Bookworm Room

Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.

A few thoughts about the Democrat-majority House

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Trying to convince myself that, while a Democrat-majority House will be very, very bad, Trump will not abandon the American people and may still win 2020.

Democrat-majority House Divided CongressIn no particular order, here are my thoughts on the morning after an election that saw Republicans gain strength in the Senate, while losing their majority in the House:

1. We kept the Senate, which matters when it comes to the judiciary (phew!) and Trump’s ability to get his people appointed.

2. Trump can continue to dismantled the regulatory state, which is huge.

3. Trump still has a free hand with foreign policy and I like his approach to foreign policy.

4. The Democrats will use their hold on the House to escalate their open border policy, but I think (hope) Trump as the executive still has the stronger hand on this. I also hope (think) that the American people will not appreciate an open border, especially minorities who are always on the front line when it comes to illegal immigrants taking jobs and introducing new crime into a region.

5. What’s going to come out of the House in the upcoming years will be, literally, insane. Sarah Hoyt is very worried that Trump, who is committed to deal-making, will cave or, to use a Bill Clintonesque term from 1994, “triangulate”:

Trump is by nature a deal maker. After the first two government shut downs, he’ll meet them halfway. This will wreck our economy and yep his presidency with it. As they did with Bush in 2006, they now have a chance to wreck the economy and have it blamed on the sitting president.

Hoyt’s legitimately worried about a lot of other things. If you want the pessimist’s view of the next two years, be sure to read what she has to say.

Even Don Surber, the man who has been my compass for optimism for the past three years, is not happy. He bats aside attempts at optimism from his readers and from Glenn Reynolds, who’s hoping for a Reagan-era “coming together.” With a Democrat-majority House — or rather, with this 21st Century style Democrat-majority House — that’s not going to happen says Surber:

He just doesn’t get it. These Democrats don’t care. Infrastructure?

These Democrats let people poop in the streets of Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco. These Democrats let the homeless line pup tents along the boulevards of Maxine Waters’s Los Angeles. These Democrats let gangbangers turn Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago into a shooting gallery.

All they care about is power. Lord Acton said power corrupts. Imagine now what happens when you give power to the already corrupted.

[Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 11/5/2018 — the illustrated edition and open thread

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This awesome illustrated edition is filled with wit and wisdom about elections, #Blexit and #WalkAway, immigration issues, the Second Amendment and more.

Mob Illustrated editionToday is Guy Fawkes Day, when the English celebrate the survival of a really terrible king who never bathed and the brutal torture and execution of a crazed religious fanatic. Who doesn’t love a holiday like that?

And what better way to celebrate than with a huge bolus of posters covering everything from the upcoming election, to #WalkAway and #Blexit, to immigration, to Trump, to the usual Leftist insanity. I know you’ll enjoy these:

[Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 10/31/2018 — the scary Halloween edition and open thread

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This Bookworm Beat shows that, on Halloween, there’s nothing scarier than Leftist politics and the consequent racist, anti-American shenanigans.

Bookworm BeatFor Halloween we now have two racially approved costumes. If you’re still struggling to think of a costume for yourself or your child, I am happy to report that the Black Panther creators and the gal who voices Moana have both stated explicitly that all races are allowed to use their costumes. Whew! The only thing sad about these two linked stories is that we live in a world in which people of various races need permission to dress up as wildly popular fictional characters whom they admire.

As the election nears, the Left escalates its Hitler comparisons. I was listen to today’s Dan Bongino show, and he dedicates the first few minutes to discussing the escalating Trump = Hitler rhetoric from the Left and from the NeverTrumpers who, like true converts and zealots, outdo their new political travelers when it comes to heated rhetoric. Bongino played audio of the various talking heads fighting to come up with the most extreme Trump = Hitler (or ISIS) analogy (I’ve queued the audio to the point at which the Trump = Hitler tape begins):

TV media is not alone. This is a recent headline from the WaPo:

An alternative headline for that same opinion piece could have been “Hitler was an honest leader.”

Even that hardcore socialist (and pedophile supporter) Pope Francis gets into the Hitler comparison act, comparing “populists” who oppose mass Muslim migration to Hitler. His use of the word “populist” interests me, because it’s a reminder that, to the elites, it’s inconceivable that the masses might have a good idea. If the masses want it, it must automatically be bad. Frankly, I don’t see anything bad about Europeans resisting an influx of people who subscribe to an ideology that is the antithesis of everything the West has struggled to achieve over the centuries in terms of civil rights, individual liberty, respect for different races and faiths, etc. The Pope is insulated from this influx behind is walls, but the Europeans being murdered, raped, stabbed, blown up, and evicted by the new immigrants have skin in this game.

For some good push back against this type of rhetorical  madness, I recommend Sarah Hoyt’s Don’t Let The Media and Democrats Get Away With It. I especially liked her conclusion, although I do recommend reading the whole thing:

Whenever the left is meeting with opposition they retreat into this condemnation of our lack of civility.

They are right, you know? If we shut up and let them beat us, attack us and call for guillotines to kill us, without protest, it’s all very civil. Or at least, there isn’t a fight.

Are you going to do that? Are you going into cowering and apologizing mode because the left is hanging a multiply-convicted felon with an incoherent hodgepodge of beliefs around your necks? Are you going to let them get away with it AGAIN?

Or are you going to answer this the only way you can? With humor? “Oh, please, if he were a real Republican he’d know how to build bombs that go boom. We’re competent.” Or “Yeah? Hey, he hates Monsanto. Weren’t you yelling about Monsanto last week?” Or “Did I hear you beating your chest and apologizing for the shooting of Scalize? The beating of Rand Paul? No? Then take my answer as the same.” Or “You know if you guys didn’t keep felons out of jail this stuff wouldn’t happen.” Or my favorite “Not my circus, not my monkeys. We know you’re a hive mind, but we’re individuals. None of us know this nut.”

Keep calm and “no sale”the left’s bullshit.

And vote. Vote like your life depends on it. With the calls for guillotines and Antifa on the loose it very well might.

The EU continues its bow to sharia law. Speaking of the effect of the elite-approved Muslim invasion of Europe, you probably already read that an EU court in Austria held that the EU’s promise of free expression does not extend to insulting Mohammed: [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 10/28/18 — the illustrated edition and open thread

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I’ve spent some time trawling across the internet for the best posters about the invasion, stupid Leftists, elections, #Blexit, and much more. Have fun!

Mob Illustrated editionI was working on a long post that made perfect sense when I woke up at 3 am thinking about it. By the time I’d worked on it for more than an hour, though, I realized that it did not make perfect sense. It made no sense. That sent me on a mental flash back to my high school German class. I hated that class, which meant I studied as little as possible. One day, though, I went into an exam very confident, because I had a dream in which I knew all the answers. When I took the test, I drew on the dream for my test responses — and got an F.

I keep getting reminded that dreams have their own logic, one that doesn’t work well in the waking world. So instead of a silly dreamscape post, you get an illustrated edition.

Illustrated edition

[Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 10/23/18 — the invading mob from the south and open thread

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There’s still much to say about the mob heading for our southern border, not to mention transgender madness and the upcoming election (plus yodeling).

MobA reader explains the invasion. I am so fortunate to have such smart readers. In this case, the smart reader is Ms. L:

Several comments/observations on the mob (and I use that word intentionally) traveling from Central American to our southern border:

– Pictures show very few women and children. Yet we are told that these two groups make up most of the mob. Pictures I have seen show young men between 15 and 30. And the news from Guatemala (I think it’s that country.) expelling 100 ISIS warriors does not fill me with confidence that all these people are harmless.

– Marchers are carrying flags from Central American countries and defacing the American flag. And these people want to become Americans? (I know they don’t, they just want our social benefits. But this is never questioned by the MSM, even when they see this mob waving their flag and burning ours.)

– None of the pictures show any of the mob carrying anything – no luggage, sacks, etc. I’m pretty sure if I were to leave my and set off across a thousand miles or more, I would take everything I valued plus extra clothing, water, and food. None of these people seem to be carrying anything. Yet, there they are crossing into Mexico. (Yes, I know that they are funded by George Soros, et al. but the MSM seem incapable of investigating such an obvious inconsistency. Just like in the first comment.)

– It clarifies my thinking about this “mob” when I consider that a “Division” in the US Army is composed of 2 to 4 brigades. A Division thus can have 10,000 to 30,000 soldiers. I don’t think it’s that big of a stretch to see this mob, which intends to physically storm our southern border, as an Army Division. I doubt any American, unless of the extreme left, would not oppose such an assault. I would support President Trump sending the military to close the border and station the military to prevent this “Division” from entering the US.

– If America does not stop this mob, Central America will only send more.

A final observation, when Nancy Pelosi, etc. are on TV supporting this flouting of our laws and offering support for this kind of activity, I wish someone interviewer would ask, “How many is enough?” How many are we supposed to take in? When will should it stop?

One thing I always do when considering an issue, is carry the thought to the logical extreme. In this case, it means accepting anyone who can get here. If done, America will no longer be. Do Pelosi, etc. want this to happen? I know Pelosi and her cohorts have enough money to insulate themselves and their children from the consequences of their actions, but what about grandchildren, etc.? They may have enough money to insulate themselves from the immediate consequences, but long term is another matter.

I pray that President Trump continues to have the strength of his convictions and the fortitude to ignore the yapping dogs at his heels.

I heard on the radio that the mob has modified their course and are heading to Tijuana. Interesting end point: California, a sanctuary state. I’m sure this is in hopes of setting up a confrontation between President Trump (and the US Army) and Governor Brown (and the California National Guard). If nothing else, the chaos of Californians vs the Army will allow most of the mob to cross the border and claim refugee status. Were I President Trump, I would address the nation regarding this situation and announce the closing of the border and the movement of the Army to its defense. Drastic, yes, but I think the bluffs must be called. There is one in play from the mob and I think there would be another bluff from Governor Brown and the rest of the Democrats.

I must think a little more about the situation, but those are my first thoughts. This is a “defense of the nation” moment and we must decide if we are to be a nation of laws or just a large area that is nothing special and anyone can be here.

Hear! Hear! [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 10/22/18 — the Honduran invasion edition and open thread

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This Bookworm Beat is about more than the slo-mo Honduran invasion, but that figures largely here, hence the post’s title.

Bookworm Beat Honduran InvasionA round-up of ideas and information about the Honduran invasion. When thousands of military age men threaten to storm your border, there’s only one proper description: “an invasion.” All that other stuff — economic migrants, refugees, huddled masses — is euphemism intended to obscure the reality that inherently dangerous people [i.e., military age men and men from terrorist-supporting and non-Latin American countries] are announcing loudly and clearly that will ignore American sovereignty and invade our country.

I don’t doubt that women and children are sprinkled throughout this horde to make good television when Trump (God willing) stops them at the American border but, again, that’s not the bulk of the group. Instead, those women and children will find that, just as the Palestinians like to place children front and center for maximum propaganda impact when Israel finally fights back against deadly provocation, so too are these women and children unwitting tools in the Leftist war to destroy American sovereignty.

As it happens, we don’t need to guess what this invasion will look like. First, we saw a trial run with the children’s invasion on Obama’s watch, an invasion that came complete with diseases, MS-13 and other criminals, and a new cohort of anchors for chain migration. We’ve also seen the adult version play out in Europe over the past three years and it has, at best, strained Europe’s economy and, at worst, led to sexual assaults on women and children, increased property crimes, murders, racially-based violence, and terrorism.

Immigration should be based upon the capacity and desire of the receiving country, rather than the demands of those unfortunate enough to be residents of countries distinguished by corruption, theocratic dictatorships (that the immigrants want to bring with them), and economic failing. If these military-aged young men want to improve life, let them turn back home to Honduras and take a stand against crime and corruption there, rather than bringing those society-destroying vices here.

One of the things that may have struck you is that those young man are moving at a bizarrely rapid clip. Could it be that they’re not marching at all but are getting a little help? Why, yes it could:

However many trucks are working the convoy now, they’re going to need more — while Mexico made some ineffectual efforts to stop the original invasion at its own borders, that failure has emboldened others to join:

New estimates cited by El Universal, a Mexican newspaper, say the caravan now has 14,000 people, many of them already in Mexico while others still wait. {Emphasis mine.)

Another thing that someone found noteworthy is the clothes these “spontaneous” refugees are wearing:

And then there’s the flag under which they’ve chosen to march, as well as the flag they’ve chosen to burn:

(As always, the Daily Mail has a great gallery of photos, showing the marching mob’s testosterone, child pawns, and violent impulses.)

Again, this is not a “migrant movement.” It is a full-fledged, planned invasion of a sovereign nation.

Moreover, as Don Surber notes, an invasion of this size, complete with transportation and publicists, is bigger than George Soros funding it by his lonesome (although I’d be very surprised if he were not involved):

Caravan adults will work for under-the-table wages that are off the books. This allows them to collect welfare. Their employers don’t have to pay the 7.65% employer match to payroll taxes or provide health insurance.

Illegal aliens can live in America working for less than minimum wage if it is off the books. That is because they still collect welfare and get Medicaid in addition to their untaxed pay.

They do better than legal citizens who make minimum wage.

The Chamber of Commerce does not want to stop this because it provides cheap labor.

Mexico does not want to stop this because so many illegals send lots of money home.

This is why other nations, nominally allies, allow the caravan to head north.

[snip]

This is a well-financed caravan aimed at using women and children to hide the real intent of this movement. Corporate interests are with cheap labor. Conservatives only fool themselves if they think George Soros is alone in this venture.

Wolf Howling contends (and I agree) that those Americans funding this enterprise need to be found, arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for extended periods of time.

By the way, if any Leftist says to you “but Posse Comitatus,” ignore him or her because that person is ignorant. The Posse Comitatus Act exists to prevent a president from using the military against Americans. It cannot possibly be extended to prevent using the American military to protect Americans from an external invading force.

I’ll wrap up with Trump’s tweets on the invasion:

I hope Trump means it about cutting off funds to the countries allowing this to happen (something Roger L. Simon thinks, as I do, will benefit these same countries by forcing them to address their internal failings) — and I hope he has the balls and the spine to do what it takes to block this invasion at the border. [Read more…]

I think there’ll be an October surprise in the next week . . . for a very funny reason

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My personal history, which sees major stories drop whenever I’m away from my computer, means I think my upcoming trip will trigger an October surprise.

Surprise explosionWithout fail — and this has held true for the fourteen years I’ve been writing Bookworm Room — whenever I can’t blog, something big happens. Whether I’m doing trial prep, caring for a sick child, experiencing a power outage, or am otherwise away from my computer, big news breaks. Always. It’s as predictable as the sun rising in the east.

I’ll be leaving in a couple of days for a week-long trip, during which time I’ll have minimal internet access. (Don’t worry, though, because Wolf Howling will keep this site lively.) Because I’ll be mostly incommunicado, if the past is a predictor of the future, an October surprise, whatever it may be, is coming down the pike.

I’ve been amusing myself trying to imagine what the surprises might happen. One of my theories is that James O’Keefe, of Project Veritas, will drop a really big video about the Deep State. The last few videos were amusing, but they were about fairly small fry Leftists abusing the taxpayer’s dime while working for the government. I think O’Keefe has something big he’s still holding on to.

I’ve also been hoping for the last year and a half that Sessions will start indicting people. I’ve been clinging for months to the theory that the feud between Sessions and Trump is theater, intended to create distance between the two when the indictments drop. Yeah, yeah, I know this is just a gossamer-fine fantasy, but I still like it, so I’m still hoping it’s an October surprise.

Lastly, I wonder if an Inspector General will have something interesting to say in the next ten days. The two Inspector Generals I know of have been very, very quiet. Too quiet, if you know what I mean….

And that’s kind of where my imagination runs out on the conservative side of the aisle. On the Leftist side of the aisle, I expect Mueller to announce all sorts of horrible things about people close to Trump, or at least closer to Trump than the other people Mueller’s caught in his web. Because I think the Russia collusion is a sham that was cooked up within the FBI, DOJ, CIA, and State Department (not to mention the White House), whatever Mueller’s cooked up won’t be fundamentally serious, but it will keep the media happy in the days before the election.

Your ideas, please?

Bookworm Beat 9/18/2018 — the Kavanaugh fraud edition and open thread

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Leftist responses to Ford’s accusations against Kavanaugh indicate pretty strongly that they know they’re fraudulent, plus much more on current topics.

KavanaughOn the Kavanaugh accusations, the Left’s line is “don’t ask so we won’t have to tell.” Actually, that’s not quite what Clown News Network reporter Chris Cillizza said. When reminded that Republicans would like to investigate the huge holes and inconsistencies in Christine Ford’s narrative, this is what he said:

Remember, in the Left’s America, the standard is the due process rights do not extend to Republicans. This is because they know that, in the face of fraudulent accusations, due process would expose the fraud. The only way to prevail on stale, uncorroborated, vague accusations is to use a new standard, one that applies only to conservatives, never Leftists:

Ford has nothing to gain? Really? Except for the fact that, as a hard Left person, she may effectively knock out a conservative Supreme Court nominee. Or even if he gets appointed, she will have tainted him in the eyes of half of America, not to mention his own children’s eyes.

And she has everything to lose? Really? When we know she’ll be endless feted on the Left, with invitations to A-List Leftie parties, huge book deals, etc.? I mean, look at the traction a sleazy porn star gained from smearing Trump.

And women never lie? Really?

Apparently a simulacrum of due process is passé for our media solons when they can profit off smears against conservatives.

Debra Katz, Ford’s lawyer, adds a new wrinkle to how due process plays out in Leftist America (emphasis added):

During the interview, Katz revealed that there was another girl present at the party, which allegedly took place in 1982 while Kavanaugh was attending Georgetown Prep. Ford previously told the Washington Post that there were four boys at the party but never indicated if there were other girls beside herself.

“While we have you, perhaps you can help us fill in the blanks on some of her story. She says that she was at a party in probably 1982 in Montgomery County, Maryland. She says that there were four guys there, these are high school students, as was she. There were four guys there. Were there any girls there that day?” anchor Alisyn Camerota asked.

“Yes, there was another girl at this party, yes,” Katz said.

Camerota asked if Ford has tried to talk to any of the other partygoers to see if they will corroborate her story, but Katz declined to place the burden of proof on her client.

“That’s not her job to do that. If this is going to be investigated, it should be done by investigators,” Katz asserted.

Having put out a vague, uncorroborated, confusing narrative, Ford’s job here is done. It’s up to Kavanaugh to prove a negative attached to a gossamer allegation that can be rejiggered to fit any time line and location in the early 1980s.

But in the race to the bottom, Ana Marie Cox may still beat out both Katz and Dowd:

We need to judge Brett Kavanaugh, not just by what he may or may not have done, but how he treats a woman’s pain. And that is something I’m going to be paying attention to on Monday. How does he respond to what’s happening. Whether or not he agrees that this happened with her, does he take her pain seriously? Do the people interrogating her pain take her pain seriously? Now, I’ll give you a spoiler alert, I don’t think Brett Kavanaugh takes women’s pain very seriously, and I know that because of the decisions he’s made as a judge.

Ben Shapiro has the correct take on that outrageous statement:

This is a morally abhorrent statement. So if a woman falsely accuses a man of rape, we don’t judge him based on whether he actually raped her – we judge him based on whether he feels the pain of a person falsely accusing him of rape. The real question of the Duke lacrosse case, by this standard, wasn’t whether a stripper was actually raped – the question is whether the members of the Duke lacrosse team were sensitive to her feelings while she was falsely accusing them of rape.

That would be an insane statement enough. But Cox goes even further: she already knows that Kavanaugh won’t meet her standard of sympathy because he hasn’t decided cases how she likes on key “feminist” issues, presumably like abortion. Now, never mind that Kavanaugh hasn’t actually signaled that he’d be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Think about the underlying contention: we can tell whether you are a bad person by your level of sympathy for a rape accuser whom you believe is lying about you, and we can judge your level of sympathy by looking at your political decisions. The logic is simple: if you’re a person who disagrees with Ana Marie Cox, you can be slandered as a rapist, and any attempt to rebut such accusations will amount to a lack of sympathy.

And do remember that, despite all the shrieks of outrage from the left about a hazy 35(ish) year old uncorroborated story with holes large enough to drive a freight train through, the Left has been utterly silent about recent, credible, corroborated claims against DNC apparatchik (and AG candidate in Minnesota) Keith Ellison:

Moreover, not only haven’t they believed the woman, they’ve set out to destroy her. [Read more…]

Sunlight is the best disinfectant: Trump’s order declassifying documents

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Trump’s order declassifying documents related to the “Russia Collusion” narrative is the best way to destroy Deep State bullies and reveal government rot.

Illustrated edition Trump not a sexual predator Congress Mueller declassifying documentsI am delighted that Donald Trump issued a sweeping order declassifying a huge bolus of documents related to the Russia probe:

The documents ordered declassified are a handful of pages of the June 2017 application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to continue surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page, which originally began in 2016. Trump also ordered all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all surveillance applications of Page be declassified and released.

Trump also ordered that all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Page surveillance applications be released.

Trump also ordered the declassification of all FBI reports of interviews DOJ official Bruce Ohr prepared in connection with the Russia investigation. Ohr had a close relationship with former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier connection Trump to Russia. Steele was hired by Fusion GPS, the same opposition research firm that Bruce Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, was contracted by.

Trump also directed the Justice Department and FBI “to publicly release all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction,” of Comey and Ohr, as well as former FBI Deputy Director Andre McCabe.

The text messages of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were also ordered to be released without redaction. Strzok and Page were both part of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, as well as the Russia investigation.

Sadly, the DOJ and FBI can still drag their feet on this (which I guess explains why he issued the order now. making it a September surprise, and not closer to the election): [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 9/7/2018 — the “won’t that boring Obama ever shut up” edition

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This Bookworm Beat has as its starting points Obama’s self-aggrandizing, offensive speech. Then it gets to the fun and interesting stuff for you to enjoy.

Bookworm Beat Obama Brennan double standards insane leftistsObama as a sleeping aid. I visited my father’s best friend today. The two met in 1935. My father passed away more than twenty years ago, but his friend is still going strong at 98.

He’s a dear man, except when he gets on politics. Then, his inner communist emerges, loud and shrill. He listened to Obama’s speech this morning but when I asked him about it as a conversational gambit, he couldn’t tell me what he had heard. Having looked at the speech myself, I’m not surprised at his failure to discuss the speech. This inability wasn’t due to advanced age. As always, aside from self-aggrandizement and insults, Obama has little to say.

So let’s move on to more interesting stuff, including more riffs about Obama’s many failures:

The Trump economy is still going strong. The economy is booming as it has few times before in American history. In his forgettable speech, Obama tried to own it.

It’s true that Obama presided over a decent stock market, but that was because investors were too afraid to do anything with their money in his hyper-regulatory environment but plant it in the stock market. They didn’t invent things, grow businesses, or hire people. To the extent people had jobs, they were dead-end, low-paying, part-time affairs. And so the economy staggered on for eight long years, without a single serious upward blip.

And then Trump got elected and, magically, the economy started roaring. It roared with even more vigor when Trump got the tax man off the back of businesses (i.e., employers) by bringing America’s corporate tax rate in line with the corporate tax rate in most of Europe. (Yup, all those semi-socialist nations so beloved of the Left had corporate tax rates lower than America’s.)

Based upon the soaring economy, I’m going to venture a prediction. I doubt that many minorities will be able to make themselves pull the lever for Republican candidates. However, I suspect that they’ll passively-aggressively do so by failing to turn out for Democrats. After all, the Democrats did not improve their living standards; at least one Republican has.

The true story behind Obama’s Iran deal made me want to cry. Wait! That’s wrong. It didn’t make me want to cry. It actually made Wendy Sherman, the chief American negotiator cry — right in front of the Iranian team. Apparently staying in a super luxury hotel for several days and eating only five star cuisine, weakened her so much that, in the face of their meanie demands, she broke down.

Matthew Continetti has the story and I urge you to read it. Then you can decide whether you want to laugh or cry. All I know is that, having read it, I thanked God once again for President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump garners praise for his Iraq policy. Obama incontinently left Iraq, giving birth to ISIS and creating an opening for Iran. According to one man at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, while Trump cannot undo the sum of damage Obama inflicted on that beleaguered nation, he’s making really smart decisions:

[T]he real reason why the US is staying put in Iraq is to prevent it from becoming an Iranian client state, as Lebanon has become and as Syria might soon become. The investment of 2,000 troops, most of whom serve as advisors and trainers of the Federal Army of Iraq, is worth its price in gold in achieving this objective compared to the 100,000 American troops who were on the ground before the massive withdrawal in 2010.

[snip]

This underlying quest for independence from Iranian tutelage justifies President Trump’s wager that 2,000 troops might be worth maintaining to prevent the new fall of Baghdad. The least it could do is stave off the Iranians sufficiently for Iraq’s government and citizens to decide for themselves what the nature of their relationship with Iran will be.

The whole analysis makes for fascinating reading. [Read more…]