#METOO: Former Gillibrand aide resigned in protest over handling of sex harassment claims.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), one of the most outspoken advocates of the #MeToo movement who has made fighting sexual misconduct a centerpiece of her presidential campaign, spent last summer pressing legislators to update Congress’ “broken” system of handling sexual harassment.

At the same time, a mid-20s female aide to Gillibrand resigned in protest over the handling of her sexual harassment complaint by Gillibrand‘s office, and criticized the senator for failing to abide by her own public standards.

In July, the female staffer alleged one of Gillibrand’s closest aides — who was a decade her senior and married — repeatedly made unwelcome advances after the senator had told him he would be promoted to a supervisory role over her. She also said the male aide regularly made crude, misogynistic remarks in the office about his female colleagues and potential female hires.

Less than three weeks after reporting the alleged harassment and subsequently claiming that the man retaliated against her for doing so, the woman told chief of staff Jess Fassler that she was resigning because of the office’s handling of the matter. She did not have another job lined up.

What did the Senator know and when did she know it?

MATTHEW CONTINETTI: “I have a new hobby. It’s collecting the excuses Democrats make for Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democratic congresswoman who has an unhealthy fixation on Jewish influence, Jewish money, and Jewish loyalty.”

THERE SHE GOES AGAIN: Ocasio-Cortez, at SXSW, blasts FDR, Reagan and capitalism, says political moderates are ‘meh.’

Today’s Young Turk “Democratic” Socialists are burning bridges before they cross them. Meanwhile, YouTuber “Mr. Reagan” has an interesting theory: AOC, Tlaib & Co. are actors hired to play a part.

THREAD: “I went to the heart of Venezuela’s transmission system in Guarico to try to find out what’s going on with the grid. Here’s why partial blackouts are unfortunately likely to persist for a while. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.”

Lots of good info on Venezuela’s neglected energy infrastructure, plus photos.

ROGER STONE’S GREATEST EXPLOIT EVER: Ilhan Omar bails out Trump: Democrats used to be happily united in their opposition to Trump. It’s getting more complicated. “Omar’s blunt anti-Israel statements, which even many Democrats call anti-Semitic, have not only fractured her party but have created a rival political narrative to Trump’s mounting setbacks. Where a few weeks ago, cable television networks cut to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s live commentary about Trump and Russia, this week they carried her uncomfortable words about seething fellow Democrats.”

WELL, GOOD: Pentagon Gives Erdogan An Ultimatum: Don’t Expect Our F-35s If You Buy Russian S-400s.

Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers said Friday morning that there will be “grave consequences” if Turkey moves forward in purchasing Russia’s S-400, according to Bloomberg — this after the top US commander in Europe, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, recommended to Congress this week that delivery to Turkey of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter should ultimately be cancelled, nothing that the S-400 remains “a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35.”

Turkey’s currency fell 1.5 percent this week amid fears relations with Washington could worsen over the standoff. President Erdogan has further missed a “soft deadline” previously set by the US over an offer to buy $3.5 billion Raytheon Co. Patriot missile shield system, as an alternative to the Russian S-400. The Pentagon said the Patriot offer would be impossible should Turkey seek the Russian system.

Failure to receive the F-35s could further impact Turkey’s economy given that a number of Turkish defense technology companies have contracts to build and develop systems and add-ons needed for Turkey to operate the aircraft, such as cockpit displays for the multi-national fighter jet.

Kicking Turkey out of the multinational manufacturing deal would create a few speed bumps, but worth it if Erdogan insists on cooperating so closely with Moscow on air defense.

Also, given the road away from the West Erdogan has put Turkey on, you have to wonder how long before the Dirk Diggler Effect kicks in:

Remember Boogie Nights? Pretty good movie, especially if you like Heather Graham on wheels. But that’s not my point here. Fairly early in the movie, Mark Wahlberg goes out and buys himself a sweet red Corvette Stingray with his dirty-dirty hiney-touching money. By the last quarter of the movie, Wahlberg and John C. Reilly are pushing the battered remains of said Corvette down the street because……..yeah. Dirk Diggler was responsible for maintaining it. You’ve got the look, you’ve got the power….but apparently you don’t have the ability to call Steve down at Jiffy Lube and schedule an oil/lube/tire rotation. I mean, what the hell. If you’re a little short on cash, they usually have a punch card where you can get the 5th oil change free!

This isn’t a condemnation of Saddam’s Iraq per se: It’s a condemnation of ANY country where political connections among contractors and subcontractors, sketchy material suppliers and corrupt or frightened quality control inspectors come together in a big Venn Diagram of “Oh Shit!” Hell, it’s hard enough to keep infrastructure standing tall in America (remember the I35 West bridge collapse in Minneapolis/St. Paul?), but The Third World? Fuhgeddaboudit!

More to come.

BYRON YORK: Yes, Trump Is The Target Of “Presidential Harassment.” “The president’s adversaries of course dismiss his protests as self-interested whining. But the fact is, Trump has a point. He is the target of an extraordinary combination, not just of federal law enforcement and congressional probes, but a long list of less-discussed but potentially consequential investigations by state and local prosecutors and regulators. Together, it adds up to a pile-on of unprecedented proportions, by and large the work of blue-state Democrats who stand to gain politically if their investigations succeed in crippling the president.”

ENDGAME: John Bolton Says Venezuela’s Maduro ‘Fears’ That Order to Arrest Opposition ‘Would Not Be Obeyed.’

THIS SEEMS LIKE A BAD 2020 SLOGAN: All but 6 Democrats oppose resolution against illegal aliens voting.

IT REALLY IS HANDY:  Toxic “Diversity” vs. Genuine Diversity: A Handy Chart.

IT CERTAINLY WASN’T: This is not the Discrimination we were looking for.

BUT THEN, WHAT DOESN’T? ‘Unusual’ cloud sends conspiracy theorists into frenzy.

THAT’S NOT THE NARRATIVE: Finland: Government Collapses Over Universal Health Care Costs, #Bernie2020 Hardest Hit.

THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE REASONS: Democratic presidents behaved a lot worse than Trump in the White House.

WILL NOBODY GIVE A THOUGHT TO HOW THIS TRAUMATIZED THAT POOR WHALE?  THEY DON’T MAKE WHALE SIZED DENTAL FLOSS!  Real-life Jonah gets trapped in whale’s jaws.

MY BUCKET LIST INCLUDES KNOWING NOT A DAMN THING ABOUT YOUR BUCKET LIST AND ALSO, DEAR LORD!  Survey reveals what’s at the top of men and women’s ‘sex bucket list’.

IF THIS IS CHASTENED I WOULD HATE TO SEE HER EMBOLDENED:  Ilhan Omar retweets Al Jazeera host in response to Meghan McCain criticism.

THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE:  Proof That “the Rich” Aren’t Going to Fund the Tidal Wave of New Spending.

I KNOW IT’S NOT THIS SIMPLE, BUT IN PRINCIPLE, GIVEN THAT THE LEFT HATES CIVILIZATION, PROSPERITY AND HUMANITY ITSELF, IF IT’S SOMETHING THEY SUPPORT ONE SHOULD ALWAYS ASSUME IT DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD:  Recycling: another idea that isn’t going quite as planned.

WALLOWING? SHE PRODUCES IT. I FELT MY IQ TRICKLE OUT OF MY EARS TRYING TO PARSE HER VERBIAGE:  Wallowing in stupidity.

YEAH. THEY THINK IF THEY DESTROY EVERYTHING PARADISE WILL AUTOMAGICALLY APPEAR.  THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU THINK OF ENVY AS A VIRTUE: Socialism as Deliberate Destruction.

OH, DEAR LORD:  NARAL: Not Only Women Get Abortions.