Media Are Playing Games Yet Again With Anonymous Russia Leaks. Mollie Hemingway – “Watch nearly the entire corporate media establishment run wild with claims from completely anonymous sources in the intelligence community this week.”

“It is as if our political and media establishments refuse to learn anything from the weapons of mass destruction and Russia collusion hoax intelligence failures of recent years. Or worse, they learned just how easy it is to use unverified intelligence for political aims.

John Roberts proves he’s nothing more than an empty robe. Washington Examiner – “As disappointing as the outcome of this case is, the reasoning that led Roberts to write the decisive concurrence is even more infuriating for its utter lack of substance and spine.” … “Roberts embraces the nihilism of blindly upholding a wrong decision just because…well, it was decided. It is because it is because it is. ”

Trump Will Win If He Responds to Righteous Voter Rage. Victor Davis Hanson – “The hour of reckoning is here. Either Trump will crush the lawlessness and win swing voters to his side, or he will listen to the trimmers and lose the country.”

Spies, Lies, and Stonewalling: What It’s Like to Report on Facebook. Jacob Silverman – “More recent, and adversarial, reporting has produced important stories about Facebook’s refusal to tackle the proliferation of right-wing extremism and conspiracy theories on its platform.” This is a lesson in delusion and projection. The platitudes are about being open and free speech but the lesson is about trying to shut down the President under the pretense that what is actually happening to those on the right on Facebook is instead happening to those ‘in’ the right (on the left) with TDS issues.

Mask Wars. Chris von Csefalvay – “While facemasks can’t hurt in the fight against Covid-19, the outrage directed at skeptics is excessive.”

“Yet the evidence is hardly strong enough to elevate mask-wearing into the epitome of moral behavior. Doing so reflects a greater preoccupation with the psychological effect of masks—perhaps as a restoration of control in the face of an unseen and often perplexing enemy with no cure and no prophylaxis—than with their scientific reality. Americans should demand evidence-based decision-making and policies driven by soundly attested facts, not assumptions or psychological palliatives.

Science and “Science”. John Hinderaker – “The COVID epidemic has brought out politicians’ faux reliance on “science” in spades.”

quote of the day

Here’s The Good COVID-19 News That’s Being Buried By The Press. I & I Editorial Board – “the rationale in the first place could be even weaker than first thought. The reason for this is that the deaths now attributed to COVID-19 might be grossly exaggerated. The evidence is substantial, and has been obvious for weeks.” … “even with an overcount, the number of COVID-19 deaths is falling sharply. ”

“Until our national “experts” can explain to us why we should take these bad numbers seriously, don’t be panicked by phony warnings about possible increases in deaths. Manipulated numbers should never be used to make sweeping public policy decisions. That’s especially true now, with the left looking for any way it can find to shut down the economy again and end Trump’s presidency.

On the doomsdayer’s POV: US Sees Record 45k Jump In COVID-19 Infections As Global Total Nears 10 Million: Live Updates. Tyler Durden – it’s a qualitative and relative argument rather than the previous cite’s quantitative with contextual reference. The hyperbole – ‘spiked’ ‘surged’ ‘jumped’ – is telling as it deals with very short term rather than longer term trends. It confuses the ‘flatten the curve’ idea with binary ‘cured or not cured’ standards. It focuses on tests and not results. Compare and contrast to Coronavirus in one state (64). Scott Johnson – “For the first time since mid-April, we have had deaths in the single digits over the past four days.” … “The superficiality of the daily briefings should defy belief. Ehresmann yammers on about systemic racism. When it comes to the differential death rates between Minnesota and Wisconsin at about 16:30, Ehresmann has nothing to say.”

Flynn Dismissal Order ‘Thoroughly Demolishes’ Dissenting Judge’s Opinion. Tyler Durden – “Judge Rao is likening Judge Wilkins’ arguments, and Judge Sullivan’s actions, to what is done in non-democratic, third world countries. p. 18. Outstanding opinion. No mercy”

Michael Flynn case dismissed: Judge Sullivan’s novel actions served injustice. Jonathan Turley – “Any appellate decision taking unprecedented measures to stop “irreparable harms” and “irregular” conduct is newsworthy.” … “The panel, however, clearly had little trust in the plans for this hearing or any true judicial purpose. Indeed, it may have been convinced that the primary purpose was indeed to “make trouble” for the administration.”

“The ruling in this case is unlikely to force any real circumspection by legal analysts or the media in the prior coverage. Nuanced legal questions quickly evaporate in this age of rage. Conflicting case law is dismissed in favor of the clarity demanded by echo journalism. The law however brings its own clarity and the message of this opinion could not be clearer. Sullivan’s actions in the case did not spell “trouble” for the Trump administration, but rather, they spelled trouble for the administration of justice in our court system.

The Washington Examiner reports: “In light of the Opinion and Order issued by the Court of Appeals on Mr. Flynn’s petition for writ of mandamus, the deadlines and hearing date set forth in the Minute Order of May 19, 2020 are HEREBY STAYED,” the order by Sullivan said. [That’s only step 1]

Obama and Biden were up to their necks in the Flynn persecution. Andrea Widburg – “On Wednesday, news broke that was so big that (at least as of this writing) both the New York Times and the Washington Post ignored it: Barr’s DOJ finally forced the FBI to release Comey’s debriefing of the January 5, 2017 meeting that led to the General Flynn persecution.”

“In sum, on Tuesday, Trump accused Obama of treason, and the usual quislings in the Republican Party got all flustered and rejected the charge. On Wednesday, we acquired evidence that Obama was up to his neck in initiating a secret attack without any basis against Trump’s incoming National Security Advisor, something sure to destabilize the incoming administration.

As it happens, the quislings were correct – what Obama did is not treason. However, it may well have been an illegal insurrection or seditious conspiracy. [i.e. not Constitutional big T but common usage, little t, treason]

Strzok strikes again. Scott Johnson – “What we have here is the biggest scandal in American political history by far. Its principals remain at large. Every single one. Indeed, one of them is the Democrats’ candidate for president in the coming election.”

Why President Trump Is Right On Free Speech — And Silicon Valley Is Wrong. Dan Backer – “De-platforming those we disagree with is the road to tyranny. The hallmark of our political system is debating and even disagreeing with others, but never denying their right to speak.” … “Speech is not violence just because the offended are thin-skinned.” … “Social media is a powerful platform for political speech, but only if it is all-inclusive. Otherwise, it becomes a hammer with which the Left can bludgeon the rest of us.”

Companies boycotting Facebook are virtue signalling – but the implications are serious. “Anti-racism protests that have torn through America since the police’s murder of George Floyd have put President Trump under the spotlight – his authoritarianism, use of racist dogwhistles and increasingly hysterical threats.” [examples of this Trump behavior, please. Examples given do not pass even basic examination. The authoritarianism, dogwhistles, and hysteria are being used against Trump, not by him.]

“In the last week of May, the platforms vaulted into the spotlight when both refused to acquiesce to demands to remove two of Trump’s posts that violated their standards. The incident became a touchpoint for snowballing anger about the platform’s haphazard speech regulation policies and has culminated in a campaign called Stop Hate for Profit. Launched by advocacy groups the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Color Of Change, the campaign calls on businesses to suspend advertising on Facebook for the month of July, ostensibly to put pressure on the company to take more action on hate speech. Companies including Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia and the North Face have signed up.
…
There are lots of noble reasons to want less hate speech on platforms, of course. But Facebook has proven its method to be sloppy, biased and heavily dictated by (surprise!) corporate and government interests. Calling for it to take more action is merely hastening the skid down the slippery slope.

Note the ‘corporate’ hate with a taint of TDS in government being lumped in with it. It is a valuable argument tainted by bias illustrating dissonance that hasn’t quite been tamed by reason and self awareness. False axioms are not good basis for intellectual integrity.

Sowing the Sixties Winds, Reaping Today’s Whirlwind. Bruce Thornton – “Today’s disorder reflects just how successful the leftist “long march through the institutions” has been.” … “ideas and behaviors that by consensus were out of bounds then, have now been normalized and abetted by civic leaders and politicians, as well as popular culture, schools, and even sports.”

“History now becomes the systematic demonization of our ancestors for their flawed humanity and failure to create an impossible utopia. The West now is notable only for its crimes against that idealism, while its unique transcendence of those crimes, its recognition that certain behaviors and institutions are crimes, is forgotten.
…
because the left sees only the West’s flaws, today we are watching the violent assault on public monuments to people from the past, even statues of Lincoln, who ended slavery in the U.S. In the Sixties and Seventies left-wing terrorists bombed military recruiting offices and university labs that allegedly served the “military-industrial complex.” Apart from a few police precincts, today’s Jacobins are focusing their rage on private businesses and public statues, the latter the tangible and communal celebrations of our past and the all too human people who now don’t measure up to the exalted expectations of callow, entitled, badly educated young people. The goal is to “cancel” Western Civilization.
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This vandalism of the past, moreover, is a visible sign of what has happened to the profession of history beginning in the Sixties: It has been turned into a Leninist “who, whom” melodrama, with crude, moustache-twirling Western villains endlessly tying to the railroad tracks of history an equally crude roster of innocent victims “of color.” Human complexity, mixed motives, failed good intentions, and unforeseen consequences­­––the tragic heart of good history ever since Thucydides––are all cast aside for therapeutic bedtime stories comprising the creepy, sadomasochistic theater of guilty whites and their victims “of color.” This vandalizing of history has now triumphed, for today it dominates the curricula of schools from kindergarten to university.
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Next, we are witnessing the most blatant examples of the leftist principles that flourished in the Sixties: “any means necessary” and “never let a crisis go to waste.”
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This mostly blue-state dereliction of civic duty is unprecedented, and illustrates just how thorough the multigenerational corruption of education has been.

Now crystal clear: the left is weaponizing science for its benefit. Charles Rotter – “People understand that science is a process and as we learn more it can change, but that’s not what we’ve seen play out over the past few weeks. Instead we’ve seen the experts and media figures we’re supposed to trust invoke the word “science” to further their political ends — actual facts and evidence be damned.”

Lies, Damned Lies, & COVID-19. Tyler Durden – “As always, fraudulent language goes hand in hand with fraudulent political posturing, of which the Atlantic article I’ve already mentioned — oozing crocodile tears over the excesses of the cops while oblivious to the Constitution-defying antics of Governors Cuomo, Murphy, Whitmer et al. — is a rather rank example.”

“Of course, nothing I can write is going to penetrate the minds of people who have drunk the lockdown Kool-Aid and will hear, in my dissection of the fraudulent language used by “public servants” to foment poverty and to shred the Bill of Rights, only some sort of “coronavirus denial.”

So let me say it clearly: the coronavirus epidemic is real. Okay? It exists — but saying it exists is a mere truism. Iraq exists too, and it was once ruled by a particularly vicious dictator — though the fact that his worst atrocities were committed with extensive US support is mentioned far less often than it should be.

But it is still true that the American and British publics were tricked into endorsing a criminal invasion of that country on the strength of false claims. And no assortment of after-the-fact apologetics can turn those lies into truths.
…

• just about everything we were told about COVID19 has turned out to be false.

• We were told the virus would kill millions in the US alone, and that was false.

• We were told lockdowns would make it go away, and that was false.

• We were told we would only be confined until the rate of new cases leveled off, and that was false.

• We were told that while the outbreak lasted no state government would tolerate any sort of public gathering for any reason, and that was false.

• We were told that anyone who questioned the wisdom of the draconian restrictions foisted on us by our governments was a crypto-Nazi whose real goal was to kill off the weak — and that was false, not to mention slanderous.

• Most unforgivably of all, we were told — and told, and told — that morality was entirely on the side of the democracy-destroyers. That was a lie of breathtaking proportions.

Attorney General Bill Barr Removes SDNY Attorney Geoffrey Berman – UPDATE: Berman Refuses to Leave… sundance – “the Washington Post (above) and the New York Times (LINK) have both written pearl-clutching articles about Barr using DOJ “outsiders”; yet never once have they noted the FISA Court order that preceded all of these outside USAO’s entering the picture and receiving instructions from Bill Barr.”

Some, like on Volokh portray this as part of a Trump Friday might massacre tied in with firing several IG’s. What those who sneer at the President miss is the evidence of complicity of these federal officials in improper prosecution, FISA court abuse, and other problems. What has to be done, besides smear and sneer is to find ways to obstruct cleaning out the swamp and that usually means lawfare. Any loophole, any gotcha, any pretense will do. As with Berman, any degree of resistance necessary is within the realm of possibility.

Class, Not Race, Divides America. Victor Davis Hanson – “It is the truth that the white progressive dares not to utter.” … “we have reached the surreal point at which the nation’s privileged whites on campuses such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, in the top echelon of politics, and the corporate and entertainment worlds, all deplore in the abstract something they call “white privilege” in others who have never really experienced it.”

This Leftist Tantrum Is an Information Operation and Trump Is Winning It. Kurt Schlichter – “do not get frustrated because Donald Trump has not sent the 101st Airborne in to powerwash the human grunge from Seattle’s feces-bedecked streets.”

• Scumbagistan is a giant zit on the face of liberalism, and why should Trump pop it? He’s letting it fester for all of us to see – and winning the information war.

• The media shot its wad on the hyperbolic reaction to clearing out the park in front of the White House, demonstrating that even the most gentle and restrained of kinetic actions was going to get transmogrified into Hitler’s blitz across the Low Countries.

• And those generals screwed-up too, bad. They should have waited to wring their hands over Trump’s violent and dangerous employment of the military until he actually violently and dangerously employed the military.

You can’t order police officers to die for your politics. Jazz Shaw – “Suggesting that Congress can simply roll out some new rules about a crisis situation where the cops wind up in a physical and potentially deadly confrontation with a subject is magical thinking.”

Why We Won’t Have a Civil War. Bruce Thornton – “We’re mistaking an availability error––the fallacy of coming to conclusions based on what is most recent and first comes to mind––for a more probable reality. But that doesn’t mean that we are not facing serious political danger in the coming months.”

“But couldn’t such a volume of manipulated images and their attendant duplicitous commentary spark a civil war? Anything can happen, but the transient nature of such events like the riots, and the short attention-spans of most viewers, argue against it.
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Next, we forget how parochial the political class, whence comes most of the commentary predicting a civil war, really is. Those of us who are immersed in politics forget that the majority of voters and normal people are not as invested or even interested in the daily fluctuations of opinion.
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Such a disconnect between the opinions of the political class and American reality does not suggest enough of a broad and passionate consensus necessary for an actual civil war involving mass violence.
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a different world in 1861, when regional differences were more distinct, political identities more local, and experience with weapons and fighting more widespread than today. When we watch on our screens the well-nourished, leisured protesters, looters, and vandals, we don’t see the kind of young men who did hard physical labor from an early age, who were familiar with disease and early death, and who knew how to handle firearms. There were no snowflakes in the 1860s.
…
That a civil war is unlikely, however, doesn’t mean that there aren’t dangers ahead. The Dems have suffered decades of disappointment in their desire to “fundamentally transform America” into a socialist state. … They are doubling and tripling down on the left’s mantra “by any means necessary,” even to the point of endorsing socialist and utopian policies

The Media Are Lying To You About Everything, Including The Riots. John Daniel Davidson – “The media lied about the Russia collusion hoax, about the Mueller probe, about impeachment, about the coronavirus—and now they’re lying about the riots.”

The Great Society Has Failed. Lt. Colonel Allen West – “In reflection, we should all agree, and stop whistling past the graveyard, that this was a program intended to do one thing — create economic enslavement, dependency.” … “Sadly, with the advent of reality TV and other mindless programming, we are becoming a nation of lemmings and useful idiots, not critical thinkers. We prefer to succumb to the irrational emotionalism of which we are bombarded by the lords of propaganda. We used to have a responsible press.”

In a world of sheep-like conformity, Hillsdale College takes a stand. Andrea Widburg – read it.

An outrageous prosecution in Atlanta. Paul Mirengoff – “The Fulton County DA’s decision to charge officer Garrett Rolfe with murder struck me as highly dubious. It strikes Andy McCarthy as outrageous. Having read his article, I’m with Andy.” … “Howard’s charging of Rolfe isn’t just unfounded, it is transparently political — an attempt to appease a mob.” It also appears that the Stepmother Of Ex-Atlanta Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Fired From Job.

Atlanta shooting exposes the lie of BLM. Daniel Horowitz – “BLM: Blood libels matter” … “when a dangerous lie criminalizing all police and victimizing every black criminal is allowed to metastasize, it turns America into a violent, lawless nation, harming the very people that movement purports to champion.” … “Clearly, this case is in line with the vast majority of police shootings of both black and white suspects and many of the others that the media turned into a blood libel against the cops”

Vengeance, they name is Paul Howard. Neo – “DA Paul Howard of Atlanta took overcharging to a whole new level in his press conference on Officer Rolfe, who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks.”

Facebook breaks own free-speech policy over bogus ‘symbol of hate’ charge. New York Post – “They showed a red, upside-down triangle similar to what Nazis used to classify political prisoners, so they violated the platform’s ban on “using a hate group’s symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol.”

“There are only two possible explanations for the company’s decision: 1) Its speech cops are confused and incapable of figuring out what speech to ban. 2) They’re looking for any excuse to silence the president and his team or make them look bad. Both may have factored in Thursday’s decision.

The Military-Intelligence Complex. (National Review nagware warning) Victor Davis Hanson – “The generals and spy chiefs entering the political arena to slam Trump forget that voters chose him — and not them.”

“What is striking about these admonitions are not specific charges that Trump has violated the Constitution — indeed, we are daily reading more evidence of the Obama administration’s efforts to sabotage a campaign, a presidential transition, and the early months of the new Trump presidency.
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Yet being dubbed obnoxious or off-putting by a retired general, or pushing policies deemed wrong or divisive, is not a reason to prematurely remove a president, or to virtue-signal that he must in some vague way be stopped. None of these self-described constitutional experts seem to realize that our system of government and laws was intended to protect not messianic figures whom we worship but unpopular people and their speech that we don’t like.
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As with Joe Biden’s giddiness about the thought of retired generals helping him remove a supposedly seditious Trump, no one paid any attention to Schumer’s warning of an active resistance.
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Fairly or not, there has been a widespread wink-and-nod assumption in the media that the military-intelligence complex finds the president repugnant. That personal animosity is fine if that is their wont. But what is not fine is their effort to enter the political arena and try to remove or cripple a president by using the powers and influence of their offices, present or recently past. When a retired general calls the president a Mussolini, or when an FBI director hires a foreign national and contracted employee of another presidential candidate to find dirt on her opponent, then we have grounds to worry.

SCOTUS rules for the continuance of DACA. Neo – “One thing this decision underlines is that at this point Justice Roberts (a Bush nominee to the Court) is a reliably liberal vote, or at the very least the new swing vote.” DACA illegal? Not a question. SCOTUS and even former President Obama who made it agree. But, Orange Man Bad: “Another thing it underlines is that the liberals on the Court have consistently applied subjective feeling standards (as well as mind-reading, in some of its decisions) to reach the goal it happens to like.”

“very seldom if ever in those days did I find that a ruling with which I disagreed had really poor reasoning behind it, rather than just questionable reasoning. In recent years, though, that’s been happening more and more frequently – the rulings with which I disagree involve either some sort of tortuous and convoluted reasoning/sophistry, or the application of a subjective and arbitrary judgment.
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Today’s decision by Roberts falls along those lines – to choose the least disruptive path in terms of keeping the status quo.

Supreme Court Blocks Termination of DACA Program – Justice John Roberts Makes Political Stand… sundance – “The admission that President Trump has the authority to terminate DACA, and the simultaneous admission they don’t like what Trump might do after the termination, is why I say this is the most political decision to ever come out of the Supreme Court.”

Democrat Lawmakers All Retire Since Supreme Court Doing Their Job For Them. Babylon Bee

Some Elections Clearly Matter More Than Others. Bob Maistros – “the U.S. Supreme Court – its so-called “conservative majority” bolstered by two Donald Trump appointees – handed down not one, but four decisions on fight-or-die battlegrounds for the right that turned truth, tradition, the law and the Constitution on their heads.” … “what part of the progressives’ agenda cannot be accomplished through continued co-opting of the commanding heights of the courts, corpocracy and culture – against the growing passivity and panic of the Grand Old Party’s grand poohbahs?” – he’s not a happy camper.

Will Justice Gorsuch Now Get an Apology From the Democrats? Editorial of The New York Sun – “Today’s Supreme Court decision protecting Americans from being fired because of sexual orientation certainly makes one thing clear — it is a fool’s errand to predict what a justice is going to do once he is granted life tenure on the high bench.”

Why so much trouble nominating reliably conservative Justices? Paul Mirengoff – “Democrats bat 1.000 when it comes to nominating reliable left-liberals to the Supreme Court. Republicans bat around .500 in nominating reliable conservatives.” … “The point is that there are major differences between the conservative legal movement (if it’s accurate even to speak of one) and the left-liberal one. These differences help explain why Democrats do a so much better job than Republicans of getting their kind of judges and Justices on the courts.”

Supreme Court Redefines Sex, Threatens Freedom of Religion. Daniel Greenfield – “When words don’t mean anything, rights don’t mean anything.” … “And reality itself is under siege in the minds of the men and women who run the country.” … “But words can mean anything and nobody cares about facts anyway.”

“When words mean nothing, rights mean nothing. Rights derive not from foundational documents grounded in eternal truths, but from social trends and the whims of political appointees.
…
The larger question, the one that Gorsuch so casually loses sight of in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, is where do rights come from. The Declaration of Independence had a compelling answer to that question that enabled Americans to defy the will of a king.
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Contemporary judicial activism has pitted religion against equality and we are less equal for it.

Judicial activism began by taking away the equality of Natural Law and replacing it with the inequality of judicial whim which inevitably nullifies whatever good it sets out to create.

Fear in Politics. The unspoken motive. Jack Kerwick – “For all of their (ultimately irreconcilable) differences, the world’s wisdom traditions are of one mind in their insistence that most people prefer UnReality to Reality, the Lie to the Truth. … They also concur that it is, at bottom, fear that motivates the masses that have been exposed to the worldview embodied in their traditions to repudiate those worldviews.”

“ Things haven’t changed. Today, it is fear—raw, primal, fear—that is the engine powering the capitulation of Americans, white and black, to the Big Lie, this whopper of a lie, that black Americans are perpetually murdered by a “White Supremacist” society via the police.

Such is the magnitude of this lie that it is no exaggeration to say that it is a parallel universe.

Parallel universe?

Yes, Let’s Defund The Police … At The EPA. I & I Editorial Board – “Not only do Democrats not want to rein in the militarization of the federal agencies, they want to expand it.” … “Meanwhile, eight Democratic state attorneys general have sued the EPA for relaxing its enforcement activities during the COVID-19 lockdowns.” … “A few years ago, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, introduced the Regulatory Agency De-militarization Act, saying that “It’s disturbing to see the stories of federal regulators armed to the teeth and breaking into homes and businesses when there was no reason to think there would be resistance.”

Begging the Mob’s Forgiveness Doesn’t Work. Kyle Smith – “You can’t apologize enough to the woke and the restless.” … “After the actual riots, the metaphorical ones. Reputations get burned down. Careers get their windows smashed in. Character gets assassinated. … Much of this has been nearly as senseless, emotion-driven, and inane as the actual burning, looting, and destroying of urban neighborhoods.”

Who is John Gleeson? Paul Mirengoff – “Judge Gleeson was an advocate for the defendant in a case before him. He thus violated the fundamental principle that a judge cannot decide a case in which he has been, much less in which he actively remains, an advocate.”

“Thus, Gleeson waged his own campaign, using his office and his power, to browbeat the local prosecutor, who regularly appears in his court, into asking for charges to be dropped against a repeat, armed felon whom the prosecutor’s office properly convicted at a trial many years before. Gleeson then granted the request for a reduced sentence for which he had tirelessly advocated.
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Who is John Gleeson? He’s a former rogue judge and current accomplice to a judge who, it appears, also wants to go rogue.

Saturday’s Washington, DC Protest Was a Big Flop. John Nolte – “Twitter’s Blue Checkmark Mafia and the fake media told us anywhere from one million to 100,000 protesters would swarm Washington, DC, on Saturday. Only 10,000 showed up, which means the “experts” were only off in the range of 80 to 99 percent.”

I Must Object. Glenn C. Loury – “A rebuttal to Brown University’s letter on racism in the United States”

Riots, Brought To You By District Attorneys Who Won’t Prosecute. I & I Editorial Board – “Just as with recent revelations of misconduct at the FBI, Justice Department and CIA, Americans would be well-advised to pay close attention also to their local races for judges, district attorneys and other positions of power in the justice system. Any interference by Soros is a red flag, pun intended, that your local justice system is being subverted.”

Media Enraged That More Swedes Aren’t Dying. Michael Fumento – “Which can be inferred as saying Sweden committed no error the first time. Sweden was right; meaning practically the rest of the world was wrong – at a terrible, terrible price.”

Candace Owens Video: I DO NOT Support George Floyd and I Refuse to See Him as a Martyr – “Floyd’s family deserves justice, but turning him into a saint is a destructive mistake.”

New York and California Freed Thousands of Criminals and the Riots Began. Daniel Greenfield – “Free the criminals. Organize riots. Watch cities burn. Repeat.” … “Not all of the released criminals returned to crime, but the riots provided the perfect opportunity.”

“ Right now, Black Lives Matter and Antifa, and more importantly their backers from the Democrat Party to the media to academia, are holding a gun to the head of the United States of America. But the worst part of it is that we gave them the gun and put the bullets in it when we began freeing criminals.

Law and order is the only way to take the gun away. Locking up the criminals disarms the Left.

Understanding the Far-Left Threat. Christopher DeGroot – “Bush may have meant well, but his words, being inaccurate, aren’t doing Americans any favors.” … “Still, the myth of systemic racism, like the view that whites are a privileged group, persists. Why? The answer is that the left needs it. For if the United States is an irredeemably racist country, then the left will be justified in destroying it, which is precisely what the left seeks to do.”

Please Don’t Go! John Hinderaker – “That is what officials in cities that have been devastated by rioters, looters and arsonists are saying to businesses whose investments in those cities have gone up in smoke. “ … “Really? What a surprise! Too bad those “realizations” didn’t occur before morons destroyed their own neighborhoods..”

“Riots are terribly destructive, but most of the damage does not occur overnight. It plays out over a period of years. Sadly, much of the progress that has been made by minority business owners and by minority neighborhoods in recent decades has been wiped away by rioters, looters and arsonists.

And it’s based on a web of Big Lies. Neo – “One of the worst things about what’s been happening now, and actually for a long time, is the acceptance of lies as truth. It’s easy to spread a simple lie that grabs people and energizes them. Truth sometimes requires deeper thought, and maybe even a little math on occasion.”

Friendly Cautionary Advice to Journalists Sourcing Stories from Lawsuit Allegations. Tim Kowal – “Are allegations in a lawsuit a credible journalistic source? Be aware that litigants often file frivolous lawsuits.” Many are rather loose with their claims to blame others, even in lawsuits. “How can NPR’s audience be assured they are being provided a report on a white supremacist conspiracy that is any more credible than a Church of Mormon conspiracy?”

an adage which states that “if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging” [Wikipedia]

What’s Trump Got To Do With The George Floyd Riots? I & I Editorial Board – “You’d think that those most responsible for maintaining law and order in their own communities would bear the brunt of the criticism for the ongoing mayhem, wouldn’t you?” The common refrain is that these guys like spending other people’s money – which lasts until there isn’t any more to take. Now it shows that these same guys like to take other people’s culpability until that runs out, too.

“to say that Trump is somehow responsible for the violence, or that his actions have fanned the flames, is simply another symptom of Trump Derangement Syndrome. The same people now blaming Trump for the riots have already blamed him for every other problem, real or imagined, that has occurred in the past three years – including the weather.

Could Trump act more delicately and be more unifying during this latest crisis? We suppose so. Could his opponents behave less like raving lunatics who are willing to tear everything down if they think it will hurt Trump’s reelection chances? Definitely.

That elusive white supremacist (not). Scott Johnson – “At his press conference yesterday, Governor Walz declared the driver “stupid” for speeding and glorified the crowd that pummeled him … One has to make it to the end of the local CBS affiliate’s story on this incident to find a powerful testimonial to the driver from the (black) customer he had just served at the time of the incident:”

The Truth About Police Violence and Race. John Perazzo – “Debunking the lies that justify rage and riots.” … “It is possible, you know, to do two reasonable things at once. That is, one can be outraged by the injustice that was done to George Floyd, without falsely portraying it as a microcosm of systemic racism by police officers across America. It is nothing of the kind.”

‘Institutional racism ’is the new blood libel. Seth Grossman – “The riots that began in Minneapolis are the intended consequence of the fake history dished out by our media, Hollywood, and most colleges and public schools for the past 50 years. This new “institutional racism” falsely blames all whites for every injustice — especially whites who are Christian, Republican or who love America.” … “Leave it to “progressive” Democrats to make the worst of Old Russia the “new normal” in America.”

Democrats’ Chickens Come Home to Roost. Derek Hunter – “Conservatives have been warning about the dangers of Antifa and other left-wing groups for years. No one in the Democrat media listened.”

“More than that, they cheered them on; defended them. Why not? After all, they were chanting the right things and targeting the right people, from the left’s perspective.

No progressive group would condemn them: Black Lives Matter didn’t, the Women’s March didn’t, CNN didn’t.
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The radicals have become a liability, not because of the violence, per se, but because they aren’t targeting the violence in useful directions, and it’s all being caught on tape.
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During the Trump administration, the target was national: the president himself.
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Now, Democrats are trying to have their cake and eat it too. They want to target local police and the president, but that’s a tougher sell.

The cities they’re claiming are oppressive are controlled by their own, and have been for a long time.
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But, again, the president had no connection to any of this. Still, the left hates him so much, and they want an issue to attack him with, they’re blaming him anyway.
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Propagandists in the media have tried to protect the lie, protect the rage while attempting to separate out the most violent elements as somehow being “infiltrators,” but it isn’t working.

After watching Democrat governors flail, President Trump steps in to quell the riots. Andrea Widburg – “Before Monday, President Trump kept a low profile regarding the riots. He wasn’t invisible; he just wasn’t putting himself front and center. That changed dramatically on Monday.”

The DOJ supports its petition for writ of mandate with an explosive brief. Ibid – “Sullivan filed his pathetic and dishonest brief on Monday. The DOJ’s brief, however, is filled with devastating facts and entirely on-point legal authority.” … “The DOJ is taking this matter very seriously.”

“According to Sean Davis, having this many heavy-hitters on an appellate brief is almost unheard of:
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The statement of facts explains how egregiously the FBI set up Michael Flynn to drive him out of office as acting National Security Advisor. This disheartening tale manifestly merits dismissal. (It’s noteworthy that everyone involved in this miscarriage of justice has been fired or quit involuntarily. It would be nice if at least some would be prosecuted.)

The legal arguments are straightforward: Under Art. II of the Constitution, the executive branch has the sole power to determine whether to prosecute a case. The judicial branch may not directly interfere with this discretion. Nor may a judge attempt to act as a prosecutor by bringing criminal charges against any party.
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From a legal standpoint, the DOJ presents a compelling case. It is always possible, in this age of judicial activism, for a Court to ignore the law to arrive at its preferred conclusion. I have seen it often enough practicing law in the People’s Republic of California. But assuming the circuit court in this case follows the law, it must issue the writ of mandamus and order Judge Sullivan to dismiss the Michael Flynn with prejudice.

Judge Sullivan ripped the judicial mask off, and what’s behind it is ugly. Ibid – “Wilkinson and her team are being dishonest. On the matter at issue here, Fokker is unambiguous:” The court rules of procedure are about protecting the defendant and Sullivan’s argument is trying to void that.

RedState Legal Analyst “Shipwreckedcrew:” Emmit Sullivan’s Response to the Court of Appeals Is Deranged, Doesn’t Cite Any Authority for His Actions, Just Tells Them To Let Him Do Whatever He Wants. Ace of Spades comments – “”

“That is: the Circuit Court was not asking him, “Hey, buddy, this is interesting, can you tell us more?!”

They were saying: DEFEND YOUR ACTIONS. CITE LAWS. SHOW YOUR WORK.

As we’ll see, Sullivan decided he couldn’t defend his actions and so decided to ignore the orders of the court.
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But he really wants to know why Flynn reversed himself on his decision to withdraw his guilty plea and instead reaffirm it? Becuase you threatened to put him in jail for treason if he exercised his right to withdraw the plea.

Undercover Huber on Twitter is getting cites from neo and Ace who refers to Bonchie at Red State. Judge Sullivan Delivers Response in Flynn Case and It’s Something. “It goes on and on like this while avoiding the core issue at hand.”

“What is even the point of all this given the new evidence and that both parties want this to end? There’s no logical, nor legal reason for Sullivan to keep this charade going, but he seems determined to do so. It’s a fairly gross display for what is supposed to be an independent judiciary.

The idea that Sullivan can delay justice yet again without causing any harm is ludicrous. Lawyers aren’t free, nor is the emotional toll Flynn is being put through.

Dana has a bit on the conflict in autopsies in Private Autopsy: George Floyd Died Of “Asphyxia From Sustained Pressure” (Update Added). “Hennepin County Medical Examiner … cause of death is “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restrain, and neck compression.” … Floyd had indications of heart disease including “arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease,” as well as fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use.”

Are People Allowed to Use Deadly Force to Defend Property? Eugene Volokh – “It depends, whether as to looting or other threats to property.”

Clever Churchgoers Avoid Arrest By Disguising Themselves As Rioters. Babylon Bee. Also Powerful: Protesters Spell Out ‘Love’ With Burning Homes And Businesses

Leftist Rules: Target Small Business Owners During COVID-19, Bail Out Anarchist Rioters. Sarah Carter. “Floyd’s killing ignited a fire across the nation that has given rise to violent protests and groups, such as Antifa that use the crisis to further destabilize the nation and destroy major urban centers. … More than a week ago, however, these same activists, liberals and Democrats publicly shamed anybody they believed weren’t following the guidelines to limit the spread of the coronavirus.”

“It wasn’t just the small business owners who were feeling the wrath of the liberal elite but everyday Americans who were made fun of and targeted after rallying against the overly restrictive coronavirus social distancing mandates. Those restrictions, coupled with the economic shutdown, have left nearly 40 million Americans applying for unemployment. But that didn’t matter to the progressive liberals, who challenged Americans that wanted to go back to work.

Those core American values were not acceptable to the liberal left during the pandemic, but rioting and looting over the last four days is not only acceptable but should be rewarded.

The Phone Settings You Need to Know Before Protesting. David Murphy. This is among sever at Lifehacker today to confuse protesting and rioting and encourage lawlessness and Karen type wokeness and mob actions fomenting.

Blaming White Supremacists For The Riots Is Nonsensical Gaslighting, David Marcus – “I can’t believe they even tried it.” … “The hypocritical mental gymnastics from the liberal media in the past 72 hours were amazing enough to earn a perfect 10 from the stingiest East German judge.”

“I call on every journalist who amplified this insanity to put up or shut up. Prove that most of the criminal actions were committed by white supremacists. For once hold yourself accountable to the people you claim to serve with your work. And do it now.

It’s an insurrection, no longer just protests, Thomas Lifson – “The key moment was when the mayor of Minneapolis surrendered the city’s third precinct police station to the mob. It was as much a signal to the mob as the storming of the Bastille was to the French Revolutionaries”

Trump declared Antifa a terrorist organization, and Democrats are worried, Andrea Widburg – “Many people believe that George Soros is funding Antifa and pulling its strings. While he may be funding the organization, its radical ties put it squarely within the new Democrat party. Indeed, the moment Minnesota AG Keith Ellison’s son heard about Trump’s announcement, he proudly declared fealty to the group:” … “Trump’s decision to turn federal law enforcement on Antifa is a disaster for Democrats. No wonder Susan Rice is already trying to blame the Russians for the riots. Expect to see a lot more deflecting from Democrats in the coming months.”

Susan Rice makes claim Russians could be behind violent George Floyd demonstrations, Gregg Re – “Former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice bizarrely suggested in a televised interview Sunday that the Russians could be behind the violent nationwide demonstrations” … “Even left-of-center commentators were bewildered by Rice’s claim, which was not supported by any evidence.”

Shades of Reagan: Bill Barr vows to employ 1960s anti-riot law on loot-and-riot thugs, Monica Showalter – “I’m already seeing it on Twitter: “Thank goodness we have Bill Barr.” … “This isn’t about civil rights protests. This is about organized crime and organized violence, in pursuit of some political aim. And whoever is doing it needs to be in jail, particularly the organizers from the top.”

Monica Showalter: Trump is right about the huge potential for ballot fraud in Michigan’s election – “To hear the mainstream media tell it, President Trump is somehow paranoid at Michigan’s latest gambit to mail absentee voting applications to all registered voters in the state.”

“Notice in the story how the reporter takes pains to state that these mail-in ballot applications will go to ‘qualified’ voters, as if Trump were somehow against that. Fact: They will go to any name on the voter rolls, and the problem Trump is bringing up is that the voter roll list is absolutely filthy, loaded with names of people who have moved away, leaving golden opportunities for Democrats to stop over at those mailboxes and pick up the unopened mail.

The report correctly notes that Trump said ‘ballots’ rather than ‘ballot applications,’ but that too is red herring. … The report said nothing about the flimsy checking mechanism or the unmanaged voter roll list.

There also was the Media-Matters-like “Trump claimed, without evidence…”

Bonchie: Chris Wallace Tries to Play Gotcha With Oklahoma Governor Over Phased Re-Opening – “The media’s war on these governors is not helping anyone. It’s leaving millions in a destitute, dangerous state and that has real consequences, whether anyone wants to face them or not.”

Matt Margolis: Why Has Barack Obama’s Unprecedented War with Inspectors General Been Forgotten? – “While it’s true that we should make sure these IGs were removed for legitimate reasons, I am perplexed as to why Democrats failed to take issue when Barack Obama went on a firing spree against inspectors general early in his first term, a clear sign he sought to avoid accountability from independent watchdogs that weren’t in his pocket.”

“In August 2014, 47 of 73 inspectors general wrote an open letter to Congress informing them that the Obama administration was obstructing investigations by not giving them full access to the information they need to investigate properly. Such a letter was unprecedented, and this systemic corruption and obstruction of inspectors general would have been considered an impeachable defense for almost any other president.
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Obstruction of justice was integral to the entire operation of the Obama administration. The Trump administration, by comparison, has barely been given room to breathe because it’s been constantly under the microscope of a special counsel investigation, an impeachment inquiry, and a media that spent eight years ignoring endless scandals under Barack Obama.

Andrea Widburg: Judge Sullivan does the equivalent of pasting ‘I’m guilty’ on his forehead – “When asked to explain himself to an appellate court, he should be able to sit down for a quiet hour or two and write out a document that includes his views about the facts and the law in Flynn’s case. … But that’s not what Sullivan did.”

“it is the judge’s responsibility to make sure that the government isn’t toying with the defendant by dismissing a losing case while intending to refile in the hopes of drawing a more amenable judge or jury. Absent that problem, the judge’s only job is to rubber-stamp the dismissal.

Judge Sullivan refused to use that rubber stamp. He also declined to act as Flynn’s last defense against an overreaching prosecution.

Instead, Sullivan did something strange. He asked a retired judge, one who had published in the Washington Post an article hostile to the motion to dismiss, to file a brief with the court opposing the motion. Then, although he had consistently (and properly) denied third parties the right to file advisory briefs with the court, Sullivan invited such submissions to help oppose the motion to dismiss.
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Sullivan hired Beth Wilkinson, a very high-profile Washington D.C. attorney to represent him before the appellate court. From a legal standpoint, this is beyond strange.
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Sullivan is worried that the appellate court will look at his conduct, rather than his legal reasoning.
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You name it, and people thought it – and rightly so because for a judge to hire a lawyer under these circumstances practically screams out that there’s something wrong here.

How blatant must the evidence be?

Daniel John Sobieski: No Pandemic Exception to Constitution – “American citizens [are] watching their unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness being ripped away by dime-store Napoleons who see this pandemic as a chance to pursue the liberal progressive dream of controlling every aspect of our lives.”

“The assault on our Constitution and our rights is deep and broad and will only be stopped by a Supreme Court ruling that our freedoms cannot be erased by an edict from a governor, mayor, or a state health secretary. These orders are not laws passed by a legislature, and even then such laws should and must pass constitutional muster.
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Lockdowns have health costs themselves that constitute a compelling interest to not have them. Simply put, Americans cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law and, again, executive orders do not constitute due process. There is no pandemic exception clause in the U.S. Constitution.

Andrea Widburg: In the Flynn case, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a surprising order – “A world of information lies behind that brevity, especially to those who have spent years reading meaning into cryptic orders. … I am never an optimist. No matter how carefully one reads the tea leaves, appellate judges are inscrutable creatures and, moreover, creatures who like to send out false signals.”

George Neumayr: Playing Dumb About Obamagate – “Liberalism sanitizes its scandals. … dismissing “Obamagate” as another one of Donald Trump’s “conspiracy theories.” Never mind that Trump has been right from the beginning about the Obama administration spying on his campaign.” Without double standards, they’d have none at all.

Paul Joseph Watson: Lockdown Zealots Are Behaving Like Cult Members; Psychotherapist Warns – “Psychotherapist Dr Hugh Willbourn says lockdown zealots are displaying all the classic signs of cult members by doubling down on their beliefs despite having been proven wrong.” … “Meanwhile, Karens all over the world don’t show any signs of giving up on something that legitimizes their favorite thing in the world; Lecturing other people about their behavior.”

Tyler Durden: COVID-19 Deaths In Context: How Many People Die Each Day? – “As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the media continues to rattle off statistics at full force. … However, as Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross notes, without a frame of reference, numbers such as the death toll can be difficult to interpret.” Here’s a reference from Our World in Data. The caveats are also described.

David Horowitz: “Perhaps the most troubling – and dangerous – aspect of the current political conversation is the unwillingness of virtually every elected official and every media pundit to confront what “Obamagate” is obviously about, which is treason.” … “Semantic deceptions are the currency of political conflicts designed to take the public’s eye off the ball.” for instance, is it capital T Treason as in Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution or small t as in common usage as in Webster’s of the word treason?

Rayn Random: Why AG Barr is right about not criminally prosecuting Obama or Biden – “We both would love to see it, but consider how destructive the Dems’ legal efforts to get Trump to testify so they could prosecute him have been for the past three years, and then imagine what could happen if the precedent were set to prosecute future presidents of either party.” The people, enough of them, are invested sufficiently to protect the past.

“But it appears that A.G. Barr and Michael Horowitz are leaving nothing undiscovered and fully intend to proceed with criminal prosecutions. If those who did the crimes under Obama’s orders and direction have to hire hugely expensive attorneys, perhaps even sell their homes, as General Flynn had to do, they will be angry, very angry at Obama’s getting a pass. They will tell all on each other and on him.

Obama will be helpless to stop it. He will not be able to deny anything in the courtroom, and more truth will come out than if he himself were on trial. He will have to watch his own destruction.

Sundance: Secondary Confirmation – Treasury Whistleblower Complaint Aligns Directly With President Obama’s Political Surveillance Activity… “According to the article in mid-December 2015 the Treasury whistleblower started noticing data-search transactions with the Treasury Dept. for specific people that aligned with the 2016 GOP primary.”

Andrea Widburg: Dan Bongino offers two shocking theories about the target on Flynn’s back – “thinks there was a setup. Three weeks before leaving office, on December 29, Obama suddenly took the dramatic step of expelling 35 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions on Russia. He knew that Kislyak would immediately get on the phone with Trump’s incoming national security adviser — that is, Flynn — to find out what Trump intended to do three weeks hence.”

Jonathan Turley: In Michael Flynn case, Judge Sullivan’s gross overreach turns justice into mob rule – “The case against Micheal Flynn is abusive and should be dismissed, as the Justice Department requests. But Judge Emmet Sullivan has other ideas.”

Tyler Durden: Beware The CoronaNazis – “There seem to be an increasing number of players willing to play politics to delay reopening to prize concessions and control. … All political actions have consequences – and when the government has to play to the fears of Corona-phonics and respond to the Virus-Nazis, we are going to get sub optimal outcomes.”

ibid: The 2006 Origins Of The ‘Lockdown’ Idea – “What’s truly surprising is just how recent the theory behind lockdown and forced distancing actually is. So far as anyone can tell, the intellectual machinery that made this mess was invented 14 years ago, and not by epidemiologists but by computer-simulation modelers. It was adopted not by experienced doctors – they warned ferociously against it – but by politicians.”

“Thus did some of the most highly trained and experienced experts on epidemics warn with biting rhetoric against everything that the advocates of lockdown proposed. It was not even a real-world idea in the first place and showed no actual knowledge of viruses and disease mitigation. Again, the idea was born of a high-school science experiment using agent-based modelling techniques having nothing at all to do with real life, real science, or real medicine.
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Ideas have consequences, as they say. Dream up an idea for a virus-controlling totalitarian society, one without an endgame and eschewing any experienced-based evidence that it would achieve the goal, and you might see it implemented someday. Lockdown might be the new orthodoxy but that doesn’t make it medically sound or morally correct.

Howard Richman: Dr. Fauci and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims – this is how you do it! “Fauci is about to begin a study in which he will test HCQ by administering it without zinc to mild and moderately severe COVID-19 cases. In contrast, doctors at St. Francis Hospital in New York pay attention to the medical research. They just announced a study that will test HCQ with zinc with non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.” This is how folks like Rick Bright get their ammunition.

“COVID-19 patients are largely drawn from groups that are known to have zinc deficiencies (i.e., the elderly, Black Americans, diabetics, those with cancer, and those with low hemoglobin levels). When Fauci tests HCQ on them without giving them zinc at the same time, many will die. In the 1930s and 1940s, the NIH deprived Black Americans of life-saving penicillin in the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Now, under the leadership of Antony Fauci, the NIH is about to begin a study that will deprive them of life-saving zinc.

Edmund DeMarche: Trump blasts ’60 Minutes,’ ‘creep’ HHS whistleblower after broadcast – Bright said “I believe my last-ditch effort to protect Americans from that drug was the final straw that they used and believed was essential to push me out,” – a drug in public use for over 50 years but he wants to save the public from their doctor’s advice.

“Azar hit back Thursday, slamming Bright’s testimony as “yet another attack on President Trump” laden with “disproven, unfounded allegations.”

“The president literally did what Bright is saying should be done,” Azar told “The Story.” “This guy was singing in a choir back then of everybody. We were all singing the same tune, and now he’s trying to claim that he was a soloist.”

Jed Babbin: Rogue Judge Sullivan – “There’s no end to the tormenting of Michael Flynn — but a writ of mandamus from the Justice Department should put a stop to it.” … “Sullivan’s action is unconstitutional, cruel, and an enormous abuse of his judicial power.”

“There is an awful stench rising from all this interest in Flynn, the FBI’s misconduct in pursuing him, and the actions of the Mueller prosecutors who pursued Flynn and blackmailed him into confessing crimes he didn’t commit. That stench now also rises from Sullivan’s action in delaying the dismissal of all charges against Flynn.

This has gone on far too long, and at far too great a cost to Flynn and his family. The DoJ should slap Sullivan with a writ of mandamus to the D.C. Circuit immediately. There is no reason for the toll of this injustice to continue to mount.

This has gone on far too long

Tyler Durden: It Wasn’t The “Virus” That Crashed The Economy, It Was The People Who Obeyed – “Most human beings still think like slaves. Instead of asking questions or using critical thinking skills to ask if something is right before doing it, they simply obey perceived “authority”. The truth is, this lockdown is the fault of everyone who complied and everyone who used forced to exact revenge on those who disobeyed. It was the same in all tyrannical takeovers in history.”

“Mainstream media outlets are still trying desperately to spin the narrative and fault the “invisible enemy” for the very real toll on human life the government’s overreaction has already caused. This is nothing more than propaganda, and once you pick it up, you’ll be able to see it.
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The primary threat to freedom and justice is not greed, or hatred, or any of the other emotions or human flaws usually blamed for such things. Instead, it is one ubiquitous superstition that infects the minds of people of all races, religions, and nationalities, which deceives decent, well-intentioned people into supporting and advocating violence and oppression. Even without making human beings one bit more wise or virtuous, removing that one superstition would remove the vast majority of injustice and suffering from the world.
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Instead of just blindly obeying the commands, think about it and ask if what you are doing is right. Do you have the moral right to take the rights of others? Applying even the most minimal amount of critical thinking to something can usually get people to what is right. But you have to do be willing to take a look at yourself, and correct your mistakes yourself, and take responsibility for your own actions. Which is exactly why most Americans won’t. Blaming a virus and blindly obeying the ruling class and it’s foot soldiers is much easier than critical thinking.

Eileen F. Toplansky: The Coronavirus Fifth Column – “As left-wing Democrat-controlled states continue to keep people in lockdown, it is becoming apparent that they are using the pandemic as a means to gain ultimate control of people’s lives. … In fact, leftists the world over are exploiting the pandemic in order to create their alleged utopias.

John R. Lott, Jr.: The US is Dramatically Overcounting Coronavirus Deaths – “Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate.” … “Relying on these flawed numbers is destroying businesses and jobs and costing lives.” ‘With’ or ‘of’ the virus makes a difference. Incentives matter as well. “It is hard to believe that we are basing such crucial decisions on such flawed data.”

Scott Johnson: Coronavirus in one state (41) – “If I were following the progress of the disease in Minnesota for the metropolitan daily newspaper that dominates the state, I would have a big story on the limited risk of fatality among healthy citizens. I would also want to highlight the subpopulations at risk of death on account of serious underlying medical conditions. … Unfortunately, that is not the way it is going down at the Star Tribune.”

Matt Margolis: Reporters Ask Kayleigh McEnany About The National Stockpile, Her Responses Were Epic – “She’s regularly demonstrated her ability to handle the media’s gotcha questions and throw them right back in their faces.”

Tyler Durden: Understanding The Mueller Lies About Michael Flynn – “Michael Flynn did not do a damn thing wrong in that conversation and the notes from FBI agents Strzok and Pientka, which Sidney Powell finally pried loose after more than two years of the prosecutors hiding exculpatory evidence, do not support the Statement of Offense.”

Editorial of The New York Sun: Judge Sullivan Ignores Shocking Record of False Guilty Pleas – “We may be slow, we often say, but then again, too, we didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.”

Daniel John Sobieski: Flynn Judge Ignores Supreme Court and the Constitution – “Prosecutors dropping a case in the face of overwhelming exculpatory evidence does not damage the justice system — hiding exculpatory evidence pointing to a defendant’s innocence does, as does one administration conspiring to entrap and frame a defendant chosen to work in a subsequent incoming administration.”

Scott Johnson: Obamagate explained – “This is Watergate times 10 or 100 or 1000. It is the greatest scandal in American political history by far. Richard Nixon never had it so good. Not even close.” McEnany explains.

Tyler Durden: Nevada: The Real ‘Golden’ State – “Today’s infographic from Corvus Gold showcases why Nevada may have a better case for deserving California’s nickname of the “Golden State”: we look at the state’s gold production, exploration potential, and even its rich history.”

Stephen Kruiser: The Morning Briefing: ACLU Sues Due Process Champion DeVos – “Because the world has gone completely insane, the new rules that DeVos is putting in place are being objected to by a variety of leftist organizations and politicians, all of whom are grossly misrepresenting the changes.”

Alex Berezow misses the critical point: Cult of the Presidency: Coronavirus, Trump, and Our Social Pathology – “This is, in a word, insane. But it has become routine in American political discourse. Every person is assumed to have an underlying political loyalty and/or ideological agenda.” … “That statement succinctly summarizes what I believe has become a dangerous social pathology, namely, that we as Americans pin our collective hope and hatred on a single person” – These two statements contradict each other and completely ignore the phenomena Kruiser described. Ideological agenda is not, in itself, a problem. “grossly misrepresenting the changes” is the problem. Berezow needs to apply a higher standard of intellectual integrity in his ‘both sides do it’ type distraction. He claims to be ‘science based’ but, in this case, is missing a critical science value.

Bruce Thornton: No Justice, No Freedom – “When such offenses committed by “public servants” sworn to uphold the Constitution go unpunished, our whole political order that protects our freedom is compromised.”

“If we want to avoid becoming a world where sheer power determines justice, all these investigations must end with indictments, trials, and condign punishment in order to hold the malefactors accountable, and deter future ones. But if they are left unpunished, then we will find ourselves increasingly living in a world where justice is not blind, and all are not equal under the law.

Shipwreckedcrew: Judge Emmet Sullivan Likely Committed Reversible Error In Taking The Guilty Plea of General Michael Flynn – “Judge Sullivan screwed up the factual basis of the guilty plea entered by Gen. Flynn, and the procedure he employed was unsound and violated Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.” … “The guilty plea was invalid as a matter of law independent of the DOJ motion.”

Carol Brown: Police State Dry Run a Huge Success – “We’ve been physically and verbally harassed, threatened, fined, detained, arrested, jailed, and/or placed in forced quarantine. Business licenses have been revoked. Going to work without the permission of the government is now a crime. So is going to the park or a beach. Children playing together is also in defiance of the government. So is placing flags on the graves of veterans.”

Jonathan F. Keiler: CBS reporter got the response her ‘question’ deserved – “The case is a microcosm of what’s wrong with the media, both in terms of pure bias, basic competence, and professionalism.”

“Jiang took immediate “offense” to the response, assuming Trump raised the subject of China as a “racist” attack on her personally. And of course, this is the tack the media has followed in the days since.

Trump frequently raises Chinese responsibility for the pandemic, so there was nothing unusual when he did it with Jiang. That’s true, but even more to the point, Jiang directly invited his response in this case.
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Jiang got the response her statement deserved. That she happens to be of Chinese descent is utterly irrelevant. That she is a lousy reporter who can’t seem to ask a clear, relevant, non-argumentative question, and is being held up as a paragon of virtue for it, is an indictment of the mainstream media.

Matt Vespa: Clown Show: Flynn Was Never Charged With Perjury, But Now Could Be Facing Charges…of Perjury – “we need to go another several rounds with the most unhinged anti-Trump elements in the country. And they’re lawyers, which means their arrogance will be nauseating. Yet, I’m fairly confident this will be another in-kind contribution to the 2020 Trump re-election campaign.” This isn’t a “clown show,” it is a lynch mob aided and abetted by a biased judge with an agenda.

neo: Perhaps you thought the Flynn case couldn’t get any worse – “And it’s a very serious game indeed:” … “I am no expert on this subject, but I have never heard of such a thing. And in particular, if a guilty plea is coerced under threat or pressure – which often happens – it is often a lie. The same with plea bargains. And everyone knows it.” Now she knows where Obama came up with that ‘perjury’ thing in his leaked phone call.

Matt Vespa: We Now Know How Far Obama Was Willing to Go to Damage the Trump White House – “With ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn now exonerated, as he was revealed to be the victim of a malicious FBI prosecution that was groundless, the last pieces of this dead rotting collusion carcass are falling apart.”

Laura Hollis: A Tale of Two Sets of Rules – “one for the elites in the Democratic Party, the media and the entertainment industry, and a different one for Republicans and us poor slobs in flyover country.”

“The self-appointed elites in this country are taking rank hypocrisy to new and dangerous levels. They know that the press will protect them, just as it did Clinton and Obama — and Harvey Weinstein and Ed Buck and Jeffrey Epstein and God only knows how many others. While Americans protest the unfairness of this double standard, the elites behave as if they are utterly unaccountable for and immune from any consequences.

And it can’t get any worse, can it?

Matt Margolis: It’s Time for the Left to Stop Pretending Obama Was Scandal-Free – “How many scandals will it take for the left to admit that Barack Obama had the most corrupt presidency in U.S. history?”

Stephen Kruiser: The Morning Briefing: ‘OBAMAGATE!’ Monday Edition – “Obama is back in the daily news cycle, and this is probably the first time that the malignant narcissist isn’t happy about it.” Defending Biden against mounting evidence is one thing. Now it’s Obama and the evidence is in congressional hearing testimony and other documentation regarding the FBI, the DOJ, and the FISA courts. Then there’s the pandemic FUD mongering and economic warfare at the expense of the Bill of Rights to defend as well.

“As evidence mounts that the upper echelons of the Obama administration — include Obama himself — spent their final days spying and phone-tapping in an effort to ruin Michael Flynn and poison the entire Trump administration, the president and his confidantes are turning up the heat.
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Those of us here on the sane side of things know that the Obama administration was never sans the blemish of scandal as the stories have been told. They benefited from a press corps that spent eight years spraining their necks looking the other way.

The evidence that has emerged in the past week can’t be swept under the rug, especially with President Trump in command of the biggest bully pulpit on Earth.

Daniel Greenfield: Obamagate: President Trump Goes After Obama – “The treasonous investigators and their instigator become the investigated.” … “One man, not some nebulous organization or unaccountable bureaucracy, pushed the lever and decided to use the machinery of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to suppress the political opposition.”

“Investigations start by exposing, breaking down and then flipping the stooges, before working their way up the ladder to the bosses who gave the orders, and then the man at the top. The investigation formerly known as Spygate has been burning its way through the titular spies who did the dirty work.
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Steele has since testified that he not only knew that Hillary Clinton was in the loop, but that National Security Advisor Susan Rice had been briefed. Obamagate had linked together the figures empowered to conduct surveillance of political opponents with political figures in the White House. That’s how covert spying operations like Watergate work. The DOJ is meant to serve as a buffer against abuses like these.
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As I wrote three years ago, “Once Obama and his allies launched their domestic surveillance operation, they crossed the Rubicon. And there was no way back. They had to destroy President Trump or risk going to jail. The more crimes they committed by spying on the opposition, the more urgently they needed to bring down Trump. The consequences of each crime that they had committed spurred them on to commit worse crimes to save themselves from going to jail.”
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The tables are turning. And the question now becomes, will middle rank ex-feds be willing to go to jail to protect their bosses, will those bosses be willing to go to jail to protect cabinet members, and will they all be willing to go to jail to protect Barry? If Biden loses, so does the Obama Alumni Association.
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Obamagate is not just the reckoning the nation needs: it’s the reckoning that the rule of law deserves.

I&I Editorial: Media Find In Coronavirus A Crisis They Can’t Waste – “We can’t be the only ones who sense the glee with which the news about the body count, the Democrats’ wailing over the president’s handling of the crisis, and the “new normal” are delivered across our screens.” … “The coronavirus coverage goes beyond the “if it bleeds it leads” tenet of sensationalized media coverage. It’s a handy means for them to extend the cultural and political divides that have made the 50 states less united than they have been in any of our lifetimes.”

“If you doubt the power of the press, recognize that Gov. Ron DeSantis handled COVID-19 in Florida in excellent fashion, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo handled it nearly as badly as humanly possible, yet DeSantis has dropped in polls and Cuomo is at the height of popularity,” talk radio show host Ben Shapiro tweeted last week.
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Choose any issue, and there’s a media bias editorial waiting to be written. The legacy press is simply the Democratic Party’s Department of Propaganda

Tyler Durden: Trump Furious After NBC Apologizes For Chuck Todd’s Propaganda Edit Of Barr Interview – yeah, OK, another of those “pounce” “seize” overblown headlines, but … “Todd literally stole Barr’s line about ‘upholding the rule of law’ and flipped it around in a case of blatant propaganda. … Greg Price of the Daily Caller calls out the “blatantly dishonest” reporting by Todd.”

Lee Smith: Adam Schiff lied about the Trump investigation — and the media let him – “Last week, Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell forced Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff’s hand. … They show exactly what you’d expect them to show: None of the former Obama administration officials who took to the airwaves immediately after Trump’s election to claim collusion had any evidence of it. … But what makes the transcripts significant is not what’s contained in them. Rather, it’s what they represent.”

“After Mueller filed his report last spring, CNN’s Jake Tapper said that “I don’t know anybody who got anything wrong.” Don’t expect anyone in the mainstream media to admit gross journalistic malpractice this time either. The tragic fact is that once-prestigious press organizations, including CNN as well as MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post, weren’t fooled by the collusion hoax. They were an essential part of it.

Daily Caller News Foundation: Supreme Court rules encouraging illegal aliens to remain in U.S. is a crime – “unanimously upheld a federal statute that forbids encouraging illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. unlawfully in a decision Thursday.” … “The ruling by the nation’s highest court Thursday upholds the law. … The Supreme Court not only vacated the appeals court’s decision but also criticized the judges for “drastically” straying from judicial norms. … Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal stalwart of the bench, wrote the high court’s opinion. … The decision brings to a close a court battle that lasted roughly 10 years.”

Victor Davis Hanson: Unbearable Truths About Our Current Political Moment – “What happens to a people when it can’t handle the truth?”

The chickens are coming home to roost …

Consider this headline: William Barr’s Perversion of Justice – New York Times, by Staff. It completely ignores the facts on the table. See Paul Mirengoff: An absurd and outrageous shot at Bill Barr or Ryan Saavedra: Democrat Law Professor Blasts Obama For False Statements About DOJ Dismissing Flynn Case then contrast and compare to the Washington Examiner …

Editorial: Travesty of justice finally ends for Michael Flynn – “The Flynn case is a stunning example of an abuse of power at the highest levels of the FBI, which was determined by any way possible to bring him down as part of an effort to damage Trump.”

Jason Killmeyer: Our Endangered Transfer of Power – “The 2020 election is fast approaching. If we end up with a landslide, we should be OK;” … “Our risk calculus is off. This is not the time or place in our history to rollout widespread changes to how Americans vote”

Clarice Feldman: January 5, 2017: A Day that Should Live in Infamy – “This week saw two major legal developments … Altogether they show a scandalous miscarriage of justice and media malpractice, which continues to this day, instigated by Barack Obama.”

“Once again, Obama makes a statement about law which is demonstrably false. In fact, not once to my recalling has he ever made a statement about the law that is correct.

As to the facts, you simply cannot count on media reports, so I will link for you the Government’s Motion to withdraw the case.

As you read it you will see that once specially appointed U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen finally found the documents long hidden from the defense and court in the bowels of the FBI and DoJ, the government had little choice but to withdraw the case.

A number of analyses — by people who do know enough not to simply rewrite Obama press dictation — provide an accurate and chilling account of the persecution of Flynn.

Monica Showalter: Obama is panicking— “A huge Obama White House effort to spy on a political opponent and prevent him from serving in public office is slowly being exposed.” … “Sundance over at Conservative Treehouse has a very deep dive (it took me an hour to read it, but it never got boring) into the roots of Obama’s rage and why he’s running scared and starting to fight back.” but look at how he and his cohort fights back … e.g.

Charles Hurt: ‘Demand Justice’ Fight Back — Against Judges Who Like the Constitution – “The baseless accusation is even more audacious for anyone with the faintest memory of the decades-long onslaught these people have waged against an independent judiciary in America.”

Rutger Bregman: The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months – “When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller” … “In hindsight, the secret to the book’s success is clear. Golding had a masterful ability to portray the darkest depths of mankind. Of course, he had the zeitgeist of the 1960s on his side, when a new generation was questioning its parents about the atrocities of the second world war.”

“For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. That cynical image of humanity has been proclaimed in films and novels, history books and scientific research. But in the last 20 years, something extraordinary has happened. Scientists from all over the world have switched to a more hopeful view of mankind. This development is still so young that researchers in different fields often don’t even know about each other.

Andrew Gilbertson: Blinded by Doomsday Predictions Masquerading as Science – “we have a serious problem with something masquerading as science: the manipulation of facts and data to create fearful predictive models.”

“It is important to emphasize that these ill fated prognostications were not made by carnival hucksters or Times Square loons in sandwich boards; they were the work of highly respected scientists and statisticians, widely publicized in the national media. All were taken seriously at the time.
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We need to respect science, but we must stop blindly accepting scientists’ unproven doomsday predictions.

George Neumayr: The Two Popes Problem – “When Pope Francis grants an interview, he makes news by subverting Church teaching. When Pope Benedict XVI gives one, he makes news by upholding it. Therein lies the two popes problem about which the media can’t keep complaining..”

I & I Editorial Board: Where Does Lt. Gen. Flynn Go To Get His Reputation Back? – “It’s time to restore this good man’s good name, tarnished by an illegitimate and illegal investigation by Deep State insiders, and make just restitution for his significant financial losses. It’s the least America can do.”

Ernest S. Christian: ‘A Colossal Public Policy Calamity’ – “How did it come to pass that something as patently wrongheaded and predictably calamitous as the nationwide one-size-fits-all 2020 “lockdown” of America could occur?” … “The lockdown arose from the synergistic co-joinder of two contagions: The COVID-19 virus that can kill the body and the fear virus that clouds the mind.”

“The movers and shakers, the crisis makers, were those who created the fear virus with their now suspect but then hysteria-inducing predictions that the COVID-19 virus would kill upward of a quarter-million Americans, or many more, and those in the media who relentlessly spread the hysterical fear virus into every nook and cranny of the nation.

In that sense, the “deciders” were, respectively, the expert epidemiologists in the Deep State science bureaucracy who, even if wrong in their predictions, were almost certainly acting in good faith and the media mindbenders who almost certainly were not, but who nevertheless function as an extra-constitutional, unelected and largely unqualified fourth branch of American government.

Very quickly, overbearing and overreacting governors and mayors closed schools, churches and businesses even in areas far away from COVID-19 hotspots – so great was the irrational fear. Fear stalked the vast prairies as well as the rapidly emptying streets in the cities.

Katie Pavlich: ‘Scandal Free’ Obama Strikes Again – “It’s one of the biggest lies in leftist media and insider Washington politics” … “new information about the FBI’s unsubstantiated criminal investigation into General Michael Flynn proves Obama was engaged in scandalous abuses of power right up until the moment he left the presidency.”

<p”>Kaylee McGhee: Fake news isn’t a problem as long as it’s anti-Trump – “A deceptively edited video of Vice President Mike Pence is making the rounds, so it’s time for a fact check: … Any claim to the contrary is fake news spread by people unwilling to do a little research.” … “Kimmel was ultimately forced to acknowledge his mistake. His apology naturally included a not-so-subtle jab at the Trump administration. Alas, what more can we expect from people whose instinctual anti-Trump mindset leads them to actively create and spread fake news?”

David P. Goldman: Don’t Forget Why the Deep State Targeted Mike Flynn – “Among all the heads and former heads of the 17 agencies that make up the US intelligence community, Flynn was the only one who had objected to the disastrous covert intervention in Syria and foreseen its baleful consequences. Obama fired him, but Donald Trump hired him”

Thomas Lifson: Dems respond to Flynn exoneration with the Big Lie strategy – “The biggest political scandal in American history finally is unwinding as documents are declassified and prosecutors and grand juries do their work.” … “The Democrats’ response is to double down and rely on the brute force of their media dominance to peddle a lie that, if repeated often enough, will be accepted as truth.”

David Catron: Dem Governors Face Dozens of Lockdown Lawsuits – “All have used the pandemic as a pretext for curtailing constitutional rights.” … “These governors behave as if they recognize no legal boundaries. Consequently, the voters have sought to correct them.”

“All of these defendants have four things in common: They are Democratic governors, they have used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to arrogate illegitimate authority, none will voluntarily relinquish their newfound power, and all have committed multiple violations of the Constitution. By the standards of the above-quoted aphorism, all have been found sorely wanting in the kind of character intrinsic to genuine leaders. All deserve the utter contempt of the voters who elected them to office.

Bode Lang: The Five Worst Types of Virtue-Signaling – “Virtue-signaling is one of the lowest forms of opportunism, but not all attempts are equal.”