Impeachment is about to ramp up in the trial in the Senate. We have been informed that all the preliminaries were completed on Saturday and that the actual trial is set to begin Tuesday morning. We said we’d be with you today with the details and timeline for the impeachment trial today. But we were informed late last night those details will not be made public until Monday.
Here’s what we can tell you:
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn to preside over the trial;
All of the members of the U.S. Senate have been sworn;
The Prosecutors from the House were sworn as well;
The detailed articles of impeachment were brought over from the House of Representatives and formally presented to the Senate for the trial.
As far as any late news regarding the submission and acceptance of “new” evidence in the form of documents and/or witness testimony is still to be determined. As you know, House members along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have for weeks been demanding for the Senate leaders to agree to coordinate the structure of the trial with House leaders and to set up its structure before the trial begins. In fact, that is why House Speaker Pelosi kept the articles away from the Senate for 28 days, trying to use that delivery as leverage over the Senate. It did not work.
Both Senators and Representatives have tossed around their personal ideas regarding the call of witnesses to testify. Of course, the Democrats are demanding they be allowed to call witnesses: the same ones they called before. They are especially interested in “forcing” all those they subpoenaed that did not appear before the House because of executive privilege. Additionally, they certainly wish to hear from the just “discovered” Rudy Guliani “friend” who gave Democrats some information Dems say incriminate the President.
Republicans, on the other hand, wish to call and hear from the whistleblower, Rep. Adam Schiff (which is unlikely to testify), former VP Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and a number of former members of the Obama intelligence department.
Even if witnesses WILL be called is up in the air and will remain so for several days.
Remember: when the trial starts, it will daily last all day and into the evening, six days a week until it is completed. It is going to be very difficult to follow every important moment in the trial. We certainly want to make certain none at TruthNewsNetwork miss a thing. What we will do is every morning when our email with story link goes out to all our partners include a bullet-point summary of the important impeachment trial matters from the previous day. If you’re a TruthNewsNetwork subscriber, you’ll get that overnight email with the link early every morning. If you haven’t enrolled, please do so by filling in the form at the bottom right of the home page of www.TruthNewsNet.org.
Have a great end to your weekend, and get set: we’re going to have a wild week!
What could be more appropriate to drop headlines about today than “Impeachment!” And we will not disappoint.
But there are other important things going on in the nation and elsewhere in the world that are critical to the United States. Let’s look at those before we get the latest on impeachment. Here’s how this works:
We give you a headline of a story with basic facts contained in that story. If after reading our thoughts you want more details, simply click on the provided link and it will take you directly to a full story.
Enjoy this Saturday morning with your warm cup of tea or coffee while catching up with what’s gone on in the world during your busy week.
Enjoy!
If the video streaming world wasn’t crowded enough with the likes of Hulu, Netflix, Roku, and Disney, NBC is introducing a new streaming product: Peacock. NBC management understands they need a way to differentiate their streaming product to put some space between theirs and those who have been in the market for some time. Peacock will actually have two levels of service — one that will be free but has ads, and a second for-pay version. For more details, click on this link: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/16/nbc-peacock-price-launch-date-and-shows.html
Where or where has James Comey been lately? We’re not certain if he’s in the States or on another continent. But we are sure of one thing: his wife took his laptop away so he cannot tweet! Seriously though, the former FBI Director is back in the news and back under fire from the Legal system. Prosecutors are looking at an old case involving a Russian document and the likelihood that the then FBI Director leaked contents of the document to the Press. (Sounds familiar, right?) That would be a violation of the handling of classified documents. For more details, click on this link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/justice-dept-investigating-years-old-leaks-and-appears-focused-on-comey/ar-BBZ23bs
Most of us have seen some bizarre behavior in airports before, but probably none like Miami passengers saw in baggage claim. A woman wearing a dark blue bikini walking through that area decided she was either too warm or just uncomfortable in her tiny bikini. Her answer: to take off the bikini! But the story doesn’t end there. For more details, click on this link: https://miami.cbslocal.com/2020/01/15/woman-caught-on-camera-walking-naked-at-miami-international-airport/
In a shocking and unexpected move, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignations of the entire Russian government! The move by Putin is part of a just-announced overhaul of the Russian government to apparently spread government power over more people. Hmmm… That doesn’t sound like Putin’s action, does it!? What’s he up to? For complete details, click on this link: https://news.yahoo.com/putin-surprise-political-shake-112453792.html
HBO announced that it has teamed up with CNN’s Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter for a documentary about the rise of “fake news” just days after it was announced that the news network settled its defamation lawsuit with Covington Catholic High School student, Nick Sandmann. There is much irony in this announcement — CNN, which is often called the “Fake News Network,” is thought by many to be the last network to publish stories about fake news. And Brian Stelter had been exposed in numerous lies and gross misrepresentations of the news in the last few years. For more details, click on this link: https://www.infowars.com/hbo-teams-with-cnns-brian-stelter-for-documentary-about-the-rise-of-fake-news/
It’s been a while since there has been an illegal immigrant caravan from Central America heading to the U.S. southern border. But a group of between 1,000 and 3,000 have left Honduras, entered Guatemala, and are headed to the U.S. border. American and Mexican officials ran checks at the Honduran/Guatemala border for identification and proof that children were with their parents. Could this be the next illegal immigration problem for the U.S.? For complete details, click on this link: https://news.yahoo.com/honduran-migrant-caravan-rumbles-guatemala-202145836.html
Do you remember the movie statement regarding the monstrous Wall Street banks: “They’re too big to fail?” Americans can now say the same thing about Big Tech. “Alphabet” — the parent holding company of Google — became the fifth Tech firm to eclipse the $1 Trillion valuation mark. Those already made it are Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. The question kicked around by lawmakers about Big Tech centers around allegations of monopolies in technology dominating tech economics. For complete details, click on this link: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/16/big-tech-worth-over-5-trillion-with-alphabet-joining-four-comma-club.html
Did you receive your invitation to join more than 100 “other” billionaires in Davos, Switzerland next week for their annual economic summit? If not by now, you probably won’t be included on the guest list that includes 2000 others who don’t register on the “billionaire scale,” but certainly are among the world’s richest people. Of course, they’ll talk about climate change — after each flying into Davos on their private jets that are said to have an average price tag of $40 million each. And they don’t get much gas mileage! For details, click on this link: https://www.bloombergquint.com/davos-world-economic-forum-2020/dalio-dimon-and-117-other-billionaires-set-to-descend-on-davos
This weekend, four teams that remain in the hunt for SuperBowl LIV will duke it out to the final two. The four quarterbacks on these teams have much at stake in their football careers as they suit up on Sunday. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, San Francisco’s Jimmy Garappolo, Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill, and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes each have a lot on the line. For complete details, click on this link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001097083/article/qb-index-championship-sunday-who-needs-sb-liv-the-most
Don’t forget that tomorrow — Sunday — make sure you come back. We should have the complete scheduling details for the Senate impeachment trial from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. We will discuss impeachment information that is new and layout our timing plan for our coverage on a daily basis for you of the investigation process.
I’m NOT a Republican. I’m NOT a Democrat. I’m registered as “other” in my state, where one cannot register to vote as an “Independent.” But I AM a politically conservative independent.
That said, today I am making a few points addressed primarily to the thousands of my friends and relatives who are Democrats. I in no way am today demeaning the process of political parties in the U.S. But I echo the sentiments of the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson when he said:
“Both of our political parties, at least the honest portion of them, agree conscientiously in the same object: the public good; but they differ essentially in what they deem the means of promoting that good. One side believes it best done by one composition of the governing powers, the other by a different one. One fears most the ignorance of the people; the other the selfishness of rulers independent of them. Which is right, time and experience will prove.”
It’s safe to say that Jefferson was not a fan of political parties. There were two major parties just as now. It’s uncanny that Jefferson’s America experienced the same or similar angst with political parties as do we. However, just as did Jefferson in his day, we too need to find ways to mitigate the damages perpetrated by political parties in our America. And attempting that today is proving to be just as tricky as then. I’m beginning to feel the same way Jefferson felt when he said this:
“If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.”
The “Villains”
I’m certain political parties themselves are not the entities with which Jefferson had his beef. The same holds today. The methods used by political parties and the reasoning that initiates their operating tactics are the aggravating elements of political parties. After all, their very existence is to coordinate efforts and garner resources sufficient to work to destroy their party counterparts continually! There’s nothing in party operations that can be considered “peaceful while diligent” methodology.
So who ARE the villains in politics? Today, there are several different parties on the nation’s political landscape. But the main two are apparent: Democrat and Republican parties. Let’s chat a bit about OUR political parties.
The GOP
I am by no means a Republican hack. I have today (and also in the past) many issues with the Republican Party. Most of those things the GOP has done that rub me wrong are simply things that, when put in the perspective held by most Americans, are useless attempts to give Republicans an advantage of some sort regarding some political issue. And most of those end up being useless at worst and ineffective at best.
Take, for instance, the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
No doubt Bill Clinton made some horrible choices in his personal life. No doubt, some of those personal choices spilled over into his “public” life — particularly in the Oval Office. I understand that everyone has the explicit right to feel he should have been removed from office. But in my mind, as bad as were those improprieties with the intern that occurred in the White House, my question was then and still is, “Were those impeachable offenses?” Here come the Republicans.
They didn’t care about Hillary Clinton as Bill Clinton’s wife and how horrible it was her finding out about her husband’s dalliance with Monica Lewinsky in a news report. They didn’t care that the President of the United States had taken advantage of a 20-something-year-old young woman. All they cared about was that President Clinton’s wrongdoing justified their desire to run him out of the White House. Using that information alone, they launched a multi-year impeachment debacle that resulted in nothing but embarrassment for the President.
Then House Speaker Newt Gingrich spearheaded the Clinton impeachment. His doing so along with the House impeachment set the Republican Party back for quite a while. All that resulted is that Bill Clinton is today, and probably always will be, considered one of America’s most accomplished modern presidents.
George W. Bush
Republicans were ecstatic after the Clinton debacle to see one of their own back in the White House. “W” was able to take advantage of some excellent economics and international circumstances that he inherited. But he had that Middle East “thing” — Iraq — eating at him from the day of his inauguration. His father, who had tangled first with Saddam Hussein felt he left a job undone. The World Trade Center bombing took us right back into war with Iraq that many say should have never happened. Those weapons of mass destruction Bush used as fuel to start that war never were uncovered.
Thousands of young men and women paid the price for that uncertain war with their lives. Many think Bush 43 did that only to finish the feud between Hussein and Bush 41. We probably will never know for sure.
“W” missed some great opportunities for doing some extraordinary things for the U.S. during his eight years in office. He was the perfect president to initiate actions to fix the southern border illegal problems. I felt certain he could have mastered an effective immigration overhaul that would have repaired the border issues while simultaneously closing loopholes in other areas of immigration. He neglected to instigate any real immigration reform.
Though he gave it a valiant effort, Bush 43 gave up his proposed reform of Social Security to protect its longevity. I attended his Social Security reform meeting in Louisiana in which he promoted a partial conversion of the system to privatization that would have given participants options for the investment of at least their contributions into the system. He, of course, received major Democrat pushback for the idea. He walked away from it.
In his second term, it was as if he walked away from the campaign promises he made — like he just gave up. Spending went through the roof. He let Democrats run roughshod over budgets while deficits and U.S. debt went through the roof. It seemed the Iraq war wore him out, and he just gave up.
Mitt Romney
I thought Mitt had a decent shot at turning the White House back to red. He fought hard for a while. But at the very end of his campaign, when polls showed he had cut into Obama’s standing with Americans to a level many thought would not happen, he seemed just to quit. It appeared to many — including me — that he at some point decided he didn’t want to take on the responsibility of running a nation. The last 45 days of his campaign proved that to be true. And Obama easily won his second term.
Today’s GOP is looking more and more like a “status quo” party. Until the impeachment attacks on the President, Republicans played into the sense that all they want is to make no waves — to be the party of “Can’t we just get along?”
Impeachment brought the GOP back to attention. Impeachment, in the wake of the tremendous Trump accomplishments, even with scant support, opened their eyes. Little by little, I have watched as more Republicans have jumped aboard the “Trump Train.” As a party, they are as united as I can remember since the Twin Towers toppled.
Republicans seem more engaged, more challenged, and more resolute to prove the Trump Agenda is real, productive, and all-inclusive. None of it is politically motivated but driven by one thing: Mr. Trump, when campaigning, made promises that he has kept today.
Then The Democrats on the Left
This is where I part ways with Democrats: we have nothing in common anymore. When Trump beat Hillary, it was on. And the war instigated by Democrats against President Trump is one of historic proportions. And in starting and perpetuating this war, Democrats are daily giving Americans new clues proving that Democrats have lost touch with average Americans.
What is most troubling and what confirms that Democrats have lost it is their immediate and total dismissals of facts regarding Mr. Trump. Add to that their consistent expressions of anger and hatred for first Mr. Trump then for every American who supports him and more and more Americans are leaving the Democrat Party.
It appears that Democrat leadership and most Democrats have abandoned all reason. Think about this: they’re impeaching Trump amid many amazing accomplishments handed to Americans by this Trump Administration:
Lowest unemployment in decades;
More Americans employed than ever;
More jobs available than Americans to fill them;
Record federal revenue;
Lowest income tax rates in a generation;
Re-patriation of hundreds of billions in corporate income with a Trump deal that has put billions into new jobs, benefits, and expansions;
Two of the most significant trade agreements in U.S. history: China, and USMCA — the treaty with Canada and Mexico;
Six million fewer Americans on government assistance because they have jobs which didn’t even exist four years ago.
We could continue listing his accomplishments but will stop for the sake of time.
This investigative impeachment process has been a charade — a clown show. Orchestrated by Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Nadler, and Adam Schiff, it has each day exposed Democrat hatred and subsequent losses of reason. It’s all over the marketplace. And Americans are learning the truth of the Democrat Party: they want only to control the lives of Americans — all Americans.
After a faux House investigation that resulted in articles of impeachment, and after the stall by Speaker Pelosi for three weeks to refer those articles to the Senate, she finally did while simultaneously “finding” new evidence with which to implicate the President in something else.
Here’s the synopsis of this evidence as presented by the Associated Press:
House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine’s president to investigate “the Biden case.”
The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cell phone use, raising questions about possible surveillance.
Parnas was in frequent communication with Giuliani and with Ukrainian officials, the messages show. He appeared to be pushing unsubstantiated allegations that Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were somehow engaged in corruption in Ukraine.
Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, which was before Zelenskiy took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelenskiy “as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent.” In the letter, Giuliani said he would be accompanied at the meeting by Victoria Toensing, a Washington attorney and Trump ally.
The notes were scratched by hand on a Ritz Carlton note pad paper and are barely legible. Additionally, the wrongdoing alleged is at best second-hand and provides no evidence that the President knew any of the conversations or if he even knows those included in the comments!
One important note was left out of of the plethora of stories about this “blockbuster” expose: Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, both U.S. citizens who emigrated from the former Soviet bloc, were indicted last year on charges of conspiracy, making false statements and falsification of records!
You can’t make this stuff up. And Democrats make no apology for their ignoble allegations of this ridiculous “evidence” that lacks any remnant of the possibility of holding any truth.
Keep in mind, however, that Americans have never seen any piece of the mountains of evidence held by Rep. Adam Schiff that — according to Schiff himself and confirmed by other Democrat House members — are absolute that Mr. Trump colluded with Vladimir Putin and other Russians to steal the 2016 election. And Schiff will be in the Senate on behalf of the House trying the President of the United States! Why doesn’t Schiff simply reveal the Trump treasonous he has claimed for more than two years exist and end this impeachment debacle?
Summary
To my friends that hold to Democrat blue, I am sad to be an observer of the fall into oblivion by your party. Fueled by a fawning media that very obviously take marching orders from Democrat Party leaders have failed to convince Americans of Mr. Trump’s wrongdoing. While doing so, their hatred for “all things Trump” and “all Trump supporters” is there now for all to see.
Democrats as of today summarily reject that Americans wanted and still want a president who can deliver to Americans for the first time in ten years accomplishments that EACH are 100% for middle Americans and NOT just for elites that are mostly Democrats. And Trump has accomplished what he promised to accomplish when campaigning.
There are reasons why Mr. Trump won Americans’ votes in 2500 counties and parishes in 2016 while Hillary Clinton won votes in just 500 counties. Yes, those 500 counties happened to be from California, New York, Connecticut, Chicago, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. That election and its results are the reason for the establishment of the electoral college. Democrats refuse to accept that as viable.
For my Democrat brothers and sisters, only one thing ahead is certain — at least in my projections for 2020: Donald Trump will not only win in a margin far wider than did Obama and Bill Clinton in their elections as President, Republicans will win a larger margin in the Senate AND Republicans will gain once more the majority in the House of Representatives.
Why will all this happen? Americans have had it with the constant untruths and gross misrepresentations made and given to Americans by Democrats and other Leftists. And Americans, while glorying in their larger net paychecks and lower taxes and new jobs and skyrocketing investment and retirement accounts that withered away under Obama, are not so stupid as to snatch all the actions put in place by Mr. Trump and go back to 2016 financially. Americans are smarter than that. And most Americans understand today that Totalitarianism is unwanted here. Americans are more committed than ever to a market of free ideas.
Those Americans will gladly support Mr. Trump in November.
Really….what is this Impeachment process costing America? Make no mistake: the costs are staggering. Our nation not since World War II has experienced anything so expensive and so life changing as this drama thrust on the world stage to capture the attention of hundreds of millions.
How expensive is it going to be? Let’s measure the impeachment ticket balance.
Add It Up
Although Republicans insist the impeachment proceedings are a partisan farce and Democrats claim that our democracy is literally at stake, there’s one result of impeachment that neither party can deny. It’s costing taxpayers — bigly, as President Trump would say.
As House Democrats have pursued impeachment for the past three months, they’ve already cost taxpayers $3.06 million, according to Heritage Foundation’s research.
Add up lawyers’ fees and the salaries of staff whose duties have been consumed by impeachment proceedings, and taxpayers are footing a hefty bill. As the Daily Signal reports, the price tag could be even higher.
The total likely is a low estimate because it does not factor in overtime hours for U.S. Capitol Police when House hearings ran well into the late evenings. The total also doesn’t include the cost of executive branch expenses, travel costs for witnesses, or supplies and materials.
While members of Congress waste time on the House floor reading the Pledge of Allegiance or comparing Trump to Jesus, both arguments for and against impeachment have wallowed in meaningless rhetoric. As support for impeachment appears to be dropping, Democrats are going to have to prove to voters that they’re doing the right thing, and they need to do it before public opinion turns even further away, tanking Democrats’ chances in 2020.
At the moment, House Democrats’ empty rhetoric isn’t helping their case much. And each second costs taxpayers more money.
Impeachment History in $$$
In 1999, The New York Times reported that five months of impeachment work on former President Bill Clinton’s case cost $1.2 million, according to records from the House Judiciary Committee. Adjusted for the cost of inflation, $1.2 million in 1999 would be equal to about $1.8 million in 2020 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s consumer price index inflation calculator.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the individual legal costs connected to the Clinton case detailed by the Times:
Payments to Chief Republican Investigator David Schippers: as much as $20,000 per month
Payments to Democratic counsel Abbe Lowell: as much as $18,000 per month
In 2020 dollars, those costs would be:
Chief investigator’s monthly salary: $30,179.05
Head counsel to represent the president: $27,161.15
Theoretically, in the exact same circumstances today it would cost around $100,000 more to pay the lead investigator and counsel in this presidential impeachment case than it did in 1999, when Clinton’s impeachment trial concluded. Add to that an inflated cost of paying for the work of entire legal teams on both sides, and you have a considerable increase over 1999’s $2 million in impeachment costs.
If one adds to the actual impeachment process costs the expense of the 2.5 year Robert Mueller investigation, and the dollars for impeachment explodes. Mueller’s price tag was an estimated $40 million.
No matter if any of these numbers are accurate, impeachment costs are exorbitant. The only way Democrats can attempt to justify any of this expense is not and cannot be based on facts. The only reason they can possibly present for justification is that “history demands a president guilty of wrongdoing be held accountable.” And then there’s the constantly quoted saying by Pelosi and Company, “No one’s above the Law.” Pelosi can say that, but that’s not what she really means. What she is REALLY saying is “We’re creating a narrative that the President is guilty of wrongdoing.We don’t have evidence of impeachable offenses, so we’re going to do our best to sell the political narrative we have to the American people.”
Let’s be honest: the actual articles of impeachment sent over to the Senate have nothing to do with what Democrat members in the House used in multiple impeachment motions in the first months of his presidency. Remember: just hours after he spoke his oath of office, on mainstream newspaper published a story with this headline: “Let Impeachment Begin!”
From the beginning of his presidency, numerous Democrats made this ridiculous statement: “Donald Trump is guilty of impeachable offenses committed even before he was elected!” Do you know how ridiculous that is? No president can commit an impeachable offense WITHOUT BEING PRESIDENT! What they SHOULD have said was, “We don’t have any evidence of any impeachable offense by Mr. Trump. But we hate him. So we’re going to scour the world to find some wrongdoing we can accuse him of and impeach him.”
I questioned President Trump’s constant use of the term “Witch Hunt” for the Mueller investigation. But now I thoroughly understand the amazing similarities between this impeachment circus and the actual witch hunts that sent dozens and dozens of innocent people to their deaths in Salem, Massachusetts: “The Salem Witch Trials.”
The dollars and cents estimates of impeachment detailed above are hardly a drop in the bucket of the real impeachment costs. Don’t think for one moment those can be measured with a calculator. One thing is certain though, History will detail the cost of this charade. It certainly will NOT have dollar signs.
The REAL Cost of Impeachment
One entire generation of Americans — and maybe two generations — have been virtually lost when it comes to truth in politics. The current elementary, high school, and college generation have been brainwashed by educators who in large swallowed the pill of Socialism that has consumed their thinking. And what do teachers and professors all do? Teach their students not what they should regarding American government but what those educators personally think and feel about politics. (It’s all about politics, not government)
Do your children have a Civics class at their middle or high school? If they do, they are the rare fortunate ones. Civics is a lost compilation of the structure of the greatest country in World history and its government and operations. Instead this and the last generation have been filled with these thoughts: “Capitalism is an evil manipulation of the economy to benefit only large companies and the top 2% of the wealthiest Americans. Those corporations and wealthy Americans pay hardly anything in taxes while the middle class bear the brunt of financing the United States.”
Here’s the conundrum with that: there’s no debate of those statements. No one is there to present an alternative perspective. And since American adults have held confidence in our public educators’ teaching methods, (assuming that they still do as teachers did in our years in school) we have trusted them to feed our kids the truth about Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism and Totalitariansim, and free markets.
They haven’t done this. Now we have a generation that has not only lost its way and grasp on the truth, they have developed what they feel is the reality that Democracy, Capitalism, and free market ideas are oppressive concepts forced on Americans for decades.
How could that be? It’s simple: if a baby pig from birth is not allowed to oink but taught to bark each day, after a while it will begin to think and act like a dog!
That may be an extreme example, but, after all, isn’t that how education works? We teach what we want others to learn and duplicate in their own lives. That’s what these Millennials and Gen X-er’s are doing: living what they’ve been taught.
The Big “Kahuna”
Sadly, there’s one much bigger cost playing out in today’s political system illustrated most vividly in this impeachment process. We’ve said this often here at TNN: “The difference between Democrats (the Left) and Republicans (The Right) is that when political opponents of Republicans disagree with those Republicans, Republicans do not like what these opponents feel and express. When political opponents of Democrats disagree with Democrats, Democrats do not like what these opponents feel and express. But today’s Democrats take that one step further: THEY HATE THOSE REPUBLICANS!
This hatred, vitriol and vicious rejection of everyone with a different political perspective than do these Leftists has split America right down the middle. Polls don’t necessarily show how deep and concentrated it is. Why? Because many conservatives by the nature of Conservatism on the most part don’t become confrontational in political disputes while leftists often go right to the confrontation from the start. So conservatives just walk away.
I’m not foolish: I know there are hateful conservatives among Republicans. I also know that in the context of the whole of American conservatives, that number is minimal and is NOT the skeleton of the Conservative movement.
I sadly know that those Leftists that have found themselves in demonstrations-turned-riots shown on television beating and severely hurting conservatives have no hunger for truth or justice. All they know is the hunger their hatred pushes them to appease. And that hatred is quickly turning to evil. And evil is stealthily stealing the soul of America.
Summary
House Speaker Pelosi with total arrogance consistently denigrates President Trump, publicly makes baseless allegations against him she knows when they’re made against him that their false. She shows NO remorse for doing so. She consistently attacks him personally. And she has NEVER given him credit for a single accomplishment of all those that have created better lives — significantly better lives — for tens of millions of Americans.
A House Speaker that is untruthful, disrespectful of the Presidency, the U.S. Government, America’s election system, and all conservative Americans has never existed before in my lifetime. Quite simply, most Americans do not know how to respond to this. I could detail example after example of the anger and hatred by Leftists in the U.S. government and in the media. Let’s not go there — I’m certain we agree about that.
One thing is certain: our nation has taken on brand new characteristics that have never before been seen in the majority in the U.S. I pray they NEVER become representative of the majority in the nation.
What is about to occur is that the nation will in the next few weeks witness firsthand how far left these people are and that the only sustenance for their rabid hunger for power is total domination. And they’ve pushed the throttle to the floor to get there.
Truth will expose them, their intentions, and the process they’ve chosen for power and domination of every aspect of American life.
I doubt Americans will allow fulfillment of their dream. I PRAY Americans will not allow it.
Most Americans have looked-on with growing concern as states across the nation are allowing non-citizens the right to vote. There are many reasons for such concerns. Those reasons center on fears of the weaponization of the votes of illegals for partisan political gain. A political party, if able to convince illegals that party can “help” those illegals in some ways sufficient to gain their votes, can gain control of those votes. If you’ve ever wondered why Democrats from top to bottom of their party fight closing the southern border, resist the revision of immigration laws, hate ICE and Border Patrol agents, and continuously berate those inu Congress who support legal immigration, wonder no more. For Democrats, their immigrant support is about one thing: votes.
There certainly are those in the Democrat Party who have soft hearts for real refugees who are seeking asylum from persecution in their home countries. But the majority of Dems look at each illegal immigrant that finds their way into the U.S. as a potential future vote for the Democrat Party.
Why are Democrats so set on increasing their base in this way? Why do they fight legal immigration laws currently in force while refusing to legislatively work with members of Congress to fix laws that they dislike?
Answers
The Democrat Party (and the Republican Party for that matter) conduct massive amounts of continuing research — primarily polling. This polling is to discover what voters think and try to corral as many as possible into the Democrat Party while picking off as many as possible from the Republican Party (That cuts both ways.) Voters who are NOT party-affiliated are BIG targets.
It is apparent that Democrats more than the GOP have launched significant efforts to seize political power across America. Dems are sure that with political power, they are better able to easily control the political processes — ALL of the political processes — in the United States. Dems are no longer content to go with the normal flow of election results every two years. They want permanency — permanent political power.
But here’s their problem: during the last four decades, Americans have become more involved in the political process than ever before. The information that flows from satellite communication, the internet, and the availability of 24/7 news and other information, has captured the eyes and ears of the nation. One would think that is great news for everyone, including political parties. After all, the “whole” truth beamed to Americans from multiple sources should always result in decisions that are rooted in facts. For some, though, facts are often undesirable. And sometimes, plans are implemented to change those facts or at least the perception of what “real” facts are in political matters.
Try as both parties have, in the last twenty years, the percentage of voter-split between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents has barely changed. According to Gallup, in 2005, 29% of registered voters were Republicans, 32% were Democrats, and 36% were Independents. Fast-forward to 2019; It’s 28% Republican, 28% Democrats, and 41% Independents. Considering the two-decade registered voter split, political power remains almost equally divided. Independents hold the balance for victory in every national election. (See the voter numbers in the following chart)
Registered Voter Split for all U.S. States and the District of Columbia
Non-Citizen Voting: Illegal
Mass immigration has made a significant impact on American electoral politics. Despite the fact that it is a crime for aliens to vote in federal elections, noncitizens and illegal aliens are counted when apportioning congressional districts. This means that areas with large numbers of illegal alien residents gain additional representatives in Congress based on U.S. Census results.
In addition, there is evidence that both foreign nationals who are lawfully present in the United States and illegal aliens have voted in recent elections. Noncitizens have been discovered on voter registration rolls in both Virginia and Pennsylvania. And the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York recently announced that it charged a Canadian woman with making a false claim to citizenship after she registered and voted in more than 20 elections.
Several past elections – for the presidency and other offices – have been extremely close. Accordingly, ballots cast by noncitizen voters have the potential to improperly alter the outcome of elections. Consider how close the 2000 presidential election was as was the 2016 presidential election. Could the outcomes have been affected by noncitizen voting? The answer is yes.
With the 2020 election fast approaching, the possibility exists that voting by noncitizens could significantly influence the results. Many immigrants’ rights groups contend that noncitizen voting constitutes a harmless misunderstanding of the rules and should not cause great concern. Many feel it enables individuals whose interests may not coincide with those of the American people to exert influence on our domestic politics. Given the rate at which both the legal and illegal alien populations have grown, the United States should be concerned with ensuring that the electoral power of U.S. citizens is not undermined and with protecting the United States from foreign influence.
In March of 2019 (3/20/2019) we shared examples of verified findings that in the 2016 federal elections several million illegal votes were cast in the U.S. Yet our government refuses to diligently and aggressively prosecute illegal voters with maximum felony sentences for doing so.
Voter ID
The United States does not currently issue any general-use document intended to confirm both identity and citizenship. There have been numerous attempts made to mandate some form of acceptable legal identification for all to use to vote in a federal election. Those on the left have fought vigorously in the courts to keep such a requirement from being implemented. Though the mantra in opposition universally centers around such a requirement being unfair, unnecessary, and racist in nature, most Americans simply shake their heads in disbelief. One cannot fly on a plane, rent a car, apply for or receive federal government assistance, open bank accounts, purchase a car, marry, or enter many buildings without proof of identity. An ID is required for anyone to enter any national Democrat Party meeting or convention and even a called meeting of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
The cries for identification for voters have been ratcheted up by recent actions taken on the part of several states. Knowing that state-issued drivers licenses seem to be the easiest method for personal identification, several states are now allowing licenses for illegal aliens.
Democrats in the New York Senate January 9, 2020, passed a law that would automatically register anyone as a voter when they get their driver’s license, something all illegal aliens can get since December. Senate Bill S6457B, which is in the process of being passed by the Assembly, provides that anyone who obtains a driver’s license in New York state will be registered as a voter by default unless they specifically mark a box waiving membership on the voter roll.
What is disturbing about this measure is that it would de facto grant the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who, as of December 2019, can obtain a driver’s license in New York state thanks to a law passed in June. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Green Light Act last year, which allows anyone over the age of 16 to apply for a driver’s license regardless of immigration status, and will also not require a Social Security number.
The Right to Vote
Those that fight so aggressively against Voter ID claim such requirements circumvent the right to vote. What enfuriates millions of legal Americans is the Constitutional guidelines that gave Americans the right to vote and the laws that control voting eligibility are being trampled or just ignored.
“Wait a minute,” you say. “Where in the Constitution is the process of voting guaranteed to every American? That’s a good question.
You may be surprised to learn there is NO specific section of any Article or Amendment in the Constitution that grants or guarantees the right to vote to every citizen. But there are certainly mentions of the right to vote.
The phrase appears for the first time in the Fourteenth Amendment, which says that states shall lose congressional representation “when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime.”
But whatever Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment means, it really can’t mean that everyone must be allowed to vote. It penalizes states that withhold the ballot but does not require them to grant it. The Fifteenth Amendment, however, does speak specifically of “the right of citizens of the United States to vote.”
In this form, it will appear a total of three more times, each time now protected against abridgment, as an individual right “of citizens,” one that can be enforced by both courts and Congress. Yet courts and citizens remain oddly ambivalent about it; it is common to regard voting as a “privilege,” an incident of citizenship granted to some but not all. The “privilege” over the years has been made dependent on literacy, or long residency in a community, or ability to prove identity, or lack of a criminal past. None of these conditions would be allowed to restrict free speech, or freedom from “unreasonable” searches, or the right to counsel, even though each of those rights is mentioned once in the Constitution. The right to vote of citizens of the United States remains a kind of stepchild in the family of American rights, perhaps because it is not listed in the Bill of Rights.
In the Fifteenth Amendment, the right to vote is not to be “denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Note the second verb. Many things might “abridge” a right without “denying” it altogether. Whatever the status of the right as a right, it is apparently strictly protected from any kind of limit — any kind of limit, that is, based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The target is clear — racial restrictions on voting, or restrictions of the voting rights of former slaves. It is common to describe the amendment as aimed solely at racial restrictions on the right to vote.
Voter ID
This process is claimed by strict Constitutionalists to be one of preserving the privilege of voting by preventing anyone who is not a citizen from voting. As mentioned above, it is a federal crime to vote illegally in an election for federal officials. States that have passed strict voter ID laws find themselves in federal court defending against suits based on discrimination charges alleging that such laws actually “abridge” the right to vote based on race. Somehow their conclusion is that minority people under such a requirement it is discrimination. Why? Because, they say, minorities do not have the same capabilities to register to vote as do white Americans: obtaining drivers licenses, state issued ID cards, passports, etc.
Though those claims are really vapid, liberal courts around the nation in multiple such cases agree with those making these claims. I find it humorous to watch interviews with dozens and dozens of African Americans in multiple cities both large and small that state the racism in this matter is from those who say minorities do not have the capabilities in large to obtain ID’s.
One 55-year-old African American woman who lives in New York expressed it best: “It is insulting for anyone to think blacks don’t have ID’s.” She continued, “Think about it: we can’t fly on a plane, apply for social security benefits, Medicaid, federal assistance, buy cigarettes or beer, drive a car, and even go our children’s school without proof of identification.” She concluded with this: “I don’t know a single African American adult that does NOT have a photo ID.”
Summary
What should be the ONLY factor that weighs on the minds of any Americans about being able to vote or not is the “LEGALITY” of someone to vote. What IS included in the Constitution is the Rule of Law. In our Constitution, in Congress, and in State House across the country, bills are passed, agreed to as required and signed into law by Presidents and governors. Each of these is part of the process of governing legally — or adherence to the Rule of Law.
To that end, here’s what EVERY American should demand: the enforcement of every passed law in the United States…period. Certainly, everyone has a right to object to any law. But no one has the right to break any law.
There’s a process in the U.S. regarding federal laws, in states regarding state laws, and locally regarding local laws to amend laws, change laws, or doing away altogether with laws the populace desires. That’s part of the Rule of Law. And anyone who breaks any of those laws does so illegally and, by definition, is guilty of breaking the law.
When did it become OK for anyone — anyone at all — to arbitrarily break laws or simply ignore them? Doing so is NOT OK.
And if Democrats choose to fight to allow illegals who enter the country by breaking laws, or to encourage any to vote illegally, they should be held accountable.
One final note: it is the height of anti-Americanism to vote illegally and/or to encourage others to vote illegally. And it’s stupidity for any American to facilitate such actions.
It is surprising to me that the Media would not even touch the self-professed blackmail of the former Ukrainian President by former Vice President Joe Biden. I’m sure you remember these few sentences at a public gathering in which Biden not only confessed his blackmail, he bragged about it:
Remember this: Biden was named by Obama to oversee the massive corruption in Ukraine for the Obama Administration. Biden had spent much time there purportedly to concentrate on the certainty that Ukraine had been — among other things — aggressively trying to interfere in the U.S. 2016 election.
And then there’s the Burisma Holdings mystery.
Only foolish people believe that Biden’s son Hunter received a seat on the Burisma Board of Directors as a result of his expertise in oil and gas. Hunter Biden knew NOTHING about the energy business. Yet he was paid $83,000 a month to serve on the Board of the largest Ukrainian oil and gas company. The only explanation is that he got that position only because he was the son of the U.S. Vice President.
Why do you think today’s media pile-on all those who today mention the Ukraine election-interference story when those claims were accepted as fact by all a few years ago? (We’ll get into those reasons in a bit) Today’s news outlet leaders then touted Ukraine’s election interference on par with that of Russia. But today, they report that all those who believe Ukraine’s 2016 election interference happened are nothing more than conspiracy theorists.
Chuck Todd of NBC’s Meet The Press actually laughed at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for believing Ukraine tried to interfere in U.S. elections;
Even FBI Director Christopher Wray said there was no indication that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 U.S. elections. “We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election;”
U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) both state there was no Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election;
A Ukrainian Court found that Ukraine DID attempt to impact the U.S. 2016 election on the behalf of Hillary Clinton.
These denials — even from several Republican Senators — are odd. Why? In light of the approximate seven stories from reputable news sources that have NO leanings toward the Republican Party all ran investigative stories chronicling the 2016 election interference by Ukraine:
1. Financial Times, 08/28/2016
The Financial Times reported Ukraine attempted to intervene in the U.S. election.
“The prospect of Mr. Trump, who has praised Ukraine’s arch-enemy Vladimir Putin, becoming leader of the country’s biggest ally has spurred not just Mr. Leshchenko but Kyiv’s wider political leadership to do something they would never have attempted before: intervene, however indirectly, in a U.S. election,” Financial Times reported.
2. Politico, 01/11/2017
Politico reported the Ukrainian government tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump.
“Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election,” Politico reported.
They also reported that a Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., to expose ties between Trump, Paul Manafort, and Russia.
3. Financial Times, 12/22/2016
The Financial Times reported Russia used Ukrainian technology to hack the DNC server in the 2016 election. Based on the reporting, it appears the technology used to hack the election was operated in eastern Ukraine.
“The discovery of an alleged Russian government hack of a Ukrainian mobile phone app has boosted investigators’ confidence that Moscow was behind the hacking of Democratic National Committee servers in the U.S.before the presidential election,” cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said.
The firm, which was hired by the DNC to rebuild its cyber defenses after the attack, said “Fancy Bear”– a code name it assigned to hackers that it believes are associated with Russian military intelligence, the “GRU” — had implanted malware in an Android mobile phone application used by anti-Russian forces operating in eastern Ukraine.
4. Politico, 02/23/2017
In 2017, Politico reported that a Ukrainian parliamentarian attempted to contact Paul Manafort, claiming to have politically damaging information about Manafort as well as Trump.
“The undated communications, which are allegedly from the iPhone for Manafort’s daughter, include a text that appears to come from a Ukrainian parliamentarian named Serhiy Leschenko, seeking to reach her father, in which he claims to have politically damaging information about both Manafort and Trump,” Politico said.
5. New York Times, 12/12/2018
Ukranian courts ruled that releasing information to Manafort about the 2016 U.S. election was illegal interference.
“Both lawmakers asserted that if the release of the slush fund information broke the law, then it should be viewed as an illegal effort to influence the United States presidential election in favor of Hillary Clinton by damaging the Trump campaign,” the New York Times reported.
Why The Sudden Denial of the 2016 Ukrainian Election Interference?
Ukraine has always struggled with government corruption. Ukraine depends heavily on its friendly neighbors and those from the West for military and other types of foreign aid. Its proximity to Russia and several other strategic considerations have for 20+ years kept Ukraine in the “political corruption” spotlight. There has been so much speculation about Ukraine’s interference in our 2016 election AND so much demonstrative denial by the Media, it is incumbent for the truth to be vetted and passed along to Americans.
We (with outside assistance) have tracked the Ukrainian 2016 U.S. election interference with great difficulty. What follows is a complete “roadmap” for all interested in providing proof that Ukraine DID attempt 2016 U.S. election interference.
As is our normal practice to make reading easier, these details are put in bullet format that are numbered from 1-18.
Please don’t get lost in these. It may appear to be much information, but this is a heretofore hidden roadmap showing how to get from “A” — how U.S. corrupted politicians — get to “B” — accessing the U.S. political process in our government for personal gain.
The Ukraine Crisis Media Center was founded by Soros in March 2014. This organization is Ukraine’s version of Media Matters.
Serhiy Leshchenko was a Ukraine Member of Parliament.
NABU — Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau — is formed and, the Executive director is Artem Sytnyk.
Another NGO (Non-governmental Organization) was founded by Soros called the AntAC (Anti-Corruption Action Centre). They received $1.7 million in funding, about $1 million from the U.S. Departments of State and DOJ, and $290,000 from Soros’ International Renaissance Foundation. THIS is the organization that the Obama Administration worked through.
NABU and the Obama government were working closely with Soros NGO Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) in Ukraine, as John Solomon reports on The Hill. When Ukrainian prosecutors investigated AntAC over a missing $4.4 million in U.S. funding, they were told to stand down by Obama officials. This is the missing money for Joe Biden’s son. Biden’s son was coordinating activity in Ukraine for the Obama Administration.
AntAC (Obama administration and George Soros) pushed a Ukrainian investigation into then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s business activities in Ukraine – WITH HELP FROM THE FBI, according to John Solomon from The Hill.
On March 21, 2017, Leschenko and Sytnyk, held a press conference at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, alleging Manafort took $12.7 million in illegal payments from Ukrainians and made a claim of a “black cashbox ledger.”
Leschenko gave the info to Alexandra Chalupa, a DNC operative who worked with Hillary Clinton. Both Chalupa and Arepovitch, the CEO of Crowdstrike, are connected to a hard left authoritarian fascist group in Ukraine.
April 28, 2016 – Chalupa and Isikoff, a Yahoo Reporter who was deeply involved with Christopher Steele, held a press conference in Washington, D.C., and invited 68 Ukrainian journalists and distributed the dirt on Manafort. The program was called the Open World Leadership Center, held at the Library of Congress, and again, connected to George Soros.
NABU and the Obama Administration worked closely with Soros NGO AntAC. When Ukrainian prosecutors investigated AntAC over a missing $4.4 million in U.S. funding, they were told to stand down by Obama officials. Again, this is all tied to Hunter Biden and the missing $3 million dollars from Burisma Holdings. “When the new prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko went to meet Obama Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, he says he was stunned when the ambassador “gave me a list of people whom we should not prosecute.”
Chalupa received details of the payments from Leschenko. Payment detail from 2007-2012 lists advertising, computers, polling, consultant fees, etc. NONE OF THE PAYMENTS OR Manafort’s signatures WERE EVER CONFIRMED.
Chalupa also passed the Black Ledger info on to Glenn Simpson at Fusion GPS, who passed them on to DOJ staffer Nellie Ohr. Ohr passed the info on to her husband, Bruce Ohr. On May 30, 2016, Nellie Ohr sent an email to Bruce Ohr and Justice Department staffers under the subject line “Reported Trove of Documents on Ukrainian Party of Regions’ ‘Black Cashbox,’” which means they were investigating Paul Manafort prior to the July 31, 2016, inception of “Crossfire Hurricane.”
Isikoff broke the story on Yahoo on Aug. 18, 2016, one of the first public mentions of purported “collusion with Russia” by the Trump team. Manafort had to step down as Trump’s campaign manager the next day.
In addition, Leshchenko served as a direct source of information for Fusion GPS—and their hired researcher—former CIA contractor Nellie Ohr. Yes, Nellie received info from Ukrainians, directly or via Fusion GPS, to influence a Presidential election.
Ohr told congressional investigators on Oct. 19, 2018, when pressed, she recalled them, “mentioning someone named Serhiy Leshchenko, a Ukrainian.” She later admitted she knew of Leshchenko before her time at Fusion GPS as he was a “very well-known, Ukrainian, anti-corruption activist.” Leshchenko had adopted a robust anti-Trump stance (because Trump wanted to pursue a more friendly relationship with Russia). And remember, Putin is a nemesis to George Soros.
Remember when Manafort was charged with witness tampering, by the Mueller Special Counsel? Manafort’s daughter’s phone was hacked, and a text message was discovered. It was reported by Politico in late February 2017, that a hack of the phone belonging to one of Manafort’s daughters revealed a text containing a blackmail threat that Manafort has attributed to Leshchenko. It’s not known with any certainty who sent the text, which includes an attachment that references “the Yanukovych accounting book” and lists an email address for Leshchenko. Manafort received additional charges because of the text.
Leschenko and Sytnyk were found guilty. “December 2018, a Kyiv court ruled that Leshchenko, along with NABU Director Artem Sytnyk ‘acted illegally’ when they revealed that Manafort’s surname and signature were found in the so-called ‘black ledger’ of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions,” the Kyiv Post reported on Dec. 12, 2018.
“Leschenko and Sytnyk interfered in an American election. ”The court noted the material was part of a pre-trial investigation and its release “led to interference in the electoral processes of the United States in 2016 and harmed the interests of Ukraine as a state.”
Summary
I know that’s a lot of information to follow. By way of explanation as we close today’s story, we’ll ask some pointed and salient questions to at least have all looking and listening in to get on the same page:
Why has there been so much intense interest in Ukraine by the American government during the Obama Administration?
Why would President Obama appoint his Vice President to head the corruption investigations by the U.S. of a foreign nation — ANY foreign country?
Why would the Ukrainian government (that was rife with corruption) investigate corruption of Burisma Holdings during the time Hunter Biden was a member of the Board of Directors?
Why would Vice President Biden even care about the Burisma investigation — a sovereign country and one of that country’s privately held corporations?
Why would the Vice President not only demand the firing of that Ukrainian prosecutor but give Ukraine eight hours to fire him?
Why would any foreign OR domestic energy resource company hire Hunter Biden paying him $83,000 per month to serve on their Board of Directors?
Are they protecting someone some others? If so, who?
Let’s fast forward to 2020:
Why would so many U.S. news sources vehemently deny Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election after thorough investigatory research found and reported previously that Ukraine DID interfere in the 2016 election?
Why would Congressional Democrats and former V.P. Biden pushback on Hunter Biden and the former V.P. testifying before a Congressional committee investigating Ukraine corruption?
Why would Senators Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham — in light of scads of evidence that prove Ukraine 2016 U.S. election interference — not only reject the alleged Ukraine interference but refuse to support the investigation to determine its validity and who was involved?
Why would the current FBI Director Chris Wray deny the Ukraine election interference when so much evidence exists confirming it?
With the 1999 Treaty between the U.S. and Ukraine specifically for both countries to collaborate on political corruption in each that pertains to the other NOT instigate a formal U.S. investigation into this corruption that John Solomon from The Hill along with information garnered by others uncovered?
Many feel if such an investigation is allowed to occur, it will lead not only to the Obama White House but to the Obama Department of Justice as well as to multiple current and former members of Congress.
What’s the common piece of evidence? “Show Me The Money!”
Roadblocks, losses, rejection, failures, being not good enough: all these are things that most of us can relate to. It is rare when someone — ANYone — can say honestly, “I’ve not experienced any of those.”
Going through these things are normal occurrences. And each contains unique elements that do no impact everyone the same way. That makes it almost impossible to create a perfect how-to manual with accurate instructions one can use to solve the problem. Because of that, many just throw-in-the-towel.
Thankfully there has always been a sense of “anyone can do anything if they try hard enough” spirit in the U.S. That encourages many to dust themselves off after failures and go after the same objective again or go tackle a new one.
Have you known anyone that seems bullet-proof? No matter what they face that doesn’t work out, they just move on to a different way of doing it, or they just move on to something else.
Have you ever faced one or two of these circumstances? How did you handle losing or not being good enough or rejected? Did you give up or stop trying?
Today just might be a magical few minutes that change your life and maybe even many others through you. What follows is a video that is timed perfectly for this topic and today especially.
LSU faces Clemson tonight in the College Football National Championship. These are without question the best two college football teams in the nation. That means each roster is bloated with phenomenal athletes. Each has a quarterback that most experts feel are not just the best two college quarterbacks this season, but maybe the best two QB’s to play at the same time in college history.
I’m an LSU fan: a Louisiana “lifer.” I’m excited that the Tigers — “our” Tigers — are facing Clemson’s Tigers for the trophy. More than the chance to win that championship, I am ecstatic that for the last two years I have personally witnessed one of the most amazing responses to adversity ever seen in college athletics. Take a few minutes and watch this video then let’s get back together for two minutes.
Meet “Joe.”
Joe when not allowed to play at Ohio State knew he had failed. He kept trying. He worked hard to be the best at quarterback. He never quit.
After things like this happen to most of us and we choose to give up, we quit. But worse, most of us want to place blame for our failure.
“Your wedding didn’t work out and you divorced your husband.” Our response to that: “Yeah…But….”
“You were fired at your job.” Our response: “Yeah…But…”
It’s the “Yeah…But…” that destroys millions of lives yearly. How? Just look at Joe Burrow.
He was benched again and again at his dream college, Ohio State. He kept working. He kept getting better. He never gave up. He never quit. His friends and teammates taunted him and maybe his position opponents talked down to him. He almost certainly heard this: “Hey, man. You aren’t good enough. You got permanently benched. You’ll never play quarterback.”
Joe could have said, “Yeah…But…” and rattled off a list of excuses. He didn’t do that. He simply found a way to push through. He transferred to LSU and began a college football historical run that is probably long from over.
If Joe had listened to and accepted what the Ohio State coaches said and did to him, he’d be somewhere working today, probably in the private sector. Instead, Joe Burrow leads LSU tonight into the college championship game. And in a couple of months, he’ll undoubtedly be the first college quarterback taken in the NFL draft — maybe even the #1 player drafted — and begin what portends to be a dramatically successful NFL career.
Joe never said “Yeah…But…” When anyone said any of those things to him, he probably just looked at them and smiled.
Wow! 2020 is not even two-weeks old and the news has taken off: Impeachment, Soleimani and Iraq attacks, Iran destroying a Ukraine jet with a missile, and Democrat hatred not just for Donald Trump but now for Trump supporters! What else can happen?
Don’t worry: there’s a lot of 2020 remaining. This year is certain to be full of breathtaking “gotcha'” moments, especially in Washington. And each Saturday, TruthNewsNetwork will bring to you a synopsis of that week’s news in bullet points. You’ll be able to scan the headlines we present, and for those stories about which you want details, click on a link for complete details.
The delay by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for the impeachment trial of President Trump may soon be over. What happened? Republicans naturally blasted Pelosi non-stop for holding them. But now some Democrat Congressional leaders have joined the cries for Pelosi to pass along the articles so the trial can get underway. That appears now to be imminent. For complete details, click on this link: https://news.yahoo.com/pelosi-allies-stumped-impeachment-standoff-090000314.html
Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed and are aggressively promoting as part of their presidential policy proposals a tax on the very wealthy, called a “Wealth Tax.” Initially it received very little support by the majority of Americans. But now, that story may have changed. It looks like a bunch of Americans have changed their tune. For complete details, click on this link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-inequality-poll-idUSKBN1Z9141
It seems that British Royalty are coming to the U.S. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have announced their intentions to step back from their “royal duties” and spend a lot of time in the U.S. Needless to say, that news has set the elites in both the U.K. and U.S. media on fire. There’s got to be a juicy story there, right? For complete details, click on this link: https://www.thewrap.com/meghan-markle-prince-harry-hollywood-deals-after-royal-duties/
There are some really excited Democrats in Washington. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is reportedly so upset with the actions of President Trump that he would consider voting in a Senate impeachment trial to remove Mr. Trump from office. For complete details, click on this link: https://news.yahoo.com/why-utah-mike-lee-might-123233527.html
These should catch you up on the really big news on a national scale for the week. Enjoy that Saturday morning cup of coffee and scan the headlines and/or read the in-depth details of whatever stories catches your interest.
Wait: Qasem Soleimani was an American hero? Do I believe that? I don’t. But it’s apparent that many do. He’s been labeled many things since he was taken off the Earth by that U.S. drone-fired missile. And one of those is “Hero.” How egregious is that!
The Hero
Soleimani was an Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.
Soleimani began his military career at the start of the Iran–Iraq War during the 1980s, eventually commanding the 41st Division. He was later involved in extraterritorial operations in providing military assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the government of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally, during Iran’s operations in the Syrian Civil War and helped to plan the Russian military intervention in Syria. Soleimani oversaw the Kurdish and Shia militia forces in Iraq and assisted the Iraqi forces that advanced against ISIL in 2014–2015. Soleimani was one of the first to support Kurdish forces, providing them with arms. He maintained a low profile during most of his career.
Soleimani was widely popular among Iranians, where his supporters viewed him as a “selfless hero fighting Iran’s enemies.” Solemaini was personally sanctioned by the United Nations and the European Union and was designated as a terrorist by the United States. (President Barack Obama)
This “great man” is known to have personally (or by others under his command) killed more than 600 Americans. Additionally, he led forces that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Middle Easterners and personally directed terrorist activities of Hezbollah and Hamas. Additionally, he is believed to have been directly or indirectly responsible for the development and implementation of the IED.
This armored vehicle was hit by an IED in Iraq
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be composed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as roadside bombs.
Today, there are hundreds of U.S. military families who are missing a loved one who was killed by a Soleimani IED. Thousands more survived IED attacks but today are handicapped for life, some in horrendous ways, primarily with the loss of limbs and even eyes.
Yep. To many, even in the U.S., Soleimani is a hero in spite of this horrendous record.
Soleimani’s American “Posse”
You can imagine who they are: the Leftist media. And they make no apologies for their support of this former human butcher:
Washington Post: “Airstrike at Baghdad airport kills Iran’s most revered military leader, Qasem Soleimani.”
CNN: “Imagine the French Foreign Legion, at the height of the French empire. This guy is regarded in Iran as a completely heroic figure.”
“I was trying to think of somebody, and I was thinking of [Charles] de Gaulle.”
“He is regarded as personally incredibly brave. The troops love him.”
CBS: “Military genius … inspirational.”
New Yorker: “a flamboyant former construction worker and bodybuilder with snowy white hair, a dapper beard, and arching salt-and-pepper eyebrows.”
New York Times: “Many saw him as a larger-than-life hero, particularly within security circles. Anecdotes about his asceticism and quiet charisma joined to create an image of a warrior-philosopher who became the backbone of a nation’s defense against a host of enemies.”
CNN’s John Berman: “Trump’s killing of Qasem Soleimani was a murder.”
Uh-Oh: Another Trump Mistake
The Hollywood Left and the Washington Left have made it clear: Donald Trump stepped over the line by instigating the killing of Iran’s highest-ranked general. Of course, the consensus of all of those anti-Trumpsters is that the President is too stupid, too narcissistic, to self-centered to have thought through potential consequences before pulling the trigger.
What do the American Leftists say?
Politicians
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter sent to House Democrats on Jan. 5 said, “The Trump administration conducted a provocative and disproportionate military airstrike targeting high-level Iranian military officials. This action endangered our service members, diplomats, and others by risking a serious escalation of tensions with Iran.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) admitted Soleimani was plotting against American interests. Still, he said, “The question is, did the plotting here rise to the level that required his elimination from the battlefield?”
Among Democratic presidential candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement after Soleimani’s death, “No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing. He deserved to face justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region.” “This is a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region,” Biden said, adding that President Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.”
Another White House runner Bernie Sanders said, “Trump’s dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions of more dollars.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said the Trump administration’s decision to kill Soleimani was a “reckless move” that “escalates the situation with Iran.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he worried that “the actions the president took will get us into what he calls another endless war in the Middle East. He promised we wouldn’t have that.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted Friday: “We are outraged the president would assassinate a foreign official, possibly setting off another war without Congressional authorization and has zero plan to deal with the consequences.”
Other “Famous” Leftists
“There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism,” lamented the professionally and permanently offended Nike spokesman Colin Kaepernick on social media following the U.S. military’s killing of Iran’s top military leader Qasem Soleimani. Kaepernick later added, “America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad.”
CNN complained that the “air strike feels like [an] attempt to create a distraction from impeachment and build support for Trump.” Furthermore, CNN has embraced Iran in spinning the flawed narrative that Trump’s decision has now endangered Americans.
It has even been so controversial, USA TODAY initiated their crackerjack polling entity Ipsos to poll to find out what ALL American citizens feel about the attack on Soleimani. Here’s what their poll said:
Americans by more than 2-1 said the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani has made the United States less safe, a nationwide USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds, amid broad concerns about the potential consequences ahead.
A majority of those surveyed, by 52%-34%, called President Donald Trump’s behavior with Iran “reckless.”
Americans were divided on the wisdom of the drone strike at the Baghdad airport last week that killed Soleimani and others: 42% supported it, 33% opposed it; 25% said they didn’t know what to think. Republicans were much more supportive than Democrats; independents were almost evenly split.
There was overwhelming agreement – in each case by more than 6-1 – that the attack made it more likely Iran would strike American interests in the Middle East (69%), that there would be terrorist attacks on the American homeland (63%), and that the United States and Iran would go to war (62%).
I don’t want to be considered a hater, but polls are just that and no more: just someone’s opinion. Of course, Ipsos did not provide any information about the poll’s structure, who and what determined with whom they spoke, in-person or via cell or landline, demographics, time of day, etc. You can bet that in such a short time, this polling data is unscientific. And even if it IS scientific, the typical political poll includes no more than 1000 people. Don’t be lulled into believing that a capsule of 1000 American’s opinions can offer a fair determination of 330 million people! But even if it did, what’s done is done. And Americans will sustain any repercussions.
Summary
I don’t want to be viewed as a partisan: I am NOT Republican or Democrat. I’m a conservative American. My opinion is just that: my thoughts on any subjects I consider. Yours should be the same.
That said, my opinion of what is being illustrated by this Qasem Soleimani madness is the total disdain by the Left for Donald Trump. Example: The House of Representatives last evening passed a ceremonial “rebuke” of Donald Trump for taking action to terminate Soleimani without discussing it with Congress. They maintained — and rightly so — constitutionally, Congress holds the sole power to declare war. Their rebuke demanded that, in the future, Donald Trump and every subsequent president must come to Congress to get permission to take any military action. That House motion is unenforceable. Know why? Because there’s legal authorization for presidents to take such action without Congressional approval.
Congress has periodically given the President the power to engage in what amounts to war by passing such “statutory authorizations.” The one currently in effect is the 2001 AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force) passed by Congress in response to the 9/11 attack. The argument for the AUMF is that Congress is slow and deliberative, and it is frequently the case that military intervention needs to be immediate. To say that “Congress is slow and deliberative” is a gross understatement!
Let’s just be realistic: this U.S. Congress that has done less legislatively, taken more time off, had less debate on issues, and has fought in purely partisan fashion than any previous Congress. And they wasted precious time in governing — OUR precious time they are paid handsomely for — to debate, discuss and then pass a meaningless and ridiculous reprimand of this President for doing exactly what Barack Obama did again and again. Obama gave the orders to launch hundreds of drone attacks that killed handpicked targets in the Middle East — none of which was approved by Congress.
The AUMF gives the president a great deal of latitude in responding potential threats to the US, (particularly about governments and organizations which might be related to terrorism), and was mainly what legally allowed the President to invade Iraq and what would enable the president to fire on Iran in response to the Iranian attack if he were to choose to do so in response to some Iranian attack on Americans.
Using military intelligence provided by the President’s National Security team, killing Soleimani was part of a list those experts gave to Mr. Trump as options for retaliation for Iran’s killing of an American contractor. President Trump authorized that strike based on his authority in the AUMF.
His critics immediately cried “foul!” for his doing so without Congressional authorization. But, more importantly, they scream that he didn’t even notify Congress of the strike. They feel, of course, that, at least as a courtesy, he should have done so. I, for one, can think of several hundred reasons why NOT to notify Congress before such a strike: thousands of people would know because of Congressional leaks! And some of those notifications by members of Congress would have certainly made their way to Iran.
By the way, no matter what you are told, Barack Obama did NOT notify Congress before the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. He had informed them earlier that the U.S. was diligently working to find bin Laden. But none were notified in advance of the Pakistan raid.
Here’s what this all illustrates: there is a Deep State. That Deep State is comprised of a (now) large group of bureaucrats who have amassed over the years enough power to control the inner-workings of the U.S. government. That group has been untouchable for decades. They, in total, are petrified to have Donald Trump in the White House.
Their goal is similar to that of Hitler and other groups of historical totalitarians and dictators that took control of nations throughout history: “gain control of the people by making them feel comfortable that we provide everything they need and know what’s best for them.”
That may sound conspiracy-centered. If it does, so-be-it.
You may attack me, label me, laugh at me, and tell everyone I’m nothing more than a conspiracy theorist. That’s OK, though. Why? Because, at the end of the day, I can peacefully and quietly spend that night going to sleep with no worries about any tyrannical government despots coming after my family and me. Yes, I believe there certainly are those who fully intend to (and are prepared to do that), but the great awakening to the truth of all this and more have begun to unite a monstrous glob of Americans that are so blended they look like just one monster.
This ploy of the Deep State almost succeeded. We were a sleeping nation that was content with the “good life.” We are awake now. And we know about the plans and wishes of the Deep State. Thankfully we are too many to fail.
Now Congressional Democrats have two “hot potatoes” on their plate: impeachment and Middle East security. They all agree on one thing: Donald Trump is not qualified to handle anything at all!
In Wednesday’s House Democrats press conference following their caucus meeting, several tried to make reporters in the room comfortable that Democrats have all the answers for both impeachment and Iran issues. Those reporters, as often happens, lobbed softballs at whoever stood at the podium. The questions asked centered on two things: if and when will the Speaker transmit the two articles of impeachment to the Senate and under what conditions; and what are the next steps in place for Congress to take to guarantee Americans the Middle East is not going to erupt into a world war. The Democrat Representatives in the room were consistent about only one thing: they hate Donald Trump and they alone — Democrats — have the know-how to operate our government effectively. That requires the removal of Donald Trump. If Trump is gone, there’d be no Middle East problem and there’d be nothing else wrong in America. Everything wrong is because he made everything wrong!
What’s wrong in D.C. can be put in entirety at the feet of a feckless U.S. Congress!
For more than 200 years, Congress operated exactly the country’s founders envisioned — finding acceptable compromises on the biggest issues of the day while holding its authority to declare war, spend taxpayer money and keep the presidency in check. Today, that model is dead.
It has been replaced by a weakened legislative branch in which debate is strictly eliminated or barely allowed, party leaders dictate the agenda of Congress, most elected representatives rarely get a say and government shutdowns are a regular threat due to constant failures to agree on budgets.
These changes have happened pretty quickly in comparison with other government transformations in U.S. history. The changes picked up quickly with the politics that came in the 2008 election of Barack Obama. Add to that the tea party movement that happened shortly after that election. With these two D.C. blockbusters, extreme partisanship in Congress has become a virus. The political center is gone: no moderate Democrats (or at least a sufficient number to impact governing), no moderate Republicans. Party leaders stick a licked-finger in the air daily to know how to respond to the demands of their bases, while historical methods in legislation that worked so well at finding consensus on pretty much everything for a couple of centuries are gone!
Very little of this has been covered in the news. But that doesn’t change the fact that this has happened and that Americans are living through the consequences of it all — many without any understanding of why it has happened. Subsequently, Congress has become a toothless entity that is not trusted for the most part by members of the Judicial and Executive branches of government. And the American people do nothing but shake their heads at the daily ineptness of the most powerful legislative body on Earth — or it was formerly. One poll today shows that only 17% of Americans polled approve of this U.S. Congress.
Debate
Congress rarely debates anything anymore!
When asked before the 2018 elections what were the most important issues to Americans they were Immigration, Healthcare, and the Economy. Forty years ago, Congress spent much time debating issues of the day. Americans would love to know that this Congress at least attempted in a serious way to at least address the three issues most important to Americans: Immigration, Healthcare, and the Economy. What has been accomplished on any of these issues since the 2016 election? What has been attempted by Congress since the 2016 election?
Immigration — a major flashpoint in recent elections — has been formally debated only a few days in Congress over the past five years with no resolution. President Trump put an offer on the table that gave DACA recipients a direct path to citizenship — which was a continual demand by Democrats for any immigration deal — and Democrats rejected it. There have been no legislative attempts for immigration reform since.
Healthcare has been ignored by Congress except for the occasional press conferences and speeches by members of Congress griping about the executive order changes implemented by the President. Once again, there have been no meaningful attempts to debate or even discuss realistic changes in Healthcare.
The economy and economic issues have been virtually ignored except for the horrific spending put in place with the recently passed budget bill. That happened at the last moment to simply avoid another government shutdown: no serious discussion, little if any debate, and no members of Congress during their significant number of trips to their respective districts holding town hall meetings to roll out to the public the budget items.
A number of members of Congress — both the House and the Senate — have pulled up stakes and headed back to life before Congress. There are various reasons for their doing so. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) left because he felt Congress was not going to change. “That’s why I left. You couldn’t do anything anymore,” said Tom Coburn, the former Oklahoma Republican senator who resigned in 2014. And a host of others are headed for the door.
The Process of Congressional Dysfunction
The election of Obama set off partisan moves and then countermoves, that drove Congress and its legislative processes into ideological corners — followed by the election of Trump and a reverse set of moves. None of these moves “just happened” — they were carefully planned and conducted. Whoever one wants to blame for the dysfunction, it certainly is alive. And its cost to Americans is monumental. The problem is NOT just a Democrat problem and it is NOT just a Republican problem. It’s an American problem.
In an attempt to discover how and why this process has sprung to life, a recent study gave some answers:
Junior senators have fewer opportunities to wade into the issues of the day, largely because Senate leaders limit the number of votes on amendments to proposed legislation. The number of such votes has shrunk to an all-time low under McConnell, less than 20 percent of all roll calls, down from 67 percent 12 years ago.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), set a record in his two years of leadership for the number of “closed rules.” That is the process in which leaders simply prevent any members from offering up amendments for pending legislation. Obviously that discourages the newer members of Congress from their involvement for they have little or no standing in the power chain.
Committees meet to consider legislation less than ever. As recently as 2005 and 2006, House committees met 449 times to consider actual legislation, and Senate committees met 252 times; by 2015 and 2016, those numbers plummeted to 254 and 69 times, respectively.
Senate hearings on a Supreme Court nominee have certainly always drawn significant attention as they should. The recent circus in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings to consider the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the SCOTUS illustrates just how caustic and partisan today U.S. Senate has become. Why is that? Sen. Ben Sasse (R-KS) gave his opinion of the reason for the always-heated and partisan process: “Who sits on that Court has always been critical, but is more so today than ever before. Why? Because of the inaction of Congress. Because of Congressional lack of legislative efforts to make certain passed legislation is adequate, complete, and legal in its contents, Presidents more often than ever are forced to action. Presidents fill the void when Congress cannot act, leading to lawsuits and leaving the courts to resolve disputes.” Sasse continued: “More and more legislative authority is delegated to the executive branch every year. Both parties do it. The legislature is impotent. The legislature is weak.”
Summary
So what is “the” problem for this devolving of the U.S. Congress? What needs to be done to fix it? What can be done?
Roll Call senior editor David Hawkings just before the 2018 midterm elections addressed the above problems in Congress with what he calls the “Five M’s.” Take four minutes and watch or listen to Mr. Hawkings’ ideas. I think that if we want to get things straight in Congress we can only spend so long on griping about what needs to be straightened. It makes better sense to find out what’s wrong and FIX IT!
Let’s spread this around. Let’s get something done!
