Here are my observations and opinions of selected news of the day.
DOJ STYLE TRANSPARENCY – Some 300 of the 400 pages in that DOJ document dump on the FISA court material use to justify the surveillance of Carter Page I wrote about yesterday were completely redacted.
(Courtesy Lisa Benson)
“THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LIES about the FISA application,” read the headline over a piece written by John Hinderaker. That’s a serious charge, because thousands of newspapers across the country, mostly those with limited staffs, subscribe to AP reports, accept them as legitimate and publish them without question.
A member of the anti-Trump media cabal, the AP leaped to still another opportunity to criticize the president, taking umbrage to his comment on the released FISA warrant document, that it “confirmed with little doubt” that intelligence agencies misled the court that proposed the warrant.
It’s ironic because the AP “systematically misleads American people,” said Hinderaker, who confirmed President Trumps assessment with the facts:
Carter Page (thefamousnews.net)
“The DOJ statement that “the FBI speculates that the identified U.S. person (Simpson) was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Candidate #1 (Trump’s) campaign” could only have been an intentional effort to deceive the FISA judge. The FBI was perfectly well aware that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC hired Simpson through their lawyers and the purpose of doing so was to attack candidate Donald Trump. References to “speculates” about “likely” motive are entirely dishonest.”
(Courtesy cartoonbrew.com)
In its FISA application, the FBI expressed confidence that Carter Page was an “agent of a foreign power,” but we know he wasn’t. We know that because if it were so after months of surveillance, I presume Special Counsel Bob Mueller would have charged him.
I found Rep. Trey Gowdy’s reference to Page as “Inspector Gadget” on Fox News Sunday humorous. While some may say that his appearance and “aw shucks” manner gives him excellent cover as a spy, I predict he will be found innocent in the end.
Rep. Barbara Lee (AP photo/Jeff Chiu)
ANOTHER MOVE TO THE FAR LEFT? California Rep. Barbara Lee, considered to be the most liberal member of the House, has launched a campaign to replace more moderate Rep. James Crowley as the leader of the House Democratic Caucus.
You will recall that Crowley was recently upset by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, an admitted socialist, in New York’s District 14.
You may not recall that Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against retaliatory action after al-Qaeda struct the New York’s twin towers on 9/11.
SPEAKING OF THE LEFT – “Just How Far Will the Left Go?” asks one of my favorite columnists Victor Davis Hansen.
Following an excellent review of President Trump’s promises kept that have produced an economy unmatched in recent history, and a foreign policy that has positioned us well by showing strength in defense and foreign trade, Hansen asks, “Why then the hate, the furor, the sheer mania?”
Stating the obvious, Hansen reminds us that “the left lost what it thought was a sure-thing election,” and the “unimaginable (Trump’s victory) then became all too real.”
Victor Davis Hansen (likesuccess.com)
“Given the growing furor over half the country as demonized clingers, deplorables, and crazies, if Trump did not exist, a don’t-tread-on-me street fighter would have had to be invented,” writes Hansen.
Hansen points out that the left didn’t just lose the 2016 election, it lost the Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court.
Obama holdovers not only wanted to see Trump defeated, they wanted him humiliated, reports Hansen, and adds that they “vied to use the power of government to destroy the Trump candidacy.”
“The progressive (leftist) hysteria reveals the lack of an idea. Kill, humiliate, delegitimize Trump is not a sustainable political agenda.”
“So, for now, they rant, they rave, and they stew, accepting that they cannot do what might save them and therefore they only do more of what is destroying them,” Hansen concludes.
AND THEN THERE’S THIS – “In their anti-Trump fervor, the Democrats have embraced leftist positions that weaken their prospects in 2018 and, perhaps even more so, beyond,” wrote Joel Kotkin in the Orange County Register.
“The lurch to the left could become particularly problematic if the economy, always a big if, holds up. Right now, almost two thirds of voters think the economy is in good shape, according to a recent YouGov poll,” Kotkin adds.
AN FDR MOMENT – With just 105 days remaining until the midterm elections, Democrats must be lamenting that there’s so much to do to reverse the strong position Republicans hold with so little time.
“Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
While trying to explain to voters how repealing Trump’s tax cut would benefit them in a booming economy with an environment of low unemployment, higher wages, and high consumer confidence, they have another Trump Supreme Court nominee to dishonestly paint as the devil incarnate.
AS THE PRESIDENT’S RATING GOES UP – During a week in which the president has had to weather criticism over his performance in Helsinki, the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that President Trump’s job approval rose to 45 per cent, the highest mark of his presidency.
“Underpinning Mr. Trump’s job approval,” notes the Journal, “was support from 88 percent of Republican voters.”
UNDERSTANDABLY NOT PLEASED with the over-the-top criticism of him by former members of the Obama administration, labeling him as a “traitor,” guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, President Trump is said to be considering the removal of their security clearances. John Brennan and James Clapper head the list.
At issue is their use of their former positions to profit by commenting on Trump’s performance. Brennan is a regular on MSNBC and Clapper frequently is asked to comment on CNN.
Former national security officials are permitted to keep their security clearances so they can be consulted on issues confronting new administrations, but it’s unlikely President Trump would seek the counsel of those who have signaled their dislike of him in no uncertain terms.
I expect the president will decide not to pull the security clearances of those of the Deep State.
May God bless the United States of America.
