COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Ex Homie Jeh says outright that the Russians failed to alter “ballots, ballot counts or reporting of election results.”

Good riddance to the Russia myth — and blame Team Obama for promoting it

Good riddance to the Russia myth — and blame Team Obama for promoting it
Ex-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s testimony Wednesday should mark the definitive end of “Russia hacked the election” hysteria. Too bad it took so long to get to this point.

Johnson told the House Intelligence Committee outright that the Russians failed to alter “ballots, ballot counts or reporting of election results.”

Yes, it’s clear Russia (with Vladimir Putin’s full approval) orchestrated cyberattacks designed to influence the 2016 contest, and also pushed fake news.
But the hack, and release via WikiLeaks, etc., of Democratic e-mails produced nothing game-changing. The biggest impact was to confirm the obvious: The Democratic National Committee favored Hillary Clinton from the start.
And fake news mainly feeds people’s existing prejudices — which serves Putin’s goal of undermining our democracy, but fails to flip votes from one party to the other.

Johnson also made it plain that Democrats didn’t take the problem too seriously: “The FBI and the DNC had been in contact with each other months before about the intrusion, and the DNC did not feel it needed DHS’s assistance at that time.”
Johnson also explained why the Obama administration kept quiet on the threat. The White House, he recalled, argued that a public admission of possible Russian interference might be seen as an effort to influence the election — particularly since Donald Trump was warning “the election was going to be rigged.”
That is: Because Obama was fervently campaigning for Clinton, the White House figured that raising alarms about Russian interference would seem mere electioneering.

Was it more worried that this would undermine faith in the election, or just that it would help Trump? Note that Team Obama vetoed then-FBI Director James Comey’s plan to publish a late-summer op-ed warning of Russia’s efforts to interfere — which would’ve been the least political-seeming way to get the message out.

Also that when Team Obama finally did go public on the threat, it was after that “Access Hollywood” tape seemed to spell disaster for Trump.
And that the administration didn’t take action until after Election Day, when it slapped Moscow with new sanctions — putting the question of Russian interference on Page One only after Trump had won.

It’s good that the hysteria has finally died down, but too bad Team Obama’s handling of it all helped produce so much misdirected hysteria in the first place.

52 comments:

  1. The Donald says he doesn't have any tape recordings of Comey.

    Actually I don't think he ever said he did. Didn't he say Comey better hope I don't have any recordings ?

    The big bluffer....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From horse's mouth -


      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 17m17 minutes ago
      More

      Replying to @realDonaldTrump
      ...whether there are "tapes" or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.
      6,429 replies 3,351 retweets 10,198 likes
      Reply 6.4K Retweet 3.4K Like 10K
      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 17m17 minutes ago
      More

      With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea...
      2,268 replies 3,172 retweets 9,892 likes
      Reply 2.3K Retweet 3.2K Like 9.9K
      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago
      More

      I certainly hope the Democrats do not force Nancy P out. That would be very bad for the Republican Party - and please let Cryin' Chuck stay!
      15,447 replies 13,856 retweets 48,827 likes
      Reply 15K Retweet 14K Like 49K
      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago
      More

      ...Why did the DNC REFUSE to turn over its Server to the FBI, and still hasn't? It's all a big Dem scam and excuse for losing the election!
      10,088 replies 12,405 retweets 43,527 likes
      Reply 10K Retweet 12K Like 44K
      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago
      More

      ...Why did Democratic National Committee turn down the DHS offer to protect against hacks (long prior to election). It's all a big Dem HOAX!
      7,092 replies 10,874 retweets 37,831 likes
      Reply 7.1K Retweet 11K Like 38K
      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago
      More

      By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn't they stop them?
      14,965 replies 15,171 retweets 51,954 likes
      Reply 15K Retweet 15K Like 52K
      Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago
      More

      Former Homeland Security Advisor Jeh Johnson is latest top intelligence official to state there was no grand scheme between Trump & Russia.
      6,407 replies 11,225 retweets 40,451 likes
      Reply 6.4K Retweet 11K Like 40K

      Delete
  2. Moving on to more serious matters -

    High Noon in North Korea: Is Trump Ready for War?
    GORDON G. CHANG
    06.21.17 1:00 AM ET


    The horrific death of Otto Warmbier looks like it forced the hand of President Trump.

    A day after the 22-year-old student passed away, the American leader, in what may end up as the world’s most consequential tweet, signaled that the United States will soon act on its own to disarm North Korea.

    “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out,” Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “At least I know China tried!”

    The announcement, considered in the context of Trump’s other comments on the subject, appears ominous. Trump on April 11 said America would defang North Korea by itself if China did not do so. “North Korea is looking for trouble,” he tweeted then. “If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”
    On Tuesday, Trump in effect declared it was time for the U.S. to act on its own.

    Many had assumed that Trump would wait until at least the middle of July before going after the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Japanese newspapers reported that the American leader at the early April Mar-a-Lago summit gave his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, 100 days—until July 16—to deal with Pyongyang. That timeframe, by the way, matched up with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s “100-day action plan” on trade, announced at the end of the Trump-Xi meeting.

    Yet the outrage over the brutalization of Warmbier looks like it accelerated Trump’s timetable.
    Now the administration will have to act. What will it do?

    There are many “non-kinetic” options. The most effective of them restrict the flow of funds to the Pyongyang regime. The U.S. can, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested Tuesday, prevent Americans from traveling to North Korea. The administration can also tighten sanctions on the North. Moreover, it can do a far better job of enforcing existing measures designed to stanch the flow of funds into Kim regime coffers.

    All of these measures would help, of course, but the big flows of cash to North Korea originate from China or pass through Chinese financial institutions. Bank of China, one of China’s “Big Four” banks, was named in a recent U.N. panel report for its active participation in a conspiracy to hide illicit money transfers for North Korea.

    Chinese banks in the border city of Dandong have regularly handled funds for suspicious transactions involving the North.
    And Chinese banks were almost certainly involved in the February 2016 cybertheft of $81 million from the account of the central bank of Bangladesh at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. U.S. officials think North Korea was the mastermind but that Chinese middlemen helped “orchestrate the theft.” If Chinese middlemen orchestrated, Chinese banks were almost certainly participants in the crime.

    So to starve Pyongyang into disarming, Trump will have to go after China.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He already has the tools to do so. By doing nothing more than enforcing U.S. law, Trump could put Chinese banks out of business by denying them access to their dollar accounts in New York.

      Trump administration officials, to their credit, have talked about unplugging Chinese banks, but there is no indication they have now summoned the considerable political will necessary to act.

      The failure to summon political will to impose costs on China means Trump, if he honors his promise to disarm North Korea, will eventually have to resort to “kinetic” options, perhaps soon.

      Eric Bolling will not be surprised if Trump uses force. “It may be time for a preemptive strike,” the Fox News anchor, obviously angered by the North’s treatment of Warmbier, said Monday on air.

      Is war really the next step? Perhaps so, if for no other reason than the Kim regime has looked unstable for some time. If it is in fact unstable, it will not be able to deal with the international community in good faith. If it cannot deal with the international community in good faith, the chances for any negotiated settlement with the Trump administration appear slim.

      Warmbier is the first detained American civilian known to have been killed by the North Koreans. His killing suggests, among other things, that something is wrong in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un, at the very least, now looks reckless and dangerous.

      So any decision by Trump to use force could trigger history’s next great conflict. Decisions on North Korea are about to become extraordinarily consequential.

      http://www.thedailybeast.com/high-noon-in-north-korea-is-trump-ready-for-war

      Delete
  3. .

    High Noon in North Korea: Is Trump Ready for War?

    Who the hell Knows?

    Trump continues the ongoing trends of America's "No Strategy' policy around the world.

    The U.S. is the bull that carries a china shop in its back pocket. Wherever we go, the story is the same. There is no strategy behind anything we do, at least, none that anyone can or will explain to us. How does Trump address this? His budget proposal gives a clue. He increases military spending by 10% while cutting the State Department budget by 30%. Clearly, trying to develop an overall strategy or negotiate with allies or enemies is way down on Trump's priority list.

    Afghanistan? Trump has washed his hands of the country and turned it over to the generals. Their plan? The same ol same ol but with more troops. Every general put in command there believed he would be the one who would finally 'win' the war. After 16 years and more generals than you can count on one hand, we are significantly worse off there than we were 6 months after first invading the country.

    Qatar? It's obvious Trump hasn't a clue when his pronouncements are almost immediately corrected by his staff.

    The rest of the countries in the ME (SA, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, et al)? The same.

    Russia and China? Trump's views change from day to day.

    North Korea? As noted, who the hell knows?

    Iraq/Syria? Clearly clueless. Going back to the Obama years, the only apparent plan is to get rid of Assad even if it means working with and financing terrorist groups. What happens if and when Assad falls (or even when ISIS falls)? Who the hell knows. It's all ad hoc. And dangerous. We see the beginning of the escalation already. Who knows if it will end without American blood being spilled.

    How Great-Power Wars Get Started

    Not with a bang, but basic strategic confusion in Washington about the links between Syria, Qatar, Iran, and Russia.


    Foreign policy, item #1 on the list of the things Trump doesn't understand and shows no interest in learning.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Syria - it's all about the gas and pipelines.

      If Russia gets control of the gas, they win. Trump is a winner, he must win. He is going to win so much you'll be tired of winning.


      Hold on to your hats.

      Delete

    2. Afghanistan?

      That was the war that O'bozo told us was the important war, the one we had to win. Remember ?

      Then he announced a pull out date....with the expected results....

      Delete
  4. Everyone is waiting breathlessly for Generals Ash and Quirk to tell us what to do.

    I know I am.

    What would they have done concerning Germany and Japan in the war years ?

    That is another question I often wonder about....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      You've been told, you old fart. Probably a half dozen times or more. You either don't listen or the memory problem is chronic and likely irreversible.

      .

      Delete
    2. As I recall your recommendation was never to do anything at all.

      If that is incorrect please correct my recollection.

      Delete
    3. .

      Consider yourself corrected.

      .

      Delete
  5. I recall being branded a war monger by Ash and Quirk for suggesting some 'no fly zones' in Syria back when it was still a possibility, before the Russkies intervened.

    That was back several hundred thousand dead ago, and millions of refugees.

    So, I have given up recommending actions though I do think we ought to recognize a Kurdish state if the Kurds declare one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      So, I have given up recommending actions...


      Perhaps, there is still some measure of hope no matter how unlikely.


      .

      Delete
    2. Perhaps we ought to mind our own business and let the Russkies do as they wish with Canada as long as we cede them Detroit.

      Delete
  6. For Quirk:

    http://www.sarahpalin.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's the Daily Devotions section for you Quirk:

      http://www.sarahpalin.com/devotions/

      Devote yourself to that for awhile.

      It will do you good.

      Delete
    2. Here's the store:

      http://www.sarahpalin.com/store/

      You can get rid of your toenail fungus in just three days.

      And you thought it was hopeless....

      Delete
  7. Poor Christ

    Sorry B****** only came back once.

    A far distant second to Quirk The Great Pretender.

    Next time we gotta bet on the odds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's it feel like to be the object of such devotion, Bob?

      Delete
    2. I'm trying to help Quirk out with his toenail fungus frustrations.

      Delete
    3. I don't have a clue. I've never been the object of any such devotion at all far as I can recall.

      Delete
    4. But I'm devoted to Quirk's well being.

      Delete
    5. Compassion is attractive.

      Delete
    6. Certainly not trying to attract the old Quirkster, just want to keep him on the straight and narrow and out of any more trouble.

      Delete
  8. "It’s good that the hysteria has finally died down,"

    In what Universe?

    ReplyDelete
  9. UPDATE: JANE SANDERS LAWYERS UP FOR FEDERAL PROBE....DRUDGE

    https://vtdigger.org/2017/06/22/sanders-lawyered-up-in-federal-probe-of-burlington-college/


    heh

    ReplyDelete
  10. Meanwhile the entire State of Illinois is as dead broke as Puerto Rico.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This Is How Great-Power Wars Get Started

    Not with a bang, but basic strategic confusion in Washington about the links between Syria, Qatar, Iran, and Russia.
    BY EMILE SIMPSONJUNE 21, 2017


    ....The limits of having no positive political strategy are also evident in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, the United States military has effectively helped clear ground for Iranian Shiite militias to backfill, which contradicts the administration’s anti-Iranian position. The only real alternative is to support a greater governance role for Kurdish groups, potentially as part of an enlarged independent Kurdish state. But so far, the U.S. position has been to support the unity of Iraq.

    In Syria, the situation is more complex, because unlike the Iraqi Kurds, who have reasonably good relations with Ankara, the Turkish government is vehemently opposed to any kind of independent Kurdish state in northern Syria. But the U.S.-led coalition overwhelmingly relies on Kurdish ground forces in Syria, and they hold most of the ground cleared from the Islamic State. Does the United States support a Kurdish state in northern Syria? We don’t know. Has it provided any alternative to a Kurdish state in northern Syria? No. Is the territory still legally part of Syria? Yes. Unsurprisingly, there is serious confusion on the ground, which has produced the U.S.-Russian escalation we see today.

    So back to the original question: Are we are headed toward a great-power conflict in the middle east?

    In my view, until the U.S. presents a positive political strategy, we will continue to have direct clashes between Russian-supported Shiite militias and U.S. forces, which may well produce an accident in which either Russia shoots down a U.S. plane or vice versa. Even then, I think that neither Washington nor Moscow would rationally want a conventional fight. But conflict dynamics are never wholly rational; far from it. Violence can generate new emotional pressures in conflict and spin out of control in a direction nobody anticipated.

    Besides the risk of escalation with Russia, the more the United States starts directly attacking Shiite militias, the more likely the Iranian nuclear deal will completely break down. This would reopen the possibility of a U.S. war with Iran. Even before that point, Iran would likely react to counter the United States in the region by exerting much more aggressive influence over Baghdad. The nightmare scenario would be an Iranian puppet like ex-Prime Minister Nouri alMaliki getting back into power, and issuing a demand for U.S. forces to leave Iraq, which would put Washington in a vexed position of either accepting or returning to direct rule.

    To avoid escalations of this sort, the Trump administration should now lay out a positively defined political vision for the Middle East, which would accompany and tether its negatively defined anti-Islamic State and anti-Iranian goals. At this time, the fundamental part of this vision must be a clear U.S. position on the future of Kurdish-held areas in Iraq and Syria.

    http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/21/this-is-how-great-power-wars-get-started/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yet Deuce gives his unconditional support.

      Go figure.

      Delete
  12. Jeh Johnson's a liar, according to Debbie Schultz.

    Says the FBI never asked to see their hacked server.

    Comey also testified that they did.

    Poor Debbie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Headline: "Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: FBI, DHS never contacted me about DNC hack". WASHINGTON EXAMINER June 21, 2017

      ' "At no point during my tenure at the DNC did anyone from the FBI or any other government agency contact or communicate with me about Russian intrusion on the DNC network. It is astounding to me that the chair of an organization like the DNC was never contacted by the FBI or any other agency concerned about these intrusions," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "As a member of Congress, I had the unique clearance to hear any classified briefing that would be involved in such an intrusion, and the FBI clearly should have come to me with that information. They did not."

      Wasserman Schultz appeared to be rebutting statements from former [Obama Administration] Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who testified today that the DNC said it didn't need the Department of Homeland Security's help when it was hacked last year.'

      http://disq.us/url?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fdebbie-wasserman-schultz-fbi-dhs-never-contacted-me-about-dnc-hack%2Farticle%2F2626682%3ApR1mmf_cywlw2A7Sx-QlCwXUQAk&cuid=3884509

      Delete
  13. CONFIRMED: Trump Can Get The Unmasking Records Out of Obama Library

    President Trump, Congress, and the courts are able to get records about Susan Rice’s “unmasking” of Trump transition officials out of the Obama Presidential Library.

    Obama stashed the records in his library, according to Judicial Watch’s announcement Monday, which cited a letter from the National Security Council (NSC). Judicial Watch tried to get the records through the Freedom of Information Act, but the watchdog group was denied, with the NSC citing a Presidential Records Act statute that protects presidential records from public disclosure for a period of five years.

    It appears, then, that Rep. Devin Nunes’ House Intelligence Committee subpoenas to the NSA, CIA, and FBI will come up fruitless, with the Deep State agencies deferring to the Obama Library. But don’t worry.

    There are a number of things wrong here.

    Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton:



    The NSC stated in its letter that “Documents from the Obama administration have been transferred to the Barack Obama Presidential Library. You may send your request to the Obama Library. However, you should be aware that under the Presidential Records Act, Presidential records remain closed to the public for five years after an administration has left office.”

    First of all, Barack Obama’s presidential library does not actually exist. The proposed library in Jackson Park, Chicago, will not be fully constructed until 2021. So where are the records? Physically speaking, where are the records? Are the records at the construction site? What constitutes the Obama Library, as an entity, at this point in time?

    What purpose do these records serve in an Obama library? Will the museum feature a “Surveilling Trump” exhibit next to one about Obama’s boyhood years in Hawaii? Will “Susan Rice’s Unmasking” play as an in-house movie for library guests? By 2021, the left’s partisan hatred might be formidable enough to make this a reality.

    The federal government still owns the records, not the museum, according to the National Archives website: “The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records; and such records shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.”

    The national Archivist has custody of the records, according to the Archives site: “Upon the conclusion of a President’s term of office, or if a President serves consecutive terms upon the conclusion of the last term, the Archivist of the United States shall assume responsibility for the custody, control, and preservation of, and access to, the Presidential records of that President.”

    Since the NSC cited the five-year confidentiality window, that means the only thing specifically hiding the records is the Presidential Records Act, which has certain exceptions.

    Are the records closed to the public? Yes. But not closed to the current president, Congress, or law enforcement officials who can get the information and make it public themselves.

    From the Archives website:

    Ҥ 2205. Exceptions to restricted access...

    http://bigleaguepolitics.com/confirmed-trump-can-get-unmasking-records-obama-library/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie Anne

      Well what if Obama pulls a Hillary and bleach bit destroys records??? Can't trust these liberal politicians at all... dishonest crooked!!

      Delete
  14. Transgender man is four months PREGNANT with his second child
    (after he came off hormone treatment to 'preserve his fertility')

    Kaci Sullivan, 29, from Wisconsin, had his first child while living as a woman
    But he said that living as a woman was 'soul-crushing' and decided to transition

    In 2013, he began taking male hormones and underwent a double mastectomy

    He did not have gender reassignment surgery in order to 'preserve his fertility'

    Kaci is now pregnant with his second child with his boyfriend and lives as a man

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4627960/Transgender-man-four-months-PREGNANT.html#ixzz4kmTBe3Kd

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Doug, quit, you are confusing me.

      Delete
    2. You're overthinking it. She's just a chick who cut off her tits and had a kid.

      Delete
    3. Thanks, Sam.

      That clears it up for me.

      Delete
  15. Kaci:

    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/06/22/09/41A1180700000578-4627960-Kaci_Sullivan_says_his_second_pregnancy_as_a_male_is_a_far_happi-m-28_1498120209174.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  16. “They had said they would fight until their last breath defending the mosque,” Baghdad-based security expert Safaa al-A’sam told Reuters. “The fact is that they are no longer capable of standing in the face of Iraqi government forces.”

    The minaret was built with seven bands of decorative brickwork in complex geometric patterns also found in Persia and Central Asia. Its tilt and the lack of maintenance made it particularly vulnerable to blasts.

    The mosque was named after Nuruddin al-Zanki, a noble who fought the early crusaders from a fiefdom that covered territory in modern-day Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It was built in 1172-73, shortly before his death, and housed an Islamic school.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Back to the Yanez/Castile shooting again -

    Why I Am Still Baffled By the Outrage over the Philando Castile Shooting Verdict & Video
    by John Ziegler | 7:35 am, June 22nd, 2017

    http://www.mediaite.com/online/why-i-am-still-baffled-by-the-outrage-over-the-philando-castile-shooting-verdict-video/

    Who knows ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Then again -

      Two Phony Excuses For Shooting Philando Castile

      http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/22/two-phony-excuses-for-shooting-philando

      Delete
  18. The 845-year old al-Hadba Minaret was destroyed on Wednesday. Iraqi and coalition forces reported that ISIS blew up the historic mosque and minaret.

    ...

    The militant group claimed that a coalition airstrike was responsible for the destruction.

    Al-Hadba minaret, a treasured landmark in Mosul, was nicknamed the hunchback by Iraqis because of its precarious tilt. The extremist group simultaneously blew up Al-Nuri mosque, the place where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his so-called caliphate on June 29, 2014, naming himself “caliph,” leader of the whole Islamic world, seeking to found a new Islamic regime.

    ReplyDelete
  19. President Trump’s claims of illegal voting in the presidential election have been given further support by a new study by an independent think tank that concluded that the number of noncitizens voting in the 2008 election was higher than previously thought.


    The study, conducted by the right-leaning think tank Just Facts, found that as many as 5.7 million non-citizens may have voted in the 2008 election which brought President Barack Obama to the White House.

    Just Facts’ analysis looked again at a Harvard/YouGov study conducted in the wake of the 2008 election, which surveyed 32,000 people about their voting habits. The Washington Times, which first reported on Just Facts’ study, notes that prior examinations of the data concluded that as few as 38,000 and as many as 2.8 million noncitizens voted in that election.

    The study uses a lengthy series of calculations to recast the data, and also challenges a number of assumptions or alleged problems with the original study. For instance, it notes that the YouGov/Harvard data could also underestimate the number of non-citizens voting for a number of reasons as it uses Census data — which in turn underestimates the presence of illegal immigrants in the country.

    “The Census Bureau counts only the number of non-citizens who respond to Census surveys, and some immigrants, especially unauthorized ones, avoid such surveys out of fear of exposing their immigration status,” the study says.

    The Times reports that the YouGov data also assumed that noncitizens never misidentified themselves and citizens, something which Agresti believes to be false.

    Just Facts’ study found that the number of non-citizens voting in 2008 was between 594,000 and 5.7 million. The study also concluded that between 1.2 and 3.6 million voted in the 2012 election.

    If these numbers were the same or larger in the 2016 election, it could potentially account for Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote — as President Trump has claimed.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Getting an Edge in the Long Afghan Struggle
    Trump’s early approach holds promise if backed with a sustained, and sustainable, commitment.

    Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a helicopter over Kabul, April 24. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

    By David Petraeus and Michael O’Hanlon
    June 22, 2017 6:32 p.m. ET

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/getting-an-edge-in-the-long-afghan-struggle-1498170753

    ReplyDelete
  21. The FBI’s Briefing On The GOP Baseball Shooting Couldn’t Have Been More Bizarre

    The FBI tried to claim that the shooting at the baseball field was spontaneous and had no target, despite all evidence to the contrary.

    Mollie Hemingway

    ....The FBI’s briefing appears so contrary to the facts as to be insulting. When a man with a history of hating Republicans cases a location, takes pictures, verifies the targets are Republicans before opening fire, has a list of Republican politicians in his pocket, and shoots and nearly kills Republicans, it’s hard to swallow the FBI’s contention that the shooting was “spontaneous” with “no target.” The agency should reconsider whether it wants to troll Americans about something this serious....

    http://thefederalist.com/2017/06/22/the-fbis-briefing-on-the-gop-baseball-shooting-couldnt-be-more-bizarre/

    Good Grief.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In fact, USA Today went with “FBI offers portrait of troubled Alexandria shooter with ‘anger management problem’” for their headline, since that’s what the FBI emphasized in the briefing.

      Delete
  22. North Korea has carried out another test of a rocket engine the US believes could be part of its program to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, two American officials say.

    ...

    The disclosure of the engine test came a day after the US pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to help rein in its nuclear and missile programs during a round of high-level talks in Washington.

    ReplyDelete
  23. THE ONLY BOOK ON PALESTINIAN HISTORY YOU WILL EVER NEED TO READ
    A historian counters mendacity with powerful satire.
    June 23, 2017 Ari Lieberman

    There have been many books written on Palestinian identity and history but none are as scholarly and authoritative as Assaf A. Voll’s “A History of the Palestinian People, From Ancient Times to the Modern Era.” Voll’s exhaustive account of Palestinian history is summed up in 120 fact-filled pages brimming with substantive information that most will find useful.

    University students working under harsh time constraints will find the book particularly suitable because it can be read cover-to-cover in a matter of seconds. That’s because all the pages are blank save for a quote in the beginning of the book attributed to the Seinfeld character George Costanza – “Just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it.”

    One comical reviewer at Amazon amusingly noted that the Voll’s book was plagiarized. “The work is identical to the book, Everything Men Know About Women: 25th Anniversary Edition,” said the reviewer. The reviewer is correct but the author’s transgression is minor compared to fantastical mendacity propagated by those pretending to be historians and academics at some of the world’s top universities.

    The notion of “Palestinian history” is farcical and Voll’s understated but illuminating point unabashedly exposes this abject lie....

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/267086/only-book-palestinian-history-you-will-ever-need-ari-lieberman

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. YES, IT IS ALL ABOUT ISLAM
      Ibn Warraq takes on the apologists' lies.
      June 23, 2017 Bruce Bawer


      Douglas Murray, whose book The Strange Death of Europe I applauded here the other day, has called him “one of the great heroes of our time.” I fully agree. His name – or, at least, his pen name – is Ibn Warraq, and he's the author of such important and eloquent works as Why I Am Not a Muslim (which I wrote about here eleven years ago), Why the West Is Best (which I reviewed here five years ago), and What the Koran Really Says. Born in India and educated in Britain, Warraq began criticizing Islam in print during the 1988-89 Satanic Verses controversy, when he was appalled by the failure of celebrated writers and intellectuals to defend Salman Rushdie's freedom of speech. Warraq, who was then based in France and now lives in the U.S., has been publishing books on Islam ever since, and is one of the essential contemporary authors on the subject, courageously telling ugly truths about a religion – an ideology – that has been swathed in pretty lies.

      His new book, The Islam in Islamic Terrorism: The Importance of Beliefs, Ideas, and Ideology, is (if it doesn't sound a bit odd to put it this way) a godsend – a comprehensive answer to every one of those duplicitous politicians, lily-livered journalists, and slimy professional “experts” and “consultants” who tirelessly insist that Muslim terrorists have hijacked a peaceful faith. Some of us don't need to be told that this “Religion of Peace” stuff is arrant nonsense; but innumerable apologists continue to absolve Islam itself of guilt for violent terror, and tens of millions of people in the West continue to buy their bull – some because they are themselves so pure of heart that they simply can't believe any religion would actually preach violence, and others because admitting the facts would make them feel like bigots.

      Many apologists insist that violence in the name of Islam is a relatively recent development; Warraq makes it crystal clear that it's prescribed in the Koran and has been practiced from the outset....

      https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/267078/yes-it-all-about-islam-bruce-bawer

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