[National Review] Strolling one afternoon near Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue and West 34th Street, I spotted two tourists with their faces nestled in a map. They looked hopelessly lost.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
Thoroughly flummoxed, they pleaded, "Where’s the Empire State Building?"
I pointed straight up, one block east, and said: "It’s right there!"
Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team resemble those hapless travelers. They scour their visitors’ guide in vain for any trace of Team Trump’s alleged Russian collusion. Meanwhile, just steps away, the Clintons’ Russian-collusion skyscraper soars into the clouds.
In fact, former Trump-campaign aide Sam Nunberg said that Team Mueller asked him if he had heard anyone in Trump Tower speak Russian. Apparently, nyet.
Although they started sniffing around in July 2016, neither the FBI’s bloodhounds nor those of Mueller or Congress have detected a whiff of evidence that ties Trump to Russian collusion. Indeed, the House Intelligence Committee interviewed 70 witnesses and reviewed 300,000 documents before wrapping up its Russiagate inquiry last Thursday. As its final report states, "The Committee found no evidence that meetings between Trump associates ‐ including Jeff Sessions ‐ and official representatives of the Russian government ‐ including [Moscow’s] Ambassador Kislyak ‐ reflected collusion, coordination, or conspiracy with the Russian government."
In contrast, Team Mueller studiously ignores something more conspicuous than the iridescent onion domes atop Red Square’s St. Basil’s Cathedral: Private interests that closed deals with Vladimir Putin and his agents ‐ thanks to then‐secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s public favors ‐ gave the Clinton Foundation between $152 million and $173 million.
#1
I think Mueller's investigation is off the rails and into the weeds. I personally think he is more into racking up billable hours than substantial findings.
Know that the Russian collusion thing has been blown out of the water by the IG and others. The original premise for his employment has evaporated and he should go home.
#2
I personally think he is more into racking up billable hours than substantial findings
Couldn't agree more. Kind of like a construction project in a down economy. If no future work is apparent, the tradespeople tend to slow down, delaying the inevitable layoff. Happened a lot in 2009-2010. Lost a lot of smaller contractors then, too. Couldn't maintain cashflow when the sparse projects didn't complete on schedule (and the banks weren't lending either).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/28/2018 16:56 Comments ||
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[The Hill] President Trump's protectionist trade policies have led to a hiring spree on K Street, as countries seeking to escape tariffs bring on new firms to convince the White House and Congress that they should be treated favorably.
Since the beginning of 2017, eight countries have added roughly two dozen firms to work on trade issues, according to disclosures filed to the Justice Department and counted by The Hill.
Those countries ‐ Japan, South Korea, Bahrain, Australia, United Arab Emirates, China, Canada and Mexico ‐ already have other firms on retainer.
So far, countries including South Korea, Canada, Mexico and Australia won exemptions from new tariffs the Trump administration has slapped on imports of aluminum and steel. But Japan, an ally to the U.S. that has been in regular talks with the White House, did not.
"This tariff thing, where you basically have to go plead your case with the president's team or [Commerce Secretary Wilbur] Ross to get an exemption from tariffs on your company or country. ... I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in Washington," one Republican lobbyist told The Hill. "It's like the ticket desk at Dulles [International Airport] in a snowstorm where you have 472 people trying to fight for eight available seats on a plane."
The steel and aluminum tariffs are just one example of how Trump’s approach on trade has thrown people off-balance.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy sued Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... on Monday, accusing it of trying to discredit him by stealing and leaking emails that detailed his contacts with the Trump administration and the United Arab Emirates.
The Wall Street Journal reported that "sccording to Broidy’s lawsuit, Qatar’s representatives identified him as an impediment to their plan to improve the country’s standing in Washington, and developed an effort to discredit him. The lawsuit is filed against the state of Qatar and one of the country’s Washington-based lobbyists, Nick Muzin, of Stonington Strategies."
The report cites the lawsuit as saying: "This is a case about a hostile intelligence operation undertaken by a foreign nation" against American citizens "who have spoken out against that country’s support for terrorism and who have entered into significant business relationships relating to defense and counterterrorism with a rival nation."
Legal representatives for Broidy, a prominent Republican fundraiser and philanthropist, had earlier informed Qatari leaders that they had uncovered forensic evidence tying the Qatari government to a massive hack on Broidy that led to a series of damaging stories in the US press.
"We now possess irrefutable forensic evidence tying Qatar to this unlawful attack on, and espionage directed against, a prominent US citizen within the territory of the United States," Lee Wolosky, a lawyer from the legal team Boies Schiller Flexner, wrote to Qatari Al Thani family’s member Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani. "We have made aware, or are in the process of making aware, relevant US authorities, including US counterintelligence authorities."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2018 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Just when US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... overcomes a problem, or thinks he has, the leftist media creates another! It looks like this media’s sole aim is to annoy Trump rather than seek the truth. So far, no one has been able to prove that Trump had anything to do with the issue of Russian interference in the US elections.
Trump definitely makes mistakes as for instance he unjustifiably insists that he can defeat the brutal American media. A prudent politician knows pretty well the importance of appeasing the media, at least relatively, especially since all politicians make mistakes and it’s the media’s role to highlight them and exaggerate them. No politician can defeat the media, no matter how popular and distinctive he is. Most politicians are aware of this and deal with the media accordingly.
These days, the US media is talking about Trump’s intention to dismiss Robert Mueller, the head of the Special Counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Trump, however, has said he does not intend to dismiss Mueller. Trump is certainly not friends with Mueller. It’s also certain that Mueller is not completely neutral in his investigations. Trump, however, knows that dismissing Mueller would be a real dangerous step as it would be interpreted as an obstruction of justice, which is a red line that might have drastic consequences.
I have no doubt that the leftist media, Trump’s vicious enemy led by CNN and the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , wishes that Trump dismisses Mueller as this provides them with rich material which they can skillfully exaggerate to achieve their bigger dream to overthrow Trump. That’s why the media keeps provoking Trump about his intention to dismiss Mueller!
Ironically, the US left, the traditional alliance of all the socialist political regimes around the world, is currently criticizing Trump because he congratulated Russian President Putin for winning the presidential elections few days ago. The left argues that Putin won in a dictatorial way, thus he does not deserve to be congratulated!
It’s such a strange irony that the ideologized left is more concerned about hostility towards Russia than the Republican right-wing! The Republican right-wing, to which Trump belongs, was the first one to opt for escalation towards Russia. It actually hasn’t been a long time since the Star Wars program was initiated under President Ronald Reagan.
In conclusion, Trump’s opponents would find thousands of ways to attack him, even if they have to give up their solid principles, as seen in their current hostile position towards Russia. We do not know what the next case which the leftist media will promote against Trump will be but it will not be difficult for it to come with something up!
Posted by: Fred ||
03/28/2018 00:00 ||
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#2
Trump definitely makes mistakes as for instance he unjustifiably insists that he can defeat the brutal American media. A prudent politician knows pretty well the importance of appeasing the media, at least relatively, especially since all politicians make mistakes and it’s the media’s role to highlight them and exaggerate them. No politician can defeat the media, no matter how popular and distinctive he is. Most politicians are aware of this and deal with the media accordingly.
They're defeating themselves with their loss of any credibility
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/28/2018 9:02 Comments ||
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#3
Frank G, by not kow-towing as other Republicans have Trump has allowed the media to continue making mistakes. He should get some credit for that.
#1
SCOTUS already ruled you got to count them for apportionment. However once you extended the data collection beyond simple headcount and started including everything, to include the kitchen sink, you sort of lost the excuse of what not to include. Still be a good test of the judiciary for the purge during/after the civil war.
#2
Be a shame if rumors started that it was actually an effort to create a deportation registry. A shame. Sad.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/28/2018 9:18 Comments ||
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#3
Ironically, it is the same question that the founders had when dealing with slavery. The slave holders wanted the slaves to be fully counted because it gave their states greater political pull. The non-slave ones didn't want non-citizens to cause their owners to have more political pull than they normally would. Hence the 3/5 rule.
We are looking at the same thing here. Illegals shouldn't be able to vote (but they do) and pulling the population down in the slave sanctuary states costs them political power and federal funds while the law abiding states down want them to have more power and to suck more of their tax money away.
#5
Here's a proposal that will surely raise some hackles: count ILLEGAL immigrants as 3/5 of a person.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/28/2018 13:23 Comments ||
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#6
"SCOTUS already ruled you got to count them for apportionment." Really? So the balance of our political representation is partially determined by non-citizens? No wonder the left wants to open the borders.
#7
At the risk of pissing some people off, the slaves were counter as 3/5 because they were “legal”. They were Property and had a form of status as well as.value and purpose. Illegals were neither brought here as property or afforded legal status beyond what was provided if they entered through the front door, and no status of any kind if they entered like the thieves they are. They think they can come here and steal the heritage of our children and tap into our collective wallets. Arrogant thieves taking advantage of our ignorant, weak-willed lefty socialist idiots to squat by manipulating their sense of guilt . No!
#9
Re: SCOTUS, "[Thomas] said the Supreme Court itself has vacillated in previous rulings, including in one instance upholding a Hawaii plan that did allow that state to use registered voters to draw its districts, because otherwise the state could be skewed by a massive military population."
So the military is out but illegals are OK. Did someone threaten them with the Scalia treatment?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.