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

THE FACTS ARE CLEAR – In an astonishing break of precedent, the current Democrat impeachment investigation, undertaken by the House without a vote of authorization of the full House to conduct an “inquiry,” is constitutionally invalid and violates both basic due process rights and the separation of powers.

Democrats are merely continuing their effort to reverse the election of 2016, beginning with Donald Trump’s inauguration, and now to influence the 2020 election.

IMPEACHMENT TALK IS HELPING TRUMP with Independents, it is believed following the release of a new IBD-TIPP poll conducted after Nancy Pelosi formally launched the impeachment investigation.

Impeachment is not popular with voters, and only a minority of Independents support it.  “Many on the right have warned Democrats that impeachment fever will only benefit Trump in the long run,” writes Matt Margolis in PJ Media, “and they appear to be proven right by this poll.”

In the CBS News Poll, I reported on October 7, 2019, just 27 percent of Independents surveyed “strongly approved” of starting an inquiry, and just 23 percent were “glad it happened” while 25 percent were “angry about it.”  Fifty-two percent called the inquiry “unnecessary.”

Notably, 58 percent of Independents were “optimistic” about next year, and 62 percent viewed the economy “very good” or “fairly good.”

THE PRESS AND LEAKS – The arrest of Henry Kyle Frese, a 30-year-old counter-terror analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Wednesday for leaking top-secret classified information to two reporters resulted in an exchange between the investigating U.S. attorney and a freedom of the press representative.

“The case wasn’t meant to send a message to journalists, but to leakers,” said Zachary Terwilliger the attorney representing the Eastern District of Virginia.

Gabe Rottman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sees it differently. “Aggressive leak prosecutions directly impair news gathering by dissuading sources with news worthy information about matters of public concern speaking to reporters.”

Ludicrous!  It was discovered that Frese was leaking to two reporters from CNBC and NBC, one of which he had a romantic relationship.

In a May 2, 2018 CNBC story, Amanda Macias, reported on China quietly installing missile systems on fortified islands in the South China Sea.

Five former U.S. government employees or contractors, including an FBI agent, have been prosecuted in recent months for providing sensitive information to the media, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Yes, Kramerontheright believes this should send a message to leakers, but also to “journalists” who put their “scoop” ahead of national security and patriotism.

HAVE YOU HEARD that one of the attorney’s that assisted the anonymous “whistleblowers” accusing President Trump of conspiring with foreign leaders to interfere in the next presidential election used to report to none other than former DNI James Clapper?

Charles McCullough, an attorney who assisted Andrew Bakaj, a former staffer for Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, was previously the IG of the intelligence community (ICIG) at the height of the Clinton e-mail scandal.

McCullough claimed he’s “not a part of the whistleblower legal team” in an e-mail to The Federalist.

HERE’S A DIFFERENT TWIST on the “ambulance chaser” type attorneys.  Mark Zaid, the activist attorney representing the so-called whistleblowers at the center of the impeachment movement against President Trump, co-founded Whistleblower Aid, said to be a small nonprofit organization.

Whistleblowers Aid began in September 2017, urging anti-Trumpers to come forward, with advertising its services on Metro trains and on mobile billboards that plied the streets of Washington DC.

It is tied to a number of far-left individuals and organizations, like George Soros and the Southern Poverty Law Center and the AFCL.

IS THE MEDIA COMING AROUND?  Don’t believe it.  However, I did find two recent media reports interesting.

Appearing on “The View,” ABC’s White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, speaking of the Biden connection to Ukraine, said, “I think if his name were Hunter Smith, he probably wouldn’t be getting paid,” as he reflected on the “big bucks” Hunter Biden received with no experience.

Then there was Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, who spoke of two past claims by Democrat candidate Elizabeth Warren that have been proven to be untrue – her Indian ancestry and her statement of Michael Brown being “murdered” – while she is now spinning a tale of her being fired as a teacher.

Calling attention to the fact that “doubts remain about whether Warren is telling the truth,” Brzezinski closed by calling Warren’s claim of Native-American ancestry “a cringer.”

TWO NEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS will hopefully correct an Obama era process that allowed unelected bureaucrats to bypass the legislative process to pass new regulations with the force of law vaguely defined to allow for broad interpretation and steep consequences, according to Tristan Justice, reporting in The Federalist.

The White House cited examples of Americans unfairly punished by Obama’s EPA, including that of a 77-year-old Navy veteran, who was sent to prison and fined $130,000 after the EPA found several small ponds on his land created to combat wildfires, a violation of the Clean Water Act.

The Trump administration’s rollback efforts are one of the least appreciated of the Trump presidency, according to the center-right American Action Forum, a D.C.-based think tank.  Trump has cut 14 regulations for each new rule put in place.

In his first two years, Trump’s regulatory budget showed $33 billion in savings, and additional $8.5 billion in savings estimated for 2019.  Indirectly, this is part of draining the Swamp folks.

MEANWHILE, in a letter to the editor of the Arizona Republic, Guy Trujillo, of Scottsdale, Arizona finds it “hard for me to understand how anyone still supports President Trump.”

Here’s his letter with my comments in parenthesis:

“From his personal life (what does that mean?), his tax-break for the rich (a tired Democrat talking point), his trust of Vladimir Putin over our FBI (what?), his failure to block Russian interference in our election system (that was an Obama failure), the alienation of historical allies (for making them pay their fair share for defense?), his rolling back of environmental strategies (like those unrealistic Café standards?), his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords (with no environmental consequence), and the Iran treaty (with a regime that cannot be trusted).

“What else could he do to destroy America? (I suggest you consult Promises Kept as Trump’s America First policy is Making America Great Again.)”

Trujillo’s letter is typical of letters written by individuals who are oblivious to all that President Trump has accomplished for America in his first three years despite the media-supported Democrat effort to undermine his presidency.

                      May God continue to bless the United States of America.