The big news on Fox and Friends this morning is that nothing is happening.
They were interviewing Tery Gowdy about it.
They will miss Trey. I will too. He’s about the only one on that side of the Potomac that I trust.
In Texas we have a bunch of Trumpers. We have a few Obama supporters. However, we have very few people who voted for both Obama and Trump. In the North, there seem to be many who are afflicted with both maladies. They were crucial in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Here is a favorable NYT article about one such gentleman from New York:
In reference to the ‘too big to fail’ phenomenon, in the final comment last night Ricky linked a meaty article that is well worth the time to read. It suggests some good reasons that it may be time for DOJ to break up the big 4 tech giants: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple.
The article is good as far as it goes, yet it only addresses a small portion of the problem of the ‘too big to fail’ and powerful, monopolistic corporations. I think you could take a comparable look at the financial sector and it would be an even dirtier picture. In the 1980s and 1990s, Republicans led the way in dismantling financial regulatory guardrails to prevent bankers from being jailed again for wrong-doing. It worked. These financial firms are now considered by the government to be too big and their financial instruments too complex to be held accountable for their actions. And they’re getting bigger all the time through mergers and acquisitions. They have used the power of law (government) to craft free passes into all of our homes. It’s extremely prohibitive for most people to buy a house or a car or start a business without them.
Yet it’s the little guys that are constantly being harassed and castigated for getting “goodies” from government. And what are “goodies”? The ability to obtain the simple things that make basic human survival possible: food and clothing, housing, utilities, healthcare, and basic transportation. Those are only “goodies” to people who have an abundance of the necessities of life already—-to everyone else, those things represent the difference between life or death and health or sickness and the ability to provide for your family or despair.
In my opinion, it’s this kind of unbalanced and immoral oppression, which the church so rarely addresses, that will usher in the hard-core, militarized socialism that Reagan spoke of in the video linked yesterday. But this time, I’m afraid it will be real, not just scaremongering portrayals of what might be.
Debra, As noted before legal immigrants from all over the world come to the US and seem to have little difficulty providing the necessities of life (and many luxuries) to their families as they make much more than the average income and are generally taxpayers.
No one is “oppressing” Trumpers and Democrats unless you call massive subsidization a form of oppression. In that sense, the US is like a weak and indulgent parent that has raised millions of “children” who can not or will not support themselves.
Hurricane Katrina literally washed thousands of homeless New Orleans Democrats into booming Texas cities where many of those “refugees” (and their children) have thrived. Kevin Williamson was criticized for suggesting that Trumpers leave their dying Rust Belt towns and rural villages, but he was right.
Most immigrants are subsidized in the US—and virtually all refugees are as well. And all too often H1b residents are indirectly subsidized by the people they replace so that GE or some other well connected corporation can benefit.
But the problems being discussed aren’t about immigration —–which for the most part is still a good thing. The issue is oversized corporations and the problems caused by their government protection.
If corporations were headed by buffoons who publicly bragged about grabbing women by their genitals, lied constantly and conducted constant battles with subordinates, ex-subordinates, actors, dept. stores, etc, there would be plenty of press coverage. Our corporate executives are held to a much higher standard than our politicians, particularly our leading politician.
Overnight Iran launched its first direct military operation against Israel, dispatching a drone commanded from the Tiyas Airbase in Syria’s central Homs region.
The Israelis used an Apache helicopter to intercept and down the drone, then sent four jets to destroy the command center (an Israeli military spokesperson confirmed “accurate hits of Iranian UAV control facility”). One of the Israeli F-16s was abandoned by its pilots over Israel, amid what the Israelis describe as “massive Syrian anti-air fire.” Syrian anti-aircraft fire reached Israeli territory, triggering extended emergency activities in Israel’s northern communities.
Iran and its proxies had been escalating their threats to attack Israel over the last few weeks. Hezbollah threatened to attack Israel for a range of reasons, from energy resource disputes to the Israelis building a border fence. Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, one of the front-runners to be the next Iranian Supreme Leader, toured the Israeli-Lebanese border and boasted about operations to secure “Jerusalem’s liberation.”
A couple of things to watch: ….
_______________________________________
I posted three media guides (like the one DJ has posted in the past) on Facebook this morning. Two of my conservative friends (neither is really a Trumpkin) immediately howled in protest. People are really struggling to be objective and find good sources for information.
The Democratic rebuttal to a highly publicized GOP memo alleging government surveillance abuse is filled with sensitive details, a source told Fox News – claiming this was done intentionally to pressure the White House to either block the memo’s release or significantly redact it.
. . . . “The White House has received a memorandum from the minority members of the House Select Permanent Committee on Intelligence. As stated many times, the Administration will follow the same process and procedure with this memorandum from the minority as it did last week, when it received the memorandum from the majority,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
The source who spoke to Fox News has read the Democrats’ rebuttal memo, and said it is filled with information on sources and methods taken from original documents.
While the source described this as a way to put the White House in a difficult spot, Schiff maintained publicly that he wants to make sure the White House “does not redact our memo for political purposes.” A Schiff aide referred Fox News back to those comments when asked about the claim that the memo intentionally contained sources and methods.
The Democrat’s Schiff memo has not been released, but Nunes says that he is not surprised that the White House is asking for redaction of the national security sources and methods.”
The Washington Examiner reports:
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said “it’s no surprise” that the Justice Department recommended to President Trump that he block the release of the Democratic memo without redactions.
“Along with other Intelligence Committee Republicans, I had warned that the Democratic memo contains many sources and methods,” Nunes said in a statement late Friday. “Ranking Member [Adam] Schiff pledged to seek the input of the Department of Justice and FBI regarding the memo’s public release, and it’s no surprise that these agencies recommended against publishing the memo without redactions.””
—————————–
The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency. Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!
“Three Democratic congressmen attended a private dinner hosted by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, a new report reveals.
Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Andre Carson of Indiana and Gregory Meeks of New York attended the private dinner, along with Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite who leads the black supremacist group Nation of Islam.
Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, according to the United States government, which has listed the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terror since 1984. Rouhani was in New York for a United Nations meeting and held the dinner party just hours after speaking to the UN General Assembly.
Final Call, a Nation of Islam publication, noted the three Democrats’ attendance at the time and included photos of Ellison and Meeks at the dinner party. But aside from the Final Call article, the three Democrats’ presence at the dinner remained secret until a Wall Street Journal column revealed it on Friday. None of the three congressmen’s offices responded to The Daily Caller’s request for comment for this article.”
A couple of weeks ago, Debra suggested in jest (I think) that Adam Schiff could run for President after I suggested he might be the Attorney General in January, 2021. I don’t think he could get the nomination, but the Democrats could do a lot worse. Calm, intelligent, truthful, experienced and knowledgeable, Schiff would present the starkest of contrasts with Trump. He would have good appeal to college graduates who have been shocked, outraged or embarrassed by events of the last year. It is less clear if he could generate enthusiasm among uneducated Democrats who probably would not like his style and would likely be wooed by Trump.
“Just to be clear, we’re talking here about David Sorensen, not Rob Porter. Sorensen is, or was, a speechwriter in Stephen Miller’s office. He quit yesterday when word got around that WaPo was planning a story based on his ex-wife’s tales of spousal abuse. Like Porter, Sorensen claims he’s innocent. Unlike Porter, he claims that he, not his ex, was the one getting knocked about. And he’s published a statement online, featuring photos and screenshots of texts, to support his story.
Is Sorensen whom POTUS had in mind this morning when he tweeted the following?
Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?
“There’s truth in that. But the point would be more convincing if Trump’s analysis of which allegations are true and which are false didn’t seem to depend entirely on whether they’re leveled at one of his allies or one of his enemies.”
———————
Just another set-up, this time to bring down Kelly.
This is interesting. I wonder if there is a real danger of Texas is going to the Democrats this year….or in 2020. If demographic trends hold and identity politics continue to be the Democratic calling card, I suppose it’s possible, though maybe not by the next presidential race.
Debra, I saw the poll showing how unpopular Trump is in Texas and was pleasantly surprised. Texas will stay Republican this year – at least for the big state races (Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General). Republican Governor Greg Abbott has $50,000,000 in the bank. The leading Democrat is a Mexican lesbian, and she has $50,000 in the bank. That shows what people think of the chances of the Democrats.
Ted Cruz is in a little more trouble. Some Trumpkins may remember how he failed to endorse Trump at the Trumpkin Convention in 2016. Conservatives have soured on Cruz because he bowed and kissed Trump’s ring after the Convention. We now consider Cruz to be a wimp. Nevertheless, he will probably still win.
2020 will be interesting. In our cities, we have lots of college graduates and over half of them are women. That group thinks Trump is a vile moron. Adam Schiff might carry Texas, but Trump should beat the actual Democrat nominee who will likely be Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris or some other Marxist. Arnold the Dog is prepared to run and will use last year’s slogan: “Not a Liberal; Not a Lunatic!”
Our demographics are interesting. Our poor Mexicans are Democrats, but many of them don’t vote. As Mexicans more up the economic ladder, they tend to become Republican. Our educated Yankees are Bushies while our uneducated Yankees are Trumpkins. Blacks are Democrats. Native whites (and immigrants from other Southern states) are conservatives.
For obvious reasons, this administration has had trouble attracting and retaining good people. It is a problem that is only going to get worse.
The White House — and this admin — are in a state of crisis. Rachel Brand, #3 at DOJ, is leaving, per somebody close to her & admin, "because she is very smart, accomplished, and talented, and wants to protect her career." She is going to Walmart, this source says.
General Kelly is not perfect, but he has brought a sense of order and discipline to the White House. If he leaves or is forced out, it is likely that things will get worse.
However, more realistically, how many counties did the Dems win in Texas in 2016 – about 10%? In 2016, Pres. Trump had a 9.1% margin over H. Clinton, which was 9.5 points above his national average.
The Dems will need to have a far better message than “We hate Trump!” to even have a chance to make any kind of gains in Texas.
Mona Charen really liked this article by Douthat. Remnants of the old moral conservative base still exist. They are just currently exiled from power. The ones who wanted to be close to power now excuse and defend much of what they used to oppose.
Michelle – Rand Paul’s proposed solution would involve allowing 20% of each year’s green cards go to the “dreamers”, with the other 80% being others who are pursuing citizenship legally.
With the “dreamers”, their illegal status is not their own fault, and many of them have no memory of their country of origin. Some have wondered why haven’t they applied for citizenship before now, but as I understand it, they haven’t been allowed to. I think Paul’s idea is a good compromise between the liberal and conservative views.
Of all of us, it is likely that only Chas can remember how much we have lost of the support which popular culture once gave to Christianity and Christian values. This is a scene from How Green Was My Valley which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941, defeating Citizen Kane, Suspicion, The Maltese Falcon and Sergeant York. A group of Welch coal miners is singing a hymn as they walk to their homes from work.
I don’t know that it was ever quite that idyllic in the coal mining camp in Virginia where Dad and his 10 brothers and sisters were born and raised. Though to hear him speak of it, you would be forgiven for thinking it was pretty close. Since it was the Great Depression, Mother Ray (his mom) would make extra gravy and biscuits, so there was always something to be shared with the hungry. According to Dad, they came to the door every day, and they were never turned away empty handed.
Debra, The scene above is from the beginning of the movie. It gets pretty rough after that. However, you might like the movie. John Ford always had a heart for the workers.
Dad was born in a two room farmhouse with no electricity and no running water out on the Llano Estacado. After the riots following the Rodney King verdicts, many blamed the poverty of the rioters for their actions. Dad used to joke that he and his brother (also an engineer) should go burn down Lamesa, Texas (the closest town to their former farm) whenever a verdict angered them because of their childhood poverty. At the same time, he argued that the elementary education he received from a 20 year-old teacher in a two-room schoolhouse his grandfather and neighbors built was superior to that received by all of his descendants.
How Green Was My Valley is one of my favorite movies. (Even so, I think Citizen Kane should have won for Best Picture.)
I always thought it sad, and as a Christian, not right, that the minister (Walter Pidgeon) loved Angharad (Maureen O’Hara), but didn’t want to marry her, in order to save her from a life of poverty as a pastor’s wife.
An often overlooked benefit of expanding the H-1b visa program is that if we bring enough of those folks over here, we might finally get to sing our old hymns again.
That’s interesting, Ricky. Dad always talks of his childhood in glowing terms. Although you can tell they were very poor, no one really seemed to notice because they were all in the same boat. Everyone shopped at the same company store, and everyone went to the same company doctor. Even though it was the Depression, really the only aspect of his youth that he consistently speaks of as negative is the education. He says their young teacher was both uneducated and abusive. So after his military service, he got his GED, went to college on the GI bill, and became a teacher. By that time he was already an active minister as well. I remember when I was a teenager, a few times I ditched my last class to sneak into his 5th grade classroom. On several occasions I found his entire class huddled around him on low chairs listening with rapt attention. As I crept closer, I could see he was holding our picture Bible story book. He was telling them about David and Goliath, and Jesus. It was a rough school, so I’m pretty sure that was the only time most of those kids heard the Word. One time after the children had returned to their desks, I quietly reminded him that what he was doing was illegal. “Shhhhh” he whispered conspiratorially, ‘don’t tell anyone.”
We had a couple of h1b residents from India in our church in Connecticut. We also had a middle manager from GE. One day the manager told us about the awful way the h1b residents working for GE were being tricked (actually it was the outsourcing company GE used). They were promised a certain below market wage with the stipulation that they would get a big bonus at the end of 3 years if they stayed. Just before the 3 year mark, they would suddenly recall the workers and replace them with new people from India. We helped our friends find other jobs. H1b abuse is just another corrupt corporate practice. Hymns indeed. 🙄
No wonder we have so many Indians here in Texas. People were treating them badly up in New England. Besides, I think they like our Mexican food.
It can get confusing. My son’s best friend in law school/MBA was a Bengali from Bangladesh, though he was fortunate enough to be born in Texas. The regular white people from West Texas thought he was a Mexican. His girlfriend was from El Salvador, and her family thoght he was black.
lol. Now I’m confused. How can you be from Bangladesh if you’re born in Texas. I thought if you were born in Texas you’re Texan. And if you’re born in the USA, you’re American—unless you choose not to be.
PS. And there’s lots of Mexicans, Cubans, South Americans, Asians, Africans, Chinese and Indians in the Hartford area—so I’ve eaten at Peruvian, Asian, Cuban, Chinese, Indian restaurants there. The one thing we didn’t have was Texan. So maybe all those Indians you’re seeing in your region are really craving the brisket. ;–)
Debra, It works the other way. If you were not born in Texas, then you are not a Texan (see the Bushes). There are other ways you can not be a Texan, and the ones of us who had ancestors here before 1845 are thinking up new ways all the time for people not to be Texans. And you thought Trumpers were hard on immigrants.
Wandering Views 
The big news on Fox and Friends this morning is that nothing is happening.
They were interviewing Tery Gowdy about it.
They will miss Trey. I will too. He’s about the only one on that side of the Potomac that I trust.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In Texas we have a bunch of Trumpers. We have a few Obama supporters. However, we have very few people who voted for both Obama and Trump. In the North, there seem to be many who are afflicted with both maladies. They were crucial in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Here is a favorable NYT article about one such gentleman from New York:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/opinion/one-honorable-americans-love-of-trump.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront
A family member of mine refers to such people as “Helen Kellers”.
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In reference to the ‘too big to fail’ phenomenon, in the final comment last night Ricky linked a meaty article that is well worth the time to read. It suggests some good reasons that it may be time for DOJ to break up the big 4 tech giants: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple.
The article is good as far as it goes, yet it only addresses a small portion of the problem of the ‘too big to fail’ and powerful, monopolistic corporations. I think you could take a comparable look at the financial sector and it would be an even dirtier picture. In the 1980s and 1990s, Republicans led the way in dismantling financial regulatory guardrails to prevent bankers from being jailed again for wrong-doing. It worked. These financial firms are now considered by the government to be too big and their financial instruments too complex to be held accountable for their actions. And they’re getting bigger all the time through mergers and acquisitions. They have used the power of law (government) to craft free passes into all of our homes. It’s extremely prohibitive for most people to buy a house or a car or start a business without them.
Yet it’s the little guys that are constantly being harassed and castigated for getting “goodies” from government. And what are “goodies”? The ability to obtain the simple things that make basic human survival possible: food and clothing, housing, utilities, healthcare, and basic transportation. Those are only “goodies” to people who have an abundance of the necessities of life already—-to everyone else, those things represent the difference between life or death and health or sickness and the ability to provide for your family or despair.
In my opinion, it’s this kind of unbalanced and immoral oppression, which the church so rarely addresses, that will usher in the hard-core, militarized socialism that Reagan spoke of in the video linked yesterday. But this time, I’m afraid it will be real, not just scaremongering portrayals of what might be.
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My “North of the Potomac” comment above was generic.
It doesn’t mean that I don’t trust Aj, Karen and our Canadian friends. et. al.
🙂
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Debra, As noted before legal immigrants from all over the world come to the US and seem to have little difficulty providing the necessities of life (and many luxuries) to their families as they make much more than the average income and are generally taxpayers.
No one is “oppressing” Trumpers and Democrats unless you call massive subsidization a form of oppression. In that sense, the US is like a weak and indulgent parent that has raised millions of “children” who can not or will not support themselves.
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Hurricane Katrina literally washed thousands of homeless New Orleans Democrats into booming Texas cities where many of those “refugees” (and their children) have thrived. Kevin Williamson was criticized for suggesting that Trumpers leave their dying Rust Belt towns and rural villages, but he was right.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/316271002
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Most immigrants are subsidized in the US—and virtually all refugees are as well. And all too often H1b residents are indirectly subsidized by the people they replace so that GE or some other well connected corporation can benefit.
But the problems being discussed aren’t about immigration —–which for the most part is still a good thing. The issue is oversized corporations and the problems caused by their government protection.
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Crickets chirp when corporate corruption is the topic.
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If corporations were headed by buffoons who publicly bragged about grabbing women by their genitals, lied constantly and conducted constant battles with subordinates, ex-subordinates, actors, dept. stores, etc, there would be plenty of press coverage. Our corporate executives are held to a much higher standard than our politicians, particularly our leading politician.
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http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/02/omri-ceren-israel-strikes-in-syria.php
____________________________
Omri Ceren: Israel Strikes in Syria
Overnight Iran launched its first direct military operation against Israel, dispatching a drone commanded from the Tiyas Airbase in Syria’s central Homs region.
The Israelis used an Apache helicopter to intercept and down the drone, then sent four jets to destroy the command center (an Israeli military spokesperson confirmed “accurate hits of Iranian UAV control facility”). One of the Israeli F-16s was abandoned by its pilots over Israel, amid what the Israelis describe as “massive Syrian anti-air fire.” Syrian anti-aircraft fire reached Israeli territory, triggering extended emergency activities in Israel’s northern communities.
Iran and its proxies had been escalating their threats to attack Israel over the last few weeks. Hezbollah threatened to attack Israel for a range of reasons, from energy resource disputes to the Israelis building a border fence. Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, one of the front-runners to be the next Iranian Supreme Leader, toured the Israeli-Lebanese border and boasted about operations to secure “Jerusalem’s liberation.”
A couple of things to watch: ….
_______________________________________
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I posted three media guides (like the one DJ has posted in the past) on Facebook this morning. Two of my conservative friends (neither is really a Trumpkin) immediately howled in protest. People are really struggling to be objective and find good sources for information.
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Schiff gets called on his BS. He’s trying to do what he falsely accused Republicans of trying.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/02/schiff-memo-gamesmanship-did-he-purposefully-load-the-dem-rebuttal-with-sensitive-material/#more-241715
“Fox News reports:
The Democratic rebuttal to a highly publicized GOP memo alleging government surveillance abuse is filled with sensitive details, a source told Fox News – claiming this was done intentionally to pressure the White House to either block the memo’s release or significantly redact it.
. . . . “The White House has received a memorandum from the minority members of the House Select Permanent Committee on Intelligence. As stated many times, the Administration will follow the same process and procedure with this memorandum from the minority as it did last week, when it received the memorandum from the majority,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
The source who spoke to Fox News has read the Democrats’ rebuttal memo, and said it is filled with information on sources and methods taken from original documents.
While the source described this as a way to put the White House in a difficult spot, Schiff maintained publicly that he wants to make sure the White House “does not redact our memo for political purposes.” A Schiff aide referred Fox News back to those comments when asked about the claim that the memo intentionally contained sources and methods.
The Democrat’s Schiff memo has not been released, but Nunes says that he is not surprised that the White House is asking for redaction of the national security sources and methods.”
The Washington Examiner reports:
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said “it’s no surprise” that the Justice Department recommended to President Trump that he block the release of the Democratic memo without redactions.
“Along with other Intelligence Committee Republicans, I had warned that the Democratic memo contains many sources and methods,” Nunes said in a statement late Friday. “Ranking Member [Adam] Schiff pledged to seek the input of the Department of Justice and FBI regarding the memo’s public release, and it’s no surprise that these agencies recommended against publishing the memo without redactions.””
—————————–
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Is there anybody Dems aren’t colluding with?
First we find out about the Russians, now prior to that the terrorist Iranian regime and Farrakahn.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/09/three-democrats-rouhani-louis-farrakhan/
“Three Democratic congressmen attended a private dinner hosted by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, a new report reveals.
Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Andre Carson of Indiana and Gregory Meeks of New York attended the private dinner, along with Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite who leads the black supremacist group Nation of Islam.
Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, according to the United States government, which has listed the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terror since 1984. Rouhani was in New York for a United Nations meeting and held the dinner party just hours after speaking to the UN General Assembly.
Final Call, a Nation of Islam publication, noted the three Democrats’ attendance at the time and included photos of Ellison and Meeks at the dinner party. But aside from the Final Call article, the three Democrats’ presence at the dinner remained secret until a Wall Street Journal column revealed it on Friday. None of the three congressmen’s offices responded to The Daily Caller’s request for comment for this article.”
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A couple of weeks ago, Debra suggested in jest (I think) that Adam Schiff could run for President after I suggested he might be the Attorney General in January, 2021. I don’t think he could get the nomination, but the Democrats could do a lot worse. Calm, intelligent, truthful, experienced and knowledgeable, Schiff would present the starkest of contrasts with Trump. He would have good appeal to college graduates who have been shocked, outraged or embarrassed by events of the last year. It is less clear if he could generate enthusiasm among uneducated Democrats who probably would not like his style and would likely be wooed by Trump.
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Absent an outbreak of war, this Tweet is going to be the big story of the weekend;
I actually think Trump is making a legitimate point. Unfortunately, he completely lacks the moral authority to make that point.
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Let’s see if this works. . .
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Has anyone suggested that before we let stay all the DACA kids, that we allow those who have been in the very long legal immigration line in first?
Wouldn’t that be fair?
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Well Ricky, he has a point.
I would think things like due process would still matter, especially to a lawyer.
————————–
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/02/10/second-wh-staffer-accused-domestic-abuse-fires-back-ex-wife-abused/
“Just to be clear, we’re talking here about David Sorensen, not Rob Porter. Sorensen is, or was, a speechwriter in Stephen Miller’s office. He quit yesterday when word got around that WaPo was planning a story based on his ex-wife’s tales of spousal abuse. Like Porter, Sorensen claims he’s innocent. Unlike Porter, he claims that he, not his ex, was the one getting knocked about. And he’s published a statement online, featuring photos and screenshots of texts, to support his story.
Is Sorensen whom POTUS had in mind this morning when he tweeted the following?
“There’s truth in that. But the point would be more convincing if Trump’s analysis of which allegations are true and which are false didn’t seem to depend entirely on whether they’re leveled at one of his allies or one of his enemies.”
———————
Just another set-up, this time to bring down Kelly.
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AJ @ 6:09: We appear to be in agreement. See my next to last sentence @ 2:29.
So who do you think wants to “bring down Kelly”?
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This is interesting. I wonder if there is a real danger of Texas is going to the Democrats this year….or in 2020. If demographic trends hold and identity politics continue to be the Democratic calling card, I suppose it’s possible, though maybe not by the next presidential race.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/year-texas-goes-democratic-grassroots-organizers-hope-make-happen-100001126.html
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Debra, I saw the poll showing how unpopular Trump is in Texas and was pleasantly surprised. Texas will stay Republican this year – at least for the big state races (Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General). Republican Governor Greg Abbott has $50,000,000 in the bank. The leading Democrat is a Mexican lesbian, and she has $50,000 in the bank. That shows what people think of the chances of the Democrats.
Ted Cruz is in a little more trouble. Some Trumpkins may remember how he failed to endorse Trump at the Trumpkin Convention in 2016. Conservatives have soured on Cruz because he bowed and kissed Trump’s ring after the Convention. We now consider Cruz to be a wimp. Nevertheless, he will probably still win.
2020 will be interesting. In our cities, we have lots of college graduates and over half of them are women. That group thinks Trump is a vile moron. Adam Schiff might carry Texas, but Trump should beat the actual Democrat nominee who will likely be Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris or some other Marxist. Arnold the Dog is prepared to run and will use last year’s slogan: “Not a Liberal; Not a Lunatic!”
Our demographics are interesting. Our poor Mexicans are Democrats, but many of them don’t vote. As Mexicans more up the economic ladder, they tend to become Republican. Our educated Yankees are Bushies while our uneducated Yankees are Trumpkins. Blacks are Democrats. Native whites (and immigrants from other Southern states) are conservatives.
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For obvious reasons, this administration has had trouble attracting and retaining good people. It is a problem that is only going to get worse.
General Kelly is not perfect, but he has brought a sense of order and discipline to the White House. If he leaves or is forced out, it is likely that things will get worse.
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Debra: Noooooooooooo!!!
However, more realistically, how many counties did the Dems win in Texas in 2016 – about 10%? In 2016, Pres. Trump had a 9.1% margin over H. Clinton, which was 9.5 points above his national average.
The Dems will need to have a far better message than “We hate Trump!” to even have a chance to make any kind of gains in Texas.
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Mona Charen really liked this article by Douthat. Remnants of the old moral conservative base still exist. They are just currently exiled from power. The ones who wanted to be close to power now excuse and defend much of what they used to oppose.
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This is a poignant article for those who remember the Bill Buckley of the 60s, 70s and 80s.
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Michelle – Rand Paul’s proposed solution would involve allowing 20% of each year’s green cards go to the “dreamers”, with the other 80% being others who are pursuing citizenship legally.
With the “dreamers”, their illegal status is not their own fault, and many of them have no memory of their country of origin. Some have wondered why haven’t they applied for citizenship before now, but as I understand it, they haven’t been allowed to. I think Paul’s idea is a good compromise between the liberal and conservative views.
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Of all of us, it is likely that only Chas can remember how much we have lost of the support which popular culture once gave to Christianity and Christian values. This is a scene from How Green Was My Valley which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941, defeating Citizen Kane, Suspicion, The Maltese Falcon and Sergeant York. A group of Welch coal miners is singing a hymn as they walk to their homes from work.
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I don’t know that it was ever quite that idyllic in the coal mining camp in Virginia where Dad and his 10 brothers and sisters were born and raised. Though to hear him speak of it, you would be forgiven for thinking it was pretty close. Since it was the Great Depression, Mother Ray (his mom) would make extra gravy and biscuits, so there was always something to be shared with the hungry. According to Dad, they came to the door every day, and they were never turned away empty handed.
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Debra, The scene above is from the beginning of the movie. It gets pretty rough after that. However, you might like the movie. John Ford always had a heart for the workers.
Dad was born in a two room farmhouse with no electricity and no running water out on the Llano Estacado. After the riots following the Rodney King verdicts, many blamed the poverty of the rioters for their actions. Dad used to joke that he and his brother (also an engineer) should go burn down Lamesa, Texas (the closest town to their former farm) whenever a verdict angered them because of their childhood poverty. At the same time, he argued that the elementary education he received from a 20 year-old teacher in a two-room schoolhouse his grandfather and neighbors built was superior to that received by all of his descendants.
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How Green Was My Valley is one of my favorite movies. (Even so, I think Citizen Kane should have won for Best Picture.)
I always thought it sad, and as a Christian, not right, that the minister (Walter Pidgeon) loved Angharad (Maureen O’Hara), but didn’t want to marry her, in order to save her from a life of poverty as a pastor’s wife.
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Kizzie, I recently read that How Green Was My Valley was Clint Eastwood’s favorite movie.
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An often overlooked benefit of expanding the H-1b visa program is that if we bring enough of those folks over here, we might finally get to sing our old hymns again.
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That’s interesting, Ricky. Dad always talks of his childhood in glowing terms. Although you can tell they were very poor, no one really seemed to notice because they were all in the same boat. Everyone shopped at the same company store, and everyone went to the same company doctor. Even though it was the Depression, really the only aspect of his youth that he consistently speaks of as negative is the education. He says their young teacher was both uneducated and abusive. So after his military service, he got his GED, went to college on the GI bill, and became a teacher. By that time he was already an active minister as well. I remember when I was a teenager, a few times I ditched my last class to sneak into his 5th grade classroom. On several occasions I found his entire class huddled around him on low chairs listening with rapt attention. As I crept closer, I could see he was holding our picture Bible story book. He was telling them about David and Goliath, and Jesus. It was a rough school, so I’m pretty sure that was the only time most of those kids heard the Word. One time after the children had returned to their desks, I quietly reminded him that what he was doing was illegal. “Shhhhh” he whispered conspiratorially, ‘don’t tell anyone.”
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We had a couple of h1b residents from India in our church in Connecticut. We also had a middle manager from GE. One day the manager told us about the awful way the h1b residents working for GE were being tricked (actually it was the outsourcing company GE used). They were promised a certain below market wage with the stipulation that they would get a big bonus at the end of 3 years if they stayed. Just before the 3 year mark, they would suddenly recall the workers and replace them with new people from India. We helped our friends find other jobs. H1b abuse is just another corrupt corporate practice. Hymns indeed. 🙄
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No wonder we have so many Indians here in Texas. People were treating them badly up in New England. Besides, I think they like our Mexican food.
It can get confusing. My son’s best friend in law school/MBA was a Bengali from Bangladesh, though he was fortunate enough to be born in Texas. The regular white people from West Texas thought he was a Mexican. His girlfriend was from El Salvador, and her family thoght he was black.
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lol. Now I’m confused. How can you be from Bangladesh if you’re born in Texas. I thought if you were born in Texas you’re Texan. And if you’re born in the USA, you’re American—unless you choose not to be.
PS. And there’s lots of Mexicans, Cubans, South Americans, Asians, Africans, Chinese and Indians in the Hartford area—so I’ve eaten at Peruvian, Asian, Cuban, Chinese, Indian restaurants there. The one thing we didn’t have was Texan. So maybe all those Indians you’re seeing in your region are really craving the brisket. ;–)
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Debra, It works the other way. If you were not born in Texas, then you are not a Texan (see the Bushes). There are other ways you can not be a Texan, and the ones of us who had ancestors here before 1845 are thinking up new ways all the time for people not to be Texans. And you thought Trumpers were hard on immigrants.
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