ACTUALLY, SOME OF US DID, BUT DIDN’T HAVE THE MSM CHEERLEADING US: Fox’s Watters: ‘No one blamed’ Obama for ‘anti-police rhetoric’ when cops were shot during his term.
Archive for 2018
October 31, 2018
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: UDenver polices Halloween with ‘We’re a Culture, Not a Costume’ campaign. A culture of idiocy.
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Birthright Babies and Much, Much More.
STILL SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES: Militant Normals: How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy.
DON’T GET COCKY, KIDS: Poll: Trump Hits Record High Approval Rating with Black Voters Amid BLEXIT Launch.
USAF HUEY REPLACEMENT: Pilots test the Boeing MH-139 utility helicopter, the replacement for the USAF’s UH-1N “Huey” helicopters.
TWEET OF THE WEEK, FROM STEVE SCALISE:
RED ON RED: Congress Goes to War With Treasury Department Over Saving Iranian Financial Access. “Cruz bill gaining momentum as Iran hawks see Trump Treasury Dept. saving Iran’s banks.”
U.S. officials familiar with Congress’s effort to take the reins on tough new Iran sanctions ahead of a Nov. 4 snapback deadline have been battling with the Treasury Department over its efforts to allow Iran to remain connected to the SWIFT banking system, which facilitates cross-border transactions and has provided Iran with a key lifeline to the West.
Iran hawks on Capitol Hill are said to be frustrated over the Treasury Department’s efforts, telling the Washington Free Beacon that some officials in the Trump administration are walking back the president’s promise to reimpose a bevy of new sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal.
The Free Beacon first reported last week on the internal battle in the administration over the extent of sanctions and efforts by some European allies to pressure the United States into keeping Iran involved in the international marketplace.
While Trump and top officials such as National Security Adviser John Bolton have publicly advocated for a hardline on Iran, pressure from the Europeans appears to have worn down the Treasury Department, which first told the Free Beacon last week that Iran’s connection to SWIFT could remain intact.
Trump was ballsy enough to get us out of the lousy Iran Deal, but apparently failed to whip his own Treasury people into line. Followthrough counts, bigly.
BYRON YORK: Finally, a day of reckoning for Michael Avenatti?
Of course, it wasn’t true. Still, Avenatti’s allegation poured fuel on an already raging partisan fire over the Kavanaugh nomination. First there was the Christine Ford allegation. Then came the Ramirez accusation, which, coming after Ford, gave Kavanaugh’s opponents the occasion to claim a “pattern” of Kavanaugh’s alleged abuse of women. Then Avenatti’s allegation — gang rape — sent it into another dimension.
Avenatti’s client was identified as Julie Swetnick, who had lived in the Washington area during Kavanaugh’s high school years. Avenatti sent the committee an affidavit in which Swetnick made her claims. Beyond that, he provided no other evidence to support the allegation — beyond the promise of “multiple witnesses.” Nevertheless, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee took it very seriously.
Putting aside the question of why NBC waited to report the woman’s statement until after the Kavanaugh vote was over. The entire Avenatti episode left Grassley angry that the publicity-seeking lawyer had hijacked the committee’s time and energy at a critical time with claims that were obviously untrue. So on Oct. 25, Grassley formally referred Avenatti (and Swetnick) to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation into their conduct.
“It is illegal to knowingly and willfully make materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements to congressional investigators,” Grassley wrote in the referral. “When charlatans make false claims to the committee — claims that may earn them short-term media exposure and financial gain, but which hinder the committee’s ability to do its job — there should be consequences.”
With Avenatti, there have so far been no consequences, beyond the loss of whatever credibility some cable TV news organizations conferred on him in repeated appearances over the last several months. Now, with the Grassley referral, that could finally change.
Consequences, for a change.
DON’T BLAME SCHOOLS FOR THE “ACHIEVEMENT GAP:” Like many other “civil rights” policies, it only ends up hurting its intended beneficiaries.
LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Latin America in Fresh Crisis Talks as Millions Flee Venezuela. “Ecuador’s government said it would extend until Nov. 30 a ‘humanitarian emergency’ in the most affected areas, including regions on the Colombian and Peruvian borders, and the capital Quito. Ecuador expelled Venezuela’s ambassador this month, after Venezuela accused Quito of lying about the extent of migration. The two countries were close allies until relations broke down this year.”
Weird how no one ever tries breaking into a workers’ paradise.
UGH: Paramedic hurt patient on purpose, then bragged about it on Facebook, state says.
About the best thing I can say about social media is that it has encouraged an allowed an awful lot of antisocial types to self-reveal.
HAIL, BRITANNIA: UK MoD gets budget boost of more than $1B with three programs in mind. “Cyber, anti-submarine warfare and the Dreadnought nuclear submarine build program all got named as destinations for the extra cash.”
It’s not enough, but it’s a start.
KAROL MARKOWICZ: Blood Libels: Conservatives don’t get to mourn after national tragedies because they’re always forced to beat back the idea they caused it. “After every horrible mass shooting, when we should be mourning together, looking for solutions to stop future attacks, consoling the families of the victims, there’s an immediate rush to make sure conservatives know they do not belong to that wider American community feeling the pain. Worse, there’s a constant allusion to the fact that those on the right are responsible for the slaughter. Republicans spend the time following these attacks not in mourning like they should be but beating back the sickening idea that they inspired the shooter.”
UNEXPECTEDLY: Thanks Obama: The 5 Prisoners Freed From Gitmo In Exchange For Bergdahl Join Insurgency In Qatar.
“The Taliban are bringing back their old generation, which means the Taliban have not changed their thinking or their leadership,” said Mir, according to the Military Times. “What we are more worried about is if tomorrow the Taliban say ‘we are ready to negotiate,’ who will represent Kabul? That is the big challenge because the government is so divided, not just ideologically but on ethnic lines.”
These men include, according to the Military Times, Mohammed Fazl, who oversaw the deaths of thousands of minority Shiites in 2000. It also includes Abdul Haq Wasiq, who was described as “the most significant Taliban leader held at Guantanamo Bay because of his particularly close relationship with Mullah Omar.”
Interrogation followed by execution is the only proper way to deal with foreign terrorists, who are afforded no POW protections under the Geneva Conventions.
REMINDER: It’s very unlikely you will ever confront an active shooter, but if you do: run as far and fast as you can in the opposite direction of where the gunfire is coming from, and if possible don’t hide somewhere where you are cornered/trapped. If you do find yourself cornered in a room or closet, don’t just sit there and wait for the gunman to find you, have a plan (with your fellow cornerees) to confront and attack the gunman from each side of the door as soon as he opens the door, and if you are in hiding an the gunman doesn’t appear, don’t come out until authorities give the all-clear signal. That’s what I learned in my State Department security training, and it’s advice that would have saved lives in several recent incidents. It’s undoubtedly very hard to keep these things in mind under the stress of the situation, but much easier if you have it firmly in your mind in advance.
GEORGE KORDA: Five Ways To Lose A Political Friend.
YEP. NEWS I PERSONALLY CAN USE: Hydrate! Since at least once I put myself in the hospital through severe dehydration.
YIPPEE-KI-YAY!: On this day in 1912, singing cowgirl Dale Evans was born. Roy Rogers was her fourth husband. The fourth time was a charm.