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More tragedies, this time north of our border. (See 1 below.)
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Schumer can cry, can bluff can be obstreperous . He will only wind up being a buffoon. Tuesday evening Trump will go on TV at 8PM, EST and announce who he will submit to replace Justice Scalia. (See 2 below.)
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I finished "Three Days in January" and it left me with a greater understanding and appreciation of "Ike." Ii is obvious historians need to revisit his presidency in view of the history that has followed his eight years in office. He was very prescient.
This leads me to the chapters in the book pertaining to Eisenhower's advice to Kennedy and the ensuing Bay of Pigs and how Kennedy and his crowd entered the presidency full of hope and bravado.
One could also draw some analogies between Kennedy and Trump in this regard but one can also see Trump's view of Putin in terms of Eisenhower's desire and need to seek accommodation with Russia. Whether there will be close parallels remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
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I had an interesting chat with Elliott Abrams over the weekend about his upcoming presentation Tuesday, Feb 21, at The SIRC's President Dinner at The Plantation Club.
Elliott is still unsure of whether he will be tapped to join the Trump administration and that will impact the nature of his talk but he is preparing a very insightful and serious presentation regardless of his personal situation and I look forward to an interesting evening.
Over the years we have had some memorable speakers address us and I have no doubt Elliott's will be comparable.
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Dick
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1)
RED ALERT: Liberal Canadian PM Trudeau Tells Refugees To Come To Canada If USA Doesn’t Want You, Then DISASTER Strikes
A suspect in the Quebec mosque killings surrendered because he ‘felt bad’ about the attack after he and a second man had shot six people dead, it has been claimed.
Gunmen opened fire on worshippers as they prayed at Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center at around 8pm last night in an attack branded ‘cowardly’ and ‘barbaric’.
Witnesses claimed the masked attackers shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ in what sounded like a Quebecois accent as they went on the rampage, killing six and leaving eight injured.
Police have arrested two people but the investigation is ongoing. One suspect was detained at the mosque and the other was caught after a chase that ended near l’île d’Orléans around 15 miles from the scene.
There are reports this morning that one suspect called emergency services to ‘confess to his crime’ because he ‘felt bad’ about the atrocity.
According to Le Soleil, his Mitsubishi was pursued towards Félix-Leclerc highway before the 27-year-old driver stopped the vehicle himself. He is said to have had at least one handgun and two weapons ‘that resembled AK-47s’ on his back seat.
This morning, one of the victims was named as Abdelkrim Hassen, a married father of three who worked in IT for the government. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described the mass killing as a ‘terrorist attack on Muslims’.
There are reports this morning of the ‘carnage’ that unfolded inside the mosque.
Hamid Nadji said friends inside the building had told him one victim ‘had a weapon discharged in his face’ when he tried to jump on an attacker.
‘Three others died because they wanted to catch the man,’ Nadji said, adding that he had been told one assailant left the mosque twice to reload his weapon.
Earlier, a witness said that up to three gunmen had burst in to the mosque, firing on about 50 worshippers. Most of those inside the building were men praying on the ground floor while women and children were upstairs, it has been reported.
‘Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims & their families,’ Trudeau wrote on Twitter.
‘I’ve just spoken with Premier Philippe Couillard and am being briefed by our officials. We have offered any and all assistance needed.’
The deadly shooting unfolded following a weekend which has seen President Donald Trump’s divisive and controversial ‘Muslim immigration ban’ spark widespread protests across America. Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau had insisted that his country remains open to all immigration.
He tweeted: ‘To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength.’
A large number of heavily armed police responded to the scene and according to local media the president of the mosque said that dozens were injured. Police have secured the perimeter and occupants have been evacuated according to Le Soleil.
‘There are many victims … there are deaths,’ a Quebec police spokesman told reporters.
Québec Sgt. Christine Coulombe said the victim’s ages range from 35 to 70.
Earlier, a witness told CBC’s French-language service Radio-Canada suggest that as many as three shooters began firing. About 39 people are said to have escaped unharmed.
Police put up a security perimeter around the mosque and initially declined to comment to reporters about the incident.
‘Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,’ said the mosque’s president, Mohamed Yangui. The motive for the attack is not yet clear.
Ali Hamadi said he left the mosque a few minutes before the shooting. He said his friend and co-worker Abdelkrim Hassen, who worked in IT for the government, was killed. He said Hassen has three daughters and a wife. He got the neighbor to bring the wife to the hospital so she could hear the news.
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2)Marc Thiessen: Senate Democrats are bluffing, they are powerless to block Trump's Supreme Court nominee
Editor's note: The following column is adapted from a column which originally appeared on AEIdeas.org, the blog of the American Enterprise Institute.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened to stonewall Donald Trump’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, telling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Schumer said: “It’s hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support.” When Maddow asked, “You will do your best to hold the seat open?” Schumer replied, “Absolutely.”
The fact is, Senate Democrats are powerless to stop Trump from appointing and confirming a rock-ribbed conservative to replace Scalia.
Here is what Trump should tell Schumer in so uncertain terms:
- As you know, I have put out a list of 21 judges from which I will choose my nominee to fill Justice Scalia’s seat. One of those judges will be my nominee. And that nominee will be confirmed by the United States Senate.
- I sincerely hope that he or she will be confirmed with bipartisan support.
- But if you are under the impression, as you suggested in a recent interview, that you can block my nominee and hold the seat open, I have news for you: That isnot going to happen.
- In 2013 Senate Democrats invoked the “nuclear option” and changed Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster for lifetime judicial appointments to the federal circuit courts. You did it so you could fill the federal bench with liberal judges using Democratic votes alone.
- Well, if you try to obstruct my nominee, I will have no choice but to follow the precedent you set and apply those very same rules to Supreme Court nominees – which means we can confirm my nominee with Republican votes alone.
- I don’t want to do that. I would prefer to keep the current Senate rules intact. But if you attempt to block my nominee, I will have no choice.
- And if you force me to do that, it not only means that those rules will apply to this Supreme Court nomination, but also to any future Supreme Court nominations I make.
- I know that you have to put on a show of opposition for your base, but I want us all to be clear what the outcome is going to be here. My nominee will be confirmed.
- For you, victory is not defeating my nominee. For you, victory is seeing my nominee confirmed with the filibuster preserved.
- Any questions?
In his inaugural address, Trump promised “we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people.” That starts with the Supreme Court.
Marc Thiessen is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) where he studies and writes about American presidential leadership and counterterrorism. He also writes about general US foreign and defense policy issues and contributes to the AEIdeas blog. A member of the White House senior staff under President George W. Bush, Thiessen served as chief speechwriter to the president and to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Before joining the Bush administration, Thiessen spent more than six years as spokesman and senior policy adviser to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC). A weekly columnist for The Washington Post, Thiessen is also a contributor to Fox News, appearing several nights a week on “The Kelly File.” His book on the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation program, “Courting Disaster” (Regnery Press, 2010), is a New York Times bestseller. Thiessen is also the coauthor, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, of “Unintimidated” (Sentinel, 2013). Thiessen has done postgraduate studies at the Naval War College and has a B.A. from Vassar College
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