HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY!! Bleak Future For Radical Progressives? Mueller Failed to Do His Prosecutorial Job and Left It Open For Angry Democrats.

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Bleak future for radical Americans? (See 1 below.)
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Because Mueller failed to do his prosecutorial job. In the traditional sense he threw the ball to Rosenstein and Barr who did it for him, and the liberals are mad because they did not get what they wanted, they are attacking Barr. They want Barr to violate the law to please their contrived demands.  All theater and drama and pathetic.

The Democrats are engaged in immature petulance.
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As long as Israel exists and Palestinians teach hatred, there will be no meaningful agreement just as there will be no peace between N Korea and the rest of he world as long as N Korea believes it must protect it's sovereignty by threatening to destroy it's alleged enemies.

The same applies to Iran. No peace as long as Islamist radicals rule.(See 2 below.)

Trump opened three cans of worms after becoming president.

N Korea, China Trade and Obama's Iran Deal. Venezuela happened along with Syria as well.

None of Trump's efforts are bearing fruit nor were the odds good that they would.

In the case of N Korea I suspect the military are not likely to allow their leader to give up the leverage that keeps the military in business, ie. their nuclear ability.

In the case of China we will soon find out but I suspect China might agree to the appearance of a  favorable trade deal and subsequently revert to their game of breaking same and continuing to steal our intellectual property.  When it comes to Iran the only thing that will produce results will be the overthrow of the Ayatollah but again, like in  N Korea, the military benefit from their preferred status and are not likely to yield.

While all of this has been happening, Putin continues to take advantage of various situations that reflect our distinct disadvantages that Trump inherited and can do little about short of going to war or major confrontation.

Trump is due credit for facing up to the challenges but probably was too enthusiastic he could work miracles. I do believe Trump sent a message he is not the patsy his predecessor was but our adversaries are not easily budged unless we prove we can outlast them.  The odds do not favor this because our leadership swings from tough to weak and our NATO partners are Lilliputian like. Meanwhile, our adversaries seem able to hang tough partly because Democrats do not want Trump to have victories that might lead to his re-election but more importantly, the problems we face are intractable because we have adversaries who are opposed to everything we hold dear, ie. freedom, rule by law and  a willingness to adhere to our agreements. Neither do we covet lands belonging  to others nor seek world dominance. Finally, our political system undercuts our ability to  confront adversaries who are less likely to have to consistently watch their back.

When it comes to Biden's popularity among the other 21 Democrat candidates the only reason I can see is despite the fact that he is a bumbling politician  who  has seldom, if ever,  been right is his connection to Obama for those who believe he was a great president.
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We leave Saturday, returning on the 29th. Have A Happy Mother's Day!!
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Dick
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1)

Progressives face a bleak post-Mueller landscape By By Victor Davis Hanson

Democrats have grown infuriated by Attorney General William Barr's indifference to their hysteria over the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.

Barr recently released a brief summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's conclusions that Donald Trump did not collude with the Russians to warp the 2016 election. Barr added that Mueller had not found enough evidence to recommend that Trump be indicted for obstruction of justice for the non-crime of collusion.

Progressives, who for 22 months had insisted that Trump was a Russian asset, were stunned. But only for a few hours.

Almost immediately, they redirected their fury toward Barr's summation of the Mueller report. Yet few rational people contested Barr's synopses about collusion and obstruction.

Both the Mueller report and Barr's summation can be found on the internet. Anyone can read them to see whether Barr misrepresented Mueller's conclusions.

Again, there have been few criticisms that Barr was wrong on his interpretation that there was no collusion and not enough evidence to indict on obstruction of justice.

But now Democrats are calling for Barr to resign or be impeached for not regurgitating the unproven allegations against Trump. In other words, Barr acted too much like a federal prosecutor rather than a tabloid reporter trafficking in allegations that did not amount to criminal conduct.

The besmirching of Barr's conduct is surreal. He certainly has not done anything even remotely approximating the conduct of former President Obama's two attorneys general.

Has Barr dubbed himself the president's "wingman" or called America a "nation of cowards," as did former Attorney General Eric Holder?

Has Barr's Department of Justice monitored reporters' communications or ordered surveillance of a television journalist? Has Barr used a government jet to take his family to the Belmont Stakes horse race, as did Holder?

Has Barr met secretly on an airport tarmac with the spouse of a person his Justice Department was investigating, as did former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who had such a meeting with Bill Clinton?

The Mueller report ignored the likely illegal origins of the Christopher Steele dossier, the insertion of an FBI informant into the Trump campaign, the unlawful leaking of documents, and the conflicted testimonies of former high-level intelligence officials.

All of those things were potential felonies. All in some way yielded information that Mueller drew on in his investigation. Yet Mueller never recommended a single indictment of any of the Obama-era officials who likely broke laws.

Mueller was instead fixated on possible collusion with Russia. But it is a crime to knowingly hire a foreign national to work on a presidential campaign -- in other words, to "collude." That is exactly what the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee did when they paid British subject Christopher Steele to smear Trump.

Did Mueller argue that the possible crimes of John Brennan, James Clapper, James Comey, Andrew McCabe and other former government officials -- lying to federal investigators, perjury, obstruction of justice, deceiving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, planting an informant into a political campaign, unmasking and leaking the identities of individuals under surveillance -- were only peripheral to his investigation?

Not really. After all, Mueller indicted Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Roger Stone and others for crimes that had nothing to do with collusion and were far less serious than the improper behavior of top Obama administration bureaucrats.

So what really explains the furor now directed at Barr?

One, progressives are terrified that a number of Trump's critics -- Brennan, Clapper, Comey, McCabe -- may soon be indicted. They apparently seek to preempt such indictments by attacking Barr, a seemingly no-nonsense prosecutor who will likely follow up on any criminal referrals from any inspector general that reach his desk.

Two, the 2020 progressive agenda -- whether defined as the Green New Deal, a wealth tax, Medicare for All or open borders -- will not compete well with Trump's currently booming economy. Impeaching Trump for collusion and obstruction is seen by progressives as the best (or perhaps only) way to return to power. That effort so far is failing, causing even more hysteria.

Three, the Mueller investigation is over, finished after 22 months, $34 million and a 448-page, two-volume report.

There will be no indictments of Trump for either collusion or the obstruction of justice during the investigation of that non-crime. So now what?

Since late 2015, Trump, as the supposed Russian puppet or the Machiavellian obstructer of justice, was nightly cable-TV news fare. Now, such fantasies are shattered. But progressives are not willing to let the Mueller investigation rest in peace and move on with their lives.

Perhaps they feel in the political sense that there is nothing to move on to. And they are probably right.

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2) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about this one day
By Jonathan Tobin

The celebration of Israeli independence is more than a holiday. It’s a time to take stock of the country’s incredible achievements, as well as the reason why peace remains elusive.

Much of the discussion about Israel and the Palestinians revolves around one question: Why does the conflict continue? Most of those who offer answers, especially veteran Middle East “experts” who have been advocating for and helping to promote the peace process for decades, spin a complicated tale in which Israel’s unwillingness to make concessions is put forward as just as much, if not more, responsible for the lack of peace than Palestinian intransigence and terrorism.

But though the region’s history during the course of the last century is complex, the answer to the question is actually quite simple. The conflict continues because the Jewish state exists.

That’s a daunting thought as Israelis spend Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) watching fireworks, and enjoying barbecues and other holiday activities. It would be much easier to think that the conflict, which Israelis can’t evade because they spend the day right beforehand marking the solemn observance of Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day), when those who fell in defense of their nation and victims of terror are remembered. The two days are not something that can be neatly cordoned off.

But while it might be easier to live with if the ongoing struggle could be merely blamed on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s supposed hard line or something else that might be remedied by the people of Israel, the truth is that the endless debate about how best to advance the cause of peace essentially boils down to a single equation. As long as the Jews are celebrating the rebirth of their sovereignty in the land of Israel, peace won’t happen. It won’t happen until their Palestinian neighbors come to grips with the fact that this fact will never be reversed.

This is easily forgotten amid much of the rhetoric heard from those who say that Israelis are sliding away from democracy by electing leaders American liberals don’t understand or like. However, the events of the past year, during which weekly “Marches of Return” have continued along the border with Gaza aimed at promoting the idea that the last 71 years of history can be erased, are a reminder that in the eyes of the Jewish state’s opponents, what is going on there is a zero sum game.

That’s a grim reality that a clear majority of Israelis have accepted. The fourth consecutive victory of the Netanyahu-led Likud Party coalition reflected the Israeli people’s rejection of those who have failed to comprehend the consequences of recent failed attempts to trade land for peace. That grim equation in which peace is not merely a difficult problem, but also out of reach, is the sort of thing that leads some Jews to despair. The notion of a generational conflict continuing for another generation is hard to bear. So perhaps it’s understandable that some prefer to cling to myths about settlements being the cause of conflict or shortsighted Israeli leaders missing opportunities for peace. To many, the fact that Israel can’t solve the conflict with a bold conciliatory stroke or even a long negotiating process leaves them feeling helpless. It also contradicts some of the precepts that the early Zionists clung to, in which they felt that they could determine events, rather than being forced to depend to some extent on the actions of others.

Nevertheless, this should actually serve to remind us not only of the incredible nature of Israel’s achievements during the last 71 years, but also that its ability to thrive isn’t dependent on the good will of the Palestinians.

In a matter of seven decades, the Jewish state has risen from a poverty-stricken backwater to the status of a First World economy and a regional military superpower. And it did so despite the predictions of doom and gloom.

Prior to 1948, Zionists were told that there was no way a Jewish state could be created. As Israelis are now often reminded, the numbers and time itself were against them. The staying power of anti-Semitic hate fueled resistance to the Zionist project then as it does now. But in spite of that, in spite of the refusal of the Palestinians to accept territorial compromise, Israel has gone from strength to strength.

What is needed on Yom Ha’atzmaut is not a day of cheering for modern Israel, though it deserves plaudits for its economic achievements, military valor and vibrant culture. Rather, what is called for is an appreciation of how extraordinary the mere fact of its existence is in the context of Jewish history. Its rebirth and ability to defend itself and thrive in the face of continued hate and terrorism is something previous generations of Jews would have considered a miracle. It’s also something that was achieved by the determination of the Jewish people to persevere, no matter the obstacles and opposition.

Like any human creation, Israel is imperfect and faces problems. But what its people have done in the last 71 years is something few rational people would have imagined possible. In our own time and with our own eyes, we have seen 71 years of miracles as the Jewish state survived, thrived and enriched the lives of all Jews, even if they resided elsewhere. That should give us confidence that problems that seem impossible to surmount will be overcome, as they have been throughout the last seven decades. Though the very fact of its existence continues to spur the enemies of the Jewish people to go on fighting, it is no reason to despair or to succumb to the lies of those who slander it. To the contrary, Israel’s strength and survival in the face of continued opposition is even more reason to celebrate.

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