Friday, January 29, 2021

Obama Has To Be Cooing and High Fiving. Biden Forms Commission? What Is Rice Up To? Misguided Concessions.









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Obama has to be cooing and high fiving with Holder over the first week of their stooge's performance

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Oh well:


BREAKING: Government Agent Whose Altered Email Enabled the Russia Hoax Won't Spend a Day in Jail or Pay Any Fine

BY BRYAnPreston

The Russia hoax undermined a duly elected president and continues to divide the nation. But one of the key figures who abused the trust of the people will not face prison time, reports Fox News.

Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service Friday after pleading guilty to making a false statement in the first criminal case arising from Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

That false statement had major consequences. The altered email cast suspicion on Page and thereby Trump, and created a false justification to wiretap Page.

The judge noted all the bad outcomes Clinesmith endures as consequences of the actions he knowingly took.

“[He] lost his job, and his government service is what has given his life much of its meaning,” Boasberg said Friday. “He was also earning $150,000 a year and who knows where the earnings go now. He may be disbarred or suspended from the practice of law, you may never be able to work in the national security field again. These are substantial penalties.”

Boasberg added: “What is more, he went from being an obscure career government lawyer to standing in the eye of a media hurricane. He has been threatened, vilified and abused on a nationwide scale.”

Well, as is all too typical of government employees, he was overpaid.

What about the abuse of trust, the destruction of the FBI’s reputation, undermining the FISA court system, and the Russia hoax Clinesmith enabled and which still infects millions of American minds to this day?

“Altering the email has forever changed the course of my life,” Clinesmith said. “I have lost the means to provide for my growing family…lost the ability to give back to my nation… the shame and remorse will stay with me forever.”

The Trump presidency was not allowed to get off to anything like a normal start and was undermined by this case for most of its four years. Trump never truly overcame it despite being exonerated by the Mueller report, which found no American anywhere colluded with the Russians to impact the 2016 election.

Politico reports the prosecutors wanted Clinesmith to spend time in jail.

While prosecutors urged the judge to send Clinesmith to prison to send a message to others in government not to try something similar, Boasberg said he believed that message had already been sent.

Another message has been sent. Clinesmith will be the only Russia hoax figure prosecuted and he need not worry. Some left-wing foundation will give him a do-nothing job before long. Or CNN or MSNBC will give him an on-air analyst role.

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Democrats and civility is like oil and water:

Democrats Want a ‘Return to Civility’; When Did They Practice It?

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Did Biden warn his family to clam up?

Biden reportedly warned family about business dealings before election: 'For Christ's sake, watch yourself'
President Biden, before the presidential election, reportedly told his family to "watch yourself" about their business dealings, Politico reported, as their various financial entanglements came under scrutiny.

Read in Fox News: https://apple.news/APso0VuMTRP-f23HDByPFsg

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Is Holder setting Biden up to nominate Obama in order to radicalize The SCOTUS?  Sounds radical doesn't it. Ho Ho Ho.

After Claiming He’s ‘Not a Fan,’ Biden Forms a Commission to PACK the Supreme Court

Joe Biden has begun staffing a commission that would examine reforming the Supreme Court and the federal court system... 

 

Read More »


And:

Deciphering Biden's  inauguration speech.


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The True Meaning of Biden's Inaugural Address Revealed


Biden's Inaugural Address Explained

Read Here

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As blacks move toward greater "equity," whatever that means, many are joining groups that are increasingly petulant toward those who are addressing the past since those who created the wrongs are dead and therefore  unreachable. Attacking/rioting against those present is creating animosity  which eventually will result in a backlash which will make racial divisions even wider. Any vacuum created will eventually be filled by radical elements which weakened law enforcement will be unable to control much less subdue.


Ignored disorder is the equivalent of W.D 40.  It helps pave the way for rash and misguided legislation on which progressives thrive.


Whether this is Susan Rice's goal I have no way of knowing but I believe this is where her policies will lead.


Meanwhile, Biden's passivity is assembling the kindle pile which will later be ignited by uncontrolled mobs:


 

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Salena comments on populism:


Inside the populist coalition reshaping America

By Salena Zito

In 2018 when Brad Todd and I wrote The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics we warned at the end of the book populism was not going to stop at politics; the demand for cultural respect and the siege-like defiance of the loudest voices in American corporate and society was going to impact every aspect of American life and it was not just limited to conservative voters.
Those who read the book have flooded with me in the past few days saying we didn’t just understand what was happening with voters we understood what was happening in culture and what what happened with GameStop is part of it. 
If you haven’t read the book I highly recommend you do now not because we wrote it but because it has so many insights in it that are so important in understanding our present culture. 


Click here for the full story.

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Concessions to bullies never works but Biden keeps on trying:

Why Biden’s concessions to the Palestinians hurt, rather than help them

The foreign-policy establishment’s support for UNRWA and toleration of a corrupt Fatah are part of the reason why Palestinian political culture remains broken and unable to make peace.

The Biden administration’s first Middle East decisions make clear what was always obvious about the new president’s intentions: the foreign-policy establishment is back in charge in Washington. That’s led to a flurry of moves about U.S. policy towards the Palestinians that, predictably, have a lot of pro-Israel activists up in arms. However, the people who should really be upset are not those most concerned about the Jewish state; rather, it should be those who are worried about the plight of the Palestinians.

By that, I don’t refer to leading Israel-bashers in politics or members of the media who give credence to lies like the blood libel that Israel is denying the COVID-19 vaccine to Palestinians. I’m not even talking about supporters of the BDS movement whose aim is to destroy Israel and who are one of the leading practitioners of anti-Semitism in America. Nor am I discussing those who engage in anti-Israel propaganda under the guise of advocacy for human rights.

When I say those who actually care about the Palestinians, I’m focusing on those who understand that Palestinian leaders—the corrupt “moderates” of Fatah who run the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Hamas terrorists who operate the independent Palestinian state in all but name in Gaza—have betrayed them for generations. It also applies to those who point out that so many of their problems stem from the U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA)—a body that is dedicated to keeping millions of people stuck in limbo as “refugees” rather than help them find new homes or better lives.

The point being that for those who are just fine using Palestinians as props in a pointless hundred years war against Zionism, then a shift back to the policies embraced by the foreign-policy establishment is great news.

As expected, the Biden administration announced this week that it is reversing some of the key changes made in American Middle East policy by former President Donald Trump. Among them is a resumption of diplomatic relations with the P.A., as well as aid to the Palestinians. That news—made in a speech by Richard Mills, the acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations—was cheered by the Fatah government led by Mahmoud Abbas. And it was accompanied by a promise to rededicate American policy to the goal of a two-state solution.

The United States won’t be moving its embassy back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem. But the Trump “Peace to Prosperity” plan is off the table. It’s also likely that at some point, the State Department will also reverse the Trump-era ruling that correctly stated that Jewish communities in the West Bank are not illegal.

That’s all good news for those who hope that President Joe Biden will pressure Israel to make unilateral concessions in order to tempt the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. That’s despite the fact that no one in Washington, Jerusalem or Ramallah thinks Abbas is interested in negotiating an end to the conflict, no matter what the Israelis offered him.

Biden’s choices show that he has learned nothing from the mistakes made during the Clinton and Obama administrations. Reports that a determined appeaser like Robert Malley will take on the Iran portfolio is troubling. So is the fact that a former BDS activist has been tapped for a top intelligence post.

Just as bad is the news that he is halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. That means that an element of the normalization deal that the UAE struck with Israel is being tossed out by a Biden administration that regards the Abraham Accords as a distraction from an effort to satisfy the Palestinians.

The shift from historic levels of support under Trump to the traditional relationship in which the United States is as eager to strong-arm Israel on the Palestinians and Iran is troubling. Yet Biden does not appear to have had any conversations with leaders in the Middle East. With so much else on his plate, another futile quest for two states is the last thing he needs, and the president may know that.

Why then should we care about the gestures toward the P.A.?

These moves are a terrible idea not so much because they weaken Israel, but because they send the signal that the United States has gone back to tolerating the exploitation of the Palestinian people.

Trump sought to hold Abbas accountable for his financial support for terrorism and his ongoing refusal to negotiate peace with Israel was applying to the Palestinians. That was precisely the kind of tough love the establishment was always preaching with respect to the Jewish state in spite of Israel’s willingness to negotiate and to even make concessions for peace. Pressuring Israel did more to encourage Palestinian intransigence than anything else. Pressuring, rather than appeasing the Palestinians is the only path to peace.

Resuming funding to UNRWA sounds like a humanitarian gesture that will help Palestinians who were left in need by a supposedly mean-spirited Trump. But the truth is just the opposite. It is UNRWA that perpetuates the suffering of the Palestinians. The only way to solve the problem of the only population of refugees—or rather, the descendants of refugees—is to dismantle the institution that has helped keep them homeless.

Equally ill-considered is the resumption of aid to the P.A.

This will be tricky for Biden since U.S. law prohibits aid to the P.A. as long as it pays salaries and pensions to terrorists and their families. So what we will see is some sleight of hand move by Abbas’s corrupt government that will claim the money spent on terror is for welfare payments or from some other budget line. Either way, it will be a lie and much to Biden’s discredit if he accepts it.

The problem is not just the idea of the administration flouting the law or its willingness to appease Abbas, who has vowed never to give up the payments. It’s that the Palestinians will never give up their support for terror as long as the international community tolerates it.

Israel will survive, as it did from 2009 to 2017, with even a hostile American administration, even as it is to be hoped that Biden won’t repeat Obama’s mistakes or make worse ones.

But a U.S. government that goes back to tolerating Fatah and Hamas misrule, and U.N. support for the war on Israel dooms the Palestinian people to suffering more than anything else. As regional support for the Abraham Accords proved, the rest of the Arab world has given up on them and has decided not to let their security and economic interests be held hostage to a Palestinian movement incapable of making peace.

If Biden and his team of establishment know-it-alls actually cared about the Palestinians, they’d be doubling down on Trump’s policies rather than reversing them.

Four years of more of the same policies that failed prior to 2017 will be applauded by those who hate Israel or profit from Palestinian corruption. The “experts” who think their misguided foreign-policy theories are more important than reality will also be comforted. But those who view the plight of a people who have been led into a forever war they cannot win with sympathy must regard Biden’s moves with dismay.


And:

The following story is brought to you courtesy of The Washington Free Beacon. Click the link to visit their page and see more stories.

The Biden administration will have to walk a fine line when it resumes U.S. aid to the Palestinians due to an American law that blocks funding until they end a policy known as “pay to slay,” in which Western aid money is used to care for imprisoned terrorists and their families.

Republican lawmakers say a resumption in U.S. aid to the Palestinians could violate the Taylor Force Act, which mandates the Palestinian government stop using Western aid dollars to pay terrorists and their families. Congressional leaders told the Washington Free Beacon they will be closely watching the administration to ensure it does not violate U.S. law. The State Department maintains any resumption in aid will be done in compliance with the law, which does include exemptions for humanitarian assistance.

The Biden administration’s decision sets up an early showdown between the State Department and Congress over the future of U.S. foreign policy regarding the Palestinians and their continued support for terrorism. The Free Beacon first reported in October that the Palestinian government has continued paying terrorists despite the passage three years ago of the Taylor Force Act, according to findings that were published in a non-public State Department report sent to Congress.

“The resumption of any U.S foreign assistance that indirectly funds the Palestinian Authority’s pay-for-slay terrorist program would violate U.S. law, betray our Israeli partners, and put Americans living in or visiting Israel in harm’s way,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) told the Free Beacon.

A State Department official said the new administration would “fully comply with U.S. law, including the Taylor Force Act,” when it resumes U.S. aid to the Palestinians but did not outline any specific projects or causes that might receive funding. U.S. aid will be spent on economic development projects and humanitarian causes, the official said.

The Biden administration maintains that President Donald Trump’s hardline policy on U.S. aid “neither produced political progress nor secured concessions from the Palestinian leadership,” as it was meant to do. “It has only harmed innocent Palestinian people, while undermining the credibility of the U.S. as an honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the State Department official said.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) told the Free Beacon the Taylor Force Act is vital to ensuring that American taxpayer dollars do not fund terrorists and their families.

“In the absence of change, it is insane that we would unilaterally resume this assistance and in so doing, risk being complicit in these horrific actions,” Gallagher said.

Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the Treasury Department, said an immediate resumption in U.S. aid to the Palestinians will void “any leverage that we might have had on this issue, and it’s lamentable because I think this is a reasonable ask of the Palestinian Authority to stop pay to slay.”

The Biden administration is also seeking to reopen Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington, D.C., which were shuttered in large part as punishment for the ongoing pay-to-slay program.

David Friedman, the Trump administration’s ambassador to Israel, said on Twitter that a reopening of these diplomatic offices “is against federal law,” as the Palestinians are “still paying terrorists.”

And:

We've got diversity, transgender happenings, rioting and increased unemployment and that should be comforting but stupidity seems to be winning.

The White House's Reaction to the GameStop Frenzy







The White House refused to answer questions about the populist revolt happening against Wall Street and whether Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will recuse herself from advising President Biden about GameStop and Robinhood.

Robinhood and other trading platforms on Thursday restricted GameStop, AMC, and a number of other names to “position closing only” so traders were not able to buy more shares, only sell their existing holdings. On Friday, the company began allowing limited buys. 

According to RealClearPolitics, this move came after Yellen was reportedly “on the phone all day Wednesday talking to key players involved in all aspects of the scandal.”

She has been paid more than $800,000 in speaking fees by Citadel, the hedge fund that bailed out one of the biggest losers in the GameStop buying spree.

But Psaki, responding to a reporter’s question about Yellen’s possible recusal, wouldn’t say one way or the other.

“To be clear, what I said is that the Treasury Secretary is now confirmed. Obviously, we have a broader economic team. The FCC put out a statement yesterday that I referred to," she said. "I don't have anything further for you on it, except for to say, separate from this GameStop issue, the Treasury Secretary is a world-renowned expert on the economy. It should not be a surprise to anyone that she was paid to give her expert advice before she came into office."

The press secretary also had nothing to say about what the administration is doing to “protect the average American investor if there’s going to be, potentially a major market correction,” referring the reporter instead to an SEC statement, noting the commission is “monitoring the ongoing market volatility.”

On Wednesday, when Psaki was asked if the White House was “concerned” about the stock market situation, the press secretary responded by touting that Yellen is the first female Treasury Secretary and the situation is being monitored.  

Fox News’s Tucker Carlson offered a translation of that response during his Thursday program.

“Janet Yellen has nothing to say about Reddit or GameStop, short selling or even the dangerously corrupt condition of American finance,” he said. “More broadly, she hasn't thought about those things and probably doesn't even care. Janet Yellen herself has made millions from hedge funds, including from funds that lost money to the Reddit guys. But we'd like to remind you that Janet Yellen is a woman and so are many of the people around her. These brave leaders have broken glass ceilings. They are empowered, and that's enough. We can't give you an answer. We won't improve your life. But we do have diversity, so you should be happy.”

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Schumer the hypocrite!


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