Avoid war at all costs, including your freedom. (See 1 below.)
And:
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I wrote this on Tuesday, March 13, at 9 PM, Savannah time. The Pa. polls closed about an hour ago and I do not know who won the special House Seat race but one thing becomes clear to me. Trump may have lost some of his popularity because of the way he acts, because of his coarse and ego- centric personality but he has accomplished, or is trying to, much of what he promised he would when he campaigned. Yet, he seems to have very short coat tails and that is, I believe, because it is all about him even when he campaigns for others.
He is not an ideologue, as such, so whatever popularity he may have does not rub off on the Republican Party or its candidates necessarily.
At some point it may dawn on him that he will be impeached should the Republicans lose the House but I doubt , even if he tried, he can turn the tide.
The anti-Trumpers have put the bad mouth on him, with his help, and I believe it will be difficult if not impossible to erase . The Democrats are energized, negativism will bring them out and mid-term history is on their side.
Even if the Republican candidate wins in Pa. the mass media will portray his win as a loss because in the presidential election Trump won by 20%.
Trump is the Rodney Dangerfield of politics. He just can't get any respect. I find that sad because his policies and accomplishments have basically been positive. Being bigger than life, apparently, has its downfalls when you have been bitten by the bad mouth.
Meanwhile, Hillary continues traveling around the world bashing white Americans because they did not like her, found her unattractive and she is unable to go quietly.
She continues to be her loathsome self.
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If Yale Hirsch's Almanac holds true the increasingly volatile but upward market trends will continue through April and then the historical decline and/ or flat lining in the market will begin and last through September.
One cannot rule out the impact the N Korean negotiations hold for the market, a possible war in the Middle East or even a confrontation between American forces and Russians in The Middle East.
The bottle is spinning and no one can predict where it lands.
And:
More political corruption. (See 2 below.)
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Did Tillerson walk off the plantation?
Every president has a right to build a team that is loyal, executes his policy and should be on the same page. If that person disagrees with his boss (the president) they should express their view in private and directly. Telling others publicly your boss is a moron is not conducive to retaining both your respect as well as you job.(see 3 below.)
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Clapper should be in the clapper. (See 4 and 4a below.)
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Dick
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1)WAR, NORTH KOREA AND THE ART OF THE DEAL
One of the many wonders of progressive folk is their, ah, flexibility. It’s an article of faith for the modern progressive that war must be avoided at all costs. War is uncivilised, barbaric, a throwback to a brutal past and never solves anything (yes yes, I know, presumably Nazi Germany wasn’t solved either…).
Instead of war we must substitute conflict resolution, negotiation, soft power. That’s why the supremely civilised EU and the even more supremely civilised UK have downgraded their military capacity. So should an enemy (let’s pick as an example, oooh, I don’t know, say Russia, strictly hypothetically of course) attack or threaten them, Britain or the EU wouldn’t have the means to defeat it.
Britain’s desperate military decline and vulnerability have been highlighted in recent months by senior military types. They’ve warned that the army is “20 years out of date”, the Royal Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capability is inadequate and there are currently “existential risks” to the UK which the armed forces are unable adequately to tackle.
Putin
The new head of the army, General Sir Nick Carter, has also warned that Britain “
Vladimir Putin, eh? Would that be the same Putin who is suspected of being behind the attempted murder last week of a retired KGB double agent and his daughter, who are said to have been poisoned by a lethal and rare nerve agent in the peaceful English country town of Salisbury? Would that be the same Putin who, as Claudia Rosett writes here in a chilling analysis, is now threatening to embroil the major powers in direct global conflict?
Well yes, it would. Which is why the attempted sabre-rattling by the British government, threatening that it might well take condign action against rogue-state Russia, is no more than the rattling of British ministerial teeth. When he looks at the enfeebled state of British military power, Putin must be laughing all the way to the biological weapons facility.
North Korea
That’s because we’re too civilised to do war any more; remember? Yet now look at the reaction from our most super-civilised progressives to President Trump’s decision to accept the North Korean dictator Kim Yong-un’s invitation to meet personally to discuss de-nuclearisation. Did the west’s finest give Trump any credit for doing conflict resolution – you know, that forward-thinking, mature approach – rather than bombing Pyongyang?
They did not. It was appeasement, it was a trap, there could be no negotiation with such a man, it would only be to Kim’s advantage, he would play Trump and the west for suckers, Trump’s decision showed he was totally out of control, side-stepped all normal procedures, a wild bull in the nuclear china shop, and so on and on.
So if talking is a no-no and bombing is a no-no, what exactly do these super-civilised progressives suggest should be done to defuse the threat posed by Kim Jong-un?
Silence.
Art of the deal
Much has been made of the apparent “confusion” in the Trump administration over whether or not the President attached sufficient conditions to this prospective meeting. Whatever. The fact remains that Kim Jong-un has moved his position, and has done so out of at least some degree of weakness. He is now prepared to talk about de-nuclearisation which he was not prepared to do until now. That’s pretty stunning.
This volte-face cannot rationally be said to have nothing to do with Trump’s aggressive approach to the North Korean impasse. In addition to ramping up the bellicose rhetoric and threats of military action, Trump has slapped punitive sanctions on North Korea and put intense pressure on Kim’s great protector, China – where Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs on imported steel will have also struck a particular chill.
So it seems overwhelmingly likely that Kim believes he must now head Trump off. That’s a sign of weakness. Of course – if this meeting actually happens, which is far from certain – he will almost certainly try to do so through deceit, by making commitments he has no intention of keeping. And the experience of the appalling Iran nuclear deal demonstrates all too clearly the suicidal folly of negotiating with those committed to a non-negotiable agenda.
But it is Kim who has blinked first. And Trump might just pull this one off – but only assuming he has the correct deal in mind (big if).
For the deal should not be over Kim’s undertaking to de-nuclearise. That won’t happen, for all the reasons we know. The deal should be over the terms of Kim’s departure.
The art of this deal is surely to convince Kim that, whatever he decides to do, he’s over. Either he chooses to be over by departing with safe passage for himself and his family, or he chooses to be over as the result of US sanctions. Or, ultimately, bombardment.
In other words, Trump should sit down with Kim not to negotiate but to deliver an ultimatum. The key factor is that both Kim and, even more crucially, his Chinese patrons must believe that when Trump says he will otherwise destroy North Korea, he means it.
In other words, war is a key element in the art of the geopolitical deal. And Britain and Europe have ensured that only the US now has it.
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2)
Dem Staffer CONVICTED On Three
Counts Of Corruption
The corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, the former chief of staff of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has come to an end. Percoco was convicted on three felony counts of bribery and corruption and is now facing up to 20 years in prison.
During the trial that lasted a month and a half, prosecutors were able to reveal just how steeped in corruption Percoco was. The Buffalo News has the specifics on Percoco's conviction.
Percoco was convicted of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and solicitation of bribes and gratuities in connection with a low-show job given to his wife by an energy company with a downstate power plant interest before the Cuomo administration. Percoco got nearly $300,000 in bribes through the scheme. Another $35,000 came his way in 2014 from a Syracuse development firm while he was, for eight months, off the state payroll running Cuomo's re-election campaign.
The prosecutors also focused on Percoco's close relationship with Gov. Cuomo. The pair were apparently so close that Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Boone stated, "Getting a call from Percoco was like getting a call from the governor himself."
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3)
Tillerson Fired Over Rogue Bid to Save Iran Nuke Deal
State Department efforts to undermine White House agenda sparked firing
BY:
The abrupt firing Tuesday of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson follows months of infighting between the State Department and White House over efforts by Tillerson to save the Iran nuclear deal and ignore President Donald Trump's demands that the agreement be fixed or completely scrapped by the United States, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.
In the weeks leading up to Tillerson's departure, he had been spearheading efforts to convince European allies to agree to a range of fixes to the nuclear deal that would address Iran's ongoing ballistic missile program and continued nuclear research.
While Trump had prescribed a range of fixes that he viewed as tightening the deal's flaws, Tillerson recently caved to European pressure to walk back these demands and appease Tehran while preserving the deal, according to these sources. The Free Beacon first disclosed this tension last week in a wide-ranging report.
White House allies warned Tillerson's senior staff for weeks that efforts to save the nuclear deal and balk on Trump's key demands regarding the deal could cost Tillerson his job, a warning that became reality Tuesday when Trump fired Tillerson by tweet
Tillerson will be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, a former member of Congress who established a record as being tough on Iran and echoing many of the policies called for by Trump. Insiders expect Pompeo to take a much harder line on the nuclear deal and pursue many of the fixes advocated by Trump, such as outlawing Iran's ballistic missile program and instating fierce repercussions for any future breach.
While Tillerson's exit had been rumored for months, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation said the former secretary's repeated attempts to balk the White House and pursue his own diplomatic strategy, particularly regarding Iran, triggered his sudden exit.
Sources with knowledge of the matter said the White House informed Tillerson on Friday that Trump was seeking to make a change.
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and vocal opponent of the nuclear deal, said he expects Pompeo to more faithfully execute Trump's policies regarding Iran.
"President Trump has been clear that the Iran deal is terrible policy and has sought ways to hold Iran accountable," DeSantis told the Free Beacon. "With Mike Pompeo, Trump will have a Secretary of State who sees the threat posed by the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and by Tehran in a similar light as he does."
One veteran Iran policy expert who is close to the White House and worked repeatedly with the State Department told the Free Beacon that Tillerson worked to save the Iran deal as Trump was publicly advocating to scrap the agreement.
This tension between the White House and Foggy Bottom came to a head in recent days, prompting Trump to fire Tillerson and bring in Pompeo, an official who Trump believes will pressure European allies to more seriously fix a range of flaws in the nuclear deal.
"Tillerson staked his position on saving the Iran deal by threading the needle. He promised the president he could strengthen it enough to be good, but not so much the Europeans would backlash or the Iranians would bolt," said the source, who would only speak about the sensitive matter on background. "That was always going to be tricky, then it became impossible, then it became embarrassing. The Europeans weren't giving us enough on missiles and were refusing to budge on sunsets. And so here we are."
Opponents of the Iran deal on Capitol Hill welcomed the news of Tillerson's exit, telling the Free Beacon that as the deadline approaches for the United States and European allies to fix the Iran deal, Pompeo can help push Trump's hardline stance.
"As the deadline approaches to fix the Iran Deal, Tillerson's departure is welcome news. We need our top diplomat to share the president's view on the disastrous nature of the JCPOA, and CIA Director Pompeo is the right man for the job," said one senior congressional official who works on the Iran issue. "Hopefully now our European partners understand the president's resolve and will work with us to permanently prevent Iran from going nuclear."
Shortly after Trump fired Tillerson, the former secretary's spokesman issued a statement claiming Tillerson was not sure of the reason for his dismissal.
"The secretary did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason," Steve Goldstein, undersecretary for public diplomacy, told reporters. Goldstein was fired later in the day due to his statement.
Sebastian Gorka, a former strategist and Deputy Assistant to President Trump, told the Free Beacon the White House had been laying the groundwork for Tillerson's departure since at least December of last year.
"This has been in the planning phase since at least December of last year and should come as a surprise to nobody," Gorka said. "The great things that were expected of Rex, especially in changing the America last culture at Foggy Bottom, did not happen, so this is a natural move."
Gorka praised Pompeo's work as CIA director and said "similar things are expected of him at the State Department."
Additionally, Gorka said, Pompeo "is loyal to the make American great again agenda."
Tillerson had been a source of tension for some time, according to insiders who explained the situation to the Free Beacon. The former Exxon executive gained a reputation for isolating top U.S. diplomats and even failing to return phone calls from senior officials such as David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
"There were serious problems, not only with Rex Tillerson isolating the Trump political appointees at State from his front office, but this was a secretary of state who wouldn't even return the calls of senior diplomats like our ambassador in Israel, and as such, his position was untenable."
Trump publicly acknowledged the discord in comments about the firing, saying that he and Tillerson did not often see eye-to-eye on key foreign policy matters.
Sources with knowledge of the president's thinking said that Tillerson's exit marks an effort by Trump to rid his administration of so-called "establishment figures" who openly worked at a crossroads with the president.
Tillerson's view that abandoning the nuclear deal would cause international tumult was cited by these sources as a key source of tension.
One senior former U.S. official with direct knowledge of the situation told the Free Beacon that Tillerson failed to properly read Trump's policy directives.
"It's very indicative of Tillerson to hear that he was surprised by the news because he has misread the president, failed to see cues all along, on policy and personal issues and has literally been in the dark from day one," said the official, who would only speak on background.
As Tillerson pursued his own agenda, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley emerged as one of Trump's most vocal boosters on Iran policy and efforts to scrap the deal.
"She stepped in that vacuum," said the former senior official. "She, to her credit, read the vacuum that the State Department had made with having Rex there."
At the end of the day, Tillerson failed to galvanize even his own staff behind his diplomatic efforts.
"I've watched so many secretaries of state come in, and even if I didn't agree with them, they had a base of support somewhere," noted the former official, who spent time working in the State Department. "I struggle to know what was Rex Tillerson's base of support. The elites in Washington didn't like him, the policy wonks didn't like him … he didn't have an audience with anyone, so it was inevitable he was going to be done."
Other White House insiders echoed this sentiment, telling the Free Beacon that Tillerson emerged as a roadblock to Trump's foreign policy strategy.
"Tillerson was an establishment figure, like Gary Cohn, and the president seems after a year to be tiring of them," said one source with knowledge of the matter. "He wants people closer to his own views. I think Tillerson's opposition on Jerusalem was a factor: it's not just that he opposed Trump but that he predicted violent reactions that didn't happen."
"I've got to figure that made the president wonder why he needed more such advice," the source said. "Same for the JCPOA and Tillerson's view that getting out of it would be a calamity."
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4)THE OBAMINABLE JAMES CLAPPER
I don’t think anyone is too surprised.
Clapper ended up on CNN. And usually there’s some sort of preexisting relationship there. Government insiders cultivate media contacts. They build up a relationship by leaking the information they want out there. And there’s the understanding that when they leave the government, there might be some sort of expert or commentator slot available for them. Not always, but if they’re important enough.
And as Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper was certainly important.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper allegedly leaked information to CNN early last year regarding the classified briefings given to then President-Elect Donald Trump and President Barrack Obama on the salacious dossier claiming the Russians had compromising information on the president-elect, according to government sources, who noted the evidence of the leak was collected during the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation.
Clapper, who was one of four senior Obama administration officials to attend the briefing with the presidents, also stated his “profound dismay at the leaks” in an official statement issued in January, 2017 and warned that the leaks were “extremely corrosive and damaging” to national security, according to his press release.
And he was shocked at all the gambling going on in Rick’s Cafe.
The dossier, which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, at the behest of embattled research firm Fusion GPS, was already being shopped around by Steele to journalists in Washington as early as the summer of 2016, according to reports. At the time, journalists who had heard of the dossier were reluctant to publish the findings because of its unverified content. “[Clapper] gave the dossier legs and news agencies began to publish its contents because it had now become official news…”
But it was when CNN published the first report that Trump and Obama had been briefed the dossier’s findings that other news agencies began to report on it. The committee found evidence that Clapper, who is now a contributor at CNN, contacted CNN shortly before the story was published by Tapper, Evan Perez, and Jim Sciutto.
"Our constitutional republic is being shaken to its foundation by corrupt unelected officials like James Clapper who conspire to undermine a duly elected president."
As the House Intelligence Committee on Monday announced its findings that there was no collusion between Team Trump and Russia. More evidence of the collusion between Deep State swamp creatures and a disloyal media to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump was also revealed. James Clapper has been exposed as both a perjurer and a criminal leaker of classified information to the press.
The cynicism of Americans regarding integrity and accountability in government grew as swamp thing James Clapper avoided his part of the bog being drained. The statute of limitations for prosecuting his perjury before Congress regarding surveillance of Americans expired on Monday:
Clapper, director of national intelligence from 2010 to 2017, admitted giving "clearly erroneous" testimony about mass surveillance in March 2013, and offered differing explanations for why.
Two criminal statutes that cover lying to Congress have five-year statutes of limitations, establishing a Monday deadline to charge Clapper, who in retirement has emerged as a leading critic of President Trump.
The under-oath untruth was exposed by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who sparked national debate on surveillance policy with leaks to the press.
Many members of Congress, mostly Republicans supportive of new limits on electronic surveillance, called for Clapper to be prosecuted as the deadline neared, saying unpunished perjury jeopardizes the ability of Congress to perform oversight.
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