn7bEq5tS7ter

.

Here’s the back-story to the parallel executive action around DAPA.

D.A.P.A or Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program – was the executive action Obama attempted in November of 2014 which was shut down by Federal Judge Andrew Hanen in February 2015 with the issuance of an emergency injunction.

Mar 6 2018

Gone Bananas: CNN Dispatches Production Crew To Thailand To Locate Hooker Promising Dirt on Putin/Trump…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 5, 2018 by

CNN doesn’t have a single broadcast show in the top 40 of cable. CNN’s current ratings are the worst in their history. CNN uses Bananas and Apples to explain their 2018 journalistic mission statement.

A few months ago, a special CNN investigative unit reached the end of a year compiling information that proved Pokemon-Go conspired to defeat Hillary Clinton. Last month the network sent a reporter to St. Petersburg, where he literally dug around a dumpster looking for leads to the global Russian election conspiracy.

Earlier tonight, after Jake Tapper interviewed him by phone, CNN quickly arranged for an hour-long broadcast interview with a seemingly drunk guy , “sketchy sam“, to discuss the vast Russian-Trump planetary conspiracy theory & his involvement with Robert Mueller.

And now this:

Yes America, today CNN sends Ivan Watson to Bangkok, Thailand, for an interview with a prostitute claiming to have the goods on the President Trump’s collusion with Russia. The hooker, Anastasia Vashukevich, who is also a self-described “sex coach,” is currently imprisoned, and hopes that America will offer her asylum in exchange for naked pictures of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Yes, seriously…

“Mass Extinction in Natural World”?

Mar 5 2018

NAFTA Round Seven Ends in Mexico City With Negligible Progress – USTR Lighthizer Remarks (Transcript)…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 5, 2018 by

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer, love ya’ but enough already.  After eight months, and seven rounds of negotiations, only six trade chapter agreements -out of 30- have been closed.  It’s an election year in Mexico (July), Canada and the U.S. (November).

Time to cut bait; call the baby ugly; end the nonsense; stop the backslapping; put everyone out of their diplomatic misery, and finally make a formal NAFTA exit announcement in Washington DC.

Today, round #7 ends in Mexico City with no progress. Surprise fail.   Here’s the trilateral presser (sorry, poor audio):

Other than the progressive Canadian ‘princess rainbow-sparkles’ stomping her feet and promising targeted political trade retaliation for U.S. Steel and Aluminum tariffs, there’s nothing newsworthy within the entire public conference.   Below is a transcript of Ambassador Lighthizer’s full remarks as delivered.

Ambassador Lighthizer: Good Afternoon.

Let me begin by commending Secretary Guajardo for a terrific job hosting this seventh round of negotiations here in Mexico City. It is a privilege to return to this great city.  Not long after I was last here, Mexico was struck by devastating earthquakes.  Your nation’s rapid recovery from that tragedy shows the great strength of the Mexican people.  You deserve our praise for that and our continued prayers and support.

I would like to thank both of you — Secretary Guajardo and Minister Freeland — for your hard work and for the hard work of your able staffs.  We have to keep in mind that there were several hundred people working very long hours for several days during the course of this process.  We are dealing with a large number of difficult issues, very technical issues, and I appreciate the efforts made by all negotiators.

In spite of this hard work, we have not made the progress that many had hoped in this round.  We have closed out only three additional chapters: Good Regulatory Practices, Administration and Publication, and Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures.  We have also completed work on sectoral annexes related to chemicals and proprietary food formulas.  And we are making substantial progress on Telecommunications and Technical Barriers to Trade.  We have also agreed to include a chapter on energy.

These chapters are important and provide further evidence that all three countries want to upgrade and modernize NAFTA.  But to complete NAFTA 2.0, we will need agreement on roughly 30 chapters.  So far, after seven months we have completed just six.  Now granted, these things tend to converge more towards the end of a negotiation.

As I have said since August, we have two major goals in these negotiations.  First, we want to update NAFTA to address modern trade issues.  All three countries agree that NAFTA is outdated, and I believe we should be able to reach agreement on new issues like digital trade, labor, and environment, intellectual property, and much more.  We urge all parties to move more quickly on these issues.

Second, we believe that NAFTA should be rebalanced.  This has been a longstanding U.S. concern about the treatment of our workers and businesses.  From our point of view, among other things, changing the agreement so that it no longer encourages outsourcing, developing rules of origin that will fairly treat our manufacturing sector and workers, and reshaping the rules of government procurement are very important.  We also need to make more progress on these points to conclude a new NAFTA.  We continue to stress the need to act quickly.

Now our time is running very short.  On July 1, as everyone here knows, Mexico will choose a new president.  That campaign as I understand it begins in earnest just next month.  But Mexico is not the only NAFTA country in the midst of elections.  Both Ontario and Quebec have elections scheduled later this year.  Finally, the United States has mid-term elections coming up in November.  All of this complicates our work.  I fear that the longer we proceed, the more political headwinds we will feel.

I also note that in all three countries, reaching an agreement at the negotiating table is only part of the process.  In the United States, after an agreement in principle is concluded, our laws require public disclosure of text, further consultations, and numerous reports before it can be considered by Congress.  Thus, in the U.S., we must resolve our outstanding issues soon to maintain the possibility of having this measure be considered by the current Congress.

As President Trump has said, we hope for a successful completion of these talks, and we would prefer a three-way, tripartite agreement.  If that proves impossible, we are prepared to move on a bilateral basis, if agreement can be made.

We have tried to be clear and very specific about what we hope to see in a new NAFTA.  We are prepared to work continuously to achieve a breakthrough.  I understand that these talks are not easy for anyone.  Each of us has our own political concerns.  But we are at the point where we have very important decisions to be made.  If the political will is there, I am certain that we have a path to a rapid and successful conclusion.

Thank you.

Mar 5 2018

Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran Announces His Retirement Effective April 1st…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 5, 2018 by

It was the Mississippi primary race between 40-year-term Senator Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel in 2014 that reveled just how far the GOPe would go to keep a grip on their power.  The establishment and Mitch McConnell were willing to do anything to protect Thad Cochran despite his infirmity and near certain senility.

Senator Cochran was barely awake for the past few years.  Today his staff announce his retirement effective April 1st:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today announced his intention to resign from the U.S. Senate effective April 1, 2018.

“I regret my health has become an ongoing challenge. I intend to fulfill my responsibilities and commitments to the people of Mississippi and the Senate through the completion of the 2018 appropriations cycle, after which I will formally retire from the U.S. Senate.

“It has been a great honor to serve the people of Mississippi and our country. I’ve done my best to make decisions in the best interests of our nation, and my beloved state. My top concern has always been my constituents in Mississippi. My hope is by making this announcement now, a smooth transition can be ensured so their voice will continue to be heard in Washington, D.C. My efforts, and those of my staff, to assist them will continue and transfer to my successor.”

Cochran was first elected to the Senate in 1978, becoming the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi. He is the tenth-longest serving Senator in U.S. history. Cochran previously served three terms in House of Representatives. (LINK)

Chris McDaniel (pictured above) was already planning a primary challenge to Mississippi GOP Senator Roger Wicker.  It will be interesting to see what comes next.

Mitch Tyner (circled) was Chris McDaniel’s lawyer in the divisive 2014 GOP election.  The 2016 Donald Trump Republican primary race was a national example of the same conflicts between the establishment and outsiders that existed in Mississippi 2014.

Mar 5 2018

The Glorious Stories of “Sketchy Sam” – Sam Nunberg Talks ‘Muh Russia Conspiracy’ Mueller Investigation With Media…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on March 5, 2018 by

BACKSTORY – Sketchy Sam Nunberg was a former aide/adviser to the Donald Trump campaign and very close friend of Roger Stone. Sketchy Sam was fired by Corey Lewandowski in 2015 for leaking salacious inflammatory information to the media and being a generally unstable fellow. Nunberg told media in 2015 that Ms. Hope Hicks (Trump Communication Lead) and Mr. Corey Lewandowski (former Trump Campaign Head) were having an affair.

Upon firing a jaded Sketchy Sam went to join the Ted Cruz campaign, and became a Cruz advocate. {Go figure} Later it was revealed that Sketchy Sam had written weird, divisive and racist material to his social media.  Everyone distanced themselves from him. The guy was/is just plain goofy, aka ‘sketchy’.

Enter Robert Mueller’s team, who interviewed Sketchy Sam for over five hours.  Then Mueller sent a subpoena to Sketchy.   Sam tells media today he thinks Mueller is on a witch hunt and other sketchy stuff as only Sketchy Sam can.

.

This entire Nunberg/media enterprise is a clown show of historic proportions; and even the moonbat interviewers recognize the goofy narrative that becomes obvious to anyone watching. If an elephant walked through your front yard, how many pancakes would it take to fill a canoe?  The vast Russian-Trump planetary conspiracy theory is epically ridiculous.  Sketchy Sam is the representative image of that nuttery.

.