Thursday, January 26, 2017

Why Would We Not Want to Know if Voter Fraud Exists?



Voter fraud, lawlessness  and emails getting lost under Obama and the Democrats - Remember When:


How to prove rampant voter fraud in U.S.
Experts say federal investigation could verify Trump's claim
Published: 8 hours ago
WND EXCLUSIVE


WASHINGTON – President Trump has called the establishment media’s bluff on voter fraud, and, judging by the evidence, as well as comments from a pair of the nation’s leading experts on the subject, he may just hold a winning hand.


Reporters incessantly badgered White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday over the president’s comments in a private meeting that he believed 3 to 5 million illegal votes were cast in the election.Hillary Clinton garnered 2.9 million more votes nationwide than Trump, while the Republican won the Electoral College vote, 304-227.Reporters repeatedly demanded Spicer tell them, if Trump was so sure about widespread voter fraud, why he didn’t order an investigation?So, on Wednesday, Trump announced he would do just that.

He unleashed a pair of tweets that read: “I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and. even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” The reporters’ brazenness could well have been prompted by articles from mainstream media outlets, such as the New York Times, insisting there was no evidence of voter fraud. But that’s not true. Ample evidence has been published indicating widespread voter fraud, as WND and other media outlets have reported over the years. What do YOU think? How big of a national problem is voter fraud? Sound off in today’s WND poll!

The problem with Trump’s claims, according to two experts who have studied the issue in depth, is “we don’t really know to what extent they are true.” John Fund is the national affairs columnist for National Review. Hans von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, is a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. They are the authors of “Who’s Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk.”
Both have commented extensively to WND on voter fraud in the past, and they generously allowed WND to use quotes from the draft of an op-ed they submitted for publication, titled, “Trump’s probe of voter fraud long overdue. No one should oppose collecting the data Obama’s administration has been hiding.”
Perhaps their most consequential insight is that if all the past indicators are true and there likely has been rampant voter fraud, it may not be all that difficult to prove, particularly now that there is a will to look for it.
“Conducting an investigation that will help resolve the size of the voter fraud problem is straightforward,” asserted Fund and von Spakovsky.
“The Department of Homeland Security should cooperate with states wanting to check the citizenship status of voters on their rolls. The Justice Department should put pressure on or sue counties and states that refuse to clean up their rolls.”
That could weed out dead voters and those who cast multiple ballots. What about identifying illegal voters, those who are not citizens?

“The IRS has issued 11 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, most of them to illegal immigrants so they can file taxes,” noted the authors.


“Privacy rules allow the IRS to share information for some law enforcement purposes, but not in a way that results in deportations. Those rules could be tweaked to allow states to compare the names of illegal immigrants the IRS has with their voter records.”
The results of such an investigation could be stunning, even a major scandal for Democrats, if past studies prove correct.
Fund and von Spakovsky cited “a 2012 study from the Pew Center on the States estimating that one out of every eight voter registrations is inaccurate, out-of-date or a duplicate.”
“About 2.8 million people are registered in more than one state, according to the study, and 1.8 million registered voters are dead. In most places it’s easy to vote under the names of such people with little risk of detection.”
Additionally, a 2014 study in the Electoral Studies Journal shows illegals may have cast as many as 2.8 million votes in 2008 and 2010.
In an editorial on the study by Investors Business Daily on Nov. 28, titled “Trump is right — Millions of illegals probably did vote in 2016,” the paper noted: “And when you consider the population of illegal inhabitants has only grown since then, it’s not unreasonable to suppose that their vote has, too.
“Remember, a low-ball estimate says there are at least 11 million to 12 million illegals in the U.S., but that’s based on faulty Census data. More likely estimates put the number at 20 million to 30 million.”
The study has been criticized, but the objection made by a Harvard team in 2015 that “the likely percent of noncitizen voters in recent U.S. elections is 0” not only seems dubious, even Democrats disagree.
Fund and von Spakovsky observed: “The Washington Post conducted a poll last October using the Polfish firm that found 84% of Republicans believe that a ‘meaningful amount’ of voter fraud occurs in U.S. elections, along with 75 percent of independents. A majority of Democrats – 52 percent – also believed there was meaningful voter fraud.”
A quarter of Democrats believed illegal immigrants were voting.

Fund and von Spakovsky also reported: “A postelection survey conducted by Americas Majority Foundation found that 2.1% of noncitizens voted in the Nov. 8 election. In the battleground states of Michigan and Ohio, 2.5% and 2.1%, respectively, of noncitizens reported voting.”
Other evidence of the strong potential for voter fraud includes what Gateway Pundit dug up and WND reported in October, that 12 states and the District of Columbia allow driver’s licenses to be given to illegal immigrants, and almost half of California’s driver’s licenses went to illegal aliens last year.
And Democrats seem more than well-aware how that works to their advantage, as evidenced in an email revealed by WikiLeaks in October, sent by Clinton campaign manager John Podesta on Feb. 3, 2015, indicating he is not troubled by voter fraud.
Podesta wrote, “On the picture ID, the one thing I have thought of in that space is that if you show up on Election Day with a drivers license with a picture, attest that you are a citizen, you have a right to vote in Federal elections.”
WND also reported a Democratic Party activist told undercover investigators for Project Veritas that his party has been rigging elections “for 50 years.”

“You know what? We’ve been busing people in to deal with you f—ing a—–es for 50 years, and we’re not going to stop now,” said Scott Foval, the national field director for Americans United for Change.
So if there are so many indication of voter fraud, possibly on a massive scale, why hasn’t it been proven so far?
Because the federal government holds the key. And the fraud would have benefited Democrats. And Democrats have held the White House for eight years.
As Investors observed: “A Rasmussen Reports poll earlier this year found that 53% of the Democratic Party supports letting illegals vote, even though it’s against the law. It’s pretty clear why.”
“Leftist get-out-the-vote groups openly urge noncitizens to vote during election time, and the registration process is notoriously loose,” Investors added.
Fund and von Spakovsky went even further, charging, “The Obama administration did everything it could to avoid complying with requests from states to verify voter registration records against federal records of legal noncitizens and illegal immigrants who have been detained by law enforcement to find noncitizens who have illegally registered and voted.”
They noted former Justice Department attorney Christian Adams testified under oath that he attended a November 2009 meeting at which then-deputy assistant attorney general Julie Fernandes told DOJ prosecutors that administration would not be enforcing the federal law that requires local officials to purge illegitimate names from their voter rolls.
The authors state, “The Justice Department has also opposed every effort by states – such as Kansas, Arizona, Alabama and Georgia –to implement laws that require individuals registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship.
“This despite evidence that noncitizens are indeed registering and casting ballots. In 2015, one Kansas county began offering voter registration at naturalization ceremonies. Election officials soon discovered about a dozen new Americans who were already registered – and who had voted as noncitizens in multiple elections.”
Fund and von Spakovsky conclude, “These blatant attempts to prevent states from learning if they have a real problem with illegal votes makes it impossible to learn if significant numbers of noncitizens and others are indeed voting illegally, perhaps enough to make up the margin in some close elections.”
So, with a change in administrations, the bottom line in discovering whether there really is massive voter fraud may be as simple as, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
And President Trump certainly has announced he has the will.

128 comments:

  1. No evidence, any time, any place of voter fraud. Please do not look at the second video and if you do waste your time looking at it , don't believe your lying eyes and what you hear. Move on. Nothing here.

    ReplyDelete


  2. Both parties do it.

    Trump is mentally ill.

    Signed, Quirk, Nancy Pelosi, and the MSM.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope Trump knows that there is nothing he can do that will satisfy the US Media Cartel or the undemocrats.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Poor Quirk.

    He's gonna have a long hard day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. More than half of California drivers' licenses went to undocumented immigrants

    California is home to more undocumented immigrants than any other state, over 3 million, so any policy shift it makes is bound to catch attention.

    Behind these numbers is a 2013 law called the Safe and Responsible Driver Act. The measure reversed a 20-year-old law that blocked people without legal status from applying for a license.

    Under AB 60, all that would be needed to get a license was proof of residency and the ability to pass a driver’s test, both written and on-the-road.

    In January 2014, Brown proposed spending $65 million to open five temporary offices and hire as many as 1,000 additional staffers to handle an application surge. He largely got what he wanted. The department opened four new offices and hired 900 people.

    In November 2014, the Department of Motor Vehicles announced it would keep longer office hours and stay open on Saturdays.

    "DMV is committed to successfully implementing this new law to increase safety on California roads by putting licensed drivers behind the steering wheel," Shiomoto said.

    The group NumbersUSA said that this year, more than half of all drivers' licenses issued in California went to undocumented immigrants. By the state’s own tally, that is correct. What the group doesn’t mention is that this is the result of a substantial state effort. First, lawmakers made it possible for over a million unauthorized residents to apply for a license, and then the state spent millions of dollars to speed the application process.

    http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/jul/28/numbers-usa/did-more-half-all-california-drivers-licenses-go-u/

    ReplyDelete
  6. DMV licensed 800,000 undocumented immigrants under 2-year-old law

    On the day that California officials implemented a controversial law that allows undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses, DMV offices throughout the state were packed with immigrants looking to take advantage of the opportunity.

    Two years after the implementation of AB 60 on Jan. 1, 2015, an estimated 806,000 undocumented residents have received driver’s licenses, according to Department of Motor Vehicles statistics this month. About 14,000 of these licenses were issued in November alone, the DMV said.

    Critics also point to another state “motor-voter” law, AB 1461, that starting in 2017 will automatically register most licensed California drivers to vote, arguing it could lead to election fraud if non-citizens barred from voting in federal elections become registered. State officials said there are safeguards in the system to prevent undocumented licensees from being registered to vote.

    The DMV said law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, can obtain driver’s license information — such as name, gender/description, address, date of birth and driver license number — through certain data-sharing systems. But the information doesn’t indicate their immigration status or whether they received licenses under AB60.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/28/dmv-licensed-800000-undocumented-immigrants-under-2-year-old-law/

    ReplyDelete
  7. "The measure reversed a 20-year-old law that blocked people without legal status from applying for a license."

    One of many indicators of the speed at which everything that worked for a safe and sane society was turned upside down.

    Now the people have been brainwashed into thinking that while we are increasingly being photographed all the time and everywhere, it's just fine to import Muslims that get to hide in plain sight with their sacred religious garb.

    Gays for Muslim rights!

    Chickens for Foxes' rights!

    Empower La Raza to eliminate White Racism.

    ReplyDelete

  8. "What's happened in Europe won't happen here, cause were gonna be nicer to them."

    - Quirk

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would be very interested in statistics on numbers of voters per household.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Our entire system of governance is hinged on voting. How could anyone believe that an occasional inspection and audit is not in order?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Crazy Madeleine Albright is thinking of 'registering' as a Moslem.

    You'd have to ask her shrink why.

    Some sort of whacked-out protest gesture, it is assumed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Something about the 'Moslem Registry', which isn't going to come to pass.

      Delete
  12. Eat Big Macs...they're safer -

    The one way fast food may actually be ‘good’ for you
    By Caitlin Dewey January 25 at 7:00 AM

    (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg News)
    President Trump is known to eat lots of fast food: McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken rank among his favorites. But the new president doesn’t just like the taste of Quarter Pounders and Fish Delights — he has also said that he believes chain establishments are safer.

    Speaking at a Republican town hall last year, Trump praised Wendy’s and McDonald’s for maintaining what he called “a certain standard”: “I like cleanliness,” he said, “and I think you're better off going there than maybe some place that you have no idea where the food is coming from.”

    He’s right. Chain restaurants do often demonstrate better food safety practices than their non-chain competition....

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/25/the-one-way-fast-food-may-actually-be-good-for-you/?utm_term=.d14a30e1404a

    Is The Donald always right ?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Death in Venice

    Refugee Drowns in Venice’s Grand Canal as Tourists Laugh, Joke, Film on Their Phones

    Home Culture Wars
    By Nahema Marchal | 6:51 am, January 26, 2017

    An investigation has been opened after an African refugee was left to drown in Venice’s Grand Canal as tourists on nearby boats filmed him on their phones, with some apparently laughing and making racist jokes.

    Video footage released on several Italian news sites shows the 22-year-old Gambian, later identified as Pateh Sabally, flailing in the icy waters of the city’s canal.

    At least three lifebelts were thrown to him by passengers on a nearby water bus but the drowning made no effort to reach for them, prompting speculation that he wanted to commit suicide....

    http://heatst.com/culture-wars/refugee-drowns-in-venices-grand-canal-as-tourists-film-on-their-phones-laugh/

    ReplyDelete
  14. .

    He's gonna have a long hard day.

    Nonsense. I have to get my car over for ab oil change this morning and get a hair cut sometime today. However, all I have to do is cut and paste what I put up yesterday to respond to the questions raised in this article.

    Today, I may have Deuce to argue with instead of just the Bobbsey Twins but I think I will still be able to calm my nerves to the point of getting my breakfast down.

    :o)

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you have the boys over at Ye Olde Mafia Barber Shoppe paste down your waving hair, after they cut it ?

      Delete
    2. I'll bet you'll look like the Cock of the Walk after getting sheared at Ye Olde Shoppe.

      Last time you got a haircut was about 8 months ago.

      You getting the ear and nose hair plucked out too ?

      I bet Maria just drools for days like this.

      Delete
    3. .

      Since my brother-in-law died, I no longer go to Ye Olde Shoppe. Sad experience as shown me that my brother in law was the only barber in the shop who knew how to cut hair.

      I now go to a shop ten minutes away run by a bunch of chicks.

      .

      Delete
  15. .

    As for Trump's plan to investigate voter fraud, as I stated yesterday, I don't have no problem with it. It may even provide some needed reforms. Where it designed to actually address voter reform, I would be even more for it; however, I fear it is simply a political exercise designed to offer evidence of Trump's ridiculous claim that there were 3-5 million illegal votes caste in the past election. Further, I still suggest that it is simply another indication of Trump's pathology similar to his statement that Mexico will pay for the wall at some point but how they do it will be very 'complicated'.

    :o)

    I'm sure.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Here's what I put up yesterday regarding Trump's proposed study.

      QuirkWed Jan 25, 08:12:00 PM EST
      .

      I have no problem with that as long as it is non-political (or at a minimum bipartisan) and has the statistical and scientific rigor required so that the results are widely accepted.

      .

      QuirkWed Jan 25, 08:24:00 PM EST
      .

      What I fear is it will merely be kabuki, a political exercise designed to make excuses for Trump's silly assertion that if it hadn't been for 3-5 million illegal aliens voting in the last election, a number Trump seems to have pulled out of his ass.

      I call it silly because it was an unforced error that he made and is now doubling down on.

      The Dem charge that Trump's presidency is somehow illegitimate because Hillary got more of the popular vote is absurd and easily countered. Instead, Trump tries to prove he actually didn't lose the popular vote. Crazy.

      .


      Delete
    2. .

      QuirkWed Jan 25, 08:50:00 PM EST
      .

      Trump's team is basing Trump's claim on questionable studies (like the one above) and on the fact that there are so many instances of people being registered in more than one state.

      As was noted, the value of the Richman and Earnest study mentioning 2.8 million non-citizens voting has been questioned for lacking scientific and statistical rigor.

      The question of dead people being on voting rolls and people being registered in more than one state is more an indictment of faulty record keeping by the Secretary of States offices in the various states than it is of voter fraud. In fact, two of Trump's nominees are registered to vote in more than one state, Bannon and Mnuchin (I think he was the second one).

      Is there voter fraud? Of course. We see it in convictions reported in the news. It is committed by both parties. Can it affect elections? Yes. That too has been documented. However, smaller elections, mostly local. National elections? We have no evidence of that. 3 to 5 million illegal votes? Now, you are just entering la la land. This is not North Korea or Iran.

      .
      Delete




      QuirkWed Jan 25, 09:07:00 PM EST
      .

      What I saw today by Team Trump and other (official or unofficial) Trump spokesmen was troubling.

      When challenged on Trump's allegation of voter fraud by illegal voters and asked what evidence does he have to support that charge they invariably responded, 'What proof do you have that it didn't happen?'

      These are supposedly educated people, lawyers among them; yet, they indulge in the logical fallacy of the complex or 'loaded' question, not responding to the original question but by asking a question containing an controversial, unsubstantiated or questionable assumption.

      Smoke and mirrors, folks. Get used to it.

      .
      Delete

      Delete
    3. As for Trump's plan to investigate voter fraud, as I stated yesterday, I don't have no problem with it.

      I ain't go no problem with it either, Slicker

      (Soon, the Q-man will be listening to country/western)

      Delete
    4. .

      QuirkWed Jan 25, 09:44:00 PM EST
      .

      How quickly 'alternative facts' change. In a filing made by Trump lawyers objecting to Jill Stein's recall efforts, they indicated that there was absolutely no evidence of voter fraud in the election.

      Now, Trump says 3 to 5 million voted illegally.

      Strange days in Trump world.

      Get used to it.

      .
      Delete




      QuirkWed Jan 25, 10:03:00 PM EST
      .

      The Obama administration, the states SOSs, and both parties agreed with the Trump lawyers that there was no evidence of fraud in the election.

      .
      Delete



      You see, Mr. Bob, easy peasy.

      .


      Delete
    5. The Donald was referring to Michigan, land of law and order, not California, or the nation at large.

      Easy peasy.

      Delete
    6. But, admittedly, a statement made by The Donald on one day doesn't always match exactly some statement made on some other day.

      Delete
    7. .

      That may have been what they meant. This is what they said in the court filing...

      All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.”

      They then reference comments by Obama on the general election that there was no evidence of fraud. They reference SOS's and the Clinton campaign. Basically, they were covering all their bases.

      This should not surprise. Trump has been all over the map on this election. When he was losing or challenged on the results he cries fraud. When he was winning he argued there was no fraud, mistakes, or interference from foreign players in the election.

      It's hard to take him seriously on this subject.

      As I pointed out before, IMO, this is an unforced error on his part. He won. The Dems simply looked like a bunch of poor losers with their arguments that Clinton won the popular vote, a meaningless factoid that merely makes them look petty. But Trump couldn't drop it.

      When you've already won, quit fighting.

      The Dems really know how to push Trump's buttons but that's not a huge compliment. it doesn't take a genius.

      With all the things Trump has facing him right now this is one of the first he decides to take on. To my mind his priorities are screwed up. This is going to take a while. I see the Dems are now considering starting their own 'investigation' into the election results.

      .

      Delete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The Doomsday Clock has been moved up 30 seconds, now 2 1/2 minutes to Armageddon.


      .

      Delete
    2. The fault of North Korea and especially Iran, and the idea terrorists might get nukes.

      Armageddon isn't coming from The Donald, the Rooskie or the Chinese.

      Delete
    3. .

      More 'alternative facts' from Bobbsey Twin #2,

      from the WaPo...

      The Doomsday Clock just advanced, ‘thanks to Trump.’ It’s now just 2 ½ half minutes to ‘midnight.’

      The president's election was among the factors cited by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in adjusting the symbolic clock 30 seconds closer to the end of humanity.


      .

      Delete
  17. .

    <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-says-torture-works-as-his-government-readies-a-review/”>Welcome Back to the Bad Old Days</a>

    <b>Trump says torture works, vows to ‘fight IS fire with fire’

    Administration said to be looking at resuming waterboarding, reopening CIA-run ‘black site’ prisons outside the United States</b>

    By Bradley Klapper, Desmond Butler and Deb Riechmann January 26, 2017, 11:32 am 0

    <i>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared Wednesday he believes torture works as his administration readied a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror. It includes possible resumption of banned interrogation methods and reopening CIA-run “black site” prisons outside the United States.

    In an interview with ABC News, Trump said he would wage war against Islamic State militants with the single goal of keeping the US safe. Asked specifically about the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, Trump cited the extremist group’s atrocities against Christians and others and said: “We have to fight fire with fire.”

    <b>Trump said he would consult with new Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo before authorizing any new policy. But he said he had asked top intelligence officials in the past day: “Does torture work?”

    “And the answer was yes, absolutely,” Trump said.

    He added that he wants to do “everything within the bounds of what you’re allowed to do legally.”</b></i>

    If Trump lives by his statement in the last sentence and depends on the advice of Mattic and Pompeo, both of which have stated they object to returning to the torture regime, the rest of his comments amount to a fart in the wind designed for effect.

    However, as we have seen before, an administration can hire as many lawyers and psychologists as they need to tell them whatever they want to hear and do whatever they want done.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  18. .

    Why Orwell’s ‘1984’ matters so much now

    Soon after Donald Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said that the administration was issuing “alternative facts,” George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel spiked to No. 1 on Amazon. There’s good reason to reread it.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She probably meant alternative facts to those presented by the MSM.

      Delete
  19. .


    Mexican president cancels meeting with Trump.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  20. .

    Despite denials by Kellyanne Conway, Tiffany Trump registered to vote in two states, NY and Pa.

    :o)


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who's Tiffany Trump ?

      Never heard of her.

      Is she the Judge ?

      Delete
    2. .

      She is the one that looks like Barbie.

      The rest look like the cast of the Addams Family.

      .

      Delete
  21. Josh Rogin Wow: State Department’s entire senior management team has resigned

    Hot Air - can't read the article because my articles are up for this month

    Maybe they were 'urged' to resign.

    All Hillary clones....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quirk is deep deep deep into VOTER FRAUD DENIAL


      January 26, 2017
      Donald Trump Confronting Voter Fraud Denial
      By Karin McQuillan

      President Trump is about to destroy the P.C. thought police who say interest in valid elections is racist and that claims of fraud are nuts.

      Fox Radio News yesterday joined the liberal media meltdown. Driving home, I heard the afternoon news claiming that Fox knows of no studies supporting Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud. They must be relying on Google searches instead of reading conservative websites. Tell me Fox reporters don't read the Wall St. Journal or National Review, which have been publishing alarming columns by the voter fraud expert John Fund for years. No surprise – Fox reporters know less than the readers of AT.


      Fox News itself reported on voter fraud in California this November:....(many examples follow)....


      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/01/donald_trump_confronting_voter_fraud_denial.html



      Delete
    2. VFD - Voter Fraud Denial - new malady recently recognized by the American Psychological Association.

      Usually not life threatening, but extremely anti-social.

      Delete
    3. (Thankfully The Donald is coming to the rescue to cure Quirk)

      Delete
    4. Quirk ran off to the Mafia Barber Shoppe.

      Delete
    5. One of his two usual cop outs....the second being 'walk the dog'.

      Delete
    6. .

      Fox Radio News yesterday joined the liberal media meltdown. Driving home, I heard the afternoon news claiming that Fox knows of no studies supporting Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud. They must be relying on Google searches instead of reading conservative websites.

      :o)
      :o):o)
      :o):o):o)

      Maybe Fox has learned its lesson. Conservative website? Don't you mean alt-right, conspiracy promoting websites?

      Let's see, Google search vs 'conservative website'?

      Google search versus conservative website that provided Bobbsey Twin #2 with this gem...

      '11,000 phony Clinton ballots found in warehouse in Ohio'

      Gee, that's a toughy.

      .

      Delete
    7. .

      Quirk is deep deep deep into VOTER FRAUD DENIAL

      More nonsense from Bobbsey Twin #2 proving once again that you don't really need to be able to read and understand English in order to be an English major.

      I have posted my position on this twice already. I'd suggest the faux farmer have his daughter read my post to him and them explain it to him in words of as few syllables as possible.

      .

      Delete
    8. read my post to him and them explain it to him

      What can we do, folks, to help this man ?

      It's that damned Windshield Wiper Information Flow Syndrome again.

      VFD AND WWIFS - the case is a tough one but not incurable.

      Delete
  22. EXCLUSIVE: Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks shot himself in the head in his waterfront Florida condo in a horrific scene witnessed by his artist wife of 25 years

    Butch Trucks suffered a gun shot wound to the head and died Tuesday in his waterfront condo in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 69

    A woman caller who is unidentified on the transcript but described as 'hysterical' dialed 911 at 6:02 p.m.

    The dispatcher noted his wife Melinda witnessed Trucks pulling the trigger

    Although he was breathing when police arrive, Trucks expired seconds later

    Palm Beach County court records show Trucks appeared to be wrestling with financials problems

    In 2011, Trucks had to sell his prized home in Palm Beach for $2 million when it was possibly worth twice as much to pay off a $800,000 mortgage

    Last year, the IRS filed two liens against the condo to force Trucks to pay additional taxes for 2013 and 2014 for a total of more than $540,000

    He was considered by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 10 drummers in rock history

    By Jose Lambiet In West Palm Beach, Florida For Dailymail.com
    PUBLISHED: 15:13 GMT, 26 January 2017 | UPDATED: 16:36 GMT, 26 January 2017


    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4157864/Allman-Brothers-drummer-Butch-Trucks-shot-head.html#ixzz4WtMrkYBB

    ReplyDelete
  23. .

    :o)

    No surprise, the president of Mexico cancels his meeting with Trump then Trump claims it was all his idea. What a dolt.

    Trump is a bully and a child. In order to meet a ridiculous election promise, and to cover a stinking $15 billion, he will jeapordize a relationship with one of our major trading partners.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quirk, aka Fuckface Namecaller, is an American celebrity analyst, board-certified distance learning Fortune Cookie Writer, and Blogger personality.

      Delete
    2. Who suffers from VFD AND WWIFS.

      See:

      Idaho BobThu Jan 26, 03:18:00 PM EST above

      Delete
    3. Also BPD - Blogger Personality Disorder

      Delete
  24. .

    David Becker was just on TV. He is the guy who was in charge of the PEW Research study cited by Trump as proof of election fraud. He was more kind than Trump who accused him of now 'groveling'when he said that Trump is misrepresenting the report. Per Becker...

    1. The study was run just to point out the inefficiencies in the current voting systems.

    2. The study pointed out the numerous cases of obsolete records at the state level, millions of them, cases where the names of the dead haven't been purged and others where voters have duplicate registration in other states.

    3. The study made no claim that the inefficiencies listed has led to any voter fraud.

    Becker then went on to point out that since 2001 there has been a lot of work done trying to address election problems, including those by the Bush Justice Department and the Secretaries of State at the state level. All of the studies he was aware of pointed out voter fraud in the US is rare and not a serious problem. He also mentioned that since the PEW study was published even more work has been done in cleaning up the mess.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  25. Gardner Kansas

    Gardner was founded where the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon/California Trails divided. The Santa Fe Trail sent travelers southwest through Sante Fe and Albuquerque toward Los Angeles and San Diego.

    The Oregon/California Trails bore west for a few miles before turning north toward the Kansas River valley, followed the Big Blue River into present-day Nebraska, followed the Platte River west, and ultimately split in present-day Wyoming, Idaho or Utah.[10]

    Gardner was founded as a Free-Stater settlement in 1857. Settled primarily by emigrants from Massachusetts, it may have been named for Henry Gardner,[11] then governor of Massachusetts.

    Four years after its establishment, it became the first community in Johnson County — and perhaps the first in the state — to experience an attack by Confederate forces.[12]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardner,_Kansas#History

    ReplyDelete
  26. Quiz for Bob: (and anyone else that values common sense)

    Choose the action to take to maximize your chance for a payoff:

    A: Confront Quirk and demand that he hand over his wallet.

    B: Approach Quirk from behind, hold a knife to his neck, and demand that he hand over his wallet.


    ...better yet, perform action "A" followed by action "B" then repeat the mantra:

    "Torture Doesn't Work"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Action B is sufficient.

      A is a waste of breath.

      Jack Benny once described such a situation:

      "Your wallet, or your life"

      delay

      "I'm thinking about it"

      Delete
    2. Quirk could never figure that one out.

      Kept repeating: "Scientific Rigor shows that torture does not work."

      Delete
    3. .


      Evidently, it's Bobbsey Twins Playroom time at the EB.

      Either that, or their handler left without giving them their meds.


      .

      Delete
  27. ABC Airs Promo For Show About President Being Shot During Trump Interview...

    Paper Editor: Assassination Easiest Way To End 'Catastrophe'...

    Former CNN Reporter: Network substance-free..,

    Obama Admin Cyber Attacks On GA Election System Probed...DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't believe CNN is 'substance free'.

      I believe they are all on drugs.

      Delete
    2. Trump is paranoid.

      Trump is sick.

      Trump deserves what he gets.

      Signed, Fuckface Namecaller

      Delete
  28. David Bossie - President and Chairman of Citizens United, former Deputy Campaign Manager for the Trump/Pence ticket. "The sheer force of his desire to win played a huge role in this" Leo Hohmann - News Editor for WND, author of the new book Stealth Invasion. "immigration without assimilation is an invasion"

    http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=669&pid=1704619


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "immigration without assimilation is an invasion"

      Excellent !

      Delete
  29. It's good that we have a virtue signaler here to remind us that unchecked immigration is more important than any culture we might once have regarded as worth preserving.

    Thank you, Fuckface!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're not being hard enough on the poor fellow.

      Delete
    2. If only he had a twin I could namecall.

      Delete
  30. .

    DougThu Jan 26, 02:56:00 PM EST

    Quirk, aka Fuckface Namecaller, is an...


    :o(

    The irony is exquisite yet painful.

    Just as he did yesterday, old Doug starts out with the name calling. Of course, the irony is that if someone responds in kind, our little Hawaiian flower wilts like a delicate little pansy in the afternoon sun on a hot summer day.

    Having learned my lesson from yesterday, I'll hold off responding in kind. It's always sad to see old man Doug whimper and cry and then slink off to wherever it is that pansies go to recover.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your Bobsey Twin routine is OLD.

      Stop using it, and I will stop addressing you as Fuckface.

      You are the one that insists on continuing to behave like a twit.

      Delete
    2. .


      You can call me Fuckface all day long, Dougo. I'm not thin-skinned enough to let it bother me.

      What is OLD is a guy who throws around shit all the time; yet, whines when it comes back at him.


      .

      Delete
    3. .

      And what is REALLY OLD is some ignorant dolt who would address a post like this to me...

      DougThu Jan 26, 04:08:00 PM EST

      It's good that we have a virtue signaler here to remind us that unchecked immigration is more important than any culture we might once have regarded as worth preserving.

      Thank you, Fuckface!



      Why don't you explain to the crowd when I have ever said that unchecked immigration is more important than any culture we might once have regarded as worth preserving.

      Point out when I have ever suggested I was for unchecked immigration.

      You and your twin are two of a kind. You get your panties in a twist over something that someone says that you don't like and then you start throwing around the 'alternative facts' hoping for a little support and backup from the other ignorant dolt.


      .






      Delete
    4. Ok, I'd rather not use Deuce's blog to namecall like a third-grader.

      I'll stop.

      Will you?

      (That includes all your superfluous "thin-skinned" "whimper and cry" attribution etc etc. that you seem to enjoy repeating ad-nauseum.)

      A word count on this page would quickly reveal the extent of your obsession.

      Delete
    5. .

      Doug, I would suggest you go back and see my responses to you on this post stream. Try to note who started what at

      DougThu Jan 26, 02:56:00 PM EST

      As I pointed out yesterday, it was also you that started that little kerfuffle.

      Please, don't try to rewrite history.

      I have posted a lot today but only a minor amount has been directed at you and then only after you started your continuing little rant.

      I can only assume that you disagreed with the posts I put up and lacked the arguments or ability to counter them so in a snit you started throwing around the insults.

      .

      Delete
  31. WRT your stance on immigration:

    You seem to have no problem with Obama's Syrian refugees, true, or false?

    Trump does, as do I.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We differ on the effect of immigration on what's left of our society.

      Or as I posted above: "immigration without assimilation is an invasion"

      also: Unchecked immigration plus the Welfare State equals cultural suicide.

      Delete
    2. .

      Unchecked immigration?

      15,000 Syrians?

      We bring in between 1.0 and 1.3 million immigrants a year. So the Syrians you are talking about amount about 1/10 of 1% of the total.

      "immigration without assimilation is an invasion"

      What makes you think the Syrian refugees won't assimilate? Or are we still talking about Syrians? You are expanding a conversation about Syrian refugees to now include the Welfare State? Is there anything else you want to bring into the conversation?

      We need a little focus here, Dougo.

      .

      Delete
    3. Vetting the Syrians is a problem, as Trump say, but I have a problem with immigration in general, as practiced since Ted Kennedy's legislation all those decades ago.

      As a California Native, I saw immigration plus welfare, plus no requirements to assimilate turn a beautiful prosperous valley into a Third World Shithole.

      As I have noted here before, Victor Davis Hanson has done a stellar job of documenting this sad reality.

      Delete
    4. .

      Have I ever said there are no problems with illegal immigration, with sanctuary cities, with the lack of assimilation by some groups? If so, I don't recall it.

      Within the past week I have called here for only one official language for this country from the federal to the state and local levels (which doesn't preclude making accommodation for additional languages to facilitate critical services). Language is a key element in helping various populations assimilate.

      As for the changing culture in the US, it bothers me as much as you. I've put up a number of posts on it. I've whined about it as much or more than you. The only reason I haven't complained more is that repeated enough times it just looks like some old fart looking maudlin and talking about the good old days. I doubt I would get much sympathy from the Millennials. Besides, IMO, we were the ones that fucked it up in the 60's and 70's raising a bunched of pampered, entitled kids who are now passing on the same PC bull to their kids.

      I call illegals illegals not undocumented. I've never been a fan of amnesty as it in effect gives a big middle finger to all those people who have to stand in line for years. I think that the H1B program is an important tool for the US but that right now it is broken and has been turned into a tool for certain companies to game the system and bring in cheap labor to replace American jobs.

      On the other hand, I don't have a problem with immigration in general. It's the only thing that can keep the economy growing when birth rates are down and the population is aging.

      I also favor the refugee programs, within reason and consistent with security concerns, especially when this country has helped turn many of those people into refugees.

      .

      Delete
    5. .


      That is, I have no problem with legal immigration in general.


      .

      Delete
  32. Running Score Quirk v Doug

    Doug 90,015

    Quirk 2 1/2

    Quirk gets 1 point for faux affability.

    ReplyDelete
  33. The Donald has now declared he is going to set up a Safe Zone(s) in Syria.

    This may be his first big mistake.

    Good idea some time ago, before the Russian presence.

    Now - not so easy.

    I hope 'Mad Dog' and the others have thought this through thoroughly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (I was called a war criminal by Quirk and Ash for suggesting this some time ago when it was feasible.)

      Delete
    2. HE'S FIRED! Trump administration tells Border Patrol chief to pack his bags one day after the president ordered Homeland Security to build his wall


      HE'S FIRED! Trump administration tells Border Patrol chief to pack his bags one day after the president ordered Homeland Security to build his wall

      U.S. Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan is out, just a few months after taking over the agency as an Obama White House appointee

      He clashed with the rank-and-file officers' union, which saw him as an outsider appointed for political purposes

      Morgan told employees on Wednesday that the Trump administration asked him to step down

      President Trump gave the order hours later to build a wall on America's southern border, and said he would hire an additional 5,000 border patrol officers

      By DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and WIRES
      PUBLISHED: 18:17 GMT, 26 January 2017 | UPDATED: 21:39 GMT, 26 January 2017



      Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4161154/U-S-Border-Patrol-Chief-Morgan-asked-leave-agency-sources.html#ixzz4Wv7PjIFQ

      Delete
    3. Border patrol agents hated him.

      All the ex-FBI Scum did was carry out Obama's directives to ignore the law.

      Delete
  34. Also worrying is the possibility this stew with Mexico might bring the lefty Chavez type candidate (can't recall his name) to power in the coming Mexican election.

    But we must control our own borders.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Sane thoughts by Gorby -

    NUCLEAR ARMS

    Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks As If the World Is Preparing for War'

    Mikhail Gorbachev, pic

    Take the first step

    I urge the members of the United Nations Security Council — the body that bears primary responsibility for international peace and security — to take the first step. Specifically, I propose that a Security Council meeting at the level of heads of state adopt a resolution stating that nuclear war is unacceptable and must never be fought.

    I think the initiative to adopt such a resolution should come from Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – the presidents of two nations that hold over 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenals and therefore bear a special responsibility.

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said that one of the main freedoms is freedom from fear. Today, the burden of fear and the stress of bearing it is felt by millions of people, and the main reason for it is militarism, armed conflicts, the arms race, and the nuclear Sword of Damocles. Ridding the world of this fear means making people freer. This should become a common goal. Many other problems would then be easier to resolve.

    The time to decide and act is now.


    http://time.com/4645442/gorbachev-putin-trump/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wish Gorby were still running things in Russia.

      Delete
  36. Jesus, reading you folk here you would think the US could do with some 3rd party election monitors for the next go round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .


      Wild Times in the USA, Ash. Wild times.



      .

      Delete
    2. .


      One only has to recall the Ashcroft/Gonzales fiasco under G.W.B. when Gonzales decided to fire all those Republican federal attorneys because they refused to bring cases against Democrats because of the lack of evidence to see where this latest exercise is headed.

      When you have a group committed to alternative facts it's not hard to see which way the wind will be blowing.

      .
      .

      Delete
    3. .


      Trump is determined to build his wall.

      Mexico has refused to pay for it which is understandable but which is also souring the US/Mexican relationship which is in no one's interest.

      So Trump is threatening a 20% tax on Mexican imports in order to 'make Mexico pay for it.' But, of course, it will be the American public that actually pays the tax.

      Trump's circular reasoning allows him to stick it to the public coming and going.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      Trump says he will be the greatest friend to the American serviceman ever. To prove it he is thinking about setting up 'safe places' in Syria, an effort that will require thousands of troops to police.

      .

      Delete
    5. I agree with you about the dubiousness of setting up 'safe places' in Syria at this late date.

      Would not our troops become targets for the disenchanted ?

      And we would be up there in the air with the Russians at the same time.

      Maybe he thinks it part of his plan to wipe out ISIS.

      Delete
    6. I have discovered a new macro aggressive term to use for you, Quirk, quite by chance:

      Blooter

      Was the 'Word of the Day' on O'Reilly.

      I like it.

      Delete
    7. .


      It's been a busy week and it's not over yet.


      .

      Delete
    8. blooter. Noun. (plural blooters) (now slang) A babbler, a bumbling idiot, a fool. (slang) A kick of a ball which is hard and, often, also wild.

      Delete
    9. (now you don't have to look it up)

      Delete
    10. It's been a busy week and it's not over yet.

      Sunday is a day of rest.

      No nation ever attacks another on Sunday, thankfully.

      Delete
    11. .

      I have discovered a new macro aggressive term to use for you, Quirk, quite by chance:

      I'm glad to hear it, Bob. You can use all the help you can get expanding you vocabulary. Now, if you can get some help with context and comprehension you might be well on your way to becoming an ex-English major.

      All good.

      .


      .

      Delete
    12. You, Quirk, are a suburban blooter.

      Delete
    13. Ah, that sounds just right !

      Delete
  37. I read there is a Mexican cement company with plants on both sides of the border who could do quite well building the wall. I wonder how many Mexican labourers who'll need be hired?

    All funded by a 20 per cent tax paid by American purchasers...

    ...Brilliant, f'n brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Canada[edit]
      Main articles: Goods and Services Tax (Canada) and Harmonized Sales Tax
      Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a value-added tax introduced by the Federal Government in 1991 at a rate of 7%, later reduced to the current rate of 5%. A Harmonized Sales Tax (HST; combined GST and provincial sales tax) is collected in New Brunswick (15%), Newfoundland (13%), Nova Scotia (15%), Ontario (13%), Prince Edward Island (15%), and, for a short time until 2013, British Columbia (12%). (Quebec has a de facto 14.975% HST: its provincial sales tax follows the same rules as the GST, and both are collected together by Revenu Québec.) Advertised and posted prices generally exclude taxes, which are calculated at time of payment; common exceptions are motor fuels, the posted prices for which include sales and excise taxes, and items in vending machines as well as alcohol in monopoly stores. Basic groceries, prescription drugs, inward/outbound transportation and medical devices are exempt.

      Delete
  38. "One only has to recall the Ashcroft/Gonzales fiasco under G.W.B. when Gonzales decided to fire all those Republican federal attorneys because they refused to bring cases against Democrats because of the lack of evidence to see where this latest exercise is headed."

    ===

    That was a bunch of bullshit:

    Bush was too dumb to fire them all upon taking office, signaling to the Dem MSM Complex that he could be easily rolled.

    So they did.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...weren't they Democrat attorneys?

      Delete
    2. I think so and that's good enough to say yes.

      Delete
    3. Nets Ignored Clinton Firing 93 U.S. Attorneys, Fret Over Bush's 8 --3/14/2007

      1. Nets Ignored Clinton Firing 93 U.S. Attorneys, Fret Over Bush's 8
      The broadcast network evening newscasts, which didn't care in 1993 about the Clinton administration's decision to ask for the resignation of all 93 U.S. attorneys, went apoplectic Tuesday night in leading with the "controversy," fed by the media, over the Bush administration for replacing eight U.S. attorneys in late 2006 -- nearly two years after rejecting the idea of following the Clinton policy of replacing all the attorneys. Anchor Charles Gibson promised that ABC would "look at all the angles tonight," but he skipped the Clinton comparison. Gibson teased: "New controversy at the White House after a string of U.S. attorneys is fired under questionable circumstances. There are calls for the Attorney General to resign." CBS's Katie Couric declared that "the uproar is growing tonight over the firing of eight federal prosecutors by the Justice Department" and fill-in NBC anchor Campbell Brown teased: "The Attorney General and the firestorm tonight over the controversial dismissal of several federal prosecutors. Was it political punishment?" Brown soon asserted that "it's a story that has been brewing for weeks and it exploded today" -- an explosion fueled by the news media.
      2. Hume Chastises Media for Failing to Point Out Clinton's Firings
      Brit Hume led his Tuesday night Grapevine segment by scolding his media colleagues for how "news stories reporting that the Bush administration had considered firing all 93 U.S. attorneys across the country failed to mention that that is exactly what Bill Clinton did soon after taking office back in 1993." Hume explained how that was not noted, "even in passing, in front-page stories today in the New York Times and the Washington Post, or in the AP's story on the subject."
      3. CBS Legal Expert Cites Democratic Donors In Swipes at AG Gonzales
      CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen took Tuesday to the "Couric & Co." blog to blast Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as a Bush toadie, then turned to law scholars with a history of donating to liberal Democratic candidates to back up his claims. Cohen wished Gonzales "stood up to his hero" -- President Bush -- "on domestic surveillance, on Guantanamo Bay, on protecting good federal prosecutors -- instead of simply defending or justifying White House policies and practices."

      http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/nets-ignored-clinton-firing-93-us-attorneys-fret-over-bushs-8-3142007

      Delete
    4. Gee Whillikers, Bob:

      The MSM was BIASED for the Dems way back in Oldendays!

      Golly gee!

      ...I guess Bush had it comin.

      Like Trump does now.

      Too bad he's mentally ill and not just stupid like Bush.

      Delete
    5. .

      Lordy. Lordy. Lordy.

      A normal child by the age of two will have developed self-awareness enough to experience basic emotions such as shame and embarrassment. I can only assume our two twins are freaks of nature in the sense that through heredity defect or some perverse gene-splicing experiment they find themselves incapable of feeling either embarrassment or shame.

      Ash, put up a post talking about the election and, I assumed, the controversy around it generated by Trump's argument that the election was riddled by fraud.

      In response, I put up this post referencing the shit storm that occurred the last time the GOP decided to launch one of these 'investigations' into voter fraud.

      One only has to recall the Ashcroft/Gonzales fiasco under G.W.B. when Gonzales decided to fire all those Republican federal attorneys because they refused to bring cases against Democrats because of the lack of evidence to see where this latest exercise is headed.

      I cited the details from memory but in fact there was a little more to it than that.

      Doug, thought he needed to address the firings which was actually a secondary concern since all US attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. Of course, his bro, Idaho Bob agreed with him. What could we expect?

      However, the central issue in the case was the reason these attorneys were fired. On September 29, 2008 the Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) released a report on the matter that found most of the firings were politically motivated and improper. The next day Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor Nora Dannehy to decide whether criminal charges should be brought against Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings.[31] The IG's report contained "substantial evidence" that party politics drove a number of the firings, and IG Glenn Fine said in a statement that Gonzales had "abdicated his responsibility to safeguard the integrity and independence of the department."

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy

      There were no criminals charges that resulted from this case, however, in addition to the firing of the US Attorneys this clusterfuck resulted in...

      - The resignations of 8-10 top officials of the Bush Justice Department including AG Alberto Gonzales, his Deputy AG Paul McNulty, WH Liaison Monica Gooding and others.

      - The resignation of Karl Rove

      - Contempt of Congress charges against WH Counsel Harriet Meiers and WH Chief of Staff Josh Bolten

      - Charges of obstruction against the White House when it was reported that many e-mails associated with the firings as well as other documentation 'were missing'. [Sound familiar?]

      - CNN reported a larger question concerning the lost e-mails: "Whether White House officials such as political adviser Karl Rove are intentionally conducting sensitive official presidential business via non-governmental accounts to evade a law requiring preservation—and eventual disclosure—of presidential records."[116] [Again. Sound familiar?]

      This is the fiasco that occurred the last time the GOP decided to go after voter fraud. It was a five-year effort and found scant evidence of voter fraud, certainly not 3-5 million illegal votes.

      In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud

      As I noted above, the Dems are now talking about launching their own investigation into voter fraud in response to Trump's claims that ALL of those alleged 3-5 million illegal votes he pulled out of his butt went to the Dems rather than to him.

      IMO, this whole thing is a major unforced error by Trump, choosing the wrong priority at the wrong time and a major waste of resources when he has a lot of more important things to do.


      .

      Delete
  39. NASA 'cuts live feed from international space station' after mysterious object appears on camera

    VIDEO

    http://www.independent.ie/world-news/video/nasa-cuts-live-feed-from-international-space-station-after-mysterious-object-appears-on-camera-35400275.html

    It might be from Area 51.

    Or, it might be Quirk's Space Scooby-Do

    Really odd.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Foggy Bottom Swamp Drains -

    State Dept. senior management team resigns: report
    By Pamela Geller - on January 26, 2017
    STATE DEPARTMENT

    Brilliant news. The State Department’s entire senior level of management has resigned less than a week into Donald Trump’s administration. The Arabist State Department has been rotten — to its core — for some time now. State Department officials have long forgotten that it is America’s interests that they represent, not those of the country they are assigned to.

    The State Department needs a massive purge. This is a good first start.

    I am sorry it isn’t John Bolton cleaning house.

    STATE DEPT. SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM RESIGNS: REPORT
    The Hill, January 26, 2017 (thanks to Kenny):



    The State Department’s entire senior level of management has resigned less than a week into Donald Trump’s administration.

    The resignations, reported by the The Washington Post, included Patrick Kennedy, the agency’s undersecretary for management who had served in the role for nine years.

    Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and Ambassador Gentry O. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Missions, resigned as well, the Post reported.

    It is not clear whether the officials were forced out by the incoming Trump administration, but the changes shook up Washington — where Trump’s approach to the foreign service had already raised eyebrows.

    “It’s the single biggest simultaneous departure of institutional memory that anyone can remember, and that’s incredibly difficult to replicate,” David Wade, who served as State Department chief of staff under Secretary of State John Kerry, told The Post.

    Earlier this year, it emerged that Trump’s team had asked all politically-appointed U.S. ambassadors to clear out of their posts by Inauguration Day, in what was seen as a break with precedent.

    In a statement, acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said all of the politically appointed officers were asked to submit letters of resignation, something he said was typical in a transition.

    “Of the officers whose resignations were accepted, some will continue in the Foreign Service in other positions, and others will retire by choice or because they have exceeded the time limits of their grade in service,” Toner said in the statement.

    “No officer accepts a political appointment with the expectation that it is unlimited,” he continued. “And all offers that the president may choose to replace them at any time.”

    All four had previously served presidents in both parties.

    The exiting officials join a number of others who have departed since President Trump took office last week.
    Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gregory Starr retired, and director of the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations Lydia Muniz left on Friday.

    President Trump’s nominee for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, was reportedly at the State Department headquarters on Wednesday. At the time, the Trump team was looking to hire Tillerson’s No. 2 and three other officials as well as replace Kennedy.

    Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was moving the Senate toward a vote on Tillerson.

    “I’ll be filing cloture on secretary of State nominee Tillerson, which will ripen next week,” McConnell told reporters during a weekly press conference.

    The move would set up a procedural vote early next week and get Tillerson through Senate by the end of the week. Democrats have been lining up against Tillerson, voicing concerns about his ties to Russia and positions on human rights.

    http://pamelageller.com/2017/01/state-dept-senior-management-team-resigns-report.html/

    ReplyDelete
  41. What is that Navy Blue symbolic circle with the 24 spokes on the Flag of India ?

    What in the world does it mean ?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_Chakra

    Is there another national flag that has a philosophy prominently displayed ?

    ReplyDelete