Michael Kowalik: The Reason the World Owes the West – “The defining features of the West are rationalism—the commitment to reason as the ultimate cultural norm; humanism—the idea that humanity is intrinsically valuable; and secularism—the only known instance of systematic secularism that has ever existed.” A key struggle in this piece is secularism as in the 1^st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in contrast to a rejection of religion.

“Western rationalism and humanism have nowadays been internalised, to various degrees, by all nations. Apart from the natural world and the content of museums, everything of secular value that we see around us, our capacity to openly deliberate and question established ideas, to offend and be tolerated nonetheless, the sense that people of other races should have moral status, that slavery is repugnant … this is the West, and uniquely so. The post-Enlightenment West has given aboriginal people everywhere the greatest gift one can imagine: it has endowed them with objective humanity. The Western idea of humanity is a secular, non-contingent moral status that extends beyond tribal, cultural and religious boundaries. Until the Age of Enlightenment this status did not exist, and yet today we take it for granted, as if it always had meaning.

At the Quadrant today, the insight is Journalism’s ashes. It cites news stories of 2002 that describe the brush fire problem ‘down under’ that is similar in nature and cause to the California brushfires. That is used to excoriate current ‘news’ that blames climate change as hypocritical and Fake.

Thomas McArdle: Democrats’ 2020 Credo: USA, Worst Country In The World – “The precept at the heart of the candidacies of all the leading Democrats running for president in 2020 is that this country is morally bankrupt, socially dysfunctional, economically oppressive, and has racial bigotry weaved into the very fabric of its national soul.” … “The era of Big Government, far from being over, hasn’t even really begun as far as today’s Democrats are concerned. Because it will take a state bigger and more intrusive than any ever known to flush the U.S.A. down the toilet.”

Tyler Durden: Will Durham Investigation Tank Impeachment Efforts? – “However, if Durham’s investigation results in indictments of prominent individuals who targeted the president during the 2016 campaign season, it might be yet another demonstration that Democrats are motivated by politics when it comes to removing Trump, not a sense of duty or altruism.”

Tyler Durden: How The Deep State “Justifies” Itself In America – “I agree with the statement that “Endorsing The Deep State Endangers Democracy”, but I am more concerned here to explain how that endorsement — that deceit — is being done.”

“In other words: the Deep State, in America, are not perpetrators of corrupt government (such as in “countries like Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan, where authoritarian elements band together to undercut democratically elected leaders”), but are instead courageous enemies of corrupt government; and they are instituted by the aristocracy here (today’s American billionaires), in order to reduce, if not eliminate, corruption in government (which, the Times now alleges, originates amongst, or serves, the lower classes).

The lessons about Big Brother, which were taught by George Orwell in his merely metaphorical masterpiece 1984, were apparently never learned, because even now — as his “Newspeak” is being further refined so that black is white, and good is bad, and truth is falsehood — there still are people who subscribe to the propagandists and cannot get enough of their ridiculous con-games. Though in some poor countries, a corrupt Deep State rules; a Deep State rules in America so as to reduce if not prevent corruption, the New York Times now concludes.

You can see how it’s done, in those nine NYT articles. Isn’t it simply amazing there?!

Paul Mirengoff: Let’s hear from the whistleblower – “Democrats say they can prove their case against Trump without the whistleblower’s testimony. That’s probably true.” This is a reputable lawyer who should be aware of the nature of evidence and the issues with bias yet he so clearly illustrates a major problem in society right now in his own dereliction of his profession’s standards as well as in his observations. His animus towards the President drips an ugly slime. He is a part of the problem he sees.

“It’s true in theory that the “whistleblower” who set the process in motion might suffer adverse consequences from having his identity revealed. I say “in theory,” because the main consequence of revealing the identity of the anti-Trump whistleblower in this impeachment process is that he will never again have to pay for a drink or a dinner in Washington, D.C. He can dine out on his effort to take down President Trump from now until kingdom come.

And Hinderaker and Instapundit both note the sorry state of Education as a propaganda tool of the left today as well.

sundance: The “Coup” Against a Sitting U.S. President Became Official on October 29th, 2019… “The word “coup” shifted to a new level of formalized meaning last week when members of the political resistance showed up to remove President Trump wearing military uniforms.”

“ot only did U.S. military leadership remain silent to the optics and purpose, but in the testimony of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman he admits to giving instructions to ignore the instructions from a sitting United States President.

In the absence of push-back from the Joint Chiefs, from this moment forth, the impression is tacit U.S. military support for the Vindman objective.

Susan Ferrechio: Schiff signals he will reject GOP ‘sham’ witness requests – “Democrats are building an impeachment case that accuses Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.” The only allowable testimony is that which supports this narrative. All else is ridiculed and smeared if not censored, censured, and ignored.

Adam Mill: Schiff’s Dishonesty Is Certain to Morph Again – “This Ukraine farce will end the way all supposed Trump scandals end: with Democrats finding “evidence” of another scandal. Perhaps this explains why the House resolution retroactively endorsing the “impeachment inquiry” doesn’t actually establish a crime to be investigated or a scope for the investigation.”

“If Adam Schiff were a prosecutor, his November 5 contribution to USA Today would violate rule 3.8(f) when he claimed (again) that he had secret evidence of a secret crime committed by the president. Our system of due process (as codified by this rule) recognizes that it’s unfair for an accuser to use newspapers to claim access to secret evidence of a target’s criminal conduct. …

What crime? Schiff doesn’t name the crime anywhere in his 940-word vanity piece. Instead, he aggrandizes himself and these hearings that give witch hunts a bad name.

Jay Whig: Adam Schiff’s Outhouse Politics – “The California Democrat has assembled new procedures, a sewer of secrecy and lopsided partisan rules, against which the winds of deliberative government may not prevail.”

“Schiff has taken the basics of Anglo-American process, long developed from the time of medieval trial by ordeal into the adversary system rooted in time-honored rules framed around the protection of the innocent from malicious prosecution, and given it an upper decker that it will take a long time and at least two plumbers to fix.

Clarice Feldman: Impeachment Mashup – “Democrats have tried to impeach every elected Republican president since Dwight D. Eisenhower. … They’ve never succeeded and there’s no reason to believe this time is different.”

“Why this practice persists is that they are continually reluctant to accept political outcomes they don’t like. David Hirsanyi argues this point well as well as illustrating perfectly the left’s projection of their actions onto their opponents:

Cristina Laila: HERE WE GO: Dem Senators Seek Docs on Trump’s Alleged Request For Bill Barr to Hold Press Conference About Ukraine – “The Democrats believe that Trump, who is the president of the executive branch, is not allowed to discuss anything with the US Attorney General without their permission.”

Roger Kimball: Move Washington Out of Washington – “Anything that can be done to dismantle the Leviathan of administrative overreach should be done. A plan by Senators Marcia Blackburn and Josh Hawley to move federal departments to the states is not the end of the story. But it might mark the beginning of a sunny new chapter.”

Thomas Lifson: What the University of Alabama’s football stadiums tells us about Trump’s popularity – “that temple to football tells us something else, too: regional political differences are at the highest level since the end of the Civil War.”

“America is dividing into two nations, one based in coastal and a few inland urban areas, full of hatred for President Trump and his supporters, and the rest of the country that largely supports him and cheers “USA, USA!” when he enters an arena.

It’s sad, but that’s where we are right now.

Peter Michael Bleyer, MD: Redefining Medicine, Redefining Family – “Today, largely due to government policy, doctor’s offices have been transformed into a big government-controlled business … As older doctors like me leave the field, young idealistic physicians bypass Family Medicine; they are neither interested in working for a business nor motivated by a stifling code of political correctness which fails to recognize the dignity of every human being.” This is the rant of a fundamentalist Christian but his point is illustrated on the door of nearly all medical clinics in an entirely different irrational wokeness.

Ace of Spades: OMG: Judge in Covington Suit Makes It Official That The Politico-Media Class Has Greater Rights Than The Plebians, Ruling That Elizabeth Warren Cannot be Sued for Slandering a Child Because of “Sovereign Immunity” – “Anything necessary to protect the Ruling Class from the dirty commoners.”

“Given that this guy willfully misread the basic black-letter law on defamation to toss this suit the first time, does anyone doubt he’ll likewise soon find that Ana Navarro has a special Media People Are Special dispensation to defame children and implicitly direct antifa violence towards them?

Areg Galstyan: Trump’s Triumph: On the Way to a Second Westphalia? – “Today, Donald Trump has restored the basis to American foreign policy: predominance of rational national interests.”

“In 1648, Westphalia was the place where — following the end of The Thirty Years’ War — the great powers agreed upon the concept of sovereignty, signing the Treaty of Münster. It was expressed in the strict principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. Other global great powers’ meetings led to the formation of certain superstructures upon this foundation.

The Vienna System (after the victory over Napoleonic France) introduced the concept of a balance of power; the Versailles-Washington System (after World War I) established the importance of multipolarity with regard to resolving international issues (The League of Nations). The Yalta-Potsdam System (after World War II) introduced the importance of separation of spheres of influence between the great powers.

Liberal forces have consistently destroyed these foundations of international order, imposing the failed experiments of globalism, corporatism, and multiculturalism.

Karl Bode: Too Many Streaming Exclusives Is Already Starting To Piss Users Off – “too many services, and too many exclusives, and too high a price point could drive users back to piracy. An ironic outcome for a sector that took years to learn the lesson that the best way to compete with piracy is to offer better, cheaper, simpler services. … It’s the simplicity that’s starting to unwind as every company on Earth rushes to capitalize on the streaming evolution and lock down their own content exclusives, fracturing availability.” Same thing happening in online media …

Patrick J. Buchanan: Where Are the ‘High Crimes’? – “Given last week’s party-line vote in the House, where all but two Democrats voted to proceed with the inquiry, the impeachment of President Donald Trump seems baked in the cake.”

“And in the end it will be about what it has been about since the beginning: An attempt by the deep state and its media, bureaucratic and political allies to overturn the democratic verdict of 2016 and to overthrow the elected president of the United States.

sundance: Biden Lied – “Emails Show Burisma Executives Leveraging Hunter Biden Membership as Pressure on U.S. State Dept. For Assistance in Removing Ukraine Corruption Probe… everything Joe Biden and the Obama administration previously denied taking place is now documented as having taken place … This is the evidence the media said didn’t exist:”

Conrad Black: Impeachment Drama Is Fraught with Traps for Sane Observers – “Sane partisans become insane and the most open-minded of commentators become white-washers of the unspeakable Schiff-Nadler outrages.” The stimulus is a Peggy Noonan WSJ column and it is ripped to shreds.

“In fact, there is no evidence that there was a direct connection between Ukraine investigating Biden and the assistance involved. There is no evidence that Trump was asking for more than the facts of Biden and his son’s exposure in Ukraine—if the Bidens’ conduct was unexceptionable that finding would have fully satisfied Trump’s request to know what happened. The entire United States should want to know if Biden’s son was influence-peddling in Ukraine, China, and Romania—as has been alleged—and it should equally wish to know if the charges are unfounded.

… The absence of evidence that information on Biden and aid were connected and that the president was directing President Zelensky to produce a condemnation of Biden and his son is precisely why this spurious Star Chamber conducted by the most chronically dishonest person in American public life (Adam Schiff, though only by a nose over House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, both Democratic congressmen), should not even get to the Senate.

Jazz Shaw: AOC Waves The White Flag In Twitter Blocking Suit – “Here’s a riddle for you. What do Donald Trump and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have in common? The answer is that they’ve both been sued by people that they blocked on Twitter. The difference between them is that the President is still fighting his accuser. AOC, on the other hand, has folded her hand, apologized, and promised to stop blocking (some) people. (Washington Times).” Just who is fighting for your rights?

“So AOC meekly apologized and left the battlefield. Fair enough. …

Here’s one of my main problems with this entire debate. Both the President and AOC seem to have run into a wall, saying that their use of a privately-owned social media network is subject to the dictates of the courts based on the free speech rights of other users. This seems to be a patently ridiculous proposition, but it’s now building a body of precedent in court decisions.
…
Stop and think about this for a moment. If blocking someone as an elected official violates their free speech rights in a forum owned and operated by a private company, how is the blocking of anyone by anyone else not a violation of said rights?

Delingpole: Attenborough Tacitly Admits Netflix Cock-up on ‘Walrusgate’ Tragedy Porn – “It was one of the most heart-rending animal tragedy episodes ever shown on TV: hundreds of walruses shown plunging over a cliff to their deaths out of “desperation” caused by climate change. … In reality, they were chased to their deaths by marauding polar bears — whose presence in the area the TV show’s producers initially denied.”

Trump-Ukraine Whistleblower Suddenly Won’t Testify; Lawyers Break Off Negotiations Amid New Revelations – “In other words, House Democrats are about to impeach President Trump over a second-hand whistleblower complaint by a partisan CIA officer, and neither he nor his source will actually testify about it (for now…).”

“Meanwhile, once the House impeaches Trump – which it most certainly will – the tables will turn in the Senate, which will hold a mandatory trial. Not only will the GOP-Senators controlling the proceedings be able to subpoena documents and other evidence, they’ll be able to compel Ciaramella, the Bidens, Chalupa and any other witnesses they desire as we head into the 2020 US election.

Nancy Pelosi saw this coming and caved to her party anyway. There isn’t enough popcorn in the world for what’s coming.

Sarah Lee: Strassel: Democrats Handling Of Impeachment Process May Have Already Given Republicans The Win – “Pelosi’s vote Thursday, on the heels of secret hearings with more scheduled for next week, may have been the equivalent of a child in the corner holding his breath until Republicans get on board with impeaching Donald Trump.”

Ray DiLorenzo: Wanted: Justice & The Rule of Law – “At some point in the last century, the rules changed. Somewhere along the highway the ruling class diverted on a dirt road. They became decadent, arrogant, selfish, even gluttonous.”

Adam Mill: Government Doesn’t Deny Editing Flynn’s Statement Before Charging Him – “Federal prosecutors’ response to Sidney Powell’s explosive filing leaves many unanswered questions.”

David Zukerman: Restraining an out-of-control House – “if the president accepted the unfair procedures adopted by the House Democrats, he would be approving an assault on the Constitution’s provision of separation of powers for the three branches of government, thus reducing the presidency to an arm of the House majority.”

Jeff Poor: GOP Rep. Aderholt on Impeachment: ‘We’re Seeing the Concerns the Founding Fathers Had over 200 Years Ago’ – “Clearly, Congress has the authority to impeach. That’s constitutional. However, it’s for actual crimes that are committed by the president … and quite honestly, the Founding Fathers write about the fact they were concerned about this could be politicized.”

neo: Trolls and the Times – “One of the most popular devices used by propagandists is the selected misleading quote. I’ve seen the method used so often that it can be called standard operating procedure. It’s not limited to the left – you can find it on the right, too – but it’s only on the left that it’s commonplace and becomes nearly constant.”

I & I Editorial Board: Now We Know Why The Media Won’t Expose Trump’s ‘Whistleblower’ – “This sounds like a whole lot more than an “indicia” or an “arguable” bias. In fact, it smacks of the very kind of Deep State that Trump has been talking about. … The press reaction to Sperry’s story? Complete and utter silence.”

“Even more bizarrely, Nelson claims to have found “at least one significant factual inaccuracy in the report,” but never reveals what it is. This is the sort of sloppy, biased journalism we expect from the New York Times or the Washington Post or CNN.

That aside, there’s another reason the mainstream press won’t touch Sperry’s story. If it did, it would have to admit that it’s known the “whistleblower’s” identity all along. And that it knows his biases. And that it’s under no obligation to protect his identity. And, finally, that it covered up his identity to keep the impeachment train rolling. …

It’s no surprise to us that the mainstream press is carrying water for Democrats on the impeachment story. But even we are sometimes surprised and dismayed by its cravenness.

John Lucas: Alex Vindman’s Impeachment Testimony Completely Rested On His Personal Opinions – “Alex Vindman’s testimony about the July 25 call between the two presidents does not add any new facts. So, what does he say? He offers his opinions about the wisdom of the call. That’s it.”

“I will close with one final observation: Vindman’s public volunteering of his personal opinions contrary to those of his commander-in-chief violates the fundamental rule that military officers should be publicly apolitical, in order to keep the armed forces out of political disputes. I respectfully submit that honoring that fundamental separation is more in line with an officer’s duty than what Vindman did in this case.

The fact that he elected to testify in uniform, thus attempting to add the imprimatur of the U.S. military to boost his credibility, makes it worse.

Erielle Davidson: House GOP Fed Up With Crooked Impeachment Inquiry: ‘It’s A Sham’ – “The House GOP delivered a much-needed, sharp rebuke of the increasingly partisan and opaque impeachment probe that has seized House Democrats.”

Thomas Lifson: A stunning confession from a Deep State member subverting the constitutional republic – “The arrogance and lack of self-awareness among the mandarins that inhabit the top levels of our government bureaucracies has led to a smoking gun-level confession.”

“Rather than respecting the will of the voters who elect a president, they proudly substitute their own policy preferences and think nothing of conspiring to drive from office the person who holds legitimate authority to make policy and conduct the affairs of government.

Steve Watson: “Thank God For The Deep State”: Intel Agents Admit They Want To “Take Out” Trump – “During an interview with Margaret Brennan of CSPAN, former CIA head John McLaughlin along with his successor John Brennan both basically admitted that there is a secretive cabal of people within US intelligence who are trying to ‘take Trump out’.” … “I mean I think everyone has seen this progression of diplomats and intelligence officers and White House people trooping up to Capitol Hill right now and saying these are people who are doing their duty or responding to a higher call.” he added.”

“There you have it. Two former CIA heads admitting that there is a plot to take out a duly-elected President.

Thomas Farnan: The Stupidest Impeachment Ever – “The deep state serves the president, and nobody cares if its unelected drones have different foreign policy objectives in Ukraine.”

Jonathon Moseley: Quid pro faux: Trump impeachment legally fails – “Impeaching President Donald Trump is legally flawed.”

There are two New York Post columns that are expressing dissonance. Rich Lowery thinks the only case to be made is that “nothing came of it.” He also thinks the House investigation resolution is a move towards “more regular proceedings.” John Podhoretz notes that “First, the foreign policy Trump chooses to advance shouldn’t be involved in any discussion of impeachment. He is the president. Executive-branch policy is his and his alone to decide, even if you think it’s just terrible — or if it contradicts decades of ideas on which both Republicans and Democrats have agreed.” But then spends most of his time equating the ‘witch hunt’ label with the ‘impeach no matter what’ ethos. Both sides equal, you see, even if the evidence predominately says otherwise.

Then there is Michael Goodwin: A tragedy for the nation – and democracy – “Either Nancy Pelosi has lost her mind or she really wants to dig America’s grave. … The vote to formalize the impeachment jihad is a great day for Trump haters and a tragedy for democracy and common sense.”

“The only thing that could be worse for Dems would be impeaching Trump with no evidence of a crime or a serious abuse of office

That’s what they’re doing — and four more years just got more likely.

Yet there is something bigger at stake than the next election. The effort to overturn the 2016 results is such a radical event that it raises the question of whether polarization has become fatal to our republic.

If so, then elections will never settle anything again. Each loser will simply look for a way to erase the outcome as if it never happened.

Scott Johnson: The impeachment Schiff show – cites Goodwin, Strassel, and McCarthy and provides a copy of what they are all talking about. McCarthy does provide a good summary but his column is flawed by accepting a false premise (and being posted on a nagware site). The dance is around the idea that there can be any legitimate investigation without any solid basis of a predicate event. Searching for a crime not in evidence makes any inquiry illegitimate and ignoring this weakens McCarthy’s arguments.

David Catron: Impeachment Vote Will Cost These Dems Their Seats – “They ran as moderates in swing districts yet voted like radicals.” The question is that, if Catron’s case is sound, why did only 2 Democrats vote with the Republicans?

“All of this brings us back to Thursday’s hyper-partisan vote and the resolution that purports to lay out the framework for the next phase of the “impeachment inquiry” launched by fiat during a news conference last month. This resolution, departing from 150 years of historical precedent, endows the House Intelligence Committee with extraordinary power over the inquiry, codifies Adam Schiff’s closed-door hearings, severely limits the powers of the Republican minority, and violates the president’s right to due process. The Democrats whose districts were won by Trump in 2016 have signed their own political death warrants by voting for this tawdry resolution. Execution day will be November 3, 2020.

Wolf Street Report: What Will Stocks Do When “Consensual Hallucination” Ends? – “I call this phenomenon “consensual hallucination” – “consensual” because everyone eagerly smokes the same stuff in order to be able to get the same hallucinations everyone else is having, and to be part of the movement” … this is not only a stock market ‘get rich’ behavior, it is also evident in the assault on the election of 2016.

“At some point, people do come out from under this consensual hallucination. This can happen very gradually and unevenly, or suddenly and all at once. History is full of both events. And often it’s a combination, at first gradually and then suddenly, or vice versa.
…
What’s astonishing is just how long consensual hallucination lasts, and how shocked and appalled people are when it ends.

AWR Hawkins Andrew Pollack: Guns Don’t Create School Shootings, Leftist Policies Do – “He noted that people who call for more background checks either ignore or do not know that the Parkland attacker passed a background check to get the gun he used.”

Monica Showalter: So now Peggy Noonan is offering tips to the Democrats? – “There’s a fine line between analyzing news and nakedly offering advice to one side and now Peggy Noonan has crossed it.” The question is why: Drudge has turned into a propaganda site; Wallace now channeling the other Chris (Matthews) with goose bumps and chills;

“Facts in fact are so damned, in fact, that these people are keeping their hearings secret, selectively leaking only the politically advantageous parts without context, silencing Republicans from calling witnesses, preventing Republicans from issuing subpoenas, or cripes, even allowing Republicans from attending, and for the ones who are attending, not allowing them to ask questions. As for the president’s rights to due process, he’s SOL. As Noonan argued earlier, it’s got to be fair to work, and this is still 6,000 miles from fair.

The idea of sedition is a limitation on free speech. That is why it is often ignored as a legal matter. When does criticizing the government rise to a level like shouting “fire” in a crowded theater? Maybe you need a smoke bomb to go with the shout? Do libel and deceit matter? What is ‘just sayin’ and what is incitement against orderly government? But then, how do you hold people accountable for their ideas and suggestions expressed in public? For lessons in how this is done, look at the efforts behind gun laws. Consider what happened to Kavenaugh or the recent 9th circuit nominee who broke down in tears at a hearing due to the scurrilous assault on his character. How much of this is enough and what can an individual citizen do about it?

Erielle Davidson: Trump Was Right To Keep The Baghdadi Raid Secret From Schiff – “Back in 2017, Gen. Tony Thomas made this very point at the Aspen Security Conference, where he discussed how a prior lead on Abu Bakr al Baghdadi “went dead” following a media leak.”

“Admittedly, Trump’s labeling of Washington as a “leaking machine” is a revealing and disappointing statement on the federal government, but the blame for this situation does not lie with Trump, and it would require cognitive dissonance of the highest order for the media to blame the president for his recalcitrance to share information with a congressional committee headed by Schiff.
…
If Democrats in the House are so concerned with the sharing of information between the executive branch and the House, perhaps when one of their members engages in inexcusable and unethical behavior, they should reprimand that individual, not celebrate him as some heroic figure worthy of emulation. It only suggests tacit support of the very behavior that every government official, right or left, should be condemning.

Robert Arvay: How America’s justice system is beginning to crumble – “just like a strong and magnificent bridge across a wide river, corrosion can set in.” … “Here are seven warning signs, present today, that we ignore at great peril.” … “In many cases, the remedy is suggested merely by identifying the problem and admitting that it is a serious defect in the system. This is the age of “see something, say something,” and more of us need to get involved.”

neo: Left vs. right: the rules of the game – “Much of the anger of the right at NeverTrumpers and others who have issues with Trump related to style, including his style of combat, need to (in the words of the commenter) “recognize reality for what it is – like it or not.” It’s a sad and sorrowful realization, but as time goes on it increasingly seems to be an inevitable realization.”

Patricia McCarthy: Trump vs. the barbarians at the gates – “The Left today stands for corruption, amorality, gender fluidity, anti-religiosity, injustice and open borders. They intend to flood the country with Democrat voters. They oppose the First and Second Amendments. They oppose due process.”

sundance: UPDATED: Pelosi Calls House Vote to Affirm Speaker Impeachment Inquiry The House Never Authorized… “On Thursday of this week Speaker Pelosi is bringing to the floor a resolution to affirm her previous declaration of an “Official House Inquiry”. Mrs. Pelosi is very purposefully and carefully telling reporters this is not a “House resolution on impeachment”. Read the wording carefully:” … “Pelosi and the Lawfare crew are playing games.”

Linda Tripp: Same Media that Silenced Me Now Glorifying Fake Whistleblowers – “I know a little something about writing a political expose. And, about whistleblowing. Except, my experience was diametrically opposed to that of any of the anonymous whistleblowers or to this coward called Anonymous.”

“The liberal elites in the media made it their business to destroy me, all in a coordinated effort to victimize, and thus save, a truly corrupt president.”
…
There was no hand holding for me. The intimidation factor, from not only the White House but from the press, was enormous. My credibility had to be decimated. They did that handily, and in so doing, ensured that anything I had to say about the corruption of the Clinton White House would be dismissed. The difference is staggering.

Nearly 22 years ago, I was effectively silenced. My story has never been told.

George Avery: What the New York Times Got Wrong About Slavery in America – “Like much else in the Times’ version of the role of slavery in American history, even the project name [1619] is rooted in distortion.” Learn some history; see the effects of bias and hate in the media.

“The New York Times does a disservice to its readers with the 1619 Project by presenting a simplistic and misleading story of the complex role that the institution of slavery played in the history of the United States, and it largely ignores the role that the underlying values of the Anglo-Scottish Enlightenment that undergird the new nation played in ending slavery and the slave trade.

Greg Mankiw: “Too many Republicans in Congress are willing, in the interest of protecting their jobs, to overlook Trump’s misdeeds (just as too many Democrats were for Clinton during his impeachment).” … just what are these “misdeeds”? With Clinton, an investigation yielded a specific list of misdeeds sufficient to get him disbarred if not impeached. With Trump, a massive, hostile, and arguably corrupt investigation yielded no misdeeds sufficient to support impeachment or other action. None of his opposition, nor any such as Mankiw, offer any description of any actual ‘high crime or misdemeanor’ to support their assertions as anything other than sour grapes or political dissonance. Then there is the need to brag about going anti-Trump. That implies irrational involvements such as narcissism, moral preening, hate, or underlying emotional or intellectual dissonance. This is why it is the era of irrational argument and not reasoned debate.

An example can be seen in Alexander Vindman: Was not proper to demand that a foreign government… Vindman’s source for this claim is the transcript released by Trump which does not support his allegation. Why the distortion and deceit or gross misperception from a distinguished civil servant? Why does he refute both his President and the President of the Ukraine? Sour grapes and political dissonance? What makes Vindman arbiter of a Constitutionally delegated responsibility supported by a general election?

Babylon Bee: CNN Uncovers Evidence Hero Dog Sniffed Dozens Of Butts Back In College – “Everyone [else] praised the classified “Hero Dog” for taking down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.” ALSO Nationals Disappointed To Learn Boos Don’t Count As Runs.

Because Random People Must Be Punished. David Thompson – “And at which point, what you’re seeing isn’t politics or protest. It’s sociopathy.”

New York Times Narrative Engineers Start Positioning DOJ/FBI “Small Group” Coup-Plotters as Victims of CIA and Intelligence Community Manipulation… sundance – “Apparently, this is the big picture defense they will use when the IG report drops.”

CIA Analysts Lawyer Up As Brennan, Clapper Ensnared In Expanding Russiagate Probe. Tyler Durden – “NBC learned of the ‘lawyering up’ from three former CIA officials “familiar with the matter,” while two more anonymous leakers claim there’s tension between the Justice Department and the CIA over what classified documents Durham has access to.” interesting, the owner of that information has provided carte blanche to the DOJ regarding its use. Does the CIA realize who it works for?

David Stockman: How The US Went From America First To Empire First. Fasten your seat belts before you get into this one … “The second thing is this whole Russia-gate issue from 2016. It has essentially neutered the Democratic Party as a rational voice in foreign affairs and the restraint that it historically had on the warfare state.” … “It’s all on behalf of a big, slick lobbying operation that’s created this pro-empire mentality. It got us in the middle of all of these conflicts in the Middle East, but also Ukraine.”

Escobar: Syria May Be The Biggest Defeat For The CIA Since Vietnam. A history lesson … “The first major game-changer was the spectacular Russian entrance in the summer of 2015.” … “The CIA will be after Trump’s scalp till Kingdom Come.” … “Talk about a cultural misunderstanding. As much as the Syrian Kurds believed U.S. protection amounted to an endorsement of their independence dreams, Americans never seemed to understand that throughout the “Greater Middle East” you cannot buy a tribe.”

“The reconstruction of Syria may cost as much as $200 billion. Damascus has already made it very clear that the U.S. and the EU are not welcome. China will be in the forefront, along with Russia and Iran; this will be a project strictly following the Eurasia integration playbook — with the Chinese aiming to revive Syria’s strategic positioning in the Ancient Silk Road.
…
The war may not have been totally won, of course. But against all odds, it’s clear a unified, sovereign Syrian nation is bound to prevail over every perverted strand of geopolitical molotov cocktails concocted in sinister NATO/GCC labs. History will eventually tell us that, as an example to the whole Global South, this will remain the ultimate game-changer.

The Endgame in Syria. Matthew Continetti – “The pattern was established well before Donald Trump took office. It will persist after he departs. There is nothing so consistent as American ambivalence toward our superpower status. Most great powers covet hegemony. We hate it. The costs are too high, the demands too stressful.”

Trump didn’t sell out the Kurds by pulling out of Syria. Kenneth R. Timmerman – “let’s be clear about US goals, too. Our advisors were not in northern Syria to defend a Kurdish government but to fight ISIS. The fight to smash the ISIS caliphate is over, and we won.” … “The Kurds are paying a heavy price in this battle — not because of a US betrayal — but because they remain stateless and thus powerless.” … it’s tribes, again.

Democrats’ ‘Immigrants First’ Policy. Betsy McCaughey – “President Donald Trump’s key immigration rule change, to discourage immigrants from relying on public health programs, food stamps, housing assistance and other welfare, got derailed on Friday by three federal judges.” … “Judge Daniels has his facts wrong.”

“Democrats oppose any limits on immigration, tarring those who disagree as “racists.” That name-calling divides the nation. We need a civil debate over how to welcome migrants to keep our economy growing yet still put our own needy first.

Napolitano Wrong Again: Schiff Inquiry a Kangaroo Court. Daniel John Sobieski – “But, as Napolitano himself notes, the House has rules, and one of those rules says that in the absence of a clear legal guideline, House precedent should be honored. The House may not have trials, but it is capable of witch hunts and inquisitions.” … “The Founding Fathers intended impeachment for real high crimes and misdemeanors — not for policy differences or whatever the House says it is.”

Adam Schiff Flip-Flopped On Whistleblower Testimony After Reports Of Coordination. Mollie Hemingway – “After news broke that Schiff’s staff had secretly worked with the whistleblower prior to the complaint being lodged, Schiff moved to prevent the whistleblower’s testimony.”

Seeing Some Trees in the Forest of Babble. Clarice Feldman – “With candidates whose platform is socialism, unrestricted abortion, higher taxes, nationalized medicine, open borders, ridiculous restrictions on energy production and use and such, it’s questionable how this sideshow will serve them at all in 2020.”

Make Columbus Day Great Again. Stephen Kruiser – “Christopher Columbus was one of the first victims of Cancel Culture before it was even called Cancel Culture.”

“Now I’m supposed to celebrate “Indigenous Peoples Day,” … There is also the fact that many of them weren’t any nicer than Columbus, so if we’re canceling people for being awful, they’re as cancel-worthy as our intrepid Italian.

The Strategies of Targeting Trump. Victor Davis Hanson – “We are headed for a train wreck. No one knows for certain which outcome is most likely.”

“After failing with the voting machine gambit, the Logan Act, the 25th Amendment, the emoluments clause, the McCabe-Rosenstein faux-coup, the Comey memos farce, the “resistance” efforts outlined by the New York Times anonymous op-ed writer, the campaign finance violations accusations, Stormy, tax returns, whistleblowers, leakers, the Mueller 22 months charade, and now impeachment 2.0, what exactly is the point of impeaching Trump just 13 months before the election?
…
There doesn’t have to be a point to impeachment. Democrats loathe Trump. That is enough.
…
Sane observers see impeachment as a travesty without either moral or legal grounds to justify removing an elected president 13 months before the 2020 election. But sanity means nothing these days, given the hatred of Trump, the volatility of the electorate, and the furious bias of the media.

“But I think the piece worth highlighting today is from the Wall Street Journal editorial board, who, like Matt Drudge (have you seen the Drudge Report lately?), appears to have had it with the dunce cap model in the Oval:” This one is from Patterico and illustrates the nonsense in ad hominem judgment that defies reality. “Dunce cap” for a man who won a presidential election and then had such a positive impact on the economy and international trade? Then there’s the vox populi [Merriam-Webster] logical fallacy … With so many blinded like this, is it any wonder Trump wins?

Democrats ratchet up impeachment secrecy. Byron York – “A week ago, House Republicans complained that Democrats imposed excessive secrecy on interviews conducted as part of the drive to impeach President Trump. Now, the situation appears to have gotten worse.”

“In his much-criticized letter to Congress, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said Democratic handling of the impeachment investigation “violates fundamental fairness.” He meant fairness toward the target of the proceeding, President Trump. But there is also the question of fairness toward the American people trying to follow an impeachment process shrouded in secrecy. Don’t they have the right to know what the president’s accusers say?

Scientists Gone Mad. J. Frank Bullitt – “Worse, they’re ignorant, and overly willing dupes. They’ve fallen for what is so obviously an exaggeration if not an outright fraud. And they should be, as British columnist Brendan O’Neill suggests, “criticized and ridiculed out of existence.”

Glyphosate Doesn’t Cause Cancer. It Saves Native Ecosystems. Ted Williams – “Misinformation has created a lucrative business for ambulance-chasing lawyers and NGOs.” What’s this doing on Slate?

Has the Time Come to Put Down Lawlessness, Insurrection and Rebellion? David Solway – “The issue, however, is whether the great purge of unsavory and dissident institutions, organizations, and power brokers can succeed via discursive, procedural, and electoral means or whether something far more dramatic is needed to prevent the end of the unique republican experiment that is the United States of America.” The people will speak, even if they say nothing. The question is about what they will say and how they will say it.

FISA Judges Collyer and Boasberg Both Identified NSA Databases Used for Political Surveillance… sundance – “One of the weird aspects to both Collyer and Boasberg is that both FISC judges did not ever seek to ask the “why” question: why are all these unauthorized database searches taking place? Instead, both judges focus on process issues and technical procedural questions, seemingly from a position that all unauthorized searches were done without malicious intent.”

Little League Champs “Catch a Ride Home” With President Trump – Video… sundance – wonder what the malicious intent was on that?

Morning Greatness: Urine, Spitting, Violence from Trump Rally Protestors in Minneapolis. Liz Sheld – “On Thursday, the president held a rally in Minneapolis and the violent left showed up to riot because our culture is laden with feeble-minded adultchildren who can’t control themselves and lash out violently when presented with something they don’t want to hear. And then they are rewarded.”

“I can’t imagine it will be long now before some of these targets will fight back. The police are handcuffed by the Trump-deranged liberal local government that insists on facilitating this violence and can’t really control the riots. It’s a powder keg especially with the campaign season ramping up.

Last Night, We Saw Fascism In the Streets [Updated]. John Hinderaker – “These leftists are identical to the Nazi Brownshirts of the 1930s. But make no mistake–they represent today’s Democratic Party. A sitting Democratic State Representative, Aisha Gomez (DFL-Minneapolis), was seen among the fascists, dressed in black like an Antifa hoodlum.” … “The facts are very, very bad for the Left and for the Democratic Party. We need to bring those facts to light before it is too late.”

Will We Ever Prosecute? Gordon Wysong – “Can anyone hold to the faith in American justice? Those who support the rule of law feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. It’s coming — oh, wait, it’s coming…oh, wait…”

“The full scope of what has gone on will never be known, but the lessons for future participants in such a scheme is essential. The next time, the prosecution will be more severe, more certain, and more expedient. Protecting the Constitution is more important than perfect justice. Some miscreants will escape, but they will never sleep well again. The lesson must be taught.

A DOJ that fails to move loses its credibility and its honor. The foundation of the Republic is placed at risk. Without the rule of law, what do we have?

At some point, deferral of prosecution is dereliction or abetting. Has it reached that point?

A Star Is Born in the Battle Over Trump’s Tax Returns. Editorial of The New York Sun – “She reckons that the way House is going after Mr. Trump violates the constitutional prohibition against bills of attainder.” The knee jerk response to her opinion described in this editorial is indicative to the point that she hits a nerve. It addresses those who should know better like Mirengoff or Wallace.

“Rather, Judge Rao quotes case law to suggest that the prohibition of attainder bills was intended “as an implementation of the separation of powers, a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function, or more simply—trial by legislature.” She reckons the Framers “understood the importance of prohibiting Congress from turning its substantial powers against an individual.”

As usual, California goes too far with new red flag law. Jazz Shaw – “California Governor Gavin Newsom kept himself busy yesterday by signing a new red flag gun control bill into law. (This was only one of fifteen new gun control laws.) The strange part of this story is that the Golden State already had a red flag law on the books, similar to those in sixteen other states and the District of Columbia. But now they’re going much further.”

A Sensible Take on Syria. John Hinderaker – “James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation and the Institute of World Politics gave an interview to the Daily Signal that gives the best take I have seen on Trump’s recent Syria move.” See also the earlier citation of Richard Fernandez on this. Both Fernandez and Carafano provide a bit of balance to the anti-Trump knee jerk responses.

Left-wing Rioters Attack Trump Supporters Leaving Minneapolis Rally. Joel B. Pollak – “A protestor can be seen waving the Chinese flag in front of riot police. While people in Hong Kong wave American flags for freedom, we wave Chinese flags.”

“The scene was reminiscent of the riot outside a convention center in San Jose in June 2016, when anti-Trump rioters attacked Trump supporters leaving the venue in full view of the media — and Mayor Sam Liccardo blamed Trump.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey proclaimed Thursday as “Love Trumps Hate Day” in the city, in solidarity with protests against Trump. Evidently, however, some of those among the “protesters” felt “hate” trumped “love.”

Who has the love here? Who puts the hate on parade? Mayors cannot see?

Are all Dems above the law? J. F. Gaski – “In the present Ukraine matter, the mainstream media propaganda machine is missing something very basic. The error is exposed by the uniform and diversionary way the Trump-Ukraine accusation is framed:” … another case of very clear factual evidence being turned upside down in false witness by non-fringe actors.

“The explanation is that to assume one of an infinite number of potential motives is face-invalid and unreasonable. All one must do to falsify such a pseudo-argument is identify a single plausible alternative motivation, and a big one is readily at hand: As the chief law-enforcement officer of the United States, Donald Trump has a constitutional obligation to investigate illegal behavior, especially when committed at the highest level of our government.
…
How convenient that the Democrat position in the latest faux scandal reduces to this: All Dems are above the law.

The Democrats and the MSM have gotten bolder about lying… neo – “Why would the Democrats think this would be effective? And why would they think the public will buy their statements that, if Trump doesn’t co-operate with their “inquiry” and letters of request for testimony, he is obstructing justice?” … “The combination of the takeover of our educational system by the left and a press that is completely dedicated to being political rather than telling the truth allows the Democrats to feel invulnerable.”

Sustainability Is Baked Right Into the Heart of Capitalism. Coyote Blog – “the company [Tesla] can’t be very sustainable because it spends far more than it earns, ie it consumes more valuable resources than it produces (a ratio made even worse if one factors in all the taxpayer subsidies the company consumes as revenue).”

“I would argue that financial stability has everything to do with environmental sustainability (though I will admit that this comparison is a bit hard since environmentalists seem to bend over backwards to NOT define “sustainability” very precisely). In fact, I think that sustainability is baked right into the heart of capitalism.

The reason for this comes back to the magic of prices. Of all the amazing, wondrous things we celebrate in the world, prices may be the most overlooked. Just think of it: with no governing structure or top down ruling board, a single number encapsulates everything most everyone in the world knows about a particular product: both its utility and relative scarcity, both now and as anticipated in the future. It is a consensus derived voluntarily between millions of people who never meet with each other and likely never communicate with each other.

Syria Risks Becoming Erdogan’s Vietnam. Richard Fernandez – “Turkey’s border offensive against the Kurds, far from being a blitzkrieg, is limited by the resources available to Ankara’s forces.” Here’s a bit of reality on the latest anti-Trump tirades.

Downer Comes in from the Cold. Daryl McCann – “But now that we know that these righteous folks had it exactly wrong, where does that leave us?” The Australian view of his countryman’s role in the Trump coup attempt based on the book Ball of Collusion by former US federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy.

Babylon Bee: Adam Schiff Revealed To Be Parody Of Actual Congressman.

Releasing More Call Transcripts Will Cripple Future Presidents. Thomas McArdle – “Schiff’s stretch of the facts is worthy of rubber-limbed comic superhero and scientific genius Reed “Mister Fantastic” Richards of the Fantastic Four, who can reshape his arms and legs at will and “stretch around a problem and expand upon the perfect solution.” Unlike Richards, however, Schiff is not “the smartest man in the Marvel Comics universe.”

“The Zelensky call provides no evidence of wrongdoing, and so Schiff promises, “We’re gonna find out what other communications were also improperly hidden in this classified system that’s meant to contain the most highly sensitive, classified information involving covert action, not the president’s misconduct.”
…
So as Schiff and House Democrats push hard to discover and disclose something more convincing than the Zelensky nothingburger, Trump has the defense of executive privilege within a landmark, unanimous Supreme Court ruling on his side.

And he has something more: a solemn responsibility to preserve for future presidents the ability to conduct candid discussions with foreign allies, friends — even enemies. A president must be able to engage in “persuasion, badgering, flattery, threats, reminders of past favors and future advantages,” as the Washington Post’s Mary McGrory described Lyndon Johnson’s no-holds-barred style of leadership even before becoming president. And it can’t work when it’s in the public eye.

Smart Move – Flynn Lawyer Tells Judge Motive Behind Why Flynn Took Guilty Plea… sundance – “As a result of prior cases showing malicious prosecutions under false FARA pretenses, Flynn’s defense doesn’t have to try and convince Judge Sullivan that Michael Flynn and Mike Flynn Jr. were being threatened by those same heavy-handed DOJ tactics. It is now self-evident those tactics were deployed; the prosecution would be silly to try and deny their threats were present.” See also Margot Cleveland’s take on this: “These facts reek of prosecutorial blackmail.”

sundance also goes into detail on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and its role in the coup scandal. Then there is a look at Intelligence Community Inspector General rationalizing rules changes to label gossip and hearsay as whistleblowing – “Yes, that means Michael Atkinson was Senior Counsel for the DOJ-NSD, at the very epicenter of the political weaponization and FISA abuse.” Then there is another busted NYT narrative.

No One Noticed When Clinton and Obama Abused Whistleblowers. Jack Cashill – “Here are two unfortunate realities: the first is that whistleblowing becomes virtuous only when a Republican is the one being whistled on; the second is that deep state Democrats have a habit of manipulating whistleblower laws when it suits their purposes.”

Ron Paul Asks: “Impeachment… Or CIA Coup?” Tyler Durden – “You don’t need to be a supporter of President Trump to be concerned about the efforts to remove him from office.”

Top Motivation For Hating Capitalism Isn’t Compassion, It’s Resentment. Emily Ekins – “Statistical tests reveal resentment of the successful has about twice the effect of compassion in predicting support for increasing top marginal tax rates, wealth redistribution, hostility to capitalism, and believing billionaires should not exist. Notably, however, compassion and resentment both equally predict support for socialism.”

Why the Impeachment Frenzy May Only Strengthen Trump. Victor Davis Hanson // National Review – “Contrary to suggestions by some, most Trump supporters are not automatons or blind supporters. What bothers them, and should bother others, about the latest Ukraine hysterias is the familiar monotony of this latest scripted psychodrama.”

Global Climate Intelligence Group: Getting the Science Back In. rbradley – “The emotionalization and politicization of the physical science of climate change has inspired the formation of a new international organization, The Global Climate Intelligence Group.”

“Seven principles compose the opening declaration of the GCIG:

There is no climate emergency …

Natural as well as anthropogenic factors cause warming …

Warming is far slower than predicted …

Climate policy relies on inadequate models …

CO2 is plant food, the basis of all life on Earth …

Global warming has not increased natural disasters …

Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities …

Reasonable doesn’t seem to satisfy many these days.

over anxious. Jump the gun. Keep repeating the same mistakes over and over … where does it lead? What does it say?

The Latest Impeachment Frenzy Is About #Resistance, Not High Crimes And Misdemeanors. John Merline – “Democrats could have gone through the normal procedures to get the information from the White House rather than jump immediately to talk of impeachment.” … “Here’s just a partial timeline of the many previous calls for Trump’s impeachment that turned out to be frivolous:”

Here Comes the SSCI – Senators Burr and Warner Now Advance Whistleblower Narrative… sundance – “There has been so much we have documented about the corrupt intents of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), that it doesn’t take a deep-weeds political follower to see where this is going.” … “As with the Trump-Russia investigation, Warner and Burr now insert themselves into position in order to advance the Trump-Ukraine investigation.”

Trump Administration Will Release Transcript, IC Complaint and ICIG Documents Outlining Whistleblower’s Motive: “Severe Political Bias”… sundance – “This information will likely be released tomorrow in combination with the transcript of the phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky:” also, zerohedge reports “the whistleblower has retained attorney Andrew Bakaj – who “interned for Schumer in the spring of 2001 and for Clinton in the fall of the same year,” per The Federalist. ”

Interesting Day – Includes 2:15pm Bilat With Ukraine President, and 4:00pm Presser… sundance – “The political planets are aligned to provide a considerably interesting day today.”

Why the Democrats Have Gone Insane. Roger L. Simon – “Joe Biden — their great (alas white male) hope — is being exposed as not just a senile plagiarist, but a senile, corrupt plagiarist with a freaky family out of a Southern gothic novel with tentacles reaching into China and Ukraine.” … “So for the Democrats, trouble ahead, trouble behind. Ergo, impeachment.”

“Of course it will never happen. (Pelosi knows that too. That’s why she never held a congressional vote on this “inquiry.”) And indeed the whole spectacle might be amusing in a macabre sort of way if there weren’t important things going on in the world. The president is engaged in negotiations of tremendous significance with the Chinese and trying to neuter as much as possible the violent mullahs of Iran, but the Democrats don’t care. In fact, they would prefer he fail, and seem to be doing everything in their power to make it so. To call that un-American is an understatement. Actually, it’s despicable and deeply immoral, not just for the citizens of this country, but for the world. What children!

Biden Ukraine dealings – 7 essential facts. Peter Schweizer – “Editor’s note: Peter Schweizer and the Government Accountability Institute spent three years investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and their dealings in the Ukraine and China. The research culminated in the #1 New York Times bestselling book “Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends” (Harper Collins, March 2018). Below are some of the results of the investigation.”

Pelosi’s ‘impeach Trump’ announcement a bad, bad sign for our republic. Joshua Foxworth – “While few people actually believe that these actions will result in the disclosure of any offense on the part of the president or in a formal impeachment vote, the actions signify that what once made America function so much better than any previous nation is now lost.”

“For the first time in American history, a party and its leadership are refusing to cede the ability to set policy to the president. Sure, the president was sworn in, sits in the Oval Office, and issues orders to his subordinates. However, those orders are challenged by the Judicial Branch on baseless grounds. The nation’s intelligence apparatus work in congruence with the media to conjure up and give false credibility to absurd stories involving prostitutes defiling a bed that President Obama may have slept in some years prior. The president’s allies within the population are silenced and assaulted, and there is an unrelenting deluge of propaganda against the president and his supporters.

The Democrats’ Ukraine hoax. Patricia McCarthy – “Chutzpah hardly describes what the deranged Left has been doing the past few days.” … “As usual, the Democrats have accused Trump of what Democrats have themselves been doing for decades, getting rich in office by any and all means that present themselves.”

“Virtually all the Democrats, past (Harry Reid, Al Gore) and present, who have risen to the top of the party’s food chain are blatantly corrupt. With their silly new ploy, they will only bring attention to their own duplicitous natures. They are likely counting on the Republicans to, as usual, become frightened of their own shadows and do nothing. One would think there would be one or two of them in Congress with the courage to fight back but there is only Trump and his growing base of supporters.

No biggie. Dem Senators (and Biden) threatened Ukraine funding over Trump investigation. Jazz Shaw – “Over at the Washington Post, Marc Thiessen has dug into a couple of different stories that sound eerily familiar. The first one has to do with three Democratic Senators who penned a love letter to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, pressuring him to not drop four investigations that they felt were vital to the Mueller probe.”

Stunning Rebuke – Federal Judge Throws Out Guilty Verdict for Flynn Partner and Acquits… sundance – “This is a huge blow to the DOJ-NSD who framed their special counsel case on sketchy FARA violations and bamboozled the jury with dubious legal theories. This type of intervention by a federal judge is very rare.” … “The NSD/DOJ has been reading Section 951 (Foreign Agent) far too broadly, including conduct not contemplated under the statute.”

Mitch McConnell: Democrats’ Pattern is ‘Shoot first, correct the facts later’. People notice the old communist ethos: ‘show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.’

“When the simple notion that judges should be faithful to the Constitution looks like an attack on your agenda, maybe it’s your agenda that needs a makeover, not our independent judiciary. When you are this willing to launch unhinged personal attacks, you reveal a whole lot more about your own radicalism than about the men and women you target.

California to ban facial recognition software in police body cams? Jazz Shaw – “We’ve already covered numerous stories about cities in California passing legislation designed to ban the use of facial recognition software by law enforcement. Apparently it’s too easy to catch criminals these days or something.”

“I understand the valid concerns some people have over facial recognition software because some of it is still quite error-prone. But I’ve yet to see one documented instance where a person was incorrectly identified by the software and then went on to be tried for a crime they didn’t commit. The results are always looked at by a human being who can quickly figure out that the technology screwed up. This should be doubly true in the case of body cams because the human officer is seeing the same thing the camera is recording in real-time.

California continues to attempt to make the jobs of police officers more difficult while doing nothing to benefit the citizens being served. This is a sad state of affairs.

“The real bombshell”: CBS News hits NYT over Kavanaugh story to focus on witness tampering. Ed Morrissey – “No one expects the Democrats to admit that they participated in a witch hunt and character assassination, although such an admission would certainly be nice. But maybe, just maybe, they can shut the hell up about it and let us pretend they have some remorse over the Kavanaugh episode. Especially now that CBS’ Jan Crawford has boiled it down to its essence.” Morrissey might be behind the curve with the ‘let it be’ sympathies. Others have had enough and seek justice.

The House Drug Pricing Bill Is A Shameful Joke. Peter J. Pitts – “Patients often lose access to the best medicines when their government adopts price controls.

According to the CBO, to achieve any significant savings, the government would have to follow through on its threats of “not allowing (certain) drug(s) to be prescribed.” In other words, the government would drop some drugs from Medicare’s coverage to save money. That would be a raw deal for patients.
…
When Americans say, “My drugs are too expensive,” what they generally mean is that their co-pays at the pharmacy are too expensive. And they’re right. But co-pays aren’t tied to list prices.

Goldman Sachs Analysis: Good Grief, Trump Might Be Serious About China… sundance – “What is funny about CNBC pushing this story, NOW, is how the claims within the CNBC story can be fact checked; and their predictions are, well, absurd (especially in hindsight).”

“This Goldman Sach’s claim –made in May– can now be reviewed for accuracy by actual results on import pricing assembled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in September: …

As you can see, four months after the Goldman Sach’s claim, the results are entirely false. The price of imported goods has decreased; additionally, China has further devalued their currency since May, creating an even a larger price offset.
…
What’s the takeaway? Well first, Goldman Sachs controls hundreds-of-billions. Goldman is the predominant voice that all of the other Wall Street multinationals’ look toward. Goldman is the incubator for almost all of the financial experts at the Fed. Goldman is also the baseline for all of the main Wall Street pundits….

Goldman is also 100% demonstrably wrong.

NYTimes Does it Again: Omits The Fact that Kavanaugh’s Accuser Was Clinton’s Defense Attorney. – “In a major twist, NYTimes editorial was pressured to make a correction to it’s bombshell story” … “NYTimes was pressured to update its story only after The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway flagged the article’s omission on Twitter:”

“Nevertheless, democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Beto O’Rourke, Cory Booker and Julian Castro, among others, were fast to declare that Kavanaugh “must be impeached,” citing the NYTimes allegation.

Media Weaponized: Continued Assaults On Kavanaugh Are Political Warfare That Should Concern Us All. Sara Carter – “The story delves into white privilege, prejudice and every other angle you can imagine. Kavanaugh is the villain of privilege and Ramirez is the innocent victim, who as a college student was forced to grow up too soon.”

“The New York Times, along with other main stream outlets, have not hesitated in publishing damaging stories on Justice Kavanaugh. Many of the stories they have already published were based on unverified allegations and contained no proof of the sexual assault accusations he was being accused of by several women who claimed to have known him in high school and college.

CNN, MSNBC, as well as, numerous pundits smeared his name on the cable networks. How can these outlets and news organizations get away with printing hearsay? Because the executives at these media outlets are not holding their writers to the same standard they would if the story was about someone they supported. …

The all out assault campaign on political opponents can only exist because the main stream media has chosen a side. Those executives believe they know more than the American people and challenge any figure, particularly Justice Kavanaugh, because he is a direct threat to their leftist ideals. The media has been weaponized in a way we have never experienced in modern history and only because those running the organizations have allowed it to be. It erodes our Democracy and frankly, makes us as vulnerable as banana republics where media outlets side with political candidates and are in the pockets of their nations intelligence agencies.

That Helpful Kavanaugh Reminder. Rod Dreher – “And then the Democrats went to work, attempting to destroy the man based on unconfirmed, and unconfirmable, allegations, and his sex and ethnicity.”

“And on and on. More to the point, Republicans did not invent the mob-like behavior of the news media in the Kavanaugh affair. In the last 24 hours, I’ve heard from three friends — two Democrats, and one anti-Republican independent — who have written to express profound concern about this political moment, and the behavior of the liberal mob. One of the Democrats — no fan of Trump or Kavanaugh — told me that her party has lost her over all this. The independent told me he hasn’t voted GOP in 30 years, but that may change this November, because of the “malice” (his word) on the left. And the third remains a devoted Democrat, but he is agonizing over the demons now taking over his political side, and worries if they can ever be reined in.

NYT: On second thought, never mind about the Kavanaugh penis-pushing incident; Trump: “HORRIBLE PEOPLE … are looking to destroy”. Ed Morrissey – “The book’s authors, both reporters for the paper, crafted this article to deliberately deceive readers. They published the allegation while hiding the denial. That’s not reporting — it’s advocacy, and particularly inept advocacy at that. This calls into question the veracity of everything else this pair has done and will do with this subject matter, and perhaps beyond that as well.”

“The New York Times owes Brett Kavanaugh an apology, and a full retraction of this article rather than just an “editor’s note.” Their reporters found nothing more than yet another example of uncorroborated campus rumor about events from three decades or more ago, fueled by politics and a need to sell books and papers. Everyone associated with this should be ashamed of themselves, assuming that any of them have the capacity for shame.

Lawfare Group Begins Delegitimizing Supreme Court… sundance – “What we are seeing today from the Lawfare Alliance appears as a designed effort to continue this overall agenda; now focused on delegitimizing the Supreme Court of the United States.”

National Women’s Hall of Fame inducts a domestic terrorist and a traitor. Karen Townsend – “Angela Davis and Jane Fonda made the cut this year.” Shame? What’s that?

A huge gender disparity for loss of life trying to save others. Mark Perry – Bing search results show a M:F ratio of 273:1 for ‘dies while saving’ for man v woman and a 7:1 for father v mother. – “For that huge gender disparity, you can thank #Patriarchy, #ToxicMasculinity, and #MalePrivilege.”

Trumped Out? Victor Davis Hanson – “After nearly four years of ceaseless attacks by Democrats and the press, the strange thing is not that Trump can be occasionally wearisome, but that he is even still breathing.”

Guns and Poses: Democrats Demagogue Death. David Catron – “Welcome to the jungle of phony stats and irresponsible policy proposals.”

What have the Houthis wrought? Bill Schanefelt – “The weekend attack on the Saudi oil refinery may well be looked back at as a true hinge moment in history, for it represents the first time a world power, Iran, through its agents in Yemen*, struck another world power with large numbers of drones in a coordinated fashion.”

Getting an education in the Big Apple: George Packer’s honesty, a parent’s dilemma … neo – “I didn’t really write this post to muse on the dilemma of George Packer the individual. But he’s especially interesting to me because I believe he stands for a large group of liberals who are currently wrestling with the consequences of what they supported, thinking the results would be good, and finding that the left had other and more terrible things in mind.”

The Democrat debate was terrifying. Who are these people? Patricia McCarthy – “No made-up accusation is over the line. No plan to eviscerate the Constitution is a bridge too far.”

“Legitimate historians are rare these days; nearly all have been politicized by academia and its power to persuade, and by its love of Howard Zinn’s slanderous and wholly inaccurate version of US history.
…
Only the perceived crimes of America matter now. We are all to be indicted for being born here. We are to be condemned and punished if born Caucasian, as if we had a hand in the nature of our birth.
…
The debate of Thursday night should be a huge wake-up call for all freedom-loving Americans. Every one of the Democrat candidates wants to curb nearly all of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights — speech, assembly, the right to bear arms. They mean to restrict our access to health care, fuel, food, electricity, mobility by car or air, goods in markets.
…
The fact that there have been no American flags on the stage at any of the Democrat debates says it all. One thing is certain: This election season is going to be a bumpy ride. Like the colonists of 1776, we are looking at the choice between freedom and tyranny. All Americans need to be cognizant of the deadly seriousness of their vote in 2020. Trump’s style and his tweets may offend some but his dedication to the preservation of America is boundless. He has pledged his life and fortune to the cause. Gratitude is in order

Young conservative in burning face ad: ‘I don’t care about AOC’s feelings’. Zachary Leeman – “@AOC response is the Democratic party in a nutshell. They are more offended by truthful words than the acts of their political ideology that has killed millions of innocent victims. I don’t care about @AOC feelings — I care about stopping her lies about the lies of socialism,” Heng tweeted.”

““This is the face of socialism and ignorance. Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez know the horrors of socialism? My father was minutes from death in Cambodia before a forced marriage saved his life. That’s socialism. Forced obedience, starvation,” Heng narrates during the commercial.

She continues, “Mine is a face of freedom. My skin is not white and not I’m outrageous, racist, nor socialist. I’m a Republican.”

AOC had a meltdown in reaction to the ad.

If the AOC response isn’t indicative, try Allahpundit: The “burning AOC” anti-socialism ad – “I groaned last night as I watched this since the entire dynamic was apparent in an instant.” It’s a double standards deja vu. Allahpundit and Juan Williams seem to have a lot in common when it comes to political knee jerking.

General Flynn Goes On Offense Against the Deep State. John Hinderaker – “It appears that Ms. Powell may have sources inside the bureaucracy where she once worked; or possibly she has just done a better job of assembling the bits and pieces of information that have become public over the last three years than anyone else (with the exception, I hope, of John Durham and William Barr). The gist of her argument is that the federal government’s prosecution of General Flynn is so corrupt, so dishonest, so egregious, that it should be dismissed. That is how it looks to me. We will see whether Judge Sullivan agrees.”

Income gains for US households and workers are much more upbeat than what’s being reported by the media. Mark Perry – “a closer look at the Census Bureau data reveals there are several reasons that it’s maybe not such “a darn depressing story,” and might be a much more optimistic story of income gains for Americans than is being reported by the media.”

Debating A Murderer President, A Racist USA, A Dying Planet. Thomas McArdle – “But what actually stood out, for all the claims that “the American people are so much better than this,” as Sen. Kamala Harris said, and promises to “trust the American people,” as Mayor Pete Buttigieg put it, is the contempt shown on that stage in Houston for the people’s judgment – and their character.”

“Presumably, Trump would like to kill the people who enjoy record high employment under his policies. Apparently, white supremacist presidents giveth and taketh away.
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So why exactly would we want to give these supposed distributors of racially motivated punishments more cash?
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The way to save our dying planet is apparently by killing our racist country’s economy.

There was a lot more. Harris, who can’t make up her mind on her health reform proposal, claimed: “Under my Medicare For All plan, people have the choice of a private plan or a public plan.” Maybe “Medicare For Some” would be a better name for that.

Warren seems to think she can increase China’s minimum wage, not just ours:
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Self-loathing is a strange, new strategy for winning the White House, but next year will reveal whether it can work.

Gaetz: Dems Impeachment Push are ‘Perverting The Founding Fathers…Safeguards’. Sara Carter – “last week I argued that Nadler’s push for impeachment is not just a crisis for Trump but one for America. I stand by that argument. The Democrats continue to push multiple false narratives in an effort to target Trump.”

“Remember, over the past several years Nadler, Rep. Adam Schiff and other Democrats haven’t wasted any time spreading false rumors. They have spread disinformation campaigns against the Trump administration.

Nadler’s committee, along with his Democratic colleagues, argue the resolution is similar to procedural votes that took place during the impeachment investigations into Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Not true. And they still have no evidence of obstruction and no evidence that Trump has committed any crime.

Most importantly, don’t buy this Democratic narrative America. All these lawmakers are doing is wasting your tax payer dollars on more nonsense and political theater.

This is politics at its worst and damages our nation far more than Trump.

CNN Defends Andrew McCabe: “Prosecuting lying in these very esoteric circumstances, is very rare”… sundance – “As you listen to Jeffrey Toobin defend former FBI Director Andrew McCabe, play a little mental juxtaposition game and replace McCabe with General Mike Flynn.”

Everything That’s Wrong With Health Care In One Tweet. John Merline – “In 1960, half of the nation’s medical bills were paid out of pocket. Outside of hospital visits, insurance didn’t cover routine care. Patients paid doctors in cash for checkups and routine tests.”

“It’s worth noting that at 10%, the out-of-pocket share of health spending is lower in the U.S. than in almost every other country that has declared medical care a “right” and promises “universal coverage.”
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What’s needed isn’t less out-of-pocket spending for health care, but more of it. In every other part of the market, choice and competition drive down prices and increase quality. The same would work in health care, if government policies would stop discouraging it.

When doctors’ offices are full of Groupon-wielding patients, the health care system will no longer be “bonkers.” It will be reformed.

Flynn Lawyer Response to Threats and Targeted Harassment by Chairman Adam Schiff… sundance – “Not enough people understand the role of the Lawfare group in the corruption and political weaponization of the DOJ, FBI and larger intelligence community.”

“What Media Matters is to corrupt left-wing media, the Lawfare group is to the corrupt DOJ and FBI.
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The Lawfare continuum is very simple. The corrupt 2015 Clinton exoneration; which became the corrupt 2016 DOJ/FBI Trump investigation; which became the corrupt 2017 DOJ/FBI Mueller probe; is currently the 2019 “impeachment” plan. Weissmann and Mueller delivering their report evolved the plan from corrupt legal theory into corrupt political targeting. Every phase within the continuum holds the same goal.

The current “impeachment strategy” is planned-out within the Lawfare group.

After the 2018 mid-terms, and in preparation for the “impeachment” strategy, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler hired Lawfare Group members to become committee staff.
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The Lawfare group ensures you have the right to remain guilty until they verify your politics and determine your alignment with the tribe. If accepted, your disposition shifts to innocent and you receive a pass to avoid any legal jeopardy…

Nadler’s Push For Impeachment Is A Crisis For America, Not Just Trump. Sara Carter – “Basically, the Democrats are desperately searching for a crime: any crime will do and they are not going to stop until they find one.”

“Chairman Jerrold Nadler doesn’t seem to care about anything unless it’s “impeachment.” He has no evidence of malfeasance by the President but he, like Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA, don’t seem to care.

They are holding congressional hearings in search of a crime. Mind you, they have no evidence of anything but they are hoping, like they did with their debunked Trump Russia collusion theory, that they will find one.
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Remember, over the past several years Nadler, Schiff and other Democrats haven’t wasted any time spreading false rumors, in other words a disinformation campaign, against Trump on their favorite friendly cable news outlets like MSNBC or CNN.
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For what? I don’t get this at all. The American people are tired of this Washington D.C. political shark game. I’m sure the American people want a government that works for them and I’m guessing stop all these targeted attacks against the president.

Climate Change Has Been A Routine Scare Tactic Since The 1930s. Martin Armstrong – “It was Malthus who first published his “Essay on the Principle of Population as it Affects the Future Improvement of Society” in 1798.” It’s what they do, again and again, and again.

More than 900 Amazon employees plan strike over climate change inaction. Evie Fordham – “Amazon’s strike will coincide with a 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg’s Global Climate Strike beginning on Sept. 20 as well.” Yes, it’s what they do.

The best speech on Brexit — from a shocking source. Thomas Lifson – “the arrogant, unaccountable transnational organizations, of which the EU is a leading example, have served global elites better than ordinary citizens of their constuent countries.”

“Watch this speech in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, by AfD’s co-leader Alice Weidel and start to realize that populism is a global force in the highly industrialized world, and that the complaints we Anericans feel against our elites, and the complaints Brits have against ceeding controt ot he EU, are all of a piece. She does not hesitate to point her fingers at France, which is leading the resistance to a negotiated Brexit.

One America News Network files $10 million defamation lawsuit against Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, and corporate parents. Thomas Lifson – “President Trump isn’t the only one who hits back.”

A NRA Member Makes Some Humble Suggestions on Gun Control. Roger L. Simon – “Few things exist on which there is more BS spoken than gun control.”

“You only have to look to Paris, where personal gun ownership is virtually illegal for private citizens and multiple dozens of people were murdered by jihadis at the Bataclan Theater and across the city, or Chicago, another supposedly gun-free zone, relatively anyway, where five were murdered and at least 29 wounded over the last weekend alone, for corroboration.

People who believe this kind of confiscation or control will solve everything, or even close, are living in a virtue-signaling/morally narcissistic dreamland.
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Yes, it’s true that the statistics on mass killings are fudged and exaggerated, but as a member of the NRA I have a few, tentative, suggestions:

Here we go. NRA sues San Francisco. Jazz Shaw – “It sounds like the NRA has a pretty solid case here. If the city had only passed some sort of nonbinding resolution calling the group a “domestic terrorist organization” they might have gotten away with it.” … “But when the city elders decided to declare that they would limit business with the NRA and its supporters, they definitely crossed a line.”

Debunking Howard Zinn … neo – “Even before Zinn wrote his book, there was a movement to tear down the way American history had been taught before.”

“So Zinn’s book fell on fertile ground, and without that encouragement I doubt it would have had the widespread effect it did. Most of us (and that includes me) weren’t paying much attention at the time. That’s how it was possible that the book’s influence became so widespread. At this point, can a counterbook such as Grabar’s have much effect? It seems to me that the tide against which it is swimming is very very strong.

Is It Illegal for a President to Make Money From Outside Businesses While in Office? Josh Ocampo – “Three lawsuits have been filed against Trump that invoke the Emoluments Clause; two have been dropped and one by Congressional Democrats remains active.” Ocampo is rather confused about the emoluments clause and why cases get dismissed. He does illustrate lawfare tactics based on deceit and distortion and suspicion and distruct work. It’s what they do.

Did Trump Rallies Really Increase Hate Crimes by 226%? Rick Moran – “As you can see, the left brings Mark Twain’s words to life: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” In this case, you have to ask are the professors that stupid? Or do they think that we are?” Moran has a problem, the ‘both sides guilty’ thing where the only cases he has go one way but that doesn’t inhibit innuendo or judgement sans evidence – or even contradictory to what is readily available.

“Trump makes use of the phrase “fake news” all too often. Many times, what he calls “fake news” is actually accurate reporting of his idiocy and ignorance.

But this is definitely one instance that Trump would be correct in calling out the media for reporting “fake news.” It’s not only “fake,” it’s an outright lie.

The Downside Of Prosperity: Madness Made Affordable. I & I Editorial Board – “No other system on Earth has created greater wealth for more people, and lifted more out of poverty than free market capitalism. But it has also brought a drawback we have to live with: plenty of idle time and available resources to feed foolish and too-often destructive activities.”

“None of this is to say we shouldn’t promote prosperity. We are made wealthy only to the degree we are free. Purposely curbing or slowing prosperity to restrain the shameful and sometimes criminal behavior of a few would restrain the liberty of all.

But a civilized people cannot tolerate domestic terrorists, “black bloc” rioters, street brawlers, and violent agitators To let this behavior go on, and in Ayers’ case reward it with a teaching pulpit, is to invite cultural and societal decline.

Bucknell University To Host Antifa Leader Who Promotes Political Violence. Alexander Riley – “At the campus where I teach, this week we are seeing an example of this insidious creep toward the left’s open embrace of violence against those who advocate for conservative ideas.”

Did Jerry Nadler lie to a federal judge? Thomas Lifson – “If you or I lied to a judge in a filing, there would be serious legal consequences, perhaps a fine and incarceration, for our legal system depends on absolute truth in filings to the courts.”

Perception is all: sacrificing safety to give in to fear … neo – “Why would a person planning a mass murder respect a store’s request that he not bring a gun into the store? That would be a bizarre notion.”

The long, strange road to passing SB 276 appears to be near its end…finally. David Gorski – “The long strange battle to get SB 276, the law designed to close that loophole, reveals a lot about the difficulty of legislating science-based policy, even in California.”

In a recent discussion, “facts” kept being mentioned as if their existence was all that was needed to support certain allegations, assumptions, and accusations. The thing is, facts are like the reeds used to make a basket. Some are strong, healthy, and well woven to create a basket that doesn’t leak and will last. Others are weak and poorly woven so that a basket made from them leaks like a sieve and doesn’t last very long before falling apart. Being able to tell one from the other – how facts are put together and how strong they are for the case being made – this is the challenge.

Or maybe the story of the Three Little Pigs might work better as an analogy for you? Are your intellectual structures made of straw or brick?

Natural Disasters and the AR-15. Erik Root – “As Dorian wreaks havoc, leaving some communities in a temporary state of nature, the right to protect ourselves is consequential. The natural right to self-defense is inalienable.”

Lies the Left Tells About Guns. Rachel Bovard – “For starters, the “assault weapons” ban of 1994 had no meaningful effect on the homicide rate.”

“The simple fact that we have a right to own guns doesn’t mean individuals must own them, use them, or even like them. But what it does mean is that people advocating further regulation of firearms at least should have a baseline understanding of how firearms actually work, as well as the current statutory environment that regulates their purchase, handling, and use.

Unfortunately, the current rhetoric coming from Democrats betrays a deep misunderstanding about all of those things.

Here are some of the worst offenses.

The Enemies of American Infrastructure. Edward Ring – “America’s inability to build anything big has almost nothing to do with the quality of American engineering, or the capabilities of America’s construction industry. The blame lies exclusively with American politicians, judges, government bureaucrats, and plaintiff attorneys.”

“Nobody wants to throw away all environmental protections, but the process now in place of permit delays and litigation has paralyzed the nation. It has become extreme. Americans are wearing out infrastructure that was built decades ago. Thanks to permitting delays and litigation, the costs of replacements and upgrades are prohibitive.

President Trump, who made his billions in the construction business, has done as much as he possibly can to cut regulations on builders, but without support from Congress or the courts, change is incremental.
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If these environmentalists, bureaucrats, and plaintiff attorneys actually believe in saving a planet and a people desperately threatened by “climate change,” they’re being awfully impractical.
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Kotkin’s analysis is accurate. “Public employee groups” and “the renewable energy lobbies” are special interests. If not one and the same, they are allied with the government bureaucrats and environmentalist attorneys who amass power and money every time they stop or delay another infrastructure project or housing development. They are sapping American wealth, oppressing the American people, and empowering hostile regimes around the world.

The Nuclear Option: Meteorologists, the Professional Fake Forecasters. Charles Hurt – “Sheathed in their nerdy white lab coats and pocket protectors, armed with their little TV weather screen clickers, they are ready for battle against the Great Orange Force of Nature.”

“Every shred of information included in the president’s tweet came directly from — that’s right — meteorologists. The very same meteorologists who then turned viciously against Mr. Trump as soon as their own predictions, as usual, turned into total fantasy.

The harshness should not be towards weather forecasts but rather towards the lie and how dearly it is held – the fact that their complaint or accusation is sourced back to them in an early forecast and only about an insignificant part of that forecast.