‘MIGHT NEED YOUR HELP ON THE LOW:’ Jussie Smollett wrote those words in a Jan. 25, 2019, text to Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo. He’s likely regretting ever sending that text after being charged today for offenses related to a hate crime hoax. Last Refuge has the prosecutor’s proffer, which is full of detail.

SHARYL ATKISSON ASKS THE RIGHT QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DEEP STATE: The former CBS News reporter is suing the government to find out who ordered the intrusion of her computer and other surveillance that appears to bear some disturbing resemblances to the Russia Collusion Scandal.

Writing for The American Thinker, Atkisson asks some highly pertinent questions:

“Who is behind the move to use government surveillance tools against innocent Americans? Do some of these officials still work inside the government? Were some of them the very same officials now implicated in alleged surveillance abuses during Campaign 2016?”

Prediction: The answers to the first question will provide the answers to the second and third. Given what’s already on the record in both the Atkisson case and the Russia Collusion Scandal, one need not be “conspiracy theorist” to see where this is going.

And yes, there is an appeal for financial support in Atkisson’s post. To understand why, read her explanation for why merely printing a brief for the federal court system costs not $20, not $40, but $4,367.70. Justice is not cheap anymore, friends.

THEY’RE BACK! HOUSE DEMS PLANNING EARMARK RESTORATION: You knew they would as soon as they got back in power. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Nita Lowey (D-NY) think bringing back “directed congressional spending” is just a dandy idea. They must have some new bridges to nowhere to fund.

YOU MAY NOT RECALL JOHN THOMPSON BUT DRUG DEALER RAYFUL EDMOND DOES: Thompson coached the Georgetown Hoyas to the NCAA national basketball championship in 1984. Patrick Ewing was Thompson’s star player that illustrious season.

Edmond during the same years was building the cocaine empire in the nation’s capital that eventually landed him in prison. Quin Hillyer reminds us in the Washington Examiner of the one time those two men met and why we should care 35 years later.

TRUMP’S NATIONAL EMERGENCY ORDER TEXT:

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 15, 2019

DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY CONCERNING THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES – – – – – – – BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION      The current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency.  The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics.  The problem of large-scale unlawful migration through the southern border is long-standing, and despite the executive branch’s exercise of existing statutory authorities, the situation has worsened in certain respects in recent years.  In particular, recent years have seen sharp increases in the number of family units entering and seeking entry to the United States and an inability to provide detention space for many of these aliens while their removal proceedings are pending.  If not detained, such aliens are often released into the country and are often difficult to remove from the United States because they fail to appear for hearings, do not comply with orders of removal, or are otherwise difficult to locate.  In response to the directive in my April 4, 2018, memorandum and subsequent requests for support by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense has provided support and resources to the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border.  Because of the gravity of the current emergency situation, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to provide additional support to address the crisis. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States, and that section 12302 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretaries of the military departments concerned, subject to the direction of the Secretary of Defense in the case of the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.  To provide additional authority to the Department of Defense to support the Federal Government’s response to the emergency at the southern border, I hereby declare that this emergency requires use of the Armed Forces and, in accordance with section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), that the construction authority provided in section 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of Defense and, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the military departments.  I hereby direct as follows: Section 1.  The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of each relevant military department, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall order as many units or members of the Ready Reserve to active duty as the Secretary concerned, in the Secretary’s discretion, determines to be appropriate to assist and support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security at the southern border. Sec. 2.  The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and, subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, shall take all appropriate actions, consistent with applicable law, to use or support the use of the authorities herein invoked, including, if necessary, the transfer and acceptance of jurisdiction over border lands. Sec. 3.  This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third. DONALD J. TRUMP ###

WHAT’S THIS, BRADY, PATS WIN BECAUSE HIS WIFE IS A WITCH? I am not making this up. Go here.

CHILD LABOR PRODUCES MUCH OF THE WORLD’S CHOCOLATE: Valentine’s Day may be the day when more chocolate is consumed than on any other, but here’s a fact you may not know: Much of the world’s chocolate supply comes from the Ivory Coast in Africa and child labor is quite common in the industry there.

Both the industry and government there are working to change things for the better and there are some grounds for hope. The Heritage Foundation’s latest Index of Economic Freedom ranks the country as “moderately free” at number 78.

But there’s also this, according to Heritage: “Protection of property rights is fragile, and only 4 percent of land is titled. The judiciary is not independent, and judges are highly susceptible to external interference and bribes.

“Court cases are frequently postponed for years or decades with no clear explanation. Persistent corruption in the judiciary, police, military, customs, contract awards, tax offices, and other government institutions discourages investment.”

Bet you didn’t see that coming!

WHY IS IT THE FRESHMEN ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST IDEAS? Because they still remember life back home in the real world? In any case, freshmen GOP senators Mike Braun of Indiana and Rick Scott of Florida introduced a proposal Tuesday to end tax-funded congressional pensions.

“It’s time for term limits and it’s time to make those in D.C. realize that the era of career politicians is over. Americans should not have to foot the bill for generous salaries and pensions for members of Congress,” Scott said.

Both men promised not to accept tax-funded pensions when they leave Congress, an important both for their credibility and because they believe they have to grand-father all current members of the Senate and House for their proposal to have any chance of becoming law.

With that grand-father clause, things could get real interesting if the guy sitting in the Oval Office takes notice and starts tweeting about Braun-Scott. Go here for more.

VIRGINIA DEMS WILL ONLY RESIGN FOR REAL SCANDAL LIKE WEARING A … As Glenn is wont to say, HEH. These Babylon Bee people are gifted satirists, so enjoy them now while you still can. The PC police will be calling on them soon enough.

HEADING BACK TO THE GOOD OLE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TODAY! If you are reading this post early Saturday morning, I’m on a United Airlines flight heading north to Houston, then to Dulles International Airport outside of the nation’s capital and finally back home in Maryland.

It’s been an amazing week in Puebla, Mexico, for many reasons, but, as great as this 19th annual Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) mission has been, it will be so good to sleep in my own bed tonight.

American generosity and selfless Christian service to others is best displayed when it’s done entirely out of the heart and given with absolutely no strings attached. In case you want to know more about why the 2019 mission was such a success, find out more here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

STAKE YOUR LIFE ON A 1-IN-10-TO-THE-140TH POWER CHANCE OF BEING RIGHT? Calculating probabilities is usually only of interest to certain sorts of mathematicians and insurance industry actuaries.

But what if your life depended on odds so long there isn’t enough room here to display them? That’s the question at the heart of “Origin of Life.” WARNING: This video graphically illustrates the awesome odds against that first protein forming in the soup billions of years ago.

And by the way, I won’t be posting here for the next week. Check out the reason why here. ANOTHER WARNING: There’s a Blues Brothers element to the post, for those of you old enough to remember real comedy. If you’re too young, just ask your parents, or a Baby Boomer friend who, like me, can still (mostly) hear.

LIKE FISH, MEDIA ROTS FROM THE HEAD: David Reaboi writes this in The Federalist today:

“As media companies have found their resources shrink, they found it more profitable to jettison some of the work from highly paid, more experienced reporters and editors in favor of increasingly ideological woke clickbait generated from young staffers, listicles, and fulsome explorations of things like the ‘internet culture’ beat. The importance of agitating for political priorities and enforcing new cultural standards blinded many in the industry to the reality of their failing business model.”

Being a journalist of more than 30 years experience, I may be a bit biased on this topic, but that paragraph is about as succinct a summary as I have yet read of the state of mind in so many corners of the mainstream media. The rest of the post is here and well worth your attention.

IS AOC BECOMING SHORT FOR *SNAFU? Some Democrats are beginning to see major problems presented for their party by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). She comes from the Democratic Socialist of America party (DSA) in the Empire State, though she ran as a Democrat.

The American Thinker’s Rick Moran reports that an audience of DSAers recently chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan associated with the BDS Movement to destroy the State of Israel. In response to that incident and multiple others drawing attention to a growing anti-Semitism in their party, pro-Israel Democrats are organizing a new group to be known as “Democratic Majority for Israel.”

*If you don’t know the meaning of this acronym, just Google it. Or ask a veteran. Then thank him or her for serving the country.

HOW FAR WILL THE DEEP STATE GO TO PROTECT ITS OWN? You won’t know the answer to that question until you know how congressional leaders in both parties, including now-former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, actively protected (or simply looked the other way) former House IT aide Imran Awan and his unvetted network of Pakistani family and friends serving more than 40 House Democrats, including many on the intelligence, armed services and foreign affairs committees.

It’s all detailed in “Obstruction of Justice” by Luke Rosiak of the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF). Am I biased about this book? You bet I am because I was Luke’s editor when he first started covering this unbelievable but true saga and for many months thereafter. This one makes Watergate look like mere child’s play. And after you read it, you will want to call your senators and your congressman and ask them why they aren’t doing something about this national security scandal.

TWO MUST-READS FOR THIS MORNING: First, Peter Hasson of the Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group has found more and deeper evidence of the degree to which anti-Semitism permeates Rep. Rashida Tliab’s world.

Second: I’m betting you instantly recognize the person to whom The Federalist’s Warren Henry is referring with this observation: “X will shank someone with a shiv and then use it to clean her nails.” Henry says this fact appears to have escaped the notice of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to her electoral peril.

HERE’S THE SIX PRESUPPOSITIONS THAT PRODUCE IDENTITY POLITICS: If the lunacy that is rampant in the media, on the campuses, entertainment and Fortune 500 corporations seems beyond rationality, read this on the six key premises behind Critical Theory. Won’t make it go away but it helps make sense of senselessness like snowflakes,”triggers,” Chris Cuomo, white privilege, AOC, “safe spaces” and, sadly, so much more.

ARE EL CHAPO AND THE DRUG LORDS THE MEXICANS TRUMP MEANT WOULD PAY FOR THE WALL? Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and 14 other House GOPers are pushing a bill entitled the “Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order Act,” EL CHAPO Act for short.

“It takes the money, the billions that El Chapo made crossing the border illegally, and it takes that $14 billion and uses it to pay for the wall,” according to Cruz. Brooks says “it kills two birds with one stone” by paying for the wall without tax dollars and ends the partial government shutdown.

The idea of some portion of the drug lords’ ill-gotten gains going to fund a wall that helps put their enterprises out of business has its appeal, but there are problems. Go here for more.

And then there’s this from The Daily Caller’s fine investigative reporter, Luke Rosiak. He obtained a copy of an internal report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) that says “President Donald Trump may have the authority to use Department of Defense resources to build a wall without obtaining congressional approval or declaring a state of emergency.” Does Pelosi know about this?

MYSTERY SOLVED! NBC ‘DATELINE’S’ TOP COLD-CASE DETECTIVE TALKS: J. Warner Wallace is known as that program’s “evidence whisperer” because of his phenomenal success in applying sleuthing skills to the toughest cold cases, those involving homicides that have gone unsolved for decades.

If anybody knows a fraud, a fake or a liar when he sees it, Wallace does. So why is the guy a fervent Christian? Does NBC know about this?

SENATORS TELL TRUMP TO SEND ISIS POWS TO GUANTANAMO: Why not use the perfectly good terrorist detainment center for its intended purpose?

KAMALA HARRIS NABS HEAVY HITTER WITH BAGGAGE FOR 2020 CAMPAIGN: Big names bring big opportunities, but they can also bring big problems. That may be the lesson Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) will have to learn from her success in luring Democratic Superlawyer Marc Elias as her campaign’s general counsel.

BUZZFEED MEETS BUZZSAW: Reagan veteran Daniel Oliver on the “real significance” of the Special Counsel’s correction of the now-infamous story about Trump telling Cohen to lie.

DEMS FEAR MONEY CORRUPTING POLITICS. THIS WILL SCARE’EM TO DEATH: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) invested more than $335,000 in 25 of the 27 Democrats serving in the 116th Congress on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Why? Because that’s the committee that will soon pass the “Raise the Wage Act of 2019,” which will mandate a federal “living wage” of $15 per hour by 2024. The proposal will do some other stuff that SEIU likes, too, so the union’s strategists apparently think it’s in their interest to get it through the House this year in anticipation of a Democratic landslide in 2020 that puts the Senate and the White House back in their hands.

See, money does buy influence. So any minute now Democrats will start raising you know what about this blatant special interest abuse of democracy. Right?

FOR DEMS – KAVANAUGH BAD, CARDENAS OK: Rep. Leo Cardenas (D-Calif.) is chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC, which hosted that gathering of Democrats in Puerto Rico last week. He’s the same Cardenas who is accused by a woman of drugging and molesting her when she was 16.

And, according to the Washington Free Beacon’s Susan Crabtree, the same Cardenas of whom then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called in 2018 for an ethics investigation to determine the credibility of the woman’s charge. No ethics probe of Cardenas is known to have been convened.

“Cardenas has vigorously denied the allegations, accusing the woman of seeking revenge for her father, a disgruntled former Cardenas staffer,” Crabtree reports this morning. “His lawyer issued a statement arguing that the request for a House ethics investigation shows that she has a ‘meritless and weak case.’ A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has determined there is enough merit to charges to move forward and has set a trial to begin in August.”

Now that Pelosi is Speaker of the House, how long before an ethics probe of Kavanaugh, uh, excuse me, Cardenas is convened?

WHY STENY HOYER AND RAND PAUL COULD BECOME SHUTDOWN HEROES: Unlikely? Yes. Far from an ideal solution? To be sure. Is it the best possible outcome, given the givens? That remains to be seen, but go here for the factors I see as making such a scenario at least conceivable.

GABBARD, CASTRO FACE THE LONGEST ODDS IN 2020 WHITE HOUSE BIDS: There was a time when some folks thought Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) brought hope of a revived moderate, independent-minded wing of the donkey party. But then she decided to run for president.

Then there’s former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who like Gabbard last week announced a loooonnnnnnggggg shot bid for the Democrats’ 2020 presidential nomination. He was a young, rising-star Texas Democrat. Then Beto happened.

Much more here about both Democrats (much of which you may not know). They have virtually no hope of actually being nominated, but keep an eye on both as potential veep nominees or cabinet members should whoever does get the Democratic nomination defeat President Donald Trump in November 2020.