Public-sector unions have been gaming the political system for decades, bankrupting whole cities and plunging states into massive debt. How did this happen and can it be stopped? Akash Chougule, senior policy fellow for Americans for Prosperity, has the answers in this sobering video from Prager University.
CREATION and The CRETON
A man said to his wife one day, “I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time.”
The wife responded, “Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!”
IDF will escalate against Hamas who will soon regret playing with fire. (See 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e below.)
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Glick unmasks Europe. (See 2 below.)
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A dear friend and fellow memo reader as well as my tennis buddy suggested I ask anyone who receives my memos, and would want to do so, to feel free to forward them to their friends etc.
I responded that several do. I have no objection because what I send is posted on FACEBOOK and is in the public domain. Some have asked me to place friends on my list and I am happy to do so but I pay Mail Chimp a monthly fee and am about out of space at the lowest cost level and since I do not charge and/or receive advertising remuneration I want to keep my cost as low as possible
Please feel free to resend and I always invite responses and some I will post without direct attribution.
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California lefties hate Feinstein now so Maxine has become the new face of America's most radical national party. (See 3 and 3a below.)
Everyone seems to be beating up on Trump for being bland re Russian collusion.
First, Obama told our cyber people to stand down ( see commentary in previous memo.)
Second, We had capabilities of stopping Russia but Obama chose not to do so according to his top Cyber person We could have begun to bombard them and Obama chose not to do so. (see previous memo.)
Third, we also interfere in their elections and Obama certainly did with respect to Israel/Netanyahu.
Fourth, this is now a non issue. I am sure Trump told Putin if it continues there will be consequences and had he asked him to stop it would appear as weakness and more importantly, if Trump went public if would embarrass Putin and what is gained?
Finally, Mueller and Rosenstein obviously released the indictments, knowing nothing will come of them, to place pressure on Trump and/or demean him in the public arena. Just more swamp tactics to hem Trump in and it rolls off his back as it should.
Due to conflicts, I did not catch the interviews but have been since coming home and these are two diverging e mails from friends, fellow memo readers that show the divide:
"How can you explain today's Press Conference other than to say Trump looked like a weakling who cow tows to every Putin wish and even denying our own Intelligence Chiefs who he appointed. His job accord to the Constitution is to protect the USA not sell it out. Treason! "
And
Hey Dick!- your blog just gets better and better! As I approach retirement myself, I view your efforts as an inspiration for ---. Keep up this really important work. BTW- the Katie Hopkins lecture was spot on and priceless
Your friend, B--"
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Support for our tweety bird President. (See 4 below.)
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Dick
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1)
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1. As this roundup was published, US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin began their first face-to-face meeting in Helsinki, Finland. The Mideast is paying particularly close attention as their discussions on Syria are expected to have major ramifications on Iranian entrenchment in Syria and Israel’s pushback. (The New York Times, CNN and BBC are liveblogging from Finland.)
Indeed, Israel reportedly struck an Iranian base in northern Syria near Aleppo last night. The Al-Nayrab military base near Aleppo is linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Reports say 22 people, including nine Iranians, were killed in the attack, which targeted weapons warehouses.
Coincidentally or not, the stories were published on the eve of the Trump-Putin talks . . .
In a lengthy briefing at a security facility here last week, senior Israeli intelligence officials disclosed additional details about the operation. Those include specifics on how the documents were removed from Iran; the existence within the documents of the warhead designs, for which Israel said Iran got unspecified foreign assistance; the operation of a secret explosives-testing facility that international inspectors had long searched for in vain; and a scramble by Iranian officials to keep their nuclear program alive after international inspectors concluded it had been suspended . . .The documents track, and in some cases repeat, revelations and assumptions made previously by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but also provide specifics—including, for example, the existence of an underground metallurgical testing facility—about which international inspectors were unaware.
3. The Swiss ambassador to Israel apologized to Hebron’s Jewish community after a Swiss member of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) was caught on video slapping a 10-year-old Jewish boy. The man, who serves as a TIPH legal counsel, was ordered to leave Israel.
4. Gaza Rocket Barrage = Anti-Israel Media Barrage: For a number of news services, the Gaza crisis started when Israel fired back.
1a)The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
At the Israeli Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center
Hezbollah and Iran-handled Shi'ite militias are integrated into the Syrian army in its campaign to take control of south Syria
Overview
Shi'ite forces, handled by Iran, are being integrated into the campaign currently waged by the Syrian army in south Syria. There are at least two Iraqi-Shi'ite forces(the Dhu al-Fiqar Brigade and the Abu F–al-Abbas Brigade). There are also Afghan Shi'ite fighters in the Fatemiyoun Brigade. In addition, it was reported thatHezbollah operatives also participate in the fighting, including operatives from its elite al-Radwan unit, who were sent from Lebanon. Other Iran-handled Shi'ite militias may also be involved in south Syria, although the ITIC has no information about them. It can be assumed (judging by past experience) that the Shi'ite forces have Iranian officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
So far the Hezbollah operatives and Shi'ite militias have fought mainly in the Dara'a region, where they help the Syrian army take control of villages and rebel strongholds and to reach the Jordan-Syria border. The Syrian army is expected to later focus its attempts on a takeover of the Syrian Golan Heights. In ITIC assessmentthe Iranians strive to have Hezbollah and the Shi'ite militias under their control participate in a Syrian move to take over the Golan Heights, while concealing their involvement.
According to ITIC information, Hezbollah and the Shi'ite militias (some or all) have been integrated into the various Syrian army units and do not operate as independent forces. Pictures show Shi'ite militiamen wearing Syrian army uniforms, and it is difficult to distinguish them from Syrian soldiers. In ITIC assessment, if they are integrated into the Syrian forces attacking the Golan Heights it will be difficult to identify them, and easy for the Syrian regime to deny the involvement of Hezbollah operatives and Shi'ite militiamen in the fighting.
FULL REPORT MAY BE FOUND AT: https://www.terrorism-info.
1b)
IDF STRIKES THREE MILITARY TARGETS IN SYRIAN GOLAN HEIGHTS
Earlier on Wednesday a Patriot missile intercepted a Syrian drone which infiltrated into northern Israel with some parts of the UAV falling in the Sea of Galilee.
BY REUTERS, JULIANE HELMHOLD
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The IDF spokesperson confirmed in a statement early Thursday morning that Israel attacked three military posts in Syria late Wednesday night.
The attack was carried out in response to the crossing of a Syrian drone that the IDF intercepted earlier on Wednesday, the IDF spokesperson explained. "The IDF will continue to act decisively and resolutely against attempts to violate the sovereignty of the State of Israel and act against any attempt to harm its citizens," the statement read, "The Syrian regime is responsible for what is happening in its territory and is warned against acting against our forces." "The IDF is highly prepared for a variety of scenarios and will continue to act as necessary for the safety of the citizens of the State of Israel," the statement added. The attack near Hader village at the border of the Israeli Golan Heights caused only material damage, state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying. Israel has been on high alert as Syrian government forces advance on rebels in the vicinity of the Golan, worrying Assad could let his Iranian allies entrench near its lines. With the help of heavy Russian air power, the Syrian army has seized swathes of Deraa province from insurgents in the south in the past three weeks. The offensive is expected to turn next to rebel parts of Quneitra closer to the Golan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia on Wednesday that Israel would not seek to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but that Moscow should encourage Iranian forces to quit Syria, a senior Israeli official said. |
1c)
22 killed, including 9 Iranians, in IDF attack on Syrian base – report
Nine Iranian forces were killed during an air attack reportedly carried out by Israel on a Syrian military base near Aleppo.
By: World Israel News Staff
Syrian rebel forces claimed that 22 people, including nine Iranians, were killed in an overnight strike in northern Syria blamed on Israel, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera network reported Monday.
The figure, which could not be confirmed, was much higher than an earlier report of nine deaths provided by a Syrian watchdog group.
Iranian forces were stationed at a Syrian military base on the outskirts of Aleppo that was reportedly attacked Sunday night by the IDF.
Six Syrian soldiers were killed in the attack along with at least three more whose citizenship was undetermined, according to Rami Abdul Rahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“On the evening of Sunday the 15th of July, explosions rocked the area of Nayrab Military Airbase, which is controlled by the [Assad] regime forces and gunmen loyal to them in the outskirts of Aleppo city,” the Observatory said in a statement.
“It turned out that they were caused by rocket targeting believed to be Israeli, which targeted positions of the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them in Nayrab Military Airbase and its vicinity.”
The IDF has reportedly hit Syrian positions near Damascus and in the central provinces of Homs and Hama in the past. However, it rarely attacks as far north as Aleppo.
The raid came hours before a major summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, where Syria and Iran are expected to be on the agenda.
Israel has been pushing Russia to remove Iranian-aligned militia fighters from Syria and has vowed to stop them from getting a foothold anywhere in the country. Russia has reportedly only agreed to removing them from the Golan border region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Putin in Moscow last week, said Sunday he had discussed the issue with Trump a day earlier.
Netanyahu reportedly told Putin during their Wednesday meeting that Israel would not challenge Assad’s control of Syria in exchange for freedom to act against Iran.
1d)
4 Israelis hurt from Gaza rocket hit in Sderot
Family of four lightly hurt from shrapnel of Gaza rocket that landed near their home in Sderot; another rocket hits near synagogue in Sderot, where none were hurt.
Ynet reporters 07.14.18
A family of four Israelis were lightly wounded from shrapnel of a Gaza rocket that landed near a home in the city of Sderot on Saturday evening. Another rocket landed near a synagogue in the city.
The father of the family, 52, suffered injuries to his forehead and legs, the mother, 45, suffered injuries to her legs, a 15-year-old girl suffered injuries to her face, head and legs, and a 14-year-old girl suffered injuries to her face, legs and back of the head.
"All of the glass in the living room fell on us. The aquarium, the TVs - everything exploded. The entire house was smoke and we were all covered in blood," said Aharon Buchris, the father of the family, from his hospital bed.
"I was hit by shards in the face and legs. My wife and daughters were also hurt. I felt stress, shock, and I heard shouting," he added.
Aharon Buchris who was wounded in rocket hit on his home in Sderot (Photo: Barzilai Medical Center)
The family's neighbor, Azzat Magirov, heard the rocket hit and ran next door. She embraced the two teenage girls, who were covered in blood, and accompanied them to the hospital while their parents received medical treatment.
"There was no Code Red siren. All of a sudden I heard a 'boom.' I was on the couch and flew off it," she said. "All of a sudden I see smoke and hear shouting. My entire house was covered in (broken) glass, but I went straight there (to the neighbors). The Qassam rocket fell under the living room window. I saw smoke, I saw that everyone was bleeding."
Azzat, who has been living next door to the family for 22 years, went on to say that "the aquarium in the living room shattered and the glass shards hit everyone there. Dead fish and glass and blood covered the floor. The mother, who was in the kitchen, was in shock. She took it hard and started crying. I told her not to worry, I was with the children."
"I'm okay, but in my heart I'm not. They're like my own children," she said. "The girl was crying, and then the other one too. They were afraid."
The four were evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment.
After a night of airstrikes and rockets, the Israel Air Force renewed its bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon, attacking over 40 targets and prompting rocket and mortar fire from the strip in retaliation.
Over 130 rockets and mortar shells have been launched at Israel since 1:30am Saturday, with at least 27 of them intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Damage was caused to a chicken coop in one of the communities in Eshkol from a mortar shell.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding consultations with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other senior defense officials since the strikes and rockets began early Saturday.
"We'll expand the response as much as required. If Hamas doesn't understand the message today, it will understand it tomorrow," Netanyahu said.
Defense Minister Lieberman spoke to UN envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov, sending a message to the Gaza terror group: "If Hamas doesn't stop, we'll be forced to keep going."
"A decision was made to take offensive action against the aggression from Gaza. Israel will increase the intensity for as long as required," an Israeli official said. "We landed the hardest blow on Gaza since Protective Edge."
1e) THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Truce or war: Hamas’s bipolar rule in Gaza
As terror group blames Israel for humanitarian conditions in Strip, it continues to pour money into its military activities and profit off Gazans
Several hundred Palestinians participated in clashes at the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip last Friday, the remnants of the so-called “March of Return” demonstrations, which at times advocated for Palestinian refugees’ return to their homes — in Israel, of course — and at other times pressed for breaking Israel’s “blockade” of Gaza. Hamas is putting considerable time, energy, and money into keeping up a presence at these demonstrations, even though the number of participants has been steadily decreasing.
As the clashes went ahead, thousands of Gaza residents went to the Gaza beach, simply to enjoy themselves on family outings, just like old times. Gaza’s coast is unsafe for bathing due to pollution, but many people went into the water anyway to cool off from the oppressive July heat — an attempt at normalcy in one of the least normal places in the region, or on Earth.
Gaza is a place where poverty, with its accompanying economic and humanitarian hardships, is only growing more severe — a place that gets only four hours of electricity per day followed by a 16-hour blackout. Ice cream and even cold water are in short supply because there is insufficient power to keep them cold. The generator-powered elevators in high-rise buildings only operate on the hour and are idle the rest of the time. Of the water that flows through the pipes only once every five days, approximately 97 percent is undrinkable. Almost every home in Gaza has a device for filtering and improving the water that comes from the faucets.
These are only small examples of the mad state of things in the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s bipolar nature is also evident in bigger issues: Hamas, the terror organization that controls Gaza and seeks Israel’s destruction, has been intermittently working in recent weeks to keep things relatively calm with the Jewish state, even amid periodic escalations of rocket fire and endless fire kites and incendiary balloons flown into and burning the fields of southern Israel. It has also been intermittently trying to reach a long-term cease-fire agreement with Israel, even as it continues to dig terror tunnels and produce long-range rockets.
While ever howling of “hardship” and “the blockade,” Hamas consistently chooses to spend its funds on its terror infrastructure rather than investing in the population. Examples of this abound, from the enormous budget of its military wing to its collection of money from Gaza’s residents to fund its ongoing military activity. A classic example is recent events at the Rafah border crossing.
Siphoning precious fuel
For some time, the Egyptians have been bringing through the Rafah crossing merchandise and products that they previously barred from entering Gaza, such as construction materials, fuels and other products. Approximately 30 million liters of diesel fuel, supposedly intended for Gaza’s power station, have been brought in since the beginning of the year. Hamas buys the diesel fuel from Egypt, but instead of using it all to fuel the station and produce more hours of electricity per day, it has been using some of the diesel fuel to make a profit.
Of the 30 million liters, 17.8 million were taken to Gaza’s power station. Another 12.2 million liters were either sold on the black market to those willing to pay the maximum price for it, or diverted for Hamas’s military purposes. Hamas makes a profit of NIS 2.5 on every liter of diesel fuel sold in Gaza.
The Rafah border crossing has become Hamas’s most significant economic lifeline. It has been open for 70 days since the beginning of the year, compared to only 36 days throughout the whole of last year (This is partly the result of the dramatically improved security situation in Sinai). Hamas collects a tax on all merchandise that enters through the Rafah border crossing, unlike at the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel, where the taxes go to the Palestinian Authority.
Two large companies are in charge of the transport of merchandise. On the Egyptian side, the company in charge is Ibna’a Sina’a (The Sons of Sinai), and has ties with the Egyptian security forces. On the Palestinian side, the company in charge is Multitrade, a company that has ties with Hamas.
If a Palestinian merchant wants to bring merchandise into Gaza, he must pay close to $5,000 per truck. He must also pay both companies for unloading and loading the stock. In this way, each kilogram of merchandise brings more and more revenue to Hamas’s dwindling coffers. Here it must be added that Hamas is dealing with a severe budgetary problem, even if taking into account Iran’s willingness to provide it with financial aid — a willingness that is once more uncertain due to the economic sanctions that have been imposed upon Iran.
Anyone in Israel who hopes that these measures by Hamas, which every Gazan is aware of, will lead to unrest or demonstrations against the terror group, is bound to be disappointed. According to polls in Gaza, most of the residents believe the Palestinian Authority and its President Mahmoud Abbas are primarily responsible for the situation in Gaza, followed by the “occupation” — meaning Israel, which has no presence in Gaza — and only then Hamas, which controls Gaza.
The question, even before Friday night’s escalation, is where all this is leading, and whether another major conflict is around the corner. Hamas has been exerting quite a bit of effort to let Israel know it has no interest in open conflict. On the other hand, it is doubtful that Hamas will maintain this trend if the humanitarian situation directs public anger in its direction.
Economic deterioration
Israel’s decision this week to close the Kerem Shalom border crossing to all but essential and humanitarian supplies, as a response to the ongoing barrage of incendiary and explosive kites and balloons, has brought Gaza to new depths of economic hardship. Admittedly, there still are no signs of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza of the sort we are used to seeing in African countries — no children with swollen bellies, no severe food shortage. Food products are available at Gaza’s markets in abundant quantity. The more pressing problem is that Gaza is slowly dying economically, and closing the border crossing is only speeding up this process.
If up until a year ago, 800 to 900 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day, recently only about 350 trucks have entered each day due to the shortage of cash. This week only 150 trucks per day entered Gaza. Electrical appliances, spare parts for cars, construction materials, raw materials for industry — all these have stopped going in.
The export of products from Gaza to the West Bank or other places — such as agricultural products, furniture and textiles — has stopped. It is unknown how long the decrease in the volume of activity at the Kerem Shalom border crossing will go on. But here, at least, the Israeli message is clear: If the incendiary and explosive kites cease to be flown into Israel, routine activity at the border crossing will resume.
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2)
Column One: A glimps at Europe’s true face
The time has come for Israel to finally stop taking European rhetoric seriously.
Due to an unusual conflation of events, over the past two weeks we’ve caught a rare glimpse of the face of European foreign policy. We shouldn’t let it pass unremarked.
Last Friday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini presided over a curious summit in Vienna. In the same hall where she and her colleagues concluded the nuclear deal with Iran three years ago, Mogherini and her comrades tried to concoct ways to save the deal by undermining American power and defying its decision to abandon the deal.
Mogherini was joined in her efforts by the German, French and British foreign ministers. Sitting opposite them were Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers. Together they brainstormed ways to undermine the economic sanctions the US will begin implementing next month against Iran and anyone from anywhere that trades with Iran.
The Europeans made some suggestions. For instance, the European Investment Bank, they said, is authorized to invest in projects in Iran. European governments are willing to make direct deposits in Iranian banks to get around US restrictions on bank transfers to Iran.
The Germans apparently are the keenest to continue the money flow to Tehran. Bild, a Berlin-based tabloid, reported on Tuesday that Iran has asked the European-Iranian Trade Bank, which is majority owned by Iranian state-owned banks but registered in Hamburg with the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, to permit it to withdraw €350 million in cash. The Iranians intend to fly the cash to Tehran to avoid the prospect of the accounts being frozen once US sanctions are reimposed. According to the Bild report, the German government supports the cash transfer. The Merkel government believes the Iranian claim that the money will be distributed to Iranian businessmen who will be barred from using credit cards in international commerce due to the US sanctions.
The Germans apparently are happy to ignore the fact that Iran routinely uses cash to pay for its wars in Syria and Yemen. Iran regularly transfers millions of dollars in cash to Hamas in Gaza. Cash is its routine method of financing Hezbollah and its terror empire in Lebanon and throughout the world – including in Germany.
The Germans don’t care about that. Their goal is not to prevent terror. Their goal is to flood Iran with money.
Mogherini’s summit in Vienna was a statement of deep contempt for the US. Days before US President Donald Trump was scheduled to arrive on the continent, the leaders of Europe publicly colluded with Iran, China and Russia to undermine and weaken America. While shocking in and of itself, Europe’s behavior didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.
Mogherini has been publicly attacking the US for walking away from the nuclear deal and declaring her allegiance to the pact three times a day, every day since May 8 when Trump announced he was pulling the US out of it and reimposing sanctions on Iran.
What we didn’t know until recently is why Mogherini and her colleagues have chosen to stand with Iran against America. We got the answer on June 30.
Six days before the Vienna summit, Belgian security forces arrested members of an Iranian terror cell as they made their way to Paris to blow up a rally held that day by the Iranian opposition movement Mujahedin e-Khalq. The cell was led by Asduallah Asadi, the head of Iran’s intelligence network in Europe. Asadi is registered as the Iranian intelligence attaché at the Iranian embassy in Vienna. He is an officer of the Revolutionary Guards’ al-Quds Brigade, which is responsible for Iran’s foreign terror operations.
Thousands attended the rally in Paris. Among the many VIPS present were former prime minister Ehud Barak, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The arrests in Belgium drove home the fact that Iran has developed a massive terror infrastructure in Europe. The terror operatives who were arrested lived and operated in at least four countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium and France.
On the face of it, it is amazing than right after terrorists under the direct command of the Iranian regime were caught en route to carrying out an attack in Paris, Europe’s top diplomats sat down with the leaders of the regime and brainstormed how to shower them with cash in open defiance of the United States.
And that isn’t all. It is true that Mogherini and her colleagues insist the nuclear deal they love so much prevents Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But it is also true that they know they are lying.
The Europeans don’t need Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tell them the deal gives Iran a clear path to a full-blown nuclear arsenal within a decade. They have known that all along. And it’s never bothered them.
So in under a week, an Iranian terror cell tried to blow up a rally in Paris and Europe’s leaders reacted by hosting their bosses in a fancy hall and promising them billions of dollars and a nuclear arsenal within a decade in defiance of the US.
WHY WOULD the Europeans do this? What does this tell us about the nature of their policy?
The first thing all of this tells us is that Europe has a very clear Iran policy. It tells us that there is no connection whatsoever between Europe’s rhetoric – which insists that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons and that Iran must end its sponsorship of terrorism – and Europe’s policy.
As to the policy itself, Europe’s Iran policy is a policy of pure appeasement, based on profound weakness. Mogherini and her comrades are fully aware that Iran can cause them harm and intends to cause them harm. Through payoffs and betrayal of the US they hope to convince the Iranians to attack someone else instead of them. They don’t care if it’s Israel or Saudi Arabia or America. As far as the Europeans are concerned, Iran can kill whoever it wants, so long as it doesn’t attack Europe.
This is Europe’s Iran policy. It has no other policy.
There is nothing unique about Europe’s Iran policy. Appeasement predicated on weakness and an absence of any will to defend itself stands at the heart of Europe’s policies towards all of its enemies. As for its allies, Europe expects them to serve its needs, and appease it in exchange for nodding, condescending approval.
At the NATO summit on Wednesday, Trump exposed this basic fact in relation to Europe’s Russia policy. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, no one condemned the move more passionately than the Europeans. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood at the front of the column of denouncers proclaiming Russia’s aggression would not stand.
And yet, as Trump revealed in his blunt repartee with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, while Germany passionately declaimed about Russian aggression and the threat Russia poses to Europe, Merkel was signing massive gas deals with Russia to build and expand the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. The strategic implication of Germany’s dependence on Russian gas is that the country screaming loudest about Russia has voluntarily rendered its economy dependent on Russian gas.
Merkel did this, Trump noted, while refusing to spend the requisite 2% of German GDP on its national defense and while expecting the US to defend Europe from Russia it on its own dime.
As with Iran, so with Russia, when you see the full spectrum of European actions, you realize there is no connection whatsoever between European rhetoric and European policy. As with Iran, so with Russia, Europe’s actual policy is to appease Russia by paying it off. As with Iran so with Russia, Europe expects the US to pull its fat from the fire when the going gets tough – and pay for the privilege of doing so.
Trump scares the Europeans. He doesn’t scare them because he expects them to pay for their own defense. All of his predecessors had the same expectation. He frightens the Europeans because he ignores their rhetoric while mercilessly exposing their true policy and refuses to accept it. They are scared that Trump intends to exact a price from them for their weak-kneed treachery.
Europe’s policies towards Israel follow a similar script as its other policies. As is the case with Iran and Russia, there is no connection whatsoever between Europe’s rhetoric and its actual policies. With Iran, Europe claims that it is committed to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons to Iran while its actual policy is to enable Iran to build a nuclear arsenal. In Israel’s case, Europeans say they strive to advance international law, human rights and peace when their actual policy negates international law, harms human rights and diminishes any possibility of peace.
Whereas Europeans fear the Iranians and the Russians, they hate Israel. And the goal of Europe’s Israel policy is to weaken the Jewish state through delegitimization, political and legal subversion and the constant threat of commercial sanctions.
Israel’s great error in contending with Europe is that we fail to recognize, as Trump recognizes, that European rhetoric doesn’t represent its actual policy. It camouflages it. We send our best lawyers to Europe to explain that our policies conform with international law. We deploy our most talented diplomats to Europe to prove that our actions advance human rights. And our greatest statesmen have spent decades trying to prove our commitment to peace.
And all these efforts are completely irrelevant. The Europeans couldn’t care less about the truth. They aren’t here to promote truth. They prefer lies. Lies help them to hide their policy predicated on hatred of Israel.
The summit in Vienna was a dud. Like Trump, the Iranians understand that European rhetoric gets them nowhere. European banks aren’t willing to lose the American market for Iran. Likewise, European conglomerates are pulling out of deals with Iran one after another to avoid US sanctions.
We don’t know where Trump wants to lead US relations with Europe. But it is clear that he intends to exact a price from Europe for its hostile policies, its weakness towards US adversaries and its double dealing with America.
Israel should draw the appropriate lessons from Trump’s actions and from the truth revealed about the nature of European policy by the events of the past two weeks.
The time has come for Israel to finally stop taking European rhetoric seriously. The time has come for Israel to begin exacting a painful price from Europe for its hostile and damaging policies towards us.
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3)
California Democratic Officials Reject Dianne Feinstein
Party’s board endorses challenger Kevin de León for U.S. Senate
California Democratic officials rejected Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Saturday night with an overwhelming endorsement of her party challenger, liberal state senator Kevin de León, a rebuke that came just six weeks after Ms. Feinstein handily beat Mr. de León in a primary.
The endorsement of the party’s executive board, with 65% of the vote, came despite Ms. Feinstein’s entreaties for members not to back any particular candidate. She received 7% of the ballots.
The disparity between state primary voters and party leaders reflected a tack to the left among younger activists who are rising through party ranks and are frustrated by President Donald Trump’s policies on such issues as immigration, health care and environmental protections.
Ms. Feinstein, 85 years old, who has a record of centrist pragmatism, is seeking a fifth full term.
“We have presented Californians with the first real alternative to the worn-out Washington playbook in a quarter-century,” Mr. de León said in statement. “Today’s vote is a clear-eyed rejection of politics as usual in Washington, D.C.”
Mr. de León, 51-years-old, represents Los Angeles in the state Senate, where he has served as the president. He is the author of California’s sanctuary-state legislation, backs a single-payer health-care system and has authored a number of bills aimed at increasing renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions in the state.
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The vote means Mr. de León will receive several million dollars in exposure through the Democratic Party, but he remains a long shot to unseat Ms. Feinstein. She received 44% of the votes in last month’s primary to Mr. de León’s 12% and has significantly more money in her campaign war chest.
The two Democrats will face each other again in November because California has an open primary system, in which the top two finishers face each other regardless of party.
“While 217 delegates expressed their view on Saturday, Senator Feinstein won by 2.1 million votes and earned 70% of the Democratic vote in the California primary election, carrying every county by double digits over her opponent,“ Feinstein campaign manager Jeff Millman said in a statement. ”We are confident that a large majority of California Democrats will vote to reelect Senator Feinstein in November."
But even if Ms. Feinstein’s political future isn’t imperiled, the development reflects the growing strength of progressive activists within the Democratic Party.
In late July, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old former Bernie Sanders organizer, pulled off a major upset by defeating longtime Rep. Joe Crowley of New York in a Democratic primary. The same day, Ben Jealous, a former NAACP president backed by Mr. Sanders, prevailed over more established candidates to win Maryland’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.
In other primaries, more traditional Democratic candidates have defeated insurgents. But the developments in California and elsewhere show how the party’s activist progressive wing has been energized in opposition to the Trump presidency.
Still, the impact on the November midterms remains unclear. The Democrats’ enthusiastic base is likely to be a plus for the party, and the president’s party often fares poorly in midterm elections. But as with the GOP when it has faced its own rebels from the right, the phenomenon can divide the party and knock off candidates who would arguably be stronger in the general election.
Mr. de León entered the race last year after Ms. Feinstein was criticized by opponents for voting to confirm several of Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominees. Activists also pounced on her words during a forum in San Francisco last summer when she said Mr. Trump could become a “good president.”
“Look, this man is going to be president, most likely for the rest of this term,” she said at the time, in a response to a question about impeachment. “I just hope he has the ability to learn and to change. And if he does, he can be a good president.”
This year, Ms. Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has clashed more openly with Mr. Trump.
In January, she released 300 pages of closed-door committee testimony by Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the research firm Fusion GPS and a former Wall Street Journal reporter, angering many Republicans. Fusion was involved in assembling a controversial “dossier” of unsubstantiated information about Mr. Trump, and Ms. Feinstein argued that Mr. Simpson’s testimony was being mis-characterized.
Write to Douglas Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com
3a)
Maxine Waters is the Face of the New Progressive Democratic Party By John Kinsellagh
By Ruth King
The most noteworthy thing to emerge from the recent Maxine Waters dustup wasn’t her call for mob harassment tactics against Trump Administration officials, nor the attendant inflammatory language she employed, but rather, the swift reaction of two women’s activist groups who castigated House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, for her audacity in reproaching Waters.
The two letters are significant not only because they convey the ideological principles upon which the progressive opposition to the Trump Administration will be based, but because they also forebode the inevitable internecine conflict that will soon engulf the Democratic Party.
The contents of both letters are rife with extremism and provide a glimpse into the soul of modern progressive identity politics.
Live by Identity Politics, Die by Identity Politics
The first letter from a group of black women politicians states an obvious but unpleasant political reality brought to the Democratic Party by their now decades long obsession with identity politics. In order to win national elections, Democrats needs to capture almost 90 percent of the black vote. The letter indelicately reminds Pelosi of the long-term fealty of African-Americans to the party in stark and unforgiving terms.
Live by Identity Politics, Die by Identity Politics
The first letter from a group of black women politicians states an obvious but unpleasant political reality brought to the Democratic Party by their now decades long obsession with identity politics. In order to win national elections, Democrats needs to capture almost 90 percent of the black vote. The letter indelicately reminds Pelosi of the long-term fealty of African-Americans to the party in stark and unforgiving terms.
“For Black women, who are the most loyal base of the Democratic Party and the Progressive Movement, Congresswoman Waters is our shero [sic].”
Disparaging or failing to support Congresswoman Waters is an affront to her and Black women across the country and telegraphs a message that the Democratic Party can ill afford: that it does not respect Black women’s leadership and political power and discounts the impact of Black women and millennial voters.
For purposes of gleaning the nature of Pelosi’s insolence, here is what Waters said,
“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” Waters said at an event in Los Angeles. “And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
How is it possible to denounce the ultra-liberal House Minority Leader of the party for criticizing these incendiary remarks? How can a congresswoman who utters such rabble-rousing comments not be subject to censure?
Only in the alternative progressive universe of identity politics would such a person be exalted rather than vilified and the party leader who issued the reprieve be the one made to apologize.
The black progressive women believe that Pelosi’s denunciation of Waters’ call for mob harassment, “mischaracterizes her call to action for peaceful democratic assembly and the exercise of her constitutional rights to free speech.”
It is perhaps unsurprising that a group that so grossly distorts what Waters actually said would in the same breath paint Trump as the villain in the entire sordid affair. Which they did.
The implicit message for leaders of the Democratic Party? As an exalted member of a protected class that has been “marginalized” and “historically disadvantaged”, any further criticism of Maxine Waters regardless of her provocative behavior, will be viewed as giving aid and comfort to White Supremacists.
In fact, the principles enunciated in the letter, of necessity, will apply to any hard-left activist group within the party.
Identity Politics Spawns Paternalism
The second letter, penned by a Pelosi constituent and signed by progressive white women, mirrors the identity politics sentiments expressed by the first and injects the specter of White Supremacy into the discussion. Not only did Pelosi err is disparaging a woman of color, but she insulted all progressive women who are standing as a bulwark against the attempts of President Trump to advance his agenda of instituting White Supremacy.
Apparently, Pelosi didn’t receive the memo explaining that, “When you attack a Black woman for speaking out about injustice, and when you call for ‘civility’ in the face of blatant racism, you invoke a long history of white supremacist power,” The inductive leap from a call for civility to White Supremacy was left unexplained.
Thus, justifiable criticism of Waters is not to be construed as a mild rebuke, but as an attempt to “silence” Waters, which implies preventing her from speaking at all. The perverse catechism of the far-Left mandates that the ordinary meaning ascribed to words be supplanted and interpreted, when politically expedient, by the lexicon of progressive dogma.
The letters invoke the operative progressive concept of contextualization that fuels its Alice in Wonderland logic and is so frequently employed to justify deviation from its own standards. When one is faced with racism, xenophobia, misogyny, Islamophobia, and white supremacy, deliberately refusing to follow one’s own standards by which those on the right must abide, is a virtue and not a vice.
Leftist Absolutism Looms
This is indicative of the absolutism of progressive ideology: there is no mean between the extremes; there is only the moral absolutism that fealty to the lofty goals of progressivism requires.
Saving the world from global warming, combating the irredeemable racism prevalent in the United States, and halting the insurgent rise of White Nationalism is very serious business. The immediate presence of such perils demands casting aside courtesy and tolerance and other long-established standards endemic for the maintenance of civil society in order to restrain the malignant, illegitimate presidency of Donald Trump.
The ending to this story? Having sparked the ire of party activists with her rebuke of Waters, a chastened Pelosi was forced to recant and later issued a statement blaming the incivility on president Trump.
It is telling that two of the highest-ranking congressional leaders of the Democratic party were forced to remain taciturn in the face of Waters unprecedented comments. There will be more ugly incidents that will not be constrained by party leaders. By their forced silence, the leadership of the Democratic Party has given every progressive social justice warrior afflicted with Trump-Derangement Syndrome carte blanche to harass, incite mobs and disregard standards of political conduct—all for the noble aim of halting the spread of White Nationalism.
The leadership of the Democratic Party has now received its marching orders. Under a Trump Administration, the motives of extremists are inviolate, their political tactics sacrosanct. Now that the Democrats are out of power, the cat is out of the bag and the ugliness, acrimony and authoritarian impulses of progressivism are on full display.
The Waters outburst may prove to be a mild disruption. The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat vacated by retiring justice Anthony Kennedy, will spark progressive rage of unexampled fury. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer will be powerless to stop it. Now that Hitler is in the White House, the progressive genie is out of the bottle and will not be coaxed to go back in.
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4)The following article by Wayne Allen Root…
I have breaking news for you … Donald Trump’s tweets are not a mistake. This isn’t insanity. He’s not nuts. He’s not stupid. Actually, he’s a genius.
Trump is the Picasso of tweets. Monet meets Beethoven. The Saul Alinsky of conservatives and capitalists. Trump is first politician from the right to figure out how to stop the radical left. By driving them crazy.
Trump has destroyed the left with tweets. Just look at them in disarray. >From Kathy Griffin, to Jeff Tucker of CNN, to Bernie Sanders, to Megyn Kelly — liberals lay in smoldering ruins.
Branch Rickey once said, “Luck is the residue of design.” Maybe it’s time for liberals to admit that Trump’s crazy tweets aren’t so crazy after all They are purposeful. He’s driving liberals nuts with rage, while distracting them so they don’t even see what’s happening.
Sure Trump’s tweets turn off lots of Democrats. Who cares?
Sure he turns off the media. Who cares?
Sure he turns off plenty of young people who never vote. Who cares?
Sure he turns off the people walking along Venice Beach or Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Who cares?
None of these people was ever voting for him in the first place. Many of them don’t vote at all.
Liberals claim Trump is mentally ill. But he’s just much smarter than they are. He’s playing at a different level.
Trump is doing “The Art of the Deal.” For Trump, it’s about winning. How he wins is immaterial. He doesn’t mind shocking, outraging, offending or even embarrassing himself. He is using guerrilla warfare to beat the left. Trump is deflecting and distracting his critics and enemies while he passes his entire agenda.
While Trump is busy tweeting, offending, enraging and infuriating, he is quietly — behind scenes — fundamentally changing America. Or haven’t you noticed?
Trump is erasing Obama like he never existed. Trump is demolishing the socialist dreams of Obama and Sanders and Hillary and Valerie Jarrett … and their radical Marxist mentor Saul Alinsky.
Trump is destroying the Democrat Party — pushing it so far to the left it will have no chance in 2020. Trump is destroying the media. Trump will keep his job far longer than CNN President Jeff Zucker. Wanna bet?
Trump has destroyed Kathy Griffin’s career. The only head she cut off was her own. Trump has destroyed Megyn Kelly’s career. Advertisements for personal injury lawyers have higher ratings than Kelly’s new show.
Bernie Sanders’s wife is under investigation for fraud. The careers of former FBI director James Comey and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe are in tatters. McCabe is under three separate criminal investigations.
A little birdie in government tells me Hillary Clinton and the entire Clinton Foundation will soon be under Federal indictment.
There’s no more funding of liberal causes by Department of Justice lawsuits. The National Labor Relations Board is becoming pro business. There’s no more political persecutions of conservatives by the IRS, DOJ or FBI. Border crossings are down by 50 percent to 70 percent (depending on which stat you believe).
Trump’s going after welfare for illegals. Trump’s going after voter fraud by illegals. The travel ban is in effect. The number of Muslim refugees let into America is being cut dramatically.
Soon, one way or another, there will be no more Obamacare.
Soon, there will be no more high Obama taxes.
Soon, construction of a wall will begin.
Soon, Trump will get to name a second, and then a third, and maybe even a fourth U.S. Supreme Court justice. Trump’s Supreme Court will turn America red for the next 40 years.
Our Founders may slow down their spinning in their graves - the Constitution & our Founding Principles - what made America go great - may be honored again.
Liberals are toast. Obama is erased. Hillary will be tied up in court for years to come. Israel is our best friend again. The police and military are beloved and respected again.
All is well in my world. How about yours?
Trump has outwitted the left.
Trump is an artist.
Trump really is the Picasso of tweets.
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