Here are my observations and opinions from selected news of the day.
Courtesy Harper Collins)
THE DEEP STATE – While we generally think of it in terms of its three-year effort to delegitimize the 2016 election of Donald Trump and bring down his presidency, it has been in place for a long time, as documented in former Congressman Jason Chaffetz’s book, “The Deep State, How an Army of Bureaucrats Protected Barack Obama and Is Working to Destroy the Trump Agenda, “
As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Chaffetz had a front-row seat dealing with his government that had become corrupt. While Chaffetz believes they will work with any party that lets them grow unchecked, they feel Trump, with his anti-establishment agenda, must be stopped.
They don’t like disruptive forces like Trump, and think nothing of actively working against the will of the people. They prioritize their careers over advancing the ball of the outsider Trump.
This was so obvious during the Schiff hearing with the career bureaucratic diplomats who willingly testified against the president on Ukraine, even though it was all based-on hearsay. More on this later.
But I couldn’t help but think about the Deep Staters in the DOJ and FBI when I read Chaffetz’s belief that the Deep State “(doesn’t) like exposure, accountability, or responsibility,” and the concern they must have with what has been uncovered by DOJ IG Michael Horowitz’s report and what’s coming down the pike from U.S. Attorney John Durham.
ABOUT THOSE CAREER BUREAUCRATS – The left-leaning USA Today was more than willing to give Steven Kashkett, a former foreign service employee in the State Department, an opportunity to bash President Trump in an op-ed.
STEVEN KASHKETT (zetatijuana.com)
Kashkett attacked the Trump administration’s “shameless bashing of those who came forward to testify about the Ukraine scandal,” calling it an “unprecedented attack on superb career diplomats.”
As he went on, you could tell he was disgruntled over what had been a cushy job changing with a new administration after his three decades of service, claiming his job ended abruptly last year, “a victim of this dirty war” against the State Department. Forgetting, of course, that he served as the pleasure of the president.
He chose to further bash the president for nominating political appointees, including big donors to ambassadorships, specifically mentioning “former sports team owners,” as if this has never been done by previous administrations.
Yes, Trump nominated Jamie McCourt, former CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers to be our ambassador to France, but Kashkett failed to say that she earned a B.A. degree in French at Georgetown University, a J.D. degree in law from the Maryland School of Law, and an M.B.A from MIT Sloan School of Management. And, she attended La Sorbonne.
Kashkett also failed to mention that President Obama appointed a Democrat party hack, Jane D. Hartley, known for being a campaign bundler who raised more than $500,000 for Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, to be his ambassador to France. President Clinton named investment banker Felix Rohatyn to that post.
In the mid-1990s, I had the pleasure of attending a function at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, when Pamela Harriman, a former Democrat fundraiser appointed by President Clinton, was the ambassador.
“Having worked for numerous political-appointee ambassadors during my career,” writes the arrogant Kashkett, “I have rarely seen one who could assume these responsibilities as well as a seasoned diplomat.”
While he no longer works in the State Department, Kashkett is, unfortunately, in a position to mock Trump’s leadership at the Anglo-American University in Prague, where he teaches contemporary U.S. foreign policy.
THERE HE GOES AGAIN – “We’re all dead” if fossil fuels continue to be used as one of the world’s primary energy sources, Democrat presidential candidate, Apology Joe Biden, claimed during a Sunday campaign event in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Earlier, he vowed that as president he would hold energy giants liable for global warming and made a pledge to even jail executives, reported Joshua Caplan of Breitbart.
During his last debate, Biden said he was willing to sacrifice millions of jobs to advance his green economy proposal.
THERE’S MORE – While suggesting that coal miners be retrained as coders saying, Biden said, “Anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well,” and added, “Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake.”
Biden for president.
PERHAPS YOU MISSED THIS, however, Becket Adams, writing in the Washington Examiner didn’t, and neither did the Wall Street Journal, which picked up her reporting on Chuck Todd’s attack on religion and those who support President Trump.
“NBC News’ Chuck Todd offered a good reminder this weekend that many in the press view people of faith as regressive knuckle-draggers,” she wrote.
Todd, embarrassingly highlighted a letter-to-the-editor of a Kentucky newspaper in which the writer claimed that only a person who enjoys “fairy tales,” like Noah’s ark could vote for man like President Trump. Todd saw that as a “fascinating attempt” by the reader to explain the president’s support.
ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION, FAITH – I have frequently pointed to the disdain Democrats have for religion. It surfaces severely during Supreme Court confirmation sessions.
While Democrat Nancy Pelosi claims she prays for the president, Rep. Steve Cohen, a subcommittee chairman on the Judiciary Committee purposely gives the oath of office to witnesses without the words, “so help me God,” at the end, and smirks when it is challenged by Rep. James Johnson (R-LA). Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) interrupted saying, “We do not have religious tests for office or anything else, and we should let it go with that.”
THE WHISTLEBLOWER AND HIS FRIEND – I have previously written about Rep. Adam Schiff’s(D-CA) hiring of Steve Misko, a colleague of whistleblower Eric Ciaramella, before Ciaramella came forward.
That is confirmed in Betsy McCaughey’s New York Post piece, “Why Adam Schiff doesn’t want anyone talking to the whistleblower.”
“Shortly after that hire, Schiff’s staff met with Ciaramella, a friend and co-worker of Misko’s in the intelligence community. Schiff’s staff gave Ciaramella “guidance” on how to make a complaint. A cozy arrangement,” writes McCaughey.
“The e-mails will likely divulge more,” she adds, referring to Judicial Watch’s lawsuit to secure copies of Ciaramella’s communications.
McCaughey questions IG Michael Atkinson’s defense of his belief that the whistleblower’s complaint was “credible,” as it was based on second-hand or unsubstantiated assertions. House members are not permitted to see the transcript of Atkinson’s testimony of October 4, 2019.
Meanwhile, the impeachment will go forward without this evidence.
CALIFORNIA’S LOSSES – More than 200,000 people left California, on net, between 2018 and 2019, according to Sean Higgins of the Washington Examiner.
As a resident of Arizona, one of the likely destinations for Californians, I worry about them bringing with them their liberal politics. Surely, they can see what liberalism has done to the left coast.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
