“One word summarizes the past three days since the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, by an American drone on order of Donald Trump: Speculation.
The media is full of speculation as to what will happen next, from World War III (which apparently trended on Twitter and caused a server overload at the Selective Service Administration) to not much (because Iran is in no position to spark an all-out war), and everything in between. Reasonable and reasoned arguments can be made for dozens of scenarios (but not World War III).
What strikes me is how Trump Derangement Syndrome has overwhelmed the Democrat and media responses. This cannot be lost on the Iranians.
While the pleas for Mullah mercy from the likes of Rose McGowan and Michael Moore, and the woke rants of Colin Kaepernick, may be laughed off by the Mullahs as typical western weakness, the reaction of Democrat politicians is more serious and may lead to Iranian miscalculation that Americans will turn on Trump before they turn on the Mullahs.
It’s clear that Democrats are doing to the killing of Soleimani, who has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands, what they did to Russia Collusion and every other anti-Trumpism that motivates their throbbing Trump-hating base.
If Iran is successful in attacking a U.S. target or targets, Democrats and the media will blame Trump, not the regime that has been chanting for our death since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. It’s not unreasonable to believe based on their behavior that Democrats and the media are hoping Iran gives us a bloody nose or worse so that it can be used against Trump in the 2020 election.”
————-
And in case you missed it, lots of links here.
“Liberals Root for the Bad Guy Week at Legal Insurrection
“General David Petraeus gave an interview yesterday on the significance of the killing of Qasem Soleimani. It is well worth reading:
Marco Werman: How did you know Qasem Soleimani?
Gen. David Petraeus: Well, he was our most significant Iranian adversary during my four years in Iraq, [and] certainly when I was the Central Command commander, and very much so when I was the director of the CIA. He is unquestionably the most significant and important — or was the most significant and important — Iranian figure in the region, the most important architect of the effort by Iran to solidify control of the Shia crescent, and the operational commander of the various initiatives that were part of that effort.
***
So why do you suppose this happened now, though?
Well, I suspect that the leaders in Washington were seeking to reestablish deterrence, which clearly had eroded to some degree, perhaps by the relatively insignificant actions in response to these strikes on the Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia, shipping in the Gulf and our $130 million dollar drone that was shot down. And we had seen increased numbers of attacks against US forces in Iraq. So I’m sure that there was a lot of discussion about what could show the Iranians most significantly that we are really serious, that they should not continue to escalate. …
Would you have recommended this course of action right now?
I’d hesitate to answer that just because I am not privy to the intelligence that was the foundation for the decision, which clearly was, as was announced, this was a defensive action, that Soleimani was going into the country to presumably approve further attacks. Without really being in the inner circle on that, I think it’s very difficult to either second-guess or to even think through what the recommendation might have been.
Again, it is impossible to overstate the significance of this action. This is much more substantial than the killing of Osama bin Laden. It’s even more substantial than the killing of Baghdadi.”
—————
The whole interview is here.
“Gen. Petraeus on Qasem Soleimani’s killing: ‘It’s impossible to overstate the significance'”
“War with Iran is unavoidable, at least according to the media.
Democrats have been wringing their hands over Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s death, with some calling it a “war crime” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seeking to restrict the president’s powers.
But what did Democrats say when President Obama used his executive powers to strike (and kill) U.S. citizens in Yemen in 2011, including a 16-year-old boy?
Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Mark Udall of Colorado, and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that the use of force was “legitimate use of the authority granted to the president.”
They said Obama had met the legal standard.
These three senators were part of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. They went on to describe the killing of terror leader Anwar al-Awlaki:
Mr. al-Aulaqi [sic] clearly made a conscious decision to join an organized fighting force that was (and is) engaged in planning and carrying out attacks against the United States,” the senators wrote. “By taking on a leadership role in this organization, involving himself in ongoing operational planning against the United States, and demonstrating the capacity and intent to carry out these operations, he made himself a legitimate target for military action.
Does the same rationale apply to Soleimani? Or has it suddenly changed?
After all, Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force, recently designated a terrorist organization by the United States government.”
“Cruz Trolls Democrats With Senate Resolution Praising Soleimani Mission”
“Senator Ted Cruz is promoting a resolution commending the Trump administration for its mission to take out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. In doing so he is daring the Senate Democrats to oppose it. It is the perfect antidote to the criticism the left has voiced since the news of Soleimani’s death was announced.
If Democrats decide to show disapproval of the resolution, they run the risk of showing disdain for those who carried out the mission to rid the world of Soleimani. The best part is that the resolution is “structured and worded the same way as a 2011 resolution that commended the Obama administration for killing Bin Laden, which received unanimous support in the Senate.” It’s an on the nose gesture to get Democrats to acknowledge that the mission was a good thing but it is something that needs to be done. The Democrats can suck up their Trump Derangement Syndrome for long enough to do the right thing and honor those who took the risk and carried out the mission.
If the Senate could come together and unanimously pass a resolution in 2011 during Obama’s administration surely they can do the same now. No one is going to think the Democrats suddenly support President Trump on anything but the voters want to see politicians work together. This is an easy way to do that. So far, the reaction of most Democrats has been less than admirable. All of the top candidates running for president have made a point of issuing statements against the mission, mostly because of the bad Orange Man. Elizabeth Warren even had to walk back her statement on Soleimani’s murderous record because the far left reacted badly to that. The left not only didn’t want him taken out, they want to re-write history to make him a decent human being. It’s ridiculous but, sadly, expected in Trump’s America.
Some Democrats are busy huffing and puffing about stopping President Trump from further action. They voice fears of retaliation. This completely ignores that for years, even before Trump was elected, Iran has been behind the attacks and murders of American military members and civilians alike. Soleimani was the mastermind of the attacks. Trump is not a hawkish president, as Democrats know. They just want to play to the far left now and seek approval for their reaction to the mission. It’s a very cynical way to serve their constituents.”
“De Blasio intervened in prosecution of accused anti-Semitic attacker Tiffany Harris”
“Mayor Bill de Blasio intervened in the prosecution of an accused anti-Semitic attacker — leading to her lock-up in a psych ward — because she was generating negative publicity for his administration, The Post has learned.
Brooklyn’s supervising judge was forced to hold an unscheduled hearing late on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve after City Hall contacted the state Office of Court Administration about Tiffany Harris, 30.
Harris’ repeated release from custody after back-to-back arrests late last month — including for allegedly slapping three Orthodox Jewish women and shouting “F-U, Jews!” on Dec. 27 — had made her a symbol of revolving-door justice amid the state’s new bail reform law and de Blasio’s gift programs for newly released jail inmates.
The administration flipped out when it learned that Harris had allegedly pinched a social worker Dec. 30 after she was let loose under supervised release following her second arrest, said a source familiar with the matter.
“The Mayor’s Office was deeply concerned after learning that she was not in compliance with her supervised release and her erratic behavior was continuing,” the source said. “They reached out to the court, who then calendared it to further investigate.”
A transcript of the court hearing shows her public defender complained to Judge Michael Yavinsky that news coverage had led the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to contact both her and Brooklyn Justice Initiatives, which was responsible for overseeing Harris.
“The mayor of the executive branch of the government got involved because of a press case,” said Lisa Schreibersdorf, founder and executive director of Brooklyn Defender Services.”
“Judge halts California’s new “gig worker” law that’s impacting truckers
Uber and Postmates are also suing California to block AB5”
“California continues to follow its prime directive, which is the one that specifies that any law enacted must have damaging and/or embarrassing unintended consequences.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall my recent post about California’s new “gig law,” which was originally intended to protect the rights of Uber and Lyft drivers. Passage of AB5 triggered media employers to lay off hundreds of freelance employees at the start of the 2019 holiday season.
The epic failure continues, as a federal judge has temporarily blocked the new measure from impacting more than 70,000 independent truckers.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order sought by the California Trucking Association while he considers imposing a permanent injunction.
He said the association is likely to eventually prevail on its argument that the state law violates federal law. He also ruled the truckers would otherwise be likely to suffer irreparable harm, and that temporarily blocking the law from applying to truckers is in the public interest.”
———-
“Meanwhile, a wide variety of industries are beginning to feel the impact of the law. Translators, for instance, are being fired.
She’s one of those people with a unique talent. Highly trained, highly specialized and as of today highly endangered in California.
“I do medical translations, vital life saving translations for about 50-clients all over the world. As of today, those clients told me they don’t need me anymore because of the new California law,” says Mary Konstantinidou.
While most people are celebrating the new year, Mary and about a million other people here in California have little to be happy about. As of New Year’s Day, her 35-year career as a Greek to English interpreter is considered illegal in California.
It’s a little something the lawmakers in Sacramento call AB 5.
“After this, I don’t know. I might have to move out of state and that’s not fair. I’ve been paying taxes and helping this state for decades, now they tell me I can’t work,” says Mary.
I am sure that I will be preparing more reports regarding the fallout from AB5. Perhaps Californians will learn to vote out the lawmakers who concoct measures focused on virtue signalling instead of personal liberty.”
“GOP senators move to dismiss articles of impeachment amid battle with Pelosi”
“Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri joined with a host of fellow Republicans Monday to introduce a resolution allowing the chamber to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump for lack of prosecution, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delays sending the case for trial.
The resolution specifically would update Senate rules to allow the chamber to bring a motion dismissing the articles.
“In the real world, when a prosecutor brings a case but refuses to try it, the court has the ability and the defendant has the right – the constitutional right, I might add — to have those articles, those indictments, those charges dismissed,” Hawley said in a speech on the Senate floor. “That is precisely the action that I am proposing today.”
Hawley joined with co-sponsors Sens. Rick Scott of Florida; Mike Braun of Indiana; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Ted Cruz of Texas; Steve Daines of Montana; John Barrasso of Wyoming; Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Joni Ernst of Iowa; David Perdue of Georgia; and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
“Speaker Pelosi started this bogus impeachment by claiming President Trump was an urgent ‘threat to democracy’ who had to be removed now,” Hawley said in a statement Monday. “But after a bipartisan vote against the articles in the House, and with the public opposed to the Democrats’ partisan games, Pelosi has changed her tune. Now she wants to prevent a Senate trial, perhaps indefinitely. But the Constitution gives the Senate sole power to adjudicate articles of impeachment, not the House.”
He added: “If Speaker Pelosi is afraid to try her case, the articles should be dismissed for failure to prosecute and Congress should get back to doing the people’s business.””
The former FBI director authorized and lied to perpetuate an investigation that tore this country apart. He didn’t want the truth about Carter Page. Quite the opposite.”
“In October 2016, and then on two subsequent occasions, then-FBI Director James Comey lied to the secret court overseeing warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Full stop. Here is that lie:
I, the undersigned, having been designated as one of the officials authorized to make the certifications required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended, do hereby certify with regard to the [redacted] requested in this verified application targeting Carter W. Page, an agent of the Government of Russia, a foreign power, as follows . . . The foreign intelligence information sought by the authorities requested herein cannot be reasonably obtained by normal investigative techniques.
His signature appears on page 64 of the October 2016 application for a warrant to spy on Carter Page. Look at it for yourself. In all of the fawning television interviews of Comey that have followed, nobody has confronted him on his lie or asked him why he submitted a blatant falsehood to the court.
He lied again on page 76 of the January 2017 renewal application. He lied yet again on page 88 of another April 2017 FISA application to extend the warrant against Page. As I wrote, Comey’s April 2017 signature came after the entire Russia collusion investigation officially became a willful hoax perpetrated on the American public and the FISA court.
The “Only Way”?
How do we know Comey lied? Because he passed on Page’s offer to participate voluntarily in an FBI interview. By September 25, 2016, Page had already received several harassing and accusatory contacts from journalists checking on the Christopher Steele/Fusion GPS story alleging he was a Russian agent. Page had had enough. He decided to volunteer to participate in an interview with the FBI.
And to make sure that Comey wouldn’t forget or deny that Page made the offer in writing, he sent a copy to the Washington Post. Page had a long history of cooperating with the U.S. government to provide accurate information about Russia. He was so reliable and cooperative that the CIA cleared him to receive sensitive information to help him know what to listen for when he was in Russia.
“Having interacted with members of the U.S. intelligence community including the FBI and CIA for many decades, I appreciate the limitations on your staff’s time and assets,” Page wrote. “Although I have not been contacted by any member of your team in recent months, I would eagerly await their call to discuss any final questions they might possibly have in the interest of helping them put these outrageous allegations to rest while allowing each of us to shift our attention to relevant matters. Thank you in advance for your consideration.”
Page addressed the letter to, “The Honorable James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” He sent the letter on September 25, 2016, a month before Comey certified to the court that electronic surveillance was the only way to get information from Page.”
“CNN ‘Disinformation’ Reporter Goes After Christian Satire Site Babylon Bee”
“Yesterday, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, who covers “disinformation” for the network, published a thread about the Christian satire site Babylon Bee. According to O’Sullivan, many readers can’t figure out that the site is satire because it hides this fact from readers. In fact, he suggests the Bee might be hiding behind the satire label as a way to avoid being removed from Facebook.”
To put this in perspective, this is the same number of engagements the top NY Times and CNN stories on Facebook had over the past week.
A lot of people sharing this "satirical" story on Facebook don't know it is satire. https://t.co/HnDjuqw2si
“This has been a really difficult time for Ben Rhodes, John Kerry, and the rest of the geniuses who zombie Neville Chamberlain recently hailed as “a flock of insufferable sissies crowded around the behind of America’s enemy, shamelessly smooching their dignity away.” Zapping Qassam Soleimani ruined an Iranian offensive that had started with such promise. When the dirtbag catspaws of the dirtbag Iranian mullahs surrounded the American embassy in Baghdad, American liberals were more excited than the old Weekly Standard’s staff would have been upon discovering that it was sharing one of its cruises with a pool boy and sexy gardener convention. Libs and their Fredocon submissives were practically salivating at the thought of fellow Americans being murdered by scuzzy foreigners and the opportunity such a tragedy would present for blaming Donald Trump. This was Trump’s Benghazi test, they chortled on social media.
Yeah, except Trump passed his test.
The Iranians had been getting uppity for a while, but then their punks killed an American contractor in a rocket attack on a U.S. base – and let’s not get distracted about whether we should still be there. They killed an American. We are there, and you don’t get a pass on murdering U.S. citizens because we may or may not have a good reason for them still being there. You get dead.
See, for too long we were asking the wrong question when tinpot dictators dared hurt Americans. We asked, “What would a gender-fluid Oppression Studies major at Yale do?” As I have observed before, the correct question is “WWJC do?” – “What would Julius Caesar do?”
Trump ordered hard hits at five Shiite militia weapon sites, and not with any warnings either. They got one of ours, we got about two dozen of theirs. Like the old joke about 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea, that’s a good start.
The Iranians, whose Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the ultimate source of most of the Shiite terror in the world, decided to respond in what they thought was a clever way: send a few thousand of their camo-clad dummies to attack the embassy and hope and pray a bunch of them got mowed down on camera. In the meantime, wave a lot of banners, burn some stuff, and pound on the reinforced glass for the press’s benefit.
But apparently, no one told the “mourners,” as the austere scholars at the endlessly useless New York Times dubbed the members of Islamic Antifa, that they were supposed to get smoked. They went home with the embassy unseized. Getting martyred en masse is not that much fun when you’re just one sucker out of dozens – heck, they may run of virgins. ”
See, Trump made it clear he was not playing. There would be no Benghazi II: Bagdad Boogaloo on his watch, and he acted well before 13 hours ran on the clock. Rejecting the elite’s preferred model of craven submission to every Third World cretin with a grievance and a camera, the Trump administration flew some Apache gunships over the crowd of unwashed morons, kicking off some flares, and generally sending the unequivocal message that if those SOBs had a problem, the AH-64s had a 30mm solution.
And then the administration sent in 100 Marines, about a company, on Ospreys as a quick reaction force and alerted the ready brigade at Ft. Bragg to start shutting 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers into theater.
Whatever the opposite of “stand down” is, Trump ordered that.
But there was more.
He dusted Soleimani, who thought he could just cruise through Baghdad to conspire with his militia pals to kill more Americans. This guy had already maimed or murdered hundreds of our soldiers. But he thought he was safe. He thought Donald Trump was another punk like Barack Obama.
Like Hellfire he is.
No one wants a bigger war with Iran – well, Bill Kristol and Max Boot probably do, but no one who matters does. The fact is that we have been at war with Iran since 1979. It’s just now we’re shooting back.”
WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) – The United States has denied a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that would have allowed him to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday, a U.S. official said.
I see on the internet that Iran may attack Trump’s personal properties around the world. This is a unique situation. A president who has multiple assets around the world that could be used as target/hostage.
A war against a person is a new situation.
The world in on a precipice now. Trump has had a man killed. Should have been killed long ago..
The Iranians say that they will take revenge.
if they take revenge, Trump will up the ante. That’s his nature. He will not take the last hit.
No telling where this will lead.
The Iranians think that if they die as a martyr for the faith, they will go directly to Paradise.
That has motivated millions of Muslim warriors through the ages.
No telling where this will lead.
I just hope the Russians and Chinese stay out of this.
I wish Bush had not invaded Iran. We needed Saddam. An evil man, but he kept the peace.
QOD Why are we in Iran?
“Stampede kills 56 at funeral for Iranian general slain by US”
“A stampede broke out Tuesday at a funeral for a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. airstrike, and at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession, Iranian news reports said.
The stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as the procession began, said the semi-official Fars and ISNA news agencies, citing Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency medical services.”
At this point we’re in Iraq at the request of it’s ruling govt. But after their recent pro-Iran resolution from the majority Shiites, we may be exiting soon. They only needed us to fight off ISIS for them, so having done so, now they act like ungrateful whelps. We should leave post haste and leave them to their religious war between Iraq Sunnis and Shiite/Iran proxies, like the next Soleimani in waiting. This would of course spin Iran into a regional conflict with it’s neighbors.
It would also free Israel to do what it has wanted for it’s own self-preservation as well. And that’s bomb the ever lovin’ snot out of any and all building that have any hand in Iran’s nuclear program. That’s a good thing too.
Iran’s govt. can barely fend off their own people. A long term shooting war, especially one with large scale bombings of specific military and infrastructure sites would see the Ayatollah lose his tenuous grip. Years of sanctions have taken a toll already.
The Ayatollah and his terrorist friends know this. While I’ve no doubt we’ll see some “responses” from Iran and her terrorist proxies, they’re going to be small scale. They don’t have the resources for much else.
And note these came from inside Iran, and there’s where the US response needs to be as well. They know where they came from. That’s a good place to start.
I am told from US official these are short range ballistic or cruise missiles being fired from Iranian territory at multiple US bases and targets inside Iraq. https://t.co/xKh2NPiDyz
I am sick of the warmongers in our government. No more war. Leave Iraq. Leave Syria. Leave Kuwait. Iran already has a presence in Venezuela and Mexico, so we probably should put our troops on our southern border.
Wandering Views 
TDS is an Iranian strategic asset.
Thanks Democrats.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/01/american-trump-derangement-syndrome-is-an-iranian-strategic-asset/
“One word summarizes the past three days since the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, by an American drone on order of Donald Trump: Speculation.
The media is full of speculation as to what will happen next, from World War III (which apparently trended on Twitter and caused a server overload at the Selective Service Administration) to not much (because Iran is in no position to spark an all-out war), and everything in between. Reasonable and reasoned arguments can be made for dozens of scenarios (but not World War III).
What strikes me is how Trump Derangement Syndrome has overwhelmed the Democrat and media responses. This cannot be lost on the Iranians.
While the pleas for Mullah mercy from the likes of Rose McGowan and Michael Moore, and the woke rants of Colin Kaepernick, may be laughed off by the Mullahs as typical western weakness, the reaction of Democrat politicians is more serious and may lead to Iranian miscalculation that Americans will turn on Trump before they turn on the Mullahs.
It’s clear that Democrats are doing to the killing of Soleimani, who has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands, what they did to Russia Collusion and every other anti-Trumpism that motivates their throbbing Trump-hating base.
If Iran is successful in attacking a U.S. target or targets, Democrats and the media will blame Trump, not the regime that has been chanting for our death since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. It’s not unreasonable to believe based on their behavior that Democrats and the media are hoping Iran gives us a bloody nose or worse so that it can be used against Trump in the 2020 election.”
————-
And in case you missed it, lots of links here.
“Liberals Root for the Bad Guy Week at Legal Insurrection
All the news you may have missed.”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/01/liberals-root-for-the-bad-guy-week-at-legal-insurrection/
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PETRAEUS ON SOLEIMANI
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/01/petraeus-on-soleimani.php
“General David Petraeus gave an interview yesterday on the significance of the killing of Qasem Soleimani. It is well worth reading:
Marco Werman: How did you know Qasem Soleimani?
Gen. David Petraeus: Well, he was our most significant Iranian adversary during my four years in Iraq, [and] certainly when I was the Central Command commander, and very much so when I was the director of the CIA. He is unquestionably the most significant and important — or was the most significant and important — Iranian figure in the region, the most important architect of the effort by Iran to solidify control of the Shia crescent, and the operational commander of the various initiatives that were part of that effort.
***
So why do you suppose this happened now, though?
Well, I suspect that the leaders in Washington were seeking to reestablish deterrence, which clearly had eroded to some degree, perhaps by the relatively insignificant actions in response to these strikes on the Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia, shipping in the Gulf and our $130 million dollar drone that was shot down. And we had seen increased numbers of attacks against US forces in Iraq. So I’m sure that there was a lot of discussion about what could show the Iranians most significantly that we are really serious, that they should not continue to escalate. …
Would you have recommended this course of action right now?
I’d hesitate to answer that just because I am not privy to the intelligence that was the foundation for the decision, which clearly was, as was announced, this was a defensive action, that Soleimani was going into the country to presumably approve further attacks. Without really being in the inner circle on that, I think it’s very difficult to either second-guess or to even think through what the recommendation might have been.
Again, it is impossible to overstate the significance of this action. This is much more substantial than the killing of Osama bin Laden. It’s even more substantial than the killing of Baghdadi.”
—————
The whole interview is here.
“Gen. Petraeus on Qasem Soleimani’s killing: ‘It’s impossible to overstate the significance'”
https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-01-03/gen-petraeus-qasem-soleimani-s-killing-its-impossible-overstate-significance?fbclid=IwAR1TRggBoSyN-la1qkv013IY2k4ZybZhXoA8KMlI-1ZYIUg-mi0tUoKhbYg
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Hypocrites of the highest order.
https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/06/kassam-obama-drone-trump/
“War with Iran is unavoidable, at least according to the media.
Democrats have been wringing their hands over Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s death, with some calling it a “war crime” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seeking to restrict the president’s powers.
But what did Democrats say when President Obama used his executive powers to strike (and kill) U.S. citizens in Yemen in 2011, including a 16-year-old boy?
Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Mark Udall of Colorado, and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that the use of force was “legitimate use of the authority granted to the president.”
They said Obama had met the legal standard.
These three senators were part of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. They went on to describe the killing of terror leader Anwar al-Awlaki:
Mr. al-Aulaqi [sic] clearly made a conscious decision to join an organized fighting force that was (and is) engaged in planning and carrying out attacks against the United States,” the senators wrote. “By taking on a leadership role in this organization, involving himself in ongoing operational planning against the United States, and demonstrating the capacity and intent to carry out these operations, he made himself a legitimate target for military action.
Does the same rationale apply to Soleimani? Or has it suddenly changed?
After all, Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force, recently designated a terrorist organization by the United States government.”
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Troll level: Master. 🙂
Make ’em own it. 🙂
https://hotair.com/archives/karen-townsend/2020/01/05/cruz-trolls-democrats-senate-resolution-praising-soleimani-mission/
“Cruz Trolls Democrats With Senate Resolution Praising Soleimani Mission”
“Senator Ted Cruz is promoting a resolution commending the Trump administration for its mission to take out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. In doing so he is daring the Senate Democrats to oppose it. It is the perfect antidote to the criticism the left has voiced since the news of Soleimani’s death was announced.
If Democrats decide to show disapproval of the resolution, they run the risk of showing disdain for those who carried out the mission to rid the world of Soleimani. The best part is that the resolution is “structured and worded the same way as a 2011 resolution that commended the Obama administration for killing Bin Laden, which received unanimous support in the Senate.” It’s an on the nose gesture to get Democrats to acknowledge that the mission was a good thing but it is something that needs to be done. The Democrats can suck up their Trump Derangement Syndrome for long enough to do the right thing and honor those who took the risk and carried out the mission.
If the Senate could come together and unanimously pass a resolution in 2011 during Obama’s administration surely they can do the same now. No one is going to think the Democrats suddenly support President Trump on anything but the voters want to see politicians work together. This is an easy way to do that. So far, the reaction of most Democrats has been less than admirable. All of the top candidates running for president have made a point of issuing statements against the mission, mostly because of the bad Orange Man. Elizabeth Warren even had to walk back her statement on Soleimani’s murderous record because the far left reacted badly to that. The left not only didn’t want him taken out, they want to re-write history to make him a decent human being. It’s ridiculous but, sadly, expected in Trump’s America.
Some Democrats are busy huffing and puffing about stopping President Trump from further action. They voice fears of retaliation. This completely ignores that for years, even before Trump was elected, Iran has been behind the attacks and murders of American military members and civilians alike. Soleimani was the mastermind of the attacks. Trump is not a hawkish president, as Democrats know. They just want to play to the far left now and seek approval for their reaction to the mission. It’s a very cynical way to serve their constituents.”
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Comrade Bill is upset that his horrible new law is making him look bad.
https://nypost.com/2020/01/05/de-blasio-intervened-in-prosecution-of-accused-anti-semitic-attacker-tiffany-harris/
“De Blasio intervened in prosecution of accused anti-Semitic attacker Tiffany Harris”
“Mayor Bill de Blasio intervened in the prosecution of an accused anti-Semitic attacker — leading to her lock-up in a psych ward — because she was generating negative publicity for his administration, The Post has learned.
Brooklyn’s supervising judge was forced to hold an unscheduled hearing late on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve after City Hall contacted the state Office of Court Administration about Tiffany Harris, 30.
Harris’ repeated release from custody after back-to-back arrests late last month — including for allegedly slapping three Orthodox Jewish women and shouting “F-U, Jews!” on Dec. 27 — had made her a symbol of revolving-door justice amid the state’s new bail reform law and de Blasio’s gift programs for newly released jail inmates.
The administration flipped out when it learned that Harris had allegedly pinched a social worker Dec. 30 after she was let loose under supervised release following her second arrest, said a source familiar with the matter.
“The Mayor’s Office was deeply concerned after learning that she was not in compliance with her supervised release and her erratic behavior was continuing,” the source said. “They reached out to the court, who then calendared it to further investigate.”
A transcript of the court hearing shows her public defender complained to Judge Michael Yavinsky that news coverage had led the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to contact both her and Brooklyn Justice Initiatives, which was responsible for overseeing Harris.
“The mayor of the executive branch of the government got involved because of a press case,” said Lisa Schreibersdorf, founder and executive director of Brooklyn Defender Services.”
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Finally, some sanity. And it benefits way more people than just the truckers who sued.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/01/judge-halts-californias-new-gig-worker-law-thats-impacting-truckers/
“Judge halts California’s new “gig worker” law that’s impacting truckers
Uber and Postmates are also suing California to block AB5”
“California continues to follow its prime directive, which is the one that specifies that any law enacted must have damaging and/or embarrassing unintended consequences.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall my recent post about California’s new “gig law,” which was originally intended to protect the rights of Uber and Lyft drivers. Passage of AB5 triggered media employers to lay off hundreds of freelance employees at the start of the 2019 holiday season.
The epic failure continues, as a federal judge has temporarily blocked the new measure from impacting more than 70,000 independent truckers.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order sought by the California Trucking Association while he considers imposing a permanent injunction.
He said the association is likely to eventually prevail on its argument that the state law violates federal law. He also ruled the truckers would otherwise be likely to suffer irreparable harm, and that temporarily blocking the law from applying to truckers is in the public interest.”
———-
“Meanwhile, a wide variety of industries are beginning to feel the impact of the law. Translators, for instance, are being fired.
She’s one of those people with a unique talent. Highly trained, highly specialized and as of today highly endangered in California.
“I do medical translations, vital life saving translations for about 50-clients all over the world. As of today, those clients told me they don’t need me anymore because of the new California law,” says Mary Konstantinidou.
While most people are celebrating the new year, Mary and about a million other people here in California have little to be happy about. As of New Year’s Day, her 35-year career as a Greek to English interpreter is considered illegal in California.
It’s a little something the lawmakers in Sacramento call AB 5.
“After this, I don’t know. I might have to move out of state and that’s not fair. I’ve been paying taxes and helping this state for decades, now they tell me I can’t work,” says Mary.
I am sure that I will be preparing more reports regarding the fallout from AB5. Perhaps Californians will learn to vote out the lawmakers who concoct measures focused on virtue signalling instead of personal liberty.”
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Pelosi has no say here. 🙂
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senators-introduce-resolution-to-dismiss-articles-of-impeachment-amid-battle-with-pelosi
“GOP senators move to dismiss articles of impeachment amid battle with Pelosi”
“Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri joined with a host of fellow Republicans Monday to introduce a resolution allowing the chamber to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump for lack of prosecution, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delays sending the case for trial.
The resolution specifically would update Senate rules to allow the chamber to bring a motion dismissing the articles.
“In the real world, when a prosecutor brings a case but refuses to try it, the court has the ability and the defendant has the right – the constitutional right, I might add — to have those articles, those indictments, those charges dismissed,” Hawley said in a speech on the Senate floor. “That is precisely the action that I am proposing today.”
Hawley joined with co-sponsors Sens. Rick Scott of Florida; Mike Braun of Indiana; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Ted Cruz of Texas; Steve Daines of Montana; John Barrasso of Wyoming; Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Joni Ernst of Iowa; David Perdue of Georgia; and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
“Speaker Pelosi started this bogus impeachment by claiming President Trump was an urgent ‘threat to democracy’ who had to be removed now,” Hawley said in a statement Monday. “But after a bipartisan vote against the articles in the House, and with the public opposed to the Democrats’ partisan games, Pelosi has changed her tune. Now she wants to prevent a Senate trial, perhaps indefinitely. But the Constitution gives the Senate sole power to adjudicate articles of impeachment, not the House.”
He added: “If Speaker Pelosi is afraid to try her case, the articles should be dismissed for failure to prosecute and Congress should get back to doing the people’s business.””
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He should, but don’t hold your breathe.
“James Comey Should Be Arrested
The former FBI director authorized and lied to perpetuate an investigation that tore this country apart. He didn’t want the truth about Carter Page. Quite the opposite.”
“In October 2016, and then on two subsequent occasions, then-FBI Director James Comey lied to the secret court overseeing warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Full stop. Here is that lie:
I, the undersigned, having been designated as one of the officials authorized to make the certifications required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended, do hereby certify with regard to the [redacted] requested in this verified application targeting Carter W. Page, an agent of the Government of Russia, a foreign power, as follows . . . The foreign intelligence information sought by the authorities requested herein cannot be reasonably obtained by normal investigative techniques.
His signature appears on page 64 of the October 2016 application for a warrant to spy on Carter Page. Look at it for yourself. In all of the fawning television interviews of Comey that have followed, nobody has confronted him on his lie or asked him why he submitted a blatant falsehood to the court.
He lied again on page 76 of the January 2017 renewal application. He lied yet again on page 88 of another April 2017 FISA application to extend the warrant against Page. As I wrote, Comey’s April 2017 signature came after the entire Russia collusion investigation officially became a willful hoax perpetrated on the American public and the FISA court.
The “Only Way”?
How do we know Comey lied? Because he passed on Page’s offer to participate voluntarily in an FBI interview. By September 25, 2016, Page had already received several harassing and accusatory contacts from journalists checking on the Christopher Steele/Fusion GPS story alleging he was a Russian agent. Page had had enough. He decided to volunteer to participate in an interview with the FBI.
And to make sure that Comey wouldn’t forget or deny that Page made the offer in writing, he sent a copy to the Washington Post. Page had a long history of cooperating with the U.S. government to provide accurate information about Russia. He was so reliable and cooperative that the CIA cleared him to receive sensitive information to help him know what to listen for when he was in Russia.
“Having interacted with members of the U.S. intelligence community including the FBI and CIA for many decades, I appreciate the limitations on your staff’s time and assets,” Page wrote. “Although I have not been contacted by any member of your team in recent months, I would eagerly await their call to discuss any final questions they might possibly have in the interest of helping them put these outrageous allegations to rest while allowing each of us to shift our attention to relevant matters. Thank you in advance for your consideration.”
Page addressed the letter to, “The Honorable James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” He sent the letter on September 25, 2016, a month before Comey certified to the court that electronic surveillance was the only way to get information from Page.”
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You had to know this was coming….. 🙂
The only people who don’t know The Bee is satire are liberals with no sense of humor.
https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2020/01/06/cnn-disinformation-reporter-goes-christian-satire-site-babylon-bee/
“CNN ‘Disinformation’ Reporter Goes After Christian Satire Site Babylon Bee”
“Yesterday, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, who covers “disinformation” for the network, published a thread about the Christian satire site Babylon Bee. According to O’Sullivan, many readers can’t figure out that the site is satire because it hides this fact from readers. In fact, he suggests the Bee might be hiding behind the satire label as a way to avoid being removed from Facebook.”
“The next tweet is the one in which he suggests “satire” is just a clever way to dodge accountability:”
—————-
I think Donie should learn to code, since he’s not much of a journalist. 🙂
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The thing I like about Kurt is you never have any doubt about where he stands. 🙂
“The Trump Doctrine Humiliates Both Foreign Enemies and Domestic Liberals”
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2020/01/06/the-trump-doctrine-humiliates-both-foreign-enemies-and-domestic-liberals-n2558968
“This has been a really difficult time for Ben Rhodes, John Kerry, and the rest of the geniuses who zombie Neville Chamberlain recently hailed as “a flock of insufferable sissies crowded around the behind of America’s enemy, shamelessly smooching their dignity away.” Zapping Qassam Soleimani ruined an Iranian offensive that had started with such promise. When the dirtbag catspaws of the dirtbag Iranian mullahs surrounded the American embassy in Baghdad, American liberals were more excited than the old Weekly Standard’s staff would have been upon discovering that it was sharing one of its cruises with a pool boy and sexy gardener convention. Libs and their Fredocon submissives were practically salivating at the thought of fellow Americans being murdered by scuzzy foreigners and the opportunity such a tragedy would present for blaming Donald Trump. This was Trump’s Benghazi test, they chortled on social media.
Yeah, except Trump passed his test.
The Iranians had been getting uppity for a while, but then their punks killed an American contractor in a rocket attack on a U.S. base – and let’s not get distracted about whether we should still be there. They killed an American. We are there, and you don’t get a pass on murdering U.S. citizens because we may or may not have a good reason for them still being there. You get dead.
See, for too long we were asking the wrong question when tinpot dictators dared hurt Americans. We asked, “What would a gender-fluid Oppression Studies major at Yale do?” As I have observed before, the correct question is “WWJC do?” – “What would Julius Caesar do?”
Trump ordered hard hits at five Shiite militia weapon sites, and not with any warnings either. They got one of ours, we got about two dozen of theirs. Like the old joke about 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea, that’s a good start.
The Iranians, whose Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the ultimate source of most of the Shiite terror in the world, decided to respond in what they thought was a clever way: send a few thousand of their camo-clad dummies to attack the embassy and hope and pray a bunch of them got mowed down on camera. In the meantime, wave a lot of banners, burn some stuff, and pound on the reinforced glass for the press’s benefit.
But apparently, no one told the “mourners,” as the austere scholars at the endlessly useless New York Times dubbed the members of Islamic Antifa, that they were supposed to get smoked. They went home with the embassy unseized. Getting martyred en masse is not that much fun when you’re just one sucker out of dozens – heck, they may run of virgins. ”
See, Trump made it clear he was not playing. There would be no Benghazi II: Bagdad Boogaloo on his watch, and he acted well before 13 hours ran on the clock. Rejecting the elite’s preferred model of craven submission to every Third World cretin with a grievance and a camera, the Trump administration flew some Apache gunships over the crowd of unwashed morons, kicking off some flares, and generally sending the unequivocal message that if those SOBs had a problem, the AH-64s had a 30mm solution.
And then the administration sent in 100 Marines, about a company, on Ospreys as a quick reaction force and alerted the ready brigade at Ft. Bragg to start shutting 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers into theater.
Whatever the opposite of “stand down” is, Trump ordered that.
But there was more.
He dusted Soleimani, who thought he could just cruise through Baghdad to conspire with his militia pals to kill more Americans. This guy had already maimed or murdered hundreds of our soldiers. But he thought he was safe. He thought Donald Trump was another punk like Barack Obama.
Like Hellfire he is.
No one wants a bigger war with Iran – well, Bill Kristol and Max Boot probably do, but no one who matters does. The fact is that we have been at war with Iran since 1979. It’s just now we’re shooting back.”
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Consequences are a thing.
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I see on the internet that Iran may attack Trump’s personal properties around the world. This is a unique situation. A president who has multiple assets around the world that could be used as target/hostage.
A war against a person is a new situation.
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The world in on a precipice now. Trump has had a man killed. Should have been killed long ago..
The Iranians say that they will take revenge.
if they take revenge, Trump will up the ante. That’s his nature. He will not take the last hit.
No telling where this will lead.
The Iranians think that if they die as a martyr for the faith, they will go directly to Paradise.
That has motivated millions of Muslim warriors through the ages.
No telling where this will lead.
I just hope the Russians and Chinese stay out of this.
I wish Bush had not invaded Iran. We needed Saddam. An evil man, but he kept the peace.
QOD Why are we in Iran?
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Even in death this man causes more death.
https://apnews.com/add7a702258b4419d796aa5f48e577fc
“Stampede kills 56 at funeral for Iranian general slain by US”
“A stampede broke out Tuesday at a funeral for a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. airstrike, and at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession, Iranian news reports said.
The stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as the procession began, said the semi-official Fars and ISNA news agencies, citing Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency medical services.”
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Limbaugh’s interview with President Trump.
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Chas,
At this point we’re in Iraq at the request of it’s ruling govt. But after their recent pro-Iran resolution from the majority Shiites, we may be exiting soon. They only needed us to fight off ISIS for them, so having done so, now they act like ungrateful whelps. We should leave post haste and leave them to their religious war between Iraq Sunnis and Shiite/Iran proxies, like the next Soleimani in waiting. This would of course spin Iran into a regional conflict with it’s neighbors.
It would also free Israel to do what it has wanted for it’s own self-preservation as well. And that’s bomb the ever lovin’ snot out of any and all building that have any hand in Iran’s nuclear program. That’s a good thing too.
Iran’s govt. can barely fend off their own people. A long term shooting war, especially one with large scale bombings of specific military and infrastructure sites would see the Ayatollah lose his tenuous grip. Years of sanctions have taken a toll already.
The Ayatollah and his terrorist friends know this. While I’ve no doubt we’ll see some “responses” from Iran and her terrorist proxies, they’re going to be small scale. They don’t have the resources for much else.
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I have a hard time telling that Babylon Bee is satire, too. But only because reality has become so bizarre.
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See, small scale.
And note these came from inside Iran, and there’s where the US response needs to be as well. They know where they came from. That’s a good place to start.
————
https://twitter.com/BarzanSadiq/status/1214689078932840449
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A victory for a wrongly accused and slandered teen. 🙂
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https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/07/cnn-settles-lawsuit-with-nick-sandmann/
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I am sick of the warmongers in our government. No more war. Leave Iraq. Leave Syria. Leave Kuwait. Iran already has a presence in Venezuela and Mexico, so we probably should put our troops on our southern border.
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