Here are my observations and opinions of my selected news of the day.

TWO HOORAHS FOR THE HEARING – To me, the Senate Judiciary hearing for attorney general nominee William Barr succeeded in confirming that he is the man to restore integrity and confidence in the Department of Justice, including the FBI.

Secondly, the hearing provided opportunities for the committee’s egotiscal brain trusts like Senators Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal and Kamala Harris to again show evidence of a deficit of intellect on their part.

BEHIND A COUP to end the Trump presidency. We have now learned that in the days following the president’s firing of disgraced FBI Director James Comey, government counterintelligence investigators were so concerned by the president’s behavior that they mounted an investigation to determine if he was working on behalf of Russia against American interests.

And none other than the compliant New York Times, was ready and willing to publish a page one article intimating that the president was secretly working on behalf of Russia.

Yet, as you scroll down to paragraph nine of the article, the Times states, “No evidence has emerged publicly that Mr. Trump was secretly in contact with or took direction from Russian government officials.”

I found it interesting that, during questioning of attorney general nominee William Barr Tuesday, he stated that he would look into this matter, and I believe he will.

STRIKING IRAN – By now you’ve probably heard how John Bolton’s national security team caused a stir in “old Washington” when they asked the Pentagon for options on striking Iran. It took place last September, but has just come to light because “a former senior U.S. administration official” made it known presumably to accuse President Trump of wanting to go to war.

It followed a mortar attack by militants aligned with Iran on Baghdad’s sprawling diplomatic quarter, home to the U.S. Embassy. There were no personnel injuries or embassy damage.

Again, “former U.S. officials” said it was unnerving that the NSC asked for far-reaching military options to strike Iran in response to attacks that caused little damage and no injuries, as if the president would inordinately react with an attack. Readers will recall that the left was worried that the president was going to war with North Korea.

Kramerontheright believes that the request for options was called for and would be concerned if the attack was taken lightly, like the Obama administration did after the Benghazi attack in which four Americans, including our ambassador, were killed.

JOE BIDEN has told some top Democrats that he’s going to run for president, according to Axios. So much for the polls indicating Democrats wanted a fresh face and that women weren’t interested in an old white man as their candidate.

GEORGE WILL – I wasn’t alone when I criticized Will here on January 14, 2018. He was also the target of others on the Internet. While I was critical of his piece on Germany, Seth Barrett Tillman, writing in The New Reform Club, disagreed with his view of Britain’s Parliament, Brexit and the EU.

Among the comments to Tillman’s post: “George KNOWS he’s smarter than ‘the people’” … “George is confused by that whole consent of the governed concept, isn’t he?”

THOSE NEWLY ELECTED LEGISLATORS – Surely, you will recall the results of the midterm election that saw 102 additional women become members of the U.S. House, thereby they now represent 23.4 percent of the House. Additionally, I recall their smiling faces when each of them were sworn-in earlier this month.

Those smiles turned to looks of frustration in a Wall Street Journal this week as they are already facing constituents angry about the shutdown for not having a plan to end it.

Kramerontheright knew it wouldn’t be long before these wide-eyed newbys would realize that changing the ways of Congress will be more difficult than they anticipated.

Their anticipation of being a force in ending dysfunction through bipartisanship compromise over border security to end the shutdown has become more daunting than they thought, I am sure.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan voiced her concern over the fact that they are not working on a negotiated position. Some moderate Democrats met with Republicans in an effort to develop an approach to finding a solution.

They have elected Nancy Pelosi to be their Speaker with just 16 dissenting votes, and they are now stuck with her stance against the president.

ON THAT SUBJECT, Mark Penn, once a strategist for both the Bill and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns, recommended “results not resistance” in an opinion piece written for Fox News. “That’s what I think the American public was expecting when they brought Democrats back into power in the House.

“Democrat leaders so far have fully planted a flag in simply opposing legislation, funding and appointments under the theory that putting lead boots on President Trump is the best way to get him out of office, even if the country is put on pause for another two years. This is a fundamental mistake.

“Trump, it seems to me, is not the obstacle to getting things done. The obstacle is the idea that it’s better to throw up resistance to cripple the presidency than to get things done.

“We are gong to have a divided government for the foreseeable future, and such thinking is short-sighted and ultimately counterproductive.”

THOSE CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS targeted by the Obama administration’s IRS have reportedly received settlement checks as claimants in a $3.5 million national class action suit.

Most of the 100 groups, commonly referred to as Tea Party organizations, received check for $14,000, however, five groups that were integrally involved in the lawsuit are receiving $10,000 bonus payments.

Interestingly, the IRS has admitted no wrongdoing. Recall also that its disgraced bureaucrat Lois Lerner invoked the Fifth Amendment in her right to refuse to answer questions of a Congressional committee and was permitted to retire with full pension.

Kramerontheright found it humorous that one of the attorneys involved in the settlement, stated that “Hopefully it sets a precedent and will serve as a warning to government officials who further feel tempted to discriminate against U.S. citizens based on their viewpoints.”

Why should it serve as a warning to them? They’re bureaucrats. The $3.5 million in the settlement didn’t come out of their pockets.

LEAVE IT TO THE LEFTIST USA TODAY to put a negative spin on President Trump’s welcoming of the Clemson football team to the White House for burgers, fries and pizza.

Disgraced Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush, who was forced to forfeit his winning of the 2005 Heisman Trophy due to allegations that he received improper benefits, called Trump’s burgerfest “disrespectful on so many levels” and a “huge slap in the face.”

It was Bush’s disrespect for his school and team that resulted in a two-year postseason ban by the NCAA and the USC’s national championship in 2004 being vacated.

          May God bless the United States of America.