THAT GOP SCREW-UP OVER ETHICS – The Independent Office of Ethics, the so-called watchdog group in the House, needs reform, but the timing to take the vote on the start of the 115th Congress was crazy. You probably never heard of the group before, because it has no official power; in fact, it has no subpoena power. And, imagine this, the group can publish what they believe are ethics abuses based on anonymous tips, even if they choose not to confront a member for abuse. President Elect Trump tweeted his displeasure with the GOP for addressing this when more important matters need attention.
DEMOCRAT SENATOR MCCASKILL of Missouri couldn’t help but take a political shot at President Elect Trump during the Senate intelligence hearing. She accused Trump of putting WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange on a pedestal with his tweets on Twitter, but Trump only commented on what Assange said, not that he concurred with his recent remarks. Following her comment, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) responded by facetiously thanking her for her “non-partisan” statement, which drew cheers from GOP committee members.
SOME PEOPLE ARE ASKING – If that intelligence report was just completed prior to Thursday’s Senate hearing, how is it that President Obama was able to send 35 Russian diplomats packing and establish new sanctions against Russia on Dec. 30? Just asking.
FORMER INDIANA SENATOR Dan Coats has been tapped to be the director of national intelligence in the Trump administration. Current DNI James Clapper leaves with President Obama on Jan. 20.
YOU MAY HAVE MISSED The Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Henninger speak of the massive intelligence bureaucracy in Washington DC while commenting on President Elect Trump’s desire to revamp it. You may recall that I asked the question, “Why do we need 17 intelligence agencies?” in my Jan. 3, 2017 post.
IT WAS GRATIFYING TO SEE that Tucker Carlson will replace Megyn Kelly on Fox News beginning Jan. 9, 2017. Regular readers of this blog will recall that on Dec. 10, 2016, I highly recommended that you watch his new program, Tucker Carlson Tonight. “In less than two months, Tucker has taken cable news by storm with his spirited interviews and consistently strong performance,“ said Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch. In welcoming Carlson to the channel’s primetime line-up, Murdoch said, “Viewers have overwhelmingly responded to his show.” News veteran Martha MacCallum will host a new show called, The First 100 Days, in Carlson’s former time slot.
IT WASN’T SURPRISING to learn that Greta Van Susteren, who once presented the Democrat viewpoint on the predominantly conservative Fox News Channel, will soon have a new evening show on the left-leaning MSNBC.
LOOK FOR THE DEMS TO TRY TO OBSTRUCT and continue to take swipes at President Elect Trump and efforts of the GOP Congress to fulfill the promises of the presidential campaign, but don’t fret, Republicans have the votes and the presidency. I note that Dem minority leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are already attempting to scare the public with the repeal of ObamaCare. It was interesting to note that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVA) appears to be supporting the Republican repeal effort. He said there are 8 or 10 other Democrats who may also support the repeal.
ON THAT NOTE, have you heard that the loopy State of California will pay former Obama attorney general Eric Holder, the only U. S. attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress, $25,000 a month to be a thorn in the side of the Trump administration. He will be attempting to block any legislation or regulations that he claims will have a deleterious effect on that state. Expect other left-leaning states – Washington and Oregon – to follow suit.
IN JUST 11 DAYS President Obama leaves office, but expect a compliant media to keep him in the news to take swipes at the new administration.
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