Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Friday January 31, 2020.
THE DAILY SIGNAL
| Jan 31, 2020 Happy Friday from Washington, where the Senate is expected to vote today on calling witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial. First, senators plowed through a second day of Q&A, and Fred Lucas has the good stuff. How worrisome is the coronavirus outbreak in China? Peter Brookes weighs in. Plus: limiting surprise medical bills, balking at peace, and calling out anti-Semitism. On this date in 1988, the Washington Redskins’ Doug Williams becomes the first African American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, leading his team to a 42-10 upset of the Denver Broncos. Enjoy the game, er, weekend. NEWS7 Questions and Answers From Day 9 of Trump Impeachment TrialBy Fred Lucas The ninth day of the impeachment trial was the second straight day in which President Trump’s defense team and House prosecutors took turns answering questions from senators.MoreCOMMENTARYFrom the Chinese Coronavirus Crisis, 3 Early LessonsBy Peter Brookes The virus reportedly surfaced in Wuhan on Dec. 8. The local government waited more than three weeks to notify residents and to act.MoreCOMMENTARYOn Surprise Medical Bills, Congress Should Side With Consumers, Not Special InterestsBy Doug Badger Right now, too many Americans are being hit with enormous medical bills that their insurer won’t cover for reasons beyond the patients’ control.MoreCOMMENTARYPalestinians Miss Opportunity by Rejecting Trump Peace PlanBy James Phillips Trump’s vision includes important benefits for Palestinians, who were offered the opportunity to build a state of their own, supported by a $50 billion regional development plan for the Palestinian territories and nearby Arab states.MoreANALYSISDiversity Makes Us Stronger As a Nation, Army Lieutenant General SaysBy Rachel del Guidice Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham, retired chief of staff for installation management at the Department of the Army, and Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Benedict College, join the podcast.MoreCOMMENTARYWhen ‘Never Again’ Means NothingBy Ben Shapiro “Today and every day, we must redouble our efforts to confront anti-Semitism and all forms of religious discrimination and say #NeverAgain,” tweets Rep. Ilhan Omar.More The Daily Signal is brought to you by more than half a million members of The Heritage Foundation. Donate to The Daily Signal Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter How are we doing? We welcome your comments, suggestions, and story tips. Please reply to this email or send us a note at comments@dailysignal.com.The Daily Signal 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (800) 546-2843 Add morningbell@heritage.org to your address book to ensure that you receive emails from us.You are subscribed to this newsletter as rickbulow1974@gmail.com. If you want to receive other Heritage Foundation newsletters, or opt out of this newsletter, please click here to update your subscription. |
THE EPOCH TIMES
“Experience is the teacher of all things.” JULIUS CAESARGood morning, The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak of the coronavirus a global health emergency. “The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to Wuhan, or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. So far, there have been no reported deaths as a result of the virus outside of China. Read the full story here. House Passes Two Bills Aimed at Limiting Trump’s War Powers in Iran Federal Data Shows 1.5 Million School Kids Are Homeless US Jobless Claims Fall, Pointing to Continued Labor Market Strength Kobe Bryant’s Wife, Vanessa, Breaks Silence on Death Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with British leaders in London to reiterate U.S. concerns about allowing China’s Huawei to have a role in British communications networks, describing the Chinese Communist Party as the biggest threat of the current era. Read moreMillions of American workers lost good-paying jobs, mainly in manufacturing, after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, a new report states. Read moreSupreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has issued a sharp critique of the growing practice of federal judges ruling beyond the scope of a particular case, in some court orders known as nationwide injunctions. Read moreAs China continues to challenge the United States for global dominance, inside the Middle East, oil-hungry China gets a “free ride” on the security system established by the United States there, according to experts interviewed by The Epoch Times. Read moreThe first case of a person contracting the new coronavirus from another person in the United States was confirmed on Jan. 30. Read more See More Top StoriesChina’s Environmental Malpractice Hurts Everyone By Froma Harrop A lot of things are going wrong on this planet, and a lot of those problems are made in China. The deadly coronavirus is being linked to “wet markets” that traffic in wildlife. Not only… Read morePositive Freedom Versus Negative Freedom By Chris Erickson I want to begin this article with an intentionally open-ended and deliberately controversial statement: There’s something deeply disordered about how a growing majority of Americans think about freedom. Read more See More OpinionsTrade Expert Says China Still a Threat By Valentin Schmid (January 22, 2015) A panel of lawyers, judges, and consultants deliberated, at the Brooklyn Law School on Jan. 21, over the question of whether China still poses a threat to U.S. companies in terms of illicit trade practices. Read moreWhy is the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak almost certainly far worse than officially reported by Chinese authorities? How does this growing humanitarian catastrophe reflect broader, systemic issues surrounding the Communist Party’s rule? And why are donations of medical supplies from outside China being restricted? China’s Regime Grossly Underreporting Scale of Novel Coronavirus OutbreakCopyright © 2020 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive newsletter communications from The Epoch Times. Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times229 W. 28 St.Fl. 5New York, NY 10001 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list or remove my account. |
DAYBREAK
| Your First Look at Today’s Top Stories – Daybreak InsiderHaving trouble viewing this email? View the web version.SPONSORED BYDaybreakInsider.com @DaybreakInsiderFRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 20201.Senator Alexander Cripples Democrat Hopes: Says No to More Witnesses Alexander said “If this shallow, hurried and wholly partisan impeachment were to succeed, it would rip the country apart, pouring gasoline on the fire of cultural divisions that already exist. It would create the weapon of perpetual impeachment to be used against future presidents whenever the House of Representatives is of a different political party” (Fox News). From Rich Lowry: Alexander statement hits all the rights notes—doesn’t deny the undeniable and says the president’s conduct was inappropriate, but argues that it doesn’t rise to the level of removal and defers to the American people on the president’s ultimate fate in November (Twitter). From Kimberly Strassel: “Calling Mr. Bolton wouldn’t remedy a fatally flawed proceeding. It wouldn’t erase the secret hearings, or fix the failure to settle “contempt” in the courts, or restore due process. Mr. Bolton’s testimony would add nothing” (WSJ). From Katie Pavlich: The House impeachment managers, specifically Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, have nobody to blame but themselves. Nancy Pelosi too (Twitter). 2.World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus a “Global Emergency” The Telegraph notes “more than 80 British nationals headed home from the virus-hit city of Wuhan” (Telegraph). The American Airlines pilot union is suing to stop flights to China (The Hill). Apple and Starbucks are among the businesses getting hammered over the virus (ABC News). Advertisement3.Biden: Sanders “Not a Registered Democrat” It took this long for Biden to get here (Washington Examiner). A Jewish group in Iowa is trying to stop Sanders’ momentum (National Review). 4.In 1999 Biden Argued Against Witnesses in Impeachment Trial From the story: Biden circulated the four-page document, titled “Arguments in Support of a Summary Impeachment Trial,” on Jan. 5, 1999. In his memo, obtained by POLITICO, Biden cited historical precedents from impeachment cases going back to the establishment of the Senate and asserted “The Senate need not hold a ‘full blown’ trial. Politico 5.Trump Plan Hopes to Stop Dysfunctional Medicaid Spending The story explains “states can apply for a waiver in which they agree to keep their spending under a cap, and in return they get a lot of flexibility in how they handle the program. They may also get to “reinvest” some of the money they save the federal government into health-related projects.” National Review Advertisement6.Celeb Nicky Hilton Rothschild: I’m Saving the Planet by Wearing Vintage ChanelAnd the wealthy socialite said she took the subway. Page Six 7.Portland Police Told to Ask Suspects What They Can Do to Put Them at EaseThe mayor appointed a “community group” which unanimously suggested, according to the story, “When pulling over a car or approaching a pedestrian, Portland police officers should introduce themselves with their full names, explain the reason for the stop, clearly state if they are detaining someone or not and ask if they could do anything to put people at ease.” Oregonian 8.Kobe Helicopter Not Certified to Fly in Poor Visibility From the story: Three sources familiar with the helicopter company’s operations told The New York Times that Island Express Helicopters, which owned the Sikorsky S-76B aircraft, had an operating certification from the Federal Aviation Administration limiting flight to flying under visual flight rules. These are regulations that dictate a pilot must operate an aircraft in weather conditions that are clear enough for a pilot to stay oriented and navigate by visual cues, sometimes used alongside special instruments. Business Insider AdvertisementCopyright © 2020 DaybreakInsider.comSUBSCRIPTION INFO This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It is only sent to people who signed up from one of the Salem Media Group network of websites OR a friend might have forwarded it to you. We respect and value your time and privacy. Unsubscribe from The Daybreak Insider OR Send postal mail to: The Daybreak Insider Unsubscribe 6400 N. Belt Line Rd., Suite 200, Irving, TX 75063 Were you forwarded this edition of The Daybreak Insider? Get your own free subscription Copyright © 2020 Salem Media Group and its Content Providers. All rights reserved. |
THE DISPATCH 1
Annual memberships to The Dispatch are now available for $100. If you haven’t yet joined and would like to support our early efforts, you can do so here.Dershowitz’s Dangerous GameHis defense of Trump threatens the checks and balances at the heart of Congress’s impeachment power.Jonah GoldbergJan 31Dear Republican senators,I will not try to convince you how to vote in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. I won’t even lecture you about the need for witnesses, in part because by the time you see this it will probably be too late. My request is far more humble and possibly far more consequential: When you vote to acquit Trump of the charges leveled against him, please, please, forthrightly reject the central argument of Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz. According to Dershowitz, “abuse of power” is not an impeachable act. Seriously. Any abuse of power that doesn’t include a separate violation of criminal law is immune from impeachment, he contends. Indeed, any act—whether you call it abuse of power of corruption—is, for Dershowitz, fully within the president’s constitutional ambit. So a president who gets fall-down drunk every day and fails to fulfill the barest minimum of his duties cannot be impeached because getting drunk isn’t a crime. Do you want to validate that nonsense?I’m not picking that hypothetical out of the ether. During the Senate’s Q&A session Wednesday night, Dershowitz told you the Senate’s impeachment power over federal judges is different than that over presidents. Judges can be removed from the bench for violating the standard of “good behavior.” So, Dershowitz conceded, if a judge gets falling-down drunk on the job, the Senate can remove him.It would be hard to argue otherwise, given that the first impeachment trial held by the Senate removed judge John Pickering from the bench in 1803. The primary charge was that he was “a man of loose morals and intemperate habits” who at least once was drunk on the job. But, Dershowitz argued, the president doesn’t serve only during “good behavior” because he is answerable to the voters. It’s an interesting distinction. The only problem: There’s nothing in the Constitution to back him up. There’s also nothing in the Constitution (or the Federalist Papers) to support the idea that so long as the president doesn’t violate criminal law, he can’t be impeached. The standard response to this is: “What about the phrase ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ in the Constitution?” The problem here, as most constitutional scholars will tell you, is that “high crimes” doesn’t just mean “violations of federal law.” It would be weird if it did, given that when the Constitution was ratified there were no federal crimes, save for those mentioned in the Constitution (bribery, treason, and piracy). Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist 65, explained that high crimes “are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.” Presumably, refusing to attend meetings, sign legislation, or conduct foreign policy because you were too busy doing keg stands in the Rose Garden would be a violation of the public trust. Again, Dershowitz is almost completely alone among legal scholars alive today in making this argument. But he is not alone historically.Dershowitz cites the legal arguments of Benjamin Curtis as a controlling precedent. Curtis was President Andrew Johnson’s lawyer during his 1868 impeachment trial. Like Dershowitz, Curtis argued that mere abuse of power wasn’t enough for a president to be impeached. The president needed to seriously violate the law. Johnson avoided removal by one vote—and Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman persuasively argues that the one vote was secured at the last minute not through the power of Curtis’ arguments but by naked bribery. Regardless, because Johnson survived impeachment, Dershowitz has a lawyerly point. Curtis “won,” so maybe his argument has precedential power after all. If—and I should probably say “when”—you acquit the president, this precedent will gain even more power. And it is a terrible, dangerous, ridiculous precedent.The president’s strategy of completely stonewalling an impeachment inquiry has damaged congressional authority enough. There’s no fixing the damage of that precedent now. But validating Dershowitz’s claims would take a sledgehammer to the checks and balances at the heart of the impeachment power. Lending credence to the idea that presidents can literally do anything they want so long as they don’t violate federal law (including promising pardons to induce henchmen to commit crimes for them—an act James Madison considered impeachable) would cover this Senate with shame. Republican senators, I understand that you think it’s necessary to acquit President Trump. Fine. The least you could do is offer a resolution stating that Dershowitz’s argument isn’t the reason for your decision.Photograph of Alan Dershowitz by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images.You’re on the free list for The Dispatch. For the full experience, become a paying subscriber.Subscribe© 2020 The Dispatch Unsubscribe 1 Thomas Circle, Washington, D.C., 20005 |
THE FLIP SIDE
| View this email in your browser Friday, January 31, 2020Editor’s Note: The Flip Side is teaming up with Civic Spirit to launch our first-ever Media Literacy Challenge! Calling all students ages 13-19: here’s your chance to create your very own edition of The Flip Side! Are you up to the task? #MediaLiteracyChallengeBrexit“Brexit cleared its last formal hurdle in Brussels on Thursday… The 27 EU member states that Britain will leave behind at midnight in Brussels on Friday approved the withdrawal agreement reached last October.” ReutersFrom the LeftThe left focuses on the challenges awaiting Britain.“Both the cheers and the tears seem extreme at first glance, considering how little will change on the ground on Friday. The transition agreement struck as part of Brexit means that, for the next 11 months, the U.K. will be treated as if it were still part of the EU… And while the Brexiteers champion ‘Global Britain’ as a free-market counterweight to a protectionist EU, we have yet to see a real divide on trade and geopolitics… “This entente won’t last long, however. Both the U.K. and the EU are trying to carve out a place for themselves on a world stage that’s dominated by the U.S. and China. The Brits aspire to retreat from the world’s biggest single market in favor of a soft-power, light-touch island economy — experts have imagined Singapore-on-Thames, the Canada of Europe, or ‘Belgium with nukes.’” Lionel Laurent, Bloomberg “The problems we have faced in trying to leave the EU stand as a testament to how right the Brexiters were all along: this isn’t a simple trading block, it is far, far, more. And disentangling the relationship has likewise proved far more complicated than many people – including most high-profile Brexiters – ever imagined… the period since the referendum has ended the careers of two prime ministers, eight cabinet ministers and over 80 MPs… We’ve learned so much about our country and its institutions since June 2016. Yet the real decisions are still to be made… “Four years hence, as we turn our minds to the next election, politics may have repositioned itself around a more traditional left-right axis; a berated and battered civil service may have retained its core values; Scotland may have voted for independence from the UK… And, of course, a majority government may have made parliament reassuringly boring again. But beware. Boredom is a dangerous thing. The choices stemming from Brexit are arguably more significant than the choice to leave in the first place. How paradoxical if, at the moment when the real decisions are being made, our interest starts to falter.” Anand Menon, The Guardian “Johnson has promised he will not extend this transition period beyond 2020, giving the UK and EU less than 11 months to figure out their future partnership. This isn’t impossible to achieve, but it’s going to be very, very difficult. If the EU and UK can’t reach an agreement at the end of the year, the possibility of a no-deal looms once again. Experts say that could still be damaging and extraordinarily disruptive, especially if tariffs and increased customs checks lead to backlogs at ports, which could mean shortages in food and other goods. So although Brexit will be official on January 31, the uncertainty over it definitely won’t be over.” Jen Kirby, Katelyn Burns, and Matthew Yglesias, Vox “Britain must negotiate a trade deal governing future commercial relations with Europe by the end of the year — a perhaps impossible deadline — or risk expensive disruption with its largest trading partner… Europe’s recent trade deals with Canada and Japan took seven years. Still, Mr. Johnson has repeatedly ruled out extending the transition date… “If Mr. Johnson holds firm, that raises two potential outcomes, neither conducive to expanding fortunes. Either Britain and Europe strike a narrow trade deal that governs some manufactured goods, while leaving out services — the bulk of the British economy — or Britain crashes out of the European bloc with no deal at all. Even the threat of a no-deal exit would entail costly mayhem, as companies on both sides of the English Channel stockpile goods in anticipation of customs snafus and choked ports. That is what unfolded for much of last year as the British political system lurched toward a Brexit deadline without an agreed-upon plan, bringing a no-deal scenario into stark relief.” Peter S. Goodman, New York Times “Brexit won’t mark the end of Britain’s zero-sum politics… There was already something broken in the liberal status quo, long before Britain voted to leave the EU. Liberal societies have entrenched asymmetries of power and inequalities of wealth to a degree that citizens no longer see each other as equals. When some are rich and others are poor, when some are highly articulate and others haven’t completed GCSEs, when some have multiple houses and others are condemned to be homeless, the imperative to patiently listen to the other side is not just unrealistic: it is insulting to those who persistently lose out.” Lea Ypi, The GuardianFrom the RightThe right celebrates Brexit for returning decision-making to British voters.“First born in the 1950s at the high-water mark for faith in technocracy, the successive institutions that blossomed into today’s EU were always premised on the notion that voters couldn’t be trusted. The EU’s most powerful institution today is the bureaucratic European Commission. The elected European Parliament is barely an afterthought… Brexit has proved a profound shock to Europe’s system because it’s so unusual these days for European voters to get their way on anything important. The most obvious examples are the referendums on closer EU integration held in France and the Netherlands in 2005 and in Ireland in 2008 and 2009. When those citizens voted the ‘wrong’ way, they were either circumvented via procedural and legal chicanery or forced to vote again… “If you’re one of the shrinking number of Germans who voted for the center-left Social Democratic Party in 2017, surprise: Your party now supports a center-right government under Angela Merkel. In Italy, a shifting coalition of also-rans has spent the past two years plotting to thwart the one politician and party that enjoys discernible plurality support, Matteo Salvini and the League. Remember Greece’s botched 2015 referendum on the EU bailout terms, which would have meant abandoning the euro? Voters rejected the bailout but got it anyway.” Joseph C. Sternberg, Wall Street Journal “For decades, a powerful intellectual clique has insisted that the gradual erasure of borders and the enfeeblement of national governments was the natural next course of human enlightenment. Often it was implied that some iron law of history drives this trend. The moral progress of mankind, or the exigencies of markets, somehow, demands it… “In the 2016 campaign, the U.K.’s chancellor said that a vote for Brexit — just the vote itself — would send the United Kingdom’s economy reeling, that taxes would immediately have to be raised, and that an emergency budget would have to be passed. None of that happened… This month the International Monetary Fund, normally a staunch friend of the EU, released its economic forecasts, which put the U.K.’s growth ahead of Germany’s and the eurozone’s. It doesn’t quite sound like civilizational destruction to me.” Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review “Brexit has cashiered a long list of centrist politicians on the right and left who used EU membership as an excuse for their own mediocre economic performance… [It’s true that] Britain benefited from unrestricted trade with the EU and faces serious disruptions as businesses adapt to the loss of those benefits. But Brussels mandarins don’t possess a magic elixir uniquely capable of spurring economic growth. Ask unemployed French youth, stagnating German entrepreneurs or anyone in Greece.” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal “The opportunity in front of [Boris Johnson] is pretty clear. He could speed up, perhaps double, the rate of economic growth by unleashing innovation… That means rediscovering trial and error, serendipity and swiftness — the mechanisms by which the market finds out what the consumer wants next… “Government has to make risk-taking less economically dangerous, and that means a liberal fiscal policy and speeding up the decisions of regulators: Brussels took more than two years to decide even whether to regulate genome editing in plants, while America and China forged ahead… If the British innovation engine starts purring again, we could rediscover the joys of rapid economic growth, with more money for schools, hospitals and improving the environment. Having a global financial center, a great scientific reputation, the common law, the English language and an open trading system, Britain is as well placed as anywhere on earth to attract innovators.” Matt Ridley, Spectator USA “A trade deal [with the EU has] to please all [27] member states. Before the EU eventually did a trade deal with Canada, the process was temporarily halted by rejection by a regional parliament in southern Belgium. A straightforward bilateral trade deal between the US and Britain would have fewer barriers… If the US and Britain can complete a trade deal… It would vindicate critics of the EU who have long argued that while the EU is theoretically committed to free trade, it is in practice too protectionist in nature to cut deals with the largest economies.” Ross Clark, Spectator USAOn the bright side… As cabin fever gets worse, St. John’s residents’ snow fort skills get better. CBC NewsThe Flip Side team spends hours each night scanning the news, fact-checking, and debating one another, so your 5 minutes each morning can be well spent. If you’ve found value in our work, we welcome you to help sustain our efforts and expand our reach. Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated!Were you forwarded this by a friend? Sign up hereOur ArchivesShareTweetForwardCopyright © 2020 The Flip Side, All rights reserved. You can unsubscribe from this list here. |
AMERICAN MINUTE
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| View as Webpage American Minute with Bill FedererJacob Duché Continental Congress Prayer & a caution to “Stand Fast”As British troops were descending upon Boston, the Continental Congress’ first official act was to request that Rev. Jacob Duché, pastor of Philadelphia’s Christ Church, open Congress in prayer: “Tuesday, September 6, 1774. Resolved, That the Rev. Mr. Duché be desired to open the Congress tomorrow morning with prayers, at the Carpenter’s Hall, at 9 o’clock.”Born JANUARY 31, 1738, Rev. Jacob Duché was a prominent leader in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Anthony Duché , was a French Protestant Huguenot who had sailed to America with William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.His father, Col Jacob Duché , Sr., served a term as mayor of Philadelphia, and helped Ben Franklin in 1748 raise a volunteer militia of armed private citizens to defend the city during the French and Indian War.Young Jacob Duché was in the first class of the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania), which was founded with the help of Ben Franklin. Duché graduated valedictorian of his class in 1757. He studied at Cambridge University in England and was ordained an Anglican minister.His brother-in-law was Francis Hopkinson, a classmate at the College of Philadelphia who signed the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson proposed a design for the National Flag and worked with the committee that designed the National Seal.On September 7, 1774, Rev. Jacob Duché , Jr., arrived at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia and read the 35th Psalm, which was the designated Anglican reading for that day: “Plead my cause, Oh, Lord, with them that strive with me, fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of buckler and shield, and rise up for my help. Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’ Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.”Rev. Duché then offered an extemporaneous prayer. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in Town of Greece v. Galloway, May 5, 2014: “Legislative prayer, while religious in nature, has long been understood as compatible with the Establishment Clause… The Framers considered legislative prayer a benign acknowledgment of religion’s role in society … Any test the Court adopts must acknowledge a practice that was accepted by the Framers … The decidedly Christian nature of these prayers must not be dismissed as the relic of a time …… The first prayer delivered to the Continental Congress by the Rev. Jacob Duché on Sept. 7, 1774, provides an example: ‘Be Thou present O God of Wisdom and direct the counsel of this Honorable Assembly; enable them to settle all things on the best and surest foundations; that the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that Order, Harmony, and Peace be effectually restored, and the Truth and Justice, Religion and Piety, prevail and flourish among the people. Preserve the health of their bodies, and the vigor of their minds, shower down on them, and the millions they here represent, such temporal Blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting Glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Saviour, Amen’. W. Federer, America’s God and Country 137 (2000).”John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail: “Mr. Duché appeared with his clerk and in his pontificals, and read several prayers in the established form, and read the collect for the 7th day of September, which was the 35th Psalm. You must remember, this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seem as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning.… After this, Mr. Duché , unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer, or one so well pronounced … with such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in language so elegant and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here.”Congress voted: “Wednesday, September 7, 1774 … That the thanks of Congress be given to Mr. Duché … for performing divine Service, and for the excellent prayer, which he composed and delivered on the occasion.”American Minute-Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They OccurredThe next year, on July 7, 1775, Rev. Duché addressed the soldiers of First Battalion of the City of Philadelphia.He dedicated his sermon to General Washington, with the title “The Duty of Standing Fast in Our Spiritual and Temporal Liberties”: “If spiritual liberty calls … to a glorious hereafter, civil liberty must at least be allowed to secure … our well-being here … Civil liberty is as much the gift of God in Christ Jesus as the former, and consequently, that we are bound to stand fast in our civil as well as our spiritual freedom … ‘Standing fast’ in that liberty, wherewith Christ, as the great providential Governor of the world, hath made us free …”Rev. Duché continued: “Considering myself under the twofold character of a minister of Jesus Christ, and a fellow-citizen … involved in the same public calamity with yourselves … I have made choice of a passage of Scripture … addressing myself to you as freemen, both in the spiritual and temporal sense … suggesting to you … under the blessing of Heaven, to … ‘Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free’ (Galatians, chapter 5) …”Duché concluded: “‘Stand Fast’ by an undaunted courage … a courage that will prove you to be good Christians, as well as soldiers, a firm invincible fortitude of soul, founded upon religion, and the glorious hope of a better world … Courage, that will enable you not only to withstand an armed phalanx, to pierce a squadron, or force an entrenchment … but will support you … against the principalities and powers of darkness … pain and sickness, and…all the horrors of a death-bed scene … Courage … will never degenerate into savage cruelty and barbarity … Be prepared … for the worst. Suffer not your spirits to evaporate …… Though the worst should come – though we should be deprived of all the conveniences and elegancies of life … nevertheless, ‘Stand Fast’ as the guardians of liberty … NOW, THEREFORE, BE STRONG, O ZERUBBABEL, AND BE STRONG, O JOSHUA…FOR I AM WITH YOU, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS … LOOK YE UNTO ME, AND BE SAVED, ALL YE ENDS OF THE EARTH!”On July 20, 1775, a day recommended for a General Fast throughout the United English Colonies of America, Rev. Duché addressed the Continental Congress with a sermon titled “The American Vine”: “The dark cloud of judgment … now hangs over our heads … Against thee only have we sinned! To thee only have we been disobedient and ungrateful … Our prosperity hath rendered us forgetful of thee our GOD … The trumpet is sounded in Zion. A fast is proclaimed. A solemn assembly convened. The numerous inhabitants of our extensive colonies, are now prostrate with us before the Throne of Grace ,..”He continued: “OUR sober Ancestors brought over with them … a treasure of infinitely greater value … The banners of CHRISTIAN and BRITISH Liberty were at once unfolded, and these remote parts of the earth were thereby added to the MESSIAH’s kingdom … LET us … call upon the whole people … to join in … one general act of religious humiliation … Go on, ye chosen band of Christian Patriots! Testify to the world, by your example as well as by your counsels, that ye are equally the foes of VICE and of SLAVERY … Promote the glory of GOD, the interest of the Gospel of JESUS, and all those private and public virtues, upon the basis of which alone, the superstructure of true Liberty can be erected …… Let the MINISTERS of the everlasting gospel, the ambassadors of JESUS CHRIST, step forth with fresh zeal and courage to their duty. Let them remember, that they are not only answerable for their own souls, but for the souls of those under their care … TAKE ALARM — Let them boldly rebuke vice — Let them punish immorality and profaneness without respect to rank or fortune … IN a word, if we would wish THE GOD OF HOSTS TO RETURN, TO LOOK DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND BEHOLD AND VISIT our American VINE, we must be prepared to meet him … Happy, if we find him a reconciled GOD in JESUS CHRIST!”On July 4, 1776, after Congress passed the Declaration of Independence, Rev. Mr. Duché walked across the square to his church and convened a special meeting of his Vestry.He then took the large Anglican Book of Common Prayer from the pulpit and crossed out prayers for “the King of England,” replacing them with “the United States of America.” This greatly affected the country, as his was the first church to stop praying for the King.On July 8, 1776, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, wrote to Rev. Mr. Jacob Duché : “Sir, It is with the greatest pleasure I inform you that the Congress have been indeed, from a consideration of your piety, as well as your uniform and zealous attachment to the rights of America, to appoint you their Chaplain. It is their request, which I am commanded to signify to you, that you will attend on them, every morning at nine o’clock.”Lorenzo Sabine’s History of the Loyalists (1864), recorded Rev. Mr. Jacob Duché first prayer after the Declaration of Independence was approved: “O Lord our Heavenly Father, High and Mighty, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth, and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all kingdoms, empires, and governments, look down with mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee, from the rod of the oppressor … desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee.”On September 26, 1777, British General William Howe invaded Philadelphia and imprisoned Rev. Duché , undoubtedly pressuring him mentally. Ten days after his release, being discouraged from the Continental Army’s heavy losses at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, after which they withdrew to Valley Forge, Rev. Jacob Duché disappointed the country. He penned a letter to General Washington urging surrender, then sailed away for England.Later, regretting his decision, Rev. Duché returned to Philadelphia after the war where he finished an uneventful ministry and died in 1798.He is best remembered, though, for his inspirational role in the critical early years of the American Revolution, when he inspired the nation: “‘Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free’ … Stand Fast by an undaunted courage … that will prove you to be good Christians, as well as soldiers, a firm invincible fortitude of soul, founded upon religion, and the glorious hope of a better world … Courage, that will support you … against the principalities and powers of darkness … pain and sickness, and … all the horrors of a death-bed scene … ‘Stand Fast’ as the guardians of liberty.”America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of QuotationsSchedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924 wjfederer@gmail.comAmerican Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.www.AmericanMinute.comhttps://www.themaven.net/americanminute/Click to shop AMERICAN MINUTE store Donate to American Priorities. Thank you!Miracles in American History-Volume TWO (D.James Kennedy Ministry)Faith in History TCTArchivesMiracles in American History CTVN CBN “Liberty” Special Today’s Bible reading View as Webpage |
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
| Friday, January 31, 2020 |
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THE SUNBURN
| Bulletin — Brexit is finally happening: Friday at 11 p.m. GMT (6 p.m. Eastern time). After a final vote Wednesday, the European Union Parliament reluctantly let go of the United Kingdom and finalized the long, drawn-out Brexit divorce battle, setting the stage for some problematic trade negotiations to come. So ends Britain’s 47 years of membership as it becomes the first of the 28 countries in the EU to leave.European Parliament President David Sassoli, center, stands with other British MEP’s and members of the political group Socialist and Democrats as they participate in a ceremony prior to the vote on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU at the European Parliament in Brussels.Get your GSC fix — I will be up Tuesday and Wednesday to hand-deliver Girl Scout Cookie orders. If you still need a GSC fix and would like me to drop some off to your office near the Capitol, please consider ordering some from Ella Joyce’s cookie site here. Remember to click on “Get In-Person Delivery.”For your Super Bowl radar — Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried will lead a Fresh From Florida cooking demo on-stage with former Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder and state executive chef Justin Timineri, Saturday 6:45 p.m. at the Super Bowl LIVE Fan Fest at Bayfront Park.Speaking of the Super Bowl, Sunday is the big game — the 54th Super Bowl and 50th National Football League championship game of the modern era — with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers playing at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m.Who will bring home the Lombardi Trophy? We want to know.It’s a well-matched contest, with both teams having speed as well as proven offensive and defensive lines.That means any attempt at prediction will be a challenge — and that’s most of the fun, right?So we’re asking our friends and fans to give us their best guesses of how the game will turn out, and perhaps some ideas on what it would take to turn out that way.Please, send them to peter@floridapolitics.com, and we’ll include some in our Sunday Brunch email.Thank you — and enjoy the game!So who will take home the Lombardi Trophy? We want your best guess. |
| Today’s Sunrise Members of the Legislative Black Caucus are calling for an outside investigation into the officer-involved shooting that took the life of a 22-year-old FAMU student.Also, on today’s Sunrise:— Despite a landmark death penalty ruling last week by the Florida Supreme Court, leaders in the state Senate say they’re not going to change the law that requires a unanimous vote of the jury to impose a death sentence. At least, not in the current session— Florida pharmacists say they’re being driven out of business by pharmacy benefit managers. PBMs were supposed to help people get the drugs they need at the best prices, but critics say some giant health care companies have rigged the system to raise rates, increase profits and drive small pharmacies out of business— On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, pollster extraordinaire Steve Vancore talks about the presidential campaign.— Deputies in Osceola County say a Florida Man walked into a Kissimmee McDonald’s wearing an employee uniform, went behind the cash register, and helped another man place an order. Once the register was open, the faux employee grabbed a handful of cash and ran. So did the guy who placed the order. Deputies say it’s the second time the guy pulled this stunt — the first was on Christmas Day.To listen, click on the image below: |
| Days until Super Bowl LIV in Miami —2; Great American Realtors Day — 3; Iowa Caucuses — 3; Eighth Democratic presidential debate in Manchester — 6; Capitol Press Corps press skits — 10; New Hampshire Primaries — 11; Pitchers and catchers begin reporting for MLB Spring Training — 11; South Beach Wine and Food Festival — 19; Ninth Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas — 19; Roger Stone’s sentencing — 20; Nevada caucuses — 22; “Better Call Saul” Season 5 premiers — 23; 10th Democratic presidential debate in Charleston — 25; South Carolina Primaries — 29; Super Tuesday — 32; Last day of 2020 Session (maybe) — 42; Florida’s presidential primary — 46; “No Time to Die” premiers — 66; Florida TaxWatch Spring Board Meeting begins — 75; TaxWatch Principal Leadership Awards — 76; Florida Chamber Summit on Prosperity and Economic Opportunity — 105; “Top Gun: Maverick” premiers — 147; Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee begins — 164; Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” premiers — 168; 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo start — 175; Florida primaries for 2020 state legislative/congressional races — 200; First Presidential Debate in Indiana — 242; Republican National Convention begins in Charlotte — 206; First Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah — 250; Second Presidential Debate scheduled at the University of Michigan — 258; Third presidential debate at Belmont — 265; 2020 General Election — 277. |
| Top story “Florida Senate proposes $92.8 billion state budget” via Brendan Farrington of The Associated Press — The Florida Senate released a $92.8 billion state budget proposal that includes raises for state workers and teachers. The proposed spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would be a $1.8 billion increase over the current budget. It’s also $1.4 billion more than the budget Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed in November. The budget includes $500 million for teacher raises. DeSantis is proposing $600 million. Overall, the Senate wants an increase of nearly $763 million for schools, or an additional $181.29 per student over the current budget.“Senate delivers 3% pay raise for state workers in 2020-21 budget proposal” via James Call of the Tallahassee Democrat — “One of our commitments … was to invest in a salary increase for our state employees,” said budget chief Rob Bradley. “In addition to an across-the-board raise, the Senate budget ensures that the increase in the cost of state employee health insurance is fully funded by the state.” Corrections and probation officers are in line for increases based on length of service: $500 for two years of employment, $1,500 for at least two but less than five years, $2,500 for five or more years in addition to the 3% hike.Bill Galvano and Rob Bradley drop a $92.8 billion Senate Budget proposal.“House budget leaner than Senate proposal” via AG Gancarski of Florida Politics — The House budget dropped devoid of quotes from House Speaker José Oliva and Budget Chief Travis Cummings. However, it did have a website launch attached, “as part of its commitment to transparency and access to public information.” It also came in lighter than the Senate document: a mere $91.3 billion, in range with the budget proposed by DeSantis in October. The Senate justified spending bumps with “significant changes in estimates of future state obligations” since DeSantis rolled out his budget. The Senate was willing to commit $500 million for teacher pay raises, with 80% being used to increase the minimum salary to $47,500 as the Governor wants.>>>House launches budget website — The Florida House has updated its website to include a one-stop-shop for all things budget-related. The page has sections for conference reports, filed appropriations bills, proposed appropriations bills, as well as some links to the Senate’s appropriations page. The launch comes after each chamber has released their spending proposals for the 2020-21 fiscal year. |
| Dateline: Tally Ron DeSantis Joins DEP, FWC to kickoff ‘100 Yards of Hope’ — DeSantis, joined by Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Eric Sutton and others, announce the kickoff of ‘100 Yards of Hope’ and launch a new initiative to promote awareness and protection of Florida’s Coral Reef ecosystem. 100 Yards of Hope is a coral reef restoration project in conjunction with FORCE BLUE to plant 100 yards of coral. “Florida is proud to be the only state in the continental U.S. with a nearshore coral reef,” DeSantis said. “By protecting and restoring Florida’s coral reef, we are protecting a state treasure. Florida is not Florida without its coral reefs.”100 Yards of Hope is a coral reef restoration project in conjunction with nonprofit FORCE BLUE to plant 100 yards of coral while also honoring the NFL’s 100th season and America’s military veterans.Happening today — DeSantis and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will be among the featured guests at The Federalist Society event beginning 3:15 p.m.; DeSantis and Thomas will speak at a banquet, 6:45 p.m., Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort, 1700 Epcot Resorts Blvd., Lake Buena Vista.“Nikki Fried plans to disclose hidden income from 2018, but her 2017 filing found to contain $25,000 in new errors” via Brian Burgess of The Capitolist — After failing to disclose her actual income on a required financial disclosure statement for 2018, Fried says she intends to fix the problem by filing an amended financial statement. But now, new discrepancies have surfaced. Fried’s 2017 financial disclosure contains previously unknown errors and omissions, totaling $25,000. Ethics laws require her to file accurate information, which means an amended disclosure statement will need to be filed for that year, too. Through a spokesman, Fried confirmed her plans to file an amended disclosure that includes all required details about her 2018 income, including all payments from major clients and the disposition of her lobbying business, Igniting Florida, LLC. Fried is currently the highest-ranking elected Democrat in Florida.“As Florida House starts investigating domestic violence nonprofit, exec has no answers” via Samantha Gross of the Miami Herald — Sandra Barnett, COO of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, came before the House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee and said that despite spending a decade as former CEO Tiffany Carr’s second in command, she bears little responsibility for what has gone on inside the nonprofit and that she will comply with a House and ongoing Department of Children and Families investigation. Lawmakers embarked on a study into the coalition, which has come under fire for its former CEO’s high salary and disregard of a state audit that has been underway for over a year. The House’s investigation, which comes after reporting that illuminated Carr’s more than $761,000 annual salary, was ordered by House Speaker Oliva.“Allendale United Methodist Rev. Andy Oliver delivers scathing rebuke in controversial House prayer” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — The St. Petersburg pastor’s remarks touched on several issues Republican lawmakers either do not support or actively work against including LGBTQ protections, living wages, and reproductive rights. His comments were the talk of Tallahassee as members, the majority of whom are Republicans, saw the invocation as a politically motivated speech rather than the traditional inspirational message lawmakers commonly hear during symbolic invocations. The remarks could also land Rep. Jennifer Webb in hot water. Webb sponsored Oliver’s invocation, and he was there at her behest. No one has said directly, but the House has a track record for handing down retribution to lawmakers who have upset the natural order of business in Tallahassee. |
| Legislation “Amid backlash over anti-LGBTQ schools, lawmakers push even less voucher oversight” via Emily L. Mahoney of the Tampa Bay Times — Despite mounting backlash over schools with anti-LGTBQ policies that accept state support, Florida lawmakers from both parties advanced a bill that would trim oversight of the leading nonprofit that administers private school vouchers at the center of the controversy. Under the bill, an annual audit of the nonprofit organizations that administers the vouchers would change so that it would be conducted only once every three years. While heralding the opportunities the vouchers provide students, lawmakers barely discussed the change in oversight. That’s despite an Orlando Sentinel investigation of 1,000 private religious schools that accepted the vouchers for low-income students found that 83 of them have policies explicitly barring LGBTQ students, or, sometimes, the children of LGBTQ parents, from attending their schools.“Key GOP lawmaker: No fix needed for school voucher program as more companies pull funds over LGBTQ policies” via Gray Rohrer and Skyler Swisher of the Orlando Sentinel — State Sen. Manny Diaz, who chairs the Senate Education Committee and is a staunch supporter of the Tax Credit Scholarship voucher program, said he doesn’t want the state to meddle in parents’ decisions on where they send their child to school. “The money goes to the parents,” said Diaz. “The parents make the decision. A parent is never going to put a child in a situation that is not beneficial for the child, and if it is not beneficial, they have the ability to move them.” Democrats have pressed Republican legislative leaders to hear bills that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation within the voucher program in the last two years.Despite corporations pulling out, Manny Diaz says there’s no fix needed for the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship voucher program.“Top Republican state Senators say they’re not going to change death penalty law” via Emily Mahoney of the Tampa Bay Times — “I don’t think we’re going to take any steps in the Florida Senate to change or address that,” Senate President Bill Galvano said. The Senator who has led state policy on the death penalty in the past, Sen. Bradley agreed. “Death is different. It’s an appropriate standard, and it puts us in line with the norms of today,” he said. “Florida is not an outlier anymore, so it’s appropriate where we are.” The Florida Supreme Court’s ruling did not affect current state law, which requires a unanimous jury to sentence someone to death. But last week’s decision opened the door for the Legislature to change the law, if it wished.What Jim Fogler is reading — “Effort to retract legal notice requirements clears House hurdle” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — The Florida House Judiciary Committee advanced legislation (HB 7) that would allow notices to go on city websites instead of the local paper. “We sometimes argue like we are living in a fictional world where everyone is getting the newspaper every day, and they can’t wait to read these notices that are in 6-point font,” said Rep. Randy Fine, the bill sponsor. The Palm Bay Republican said governments still will need to publish notices, but moving that information online means they do so at no charge. Critics of the move, however, say a cost will be incurred in eyeballs, as such notices go entirely unnoticed.“Lawmakers advance ban on lobbying and self-dealing” via Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald — A bill that will put teeth into the voter-approved law banning elected officials from using their public office for private gain was unanimously approved by the Florida House and is headed to the state Senate. The measure puts penalties behind the ethics rules imposed by Amendment 12, the constitutional change overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018 to end the revolving door between public office and private lobbying. The constitutional amendment updates Florida law, which currently has no safeguards in place to stop state legislators from writing legislation that benefits their personal interests, and it extends the current two-year ban on legislators’ lobbying to six years. The bills, HB 7009 and SB 7006, both impose penalties for violations. |
| Statewide “Wyndham Destinations pulls Florida voucher donations over anti-gay school policies” via Brooke Sopelsa and Ryan Ruggiero of CNBC — Wyndham Destinations became the third major company in three days to announce it will stop donating millions of dollars to Florida’s private school voucher program after an investigation found that some of the program’s beneficiaries discriminate against LGBTQ students. Wyndham said last year it would “halt funding if concerns about the voucher program were not addressed.” “As we have not seen any further action to address our concerns, we are today discontinuing our support and funding for Step Up For Students and hope that the organization will quickly work with the Florida Legislature to immediately end any discriminatory practices existing within the voucher program,” the company told NBC News and CNBC.Ex-VISIT FLORIDA exec continued collecting checks — The state’s tourism marketing agency has continued paying former Chief Marketing Officer Gerardo Llanes even though he resigned his position early last month, Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida reports. “A combination of issues, including some that are entirely personal, make clear that this is in the best interest for both myself and VISIT FLORIDA at this time,” Llanes wrote in the undated resignation letter. “As agreed, I will take administrative leave starting December 10, 2019, until the effective date of my resignation of January 31, 2020.” Llanes had only held the position for about six months. A VISIT FLORIDA spokesperson said Llanes pay during the administrative leave came from private funds, not taxpayer dollars.I’d be smiling too: Gerardo Llanes pulled a paycheck even after he resigned from his VISIT FLORIDA post.“Pharmacists say they take hit in Medicaid” via Christine Sexton of the News Service of Florida — A new report maintains that pharmacists participating in Florida’s Medicaid managed-care program are being woefully underpaid. State Medicaid officials estimate the cost of doing business in the Medicaid program is $10.24 per filled prescription. But on average, Medicaid managed care plans paid pharmacists $2.72 per claim in 2018. The Florida Pharmacy Association and American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. commissioned the analysis, conducted by 3 Axis Advisors. The claims showed researchers what each managed-care company reported paying for each drug to each pharmacy and how some pharmacies are paid more than others.“Have unpaid tolls? You’ll likely be sent to collections, agency warns” via Josh Fiallo of the Tampa Bay Times — The reminder was tweeted out by the Turnpike Enterprise, a branch of the state Department of Transportation that manages toll roads. In a release, the agency said that any unpaid toll fees from June 2018 through 2019 are at risk. More than $100 million worth of tolls remain unpaid, the agency said in December. And, after the disastrous overhaul of the SunPass system last year, the money is needed as soon as possible to make up for lost revenue. The Turnpike enterprise says that customers who create a SunPass account will be eligible to pay off their balances at a reduced rate — but the offer goes away once accounts are turned over to collections. |
| No corona “WHO declares coronavirus global health emergency; first U.S. case of person-to-person transmission confirmed” via Doug Stanglin, Ken Alltucker and Grace Hauck of USA Today — As the death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 170, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency, and U.S. health officials reported the first U.S. case of person-to-person spread of the virus. The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, which held its Emergency Committee meeting in Geneva, said there are 98 cases of coronavirus in 18 countries. The goal of the declaration, he said, was to provide support for countries with weaker health systems that have imported the virus from China.Don’t panic: The new coronavirus strain has made it to the U.S.“How Tampa International Airport’s most popular airlines are responding to the coronavirus threat” via Chris Fuhrmeister and Lauren Ohnesorge of the Tampa Bay Business Journal — Delta Air Lines joined United Airlines and American in temporarily reducing its number of weekly flights between the U.S. and China due to “significantly reduced customer demand prompted by global health concerns related to coronavirus.” The airline said that to maintain options for customers, it will continue to operate from all current U.S.-China gateways. Chicago-based United Airlines, the fourth busiest airline at TPA, had canceled flights between the United States and China. A spokesperson for the carrier said the decision to suspend the flights was based on “a significant decline in demand for travel to China.”“Miami-based cruise companies cancel China itineraries as coronavirus spreads” via Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald — Cruise companies Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., and MSC Cruises all have ships that visit Chinese ports mostly geared toward a Chinese traveler. Carnival Corp. has canceled all cruises on its Costa ships from China between Jan. 25 and Feb. 4. The company is offering a full refund to affected passengers, a company spokesperson said. Itineraries on Carnival Corp.’s AIDAvita, Seabourn Ovation, and Diamond Princess ships currently calling in Hong Kong have not been modified yet, but that may change in the coming days along with MS Westerdam, which is scheduled to start visiting Tianjin port, near Beijing, next month.”South Florida students back in school after coronavirus scare” via Cindy Goodman of the Sun-Sentinel — The Benjamin School in Palm Beach has allowed 30 students and three teachers back in school after possible exposure to a student from China with coronavirus symptoms. The private school in Palm Beach County said its decision came five days after none of the students or teachers showed signs of the virus after attending a Model United Nations conference at Yale University. The Chinese student who came down with a cough and fever at the conference tested positive for the flu, and after consulting with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Yale cut the four-day event short and sent all 1,500 students home.“Coronavirus: Wash your hands, cover your cough — and don’t panic” via Naseem Miller of the Orlando Sentinel — Federal public health officials are stressing that even though they expect more cases in the coming days, the risk remains low. They said people don’t need to cancel their plans or avoid large public gatherings. They also don’t recommend wearing face masks. “Despite the fact that we are reporting the first instance of person-to-person spread of this virus in the United States, it’s important to note that this spread was among two people who were in close contact for an extended period of time,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, during a press briefing. “We’ve seen this in other countries with this new coronavirus.” |
| Mother nature “Jimmy Patronis pushes for faster hurricane settlements” via NBC 2 — Patronis is pushing for legislation that requires companies to settle most claims in 90 days or less. Still, a handful of Michael survivors have said companies only settled after pressure from regulators. Melanie Hardwick said her company refused to pay because they said damage was from flooding, not wind. “They took my money, and they didn’t uphold their end of the contract. What is even worse is the inconsistencies of the insurance companies. Because I had neighbors to the right, I had neighbors to the left, had neighbors behind me and across the street that were paid up in full for wind damage,” said Hardwick. “How can my home not have wind damage?”Jimmy Patronis wants insurers to hurry up and payout hurricane claims.“Miami Beach to spend $75,000 to eradicate invasive iguanas” via Manuel Madrid of the Miami New Times — City Manager Jimmy Morales announced the decision in a recent letter to the Mayor and members of the Commission. The city hired the Hollywood-based Redline Iguana Removal to try to stymie the rapidly growing iguana population in Miami Beach. The $75,000 contract, which began January 13, will expire at the end of September, according to city spokesperson Melissa Berthier. Iguana populations have surged in South Florida since they were introduced to the area as exotic pets in the 1960s. Miami Beach first experimented with using a termination service following some serious iguana drama in July 2019.“Two Florida springs will soon be opened for public access” via Landon Harrar of WCJB — The two springs are located on 245 acres of land along the Santa Fe River and come with a $1.4 million price tag. Melissa Hill is the project coordinator for the Santa Fe River basin; she explained: “By purchasing this property, people will be able to view the spring, enjoy it, have a picnic by parking their car directly on-site and walking down and seeing this absolutely gorgeous Florida treasure.” Alachua Conservation Trust will be making the purchase but still need roughly $200,000 by mid-February. Hill explained: “We’re still fundraising to make sure we have all the funds necessary to finish purchasing it as well as putting in infrastructure so people can enjoy it safely.” |
| 2020 “AP poll: GOP more fired up for 2020, Democrats anxious” via Nicholas Riccardi and Emily Swanson of The Associated Press — When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, Democrats are nervous wrecks, and Republican excitement has grown. That’s according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While emotions could change in the coming months, the findings give Democrats one more worry to add to the list: Will anxiety or enthusiasm be a bigger motivator come November? On the verge of the first votes being cast in a primary contest with no clear leader, 66% of Democrats report anxiety about the election, compared with 46% of Republicans. Democrats are also more likely to feel frustrated. Republicans, meanwhile, are more likely than Democrats to declare excitement about the race, and the share of enthusiastic Republicans appears to be rising.“Mike Bloomberg unveils Super Bowl ad focused on gun reform” via Quint Forgey of POLITICO — The ad, which will cost the former New York Mayor more than $10 million to broadcast nationwide on Sunday, tells the story of Calandrian Simpson Kemp, a Texas mother whose 20-year-old son, an aspiring professional football player named George H. Kemp Jr., was shot and killed in 2013 outside Houston. She offers her endorsement to Bloomberg as someone “who is not afraid of the gun lobby.” “They’re afraid of him. And they should be,” she says in the ad. Bloomberg has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years working to tackle gun reform, investing $112 million on 24 candidates in the 2018 midterm elections who supported gun control measures.To view the ad, click on the image below:Happening Saturday — The Elizabeth Warren campaign will open an office in Orlando. Vice Mayor Emily Bonilla and staff will attend the event, and volunteers from across the region, 11 a.m., Orlando field office, 6000 S. Rio Grande Ave., Suite 102, Orlando.“South Florida LGBTQ group praises Bloomberg nondiscrimination plan” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE), a Miami-based organization that promotes LGBTQ rights, is praising a new nondiscrimination plan from Democratic presidential candidate Bloomberg. Bloomberg released his LGBTQ plan which includes promises to reinstate benefits for individuals who left military services before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed, launches a federal initiative to combat bullying and harassment, and supports several pro-LGBTQ laws should they be approved by Congress. Bloomberg’s proposal calls out Donald Trump directly.“Bernie Sanders gets the front-runner treatment” via Holly Otterbein of POLITICO — The Vermont Senator is being pounded on television in the first-in-the-nation caucus state from both sides, with attack ads airing by a pro-Israel Democratic super PAC and a conservative dark-money group. Faced with the dilemma of how to respond in the face of bombs dropped on him just days away from the Iowa caucuses, Sanders’ campaign is mostly sticking to pocketbook issues — for now. Sanders’ TV ads in the state remain centered on “Medicare for All,” a major focus of his campaign, as well as women’s rights and his movement. The spots are designed to remind Democratic voters of one of Sanders’ key strengths: Polls show they trust him on health care more than any other 2020 candidate.“Days before Iowa, the Elizabeth Warren campaign brings out a key surrogate: her dog” via Holly Bailey of The Washington Post — Technically, the event was a meet-and-greet with Warren’s husband, Bruce Mann, traveling across the state for his wife, who has been in Washington for the impeachment trial ofTrump. But speaking before several dozen volunteers and organizers, Mann, a Harvard Law professor on break from classes, seemed to know that people weren’t there to see him. “As you can see, it is all paws on deck,” Mann said with a wry smile, looking out at an audience where every head seemed to be turned toward a dog that sat yawning a few feet away. “While Elizabeth is doing her constitutional duty in Washington, she has a lot of people, and a couple of dogs, standing in for her.”“Orange County voters can’t request a vote-by-mail ballot online this week. Here’s why.” via Ryan Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel — Orange County voters haven’t been able to request a vote-by-mail ballot online in recent days. The online system has been down for maintenance, as Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles’ office moves to a new platform used by nearly every Florida county, a spokeswoman said. The office has finished coding work with the new software and is testing it this week, with hopes of web access being restored this weekend, said Danae Rivera-Marasco, a communications specialist for Cowles. If that happens, it will provide web access to request online ballots to voters in the final month before the March 7 deadline to vote in the primary and a slew of municipal races. |
| Watching Bernie, Biden Observing the contrast between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, and how each candidate operates, can help clarify the choice for voters in the Democratic primary.Ryan Lizza of POLITICO observed the two and offered some observations: “Biden is a creature of the Senate. Sanders is a creature of the campaign trail.”Sanders is a candidate who seems “bored by parliamentary tedium and loves the roar of his own crowds.” In contrast, Biden is in his element in the back rooms of Washington and “one-on-one settings with voters,” but struggles to create excitement in crowds.A study in contrasts: Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.While Sanders looks happiest on the road, his demeanor during the Senate impeachment trial was restless and uncomfortable. He rarely engaged with colleagues during breaks. “To put it mildly, that’s not Sanders thing.” Sanders was treated like a rock star in Iowa.Watching Biden give his familiar stump speech, Lizza notes that the former vice president was “all human connection and personal storytelling.” His speech was a call to the old Senate, where relationships were essential, and any questions of opponents were of judgment, not motives.This is a complete flip from Sanders, who “issues relationships and deal-making to a fault, while Biden fetishizes them to a fault.”“Biden is a beloved figure among Democrats in the Senate,” Lizza concludes, “and has trouble rousing an audience in Iowa.” |
| Peachy “John Roberts blocks mentions of alleged whistleblower’s name” via John Bresnahan, Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle of POLITICO — Chief Justice Roberts has communicated to Senators that he will not read aloud the alleged Ukraine whistleblower’s name or otherwise publicly relay questions that might out the official, a move that’s effectively blocked Sen. Rand Paul from asking a question. In a behind-the-scenes fight, Paul has composed questions that violate Roberts’s proclamation, according to several Republicans familiar with the dynamics. It’s a vintage Rand Paul effort that’s annoying fellow Republicans and could come to a head. Paul has been floating the alleged whistleblower’s name in media interviews for months.John Roberts refuses to read a question by Rand Paul that possibly names the Ukraine whistleblower.“Val Demings has an American dream. The impeachment trial is testing it” via Ellen McCarthy of The Washington Post — In 1968, Florida sixth-grader Demings was chosen for a coveted role: safety patrol. It was a big deal. For the first six years of her education, Demings had been bused across Jacksonville to a school for black children. Now, as one of the few black members of her new school’s first integrated class, she had impressed her teachers enough to be elevated to a position of authority. The Senate trial marks a test both for the congresswoman and the country, and Demings sees their stories as closely intertwined. But making an argument for impeachment — a political process as much as a legal one — is different from enforcing the law on the streets of Orlando or in the hallways of a grade school. |
| D.C. matters “Donald Trump pushes forward conservative transformation of Medicaid” via Rachel Roubein and Dan Diamond of POLITICO — The administration took a big step forward to let states convert a portion of Medicaid funding into block grants, a long-sought conservative overhaul of the safety net health care program that Democrats will wield as a political weapon during the election. The plan is the administration’s boldest step yet to curb Medicaid spending and shrink the program covering about 1 in 5 low-income Americans. But the move is inciting fierce opposition from Democrats who say it’s the latest evidence Trump is trying to sabotage health coverage. Some conservative states have expressed interest in block grants in recent years, but it’s not clear how many will take up the Trump administration’s new offer.Donald Trump and CMS Administrator Seema Verma are pushing a conservative transformation to the Medicaid program.What Ashley Moody is reading — “Trump to create post to focus on solely human trafficking” via Darlene Superville of The Associated Press — Trump is expected to create the position by executive order after he addresses a human trafficking summit at the White House. A candidate has yet to be identified for the new post on the Domestic Policy Council, according to a White House official, who added that Trump wants to fill the slot quickly with someone detailed from another government agency. Trump has sought to elevate human trafficking since taking office by speaking publicly about the issue and inviting reporters into his White House meetings with victims and anti-trafficking advocates. A partner in the effort is Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser.“Charlie Crist will bring young diabetes advocate to 2020 State of the Union” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — Crist chose 18-year-old Taylor McKenny, an activist for affordable access to insulin and other diabetic medical necessities. McKenny has Type 1 Diabetes. McKenny will join Crist in St. Pete along with a group of friends she calls her “diabesties” to discuss skyrocketing insulin costs and ways lawmakers can hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for lower drug prices. Crist is supporting the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would lower prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D patients by requiring cost negotiation and out-of-pocket expense caps.“Unused vouchers for homeless veterans upset Florida congressman” via Jessica Meszaros of WUSF News — U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan wants to know why thousands of housing vouchers for homeless veterans were not used last year. The congressman sent a letter to two federal agencies demanding answers. Testimony during a congressional hearing this month revealed that up to 14,000 housing vouchers went unused in 2019. That’s with an estimated 37,000 homeless veterans across the country. “It is completely unacceptable that our federal government is failing to make housing benefits available to our nation’s homeless veterans,” Buchanan said in the letter. “I am calling on HUD and the VA to immediately rectify this problem and make sure veterans get the benefits they rightfully deserve.”“Inquiry prompts congressman to divest from fossil fuel industry” via Austen Erblat of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch divested from a mutual fund focused on oil pipelines throughout North America following revelations of financial investments in the fossil fuel industry among members of Congress. Deutch’s investment was worth $15,000 before divesting. His divestment from Tortoise MLP and Pipeline was in response to request for comment from the Sun-Sentinel, Deutch’s office said. The Democratic congressman, whose district includes Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Parkland, and other nearby communities, cited environmental concerns for the move. “We should fight climate change in every way we can, including our financial decisions,” Deutch said in an email to the Sun-Sentinel. “That’s why I no longer invest in this fund.”“Forget the Super Bowl, Trump and Nancy Pelosi may both be in South Florida this weekend” via John Bisognano of the Palm Beach Post — With the Super Bowl in Miami Gardens, Trump expects to be in Palm Beach County this weekend, where he’ll stay at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Palm Beach and likely host his annual Super Bowl party at his suburban West Palm Beach golf club. But now we hear that Pelosi may also be in South Florida this weekend. With Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate possibly wrapping up, Pelosi, a California Democrat and big fan of the San Francisco 49ers, told SFGate.com that she’ll likely be at the Super Bowl, played at Hard Rock Stadium, about 58 miles south of Mar-a-Lago. ″ … I was scheduled to be in Florida that weekend, so I’m all set,” she said of her plans.Happening today — Congressman Darren Soto, co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, will host “The Future of Money, Governance & the Law,” 9 a.m., U.S. Capitol.Happening today — Congressman Matt Gaetz will give a speech at the Defense Leadership Forum’s 2020 Air Force Contracting Summit, 9 a.m., Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, 4000 Sandestin Blvd. South, Miramar Beach.Happening Saturday — Gaetz will host local Northwest Florida military members for the U.S. Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project, an initiative to preserve veterans’ experiences and document their stories for future generations, 11 a.m. Central time, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Levin Center, 40 S. Alcaniz St., Pensacola. |
| The trail Ed Braddy ends congressional campaign — Former Gainesville Mayor Braddy is no longer running in the Republican primary for Florida’s 3rd Congressional District. “Having looked at the field of candidates in the race, I believe there are several candidates that can win and who will continue to provide conservative and principled leadership for us in Congress. For that reason, I will not run for Congress and will focus my energy as Chairman of the Alachua Republican Party to ensure the success of Republican candidates up and down the ballot,” he said. A half dozen other Republicans are seeking the North Central Florida seat, which is open in 2020 due to U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho announcing he would not run for reelection.Maybe not: Gainesville Mayor Ed Braddy dropped out of the race for Ted Yoho’s congressional seat. Image via Gainesville.com.“Trump blessed Miami-Dade Mayor’s run for Congress. Will that clear the Republican primary?” via David Smiley of the Miami Herald — Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez won Trump’s blessing for his congressional campaign, but that may not be enough to avoid a potentially contentious Republican primary in Florida’s 26th Congressional District. Gimenez’s shock-and-awe campaign launch last week, timed to Trump’s Miami visit and an endorsement via presidential tweet, was the kind of rollout that in the Republican Party can clear out the field. But Omar Blanco and Irina Vilariño, Republicans who launched congressional campaigns months before Gimenez jumped into the race, say they will continue stumping — for now.“Ted Deutch raises $236K during fourth quarter in defense of CD 22 seat” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Several candidates have filed to compete for the seat in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. That includes Democrat Imtiaz Mohammad and nonparty affiliated candidate Omar Reyes. A quartet of Republicans — Jessi Melton, James Pruden, Christine Scott and Eddison Walters — have declared their candidacies as well. Walters also ran for the seat in 2018. But Deutch is a reasonably safe bet to prevail in the contest. He faced a 2018 primary challenge from Democratic candidate Jeff Fandl in 2018. Deutch cruised to victory, with nearly 87% of the vote. Deutch continues to raise money. He’s collected more than $735,000 for this cycle through the end of 2019. And he’ll enter 2020 with more than $561,000 in cash on hand.“Maria Elvira Salazar raises $365K in fourth quarter, falls short of Donna Shalala’s haul” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Salazar is competing in Florida’s 27th Congressional District. The Republican challenger made a mark during the third quarter of 2019, topping Shalala in fundraising. Salazar brought in $454,000 in outside money and added a $50,000 loan to her campaign. Excluding the loan, Salazar topped Shalala by about $140,000, as the incumbent raised $314,000. Shalala managed to flip the script to wrap 2019, however. Shalala’s campaign announced last week it had pulled in $600,000 during the fourth quarter. That beats out Salazar by nearly $240,000. |
| Local “Broward nursing home workers say Rick Scott destroyed evidence after hurricane deaths” via Ben Conarck of the Miami Herald — Two health care workers charged with aggravated manslaughter last year in connection with the deaths of 12 people at a stifling hot Hollywood nursing home are asking a judge to dismiss the cases against them, claiming former Gov. Scott destroyed evidence that would have helped their defense. Two of the workers — Sergo Colin, a former night shift nursing supervisor at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, and Jorge Carballo, who was the facility’s administrator — filed a motion to dismiss this week, asking a Broward County judge to toss out the cases against them because they say the state violated due process by destroying voicemails nursing home employees left on Scott’s cellphone in the days following the storm.— “No, Scott didn’t “destroy evidence” in nursing home deaths” via The CapitolistDid Rick Scott destroy evidence about the nursing home deaths during Hurricane Irma? Some say he did, others say he didn’t.“Public invited to ceremony honoring law enforcement who responded to NAS Pensacola shooting” via Colin Warren-Hicks of the Pensacola News Journal — The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office will hold an award ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday to honor the law enforcement officers involved in the deadly shooting Dec. 6 at Naval Air Station Pensacola. The event is open to the public and will be inside the Marcus Pointe Baptist Church, 6205 North W St. in Pensacola. The ceremony will feature Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan and ECSO Chief Deputy Chip Simmons presenting Medal of Valor awards to six ECSO deputies and two Department of Defense police officers.“Florida black lawmakers want answers in fatal police shooting of former FAMU student in Jacksonville” via Byron Dobson of the Tallahassee Democrat — Having gone six weeks without any answers in the police-involved shooting death of their son, the parents of former Florida A&M student Jamee Johnson came to the Capitol seeking help from black lawmakers. Johnson, 22, was shot and killed by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) deputy Dec. 14 during what authorities say was an altercation after a traffic stop. His father, Harvey Johnson, and his wife Bridget, along with Jamee Johnson’s mother, Kimberly Austin, were joined at a news conference by state Reps. Shevrin Jones, Ramon Alexander, Bruce Antone, Geraldine Thompson and Kim Daniels. The lawmakers, members of the Legislative Black Caucus, are urging the JSO to allow the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct an independent investigation.“3 women said a Hialeah cop abused them. Prosecutors never spoke to them — and dropped case.” via Tess Riski, Nicholas Nehamas and Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald — When the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office chose not to charge a Hialeah cop accused of sexually assaulting and harassing four women and girls, two closeout memos explaining the decision — one less than a page in length — dismissed them as gang members and a “bi-polar” runaway. But now the state attorney’s office is acknowledging that the prosecutor assigned to the case did not interview three of the four alleged victims. Despite never speaking to them, the prosecutor still felt confident that their testimony would not be enough to secure a sexual battery conviction against Sgt. Jesús “Jesse” Menocal Jr.“Activists officially launch petition to recall Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo” via Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald — Carollo represents Miami’s District 3, which includes Shenandoah, Little Havana, The Roads and a sliver of West Brickell. Rob Piper, a retired Marine who lives in Shenandoah, filed paperwork to open a political committee called “Take Back Our City” to organize the effort. Piper, the committee’s chairman, signed the first petition at City Hall after opening his committee. “We’re sick and tired of corrupt politicians abusing their power, breaking the law and thinking there’s no one to hold them accountable,” Piper said. Carollo dismissed the effort as run by a group of outsider political operatives who don’t respect democracy. “That’s really something,” Carollo said. “I hope Mr. Piper remembers these words. They may come back to haunt him.”“Miami airport workers protest low wages with Super Bowl week hunger strike” via Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald — Three Miami airport workers for airline catering subcontractor Sky Chefs, two Fort Lauderdale airport concession workers and four Sky Chefs workers from New York City and San Francisco are forgoing food from Monday to Saturday to raise awareness about low wages and expensive health-insurance costs. On Day Three of the fast, a few workers sat under a tent outside of MIA’s Door 1 on the departures level, waiting to be checked by a physician assistant. Others asked airport travelers to sign postcards addressed to Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines and primary contractor for Sky Chefs’ 600 Miami workers. Sky Chefs workers hope American Airlines will urge the company to raise wages and provide more affordable health insurance.“’A bonanza for traffickers’: Why a Miami Super Bowl is a magnet for sex-trafficking” via Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald — Accompanying the glamorous parade of celebrities, CEOs, Hall of Fame athletes and VIPs is an underground stream of no-name girls and young women often branded with bar-code tattoos on their inner lower lip, dulled by a diet of drugs, painted with makeup to look older, bruised or burned in discreet spots and living in a state of terror. They are an essential element of the Super Bowl revelry permeating South Florida. Their pimps, aiming to make upward of $1,000 per night per woman under their control, have converged here for the same reason they converge on any mega-event city inundated with 100,000 mostly male visitors: Supply and demand.”After $1.5 million gift to NFL, Miami Beach expected a free concert. It never came” via Martin Vassolo of the Miami Herald — When the Super Bowl Host Committee came before the Miami Beach City Commission in 2018, the committee told the city it planned to hold a free concert on the beach after requesting about $1.5 million in waived fees and sponsorship dollars. The money was approved. The concert — billed as a “public benefit” to the city for hosting the Super Bowl — never happened. Instead, music fans can pay between $270 and $12,000 to get into Gronk Beach and see former New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski and a pack of his DJ friends during an electronic dance party being held Saturday at the publicly-owned North Beach Bandshell. The only public benefit that will go directly to residents is 15% off tickets to the NFL Experience at the Miami Beach Convention Center. That’s $3 off $20 tickets, and $6 off $40 tickets. Those planning to go from through Saturday will pay the higher price.“Ethics panel finds grounds that Temple Terrace Mayor exaggerated degree” via Christopher O’Donnell of the Tampa Bay Times — The Florida Commission on Ethics has found probable cause that Temple Terrace Mayor Mel Jurado misused her public office by directing city workers to list exaggerated education credentials in her biography on the city’s website. For almost a year after Jurado’s swearing-in as mayor in 2017, a page on the Temple Terrace website said she had earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. But an investigation revealed that it was from LaSalle University, a notorious diploma mill in Mandeville, Louisiana, closed down by the FBI in 1996. Jurado now can choose to face a full evidentiary hearing on the findings or reach a settlement agreement with the Commission Advocate, who acts as a prosecutor for the state agency. |
| Top Opinion “Gwen Graham: Biden is best bet to beat Trump” via the Orlando Sentinel — I don’t believe it is an exaggeration to say that defeating Trump on Nov. 3 is vital to the preservation of our country. Reelecting the most unfit individual ever to occupy the White House will unleash all his worst inclinations and further reduce America’s standing in the world. The stakes for our democracy have never been higher. Though we have an abundance of riches in our Democratic field, we do not have the luxury to lose. When former Vice President Biden announced his candidacy for president, I immediately proclaimed my full support for him. My support for him is extremely pragmatic: he knows how to do the job and, most importantly, he can win. |
| Opinions “Is Trump a manly man?” via John Harris of POLITICO Magazine — Never mind what one thinks of trade wars, immigration, or whether his Ukraine intervention meets the criminal standard of a quid pro quo. Simply on stylistic grounds, Trump represents the opposite of the traditional 20th-century masculine ideal, as mythologized on movie screens, on battlefields, in athletic stadiums. So the transformation in the American mind — or at least in the conservative mind — of what it means to be a strong leader and a strong man counts as one of the more profound cultural and political shifts of the past generation. The impeachment battle puts this underappreciated shift in an especially sharp relief. In the 20th-century tradition, strong men were supposed to be laconic, stoical, self-effacing.“The impeachment trial hurtles toward its worst-case conclusion” via Dana Milbank of The Washington Post — House managers tried their case too well. Evidence piled up on the Senate floor over the past 10 days that the president withheld military aid to force Ukraine to announce probes of his political foes. And former national security adviser John Bolton’s firsthand account leaked about the quid pro quo. In response, Trump’s defenders shifted to a far more sweeping, and dangerous, defense. They declared that the president can do as he pleases — or, as Trump puts it, that the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” “What we have seen over the last couple of days is a descent into constitutional madness,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead House manager.“Sanders or Warren? Why not both?” via D.D. Guttenplan of The Nation — Sanders’ courage and consistency and deep understanding of what a rigged system does to the lives of the people it runs over and brands as failures. And Warren’s policy chops and personal warmth and cold intellectual fury at the same bankers and billionaires and predatory monopolists targeted by her rival. The conventional wisdom says presidential tickets must be balanced — geographically, politically, and ideally by race and gender. That’s the logic that gives rise to talk of a Warren-Julian Castro or Sanders-Kamala Harris ticket (or, for those with more moderate sympathies, Biden-Stacey Abrams). That’s also the logic that produced John McCain–Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton–Tim Kaine.“Scott’s Iowa ad misleads about Joe Biden and prosecutor in Ukraine” via Amy Sherman of PolitiFact Florida — Scott said, “Vice President Biden threatened a foreign country and forced them to fire a prosecutor who was investigating a company paying his son $83,000 a month.” There is no evidence that Biden’s call for Ukraine to fire the prosecutor general was because of his son’s position with Burisma and an investigation. Western leaders wanted the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, ousted because they considered him ineffective and corrupt, not because he was pursuing sensitive investigations into a company associated with Biden’s son. We rate this statement False.“Gary Chartrand: More than just school choice; high-quality education matters” via Florida Politics — While we accept this variety of choices as an unspoken part of American life, it still amazes me that we have yet to ensure everyone has a variety of great choices for how we educate the most important gift we offer our precious children. Florida’s policymakers must listen to the demand of parents and supply more choices so more students can benefit from the best educational fit for their unique needs. Thanks to our elected officials in the Legislature, those families are offered choices to receive scholarships to customize an education that is best suited to their individual needs and aspirations. Each and every family should have that power of choice, regardless of their income or where they live.“Amy McCourt: Don’t just lock people up. Give them motivation to change their lives.” via Florida Politics — I am a Florida resident and a victim of a violent crime. Two of the four home invaders were arrested and charged with crimes that could put them in prison for life. They are 21 and 22 years old, respectively. You might think that I want the state to put them in prison and throw away the key. I don’t. Should they be punished? Yes, they should be put in prison for enough time that they understand the gravity of what they did. The idea of locking them up for the rest of their natural lives seems obscene to me. Since most people who go to prison are eventually released, rehabilitation should be the focus of our criminal legal system.“After 20 years in journalism, I’m leaving to work full-time for clean water” via Eve Samples of TCPalm — This will be my last column as a staffer at Treasure Coast Newspapers and the USA TODAY Network — a place that feels like home, with so many journalist colleagues I consider family. It’s difficult to leave journalism after 20 years, but the work I’ll do at Friends of the Everglades mirrors what I was most passionate about in the newsroom: education and advocacy for cleaner water in Florida — particularly the Everglades and connected estuaries. There is much work to do. The stakes have never been higher. To the many readers who encouraged me to keep writing about clean water over the years: Thank you. It made a difference. |
| Movements What Rick Scott is reading — “Law firm dumps Nicolás Maduro ally amid outcry” via Joshua Goodman of The Associated Press — U.S. law firm that was hired for $12.5 million by a top ally of Maduro has decided to quickly dump the controversial Venezuelan client amid a major outcry by critics who accused it of carrying water for a socialist “dictator.” The AP reported that Foley & Lardner had agreed to represent Maduro’s Inspector General Reinaldo Muñoz. Filings with the Justice Department showed Foley & Lardner, which has offices in Washington, in turn, paid $2 million to hire influential lobbyist Robert Stryk to help its client ease U.S. sanctions on Maduro’s government and engage the Trump administration in direct talks. Three people familiar with the matter said that Foley was withdrawing from the case.Personnel note: Kyle Baltuch promoted to VP at Florida TaxWatch — Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic Calabro announced Baltuch has been appointed Vice President of Development of the watchdog group. ”Since joining the FTW team in 2014, Kyle’s expertise and outstanding leadership has guided our analysis of the issues important to Florida taxpayers including tourism, economic development, job creation, manufacturing, healthcare, and municipal pensions,” Calabro said. “I look forward to Kyle continuing to serve our state’s taxpayers and promote the growth of Florida TaxWatch in this new role.” |
| Aloe What Randolph Bracy is reading — “TV anchor’s meeting with Kobe Bryant sent #GirlDads trending” via Leanne Italie of The Associated Press — Dads with daughters inspired by Bryant’s special bond with his 13-year-old Gianna took to social media to celebrate in words and photos using the hashtag #GirlDads. The outpouring on Twitter and Instagram came in part after ESPN anchor Elle Duncan offered a remembrance of a chance meeting with Bryant two years ago while she was pregnant with a girl, and how proud he was of his daughters. “When I reflect on this tragedy, and that half an hour I spent with Kobe Bryant two years ago, I suppose that the only small source of comfort for me is knowing that he died doing what he loved the most,” Duncan said on air. “Being a dad. Being a girl dad.”Even after his tragic death, Kobe Bryant is teaching us how to be a great #GirlDad.“Lin-Manuel Miranda reveals ‘Hamilton’ movie will feature original Broadway cast” via Christian Hubbard of Full-Circle Cinema — During a recent conversation with Variety, Miranda revealed that the 7th highest-grossing Broadway musical since 1982 is on its way to the big screen. Additionally, he revealed his goal for the movie to be a previously filmed version of the original Broadway cast’s run. Hamilton‘s original director Thomas Kail (Fosse/Verdon), has reportedly taken this footage and turned it into a beautiful cinematic experience. Miranda says the film’s release will happen “hopefully, sooner than later,” although nothing is confirmed at the time of this writing. Christopher Jackson, who played George Washington in the show’s original cast, shared his excitement regarding the big news on Twitter. |
| Listen up Battleground Florida with Christopher Heath: Kathryn Waldron, a Resident Fellow on National Security and Cybersecurity from R-Street, joins the podcast to discuss the looming threats posed to governments and individuals, and why Congress isn’t asking the right questions.Dishonorable Mention: State Rep. Chris Latvala, activist Becca Tieder, former Tampa Bay Times Columnist Ernest Hooper and communications expert Dr. Karla Mastracchio discuss politics and culture. Latvala discusses the first week of Session and “Dishonorable Mention goes to Tallahassee Pt. 2.” It’s Super Bowl week in Miami! Who’s going? Hooper was the emcee at the Excellence in Education Teacher of the Year Awards and talks about his experience. Tieder shares a story about a Trump rally in Clearwater. The hosts also discuss the upcoming election. Tieder releases breaking news!Gradebookfrom the Tampa Bay Times with hosts Marlene Sokol and Jeffrey Solochek: Who says the annual science fair must be boring? Three Pasco County high school seniors took a challenge to devise a research project worthy of study in anti-gravity, and they now will send their effort to the International Space Station. Their teacher also is quick to point out that Krinn Technical students Amanda Marrero, Shelly Nonnenberg and Emily Null are women in a field dominated by men. What’s on their minds? Marrero, Nonnenberg and Null talk about their studies, and the importance of science education.REGULATED from hosts Christian Bax and Tony Glover: Bax and Glover told you back in May that 2020 would be a busy year for legislative proposals that affect the alcoholic beverage industry in Florida, and here we are! The two discuss ten alcohol-related bills that have been filed at the Florida House and Senate, whether dogs or cats are better bar patrons, and the leading candidate for our 2020 Regulator of the Year award. |
| Weekend TV Facing South Florida with Jim DeFedeon CBS 4 in Miami: The Sunday show provides viewers with an in-depth look at politics in South Florida, along with other issues affecting the region.Florida This Week on Tampa Bay’s WEDU: Moderator Rob Lorei hosts a roundtable featuring Spectrum Bay News 9 reporter and anchor Holly Gregory, Mercury Public Affairs political consultant Adam Smith, Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano and Lisa Perry, co-founder of the Common Group Florida Project.In Focus with Allison Walker-Torres on Bay News 9: A discussion of student loan debt and how it affects millions of Americans. Joining Walker-Torres are state Rep. Amber Mariano; Laurie Meggesin, executive director of the Florida College Access Network; and Dr. Sanford “Sandy” Shugart, president of Valencia College.Political Connections on CF 13 in Orlando and Bay News 9 in Tampa/St. Pete: This week’s show will feature an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Bloomberg, a discussion on the upcoming Iowa Caucuses. PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter will rate a claim made by Agriculture Commission Fried about hemp products and the industry in Florida.The Usual Suspects on WCTV-Tallahassee/Thomasville (CBS) and WJHG-Panama City (NBC): Host Gary Yordon talks with Florida Polituicvs publisher Schorsch and Bob McClure of the James Madison Institute.This Week in Jacksonville with Kent Justiceon Channel 4 WJXT: A discussion of the JEA scandal with Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute Director Rick Mullaney; News4Jax City Hall reporter Jim Piggott; Jacksonville Daily Record reporter Michael Mendenhall; Florida Times-Union reporter David Bauerlein and Florida Times-Union columnist Nate Monroe.Help make sure my video gets more clicks than Matt Dixon’s — “Peter Schorsch gives 2020 update” via Florida Internet & Television — Florida Politics publisher and editor-in-chief Schorsch stops by FiTV to give an update on the 2020 Legislative Session and campaign season.To watch the video, click on the image below: |
| Super Bowl’ing “Chiefs-49ers: Toughest Super Bowl to pick in years” via Barry Wilner of The Associated Press — Even the oddsmakers aren’t sure about this Super Bowl. That’s how close the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers match up. The Chiefs are a 1-point favorite, which basically means a tossup. Indeed, by kickoff on Sunday, the 49ers could be the bettors’ choice. There could be almost as much action on prop bets — does Kyle Shanahan remember to run the ball if the Niners get ahead 28-3 in the second half, for example? Or a lot more bets on the over/under, which stands at 54-and-a-half and seems a bit low.“Jennifer Lopez and Shakira vow ‘empowering’ halftime show” via Mesfin Fekadu of The Associated Press — Lopez and Shakira said their Super Bowl halftime show would pay homage to Latino culture, promising a joint performance that has an empowering message and also one that will remember NBA icon, Bryant. Lopez and Shakira held a news conference before Sunday’s big game in Miami, telling media they worked hard to put together an eye-popping, high-energy 12-minute performance before the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Hard Rock Stadium. Lopez said she wanted to send love and support to Bryant’s wife and family. Bryant had attended concerts by Lopez and Shakira, the singers said. Shakira added that they want to honor his legacy Sunday.The Super Bowl LIV halftime show will be ’empowering,’ says Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.“Survey: $6.8 billion could be bet on Super Bowl” via David Purdum of ESPN — The AGA, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents the casino industry, estimates 3 million more American adults will have something riding on this year’s Super Bowl than last year’s game, either through the expanding legal sports betting market, illegal bookmakers or more casually with friends and squares pools. This will be the second Super Bowl since a 2018 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court opened a path for states to regulate sports betting. The survey results indicate that bettors are divided on which team will win Sunday’s game: 52% picked the Chiefs, while 48% took the 49ers. The Chiefs are consensus 1-point favorites over the 49ers.“You’ve been warned: Stop flying your drones near the Super Bowl stadium” via the Miami Herald editorial board — Miami FBI Special Agent In Charge George Piro said too many people are flying those alien-looking flying cameras, ignoring the clearly defined restricted air space over Hard Rock Stadium. “So far this week the FBI drone mitigation teams have detected 54 unauthorized drones in restricted airspace. If you are a drone operator, make sure you comply with the restrictions,” Piro told the media and the public. That is a fair warning by the feds. Law-enforcement agencies should arrest and make a public example of any drone operators still breaking the law and, in effect, threatening our collective sense of security leading up to and during one of the nation’s biggest annual sporting events. |
| Happy birthday Best wishes to former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, the super-sharp Kelsey Swithers of Bascom Communications and Consulting, former #FlaPol’er, Ryan Ray, and Ben Sharpe. Celebrating Saturday is one of the best, Sen. Oscar Braynon II, as well as Kevin Beckner, Emil Infante, and Angela Thompson Miller, James’s better half. Jimmy says the sun rises and sets with her. |
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POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: Alexander narrows the path to witnesses
By JAKE SHERMAN and ANNA PALMER
01/31/2020 05:51 AM EST
Presented by
DRIVING THE DAY
“IT WAS INAPPROPRIATE for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent and to withhold United States aid to encourage that investigation. When elected officials inappropriately interfere with such investigations, it undermines the principle of equal justice under the law. But the Constitution does not give the Senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year’s ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate.”
THAT WAS SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER, the retiring Tennessee Republican, in a statement Thursday night. And with that statement, Democrats’ path to forcing witnesses in the trial to remove President DONALD TRUMP became impossibly narrow — if not nonexistent. The full statement
“TOMORROW’S A BIG DAY,” Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL said, leaving the Capitol, per this BURGESS EVERETT, MARIANNE LEVINE and JOHN BRESNAHAN piece.
INDEED IT IS. So, despite all the huffing and puffing, we are where we were a few weeks ago: asking ourselves who the fourth “yes” vote for witnesses could be, and coming up empty. And the reporting from Thursday and the day before — that MCCONNELL was holding his troops in line — seems quite accurate.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) is voting yes, as she’s pretty much said all along. And a 50-50 tie is possible if Sens. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) and LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska) both go yes. As we’ve said a few times, we don’t anticipate Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS will break that tie vote. A tie means no witnesses.
TRUTH BE TOLD, Rep. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) — the lead House impeachment manager — tried to offer some concessions to take away a Republican talking point when he suggested that witness depositions could be confined to a short amount of time.
— SCHIFF at 9:33 p.m. Thursday night: “If you decide that one week is not too long, in the interest of a fair trial, to have depositions of key witnesses, that is for you to decide. You get to decide how to try the case.”
BUT no one seemed particularly moved.
SO, HERE’S HOW TODAY WILL GO: The chamber will gavel in around 1 p.m., and they will move to four hours of debate on whether to call witnesses or request new documents. That motion will come to a vote around 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
IF THE WITNESS VOTE FAILS, there will be a bit of discussion, then a vote on whether to proceed to the final vote. That motion is amendable, so Democrats might want to try to force some tough votes. (There’s some question about moving to closed session to debate the verdict, but many Republicans we’ve spoken to do not seem interested in that.) Then, once they get past the motion to go to a final vote, they’ll proceed to the final vote.
SENATORS we spoke to Thursday predicted this could go as late as 3 or 4 a.m. Saturday morning.
BUT, UGH, WE MUST SAY: Things in the Capitol always seem to go off the rails. Maybe it’s because we’ve been through the wildest 1,105 days in the modern history of Washington. Maybe it’s because Republicans have a razor-thin margin in the Senate. Maybe it’s because we’re all just skeptics and doubters by nature.
DOESN’T IT JUST SEEM LIKE we are due one more twist in this trial?
Good Friday morning.
MARK LEIBOVICH on MITT ROMNEY … NYT, A18: “Mitt Romney, a Man Alone”: “Mr. Romney said he was not one for dwelling or looking back. ‘You go back to my campaigns,’ he said. ‘I sort of watch how the president reacts to his opponents, and it’s not the way I did it. But you know what? He won and I didn’t. On the other hand, he won and I didn’t but I would not have done what he’s done in order to win.’ It is not clear what exactly Mr. Romney is referring to here, nor does he elaborate except to repeat the last part: ‘I would not have done some of the things he did.’”
— KNOWING PAT CIPOLLONE: “Trump lawyer Pat Cipollone was a camera-shy Washington Everyman — until impeachment made him a star,” by WaPo’s Manuel Roig-Franzia and Josh Dawsey
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FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS … JOHN BRESNAHAN and BURGESS EVERETT: “Biden argued against witnesses in 1999 impeachment trial memo”: “In January 1999, then-Sen. Joe Biden argued strongly against the need to depose additional witnesses or seek new evidence in a memo sent to fellow Democrats ahead of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial.
“Biden circulated the four-page document, titled ‘Arguments in Support of a Summary Impeachment Trial,’ on Jan. 5, 1999. In his memo, obtained by POLITICO, Biden cited historical precedents from impeachment cases going back to the establishment of the Senate and asserted ‘The Senate need not hold a “full blown” trial. The Senate may dismiss articles of impeachment without holding a full trial or taking new evidence. Put another way, the Constitution does not impose on the Senate the duty to hold a trial,’ Biden wrote at the time.
“The Delaware Democrat added later: ‘In a number of previous impeachment trials, the Senate has reached the judgment that its constitutional role as a sole trier of impeachments does not require it to take new evidence or hear live witness testimony.’” POLITICO
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HMMM … “Trump lawyer blurs lines between charity and profit,” by AP’s Michael Biesecker: “Jay Sekulow, one of President Donald Trump’s lead attorneys during the impeachment trial, is being paid for his legal work through a rented $80-a-month mailbox a block away from the White House.
“The Pennsylvania Avenue box appears to be the sole physical location of the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, a for-profit corporation co-owned by Sekulow. The firm has no website and is not listed in national legal directories. The District of Columbia Bar has no record of it, and no attorneys list it as their employer.”
YALE GRAD GOES TO DUKE — JOHN BOLTON will speak in Durham on Feb. 17.
TRUMP IN IOWA … DES MOINES REGISTER: “President Trump says in Iowa, ‘I’m not going to lose in this state. I don’t think I’m going to lose in any other state,’” by Brianne Pfannenstiel
NYT’S SHANE GOLDMACHER on BIDEN’S FUTURE, from Des Moines: “How Iowa Could Decide Joe Biden’s Fund-Raising Future”: “A disappointing finish in the state, where there are four candidates bunched in the top tier in polls, could dampen his fund-raising at a crucial juncture. Candidates need resources to build up their operations in delegate-rich Super Tuesday states like California, where campaigning and ad rates can be prohibitively expensive and early voting begins next week.
“Allies say the chief danger is that a fourth-place finish — or even a third, depending on who is ahead of him and by how much — could jeopardize Mr. Biden’s financial prospects, especially in a Democratic Party with a notoriously skittish political establishment. In recent weeks, Mr. Biden has begun to consolidate the traditional donor class, but his online money operation was the weakest of the four leading candidates for much of 2019, making him particularly vulnerable to falling behind financially if he stumbles early.”
— “Dems barrage Iowa with many ads but one message: I’m the one to beat Trump,” by Elena Schneider and Maya King in Des Moines
UP NEXT — “Bloomberg and Biden barrel toward Super Tuesday collision,” by Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki: “Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is predicated on Joe Biden’s collapse. But Biden has steadied his wobbly bid heading into the Iowa caucuses, sending the two moderates toward a likely Super Tuesday collision.
“The emerging battle has those in both camps looking over their shoulders — with Biden seeking to claim the center mantle by gaining unstoppable momentum from the early states and Bloomberg’s sprawling operation prepared to pick up the pieces should he falter or seem too weak to win.
“Bloomberg’s aides continue to express concerns that Biden and the rest of the Democrats competing in the early states would lose to Trump. They view it as increasingly likely that there will be muddle coming out of South Carolina. And they see Bloomberg’s behemoth organization, growing stable of Super Tuesday endorsements and ability to stretch the map with limitless cash as giving him the edge.” POLITICO
AD WARS … NEW: HOUSE MAJORITY FORWARD is running a full-page ad in the NYT on Tuesday and running ads before the State of the Union focused on the 291 bipartisan bills that have passed the House but haven’t gone anywhere in the Senate. After SOTU, the group is spending $700,000 in six districts to thank Democratic Reps. Abby Finkenauer in Iowa, Jared Golden in Maine, Susie Lee in Nevada, Max Rose and Anthony Brindisi in New York and Kendra Horn in Nevada for supporting legislation to lower prescription drug costs. NYT ad
— MEANWHILE … THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN has launched a slew of new ads on Facebook fundraising off of the State of the Union, Anita Kumar emails. “‘Campaign Manager Brad Parscale is going to give President Trump a list of all those who donate right after he’s done giving his speech,’ read one ad. ‘Donate now to be on the State of the Union livestream.’ The Trump campaign clarifies donors’ names will be listed on a campaign livestream — not the White House’s livestream — but didn’t answer other questions about the ads.”
PROBLEMS WITH THE BORDER WALL … WAPO: “Trump’s border wall, vulnerable to flash floods, needs large storm gates left open for months,” by Nick Miroff in Naco, Ariz.: “President Trump’s border wall probably will require the installation of hundreds of storm gates to prevent flash floods from undermining or knocking it over, gates that must be left open for months every summer during ‘monsoon season’ in the desert, according to U.S. border officials, agents and engineers familiar with the plans.
“The open, unmanned gates in remote areas already have allowed for the easy entry of smugglers and migrants into the United States.
“At locations along the U.S. southern border where such gates already are in operation, Border Patrol agents must manually raise them every year before the arrival of the summer thunderstorms that convert riverbeds into raging torrents that carry massive amounts of water and debris, including sediment, rocks, tree limbs and vegetation. Trump’s wall, which features 30-foot metal bollards spaced four inches apart, effectively acts as a sewer grate that traps the debris; when clogged, the barriers cannot withstand the power of the runoff.”
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SUNDAY SO FAR …
- NBC“Meet the Press”: Panel: Anna Palmer, Cornell Belcher, O. Kay Henderson and Rich Lowry.
- ABC“This Week”: Panel: Rahm Emanuel, Chris Christie, Matt Dowd, Yvette Simpson and Sara Fagen.
- CNN“State of the Union” (live from Des Moines): Pete Buttigeig … Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Panel: Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), Brianne Pfannenstiel, Jen Psaki, Andrew Gillum and Scott Jennings.
- FOX“Fox News Sunday” (live from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, for the Super Bowl): Panel (in Des Moines): Brit Hume, Marie Harf and Karl Rove. … Football Panel (Miami): Michael Strahan, Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson.
- CNN“Inside Politics”: Jonathan Martin, Julie Pace, Jeff Zeleny, Julie Davis, MJ Lee, Vivian Salama and Rachael Bade.
- CBS“Face the Nation”: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.
- Gray TV“Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren” (from Iowa): Andrew Yang … Tom Steyer … Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price.
- Sinclair“America this Week with Eric Bolling”: Tony Sayegh … Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) … Tommy Hicks Jr. … Henry Olsen … Seb Gorka … Ameshia Cross.
TRUMP’S FRIDAY — The president will deliver remarks on human trafficking at 12:15 p.m. in the East Room. He and first lady Melania Trump will leave the White House at 4 p.m. en route to Mar-a-Lago.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE — “Trump health chief tries to contain coronavirus — and White House frustration,” by Nancy Cook and Dan Diamond: “In the span of a day, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar suddenly became the face of the Trump White House’s public response to the Wuhan coronavirus.
“He could just as easily become the fall guy if the president grows unhappy with the speed or nature of the virus’ transmission, or the increasingly intense media coverage surrounding the administration’s actions.
“Azar‘s elevation to chief responder — and leader of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force — comes after a rocky week for him internally as the virus spread globally and triggered worries across financial markets, corporate executive suites and the White House. The virus is expected to spread further and lead to more U.S. cases. The State Department late Thursday issued its most severe travel warning, telling Americans ‘do not travel’ to China due to the coronavirus.” POLITICO
HALLEY TOOSI SCOOP: The State Department plans to announce later today that W. Stuart Symington IV has been brought out of retirement to serve as a U.S. special envoy to South Sudan. Symington previously served as U.S. ambassador to Nigeria.
NATASHA BERTRAND and DANIEL LIPPMAN: “Pence aide who testified in impeachment inquiry to leave VP’s office”: “The aide, Jennifer Williams, will be leaving the White House as soon as Monday and plans to join CENTCOM in the spring as a deputy foreign policy adviser … She will be advising the command on Middle East policy issues and has had the job lined up since last fall.” POLITICO
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IMMIGRATION FILES — “The Ex-Leader Of An Anti-Immigration Group Is Creating The Office In Charge Of Fielding Civil Rights Complaints From Detainees,” by BuzzFeed’s Hamed Aleaziz: “The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman was created in the most recent appropriations bill to ‘address issues that arise in DHS detention facilities’ … Ken Cuccinelli, the controversial second-in-command at the Department of Homeland Security, appointed Julie Kirchner, former leader of FAIR, a group that advocated for policies that restrict immigration, to help set up the office.” BuzzFeed
DOJ MOVES — “Attorney General William P. Barr names Timothy Shea, one of his counselors, as the District’s interim U.S. Attorney,” by WaPo’s Keith Alexander, Spencer Hsu and Matt Zapotosky
BUSINESS BURST — “IBM’s Ginni Rometty Steps Down as CEO: Arvind Krishna, who heads the company’s cloud and cognitive-software division, to succeed her,” by WSJ’s Asa Fitch: WSJ
IN MEMORIAM — “Lina Ben Mhenni, 36, ‘a Tunisian Girl’ Who Confronted Regime, Dies: Ms. Ben Mhenni used her blog to expose violence against protesters in the revolt that led to the government’s overthrow, and then to the Arab Spring,” by NYT’s Lilia Blaise in Tunis
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) talking to Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and prospective voters on the DCA 35x shuttle ride en route to New Hampshire on Thursday.
SPOTTED at FEMA Deputy Administrator Dan Kaniewski’s going-away party at Mission Navy Yard: Kirstjen Nielsen, FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, Carlos Castillo, Chad Sweet, Jay Harper, Rob Strayer, Brandon Wales, Jeff Byard, Ross Ashley, Ed Cash, Jay Nelson, George Bamford, Don Kent, Mercedes LeGrand, Lee Morris, Rich Cooper, Eric Tysarczyk, Dave Maurstad, Kristina Dorville, Matt Allen, Rob Schweitzer, Stacey Street, Tom Atkin, Jeff Stern, Jordan Gottfried, MaryAnn Tierney, Tom Balint, Bob Kolasky, John Allen, Bill Zito, Matt McCabe, David Olive and Jim Ansberry.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Maria Comella is going to start the public affairs shop at CLEAR — “a new function that will lead the company’s communications and government affairs efforts,” she said in a note to friends and colleagues. She’s a Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo alum.
TRANSITIONS — Sara Farnsworth will be COS for the corporate responsibility team at JP Morgan Chase, helping lead the firm’s policy and philanthropy. She is moving back from San Diego, where she was most recently an executive for the San Diego Padres. She’s also a Clinton and Obama alum. … Ryan Beiermeister is joining Facebook as a product lead on its civic integrity work to stop manipulation around election cycles. She most recently was SVP and government product lead at Palantir. …
… Will Mitchelson will be director of scheduling and advance at the Treasury Department. He previously was deputy director of advance for DHS.… The Herald Group is adding Kevin Manning as a director and Christian Healy as an account manager. Manning most recently was press secretary and deputy director of public affairs at the Commerce Department. Healy most recently was a senior policy adviser to Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.).
SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER’S (R-GA.) NEW STAFF … Kerry Rom is joining as communications director from Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s (R-Texas) office. Nadgey Louis-Charles will be press secretary — she’s joining from Rep. Jody Hice’s (R-Ga.) office. Tatum Wallace from Crenshaw’s office will be deputy press secretary.
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Clarissa Ward, CNN chief international correspondent,is 4-0. A fun fact people might not know about her: “I spent a summer in China, after graduating from Yale, working as Uma Thurman’s stand-in on the set of ‘Kill Bill.’” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) is 51 … Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) is 48 … Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) is 74 … Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) is 46 … David Plotz is 5-0 … Dylan Byers of NBC News (h/t Ben Chang, filing from Paris) … former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt is 79 … Nic Pottebaum … Katherine Miller of BuzzFeed … former Interior Secretary James Watt is 82 … Heather Riley … Chris Marklund … Barbara Slavin, director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council … Kate Hansen … Ali Zaidi, of counsel at Kirkland and Ellis … Tom O’Donnell (h/t Jon Haber) … Nathan Lewin is 84 … former Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.) is 69 … former Rep. Gwen Graham (D-Fla.) is 57 … David Thomas of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas … Christine Romans,co-anchor of CNN’s “Early Start” … Eli Nachmany … Treasury’s Tricia McLaughlin …
… Martha MacCallum, anchor of “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Fox News … CSIS’ Morgan Dwyer is 34 (h/t Benjamin Haas) … Brooke Buchanan … Eleanor Anaclerio … Sarah Blackwill, senior producer for NBC’s “Meet the Press” … E&E News’ Michael Doyle … Gerri Carr … David Hagedorn … Sam Dorn … Derrick Plummer … Ray Kerins, SVP of corporate affairs for Bayer … Bob Norris … Peter Sagal, host of the NPR news quiz “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” … Lisa Duvall … Tim Naftali … Karen Petel … Lindsey Paola … Paul Curran … USTR’s Conor Harrington … Christopher Alan Chambers … Bobbie Brinegar … Ray Sullivan … Marlene Hall … Rahul Prabhakar … Hunter Wallace … Michael Kempner, CEO of MWW, is 62 … Fred Karger is 7-0 … Christopher Semenas … Matthew Gottlieb … Mike Rabinowitz, managing director at BerlinRosen … Jarrett Murphy
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- Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
- Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
AXIOS
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By Mike Allen
Happy Friday! Today’s Smart Brevity™ count: 1,149 words … 4½ minutes.
1 big thing: Trump heads for quick acquittal
Sen. Lamar Alexander leaves the trial last night. Photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters
President Trump is poised to win his long-expected acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial as soon as tonight (or perhaps in the wee hours).
- That’s because of the dramatic 11 p.m. announcement — literally, the 11th hour — by retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) that he’ll vote against calling new witnesses.
Barring a tectonic twist, the big question is no longer whether the Senate will sink this afternoon’s witness vote, but how long it takes to deliver a final verdict on Trump after the vote fails, Axios’ Alayna Treene reports from the gallery.
- Without Alexander, neither side sees how there could be enough votes for the motion to call witnesses — short of either a surprise Republican vote in favor, or Chief Justice John Roberts breaking a 50-50 tie. Neither is likely.
- The other most closely watched senators: Susan Collins of Maine announced she’ll vote for witnesses, and Mitt Romney of Utah is considered a likely vote for witnesses as well. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she’d ponder overnight.
After leaving the Capitol (photo above) right after the trial ended for the night at 10:41 p.m., Alexander announced with a statement that he’ll vote against witnesses because “there is no need for more evidence to prove something that has already been proven and that does not meet the United States Constitution’s high bar for an impeachable offense.”
- Alexander said it was “inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent and to withhold United States aid to encourage that investigation” — but added that the election is the appropriate way for Americans to decide what to do about it.
Reporters try to get a statement from Sen. Lamar Alexander during a recess in the trial yesterday. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Being there: Last night was the liveliest night of the two-week trial. Reporters shot up from their seats and sprinted down the steps of the Capitol as soon as the Senate adjourned.
- The reporters huddled, coatless, by the doors and engulfed senators as they walked to their cars.
2. ⚖️ Impeachment scenes
What’s next: The Senate reconvenes at 1 p.m. today and will begin up to four hours of debate, evenly divided, over the witness vote, Axios’ Alayna Treene reports.
- After “jury deliberations,” as several senators described it, McConnell will likely introduce a motion to move to closing arguments from House managers and Trump’s defense team.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that Republicans support moving to a final vote tonight, regardless of whether that means dragging out the trial into the early hours of Saturday morning, similar to the day they debated the ground rules of the trial until just after 2 a.m.
- Asked about the optics of a midnight vote on Trump’s acquittal, Thune didn’t seem particularly worried.
Some scenes for the history books:
Photo: Senate TV via AP
Above, Chief Justice John Roberts, the presiding officer, reads questions from senators.
Below is an image of a Democratic exhibit that included a clip from the trial, and highlighted a phrase used yesterday by lead House manager Adam Schiff:
Photo: Senate TV via AP
Photos: Tom Brenner/Getty Images
On what looked like the eve of his acquittal, President Trump counter-programmed the trial with a campaign rally in Des Moines ahead of Monday’s Democratic caucuses.
- Trump slammed Joe Biden for the size of his campaign crowds, mocked “Crazy Bernie” and ragged on Pete Buttigieg for his last name. (AP)
3. Iowa closing arguments: “2020 is not 2016”
Joe Biden in Waukee, Iowa, yesterday. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Pete Buttigieg has changed his tone for his closing appeal ahead of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, swinging at both frontrunners: He calls Joe Biden a “risk” and says Bernie Sanders is polarizing, Axios’ Alexi McCammond reports from Cedar Rapids.
- Why it matters: Buttigieg’s pugilistic turn reflects what the polling keeps showing: It’s still a jump ball for Democrats in the nation’s first nominating contest, a dogfight that will end with a surprise.
- Biden follows “the same Washington playbook” and recycles “the same arguments,” Buttigieg told a town hall in Decorah yesterday.
Neither Biden nor Sanders mentioned Buttigieg or any rival Democrat in events Axios observed over the past two days.
- Biden has been arguing he offers stability and will build on the Obama years, while itching for a fight with Trump over guns, health care, foreign policy, national security, morality and personality.
Elizabeth Warren, who hosted a tele-town hall while she attended the impeachment trial this week, worked on this closing-argument pitch: Women are better positioned than men to win.
- “The data shows that women have been outperforming men as candidates in competitive races ever since Donald Trump got in,” she told a precinct captain from Boone, Iowa, who joined the Tuesday call.
- “Women have been doing really well since Donald Trump was inaugurated,” she said, and “2020 is not 2016.”
Sanders’ closing leans on the consistency of his progressive record and his grassroots movement.
- “I am here, but I’d rather be there,” Sanders told a Wednesday night rally in Iowa City, calling in from D.C. during a break from the impeachment trial.
- To raucous cheers, he ticked off his plans as president: Raise the minimum wage, legalize marijuana, pass Medicare for All, protect women’s reproductive rights, fight climate change, restrict gun access, and overhaul immigration policy.
4. Warren’s Iowa surrogate
Photos (clockwise): Mark Makela/Getty Images, Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register, Brian Snyder/Reuters, Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register
With Elizabeth Warren stuck in D.C. for the trial, her golden retriever, Bailey, is campaigning in Iowa.
- Bailey hosted his own selfie line, mirroring his mom’s. (Des Moines Register)
5. U.S. warns against China travel
Photo: Chinatopix via AP
“Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan,” the State Department said in a travel advisory, raising the warning to the same level as Afghanistan and Iraq.(Reuters)
A worker sprays disinfectant in a neighborhood in Qingdao, China. Photo: Chinatopix via AP
6. IBM’s new CEO
IBM announced that Arvind Krishna, 57, who heads the company’s cloud and cognitive software unit, will replace Ginni Rometty as CEO in April, Axios’ Scott Rosenberg and Ina Fried report.
- Rometty, who has spent 40 years at IBM and eight years as CEO, will serve as executive chairman until year’s end and then retire.
Rometty was one of 29 female CEOs leading S&P 500 companies.
7. Stat du jour: Amazon Prime passes Netflix
An Amazon robot sends a package down a chute. Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP
Amazon said yesterday that it has more than 150 million Prime members worldwide who pay $119 a year for faster shipping and other perks.
- That’s up 50% from the last time Amazon disclosed the number, in 2018.
- It surpasses Netflix, which has 139 million members globally.
8. Day of departure: Brexit official at 6 p.m. ET
9. New White House job
President Trump plans to expand the White House Domestic Policy Council by appointing an official to focus exclusively on combating human trafficking, AP’s Darlene Superville reports.
- A candidate has yet to be identified for the new post, which is to be created by executive order today.
- During a recent visit to Atlanta, Ivanka Trump said trafficking is “modern-day slavery.”
10. 1 🏈 thing: Super betting
Spotted at Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino. Photo: Wayne Parry/AP
With sports betting now legal in 14 states, the American Gaming Association estimates $6.8 billion will be bet legally and illegally on Sunday’s Super Bowl between the S.F. 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, AP’s Wayne Parry reports:
- 26 million Americans plan to make a bet, up 15% from last year, per the AGA.
If you think the game will be high-scoring, make a bet on the total, recently set at 54.5 points.
- Proposition or “prop” bets (shown above) are based on whether a particular event will or won’t happen during the game —which team will get the ball first or whether the first score of the game will be a touchdown or field goal.
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THE DISPATCH 2
The Morning Dispatch: Not With a Bang but With a WhimperPlus, How to think about the latest GDP numbers.The Dispatch StaffJan 31Happy Friday! With Sen. Lamar Alexander announcing he’s a “no” on additional impeachment trial witnesses, this whole thing could very well be wrapped up by the next time we’re in your inbox. What a journey we’ve been on together—didn’t we tell you we knew how it would end?Quick Hits: Today’s Top StoriesThe White House created a new task force, headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, just as the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first human-to-human transmission of the virus within the United States. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global public health emergency, and the State Department issued a travel advisory, warning Americans to steer clear of China due to the virus.Full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2019 came in at 2.3 percent, according to the Department of Commerce, compared to 2.9 percent in 2018.The rate of fatal drug overdoses in the United States declined in 2018 for the first time in nearly 30 years.The number of troops being treated for traumatic brain injuries following Iranian attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq earlier this month has climbed to 64.The House voted 236-166 to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) in Iraq, and 228-175 to block funding for military action against Iran. President Trump has been critical of the legislation, but also told lawmakers to “vote their heart.”The Trump administration unveiled a new plan that would curb Medicaid spending by allowing states to convert portions of funding for the program into block grants.Former Trump campaign aide Carter Page is suing the Democratic National Committee for its commissioning of the Steele dossier.Not With a Bang but With a WhimperWell, folks, we’re here: Barring extraordinary new developments, today’s the day President Trump’s impeachment trial will come to an end. Late Thursday night, outgoing GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander released a statement arguing the House had already called sufficient witnesses to prove their case that Trump had acted wrongly in pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and the DNC. But Alexander continued, saying that those actions did not rise, in his judgment, to the level of an impeachable offense. Since the primary allegation had already been proven, he said, there was no need to call further witnesses, and he would vote against doing so.“The question then is not whether the president did it, but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did,” Alexander said. “I believe that the Constitution provides that the people should make that decision in the presidential election that begins in Iowa on Monday.”More than likely, Alexander’s vote is all McConnell will need. At this point, even if Sen. Lisa Murkowski joins Mitt Romney and Susan Collins in voting to call more witnesses, Democrats will be unable to muster anything more than a 50-50 tie—insufficient to pass the witness motion barring an unexpected tie-breaking intervention from Chief Justice John Roberts. With the question of more witnesses out of the way, McConnell will move at once to the key vote: To acquit President Trump, or to remove him from office. At this point, we probably don’t need to tell you how that one’s likely to go—although it will be interesting to see whether that vote breaks down strictly along party lines.It’s worth noting in passing that the argument Sen. Alexander is making is an entirely fair one: If the case against President Trump has already been proved, then why are more witnesses required? Why not skip straight to the “sentencing” step of whether it justifies removal?The trouble, of course, is that this wasn’t the argument advanced by most of his colleagues in the Senate Republican Conference. By and large, Alexander’s peers preferred to stick with Trump’s own rhetorical line—that the president did nothing wrong, that he was actually crusading against corruption in Ukraine, and that the whole scandal was confected by low-level bureaucrats playing telephone with each other and scurrilous, politically motivated Democrats.When Bolton suddenly agreed to testify, those Senate Republicans were thus placed in a difficult position: They were forced to continue to say “there’s nothing to see here” while actively suppressing efforts to get more clarity on what had happened. That position had the downside of being entirely incoherent but the upside of not crossing Trump on messaging. Join nowIt’s the Economy, StupidAs noted in “Quick Hits,” the Commerce Department released a treasure trove of macroeconomic data Thursday. Although one of your Morning Dispatchers was an economics major for a semester before switching to history, we wanted to bring in an actual expert to break down the GDP numbers. Enter James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute. What follows is our conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.TMD: Obviously the topline number—2.3 percent GDP growth for the year—came in below the 2.9 percent growth of 2018 and 2.4 percent growth of 2017. Would you characterize this as a significant slowdown?James Pethokoukis: I think that given demographics such as how fast [the] U.S. labor force is expanding and productivity growth, America has an economy that should grow about 2 percent, right? So the fact that we’re growing at about 2 percent, that’s why the Fed’s not doing anything, because this is kind of what U.S. growth is right now …… If you look at the chart since the end of the Great Recession in 2009, it looks amazingly steady, and it’d be very difficult—you would look at it, and you would not think much has been done on policy in the past 10 years, because it looks very steady, whether it’s actually GDP numbers, or even job numbers. So overall, the Trump economy looks just kind of like a natural trend, like an extension of the Obama economy.TMD: Would you say this reversion closer to that 2 percent figure is the result of tariffs and the trade war, or does it have more to do with the initial boost of the 2017 tax cuts wearing off over time?Pethokoukis: I think the expectation that the tax cuts would sort of very quickly change that growth trajectory, I think was overly optimistic. We did see a little bump up in growth, but that’s the sort of impact of tax cuts that Republicans generally aren’t aiming for. There’s a kind of a quick burst, you put more money in the system, and there’s more consumer spending, people have more money in their pockets. Generally when Republicans and conservatives are for tax cuts it’s because those tax cuts will change incentives to work and invest, and over the long term, more of us would work, more of us would invest, we’d have a more productive economy. That aspect of the tax cuts, it really has yet to be in evidence. And maybe that’s because the tax cuts just didn’t work, or because they’ve been offset because of the trade war, especially causing a lot of uncertainty. So we had this quick blip up, and now we’re back to kind of where we were. TMD: There’s a habit for many, both in the media and across the country, to attribute the performance of the economy, good or bad, to the current president. How much of the credit, or blame, for current economic conditions can be traced back to Trump and his policies, and how much of it is the result of a natural business cycle?Pethokoukis: Well I think the fundamental macroeconomic factors would suggest that the U.S. has about a 2 percent economy. And that’s what we’re doing. And we had a couple of big policy things on taxes and trade, which certainly, it’d be reasonable to suggest that they offset each other to some point. But that’s the kind of thing that economists will be going and looking back at years trying to tease out the impact of both. But as kind of a first print of history, you would say that one thing happened, which generally people would think would boost economic growth. And then another thing happened, which people generally think would be bad for economic growth. The thinking that, to some extent, they may have offset each other, now that’s not an unreasonable thing. Things like regulation, just because you announce that something’s going to be deregulated, or you are going to remove a regulation, it takes a long time for that to happen. I think you can say that there’s certainly been a slowing flow of regulation. I don’t think there’s been a deregulation of the American economy. But they seem to be adding newer ones at a slower pace. But listen, let’s say the tax cuts sort of quote unquote worked. And the way they were supposed to work is there’d be more business investment—which there was only a brief surge of business investment, which has dissipated—but there’d be more business investment and workers would become more productive, and you’d have faster GDP growth, and higher worker wages. That whole process, I don’t think anyone thought that process was going to happen over 18 months or even two years. That’s how politicians talk about it. But that’s not how very many economists thought about it. So in a way, it’s still kind of too early to tell if the tax cuts, quote unquote worked.TMD: The Congressional Budget Office projected earlier this week that the deficit would surpass $1 trillion for the first time since 2012. The economy is in a pretty good spot right now. Shouldn’t we expect deficits to be shrinking during an economic boom like this?Pethokoukis: Well, I mean the last time we had trillion-dollar deficits, the economy was collapsing. It’s not collapsing now, it’s in pretty decent shape. Ideally you would like deficits to be going down and you would like the overall national debt to be on a glide path towards some lower level. Clearly that’s not happening. Deficits are getting bigger, and our glide path, it’s gliding higher. Which would suggest that that’s something policymakers should be pointing to and not ignoring. Right now, obviously, they’re ignoring. But generally, when times are good like this, you want to be taking care of things like the deficit, so theoretically in kind of a downturn that you don’t worry so much about bigger deficits and you don’t worry so much if you want to do fiscal stimulus. Clearly that’s not the case right now. But yet that’s exactly how politicians are acting.TMD: Were there any other particular data points released by Commerce today that stood out to you?Pethokoukis: I think business investment. Business investment is what the sort of pro-growth effects of the tax cut were supposed to affect. And there was a brief surge right after [the] tax cut was passed for a quarter or two, but we haven’t seen it since then. And so again, you can either conclude the tax cuts don’t matter, or you can conclude there was something else going on in the economy that led businesses to hold off on investing. The obvious thing is the biggest trade war in almost a century. That’s where I would look first. Now maybe we’ll find out after further research that that wasn’t the case, but that would be a very likely culprit.Worth Your TimeBusiness visionary Clayton Christensen passed away last week at the age of 67. Tech columnist Kara Swisher wrote about what Christensen meant to Silicon Valley, and why he will be sorely missed. “Professor Christensen’s book came out a year before Google was founded, seven years before Facebook, eight years before YouTube and 11 years before Uber. Each of these companies, knowingly or unknowingly, would follow his map.”The final episode of NBC’s The Good Place aired last night, and some Morning Dispatcher tears may have been shed. The show had one of the most complex premises of a sitcom in recent memory—we encourage you to check out this Ezra Klein podcast with the show’s creator Michael Schur and consulting sophist Pamela Hieronymi on how they devised the moral philosophy of the program. [Editor’s note: No editor tears were shed.]Presented Without CommentJosh Jordan@NumbersMuncherSecretary Wilbur Ross on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak: “I don’t want to talk about a victory lap… but… I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.” Unreal. January 30th 2020154 Retweets436 LikesSomething FunComing this summer from Wes Anderson: The David French/Morning Dispatch crossover you didn’t know you needed.Lights, Camera, Pod@LightsCameraPodFirst poster for Wes Anderson’s next movie ‘The French Dispatch’. January 29th 2020241 Retweets827 LikesToeing the Company LineDavid’s Thursday French Press took a look at the dangerous precedent Alan Dershowitz’s impeachment arguments could set, before turning to Ezra Klein’s new book on political polarization: “We’re clustering in like-minded enclaves, and those like-minded enclaves are growing more extreme (and extremely opposed) in their politics.” Give it a read here!Jonah also takes on Dershowitz’s argument: “So a president who gets fall-down drunk every day and fails to fulfill the barest minimum of his duties cannot be impeached because getting drunk isn’t a crime. Do you want to validate that nonsense?”We sent Andrew to Iowa, and he went to an Amy Klobuchar event that featured endorsers, a hot-dish dinner, and … no Klobuchar, who was back in D.C. for the impeachment trial. Can she still get her message out?A note from us: Due to some production issues, two articles meant for the web site have gone out as emails in recent days. We apologize for the inconvenience and overcrowding your inbox (and—for some of you—the bizarre Christmas/Hanukkah gift-subscription reminder) and thank you for bearing with us as we work out the kinks in the system.Let Us KnowYesterday we asked you for the best use of this new emoji being introduced later this year. Our readers took us on a trip around the globe.Emojipedia @EmojipediaNew in Emoji 13.0: Pinched Fingers, with skin tone support #Emoji2020 emojipedia.org/pinched-finger…January 29th 20209,675 Retweets42,093 LikesIn Israel the pinched fingers symbol usually means “have patience” or “wait for a second.”The Argentines have co-opted this gesture from the Italians but put their own twist on it. When you combine it with a skeptical face, it means, “Oh, come on now!” and when combined with an incredulous one (and a little extra wrist action) it communicates, “You really don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”To signal that unicode should have stuck to its original purpose of covering all modern languages in 16 bits.I thought it was the “chef’s kiss” where you pinch your fingers next to your lips and then do an explosive flourish where you spread germs throughout the kitchen.Reporting by Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey), Andrew Egger (@EggerDC), Sarah Isgur (@whignewtons), and Steve Hayes (@stephenfhayes).Photograph of Lamar Alexander by Samuel Corum/Getty Images.You’re on the free list for The Morning Dispatch. For the full experience, become a paying subscriber.Subscribe© 2020 Steve Hayes Unsubscribe PO Box 720263, San Francisco, CA 94172 |
PJ MEDIA
The Morning Briefing: On a Scale of Mao to Stalin, How Bad Would President Bernie Be?
BY STEPHEN KRUISER JANUARY 31, 2020CHAT COMMENTS
( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Our Little Briefing Is Growing Up
Today — barring any last-minute hiccups — my Morning Briefing will be delivered as a separate newsletter to everyone who subscribes to the PJ Media newsletters, which you can do here. Soon, the Briefing will be a stand-alone subscription.
This is a good opportunity for me to once again thank all of you who join me here every day. I’m trying to do something different here, and I appreciate having readers who get that. It may get weirder going forward, but I’ll make sure it’s the kind of weird everyone likes.
Gramps Ain’t Playin’
Despite the fact that he has been a fundraising machine and firmly in second place throughout this Democratic run to the 2020 presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders has been little more than the commie curiosity who no one really thought would knock off Joe Biden.
Now that there is a very real possibility that Bernie could win the first two nominating contests it’s worth pondering the consequences of this loon getting any more power.
I know, most of you are probably in agreement with me that a Sanders nomination would practically guarantee President Trump’s re-election. I do, however, always get nervous whenever a candidate with consistent fundraising power just hangs around. It’s best not to get too cocky when the one who may blindside you is from a fringe that would unravel the fabric of the Republic.
It’s very telling that Sanders is so far left that even 2020 Democrats think he’s out there. Our very own VodkaPundit chronicled the agita that Bernie gives the Dem Establishment.
Sanders has now given us a glimpse of what a nightmare he would be if given the reins to the Executive Branch.
Bernie’s fascist, authoritarian bent is, of course, part and parcel of the commie way he so fancies. He will need to get everything done via executive action because most of America won’t be encouraging their representatives to travel down his path.
What’s most disturbing is Sanders’ dismissiveness of the Legislative Branch. It’s as if he wants it gone entirely, which is not unusual for those leaning to the commie side of things.
He doesn’t want to be President Sanders, he wants to be Supreme Leader Sanders.
And he’s getting a little too close to making it happen.
A Word From the Satire Portion of the Briefing
Yes, we are all fans of the Babylon Bee here, but there are other satirical sites out there doing good work. In the interest of mixing things up and keeping them fresh, I’m going to begin a rotation with tweets from the Bee, The Onion, and Reductress. It’ll be fun, I promise.
Stop the Species
A new TikTok challenge involves teens recording themselves sliding a penny behind a phone charger that is partially plugged into an electrical outlet https://cbsn.ws/2TVMnW9
9358:19 PM – Jan 25, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy1,116 people are talking about this
PJM Linktank
[WATCH] Nitwits on ‘The View’ Try to Argue Constitutional Law With Alan Dershowitz
Tapper is a hack. Still. Jake Tapper Gets Owned on Twitter for Stupid Tweet About Whistleblower
VodkaPundit: Forget the Map: Biden Can’t Locate Ukraine in His Mind
Kobe Bryant’s Widow Breaks Silence to Announce Fund to Help Other Victims
Today’s Democrat Shiny Object: Trump’s Accuser Is Back and She Wants the President’s DNA
WATCH: Chief Justice Roberts Reads an Absurd Question From Sen. Warren Questioning His Own Legitimacy
Schiff Throws Tantrum Over His Staff Getting ‘Smeared’ by Reports on the ‘Whistleblower’
VIP
Treacher: We’re the Media’s Editors Now, and They Hate It
Bible Holds Solutions to Worldwide Trust Crisis, Princeton Prof Tells Davos
From the Mothership and Beyond
Not everyone is awful: Boy Designs, Sells Shoes to Fund Cancer Research After Grandma’s Diagnosis
Trump to Create Post to Focus on Human Trafficking
NJ’s New “Red Flag” Law Being Used More Than Once Per Day
Bloomberg Unveils Super Bowl Ad Focusing On Gun Control
Border Patrol Discovers Luxury 4,300 Foot Tunnel Between Tijuana and San Diego
Sekulow Does It Again, Destroys Schiff Over ‘Shady Business In Ukraine’
More Scenes From New York’s Bail Reform
Can Bernie Sanders Win The Texas Democrat Primary?
Dear Diary: CNN’s Jim Acosta seemed troubled by a number of things Trump said at his Iowa rally
Andy Richter adds ‘Heartland’ to the Handbook of Racial Code Words
Elections Have Consequences: Student Privacy Breached Under Dem Leadership in Arizona
ICYMI: Warren Endorses DA Who Dropped All Charges Against Jussie Smollett
Powerful Flashback Video: Hero Surprised By Jewish Children He Saved During the Holocaust
CBS Host on PA Focus Group: If You’re Team Trump, This Is Very Good News for You
Top 8 Reasons Trump Already Won Impeachment
Bernie. Whom Are GOP Senators Really Rooting for in Iowa?
Reduct This
Throuple Thrills Therapist by Theperating: http://ow.ly/G3fC50y8f8z
30810:00 AM – Jan 30, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy24 people are talking about this
The Kruiser Kabana
A robotic spy puppy is accepted by a pack of African wild dogs2,8109:36 PM – Jan 30, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy502 people are talking about this
Brilliant cover.
Dry cleaning is just another opportunity for the government to plant trackers on you.
___
PJ Media Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.”
BRIGHT
| Share with a friend you think would love this!Friday, January 31, 2020 World Health Organization declares Coronavirus a Global Health Emergency Now that the Coronavirus has officially been declared an emergency of worldwide promotions, questions about the potential catastrophic nature of the disease are heavy on the minds of Americans. More from Bright editor Erielle Davidson at the Federalist: “The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the coronavirus, originating in Wuhan, China, is a public health emergency of international concern on Thursday, indicating a pivot from their prior stance. Last week, the organization explicitly refrained from making such a declaration, but recent numbers revealing the breadth of the outbreak, including one confirmed human-to-human transmission case in the United States, has compelled WHO to change course. Thus far, 8,000 cases of infection have been reported globally, and almost all of them have been in mainland China. In total, 38 people have died from the disease. In response to reduced demands for travel to China, United Airlines and American Airlines suspended some flights to China and issued waivers for those seeking to cancel or postpone their flights. However, given WHO’s latest announcement, it may be time for the Trump administration to impose a travel ban between the United States and China.” Kurt Schlichter weighs in for Townhall on more possible strategies for Trump to consider. “If the president assures the citizenry that he understands this is a priority and that he is vectoring in America’s best scientists to respond, that not only foils the cheesy partisan political attack that is coming. It helps the actual defeat of this potential epidemic. Instead of inspiring panic, the presentation of the Administration as having this crisis well in hand will serve to calm fears as well as tell people what to do. Do you know what you should do? I’m not sure I do. And the information has been so sketchy that right now most of us don’t know the Coronavirus from the Dos Equis virus, the most interesting flu in the world. This could be Trump’s Katrina, as Hugh Hewitt, who was way ahead of everyone else in the media on this potential nightmare, has pointed out. Understand this, and you probably don’t know because our media is garbage and most media people know nothing, but the federal disaster response to Katrina was amazing. Huge numbers of personnel and vast quantities of supplies poured into the stricken area in an incredibly short time. The incompetence came from – shocker – the Democrat leadership locally, but the media hung it around George W. Bush’s gentlemanly neck. And because he was too gentlemanly to cry ‘Bull Schiff!,’ most everyone thinks what was a logistical miracle was a clusterfark.” Infighting Between Democratic Presidential Candidates Reaches Fever Pitch As impeachment roars on in the Senate, the Democratic candidates vying to represent the party in the 2020 presidential election continue to tear each other down. Joe Biden recently blasted Sen. Bernie Sanders for not representing the party as he has been a registered Independent for almost 30 years. The tiff between Biden and Sanders comes as the most recent example of Democrats swiping at each other. More from Emily Larsen at the Washington Examiner: “Joe Biden took a swipe at Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders for being an independent through his 29-year congressional career instead of a Democrat. ‘I’m a Democrat,’ Biden, 77, told reporters during a campaign stop at a Dairy Queen in Pella, Iowa, on Thursday when asked about his biggest contrast with Sanders. ‘He says he’s not. He’s not a registered Democrat, to the best of my knowledge.’ The Vermont senator has been elected as an independent since first joining the House in 1991, though he caucuses with his Democratic colleagues. Last year, Sanders signed a loyalty pledge to the party that read, ‘I am a member of the Democratic Party.’ Biden then criticized the liberal Vermont senator’s plan to create a Medicare for All healthcare system.” Sips, Pours, and Nibbles The New Hampshire restaurant that every future president must try. (Eater) Six terrific hot cocktail recipes to ward off the winter chill. (VinePair) What makes a wine a classic? (Wall Street Journal) Friday Entertainment Center ‘Party of Five’ review: Reboot has a purpose and heart. (Newsday) ‘The Assistant’: When a workplace’s silence can’t be broken. (NPR) ‘The Stranger’: Harlan Coben’s guessing game is fun for us — but bad for a doting dad in distress. (London Evening Standard) Pee-wee Herman’s dark reboot: Paul Reubens is ready to stage a comeback. (The Hollywood Reporter)BRIGHT is brought to you by The Federalist.Today’s BRIGHT Editor Ellie Bufkin is a breaking news reporter at The Washington Examiner and a senior contributor to The Federalist. Originally from northern Virginia, Ellie grew up in Baltimore, and worked in the wine industry as a journalist and sommelier, living in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. A fanatic for movies and TV shows since childhood, she currently reviews movies and writes about many aspects of popular culture for The Federalist. She is an avid home cook, cocktail enthusiast, and still happy to make wine recommendations. Ellie currently lives in Washington D.C. You can follow her on Twitter @ellie_bufkinCopyright © BRIGHT, All rights reserved. www.GetBRIGHTemail.com Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Note: By using some of the links above, Bright may be compensated through the Amazon Affiliate program and Magic Links. However, none of this content is sponsored and all opinions are our own. |
NBC
| From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann. FIRST READ: Iowa could be Biden’s last best chance to halt Sanders’ riseDES MOINES, IOWA – If you want to know why Joe Biden is going (mostly) all-in here in Iowa, moving more of his advertising dollars into the Hawkeye State, look no further than our brand-new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Bernie Sanders has jumped into the national lead among Democratic primary voters, albeit well within the margin of error – it’s Sanders 27 percent, Biden 26 percent, Elizabeth Warren 15 percent, Bloomberg 9 percent, Pete Buttigieg 7 percent and Amy Klobuchar 5 percent. Sanders’ African-American support has increased (from 8 percent in December to 28 percent now – though still behind Biden’s 52 percent). And he’s almost tied with Biden among non-white Democratic primary voters – 32 percent support for Sanders, 34 percent for Biden. Bottom line: If Biden doesn’t stop Sanders in Iowa, there’s a real chance he might not be able to stop him after the first two states (and maybe Nevada, too).AP Photo/Andrew HarnikAnd Iowa is ripe for a (slight) Biden upset. Sanders’ rise COULD consolidate the anti-Bernie vote around Biden; the impeachment trial has kept Sanders and the other senators away from the campaign trail; and it doesn’t look like Klobuchar is going to reach the 15 percent threshold in most precincts, which COULD boost Biden’s post-realignment numbers. Sure, South Carolina might be a firewall for Biden. But if Iowa is still for the taking, this might be his best shot to stop a surging Sanders. A structurally divided Democratic PartyOur NBC/WSJ poll also measures what Democratic primary voters are looking for in 2020. Seventy-three percent say it’s very important to them – registering either a “9” or “10” on a 10-point scale – to vote for a Dem candidate who has the best chance of defeating Trump. (Among those 73 percent, the Dem ballot is: Biden 32 percent, Sanders 21 percent, Warren 16 percent.) Fifty-eight percent say it’s very important to vote for a candidate who proposes large-scale policy changes. (Among those 58 percent, it’s Sanders 36 percent, Biden 24 percent, Warren 16 percent. It’s telling that Warren has dropped to third here.) Twenty-seven percent say it’s very important to continue Barack Obama’s policies and agenda. (Among that 27 percent, it’s Biden 44 percent, Warren 15 percent, Bloomberg 13 percent and Sanders 12 percent). And 21 percent say it’s very important to elect the first woman. (Among that 21 percent, it’s Biden 41 percent, Warren 27 percent and Sanders 16 percent.) Lamar Alexander: Yeah, Trump did it – but don’t impeach himThat was essentially the statement that Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., released last night in explaining why he’s against any witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial. Alexander said: “There is no need for more evidence to prove that the president asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter; he said this on television on October 3, 2019, and during his July 25, 2019, telephone call with the president of Ukraine. There is no need for more evidence to conclude that the president withheld United States aid, at least in part, to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens; the House managers have proved this with what they call a ‘mountain of overwhelming evidence.’” More: “The question then is not whether the president did it, but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did. I believe that the Constitution provides that the people should make that decision in the presidential election that begins in Iowa on Monday.” In other words: Let the vote in November decide Trump’s fate. But here’s the hole in that logic: If you caught someone trying to cheat in a game, is the best punishment to play another game? Or is it to not let that person play again? What’s keeping that person from not trying to cheat again?TWEET OF THE DAY: Whatever it takes?2020 VISION: The race’s first Dem candidate – Delaney – drops outYou might not remember this, but former Congressman John Delaney, D-Md., was actually the first major Dem to announce running for president in 2020. Back in July of 2017! And today – three days before the Iowa caucuses – he announced he’s dropping out of the race. “It has been a privilege to campaign for the Democratic nomination for President, but it is clear that God has a different purpose for me at this moment in time. I leave this race with a profound sense of gratitude to the voters who shared with me their hopes and concerns for our magnificent country, in admiration for the other contenders for the nomination and proud of the work we did to change the debate,” he said in a statement.On the campaign trail today: The activity in the Hawkeye State with three days to go: Joe Biden hits Burlington, Fort Madison and Mount Pleasant… Pete Buttigieg holds town halls in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Clinton and Davenport… Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Jane Sanders stump for Bernie Sanders… Reps. Katie Porter and Ayanna Pressley campaign for Elizabeth Warren… Andrew Yang is in Tipton, Monticello, Grundy Center Mason City and Decorah… And Tom Steyer travels to Clinton and Dubuque.Dispatches from NBC’s campaign embeds: As the days until the Iowa caucuses wind down, most of the candidates are trying to rev up their closing messages. NBC’s Ben Pu reports that Andrew Yang is also having a heartfelt, emotional closing to his time in Iowa. Per Pu, while on his 13th day of his last bus tour in Iowa, Pu got emotional as he reminisced about his time in the Hawkeye State. “I’ve been coming to Iowa for almost two years. I started coming in spring of 2018, I have to say I loved campaigning here, you all have been beautiful to me and my family. My kids love it here, they came in the summer, they’ve been here this past week. One, they love daddy’s boss ‘cause now daddy’s got a huge boss. Don’t know if you saw it. My boys don’t really understand what I’m doing. I just told them daddy has a really big deadline on Monday,” Yang said. “But I have to say I love Iowa. Campaigning here the last two years has been the journey of my life. I’m really glad that you all are going to determine the future of our country.” And while Iowa is just a few days away, some campaigns are starting to slowly shift their focus to New Hampshire. NBC’s Amanda Golden reports that Amy Klobuchar is holding her first tele-town hall with Granite Staters this morning – as long as impeachment doesn’t get in the way. The town hall should begin at 10:15 a.m., but as every senator running for president has learned, that schedule is “subject to change.” DATA DOWNLOAD: And the number of the day is… 59 percent. 59 percent. That’s the share of Democratic primary voters who say they have seen an ad from Michael Bloomberg on TV or social media, according to our new NBC/WSJ poll. That’s more than double the share that have seen ads from the race’s two national frontrunners, Bernie Sanders (28 percent have seen his ads) and Joe Biden (25 percent.) Bloomberg has already spent more than $230 million on the airwaves so far, according to Advertising Analytics. For Tom Steyer, who has also spent more than $100 million from his own pocket on TV advertisements so far, 33 percent of Democratic primary voters say they’ve seen a spot promoting him.THE LID: Parachute PantsDon’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we gave a glimpse into what it’s like to watch the national press corps descend on Iowa a few days before the caucus.ICYMI: News clips you shouldn’t miss A new video appears to show more evidence of Trump interacting with Lev Parnas. What would happen to Iowa’s economy if the caucuses were no more? Biden argued against trial witnesses in the 1999 impeachment debate. A coalition of progressive groups are teaming up to fight back against anti-Sanders messaging. It’s happening: Britain is withdrawing from the European Union today.Thanks for reading. If you’re a fan, please forward this to a friend. They can sign up here. We love hearing from our readers, so shoot us a line here with your comments and suggestions. Thanks, Chuck, Mark and Carrie. |
TOWNHALL
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REALCLEARPOLITICS
01/31/2020Share: Carl Cannon’s Morning NoteReturn of Hillary; Smith Project, Part 3; Quote of the Week Good morning. It’s Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, the day of the week when I pass along a quotation meant to be inspiring or illuminating. Today’s comes from Katie Sowers, who is set to make history in two days as the first female coach on a Super Bowl team.Sowers grew up in central Kansas, got her master’s degree at the University of Central Missouri, and has a tattoo of the Kanas City skyline on her arm accompanied by the word “Home.” But she’s not on the staff of the Kansas City Chiefs. As a San Francisco native, I’m proud to report that on Super Bowl Sunday, she’ll be across the field from the Chiefs as an offensive assistant coach for the 49ers. The Niners’ players and coaches clearly appreciate her acuity, mental toughness, and love of the game.“Katie is a baller, 100 percent,” receiver Marquise Goodwin told the San Francisco Chronicle. “She understands the game. … She definitely has the attitude it takes to be in that room. She brings a great vibe and she understands, so I’m happy that she’s on staff.”I’ll have a further word on this gridiron trailblazer in a moment. Actually, the words will be hers. First, I’d point you to RealClearPolitics’ front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:* * *Trump to Democrats: Iowa Is Mine. Phil Wegmann reports on the president’s raucous rally in Des Moines last night, despite being under the shadow of impeachment back in Washington.Ready, Dems? Hillary Wants a Starring Role. A.B. Stoddard warns the already fractured party that its tarnished 2016 candidate seems eager to make herself relevant again.Bolton’s Security Clearance in Jeopardy in Wake of Book Leaks. Susan Crabtree has the story.Why Voters Don’t Choose Candidates They Like Best. In Part 3 of our Smith Project series, Chad Peace explores how a perceived lack of viability harms third-party candidates and locks in the duopoly’s stranglehold on the electorate.ERA Push Really Concerns Abortion. Kristan Hawkins writes about the underlying motives of Virginia lawmakers who are pushing to revive the Equal Rights Amendment.Electric Car Mandates Effects in Iowa and Beyond. In RealClearEnergy, Ed Wiederstein explains the importance of liquid fuels in the nation’s heartland. Why Subprime Auto Loans Don’t Threaten the Economy. In RealClearPolicy, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Michael Mandel counter claims popping up in the press.Big Pharma Wants to Earn Back Americans’ Trust. John F. Crowley lays out the industry’s “New Commitment to Patients” in RealClearHealth. * * *As a girl in the small, predominately Mennonite farming town of Hesston, Kan., Katie Sowers and her twin sister, Liz, would play tackle football in their backyard. The Sowers girls hit so hard that sometimes one of the neighborhood boys would be pressed into service as a referee.The twins’ parents were supportive — when the girls were 10 years old, they received matching helmets and shoulder pads for Christmas — but adults steered them to sports that had girls’ leagues. They eventually would comply, but their love of football ran deep and never went away. Katie told the Kansas City Star that her diary entries as a little girl revealed this passion.“My mom wants me to play basketball. I don’t want to. I want to play football,” she wrote, adding that her favorite part of the game was tackling — or “tacolilng,” as the third-grader spelled it.The girls would play basketball — and volleyball and track and field — in high school, and at a very high level. Liz was state champion in the javelin throw and both Sowers girls were stars on the hardwood — each went on to play college basketball. Liz stayed home and starred for Hesston College, where she averaged 45 points per game (the school record) and was named a small college All-American. Katie attended another Mennonite school, Goshen College in Indiana, where she was a solid all-around player and team leader.After getting their degrees both gravitated into coaching. Liz is now an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She moonlights as a touchdown-catching wide receiver on a local amateur women’s tackle football team. There were some speed bumps along the way, too: Goshen College declined to offer Katie an assistant coaching position because, one official explained, some parents voiced concerns about having their daughters coached by a lesbian.The school has since adopted a non-discrimination policy and this week, as Katie Sowers’ journey made news, it apologized to her publicly — and expressed pride in her achievements. For her part, Katie was gracious in response.“I loved my time at Goshen and I love everything Goshen College represents,” she told NBC Sports. “This moment was tough, but the reality is we all experience rejection and adversity in our lives.”Even amid the media hype that typifies the run-up to the Super Bowl, Katie Sowers has mostly managed to escape the breathless excess generated by sportswriters desperate for a new angle on the annual sports extravaganza. (Example: Doug Williams, the Washington Redskins quarterback in the Super Bowl held on this date in 1988, was asked: “Doug, would it be easier if you were the second black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl?” The answer would prove to be: No, not really, as Williams would be the MVP in the Skins 42-10 route of the Denver Broncos.)Yes, the country is more inclusive today. But showing grace under pressure is a timeless virtue, and Katie Sowers exhibits it seamlessly.“It’s a fine line right now between wanting to be treated just like everybody else but also knowing that part of the job is making sure I’m visible for all the young people, boys and girls,” she said this week. “You have to have ‘a first’ for everything to create change, but I want to make sure I’m not the last.”And that’s your quote of the week. Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com |
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REDSTATE
THE HILL
| © Getty Images Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. TGIF! Our newsletter gets you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the daily co-creators, so find us @asimendinger and @alweaver22 on Twitter and recommend the Morning Report to your friends. CLICK HERE to subscribe! Senators today are expected to move toward acquitting President Trump on two charges without questioning witnesses as the third impeachment trial in American history lumbers toward a rancorous conclusion. Republicans feel confident they have the votes to acquit Trump by this weekend after Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who is retiring, announced Thursday night that he opposes any addition of witnesses and believes voters should render judgment about Trump’s actions with Ukraine, which he called “inappropriate” but not impeachable. At the same time, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is running for reelection, said Thursday night that she wants witnesses, but with 51 votes required to back her position, it appeared likely that such motions will fail. The most likely GOP senators who could join Collins and Democrats to support calling trial witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton, are Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). But four Republicans, not three, would be necessary (The Hill). Bolton, whose unpublished memoir and first-person knowledge of the president’s actions featured prominently during Trump’s trial, appeared before a group in Texas on Thursday and voiced support for the current and former diplomatic officials who testified during the House inquiry into the president’s behavior with Ukraine. “All of them acted in the best interest of the country as they saw it and consistent to what they thought our policies were,” Bolton said during the question-and-answer period following his speech (KXAN.com). “The idea that somehow testifying to what you think is true is destructive to the system of government we have — I think, is very nearly the reverse — the exact reverse of the truth,” he said. Facing a 50-50 deadlock, Democrats hold out a sliver of hope that Chief Justice John Roberts will provide the elusive 51st vote, but the idea is widely perceived as unlikely. Roberts has modeled his de minimis involvement in the Senate chamber on his predecessor, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who once described his role in 1999 during the impeachment trial of former President Clinton: “I did nothing in particular, and did it very well,” he said (CNN). On Wednesday, Senate Democrats tried to include language in the rules resolution to allow Roberts to rule on motions for new witnesses or documents. However, the amendment was voted down in a party line vote. The president has maintained throughout that he is the victim of a partisan Democratic effort to overturn the 2016 election and undercut his bid for a second term. Following a Thursday night rally before a rollicking crowd in Iowa, Trump returned to Twitter with a prediction: “Americans across the political spectrum are disgusted by the Washington Democrats’ Partisan Hoaxes, Witch Hunts, & Con Jobs. Registered Democrats and Independents are leaving the Democrat Party in droves, & we are welcoming these voters to the Republican Party w/ wide open arms!” The Hill: Three ways the end of the impeachment trial could play out. The Hill: Impeachment closing arguments to begin today. Mark Leibovich: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a man alone. The Hill: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says Trump lawyers have “disgraced” themselves, suggests disbarment. The Hill: Roberts refused to read questions about the whistleblower from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). “The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted,” Roberts told senators. Paul later repeated his questions on Twitter. The Hill: Retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, a member of Trump’s defense team, took to the Senate floor this week to offer a sweeping argument that anything the president does to win reelection is in the public interest and cannot be impeachable. Then he complained he was misunderstood. Reuters: In Kyiv today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged U.S. support for Ukraine. © Getty Images LEADING THE DAYCAMPAIGNS & POLITICS: With four days to go before the Iowa caucuses, one emerging Democratic worry — Democrats are worried about everything — centers on the difference between swooning and strategizing, and between heart and head. The latest AP-NORC poll highlighted that emotional distinction: Republicans are more excited about the 2020 contest than are Democrats, who are nervous wrecks (The Associated Press). As The Hill’s Reid Wilson points out from the Hawkeye State, former Vice President Joe Biden is in striking distance of leading the Democratic candidates in Iowa, but fair or unfair, analysts can’t miss the hand-wringing among caucus-goers about Biden’s perceived baggage and the stakes. Will his voters actually turn out? (Find Wilson’s reporting at TheHill.com later this morning). Some Iowa Democrats describe a kind of enthusiasm gap, worried that Trump and Republicans will hobble Biden, 77, if he’s the nominee. They worry he faces relentless negative ads featuring Burisma and Ukraine, which could seed doubts and suppress turnout for him, which would in turn help Trump. “Whether there’s anything to it or not, there’s going to be a lack of trust and doubt that we could end up like we did four years ago,” Iowa Democrat Emma Thompson, 63, told a reporter. She’s considering caucusing for Biden, but is also considering Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and entrepreneur Andrew Yang (The Associated Press). At a Biden campaign event in Waukee, Iowa, on Thursday, Christie Vilsack, wife of the state’s former Gov. Tom Vilsack, urged Iowans to commit to the political version of eating their peas: put on their “practical Iowa hats” for Biden, she encouraged, arguing the former vice president can “appeal” to the broadest swath of the electorate, NBC News reported. Tom Vilsack assured the audience after Biden spoke for 18 minutes that the former vice president can beat Trump in November, and that character matters (National Review). The Associated Press: Two moderates, Biden and Buttigieg, diverge on strategies to win as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) appears to gain strength in Iowa. NBC News: Sanders, Biden are neck-and-neck in new national poll. > Buttigieg’s pitch: After months of largely avoiding direct attacks on competitors, Buttigieg sharpened his elbows on Thursday while barnstorming the Hawkeye State, hitting Biden and Sanders as he looked for a last minute boost in the polls. At four events across Iowa, Buttigieg lobbed barbs at the two Democratic frontrunners, hitting the former vice president for looking into the past for the next president and Sanders for telling voters that it’s his way or the highway. “The less 2020 looks like 2016, the better,” Buttigieg told voters at an evening event in Ankeny. “I’ve seen Vice President Biden making the case that we cannot afford to take a risk on a new person right now. I would argue that at a time like this, what we can’t afford to take the risk on is falling back on the familiar because history has shown us, we’ve got to look to the future in order to win.” “Senator Sanders … is nevertheless offering an approach that tells folks who are not sure about going all the way to one side that they don’t fit,” Buttigieg continued. “I think this is a moment to build on the majority that now exists, even more than what President Obama had to work with 10 years ago.” The comments came after weeks of build-up, which included veiled comments aimed at the field in emails to supporters and during a town hall on Sunday with Fox News. Complicating the timing was the ongoing impeachment push, which has consumed the media attention in recent weeks. “This is the time to really hammer home closing arguments,” a Buttigieg source said. Complicating matters for Buttigieg is the primary calendar post-Iowa. According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average in New Hampshire, Buttigieg sits nearly 12 points behind Sanders, and remains mired in the single digits in both Nevada and South Carolina as his inability to attract minority supporters continues to plague him. Looking ahead to Super Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is waiting for the field and is expected to further jam up the centrist lane. The bottom line: Unlike the other frontrunners, Iowa is a must-win for Buttigieg. At the very least, he needs to topple Biden to give his campaign more juice moving forward. The Hill: Democrats make closing arguments to Iowa voters. The New York Times: “I’m a Democrat”: Biden accuses Sanders of not being a party member. Jonathan Allen: With Iowa on the line, Biden bets on what he doesn’t believe. The Associated Press: Voters’ 2nd choices could be decisive in close Iowa caucuses. © Getty Images > Trump rallies Iowa voters: The president took his campaign roadshow to Des Moines on Thursday night, where he took the opportunity to pan the 2020 Democratic field. As Morgan Chalfant writes, Trump mocked Biden’s memory, referring to his rival in his remarks while theatrically mixing up the names of states. The president also referred to Warren by his oft-used nickname, “Pocahontas,” and mocked the pronunciation of Buttigieg’s name. “How about But-Edge-Edge?” Trump told the crowd. “They call him Mayor Pete. You know why? Nobody can pronounce his name.” Niall Stanage: The Memo: Trump tries to steal Democrats’ thunder in Iowa. IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKESWHITE HOUSE & ADMINISTRATION: The State Department Thursday night urged Americans not to travel to China, a move that elevated the government’s travel advisory to the highest level after the World Health Organization declared the viral outbreak an international public health emergency earlier in the day (The Hill). On Thursday night, Trump told Fox News during an interview that the administration will soon add to its responses to the virus: “We’re dealing very closely with China. We’ll be making certain announcements over the next 24 hours and 48 hours. We are in great shape. China is not in great shape.” The administration this week assembled a federal task force headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to make policy recommendations about the U.S. response and to coordinate communications. WHO, which is based in Geneva, designated the new coronavirus in China an emergency at the same time that a sixth case of infection was confirmed in the United States. Trump early on Thursday assured the public that the United States is “working very closely” with Beijing, adding “we think we have it very well under control.” The president said there was “very little problem in this country,” referring to “five” confirmed patients recovering from the virus in the United States, apparently unaware as he visited Michigan that a sixth U.S. case was confirmed in Illinois by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new patient, diagnosed in Chicago, contracted the virus from his spouse, who had traveled to China (The Hill). WHO’s decision served notice to all United Nations member states that the world’s top health advisory body believes the situation is grave. The designation has no force of law (The New York Times). In China, 213 people have died from pneumonia and complications from respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. More than 9,600 cases have been confirmed worldwide, according to the latest data today (The Associated Press). Researchers and governments are paying close attention to apparent cases of asymptomatic carriers of the virus who transmitted it to others. The United States is expected to evacuate a second wave of personnel and U.S. citizens from China, following the more than 200 people flown out of the country this week to California. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway declined to comment on reports charter flights will depart China for the United States on Monday. European nations also evacuated hundreds of their citizens from China as a precaution, while Russia temporarily shut its 2,600-mile border with its gigantic neighbor. A commercial cruise ship languished at a dock in Italy on Thursday, barred from releasing passengers and crew until a 54-year-old woman on board with flu-like symptoms was tested for the virus (The Associated Press). The Hill’s Niv Elis reports how the global efforts to halt an epidemic present economic risks for China and its trading partners, including major U.S. companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza. Quarantines, canceled commercial flights and declining business activity will make it tougher for China to increase its purchases of U.S. goods and services, as outlined in the “Phase One” trade deal signed this month at the White House. Trump is boasting on the campaign trail that increased trade with China is a promise to voters he fulfilled during his first term after a protracted tariff war. Reuters: Economists fear the impact could be bigger than the epidemic in 2002 and 2003 caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people and cost the global economy an estimated $33 billion. China now accounts for a larger share of the world economy and financial markets have been volatile since news of the virus emerged earlier this month. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday during a Fox Business interview that the United States may benefit from China’s troubles. “I don’t want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease,” Ross said on Thursday before appearing to do just that. “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America. Some to the U.S., probably some to Mexico as well” (The Hill). Ross cited previous disease outbreaks in China, suggesting that a prevalence of diseases there would become a factor in businesses leaving the country and relocating to North America. “You had SARS, you have the African swine virus there, now you have this,” he added (The New York Times). Paul Krugman: No, Team Trump. The coronavirus isn’t good for America. Ian Johnson: The coronavirus and the panic epidemic. The Associated Press: Wearing masks…Do they help? © Getty Images > Medicaid: The administration will allow states to cap spending on Medicaid for many poor adults, officials said on Thursday, signaling a conservative shift in policy to grant states the option of reducing health coverage for millions of beneficiaries under provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said states that prefer an approach known as block grants would have flexibility (The New York Times). Under provisions of ObamaCare, 37 states and Washington, D.C., to date expanded Medicaid. Fourteen states refused: Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming (Kaiser Family Foundation).> U.S. intelligence-sharing: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, traveling in the United Kingdom on Thursday, backed continued U.S. intelligence-sharing with Great Britain, despite its decision to use Chinese communications equipment made by Huawei (Reuters). In Washington, national security adviser Larry Kudlow said the administration has not reached a decision on intel-sharing (Reuters). > Middle East: A long-awaited U.S. proposal to achieve peace in the Middle East, released on Tuesday to praise from Israel and condemnation from Palestinians, sparked debate about Palestinians’ shrinking options, unless there is significant political movement in the United States or Israel (The Hill). OPINIONWhy pro-Trump ‘rubes’ will win again in 2020, by Ed Rollins, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2S4szgF Tech loses a prophet just when it needs one, by Kara Swisher, technology reporter and contributing opinion writer, The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/2S1XxWV WHERE AND WHEN📺 Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features Charles Chamberlain, chair of Democracy for America, on how to unify the Democratic Party; Chris Lehman, editor for The New Republic, to preview Iowa; Rose Denis, president of UNITE HERE Local 355; and Daniel Marans, political reporter for HuffPost, on Sanders’s objections to Trump’s consideration of Social Security reductions in a second term. Coverage at http://thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube. The House meets on Feb. 3 at 1:30 p.m. The Senate convenes today at 1 p.m. to continue the impeachment trial. The president delivers remarks at a White House Summit on Human Trafficking to mark the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Economic indicator: The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports at 8:30 a.m. on U.S. consumer spending in December. Why is it important? Because the engine of U.S. economic growth is dependent on consumers, and the trend in 2020 is key. ELSEWHERE➔ Brexit: At 11 p.m. in Great Britain, the European Union will shrink from 28 members to 27 as the United Kingdom officially leaves the bloc three and a half years after voting to do so. After meeting with his cabinet in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Sunderland, he is expected to deliver an address to the nation shortly before its departure and argue that Brexit is not an end of times, but rather a “a moment of real national renewal and change” (The Associated Press). ➔ Sun spots: The gas surface of the sun looks a bit like crinkly golden wrapping paper or a piece of caramel popcorn magnified a gazillion times. A telescope in Hawaii produced its first images of the sun this month, revealing its turbulent surface in what scientists hailed as unprecedented detail. The telescope enlarges features as small as 18 miles across, according to the National Science Foundation, which released the images on Wednesday. Keep in mind, the sun is 93 million miles away from Earth. Take a look! (ABC News). ➔ New Orleans: Lawyers for about two dozen men alleging sexual abuse against the Archdiocese of New Orleans claim that hundreds of confidential emails show that the New Orleans Saints helped form a list of credibly accused clergy members and their involvement was more hands-on than they previously indicated. The lawyers said Thursday that what the Saints did “goes beyond public relations.” “In order to fulfill this role … the Saints must have known the specific allegations of sexual abuse against a priest … and made a judgment call about whether those allegations by a particular victim against a named priest were, in its opinion, legitimate enough to warrant being included,” the attorneys wrote. “It cannot now be disputed that the Saints had actual involvement in the creation of the pedophile list” (The Associated Press). ➔ Electric vehicle: After more than a decade off the grid, the Hummer is making a comeback, but not in its former gas-guzzling ways. General Motors (GM) announced Thursday that the Hummer brand will return in September with a 2021 pickup truck model that will include an electric battery. The vehicle, which will be featured in a Super Bowl ad, will officially be unveiled in May. GM last released a line of Hummers in 2009, having sold only 9,000 such vehicles that year (The Associated Press). © Twitter THE CLOSERAnd finally … 👏👏👏 Major kudos to the winners of this week’s Morning Report Quiz! These hoops experts (along with some top-notch Googlers) aced the trivia puzzle about the the late Kobe Bryant’s legendary career: Patrick Kavanagh, Mark Wastl, Margaret Gainer, Rich Davis, Mike Roberts, Jack Barshay and Luther Berg. They knew that Bryant, who was originally drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA draft, was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for longtime center Vlade Divac. Bryant made the change from No. 8 to No. 24 ahead of the 2006-07 season. The Lakers retired both of his numbers (CBS News). David Thompson scored 73 points for the Denver Nuggets on April 9, 1978. The total is the highest single game total outside of Bryant’s 81 points and multiple outputs by Wilt Chamberlain. Lastly, Bryant’s 18 NBA All-Star game appearances were surpassed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 19 appearances. © Getty Images The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@thehill.com and aweaver@thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE! 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CAFFEIHNATED THOUGHTS
| Connect: Facebook Twitter YouTubeView this email in your browser“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” (James 4:7, ESV).Watch: President Donald Trump’s Rally in Des Moines, IowaBy Caffeinated Thoughts on Jan 30, 2020 02:37 pm President Donald Trump spoke at the Knapp Center on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa four days before the Iowa Caucus. Watch his remarks here. Read in browser » Iowa’s Economy Will Continue Setting Records in 2020By Tana Goertz on Jan 30, 2020 02:09 pm Tana Goertz: The past three years have been great for Iowa, and the future is shaping up to be even better with President Trump’s economic policy agenda. Read in browser » Warren Says ‘Young Trans Person’ Will Vet Education Secretary NomineeBy Shane Vander Hart on Jan 30, 2020 12:11 pm Elizabeth Warren said as president she would only advance a Secretary of Education nominee who was interviewed and approved by a young trans person she met. Read in browser » Socialism Pushed In A Middle School ClassroomBy Lisa Hudson on Jan 30, 2020 11:35 am Lisa Hudson: A middle school assignment in Matthews, N.C., highlights the lengths to which progressive teachers will go to advance a political agenda in the classroom. Read in browser » Recent Articles: S.D. House Passes Bill Prohibiting ‘Sex Change’ Treatment for Minors Iowa Senate Republicans Propose $91.7 Million in New K-12 Funding Iowa House GOP Bill Removes ‘Gender Identity’ From Civil Rights Act Dan Huseman to Retire from Iowa House Feenstra Announces 608 County Chairs in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District RaceLaunched in 2006, Caffeinated Thoughts reports news and shares commentary about culture, current events, faith and state and national politics from a Christian and conservative point of view. Caffeinated Thoughts P.O. Box 57184 Des Moines, IA 50317 (515) 321-5077 Editor, Shane Vander Hart Connect: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.ShareTweetShareForwardCopyright © 2020 Caffeinated Thoughts, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. |
CONSERVATIVE DAILY NEWS
| CDN’s Daily News Blast delivers the day’s news first!View this email in your browserCDN Daily News Blast01/31/2020Excerpts:President Donald Trump’s Schedule for Friday, January 31, 2020By R. Mitchell -President Donald Trump will deliver a speech on human trafficking then travel to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he and the first lady will spend the weekend. Keep up with Trump on Our President’s Schedule Page. President Trump’s Itinerary for 1/31/20 – note: this page will be updated during the …President Donald Trump’s Schedule for Friday, January 31, 2020 is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » CDC Announces First Person-To-Person Spread Of Coronavirus In USBy Jason Hopkins -The Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Thursday the first person-to-person spread of the Coronavirus in the United States, but cautioned that general public still believed to be at low risk. In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, a spokesperson for the CDC announced that they have discovered …CDC Announces First Person-To-Person Spread Of Coronavirus In US is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Dem Lawmaker Gets Pushback After Asking YouTube To Stop Spreading Climate SkepticismBy Chris White -Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor is getting pushback from climate skeptics after she asked Google Monday to nix content on YouTube that takes a skeptical approach to United Nations’ climate models. Castor asked CEO Sundar Pichai in a Jan. 27 letter not to incentivize “climate misinformation content on its platform.” She …Dem Lawmaker Gets Pushback After Asking YouTube To Stop Spreading Climate Skepticism is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Over-Woke: Warren Says She Will Allow A Transgender Child To Pick Her Secretary Of EducationBy Mary Margaret Olohan -Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she would have a transgender child interview the next Secretary of Education. The Massachusetts senator spoke Sunday at a town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where a voter told her that children are not learning enough about LGBTQ history or sexual education in …Over-Woke: Warren Says She Will Allow A Transgender Child To Pick Her Secretary Of Education is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 200 As Outbreak Impacts Travelers WorldwideBy Sydney Shea -The death toll from coronavirus hit 213 by Thursday evening, the Chinese government reported, as health officials internationally are fighting to deal with the deadly outbreak. The total count of infected patients is edging toward 9,800, according to The New York Times, which cited data from the Chinese and World …Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 200 As Outbreak Impacts Travelers Worldwide is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Carter Page Sues DNC Over Steele DossierBy Chuck Ross -Carter Page has taken his first legal action in the wake of a Justice Department inspector general’s report on FBI abuse of the FISA process. The former Trump campaign aide sued the DNC and its law firm Thursday over their role in commissioning and disseminating the Steele dossier. The DNC, …Carter Page Sues DNC Over Steele Dossier is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Watch: President Trump Holds KAG Rally in Iowa Thursday – 1/30/20By R. Mitchell -President Donald Trump holds a Keep America Great rally in Des Moines, Iowa Thursday evening. The president is scheduled to appear at 7:00 p.m. CST. Live Streams of President Trump’s rally in Des Moines, IA – 01-30-20 RSBN GOP Golden State Times Fox News Content created by Conservative Daily News and …Watch: President Trump Holds KAG Rally in Iowa Thursday – 1/30/20 is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Watch: President Trump Delivers Remarks at a USMCA Celebration with American WorkersBy R. Mitchell -President Donald Trump speaks to workers during a Celebration of the recently signed U.S. – Mexico – Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) being held at Dana Incorporated in Warren, Michigan on Thursday. Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for re-publication without charge under the …Watch: President Trump Delivers Remarks at a USMCA Celebration with American Workers is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » The Three Amigos – A.F. Branco CartoonBy A.F. Branco -Adam Schiff stated “The president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box” this is how Democrats really feel about democracy. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2020. See more Branco toons HEREThe Three Amigos – A.F. Branco Cartoon is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Watch: White House Press Briefing with Kellyanne Conway – 1/30/20By R. Mitchell -Senior White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway, ONDCP Director Jim Carroll, and Assistant Secretary of Public Health ADM Brett Giroir hold a press briefing to update the media on the administration’s efforts and successes in the opioid crisis. Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available …Watch: White House Press Briefing with Kellyanne Conway – 1/30/20 is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Never Trumpers Want Biden As Next PresidentBy Jim Clayton -As the name suggests, Never Trumpers are a minority group within the Republican Party that oppose President Trump. Despite the president’s 90%+ approval rating with the GOP, a small number of conservatives still view him unfavorably and support his removal from office – no matter the cost. Trump has been …Never Trumpers Want Biden As Next President is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Trump Administration Goes After Companies That Enable RobocallersBy R. Mitchell -The Trump administration filed civil actions for temporary restraining orders Wednesday in two landmark cases against five companies and three individuals allegedly responsible for carrying hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls to American consumers, the Department of Justice announced. The Department of Justice alleges that the companies were warned numerous …Trump Administration Goes After Companies That Enable Robocallers is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » See all breaking news, conservative commentary, political cartoons and more posted to CDN at our Home Page. Follow on TwitterFriend on FacebookAdd on Google PlusCopyright © 2020 Conservative Daily News, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list |
Morning Headlines
With Alexander a ‘no’ on witnesses, impeachment trial enters stretch run
Senators used their final day of questioning in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial to tee up debate on whether to subpoena documents and witnesses. The late-night announcement that Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander will vote against witnesses signals there likely won’t be enough votes to continue the trial much longer. Read More…
Impeachment trial end in sight, senators fight common cold
Thursday was the ninth day of the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history, and the 100 senators appeared tired from the two-week grind. Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith tweeted that about half the people in the Senate chamber have some version of a cough or cold. In the galleries, there is much talk of a “Senate plague.” Read More…
Wonky Watch: Dershowitz’s ‘public interest’ defense
A line of questioning that senators kept circling back to in Thursday’s session of the Senate court of impeachment was an argument made by President Donald Trump’s attorney Alan Dershowitz more than 24 hours earlier. Watch the video here…Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developments in finance and financial technology.
Puerto Rico disaster bill would revive older tax breaks
House Democrats have tucked tax relief for rum distilleries and more generous refunds for lower-income island residents into a disaster aid package intended to help Puerto Rico recover from an unusually destructive spate of recent earthquakes. Read More…
Lawmakers fret over China’s virus info as US local case emerges
House lawmakers briefed by the Trump administration Thursday expressed confidence in the U.S. government’s approach to the spread of coronavirus, although not necessarily China’s response, as officials confirmed the first person infected in the U.S. who had not traveled to China. Read More…
US border officers ordered to vet Iranian American travelers, memo shows
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Thursday that her office was working to confirm what appears to be a Customs and Border Protection directive to field officers asking for additional scrutiny of Iranians, Palestinians and Lebanese at the U.S. border. Read More…
EMILY’s List ‘hyper-focused’ on Senate elections in 2020
While the presidential race will dominate the 2020 cycle, EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock is imploring Democratic voters to recognize the importance of flipping the Senate, especially because of its role in confirming Supreme Court justices. Read More…
What happens if there’s a tie vote at the impeachment trial? It’s complicated.
The next stage of President Trump’s impeachment trial will sharpen focus on Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s role as presiding officer and a looming question: Does he have the power to decide whether the Senate should hear more witnesses and evidence? Read More…
House panel asks whether legislation can keep cash as king
At some uncertain point in the future, printing cash may be a waste of money. As Americans increasingly rely on credit cards, online transfers, mobile apps and cryptocurrencies to complete transactions, a House panel debated Thursday the promise and potential pitfalls of a cashless society. Read More…
Roberts blocks Rand Paul’s attempt to name alleged whistleblower
Sen. Rand Paul submitted a question to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. that included the possible name of the intelligence community whistleblower. Roberts passed on reading the question. Immediately afterward, Paul left the chamber and held a news conference reading the question in front of TV cameras. Watch the video here…
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THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
| Washington Examiner’s Examiner Today NewsletterView this as website ADVERTISEMENT HIGHLIGHTS‘Ready to vote’: GOP prepared to acquit but impeachment trial poised to drag on until early next weekThieves make off with about a dozen valuable Dali sculptures in gallery heistSusan Collins breaks with Trump: GOP senator to vote for impeachment witnesses Republicans vie for quick end to trial after witness vote Friday Republicans, feeling increasingly confident the Senate will not vote to call new witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, began plotting a path to acquittal perhaps as early as Friday. The ‘fourth wave’ of drug addiction: Surge in meth could bring drug overdose death rates back up A top Trump administration health official is worried that meth-related deaths will counterbalance the progress the United States has made in reducing drug overdose deaths. New projections of deficits provoke no response from CongressNew projections show a deteriorating fiscal outlook for the federal government, but Congress is not debating changing course. Unions gravitate to Bernie Sanders because of his long, uncompromising support for labor Bernie Sanders is leading the 2020 Democratic field among union endorsements, a dividend of a long career supporting pro-union ideas that outstrips even rivals such as Elizabeth Warren. ADVERTISEMENT GOP has votes to block impeachment witnesses as wavering senator backs TrumpA key Republican senator announced he will not vote in favor of calling additional witnesses to testify in President Trump’s impeachment trial, making it more likely the trial could be over by this weekend. Pennsylvania Treasury Twitter account takes aim at billionaires, Wall Street, and Big TechOozing snark and sass, millennial memes, and witty pop-cultural references, you might think its tweets are from a young “influencer” on social media, but instead, it’s the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s official Twitter account. This Republican Indiana mayor is redesigning his city to curb climate change James Brainard, one of the longest-serving mayors in Indiana, is used to being one of the only Republicans in the room talking about climate change. People outside the Beltway are not transfixed by impeachment Travel out of Washington to find out what everyday people with everyday jobs and practical problems, not the people in TV studios, are saying about impeachment, and there’s an immediate snag. ‘Democrats look like they’re in trouble’: CNN hosts warn impeachment trial on brink of ending CNN hosts Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper said they believed Democrats will have a tough time extending the impeachment trial because Republicans appear to have enough votes to kill motions to bring more witnesses. Biden hits back at Buttigieg: ‘I’ve gotten more than 8,600 votes in my life’ Joe Biden slammed Pete Buttigieg in Iowa over claims he’s using “the same Washington playbook.” Republicans say John Roberts ‘unlikely’ to break impeachment tie in Senate Senate Republicans told reporters on Thursday that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts could break a tie Friday if the Senate vote on calling impeachment witnesses results in a 50-50 split. ‘Not talking hypotheticals’: MSNBC pundit says Trump could end voting in California Journalism professor Jason Johnson claimed President Trump could threaten to end voting in blue states if the Senate acquits him. THE ROUNDUPAlexander calls Democrats’ case non-impeachableImpeachment made him a starTrump sticks embattled health chief with coronavirus responseADVERTISEMENT |
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NOQ REPORT
- Utah’s H.B. 217 could help Utah voters recall Mitt Romney
- Adam Schiff tried to stop Jerry Nadler from answering the final question during impeachment
- With end of impeachment in sight, here’s how to respond to claims of GOP ‘cover up’
- CNN is so woke, they’re crying about lack of diversity on coronavirus task force. Seriously.
- Exposing Eric Ciaramella would exonerate the President. Rand Paul, John Roberts, and Adam Schiff know this.
- The New York Times finally realizes that censorship and socialism are bad ideas in an emergency
- Time’s up for Jeff Sessions as Tommy Tuberville makes strong case for Senate nomination
- Facebook admits it doesn’t want to be ‘liked’
- Matt Wolking drops perfect response to Jake Tapper’s complaint about mentioning Eric Ciaramella
| Utah’s H.B. 217 could help Utah voters recall Mitt RomneyPosted: 31 Jan 2020 04:52 AM PSTMitt Romney is expected to vote for witnesses in the impeachment trial today. He does so against the will of the party and a majority of people in Utah, which he was sent to Washington DC to represent. He also does so against the best interests of the nation, as there are only left-wing arguments that can be made to justify extending a fruitless impeachment any longer.A new bill being promoted by Utah Representative Steve Quinn, H.B. 217, would establish a mechanism through which voters in the state could recall a sitting United States Senator. He says the bill is not about Romney, but the timing of the Republican’s bill couldn’t be more conspicuous.“If I had a dollar for everyone who asked me today [after the bill was made public] if this was about Sen. Romney, I would have $20,” said Quinn.Despite his protestations, any support for the bill will come from those who are angry with Romney for his clear betrayal. He hates President Trump. Nobody disputes this other than those playing the political correctness game. He has opposed the President at every turn since long before he became a Senator, and he has continued to try to subvert Republican leadership on the impeachment issue.It’s a longshot, as the threshold laid out in the bill is 25% of voters from the previous election. But given the state of affairs ahead of the 2020 election, if there was ever a time this could happen, it’s now. If the bill becomes law, a concerted effort to recall Romney and replace him with an actual Republican would be necessary.It’s rare for Republicans to support the recall of a Republican, but Mitt Romney is a unique situation. He’s representing a state that President Trump won by 18-points, and it was only that close because Evan McMullin got 21%. Romney needs to go.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Utah’s H.B. 217 could help Utah voters recall Mitt Romney appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Adam Schiff tried to stop Jerry Nadler from answering the final question during impeachmentPosted: 31 Jan 2020 04:26 AM PSTThere was one thing we learned from the impeachment debacle. House Manager Adam Schiff is a primadonna. This was HIS stage. This was HIS case. The other Democrats were there to give him an occasional break and grab some clips for their reelection campaign that say, “Impeachment? Yep, we were there!”That’s why it was hilarious to watch Schiff have his final glory stolen by his own partner in crime, House Manager Jerry Nadler, who strolled up to the mic ahead of Schiff to close out the Democrats’ argument during the final question of impeachment Q&A. Schiff wasn’t pleased.Here’s the video of Jerry Nadler getting up to answer the final question of the two day Q & A session and Adam Schiff trying to stop him pic.twitter.com/zYNQ1iY43I— Shem Horne (@Shem_Infinite) January 31, 2020This impeachment was supposed to be the launching pad for Adam Schiff where he could finally be face recognizable by Jeopardy! contestants. But Jerry Nadler had other plans, stealing the show in its final moments to Schiff’s dismay.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Adam Schiff tried to stop Jerry Nadler from answering the final question during impeachment appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| With end of impeachment in sight, here’s how to respond to claims of GOP ‘cover up’Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:47 AM PSTMy friends often accuse me of being too strategic. There doesn’t always have to be a plan, they say. My family refuses to let me plan out surprise parties because they say my ideas are far too intricate. In everyday life, I’m accused of overthinking things. In politics, my analyses usually work.Usually.Now that the impeachment trial seems to be coming to an end shortly thanks to Senator Lamar Alexander stepping away from the Dark Side, there are many ways to counter the inevitable charges by Democrats in our circles that Republican Senators are engaged in a “cover up.” Our responses will elicit many possible reactions. In most cases, we’ll juice them up and make them try harder to get Democrats elected. This is the reaction we want to avoid. Instead, we want them to walk away questioning whether the Democrats are really worth fighting for at all.With that goal in mind, let’s look at a few of the responses we could give them that will only make them fight harder from now until November before revealing the response that will shut some of them down.“The charges weren’t impeachable.” This is true. It’s always been true ever since the House Democrats decided to take this on. Ultimately, it’s what swayed Alexander from voting for more witnesses. But considering it’s subjective (to Democrats, at least), this will bring back the counterargument that if there were witnesses, we would have seen how impeachable the offenses were. This comment will juice them up from now until November.“House Democrats had 17 witnesses.” Again, this is true. Well, technically it was 18, but the President’s defense kept hammering the 17-witness-narrative, so we’ll go with that. This response will stimulate arguments that Senate impeachment trials have always had witnesses or that new information (John Bolton) arrived since the Articles of Impeachment were voted on by the House. This comment will juice them up from now until November.“It’s over. You lost. Let’s move on.” Under normal circumstances, this would be the right response when one side wins and one side loses. But this isn’t a normal circumstance. Democrats are going to invoke the “cover up” regardless of what we say, but this response encourages them to “move on” by fighting harder. This comment will juice them up from now until November.Now that those are out of the way, how should we respond to disgruntled Democrats? Remember, we’re not trying to convince them that the President shouldn’t be removed from office since they’ve felt that way since before he was voted into office.The goal here is to use this as an opportunity to weaken their political spirit. We want them to understand one important truth, which is…Nancy Pelosi launched this impeachment to accomplish three goals: Divide the nation, harm most Democratic candidates, and create talking points against a booming economy.I elaborated on Twitter.As it turns out, Pelosi was absolutely right. By pushing this partisan impeachment, she divided us… Intentionally. Unambiguously. Strategically.She predicted what would happen and moved forward with it because that’s exactly what she wanted to happen.— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) January 31, 2020Impeachment Result One: A nation divided.She knew it would happen. She said it would happen. It happened. Democrats feel cheated. There was no way a partisan impeachment could have ended differently, as she stated.Therefore, this was an intended consequence from the start.— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) January 31, 2020Half of the top-tier candidates were tied up on the Senate floor for the crucial days leading up to the Iowa caucus.Who benefits from all of this?Just Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg.The former was clearly intentional. The latter was an unexpected (maybe not) consequence.— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) January 31, 2020Bottom Line: Nancy Pelosi divided the nation willfully to accomplish three political goals.She did so knowing there was zero chance it would result in the President’s removal.She did so knowing it would hurt the nation but potentially help her party.She needs to go.— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) January 31, 2020This all must go back to the beginning. Pelosi started this knowing it wouldn’t be bipartisan even after she said it must be. She launched impeachment knowing there wasn’t a realistic expectation of removing the President from office, which would be a “loss” for her party. But she was desperate. Attempts to weaken the economy through her mainstream media doomsaying proxies wasn’t working, and no opposition party wants to go up against a booming economy.Therefore, she changed the subject.As the impeachment debacle draws to a close, Democrats are going to play this as their case for November. But the end result was preordained, planned by Nancy Pelosi and meticulously executed. She divided the nation to serve her needs.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post With end of impeachment in sight, here’s how to respond to claims of GOP ‘cover up’ appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| CNN is so woke, they’re crying about lack of diversity on coronavirus task force. Seriously.Posted: 30 Jan 2020 04:30 PM PSTHundreds, perhaps thousands of people are dying in China from the coronavirus. It has spread across the world and has now started spreading in the United States. The World Health Organization has has declared a health emergency worldwide. President Trump has organized an extremely high-level task force to prepare for as many scenarios as possible to mitigate the spread to the United States and to deal with the threat should it become the killer it already is in China.What was CNN’s big concern? They’re complaining about diversity on the task force.Coronavirus task force another example of Trump administration’s lack of diversity | Analysis https://t.co/bs7L1rUZzc pic.twitter.com/MzzoslqZpT— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 30, 2020I once joked that the President could find the cure for cancer and they’d complain about how his efforts had harmed the oncology industry. But this is even worse as it displays the inherent cluelessness of a “news” organization that has somehow disavowed any attachment it once had for reality. They see only one thing, “stop Trump,” and they will never pass up on an opportunity to find fault in every single thing he does.But this is the double-whammy “winner” for CNN. Not only do they get to denounce an action be the President, in this case attempting to preserve American lives, but they also get to do so by waving their “We’re Woke” flag to attract the triggered progressive masses who embrace Cultural Marxism. It’s a great day at CNN when they can kill two birds with one stone.Needless to say, many on Twitter weren’t impressed.Too many white people are trying to find a cure for Coronavirus! https://t.co/5nECYoU01w— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) January 30, 2020CNN would prefer people get sick than have a committee of white people who might be qualified on this particular subject. https://t.co/JJ2ErTDmDg— Jessica Fletcher (@heckyessica) January 30, 2020This needs to be fixed immediately.When I lay dying of bat soup fever, I want to be able to say that the task force may not have been the most qualified, but goddamn they were a diverse bunch. https://t.co/2nQSy4SmtZ— Carpe Donktum (@CarpeDonktum) January 30, 2020CNN thinks people should be given jobs based on the color of their skin https://t.co/YQ6wX1IGIh— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 30, 2020Because tackling a deadly virus needs affirmative action. https://t.co/olXKK1L3YF— Orwell & Goode (@OrwellNGoode) January 30, 2020HAHAHA!!! It’s absolute parody at this point! THAT’S the important part of the story? Diversity!?? Mental patients. https://t.co/QXAvH5MlOc— CompoundBoss (@CompoundBoss) January 30, 2020The saddest part isn’t that CNN decided to run this garbage with actual people dying of the coronavirus. The saddest part is many in their target audience, the “woke,” will read this story and think, “Right on, CNN!”American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post CNN is so woke, they’re crying about lack of diversity on coronavirus task force. Seriously. appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Exposing Eric Ciaramella would exonerate the President. Rand Paul, John Roberts, and Adam Schiff know this.Posted: 30 Jan 2020 12:15 PM PSTOn the second day of questions being asked from Senators through Chief Justice John Roberts, the presiding judge continued blocking questions from Senator Rand Paul that named the alleged whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella. He has this power, at least partially, as he is presiding over the impeachment trial. But there are arguments that could be made that since the Senate has the sole constitutional power to try the impeachment, a Senate majority ultimately has the power to overturn any decisions the Chief Justice makes.That likely won’t happen, but we’ll wait and see. In the meantime, conservatives are steaming over Roberts’ quashing of Paul as well as threats by Democrats to punish him for his impudence.Why was Rand Paul’s question not asked? By what law or what justification was he silenced? This is extremely scary to witness and answers are needed.— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 30, 2020Chief Justice John Roberts again refused to read Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s question to the Senate. Roberts then immediately read verbatim a question from a Democrat senator.Incredible cowardice, arrogance, and abuse of power by an unelected judge to hijack the U.S. Senate.— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 30, 2020BREAKING: Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling for “serious sanctions” against Sen. Rand Paul for his attempts to name the “whistleblower” in the Senate trial— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) January 30, 2020It’s understandable that House Manager Adam Schiff and the other Democrats would want the whistleblower’s identity to be withheld. As I noted last October, if Ciaramella is, indeed, the whistleblower, the Democrats’ narrative surrounding impeachment gets shredded. Moreover, Schiff’s clear attachment to the whistleblower and the lies he’s been telling about not knowing who he is make Ciaramella a double-edged sword for the Congressman.The question today that some are asking is whether or not the Chief Justice is putting his thumb on the scales of justice to benefit Democrats. It seems conspicuous that he’s so adamant about not allowing the whistleblower’s name to be mentioned. Is he simply being cautious for the sake of the whistleblower and for himself out of concern that reading a question with his name will somehow prompt retribution against him? This would seem to fit with Roberts’ modus operandi.Then again, he has been very subtle in his attacks on President Trump, but not subtle enough to hide the fact that he doesn’t care for the man in the Oval Office. He also has access to heaps of information others simply cannot see. Does he know Ciaramella’s past would come back to haunt the Democrats’ case if he is exposed as the whistleblower?We may never know for sure, but it certainly seems like the Chief Justice’s avoidance of allowing a commonly believed fact to enter into the proceedings means he’s protecting more than his own self-interests or Ciaramella’s safety. If Ciaramella is brought openly into the impeachment trial, mainstream media and government agencies will have a de facto green light to talk about him. What they reveal may be too damaging to the Democrats’ case for the Chief Justice to allow.Here’s what we know about Eric Ciaramella:Current CIA analystFormer NSC Ukraine director, a fact that makes his testimony relevant whether he’s the whistleblower or notFormer employee of the World BankAfter being removed from the NSC following apparent leaks to the press, he was brought in by former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster to be his personal assistantIn the early days of the Trump administration, Ciaramella and Sean Misko (who now works for Adam Schiff) were overheard saying they would “take out” President TrumpUnder the Obama administration, Ciaramella facilitated a meeting between Ukrainian prosecutors and the White House to discuss the Burisma investigation and Hunter Biden, another reason he’s a valid witnessLate last year, I speculated that Ciaramella may have been more interested in protecting his own interests than those of Joe Biden with ties that connect him to 2016 election interferenceIf you add it all up, you can see the pickle the Democrats are in with Ciaramella. He wasn’t a patriotic American fulfilling his solemn duty when he blew the whistle on President Trump. This was the culmination of years of work—from 2016 Spygate all the way through to the phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky—that demonstrates what we’re seeing today: a long-term campaign for a soft coup against the President.Ciaramella’s involvement ties it all together. He was there when people in Obama’s Department of Justice were setting up Trump campaign and administration officials like Carter Page and General Michael Flynn. He was there to blow the whistle about President Trump allegedly firing then-FBI Director James Comey because Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered him to do so. As a result, Ciaramella is in the Mueller Report.While the general public is mostly unaware of who Ciaramella is if they’ve even heard his name (and they probably haven’t if they get their news from mainstream media or Facebook), those who have been following closely, like Rand Paul, realize that if he is brought into the impeachment proceedings, the truth will come to light. What is the truth? This impeachment mess is not a response to a phone call between world leaders. It’s the culmination of a systematic attack on our republic by the “Deep State,” the Democrats, and mainstream media to either overturn the results of the 2016 election, subvert the 2020 election, or both.There’s another important reason the Democrats don’t want Ciaramella to be let out of the bag. If he’s brought out, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson is in play. His is the only testimony that hasn’t been released from the initial House impeachment hearings in the infamous “SCIF.” According to ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes, what Atkinson said was damning to the Democrats in general and Adam Schiff in particular.This is a complex web, one that’s hard to see as a whole without inserting Eric Ciaramella into the center of it. But his identity and connections to the whole sordid affair are being blocked at every turn. If President Trump’s defense would be allowed to face him and expose his long history of trying to take down the President that goes back to before the 2016 election, it would shift public sentiment and send the House Managers’ case crumbling to the ground.Democrats have been crying “cover up” since the Senate trial began. The only true cover up is being done by Adam Schiff, John Roberts, and mainstream media. They all know if Eric Ciaramella is unveiled for this impeachment, the whole thing unravels.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Exposing Eric Ciaramella would exonerate the President. Rand Paul, John Roberts, and Adam Schiff know this. appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| The New York Times finally realizes that censorship and socialism are bad ideas in an emergencyPosted: 30 Jan 2020 10:10 AM PSTThe New York Times took a break from flogging the impeachment circus to recently committing a true act of journalism, making the point that people become angry when a government of the authoritarian left suppresses important information.The national socialist media normally champions the authoritarianism of China exemplified by their being impressed that they can build a hospital in six days.“China has a record of getting things done fast even for monumental projects like this,” says Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. …“This authoritarian country relies on this top down mobilisation approach. They can overcome bureaucratic nature and financial constraints and are able to mobilise all of the resources.”However, the New York Times recently noted a downside to systems of centralized control: As Virus Spreads, Anger Floods Chinese Social Media.The government usually keeps a tight grip on what is said, seen and heard about it. But the sheer amount of criticism — and the often clever ways in which critics dodge censors, such as by referring to Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, as “Trump” or by comparing the outbreak to the Chernobyl catastrophe — have made it difficult for Beijing to control the message.The condemnations stand as a rare direct challenge to the Communist Party, which brooks no dissent in the way it runs China. In some cases, Chinese leaders appear to be acknowledging people’s fear, anger and other all-too-human reactions to the crisis, showing how the party can move dramatically, if sometimes belatedly, to mollify the public.The Bottom LineThe left is based on authoritarianism, but it cannot admit this basic truth. The authoritarian socialists in China cannot be honest with their people in normal, everyday matters. This destroys any trust the people have in their government, so even when it may tell the truth in an emergency, no one will accept this as the truth.Thus, they are already behind the eight ball when it comes to these situations, making them far worse. There are times when government has an important role in society, but when it aggressively asserts control and is deceptive, this negates that role. They can’t very well admit that they lied before, but they are being trustworthy now.While they can use brute force to get things done, the same doesn’t hold true for intellectual endeavors. Those take a meritocracy of sorts, the kind of thing authoritarianism tends to suppress.While leftists secretly love authoritarianism, the stark reality of an emergency shows that freedom based societies are better prepared to deal with them. They can be honest with people because they had to do that in the past. They can also solve the problem faster because they are intellectually equipped to do so.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post The New York Times finally realizes that censorship and socialism are bad ideas in an emergency appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Time’s up for Jeff Sessions as Tommy Tuberville makes strong case for Senate nominationPosted: 30 Jan 2020 08:30 AM PSTFormer Attorney General Jeff Sessions has gone through a lot to return to Alabama and try to reclaim the Senate seat he gave up in 2017. His tenure in President Trump’s cabinet was marked with failure and embarrassment as the President blamed him for the rise of the Mueller investigation and the prolonging of the Russia hoax. Now, he wants a shot at his former job. Should he get that chance?No. His time is up. It’s better for the 73-year-old to remain in the private sector after being fired by the President in 2018. There’s new leadership available to represent Alabama in the Senate, leadership that hasn’t been tainted by the swamp. This new leader’s name and face are familiar to Alabamans from outside of the world of politics, much like President Trump had made himself successful before running for office.“People keep asking me about why they should choose me over these other candidates with decades of experience in politics,” former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville told NOQ Report. “That’s the exact reason they should choose me. I’ve been in the real world.”The political newcomer isn’t inexperienced when it comes to making decisions. His time as a head football coach was highlighted by a perfect 2004 season at Auburn and a reputation for winning tough games; he was 5-2 against top-5 ranked opponents. This may be the reason Sessions appears to be more concerned about Tuberville than his other competitors.A recent poll is being touted by supporters of Representative Bradley Byrne that shows he’s up against Tuberville for second place in the race. But there’s something about this poll that should concern Alabama voters. The poll was commissioned by Sessions’ campaign. It’s an internal poll. Why would the former Senator release a poll to the public that shows he dropped a point?Without making direct accusations, my political instincts point to only one conclusion: He would rather face Byrne in a runoff than Tuberville. That’s the only beneficial takeaway for Sessions, whose campaign was under no obligation to release the poll results. The fact that they did tells us they had an agenda behind it, and the only viable agenda would be to propel Byrne over Tuberville. Sessions’ campaign has not responded to a request for comment.Senator Doug Jones won the 2017 special election over embattled Judge Roy Moore following an exposé by the Washington Post that alleged Moore had a history of dating underage girls when he was in his 30s. Despite denials and a strong push to overcome the bad press, Moore lost in a tight race. Since then, Jones has been trying to juggle between the priorities of his caucus in the Senate and the will of Alabamans, most of whom consider themselves to be politically and culturally conservative.“Doug Jones is an anomaly,” Tuberville said. “Alabama is one of the reddest, most conservative states in the country and the people were faced with a number of unique factors in that special election that led to Jones winning.”Defeating Jones will be a priority for the GOP in the state and at the national level as Democrats attempt to take back majority control. Keeping the majority is important to President Trump as well, who wants to continue nominating originalists to the bench. If Democrats gain a majority or even whittle it down enough, they could stall the President’s ability to nominate conservative judges and cabinet members, not to mention what it will do to his legislative agenda.“I’m the best suited to beat Jones in the General because I connect with more Alabama voters than anyone else,” Tuberville told NOQ Report. “I’m a patriot, a worker, a winner, and a leader. That’s Alabama.”Outside of defeating Jones, one of the biggest reasons Tuberville stands out against his competitors is his commanding nature that’s very similar to President Trump’s. Neither are known for subtly or political calculations due to their years fighting in the trenches of private life rather than the playground of the swamp. The parallels between the former CEO and the former head coach are in stark contrast to the inefficacy of DC’s political games. Some would argue that’s why the President has been so successful in his first term, which bodes well for a future with another winner on Capitol Hill.“I’m tired of everything being so calculated because of the special interests all these swamp dwellers are tied to,” Tuberville said. “We’re going to go up there to fix these problems because our time to do it is now. I’m going to take the stick out of President Trump’s hand and give him a bat.”The last time Alabama had an opportunity to vote for a political outsider, they overwhelmingly voted for President Trump. They have the same opportunity in the upcoming primary with Tommy Tuberville, the conservative outsider we need in the Senate.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Time’s up for Jeff Sessions as Tommy Tuberville makes strong case for Senate nomination appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Facebook admits it doesn’t want to be ‘liked’Posted: 30 Jan 2020 07:12 AM PSTGoogle used to tell their team “don’t be evil” before embracing projects that are, well, evil. Apple was founded on the principle of “think different” before realizing they could make everyone do and think the same. And Facebook has always wanted to be “liked,” even making “likes” the centerpiece of their platform. But today’s Facebook really doesn’t give a damn whether you like them or not.Yesterday, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a market call that the company no longer concerned itself with whether or not its users liked them. As long as they were “understood” about their controversial policies, such as permitting political ads whether they were misleading or not, that’s all they really expect going forward.“One critique of our approach for much of the last decade was that because we wanted to be liked, we didn’t always communicate our views as clearly because we were worried about offending people,” Zuckerberg said on the call, according to Money and Markets.As the largest social media platform in the United States, the company wields tremendous influence over aspects of day-to-day life. Hundreds of millions of users broadcast their mundane activities to their friends and family through Facebook. Despite the prominence of user-content sites like Twitter and YouTube, Facebook still holds the lion’s share of America’s attention. They understand that people will use their service whether they like it or not.Conservatives have expressed concerns over the past four years about Facebook’s seemingly one-sided censorship of right-leaning figures and publication. But Facebook has countered that their personal biases are not part of the algorithm that determines what people see or don’t see. We have felt the opposite here at NOQ Report as our Facebook page has lost over 80% of its engagement over the last three weeks despite no change on our end. The content is as it has always been. We did not suffer a loss of “likes.” But where we once garnered dozens, hundreds, or sometimes thousands of likes, shares, and comments, today we have posts that allegedly get zero engagement. (It would be very beneficial if our readers would go to our page now and “like” or share some of our posts to see if that jump starts the algorithm again. Thank you!)When you have a captive audience as Facebook does, it makes sense that they would take on a different corporate strategy. That doesn’t make it any less insulting that they would disregard the perspectives of their users just because they can.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Facebook admits it doesn’t want to be ‘liked’ appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Matt Wolking drops perfect response to Jake Tapper’s complaint about mentioning Eric CiaramellaPosted: 30 Jan 2020 06:22 AM PSTIt’s taboo for mainstream media types like CNN’s Jake Tapper to utter the words “Eric Ciaramella,” the man who is almost certainly the Ukrainian whistleblower. He is like Voldemort, “He Who Must Not Be Named,” and therefore anyone in power who does so is condemned by mainstream media as somehow doing something… wrong.Tapper took to Twitter to call out a “Trump campaign official” who retweeted a news report about Ciaramella. That official was Matt Wolking, the Deputy Director of Communications – Rapid Response for the Trump campaign. He had retweeted a post by Real Clear Investigations’ Paul Sperry, the man who virtually confirmed Ciaramella as the whistleblower in October. Was Wolking upset about being called out by Tapper. Not really. Instead, he was annoyed the CNN front man didn’t mention him by name.So? At me next time pleasehttps://t.co/nG45aiKNKC— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) January 29, 2020Of course Wolking isn’t concerned about being named. Why should he be? There are certain protections offered to whistleblowers, but anonymity isn’t one of them. The media and Democrats have fabricated a façade of protection upon which they breathlessly protect his identity as if (1) there is anyone in DC or newsrooms who aren’t aware of it already, and (2) his life will be in danger if his identity is further revealed.These are both false assertions. The real reason they do not want Ciaramella’s name mentioned or his history attached to impeachment is because doing so would tarnish the predication for their entire impeachment gambit. As I noted last October:The sheer fact the alleged whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella, had attempted on multiple occasions to frame the President is enough to destroy the entire impeachment narrative. This is the boy who cried wolf every chance he got.Tapper’s Twitter report is funny because it belies the reality of Ciaramella’s situation. Whistleblower laws invariably protect the whistleblower from retaliation by those for whom he’s blowing the whistle. In other words, he can’t be fired from the CIA by the administration. In fact, he can’t be demoted, transferred against his wishes, or told he can’t get a cup of coffee before entering a meeting. But the only instance in which anonymity is protected is if it’s necessary to prevent retaliation. Considering he’s in the “Deep State” hub of the CIA, knowledge that he’s the whistleblower among his peers will bring him no harm. Besides, they already know.This is serious stuff, Jake.Wait, no it isn’t.(whistleblowers are granted protection from retaliation, not an expectation of anonymity)— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) January 29, 2020Jake Tapper and the rest of his progressive media cabal love to virtue-signal about mentions of Eric Ciaramella’s name. But he’s an intricate part of impeachment and the 3+ years-long soft coup of the President. Matt Wolking is completely justified to name him.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Matt Wolking drops perfect response to Jake Tapper’s complaint about mentioning Eric Ciaramella appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
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ARRA NEWS SERVICE
- South Dakota House Members Show They Care for Children and Families
- The Economy is the GOP’s Greatest Strength – But It May Not Be Enough
- Michael Bloomberg Thinks He Can Buy Your Freedom
- Closing Ranks, Bribery & The Whistleblower, Trump Moving Up
- AG Barr Warns of ‘Militant Secular Effort’ to Drive Out Religion
- Impeachment Trial Day 8: Dershowitz, Schiff, and Bolton
- When There Is No Normal
- Pelosi: Trump ‘Will Not Be Acquitted’ Because . . .
- The Three Amigos . . .
- What Impeachment? Trump Signs USMCA
- Low-Income Wages
- Trump Signs USMCA And Keeps Promise On Fair & Reciprocal Trade
- New Mexico Gun Legislation Advances With State Senate Committee Vote
- The Anti-Worker Ism
- Muslim Mob Attack On A Group Of Rohingya Believers Who Left Islam To Follow Jesus
- Warrants to Spy on Trump Campaign Lacked Probable Cause, DOJ Admits
- Christian Persecution
- Surprising Gun Facts from the SHOT Show
| South Dakota House Members Show They Care for Children and FamiliesPosted: 30 Jan 2020 09:30 PM PSTby Tony Perkins: Yesterday, by a vote of 46-23, the South Dakota House of Representatives responded to the growing threat of the radical elements of the transgender movement by passing Bill 1057, which if approved will protect the state’s children and families. The measure prohibits the prescribing of puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and gender reassignment surgery from being performed on minors under the age of 16. While it may sound like common sense to protect young children from being given drugs or undergoing surgeries that may be irreversible, it unfortunately is becoming more commonplace. Last year, James Younger’s case in Texas highlighted for the nation the danger that so-called “gender transition” poses to minor children. While James’ mother wanted him to wear girl’s clothes, have a girl’s name, and eventually take puberty blockers, James’ father wanted him to be the happy 7-year old boy that he is. He should not be facing the risk of such treatments, and neither should the children of South Dakota. Yet if HB 1057 does not pass, they will remain unprotected. The leaders in the South Dakota House who supported HB 1057 are to be commended. They recognized the danger these experimental treatments pose to vulnerable children and they are taking action. “Puberty is not the disease; in 85 percent of cases it’s the cure,” House Whip Jon Hansen proclaimed in his floor speech yesterday. “Just let the kids grow up,” for how can children “possibly know the long-term effects of those decisions” of conducting surgery on their bodies “when even the FDA doesn’t know?” Indeed, we don’t let children vote, drink, or drive. As Hansen observed, HB 1057 even uses the National Institutes of Health’s definition of “sex.” Why is that so controversial? It seems that liberal activists and their supporters within the ranks of South Dakota’s leadership conveniently sidestep science when it is inconvenient. Thankfully, those politicians afraid of the transgender lobby and their allies are in the minority. Also speaking on the House floor yesterday, Representative Nancy York noted how we currently protect children through smoking bans and seatbelt requirements. South Dakota recently raised the legal age to purchase cigarettes to 21. Are we really going to allow these same children to get a mastectomy under the age of 16? These leaders know better; medical professionals should also. Academic studies (as cited in the DSM-5) have shown that up to 97.8 percent of children who feel discomfort with their biological sex — if left alone — will grow out of their distress and come to accept their sex in adulthood. Puberty-blocking drugs, however — which interrupt normal sexual development along with brain and bone development — only lock children into a pathway toward life-altering, harmful procedures. At one time, using cross-sex hormones or performing gender reassignment surgery on minors was rare. Now, however, these procedures are also being done at younger and younger ages, making bills like HB 1057 urgent. Cross-sex hormones are associated with a higher risk of heart attacks and blood clots, infertility, loss of bone density, and sexual dysfunction. Meanwhile, studies document girls as young as 13 receiving double mastectomies, and other minors receiving permanently sterilizing genital surgery. On top of that, there are no long term studies on these procedures being performed on minors, who are often hastily given prescriptions after being influenced by their own peers into thinking they need them. Children increasingly are the victims of ideologues who would rush such “gender transition procedures” upon them. In the face of this, they are depending on the leaders of South Dakota to stand up for them. The eyes of the nation will be watching. Will senators in South Dakota, along with Governor Kristi Noem, follow the lead of the House and protect children or yield to the transgender activists and their corporate allies? Click here to thank your representative for supporting HB 1057 in the House, and let your senator and Governor Noem know that they need to support it too. The children of South Dakota deserve nothing less. ————– Tony Perkins (@tperkins) is President of the Family Research Council . This article was on Tony Perkin’s Washington Update and written with the aid of FRC senior writers. Tags: Tony Perkins, Family Research Center, FRC, Family Research Council, South Dakota, House Members, Show They Care, for Children, and Families To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| The Economy is the GOP’s Greatest Strength – But It May Not Be EnoughPosted: 30 Jan 2020 09:15 PM PSTby Newt Gingrich: On Monday, the IRS began accepting tax returns for 2019, and more than 150 million taxpayers are expected to file this year. Presently, some taxpayers will begin to feel a sense of helpless frustration as they prepare to hand over a chunk of their hard-earned money to the government. Others will anxiously wait to see how much of their hard-earned money the government will be willing to give back. One comfort most Americans can take to heart this year, however, is that many have more money in their pockets to begin with than they did before President Trump was in the White House — especially those no the lower half of the economic ladder. The Council of Economic Advisers recently released data showing that from the end of 2016 through the first half of 2019, the net wealth of the bottom 50 percent of American households soared by 47 percent. This is more than three times the rate of increase for those at the top, which rose 13 percent. In other words, middle class and lower-income Americans have seen their personal finances improve at a much faster rate than wealthier Americans. When you combine this with record-low unemployment (across virtually every demographic), enormous consumer and business confidence, strong economic growth, and a surging stock market, the economic future for all Americans appears pretty bright. So, the radical Democrat-media talking point that President Trump’s economic policies only benefit the wealthy are complete baloney. It is fitting that the CEA’s revelations came out as we just passed the two-year anniversary of the implementation of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. Recall the chorus of Democrat and media voices who did their best to convince Americans that the tax overhaul would only help the rich – even when more than 80 percent of American households would see a reduction to their tax burdens under the law. Unfortunately, when the Democrats lied about the tax overhaul, a great many Americans believed them. In poll after poll, Americans believed that the tax cuts only benefited corporations and the extremely rich. Indeed, the Winston Group found that, based on surveys and exit polls from the 2018 midterm elections, only 32 percent of voters believed that the GOP tax law reduced tax rates for everyone. This is something to which every Republican candidate (and everyone at the White House) should pay attention, because it could be bigger than a communication problem. Through a few polling and survey projects Gingrich 360 is doing, we have heard from a number of Americans who do not feel they are benefiting personally in this economy. To be clear: They recognize that the economy is strong – but they don’t feel like it is benefiting their personal finances. We aren’t the only ones hearing this. A poll conducted by The Financial Times and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in October found that nearly two-thirds of American voters said they are not better off financially than they were when Trump became president. There is a significant disconnect here: The data shows that Americans have more money than they did before Trump’s presidency, but Americans don’t feel like they are better off financially. This disconnect may very well signify a much deeper problem with how Republicans communicate – and perhaps unearth a policy issue that needs to be fixed. The economy should be a huge strength for GOP candidates in 2020. But if people don’t feel like their lives are improving on a personal level, it might not be enough. ———————- Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) is a former Georgia Congressman and Speaker of the U.S. House. He co-authored and was the chief architect of the “Contract with America” and a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional elections. He is noted speaker and writer. This commentary was shared via Gingrich Productions. Tags: Newt Gingrich, commentary, The Economy, GOP’s Greatest Strength, But It May Not Be Enough To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Michael Bloomberg Thinks He Can Buy Your FreedomPosted: 30 Jan 2020 09:02 PM PSTby Sean Davis: Michael Bloomberg is the Grinch of modern American politics. Bloomberg lives a separate, elitist lifestyle guarded by men with guns. His snowy Mount Crumpit is, in sum, his many mansions and estates; including the Beaux-Arts limestone mansion in the Upper East Side of Manhattan that quickly became his presidential campaign headquarters last November. Bloomberg looks down from his lofty offices and homes over Whoville (basically, everything between New York City and Hollywood) and hatches schemes about taking things away from all the residents (yes, you and me). When he was mayor of New York City, he banned sodas over 16 ounces, loud headphones, all sorts of tobacco products, trans fats, black roofs … and, of course, he has spent the last few decades—and enough money to bankrupt a small country—trying to take away your guns. NET WORTH: 55,900,000,000, Bloomberg’s vast reserves of cash have been put to use peddling propaganda for his pet political issues, gun control, global warming and social engineering.Now he is trying to buy the presidency. Just after it began, Bloomberg’s campaign quickly began setting spending records. In the first few weeks after Bloomberg announced his run for our nation’s highest office, he spent or reserved about $60 million in television and radio ads. In comparison, “the top four polling Democrats in the race—former Vice President Joe Biden; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sanders and Warren—have spent about $28 million on similar ads all year,” reported the Washington Post. This is pocket change to Bloomberg. Forbes estimated that his net worth was about $55 billion. Before he entered this race, the firm Advertising Analytics expected about $2.7 billion on media ads to be spent by all the candidates running in this election cycle. If Bloomberg were to spend $2.7 billion on media ads all by himself, it would still amount to much less than the interest earned on his fortune. Still, it’s his money. Other Democratic candidates, such as U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have criticized Bloomberg’s attempt to buy his way up in the polls. But it has always been the case that money can be turned into speech in this free country, which is as it should be. We simply note the Scrooge McDuck fortune Bloomberg has amassed to point out that his money alone makes him a formidable foe to your freedom as he tries to buy his way in very late in the political game. Bloomberg, regardless of his fortune, has long been an opportunistic politician. Though a lifelong Democrat, he conveniently ran as a Republican for mayor of New York City when it benefitted him. He later switched back. Bloomberg also supported a two-term limit for New York City mayor, but then successfully changed the law to win a third term, only to later support re-imposing the two-term limit after he was set to leave office. He also once announced that he would not return to running his company, Bloomberg L.P., when he left City Hall, but then went back on his word and did. Bloomberg has been just as changeable with his decision to run, or not to run, for the presidency. “What chance does a five-foot-seven billionaire Jew who’s divorced really have of becoming president?” Bloomberg reportedly responded when asked by New York Magazine whether he’d consider a race for the White House in October of 2007. A month later, the cover story in Newsweek touted Bloomberg’s presidential chances. By December of that year, The New York Times reported that Bloomberg was “enchanted” with the idea of an “independent presidential bid.” Bloomberg again toyed with the idea of running for president in 2012, but eventually endorsed President Barack Obama’s re-election bid against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney just days before the election. Rumors of Bloomberg’s interest in the presidency in 2016 were floated once again, with the same result: an op-ed from the former mayor explaining that America had not yet come to its senses about the potential glories of a Michael Bloomberg presidency. In a move that surprised no one, he endorsed the Democrat, Hillary Clinton. The predictable Bloomberg presidential campaign spin cycle kicked into gear right on time during the primary for the 2020 Democratic nomination, but this time with a major twist: on November 24, he officially announced his candidacy for the presidency (back in March, Bloomberg had regretfully announced, via yet another rueful op-ed, that he couldn’t possibly run this time). Unlike candidates with natural bases of support and enthusiastic donors eager to bankroll their political futures, Bloomberg’s candidacy is solely powered by his massive wealth. Bloomberg made his fortune building a data platform for Wall Street traders. His computer terminals, and the instant financial markets data they provide, became a staple on every trading floor and behind every bond quant’s desk. The data services and terminals provided by Bloomberg are to financial information what Kleenex is to facial tissue and Google is to search. The brand and market power of the product is now the standard by which all other services are judged. After graduating with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Bloomberg began his career in 1966 working on Wall Street for Salomon Brothers, the investment bank. He became a full partner at the firm in 1973 and was eventually tapped to head the bank’s equity trading desk. But Bloomberg’s star eventually began to fade, and he was slowly pushed out of the firm. “In 1979, my career at Salomon reversed its magical upward climb,” Bloomberg wrote in his autobiography. He was told by his boss that he would no longer be trading stocks or overseeing the company’s equity traders. Instead of being a hotshot finance whiz, Bloomberg was consigned to managing Salomon’s I.T. operations, a significant demotion in an industry where the only people who mattered were the ones trading securities or underwriting lucrative mergers and acquisitions. He was finally laid off in 1981. It could have been an ignominious end for a one-time Wall Street star, but Bloomberg was handed a golden parachute before he was pushed out. Salomon Brothers gave him a $10 million severance payout, money that he would later use to start the company that eventually made him a billionaire. Years later, Bloomberg said that getting fired was “the best thing that ever happened” to him. By 2018, the small IT and data services company had become Bloomberg L.P., and reportedly earned $10 billion in revenue. Forbes estimates that Bloomberg still personally owns close to 90% of the firm’s equity. Bloomberg has used that fortune on more than international mansions and helicopters and private jets (though he has plenty of those). His vast reserves of cash have been put to use peddling propaganda for his pet political issues: gun control, global warming and social engineering. While his party registration may have changed throughout the years, Bloomberg’s love of nanny statism—the use of government coercion and force to change the behaviors of his subjects—has remained stubbornly consistent. As mayor, Bloomberg banned sodas larger than 16 ounces from being served at any restaurants, claiming that the ban would be a key weapon in the fight against a global obesity epidemic. His own philanthropic foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, claimed that taxing “sugary beverages and junk food” would make the world skinnier by “reducing consumer demand for unhealthy foods and beverages.” The ban was eventually struck down as unconstitutional by New York courts, which ruled that Bloomberg’s soda ban was “arbitrary and capricious,” would create an “administrative Leviathan” and would grant the city’s health department “virtually limitless authority” over the state’s food industry. Rather than changing course after the overwhelming rebuke from legal authorities, Bloomberg doubled down by using the same playbook in his war on the Second Amendment. In 2004, he announced that he would spend $50 million to push gun control and counter the influence of the NRA. That funding eventually led to the creation of Everytown for Gun Safety, a political-advocacy organization that combined the efforts of several other Bloomberg anti-gun groups. Bloomberg told The New York Times: “We’ve got to make [the NRA] afraid of us,” he said. “And we’re never going to stop.” In 2016, Bloomberg reportedly spent $25 million on several Senate races and anti-gun ballot initiatives. With Bloomberg’s help, anti-gun groups outspent gun-rights activists, pouring nearly $40 million into federal, state and local races and ballot initiatives throughout the country. Bloomberg’s Everytown has supported nearly every radical gun-control proposal floated since it was created, from bans on so-called “assault weapons” to support for unconstitutional “red-flag” laws to the 16-ounce soda ban of the gun-control world, a ban on “high-capacity” rifle and pistol magazines. Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s efforts to get his way have had a disturbing taste of evil genius in them. “A New York University School of Law program funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg is placing lawyers in the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and paying them to prosecute energy companies and challenge Trump administration policies on energy and the environment,” RealClear Investigations reported in 2018. “Nine states and Washington, D.C., including New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, are participating in the multimillion-dollar program funded by the media magnate and ex-New York City mayor[.]” Under the program, the Bloomberg-funded attorneys were given official government authority to “work solely to advance progressive environmental policy” on Bloomberg’s behalf. “The fellows have played a role in filing at least 130 regulatory, legal and other challenges to federal environmental policies since 2017,” RealClear Investigations found. The attorneys then used attorney-client privilege to keep their work secret and to shield their advocacy work from public scrutiny and accountability via public records and freedom-of-inform-ation laws. It is not hard to imagine Bloomberg using this same tactic to curtail Americans’ right to keep and bear arms. At a 2018 event with the head of the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg made his governing philosophy clear. He noted that the real purpose of taxation isn’t to raise money for the government to provide vital services to the populace, but to punish people for behaviors Bloomberg opposes. During his remarks, Bloomberg unashamedly extolled the virtue of regressive taxes—taxes that disproportionately target the poor—as a “good thing” because it’s easier to use taxation to alter the behavior of “people that don’t have a lot of money.” “Some people say, well, taxes are regressive. But in this case, yes they are. That’s the good thing about them because the problem is in people that don’t have a lot of money,” Bloomberg said. “And so, higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves.” Bloomberg might have hesitated to leap into the race for president because running nationwide, especially in states like Iowa and South Carolina, is different than running in New York City, where Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in 2016. But then, his positions on the Second Amendment and more are hardly to the left of the other Democrats running for our nation’s highest office. ——————- Sean Davis writes for America’s 1st Freedoms. Tags: Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg’s Attempt To Buy His Way Up In The Polls, Gun Control, Everytown For Gun Safety, Sean Davis To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Closing Ranks, Bribery & The Whistleblower, Trump Moving UpPosted: 30 Jan 2020 06:40 PM PSTGary Bauerby Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Confronting China While the mainstream media have obsessed over impeachment, there are a few stories out there right now that just aren’t getting the coverage they deserve. Both involve China and our national security. As I have noted before, FBI Director Christopher Wray has identified China as America’s biggest counterintelligence threat. Wray described the Chinese threat as “deep and diverse and wide and vexing,” adding that there are at least 1,000 investigations involving China’s efforts to steal our economic and military secrets. China’s intense espionage efforts are not new. They have been going on for years and really picked up speed during the Obama era. This week, Professor Charles Lieber, chairman of Harvard University’s Chemistry Department, was arrested for lying to the Defense Department about his participation in China’s Thousand Talents program. For at least five years, Lieber, an expert in nanotechnology, was paid $50,000 a month and provided $150,000 a year for personal expenses by the Chinese. At the same time, he was directing research projects from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. But wait. . . There’s more! Federal authorities also announced charges against Yanqing Ye, an officer in the Chinese military, who had been working at Boston University.Last month, Zaosong Zheng was arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport attempting to smuggle vials of biological materials stolen from U.S. research labs.And the state of Florida recently launched a major investigation after ten university faculty members and other researchers were exposed as participants in China’s Thousand Talents program.As FBI Director Wray warned, China’s espionage efforts are “deep and diverse.” According to one estimate, there are at least 80 Confucius Institutes operating at colleges and universities around the country. Confucius Institutes have been more warmly received at American universities than conservative speakers! These institutes are official organs of the Chinese Communist Party. But like much of U.S. policy toward China, the allure of easy money proved too tempting to resist, regardless of the strings attached. Thankfully, the Trump Administration is cracking down, and more than 20 Confucius Institutes have closed in the past two years. But much more work clearly remains to be done. The Wuhan Virus We’ve seen all kinds of stories in recent days about the Wuhan virus – how fast is it spreading, its kill ratio, how many people are being quarantined, airlines canceling flights, etc. I even read a story about the potential for medicine shortages here due to global supply chain vulnerabilities. Yesterday, I saw a map showing all the places where the U.S. has set up screening centers to check people coming into the country for evidence of the virus. Not surprisingly, most screening centers are at major international airports, but there are two at the El Paso and San Diego border ports of entry, also for obvious reasons. What jumped out at me was everything else in between — you know, the vast open border area that Donald Trump has spent the last three years trying to secure. The same border that the left and its media allies have spent the last three years fighting to keep wide open and smearing Trump as a bigot for trying to secure. The spread of this deadly virus is proof of why the border must be secured. Is there even one “mainstream” journalist in America who thinks this is a story worth writing? It wasn’t that long ago when our Border Patrol agents were overwhelmed with sick migrants, running more than 50 people a day to border-area hospitals. We’re also seeing a surge of Chinese nationals illegally crossing the border. And now we have a mystery virus originating in China with a kill rate we have not yet determined. The president has done a lot to secure the border, but if progressive politicians, judges and pundits had not been so desperate to resist President Trump (and common sense), much more would have been done by now. The risk of the Wuhan virus entering the country from the unsecured southern border could have been greatly diminished. If Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer had worked half as hard to help secure the country as they have to invalidate the votes of half the country, we’d all be a lot safer right now. “Danger! Danger! Danger!” Jay Sekulow, a member of the president’s defense team, reminded senators yesterday of something every American needs to understand: This hyper-partisan impeachment, based on anonymous allegations and differences of opinion, is a serious danger to our constitutional republic. Within days of Donald Trump securing the GOP nomination, elements of our government that we entrust to keep us safe from terrorists and foreign spies diverted resources to get illegal wiretaps on the Trump campaign. They even set up sting operations to take down various campaign aides. Before Trump was sworn in, a well-financed campaign was launched to intimidate members of the Electoral College. The media gleefully reported that some electors were wavering but often failed to expose the intimidation taking place. After Trump was inaugurated, Deep State operatives and their media allies launched the Russian collusion hoax, which consumed the country for more than two years. A leading proponent of that hoax was Adam Schiff. He regularly appeared on Sunday talk shows and declared that the evidence that Russia and the president stole the election was “in plain sight.” He was lying the whole time, every time. When that hoax fell apart, the left launched its sham impeachment — the biggest voter suppression effort in the history of the country. Pelosi, Schiff and Schumer are trying to suppress the votes of 63 million people who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, while depriving millions of us the right to vote for him again this November. They know that their platform of abortion extremism, anti-religious liberty and big government socialism is unpopular. So they are putting the country through a scandalous election-year impeachment charade with the goal of removing Donald Trump from the ballot. If Vladimir Putin tried to come up with a plan to destroy a duly-elected president and undermine the United States of America, he could not imagine anything better than what Pelosi, Schiff and Schumer, along with their media and Deep State allies, have done over the last three years. The Wildwood Wonder We know the president’s policies are growing the economy. Well, in the last two days, Trump turned Wildwood, New Jersey, into an enterprise zone of unexpected economic growth. Wildwood is a beach community that depends heavily on summer tourism. When the temperatures fall and the days get shorter, much of the town shuts down. In the last two days, hotels and restaurants all over Wildwood reopened to accommodate the thousands of people who came to see the man many believe is the greatest president since Ronald Reagan. People began lining up more than a day in advance to attend Trump’s rally last night! Remember In November Remember Obama’s remark about “bitter clingers”? Hillary’s “basket of deplorables”? Apparently, the left still hasn’t learned how to hide its bigotry. As I’m sure you know, CNN‘s Don Lemon just couldn’t keep it together when a NeverTrumper and a liberal New York Times columnist started mocking conservative Trump voters. Well, I’m pleased to report that Don Lemon is starring in the latest Republican National Committee ad that urges conservative voters to have the last laugh this November. ——————- Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer) is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Closing Ranks, Bribery & The Whistleblower, Trump Moving Up To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| AG Barr Warns of ‘Militant Secular Effort’ to Drive Out ReligionPosted: 30 Jan 2020 06:04 PM PSTCardinal Timothy Dolan & AG William Barrby Mary Margaret Olohan: Attorney General William Barr says that religious Americans aren’t imposing their beliefs on others, but that “militant secularists” are imposing their values on people of faith. Discussing religious freedom in the U.S. during an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel, Barr warned that religion is being “driven out of the marketplace of ideas,” and that “there’s an organized, militant secular effort to drive religion out of our lives.” “The problem today is not that religious people are trying to impose their views on nonreligious people,” Barr told Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and his co-host, the Rev. Dave Dwyer of the Community of St. Paul. “It’s the opposite–it’s that militant secularists are trying to impose their values on religious people, and they’re not accommodating the freedom of religion of people of faith.” Barr pointed out that the Founding Fathers viewed religion as “essential to maintaining a free country”: The reason they felt they could grant so much freedom in the Constitution and only provide for limited government was because they felt that religion was there and the people were religious people who could largely govern themselves. All the founders, and as you pointed out earlier to me, Your Eminence, [French diplomat and historian] Alexis de Tocqueville, observed the centrality of religion, to the health of American democracy.Barr added that he was not talking about mixing church and state. “We believe in the separation of church and state,” he said, “but what permits a limited government and minimal command and control of the population, and allows people to have freedom of choice in their lives and trust in the people, is the fact that they are a people that are capable of disciplining themselves according to moral values.” ——————————– Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) is a reporter covering social issues for The Daily Caller News Foundation. Shared at The Daily Signal. Tags: Mary Margaret Olohan, AG Barr, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Warns, Militant Secular Effort, Drive Out Religion To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Impeachment Trial Day 8: Dershowitz, Schiff, and BoltonPosted: 30 Jan 2020 05:40 PM PST. . . Distortion reigns supreme, from the president’s defense to Schiff’s act to Bolton’s book. by Nate Jackson: “If the president does something that he thinks will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Donald Trump’s defense team, told the Senate Wednesday. Predictably, his statement, which outlines his consistent defense of Trump, was mischaracterized by Democrats and the Leftmedia in service to the impeachment agenda. Dershowitz certainly could have been clearer, but the Trump team’s argument is this: A lawful quid pro quo in service to U.S. interests is not illegal or impeachable, regardless of whether it benefits the president politically. Thus, even if Democrats’ allegations are true, Trump’s “offense” doesn’t rise to an impeachable one. Of course, there’s also an inconvenient truth: There was no actual quid pro quo, though one was attempted. Ukraine got its military aid and Volodymyr Zelensky got his presidential meeting, all without opening the investigations Trump requested. In any case, Trump’s request regarding the corruption of a previous and potentially future American administration is absolutely in U.S. interests, though Trump was unwise to ask this of one of Europe’s most corrupt countries. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand exemplified the hyperventilating on the Left, arguing that Dershowitz “essentially said that if President Trump believes his election is for the good of the American people that he could do whatever he wants.” That’s a false representation of what Dershowitz actually argued, and leftists know it. Patrick Philbin, one of the president’s lawyers, bolstered Dershowitz’s point: “If there is something that shows a possible public interest” in what Trump said, “that destroys [the Democrats’] case.” Adam Schiff, one of the leading and most dishonest of the Democrat impeachment managers, disagreed. “If any part of the president’s motivation was a corrupt motive,” he insisted, “it would be enough to convict under criminal law.” To illustrate his preposterous contention, Schiff engaged in another bit of absurd B-movie theater, mockingly saying, “Let’s … see how you feel about this scenario:” President [Barack] Obama, on an open mic, says to [then-Russian President Dimitri] Medvedev, “Hey, Medvedev, I know you don’t want me to send this military money to Ukraine because they are fighting and killing your people. I want you to do me a favor, though. I want you to do an investigation of Mitt Romney. And I want you to announce you found dirt on Mitt Romney. If you’re willing to do that, quid pro quo, I won’t give Ukraine the money they need to fight you on the front line.” Do any of us have any question that Barack Obama would be impeached for that kind of misconduct? Are we really ready to say that that would be okay if Barack Obama asked Medvedev to investigate his opponent and withhold money from an ally that needed to defend itself to get an investigation of Mitt Romney? That’s the parallel here.The especially brazen aspect of Schiff’s latest attempt to win an Oscar is that he comes fairly close to what Obama actually did. Unknowingly on a hot mic, Obama told Medvedev in 2012 that he would have “more flexibility” after his reelection to make changes to U.S. defense policy sought by our Russian geopolitical foes and detrimental to our European allies. Obama was not impeached, of course, though Democrats — four years too late — eventually realized that Russia is in fact a threat to U.S. interests. No, Romney was not mentioned in the real conversation, but Obama had to defeat Romney before he could give Medvedev’s puppet master, Vladimir Putin, what he wanted: American capitulation on missile defense. Nothing Trump said is even remotely close to being that bad for U.S. interests. Meanwhile, as John Bolton and his leaked book allegations have dominated the news this week, there’s more misinformation and distortion coming out of even libertarian and conservative news outlets. Without getting lost in the weeds, any book written by a top administration official like Bolton must be reviewed by the National Security Council (NSC) to determine if any classified information is revealed. In a letter to Bolton’s publisher, the NSC contended that there was indeed classified information — some of it TOP SECRET — in Bolton’s manuscript. That would need to be removed before the book could be published. This was not a ham-handed attempt at “muzzling” Bolton, and it wasn’t a “threat” to block his book entirely, either. The NSC review is standard procedure that Bolton rightly submitted to in order to honor his own nondisclosure agreements. The NSC letter is dated January 23, three days before the New York Times blockbuster revealing that Bolton says there was a quid pro quo with Ukraine. The Times depended on a well-timed leak of Bolton’s manuscript, leaving us to wonder whether the leaker — one of the Vindman twins? — violated federal law by disclosing classified information. Democrats still want Bolton to testify before the Senate, though that is increasingly unlikely. But we thought it would be enlightening to highlight Schiff’s long history of denigrating Bolton. In 2005, Schiff complained of Bolton’s “lack of credibility.” And all the way back in 2018, he groused about Bolton’s “love of conspiracy theories.” Now we have to hear from Bolton? What changed, Mr. Schiff? And finally, Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the president’s trial, refused to read a question submitted by Sen. Rand Paul because Paul named the whistleblower. The worst-kept secret in the swamp is that Eric Ciaramella is likely the whistleblower. Federal law protects whistleblowers only from retribution, not from being named, so the continued charade of keeping his name a “secret” is absurd. Not only should Ciaramella’s name be spoken, he should have testified before the House. ———————- Nate Jackson is managing editor at The Patriot Post. Tags: Nate Jackson, Impeachment, Trial Day 8, Dershowitz, Schiff, Bolton To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| When There Is No NormalPosted: 30 Jan 2020 03:19 PM PST. . . History lesson: Radicals eventually will need the norms and safeguards they’ve gleefully destroyed. Victor Davis Hansonby Dr. Victor Davis Hanson: One of the ancient and modern critiques of democracy is that radicals destroy norms for short-term political gain, norms that they themselves often later seek as refuge. Schadenfreude, irony, paradox, and karma are various descriptions of what happens to revolutionaries, and unfortunately the innocent, who suffer their collateral damage when radicals of any stripe use any means necessary to achieve supposedly exalted ends. Three of the most moving — and terrifying — passages in Greek literature involve such ironic payback. In the third book of Thucydides’ history, the historian relates a murderous civil war (stasis) between oligarchs and democrats on the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu). He laments how morals and laws are destroyed in a cycle of madness, all to achieve short-term gain while depriving both parties of sanctuary when the tide one day turns against them. When extremism becomes normal, there is no prior normal. In his fifth book, Thucydides describes the destruction of the small island city-state of Melos, in a riveting dialogue between the Athenian invaders and the Melian defenders. After concluding his account with the Athenians’ destruction of Melos, Thucydides immediately, in books six and seven, describes the Athenian catastrophe on Sicily, in which the invading and soon-to-be-trapped Athenians play a similar role to that of the doomed Melians, and the victorious Sicilians are no more magnanimous to the defeated than were the once-victorious Athenians. In the historian Xenophon’s second book, there is a frightening account of the destruction of the Athenian fleet at distant Aegospotami in Asia Minor. The final Athenian defeat of the Peloponnesian War robs the democracy of its last defense against an alliance of Spartans, Thebans, Persians, and Sicilians. As the terrible news arrives at the port of Piraeus, Athenians wail as they fear they are about to suffer the same atrocities at the hands of their victorious enemies that they so often inflicted on others. Once the Jacobins took over the French Revolution and instituted the Reign of Terror, few of them seriously expected that they themselves would stand convicted in show-trial courts they had helped to establish; fewer imagined they would lose their heads on the same guillotine that they had so often used to execute others. One of the most fascinating themes of Christopher Caldwell’s just-released The Age of Entitlement is the sad irony that 1960s federal government programs to end institutionalized racialism used the vast power of government to accentuate race and tribalism — and thereby helped ensure the current toxic obsessions of race so characteristic of woke identity politics and radical diversity movements. The current white leading Democratic candidates should read Caldwell’s book to fathom how their own ideologies now boomerang. They might question why they — and not Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Deval Patrick, or Andrew Yang — are alone on the primary debate stage. Disparate impact and proportional representation were the federal government’s fillips to the civil-rights movement. They were embraced by the current white Democratic front-runners, without a clue that by the logic of their own ideological zealotry, about a third of them simply would have no right to be on stage and should sacrifice themselves on the altar of government-mandated diversity. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), and Gerry Nadler (D., Calif.) are currently furious that the Republican-controlled Senate adjudicates the rules of the trial of the impeached Donald Trump. But their appeals, whatever their merit or lack of same, fall increasingly on deaf ears. One reason is that the House impeachment proceedings started out in the House basement; they were marked by unethical collusion with the so-called whistleblower to jump-start the proceedings; they relied on selective leaks and were not symmetrical in the summoning of witnesses from both sides; and the proceedings were initially outsourced to Adam Schiff’s intelligence committee, by design, because of its greater power of secrecy, rather than the more appropriate House Judiciary Committee. In essence, the House impeachers are now furious that the Republican Senate might prove as partisan in exonerating Trump as the House was in impeaching him. For short-term gain, radical Democrats have now institutionalized the abnormal on the expectation that they themselves will never seek refuge in the customs and norms they have abolished. This is odd, given the lesson of the “nuclear option” on judges set in motion by former Senate majority leader Harry Reid: When in power, Reid destroyed the judicial filibuster, only to have this decision come back to haunt Democrats when they were in the minority and suddenly unable to stop majority-vote confirmations of a slew of conservative judges. So far, the Democrats have redefined impeachment as a no-confidence partisan vote of the opposition upon gaining control of the House, used as an election-year force-multiplier to defeat a first-term president up for reelection — with no need for a special counsel’s findings, public support, bipartisan consensus, or specific crimes as outlined in the Constitution. The Left has recalibrated the FISA courts as political agencies that apparently will grant the FBI and DOJ whatever they wish — if they can, in unspoken fashion, agree on a common political threat of the sort that Donald Trump apparently represents. There is little left to the idea of a disinterested whistleblower. From now on, they will be insider moles, leftovers from the prior administration who pop up to work with the congressional opposition, in leaking and misrepresenting administration communications to help impeach a president. The Left has no awareness that under their new protocols, Barack Obama would have been more exposed to impeachment writs than Donald Trump is today, that the next administration mole as a whistleblower might seek to take out a Democratic president, and that politicized FISA courts might just as easily fast-track the surveilling of progressive campaign aides. The ease with which Robert Mueller was speedily appointed, the hyper-partisanship (see the recent MSNBC hire of Mueller pick Andrew Weissmann) of his all-star, hunter-killer legal “dream team” (or so they were once heralded by a giddy Left), and the unlimited time and budget given Mueller — all will likely serve as a model when the next Democratic president does an Obama-like hot-mic quid pro quo, weaponizes the IRS, orchestrates an illegal prisoner swap, stonewalls Congress over a scandal such as Fast and Furious, or bypasses the treaty-ratification rights of the U.S. Senate. Many of the current Democratic candidates have called for a court-packing scheme of increasing the Supreme Court to 15 justices in order to nullify the Trump appointees. Most also want to abolish the Electoral College. And leftist activists increasingly rail about the unfairness of the make-up of the Senate and the supposedly ossified idea that every state, however, small, has two senators. Apparently, they believe that a Democrat will never lose the popular vote and win the Electoral College, and they don’t care that the solid-blue status of California, Illinois, and New York give any Democratic candidate an assured 84 electoral votes of the necessary 270 before a campaign even begins, and they forget that they once gained control of the U.S. Senate by flipping formerly small-population red states blue, such as New Mexico and Nevada. We are now in a revolutionary cycle in which existing norms are considered obstacles to equality-of-result politics. The Left believes that they will never need the institutions that they are distorting, but they will soon be the first to rue their own folly. ———————— Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) is a senior fellow, classicist and historian and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution where many of his articles are found; his focus is classics and military history. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush. H/T Grendel Report. Tags: Victor Davis Hanson, When There Is No Normal, Grendel Report To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Pelosi: Trump ‘Will Not Be Acquitted’ Because . . .Posted: 30 Jan 2020 02:51 PM PST. . . ‘You Don’t Have a Trial If You Don’t Have Witnesses’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) turns to infrastructure.by Susan Jones: Flanked by a poster — the “Moving Forward Framework For the People” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday opened her news conference by indicating that Democrats are moving beyond impeachment and the all-but-certain acquittal of the president. Yet Pelosi insisted there can be no acquittal — even if the Senate votes to acquit President Donald Trump, as looks likely. “We are right now prayerful and hopeful that the Senate will have the courage to hear the truth about the president’s actions,” Pelosi said. A reporter asked her, “When this is over, do you think that President Trump will be chastened and understand that he’s got a Congress watching him? Or will he be emboldened because the Senate will have acquitted him?” “Well, he will not be acquitted,” she said – even if he is:You cannot be acquitted if you don’t have a trial. You don’t have a trial if you don’t have witnesses and documentation and that. I would hope that the senators, if it comes to a tie or if there’s a question of hearing testimony or receiving documents, would leave it up to the chief justice of the Supreme Court.Pelosi noted that John Roberts is a Republican-appointed justice, presiding over a Republican majority court and therefore Senate Republicans should not be worried about him breaking a tie on the question of witnesses. “Does the president know right from wrong?” she asked. “I don’t think so.” Pelosi also slammed the President’s defense team: “I don’t think they made the case at all. I think they tried to avoid the truth in what they said…I think they disgraced themselves terribly in terms of their violation of what our Constitution is about and what a president’s behavior should be.” On the other hand, Pelosi praised her impeachment managers as “magnificent custodians of the Constitution.” “They have made us all proud,” she said. ‘The Russians are coming’ Pelosi also returned to her earlier, pre-trial invocation of the Longfellow poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” Longfellow was making the point that “The English are coming, the English are coming,” she said. “In this case, the Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!” Pelosi continued. “And the president has left a clear path for them to interfere once again in our elections, as they are currently doing.” (So here we go again with accusations that Trump is welcoming Russian interference, as Democrats try to delegitimize the outcome of an election that is still months away.) At the start of her news conference, Pelosi discussed a Democrat infrastructure proposal — $760 billion over five years for roads, bridges, airports, broadband and other projects. She even stressed bipartisanship, saying she believes President Trump “cares and wants to do something” on infrastructure. She said infrastructure has never been partisan, and she trusts that still remains the case. On the other hand, Pelosi accused Republicans of trying to “undo Medicare and Medicaid.” ———————– Susan Jones (@SJonesCNS) writes for CNSNews a division of the Media Research Center, a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. Tags: Pelosi, Trump, ‘Will Not Be Acquitted,’ Because, You Don’t Have a Trial, If You Don’t Have Witnesses To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| The Three Amigos . . .Posted: 30 Jan 2020 02:27 PM PST. . . Adam Schiff stated “The president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box” this is how Democrats really feel about democracy. Editorial Cartoon by AF “Tony” BrancoTags: editorial cartoon, Three Amigos, Adam Schiff, stated, president’s misconduct, cannot be decided, at the ballot box, this is how, Democrats really feel, about democracy To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| What Impeachment? Trump Signs USMCAPosted: 30 Jan 2020 02:18 PM PST. . . This is a significant win for the president and for the American worker at a good time. by Thomas Gallatin: Even in the midst of the ongoing Senate impeachment trial, President Donald Trump hasn’t taken his eyes off the ball as he continues to press forward in implementing his Make America Great Again agenda. On Wednesday, Trump signed his biggest trade deal to date, a deal that significantly revamps, updates, and improves the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will now be called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. In a ceremony on the South Lawn, Trump, surrounded by lawmakers and members of his administration, observed, “Everybody said that this was a deal that could not be done. Too complicated, too big — couldn’t be done. We got it done.” Indeed, it’s an achievement made all the more impressive given the Democrats’ hyper-partisan anti-Trump resistance, typified by their partisan impeachment charade. Touting his outsider status, Trump added, “Two decades of politicians ran for office vowing to replace the NAFTA. Yet once elected, they never even tried. They never even gave it a shot. They sold out. But I’m not like those other politicians. … I keep my promises and I’m fighting for the American worker.” The only remaining hurdle to USMCA being fully realized is Canada’s House of Commons, which will need to ratify the agreement. However, there is little concern that it won’t be approved. For the American worker and the U.S. economy this deal couldn’t come at a more opportune moment in helping to maintain the nation’s robust economic outlook. As the White House 1600 Daily highlights, the USMCA provides: Broad economic benefits. USMCA is estimated to create nearly 600,000 American jobs — and generate up to $235 billion in economic activity.Better protection for workers. It has the strongest, most advanced, and most comprehensive labor protections of any American trade agreement in history.Support for our farmers. The agreement is a massive win for American farmers and ranchers, vastly improving access to Canadian and Mexican markets. U.S. agricultural exports are expected to increase by $2.2 billion under the deal.A boost for American manufacturers. The U.S. auto industry alone expects to create up to 76,000 new jobs and spur $34 billion in new investments.Modernized terms. Unlike NAFTA, USMCA has protections for American intellectual property, a first-of-its-kind chapter on digital trade, and provisions to crack down on unfair currency practices.In spite of all the daily drama coming out of Washington over who said what to whom and when, it’s good to see at least the government can still get some positively impactful things done for the American worker. As Trump explained, “It’s probably the number one reason that I decided to lead this crazy life that I’m leading now instead of that beautiful, simple life of luxury that I led before this happened. But I love doing it.” ——————– Thomas Gallatin is a Features Editor at The Patriot Post. Tags: Thomas Gallatin, The Patriot Post, What Impeachment, Trump Signs, USMCA To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Low-Income WagesPosted: 30 Jan 2020 02:03 PM PSTby Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: When I talk about how well the economy is doing and how wages are increasing, I sometimes have a caller remark that they haven’t seen any improvement in their economic situation. That makes sense. A rising tide will lift all boats, but some boats rise faster than others. But the most recent economic numbers show that economic growth has been most beneficial to low-income workers. An editorialesidency, wages for the bottom 10 percent of earners (over age 25) rose more than twice the percentage (5.9%) compared to the second term of the Obama presidency. Wage growth not only increased for low-income workers, it also increased faster for the middle class when compared to that same time (2012-2016). Less educated workers saw the strongest gains. For example, wages rose at a 6.1 percent annual clip for workers without a high school degree and 3.9 percent for those with some college. Both of these were three times faster than during the second Obama term. Young people were also getting big pay raises. Their wages increased on average 5.8 percent for teens, 4.4 percent for 20-24 year-olds, and 4.8 percent for 25-35 year-olds during the Trump presidency. The editors wondered how Mayor Pete Buttigieg could claim wages aren’t keeping up with the cost-of-living. All he needs to do is look at his city of South Bend, Indiana where the average weekly earnings have grown 9.9 percent over the last year, while employers have also increased both hours and pay. It looks to me that this rising tide is lifting all boats after all. —————— Kerby Anderson (@kerbyanderson) is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network (@PointofViewRTS) and is endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service. Tags: Low-Income Wages, Kerby Anderson, Point of View To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Trump Signs USMCA And Keeps Promise On Fair & Reciprocal TradePosted: 30 Jan 2020 01:48 PM PSTby Robert Romano: The experts said it couldn’t be done, but here we are. President Donald Trump has signed the implementing legislation for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) into law, and it’s a done deal, keeping the promise to replace the almost 30-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Calling the trade deal “a colossal victory for our farmers, ranchers, energy workers, factory workers and American workers in all 50 states,” President Trump hailed the USMCA as “the largest, fairest, most balanced and modern trade agreement ever achieved. There’s never been anything like it.” Trump ripped NAFTA in his speech, adding, “we have replaced a disastrous trade deal that rewarded outsourcing with a truly fair and reciprocal trade deal that will keep jobs, wealth, and growth right here in America.” To get it across the finish line, President Trump had threatened to leave NAFTA altogether. On Dec. 1, 2018, Trump told reporters, “I’ll be terminating it within a relatively short period of time. We get rid of NAFTA. It’s been a disaster for the United States… And so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well.” The pressure worked as Canada and Mexico were brought to the table, and ultimately, delivered overwhelming majorities in the House and the Senate on final passage. Since 1994, when NAFTA went into effect, the U.S. has had more than $1 trillion of goods trade deficits with Mexico and in excess of $930 billion with Canada, which are directly subtracted from the Gross Domestic Product. Combined with the lack of any trade deal with China let alone a fair and reciprocal one — that is, until Trump came to town — in 2016, Trump was able to effectively highlight outsourcing as a key economic concern with union and conservative households in the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan that put the President over the top in the Electoral College. Now, in 2020, the President will be able to cite his art of the deal as everything he promised, using U.S. leverage to gain new trade deals with Canada, Mexico, China, Japan and South Korea that are now in the bag. And with the USMCA, Trump can say these are better deals that would have never been renegotiated had he never been elected. Country of origin requirements are being increased to 75 percent, up from 62.5 percent, requiring automobiles will have at least three-quarters of their parts made in North America. On intellectual property, copyrights, trademarks and patents will have powerful enforcement provisions to end theft of U.S. intellectual property. On financial services, U.S. financial services will be allowed to compete in Canada and Mexico with most-favored nation treatment. On textiles, the agreement will “[p]romote greater use of Made-in-the-USA fibers, yarns, and fabrics by: [l]imiting rules that allow for some use of non-NAFTA inputs in textile and apparel trade… [and by] [r]equiring that sewing thread, pocketing fabric, narrow elastic bands, and coated fabric, when incorporated in most apparel and other finished products, be made in the region for those finished products to qualify for trade benefits,” according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Mexico now recognizes the right of collective bargaining and all parties agreed that “40-45 percent of auto content be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour,” according to the U.S. Trade Representative. In 2016, average pay in Mexico for manufacturing was $3.91 an hour. On agriculture, Canada is now providing in greater access for U.S. dairy products. On currency, per the U.S. Trade Representative, the USMCA “address[es] unfair currency practices by requiring high-standard commitments to refrain from competitive devaluations and targeting exchange rates, while significantly increasing transparency and providing mechanisms for accountability.” This provision for currency in the trade deal has now set the template for other trade negotiations, enabling the Trump trade team to get similar currency concessions in the phase one U.S.-China trade deal. As it turns out, China is not the only economy to manipulate currency. Since 2008, the Mexican peso has depreciated against the U.S. dollar by about 50 percent, from $0.10 per $1 USD to about $0.05 per $1 USD. Now, under USMCA, producers can cite currency devaluation as an unfair trade practice. Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning praised the signing of the USMCA, saying, “The USMCA is the beginning stages of bringing the Trump trade agenda around the world and will result in more U.S. manufacturing jobs, higher standards of living and increased overall economic growth. Trump’s trade wins are among his signature accomplishments in his first term, and deliver on the promise of fair and reciprocal trade.” Manning added, “USMCA puts America on the course to allowing American businesses and companies to compete on a level playing field, and when Americans can compete fairly, Americans win.” And with the dogmatic intelligentsia in Washington, D.C., if President Trump had never been elected, nobody would have even tried to renegotiate these deals. If nothing else, Trump has proven that in trade relations, the U.S. has lots of leverage, and when properly utilized, can result in big wins for the U.S. economy and the American people. It’s about time. ——————- Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government. Tags: Robert Romano, Americans for Limited Government, President Trump, Signs USMCA, Keeps Promise, Fair & Reciprocal Trade To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| New Mexico Gun Legislation Advances With State Senate Committee VotePosted: 30 Jan 2020 01:21 PM PSTby Morgan Lee: A proposal advanced Tuesday in the New Mexico state Legislature that would allow law enforcement officials or family members to seek court orders to seize firearms temporarily from people deemed a threat to themselves or others. A Senate committee endorsed the bill on a party-line vote with Democrats in support. Another committee review awaits before the bill can reach the Senate floor for a possible vote. Proponents invoked the toll of firearm suicides and mass shootings. Opponents warned that lawmakers risk treading on constitutional rights and the presumption of innocence. Hundreds of people filled the state Senate gallery to listen and comment on the legislation. They included gun-control advocates wearing “Moms Demand Action” T-shirts and more than a dozen county sheriffs who are outspoken opponents of the proposal. Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces invoked the August 2019 mass shooting in neighboring El Paso, Texas, that killed 22 people and noted police allegations that the shooter targeted Mexicans. “We were shaken this last year … by the killings at the Walmart in El Paso” said Cervantes. “We cannot accept the alternative that is being offered by the opponents, and that is doing nothing and accepting the status quo.” Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is pushing for the legislation that follows at least 17 states that have enacted emergency risk protection orders that allows the temporarily seizure firearms. Testimony in support of the bill came from Cabinet secretaries for the departments of Public Safety, Health, and Children Youth and Families. Sheriffs Association President Tony Mace, a Democrat from Cibola County, said outside the proceedings that sheriffs are speaking up for constituents who fear they could be stripped of firearms without due process. “They feel it’s a backdoor approach to a gun confiscation,” Mace said. “We swore an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution. … That’s our guiding light.” In Las Cruces on Tuesday, a city resolution in support of the red-flag bill failed on a 3-2 council vote. The state Senate prohibited firearms in its public gallery and nearby rooms for the first time, with exceptions for law enforcement officials. No specific threats were cited. The bill would give state district court judges the authority to order guns seized for probable cause if an individual poses an immediate danger by possessing a firearm. A court hearing must be held within 15 days to determine whether to impound guns for a full year. Cervantes said he was eager to listen to concerns about due process, noting that orders to seize guns would be based on sworn testimony subject to perjury penalties. He promised to strike provisions from the bill that provide immunity for people who seek extreme risk protection orders. Republican Senate minority leader Stuart Ingle of Portales said he believes judges will be reluctant to ignore warnings about people viewed as dangerous and bristled over discussions about how to dispose of guns that aren’t reclaimed after seizures. “That would pretty much be highway robbery,” he said. “That is one reason why I am sure as hell against it.” A similar bill won House approval last year before stalling in the Senate. Opponents warned that poor people would find it difficult to hire an attorney and contest accusations that they pose a risk. “Why are you attacking the poor? It’s a valid question,” said Stephani Lord of Bernalillo County, a gun rights advocate affiliated with Pro-Gun Women. Lujan Grisham last week described gun violence in her own family with the suicide of a mentally ill cousin in 2012. She said the death might have been prevented by relatives if the state allowed firearm protection orders. Annual firearm mortality rates in New Mexico consistently exceed the national average, with suicides accounting for about two-thirds of gun deaths in 2017, according to the state epidemiologist. Statehouse rules ordinarily allow the open carry of legally owned firearms, along with permitted concealed weapons. Restrictions and screenings for weapons have been implemented in recent years in the state House chamber for the governor’s State of the State address. ——————- H/T Gun Dynamics shared article link via the Daily Interlake. Tags: Gun Dynamics, New Mexico, Gun Legislation Advances, State Senate Committee Vote To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| The Anti-Worker IsmPosted: 30 Jan 2020 01:02 PM PSTby Paul Jacob, Contributing Author: Progressives who lean socialist used to hide their worst intentions. Now they are letting it all hang out. There have always been overt socialists in the U.S., of course. They would sometimes protest the reluctance of fellow travelers to fully embrace socialism’s moniker. But the sentiment “Ah, screw it, let’s just admit we want to destroy everything currently in existence” seems on the ascendance. Even a few major Democratic candidates for president are on board. Exhibit 112 is the new nationwide push to stomp the gig economy. Especially freelancing. This follows Exhibit 111, the recent and so far successful push to stop independent contractors from engaging in voluntary transactions in California. (Many lawsuits are underway.) After scanning the coiled legalese of 111 — I mean AB5, California’s law — many companies decided that ending relationships with California-based freelancers was prudence with a capital P. And that rhymes with G, and that stands for Golden. Which the Golden State used to, uh, B. Not every self-employed person has been thrown out onto the street. There are carve-outs. Actually, the only known victims are taxi drivers, cleaners, nurses, comedians, writers, editors, musicians, transcriptionists, citizen initiative petitioners, etc., etc. The crackdown on non-9-to-5 work arrangements has also resulted in much gnashing of teeth by gig-seekers of all ideological stripes. Obviously, then, such massive destruction of economic freedom must be inflicted on the federal level too. So House Democrats put AB5’s gig-killing provisions into Exhibit 112, that is, into HR2474, pending legislation. Democratic candidates for president Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders have endorsed the California statute, a national version, or both. Ludwig von Mises had a word for this. He called socialism “destructionist.” This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob. —————— Paul Jacob (@Common_Sense_PJ) is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacob is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service. Tags: Paul Jacob, Common Sense, The Anti-Worker Ism To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Muslim Mob Attack On A Group Of Rohingya Believers Who Left Islam To Follow JesusPosted: 30 Jan 2020 12:40 PM PSTYousef Barasneh  Joined Neo-Nazi Groupby Daniel Greenfield: In Wisconsin, the dairy capital of the nation, Muslims and Nazis revisited their old alliance when Yousef Barasneh, the son of a Jordanian immigrant active in the Muslim community, joined the Neo-Nazi group, The Base (which shares the meaning of its name with Al Qaeda), and vandalized a synagogue. The synagogue, Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in Racine, had the term, “Jude”, German for “Jew”, swastikas, the symbol of the Nazi Secret Service, and The Base white supremacist symbol, scrawled on it in September. Later that year, a Base leader ratted out Yousef as the perpetrator to the FBI. When communicating with his Neo-Nazi pals, Yousef anglicized or polonized his Arabic first name to “Joseph” or “Josef”. Despite his Muslim convert mother’s Polish ancestry, Yousef might not have been confident of the welcome he would receive as “Yousef” from a white supremacist organization. But when The Base called for vandalizing synagogues, the son of a Jordanian immigrant was eager. “Imagine if across the country on local news, Everyone is reporting on new nazi presence,” he wrote in Nazi chat. “Our op will be a perfect f___ you to these kikes if we become terrorists.” Yousef was overlaying the terrorism of his Islamic background on his new Nazi affiliation. Mass immigration advocates often claim that immigrants bring things to this country that we don’t have. Does America really have such a Nazi shortage that we need to import white supremacists from Jordan? Later Yousef joined a Base session in Georgia where members trained with guns and sacrificed a goat. It’s unclear if he took part in the ‘Blot’ goat sacrifice to pagan gods that white supremacists are reviving in order to banish Judeo-Christian values and revive the pagan beliefs championed by Nazi Germany. Sacrificing a goat to the gods would have been frowned on by the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. But goat sacrifices are a regular part of Islam and Yousef would likely have had more experience sacrificing goats than his cosplaying Nazi pals who had to google Kristallnacht to find out what it involved. And a Jordanian Muslim making blood sacrifices to Norse gods in a Neo-Nazi cult after vandalizing a synagogue is undeniably multicultural. It’s just not the multiculturalism anyone needs or wants. According to media accounts, Yousef Omar is the son of Omar and Aliceann Basraneh. The Jordanian flag flies in the breeze outside Omar’s house in Oak Park and a photo in the Wisconsin Muslim Journal shows Omar and Aliceann in a gaudy hijab. An older photo shows Omar, Aliceann, and Yousef at the Dome of the Rock: the victory mosque that Muslims had erected on the holiest Jewish site in Jerusalem. Omar’s Facebook likes included a campus branch of the anti-Semitic hate group Students for Justice in Palestine at Marquette U, and the Muslim Student Association at the University of Michigan. Omar, a coach at Salam High School, has been quoted in the media on Muslim issues. Aliceann also used to work at the Salam school. The Salam school is run by the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. The ISM was established by the Muslim Students Association which was set up by the Muslim Brotherhood. Othman Atta, the executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, regularly appeared at American Muslims for Palestine events. AMP has been described as another iteration of various Hamas front groups. Hamas is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood making the terror group and ISM cousins. At an AMP conference, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee boss had attacked efforts by the United States to crack down on terror fundraising. “When the PLO was designated as a terrorist group – political decision – Hamas, Hizballah and other groups, when they’re designated as terrorist groups, it is a political decision,” he had complained. The Islamic Society of Milwaukee is not just a threat to Jews or Israel, but also to the United States. Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, the foreign affairs chairman for the Muslim Brotherhood’s party, spoke at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee in 2014. His message was one of theocracy. “The issue of the separation of religion from politics is a church issue and it does not apply to Islam,” he told ISM members. “Democracy is the rule of people, [for] the people, by the people within the limit of what Allah allows.” What might have put Yousef on a pathway from a Muslim community run by the Muslim Brotherhood to joining up with a Neo-Nazi organization? The Brotherhood was inspired by Nazi Germany. Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, had arranged to have Hitler’s Mein Kampf translated into Arabic. The Muslim Brotherhood would go on to distribute that and other anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda altered for their own agenda, and to attend the Nuremberg rallies of the Nazis. Al-Banna had credited the Nazis with inspiring Brotherhood propaganda. The Brotherhood’s early structure, its tactics, and its rhetoric were closely copied from Nazi Germany. The Nazis used the Brotherhood to disrupt British rule in Egypt, while the Brotherhood used the Nazis to turn the ancient Koranic hatred and violence into a modern movement that now threatens the entire world. The unanimity between the Brotherhood and the Nazis did not end with the fall of the Third Reich. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, had preached on Al Jazeera, “Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers.” The “believers” are Muslims. When Yousef joined up with The Base, after a lifetime in a Muslim Brotherhood community, he was revisiting an enduring alliance built around hating Jews. Was his vandalism of the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation grounded in the hatred he had picked up in his Muslim Brotherhood community? Beyond Hamas, had the Islamic Society of Milwaukee exposed him to pro-Nazi messages? After the vandalism of the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation, the assumption was that diversity and multiculturalism were the answers. But sometimes they are actually the source of the problem. Diversity is not an innate good. And the arc of diversity does not necessarily lead to greater tolerance. Sometimes diversity means the convergence of two bigotries. And the mutual understanding of multiculturalism can mean the commonality of hatreds that allied Nazi Germany and the Muslim Brotherhood, and got Yousef Omar Barasneh and The Base to vandalize a synagogue in Wisconsin. The immigration system that brought the Barasneh clan from Amman to Wisconsin didn’t make this a more tolerant country, but a more hateful one, and one more likely to vandalize synagogues. Does America really have such a shortage of Nazis that we needed to import more from Jordan? The increased diversity didn’t lessen hatred or reduce Neo-Nazism, but gave it a shot in the arm. And it only made America a more dangerous place to be Jewish. Or to be anyone of any background at all. Diversity is no substitute for goodness, morality, or values. And when diversity is substituted for them, synagogues are vandalized, Kosher markets are shot up in Jersey City, and Jews are punched in Brooklyn. ——————- Daniel Greenfield (@Sultanknish) is Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an investigative journalist and writer focusing on radical Left and Islamic terrorism. Tags: Daniel Greenfield, Sultan Knish, Muslim Mob Attack, On A Group, Rohingya Believers, Who Left Islam, To Follow Jesus To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Warrants to Spy on Trump Campaign Lacked Probable Cause, DOJ AdmitsPosted: 30 Jan 2020 12:27 PM PSTTurns out the FBI and Justice Department did abuse the FISA process, omit material information, and subvert justice to spy on the Trump campaign.Stephanie Neville & Cully Stimson: Two of the FBI’s four applications for warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to spy on a Trump campaign adviser lacked probable cause and should not have been issued in the first place. That’s the stunning admission by the Justice Department, contained in a recent court filing with the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington. What’s more, the FBI made “material misstatements and omissions” in those two warrant applications, according to the Justice Department, and the agency isn’t using information from any of the four warrants now. Before dissecting how we got here, it’s important to note that this forthright admission by the Justice Department cuts against the story concocted by the Democrats about the legal merits of the Russia investigation. In a 2018 memo titled “Correcting the Record: The Russia Investigation” and sent to all House members when Democrats were in the minority, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., asserted: “FBI and DOJ officials did not ‘abuse’ the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign.” But they did. Turns out the FBI and Justice Department did abuse the FISA process, omit material information, and subvert justice, and the DOJ now has admitted it. The Inspector General’s Report The wheels came off the Trump-Russia collusion bus in December, when the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General published a report titled “Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation.” Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the Justice Department, testifying before Congress, laid bare the gross deficiencies in the FBI’s investigation. Horowitz noted seven significant inaccuracies and omissions, as we wrote about here. Horowitz’s report got the attention of the FISA court. Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, presiding judge at the time, entered an order Dec. 17. Collyer directed that “the government shall, no later than January 10, 2020, inform the [court] in a sworn written submission of what it has done, and plans to do, to ensure that the statement of facts in each FBI application accurately and completely reflects information possessed by the FBI that is material to any issue presented by the application.” That’s strong stuff coming from the FISA court, especially since the rebuke was public. On Jan. 7, the new presiding judge, James “Jeb” E. Boasberg, entered another order “regarding the handling and disposition of information,” seeking detailed information about how the government planned to handle sensitive matters before the court in the future. Boasberg noted that the court had received notice of “material misstatements and omissions” in the third and fourth FISA applications against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Boasberg’s order referred to a letter sent to the court by the Justice Department on Dec. 9, which contained the following statement: “DOJ assesses that with respect to the applications in Docket Numbers 17-375 and 17-679, ‘if not earlier, there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause to believe that Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power.’” But Boasberg’s order contained another interesting statement. The judge wrote that “the Government apparently does not take a position on the validity of the authorizations in [the first and second FISA warrant applications regarding Page, but intends to sequester information acquired pursuant to those dockets in the same manner as information acquired pursuant to subsequent dockets.” In nonlawyer speak, that means the government isn’t using any of the evidence it may have gotten as a result of spying on Page based on any of the four FISA warrants. Who Signed Off on FISA Warrants Under the applicable rules, FISA warrant applications must be signed by senior Justice Department officials. With respect to the warrants to spy on Page, the first application in October 2016 was signed by then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Collyer approved the application. The second application in January 2017 also was signed by Comey and Yates. Judge Michael Mosman approved the application. The third application in April 2017 was signed by Comey and then-acting Attorney General Dana Boente. Judge Anne Conway approved the application. Finally, the fourth application in June 2017 was signed by then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The application was approved by Judge Raymond Dearie. The Justice Department responded to Collyer’s order with a 15-page filing Jan. 10. The response explains the FBI’s accuracy procedures in the context of applying for a FISA warrant, as well as the historical guidance provided to agents in the Justice Department’s National Security Division (who appear before the FISA court). The response then identifies gaps and seams in the current process, and how they intend to fix those deficiencies. It explains how FBI agents are required to create, maintain, and update a subfile that contains “all materials that document the support for each factual assertion contained in FISA applications,” and that there must be “adequate documentation for every factual assertion contained within a FISA declaration.” Facts are deemed “material” if the “information is capable of influencing the Court’s probable cause determination,” the Justice Department’s response says. It says the department is required to “err in favor of disclosing information that [it] believes the Court would want to know.” The FBI’s Proposed Reforms In response to the report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, the FBI identified multiple corrective actions it said it is taking and will undertake to make sure this doesn’t happen again. The current FBI director, Christopher Wray, signed an affidavit attesting to the corrective actions the bureau is taking and will take to improve FISA accuracy, including updating forms, checklists, training materials, and protocols. Altogether, Wray directed FBI personnel to take more than 40 corrective actions, including 12 that relate to the FISA process. These proposed actions are substantive and serious and would, if enacted and carried out, go a long way to improve the system. Whether it satisfies the FISA court, or Congress, remains to be seen. Wray noted that the FBI “deeply regrets the errors and omissions” in this saga, and that the underlying conduct was “unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI as an institution.” Noticeably absent from any public court filings in this matter is any mention of disciplinary action(s) taken against any Justice Department or FBI employee for the material errors and omissions that occurred. Let’s hope that those personnel actions are underway and that if crimes were committed, John Durham, the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut who has opened a criminal probe into this matter, takes appropriate action. ———————– Charles “Cully” Stimson (@cullystimson) is a leading expert in national security, homeland security, crime control, immigration, and drug policy at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Stephanie Neville is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. Tags: Warrants, to Spy on Trump Campaign, Lacked Probable Cause, DOJ Admits To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Christian PersecutionPosted: 30 Jan 2020 11:51 AM PSTMuslim mob attack on a group of Rohingya believers who left Islam to follow Jesusby Robert Norvell, Contributing Author: Open Doors is an international organization that tracks the persecution of Christians worldwide reports that 1 out of 8 Christians are persecuted. That translates into 250 million followers of Christ throughout the world. Out of the top 15 countries only one, North Korea, is non-Islamic. The other 14 nations are Muslim majority nations. Islam is responsible for 95% of all the horrendous religious persecution taking place in the modern world. A woman in India watches as her sister is dragged off by Hindu nationalists. She doesn’t know if her sister is alive or dead. A man in a North Korean prison camp is shaken awake after being beaten unconscious; the beatings begin again. A woman in Nigeria runs for her life. She has escaped from Boko Haram, who kidnapped her. She is pregnant, and when she returns home, her community will reject her and her baby. A group of children are laughing and talking as they come down to their church’s sanctuary after eating together. Instantly, many of them are killed by a bomb blast. It’s Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.These people don’t live in the same region, or even on the same continent. But they share an important characteristic: They are all Christians, and they suffer because of their faith. While Christian persecution takes many forms, it is defined as any hostility experienced as a result of identification with Jesus Christ. From Sudan to Russia, from Nigeria to North Korea, from Colombia to India, followers of Christianity are targeted for their faith. They are attacked; they are discriminated against at work and at school; they risk sexual violence, torture, arrest and much more.In just the last year*, there have been: Over 245 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution4,305 Christians killed for their faith1,847 churches and other Christian buildings attacked.3,150 believers detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisonedThese numbers are heart-breaking. And yet, they do not tell the whole story. James 1:2-4 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” That joy is what we see when we hear and work with Christians all over the world who suffer because of they serve Jesus. God cares for His people, and He will never leave or forsake them.What shall we as Christians do about this problem? First of all, we need to pray for sisters and brothers undergoing these terrible trials. This action needs to take place in our private devotional lives. But even more importantly, we should lift up the plight of our sisters and brothers to the Lord. If your church does not pray publicly for the persecuted, speak to your pastor and ask he or she to do so. Finally, Muslims need to stop these execrable practices. Islam needs to leave the 6th Century and join the modern world. It should be the God given right for every man, woman and child to choose freely and without coercion their religious affiliation. ——————- * 2019 World Watch List reporting period, November 1, 2017-October 31, 2018 ——————- Robert Norvell is a contributing author to the ARRA News Service. Tags: Christian Persecution, Robert Norvell To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Surprising Gun Facts from the SHOT ShowPosted: 30 Jan 2020 11:11 AM PSTby Frank Miniter: Only John Lott could kill a much-repeated “fact” so cleanly. In 2018 it was widely reported that Americans own 46% of the worlds civilian-owned firearms. This statistic came from the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva, Switzerland, based organization that calls itself “a global centre of excellence” that “generates evidence-based, impartial, and policy-relevant knowledge and analysis on small arms….” It says this just before stating: “Our main objective is to reduce the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons and their impacts.” This, of course, isn’t really a declaration of impartiality, but is rather an announcement that they are an organization with a gun-control agenda. Lott shot holes in this “fact” at a “research breakfast” this week held by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) at the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) in Las Vegas. “The Small Arms Survey is bunk,” said Lott, who is president and founder of the Crime Research Prevention Center. “I spent three years asking the Small Arms Survey for its research data. They never gave me the data they say they used to make the claim that Americans own more guns, per capita, than any other nation.” Lott explained that the Small Arms Survey looks at the number of guns privately owned per capita. The trouble with this is that in many parts of the world governments technically own guns even though they are in the possession of private individuals. “In 2007, a large percentage of the Swiss male population had military-issued weapons in their homes, but those weren’t counted in this total,” said Lott. “Also, while most people have guns in Israel, the guns are technically owned by the government. People can be in possession of a gun for 50 years in Israel. If you look at the gun possession rate rather than the private gun ownership rate, both Israel and Switzerland clearly have higher gun possession rates in 2007 than the U.S.” Lott doesn’t have the resources to do a worldwide study on civilian gun ownership, so he doesn’t have a competing statistic. It also might seem like only a fine point that Americans actually might not have the most civilian guns per capita. It is, however, telling that the Small Arms Survey chose to present its statistics in a way that makes the U.S. seem like an outlier, as many mainstream-media outlets used this and other statistics to claim that Americans’ guns make the U.S. more dangerous than any other developed nations. Lott, for example, next tackled the claim that more mass-murder events (attacks in which four or more people are killed) have occurred in the U.S. than in other developed nations. He also pointed out that the researcher behind that statistic, Adam Lankford, has repeatedly declined to even share the research data he claims to have gathered from 171 nations—places that speak many different languages and that likely only report murders in regional newspapers. Specifically, Lankford claimed that the U.S. had 31% of public mass murderers despite the fact that the U.S. has less than 5% of the world’s population. Lankford’s study also reported that, between 1966 and 2012, some 90 mass murderers struck in the U.S., while just 202 mass-murder attacks occurred across the rest of world. Lott did his own study and found that Lankford massively undercounted mass-murder events in other nations. Lott found 1,448 such attacks outside the U.S. during just the last 15 years of the period Lankford said he studied. “Regardless, many in the mainstream media didn’t question Lankford’s data, as it fit into their narrative that Americans’ guns are a problem,” said Lott. Lott said this after Mark Duda, with Responsive Management, and Rob Southwick, with Southwick Associates, presented survey numbers and more on the gun industry, and after the NSSF’s Jim Curcuruto talked about the new NSSF program “Gun Owners Care”, an initiative designed to help gun owners to effectively respond to those who are opposed to our Second Amendment freedoms. The overall point made by these three researchers is that “words matter” and the gun-control movement is aggressively trying to control the language used, as, by controlling the language, they can control the conversation. The political term “assault weapon” was an early use of this tactic; more recently, the gun-control movement has supplanted the term “gun control” with “gun safety.” Lott added that, yes, we must push back against their appropriation of the language, but just as importantly, we must expose the dishonest data they are pushing on the American public. Meanwhile, as is the case every year, much of the conversation at the SHOT Show is not about gun rights—though the battles over our rights is a topic here. Rather, the conversations at SHOT are mostly about all the new firearms and associated products being introduced. To see these, logon to ShootingIllustrated.org and AmericanRifleman.org. —————————– Frank Miniter is Editor in Chief of America’s 1st Freedom. Tags: Frank Miniter, America’s 1st Freedom, Surprising Gun Facts, SHOT Show To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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| January 31, 2020Featuring the latest analysis, commentary, and research from Manhattan Institute scholarsCIVIL SOCIETYPhoto: Courtesy of the Trade Institute of PittsburghOffering a Hand Up Through Bricklaying“In the 1940s, Steve Shelton’s grandfather dressed up — white shirt, tie, fedora — to take the streetcar to the steel mill where he would change into work clothes, and would shower before dressing up to return home. ‘There was,’ Shelton says, ‘such dignity in the trades back then.’ There still is at the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh (TIP) that Shelton launched.” By George F. Will The Washington Post January 31, 2020 Part of MI’s Civil Society Awards Nominations are open for the Manhattan Institute’s 2020 Civil Society Awards. This fall, four winners will each receive a $25,000 award for their efforts to keep our social fabric from fraying, assist those who need it most, and help people change the course of their lives. Nominate an outstanding nonprofit by March 20, 2020. Learn more at civilsocietyawards.com.SUBMIT A NOMINATIONCRIME & POLICINGPhoto: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesBloomberg Should Stop and Question His Reversal on ‘Stop, Question and Frisk’“Proactive police stops are among the most effective crime-fighting tools that cops on the beat have. … An opposing narrative, however, has taken over the public discourse about stop, question and frisk. That narrative is based on three propositions, all of them false.” By Heather Mac Donald The Hill January 30, 2020 HOUSING POLICYPhoto: Ryan McGurl/iStockThe Tragic Lessons of Urban Renewal at Brookline’s Farms“[Government] planners remain far too confident that lower-income communities can be effectively designed.” By Howard Husock The Boston Globe January 31, 2020 ECONOMY & FINANCEPhoto: nimis69/iStockOn the 4th Quarter GDP Report“According to new data published this morning, the economy grew 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019. That’s the slowest quarter of economic growth we’ve experienced in three years and leaves 2019 with an average growth rate of 2.3%, which is slower than both 2017 and 2018.” By Beth Akers Manhattan Institute January 30, 2020 NEW YORK CITY & STATEPhoto: Kevin Boyd/FlickrTrouble in Grand Central’s ParadiseThe train terminal remains a jewel of New York, but the mounting presence of homeless people recalls its troubled past. By Seth Barron City Journal Online January 30, 2020 CULTURE & SOCIETYPhoto: Chinnapong/iStockFree to Be VulgarA French free-speech controversy also illustrates the decline of civility in an educated society. By Theodore Dalrymple City Journal Online January 30, 2020 EDUCATIONPhoto: courtneyk/iStockCharter Schools Benefit Disadvantaged StudentsAmong Democrats, 58% of black voters and 52% of Hispanic voters support charter schools—but their presidential candidates fail to reflect this view. In the latest issue brief in the Issues 2020 series, Max Eden shows how this newfound antipathy flies in the face of the evidence of charter schools’ success in improving educational outcomes for lower-income and minority students. PODCASTPhoto: adrian825/iStockParenting in the CityKarol Markowicz joins Kay Hymowitz to discuss raising young children in New York City. CITY JOURNALCity Journal Winter 2020 Our new issue explores the needless panic over disposable plastic, Los Angeles’s epidemic of drug addiction, how the incarceration of fathers affects children, the promise of next-generation nuclear power, ideological purity tests for artists, and more. Get your print copy today! FEATURED BOOKPhoto: Manhattan InstituteDigital CathedralsToday’s global Cloud is society’s first foundationally new infrastructure in nearly a century. It is comprised of thousands of warehouse-scale computers and history’s biggest network of “information superhighways.” Powering this data behemoth consumes more energy than all global aviation. Yet, as disruptive as the Cloud has already become, we are only at the end of the beginning of what digital masons are building for the 21st century. In Digital Cathedrals, Mark Mills explores this new infrastructure through the lens of energy demand, and the implications for policymakers and regulators, who will be increasingly tempted—or enjoined—to engage issues of competition, fairness, and even social disruptions, along with the challenges of abuse of market power, both valid and trumped up.Buy NowManhattan Institute is a think tank whose mission is to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility. 52 Vanderbilt Ave. New York, NY 10017 (212) 599-7000SUPPORT MICopyright © 2020 Manhattan Institute, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Manhattan Institute52 Vanderbilt Ave.New York, NY 10017 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list View this email in your browser |
THE BLAZE
THE WASHINGTON POST MORNING MIX
| Sign up for this newsletterRead onlineStories from all over. An X-ray of Gerardo Moctezuma’s brain. The red area is where the parasite was on his brain stem.He worried about headaches and fainting spells, only to learn a tapeworm was living in his brain for yearsThe clear and white parasite came from tapeworm larvae that a doctor believes might have been in Gerardo Moctezuma had in his brain for more than a decade undetected.By Timothy Bella ● Read more » ‘Stop normalizing racism’: Amid backlash, UC-Berkeley apologizes for listing xenophobia under ‘common reactions’ to coronavirusIn a recent Instagram post, the university’s health services defined xenophobia as “fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about those feelings.”By Allyson Chiu ● Read more » Wow! Impeachment: A study of the exclamation running wild on TwitterSixteenth-century Scots coined the word that has dominated reactions to the Trump impeachment trial.By Katie Shepherd ● Read more » ‘In Trump We Trust’: Ice cream shop resists town orders to take down its impeachment bannerA Long Island mayor says the oversized banner is merely a code violation. But the store’s owner says he’s being unfairly targeted for supporting Trump.By Teo Armus ● Read more » A man got thrown out of his wheelchair for reminding an able-bodied SUV driver not to park in the handicapped space, police sayPhilip Kinstler asked a woman not to park in the handicapped spot illegally. Her husband tracked him down in Target and threw him onto the ground, police say.By Meagan Flynn ● Read more » We think you’ll like this newsletterCheck out The Trailer for news and insight on political campaigns around the country, from David Weigel. 435 districts. 50 states. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings. Sign up » |
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AMERICAN THINKER
| View this email in your browserRecent ArticlesIt’s About Corruption – Replacing a Failed and Corrupt Political EstablishmentJan 31, 2020 01:00 am A look at Trump’s words casts a lot of light on why he wins. Read More… The Right to a Fair TrialJan 31, 2020 01:00 am Trump’s worst offense has been hurting the Democrat’s feelings. Read More… George Soros’ New VentureJan 31, 2020 01:00 am George Soros is attempting to remake Bard College as a tool for use in his Open Society initiative. Read More… A Ten Point Action Plan to Stem Attacks Against JewsJan 31, 2020 01:00 am There are today powerful forces arrayed against the Jewish people, not simply from the right but predominantly from the political Left. Read More… The Democrats and Socialist ContradictionJan 31, 2020 01:00 am As the Democratic field falls all over itself to move ever further left toward a more classic socialism, they are moving further away from their voters, Read More… Do Democrats really care about election integrity?Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Enabling and respecting the will of the people requires trustworthy, responsible voting. Read More… Recent Blog Posts Chief Justice John Roberts strikes out Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Three strikes and you’re out, Your Honor. Read more… California’s nightmare is spreading nationally Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Folks, it is pretty crazy out there in California. Read more… Brexit: Nigel Farage takes Britain out of Europe with a stellar flourish Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am A sense of the theatric like none other. Read more… The impeachment logic is really pretty simple Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am The fundamental facts of the presidential impeachment are clear and simple. There are only two. Read more… So E. Jean Carroll left an unwashed dress in her closet for 25 years? Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am What kind of a woman leaves an unwashed dress in her closet for 25 years? Read more… The case for Republicans calling impeachment witnesses Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am I would like to see the Republicans call Shifty Schiff’s bluff and let everything come into the light. Read more… Another atrocious ego from the mainstream press Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Suspended and now reinstated Washington Post reporter Felicia Somnez, who tweeted bad stuff about Kobe Bryant while he was still lying dead on a burning California hillside, has no apologies to the public for her behavior. Read more… Joe Biden: Vote for me because I might die in office Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Adding to the hilarity is that Biden has mooted Michelle Obama as a running mate. Read more… Trump years bring real hope and change, making America great again Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Hope and change “are finally reaching more people” under our current president. Read more… Trump impeachment: An important distinction Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Withholding aid is not the same thing as threatening to withhold aid. Read more… Iran faces stark options for the future Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am The appeasement policy of the West regarding Iran is at a definite end. Read more… Hillary dodging process servers? Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am In the fine tradition of mob bosses for over a century. Read more… Trump makes lemonade out of Lemon’s stupid remarks Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am Lemon’s TDS is out in the open again. Read more… Who is the deal for? Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am The Deal of the Century is not for the Arabs living in Gaza, Judea, or Samaria. Read more… Journalists should be laughed at for thinking they are so smart Jan 31, 2020 01:00 am They just keep repeating the same old proven falsehoods, on a wide front. Read more… View this email in your browserAmerican Thinker is a daily internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans. |
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DESERET NEWS
NATIONAL REVIEW
| WITH JIM GERAGHTYJanuary 31 2020The End of Impeachment?On the menu today: With Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander declaring, “there is no need for more evidence to prove something that has already been proven and that does not meet the United States Constitution’s high bar for an impeachable offense,” the Senate’s impeachment trial might be wrapping up as soon as today. If impeachment is indeed coming to a close, it’s time to focus on a strangely unasked question in much of this: Whom were the House impeachment managers trying to persuade? And did they seem like a group that was primarily focused on changing the minds of Republican senators?Were the House Impeachment Managers Even Trying to Persuade GOP Senators?In Steven Covey’s bestselling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, his second habit is to “begin with the end in mind,” which means to “begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your … READ MORE |
| ADVERTISEMENTTRENDING ON NATIONAL REVIEW1. Unhappy to Be Stuck with 2 Percent Growth2. The Bernie Path Works Only for Bernie3. How Beauty Could Help Solve the Housing CrisisTOP STORIESJONAH GOLDBERGDershowitz’s Dangerous Defense of TrumpThe president’s lawyer argues that he can’t be impeached for anything short of violating federal law. That’s wrong …NR PLUS DAN MCLAUGHLINWhat the Democratic Primary Calendar Can Tell UsTo handicap the race properly, you have to know who votes when. MONA CHARENStepping around Human MiseryGovernments at every level spend billions on the homeless, yet the numbers sleeping on the streets remain …NEWSPompeo Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to Ukraine: ‘Bulwark Between Freedom and Authoritarianism’“The United States sees that the Ukrainian struggle for freedom, democracy and prosperity is a valiant one,” …DAN MCLAUGHLINWhat the Democratic Primary Calendar Can Tell UsThe playing field of voters in a national presidential primary is unlike any other American election, because each …ARMOND WHITEThe Traitor Reimagines the Gangster Film and Modern MoralityImagine “The Irishman” done right — made by a filmmaker whose reputation has not overrun his …NEWSBernie Sanders told Ninth Graders the U.S. Committed Acts in Vietnam ‘Almost as Bad as what…A Vermont newspaper reported on the comments, made while Sanders was campaigning for governor as a member of the …WHAT NR IS READINGThe Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and FreeBY RICHARD LOWRY“Makes an original and compelling case for nationalism . . . A fascinating, erudite—and much-needed—defense of a hallowed idea unfairly under current attack.” — Victor Davis HansonLEARN MOREPODCASTSEpisode 188: Everyone’s in Iowa . …. Episode 105: An Especially Deep… PHOTOSTop Shots USS Montgomery VIDEOMinneapolis NAACP, Black… Kushner Says US Wants… NRPLUS ARTICLESThe Comedy of Decline Good News from the Apocalypse Desk Ready for Election Season?National Review subscribers get the most out of National Review. Don’t miss out.SEE MY OPTIONSADVERTISEMENTFollow Us & Share19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser. |
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BERNARD GOLDBERG
| A new post from Bernie.Bernie’s Q&A: Don Lemon, Katie Pavlich, Bernard Shaw, Bernie Sanders, and more! (1/31) — Premium Interactive ($4 members)By Bernard Goldberg on Jan 31, 2020 02:00 am Below is a sneak peek of this content! Welcome to this week’s Premium Q&A session for Premium Interactive members. I appreciate you all signing up and joining me. Thank you. Editor’s Note: If you enjoy these sessions (along with the weekly columns and audio commentaries), please use the Facebook and… CONTINUE Read More » More to read:Off the Cuff: The Dems Who Cried Wolf …On Impeachment Bernie and Donald – Not As Different As You May Think Bernie’s Q&A: Jeff Zucker, Warren vs. Sanders, NFL Concussions, and more! (1/24) — Premium Interactive ($4 members) Off the Cuff: A Democratic Impeachment Conspiracy to Hurt Sanders? (Not Exactly) Breaking News: CNN Has Become a Journalistic EmbarrassmentBecome A FanFollow on TwitterForward to a FriendWant emails sent directly to you?SIGN UP NOW In this issue:Bernie’s Q&A: Don Lemon, Katie Pavlich, Bernard Shaw, Bernie Sanders, and more! (1/31) — Premium Interactive ($4 members) Want to Help Spread the Word? Forward this Email!About BernieBernard Goldberg, the television news reporter and author of Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news, is widely seen as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. He has covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 13 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism. He won six Emmys at CBS, and seven at HBO, where he now reports for the widely acclaimed broadcast Real Sports. [Read More…] Bernie’s Amazon Page follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 2020 BernardGoldberg.com, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences |
GATEWAY PUNDIT
| Web version The Collapse of a Society: Venezuelan State-Owned Oil Company Shuts Down Last Two Operating Refineries for Repairs — Socialism in Action Venezuelan oil refineries were shut down this week. PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company, shut down its last two operating refineries in… Read more… Special Offer: A One-Of-A-Kind ‘Trump 45 Beanie’ For Free (Just Cover S and H) If you’re planning on standing in line this winter for a Trump rally or want to show your support for President Trump as you go… Read more… “A Deranged Human Being… Pathological Liar… Lied for Two-and-a-Half Years” – Newt Gingrich Says What Everyone Is Thinking About Adam Schiff Former US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was on the Ingraham Angle on FOX News on Thursday night. Newt said what we all have… Read more… “Y’all Know the Moment when Donald Trump Met Kanye – Very Historical Moment in Our History” – NFL Star Wears MAGA Gear to Super Bowl Media Day Thursday was Super Bowl Media Day. Kansas City Chiefs Defensive End Frank Clark wore a Trump sweatshirt to the media event. Clark was asked about… Read more… CHINA UPDATE: People Create Unique Ways to Cope with Coronavirus as Surgical Mask and Food Shortages Increase — AMAZING PHOTOS Live from Hong Kong Surgical masks and food are in short supply in some cases in China and Hong Kong due to the coronavirus. Surgical… Read more… Don’t Fool Yourself: Ciaramella Will Not Be the Last Anti-Trump Deep State Hack To File Third-Hand Flawed Complaint to Launch Impeachment Against Trump In order to destroy President Trump Democrat operatives changed whistleblower forms to allow for third-hand “witnesses” to file complaints against the Commander in Chief based… Read more… “Jerry, Jerry, JERRY!” Schiff Fumes as Nadler Races Past Him to Deliver Impeachment Q&A Finale (Video) “Jerry, Jerry, JERRY!”, a frustrated Lead House Manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) could be heard calling out to his fellow Manager Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)… Read more… Steve Bannon’s “War Room” Live on The Gateway Pundit 9-10 AM ET – Friday 1-31-20 …On Brexit Day! The Bannon War Room is live this morning from his studio in Washington DC. The War Room is live each day twice a day with… Read more… What Were the Odds? Extremely Good Chance Brexit and Acquitmas Will Take Place Within Hours of Each Other It looks like the reports were right. With Lamar Alexander’s announcement on Thursday night it is likely that the Trump impeachment charade will end in… Read more… You Might Like Advertisement Copyright © 2019 All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy This email was sent to rickbulow74@live.com. You are receiving this email because you asked to receive information from The Gateway Pundit. We take your privacy and your liberty very seriously and will keep your information in the strictest confidence. Your name will not be sold to or shared with third parties. We will email you from time to time with relevant news and updates, but you can stop receiving information from us at any time by following very simple instructions that will be included at the bottom of any correspondence you should receive from us. Our mailing address is: 16024 Manchester Rd. | St. Louis, MO 63011 Unsubscribe |