Here are my observations and opinions on my selected news of the day.
IF YOU’RE WONDERING if Attorney General Bill Barr is going to really do it; actually nail those Deep Staters who attempted to bring down the Trump presidency … not to worry.
Barr’s interview on CBS This Morning Friday was quite revealing, I thought.
“Everything is gauged by politics, and I say that is antithetical to the way the Department of Justice runs, and any attorney general in this period is going to end up losing a lot of political capital, Barr said. “ And that’s one of the reasons I decided I should take (the job) on. At my stage in life, it wouldn’t make any difference.
“I’m at the end of my career. In many ways, I’d rather be back in my old life, but I love the Department of Justice, I love the FBI, I think it is important that in this period of intense partisan feeling we do not destroy our institutions,” he said.
One of the ironies today is that people are saying that it is President Trump who is shredding institutions. I really see no evidence of that. From my perspective, the idea of ‘resisting’ a democratically-elected president and basically throwing everything at him, and really changing the norms on the grounds that we have to stop this president … that’s where the shredding of our norms and institutions is occurring.” – Attorney General Bill Barr
Finally, Barr said some of the facts don’t mesh with the official explanations of what happened during the 2016 election. ”I assumed I’d get answers when I went in, and I have not gotten answers that are well satisfactory, and in fact probably have more questions. Things are just not jiving.”
Kramerontheright believes that Barr will get accountability.
MUELLER’S EXIT was appropriately described in Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Journal column Saturday: “Mr. Mueller is a serious man who in a long career has earned the respect in which he is held. But he’s slipped out of life on a banana peel, hasn’t he?”
HAVE YOU NOTICED how we see Democrats, like Pelosi, Schumer and the presidential candidates attacking President Trump on every issue, and rarely a Republican to side with him?
I know, much of that is because the media leans left. They interview Democrats and parrot their talking points all day long. But there’s more to it than that.
I had been giving that considerable thought when I came across a piece in Thread Reader that touches on that subject. The author believes that people on the right do not understand the concept of political battle; and the left understands it. “That’s why when they (the left) lose a battle, they just regroup and try again and again and again until they win,” he writes.
“The left lost the political battle for gun control decades ago. Yet they are still out there trying to push their gun grabbing ways after every shooting. It’s unrelenting, not just on the gun issue, but every issue,” he believes.
The right has become a defender; always in a defensive mode. “A good defense is important,” he writes, “but it hardly ever wins a war.”
Trump is beginning to change all that. He may defend, but he also attacks and counter attacks. And he starts offensives. “It’s important for the right to get into the offensive mode to reclaim lost ground, to put the left on the defensive on issue after issue and while we increase our economy and standard of living.
“Some people are understanding it,” he writes, singling out pro-left groups, Trump’s trade team, and AG Bill Barr. “With 2020 fast approaching, it’s imperative that we understand this.”
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC’ S liberal columnist Laurie Roberts again found an opportunity to write another critical piece on Sen. Martha McSally, who the paper does not want to retain her seat in 2020.
“McSally disagrees with Trump (finally),” headlined her column over McSally’s objection to the threat of tariffs on Mexican products if the country doesn’t respond to the need for assistance at the border.
“Rather than the usual sycophantic standing O from Arizona’s junior senator, he got raspberries,” Roberts wrote. Keep in mind that Roberts, who suffers from TDS, doesn’t believe McSally should support her president and party.
“For those who are keeping score,” Roberts snarkily wrote with the note that Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Democrat Mark Kelly, who will oppose McSally in 2020, opposed the tariff threat.
The “Chicken Little’s” are out again with a concern over a tariff that may not even go into effect. Within minutes of hearing Trump’s plan, they were headed for Washington to negotiate. If they’re serious, I can imagine Trump postponing his plan.
It’s unfortunate that Democrats and their water-carriers in the media don’t get as excited over the border crisis, that is on track with costing us as much as potential price increases on Mexico’s products.
1,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS were apprehended by Border Patrol agents near the El Paso sector – the largest group of migrants every apprehended at a single time – on Wednesday as caravans continue to come from Central America through Mexico.
KASICH FINALLY GETS SMART – Regular readers will recall that I endorsed John Kasich for president in 2016 (for what it was worth). A mistake, and I called for him to get out when he clearly had no chance to beat Donald Trump.
He still doesn’t, and during an interview on CNN admitted that “There’s no path right now for me. I don’t see a way to get there,” as he pointed out that 90 percent of Republicans favor President Trump.
AND HERE’S WHY – It’s the economy. The latest Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey revealed that 59 percent approve of President Trump’s handling of the economy and 62 percent approve of his approach to employment. Seventy-one percent of voters see the economy as very or somewhat strong.
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating hit 48 percent, the highest its been in two years.
JUST ANOTHER DISTRACTION – An individual in the military affairs office in the White House, knowing of the Trump-McCain relationship, was aware that the USS John McCain was in port for repairs near the USS Wasp that would be visited by President Trump during his visit to Japan, and put into motion an order to shield the McCain name on the ship.
President Trump became aware of this after his visit, explaining that a “well-meaning” individual initiated the action through Navy channels.
This kind of thing is not unusual in the military, and in business, for that matter.
During my stint in the Air Force, I recall a number of orders to hide this or that from a visiting general. We had to be sure his route during an inspection was planned to avoid certain facilities.
Large rocks protruding from a landscape were painted green to match the grass, and well-placed rocks along walks leading to buildings were painted white.
The chain of command photos in building must surely have the general’s latest portrait.
CEO visits in business were similar. Of course, everything was to be spotless. Briefings were rehearsed, and numbers in charts were double-checked for accuracy. Well-spoken employees were coached on what to say, and not say, during facility tours.
When I heard about the sign on the USS John McCain being shielded from view, I was reminded of the Schwab television commercials in which an executive of a competing financial firm is faced with signs bearing the benefits of doing business with Schwab on buildings facing his office.
LAUGH-OF-THE-DAY – “In a shameless push to get butts in seats, this very prominent cybersecurity firm (FireEye) is hosting Hillary Clinton,” reports Tyler O’Neil in PJ Media.
Fire Eye doesn’t mention the e-mail scandal, nor does it mention one cybersecurity qualification for the woman who sought the presidency. Yet, she will be one of the keynote speakers at the firm’s cybersecurity conference.
May God bless the United States of America.
