[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A former CIA operative has revealed the agency pursues people with a certain mental disorder as it makes them the best agents.
John Kiriakou, who had a 14-year career as a CIA officer, said the agency 'actively seeks to hire people who have sociopathic tendencies,' but avoids individuals with a full-blown disorder.
A 'sociopath' is someone who lacks empathy, disregards the feelings of others and may manipulate or harm people without remorse, often for their own personal gain.
'Sociopaths are impossible to control,' said Kiriakou. 'They slip through the cracks because they have no conscience and they pass the polygraph very easily because they don't feel guilty.
Someone who has some of these qualities tend to rise to the highest levels of the CIA.
'People who have sociopathic tendencies do have a conscience but are still perfectly happy to work in moral legal and ethical gray areas,' said Kiriakou.
Kiriakou admitted that he falls into the category of having sociopathic tendencies, explaining how he was 'happy to break into people's houses and plant bugs.'
The former officer used the idea that he was part of the good guys and that his country needed him as a way to feed his sociopathic tendencies.
The CIA has admitted that spies have pathological personality features that help them with their espionage efforts, such as a sense of entitlement or a desire for power and control.
While employed by the CIA, Kiriakou was involved in critical counterterrorism missions following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He was involved in the capture of terrorist Abu Zubaydah.
However, he refused to be trained in so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques.'
Kiriakou has claimed that he never authorized or engaged in these techniques.
After leaving the CIA, he appeared on ABC News where he said the CIA waterboarded detainees and labeled the action as torture.
The interview led to Kiriakou being arrested in 2012 and charged with one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act for allegedly illegally disclosing the identity of a covert officer.
He was also charged with two counts of violating the Espionage Act for allegedly illegally disclosing national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it, and one count of making false statements for allegedly lying to the Publications Review Board of the CIA in an unsuccessful attempt to trick the CIA into allowing him to include classified information in a book he was seeking to publish.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
'A CIA psychiatrist told me one time that the CIA looks to hire people with sociopathic tendencies–not sociopaths because sociopaths have no consciences,' said Kiriakou, speaking to The Real News Network.
When asked if he thinks that is what the CIA saw in him, he responded: 'I think they probably did.'
Kiriakou provided a question he was asked during the CIA hiring interview.
'They said, 'You know that Mr X has something in his house that you need, whether it’s a file or whatever. You need it. And you work on him to recruit him so that eventually he turns that file over to you.'
'But he’s not recruitable. And in the end, when you ask him for the file, he tells you, no. What do you do?'
'I said, I break into the house and take the file.' Seemed like a perfectly logical answer to me.'
The former CIA officer explained that because he believed he was part of the good guys, Mr X was surely a bad guy, such as a Russian scientist.
Another former CIA agent, Jim 'Mad Dog' Lawler, has echoed Kiriakou's remarks about sociopathic tendencies in the agency.
Lawler had a 25-year career with the agency as a nuclear weapons expert and spy.
He was a specialist in the recruitment of foreign spies, and he spent over half of his CIA career battling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
During his career, Lawler served as chief of the A.Q. Khan Nuclear Takedown Team, which resulted in the disruption a nuclear weapons network led by Abdul Qadeer Khan.
The network was active in the 1980s and 1990s and involved countries including Iran, Libya, and North Korea.
Lawler recently said the CIA wants people who are dangerously on the line or straddling the line of being a sociopath.
'A good friend of mine he was an operational psychologist at the CIA and he would review the criteria for hiring more folks like me and he wondered you know how much sociopathy are we dialing in to, he said while speaking on the Julian Dorey Podcast.
'What I did is rather sociopathic. I'm manipulating people. I'm exploiting people. I found out doing it against foreigners was as hell of a lot of fun.
'Its that sociopathic part where we enjoy breaking people's laws because that's what we do we break foreign countries laws. We are convincing people to become Traders.'
He also explained that he would do virtually anything that's legal to get people in foreign countries to be spies for the US.
Lawler admitted that he had only used his 'special skills' three times, including to avoid a traffic ticket and get an upgrade to first class on an airplane.
The former CIA officer shared that he is also extremely empathic, which is the complete opposite of a full-blown sociopath.
The text of the 14th Amendment contains two requirements for acquiring automatic citizenship by birth: one must be born in the United States and be subject to its jurisdiction. The proper understanding of the Citizenship Clause therefore turns on what the drafters of the amendment, and those who ratified it, meant by “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.
...
So which understanding of “subject to the jurisdiction” did the drafters of the 14th Amendment have in mind?
Happily, we don’t need to speculate, as they were asked that very question. They unambiguously stated that it meant “complete” jurisdiction, such as existed under the law at the time, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which excluded from citizenship those born on U.S. soil who were “subject to a foreign power.”
The Supreme Court confirmed that understanding (albeit in dicta) in the first case addressing the 14th Amendment, noting in The Slaughterhouse Cases in 1872 that “[t]he phrase, ‘subject to its jurisdiction’ was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States.” It then confirmed that understanding in the 1884 case of Elk v. Wilkins, holding that the “subject to the jurisdiction” phrase required that one be “not merely subject in some respect or degree to the jurisdiction of the United States, but completely subject to their political jurisdiction, and owing them direct and immediate allegiance.”
#3
Illegals using birthright to stay at the taxpayers expense. Are benefiting from a crime they commited. US law has always disallowed criminals from getting or keeping what is taken illegally.
#4
Not just illegals. There is an entire industry around birthright tourism, where Chinese Communist Party and similar wealthy, connected husbands around the world send their wives to our shores to deliver their babies, so that the “American” kids can return here for university and work or refuge later.
That was how it worked for Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula big turban Anwar al-Awlaki,who was born here while his father was at grad school on a Fulbright scholarship.
#5
The intent was to shortstop the southern states from classifying former slaves and their children as non-citizens. I think we've move well beyond the expiration date that.
The illogical aspect of foreigners born in the US having American citizenship runs against our over half century of experience of our troops and their families overseas with births in those nations. If the principle is that where one is birthed, then those children of those servicemembers are foreigners not American citizens. However, they're considered American because at least one of the parents (or sperm/egg donor) is American which should be the same principle applied here.
#9
based upon past experience, don't assume our judges really know the law.
The executive order was always a trial balloon, to see if President Trump could do it the easy way. This shows they’ll need to push it to the Supreme Court, then if it fails there, Congress will need to pass a law. Which then will probably need to go to the Supreme Court, but this was never going to be one of the easy ones.
Reversing LBJ’s EO will probably have to go the same route, given the number of precedents and regulations based on the thing. But that was always the plan — try a presidential executive order first, then do the hard work.
atb that time "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" embraced only those who were subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States, which could not be properly said of Indians in tribal relations (e.g. they could not be taxed).
That is not true for non-citizens (legal status or not) on U.S. soil. They are (fully) subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (they have to follow all the laws of the U.S. and are taxed, of course).
As we were when we (legally) lived and worked in the U.S. Our second daughter was born in the U.S. and is, of course, a U.S. citizen (currently studying in the U.S.).
The only exception nowadays are diplomats who are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/23/2025 17:46 Comments ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Ilya Ropshin
[REGNUM] Exactly ten years ago, on January 22, 2015, after a massive artillery barrage, the Donbass militias launched an offensive on the Debaltseve arc. The battles for the capture of the city of Debaltseve, one of the largest railway hubs of the DPR, became the last episode of the "hot phase" of the Donbass conflict and culminated in the signing of the Second Minsk Agreements.
From the point of view of military strategy, the battles for Debaltseve became the largest battle of the transition period. They were very different from the 2014 campaign, some experts call them almost a manifestation of the "new Makhnovshchina" and semi-guerrilla warfare. And at the same time, they cannot be classified in scale as combat operations of the SVO. At the same time, some of the problems that emerged during the storming of Debaltseve will also emerge during the current special operation of the Russian Armed Forces.
THEATER OF OPERATIONS
The Debaltseve salient on the combat contact line was formed at the end of July 2014. At that time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to completely capture the city, which had been controlled by the Novorossiya militia since April 13. However, the success of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was incomplete. The Ukrainian military managed to cut the Donetsk-Luhansk railway, but they failed to reach the rear of Yenakiyevo and organize an offensive on Gorlovka.
In August, the militia attempted to recapture Debaltseve. However, due to the lack of coordination between the Luhansk and Donetsk militias, as well as threats to the Donbass republics from other directions, this was not possible.
By the fall of 2014, Ukraine controlled the Debaltseve salient, which jutted out to the south, encircled Gorlovka from the east, and cut off the roads between Lugansk and Donetsk. The Ukrainian group located on the salient threatened the same Gorlovka, as well as the cities of Yenakiyeve, Shakhtyorsk, Alchevsk, and Stakhanov. At the same time, the salient itself was under fire from the artillery of the Donbass republics.
It was no secret to anyone that sooner or later the militia would try to cut off the ledge.
BALANCE OF POWER
At that time, the Ukrainian group in the Debaltseve area included: units of the 128th Mountain Infantry, 25th Airborne and 17th Tank brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defense battalions from the Chernihiv, Kyiv and Kirovograd regions, police and National Guard special forces units.
As well as formations that are not formally part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: the battalion of the “Volunteer Ukrainian Corps” of the “Right Sector”* and the Chechen battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev.
On the side of the DPR and LPR, the Kalmius and Prizrak brigades fought in the battles, as well as battalion tactical groups of the 1st Army Corps of the DPR and the 2nd Army Corps of the LPR. Let us explain: after the first Minsk agreements (signed on September 5, 2014), in October, on the basis of disparate volunteer units, People's Militia corps were created - the 1st Corps of the DPR and the 2nd Corps of the LPR, respectively.
For example, the famous Sparta unit (now named after its first commander Arsen Pavlov - Motorola) became part of the 1st Corps of the DPR People's Militia. Sparta participated in the battles for Debaltsevo, among other things.
The corps of the people's republics were formed, among other things, by contract soldiers - for the men of Donbass, which was experiencing mass unemployment, this was also an opportunity to earn money.
The number of units on the opposing sides was approximately equal - according to various sources, it ranged from 7 thousand to 8-9 thousand people.
Ukraine was quickly turning Debaltseve into a powerful fortified area. The militia was replenishing its equipment reserves, especially artillery. At the same time, there were also problems related to the personnel of the opposing sides.
It would seem that Ukraine had a motivated and seasoned sergeant and junior officer corps. And many privates had already had a taste of gunpowder.
The defenders of Donbass were supposed to have already gained enough experience during the battles of the “Russian Spring” – from the defense of Slavyansk to the battles at Saur-Mogila.
However, in reality, things were not so optimistic - and not only in the aggressor's troops, but also, alas, in the ranks of the defenders of the people's republics.
PROBLEMS OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES: FREEDOM, CONFUSION AND SLOWNESS
"The Maidan activists are the worst, many of them are unemployed and have no goals in life. They joined the army but do not want to learn discipline. When I tried to teach them something, they said: who are you to teach us, I threw Molotov cocktails on the Maidan," a British citizen of Ukrainian origin, call sign Shafran, who fought near Debaltseve, complained to BBC correspondents in February 2015. He introduced himself as a "military instructor."
According to his estimates, 6 out of 10 losses among Ukrainian volunteers were the result of friendly fire and inability to properly handle weapons.
"It was clear from the start that Debaltseve would be a disaster for Ukraine, but the military command and political leaders watched it unfold with a sluggish air," the British instructor lamented.
According to him, the Ukrainian military leadership was then “so incompetent that it puts the lives of personnel at risk”: “Commanders confuse tactics with strategy, they launch offensives without warning each other, and without any strategic necessity.”
The Ukrainian volunteer units lacked coordination of actions at that time. And they had problems with communication: they used ordinary mobile phones.
At the same time, British instructor Shafran noted the high level of training of Ukrainian special forces.
MILITIA PROBLEMS: WEAKNESSES OF COMMANDERS AND FIGHTERS “BY AD”
On the other hand, the DPR and LPR corps had a problem of a different nature: poorly trained personnel.
"One of the main problems has become the individual training of soldiers, whose level of training, especially in infantry units, does not fully meet the modern requirements of combined arms combat. The main reason for this is the acute shortage of trained junior officers and sergeants at the platoon and company level," military correspondent Vladislav Shurygin stated in his blog in March 2015.
In his opinion, on average, a battalion had at best two or three platoon commanders with a military education. The shortfall had to be covered by appointing university graduates and fighters who gained experience in June–September 2014, with their subsequent accelerated training already in the units.
"But this problem was never fully resolved. As a result, during the battles the infantry had to be constantly reinforced by well-trained special forces and reconnaissance units, which were ultimately used for the most part as assault groups," Shurygin noted.
Similar difficulties were observed in tank units. Many crews had only basic driving and shooting experience, but when it was necessary to urgently fix a breakdown of a combat vehicle, problems already began. As a result, equipment was often abandoned during battles "with minimal breakdowns and damage," Shurygin stated.
The armored vehicle crews lacked experience in “team play,” which led to large and unjustified losses of equipment and personnel.
Shurygin also directly pointed out that some of the people accepted into service in September–October 2014 “actually had no other motivation for service other than material incentives.”
Andrey Morozov, the head of communications for the August Battalion of the LPR People's Militia, spoke even more harshly: "Everyone understood perfectly well how recruitment into the army by advertisements would end. It was impossible to establish any filtering or screening of recruits at the level of large units in such a short time."
Ultimately, this led to the desertion of a certain number of fighters from the DPR and LPR Armed Forces.
So, before the fighting began, the sides had enough problems. But the battle for Debaltseve still took place.
FIRST PHASE OF THE OPERATION. STRIKING AT WEAK LINKS
On January 22, Ukraine officially acknowledged the loss of Donetsk airport. On the same day, the offensive operation of the armed forces of the DPR and LPR began to eliminate the Debaltseve salient.
Initially, the plan was to cut off the salient at its "base" - near Svetlodarsk. On January 22, the militia launched artillery strikes on Debaltsevo, Olkhovatka, Redkodub, Popasnaya and Sanzharovka.
The DPR and LPR Armed Forces attempted to close the cauldron near Debaltseve with counterattacks in the direction of Svetlodarsk, but the attack was unsuccessful. In response, Ukrainian formations launched a counterattack in the direction of Troitske and Krasny Pakhar, which the militia had previously managed to recapture.
The armed forces of the Donbass republics tried to achieve success further south. On January 25, in the area of Sanzharovka, the "August" battalion attacked height 307.9. Morozov's text in "Live Journal" was dedicated to the battles for the height :
"Sanzharovka itself was really taken almost without problems. It was a great tank attack through the fog, with infantry on the armor. However, how much infantry was there? Battalion reconnaissance. A platoon, about 20 people. The motorized rifle company assigned to us according to the organization chart was partly in another place on the front at that time, partly scattered along the entire route of advance to the front, guarding rear bases and transit points."
According to the chief of communications of the August battalion, the militia artillery fire in that battle, if it was adjusted, was unsatisfactory. And then the Ukrainian military realized that the militia did not have enough infantrymen.
"There was no infantry there. Neither our own, nor that attached to one of the brigades. And the command knew that it would not be there during the attack. The tanks went to 307.9 "naked", without infantry," Morozov noted.
The militia tanks were burned. Sanzharovka itself continued to be shelled until the end of the battle for Debaltseve.
However, the armed forces of the DPR and LPR managed to drive the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the settlement of Nikishino. The Ukrainian garrison went north to Redkodub, which was later also liberated.
The Donbass republics' command also concentrated its efforts on Uglegorsk, a weak link in the Ukrainian defense. As a number of experts pointed out, the Ukrainian military prepared the fortifications there poorly, which the militias took advantage of.
The militia's goal was to organize a "small cauldron" along the line of heights that controlled the M-103 highway running northwest from Debaltseve. The highway itself came under heavy artillery fire from the Kalmius Brigade.
THE FALL OF UGLEGORSK AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARC INTO A CAULDRON
On January 26, the head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, announced the encirclement of Ukrainian units in the Debaltseve area, calling on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms in exchange for their lives.
In Debaltsevo and Uglegorsk, as well as Dzerzhinsk, a catastrophic humanitarian situation has developed: due to military action, the main water pipelines were damaged.
On January 31, the militia entered Uglegorsk. Street fighting began. On February 3, an attack began on the village of Logvinovo on the M-103 highway.
The next day, on February 4, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the parties to a ceasefire to evacuate residents of Debaltseve and other settlements. A ceasefire was declared, and more than 5,000 civilians were evacuated from Debaltseve and other settlements.
The next day, the fighting resumed. That same day, February 5, the militia established full control over Uglegorsk. It is noteworthy that at the height of the fighting for this settlement, the head of the DPR Zakharchenko visited it, which demoralized those Ukrainians who believed the official media information that the attacks on Uglegorsk were "repulsed."
Two days later, on February 7, Redkodub was liberated, and on February 9, Logvinovo. Ukrainian paratroopers tried to recapture the latter, but they failed. After that, the DPR and LPR announced that the M-103 highway was blocked.
Thus, the cauldron near Debaltseve was formed. However, the Ukrainian side did not admit this. On February 11, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak stated that "the units located in Debaltseve are receiving weapons and ammunition, there is communication and interaction with the command." But in fact, even in Ukraine itself, they did not believe in this.
FIGHTS AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF MINSK
The next morning, February 12, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to break out of Debaltseve. Logvinovo was attacked. Moreover, the attack was carried out both from within the cauldron and from outside.
By that time, negotiations had taken place in Minsk between Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. On February 12, the heads of the DPR and LPR, Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, also arrived in Minsk.
Militiamen of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on the road to Debaltseve.
As a result of the Minsk agreements signed that day, the troops of both sides were to cease fire from 00:00 Eastern European Time on February 15. Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky announced their readiness to allow the Ukrainian formations to leave the cauldron if they left behind their weapons and equipment.
In reality, the fighting did not stop. OSCE representatives who arrived to record the ceasefire were unable to get to Debaltseve. DPR leader Zakharchenko was wounded during the fighting for Debaltseve on February 17.
FEBRUARY FINALE
On the night of February 18, the Ukrainian command decided to withdraw all the blocked units from Debaltseve. Their backbone was made up of units of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade. The Ukrainians went for a breakthrough. In total, more than 2,500 people tried to leave the cauldron. The majority of them succeeded. Although three roads leading out of the city were mined and were under close fire control of the militia, the enemy had the opportunity to retreat along paths and rough terrain. But there were also prisoners and dead.
Later that day, the DPR Ministry of Defense announced that Debaltseve was under full control. And the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in turn, announced the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Debaltseve. At the same time, Poroshenko tried to claim that the withdrawal of Ukrainian units was organized, which caused criticism both in the DPR and in Ukraine itself, since it was a case of flight at random, with personal weapons, but without heavy weapons and equipment.
According to various sources, Ukraine's losses amounted to 250 people killed and 110 captured. Some authors also estimate the militia's losses at almost 240 people killed. The armed forces of the Donbass republics took quite a lot of trophies, primarily equipment and weapons. But militia officers were rather skeptical about the battles for Debaltseve.
"The offensive on Debaltseve began on the 22nd. I would call it "disgustingly planned", but I seriously doubt that anyone planned it at all. Tanks without infantry, infantry without cover, no communication between units... In general, everything ended as it should have. A week later, everyone sent their superiors to a well-known address and began coordinating actions among themselves at the grassroots level. But there were no reserves left," noted Alexey Markov, commander of the Luhansk Prizrak brigade, on February 1, 2015.
According to him, the liberation of Debaltseve, the neutralization of the Ukrainian group threatening Gorlovka, and the straightening of the front line were a victory achieved in spite of the circumstances and at a rather heavy price.
Later, in 2019, the "Coordination Center for Assistance to Novorossiya", of which Markov was a member, prepared a report "How Russia is Losing the War in Donbass". The report covered in detail the problematic aspects of the battles for Debaltseve. In particular, it discussed the personnel, their training, as well as problems with communication and coordination of the units of the Armed Forces of the Donbass republics.
Some of the problems later "surfaced" at the initial stage of the SVO. But that's a completely different story.
#1
I remember reading an article by Jerry Pournelle (from the 80es, I think) where he argued that Americans are fixated on short-term economics. Russia's history, on the other hand, is an history of generational struggles.
[FoxNews] On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 from September of 1965 (and many other similar orders and memoranda from over the decades since). Trump’s new order is true to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment. Trump’s order can be read here.
The horrible turn taken by Johnson towards "counting by race," was a deep one, a turn extended by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in the 1978 Bakke decision and only finally and fully repudiated by SCOTUS in recent years is now federal policy that can be enforced by the Civil Rights Division at DOJ and the Office of Civil Rights at Department of Education.
This is neither a "liberal" nor a "conservative" action. It is the Constitution speaking, as the Constitution was amended to eradicate the great stain of slavery after the long and bloody Civil War.
The path to the original public meaning of the 14th Amendment has taken from 1868, when the 14th Amendment was ratified, until Tuesday to complete: Citizens of the United States may not have penalties inflicted upon them or awards given them based on any immutable characteristic or religious belief. No institution, from Harvard College, founded long before the Constitution was ratified, or the local convenience store, may lawfully violate this first principle of the 14th Amendment.
Do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity or religious belief. Period.
The 19th century SCOTUS took a horrible turn in the Slaughterhouse Cases which mangled the interpretation of the 14th Amendment and then the Plessy decision and the Supreme Court righted itself in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The Congress enshrined the core principle above in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Johnson did not understand what he launched, but in the past 20 years, "counting by race, gender, sexual orientation," along with hardships and discrimination against people of faith have taken deep root in government and elite institutions.
The Supreme Court has flailed for almost 50 years to finally, and I hope irreversibly, settle on what Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King and most recently Chief Justice John Roberts has concisely and eloquently stated in the 2007 case Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 when he wrote, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
The chief justice lacked sufficient originalist allies on the highest court to infuse this bedrock principal of sound constitutional law into every fiber of government at every level of government until President Trump nominated and the United States Senate confirmed three new justices during Trump’s first term. Now the originalist majority is a solid six votes.
Trump’s executive order may be challenged. I hope it is.
The Supreme Court, built in part by President Trump, has already affirmed the original meaning of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in recent years. Let any institution challenge this new EO and they will discover it is on the firmest of constitutional grounds.
Bravo to the many hands that crafted it and especially to President Trump who signed it.
#2
This is only one of the many, many reasons why I consider Johnson the absolute worst president in my memory. Carter was inept. Obama was bad and Biden was merely a bumbling continuation of Obama. LBJ was rotten to the core.
What was it Martin Luther King said?
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
The only way to get from there to Affirmative Action is with a pandering, evil, twisted politician like Lyndon Baines Johnson. This is only one step away from his poisonous legacy. Many, many more are needed.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/23/2025 12:27 Comments ||
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump shut down Fox News' Sean Hannity with three words as he went on a tirade about President Joe Biden during the first TV interview of his second term Wednesday.
Trump spent portions of the interview expressing dismay over Biden's decision to issue preemptive pardons to some of the Democrat's family members and some of the Republican president's political enemies.
As their time came to a close, the Fox News host told Trump 'let me get to the economy' and 'I'm running out of time.'
'I don't care,' the new president responded.
He then turned back to bashing Biden's decision-making skills, including the ex-president's decision not to pardon himself.
'This is more important because right now the economy is going to do great. I'm here, so the economy - but you have to understand, he had bad advisers on almost everything,' Trump said of Biden.
Hannity interjected saying he was being yelled at for time - but Trump kept going.
'It's like in the old days when the secretary of State said he never made a correct decision on foreign policy,' Trump said, meaning to quote a former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Over the course of Hannity's hour-long program, Trump also hinted at another government agency he wanted to scrap and revealed the latest on the JFK assassination files.
But the issue of pardons was front-and-center.
In a clip shared earlier Wednesday by Fox, Trump is heard giving a cryptic warning about Biden making a mistake in not pardoning himself.
Trump repeated that point several times during the full interview with Hannity.
'The precedent that he set on pardons is amazing. That's a much bigger story but people don't like talking about it. He pardoned everybody,' Trump said. 'But he didn't pardon himself.'
'Remember this, those people that he pardoned are now mandated, because they got a pardon, to testify and they can't take the Fifth,' Trump claimed.
Hannity asked Trump if he would like to see Congress investigate Biden's pardons.
House Speaker Mike Johnson already expressed openness to that.
'I think we'll let Congress decide,' Trump said.
When talking about disaster relief, Trump suggested that he'd be open to killing FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
'All it does is just complicate everything,' he complained. 'FEMA has not done their job for the last four years.'
'Unless you have certain types of leadership, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly because I'd rather see the states take care of their own problems,' Trump said.
He then spoke glowingly of Oklahoma's 'very competent' disaster response - and how the state voted for him in the last election.
Young people are waking up: In the Harvard-Harris poll conducted a few months ago, it found 18-24-year-olds were split 50/50 on support for Israel or Hamas (left photo).
In their most recent poll (right photo), it found that 79% of them support Israel. pic.twitter.com/L652vRVh4Q
[IsraelTimes] Support for terror group highest among Democrats; 82% of all respondents back the ceasefire-hostage release agreement
Twenty-one percent of US voters support the Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... terrorist group over Israel, according to a Harvard/Harris poll conducted as the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.
One-quarter of US Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... supported Hamas, according to the survey released over the weekend. For Republicans, 19% backed the terror group, and for independent voters the number was 20%, the survey said.
Support for the gunnies was highest among 25- to 34-year-olds, at 32%. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 21% backed Hamas; in the 35-44 age group, 29%; in the 45-54 age group, 23%; in the 55-64 age group, 17%; and among those over 65, 10%.
Eighty-two percent of respondents backed the ceasefire deal. Democrats were most in favor of the agreement, at 87%, followed by Republicans, 81%, and independents, 78%. Older voters were more supportive, with 64% of 18- to 24-year-olds in favor, versus 88% of those 65 and above.
Among all voters, 57% believed Hamas agreed to the hostage deal because of the incoming Trump administration, and 43% credited the Biden administration.
Support for US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. You're a lyin' dog-faced pony soldier... ’s handling of the war declined since the conflict started, with 44% in favor in October 2023, down to 33% this month.
The poll asked Americans about their opinions on 19 domestic and foreign entities. The three least popular were Hamas, Russia and the Paleostinian Authority. Israel was ranked in the middle.
The Israel-Hamas conflict was the top personal issue for 2% of voters, and 2% said antisemitism was the most important issue facing the US.
Respondents favored the incoming Trump administration, at 53% approval rating, over Biden, whose approval rating was 39%. Support for the Republican party was 52%, compared to 41% for Democrats.
Support for Hamas has remained relatively steady throughout the war. In October 2023, shortly after the Hamas invasion of Israel that started the war, 16% of voters sided more with Hamas than Israel.
The monthly poll was carried out by Harvard University’s Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll, a US survey company.
The survey was conducted on January 15-16 and questioned 2,650 registered voters. The margin of error was 1.9%.
[IsraelTimes] History shows dangers and possible benefits of setting killers loose in West Bank or Gaza, but also points to risks that come with exiling terror leaders beyond Israel’s reach
Recent polling conducted before the clinching of a hostage release and ceasefire agreement with Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... this month found consistently high levels of support for an agreement that would free captives stuck in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... for over 15 months, even if many Israelis disagreed over the exact contours of the truce or what concessions should be on the table.
Earlier surveys conducted over the course of the war had shown significantly lower levels of support, indicating impatience had grown over the fate of the hostages and exhaustion with the war and with the mounting corpse count among Israeli soldiers still fighting in the Strip.
Hostage release deals provide a hurting nation with a sense of elation at the sight of the emotional reunions between the hostages and their families. That collective euphoria can be fleeting, though, as the realization of the price paid begins to sink in.
For Israel, that price includes nearly 2,000 Paleostinian inmates to be released for the first 33 hostages alone, with more expected to be released in exchange for the remaining hostages in the second and third stages of the agreement.
While the first stage will see several Paleostinian Lions of Islam serving multiple life sentences for murder walk free, many of the worst offenders — the "heavies" in Israeli parlance — are expected to be let go only in the latter phases of the deal.
Israel had little choice but to agree to the terms of the agreement if it wanted to recover the 97 hostages in Gaza at the time of the deal’s signing, including at least 35 bodies. While a handful were rescued by Israeli commandos, military officials had made clear that future attempts would be nearly impossible and endanger the lives of the hostages, whose conditions are deteriorating.
However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome... Israel does have choices to make regarding how best to ensure the worst released Lions of Islam are unable to repeat their deadly attacks. One of the choices is whether the freed murderers are authorized to live in the West Bank or Gaza or exiled outside the region once released.
Within the Shin Bet security service, opinions remain divided.
Israel has demanded that the most prominent murderers — those deemed certain to return to terrorist activity — be deported outside the region
However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome... some hold the view that it would be preferable to release them to the West Bank, where Israel has full operational freedom and can reach them immediately and relatively easily.
Sadly, Israel has experience to draw on.
DANGERS NEAR AND FAR
In 2011, when Israel released 1,027 prisoners for captured soldier Gilad Shalit, it allowed many of them to return to the West Bank. According to Israel, some resumed terror activities, taking advantage of their easy access to Israeli targets.
But three years later, when Israel launched a major crackdown on Hamas following the abduction and murder of Israeli teenagers Gil-ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, it was able to quickly rearrest many of them.
The seeds of that deadly kidnapping can be traced to another released Paleostinian prisoner, Saleh al-Arouri, who was let out of prison in 2010 and exiled abroad.
Working from his new home in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... member, but not the most reliable... , and later Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , Arouri established Hamas’s "West Bank headquarters," an operational hub that orchestrated dozens of attacks, including the June 2014 kidnapping of the three teenagers, which led to the 2014 war in Gaza.
Arouri was also a key figure in building up Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, leveraging his ties with Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Hezbollah.
In Lebanon, he helped establish a Hamas foothold with the tacit approval of Hezbollah, which was able to draw on Paleostinian operatives from refugee camps in Tyre as proxies.
A barrage of dozens of rockets fired at Israel in April 2023 was a show of Hamas’s capability and willingness to open another front against Israel under Hezbollah’s watchful eye.
Israel assassinated Arouri in Beirut in early January 2024, but decision-makers initially balked at attacking the senior Hamas figure due to fears of how Hezbollah would respond, underlining the downstream complexities that can arise from deporting terror leaders.
Neither Israel nor the Paleostinian Authority have disclosed what countries could take in the high-profile prisoners who are deported. Where they end up will determine how Israel may deal with them if and when these deportees return to terrorist activities. Turkey and 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... are off-limits for Israeli operations, while actions in other countries would depend on political circumstances and operational opportunities.
In Lebanon, for instance, Israel has retained a policy of taking action against any emerging threat, even after agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November.
Jerusalem has insisted on applying the same to Gaza following the war and Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to assert that both former US president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run.... and current president Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... have promised to back Israel should it return to fighting.
Israel could decide to deport some of these Lions of Islam to Gaza. That is where many of those released in the Shalit deal ended up, including Yahya Sinwar, the late Hamas leader who criminal masterminded the October 7 massacre.
THE GAZA CHALLENGE
Beyond attempting to ensure that it does not free the next Sinwar into the fecund terror environment of Gaza, Israel is also focusing on the interim goal of preventing Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities to a level that poses a renewed threat.
This can only be achieved through the tightest possible closure of smuggling routes from Egypt — a matter currently at the heart of Israeli-Egyptian negotiations in Cairo.
It’s unclear whether a proposal for a new border crossing at the Gaza-Egypt-Israel border triangle remains in play. The idea had been pushed by former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who envisioned the site being monitored by Israel, Egypt and international actors.
Israeli officials emphasize that they have not abandoned the war’s primary objective: preventing Hamas from retaining any governmental or military control. It remains an open question who could take its place, though.
Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Standing Buffalo drew a bead on his old enemy and squeezed the trigger... new challenges are being created with the looming influx of hundreds of terror convicts into the West Bank, administered by a weakened and financially drained PA.
One of Israel’s key achievements in the war has been maintaining relative stability in the West Bank, continuing security coordination with Paleostinian security forces, and preventing the eruption of another front. Nonetheless, Hamas still views the West Bank as a place where it can operate with relative ease, and Israel knows it.
Both Israel and the PA would like to clamp down on Hamas. But while the PA wants to act, it lacks the capability, thus raising major doubts about its ability to govern Gaza.
In the absence of an alternative, Hamas will fill the power vacuum. On Sunday, when transferring the three freed hostages to the Red Thingy, Hamas demonstrated that it still maintains some control over Gaza’s streets — a grip that is liable to strengthen as calm there persists.
#1
If they're released into West Bank or Gaza, they can be killed when (no ifs) returning to activity. If they're sent away, they'll end in the West - where (with few exceptions) they'll be able to attack Jews with total impunity.
#2
I criticized Britain's Keir Starmer for announcing a similar program. It just sounds like another big government boondoggle. Let this technology simmer in the private sector until it becomes a lot more clear what it can and cannot do. Maybe hand out a few grants for university or private sector research but $500 billion would be better spent reducing the national debt.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/23/2025 12:56 Comments ||
Top||
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.
..always the voice of sweet reason...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
