[Townhall] Gun control might be on everyone’s minds, or at least those in America’s newsrooms, but we have yet another development in the ongoing and increasingly comical investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. There are new texts allegedly showing that the Obama White House, the CIA, the FBI, and top Democrats colluded at the outset of the Russia probe. FBI Agent Peter Strzok, who initiated this investigation in July of 2016, sent them to his mistress and bureau lawyer Lisa Page. That effort is now to be headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Strzok became a centerpiece of this whole saga since his extramarital affair with Page brought the probe’s credibility in question and that of the FBI itself.
Strzok texted Page saying that certain cyber intelligence should be given to the Obama White House on August 8, 2016.
"Internal joint cyber cd intel piece for D, scenesetter for McDonough brief, Trainer [head of FBI cyber division] directed all cyber info be pulled. I’d let Bill and Jim hammer it out first, though it would be best for D to have it before the Wed WH session," he said.
Fox News reported that "D" referred to White House Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough. Later that month, on August 25, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who then penned a letter to former FBI Director James Comey about possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. On August 29, The New York Times reported on the letter; Page sent the link to the story to Strzok saying, "here we go."
The news network noted that GOP investigators don’t want to draw any conclusions, but noted that this is enough to call for a special investigator to ensure the independence of the agencies was honored. The FBI and the CIA aren’t supposed to engage in what appears to be a coordinated political activity during an election.
#3
I like the Harry Reid angle - if there was one politician that was as bad and loathsome as Obama between 2008 and 2016, it was this guy. Hope he gets smacked by a big legal rubber band.
[Breitbart] A massive poll covering all 28 European Union (EU) states has revealed an overwhelming concern over illegal immigration with more than three-quarters of EU citizens saying that Europe’s external borders should be better protected.
The sweeping February survey conducted by the Századvég Foundation’s Project 28 sampled one thousand adult citizens from each of the 28 EU countries, and found a remarkable consistency of thought regarding the dangers of unchecked immigration.
What is "most striking" about the survey, wrote the Spectator’s Douglas Murray on March 24, is that "there is such extraordinary unanimity around the question of immigration."
"While numerous political divides exist within each of the 28 member states, and considerable differences exist between them, only on the matters of migration, borders and security can this not be said," he observed.
The poll has revealed, in fact, that while 78 percent of all Europeans believe that illegal immigration into their countries is a problem, more citizens in every single European country say that it is a "serious problem" than say it is not a problem or not a very serious problem.
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[Wash Times] In the days following the Orlando mass shooting that left 49 dead and 58 injured, then FBI Director James Comey acknowledged that the FBI had investigated ISIS-inspired terrorist Omar Mateen on two different occasions:
Comey explained how and why Mateen had been investigated and said that the FBI assessment was that he posed no danger at that time. He then employed his trademark "Eliot Ness" furvor swearing that he would move heaven and earth to find out what went wrong:
"We will continue to look forward in this investigation and backward. We will leave no stone un-turned and we will work all day and all night to understand the path to that terrible night. We’re also going to look hard at our own work, to see whether there’s something we should have done differently. So far, the honest answer is I don’t think so."
And yet, here we are almost two years later and we haven’t heard anything. In fact, it’s worse than that. We’re now learning that Comey and the FBI hid a key bit of information from the American people in the days after the attacks. He purposely did not disclose that Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, was an informant for the FBI for the ten years preceding the deadly attacks.
#2
There have been a too many of these incidents where the FBI had prior info of some perp(s) but acted too late to prevent the catastrophe. I said catastrophe but almost typed FF for some reason. Must need more coffee.
#3
Change be hard. Theirs is the task (past 100 years or so) of 'solving existing crimes', not preventing terrorism. Check the business model.
Something akin to cancer. What will become of 'big pharma', oncologists, research, cancer clinics, hospitals, fund raising, etc....if a cure for cancer is found ?
[Federalist] Last week, the Mississippi governor signed House Bill 1510, the Gestational Age Act, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. As NPR noted, the new law makes Mississippi the national leader in protecting the rights of unborn children.
Not surprisingly, legal action swiftly ensued, as the last remaining abortion facility in the state filed a complaint almost immediately. The law was subsequently blocked and a determination will be made this week on whether to put the law on hold longer. Some speculate the law will be struck down because it attempts to regulate abortion prior to viability, a marker that has been important when deciding the constitutionality of some abortion restrictions.
Naturally, abortion proponents are not happy about the law. The so-called "anti-choice" law has been called strict and unconstitutional, a severe piece of propaganda that shames Mississippi women, "a new low for anti-choice policy," and "downright dangerous."
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[NYT] It has been my greatest professional honor to serve our country’s more than 20 million veterans. Almost three years ago, I left my private sector job running hospitals and came to Washington to repay my gratitude to the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.
I believe strongly in the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nothing about my political experience in Washington could ever change that. I also believe that maintaining a strong V.A. is an essential piece of the puzzle that is the United States’ national security system: We can only expect our sons and daughters to risk their lives and fight for our freedom if we can keep our promise to care for them when they return home broken, injured or traumatized. There is no excuse for not holding up our end of the bargain. The mission set forth by President Abraham Lincoln to care for those who have "borne the battle" is a sacred duty that I will remain committed to always.
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#2
Give the vets a choice of either going to a V.A. facilty or to a private doctor or hospital. Often it is a hardship to travel to V.A. facility wheras there is a private doctor/facility nearby.
h/t Instapundit
Driven to desperation by their fury at President Trump’s election, his presidency, and Robert Mueller’s failure to substantiate the bogus Russia conspiracy fantasy, progressives are escalating their rhetoric, and in the process, unmasking their true beliefs. For decades, they have obscured their real goals, and pretended to be interested in moderate, incremental measures that they believe would be acceptable to mainstream Americans. Using terms like "compassion" and "fairness," they have sought to justify handing more and more power to the state, and the importation of a population amenable to state control of all aspects of life.
But in reaction to President Trump’s in-your-face persona and use of the mechanisms of state power for goals they oppose, they have escalated their rhetoric, and in the process exposed their real beliefs that long have been kept hidden from the broader public.
Consider the events of the past few days:
...I think that long before he even dreamed of entering politics, Donald Trump realized that by outraging his opponents, he could provoke them into saying and doing things that would prove harmful to their goals by exposing their motives, assumptions, and real intentions.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is turning out to be very useful for conservatives.
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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.
[Townhall] Gun control might be on everyone’s minds, or at least those in America’s newsrooms, but we have yet another development in the ongoing and increasingly comical investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. There are new texts allegedly showing that the Obama White House, the CIA, the FBI, and top Democrats colluded at the outset of the Russia probe. FBI Agent Peter Strzok, who initiated this investigation in July of 2016, sent them to his mistress and bureau lawyer Lisa Page. That effort is now to be headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Strzok became a centerpiece of this whole saga since his extramarital affair with Page brought the probe’s credibility in question and that of the FBI itself. 
[Breitbart] A massive poll covering all 28 European Union (EU) states has revealed an overwhelming concern over illegal immigration with more than three-quarters of EU citizens saying that Europe’s external borders should be better protected.
