Friday, January 31, 2020

Crisis of Conservative Making

 

The Harvard Law Review has published a proposal for supposedly enhancing a better democracy than that which the Federal (not really) government now oversees. The proposal has no official name but is born, it would appear, from the same milieu as the French Revolution i.e, power to the people—that is, the mob. Harvard Review proposes what effectively amounts to a national state-led by mob leaders in Washington.

This would come about, as per the proposal, by a congressional majority vote of dividing the District of Columbia into 127 neighborhoods which in turn (by congressional majority vote) would become 127 states. Each state would, of course, have two Senators and a single representative. Each state would be approximately 320 acres.

This new arrangement would give the magnificent morons in the current national capital control of everyone else from sea to shining sea. Government of and by New York City law and California morality. America the Beautiful.  A modern French Revolution. Heads would roll. A Robespierre delight.

"This is aimed at my teen aged grand kids, who have scant exposure to any religion."

 


"The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.

The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly-the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.

The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past.

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others."

~~Robert E. Lee 



 ***********************

There was a time when a Gentleman's word was his bond.  Honor was a demanding Mistress and 'Death before Dishonor' was more than just a lame ass tatoo.  It was a way of life.  People actually made that choice.  To stand at Lexington and Concord; To ride against the Russian guns at Balaclava; to hold the works at Petersburg against Grant's hordes . . . to refuse Islam, to face alone, the power of the King, people 'did the right thing'.  Some, a few now, still do choose the honorable way, regardless of cost.

Honor is personal.  It is your conscience that drives you to return the found money, to not lie when you could, to leave your card on the damaged vehicle, whatever, it's YOUR honor you serve.  No great crowd rises in the stands to cheer your decision.  None but you even know.  But YOU do know.
And you know that you, personally, will never live down the wrong choice.

Have I made bad choices?  For sure.  Do I regret those bad choices?  Every day.  Can I change what's done?  Not really.  Can I try to make it right?  Yeah, to some extent.  Do I?  When I can.  What if I can't?  Live with it.

What's so bad about a lot of bad choices, is the collateral damage.  Other people having to pay, and too often, pay a very high price, for my failure.

That's the stuff of nightmares.  Often times a snap decision will prove to be the wrong one . . . most of the time, that can't be helped and that's not what this is about.  In battle, say, sending Yamello over to the right to get fire on the enemy from that side, gets him killed.  It's to his honor that he goes. OK, somebody had to try, and his luck ran out.  That's a shame but it's not what this is about.  When you have time to consider your motives, your intentions, your responsibility and you choose to go ahead, knowing it's wrong, and dodge the consequences.  You lie; you pretend not to know; you cover your ass, you hide from reality.  That's what this is about.

You lie, maybe about something unimportant to you.  Lies, like bullets, cannot be recalled.  Once you lie, you're a liar. Period.  Once people figure out you're a liar, they'll never trust you or believe you again.  Your honor is gone.  Say you ran over somebody's dog.  Just a dog, right?  Wrong.  You don't
care about dogs, but other people do, and so, the 'worth' of that dog is not for you to measure.  It is the loss to the his owner that matters.  When asked, you lie.  Not knowing half dozen people saw you hit the dog, you lie.  Even if no one saw it, a lie is a lie, and a lie cannot be erased.  Ever.

God knows.

Most people today don't believe in God.  Doesn't matter if they do or not.  God's still out there and He knows His people.  He has a plan for those non-believers.  He doesn't lose sleep over them.  God laid down His rules for living His way.  Follow them, or not.  Your choice. You have that chance. Guess wrong and that chance is gone . . . poof . . . like dust in a sunbeam, gone.  He is merciful, though, and so, you can change your mind.  Never too late until it is too late.  God demands honesty.  You cannot bullshit God.  He knows your heart, and pays little mind to what your mouth says.  

God knows.

~~4Branch

Crying Wolf on Impeachment

 
The impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump is coming down to one big question: Will Democrats, by crying wolf, drown out the more legitimate Republican cry of foul?

“Foul” has served as the GOP’s most powerful and honest argument from the first days of these impeachment maneuverings. Democrats broke every standard of due process, transparency and fairness in their House investigation, making a mockery of their constitutional duty.
Story

More @ WSJ

Site for Coronavirus updates

Via John



More @ Job Tube

I was scheduled to leave for Vietnam today at 7PM but thought better of it when I checked the visa service in Vietnam. I would be given a medical card to fill out once aboard China Airlines; however with the virus information so fluid, I canceled since it would just be my luck to get to Saigon after a 24 hour flight and be rejected. :(

Thursday, January 30, 2020

A Southerner’s Movie Guide, Part VII

 

9. Confederate Hollywood 

From the beginnings to rather recent times portrayals of Confederates have been a mainstay of American cinema.  After all, the Confederacy is a rather large and interesting slice of American history.  Given the virulent malice today against everything Confederate, it might surprise many folks
to see that during Hollywood’s Golden Age an astounding number of major stars of American cinema have had no objection to portraying Confederates, usually as sympathetic characters.  Many of such films showed Confederate flags in favourable contexts and sometimes in glorification.  What has changed in recent times is that there have been evil Confederates appearing more often on the screen and the once popular theme of good Southerners oppressed by Reconstruction has disappeared.

The list below presents Northern and foreign actors who have played more or less attractive Confederates.  The list does not include 1) those who portrayed very villainous Confederates;  2) those who were Southern-born or have Southern background; and 3) portrayals of Southerners not in the Confederate period:

Nick Adams: The Rebel

Gallup Poll: Race Relations See Double-Digit Increase Since Trump Entered White House

 Donald Trump

A new Gallup poll indicates that satisfaction with race relations and the position of minorities in America have significantly increased since President Trump took office.

The findings deliver a significant blow to the media-driven fiction that Trump is a racist.

Gallup’s survey demonstrates numerous categories in which the President has improved the lives of Americans since relieving Barack Obama of his duties in January of 2017.

The polling indicates double-digit improvements in how Americans view the nation’s economy, security from terrorism, military strength and … the state of race relations.

Gallup also reports increases in “the position of blacks and other racial minorities, the distribution of income and wealth, and the opportunity for a person to get ahead through hard work.”

Michael Flynn Just Called the Former Special Counsel’s Bluff in a Big Way

Via Billy

Michael Flynn Just Called the Former Special Counsel's Bluff in a Big Way

Believe it or not, remnants of Robert Mueller’s team are still on the job. Though the special counsel itself has been disbanded, these are careerists within the DOJ who have continued to service cases.

One of those involves Gen. Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI years ago at this point.

The problem from the beginning has been that it’s not clear Flynn did anything wrong. We now have proof that the FBI (under the command of Andrew McCabe) altered the 302s at a later date. We also know the agents who interviewed Flynn did not feel he was being dishonest. Lastly, the question of intent was in play.

More @ Red State

Dick Morris: Bernie May Win the Democratic Primary, But He Can't Beat Trump

Via Billy

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks to reporters before attending the Senate impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington, D.C.

As Paul Eldridge wrote in “Maxims for a Modern Man,” ‘All things are impossible until they happen, and then they become inevitable.”

And that’s where things now stand with Bernie Sanders’ quixotic candidacy for president.
He is propelled not by a campaign but by a social and political movement.

It’s a movement that has the power to take over the Democratic Party, but not — thank God — enough to take over the country.

Social movements are hard to stop.

More @ WJ

Fired Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin FILES FEDERAL COMPLAINT Against Joe Biden

Via Billy


After leaving office in 2017, Vice President Joe Biden Bragged about strong-arming the government of Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor.

Joe Biden made the remarks during a meeting of foreign policy specialists. Biden said he, “Threatened Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in March 2016 that the Obama administration would pull $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees, sending the former Soviet republic toward insolvency, if it didn’t immediately fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.” Biden suggested during his talk that Barack Obama was in on the threat.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Riders on the Highlands: The 1st Animal Pack Company – The One and Only All Mounted Unit of the Vietnam War

Via Andrei Hall

Image may contain: one or more people and outdoor


Any history of the war in Vietnam undoubtedly conjures images in the minds of its audience of the type that are so abundant in popular collective memory of that time and place in history that they have become clichés. Much of this cliché imagery encompasses means of military transport.

Helicopters, jeeps, and patrol boats of various models feature prominently in nearly every account of the Vietnam War from classroom textbooks and veteran memoirs to Hollywood films and the iconography of monuments. However, the most historically prolific means of military transport – the horse – is absent in virtually all these accounts.

A quick answer many people would have as to the question of why the horse is absent in narratives of the war would be that horses were not utilized as advancements in military technology made them redundant by the 1960s. The image of mounted soldiers riding horses on patrol through the jungles and highlands of Vietnam appears antiquated compared to squadrons of Hueys delivering and extracting troops as a quick reaction force. When horses are referenced in accounts of the war they are almost always relegated to the personal mounts of small bands of hill tribesmen, haphazard and sporadic application during the French period, or other anecdotal instances. For this reason, it surprises most people to learn that there were indeed uniformed contingents of soldiers who rode horses and engaged in battle in Vietnam in the 1960s.

More @ MuseumRVN

Rebuilding from the Rubble


‘ . . . you know only
A heap of broken images . . .’
–T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land
I.  Destruction

The description of the South as a land that has fallen into desolation is familiar to many.  Sometimes this historical reality is presented to us in unfamiliar ways, however.  For instance, in his short story ‘Jericho, Jericho, Jericho’, originally published in 1936, Andrew Lytle uses the allegory of a dying woman to explain what has happened to the South and why.

 Kate McCowan, the widow of a man known in the story only as the General and the owner of a plantation named Long Gourd, is on her death bed.  She is the personification of the Old South, both slowly making their way to the grave.  But before they get there, they are desperate to impart to the rising generations the good traditions they have inherited from their ancestors.  Ms Kate’s grandson Dick represents the young Southerners, the vessels the Old South is trying to prepare to receive the treasures of the past:

Conservative Great Britain: BREXIT – finally

Via Billy

Image result for Conservative Great Britain: BREXIT – finally

Hails Boris Johnson's 'Churchillian moment'

 

This past week, the historic Brexit milestone deal was signed in London by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. What a Churchillian moment for the prime minister, having fought for years for the implementation of the will of the people.

European leaders signed the agreement earlier the same day; it was then transported by train to London. The United Kingdom will officially leave the EU on Jan. 31, 2020.

More @ WND

Senators charge Horowitz report 'misleading' because it conflicts with the facts

Via Billy


The Republican chairmen of two key committees have charged in a letter to Attorney General William Barr that Michael Horowitz's inspector general report on FISA abuse by the Obama administration misled the public.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., want Barr to declassify four footnotes that contradict information in Horowitz's December report.

"Specifically, we are concerned that certain sections of the public version of the report are misleading because they are contradicted by relevant and probative classified information redacted in four footnotes," the senators state.

More @ WND

Frmr. ICE Chief: Dems Say POTUS Isn't Above the Law but Apparently Illegal Aliens Are

Image result for Thomas Homan

After watching former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Thomas Homan on Fox News, I did a quick Google search on the phrase “the president isn’t above the law.”

It’s a popular sentiment at news conferences nowadays — indeed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it with such persistence she seems to be under the impression it’s the first time we’ve heard it or that we’ve forgotten it in the four or so days she hasn’t uttered it — that you kind of wonder why it has to be repeated so often.

It’s probably since, when you’re the political wing that’s cried wolf too often, you really have to yell it loudly and with the persistence of a touchy car alarm to get people’s attention.

More @ WJ

John Bolton – pocketed $115,000 from Ukraine oligarch, Clinton Foundation donor

Via Billy

 Victor Pinchuk

Bolton has been having his pockets filled by the usual suspects. Instead of Russia Russia Russia how about Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine? Oligarch Pinchuk first offer? More about him a bit later.
Bolton’s first appearance at a Pinchuk-backed gathering came last fall, when he participated in a discussion panel in Kiev with former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R), former Defense secretary Robert Gates and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. Date of the post:June 12, 2018
Asked about Trump during the discussion, Bolton said “I didn’t support him” in the GOP primary, according to a video of the event. He added that Trump “doesn’t care as much about policy as other American presidents have. That doesn’t reflect my view, but it reflects his view.”
More @ Bunkerville

'Mind Boggling': Take a Look at These Demographic Numbers From Trump's New Jersey Rally

Wow! New Jersey Data:
 158,632 Requested Tickets (92,841 distinct signups)
 73,482 Voters Identified
 10.4% Didn't Vote in 2016
 26.3% Democrats

Tuesday night President Trump traveled to deep blue New Jersey for a campaign rally. Despite freezing temperatures in the middle of winter, people camped out a day ahead of his remarks in order to make it inside the arena.

More @ Townhall

Rand Paul: The Only People Here Making Money Off Politics Are John Bolton & the Bidens

Via Billy

Image result for Rand Paul: The Only People Here Making Money Off Politics Are John Bolton & the Bidens

Sen. Rand Paul is not happy about impeachment, particularly when it comes to rhetoric involving who’s making money off of access to power.

The libertarian-leaning Republican from Kentucky appeared Tuesday on Fox News, the same day that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held a news conference in which he accused both Donald Trump and his children of making money off of the presidency.

The accusations had to do with former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s upcoming tell-all in which he reportedly claims he was concerned about the president granting favors to leaders in China and Turkey, countries not known for their dedication to democracy.

More @ WJ

HISTORIC: Arab States Welcome Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

Via Billy


Perhaps the sole silver lining of the otherwise-harrowing capitulation to fundamentalist jihadist evil that was President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal was the fact that the leading Sunni Arab states — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt chief among them — began to warm up to the Jewish state of Israel. The enemy of my enemy, as the venerable maxim goes, is indeed my friend. And these Sunni stalwarts have found common cause with Israel in opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s decades-long hegemonic ambitions, which were only augmented by the capitulatory cash influxes provided by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.


Tuesday, January 28, 2020

The Craggy Hill of Slavery

 

A review of It Wasn’t About Slavery: Exposing the Great Lie of the Civil War (Regnery History, 2020) by Samuel Mitcham

On a huge hill, Cragged and steep, Truth stands, and he that will Reach her, about must and about must go, And what the hill’s suddenness resists, win so. John Donne, Satire III

As John Donne so correctly informs us, truth is not something easily discerned, recognized, nor often embraced.  Often when the truth is found and it does not comport to man’s hoped-for meaning, instead of graciously embracing the truth it is attacked and those seeking it are scorned.  In today’s post-modern, politically correct society anyone who expresses the truth about slavery and the War for Southern Independence must be willing to be subjected to the most horrendous attacks from leftists in the media, and academia, as well as being harangued by establishment politicians and many religious groups.  But this is precisely what Dr. Samuel Mitcham has willingly subjected himself to in his latest book, It Wasn’t About Slavery.[1] 

Politico Reveals Corrupt Land and Lobbying Deal Involving QuidProJoe and His Family


When the story of this whole impeachment drama is written, it may very well turn out that the only person destroyed by it was Joe Biden. In her presentation yesterday, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi demonstrated why Joe Biden, and Hunter Biden, are critical to understanding President Trump expressing a desire that corruption be investigated.

More @ Red State

Trump Lawyer Jay Sekulow Argues John Bolton’s Book ‘Inadmissible’ In Senate Trial


President Donald Trump’s defense team argued on Tuesday that former national security adviser John Bolton’s bombshell book manuscript should be kept out of the Senate impeachment trial.

The unpublished manuscript essentially confirms the main charge against Trump, according to The New York Times. But Trump’s attorneys contend that even if the account were true, it would not merit the removal of a president during an election year.


More @ MSN

Trump's Defense Team Makes Case for Obama Impeachment By Dems' Standards

Via Billy

Trump's Defense Team Makes Case for Obama Impeachment By Dems' Standards

Eric Herschmann, a private attorney representing President Trump, turned the tables on Democrats Monday, arguing that by the standards for impeachment they’ve established, President Obama should have been impeached.

“One can easily substitute” Obama’s 2012 conversation with former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that he would have “more flexibility” to negotiate on missile defense after the November election into the abuse of power article the House approved against Trump, Herschmann argued.

More @ Townhall

Lt. Col. Vindman Facing Calls to Be Court Martialed

Via Cousin John

 co. alexander vindman speaks to the house committee about ukraine
 Mother said never trust a man with a weak chin.

Despite U.S. whistleblower protections and warnings against reprisals, a former Trump and Bush administration advisor believes Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman must be "court martialed" for speaking out against the president and violating his chain of command.
Christian Whiton tweeted Saturday:
"To protect the military from being seen as political, Vindman must be court martialed for speaking contemptuously of the President and violating the chain of command. The law isn't optional just because an officer hates his commander in chief."
More @ News Max

Meadows Warns GOP Senators On Impeachment & Graham on Bidens’ Ukraine Shadiness: There’s a ‘Tsunami’ of Evidence. Why the Lack of Interest?

Via Billy

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) speaks to members of the media as Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) listen prior to the Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol January 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. The defense team will continue its arguments on day six of the Senate impeachment trial.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) warned Republican Senators during a Monday night interview on CBS News that if they break with President Donald Trump and side with the Democrats that they will face “political repercussions” for their actions.

 ***************************

Lindsey Graham Crashes All Over the Bidens’ Ukraine Shadiness: There’s a ‘Tsunami’ of Evidence. Why the Lack of Interest?

Monday, January 27, 2020

Walker Percy’s Homage to Robert E. Lee

 


Lee In The Mountains, By Donald Davidson  
Walking into the shadows, walking alone
Where the sun falls through the ruined boughs of locust
Up to the president's office. . . .Hearing the voices
Whisper, Hush, it is General Lee! And strangely
Hearing my own voice say, Good morning, boys.
(Don't get up. You are early. It is long
Before the bell. You will have long to wait
On these cold steps. . . .)
The young have time to wait 


More @ NamSouth


Bazz, his wife Rachel and Dixie at General Pender's grave at Calvary Episcopal church in Tarboro when they were our house guests some years ago.

Bazz, RIP, said he could never read Lee In The Mountains without crying.
 
************************
 
The novelist Walker Percy was inescapably Southern by virtually any measure. Born May 28, 1916 in Birmingham, he lived briefly in Athens, Georgia following the death of this father, grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, and lived most of his adult life in Louisiana, in New Orleans and Covington.

Both the culture into which he was born, and the fatherly—as well as literary—influence of his older cousin William Alexander Percy, who raised him and his two brothers in Greenville following his mother’s death, helped to mold some of his fundamental views for the rest of his life. Will Percy, author of Lanterns on the Levee, was partly responsible, by both precept and example, for instilling the stoic philosophy and, relatedly, something of the southern chivalric code, neither of which Walker as an adult could ever disown.[1]

West Virginia in the Un-Civil War: The Union Annexation of 50 Virginia Counties

Via Mike

Confederate Monument in Romney, WV
 Confederate Monument in Romney, WV

I have no doubt that the great majority of the people of West Virginia today believe they are better off separated from Virginia. They have their own two U.S. senators, and most importantly, they are not ruled by the wacko-leftist, anti-Second Amendment, pro-baby-disposal Democrat Governor Ralph Northam and his slavishly politically correct Neo-Marxist comrades in the Virginia Legislature.

“Democrat” was once a virtual synonym for conservative, especially in the South. But that was a far cry from the present madness. The Republican Party during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods was dominated by its big-business-big-government establishment wing. That has been slowly changing since Eisenhower. Reagan was a first peak of pro-worker, pro-middle class, common sense economic and social conservatism. President Trump has been a flowering and aggressive triumph of these same principles, vanquishing titanic errors of globalism and obsequious political fashions. It is a grave mistake to assume Republican and Democrat mean the same thing today as they did in 1860.

Mulvaney Rips Apart Alleged Bolton Claim: Didn’t Happen, ‘Publicity’ Rather Than Truth

Mulvaney Rips Apart Alleged Bolton Claim: Didn't Happen, 'Publicity' Rather Than Truth

Media is all atwitter today with the Bolton news, despite people not even having seen the actual book or knowing precisely what it says.

It should be a recognized standard at this point that such reports from the New York Times should be taken with a grain of salt. 48 hour rule, it always tends to fall apart as you see more facts emerge.
But despite that, media is still falling all over it immediately as a smoking gun.
There are already emerging two basic problems with the claim.

More @ Red State

Report: Alexander Vindman’s Brother Reviews Manuscripts at the National Security Council

Via Billy

Report: Alexander Vindman's Brother Reviews Manuscripts at the National Security Council
 DOOFUS

As we all know, on Sunday night, The New York Times reported on leaks about former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s forthcoming book. Bolton allegedly writes in his new book that President Trump told him he planned to continue freezing $400 million in aid to Ukraine until they agreed to help investigate the Bidens and other Democrats.

Bolton’s lawyer, Chuck Cooper, issued a statement about the leak which said, “It is clear, regrettably, from The New York Times article published today that the prepublication review process has been corrupted.”

More @ Red State

"WHY BOLTON'S CLAIMS DON'T MATTER AT ALL"

Via John

Image result for WHY BOLTONS CLAIMS DONT MATTER AT ALL

The Liberals and media act like they've discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in a soon-to-be-published book authored by former Trump Administration adviser John Bolton.  There are claims Bolton has solid evidence that President Trump tied the U.S. aid to Ukraine to a requirement that Ukraine reopen the investigation into Burisma Holdings that employed Hunter Biden as a board member.

Eyewitness and fact witnesses Ukraine President Zelensky and our President Trump both contend such a demand or arrangement never happened, which means any evidence Bolton claims to have is irrelevant. There may have been previous discussions or even a proposed plan to do that, but the actual transaction between the two presidents did not include a quid pro quo element in the transcript of the original telephone call, and it is only the final transaction that is relevant and not any discussions or proposals leading up to that call.

The other problem the Liberals have is the fact the House is exclusively tasked to assemble all the elements of their impeachment evidence.  Once that is completed, the House then sends the impeachment documents to the Senate, where a trial is conducted on the evidence the House provided -- and nothing more.  Any additional alleged evidence the Liberals claim became available after they completed their impeachment could be brought forward in a separate impeachment process, but that is not required in this current Senate trial.  Of course, the Senate can change the rules and allow further evidence or witnesses, but in the end the final verdict will still be that no impeachable offenses occurred -- and that's all that counts.

Obviously, allowing additional witnesses and evidence will result in a prolonged trial that could last 3-5 more months, and that means the Congress will be hamstrung from doing the Peoples' Business that much longer.  The Liberals are already seeing swing-voters leave their side because they've been wasting our time on their impossible impeachment scheme, instead of working on matters like health care, RX drugs, infrastructure, etc.  If the Liberals get their way and more witnesses are called and additional evidence allowed, the Democrat Party will find itself almost extinct after the 2020 elections.  Either way, the Democrats are facing certain defeat in 2020, where we will see the Conservatives win a majority in the House and the Senate in addition to seeing President Trump win a second term with ease.  How badly the Democrats will be turned away depends on how much more time they waste, so they face a lose-lose situation that they brought about entirely themselves.

Oh boo-hoo!

~~Carl F. W.

Former Chief of Staff to John Bolton: Withdraw Your Book Immediately

 The Associated Press

Fred Fleitz, former CIA official and former National Security Council chief of staff, urged his friend and former boss, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, to withdraw his tell-all book from his publisher “immediately.”

Fleitz, who served as Bolton’s chief of staff twice, said it was “crushing” to read weekend press reports that Bolton planned to publish a book on his time in the Trump White House. Those reports included a bombshell New York Times report on Sunday that alleged Bolton’s leaked manuscript draft said Trump told Bolton he wanted to withhold aid from Ukraine until its government agreed to investigate his political rivals.

Fleitz wrote in a Fox News op-ed:

More @ Breitbart

“Orders to Kill” Dr. Martin Luther King: The Government that Honors MLK with a National Holiday Killed Him



MLK DAY 2020. In commemoration of Martin Luther King’s assassination, we bring to you this article by Edward Curtin first published on Global Research in January 2017.

**

Very few Americans are aware of the truth behind the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Few books have been written about it, unlike other significant assassinations, especially JFK’s. For almost fifty years there has been a media blackout supported by government deception to hide the truth.  

And few people, in a massive act of self-deception, have chosen to question the absurd official explanation, choosing, rather, to embrace a mythic fabrication intended to sugarcoat the bitter fruit that has resulted from the murder of the one man capable of leading a mass movement for revolutionary change in the United States.  Today we are eating the fruit of our denial.

In order to comprehend the significance of this extraordinary book, it is first necessary to dispel a widely accepted falsehood about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. William Pepper does that on the first page.

Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration to Enforce ‘Public Charge’ Immigration Rule

Via Billy

The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington on May 7, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

The Supreme Court has voted to allow the Trump administration to enforce its new rule that restricts the eligibility of new immigrants who are deemed to likely become “public charges” if they receive visas.

The top court justices voted 5-4 to grant a stay on nationwide injunctions issued by a lower court on Monday, allowing the Trump administration to enforce its “public charge” rule across the country, except for Illinois, while the appeals play out in court.  A separate injunction ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois remains in effect but only in that state.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan said in the opinion (pdf) they would have prevented the rule from taking effect.

The public charge rule, which was issued in 2019, provides clarification about what factors would be considered when determining whether someone is likely at any time in the future to become a public charge. A public charge refers to an individual who is likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence through assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid.

SHOT Show 2020 Report

 photo of federal HST ammo at shot show 2020

It’s that time of year again. (NSSF) SHOT Show 2020 is in full swing at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, NV and Widener’s is bringing you all the action from the show floor. The gun industry is buzzing with new announcements, products, and breaking news. With more than 1,600 exhibitors there’s a lot to see and review in every category of the firearms industry. We’ll break up our report by product category for easy navigation Let’s dive in below and take a look at some of the hottest new items at SHOT Show 2020.

More @ Wideners

Will Democrats Take Up Arms To Remove 'Dictator' Trump Or Are They All Talk?

 Will Democrats Take Up Arms To Remove 'Dictator' Trump Or Are They All Talk?

I want to know why you Democrats are such cowards that you have not yet launched another civil war to free America of the totalitarian nightmare of President Donald J. Trump. I mean, if he’s truly Hitler 2: Electric Boogeyman, then isn’t it your sacred duty to remove this cancer on our body politic with arms if necessary? Look, I get that you Dems have a track record on insurrections designed to oppress the rights of Americans you feel superior to that is pretty poor (0-1) but come on, heroes of democracy, make your move! Just sitting here in the midst of this crisis you keep whining about makes you look like sissies or lying piles of talking garbage.

Actually, both.

More @ Townhall

She Begged Him For Sex And Then Accused Him Of Sexual Assault. Columbia Expelled Him Despite Audio Proving His Side.

 Cropped shot view of woman hands holding a small condom before using it with her partner. - stock photo

Columbia University continues to deny students accused of sexual assault their due process rights, going out of their way to ignore exculpatory evidence in order to find accused men responsible no matter how thin the allegations.

The latest example is Ben Feibleman, who is using his real name to fight the allegations against him, made by a woman who, as usual, gets to keep her anonymity and is only referred to as Jane Doe in court documents. The Daily Caller’s Betsy Rothstein recently published an exclusive interview with Feibleman regarding the $25 million lawsuit he filed against the university last May. I encourage you to read her full story (warning: language and graphic depictions of sex), which includes a complete transcript of the 30-minute audio recording Feibleman made of the woman when he started to suspect things might go wrong.

Virus linked to covert bio-weapons program

Via Billy

 Hospital staff wash the emergency entrance of Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. The number of cases of a new coronavirus from Wuhan has risen to over 400 in China health authorities said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

The deadly animal-borne coronavirus spreading globally may have originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan linked to China’s covert biological weapons program, said an Israeli biological warfare analyst.

Radio Free Asia last week rebroadcast a Wuhan television report from 2015 showing China’s most advanced virus research laboratory, known the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The laboratory is the only declared site in China capable of working with deadly viruses.

Dany Shoham, a former Israeli military intelligence officer who has studied Chinese biological warfare, said the institute is linked to Beijing’s covert bio-weapons program.

The Democrats’ Burisma Bait and Switch

 

When you get to court, though, you are horrified to learn that the judge is excluding your defense.

The prosecutors peremptorily assert that it’s all a big lie. The judge doesn’t want to hear your constitutional claims about the rights to present a defense and call witnesses; your motion to subpoena evidence is denied.

Then, at the trial, not only do the prosecutors establish that you planned to take millions from the bank; they tell the jury there was not a shred of evidence that you had any legitimate collateral or business investment prospects. The whole thing, they insist, was a scam. That is, they stop you from presenting your defense, and then they argue that you should be convicted because you have no defense.

It sounds like something out of Kafka. It would never be tolerated in the U.S. judicial system: no competent judge would bar an accused from attempting to prove his defense; and if one did, any conviction would be reversed on appeal. It would not matter whether the prosecutor’s proof was convincing; having one’s day in court means having an opportunity to present any exculpatory evidence

.More @ NRO

Sunday, January 26, 2020

The Oregon Standoff: Understanding LaVoy Finicum’s Death & the Management of BLM Land

Via Alex

 history of the Oregon standoff

When one talks about the Bundy Family, the first thing that springs to mind is the standoff in Nevada in 2014. However, perhaps even more important is the standoff and occupation at Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016. Indeed, the two events are often conflated because Ammon Bundy is the son of Cliven Bundy, the man who stood up to the federal government over “grazing fees” on Bureau of Land Management land.

The occupation was a highlight for both the militia and the sovereign citizen movement as well as proponents of states’ rights. The main argument from those occupying the land is that the federal government is mandated by law to turn over the land that they manage to the individual states in which the land sits. This, they argued, was particularly true of the Bureau of Land Management, United States Forestry Service, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service land.

The 2016 Oregon standoff was over two ranchers convicted of arson on federal lands – despite the fact that the men, a father and son pair named Dwight and Steven Dwight Hammond, did not want their support.

More @ Ammo.com

So That's Why Schiff Won't Release the Transcript of the 18th Witness

Via Billy

 So That's Why Schiff Won't Release the Transcript of the 18th Witness

While presenting the Democrats' case for impeachment on the Senate floor, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff (D-CA) kept referencing 17 witnesses who testified during the House impeachment inquiry. But there were 18 of them. Schiff and the Democrats are refusing to release the testimony of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, and according to Republicans who were present during Atkinson's closed-door testimony, the reason the transcript hasn't been released is because it proves both the whistleblower and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff did not tell the truth about their contact with each other.

More @ Townhall

"Your Hostile Scowl of the Morning"

Via Terry via Daily Timewaster

 
US paratrooper Joseph Beyrle served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Prior to the start of the Normandy invasions, Beyrle jumped twice into occupied France to coordinate, provide arms, and money to several French resistance units. He then jumped into France on D-Day, destroyed a enemy gun emplacement, was captured, escaped, and captured again. He was beaten nearly to death, his uniform and dog tags were taken from him. A German soldier attempted to infiltrate US lines dressed in Beyrle’s uniform and was killed. The US War Department believed Beyrle had been killed in combat and notified his parents. His mother refused to believe her son was dead and continued to ignore the calls from the family to accept his death. 
Beyrle was taken into captivity at a German-controlled POW camp. He attempted to escape and was shot and wounded. He survived on minimum food and medical attention. Beyrle would be held in seven different POW camps and escaped again; this time the Gestapo was ready to shoot him, claiming he was a spy. He escaped again and found his way to a Soviet armored brigade which was near the POW camp. Beyrle having knowledge of engines and mechanical background assisted the Soviet tank unit which was equipped with American made M4 Shermans. He served with an armor unit commanded by a Soviet female officer and acted as a scout for the Russians against German positions. He was wounded again when German dive bombers attacked the Russian armor column. 
He was taken to a Soviet hospital where he met Soviet Marshall Zhukov who was curious on how this American paratrooper ended up in a Soviet hospital. Zhukov was so impressed with Beryle’s story he provided safe passage back to the US Embassy in Moscow. 
Due to the U.S. War Department believing Beyrle had been killed back in June 1944, the U.S. government kept him under guard for several days until his dental records confirmed he was indeed Beyrle. Beyrle served more combat time with the Soviets than the Americans and received both US and Soviet citations.
Beyrle returned home and married his sweetheart by the same priest who two years earlier had held his funeral when his family believed he was dead. 
Here is Sgt. Joseph Beyrle’s Prisoner of War picture after he was captured again by the Germans.
One bad-ass warrior.

Why Trump's at 83% approval with America's farmers

Via Billy

Image result for Why Trump's at 83% approval with America's farmers

An unwatchable impeachment trial proceeds at molasses pace in Washington, its outcome a foregone conclusion.

Meanwhile, in Iowa another drama awaits as Democratic caucus goers prepare to choose their favorite candidate.

But there too the outcome is certain:

More @ WND

Poe of Virginia

 

The opinion has been often stated that Edgar Allan Poe was bizarre and amoral; that he was a lover of morbid beauty only; that he was unrelated to worldly circumstances-aloof from the affairs of the world; that his epitaph might well be: “Out of space-out of time.”

But it is dangerous to attempt to separate any historical figure from his setting. No individual can ever be understood fully until the subtle influences of his formal education, his reading, his associates, and his time and country (with his heredity) are traced and synthesized. Too much has been said, perhaps, about Poe’s “detachment” from his environment and too little about his background—his heritage from Europe and the influences of his early life in Virginia. Elizabeth Arnold, Poe’s mother, was born in England in 1787 and was brought to this country when she was a girl of nine. “In speaking of my mother,” Poe wrote years later to Beverley Tucker of Virginia, “you have touched a string to which my heart fully responds.” Judging from his spirited defense of Elizabeth Poe, it appears that Poe never became unmindful of his immediate English origins on the maternal side.

Criminals and Guns

Via G Ashleigh Moody III "You can “bet your Bippy” this guy is voting Democrat!"

 Image may contain: one or more people, possible text that says 'I am a criminal. I don't buy guns at stores. don't care about your stupid gun laws. Background checks won't stop me. Keep focusing on the good people. THE PATRIOT POST THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANT.'